Missiles fired at U.S. warship in Gulf of Aden; U.S., Japan & South Korea train after North Korea scraps military agreement; Israel & Hamas appear open to extending cease-fire.
1. Two ballistic missiles were fired from Houthi rebel-controlled Yemen toward a US warship in the Gulf of Aden, after the US Navy responded to a distress call from a commercial tanker that had been seized by armed individuals, the US military said Sunday. The tanker, identified as the Central Park, had been carrying a cargo of phosphoric acid when its crew called for help that “they were under attack from an unknown entity,” the US Central Command said in a statement.
2. Warships from the United States, South Korea and Japan trained near the Korean Peninsula over the weekend to better prepare for North Korean provocations, according to the South’s military. The one-day exercise came four days after Pyongyang scrapped the Comprehensive Military Agreement, which has eased tensions at the border since 2018.
3. Israel and Hamas appeared open to extending a cease-fire in Gaza that has halted their deadliest and most destructive war but is set to expire after today, with a fourth exchange of militant-held hostages for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel planned for later in the day. Israel has said it would extend the cease-fire by one day for every 10 additional hostages released. Hamas has also said it hopes to extend the four-day truce, which came into effect Friday after several weeks of indirect negotiations mediated by the United States, Qatar and Egypt.
4. Beijing claims the United States is pursuing a “hegemony” in the South China Sea after a Navy guided-missile destroyer steamed near a chain of islands there to dispute what it views as unlawful restrictions. The Hawaii-based USS Hopper sailed near the Paracel Islands to assert “navigational rights and freedoms,” the U.S. 7th Fleet announced Sunday in a news release. China responded by calling the U.S. a “security risk creator” and said the operation was “ironclad evidence that it is pursuing ‘navigational hegemony’ and “militarization of the South China Sea,” Chinese air force Col. Tian Junli, Southern Theater Command spokesman, said in a news release.
5. Military scientists have identified the remains of an Indiana soldier who died in World War II when the tank he was commanding was struck by an anti-tank round during a battle in Germany. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced that the remains of U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Gene F. Walker of Richmond, Indiana, were identified in July, nearly 79 years after his death. Walker was 27 and commanded an M4 Sherman tank in November 1944 when his unit battled German forces near Hücheln, Germany, and his tank was struck by an anti-tank round.
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