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US Aircraft Carrier Heads West from S.China Sea amid Mideast Tensions

An Israeli fuel tanker aircraft is seen flying over the city of Tel Aviv, Israel, 16 June 2025. EPA/ATEF SAFADI
An Israeli fuel tanker aircraft is seen flying over the city of Tel Aviv, Israel, 16 June 2025. EPA/ATEF SAFADI
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US Aircraft Carrier Heads West from S.China Sea amid Mideast Tensions

An Israeli fuel tanker aircraft is seen flying over the city of Tel Aviv, Israel, 16 June 2025. EPA/ATEF SAFADI
An Israeli fuel tanker aircraft is seen flying over the city of Tel Aviv, Israel, 16 June 2025. EPA/ATEF SAFADI

US aircraft carrier USS Nimitz left the South China Sea on Monday morning heading west, according to data from ship tracking website Marine Traffic, after a reception for its planned port call in central Vietnam was cancelled.

The carrier had planned to visit Danang City later this week, but two sources, including one diplomat, said a formal reception slated for June 20 had been called off.

One of the sources said the US Embassy in Hanoi had informed him about the cancellation, due to "an emergent operational requirement.”

The embassy didn't immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The Nimitz Carrier Strike Group conducted maritime security operations in the South China Sea last week, as "part of the US Navy's routine presence in the Indo-Pacific," according to the website of the Commander of the US Pacific Fleet.

Data from Marine Traffic showed the carrier on Monday morning was moving west in the direction of the Middle East, where the battle between Israel and Iran is escalating.

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World

Spain Rules Out Participating in Military Operations in Strait of Hormuz

FILE PHOTO: An LPG gas tanker at anchor as traffic is down in the Strait of Hormuz, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Shinas, Oman, March 11, 2026. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: An LPG gas tanker at anchor as traffic is down in the Strait of Hormuz, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Shinas, Oman, March 11, 2026. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo
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Spain Rules Out Participating in Military Operations in Strait of Hormuz

FILE PHOTO: An LPG gas tanker at anchor as traffic is down in the Strait of Hormuz, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Shinas, Oman, March 11, 2026. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: An LPG gas tanker at anchor as traffic is down in the Strait of Hormuz, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Shinas, Oman, March 11, 2026. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo

Spain will not take part in any military mission in the Strait of Hormuz because it considers the US-Israeli war on Iran to be illegal, Madrid's defense and foreign affairs ministers said on Monday. The leftist coalition government led by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has criticized the offensive and banned participating US aircraft from using jointly operated bases in southern Spain.

Defense Minister Margarita Robles rejected a demand by US President Donald Trump for military support to secure the waterway - which Tehran has de facto blocked to oil tanker traffic - and his threats of a "very bad future" for NATO allies failing to do so.

"Spain will never accept any stopgap measures, because the objective must be for the war to end, and for it to end now," Robles said.

The situation in the strait is a matter of grave concern for Europeans, but the European Union's position should be that the war must end regardless of economic considerations, Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said, Reuters reported.

"We mustn't do anything that would add even more tension or cause the situation to escalate further," he told reporters in Brussels.

Some EU members such as Germany, Italy or Greece have also signalled they will not join military operations in the strait, while others including Denmark have yet to make a decision.

 

 

 

World

UK PM Starmer Says Work to Reopen Strait of Hormuz Will Not Be NATO-led

13 March 2026, Ireland, Cork: UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer meets student researchers at the Tyndall National Institute in Cork. Photo: Cathal Mcnaughton/PA Wire/dpa
13 March 2026, Ireland, Cork: UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer meets student researchers at the Tyndall National Institute in Cork. Photo: Cathal Mcnaughton/PA Wire/dpa
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UK PM Starmer Says Work to Reopen Strait of Hormuz Will Not Be NATO-led

13 March 2026, Ireland, Cork: UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer meets student researchers at the Tyndall National Institute in Cork. Photo: Cathal Mcnaughton/PA Wire/dpa
13 March 2026, Ireland, Cork: UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer meets student researchers at the Tyndall National Institute in Cork. Photo: Cathal Mcnaughton/PA Wire/dpa

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Monday that ongoing work to reopen the Strait of Hormuz would not be a NATO mission but would involve a broad alliance ‌including Gulf ‌partners as well ‌as ⁠European countries and the ⁠United States.

"We are working with others to come up with a credible plan for the Straits ⁠of Hormuz to ‌ensure ‌that we can reopen shipping and ‌passage through the ‌Strait. Let me be clear, that won't be and it's never been envisioned ‌to be a NATO mission," Starmer told reporters.

"That ⁠will ⁠have to be an alliance of partners, which is why we're working with partners, both in Europe, in the Gulf, and with the US."

World

Kremlin Dismisses FT Report that Ukraine Peace Process is Fizzling Out

People gather on a bridge in front of the Kremlin during sunset on a warm and sunny day in Moscow, Russia, 13 March 2026. EPA/SERGEI ILNITSKY
People gather on a bridge in front of the Kremlin during sunset on a warm and sunny day in Moscow, Russia, 13 March 2026. EPA/SERGEI ILNITSKY
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Kremlin Dismisses FT Report that Ukraine Peace Process is Fizzling Out

People gather on a bridge in front of the Kremlin during sunset on a warm and sunny day in Moscow, Russia, 13 March 2026. EPA/SERGEI ILNITSKY
People gather on a bridge in front of the Kremlin during sunset on a warm and sunny day in Moscow, Russia, 13 March 2026. EPA/SERGEI ILNITSKY

The Kremlin on Monday dismissed a report by the Financial Times which suggested that the Ukraine peace process was fizzling out because US President Donald Trump's attention was now on Iran and he was losing interest in Ukraine as a result.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia had noted such media reports, but had reached ⁠a different conclusion ⁠about Trump's attitude towards Ukraine peace talks.

"President Trump's frequent references to Ukraine in his recent statements suggest the opposite," Peskov told reporters, according to Reuters.

"Judging by his statements, President Trump has ⁠lost no interest whatsoever. Furthermore, he is strongly urging (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelenskiy to strike a deal."

Trump expressed frustration with Zelenskiy in an interview with Politico earlier this month, saying the Ukrainian president "has to get on the ball, and he has to get a deal done."

Trump also rejected Zelenskiy's offer ⁠to ⁠help the US with downing drones over the Gulf states, telling NBC's Meet the Press that the "last person we need help from is Zelenskiy."

Peskov said Russia was still interested in continuing talks to end the war, but that a venue and date for the next round of negotiations remained unclear.