Pat Ryder

Even before President Joe Biden announced in his State of the Union address the plans for providing aid to Gaza by sea, the Army's 7th Transportation Brigade and other units were scrambling to pull equipment together.

He was transferred to the hospital with an emergency bladder problem and transferred authority to his deputy, the Pentagon said.
Austin was hospitalized yesterday for treatment of "symptoms suggestive of an urgent bladder problem," Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder said, according to the AP.

The United States Secretary of Defense, Lloyd J. Austin III, has been hospitalized for symptoms of a bladder issue, leading to the transfer of duties to Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks. The development was confirmed by Pentagon Press Secretary Major Gen. Pat Ryder on Monday.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, who is fighting prostate cancer, transferred his duties to his deputy hours after he was taken to hospital for "an emergent bladder issue," a spokesman said Sunday.

U.S. military action has so far failed to halt attacks by Iran-backed groups on Washington's forces in the Middle East and shipping in the Red Sea, with the threats persisting despite recent heavy air strikes.

Spain said on Sunday that it would not join a U.S. led coalition to protect Red Sea shipping from attacks by Yemen's Huthi rebels.

The Iran-backed Huthis have carried out several strikes on Red Sea shipping in what they say is in support of Palestinians during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

More than 20 countries have joined the U.S. led coalition to protect Red Sea shipping from attacks by Yemen's Huthi rebels, the Pentagon said on Thursday.

The Iran-backed Huthis have repeatedly targeted vessels in the vital shipping lane with strikes they say are in support of Palestinians in Gaza, where Israel is battling militant group Hamas.

U.S. fighter jets launched airstrikes early Friday on two locations in eastern Syria linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Pentagon said, in retaliation for a slew of drone and missile attacks against U.S. bases and personnel in the region that began early last week.

Two drones were shot down Monday during an attempted attack on a base housing US forces in Syria, the Pentagon said, after a militant group claimed to have targeted American troops.

Wagner mercenaries are no longer participating in "any significant capacity" in combat operations in Ukraine, the Pentagon said Thursday, more than two weeks after the group's aborted mutiny in Russia.