The US envoy to the UN has warned America may take further action after bombarding a Syrian air base suspected of using chemical weapons. Nikki Haley said her country would not stand by when chemical weapons were used, as it was in its “vital interest” to stop their proliferation. Syrian ally Russia accused the US … Read more
Donald Trump’s missile barrage on Syria — the first major military gambit of his presidency — revealed a leader fueled by instinct and emotion, and one willing to shake up strategy in an instant. Early Tuesday, horrifying details started trickling into the White House Situation Room — a secure suite in the bowels of the … Read more
The UN Security Council has heard sharp exchanges over the US bombardment of a Syrian air base suspected of using chemical weapons. Secretary General Antonio Guterres urged restraint as Russia accused the US of encouraging “terrorists” in the region with its unilateral actions. Russia has promised to strengthen Syria’s anti-aircraft defences. US officials say the … Read more
The US has carried out a missile strike against a Syrian air base in response to a suspected chemical weapons attack on a rebel-held town. Fifty-nine Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired from two US Navy ships in the Mediterranean. President Donald Trump said they hit the Shayrat base that launched Tuesday’s attack. It is the … Read more
The US has carried out a missile attack against targets in Syria in response to a suspected chemical weapons attack on a rebel-held town. A Pentagon official said about 50 Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired from US Navy destroyers in the eastern Mediterranean at a Syrian air base. In a televised address, President Donald Trump … Read more
US President Donald Trump ordered a massive military strike against Syria in retaliation for a chemical attack with a sarin-like nerve agent which Washington blames on President Bashar al-Assad. A White House official said 59 precision-guided missiles hit Shayrat Airfield in Syria, where the United States believes Tuesday’s deadly attack was launched. The official had … Read more
The United States has been fighting the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria since 2014, so has amassed a huge military presence and an array of capabilities in the region. If President Donald Trump decides to launch strikes against Syrian regime targets in response to Tuesday’s suspected chemical attack, the Pentagon has many ways … Read more
President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and the US’s top military officer met with Kurdish leaders in Arbil on Tuesday, the second day of their visit to Iraq. His inclusion in the US delegation is a sign of the influence wielded by Jared Kushner, a 36-year-old with no prior government experience who has become one of the … Read more
US aircraft have conducted about 20 additional air strikes on Al-Qaeda in Yemen in recent days, the Pentagon said Monday, as it continues its stepped-up campaign against the jihadists. The strikes occurred over the weekend, Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis said without providing details of where or how they were conducted. The new attacks … Read more
The US State Department is removing human rights conditions on a large sale of F-16 fighter jets to Bahrain, as the Trump administration moves to shore up ties with the Gulf ally, reports said Thursday. President Donald Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama had imposed the conditions on the sale to Bahrain of the 19 single-engine supersonic … Read more
Deadly fighting, a rise in jihadism, the threat of famine — two years after Saudi Arabia intervened against Iran-backed rebels, Yemen is more unstable than ever. The chaos has also seen fighting erupt in vital Red Sea shipping lanes, and Riyadh’s ally the United States stepping up its involvement. The war has become “a quagmire”, … Read more
U. S. President Donald Trump says he wants to build dozens of new warships in one of the biggest peace-time expansions of the U.S. Navy. But interviews with ship-builders, unions and a review of public and internal documents show major obstacles to that plan. The initiative could cost nearly $700 billion in government funding, take … Read more
A nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier arrived in South Korea on Wednesday for joint military exercises, the US Navy said, in the latest show of force against the North. The USS Carl Vinson berthed in the southern port of Busan as US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson began a tour of the region, where tensions have … Read more
A retired US Navy admiral and eight other high-ranking officers have been charged with corruption and other offenses in a sprawling bribery probe dubbed the “Fat Leonard” case, prosecutors said Tuesday. Retired rear admiral Bruce Loveless, a Navy intelligence officer, is the second admiral to be charged in the case, which has now grown to … Read more
President Rodrigo Duterte says instructed the military to assert Philippine ownership of a large ocean region off the country’s northeastern coast where China’s survey ships were spotted last year. However, Duterte said on Monday he ordered the military to claim the Benham Rise area in a friendly way, repeating his country has no option but … Read more
Japan plans to dispatch its largest warship on a three-month tour through the South China Sea beginning in May, three sources said, in its biggest show of naval force in the region since World War Two. China claims almost all the disputed waters and its growing military presence has fueled concern in Japan and the … Read more
The Japanese and US navies are conducting joint exercises in the East China Sea as tension intensifies in the region following North Korea’s missile tests, local media reported on Friday. The two sides launched the drill earlier this week, involving Japanese destroyers and a US Navy carrier strike group, the Sankei Shimbun daily and Kyodo … Read more
Iran has successfully test-fired a naval missile which hit its target 250 kilometres away, local news agencies reported Thursday. “We have this week tested the Hormuz-2 missile,” the Fars and Tasnim agencies quoted the commander of the air wing of the elite Revolutionary Guards, General Amir-Ali Hadjizadeh, as saying “The missile succeeded in destroying its … Read more
A senior official in Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards on Wednesday accused the United States of provoking tensions after two separate incidents in the Gulf last week. “A US Navy ship crossing the Strait of Hormuz changed its international route and approached to within 550 metres of Revolutionary Guards’ boats in an unprofessional way,” Mehdi Hashemi … Read more
The United States on Sunday launched a new wave of air raids against Al-Qaeda in Yemen, as jihadists fled from towns being targeted to mountainous areas, security sources said. At least five early morning raids hit targets linked to Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in the southern Shabwa and central Baida provinces, security sources … Read more