The US federal government’s total public debt has surpassed $35 trillion for the first time, again sparking concerns about the nation’s escalating debt problem and its implications for the US economy.

The total public debt outstanding climbed to $ 35 trillion on Friday, according to the newly released Daily Treasury Statement released by the Treasury Department Monday. The data is updated at the end of each business day with data from the previous business day, Xinhua news agency reported.

Just seven months ago, the US national debt surpassed $ 34 trillion in late December 2023. Three months before that, the United States reached a historic milestone by passing $ 33 trillion.

“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 organisation focused on addressing US long-term fiscal challenges, the national debt of $35.001 trillion translates to nearly $104,000 of debt per person in the United States.

“Our deficits are caused mainly by predictable structural factors: our ageing 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 US budget deficit is on an unsustainable path.”

The “dangerous trajectory” poses “serious questions for the dollar” and inflation’s long-run outlook, Lachman said.

Analysts have joined the chorus of voicing serious concerns about the US debt problem. Economist E J Antoni, a research fellow of the Heritage Foundation, reports that based on the Fed’s June numbers, interest on the national debt is the equivalent of 76 per cent of all personal income taxes collected by the government.

“America is going bankrupt btw,” American billionaire Elon Musk wrote in a recent post on the social media platform X.

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink told media: “This is my message not just to the US but to every country right now, We have rising deficits, no one is spending enough time talking about deficits, the US deficits are the largest in the world — growing at the fastest rate in the world — and we need to be finding ways to minimise the role of the deficit on the economy, on interest rates, on inflation.” AGENCIES

 The Agency for Strategic Reforms under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan in cooperation with the State Committee for Tourism, has prepared a draft resolution on the development of tourism in Uzbekistan, the agency press service reported.

According to the document, by 2025, new types of tourism can be developed in Uzbekistan, Xinhua news agency reported.

Geological tourism will offer visitors tours of mines and inactive geological and industrial sites. Industrial and scientific tourism will include visits to the production areas of mining and metallurgical complexes.

In addition, tourists interested in military themes will have the opportunity to visit military training grounds. They will also be provided with paid services for shooting in military zones.

“The successful implementation of the proposed changes, including the creation of new tourist routes, the introduction of modern information and navigation systems, and the improvement of infrastructure will contribute to increasing the flow of tourists to our country and developing its economy,” the statement said. AGENCIES

 Venezuela has called on the governments of Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Peru, Panama, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay to withdraw their diplomatic staff accredited in the country.

The measure, announced in an official statement released by the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry on Monday, also calls for withdrawing Venezuelan diplomatic staff accredited in those nations, Xinhua news agency reported.

Venezuela has accused the governments of those seven countries of “interference” in its internal affairs, especially the presidential elections held on Sunday that saw President Nicolas Maduro reelected to a third six-year term.

Those countries are “subordinated to Washington and committed to … ideological postulates of international fascism”, according to the statement.

Venezuela’s National Electoral Council on Monday declared Maduro the winner of Sunday’s presidential elections. AGENCIES

Peru’s President Dina Boluarte said the mega port being built in Chancay, a small town just north of Lima, will serve as a “nerve centre” to facilitate the connectivity between South America and Asia.

The port, due to be inaugurated in November, “will open investment opportunities for the development of infrastructure for all countries that see Peru as a point of connection to access the gigantic Asian market,” Boluarte said in a speech to Congress as part of independence celebrations on Sunday, Xinhua news agency reported.

The port stands to become the hub of the South Pacific and will serve to ship cargo from the north, east, and central mountains of Peru and redistribute cargo from countries such as Chile, Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, and Paraguay, she added.

Being constructed by Chinese company Cosco Shipping Ports Ltd., the port, once in operation, will allow exporters and importers to make the most of the logistical hub taking shape between Chancay and the Peruvian province of Callao, Boluarte said.

The port’s inauguration will coincide with this year’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Economic Leaders’ Meeting to be held in Peru, she said, adding the port will benefit farmers, small and medium-sized businesses, and thousands of Peruvian families.

Boluarte said she was working to guarantee security surrounding the operation of the port.

Peru’s National Police is promoting the construction of a police complex in the town of Chancay, which is expected to be inaugurated in 2026. AGENCIES

Power supply to around 30,000 houses in Latvia was disrupted on Monday morning due to a storm, local news agency LETA reported.

The disruptions were mainly reported in the central part of the country, including the capital Riga, due to power grid damage caused by trees and branches falling onto overhead lines, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Riga City Council has called for the residents not to leave their homes on Monday.

Due to the extremely heavy rain and wind expected in Latvia, the Latvian Center for the Environment, Geology and Meteorology issued two red warnings, the highest warning degree, for the central part of the country on Sunday and Monday. AGENCIES

 Quad Foreign Ministers, including India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, jointly called on Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida following their meeting in Tokyo on Monday afternoon.

In a meeting that lasted 20 minutes, Kishida Fumio welcomed the progress that has been made in various areas of cooperation following discussions between the Quad grouping’s foreign ministers that also included Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Japanese Foreign Minister Kamikawa Yoko.

“Honoured to call on Prime Minister Kishida along with fellow Quad Foreign Ministers today in Tokyo. Conveyed the warm regards of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Briefed him on the key takeaways from our meeting today. Appreciate his guidance for continued growth of Quad grouping and value his views on further intensification of India-Japan relations,” EAM Jaishankar posted on X after the meeting.

In his remarks, Kishida mentioned that Japan, India, the United States and Australia would continue to cooperate closely at various levels.

“At the outset, Prime Minister Kishida welcomed the visit of the foreign ministers of the three countries to Japan. He stated that amid increasing uncertainty in the international situation, cooperation among Japan, the United States, Australia and India is becoming increasingly important in order to uphold principles and fundamental values,” the Japanese Foreign Ministry stated after the meeting.

Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hayashi Yoshimasa, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Moriya Hiroshi, Special Advisor to the Prime Minister Ishihara Hirotaka, and several other top officials also attended the meeting.

“The three foreign ministers stated the importance of Japan, the United States, Australia and India, as partners sharing fundamental values, strengthening a rules-based, free and open international order, and confirmed that the four countries will promote various forms of cooperation and further collaborate together for the sake of peace and stability in the region,” the statement added. AGENCIES

 Russia will take corresponding countermeasures if the US deploys long-range weapons in Germany, President Vladimir Putin has said.

“If the US implements such plans, we will consider giving up the previously assumed unilateral moratorium on the deployment of medium and short-range strike weapons, including increasing the capabilities of the coastal troops of our Navy,” Putin said during the naval parade ceremony at Russia’s annual Navy Day in St. Petersburg on Sunday.

The US announced earlier this month the decision to begin episodic deployments of long-range weapons in Germany from 2026 to demonstrate its commitment to NATO and Europe.

During his speech, Putin stressed that such missiles possibly equipped with nuclear warheads would hit targets on Russian territory within 10 minutes, Xinhua news agency reported.

“We will take corresponding measures to deploy them, taking into account the moves by the United States and its allies in Europe and other regions of the world,” he said.

Russia, Putin said, will continue to build up its surface, underwater forces and naval air force and equip them with new generation and hypersonic missile systems. AGENCIES

Several acts of vandalism have disrupted the internet services across France, various reports emerging from the country, which is hosting the 2024 Olympic Games, said Monday afternoon. 

Quoting local police, the French media revealed that the fibre optic networks of several operators were “sabotaged” overnight even though Paris may not have been directly affected.

This is the second such act reported from the country in the last few days after the French National Railway Company SNCF revealed last Friday that it was the victim of “several simultaneous malicious acts affecting the LGV Atlantique, Est and Nord”.

As traffic on French hi-speed trains was disrupted on three routes, SNCF CEO Jean-Pierre Farandou reportedly said that the perpetrators had set fire to gutters where many optical fibers run.

“Over the last 24 hours, Free recorded 291 mobile outages and 2,212 internet outages on its fixed network throughout the country,” said another French telecommunications company FREE on Monday morning.

The French government remains on high alert as athletes and spectators from all over the world have arrived in Paris for the Games. AGENCIES

 British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has met Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Paris and told him that there must be “immediate steps towards a ceasefire” in Gaza.

The two leaders met on Sunday and reiterated their “commitment to maintaining the historic friendship” between Israel and the UK.

Starmer expressed his condolences for the deaths of the five hostages kidnapped on October 7, 2023, whose bodies have recently been recovered from Gaza.

Starmer’s office in a statement said that the Prime Minister reiterated his “ongoing support for Israel’s right to self-defence in accordance with international law”.

The Prime Minister was “clear that there is no moral equivalence between Israel, a democratic state actions and Hamas, a terrorist organisation”, it added.

According to the statement, Starmer said there must be “immediate steps towards a ceasefire, so that hostages can be released and more humanitarian aid can get in for those in desperate need”.

The two leaders committed to continuing their close partnership in key areas of collaboration such as trade and investment. AGENCIES