Member of army squad sent with medics to assist suspected hantavirus patient recounts descent to remote islandThe hardest part of the parachute jump, according to Capt George Lacey, is falling backwards through the air. It is Saturday and Lacey, and his squad of six plus two medics, have just leapt out of an RAF transport, 2,500 metres over the south Atlantic.āThe parachute can only go forward so quickly,ā he says, meaning that it has to be pulled at precisely the right moment. āSo you have to turn into the wind and basically fly backwards, which is a very weird sensation, as you can imagine.ā Continue reading...
⢠Airborne troops from Japan, the United States, and the United Kingdom commenced joint military exercises, strengthening trilateral defense cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region.
⢠The drills involve coordination and interoperability training among elite paratrooper units from the three allied nations.
⢠The exercises demonstrate commitment to regional security partnerships and deterrence against potential regional threats.
IDF says two soldiers will spend weeks in military prison over incident it said was viewed with great severityTwo Israeli soldiers will spend weeks in military prison for the desecration of a Christian object after one stuck a cigarette in the mouth of a statue of the Virgin Mary in southern Lebanon and the other photographed it.The photo of the soldier, a cigarette dangling from his own mouth, went viral and sparked widespread outrage. It was the latest act by Israeli forces in southern Lebanon to be denounced as anti-Christian. Continue reading...
Soldiers dropped oxygen supplies and medical aid to Britainās most remote overseas territory⢠What is hantavirus?Paratroopers landed on a āgolf course covered in rocksā to supply medical personnel and oxygen to Britainās most remote overseas territory as it deals with a suspected hantavirus case, an army commander said.The UK Health Security Agency confirmed on Friday that a British national had disembarked from the cruise ship MV Hondius to the South Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha, where they live, with a suspected case of hantavirus. Continue reading...
⢠President Trump stated the US will pull 'a lot further than 5,000' troops from Germany, confirming Pentagon plans for an initial 5,000 withdrawal.
⢠Key Republicans expressed worry over the move, while Germany views it as a spur for European defense spending increases.
⢠The announcement heightens transatlantic tensions amid NATO concerns, with Polish PM Tusk warning of alliance 'disintegration'.
US announced withdrawal of 5,000 soldiers last week after German chancellor said US was being āhumiliatedā by IranDonald Trump has threatened to withdraw more US troops from Germany after stunning European leaders and some senior members of his own party by last week announcing the withdrawal of 5,000 soldiers from Germany.The move left 30,000 US troops still in the country, according to CNN. But Trump threatened on Saturday that more cuts were coming. āWe are going to cut way down, and weāre cutting a lot further than 5,000,ā he told reporters on Saturday. Continue reading...
⢠The Trump administration announced plans to withdraw 5,000 U.S. troops from Germany over the next 6 to 12 months, impacting the approximately 35,000 American service members currently stationed there.
⢠Defense Secretary Hegseth is pulling the troops amid ongoing tensions between Trump and the German Chancellor over defense spending and NATO contributions.
⢠The reduction marks a significant shift in U.S. military presence in Europe and signals potential strains in the transatlantic alliance during this period.
⢠The Trump administration announced plans to withdraw approximately 5,000 US troops from Germany over the next 6-12 months.
⢠The troop withdrawal fulfills an earlier Trump threat and reflects tensions over Germany's stance on the Iran conflict.
⢠The move signals a broader shift in US military posture in Europe and could weaken NATO presence in a key strategic location.
German government calls redeployment of 5,000 troops āanticipatedā and reminder of Europeās need to invest in its own defenceāWe love our Americansā: the German town rocked by Trumpās plan to withdraw US troopsNato is seeking to āunderstand the detailsā of a US decision to withdraw 5,000 troops from Germany, a redeployment ordered by Donald Trump amid a feud with the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz.The German government sought to play down the severity of Trumpās move, describing it as āanticipatedā, and a reminder of Europeās need to invest in its own defence. The US withdrawal, which the Pentagon said would take place over the next six to 12 months, comes after criticism from Merz over Trumpās war with Iran and his handling of subsequent talks with Tehran. Continue reading...
German defence minister responds to US presidentās announcement that 5,000 US troops will leave bases in GermanyHello and welcome to our live coverage of events in the Middle East.The German defence minister, Boris Pistorius, said that it was āforeseeableā that the US would withdraw troops from Europe, after the Pentagon announced it would pull thousands of American soldiers from Germany.Trump said he is ānot satisfiedā with a new proposal from Iran on ending the war, as peace talks remain stalled despite a weeks-long ceasefire. Iran delivered the proposal text to mediator Pakistan on Thursday evening, Iranian state news agency Irna reported, without detailing its contents.The US state department said it was approving military sales totalling more than $8.6bn to Middle Eastern allies Israel, Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. It came as Washington warned European allies including the UK, Poland, Lithuania and Estonia to expect long delivery delays for US weapons as it scrambles to replenish stockpiles depleted by the Iran war, according to a report in the Fianancial Times citing multiple sources.In Lebanon, 12 people were killed in Israeli strikes in the south, Lebanonās health ministry said, including in the town of Habboush, where the Israeli army had issued an evacuation order despite the continuing ceasefire. Israeli warplanes ālaunched a series of heavy strikes ⦠less than an hour afterā the warning, the state-run National News Agency said.The US Treasury Office warned that any shipping companies that paid tolls to Iran for passage through the strait of Hormuz, including charitable donations to organisations such as the Iranian Red Crescent Society, would risk punitive sanctions. Tehran has proposed charging fees on vessels passing through the strait, as part of a deal to end the war.Trump wrote to US lawmakers on Friday declaring hostilities with Iran āterminatedā, despite no change in the US military posture, as he faces continuing pressure at home to seek congressional authorisation for the war.The state departmentās announcement on Friday included approving military sales to Qatar of Patriot air and missile defence replenishment services costing $4.01bn and of advanced precision kill weapon systems (APKWS) costing $992.4m. They also included approval of the sale to Kuwait of an integrated battle command system costing $2.5bn and to Israel of APKWS costing $992.4m.Iranās supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei urged his people to wage economic battle and ādisappointā its enemies, as the war and years of sanctions take a toll. In a written statement he also said āthe owners of damaged businesses should avoid, as much as possible, layoffs and separation of their workforceā. Continue reading...