Category: International News

One day after the US announced it had dispatched the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier group in the contested South Chine Sea on “routine” patrols, China responded in a statement by the foreign ministry, Beijing said on Tuesday that it opposed action by other countries “under the pretext of freedom of navigation” that could “threaten and damage” its sovereignty, a clear reference to US patrols in territory that China considers its own.

Iran has removed a powerful missile from a launchpad east of Tehran within the past few days, Fox News reported, amid rising diplomatic tensions between the U.S. and Iran, as the two nations continued trading public barbs about the Islamic Republic’s missile tests.

On Friday US officials announced they had moved a Navy destroyer, the USS Cole, off the coast of Yemen to protect waterways from Houthi militia aligned with Iran, according to Reuters, citing heightened tension between Washington and Tehran.

Confirming that the US role in the Syrian conflict is likely to expand in the coming months, the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State has supplied its Syrian allies with armored vehicles for the first time, expanding support since U.S. President Donald Trump came to office.

On Wednesday morning Beijing sent a group of Chinese warships led by China’s sole aircraft carrier north through the Taiwan Strait, resulting in Taiwan scrambling jets and navy ships in the latest sign of heightened tensions between China and the self-ruled Taiwan.