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USS Ford Returns Home After 11-Month Deployment Supporting the Iran War and Maduro’s Capture

Aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford arrives at Naval Station Norfolk on May 16, 2026 in Norfolk, Virginia. (Getty Images/AFP)
Aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford arrives at Naval Station Norfolk on May 16, 2026 in Norfolk, Virginia. (Getty Images/AFP)
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USS Ford Returns Home After 11-Month Deployment Supporting the Iran War and Maduro’s Capture

Aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford arrives at Naval Station Norfolk on May 16, 2026 in Norfolk, Virginia. (Getty Images/AFP)
Aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford arrives at Naval Station Norfolk on May 16, 2026 in Norfolk, Virginia. (Getty Images/AFP)

The USS Gerald R. Ford, the world largest aircraft carrier, returned home to Virginia on Saturday after an 11-month deployment, the longest since the Vietnam War, that saw it support the US war with Iran and the capture of Nicolás Maduro when he was Venezuela's president.

The most advanced US warship and two accompanying destroyers docked at Naval Station Norfolk with about 5,000 sailors waiting to see their families for the first time since June.

Besides combat operations and traversing continents, the sailors aboard the carrier faced a noncombat-related fire that left hundreds without places to sleep and forced lengthy repairs on the Greek island of Crete.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was on hand for the arrival of the warships, which included the destroyer USS Bainbridge.

Hegseth commended the crew of the Bainbridge for a “job well done.”

“You didn't just accomplish a mission, you made history,” Hegseth said on the destroyer's deck. “You made a nation proud.”

The Ford’s 326 days at sea are the most for an aircraft carrier in the past 50 years and broke the record for the longest post-Vietnam War deployment, according to US Naval Institute News, a news outlet run by the US Naval Institute, a nonprofit organization. The only longer deployments were the 1973 deployment of USS Midway at 332 days and the 1965 deployment of USS Coral Sea at 329 days.

The Ford's long time at sea has raised questions about the impact on service members who are away from home for long periods, as well as about increasing strain on the ship and its equipment beyond the fire, which started in one of the carrier's laundry spaces.

When the Ford first left Virginia's coast in June, it headed to the Mediterranean Sea. It was then rerouted to the Caribbean Sea in October as part of the largest naval buildup in the region in generations.

The carrier took part in the military operation in January to capture Maduro. Then it would see more battle, heading toward the Middle East as tensions with Iran escalated. The Ford participated in the opening days of the Iran war from the Mediterranean Sea before going through the Suez Canal and heading into the Red Sea in early March.

Technically, the crew of the USS Nimitz was on duty and away from home for a total of 341 days in 2020 and 2021. However, that included extended isolation periods ashore in the US meant to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

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World

WHO: No Signs of Further Russian Infections after Plague Lab Worker Dies

A woman leaves the grounds of the headquarters of Russia's consumer and health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor in Moscow on October 5, 2026. (Photo by Igor IVANKO / AFP)
A woman leaves the grounds of the headquarters of Russia's consumer and health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor in Moscow on October 5, 2026. (Photo by Igor IVANKO / AFP)
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WHO: No Signs of Further Russian Infections after Plague Lab Worker Dies

A woman leaves the grounds of the headquarters of Russia's consumer and health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor in Moscow on October 5, 2026. (Photo by Igor IVANKO / AFP)
A woman leaves the grounds of the headquarters of Russia's consumer and health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor in Moscow on October 5, 2026. (Photo by Igor IVANKO / AFP)

The World Health Organization said on Tuesday that Russian authorities have identified all of the people in contact with a laboratory worker at a ⁠plague research institute in ⁠Siberia who died of unknown causes.

"All of the patients' contacts ⁠have been reportedly identified and are being monitored for illness, and none to date have shown symptoms of illness," said WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier.

He said ⁠Russian ⁠authorities, who have yet to officially respond to a WHO request for information, are investigating whether pneumonic plague caused her death in Siberia's Irkutsk region.

He deemed the public health risk in Russia to be low.

"The WHO initial risk assessment from the information available estimates the risk to be moderate to low for Irkutsk, a low risk for the Russian Federation as a whole, and very low for the WHO European region," Lindmeier told a press briefing.

Russia's consumer and health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor insisted Tuesday that a document circulating online indicating heightened sanitary-epidemiological measures and restrictions in the Irkutsk region was fake.

"We wish to clarify that the document and information in question do not originate from official sources and are untrue," it said on Telegram.

"No such decisions have been made at this time," it said, stressing that "the sanitary-epidemiological situation in the Irkutsk Region ... remains stable.”

World

Tens of Thousands Expected in Paris for High School Protests

The unrest has erupted with just months to go before the 2027 election to choose a successor to centrist President Emmanuel Macron. Jean-Christophe VERHAEGEN / AFP
The unrest has erupted with just months to go before the 2027 election to choose a successor to centrist President Emmanuel Macron. Jean-Christophe VERHAEGEN / AFP
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Tens of Thousands Expected in Paris for High School Protests

The unrest has erupted with just months to go before the 2027 election to choose a successor to centrist President Emmanuel Macron. Jean-Christophe VERHAEGEN / AFP
The unrest has erupted with just months to go before the 2027 election to choose a successor to centrist President Emmanuel Macron. Jean-Christophe VERHAEGEN / AFP

Tens of thousands of demonstrators are expected on the streets of Paris on Tuesday as France's powerful trade unions join high school students rallying for better conditions in a wave of protests marked by clashes with police.

Students have blocked the entrances to hundreds of high schools for 15 to 17-year-olds since late September, complaining of missing teachers, overloaded timetables, dilapidated classrooms and buildings that cannot cope with rising temperatures.

While many protests have been peaceful, some demonstrators have lit dustbin fires, destroyed bus shelters or clashed with riot police, who have responded with batons, tear gas and riot-control rounds, AFP said.

The government says 215 students and 715 police officers have been injured since the start of the movement, with a 15-year-old losing a hand on Monday after, according to a police union source, he picked up a sting-ball grenade fired by riot officers.

The unrest has erupted with just months to go before the 2027 election to choose a successor to centrist President Emmanuel Macron after his maximum two terms in office.

More protests are expected across the country on Tuesday after teaching was disrupted at 589 of the country's 3,700 lycees and 32 universities, according to the education ministry and a student union.

Authorities are expecting some 20,000 to 40,000 demonstrators in Paris.

Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu's office has called for "peaceful" gatherings, calling for a return to "a structured, legal and democratic form of opposition".

The head of the CGT labor union Sophie Binet has said its members would be there to "protect high-school students".

- 'Disproportionate police repression' -

Several unions and rights groups have accused the police of using disproportionate force against the protesters.

Amnesty International late Monday said the French authorities should "put an end to the disproportionate police repression seen in recent days during student protests".

"The images and testimonies widely circulated over the past week raise alarming concerns about the dangerous use of tear gas, batons and policing techniques by the police," Amnesty's Anne Savinel-Barras said.

The police have launched 10 internal investigations into allegations of brutality since the protests started, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said late Monday.

The government has sought to address the grievances, while accusing the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) party of being behind the movement.

Veteran LFI presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon has strongly supported the protests, while calling for non-violent methods.

Since the start of the movement, 24 schools have been burned or ransacked, according to the education ministry.

More than 5,000 people, 87 percent of them minors, have been arrested.

Lecornu's office said 85 teaching staff have also been injured.

The prime minister has sought to address the issue of missing teachers and renovating buildings that are dilapidated.

The government is also pushing legislation to make those responsible for damaging public property pay for repairs themselves, instead of using public funds.

Lecornu has said the draft law could allow compensation payments to be recovered from family allowances and housing benefits while ensuring a minimum income.

Union leader Binet has said it would "end up targeting the most vulnerable families".

World

Australia's Opposition Vows 'Largest Cut to Immigration' in Country's History

Net overseas migration -– the net gain or loss to the population through movement to and from Australia -– stood at 292,100 in the year to March, data showed last month. DAVID GRAY / AFP/File
Net overseas migration -– the net gain or loss to the population through movement to and from Australia -– stood at 292,100 in the year to March, data showed last month. DAVID GRAY / AFP/File
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Australia's Opposition Vows 'Largest Cut to Immigration' in Country's History

Net overseas migration -– the net gain or loss to the population through movement to and from Australia -– stood at 292,100 in the year to March, data showed last month. DAVID GRAY / AFP/File
Net overseas migration -– the net gain or loss to the population through movement to and from Australia -– stood at 292,100 in the year to March, data showed last month. DAVID GRAY / AFP/File

Australia's conservative opposition vowed on Tuesday to implement the "largest cut to immigration" in the country's history if it takes power.

The Liberal-National party alliance has governed Australia for much of the postwar period but has slumped into third place in the opinion polls under pressure from the insurgent far-right One Nation party, which has vowed radical cuts to immigration.

Net overseas migration -- the net gain or loss to the population through movement to and from Australia -- stood at 292,100 in the year to March, data showed last month.

On Tuesday, Liberal Party leader Angus Taylor said under his government that would be cut to 100,000 for the first two years, AFP said.

"Australia should be a home, not a hotel," Taylor told journalists, saying the country needed "breathing space".

He said the Coalition would also cut temporary visas issued by 650,000 over four years should it win the next election, scheduled to take place in 2028.

"We are a country, not a campground," National Party leader Matt Canavan said, saying the plans would help "take back our country".

Australia's ruling Labor Party has also vowed to get tougher on immigration.

Last month, interior minister Tony Burke announced plans to reduce migration by curbing "visa hopping", tightening rules on students and working holiday makers as well as cracking down on overstayers.

Opinion polls show One Nation, for decades a fringe group led by provocateur Pauline Hanson, has become Australia's most popular party in recent months.

On Tuesday Hanson said Labor and the Liberals "have both been dragged kicking and screaming into the immigration debate by One Nation".

"Australians cannot trust Liberal or Labor to follow through on their promises," she said on X.