1 hour ago Hegseth orders new strike that kills 4 on alleged drug boat amid ‘double tap’ controversy

Attack comes just hours after Admiral Frank ‘Mitch’ Bradley briefed concerned lawmakers about the September ‘double tap’ strike

Events

2 h. ago Pentagon announces it has killed four men in another boat strike in Pacific

Strike comes amid congressional turmoil over legality of US attacks on suspected drug smugglersThe Pentagon announced on Thursday that the US military’s southern command had conducted another deadly strike on a boat suspected of carrying illegal narcotics, killing four men in the eastern Pacific.Video of the new strike was posted on social media by the US southern command, based in Florida, with a statement saying that, at the direction of Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary, “Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel in international waters operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization”. Continue reading...

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6 h. ago Experts urge release of boat strike video as US admiral denies ‘kill them all’ order

Democrat Jim Himes calls footage ‘one of the most troubling scenes’ he’s observed in public serviceAnalysis: Killing of survivors sparks outrage – but entire US ‘drug boat’ war is legally shakyTop Democratic and Republican lawmakers in Congress on Thursday said that the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, had not ordered the military to kill surviving members of a a deadly attack on a boat alleged to be carrying drugs in the Caribbean, but differed over whether the double strike was appropriate.The allegation that Hegseth ordered the killing of survivors sparked bipartisan concern in Washington that he or others involved may have committed a war crime. On Thursday, US navy admiral Frank Bradley, who commanded the attack, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Caine, appeared before the House and Senate’s armed services and intelligence committees for a closed briefing in which they showed video and discussed the attack with lawmakers. Continue reading...

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8 h. ago US lawmakers call for inquiry into second US military strike on alleged Caribbean drug boat

Democratic representative Jim Himes, who saw footage of attack, called it ‘one of the most troubling scenes’ he’s observed in public serviceAnalysis: Killing of survivors sparks outrage – but entire US ‘drug boat’ war is legally shakyA Democratic congressman described an unedited video of an extrajudicial military strike that killed two survivors in the Caribbean as “one of the most troubling scenes” he’s seen in public service, as human rights advocates and policy experts are lining up to demand the video’s public release.Congressman Jim Himes, the ranking member of the House intelligence committee, made the remarks on Thursday after viewing footage in a classified briefing of the 2 September follow-up attack that killed two men clinging to wreckage off the coast of Venezuela. His assessment came as experts called the operation murder under international law. Continue reading...

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10 h. ago Lawmakers will hear from Navy admiral who ordered attack that killed boat strike survivors

The Navy admiral who reportedly issued orders to fire upon survivors of an attack on an alleged drug boat is on Capitol Hill for a classified briefing with top lawmakers

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11 h. ago Irish authorities asked to investigate Microsoft over alleged unlawful data processing by IDF

Move follows Guardian revelations of Israel’s mass surveillance of Palestinians using Microsoft cloudIrish authorities have been formally asked to investigate Microsoft over alleged unlawful data processing by the Israeli Defense Forces.The complaint has been made by the human rights group the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) to the Data Protection Commission, which has legal responsibility in Europe for overseeing all data processing in the European Union. Continue reading...

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13 h. ago Here’s why Trump won’t do anything to Pete Hegseth over ‘kill them all’ boat strike scandal — for now

Trump’s desire to avoid anything resembling the chaos of his first term is keeping Pete Hegseth safely in the Pentagon, writes Andrew Feinberg ... at least for the next few months.

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13 h. ago The Latest: Lawmakers to hear from Navy admiral who ordered attack that killed boat strike survivors

The Navy admiral who reportedly issued orders for the U.S. military to fire upon survivors of an attack on an alleged drug boat is expected on Capitol Hill to provide a classified briefing to top congressional lawmakers overseeing national security

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14 h. ago Killing of survivors sparks outrage – but entire US ‘drug boat’ war is legally shaky

Pentagon’s Law of War manual clearly prohibits attack, but justification for whole campaign also faces tough questionsGraphic depictions of two survivors being killed by a second US military strike on an alleged Venezuelan drug ferrying boat have provoked outrage where previously there was none – or at least relatively little.A firestorm of controversy has greeted a recent Washington Post report which suggested that a deadly attack on a vessel carrying 11 people in the Caribbean was followed with a second assault after the initial strike failed to kill everybody onboard. Continue reading...

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21 h. ago Detainees at ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ facing ‘harrowing human right violations’, new report alleges

Amnesty International finds immigrants at Florida facility were shackled and left outside in metal cage for up to a dayDetainees at the notorious Florida immigration jail known as “Alligator Alcatraz” were shackled inside a 2ft high metal cage and left outside without water for up to a day at a time, a shocking report published Thursday by Amnesty International alleges.The human rights group said migrants held at the state-run Everglades facility, and at Miami’s Krome immigration processing center operated by a private company on behalf of the Trump administration, continue to be exposed to “cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment” rising in some cases to torture. Continue reading...

Politics

28 h. ago Gaza: Israeli strike kills five, including two children, says civil defence agency

Agency says missile struck citizens in Khan Younis, as Israel reports targeting ‘Hamas terrorist’ after clash with militants An Israeli strike on Palestinian territory has killed five people including two children, Gaza’s civil defence agency told AFP on Wednesday.“Five citizens, including two children, killed and others injured, some seriously, as a result of an Israeli missile strike,” in al-Mawasi, west of Khan Younis, civil defence spokesperson Mahmud Bassal told AFP. Continue reading...

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28 h. ago Family of man killed in US ‘drug boat’ strike files complaint over ‘extrajudicial killing’

The U.S. military has killed more than 80 people since it began striking vessels that the Trump administration said were carrying drugs

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29 h. ago Family of Colombian man killed in US strike in the Caribbean files human rights challenge

The family of a Colombian man has filed a formal challenge to U.S. military strikes on alleged drug-carrying boats

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31 h. ago Three key reasons why Trump won’t do anything to Pete Hegseth over ‘kill them all’ boat strike scandal — for now

Trump’s desire to avoid anything resembling the chaos of his first term is keeping Pete Hegseth safely in the Pentagon, writes Andrew Feinberg ... at least for the next few months.

Events

31 h. ago ‘Fifa cannot be silent’: human rights groups speak out over 2026 World Cup concerns

Sport and Rights Alliance has made seven requests for actionAmnesty International USA also worried by US government’s roleFifa risks becoming “a public relations tool of an increasingly authoritarian US government,” human rights organisations have warned as they call on football’s international governing body to do more to protect the rights of residents and supporters at next summer’s World Cup.With concerns rising over the possibility of local communities and travelling fans being subjected to immigration raids or arbitrary detention during the tournament, the Sport and Rights Alliance has made seven requests for action from Fifa before Friday’s World Cup draw in Washington. The key demand is that Fifa “commit to ensuring effective protections against racial profiling, arbitrary detention, and unlawful immigration enforcement during the tournament”. Continue reading...

Politics

33 h. ago ‘War criminal’ Pete Hegseth faces growing criticism from conservatives over ‘kill everybody’ strike

‘This is an act of a war crime, ordering survivors who the law requires be rescued instead to be murdered,’ Andrew Napolitano, a former Fox News colleague of Hegseth’s, said on Tuesday.

Events

38 h. ago Women’s Institute latest organisation to announce trans membership ban

The NFWI news comes a day after Girlguiding announced it has banned trans girls from joining.

Politics

39 h. ago Trump officials say second strike aimed to destroy drug boat instead of crew

Officials hew closely to secret memo which gives legal cover to firing on boats even if it would kill people on board Trump administration officials have defended carrying out a follow-up strike on a drug boat that killed survivors on 2 September by arguing that its objective was to ensure the complete destruction of the boat, an action the Pentagon had internal legal approval to conduct.The White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a briefing on Monday that Adm Frank Bradley, who oversaw the operation and gave the order for the second strike, directed it to sink the boat. Continue reading...

Politics

55 h. ago Hegseth says he did not ‘stick around’ to watch second strike on alleged drug boat, but says admiral made ‘right call’ – US politics live

Defense secretary’s comments comes after Trump said Hegseth ‘didn’t know’ about second strike that killed two shipwrecked survivorsTrump administration is ‘selling out’ admiral to shield Hegseth over boat strikes, officials sayPete Hegseth told US soldiers in Iraq to ignore legal advice on rules of engagementJoseph Gedeon is a politics breaking news reporter based in WashingtonThe FBI director, Kash Patel, is “in over his head” and leading a “chronically under-performing” agency paralyzed by fear and plummeting morale, according to a scathing 115-page report compiled by a national alliance of retired and active-duty FBI special agents and analysts. Continue reading...

Events

57 h. ago Johnson pins responsibility for second strike on alleged drug boat on admiral as Pentagon says strikes will continue

Johnson also says he doesn’t know how much of video recording of second strike, which reportedly killed two survivors, should be releasedTrump administration is ‘selling out’ admiral to shield Hegseth over boat strikes, officials sayPete Hegseth told US soldiers in Iraq to ignore legal advice on rules of engagementJoseph Gedeon is a politics breaking news reporter based in WashingtonThe FBI director, Kash Patel, is “in over his head” and leading a “chronically under-performing” agency paralyzed by fear and plummeting morale, according to a scathing 115-page report compiled by a national alliance of retired and active-duty FBI special agents and analysts. Continue reading...

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