WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – Thousands of military veterans from the U.S. and beyond have so far donated more than $2 million to a fundraiser to support a U.S. Marine put in the brig over his criticism of the American troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. More than 27,000 donors have already pumped money into the fundraiser organized by the Pipe Hitter Foundation, with the majority writing checks for small amounts for Marine Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller. The 40-year-old is currently in solitary confinement at the Camp LeJeune marine base in Jacksonville, North Carolina. The donations come as Scheller’s parents told the New York Post on Saturday that their son was “in a cell with no books, no phone, no nothing”. The couple added that they do not know what to expect from the upcoming closed-door hearing on Scheller, which will decide whether the military should throw the book at the marine or release him. Last month, Stuart Scheller was thrown into the brig after he released a series of videos, where he condemned the chaotic U.S. troop exit from Afghanistan.

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BERLIN (AP) – Chancellor Angela Merkel said Sunday that Germans must keep working for democracy, as the country celebrated the 31st anniversary of the reunification of East and West. In what is expected to be one of her last major speeches, the outgoing chancellor said that “mentally and structurally, unification hasn’t been completed yet.” Three decades on, there remains a political and economic divide between Germany’s formerly communist east and the west. The difference was illustrated in last month’s national election, where the far-right Alternative for Germany party captured 16 constituencies in the east even as its overall share of the vote dropped across the country. Merkel said the disinformation and incitement observed in public debate were an attack on democracy, adding that its achievement should not be taken for granted. “Democracy isn’t simply there,” she told an audience in the eastern city of Halle. “Rather, we must work for it together, again and again, every day.”

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GUANAJA, Honduras (Reuters) – A huge fire destroyed or damaged more than 200 houses and businesses on the Honduran island of Guanaja on Saturday, forcing hundreds of residents to flee for safety and ravaging the tourism-dependent resort, relief authorities said. Dramatic video footage shared on social media showed rows of seaside houses engulfed in flames and wooden homes collapsing in Guanaja, a Caribbean island about 70 kilometers (44 miles) off the north coast of Honduras. Honduran Air Force dropped water on the island to douse the fire but not before it had destroyed many homes. Footage taken after the inferno was brought under control showed dozens of concrete houses with no roofs and windows. “We can confirm that we have no human losses but vast material losses,” said Max Gonzales, minister of the National System for Risk Management and National Contingencies (SINAGER) agency. Four people were injured in the blaze, which destroyed 90 houses and damaged another 120, including some used as businesses, Gonzales said. The fire broke out before dawn and residents struggled to bring it under control as the island does not have a firefighting service.

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NEW YORK (AP) – New York City officials have suspended nine firefighters without pay in connection with a string of racist messages and memes they shared on their phones, including ones that mocked the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis last year, according to a published report. A spokesperson called the suspensions the most severe punishments ever handed down in the history of the Fire Department of the City of New York, The New York Times reported in Friday’s editions. After looking into complaints by several Black firefighters, the department suspended the nine firefighters without pay for periods ranging from a few days to six months, Fire Department Commissioner Daniel Nigro said. One of the firefighters is expected to leave the agency after his suspension ends, Nigro said. In addition, three fire department officers were reprimanded. In the messages and memes last April, white firefighters mocked Floyd’s dying moments with Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin’s knee on his neck, the Times reported. It said they also exchanged other racist messages, including one about the use of fire hoses on protesters. Black firefighters told the Times they believed the suspensions fell far short of addressing what they consider deep-rooted problems in the department, where leaders have acknowledged that racism, sexism and harassment have been tolerated.

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AUKLAND (AFP/Reuters) – New Zealand has announced tighter border restrictions as new cases of COVID-19 emerged in areas previously free of the coronavirus. “We are introducing the requirement for air travelers aged 17 and over, who are not New Zealand citizens, to be fully vaccinated to enter New Zealand,” Christ Hipkins, the minister for COVID-19 response, said on Sunday. The national flag carrier Air New Zealand also announced it was introducing a “no jab, no fly” policy for passengers on all international flights from February 1. The upped border restrictions come as the city of Hamilton and neighboring Raglan town were put into a five-day lockdown, with only essential movement permitted, after two people tested positive. The cases are not believed to be connected to the latest outbreak in Auckland, 160 kilometers (99 miles) away. The city of two million has been in lockdown for nearly seven weeks as officials grapple with an outbreak of the highly transmissible Delta variant that has so far infected 1,320 people.