WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden on Friday nominated Admiral Lisa Franchetti to lead the Navy, a move that would break a gender barrier in the US military by making her the first woman to command the Navy and to become a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The decision by Biden is a surprise. Pentagon officials had widely expected the nomination to go to Admiral Samuel Paparo, who leads the Navy in the Pacific and who has experience grappling with the growing challenge from China.
Still, Franchetti, who is currently the vice chief of operations for the Navy, was among the candidates believed to be in the running for the position.
In a statement, Biden noted Franchetti’s 38 years of experience.
“Throughout her career, Admiral Franchetti has demonstrated extensive expertise in both the operational and policy arenas,” Biden said in a statement, noting that she was just the second woman ever to achieve the rank of four-star admiral in the US Navy.
Franchetti is not the first woman to lead a branch of the US military. Last year, Biden picked Admiral Linda Fagan to lead the US Coast Guard.
But the coast guard is not formally part of the Department of Defense (DoD), and instead falls under the Department of Homeland Security. Franchetti would become the first woman to lead a military service at DoD as its chief.
Joe Biden chooses female admiral to lead US Navy – official
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Joe Biden chooses female admiral to lead US Navy – official
- Franchetti, who is currently the vice chief of operations for the Navy, was among the candidates believed to be in the running for the position
- In a statement, Biden noted Franchetti's 38 years of experience
Three Afghan migrants die of cold while trying to cross into Iran
- More than 1.8 million Afghans were forced to return to Afghanistan by the Iranian authorities between January and the end of November 2025
AFGHANISTAN: Three Afghans died from exposure in freezing temperatures in the western province of Herat while trying to illegally enter Iran, a local army official said on Saturday.
“Three people who wanted to illegally cross the Iran-Afghanistan border have died because of the cold weather,” the Afghan army official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
He added that a shepherd was also found dead in the mountainous area of Kohsan from the cold.
The migrants were part of a group that attempted to cross into Iran on Wednesday and was stopped by Afghan border forces.
“Searches took place on Wednesday night, but the bodies were only found on Thursday,” the army official said.
More than 1.8 million Afghans were forced to return to Afghanistan by the Iranian authorities between January and the end of November 2025, according to the latest figures from the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR), which said that the majority were “forced and coerced returns.”
“These mass returns in adverse circumstances have strained Afghanistan’s already overstretched resources and services” which leads to “risks of onward and new displacement, including return movements back into Pakistan and Iran and onward,” UNHCR posted on its site dedicated to Afghanistan’s situation.
This week, Amnesty International called on countries to stop forcibly returning people to Afghanistan, citing a “real risk of serious harm for returnees.”
Hit by two major earthquakes in recent months and highly vulnerable to climate change, Afghanistan faces multiple challenges.
It is subject to international sanctions particularly due to the exclusion of women from many jobs and public places, described by the UN as “gender apartheid.”
More than 17 million people in the country are facing acute food insecurity, the UN World Food Programme said Tuesday.
