Hegseth urges US troops to 'stay focused' as Operation Epic Fury devastates Iran
President Donald Trump says US attacks on Iran will continue Monday as Israel expanded the conflict by attacking Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. "Operation Epic Fury" has taken a heavy toll on Tehran already, eliminating Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other top officials, leading to a succession crisis.
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UAE added to State Department evacuation list amid widening Iran conflict
The U.S. State Department on Tuesday added the United Arab Emirates to its growing list of countries where non-emergency government personnel and family members have been ordered to depart.
The UAE — home to major commercial hubs Dubai and Abu Dhabi — joins Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait and Qatar on the evacuation list as regional tensions escalate from the conflict with Iran.
The U.S. Embassy in Abu Dhabi also warned of potential militant attacks that could target tourist sites, transportation hubs and locations associated with Jewish and Israeli communities.
The move signals expanding security concerns across the Gulf as Iran’s retaliatory attacks continue.
US ambassador urges Americans in Israel to exit via Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee advised Americans seeking to leave Israel to consider traveling through Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula as regional air travel remains disrupted.
In a social media post early Tuesday, Huckabee said the embassy is receiving a high volume of evacuation requests while staff remain sheltering in place.
“There are VERY LIMITED options,” Huckabee wrote, adding that it is unclear when Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv will reopen.
He advised Americans attempting to depart to travel by bus to Egypt’s resort areas of Sharm el-Sheikh or Taba in southern Sinai, describing that route as the “best” available option at this time.
The guidance comes as missile and drone attacks continue across the region, complicating commercial air travel and prompting broader U.S. evacuation efforts.
Amazon says drone strikes caused structural damage at UAE, Bahrain data centers
Amazon said drone strikes caused structural damage at two of its data center facilities in the United Arab Emirates and impacted infrastructure near a facility in Bahrain, disrupting services across the region.
According to updates posted on Amazon Web Services’ public status dashboard, two facilities in the UAE were directly struck, damaging power systems and, in some cases, triggering fire suppression efforts that led to additional water damage inside affected buildings. In Bahrain, a nearby drone strike caused physical impacts to infrastructure at one facility.
Two of the three major data center zones in the UAE region remain significantly impaired. Key cloud services — including storage, databases and computing capacity — are experiencing disruptions or degraded performance as teams work to restore power and connectivity.
Amazon said recovery is expected to take at least a day and could take longer given the extent of the physical damage.
The company is advising customers with workloads in the Middle East to back up data and consider migrating applications to alternate regions in the United States, Europe or Asia Pacific, warning that the broader operating environment in the region remains unpredictable amid the ongoing conflict.
Amazon did not specify who was responsible for the strikes.
IDF authorized to take additional strategic positions along Lebanon border, defense minister says
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz have authorized the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to take control of positions in southern Lebanon to prevent attacks on Israel's border communities, the defense minister said Tuesday.
“To prevent the possibility of direct fire targeting Israeli communities, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and I have authorized the IDF to advance and secure additional strategic areas in Lebanon, and from there to defend the border communities,” Katz said. “We promised security for the communities of the Galilee, and that is what we will deliver.”
He added that the IDF “continues to operate forcefully against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. The terrorist organization is paying, and will continue to pay, a heavy price for firing at Israel."
The IDF said its soldiers are operating along the border in a defensive manner and have deployed to additional strategic points along the line established under the November 2024 ceasefire agreement.
The authorization comes amid the broader regional escalation involving Iran and its allied groups.
US Embassy in Kuwait closes indefinitely amid ongoing regional conflict
The U.S. Embassy in Kuwait announced on Tuesday that it is shutting its doors until further notice as the conflict in the Middle East continues.
"Due to ongoing regional tensions, the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait will be closed until further notice," the embassy wrote on X.
"We have canceled all regular and emergency consular appointments," the post continued. "We will communicate when the embassy returns to normal operations."
State Department orders evacuation of non-emergency government personnel from multiple countries
The U.S. State Department on Tuesday ordered non-emergency U.S. government personnel and family members of government personnel in five countries to evacuate amid ongoing security risks during the conflict with Iran.
The U.S. government ordered the departure of these individuals from Jordan, Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, and Qatar.
"The State Department updated the Travel Advisory for [each country] to reflect the ordered departure of non-emergency U.S. government personnel and family members of government personnel, the department wrote on X.
The respective embassies also posted travel advisories on their websites, cautioning against travel due to risks such as terrorism, landmines, and armed conflict.
Iran nuclear talks 'didn't pass the smell test' before Trump launched strikes, says Vance
Vice President JD Vance confirmed Monday that negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program collapsed after U.S. officials concluded Tehran’s claims "did not pass the smell test," prompting President Donald Trump to authorize Operation Epic Fury.
Speaking on "Jesse Watters Primetime," Vance said U.S. envoys — including Steve Witkoff, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Jared Kushner — had conducted rounds of "deliberate" talks in Geneva with the Iranian delegation.
The discussions were aimed at curbing Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief and averting a broader conflict, he said, but ultimately broke down.
