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Pentagon Reportedly Urges Missile Makers to Double Output for Potential China Conflict

FILE PHOTO: A general view of the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., US, March 21, 2025. REUTERS/Kent Nishimura/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A general view of the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., US, March 21, 2025. REUTERS/Kent Nishimura/File Photo
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Pentagon Reportedly Urges Missile Makers to Double Output for Potential China Conflict

FILE PHOTO: A general view of the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., US, March 21, 2025. REUTERS/Kent Nishimura/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A general view of the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., US, March 21, 2025. REUTERS/Kent Nishimura/File Photo

The Pentagon is urging defense contractors to double or quadruple production rates focusing on 12 critical weapons due to concerns over low US stockpiles in a potential conflict with China, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Reuters could not immediately verify the report. The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a Reuters' request for comment.

The push to speed production of the critical weapons in the highest demand has played out through a series of high-level meetings between Pentagon leaders and senior representatives from several US missile makers, according to people familiar with the matter.

Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg is taking an unusually hands-on role in the effort, called the Munitions Acceleration Council, and calls some company executives weekly to discuss it, some of the people said.

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World

US Carrier George H.W. Bush Visits Thailand after Middle East Deployment

The USS George H.W. Bush arrives near Phuket Deep Sea Port before docking for a rest stop following a long deployment in the Middle East, in Phuket, Thailand, October 4, 2026. REUTERS/Sooppharoek Teepapan
The USS George H.W. Bush arrives near Phuket Deep Sea Port before docking for a rest stop following a long deployment in the Middle East, in Phuket, Thailand, October 4, 2026. REUTERS/Sooppharoek Teepapan
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US Carrier George H.W. Bush Visits Thailand after Middle East Deployment

The USS George H.W. Bush arrives near Phuket Deep Sea Port before docking for a rest stop following a long deployment in the Middle East, in Phuket, Thailand, October 4, 2026. REUTERS/Sooppharoek Teepapan
The USS George H.W. Bush arrives near Phuket Deep Sea Port before docking for a rest stop following a long deployment in the Middle East, in Phuket, Thailand, October 4, 2026. REUTERS/Sooppharoek Teepapan

The US aircraft carrier George H.W. Bush arrived off Thailand's resort island of Phuket on Sunday with about 4,800 personnel aboard for a rest-and-recreation break after months of supporting US operations in the Middle East.

The Nimitz-class carrier had been operating in the Arabian Sea during the ⁠conflict with Iran, ⁠according to multiple media reports.

The carrier will anchor offshore, while crew members are expected to come ashore through Phuket Deep Sea ⁠Port and spend time on the popular southern resort island from October 4 to 9, local media reported.

The visit follows a five-day port call by the US carrier Abraham Lincoln at Laem Chabang in eastern Thailand last month, with about 5,000 sailors ⁠and ⁠Marines aboard.

A local mayor had estimated each US service member from the Lincoln could spend up to 3,000 baht ($89) per day during the visit, Reuters reported.

Thailand is the United States' only treaty partner in mainland Southeast Asia.

World

US Coast Guard Finds Debris from Medical Plane Carrying 6 People

A detail view of the US Coast Guard Cutter Valiant in Miami Beach, Florida, US March 6, 2025. REUTERS/Marco Bello/File Photo
A detail view of the US Coast Guard Cutter Valiant in Miami Beach, Florida, US March 6, 2025. REUTERS/Marco Bello/File Photo
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US Coast Guard Finds Debris from Medical Plane Carrying 6 People

A detail view of the US Coast Guard Cutter Valiant in Miami Beach, Florida, US March 6, 2025. REUTERS/Marco Bello/File Photo
A detail view of the US Coast Guard Cutter Valiant in Miami Beach, Florida, US March 6, 2025. REUTERS/Marco Bello/File Photo

The US Coast Guard said on Saturday it found debris from a medical transport plane that went missing while flying from Bermuda to Boston, with the six people on board still unaccounted for.

The Federal Aviation Administration told the Coast Guard in the early hours of Saturday that it had lost contact with a Gulfstream G100 with the tail number C-GRJP, the Coast Guard said in a news release.

"Coast Guard search crews located a debris field that has been confirmed to be associated with the missing aircraft," it said.

"Crews are continuing to search for the six people who were aboard the aircraft."

The plane carried four Canadian nationals and two Bermudian nationals, the Coast Guard said.

The aircraft operated by Canada-based Latitude Air Ambulance went missing around 1:30 am (1530 GMT), company spokesman Clarence Togeretz told AFP.

"It was carrying two pilots, two medical staff, one patient and a family member," Togeretz said.

The company has a fleet of 10 planes that provide repatriation and medical evacuation services, flying people back home from anywhere in the world, its website says.

The Coast Guard said search efforts would continue throughout the night and scheduled a news conference on Sunday morning to provide an update.

World

Trump Mulling to Resume Major Combat Operations in Iran

An Indian oil tanker after crossing the Strait of Hormuz at a discharge terminal in India (Reuters)
An Indian oil tanker after crossing the Strait of Hormuz at a discharge terminal in India (Reuters)
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Trump Mulling to Resume Major Combat Operations in Iran

An Indian oil tanker after crossing the Strait of Hormuz at a discharge terminal in India (Reuters)
An Indian oil tanker after crossing the Strait of Hormuz at a discharge terminal in India (Reuters)

With negotiations stalled, US President Donald Trump is considering resuming major combat operations in Iran.

Trump's top cabinet members met secretly at the presidential retreat at Camp David ⁠to discuss next ⁠steps in the Iran war, Axios reported on Friday.

Vice President JD Vance chaired the meeting, the news ⁠outlet reported, ⁠citing people familiar with the matter.

"Things were decided or at least deeply discussed," one of the officials said, referring to the crisis in the Middle East.

The White House declined to comment.

On Friday afternoon, while his advisers were at Camp David, Trump was asked by reporters what his next move on Iran will be.

"If I told you, you would have a major story," he said. "But you will see. It is working out very well. Iran is not doing well."

Tehran has blockaded commercial shipping through the Hormuz strait since the war began in late February with US-Israeli strikes on Iran, while the US military has upheld a counterblockade of Iran's ports.