Chinese aircraft carrier enters Japan’s easternmost economic zone, Russia reportedly launches biggest overnight drone bombardment on Ukraine, explosion at U.S. military base in Okinawa injures 4 Japanese soldiers.
1. A Chinese aircraft carrier entered Japan’s easternmost exclusive economic zone for the first time over the weekend, a move likely to raise tensions in a region already on edge amid growing maritime competition. Japan’s Joint Staff announced Sunday that the Liaoning, China’s first aircraft carrier, was observed roughly 185 miles southwest of Minamitorishima, a remote coral atoll considered Japan’s easternmost territory. The carrier was accompanied by two guided-missile cruisers and a fast combat support ship, according to the Joint Staff press release. The vessels were first spotted around 6 p.m. Saturday.
2. Russia launched 479 drones at Ukraine in the war ’s biggest overnight drone bombardment, the Ukrainian air force said Monday. Apart from drones, 20 missiles of various types were fired at different parts of Ukraine, according to the air force, which said the barrage targeted mainly central and western areas of Ukraine. Ukraine’s air defenses destroyed 277 drones and 19 missiles in mid-flight, an air force statement said, claiming that only 10 drones or missiles hit their target. It was not possible to independently verify the claim.
3. An explosion at a storage site for unexploded ordnances at a U.S. military base on Japan’s southern island of Okinawa injured four Japanese soldiers, though the injuries are not life threatening, officials said Monday. The four soldiers sustained finger injuries while working at a facility that belongs to Okinawa prefecture and temporarily stores unexploded ordnance, mostly from wartime and found on the island, local officials said. One of the harshest battles of World War II was fought on Okinawa. Prefectural officials said the injuries were not life threatening, but no other details were immediately known.
4. Israeli forces seized a Gaza-bound aid boat and detained Greta Thunberg and other activists who were on board early Monday, enforcing a longstanding blockade of the Palestinian territory that has been tightened during the war with Hamas. The activists had set out to protest Israel’s ongoing military campaign in the Gaza Strip, which is among the deadliest and most destructive since World War II, and its restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid, both of which have put the territory of some 2 million Palestinians at risk of famine. The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which had organized the voyage, said the activists were “kidnapped by Israeli forces” while trying to deliver desperately needed aid to the territory.
5. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will appear before Congress this week for the first time since his tumultuous confirmation to discuss the fiscal 2026 military budget, even though the full White House request for his department has yet to be released. Hegseth is scheduled to appear before both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees on Tuesday and before the House Armed Services Committee on Thursday. All three hearings are intended to be focused on funding issues for the next fiscal year.
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