Today is Tuesday, March 16th, and you're listening to The Morning Announcements.

I'm Sammy Sage.

We have a bit of a light news day today, which is kind of a relief, to be honest.

Yesterday, the Senate confirmed Representative Deb Halland, a Secretary of the Department

of the Interior.

Halland is an enrolled member of the Laguna Pueblo, so this makes her the first Native American

to become a cabinet secretary in U.S. history.

It's about time.

The Interior Department is charged with overseeing the country's natural resources,

and the agency manages nearly 500 million acres of land, which is about one-fifth of the

United States.

Which sounds like about how much land the Native Americans were kicked off of originally.

Federal authorities have arrested and charged two men with assaulting U.S. Capitol Police

Officer Brian Sicknick during the January 6th insurrection.

The two men assaulted Sicknick with an unknown chemical spray, but it is not clear whether

or not that exposure caused his death.

Their charges are punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

Four of Europe's most populous countries have suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine

after reports of blood clots in some patients.

Germany, France, Italy, and Spain have all halted vaccinations with the shot, even though

the World Health Organization maintains that the vaccine is safe.

However, prior to this, Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Ireland and a few other countries

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