New Mexico sends National Guard into classrooms amid teacher shortage – National & International News – THU 20Jan2022

New Mexico asks Guard troops to serve as substitute teachers. CIA: Havana Syndrome not result of enemy action. North Korea to ramp up nuclear, missile programs.

NATIONAL NEWS

New Mexico sends National Guard into classrooms amid teacher shortage

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has asked the state’s National Guard troops and government employees to serve as substitute teachers. Like many states, New Mexico has been struggling to keep schools open and operational due to COVID breakouts among staff. The problem has only gotten worse since classes resumed following the winter break. Grisham says Guard troops will receive their normal active duty pay to sub in classrooms and that other state employees will get paid leave.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, there has been a widespread shortage of substitute teachers. In the past, many who served as subs were older people. Fear of exposure to COVID has caused that pool of subs to dwindle. This has left many schools chronically short-staffed. School faculties nationwide are also facing rising burnout among teachers who’ve become a focus of toxic pandemic politics. Teachers have also borne the brunt of parents’ ire when outbreaks force schools to shutter or return to remote learning.

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CIA: Havana Syndrome not result of enemy action

An investigation of Havana Syndrome by the CIA has concluded that the mysterious symptoms associated with the affliction are unlikely to have been caused by a hostile foreign power, as has been widely believed.

Symptoms of Havana Syndrome vary widely and can include headaches, nausea, dizziness and disorientation. Often these symptoms occur after sufferers report hearing a “piercing directional noise”. To date, more than 200 U.S. State Department employees have reported symptoms resulting from “directional noise attacks” in over a dozen countries.

A State Department-funded study from 2020 concluded that the symptoms might have resulted from the use of some sort of microwave weapon. But the scientific community has disputed the validity of that conclusion. Some researchers believe that the “directional noises” are in fact the mating calls of insects and that the resulting symptoms are actually a form of mass hysteria.

The CIA’s Havana Syndrome task force has determined that the vast majority of cases are attributable to pre-existing medical conditions, environmental factors, and stress.

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

North Korea to resume nuclear, missile tests

At a recent meeting of the North Korean Worker’s Party’s Politburo, officials signaled that the country may soon ramp up its nuclear weapons program and resume testing of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). A press release stated that the country’s leadership would resume programs it “temporarily suspended” while in diplomatic talks with the Trump administration. Officials said that “hostile” actions by the U.S. made it necessary to restart these programs.

The North has reportedly conducted several missile launches this month ahead of today’s announcement. Observers believe that Kim Jong Un is resorting to his previous tactics of brinksmanship to force Western power to make concessions on economic sanctions. For the last year, increasingly alarming reports have emerged of famine among North Korea’s population.

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