INTERNACIONAL
Lithuanian, Polish troops aid in ‘search and recovery’ for 4 missing US soldiers from Fort Stewart
The Polish military has established a group to assist the Lithuanian Army and U.S. Army in a recovery operation for four U.S. Army soldiers who disappeared early Tuesday during a training exercise near Pabradė, Lithuania.
The soldiers, based in Fort Stewart in Georgia, were riding in an M88 Hercules armored recovery vehicle on a scheduled maintenance mission to recover another U.S. Army vehicle in the training area when they disappeared, U.S. Army Europe and Africa public affairs in Wiesbaden, Germany, confirmed.
Hundreds of U.S. and Lithuanian soldiers and law enforcement, Lithuanian military helicopters and dive teams aided in the initial ground-based search through the thick forests and swampy terrain.
However, the soldiers have yet to be located, and the M88 Hercules was found submerged in a body of water inside the training area, located over a highly pressurized gas pipeline near Pabradė, a town north of the capital Vilnius.
Lithuanian engineers and U.S. Army soldiers pump water from a swamp to recover an Army M88 Hercules armored vehicle Thursday near Pabradė, Lithuania. (Lithuanian Armed Forces)
BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS MISSING AND MURDERED UNIT INVESTIGATING ALLEGED MILITARY BASE KILLING
In an interview with Fox News Digital Thursday afternoon, Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovilė Šakalienė said from the moment the country learned of the incident, it had «given everything» it has, both from its armed forces and internal affairs ministry institutions, to find the soldiers.
«From helicopters with thermal vision to forces on the ground, we are continuing very intensely,» Šakalienė said.
U.S. Army Europe and Africa public affairs noted water, thick mud and soft ground around the site «have complicated recovery efforts,» requiring specialized equipment to drain water from the side and stabilize the ground.
Polish officials announced Thursday they were sending a group of troops with engineering equipment to assist.
As of Thursday afternoon, officials said land dredging equipment was on the way, and a dam was being reinforced to isolate the mud pumping area.
The pressurized gas has been removed, and it is now safe to work at the site, according to Šakalienė.
Recovery efforts continued Thursday for four missing U.S. soldiers near the spot where their Hercules armored vehicle was found submerged at a training range in Pabradė, Lithuania. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)
The internal water waste agency will send out a water master dredger and more than 900 feet of bulk pipe on Friday morning, and they should reach the the location by midday.
It will take several hours to install the pipeline and the dredgers. Then, they will begin making water influx with the excavator.
«The dredger pump usually pumps 80% of water, while working with 20% of mud or sludge, and the goal is to start working with the pump until the evening, so that, finally, on Saturday morning, a diver and the hydrographic team can use a multi-beam echo founder to assess the position of the vehicle, because we don’t know yet if it has overturned or what position it is in,» Šakalienė said.
Lithuanian military and law enforcement personnel observe recovery efforts as an excavator gathers soil Wednesday near Pabradė, Lithuania, where a search and recovery effort is underway for four missing U.S. Army soldiers. (Lithuanian Armed Forces)
A diver will attach cables, and workers will use pulleys to tow the vehicle to shore.
«Then we will be able to check if the missing soldiers are inside,» she said.
Šakalienė said it is unknown if the soldiers could have escaped the vehicle before it sank but reiterated there was «no evidence» confirming the deaths of the missing soldiers as of Thursday afternoon.
FOREIGN NATIONALS FLYING DRONES OVER US MILITARY SITES RAISES ‘ESPIONAGE’ CONCERN: EXPERT
The area surrounding the site is a forested area with swamps and bogs, similar to an environment found in Alaska. Weather conditions are also similar, making it a challenging training area for Army personnel.
«Maybe they were lost, confused, hurt or in hypothermic condition, and we haven’t found them yet,» Šakalienė said. «But we are not losing hope until the very last moment. These are strong soldiers, strong, grown men. All scenarios are possible.»
Soldiers walk along a road near a training range in Pabradė, Lithuania, Thursday. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)
She added Lithuania, a member of NATO, considers American soldiers their own and will not leave them behind.
«We are working with them. We are friends with them, and all of our society is heartbroken watching every single moment of this rescue operation,» Šakalienė said. «I have a 24-year-old son. It’s difficult for me even to imagine what they are going through. … Let me assure you, we will do everything in our power to find them and to find the answers as soon as possible.»
SEARCH ‘ONGOING’ FOR 4 AMERICAN SOLDIERS MISSING FROM TRAINING AREA IN LITHUANIA: NATO
Deputy Prime Minister of Poland Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz confirmed on X a task force of several dozen Polish soldiers with heavy equipment and frogmen were «urgently» heading to Lithuania to help.
«We are responding to a request from our allies #StrongerTogether,» Kosiniak-Kamysz wrote in the post.
The country, also a member of NATO, has reportedly feared talks between Russia and Ukraine could end in a settlement that would allow Russian President Vladimir Putin to threaten the region.
U.S. soldiers gather near military and other vehicles parked at a training range in Pabradė, Lithuania, Thursday. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)
Lithuanian officials said they are in touch with U.S. Ambassador Kara C. McDonald and U.S. Army personnel.
«We are leveraging every available U.S. and Lithuanian asset to coordinate and provide the required resources for this effort,» U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Curtis Taylor, the commanding general of 1st Armored Division, wrote in a statement.
The rescue mission has now turned into «search and recovery efforts,» according to a statement from U.S. Army Europe and Africa.
«We are incredibly appreciative of the dedicated and professional efforts of our Lithuanian allies in ensuring the safety of U.S. personnel,» Taylor added. «They have worked tirelessly alongside us over the last 48 hours, and we continue to be grateful for their support.»
Recovery efforts continued Thursday for four missing U.S. soldiers near the spot where their Hercules armored vehicle was found submerged at a training range in Pabradė, Lithuania. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)
The U.S. Army’s 3rd Infantry Division is keeping the soliders’ families updated on the search.
«This tragic situation weighs heavily on all of us, and we’re keeping the families, friends and teammates of our soldiers and recovery team in our thoughts and prayers,» Taylor wrote. «We want everyone to know we will not stop until our soldiers are found.»
President Donald Trump told reporters Wednesday he had not been briefed about the missing soldiers.
The training site is less than 6 miles from Belarus, a Russian ally since its independence from the Soviet Union in 1990.
Military road equipment at a training range in Pabradė, Lithuania, Thursday. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)
Lithuania, a Catholic country, will be organizing a joint prayer Sunday at its main church, the capital cathedral, and will host a mass for the missing soldiers.
CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The White House and Fort Stewart did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
The Associated Press and Fox News Digital’s Stephen Sorace contributed to this report.
Caracas, Managua y Miami concentran en estos días la atención internacional por los recientes movimientos del dictador venezolano Nicolás Maduro, según declaraciones del periodista Jaime Bayly y reportes de la cadena NTN24.
Diversos indicios apuntan a la posibilidad de una inminente fuga de Maduro y su círculo familiar hacia Nicaragua, aliado político clave del régimen chavista en la región, en medio de un incremento de la presión militar y judicial de Estados Unidos sobre los líderes del chavismo.
“La noticia más importante del día es que el dictador venezolano Maduro estaría planeando fugarse con su familia, es decir, con su esposa, con el hijo que tiene con ella y con los tres hijos que ella tuvo de una anterior relación, a Nicaragua”, afirmó Bayly.
Aunque ni Maduro ni su esposa Cilia Flores ni sus hijos estaban a bordo, el periodista planteó otra posibilidad: “Aparentemente el avión iba cargado. ¿Cargado de qué? Bueno, cargado de dinero. Cargado de barras, de lingotes de oro. Maduro estaría llevando parte de su fortuna mal habida a Managua”.
“El avión presidencial de Maduro, que es un Conviasa 737 bastante obsoleto, voló desde Maiquetía (Caracas) hasta el aeropuerto de Managua. Esto ha sido registrado y descubierto por personas que rastrean vuelos en el mundo. La pregunta es: ¿por qué voló el avión presidencial de Maduro a Managua?”, agregó.
La información de Bayly coincide con reportes de plataformas de monitoreo aéreo como FlightRadar24 que detectaron el vuelo de un avión Airbus A340, matrícula YV1004, de la aerolínea estatal Conviasa, utilizado habitualmente por altos funcionarios venezolanos, entre ellos Maduro y Diosdado Cabello, informó NTN24.
El aparato despegó del aeropuerto de Maiquetía, que sirve a la ciudad de Caracas, y tras cruzar brevemente el espacio aéreo de Honduras ingresó a territorio nicaragüense, donde aterrizó en el Aeropuerto Internacional Augusto C. Sandino de Managua. NTN24 señaló que esta misma aeronave ya había realizado un vuelo similar entre Maiquetía y Managua el 15 de agosto y que, en otra ocasión reciente, un avión de Conviasa desvió su ruta a La Habana para regresar finalmente a Caracas.
Bayly, por su parte, subrayó que estos vuelos se producen en un contexto de máxima tensión política y judicial.
“El dictador venezolano Maduro estaría planeando fugarse con su familia a Nicaragua”, aseguró el periodista. Bayly añadió que el traslado reciente del avión presidencial podría haber servido para transportar “maletas, valijas, cajas llenas de dólares, de euros, principalmente de euros y de lingotes de oro”.
El periodista aseguró que Maduro estaría llevando parte de su fortuna mal habida a Managua, en previsión de que eventualmente, “Trump pudiera ordenar a su fuerza militar que entre a Venezuela a capturar a Maduro por ser el jefe de un cartel de narcotráfico, el cártel de los Soles“.
Según Bayly, la fuente original de esta versión es el periodista venezolano Emmanuel Rincón, quien sostuvo que Managua, bajo el control político de Daniel Ortega y Rosario Murillo, permanece como el principal refugio contemplado por el círculo cercano de Maduro en caso de una intervención estadounidense. “Maduro siempre pensó en Managua como su primera opción para fugar, y no ha cambiado de opinión”, indicó Bayly al citar a Rincón.
También se refirió a un aspecto clave de la coyuntura regional: la utilización de aeropuertos cercanos como bases de operaciones militares.
“La periodista Nitu Pérez Osuna ha denunciado que los aeropuertos en Curazao y en Aruba no están ya permitiendo vuelos directos a Caracas, y que hay ciertos cambios que podrían sugerir que estarían siendo evaluados como eventuales puntos desde los cuales despegarían aviones de Estados Unidos rumbo a Venezuela”, relató.
A esto se suma la disposición de Trinidad y Tobago de colaborar con una eventual acción militar estadounidense. “También se estaría entonces considerando usar los aeropuertos de Curazao, de Aruba y ciertamente de Trinidad y Tobago, que también se ha ofrecido a colaborar con la intervención militar de Estados Unidos en Venezuela, si ella llegara a ocurrir”, añadió Bayly.
La presión internacional se ha incrementado tras el envío de buques de guerra estadounidenses al sur del mar Caribe. La administración de Donald Trump, acusó formalmente a Maduro de liderar el Cartel de los Soles, calificado como una organización terrorista responsable del tráfico de cocaína y fentanilo hacia Estados Unidos, lo que también ha elevado el nivel de vigilancia sobre los desplazamientos aéreos de funcionarios y vuelos oficiales venezolanos.
En paralelo, Bayly reportó que en Miami, tres familias estadounidenses —los Kennemore, Marval y Saad— han interpuesto demandas contra Maduro, Cabello, Padrino López y otros miembros del régimen, acusándolos de secuestro y tortura. Según consigna Bayly, estas acciones legales se originan en represalias tomadas luego de la detención del empresario Alex Saab, considerado testaferro de Maduro y extraditado a Estados Unidos. Las familias alegan que fueron utilizadas como rehenes para facilitar un posterior canje de prisioneros tras pasar casi dos años en cárceles venezolanas.
Mientras tanto, líderes políticos de diversos países de la región, como el presidente paraguayo Santiago Peña, han reforzado sus denuncias sobre la legitimidad del gobierno de Maduro y su vinculación con redes internacionales de narcotráfico. Por su parte, el presidente colombiano Gustavo Petro y dirigentes chavistas como Cabello han intentado desmarcar a Venezuela del control de dichas operaciones, alegando que el “Cartel de los Soles no existe” y trasladando la atención hacia agentes externos como la DEA.
Los movimientos del aparato estatal venezolano, especialmente los vuelos hacia Managua y el aumento del cerco judicial y diplomático, son interpretados como señales de la creciente incertidumbre sobre el futuro de Maduro y su círculo, en una coyuntura marcada por investigaciones internacionales y operaciones militares en el Caribe. Las recompensas ofrecidas por la captura de Maduro, Cabello y Padrino López alcanzan los 80 millones de dólares, con varios procesos abiertos tanto en Nueva York como en Miami.
INTERNACIONAL
Texas challenges Newsom’s gas car crackdown, warning California can’t dictate US auto market
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
The state of Texas is intervening in California’s attempts to implement stricter vehicle emissions standards than those set by the federal government.
After Congress and Trump revoked three waivers the Biden administration granted California, which allowed the state to set stricter vehicle emissions standards than those at the federal level, Newsom immediately sued and issued an executive order directing state agencies to continue pushing the heightened standards. California’s attempt to circumvent Congress could impact other states, since provisions of the federal Clean Air Act allow them to adopt California’s tougher emissions regulations as opposed to the federal baseline.
Meanwhile, a few weeks after Newsom’s executive order, the Trump administration announced it would sue California in an effort to prevent them from trudging forward with the «unlawful» emissions standards. Now Texas is joining that fight with the help of pro-Trump legal group America First Legal (AFL).
NEW RESEARCH REVEALS HOW EV, EMISSIONS MANDATES ARE INFLATING COSTS FOR GAS-POWERED CARS, UTILITIES
«California’s crusade is not about innovation—it is about abusing the legal system to flout federal law and impose its radical agenda on all Americans,» said Daniel Epstein, vice president of America First Legal. «America First Legal stands proudly with the State of Texas to defend competition, consumer choice, and the rule of law. We will not let Gavin Newsom remake America in California’s image.»
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is seen alongside congested traffic amid his push to phase out gas-powered vehicles — a move now facing pushback from Texas officials and the Trump administration. (Getty Images)
Texas’ motion to intervene, filed Friday with the United States District Court for the Northern District of California Oakland Division, asks the court to allow Texas to become a party to the case so it can defend the interests of Texans, which state Attorney General Ken Paxton and AFL say would be impacted by California’s attempt to impose strict electric vehicle mandates that can have an effect on the rest of the country.
«I am standing with President Trump in his effort to stop Gavin Newsom and California from shoving its insane so-called ‘green energy’ vehicle standards down the nation’s throat,» said Paxton. «Texas will not look the other way while the failed state of California undermines our sovereignty, attacks America’s energy independence, and intentionally adopts destructive policies that would harm the other States.»
Currently, 17 other states and the District of Columbia have chosen to adopt at least part of California’s vehicle emissions standards, according to a report released this month by the California Air Resources Board. The same report notes that, collectively, these states represent 40% of the nation’s light-duty vehicle market, and 25% of its heavy-duty vehicle market.
Workers at a Hyundai electric vehicle manufacturing plant in Georgia assemble vehicles on the production room floor. (Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
TRUMP V. CALIFORNIA: SANCTUARY CITIES TO EV BANS, TRUMP PUTS LEFT-WING STATE UNDER REPEATED SCRUTINY
California’s efforts to implement stricter car emissions regulations would effectively outlaw the sale of new gas- and diesel-powered vehicles by 2035, AFL argued in a press release accompanying their Friday filing. Subsequently, AFL notes, the strict regulations would then impact car manufacturers because they would «dictate the requirements for all cars sold throughout the United States» since manufacturers typically do not produce different vehicle lineups for different states.
«That means fewer choices for families, skyrocketing costs, and an America remade in California’s image,» AFL stated in its press release.
Ken Paxton, with America First Legal, is taking legal action to halt California from implementing strict vehicle emissions mandates that they argue could impact the whole country. (Hannah Beier/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
In addition to the state of Texas, a major pro-business group, the American Free Enterprise Chamber of Commerce (AmFree), has also taken action to intervene in the case on the side of the Trump administration, with several agricultural and trade organizations backing the move.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
«It’s clear this is not one of those issues that is like ‘the Trump administration doing something completely novel’ and ‘courts having to wrestle with that,’» said Michael Buschbacher, the lead attorney working with AmFree. «This is like squarely, ‘Congress passed the law. You can’t undo that law unless it’s unconstitutional and there’s nothing unconstitutional here.’»
Fox News Digital reached out to Gov. Newsom’s office for comment, but did not receive a response in time for publication.
Fox News Digital’s Charles Creitz contributed to this report.
california,electric,gavin newsom,texas,politics,congress,donald trump
INTERNACIONAL
El gobierno francés, bajo presión: por el ajuste, el premier François Bayrou enfrenta un voto clave en la Asamblea
Voto de confianza = Voto de censura
Contexto nacional e internacional
El peligro de la deuda
Eliminar días festivos
Francia,Emmanuel Macron,Economía
Yanina Latorre liquidó a Mariana Nannis tras su terrible pelea con Charlotte Caniggia: “Tu vieja es una hueca”
Maqueda habló sobre el escándalo de los audios: “Llegaron tratando de evitar en el barro y ahora están en el barro”
La frase de Milei en medio del escándalo por las presuntas coimas: “Les estamos afanando los choreos”
Jaime Bayly: “Maduro estaría planeando fugarse con su familia a Nicaragua”
Atención Conmebol anunció nueva reglamentación del VAR para los cuartos de final de la Copa Libertadores y Sudamericana
Texas challenges Newsom’s gas car crackdown, warning California can’t dictate US auto market
Horror en México: una joven salió de su casa para ir a una fiesta y la encontraron muerta cinco días después
Chile organizó una colecta para que la familia del hincha que fue operado por fractura de cráneo pueda viajar a la Argentina
Confirmado: Susana Giménez vuelve con un programa de los más esperados
El fútbol chileno se solidarizó con la U tras los graves incidentes que se registraron ante Independiente
DEPORTE2 días agoChile organizó una colecta para que la familia del hincha que fue operado por fractura de cráneo pueda viajar a la Argentina
- DEPORTE3 días ago
El fútbol chileno se solidarizó con la U tras los graves incidentes que se registraron ante Independiente
- DEPORTE2 días ago
¿Cómo va el historial entre Rosario Central y Newell´s Old Boys y quién ganó más?
