U.S., Philippines open ‘full-scale’ battle scenario drills amidst tension with China, U.S airstrikes targeting Houthi rebels allegedly kill 12, search for missing Nimitz sailor continues.
1. Thousands of allied American and Filipino forces opened annual combat drills Monday that are set to include repelling an island attack to simulate the defense of the Philippine archipelago and seas in a “full-scale battle scenario” that has antagonized China. The annual Balikatan military exercises between the longtime treaty allies are scheduled from April 21 to May 9 with about 9,000 American and 5,000 Filipino military personnel. Fighter jets, warships and an array of weaponry including a U.S. Marine anti-ship missile system will be involved, U.S. and Philippine military officials said. China has steadfastly opposed such war drills in or near the disputed South China Sea and in northern Philippine provinces close to Taiwan, especially if they involve U.S. and allied forces that Beijing says aim to contain it and, consequently, threaten regional stability and peace.
2. U.S. airstrikes targeting Yemen’s capital killed 12 people and wounded 30 others, the Houthi rebels said early Monday. The deaths mark the latest in America’s intensified campaign of strikes targeting the rebels. The U.S. military’s Central Command declined to answer questions about the strike or discuss civilian casualties from its campaign. The Houthis described the strike as hitting the Farwa neighborhood market in Sanaa’s Shuub district. That area has been targeted before by the Americans. Footage aired by the Houthis' al-Masirah satellite news channel showed damage to vehicles and buildings in the area, with screaming onlookers holding what appeared to be a dead child. Others wailed on stretchers heading into a hospital
3. The U.S. Coast Guard suspended its weeklong search for a missing boater near Guam, while a separate effort to find a U.S. Navy sailor continued into its third day Monday. First responders on Saturday officially ended the search for Jeffrey Hattori, 58, who was reported missing April 12 after departing Guam for a recreational fishing trip, U.S. Coast Guard Forces Micronesia/Sector Guam said in a news release Monday. Searchers covered more than 120,000 square miles with help from military ships and aircraft, as well as tools such as self-locating datum marker buoys to help predict ocean currents. “Suspending this search is heartbreaking, as we’ve poured every available resource and ounce of resolve into finding Mr. Hattori for his family and community,” Lt. Chelsea Garcia, search and rescue mission coordinator, said in the release. “The immense ocean and the absence of any sign have tested us.”
4. Russian attacks during the 30-hour Easter ceasefire unilaterally declared by President Vladimir Putin over the weekend killed three people in Ukraine's southern Kherson region, the local governor said Monday. Gov. Oleksandr Prokudin wrote on Telegram that the casualties occurred over the last 24 hours, adding that three others were wounded. Overall, Russia violated the ceasefire more than 2,900 times, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a Telegram statement in the early hours on Monday. Zelenskyy said that Russian forces carried out 96 assault operations along the front line, shelled Ukrainian positions more than 1,800 times and used hundreds of drones during the course of the ceasefire.
5. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth created another Signal messaging chat that included his wife and brother where he shared similar details of a March military airstrike against Yemen’s Houthi militants that were sent in another chain with top Trump administration leaders, The New York Times reported. A person familiar with the contents and those who received the messages, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, confirmed the second chat to The Associated Press. The second chat on Signal — which is a commercially available app not authorized to be used to communicate sensitive or classified national defense information — included 13 people, the person said. They also confirmed the chat was dubbed “Defense ' Team Huddle.”
- Security