President Biden Visits Ukraine on Anniversary of Russian Invasion
On February 20, 2023, United States President Joe Biden made a surprise visit to Kyiv, the capital city of Ukraine. The historic visit was a demonstration of the United States’ support for Ukraine ahead of the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion on February 24, 2022. President Biden spent roughly five hours in Kyiv meeting with […]
Update on the War Between Ukraine and Russia
On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a large-scale invasion of its neighboring country, Ukraine. At that time, Russian President Vladimir Putin sent approximately 200,000 soldiers into Ukraine. Russia sought to capture the capital city of Kyiv and overthrow the Ukrainian government in a matter of days. Initially, it looked like this would happen. Russia captured […]
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Crisis at the Pump Have you noticed the rising price of gasoline? As of the week of March 6th through 12th, 2022, gas prices in the United States hit a record high average of $4.17 a gallon. This was a 55 cent increase in a single week. So why this recent price increase? The answer […]
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Lakota Petitions Scottish Museum for Return of Artifacts In December1890, a group of U.S. Army soldiers killed hundreds of Native Americans at Wounded Knee, South Dakota. The Lakota were participating in a spiritual ritual called a Ghost Dance. The U.S. soldiers were involved in the U.S. government effort to move Native Americans onto reservation lands […]
Russia Invades Ukraine
Recent headlines and news feeds have been dominated by stories about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, an independent democratic nation of 44 million people. What caused Russia to invade its neighbor? What is Russian president Vladimir Putin’s goal? How will the rest of the world respond? Here, btw takes a closer look at this volatile […]
Tensions Rising Between Russia and Ukraine
Russia and Ukraine are two neighboring nations with a tumultuous history. Now, they are facing their highest level of tension in years. So, what’s happening, and how worried should the global community be? Here, btw takes a closer look. Recent Tensions Tensions between Ukraine and Russia began to escalate in 2013. Ukraine’s president Viktor Yanukovych […]
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Russia and Britain Dispute Black Sea Encounter A few weeks ago, a tense moment occurred in the Black Sea when a high-tech British destroyer ship named the HMS Defender passed through the area. But here’s where the story differs–depending on who is telling it. According to Russia, who claims control over the region, the HMS […]
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Biden Appoints First Female Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth has had a long career in military and foreign policy. She served as Under Secretary of Defense for Policy under President Obama–the third highest civilian position in the Department of Defense. She has also been the Special Assistant to the President and the Senior Director […]
Senate Briefed on Foreign Threats
Last week, the Senate Intelligence Committee received a briefing on national security threats from the top U.S. intelligence officials. The intelligence officials named four major foreign threats to U.S. security: China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. Here, btw takes a closer look at their remarks, and at what the Biden administration plans to do to […]
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Widespread Protests Rock Russia Have you heard of Alexei Navalny? He is an activist, lawyer, and blogger who leads the Russian opposition movement against President Vladimir Putin. Navalny has millions of followers and regularly calls out Putin and his United Russia party with accusations of corruption. He compares the current state of the Russian government […]