The US military put in a floating pier for Gaza Strip on Thursday. They will start to bring in supplies to help the people there. Gaza has been in a lot of fighting for seven months.
Last night, the construction was finished to make a plan for getting supplies to Palestinians who are hungry. This plan was made more than two months ago by US President Joe Biden. But it’s been hard to send the supplies because Israel took control of the Rafah border crossing, where the supplies would go through.
The maritime route has a lot of difficulties with getting aid into Gaza like logistics, weather and security. It’s meant to help get more aid into Gaza, but it’s not as cheap or sustainable as delivering aid by land. The aid will be taken to a port made by the Israelis near Gaza City. Then, aid groups will give it out to the people.
Violent fighting between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian fighters in Rafah has forced about 600,000 people to leave their homes. This is about a quarter of the population of Gaza, according to the UN. An additional 100,000 people have left some areas in northern Gaza because the Israeli military has started fighting there again.
Pentagon officials said that the fighting in Gaza isn’t a problem for the new aid distribution area on the shore. But they also said that they will keep a close eye on the security situation and might have to temporarily stop the aid shipments by sea. The site was attacked with mortar fire while it was being built. Hamas has said they will attack any foreign forces that stay in the Gaza Strip.
Protecting the US military is very important. “In the past few weeks, the United States and Israel made a plan to protect all their people by working together,” said Navy Vice Adm. Brad Cooper is a leader in the US military’s Central Command. “We believe the security plan can keep everyone safe. ”
US soldiers arrived and stopped at the pier at 7:40 am on Thursday. They didn’t go into the Gaza Strip and won’t while they are at the pier.
“The trucks with help for people are going to start unloading in a few days,” the command said. “The United Nations will get help and make sure it goes to the people in Gaza. ”
The World Food Program will be the program of the United Nations that helps give aid to people, officials said.
Israel will be responsible for keeping the shore safe, and there are also two American warships in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, the USS Arleigh Burke and the USS Paul Ignatius. Both ships are powerful warships with many different weapons and abilities. They are used to keep American soldiers safe at sea and help their allies on the land.
Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani from the Israeli military said that a pier has been built and the ground has been made flat and roads have been made for trucks by the Israeli engineering units.
“We have been helping the US military with this project for months, doing everything we can to support and assist them,” Shoshani said. “It’s very important in what we do. ”
Aid organizations say they are running out of food and fuel in southern Gaza. This will make it hard for hospitals to keep running and for aid trucks to deliver supplies. The UN and others have been saying for weeks that if Israel attacks Rafah, it will make it really hard for aid workers to help people and there will be a lot of innocent people getting hurt.
Over 1.4 million Palestinians, which is half of the people in Gaza, are staying in Rafah because they ran away from Israel’s attacks in other places.
Last week, a big ship filled with 475 crates of food left Cyprus to meet a US military ship, the Roy P Benavidez, near Gaza. The supplies on the MV Sagamore were transferred onto the Benavidez. The Pentagon said that transferring the aid between ships was a way to prepare so that it could be delivered quickly once the pier and causeway were set up.
The pier and causeway were supposed to be put in place, but bad weather caused a two-week delay. The rough sea made it too risky for US and Israeli soldiers to protect the path to the shore, according to US officials.
Military leaders have stated that aid will be given out little by little at first to make sure everything goes smoothly. They will begin by sending about 90 truckloads of help every day by sea, and soon that will go up to about 150 a day. But organizations that help people say that sending food alone will not stop a severe hunger crisis in Gaza. Israel needs to do more to open up routes for supplies to reach the people in need.
Israeli officials are not letting aid come through land crossings, so the US-built pier and sea route is not needed, according to Scott Paul from Oxfam.
Biden told the military to make a pier near Gaza so they can bring food and help by sea. Food deliveries are stuck at border crossings because of Israeli restrictions and increasing fighting.
The new sea route will bring humanitarian aid to Cyprus. When it arrives at Larnaca port, the aid will be checked for safety. It is put on ships, usually commercial ones, and taken about 200 miles (320 kilometers) to a big pier in the ocean that the US military built near Gaza.
There are pallets there.
Tag: US military
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Project to build pier in Gaza Strip completed – US military
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Ukraine will suffer if US help is discontinued – Olena Zelenska
Without important help from the US military, there is a big risk that Ukraine could eventually lose the war, even if not right away.
President Zelensky is in Washington to ask Congress to approve a $60 billion aid package. It’s been delayed because of a disagreement over US border security. He hopes to convince them to pass it.
On Sunday, the first lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, said that Ukraine is in serious danger and needs ongoing help from America to survive.
Western authorities told the BBC that they believe the US government will find a solution to the current problem. President Biden may achieve his goals, but people will still have concerns about the position of the US. During a year when a president is chosen, things will be even more unpredictable.
America has given the most military help to Ukraine, not Europe.
Europe is on its way to giving more economic help to Ukraine than the US. The US has a strong military support lead.
The Kiel Institute keeps track of how much support countries give. They say the US has given €44bn of military equipment. Germany, the biggest giver in Europe, has given €18 billion.
The US has been very important in helping Ukraine in its war and has also been the main organizer of that help.
Jack Watling from the Royal United Services Institute says it plainly: “Europe can’t replace what the US was giving. ”
He thinks Europe missed the chance to make more weapons and equipment in the last two years.
“He says there isn’t enough manufacturing capacity because European countries haven’t invested properly. ”
For instance, Germany’s Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said that the European Union won’t be able to give Ukraine one million artillery shells by next March. Actually, it will only send Ukraine less than half of what it said it would. At this time, Ukraine needs at least 2. 4 million artillery shells each year to keep fighting in the war.
Most of the countries in Europe that are part of Nato still don’t spend the 2% of their national income on defense, as they were supposed to do nearly ten years ago.
This week, UK’s Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said that Europe needs to do more. He mentioned that aside from Ukraine, we can’t keep relying on the US to always help Europe.
Russia’s economy during a time of war
Compare how Europe reacted to Russia’s actions.
Russia has already changed its economy to focus on preparing for war. Western officials believe that almost 40% of Russia’s money will be spent on defense and security next year. This is more than what they will spend on health and education combined.
One year ago, Russia got around 40 Shahed attack drones from Iran. Now they think they are making about 300 each month.
By the end of 2022, Russia could only make about 40 big missiles every month. Now it is expected to be earning one hundred, even with sanctions from western countries.It has increased how many artillery shells it makes, and got more from North Korea when its supply was running out.
However, Russia is still having a hard time replacing the equipment and people it has lost. Western officials think that Russia had around a thousand soldiers getting hurt or killed every day during November, just in their attack on Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine.
Tiredness from fighting in a war
A year ago, people in the West were hopeful because of the early successes of a Ukrainian counter attack. But now, that hope has mostly gone away.
Ukraine’s summer attack did not go as planned. It didn’t achieve its goal of breaking through Russia’s main defenses in the south.
Mr Watling thinks that the war will last a long time and that it will make people tired and change how they think about taking risks.
The Kiel Institute reported that the amount of new aid promised to Ukraine from August to October this year was the lowest it has been since January 2022. Out of 42 countries that give aid, only 20 have promised to give new aid packages during this time – which is almost 90% less than last year.
Most of the people who support Ukraine, at least when they say in public, say they are still determined.
However, some countries are having trouble providing as much military aid as before because they have used up a lot of their own supplies.
We don’t know yet how much help Ukraine will get from the Netherlands in the future, after Geert Wilders’ right-wing party did well in the election. The Dutch have been an important part of the group that said they would give Ukraine F-16 jets.
The effect on future activities.
These questions about future aid supplies won’t have a quick effect on the battlefield.
One person in charge of the western side says it is unlikely that there will be any big progress from either side in the next few months. Russia and Ukraine are focused on defending themselves and using a lot of resources for attacking.
However, Ukraine may have to limit the amount of ammunition they use in the next few months. This could weaken their military forces even more.
Jake Sullivan, who works for the White House, told the New York Times that Ukraine’s ability to defend its airspace could be affected. He said that the US can’t send air defense systems to Ukraine anymore.
That alarm is being given because Russia is expected to start attacking important buildings and systems in Ukraine more often in the next few weeks.
Not being clear about getting help from the US military could cause another problem. Watling just got back from Ukraine, and he says that the uncertainty about aid is already making it hard for Ukraine to make plans.
He says the current problem in the US Congress is making it hard for Ukraine to figure out its next moves in battle and to get more support from the west. -
Five corpses discovered in US military aircraft wreckage close to Japan
American and Japanese teams looking for things found five dead people in the remains of a US military plane that crashed near Yakushima island last week.
The CV-22 Osprey plane crashed last week while carrying eight people. Only one had been found before.
Two out of the five bodies that were found on Monday have been brought back.
The accident made Tokyo request that the US stop flying its Osprey planes in Japan.
During the accident, the Osprey was flying from a US Marine Corps air base in Yamaguchi Prefecture to Kadena Air Base in Okinawa for training.
It asked to land on Yukushima island right away before crashing into the water.
People who saw it happen said that the plane turned upside down and caught on fire before it crashed. We still don’t know why the incident happened.
On Monday, the US Air Force Special Operations Command announced that the US and Japanese teams searching for the aircraft made a big discovery. They found some parts of the plane and the main body of the wreckage with help from ships and dive teams.
Efforts to rescue the rest of the crew from the crash site are still going on, the statement said. They haven’t been found yet.
The first victim’s body was found a few hours after the crash.
The Air Force called him Staff Sgt Jake Galliher. He’s 24 years old and from Massachusetts. He was in an intelligence unit at Yokota Air Base in Japan.
Osprey was made in 2007. It works as a helicopter and a plane with a propeller.
The US military’s Ospreys have been in a few other serious crashes lately.
In August, another type of Osprey aircraft crashed during a military training in Australia. It resulted in the deaths of three US Marines and injuries to 20 other people.
Last year, a crash in the California desert involving an Osprey killed five Marines.
Japan, which is the only other country with Osprey aircraft, stopped using their fleet for a short time last week.
It also requested the United States to stop flying the 30 Osprey aircraft stationed in Japan until they could be inspected to make sure they are safe.
The Pentagon told the BBC that the aircraft’s unit is not flying right now. They are making sure it’s safe for all flights and operations.
Japan and the United States have an agreement about their military. Japan won’t be very involved in the investigation of the crash.
This made Japan very angry because the US did not follow this rule and did not stop its airplanes from flying.
Sabrina Singh, the assistant to the person in charge at the Pentagon, said that the US has already begun giving details about the accident to our partners in Japan. “We talk a lot with our leaders about airplane safety and other safety issues. “ -
US Navy intercepts drones fired in Red Sea from Yemen
A American military ship destroyed three flying machines after three regular boats were attacked in the Red Sea, according to the US military.
The USS Carney helped ships from 14 countries, including the UK, on Sunday after they were attacked from areas of Yemen controlled by Houthi rebels backed by Iran.
Two ships were hit by missiles, but no one got hurt.
A person from the Houthi group said their navy attacked two ships from Israel.
The Israeli army said the boats were not linked to Israel.
The Houthis, who are supported by Iran, took over some of Yemen in 2014 and caused a civil war.
Lately, it started attacking ships connected to Israel in the Red Sea because of Israel’s conflict with Hamas, which is backed by Iran, in Gaza.
The US military in charge of the Middle East said that the USS Carney found a missile blowing up near a cargo ship on Sunday morning.
It later destroyed a flying robot that was flying towards the Carney itself, but Centcom said it was not clear if the robot was trying to attack the Carney.
That day, the Unity Explorer got a little damaged when a missile from the Houthi-controlled area hit it.
The US ship found and destroyed another drone that was coming towards it while it was helping a ship in trouble.
Later, two more boats – one of them partly owned by the UK, both flying the flag of Panama – said they were hit by missiles. While going to help another ship, the USS Carney destroyed a third drone.
Centcom stated that the attacks put the lives of the ships’ crews in danger and posed a clear threat to global trade and maritime safety.
“We think that Iran is helping the Houthis in Yemen with these attacks,” the statement said.
The United States will think about the best ways to respond, with the help of its friends from other countries.
Earlier this week, a US warship caught armed men who had taken control of a tanker connected to Israel near Yemen.
Centcom said that rebels from Houthi-controlled area in Yemen fired two missiles at the warship.
The Houthis say they are part of a group connected to Iran that opposes Israel, the US, and the West. -
South Korea conducts narcotics raids at US military camp
South Korean police are looking into the case of 17 American soldiers and five others who are suspected of smuggling or using fake marijuana through military mail.
This means that there were raids in at least two US army bases in May, including Camp Humphreys, which is the biggest base outside of the US.
A person from the Philippines and someone from South Korea were taken into custody while lawyers are studying the evidence for all 22 people involved.
A suggestion from a branch of the US Army led to a four-month investigation by Korean authorities.
According to Cha Min-seok, a senior detective in South Korea, US media reported that it was one of the biggest incidents in recent years involving American soldiers.
South Korean police and the US Army’s Criminal Investigation Division worked together to search the homes of 22 suspects. During these raids, they discovered 77g (2. 7oz) of synthetic cannabis, over 4kg of “mixed liquids” used for vaping, and a total of $12,850 (£10,440) in cash.
They are said to have brought synthetic marijuana (also called K2 and Spice) into the country using the US military’s postal service.
Seven people, which includes five soldiers, are believed to have taken part in selling drugs. Out of the total number, 12 were drug users and three acted as mediators. The police told the BBC that the husband or wife of a soldier and the person engaged to another soldier are also part of this.
The police said that there are 17 soldiers right now at Camp Humphreys, which is about 48km (30 miles) south of Seoul. There are also some soldiers at Camp Casey, an army outpost about 40km north of Seoul.
They supposedly shared the drugs at the locations and talked through Snapchat.
The United States Forces in Korea said on Wednesday that they know about the investigation. There are no soldiers being held or confined right now, according to a statement.
Synthetic marijuana is created to imitate THC, the primary compound in marijuana that causes mind-altering effects.
Although it has similar effects to cannabis, it is usually stronger and can cause harmful health issues like sudden episodes of mental illness, extreme paranoia, and intense restlessness.
The police said it’s hard to find because people often use it in liquid form with legal e-cigarette devices.
In South Korea, people who are found guilty of selling marijuana can be sentenced to prison for a minimum of five years and possibly for the rest of their lives. Having drugs can lead to getting a punishment of up to five years in jail or having to pay around 50 million won ($37,200; £30,300). -
US military appeals to public for assistance in locating F-35 fighter jet
The US military is looking for help from the public to find one of its F-35 fighter jets. The pilot got out of the plane.
It got lost on Sunday afternoon when the pilot was flying over the southern state of South Carolina.
The pilot, whose name is not known, jumped out of the plane and landed safely using a parachute. He is doing well in the hospital.
We don’t know exactly what happened yet, but officials said there was an accident involving the aircraft.
They said they were looking for the F-35B Lightning II jet near two lakes north of Charleston.
With the help of federal aviation regulators, the search for the jet is taking place in Lake Moultrie and Lake Marion, where it was last seen.
Joint Base Charleston asked for assistance on X, previously referred to as Twitter. The people in charge of responding to emergencies are still looking for the F-35.
“Please work together with the military and civilian authorities as they continue their efforts. ”
It asked anyone who knows anything that could help its recovery teams to get in touch with its operations center.
A map that shows where the two lakes are located and how close they are to Charleston.
The Marine Corps told the BBC that it didn’t know much about the incident yet and was still trying to find out more.
Another F-35 plane that was believed to be flying at the same time safely came back to the base in Charleston, according to Maj Melanie Salinas, a military spokeswoman.
The jet is built by a company called Lockheed Martin and is estimated to cost about $80 million. It is considered one of the most advanced fighter jets in the world.
The F-35 is the biggest and most expensive weapons program in the world.
In 2018, all of the F-35 fighter jets in the US military were stopped from flying for a while because one of them crashed in South Carolina. -
Cambodia’s prime minister’s son, Hun Manet, formally installed as new ruler
A formality verifying the transfer of power has approved the long-reigning leader of Cambodia‘s eldest son to be the nation’s new premier.
Hun Manet will succeed Hun Sen, who has ruled Cambodia for 38 years, according to a decree the country’s king issued on Monday.
Just days after the 23 July election, which detractors claimed was not democratic, Hun Sen made the announcement that he would retire.
After the main opposition was disqualified from voting, his party won every seat in parliament with the exception of five.
Hun Sen requested the official note in a letter, and King Norodom Sihamoni responded by issuing the royal proclamation.
The Royal Cambodian Army‘s 45-year-old commander, Hun Manet, has long been cultivated for a position of authority.
Although Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party now holds 120 of the 125 members in the National Assembly, the confirmation of his appointment by parliament is still pending as of August 22.
The appointment is the result of a dynastic succession plan that Hun Sen had been indicating for a while.
Younger people are anticipated to be in Hun Manet’s new government. Many of the individuals who rose to power alongside Hun Sen during the Khmer Rouge revolution and civil war of the 1970s and 1980s have also left their positions, often giving them to their own children.
Prior to July, it was unknown when the change would take place after it was first mentioned in 2021.
But only three days after the election, Hun Sen made his resignation public. He has ruled the 16 million-person South East Asian country for nearly four decades, making him one of the world’s leaders with the longest terms in office.
He claimed at the time that he was stepping down to maintain stability in Cambodia.
Hun Sen will continue to be the leader of the Cambodian People’s Party, which political observers claim still gives him total authority.
Since taking office in 1985, his administration has grown more autocratic, and he has suppressed critics by imprisoning or expelling them.
Hun Sen celebrated his 71st birthday over the weekend and also announced the party’s resounding victory in the July election, which the US, EU, and other Western countries have criticised as being neither free nor fair.
In honour of the election outcome on Saturday, Hun Manet shared a photo on Instagram with the remark, “Happy birthday to respected and beloved father.” The snapshot showed his son giving Hun Sen a bunch of flowers.
Hun Manet’s election as a Phnom Penh MP was also recognised by the departing leader on Saturday, removing the final formal barrier to his rise to power.
Hun Manet will face few threats from outside the ruling party because all significant opposition has been silenced in Cambodia in recent years. Maintaining the intricate network of ties his father established with other affluent and prominent families, however, will be difficult.
To keep potential rivals satisfied and the economy expanding, Hun Sen granted them political and commercial rights. However, he also left Cambodia with alarmingly high levels of corruption and inequality, which could cause problems for his young kid.
Some have hypothesised that Hun Manet, who attended the University of Bristol and the US military institution West Point, will run a less harsh government than his father and will be more sensitive to Western concerns for human rights.
Analysts claim that there is no proof that he might be more open, though. Hun Sen has also stated that he will have a strong grip on the country’s governance for at least another 10 years.
Hun Sen stated of his son’s appointment in a telegraph message on Monday: “It is not the end yet. I’ll keep working in other capacities at least until 2033.
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First port call by US nuclear-capable submarine in South Korea in forty years
Just days after North Korea purportedly conducted a test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile using solid fuel, the US Navy’s first nuclear-capable ballistic missile submarine to visit South Korea in decades made a port call there.
The defence ministry of South Korea confirmed on Tuesday afternoon that an Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine was currently based in the port city of Busan.
While attending the Nuclear Consultative Group’s (NCG) inaugural conference in Seoul, Kurt Campbell, the US National Security Council’s coordinator for the Indo-Pacific, received the news.
The NCG is a joint US and South Korean panel set up by the countries’ leaders at a summit in Washington in April.
The arrival of the submarine follows a period of heightened tensions on the peninsula, during which North Korea has both tested what it said was an advanced long range missile and threatened to shoot down US military reconnaissance aircraft engaging in what it called “hostile espionage” activities near its territory.
Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and a senior official in her own right, said in a statement Monday the deployment of a US ballistic missile submarine to the peninsula would damage already fractured lines of communication between the two sides.
“The reality before the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) is not dialogue repeatedly touted by the US,” said Kim. Instead, she said, the NCG was “openly discussing the use of nukes against the DPRK and the entry of US strategic nuclear submarine into waters of the Korean Peninsula for the first time in 40-odd years.”
“The US should know that its bolstered extended deterrence system and excessively extended military alliance system, a threatening entity, will only make the DPRK go farther away from the negotiating table desired by it,” the statement added.
Known colloquially as “boomers,”each of the Ohio-class subs can carry a maximum of 20 Trident II ballistic missiles.
The Nuclear Threat Initiative at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies estimates that each Trident missile can carry four nuclear warheads, meaning each US ballistic missile submarine could be carrying about 80 nuclear warheads.
The port call came out of an agreement between US President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol when the met in the US capital in April. The “Washington Declaration” included a set of measures aimed at making Pyongyang think twice about launching an attack on its southern neighbor.
“Our mutual defense treaty is iron clad and that includes our commitment to extend a deterrence – and that includes the nuclear threat, the nuclear deterrent,” Biden said at the time.
The establishment of the NCG came out of that Biden-Yoon meeting.
In a joint statement on Tuesday the two allies said the NCG would enhance “combined deterrence and response posture.”
“As a result, the collective strength of our two nations will directly contribute to the continued peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and across the Indo-Pacific region,” the statement read.
“This inaugural NCG meeting afforded the United States an opportunity to reaffirm and strengthen the US commitment to provide extended deterrence to the ROK backed by the full range of US capabilities, including nuclear,” it added.
Analysts said after the “Washington Declaration” that the presence of a US Navy ballistic missile submarine in a South Korean port would be purely symbolic – and in fact would reduce the military value of the sub.
“Tactically, (the US and South Korea) are diminishing the sub’s most powerful asset; its stealthiness,” Carl Schuster, former director of operations at the US Pacific Command’s Joint Intelligence Center in Hawaii, said in April.
The Trident missiles have a range of 4,600 miles (7,400 kilometers), meaning they are capable of hitting a target in North Korea from vast swathes of the Pacific, Indian or Arctic oceans.
“Militarily, (these submarines) don’t need to be anywhere near Korea in order to reach potential targets there,” Blake Herzinger, a research fellow at the United States Studies Centre, said in April.
One of the keys to nuclear deterrence is uncertainty.
A US ballistic missile sub lurking hundreds of feet below the ocean’s surface thousands of miles from North Korea would still be within striking range of Pyongyang, but would be near impossible for North Korea to spot.
One arriving in South Korea on a port visit – which must be arranged 24 to 48 hours in advance – would be far more visible, giving North Korea an advantage, Schuster said.
“If Kim Jong Un was looking to do a surprise strike, we’ve given him the submarine’s location and time it will be there,” Schuster said.
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Millions of US military emails sent to Mali by mistake
Due to a minor typing error, millions of emails intended for the US military’s “.mil” domain have been mistakenly sent to Mali, a Russian ally, which uses the “.ml” suffix.
This issue has been ongoing for years, and it has been reported that some of the misdirected emails contained sensitive information such as passwords, medical records, and the itineraries of high-ranking officers.
The Pentagon has acknowledged the problem and has taken measures to address it. The Financial Times, which initially broke the story, stated that Dutch internet entrepreneur Johannes Zuurbier discovered the issue over a decade ago.
Since 2013, Zuurbier has been responsible for managing Mali’s country domain and has reportedly collected tens of thousands of misrouted emails in recent months.
Although none of the emails were labeled as classified, they reportedly included various sensitive materials such as medical data, maps of US military installations, financial records, official trip plans, and some diplomatic communications.
Zuurbier recently sent a letter to US officials to raise awareness of the situation. He highlighted that his contract with the Mali government is nearing its end, emphasizing the real risk and potential exploitation by adversaries of the United States.
The domain control was scheduled to be transferred to Mali’s military government on Monday. Requests for comment have been made to Mr. Zuurbier regarding the matter.
US military communications that are marked “classified” and “top secret” are transmitted through separate IT systems that make it unlikely they will be accidently compromised, according to current and former US officials.
But Steven Stransky, a lawyer who previously served as senior counsel to the Department of Homeland Security’s Intelligence Law Division, said that even seemingly harmless information could prove useful to US adversaries, particularly if it included details of individual personnel.
“Those sorts of communications would mean that a foreign actor can start building dossiers on our own military personnel, for espionage purposes, or could try to get them to disclose information in exchange for financial benefit,” Mr Stransky said. “It’s certainly information that a foreign government can use.”
Image caption,Mali has become increasingly close with Russia since a 2020 coup unseated its former government Lee McKnight, a professor of information studies at Syracuse University, said he believed the US military was fortunate that the issue was brought to its attention and the emails were going to a domain used by Mali’s government, rather than to cyber criminals.
He added that “typo-squatting” – a type of cyber-crime that targets users who incorrectly misspell an internet domain – is common. “They’re hoping that a person will make a mistake, and that they can lure you in and do stupid things,” he said.
When contacted by the BBC, a spokesperson said the defence department was aware of the issue and it was being taken seriously.
They said the department had taken steps to ensure that “.mil” emails are not sent to incorrect domains, including blocking them before they leave and notifying senders that they must validate intended recipients.
Both Mr McKnight and Mr Stransky said human errors were prime concerns for IT specialists working in government and the private sector alike.
“Human error is by far the most significant security concern on a day-to-day basis,” Mr Stransky said. “We just can’t control every single human, every single time”.
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China rejects US defense chief meeting in Singapore
In relation to a Pentagon statement, China has turned down a US proposal for Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and Li Shangfu to meet at the Shangri-La Dialogue Security Forum this week in Singapore.
China’s opposition to the meeting comes at a time when tensions between the two nations are high due to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the independent island of Taiwan in August of last year and the US’s decision to shoot down a Chinese spy balloon that flew over important US military installations in February.
In the statement, the Pentagon said China had declined an invitation extended in early May for a meeting, but said the refusal would not deter the US from seeking better lines of communication.
“The PRC’s concerning unwillingness to engage in meaningful military-to-military discussions will not diminish the Department of Defense’s commitment to seeking open lines of communication with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) at multiple levels as part of responsibly managing the relationship,” Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder in the statement.
China’s Defense Ministry on Wednesday said the country “attaches importance” to developing US-China military relations but blamed Washington for hampering communication.
“Responsibility for the current difficulties faced by the two militaries in their exchanges lies entirely with the US side,” spokesperson Tan Kefei said when asked about reports that China rejected the Singapore meeting and other exchanges with US military officials.
“The US claims that it wants to strengthen communication, but in reality it disregards China’s concerns and creates artificial obstacles, seriously undermining mutual trust between the two militaries,” he added.
In a separate statement, the Chinese Embassy in the US questioned the sincerity and significance of the invitation, pointing to US sanctions imposed on Chinese officials, institutions and companies, and saying the US should lift its “illegal unilateral sanctions” to create favorable conditions for dialogue.
The statement did not specifically call out US sanctions against Li, which were imposed in 2018 by the administration of former president Donald Trump over China’s purchase of Russian weapons, including a Su-35 combat aircraft and a S-400 surface-to-air missile system.
The US has imposed a range of sanctions on China in recent years for a variety of reasons including alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang and restrictions on political freedoms in Hong Kong.
The Wall Street Journal first reported China’s refusal to participate in a meeting between the defense chiefs.
Austin told CNN earlier this year that he had not spoken to his Chinese counterpart in “months,” and China has continued to rebuff requests for meetings and phone calls, defense officials said.
“This is far from the first time that the PRC has rejected invitations to communicate from the Secretary, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, or other Department officials,” a defense official said.
“Frankly, it’s just the latest in a litany of excuses. Since 2021, the PRC has declined or failed to respond to over a dozen requests from the Department of Defense for key leader engagements, multiple requests for standing dialogues, and nearly ten working-level engagements,” he added.
China’s Defense Ministry also refuted this characterization in its statement Wednesday, which said “in fact there has been no interruption in contacts and exchanges between the two militaries.”
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US airman, 21, charged over pentagon document leak
In a court hearing in Boston, the US airman accused of disclosing secret intelligence and defense documents was formally charged.
Jack Teixeira, 21, wore shackles and a prison uniform as he stood before a federal judge on Friday.
After a shout of “love you, Jack” from a person in the courtroom, the defendant replied “you too, dad”.
Mr Teixeira faces up to 15 years in prison over charges of unauthorised transmission of defence information.
He is also charged with the unauthorised removal and retention of classified documents.
The airman faces up to 10 years in prison for the first charge, and up to five years in prison for the second.
The dozens of leaked documents had revealed US assessments of the war in Ukraine as well as sensitive secrets about American allies.
The leaks embarrassed Washington and raised fresh questions over the security of classified information.
Mr Teixeira was arrested by armed FBI agents at his family home in Massachusetts on Thursday.
The judge ruled that the suspect qualifies for a public defender – a lawyer employed at public expense in a criminal trial for people who cannot afford legal fees.
Mr Teixeira remains in custody.
US President Joe Biden thanked law enforcement in a statement for their “rapid action” to investigate the source of the leaks. He said he has directed US military and intelligence to secure and limit distribution of any more sensitive information.
https://emp.bbc.com/emp/SMPj/2.49.2/iframe.htmlMedia caption,
Watch: How damaging are 21-year-old Jack Teixeira’s US intelligence leaks?
‘Top secret clearance’
The leaked intelligence material first appeared in a Discord chat room on which Mr Teixeira is said to have been an administrator. Its members would often discuss geopolitical affairs and wars.
The affidavit provided by FBI Special Agent Patrick Lueckenhoff to the court stated that the suspect began posting the leaked documents some time in December.
The initial leaks were in the form of paragraphs of text, according to the affidavit, but Mr Teixeira then moved on to posting photographs of documents in January.
It was not until intelligence material was posted outside the chat room group that Pentagon officials became aware of the leak, prompting a search for the culprit.
Mr Teixeira worked as an IT specialist in the intelligence wing of the Massachusetts National Guard, based at Otis Air National Guard Base in western Cape Cod.
The National Guard is a reservist wing of the US Air Force. They are not employed full-time in the military, but can be deployed when necessary.
Mr Teixeira’s official title was cyber defence operations journeyman, according to the criminal complaint filed in the Boston court. He held the rank of Airman 1st Class – a relatively junior position.
The affidavit stated that Mr Teixeira held a “top secret” security clearance since 2021, and that he would have “signed a lifetime binding non-disclosure agreement” to take on his role.
Mr Luekenoff added the suspect “would have had to acknowledge that the unauthorized disclosure of protected information could result in criminal charges”.
The affidavit also alleged that Mr Teixeira used his government computer to search classified intelligence reporting for the word “leak” on 6 April – the day when public reporting about the documents first emerged.
Prosecutors alleged that Mr Teixeira searched the term to learn whether US intelligence had information on the identity of the person behind the leaks.
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You are out of date – Kwesi Pratt teaches Randy Abbey on new US military model
The United States has started using a new model for its military outposts abroad, according to Kwesi Pratt Jr., managing editor of the Insight newspaper.
Pratt claims that the military base’s new structure differs from the previous one, which saw the US build massive complexes in allies.
The host of Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana, Dr. Randy Abbey, questioned Pratt’s assertion that the US has created a military base in Ghana, forcing him to explain the nature of US military facilities.
Kwesi Pratt elucidated that the lily-pad style of bases has become the preference for the US as it is more efficient and cost-effective.
Below is the conversation on GMG
You remember Nkrumah’s statement that Africa should be a land without bombs but we’ve messed it up completely. Now we have a US military base on your soil, where is your Non-Alliance?
Randy Abbey: Kwesi, do we really have a military base in Ghana?
Pratt: You don’t know, you didn’t read the agreement in Parliament
Randy: You mean that chochopua (insignificant) thing?
Pratt: It is not chochopua at all.
Randy: When I see US military bases, I see what I see
Pratt: You are so conservative and out of date that is why you talk like that. The new concept of military bases is called the lily pad. The lily pad is not a huge infrastructure with buildings. What we have here is on model of the lily pad. The lily pads are perhaps more effective.
What are lily pads
The lily pads according to a Huffington Post story in 2012 are “small, secretive, inaccessible facilities with limited numbers of troops, spartan amenities, and prepositioned weaponry and supplies.”
Context
Kwesi Pratt was lamenting government seeming flirtations with the United States at a time when it is discussing with China over debt cancelation.
Pratt was concerned that the posture of government with respect to its relationship with US could scupper any chance of China cancelling its death with the country.
He cited the visit of the Vice President of the US, Kamala Harris as another evidence of Ghana’s preference for the US over China.
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Russian plane spills fuel near downed US drone – Pentagon
Declassified video of the Tuesday drone crash involving a Russian fighter has been made public by the Pentagon.
A Russian military jet is seen in the footage dropping fuel near the drone as it flies overhead.
The drone’s damaged propeller is briefly visible in the intercept’s aftermath photo.
The declassified film, which lasts for roughly 40 seconds, was trimmed by the US military for length but still presents the events in chronological order, according to the Pentagon.
The US ‘Reaper’ drone is believed to have been downed somewhere off the coast of Crimea (Picture: AP) Only a small exerpt of the encounter has been released by the US, which does not show events before or afterwards.
The move was the first time an American aircraft had been brought down by a Russian warplane since the height of the Cold War, and sparked fears of an escalation between the two powers.
Russia has denied U.S. accusations that its jets acted recklessly in the incident on Tuesday over the Black Sea.
When asked this week if the incident could inflame tensions with Washington, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov insisted that Russian jets didn’t use their weapons or impact the U.S. drone.
Peskov may have been technically correct- but the recently released footage clearly shows the jets interfering with the drone.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba described the collision as a ‘routine incident.’
He said: ‘As long as Russia controls Crimea, these kinds of incidents will be inevitable and the Black Sea will not be a safe place.
‘So the only way to prevent such incidents is actually to kick Russia out of Crimea.’
Russia said on Wednesday it would try to retrieve the remains the drone but appeared to acknowledge the challenges.
Sergei Naryshkin, head of Russia’s foreign intelligence service, said his country had the technological capability to recover the drone’s fragments, which are believed to be off the west coast of Crimea.
‘I don’t know whether we will be able to retrieve it or not, but that it has to be done. And we’ll certainly work on it. I hope, of course, successfully,’ he told state TV.
However, US General Mark Milley said the United States had already taken measures to guard against a loss of sensitive intelligence if the drone were to be recovered by Russia.
‘We’re quite confident that whatever was of value is no longer of value,’ Milley said.