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Israel Says US Should Helm Mideast Build-up against Iran

Israeli Minister of Defense Benny Gantz takes his seat during a session of the Knesset, Israel's parliament, ahead of an expected vote on the legal status of Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank, in Jerusalem, Monday, June 6, 2022. (AP)
Israeli Minister of Defense Benny Gantz takes his seat during a session of the Knesset, Israel's parliament, ahead of an expected vote on the legal status of Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank, in Jerusalem, Monday, June 6, 2022. (AP)
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Israel Says US Should Helm Mideast Build-up against Iran

Israeli Minister of Defense Benny Gantz takes his seat during a session of the Knesset, Israel's parliament, ahead of an expected vote on the legal status of Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank, in Jerusalem, Monday, June 6, 2022. (AP)
Israeli Minister of Defense Benny Gantz takes his seat during a session of the Knesset, Israel's parliament, ahead of an expected vote on the legal status of Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank, in Jerusalem, Monday, June 6, 2022. (AP)

Israel and Arab countries that share its worries about Iran should build up their military capabilities under Washington's aegis, the Israeli defense minister said on Tuesday ahead of a visit to the region by US President Joe Biden.

Biden's July 13-16 tour will include Israel, the Palestinian territories and Saudi Arabia, a US official said. Biden will attend a summit with the leaders of Gulf states, Egypt, Jordan and Iraq.

Iran nuclear program, and so-far fruitless international negotiations to revive a 2015 deal capping it, are among issues likely to be on the agenda.

In a speech, Defense Minister Benny Gantz cited Israel's security ties with Gulf Arab states that drew closer to it under a 2020 US-sponsored diplomatic drive, as well as Egypt and Jordan, and said there were efforts to expand such cooperation.

"In the face of Iranian belligerence ... what is needed is not just cooperation, but also a regional force build-up, with American leadership, which would strengthen all parties involved," he said, according to an official transcript.

"On this, we are working continually, for the sake of the security of Israel's citizens," Gantz said.

Speaking at an event on Tuesday evening, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Israel "will not hesitate to activate its power anywhere in the world to protect its citizens", alluding to a travel advisory to Istanbul because of what Israel said was a threat of Iranian attempts to kill or abduct vacationing Israelis.

"Israel's security arms are doing everything to thwart such attacks, and to preemptively neutralize those dispatching the terrorists, and the dispatchers’ dispatchers too," Bennett said.

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World

Floods Strand People on Roofs as Typhoon Pounds Philippines

A motorist drives past a fallen electric post and trees on a highway in the aftermath of Typhoon Kalmaegi in Mayorga, Leyte province. AFP
A motorist drives past a fallen electric post and trees on a highway in the aftermath of Typhoon Kalmaegi in Mayorga, Leyte province. AFP
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Floods Strand People on Roofs as Typhoon Pounds Philippines

A motorist drives past a fallen electric post and trees on a highway in the aftermath of Typhoon Kalmaegi in Mayorga, Leyte province. AFP
A motorist drives past a fallen electric post and trees on a highway in the aftermath of Typhoon Kalmaegi in Mayorga, Leyte province. AFP

Residents sought refuge on rooftops and cars floated through flooded streets on Tuesday as Typhoon Kalmaegi battered the central Philippines, leaving at least two people dead.

Hundreds of thousands have been displaced by the powerful storm, which made landfall shortly before midnight, said AFP.

As of 8:00 am (0000 GMT), the typhoon was moving westwards across the islands of Cebu and Negros, with winds of 150 kilometers (93 miles) per hour and gusts of 185 kph toppling trees and downing power lines.

"People marooned on rooftops are asking to be rescued," Cebu information officer Rhon Ramos told AFP by phone, adding that even some evacuation centers had been flooded.

Don del Rosario, 28, was among those in Cebu City who sought refuge on an upper floor as the storm raged.

"The water rose so fast. From what I've been told, the flooding started around 3:00 am. By 4:00 am, it was already uncontrollable -- people couldn't get out (of their houses)," he said.

"I've been here for 28 years, and this is by far the worst we've experienced."

Hundreds still living in tent cities after a 6.9-magnitude quake rocked the island in late September were also "forcibly evacuated for their own safety", Ramos said.

Rafaelito Alejandro, deputy administrator at the Office of Civil Defense, told local radio that 387,000 people had been moved from the typhoon's path, while one man was killed by a falling tree in Bohol province.

Disaster official Danilo Atienza said an elderly person had also died by drowning in southern Leyte province.

"The senior citizen was trapped on an upper floor... and unable to get assistance," he told radio outlet DZMM.

The Philippines is hit by an average of 20 storms and typhoons each year, routinely striking disaster-prone areas where millions live in poverty.

With Kalmaegi, the archipelagic country has already reached that average, state weather service specialist Charmagne Varilla told AFP on Monday, adding at least "three to five more" storms could be expected by December's end.

Scientists warn that storms are becoming more frequent and more powerful due to human-driven climate change.

Praying in the dark

In Dinagat Islands province, where Kalmaegi first made landfall, 34-year-old Miriam Vargas sat with her children in the dark on Monday night, praying as the winds slammed against the walls of her home.

"There is strong rain and winds starting. We're sitting on the stairs and praying while trying to gauge the typhoon's strength," the single mother told AFP.

"The wind is whistling and there are sounds of things falling. The electricity went out about an hour ago, and we cannot see anything."

On nearby Leyte Island, disaster official Roel Montesa said evacuations were "ongoing in Palo and Tanauan" on Monday, naming two of the towns hardest hit by storm surges in 2013, when Super Typhoon Haiyan killed more than 6,000 people there.

The Philippines was hit by two major storms in September, including Super Typhoon Ragasa, which toppled trees and tore the roofs off buildings on its way to killing 14 people in nearby Taiwan.

The weather service's Varilla said that higher numbers of cyclones typically accompany La Nina, a naturally occurring climate pattern that cools surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean.

World

Hegseth Says US-South Korea Alliance Focused on North Korea but ‘Flexibility’ Needed 

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (L) listens as South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back (R) speaks during a joint press conference following the 57th Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) at the Defense Ministry in Seoul on November 4, 2025. (AFP)
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (L) listens as South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back (R) speaks during a joint press conference following the 57th Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) at the Defense Ministry in Seoul on November 4, 2025. (AFP)
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Hegseth Says US-South Korea Alliance Focused on North Korea but ‘Flexibility’ Needed 

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (L) listens as South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back (R) speaks during a joint press conference following the 57th Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) at the Defense Ministry in Seoul on November 4, 2025. (AFP)
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (L) listens as South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back (R) speaks during a joint press conference following the 57th Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) at the Defense Ministry in Seoul on November 4, 2025. (AFP)

The United States will look at "flexibility" for US troops stationed in South Korea to operate against regional threats, but the core of the alliance with Seoul will remain focused on deterring North Korea, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday.

He spoke alongside his South Korean counterpart during a visit to South Korea that earlier included a trip to the Demilitarized Zone on the border with North Korea.

When asked whether the 28,500 US troops stationed in South Korea might be used in any conflicts beyond the peninsula, including with China, Hegseth told a briefing that protecting against nuclear-armed North Korea is the goal of the alliance.

"But there's no doubt that flexibility for regional contingency is something we would take a look at," he said.

Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back accompanied Hegseth to the DMZ on Monday and observed combined military displays.

US officials have signaled a plan to make US forces more flexible to potentially operate outside the Korean peninsula in response to a broader range of threats, such as defending Taiwan and checking China's growing military reach.

South Korea has resisted the idea of shifting the role of US troops, but has worked to grow its defense capabilities in the past 20 years, with the goal of being able to take on a wartime command of the combined US-South Korean forces. South Korea has 450,000 troops.

Hegseth said the two sides were still working on a joint communique expected to address talks about defense costs and other issues, adding they had discussed South Korea making greater military investments.

The allies had also agreed to have South Korea maintain and repair US ships, allowing them to stay in the area and be ready if needed, he said.

US President Donald Trump's decision to support South Korea's plans to build nuclear-powered submarines was driven by his desire to have strong allies, Hegseth said.

"He wants our allies to have the best capabilities," the US defense secretary said. "And because Korea has been a model ally, he's open to opportunities like that, that ensure they have the best capabilities in their own defense and alongside us as allies."

Hegseth said he could not comment on details of exactly what Trump approved.

South Korean officials have said they could launch a nuclear-powered submarine by the mid-2030s if provided with fuel from the United States.

When asked about concerns that South Korea could pursue its own nuclear bombs, Ahn noted it was a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

"Therefore, there will be no development of nuclear weapons in the Republic of Korea," he said.

World

Assailants Attack Tanker off Somalia in Suspected Pirate Strike

Armed assailants attacked a commercial tanker off the coast of Mogadishu on Monday. (Reuters)
Armed assailants attacked a commercial tanker off the coast of Mogadishu on Monday. (Reuters)
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Assailants Attack Tanker off Somalia in Suspected Pirate Strike

Armed assailants attacked a commercial tanker off the coast of Mogadishu on Monday. (Reuters)
Armed assailants attacked a commercial tanker off the coast of Mogadishu on Monday. (Reuters)

Armed assailants attacked a commercial tanker off the coast of Mogadishu on Monday, firing at the vessel after attempting to board the ship in the first suspected Somali piracy incident of its kind since 2024, maritime sources said.

If confirmed, this would be the first Somali piracy attack against a merchant ship since May 2024, raising risks for critical energy and goods transported through the region, maritime sources said.

The vessel was sailing some 332 nautical miles (615 km) off the Somali coast when four armed attackers approached in a skiff from the starboard side and opened fire, British maritime risk management group Vanguard said in a note.

"The crew raised the alarm, increased speed, and conducted evasive maneuvers. The embarked armed security team onboard responded effectively, deterring the attack and preventing any damage or injury."

Vanguard and a maritime security source said the vessel targeted was the Cayman Islands-flagged chemical tanker Stolt Sagaland.

The vessel's operator Stolt-Nielsen confirmed there was an attempted attack on the Stolt Sagaland, early on November 3, which was unsuccessful, reported Reuters.

"Our crew are all safe, having responded swiftly and professionally to the incident," the company said.

The European Union's naval mission said it was investigating the incident. The naval force said on October 28 it had received an alert about the possible presence of a pirate action group around the Somali coast.

"Ships required to transit the area are advised to (exercise) extreme caution, maintain full vigilance," the EU's force said.

Sailings through the Red Sea, which leads into the Gulf of Aden, have slumped since Yemen's Iran-affiliated Houthi militia first launched attacks on commercial ships in November 2023 in solidarity with Palestinians over Israel's war in Gaza.

While the Houthis have agreed to a truce on targeting US linked shipping, many shipping companies remain wary of resuming voyages through those waters.