U.S. pulls all B-1 bombers out of Britain amid security concerns; North Korea claims missile can evade South Korea, Japan missile defenses; and U.S. Marine accused of murder in Okinawa.
1. The U.S. military on Sunday pulled a dozen B-1 bombers out of Britain amid security concerns as new warnings point to other potential threats to American bases in Germany and elsewhere in Europe. All U.S. bombers deployed to RAF Fairford returned to their home stations in the United States on Sunday, U.S. European Command confirmed Monday. Operational security “precluded us from initially confirming the movement of our assets and forces in real-time,” EUCOM said. The command did not elaborate on what prompted the sudden redeployment, but The New York Times on Sunday reported that the security situation was deemed so urgent that some of the planes departed while aerial refueling aircraft still were being scrambled to support their return to the United States.
2. North Korea said Saturday it test-fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile that it claimed has maneuverable flight capabilities designed to evade missile defenses in South Korea and Japan. The latest test comes amid heightened tensions between the two Koreas over border land mine blasts. Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said her brother supervised the test of the missile, which she described as strategic, implying it was designed to deliver nuclear weapons. She also said it could change its flight trajectory at low altitudes and was equipped with unspecified artificial intelligence capabilities that she claimed would make it highly difficult to intercept. Japan’s military said the missile landed in waters outside its exclusive economic zone. The South Korean military, which often accuses North Korea of exaggerating its military capabilities, did not immediately comment on Kim’s claims.
3. Japanese police arrested a U.S. Marine accused of robbing and killing a woman on Okinawa, officials said Sunday, in the latest criminal case involving U.S. military personnel on the southern island where the heavy American troop presence is a sensitive issue. The Okinawa prefectural police said they arrested a 20-year-old Marine stationed at the Futenma Air Station on suspicion of killing a 39-year-old local woman at a hotel in Naha, Okinawa’s capital city, and taking her wallet and backpack early Saturday. Kyodo News agency, citing the police, reported the woman’s body was found in her hotel room and she appeared to have been strangled. Police said security camera footage showed a man believed to be the suspect entering the hotel with the woman and leaving alone. An officer arrested the suspect after spotting him walking alone on a street in Okinawa City’s entertainment district late Saturday, Kyodo said.
4. Ukraine said that its long-range strikes have neutralized more than half of Russia’s oil refining capacity, hampering Moscow’s ability to supply its forces during its 4 1/2-year-old invasion. The Defense Ministry said Sunday that recent strikes on refineries in cities including Moscow, Yaroslavl, Ust-Luga, Perm, Saratov and Syzran had put 51% of Russia’s oil refining capacity out of action. The claim could not be independently verified. Both Moscow and Kyiv have intensified their aerial assaults as progress along the 1,200-kilometer (750-mile) front line has largely ground to a halt. Ukrainian forces have repeatedly attacked refineries from Moscow to Siberia, sparking a widespread fuel crisis in Russia earlier this year that forced authorities to restrict gasoline sales. Russian officials have not publicly revealed any data on damage caused to the country’s oil infrastructure. However, President Vladimir Putin said in a rare admission Thursday that the strikes had caused Russia to lose roughly 1% of its gross domestic product.
5. Forces of Yemen’s internationally recognized government began a major offensive Monday against the Iranian-backed Houthis rebels on the country’s Red Sea coast, under an intensified air campaign by the Saudi-led coalition. The offensive came just after the rebels said they had captured more territory in the southwestern part of Yemen, taking a key town in a blow to the Saudi-backed forces as they advanced toward a strategic provincial capital in the region. The Saudi-led coalition spokesman, Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki, said 100 fighter jets were providing support to the forces of Yemen’s internationally recognized government fighting against the Houthis. He said the coalition has secured “air protection” of the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait and destroyed hundreds of Houthi targets as part of the ongoing campaign. The campaign and its details could not be immediately independently verified.
- Security