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

1 hour ago US military conducts strike on another suspected drug boat as probe into the first strike begins

U.S. Southern Command says it has conducted another strike against a small boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean, following a pause of almost three weeks

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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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...

Events

18 h. ago Mum's horrifying final moments as she's killed by 75lb stingray leaping from sea

Judy Kay Zagorski, 57, was on a family boat trip in the Florida Keys when she was tragically killed by a spotted eagle ray that jumped out of the water and struck her in the face

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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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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

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

40 h. ago Killer whales ‘violently’ attack family yacht weeks after orcas sink ship in same waters

‘Violent’ night time assault on family’s boat left it taking on water, only just making it to shore

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49 h. ago Megyn Kelly says military showed MERCY in alleged killing of boat

The SiriusXM host was defending Trump and Hegseth as they faced outrage over the controversial lethal strikes Tuesday, saying the Pentagon showed them mercy.

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57 h. ago Fear grows that White House is throwing admiral under the bus to protect Hegseth on ‘kill them all’ boat strikes: report

The Trump administration appears to be scapegoating a decorated Navy SEAL commander in order to insulate the ‘Secretary of War’ as questions mount over whether US forces committed a war crime

Events

65 h. ago Fox News host admits Trump faces ‘big problem’ if White House ordered boat survivors to be killed

Hume said that the intention of the strikes matters, after it was revealed that Pete Hegseth had ordered the military to ‘kill everybody’

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3 d. ago White House says admiral directed second strike that killed alleged drug boat survivors in ‘self defense’

Trump administration refuses to say whether survivors on suspected drug-trafficking vessels posed imminent threat

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3 d. ago Trump ‘wouldn’t have wanted’ second strike on Caribbean boat survivors

US president says he will look into reports US military was told to conduct follow-up attack on suspected drug vesselDonald Trump said on Sunday he would look into reports that the US military conducted a follow-up strike on a boat in the Caribbean that it believed to be ferrying drugs, killing survivors of an initial missile attack.The US president also said he “wouldn’t have wanted” a second strike on the vessel during the incident on 2 September – the first publicised operation in a series of attacks in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific that Washington says are aimed at combatting the drug trade. Continue reading...

Events

9 d. ago Hegseth orders US Navy secretary to investigate Arizona senator Mark Kelly for ‘potentially unlawful comments’

Donald Trump’s defense secretary sends memo to John Phelan asking him to review Kelly’s comments; House Democrats from video confirm FBI is seeking to investigate Senator Mark Kelly has responded to the Pentagon’s announcement that it is investigating the Arizona lawmaker for possible breaches of military law after he joined five other Democratic members of Congress in a video calling for US troops to refuse illegal orders.“I said something that was pretty simple and non controversial, and that was that members of the military should follow the law,” Kelly said in an MS NOW interview with Rachel on Monday. “And in response to that, Donald Trump said I should be executed.” Continue reading...

Society