3 h. ago Vote to shut down military strikes on drug boats comes as senators demand to see video of distressing September attack

Top Trump administration officials are expected to brief Senators on Capitol Hill on Tuesday about September's strikes on Venezuelan drug boats.

Events

3 h. ago Hegseth and Rubio to brief members of Congress on boat strikes as questions mount – live

On Monday night, the US military said it attacked three more boats believed to have been smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing eight peopleUS military says eight killed in strikes on three boats in eastern PacificAcross the pond today, Keir Starmer’s office has said that any legal action against the BBC was a matter for the broadcaster but the UK government supported its independence.It comes after Donald Trump finally filed his lawsuit demanding damages worth up to to $10bn for the way a BBC Panorama documentary – which aired over a year ago – edited a speech he gave to supporters on 6 January 2021 before they attacked the US Capitol. Continue reading...

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7 h. ago US military kills eight people in latest strikes on ‘narco terrorist’ boats in the Pacific

US lawmakers criticised the attacks as ‘rogue and reckless’ and have demanded answers

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9 h. ago US military strikes destroy another three suspected drug boats as eight people are killed

The US military says it carried out strikes on three boats in the eastern Pacific accused of drug smuggling, killing eight people, as scrutiny over the campaign intensifies on Capitol Hill.

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9 h. ago US military says eight killed in strikes on three boats in eastern Pacific

US Southern Command says boats were ‘engaged in narco-trafficking’The US military has launched a fresh round of deadly strikes on foreign vessels suspected of trafficking narcotics, killing eight people.The US Southern Command posted footage of the strikes on social media on Monday, announcing it had hit three vessels in international waters. Continue reading...

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14 h. ago US military says strikes on 3 boats in the eastern Pacific Ocean kill 8 people

The U.S. military says it has attacked three boats accused of smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing a total of eight people

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3 d. ago The Guardian view on Trump and Venezuela: a return to seeking regime change | Editorial

The US is ramping up the pressure on Nicolás Maduro with a tanker seizure and expanded sanctions following threats and boat strikesEarly in his first term, Donald Trump mooted a “military option” for Venezuela to dislodge its president, Nicolás Maduro. Reports suggest that he eagerly discussed the prospect of an invasion behind closed doors. Advisers eventually talked him down. Instead, the US pursued a “maximum pressure” strategy of sanctions and threats.But Mr Maduro is still in place. And Mr Trump’s attempts to remove him are ramping up again. The US has amassed its largest military presence in the Caribbean since the 1989 invasion of Panama. It has carried out more than 20 shocking strikes on alleged drug boats. Mr Trump reportedly delivered an ultimatum late last month, telling the Venezuelan leader that he could have safe passage from his country if he left immediately. There was already a $50m bounty on his head. This week came expanded sanctions and the seizure of a tanker.D...

Politics

6 d. ago Teaching assistant banned from classrooms after telling pupils he had shot dead over 250 people as a military sniper codenamed Kill Switch and still had his gun at home

A professional standards hearing heard that Scott John Trigg-Turner, 44, told students at Bassaleg School in Newport, South Wales, that he served in the US marines under the codename 'Kill Switch'.

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6 d. ago Republicans join Democrats to make military pay hikes contingent on Hegseth releasing ‘double tap’ boat strike video

This year’s annual defense bill will withhold money for Hegseth’s travel budget unless he releases videos of the boat strike in the Caribbean

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8 d. ago Admiral tells lawmakers that all 11 people on alleged drug boat hit by double

The double-tap strike against the alleged drug vessel has been at the center of a growing controversy

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9 d. ago Hegseth gives defiant speech defending ‘drug boat’ strikes amid scrutiny

At event in California, US defense secretary says Trump has power to take military action ‘as he sees fit’Pete Hegseth on Saturday doubled down on his defense of US military strikes on alleged drug cartel boats in the Caribbean, arguing that Donald Trump has the power to take military action “as he sees fit” and dismissing concerns that the strikes violate international law.Hegseth spoke on Saturday at the Ronald Reagan presidential library in Simi Valley, California, amid growing scrutiny over the legality of the attacks and his leadership of the Pentagon. Continue reading...

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1 week ago The Trump administration sinks to a new low – opening fire on drowning men | Jonathan Freedland

These deadly US boat strikes are the latest example of a president corrupting both the law and moralityThe Trump administration looks ever more like a criminal enterprise – and now it seems to have added war crimes to its repertoire. Though even that may be too generous a description.On Thursday, word came that the US military had launched yet another deadly strike on a small boat moving through international waters. This time the attack killed four people, bringing to at least 87 the number of people the US has killed in a series of 22 such strikes on what it says are drug boats – vessels carrying illicit narcotics in the Caribbean or eastern Pacific.Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnistGuardian newsroom: Year One of Trumpism: Is Britain Emulating the US? On Wednesday 21 January 2026, join Jonathan Freedland, Tania Branigan and Nick Lowles as they reflect on the first year of Donald Trump’s second presidency – and to ask if Britain could be set on the same path. Book tickets h...

Events

1 week ago Four killed in latest ‘drug boat’ strike as Hegseth faces war crimes accusations

The US military conducted another deadly strike on an alleged drug boat, killing four men on board.

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1 week 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

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1 week 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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1 week 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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1 week 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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1 week ago Military general to claim survivors of boat strike were trying to continue their drug run when hit with second attack

Admiral Frank ‘Mitch’ Bradley is expected to explain how he concluded the survivors were legitimate targets for another attack

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1 week 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

1 week 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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