63 h. ago US seizes sixth sanctioned tanker as it tightens grip on Venezuela’s oil

US forces in the Caribbean Sea have seized another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration says has ties to Venezuela, part of a broader US effort to take control of the South American country’s oil. The US Coast Guard boarded the tanker, named Veronica, early Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote on social media. The ship had previously passed through Venezuelan waters and was operating in defiance of US President Donald Trump’s “established quarantine of...

Events

8 d. ago Body, capsized boat found in Japan waters raise spectre of North Korean ‘ghost ships’

A lone body discovered on a cold Japanese beach and a shattered wooden boat coated in black tar have stirred memories of the “ghost ships” that in past winters drifted across to Japan from North Korea. The body washed ashore on Wednesday in Ishikawa prefecture, while a Japan Coast Guard vessel later recovered the capsized boat nearby, local media reported. Authorities have yet to identify the man and are investigating whether he was linked to the vessel, which bore Korean characters and numbers....

Politics

8 d. ago Mystery ‘ghost ship’ discovery puzzles Japan. Fisherman, defector or spy?

A lone body discovered on a cold Japanese beach and a shattered wooden boat coated in black tar have stirred memories of the “ghost ships” that in past winters drifted across to Japan from North Korea. The body washed ashore on Wednesday in Ishikawa prefecture, while a Japan Coast Guard vessel later recovered the capsized boat nearby, local media reported. Authorities have yet to identify the man and are investigating whether he was linked to the vessel, which bore Korean characters and numbers....

Politics

8 d. ago US seizes fifth tanker as Trump escalates bid to control Venezuela’s oil

The US took control of its fifth oil vessel in recent weeks on Friday in the latest move tied to the Donald Trump administration’s effort to control Venezuelan oil exports. In an early morning operation, a joint US Coast Guard and Navy team launched from the carrier USS Gerald R Ford apprehended the tanker Olina in the Caribbean Sea “without incident”, according to a social media post from the US Southern Command. “The Department of War’s Operation Southern Spear is unwavering in its mission to...

Politics

1 week ago China Coast Guard Presence Near Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands Reaches Record High in 2025

China Coast Guard Presence Near Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands Reaches Record High in 2025  The Diplomat – Asia-Pacific Current Affairs Magazine

Politics

1 week ago China coast guard’s ‘increasingly severe’ presence near Japanese islands breaks another record

China coast guard’s ‘increasingly severe’ presence near Japanese islands breaks another record  Stars and Stripes

Politics

2 w. ago US Coast Guard searches for survivors after strike on alleged drug boat convoy

The United States Coast Guard is searching for survivors of a US military strike against a convoy of suspected drug vessels in the Pacific Ocean, US officials said on Wednesday. President Donald Trump’s administration has carried out more than 30 strikes against suspected drug boats in the Caribbean and Pacific since September in a campaign that has killed at least 110 people. In a statement, the US military’s Southern Command said the military had carried out a strike against three...

Events

2 w. ago CIA behind drone strike on drug boat loading facility in Venezuela: sources

The CIA was behind a drone strike last week at a docking area believed to have been used by Venezuelan drug cartels, according to two people familiar with details of the operation who requested anonymity to discuss the classified matter. The first known direct operation on Venezuelan soil since the US began strikes in September marked a significant escalation in the administration’s months-long pressure campaign on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s government. The strike has not been...

Events

2 w. ago CIA behind drone strike on ‘big facility’ in Venezuela: sources

The CIA was behind a drone strike last week at a docking area believed to have been used by Venezuelan drug cartels, according to two people familiar with details of the operation who requested anonymity to discuss the classified matter. The first known direct operation on Venezuelan soil since the US began strikes in September marked a significant escalation in the administration’s months-long pressure campaign on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s government. The strike has not been...

Events

2 w. ago Trump says US ‘hit’ drug boat loading facility in Venezuela pressure campaign

US President Donald Trump has indicated that the US has “hit” a dock facility along a shore as he wages a pressure campaign on Venezuela, but the US offered few details. Trump initially seemed to confirm a strike in what appeared to be an impromptu radio interview Friday, and when questioned Monday by reporters about “an explosion in Venezuela”, he said the US struck a facility where boats accused of carrying drugs “load up”. “There was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the...

Events

3 w. ago US is pursuing a third oil tanker near Venezuela, officials say

The US Coast Guard is pursuing an oil tanker in international waters near Venezuela, officials told Reuters on Sunday, in what would be the second such operation this weekend and the third in less than a week. One of the officials said the tanker was under sanctions. The officials, who were speaking on condition of anonymity, did not give a specific location for the operation. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday. US President Donald Trump last week...

Politics

3 w. ago US pursues third oil tanker as Trump’s Venezuela ‘blockade’ intensifies

The US Coast Guard is pursuing an oil tanker in international waters near Venezuela, officials told Reuters on Sunday, in what would be the second such operation this weekend and the third in less than two weeks if successful. “The United States Coast Guard is in active pursuit of a sanctioned ‘dark fleet’ vessel that is part of Venezuela’s illegal sanctions evasion,” a US official said. “It is flying a false flag and under a judicial seizure order.” Another official said the tanker was under...

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