The move comes amid protracted tensions between Washington and Tehran
US deploys nuclear sub to Middle East
The US Navy has broken with its regular protocol in announcing the deployment to the Middle East of a nuclear submarine capable of launching 154 Tomahawk missiles. The show-of-force move comes amid ongoing tensions with Iran.
“[The submarine] is capable of carrying up to 154 Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles and is deployed to US 5th Fleet to help ensure regional maritime security and stability,” said Cmdr. Timothy Hawkins, a spokesman for the 5th Fleet based in Bahrain, on Saturday.
Hawkins added that that submarine had passed through the Suez Canal on Friday on its route to an undisclosed location in the Middle East. He declined to comment on the specifics of the submarine’s mission or what had led to its deployment.
The US Navy rarely discloses information about the locations or deployments of its submarines. Its 5th Fleet operates in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Arabian Sea and some parts of the Indian Ocean. The Strait of Hormuz, a narrow passageway through which around 20% of all oil is transported, is also under the fleet’s remit.
Iran blamed for 'kamikaze' drone attack in Gulf of Oman
Read more Iran blamed for 'kamikaze' drone attack in Gulf of Oman
The US and UK, and others, have accused Iran in recent years of attacks on commercial oil tankers, including the 2019 assaults on Norwegian and Japanese vessels, which forced both crews to abandon ship. Tehran has vigorously denied the allegations.
The US has also accused Iran of “dangerous and harassing approaches” towards its navy in recent years in the Persian Gulf. Tensions between the two were renewed last month after the US launched missile attacks on Iran-backed forces in Syria. This was in retaliation for the killing of a US contractor in a rocket attack in the northeast of the country. Seven other Americans were injured in the attack.......more below
Nvidia would be barred from shipping advanced artificial intelligence chips to China under bipartisan legislation unveiled Thursday, Bloomberg reported. A Chinese expert said the move is shortsighted, noting that tightening restrictions despite domestic industry opposition will only accelerate China’s tech innovation and further diminish Nvidia’s chances of reentering the Chinese market.
Known as the Secure and Feasible Exports Act, the bill would order the US Commerce Department to halt export licenses for sales of chips to adversaries, including China and Russia for at least 30 months. Any processors more powerful than those already approved for export to those nations would be subject to the measure, the Bloomberg report said.
The legislation comes as the White House weighs whether to allow Nvidia to export the....more below
A high-ranking ICC official, Nicolas Herrera, secretly financed the sanctioned UPC armed group in the Central African Republic, according to court materials obtained by Sputnik.
Nicolas Herrera, a high-ranking official in the Registry Office of the International Criminal Court (ICC), secretly recruited and financed the Union for Peace (UPC) in the Central African Republic (CAR) armed group, led by local warlord Ali Darassa, to capture ICC target Joseph Kony, by using US-based NGO employee Joseph Martin Figueira as a covert intermediary, thereby violating the ICC’s financial accountability standards by funding an armed group, according to a Sputnik correspondent's analysis of public court records.
The conviction of Joseph Martin Figueira, a Belgian-Portuguese anthropologist found guilty of espionage and collaborating with militants in the Central African Republic (CAR) in November, has uncovered a complex financial trail linking ICC staff to the country’s armed militants, evidence ...
Hundreds of retired Israeli police officers have urged the regime’s president, Isaac Herzog, to reject Benjamin Netanyahu’s request for a pardon in corruption cases.
On November 30, Netanyahu, who faces charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of public trust in three separate cases, submitted a formal pardon request to the office of Herzog, claiming the long-running corruption cases were tearing the regime apart.
In a letter to Herzog, about 400 former officers, including ex-commissioners and deputy commissioners, said Netanyahu’s request contains “not even a hint of admission of guilt,” making it unacceptable.
They warned that “such a step without [Netanyahu’s] confession and remorse is liable to ignite severe violence in Israeli society.”.....more below
