Death of son of the al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, was reported but not confirmed in July
Donald Trump confirmed on Saturday that the US has killed Hamza bin Laden, a son of the former al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.
Related: Hamza bin Laden: the end of a dynasty, but not al-Qaida
Continue reading...The majority of America’s ambassadors to Afghanistan since the removal of the Taliban government have condemned the US approach to negotiating a troop withdrawal, warning it risked a return to “total civil war”.
Writing the day after a draft agreement was announced, the nine men, including a former deputy secretary of state, said they supported peace talks in Afghanistan.
Continue reading...US charged the five with war crimes that include terrorism, hijacking and nearly 3,000 counts of murder for their alleged roles
A military judge has set a trial date for five men held at Guantánamo Bay and facing the death penalty for their alleged role in the 9/11 terrorist attacks – nearly 20 years after the atrocities took place.
Judge Col W Shane Cohen set a start date of early 2021 in an order setting motion and evidentiary deadlines on Friday. The five defendants include Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, a senior al-Qaida figure who has portrayed himself as the mastermind of the 11 September 2001 attacks and other terrorist plots.
Continue reading...Donald Trump has said the newly formed US Space Command will 'defend America's vital interests in space, the next war-fighting domain'. Speaking at a ceremony in Washington, Trump said Space Command would protect US satellites orbiting the planet and detect missile launches abroad, and would be followed by the establishment of the Space Force, 'the sixth branch of the United States armed forces'. Creating a new military branch still requires congressional approval and the matter has met with skepticism from both Democrats and Republicans
Continue reading...President detailed operations in ceremony, including defending against Chinese and Russian anti-satellite weapons, and promised space force will soon follow
It was one small step for man, one giant leap for Trumpkind.
Donald Trump made the short journey on Thursday from the Oval Office to the White House Rose Garden, then promised to unleash an army of space warriors to infinity and beyond.
Continue reading...Two US officials say drone was brought down on Tuesday south-east of the capital Sana’a
A US military MQ-9 drone has been shot down in Yemen’s Dhamar governate, south-east of the Houthi-controlled capital Sana’a, two US officials have said.
A Houthi military spokesman had earlier said that air defences had brought down a US drone.
Continue reading...No other European countries have signed up to US-led mission to ‘uphold international navigation’
Britain is to join a mission with the US to protect oil tankers in the Gulf from seizure by Iran, but London has said no other European countries have so far been persuaded to sign up.
The UK will supply two Royal Navy ships in the Gulf alongside two US warships while British ministers urge other countries to join in as the operation is finalised.
Continue reading...The US military on Sunday accused a Venezuelan fighter aircraft of “aggressively” shadowing a US Navy EP-3 Aries II plane over international airspace, a fresh sign of growing hostility between the two countries.
Related: Trump administration to continue deporting Venezuelans despite crisis
Continue reading...The US has said that one of its warships brought down an Iranian drone in the Strait of Hormuz, amid heightened tensions between the two countries.
The incident was first revealed by Donald Trump, who said that USS Boxer, an amphibious assault ship, took defensive action after the drone came within 1,000 yards of the warship and ignored multiple calls to stand down.
Continue reading...Pentagon’s top general says group of nations would ensure freedom of navigation in Straits of Hormuz
The United States hopes to enlist allies in the coming weeks for a military coalition to safeguard strategic waters in the Persian Gulf where Washington blames Iran and Iran-aligned fighters for attacks, the Penatgon’s most senior general has said.
Under the plan, which has only been finalised in recent days, the US would provide command ships and lead surveillance efforts for the military coalition in seaas off Iran and Yemen. Allies would patrol waters near those US command ships and escort commercial vessels with their nation’s flags.
Continue reading...Motorcyclists with a club comprised of ex-US Marines collided with a pickup truck on a rural highway in New Hampshire on Friday, killing seven and leaving the biker community reeling.
Related: Nine people die in Hawaii plane crash
Continue reading...Donald Trump has said that if Iran does not acquire a nuclear weapon, it will be prosperous and have the US president as “a best friend” – but also warned that the Islamic Republic would be “obliterated” in any war between the two countries.
Related: Will he? Won't he? How Trump's impulses are driving his Iran policy
Continue reading...Officials say raids intended to target as many as 2,000 families in Houston, Chicago, Miami and Los Angeles in so-called “mass roundup”
Presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard defends Joe Biden in a series of tweets calling out her rivals for criticizing him.
(3/3) …we need to find common ground with each other. That is not possible without civility. We don’t need another president who is going to continue to divide our country. We need a president who will unite us. United we stand, divided we fall.
It’s been a busy day in Washington. Here’s what’s happened so far:
Continue reading...US president tweets that he intervened 10 minutes before planned retaliatory attack
Donald Trump has said the US air force was “cocked and loaded” to attack three Iranian targets, but he withdrew the order with 10 minutes to spare after being told the airstrike might kill as many as 150 people.
Trump said in a series of revelatory 9am tweets that he decided late on Thursday that the death toll was not a proportionate response to the Iranian shooting down of a US spy drone off the Iranian coast 24 hours earlier.
Continue reading...President Donald Trump did not escalate Iran's shooting down of an American drone, saying that it might have been a mistake executed by 'a general or somebody' being 'loose and stupid'. Trump told reporters on Thursday that the incident was a 'new wrinkle' in escalating tensions between the US and Iran.
Continue reading...US considers response to shooting down of US drone that Tehran claims was flying in Iranian airspace
US security officials have been summoned to the White House to discuss a response to the shooting down of a US spy drone, which Donald Trump has called a “big mistake” by Tehran.
Iran said it shot down the unmanned aircraft in its airspace. The US military has said it was downed over international waters in the strait of Hormuz.
Continue reading...Release of colour images adds more clarity to debate but fails to prove responsibility
The sophistication of the attacks on two shipping tankers in the Gulf of Oman last week had already led most independent analysts to conclude Iran was responsible for the high-profile explosions.
But there has been scepticism from some key countries, including Germany and Japan, after the US initially released a grainy black and white video it said showed Iranian forces removing an unexploded mine from one of the two targeted ships. Iran has denied involvement.
Continue reading...Political row sparked after government gave US permission to use island for anti-narcotics flights
The Galápagos Islands are at the centre of political row in Ecuador after the government agreed to allow US anti-narcotics planes to use an airstrip on the archipelago which inspired Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.
Dozens of people demonstrated outside the main government office in Quito on Monday to protest against a plan they described as a threat to the world heritage site’s unique environment – and an attack on Ecuador’s sovereignty.
Continue reading...Washington and Moscow blame each other for a near-collision between warships in East China Sea on Friday morning. A US guided missile cruiser, the USS Chancellorsville, and a Russian destroyer came within 50 metres of each other while on patrol
Continue reading...Trump and Macron laud Russell Pickett, sole survivor of US infantry company that led the charge
As Russell Pickett, 94, from Tennessee, was helped to his feet by the French president and hugged by Donald Trump, the 15,000 people gathered at the American cemetery in Normandy to commemorate the D-day landings 75 years ago stood to applaud.
“A tough guy,” the US president said, gesturing to the sole survivor of Company A of the 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Division, which led the charge 75 years ago on to Omaha beach, a chaotic bloodbath which became known as the “suicide wave”and was made infamous by the Hollywood film Saving Private Ryan.
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