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Iranian police say 139 foreigners arrested over unrest in Yazd province

Iranian police said 139 foreign nationals have so far been arrested in the central province of Yazd for their participation in recent protests, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Tuesday, without specifying their nationalities. Yazd, a predominantly desert province with a relatively small population above 1 million, was one of many provinces affected by nationwide protests in January. The protests, which started in December over economic hardships and quickly turned political, were repressed in the most violent crackdown since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The official death toll stands at 3,117, although rights groups say many more people have been killed. US-based rights group HRANA has said that nearly 50,000 people have so far been arrested. Authorities blame Israel and the United States for fomenting the violence. "These (foreign) individuals played an active role in organising, inciting, and directing riotous actions, and in some cases were in contact with netwo...
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US national debt exceeds $35 trillion for first time

The US federal government's total public debt has surpassed 35 trillion US dollars for first time, as recorded at end of last week, according to data released by the Treasury Department Monday. The total public debt outstanding climbed to 35 trillion dollars on Friday, according to the newly released Daily Treasury Statement. The data is updated at the end of each business day with data from the previous business day. Just seven months ago, the US national debt surpassed 34 trillion dollars in late December 2023. Three months before that, the United States reached a historic milestone by passing 33 trillion dollars. "The borrowing just keeps marching along, reckless and unyielding," said Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, in a statement. "Yet despite all the risks and warning signs, these alarm bells seem to be falling on deaf ears." "We are going to have to get serious about the debt, and soon. Election years cannot be an exception for trying to prevent completely foreseeable dangers -- and the debt is one of the major dangers we are facing," said MacGuineas. According to the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, a nonpartisan organization focused on addressing US  long-term fiscal challenges, the national debt of 35.001 trillion dollars translates to 103,945 dollars of debt per person in the United States. "Our deficits are caused mainly by predictable structural factors: our aging baby-boom generation, rising healthcare costs, and a tax system that does not bring in enough money to pay for what the government has promised its citizens," the foundation said. Desmond Lachman, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a former official at the International Monetary Fund, told Xinhua earlier that "there can be no question that the U.S. budget deficit is on an unsustainable path." The "dangerous trajectory" poses "serious questions for the dollar" and inflation's long-run outlook, Lachman said. ■

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