~theguardian-world | Bookmarks (16)

Islamic Republic’s first ever direct attack on Jewish state involved more than 300 drones and missiles, and raises the risk of a broader regional conflagrationIran launches attack against Israel – live updatesIran missile and drone attack on Israel – what we know so farIran launched more than 300 drones and missiles at Israel on Saturday night, in the Islamic Republic’s first ever direct attack...

Three rescued in the Pacific after making message in the sand with palm fronds, just as another group had done four years priorThree fishermen stranded on a remote Pacific atoll for more than a week were rescued after spelling out the word “Help” in the sand using giant palm fronds.A crew from the US Coast Guard cutter Oliver Henry plucked the men, in their...

Spokesman for coup government stops short of calling for American personnel to leave but says their presence violates sovereignty Niger’s ruling military junta says it has revoked with immediate effect a military accord that allows US military personnel and civilian staff on its soil.As of 2023 there were about 1,100 US troops in Niger, where the US military operates out of two bases including...

Officials say marines deployed for night-time evacuation amid intense fighting in Port-au-Prince, while German and EU representatives also leaveThe US military has carried out an operation in Haiti to airlift non-essential embassy personnel from the country and added US forces to bolster embassy security, after dozens of heavily armed gang fighters tried to seize the political quarter of its capital, Port-au-Prince.The German foreign ministry...

Wartime funding bill likely to pass in Senate after procedural hurdle cleared but prospects uncertain in Republican-led HouseAfter many setbacks and much suspense, the Senate appeared on track this week to approve a long-awaited package of wartime funding for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, as Republican opponents staged a filibuster to register their disapproval over a measure they could not block.The Senate voted 66-33, exceeding...

Iran-backed group says airstrikes ‘will not deter us’ after targets hit following continued Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red SeaRead all our Middle East coverageIran has denounced the latest US and UK strikes on targets in Yemen saying they “contradict” their declared intention of avoiding a wider Middle East conflict, AFP reports.These attacks are “in clear contradiction with the repeated claims of Washington...

Head of Islamic Revolutionary Guards defiant as US prepares ‘very consequential response’ to drone attack on Jordan baseThe head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards has said the country is not afraid of war with the US, as the Pentagon weighs how directly to respond to the killing of three US military personnel in a drone attack in Jordan.The IRGC commander-in-chief, Maj Gen Hossein Salami,...

Lloyd Austin says president ‘will not tolerate attacks on US forces’, but Qatar warns that reprisal attacks could undermine Israel hostage talksSee all our Middle East coverageUS defense secretary Lloyd Austin has vowed to take “all necessary actions” to defend US troops after Iran-backed militants killed three US troops and wounded dozens more in a drone attack on a US base in Jordan.“The president...

Iranian backed militia took credit for attack that injured 34 troops and killed first US soldiers since start of Gaza conflictThe spectre of a direct US-Iranian military conflict drew closer on Sunday when the US president Joe Biden announced three US servicemen had been killed and more than 34 injured following a drone attack on a US service base on the border of Jordan...

US navy shoots down two missiles and a third lands in sea as Iran-aligned group continues strikes against Red Sea shippingTwo ships sailing close to the Gulf of Aden were forced to seek the support of the US navy after explosions were heard nearby, as the Houthi group kept up their assault on commercial shipping off the coast of Yemen.The Houthis have said their...

Attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea by the Houthi rebel group in Yemen have been met with airstrikes from the UK and US. Patrick Wintour reportsSince the Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October and Israel’s military response in Gaza, there has been an effort by western leaders led by the US to avoid the conflict spreading to the wider region. That...

US and UK warships shoot down barrage of rockets, drones and cruise missiles fired at ships by Yemeni groupMiddle East crisis – live updatesThe US and the UK have warned “there will be consequences” after warships from both countries repelled a barrage of 21 Houthi rockets, drones and cruise missiles apparently fired at western warships in the Red Sea.Antony Blinken, the US secretary of...

Barrage apparently targeting western warships suggest Hamas’s Yemeni allies are keen to test warnings from US, UK and other nationsMiddle East crisis – live updatesA week ago, the US, the UK and 10 other mostly western nations told Yemen’s Houthi rebels that they would “bear the consequences” if they launched further attacks on merchant shipping in the southern Red Sea. For a brief period...

Wenheng Zhao, 26, pleaded guilty in October to passing sensitive military information to Chinese intelligence officerA US navy petty officer who pleaded guilty to providing sensitive military information to a Chinese intelligence officer was sentenced to more than two years in prison on Monday, the US justice department said.Wenheng Zhao, 26, and another US sailor, Jinchao Wei, were arrested in August on suspicion of...

Warships responded to call from Maersk Hangzhou when they came under fire from Houthi rebel-held part of Yemen, says US Central CommandAn American destroyer shot down two anti-ship ballistic missiles fired from Yemen on Saturday as it responded to a call for help from a container ship that was hit separately, the US Central Command (Centcom) said.Centcom said the US destroyers Gravely and Laboon...

Maalim Ayman was wanted over attack on airbase in Kenya in 2020 in which three Americans diedSomali troops and US forces have killed a senior commander of the al-Shabaab militant group who had a $10m bounty on his head over an attack that left three Americans dead.“Maalim Ayman, a senior leader of al-Shabaab, was confirmed to have been killed in a joint operation by...