10 h. ago Maduro urges Trump to abandon ‘illegal warmongering’ and start ‘serious talks’

Venezuelan president warns of a ‘forever war’ similar to Iraq after US counterpart claims first land strike on dockThe Venezuelan leader, Nicolás Maduro, has urged Donald Trump to abandon his “illegal warmongering” and begin “serious talks” with his administration as mystery continued to surround a purported pre-Christmas CIA airstrike on the South American country.Speaking during an hour-long TV interview, Maduro declined to confirm reports of the apparent US attack, which would be the first on Venezuelan soil since Trump began his five-month campaign of military pressure in August. Continue reading...

Events

13 h. ago Venezuela’s Maduro ready for ‘serious talks’ with US on drug trafficking

Nicolas Maduro has described Venezuela as a "brother country" to the United States and a friendly government

Events

19 h. ago Venezuela open to talks on drug trafficking, says Maduro, but refuses to comment on reported US strike on land

President Nicolás Maduro reiterated his belief that the US wants to force a change of government in Venezuela and gain access to its vast oil reserves Venezuela is open to negotiating an agreement with the US to combat drug trafficking, the country’s president Nicolás Maduro has said, but he declined to comment on a reported CIA-led strike on a Venezuelan docking area that Donald Trump claimed was used by cartels.Maduro, in the pre-recorded interview with Spanish journalist Ignacio Ramonet, reiterated his belief that the US wants to force a change of government in Venezuela and gain access to its vast oil reserves through its months-long pressure campaign that began with a massive military deployment to the Caribbean Sea in August. Continue reading...

Events

22 h. ago Maduro open to US talks on drug trafficking, but silent on CIA strike

Venezuela is open to reaching an agreement with the United States to combat drug trafficking, according to President Nicolás Maduro

Events

3 d. ago CIA carries out first drone strike on Venezuelan soil in latest escalation of Trump admin’s attacks on ‘narco terrorists’

US targeted alleged drug traffickers in first-known land attack inside the country

Events

5 d. ago Inmate on the run after Christmas prison break was jailed for county lines drug dealing

Mahad Elmi is being hunted by police after setting up a drug dealing operation using a teenager to sell crack and heroin trafficked from London to Cardiff

Events

8 d. ago Falling price of cocaine forces drug traffickers to reuse narco

Previously vessels would be sunk once they had completed their cargo runs from South America to EuropeThe plummeting price of cocaine is forcing drug-traffickers to reuse the “narco-submarines” they would previously have scuttled once the custom-built vessels had completed their cargo runs from South America to Europe, according to a senior Spanish police officer.While semi-submersible vehicles have been used regularly in Colombia and other parts of South and Central America since the 1980s, they were not detected in European waters until 2006, when an abandoned sub was found in an estuary in the north-west Spanish region of Galicia. Continue reading...

Events

9 d. ago Trump’s claims to Venezuelan oil are part of broader ‘resource imperialism’, experts say

Critics compare offensive to Iraq war, citing familiar mix of regime-change rhetoric, security pretexts and oil interestsDonald Trump’s recent claims that the US should keep Venezuelan oil from seized tankers are part of a broader belief in rightwing “resource imperialism”, experts say.In recent weeks, the Trump administration has escalated pressure on Venezuela, invoking drug-trafficking claims. This month, the US intercepted two tankers carrying Venezuelan oil and began pursuing a third, while intensifying its campaign against the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago A Canadian lawyer linked to a former Olympic snowboarder accused of drug trafficking gets bail

A Canadian lawyer accused of playing a key role in an international drug smuggling network involving a former Olympic snowboarder has been granted bail ahead of his extradition hearing to the United States

Events

1 week ago Ecuador court sentences 11 air force troops over disappearance of four boys

Long sentences in case of Afro-Ecuadorian ‘Guayaquil Four’ focuses attention on president’s crackdown on crimeA court in Ecuador has sentenced 11 air force personnel to decades in prison over the forced disappearance” of four Afro-Ecuadorian boys aged between 11 and 15 during security operations in the country’s largest city last year.The case of the “Guayaquil Four” is widely seen as the starkest example of human rights abuses under the iron-fist security policy pursued by the rightwing president, Daniel Noboa, who placed the armed forces at the centre of the fight against drug trafficking. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago US strikes two more alleged drug boats, bringing death toll to over 100

US military declares five alleged drug traffickers killed in Pacific OceanThe US military said it killed on Thursday five more alleged drug traffickers aboard two vessels in the Pacific Ocean, bringing the divisive campaign’s death toll to over 100.The Trump administration has carried out such strikes in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean since September but has provided no evidence that the boats are involved in drug trafficking, prompting debate about the operations’ legality. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago A look at the US military's unusually large force near Venezuela

The U.S. military has amassed an unusually large force in the Caribbean Sea and the waters off the coast of Venezuela since this summer, when the Trump administration first began to shift assets to the region as part of its anti-drug trafficking operations

Events

2 w. ago US strike on alleged drug boat in Pacific kills four, as Trump accuses Venezuela of taking ‘our oil’

The announcement from Pete Hegseth comes a day after Trump issued a blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving VenezuelaThe US military carried out a lethal strike on a vessel it said was engaged in drug trafficking in the eastern Pacific, according to defense secretary Pete Hegseth, as Trump further ratcheted up pressure on Venezuela, accusing the country of taking US oil.On Wednesday Hegseth said the “lethal kinetic strike” on a vessel engaged in “narco-trafficking operations” had killed four people. The latest strike in the Pacific brings the death toll to 99 since the US began its campaign of striking alleged drug-trafficking boats in September. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Bella Culley's emotional baby post after jail hell as she has ‘her hands full'

Teenager Bella Culley, who was convicted of drug trafficking from Thailand into Georgia this year, announced the arrival of her baby boy on TikTok last week

Events

3 w. ago US lawmakers condemn seizure of Venezuelan oil tanker: ‘Trump is sleepwalking us into a war’

Unease grows in Washington, including among some Republicans, over Trump administration’s escalating military posture in the CaribbeanUS politics live – latest updatesSenior Democratic lawmakers and at least one Republican have condemned Wednesday’s seizure of a Venezuelan oil tanker off the nation’s coast, with one saying Donald Trump is “sleepwalking us into a war with Venezuela”.There is growing, at least somewhat bipartisan unease in Washington over the administration’s escalating military posture in the region. Trump has accused Venezuela of facilitating drug trafficking, and increased the US military presence in the Caribbean to a level not seen in decades. The administration has also conducted a campaign of bombings of alleged drug boats, killing more than 80 people so far. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago Starmer, Merz and Macron take phone call with Trump on Ukraine peace talks – Europe live

European leaders confirm that they spoke with the US president earlier today about ‘the state of talks’ Jørgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, is now delivering his opening speech.It’s a damning verdict on Maduro’s authoritarian rule in Venezuela, as he talks about a number of figures facing repression and torture from the regime.“As we sit here in Oslo City Hall, innocent people are locked away in dark cells in Venezuela. They cannot hear the speeches given today – only the screams of prisoners being tortured.”Venezuela has evolved into a brutal, authoritarian state facing a deep humanitarian and economic crisis. Meanwhile, a small elite at the top – shielded by political power, weapons and legal impunity – enriches itself.“A quarter of the population has already fled the country – one of the world’s largest refugee crises.Those who remain live under a regime that systematically silences, harasses and attacks the opposition.”“Venezuela is not alone in this da...

Politics

3 w. ago Nobel peace prize winner misses ceremony but is ‘safe’ and due in Oslo in ‘just a few hours’, says daughter – Europe live

Winner María Corina Machado has been seen only once in public since going into hiding in August last yearJørgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, is now delivering his opening speech.It’s a damning verdict on Maduro’s authoritarian rule in Venezuela, as he talks about a number of figures facing repression and torture from the regime.“As we sit here in Oslo City Hall, innocent people are locked away in dark cells in Venezuela. They cannot hear the speeches given today – only the screams of prisoners being tortured.”Venezuela has evolved into a brutal, authoritarian state facing a deep humanitarian and economic crisis. Meanwhile, a small elite at the top – shielded by political power, weapons and legal impunity – enriches itself.“A quarter of the population has already fled the country – one of the world’s largest refugee crises.Those who remain live under a regime that systematically silences, harasses and attacks the opposition.”“Venezuela is not alone in this d...

Politics

3 w. ago Indonesia is repatriating 2 Dutch drug traffickers convicted on drug trafficking charges

Indonesian officials say that two Dutch nationals imprisoned for drug trafficking will be repatriated to the Netherlands on Monday

Events

3 w. ago Moment pregnant girlfriend is proposed to by her drug dealing boyfriend... unaware police were about to bust them in £26million trafficking racket

Heavily pregnant Saskia Steward, 26, had no clue that just weeks after the proposal they would both end up in a police cell - after being busted over a £26m drugs racket.

Economics

3 w. ago Maduro says the real reason for Trump’s Venezuela fixation is oil – is he right?

The South American country facing a huge US military buildup has almost a fifth of known global reservesVisual guide to US military presence in the CaribbeanVenezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro, says the real motive behind the massive US military buildup in the Caribbean is oil: his country has the largest proven reserves in the world.The US state department denies this, insisting that the airstrikes on boats that have killed more than 80 people and the vast military deployment off South America are part of a campaign against drug trafficking. Continue reading...

Politics