Tag: Region US

Lockdown in Maine as search for mass shooter continues

NEW DELHI: Residents of Maine had to remain locked inside their homes for the second consecutive night as law enforcement agencies launched an extensive search for Robert Card, the man believed to be responsible for the worst mass shooting in the state’s history which claimed 18 lives at a bowling alley and a bar. According to an AP report, much of Thursday’s efforts centered on a property owned by one of Card’s relatives in rural Bowdoin, where numerous heavily armed…

US Air Force Launches Two Electronic Warfare Detachments

The US Air Force (USAF) has launched two new detachments at Robins Air Force Base in Georgia to bolster the force’s electronic warfare capability. Detachments from the 350th Spectrum Warfare Wing (SWW) and the 87th Electronic Warfare Squadron (EWS) will be tasked with responding to electronic threats by developing new countermeasures. The launch is part of the standup process for the future 950th Spectrum Warfare Group, which will further assess the USAF’s combat readiness and effectiveness in electronic warfare. Two…

US Strikes Two Sites Used by Iranian Forces in Syria: Pentagon

  The US military struck two facilities in eastern Syria used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and affiliated groups, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Thursday. “The precision self-defense strikes are a response to a series of ongoing and mostly unsuccessful attacks against US personnel in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-backed militia groups that began on October 17,” he said in a statement. One US citizen contractor died from a cardiac incident during the attacks, and 21 US military…

Millions of American families struggle to get food on the table, report finds

Just putting three meals a day on the table was a struggle for millions of people in the U.S. last year. That’s the sobering conclusion of a new report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which found hunger in the U.S. rose sharply in 2022. The report found that 44.2 million people lived in households that had difficulty getting enough food to feed everyone in 2022, up from 33.8 million people the year prior. Those families include more than 13…

Maine mass shooting suspect is an Army reservist

Editor’s note: This is a developing story and will be updated as additional information becomes available. Law enforcement officials have issued an arrest warrant for a 40-year-old Bowdoin, Maine man who is also a currently serving Army reservist, charged in the multi-location mass shooting Wednesday in Lewiston, Maine that left 18 people dead. Sgt. 1st Class Robert R. Card II is a petroleum supply specialist in the Army Reserve who enlisted in December 2002, according to Army spokesman Bryce Dubee,…

Ukrainian pilots begin F-16 training in Arizona

Ukrainian military pilots have begun learning to fly the F-16 Fighting Falcon jet in Arizona, the U.S. Air Force confirmed Wednesday. A “small number” of Ukrainians started training at Morris Air National Guard Base in Tucson this week, Air Force spokesperson Rose Riley said in an emailed statement. Morris is home to the 162nd Wing of the Arizona National Guard, an F-16 pilot training hub that hosts international students. “The training curriculum will align with the foundational knowledge and skills…

Sam Bankman-Fried to testify in his own defence in crypto fraud trial Thursday

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried plans to testify at his fraud trial, his lawyer told a federal judge Wednesday, ending speculation over whether a man who embraced the spotlight during his years atop the cryptocurrency world could remain silent after prosecutors portrayed him as a greedy entrepreneur who stole billions of dollars from customers. Attorney Mark Cohen told Judge Lewis A. Kaplan that he planned to call three witnesses “and then our client is also going to be testifying” after prosecutors…

Florida orders state universities to disband pro-Palestinian student group

The administration of Republican Florida governor Ron DeSantis has taken the significant measure of associating a pro-Palestinian student group, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), with terrorism. They have directed state universities to prohibit the group, alleging its support for Hamas militants who recently attacked Israel. Amid escalating Israeli actions in Gaza, several college students have shown support for Palestinians.This has led to criticism from some Jewish scholars and potential employers. However, Florida’s stance is more severe, accusing the SJP…

NY Times Tried To Block The Internet Archive

The Intercept has an interesting article that reveals another reason why some newspaper publishers are not great fans of the site: The New York Times tried to block a web crawler that was affiliated with the famous Internet Archive, a project whose easy-to-use comparisons of article versions has sometimes led to embarrassment for the newspaper. As the article explains, one of the important uses of the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine is to compare Web pages as they are updated over time. It allows the…

21 American troops injured in Iraq and Syria drone strikes

Following several drone strikes on bases housing U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria since Oct. 16, the Pentagon has been able to confirm the attacks injured 21 American service members. The “minor” injuries occurred following separate strikes on al-Tanf garrison in Syria and al-Asad air base in Iraq on Oct. 17 and 18, Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman, said in a statement Wednesday, adding that everyone has since returned to duty. “It is important to note,…

Unverified U.S. Leak: Israel Planning to ‘Flood Hamas Tunnels With Nerve Gas Under U.S. Navy Supervision’

Palestinian resistance groups expect Israel to flood Hamas tunnels with nerve gas and chemical weapons under the surveillance of US Delta Force commandos as part of a surprise attack on the Gaza Strip, a senior Arab source familiar with the groups told Middle East Eye.Israel and the US hope to achieve the element of surprise in order to penetrate Hamas tunnels, rescue an estimated 220 hostages, and kill thousands of soldiers belonging to Hamas’s al-Qassam Brigades, the source said in…

Pentagon rushes Marine Corps general, other advisers to Middle East

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon has sent military advisers, including a Marine Corps general versed in urban warfare, to Israel to aid in its war planning and is speeding multiple sophisticated air defense systems to the Middle East days ahead of an anticipated ground assault into Gaza. One of the officers leading the assistance is Marine Corps Lt. Gen. James Glynn, who previously helped lead special operations forces against the Islamic State and served in Fallujah, Iraq, during some of…

Murder Warrant Issued for “Armed and Dangerous” Massachusetts Air Force Vet Suspected of Gunning Down Wife

A murder warrant has been issued for an “armed and dangerous” military veteran who’s accused of fatally shooting his wife in their family home this week. Aaron Pennington was charged with murder in Gardner District Court in Massachusetts, according to the Associated Press, as the homicide investigation and search for him continues.  A manhunt has been underway for Pennington, 33, since his wife was found shot to death at the couple’s house in Gardner, about 67 miles northeast of Boston, on Sunday. …

Bond markets are being hit hard — and it’s likely to impact you

There is a sharp sell-off in the bond market, and it has big implications on both the economy and people’s pocketbooks. Yields on U.S. government bonds, especially the 10-year Treasury note, determine the interest rates that people pay on a lot of their debt, including mortgages and credit cards. And a key bond yield hasn’t been this high since 2007. Several factors are driving the sell-off, including stronger-than-expected economic data and the government’s worsening finances. Here is what you need…

China’s mideast envoy urges guarantees for Palestinians

BEIJING: China’s special Mideast envoy pinned the cause of the Israel-Gaza crisis on the lack of guarantees for Palestinian rights and urged greater coordination with Moscow in a meeting with his Russian counterpart in Qatar, a key go-between in the conflict. In the first leg of his tour in the region, China’s envoy for Middle East issues Zhai Jun landed in Qatar on Thursday where he reaffirmed with his Russian counterpart Mikhail Bogdanov Beijing’s alignment with Moscow in their efforts…

Biden says support for Israel, Ukraine vital for U.S. security; will ask Congress for billions

U.S. President Joe Biden declared it is “vital for America’s national security” for Israel and Ukraine to succeed in their wars, making the case Thursday night for deepening U.S. involvement in two unpredictable foreign conflicts as he prepared to ask for billions of dollars in military assistance for both countries. If international aggression is allowed to continue, Biden said in a rare Oval Office address, “conflict and chaos could spread in other parts of the world.” “Hamas and Putin represent…