The USS George Washington aircraft carrier has arrived in the Middle East, to relieve the USS Abraham Lincoln from its record deployment amid concerns about poor living conditions and morale. US Central Command announced on Thursday that the Washington arrived in the area on Wednesday, and posted an image of sailors working on the flight deck as the ship transited the Arabian Sea. According to the New York Times, which cited a US official, the Lincoln began its home journey to San Diego on Thursday.
Recent reports have rung alarm bells about conditions on the Lincoln. I think they’re treating them like a uniform, like a pawn on a chessboard,” the wife of a sailor onboard told the Guardian’s Anna Betts this week. What are conditions like on the Lincoln?
The ship has spent more than 250 days at sea supporting US operations against Iran without a significant port visit or date to return home for the 5,000 sailors and marines onboard. Reports from families of crew members published in the Navy Times and Stars and Stripes military newspapers described food and water shortages, disrupted mail services, plumbing problems, low morale and worsening mental health, prompting Democratic lawmakers to demand answers from the Pentagon. An investigation co-published by the Guardian and the Economic Hardship Reporting Project, a journalism non-profit that supports stories about inequality and poverty in the US, has revealed a problem emerging nationwide: fees that are known as “ratio utility billing system” fees – or Rubs – which are charged on top of rent.
Rubs, unlike standard utility bills, where tenants owe money to the utility company, are owed to the landlord and often paid through a third-party billing company. Many leases that include Rubs are written so tenants can be evicted for not paying utilities, even if they have paid their rent. For working-class and low-income tenants like Constance Soule, an 81-year-old disabled Alzheimer’s patient, falling behind on these utility charges can lead to eviction notices, Tracie McMillan reports.
Tenants in Los Angeles and Seattle have launched “Rubs strikes”, refusing to pay utilities until landlords agree to reduce charges that can approach $300 a month per apartment. How are people fighting back? At least 13 lawsuits have challenged Rubs since the start of 2025 across five states – including a case in California that led to a nearly $500,000 settlement last fall with a national property manager.
Efforts to limit or ban add-on utility fees are also gaining momentum across several cities. Israel’s national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has been condemned for posting a gloating video of the construction of a gallows complex where Palestinians convicted of terror offences – but not Jewish extremists accused of similar crimes – will be hanged. It comes after the minister sparked a backlash a few days ago for saying there should be “30 to 40 targeted assassinations per night” in Gaza.
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