U.S. orders missile submarine to Middle East amid regional tensions
Global News
Pentagon chief has ordered a guided missile submarine to the Middle East and is telling the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group to sail more quickly to the area.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered a guided missile submarine to the Middle East and is telling the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group to sail more quickly to the area, the Defense Department said Sunday.
The moves come as the U.S. and other allies push for Israel and Hamas to achieve a cease-fire agreement that could help calm soaring tensions in the region following the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and a senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut.
Officials have been on the lookout for retaliatory strikes by both Iran and Hezbollah for the killings, and the U.S. has been beefing up its presence in the region.
Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, said in a statement that Austin spoke with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant earlier in the day, and reiterated America’s commitment “to take every possible step to defend Israel and noted the strengthening of U.S. military force posture and capabilities throughout the Middle East in light of escalating regional tensions.”
The Lincoln, which has been in the Asia Pacific, had already been ordered to the region to replace the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier strike group, which is scheduled to begin heading home from the Middle East. Last week, Austin said the Lincoln would arrive in the Central Command area by the end of the month.
It wasn’t clear Sunday what his latest order means, or how much more quickly the Lincoln will steam to the Middle East. The carrier has F-35 fighter jets aboard, along with the F/A-18 fighter aircraft that are also on carriers.
Ryder also did not say how quickly the USS Georgia guided missile submarine would get to the region.
He said Austin and Gallant also discussed Israel’s military operations in Gaza and the importance of mitigating civilian harm.
The United States is offering Ukraine security guarantees for a period of 15 years as part of a proposed peace plan, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday.
Zelenskyy said he will raise “territorial issues” as Moscow and Kyiv remain fiercely at odds over the fate of the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced late Thursday that the U.S had launched a “powerful and deadly strike” against forces of the Islamic State group in Nigeria.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that he will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida over the weekend to discuss security guarantees for Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters that he would be willing to withdraw troops from the country’s eastern industrial heartland.
Trump said he named Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry special envoy appointed to Greenland to 'lead the charge.'
Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov, head of the Operational Training Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces’ General Staff, died from his injuries.
Thousands of people, including Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, gathered at Bondi Beach Sunday to mark the Dec. 14 attack on a Hanukkah celebration that left 15 dead.
More than a dozen Epstein-related files vanished from the U.S. Justice Department’s website within a day, with no explanation, raising transparency concerns.
Australian authorities plan to ban symbols tied to extremism and certain chants after a mass shooting at Bondi Beach killed 15 people and injured many more.
U.S. President Donald Trump had vowed to retaliate after an attack on U.S. personnel last weekend in Syria by a suspected Islamic State member.
A frantic search for the suspect in last weekend’s mass shooting at Brown University ended at a New Hampshire storage facility where authorities discovered the man dead inside.
The scandal arose earlier this month when the former Miss Finland winner was pictured pulling back her eyes in an image shared on social media.