‼️ #BREAKING | US will ‘temporarily’ deploy elements of Army Ranger Task Force to Afghanistan

🛫 The deployment comes in the wake of the Biden administration's announcement earlier this month that the US would begin its final withdrawal from Afghanistan in May, and complete it by the anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks in September.

"Elements of an Army Ranger task force will temporarily deploy to Afghanistan to assist with the force protection of forces on the ground as we initiate the withdrawal operations," Jean-Pierre said, speaking to reporters on Thursday.

"In the weeks and months ahead, US Central Command will continually assess force protection requirements in coordination with US forces in Afghanistan and has the flexibility to move additional capabilities into and out of Afghanistan as required," the spokeswoman added.

The imminent Ranger deployment comes following the Pentagon's sending of B-52 bombers near Afghanistan last week to help ensure security during the withdrawal. Also last week, Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin approved the extended deployment of the USS Eisenhower aircraft carrier in the Middle East, with its air assets expected to help cover withdrawing forces.

Former US President Donald Trump is frustrated with Joe Biden for failing to discuss the southern border issue during his first address to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday, warning that the situation was getting “out of control” and the current administration was "doing absolutely nothing."

“He didn’t discuss the border and the fact that tens of thousands of people are pouring into our country, many of them criminals, many of them people from jails, many of them doing acts that you don’t even want to know about,” Trump raged to Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo in an exclusive interview.

“It could destroy our country if it keeps going,” the ex-president continued.

Trump also blasted Biden’s reversal of some of his crucial immigration policies, including the "Remain in Mexico" programme, asylum seeker regulations, and the construction of the border wall, which he says the current administration just doesn’t “want to finish.”

#BREAKING | US says progress has been made in Iran nuclear talks, deal within reach but Long road remains ahead

#BREAKING | US needs to keep lines of communication open with Russia to achieve some stability, State Dept says

🖊 State Department spokesman Ned Price said there is clear progress in the ongoing negotiations in Vienna on the nuclear deal.

Although "big challenges remain," and the negotiations still have a long way to go, a deal seems quite achievable

"Not to start conflict – but to prevent one," - that's how Biden explained the need to build up military power in the Indo-Pacific region in his address to Congress.

The White House's new strategy for China is increasingly looking like Thucydides' trap, isn't it?

While it wasn't done in a conventional manner, Republican Congresswoman Lauren Boebert decided to draw the attention of President Joe Biden to the issue of migration, who himself barely touched on this subject in his speech to Congress.

Wrapped in a blanket of first aid that is distributed to migrants, Boebert clearly highlighted the urgency of the situation.

Maybe he noticed?

👨‍⚖️ 16 states have filed lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of legislation known as the American Rescue Plan Act 2021, which prohibits the use of pandemic funds to lower taxes.

The states claim that the rescue plan's policies violate the 10th Amendment, which helps define the relationship between the federal government and the states

👓 The United States is alarmed by the Ukraine cabinet ministers' actions to dismiss the supervisory board of Naftogaz, US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said.

Little brother getting out of control?

🖊 Some liberal movements, including BLM, have attacked on Twitter literally the only black Republican in the Senate, Tim Scott, R-S. C., changing the racial slur "Uncle Tom" to "Uncle Tim" in reference to the senator.

The term was trending for several hours before Twitter eventually blocked it on Thursday morning

📖 Simon & Schuster employees collected signatures for a petition urging the management of the publishing house not to publish books by authors who are in any way connected with the Trump administration, and, in particular, the memoirs of former US Vice President Mike Pence.

Freedom is being cancelled one small step at a time

🏡 Have you ever seen a subdivision full of abandoned mansions?

An eerie collection of mansions in Missouri that was intended as a $1.6 billion resort community turned into a ghost town when the 2008 housing crisis hit, leaving behind crumbling abodes abandoned among overgrown plants at the Indian Ridge Resort in Branson

📈 The Commerce Department reported that gross domestic product jumped 6.4% for the first three months of the year on an annualized basis. Outside of the reopening-fueled third-quarter surge last year, this period saw the highest level of GDP growth since the third quarter of 2003

🛩 While US spy plane flights near China increased dramatically under former US President Donald Trump, they have only increased further since Joe Biden entered the White House in January.

“Since the current US administration took office, the number of activities conducted by US warships and surveillance aircraft in the sea areas around China has increased by more than 20% and 40% respectively over the same period last year” Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson Senior Col. Wu Qian said

👨‍🌾 A group of Midwestern farmers has sued the federal government, claiming that the Biden administration's plan to contain the spread of COVID-19 includes $4 billion in loan write-offs for socially vulnerable farmers and ranchers who are Black, American Indian, Hispanic, Alaskan, Asian-American, or Pacific Islander.

White farmers aren't eligible, amounting to a violation of the plaintiffs' constitutional rights, the lawsuit contends

Check out some news you may have missed:

▪️ US Embassy in Russia announces sharp reduction of consular services

▪️ US extends probe into ‘directed-energy’ attacks to mainland

▪️ US sanctions led to Huawei losing smartphone market share to rivals, company executive claims

▪️ US asks citizens to leave India

▪️ Views of Biden's speech less than half of Trump’s 2017 TV audience

▪️Australia to buy four CH-47F Chinook cargo helicopters, after US green light

📺 President Joe Biden may have used his first address to a joint session of Congress to drive home the message that his administration has made great progress during the first 100 days he’s been in office, yet viewer ratings beg otherwise.

Nielsen ratings data was released on Thursday to show that Biden's audience, as he pitched his 1.8 trillion spending package to “transform and expand government’s role in the lives of everyday Americans” paled compared to his predecessor’s viewership.

The number of people who watched Joe Biden’s speech on Wednesday was nearly 44 percent less than the figure accrued by Republican President Donald Trump during his first address to a joint session of Congress in 2017.

At the time, the 46th POTUS commanded an audience of 47.7 million TV viewers on 11 networks.

Even Trump's last State of the Union Address, delivered in February 2020, managed to attract 37 million viewers