All but one of the US embassies and consulates are now reopen that the State Department temporarily closed earlier this month due to threats of terrorism emanating from the Arabian peninsula. “On Aug. 13, we reopened 18 of the 19 posts that had been closed recently,” said State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf, on Monday. The US embassy in Sanaa, Yemen, is the only one remaining closed, she said. Further, “due to a separate, credible threat,” the US consulate in Lahore, Pakistan, remains closed, said Harf on Aug. 12. (Harf transcript)
A-10 Thunderbolt II attack planes in the Middle East are flying with fresh modifications as the Air Force looks to make the plane more versatile amid America’s ongoing blockade of Iranian ports and a tenuous ceasefire in the U.S. air war against Iran.