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Tag: attack

  • Column: Trump’s 626 overseas strikes aren’t ‘America First.’ What’s his real agenda?

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    Who knew that by “America First,” President Trump meant all of the Americas?

    In puzzling over that question at least, I’ve got company in Marjorie Taylor Greene, the now-former congresswoman from Georgia and onetime Trump devotee who remains stalwart in his America First movement. Greene tweeted on Saturday, just ahead of Trump’s triumphal news conference about the United States’ decapitation of Venezuela’s government by the military’s middle-of-the-night nabbing of Nicolás Maduro and his wife: “This is what many in MAGA thought they voted to end. Boy were we wrong.”

    Wrong indeed. Nearly a year into his second term, Trump has done nothing but exacerbate the domestic problems that Greene identified as America First priorities — bringing down the “increasing cost of living, housing, healthcare” within the 50 states — even as he’s pursued the “never ending military aggression” and foreign adventurism that America Firsters scorn, or at least used to. Another Trump con. Another lie.

    Here’s a stunning stat, thanks to Military Times: In 2025, Trump ordered 626 missile strikes worldwide, 71 more than President Biden did in his entire four-year term. Targets, so far, have included Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Somalia, Nigeria, Iran and the waters off Venezuela and Colombia. Lately he’s threatened to hit Iran again if it kills demonstrators who have been marching in Tehran’s streets to protest the country’s woeful economic conditions. (“We are locked and loaded and ready to go,” Trump posted Friday.)

    The president doesn’t like “forever wars,” he’s said many times, but he sure loves quick booms and cinematic secret ops. Leave aside, for now, the attacks in the Middle East, Africa and the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific. It’s Trump’s new claim to “run” Venezuela that has signaled the beginning of his mind-boggling bid for U.S. hegemony over the Western Hemisphere. Any such ambition raises the potential for quick actions to become quagmires.

    As Stephen Miller, perhaps Trump’s closest and most like-minded (read: unhinged) advisor, described the administration’s worldview on Monday to CNN’s Jake Tapper: “We live in a world, in the real world, Jake, that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power. These are iron laws of the world since the beginning of time.”

    You know, that old, amoral iron law: “Might makes right.” Music to Vladimir Putin’s and Xi Jinping’s ears as they seek hegemonic expansion of their own, confident that the United States has given up the moral high ground from which to object.

    But it was Trump, the branding maven, who gave the White House worldview its name — his own, of course: the Donroe Doctrine. And it was Trump who spelled out what that might mean in practice for the Americas, in a chest-thumping, war-mongering performance on Sunday returning to Washington aboard Air Force One. The wannabe U.S. king turns out to be a wannabe emperor of an entire hemisphere.

    “We’re in charge,” Trump said of Venezuela to reporters. “We’re gonna run it. Fix it. We’ll have elections at the right time.” He added, “If they don’t behave, we’ll do a second strike.” He went on, suggestively, ominously: “Colombia is very sick too,” and “Cuba is ready to fall.” Looking northward, he coveted more: “We need Greenland from a national security situation.”

    Separately, Trump recently has said that Colombia’s leftist President Gustavo Petro “does have to watch his ass,” and that, given Trump’s unhappiness with the ungenuflecting Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, “Something’s going to have to be done with Mexico.” In their cases as well as Maduro’s, Trump’s ostensible complaints have been that each has been complacent or complicit with drug cartels.

    And yet, just last month Trump pardoned the former president of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernández, who was convicted in a U.S. court and given a 45-year sentence for his central role in “one of the largest and most violent drug-trafficking conspiracies in the world.” Hernández helped traffickers ship 400 tons of cocaine into the United States — to “stuff the drugs up the gringos’ noses.” And Trump pardoned him after less than two years in prison.

    So it’s implausible that a few weeks later, the U.S. president truly believes in taking a hard line against leaders he suspects of abetting the drug trade. Maybe Trump’s real motivation is something other than drug-running?

    In his appearance after the Maduro arrest, Trump used the word “oil” 21 times. On Tuesday, he announced, in a social media post, of course, that he was taking control of the proceeds from up to 50 barrels of Venezuelan oil. (Not that he cares, but that would violate the Constitution, which gives Congress power to appropriate money that comes into the U.S. Treasury.)

    Or perhaps, in line with the Monroe Doctrine, our current president has a retro urge to dominate half the world.

    Lately his focus has been on Venezuela and South America, but North America is also in his sights. Trump has long said he might target Mexico to hit cartels and that the United States’ other North American neighbor, Canada, should become the 51st state. But it’s a third part of North America — Greenland — that he’s most intent on.

    The icy island has fewer than 60,000 people but mineral wealth that’s increasingly accessible given the climate warming that Trump calls a hoax. For him to lay claim isn’t just a problem for the Americas. It’s an existential threat to NATO given that Greenland is an autonomous part of NATO ally Denmark — as Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warned.

    Not in 80 years did anyone imagine that NATO — bound by its tenet that an attack on one member is an attack on all — would be attacked from within, least of all from the United States. In a remarkable statement on Tuesday, U.S. allies rallied around Denmark: “It is for Denmark and Greenland, and them only, to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland.”

    Trump’s insistence that controlling Greenland is essential to U.S. national security is nuts. The United States has had military bases there since World War II, and all of NATO sees Greenland as critical to defend against Russian and Chinese encroachment in the Arctic. Still, Trump hasn’t ruled out the use of force to take the island.

    He imagines himself to be the emperor of the Americas — all of it. Americas First.

    Bluesky: @jackiecalmes
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    Jackie Calmes

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  • Mexico’s president slams Trump’s attack on Venezuela, says it destabilizes the hemisphere

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    MEXICO CITY — Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Monday again condemned the U.S. capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, criticizing the Trump administration’s aggressive foreign policy in Latin America for threatening the stability of the hemisphere.

    “We categorically reject intervention in the internal affairs of other countries,” Sheinbaum said in her daily news conference. “The history of Latin America is clear and compelling: Intervention has never brought democracy, has never generated well-being or lasting stability.”

    “Unilateral action and invasion cannot be the basis of international relations in the 21st century,” she said. “They don’t lead to peace or development.”

    Her comments came as Trump on Sunday threatened more military strikes on Venezuela — and raised the possibility of intervention in Mexico as well as in Cuba, Colombia and the Danish territory of Greenland. Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump said drugs were “pouring” through Mexico and that “we’re going to have to do something.”

    He has been threatening action against cartels for months, with some members of his administration suggesting that the U.S. may soon carry out drone strikes on drug laboratories and other targets inside Mexican territory. Sheinbaum has repeatedly said such strikes would be a clear violation of Mexican sovereignty.

    “Sovereignty and the self-determination of peoples are non-negotiable,” she said. “They are fundamental principles of international law and must always be respected without exception.”

    Sheinbaum is part of a bloc of leftist Latin American leaders who have spoken out forcefully against the U.S. after its surprise attack on Caracas on Saturday morning. U.S. special forces abducted Maduro, Venezuela’s leftist president, and his wife, Cilia Flores, the former head of the National Assembly.

    Venezuela says at least 40 people were killed in the attack. The couple have been indicted in New York’s Southern District on drug trafficking charges.

    Right-wing leaders in the region, on the other hand, have cheered the removal of Maduro from power.

    At her news conference on Monday, Sheinbaum called for cooperation among countries in the region, at one point quoting Abraham Lincoln and George Washington.

    “Washington called for good faith and justice toward all nations, and for the cultivation of peace and harmony among all,” she said.

    Nations cannot impose their wills on other countries, she said, and do not have the right to their resources. That was a clear reference to Trump’s stated desire to exploit Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.

    “Only the people can build their own future, decide their path, exercise sovereignty over their natural resources, and freely define their form of government,” she said. “Each nation has the inalienable right to decide its political, economic, and social model, free from external pressure.”

    Sheinbaum warned that infighting among Latin American nations would hurt the region economically.

    “Global economic competition, particularly in the face of Asia’s growth, is not achieved through the use of force … but rather through cooperation for development, productive investment, innovation, education and social welfare,” she said.

    She said Mexico was committed to fighting organized crime, and reminded the U.S. that it fuels that dynamic.

    “The violence plaguing our country is partly caused by the illegal flow of high-powered weapons from the United States into Mexico, as well as the serious problem of drug consumption in our neighboring country,” she said.

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    Kate Linthicum

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  • Maduro arrives in US after capture in operation that Trump says will let US ‘run’ Venezuela

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    Deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro arrived in the United States to face criminal charges after being captured in an audacious nighttime military operation that President Donald Trump said would set the U.S. up to “run” the South American country and tap its vast oil reserves to sell to other nations.Video above: U.S. strikes Venezuela, captures President Maduro in overnight operationMaduro landed Saturday evening at a small airport in New York following the middle-of-the-night operation that extracted him and his wife, Cilia Flores, from their home in a military base in the capital, Caracas — an act that Maduro’s government called “imperialist.” The couple faces U.S. charges of participating in a narco-terrorism conspiracy.The dramatic action capped an intensive Trump administration pressure campaign on Venezuela’s autocratic leader and months of secret planning, resulting in the most assertive American action to achieve regime change since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Legal experts raised questions about the lawfulness of the operation, which was done without congressional approval. Venezuela’s vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, meanwhile, demanded that the United States free Maduro and called him the country’s rightful leader as her nation’s high court named her interim president.Some Venezuelan civilians and members of the military were killed, said Rodríguez, who didn’t give a number. Trump said some U.S. forces were injured, but none were killed.Speaking to reporters hours after Maduro’s capture, Trump revealed his plans to exploit the leadership void to “fix” the country’s oil infrastructure and sell “large amounts” of oil to other countries. Video below: ‘We are going to run the country,’ Trump says of VenezuelaTrump says US will ‘run the country’The Trump administration promoted the ouster as a step toward reducing the flow of dangerous drugs into the U.S. The president touted what he saw as other potential benefits, including a leadership stake in the country and greater control of oil.Trump claimed the U.S. government would help lead the country and was already doing so, though there were no immediate visible signs of that. Venezuelan state TV aired pro-Maduro propaganda and broadcast live images of supporters taking to the streets in Caracas in protest.“We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” Trump said at a Mar-a-Lago news conference. He boasted that this “extremely successful operation should serve as warning to anyone who would threaten American sovereignty or endanger American lives.”Maduro and other Venezuelan officials were indicted in 2020 on narco-terrorism conspiracy charges, and the Justice Department released a new indictment Saturday of Maduro and his wife that painted his administration as a “corrupt, illegitimate government” fueled by a drug-trafficking operation that flooded the U.S with cocaine. The U.S. government does not recognize Maduro as the country’s leader.The Trump administration spent months building up American forces in the region and carrying out attacks on boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean for allegedly ferrying drugs. Last week, the CIA was behind a drone strike at a docking area believed to have been used by Venezuelan drug cartels — the first known direct operation on Venezuelan soil since the U.S. campaign began in September.Video below: Fact checking President Trump’s Venezuela claimsEarly morning attackTaking place 36 years to the day after the 1990 surrender and seizure of Panama leader Manuel Antonio Noriega following a U.S. invasion, the Venezuela operation unfolded under the cover of darkness early Saturday. Trump said the U.S. turned off “almost all of the lights” in Caracas while forces moved in to extract Maduro and his wife.Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said U.S. forces had rehearsed their maneuvers for months, learning everything about Maduro — where he was and what he ate, as well as details of his pets and his clothes.“We think, we develop, we train, we rehearse, we debrief, we rehearse again and again,” Caine said. “Not to get it right, but to ensure we cannot get it wrong.”Multiple explosions rang out that morning, and low-flying aircraft swept through Caracas. Maduro’s government accused the United States of hitting civilian and military installations, calling it an “imperialist attack” and urging citizens to take to the streets. The explosions — at least seven blasts — sent people rushing into the streets, while others took to social media to report what they saw and heard.Restrictions imposed by the U.S. government on airspace around Venezuela and the Caribbean expired early Sunday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on X, an announcement that suggested any further immediate major U.S. military action was unlikely. “Airlines are informed, and will update their schedules quickly,” he posted.Under Venezuelan law, Rodríguez would take over from Maduro. Rodríguez, however, stressed during a Saturday appearance on state television that she did not plan to assume power, before Venezuela’s high court ordered that she become interim president.“There is only one president in Venezuela,” Rodriguez said, “and his name is Nicolás Maduro Moros.”Video below: President Donald Trump’s full comments on Venezuela strike and Nicolas Maduro captureSome streets in Caracas fill upVenezuela’s ruling party has held power since 1999, when Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chávez, took office, promising to uplift poor people and later to implement a self-described socialist revolution.Maduro took over when Chávez died in 2013. His 2018 reelection was widely considered a sham because the main opposition parties were banned from participating. During the 2024 election, electoral authorities loyal to the ruling party declared him the winner hours after polls closed, but the opposition gathered overwhelming evidence that he lost by a more than 2-to-1 margin.In a demonstration of how polarizing Maduro is, people variously took to the streets to protest his capture, while others celebrated it. At a protest in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, Mayor Carmen Meléndez joined a crowd demanding Maduro’s return.“Maduro, hold on, the people are rising up!” the crowd chanted. “We are here, Nicolás Maduro. If you can hear us, we are here!”In other parts of the city, the streets were empty hours after the attack.“How do I feel? Scared, like everyone,” said Caracas resident Noris Prada, who sat on an empty avenue looking at his phone. “Venezuelans woke up scared. Many families couldn’t sleep.”In Doral, Florida, home to the largest Venezuelan community in the United States, people wrapped themselves in Venezuelan flags, ate fried snacks and cheered as music played. At one point, the crowd chanted “Liberty! Liberty! Liberty!”Questions of legalityWhether the United States violated any laws, international or otherwise, was still a question early Sunday. “There are a number of international legal concepts which the United States might have broken by capturing Maduro,” said Ilan Katz, an international law analyst.In New York, the U.N. Security Council, acting on an emergency request from Colombia, planned to hold a meeting on U.S. operations in Venezuela on Monday morning. That was according to a council diplomat, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a meeting not yet made public.Lawmakers from both American political parties have raised reservations and flat-out objections to the U.S. attacks on boats suspected of drug smuggling. Congress has not approved an authorization for the use of military force for such operations in the region.Connecticut Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said he had seen no evidence that would justify Trump striking Venezuela without approval from Congress and demanded an immediate briefing by the administration on “its plan to ensure stability in the region and its legal justification for this decision.”___Toropin and Tucker reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Jorge Rueda in Caracas, Venezuela; Lisa Mascaro, Michelle L. Price, Seung Min Kim and Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington; Farnoush Amiri in New York; and Larry Neumeister in South Amboy, New Jersey, contributed to this report.

    Deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro arrived in the United States to face criminal charges after being captured in an audacious nighttime military operation that President Donald Trump said would set the U.S. up to “run” the South American country and tap its vast oil reserves to sell to other nations.

    Video above: U.S. strikes Venezuela, captures President Maduro in overnight operation

    Maduro landed Saturday evening at a small airport in New York following the middle-of-the-night operation that extracted him and his wife, Cilia Flores, from their home in a military base in the capital, Caracas — an act that Maduro’s government called “imperialist.” The couple faces U.S. charges of participating in a narco-terrorism conspiracy.

    The dramatic action capped an intensive Trump administration pressure campaign on Venezuela’s autocratic leader and months of secret planning, resulting in the most assertive American action to achieve regime change since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Legal experts raised questions about the lawfulness of the operation, which was done without congressional approval.

    Venezuela’s vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, meanwhile, demanded that the United States free Maduro and called him the country’s rightful leader as her nation’s high court named her interim president.

    Some Venezuelan civilians and members of the military were killed, said Rodríguez, who didn’t give a number. Trump said some U.S. forces were injured, but none were killed.

    Speaking to reporters hours after Maduro’s capture, Trump revealed his plans to exploit the leadership void to “fix” the country’s oil infrastructure and sell “large amounts” of oil to other countries.

    Video below: ‘We are going to run the country,’ Trump says of Venezuela

    Trump says US will ‘run the country’

    The Trump administration promoted the ouster as a step toward reducing the flow of dangerous drugs into the U.S. The president touted what he saw as other potential benefits, including a leadership stake in the country and greater control of oil.

    Trump claimed the U.S. government would help lead the country and was already doing so, though there were no immediate visible signs of that. Venezuelan state TV aired pro-Maduro propaganda and broadcast live images of supporters taking to the streets in Caracas in protest.

    “We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” Trump said at a Mar-a-Lago news conference. He boasted that this “extremely successful operation should serve as warning to anyone who would threaten American sovereignty or endanger American lives.”

    Maduro and other Venezuelan officials were indicted in 2020 on narco-terrorism conspiracy charges, and the Justice Department released a new indictment Saturday of Maduro and his wife that painted his administration as a “corrupt, illegitimate government” fueled by a drug-trafficking operation that flooded the U.S with cocaine. The U.S. government does not recognize Maduro as the country’s leader.

    The Trump administration spent months building up American forces in the region and carrying out attacks on boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean for allegedly ferrying drugs. Last week, the CIA was behind a drone strike at a docking area believed to have been used by Venezuelan drug cartels — the first known direct operation on Venezuelan soil since the U.S. campaign began in September.

    Video below: Fact checking President Trump’s Venezuela claims

    Early morning attack

    Taking place 36 years to the day after the 1990 surrender and seizure of Panama leader Manuel Antonio Noriega following a U.S. invasion, the Venezuela operation unfolded under the cover of darkness early Saturday. Trump said the U.S. turned off “almost all of the lights” in Caracas while forces moved in to extract Maduro and his wife.

    Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said U.S. forces had rehearsed their maneuvers for months, learning everything about Maduro — where he was and what he ate, as well as details of his pets and his clothes.

    “We think, we develop, we train, we rehearse, we debrief, we rehearse again and again,” Caine said. “Not to get it right, but to ensure we cannot get it wrong.”

    Multiple explosions rang out that morning, and low-flying aircraft swept through Caracas. Maduro’s government accused the United States of hitting civilian and military installations, calling it an “imperialist attack” and urging citizens to take to the streets. The explosions — at least seven blasts — sent people rushing into the streets, while others took to social media to report what they saw and heard.

    Restrictions imposed by the U.S. government on airspace around Venezuela and the Caribbean expired early Sunday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on X, an announcement that suggested any further immediate major U.S. military action was unlikely. “Airlines are informed, and will update their schedules quickly,” he posted.

    Under Venezuelan law, Rodríguez would take over from Maduro. Rodríguez, however, stressed during a Saturday appearance on state television that she did not plan to assume power, before Venezuela’s high court ordered that she become interim president.

    “There is only one president in Venezuela,” Rodriguez said, “and his name is Nicolás Maduro Moros.”

    Video below: President Donald Trump’s full comments on Venezuela strike and Nicolas Maduro capture

    Some streets in Caracas fill up

    Venezuela’s ruling party has held power since 1999, when Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chávez, took office, promising to uplift poor people and later to implement a self-described socialist revolution.

    Maduro took over when Chávez died in 2013. His 2018 reelection was widely considered a sham because the main opposition parties were banned from participating. During the 2024 election, electoral authorities loyal to the ruling party declared him the winner hours after polls closed, but the opposition gathered overwhelming evidence that he lost by a more than 2-to-1 margin.

    In a demonstration of how polarizing Maduro is, people variously took to the streets to protest his capture, while others celebrated it. At a protest in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, Mayor Carmen Meléndez joined a crowd demanding Maduro’s return.

    “Maduro, hold on, the people are rising up!” the crowd chanted. “We are here, Nicolás Maduro. If you can hear us, we are here!”

    In other parts of the city, the streets were empty hours after the attack.

    “How do I feel? Scared, like everyone,” said Caracas resident Noris Prada, who sat on an empty avenue looking at his phone. “Venezuelans woke up scared. Many families couldn’t sleep.”

    In Doral, Florida, home to the largest Venezuelan community in the United States, people wrapped themselves in Venezuelan flags, ate fried snacks and cheered as music played. At one point, the crowd chanted “Liberty! Liberty! Liberty!”

    Questions of legality

    Whether the United States violated any laws, international or otherwise, was still a question early Sunday. “There are a number of international legal concepts which the United States might have broken by capturing Maduro,” said Ilan Katz, an international law analyst.

    In New York, the U.N. Security Council, acting on an emergency request from Colombia, planned to hold a meeting on U.S. operations in Venezuela on Monday morning. That was according to a council diplomat, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a meeting not yet made public.

    Lawmakers from both American political parties have raised reservations and flat-out objections to the U.S. attacks on boats suspected of drug smuggling. Congress has not approved an authorization for the use of military force for such operations in the region.

    Connecticut Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said he had seen no evidence that would justify Trump striking Venezuela without approval from Congress and demanded an immediate briefing by the administration on “its plan to ensure stability in the region and its legal justification for this decision.”

    ___

    Toropin and Tucker reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Jorge Rueda in Caracas, Venezuela; Lisa Mascaro, Michelle L. Price, Seung Min Kim and Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington; Farnoush Amiri in New York; and Larry Neumeister in South Amboy, New Jersey, contributed to this report.

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  • Maduro arrives in US after capture in operation that Trump says will let US ‘run’ Venezuela

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    Deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro arrived in the United States to face criminal charges after being captured in an audacious nighttime military operation that President Donald Trump said would set the U.S. up to “run” the South American country and tap its vast oil reserves to sell to other nations.Maduro landed Saturday evening at a small airport in New York following the middle-of-the-night operation that extracted him and his wife, Cilia Flores, from their home in a military base in the capital, Caracas — an act that Maduro’s government called “imperialist.” The couple faces U.S. charges of participating in a narco-terrorism conspiracy.The dramatic action capped an intensive Trump administration pressure campaign on Venezuela’s autocratic leader and months of secret planning, resulting in the most assertive American action to achieve regime change since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Legal experts raised questions about the lawfulness of the operation, which was done without congressional approval. Venezuela’s vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, meanwhile, demanded that the United States free Maduro and called him the country’s rightful leader as her nation’s high court named her interim president.Some Venezuelan civilians and members of the military were killed, said Rodríguez, who didn’t give a number. Trump said some U.S. forces were injured, but none were killed.Speaking to reporters hours after Maduro’s capture, Trump revealed his plans to exploit the leadership void to “fix” the country’s oil infrastructure and sell “large amounts” of oil to other countries. Trump says US will ‘run the country’The Trump administration promoted the ouster as a step toward reducing the flow of dangerous drugs into the U.S. The president touted what he saw as other potential benefits, including a leadership stake in the country and greater control of oil.Trump claimed the U.S. government would help lead the country and was already doing so, though there were no immediate visible signs of that. Venezuelan state TV aired pro-Maduro propaganda and broadcast live images of supporters taking to the streets in Caracas in protest.“We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” Trump said at a Mar-a-Lago news conference. He boasted that this “extremely successful operation should serve as warning to anyone who would threaten American sovereignty or endanger American lives.”Maduro and other Venezuelan officials were indicted in 2020 on narco-terrorism conspiracy charges, and the Justice Department released a new indictment Saturday of Maduro and his wife that painted his administration as a “corrupt, illegitimate government” fueled by a drug-trafficking operation that flooded the U.S with cocaine. The U.S. government does not recognize Maduro as the country’s leader.The Trump administration spent months building up American forces in the region and carrying out attacks on boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean for allegedly ferrying drugs. Last week, the CIA was behind a drone strike at a docking area believed to have been used by Venezuelan drug cartels — the first known direct operation on Venezuelan soil since the U.S. campaign began in September.Early morning attackTaking place 36 years to the day after the 1990 surrender and seizure of Panama leader Manuel Antonio Noriega following a U.S. invasion, the Venezuela operation unfolded under the cover of darkness early Saturday. Trump said the U.S. turned off “almost all of the lights” in Caracas while forces moved in to extract Maduro and his wife.Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said U.S. forces had rehearsed their maneuvers for months, learning everything about Maduro — where he was and what he ate, as well as details of his pets and his clothes.“We think, we develop, we train, we rehearse, we debrief, we rehearse again and again,” Caine said. “Not to get it right, but to ensure we cannot get it wrong.”Multiple explosions rang out that morning, and low-flying aircraft swept through Caracas. Maduro’s government accused the United States of hitting civilian and military installations, calling it an “imperialist attack” and urging citizens to take to the streets. The explosions — at least seven blasts — sent people rushing into the streets, while others took to social media to report what they saw and heard.Restrictions imposed by the U.S. government on airspace around Venezuela and the Caribbean expired early Sunday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on X, an announcement that suggested any further immediate major U.S. military action was unlikely. “Airlines are informed, and will update their schedules quickly,” he posted.Under Venezuelan law, Rodríguez would take over from Maduro. Rodríguez, however, stressed during a Saturday appearance on state television that she did not plan to assume power, before Venezuela’s high court ordered that she become interim president.“There is only one president in Venezuela,” Rodriguez said, “and his name is Nicolás Maduro Moros.”Some streets in Caracas fill upVenezuela’s ruling party has held power since 1999, when Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chávez, took office, promising to uplift poor people and later to implement a self-described socialist revolution.Maduro took over when Chávez died in 2013. His 2018 reelection was widely considered a sham because the main opposition parties were banned from participating. During the 2024 election, electoral authorities loyal to the ruling party declared him the winner hours after polls closed, but the opposition gathered overwhelming evidence that he lost by a more than 2-to-1 margin.In a demonstration of how polarizing Maduro is, people variously took to the streets to protest his capture, while others celebrated it. At a protest in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, Mayor Carmen Meléndez joined a crowd demanding Maduro’s return.“Maduro, hold on, the people are rising up!” the crowd chanted. “We are here, Nicolás Maduro. If you can hear us, we are here!”In other parts of the city, the streets were empty hours after the attack.“How do I feel? Scared, like everyone,” said Caracas resident Noris Prada, who sat on an empty avenue looking at his phone. “Venezuelans woke up scared. Many families couldn’t sleep.”In Doral, Florida, home to the largest Venezuelan community in the United States, people wrapped themselves in Venezuelan flags, ate fried snacks and cheered as music played. At one point, the crowd chanted “Liberty! Liberty! Liberty!”Questions of legalityWhether the United States violated any laws, international or otherwise, was still a question early Sunday. “There are a number of international legal concepts which the United States might have broken by capturing Maduro,” said Ilan Katz, an international law analyst.In New York, the U.N. Security Council, acting on an emergency request from Colombia, planned to hold a meeting on U.S. operations in Venezuela on Monday morning. That was according to a council diplomat, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a meeting not yet made public.Lawmakers from both American political parties have raised reservations and flat-out objections to the U.S. attacks on boats suspected of drug smuggling. Congress has not approved an authorization for the use of military force for such operations in the region.Connecticut Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said he had seen no evidence that would justify Trump striking Venezuela without approval from Congress and demanded an immediate briefing by the administration on “its plan to ensure stability in the region and its legal justification for this decision.”___Toropin and Tucker reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Jorge Rueda in Caracas, Venezuela; Lisa Mascaro, Michelle L. Price, Seung Min Kim and Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington; Farnoush Amiri in New York; and Larry Neumeister in South Amboy, New Jersey, contributed to this report.

    Deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro arrived in the United States to face criminal charges after being captured in an audacious nighttime military operation that President Donald Trump said would set the U.S. up to “run” the South American country and tap its vast oil reserves to sell to other nations.

    Maduro landed Saturday evening at a small airport in New York following the middle-of-the-night operation that extracted him and his wife, Cilia Flores, from their home in a military base in the capital, Caracas — an act that Maduro’s government called “imperialist.” The couple faces U.S. charges of participating in a narco-terrorism conspiracy.

    The dramatic action capped an intensive Trump administration pressure campaign on Venezuela’s autocratic leader and months of secret planning, resulting in the most assertive American action to achieve regime change since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Legal experts raised questions about the lawfulness of the operation, which was done without congressional approval.

    Venezuela’s vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, meanwhile, demanded that the United States free Maduro and called him the country’s rightful leader as her nation’s high court named her interim president.

    Some Venezuelan civilians and members of the military were killed, said Rodríguez, who didn’t give a number. Trump said some U.S. forces were injured, but none were killed.

    Speaking to reporters hours after Maduro’s capture, Trump revealed his plans to exploit the leadership void to “fix” the country’s oil infrastructure and sell “large amounts” of oil to other countries.

    Trump says US will ‘run the country’

    The Trump administration promoted the ouster as a step toward reducing the flow of dangerous drugs into the U.S. The president touted what he saw as other potential benefits, including a leadership stake in the country and greater control of oil.

    Trump claimed the U.S. government would help lead the country and was already doing so, though there were no immediate visible signs of that. Venezuelan state TV aired pro-Maduro propaganda and broadcast live images of supporters taking to the streets in Caracas in protest.

    “We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” Trump said at a Mar-a-Lago news conference. He boasted that this “extremely successful operation should serve as warning to anyone who would threaten American sovereignty or endanger American lives.”

    Maduro and other Venezuelan officials were indicted in 2020 on narco-terrorism conspiracy charges, and the Justice Department released a new indictment Saturday of Maduro and his wife that painted his administration as a “corrupt, illegitimate government” fueled by a drug-trafficking operation that flooded the U.S with cocaine. The U.S. government does not recognize Maduro as the country’s leader.

    The Trump administration spent months building up American forces in the region and carrying out attacks on boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean for allegedly ferrying drugs. Last week, the CIA was behind a drone strike at a docking area believed to have been used by Venezuelan drug cartels — the first known direct operation on Venezuelan soil since the U.S. campaign began in September.

    Early morning attack

    Taking place 36 years to the day after the 1990 surrender and seizure of Panama leader Manuel Antonio Noriega following a U.S. invasion, the Venezuela operation unfolded under the cover of darkness early Saturday. Trump said the U.S. turned off “almost all of the lights” in Caracas while forces moved in to extract Maduro and his wife.

    Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said U.S. forces had rehearsed their maneuvers for months, learning everything about Maduro — where he was and what he ate, as well as details of his pets and his clothes.

    “We think, we develop, we train, we rehearse, we debrief, we rehearse again and again,” Caine said. “Not to get it right, but to ensure we cannot get it wrong.”

    Multiple explosions rang out that morning, and low-flying aircraft swept through Caracas. Maduro’s government accused the United States of hitting civilian and military installations, calling it an “imperialist attack” and urging citizens to take to the streets. The explosions — at least seven blasts — sent people rushing into the streets, while others took to social media to report what they saw and heard.

    Restrictions imposed by the U.S. government on airspace around Venezuela and the Caribbean expired early Sunday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on X, an announcement that suggested any further immediate major U.S. military action was unlikely. “Airlines are informed, and will update their schedules quickly,” he posted.

    Under Venezuelan law, Rodríguez would take over from Maduro. Rodríguez, however, stressed during a Saturday appearance on state television that she did not plan to assume power, before Venezuela’s high court ordered that she become interim president.

    “There is only one president in Venezuela,” Rodriguez said, “and his name is Nicolás Maduro Moros.”

    Some streets in Caracas fill up

    Venezuela’s ruling party has held power since 1999, when Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chávez, took office, promising to uplift poor people and later to implement a self-described socialist revolution.

    Maduro took over when Chávez died in 2013. His 2018 reelection was widely considered a sham because the main opposition parties were banned from participating. During the 2024 election, electoral authorities loyal to the ruling party declared him the winner hours after polls closed, but the opposition gathered overwhelming evidence that he lost by a more than 2-to-1 margin.

    In a demonstration of how polarizing Maduro is, people variously took to the streets to protest his capture, while others celebrated it. At a protest in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, Mayor Carmen Meléndez joined a crowd demanding Maduro’s return.

    “Maduro, hold on, the people are rising up!” the crowd chanted. “We are here, Nicolás Maduro. If you can hear us, we are here!”

    In other parts of the city, the streets were empty hours after the attack.

    “How do I feel? Scared, like everyone,” said Caracas resident Noris Prada, who sat on an empty avenue looking at his phone. “Venezuelans woke up scared. Many families couldn’t sleep.”

    In Doral, Florida, home to the largest Venezuelan community in the United States, people wrapped themselves in Venezuelan flags, ate fried snacks and cheered as music played. At one point, the crowd chanted “Liberty! Liberty! Liberty!”

    Questions of legality

    Whether the United States violated any laws, international or otherwise, was still a question early Sunday. “There are a number of international legal concepts which the United States might have broken by capturing Maduro,” said Ilan Katz, an international law analyst.

    In New York, the U.N. Security Council, acting on an emergency request from Colombia, planned to hold a meeting on U.S. operations in Venezuela on Monday morning. That was according to a council diplomat, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a meeting not yet made public.

    Lawmakers from both American political parties have raised reservations and flat-out objections to the U.S. attacks on boats suspected of drug smuggling. Congress has not approved an authorization for the use of military force for such operations in the region.

    Connecticut Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said he had seen no evidence that would justify Trump striking Venezuela without approval from Congress and demanded an immediate briefing by the administration on “its plan to ensure stability in the region and its legal justification for this decision.”

    ___

    Toropin and Tucker reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Jorge Rueda in Caracas, Venezuela; Lisa Mascaro, Michelle L. Price, Seung Min Kim and Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington; Farnoush Amiri in New York; and Larry Neumeister in South Amboy, New Jersey, contributed to this report.

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  • Airspace and travel restrictions on much of Caribbean airspace following US strikes on Venezuela

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    Much of Caribbean airspace has been closed as the United States hit Venezuela with a “large-scale strike” early Saturday and said President Nicolás Maduro and his wife were captured and flown out of the country after months of stepped-up pressure by Washington — an extraordinary nighttime operation announced by President Donald Trump on social media hours after the attack. This has caused flight cancellations to and from Caribbean airports. So far, there have been nearly 900 cancellations and over 4,000 delays.The airspace closure impacted thousands of people traveling to or from Caribbean countries, all as a busy holiday travel season winds down.Related video above: See a report on the strikes and capture of Venezuela’s presidentThe legal authority for the strike — and whether Trump consulted Congress beforehand — was not immediately clear. The stunning, lightning-fast American military action, which plucked a nation’s sitting leader from office, echoed the U.S. invasion of Panama that led to the surrender and seizure of its leader, Manuel Antonio Noriega, in 1990 — exactly 36 years ago Saturday. Here’s what the attack on Venezuela means for travel in the region:FAA imposes airspace restriction on Puerto RicoThe Federal Aviation Administration has imposed a temporary airspace restriction on Puerto Rico’s international airport and surrounding regions.An announcement by Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan posted on the social media site X said the restriction was placed because of the “security situation related to military activity” in Venezuela.As a result, most commercial airlines to and from the airport that are operated by U.S. airlines have been suspended or may be canceled.Foreign airlines and military aircraft are not included in this restriction, the statement said. “Passengers are urged to check the status of their flight directly with their airline before heading to the airport.”Delta Airlines announced that it began canceling flights in Caribbean airspace Saturday morning, and announcements from American Airlines and United followed soon after.State Department urges Americans in Venezuela to shelter in placeThe State Department issued a new travel alert early Saturday, warning Americans in Venezuela urging them to “shelter in place” due to the situation.”U.S. Embassy Bogota is aware of reports of explosions in and around Caracas, Venezuela,” it said without elaboration.”The U.S. Embassy in Bogota, Colombia, warns U.S. citizens not to travel to Venezuela. U.S. citizens in Venezuela should shelter in place.” The embassy in Bogota has been shuttered since March 2019 but operates remotely.The view from New EnglandThe cancellations affected many New England travelers, some of whom became stranded in foreign countries.”At first, we didn’t know what was going on because they kept delaying the flight,” said Tricia Maloney. “All the flights but ours were cancelled, and ours kept being delayed and delayed and delayed and it was finally cancelled.”Maloney and her family were scheduled to fly back to Boston on Saturday from vacation in Curacao, which is about 40 miles from Venezuela.Plans quickly changed for them.”Our hotel didn’t have any availability, so everyone was scrambling for hotels,” Maloney said. “So, we’re in a new hotel now for tonight, and we’ll have to figure something out tomorrow.”Others, like the Marchese family from Wilbraham, ran into the opposite problem.They were supposed to vacation in Aruba, but amid ongoing flight restrictions, their plan B is Florida.Two families from New Hampshire are now struggling to make changes.”Everyone is like panicking, we can’t even find flights out here until Friday,” said Casie Woodman of Fremont, New Hampshire.A vacation to Aruba for Casie Woodman, of Fremont, New Hampshire, is taking an unexpected turn after she woke up Saturday to learn of the U.S military actions in Venezuela and the closed airspace in the area. “There’s no flights through any airlines, even just to get in the United States, until Friday,” said Woodman.Woodman says families at the resort are scrambling and older people are concerned about getting their medicine.Manchester’s Gus Emmick and his family thought they’d be spending their vacation in Saint Martin, but now they are at Logan Airport.”Many, many families are just sitting here trying to scramble and figure out what happened and what they are going to do,” said Gus Emmick, of Manchester, New Hampshire.The family is switching gears and looking to head to Florida.”As much as we love New Hampshire, December has been a little rough, so we are looking for warmer weather and hoping we’ll see some,” said Emmick.Aviation expert Tom Kinton said safety is the reason behind the airspace closure.”There were hundreds of aircraft and fixed-wing drones as part of this operation. You want to get that all cleaned up before you let civilian aircraft back into that airspace again,” said Tom Kinton. According to the FAA, the closed airspace is impacting flights in and out of Caribbean destinations like Aruba, Barbados and even Puerto Rico. Delta flights to and from the following airports have been cancelled for the day, according to a spokesperson. They are as follows:Luis Munoz Marin International Airport in Puerto Rico (SJU)Princess Juliana International Airport in Sint Maarten (SXM)Henry E. Rohlsen Airport in Saint Croix (STX)Cyril E. King Airport in St. Thomas (STT)Queen Beatrix International Airport in Aruba (AUA)Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport on St. Kitts, Caribbean Islands (SKB)Curaçao International Airport in Curaçao (CUR)Grantley Adams International Airport in Barbados (BGI)Hewanorra International Airport in St. Lucia (UVF)Bonaire International Airport near Kralendijk in the Caribbean Netherlands (BON)Argyle International Airport in Argyle, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (SVD)Maurice Bishop International Airport in Grenada (GND)V.C. Bird International Airport in Antigua and Barbuda (ANU)It’s unclear when the Delta flights will resume for these airports. Now, Kinton said the airspace is slated to open at 5 a.m. Sunday. However, it could be that a narrower airspace is opened for the time being or the opening could be delayed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

    Much of Caribbean airspace has been closed as the United States hit Venezuela with a “large-scale strike” early Saturday and said President Nicolás Maduro and his wife were captured and flown out of the country after months of stepped-up pressure by Washington — an extraordinary nighttime operation announced by President Donald Trump on social media hours after the attack.

    This has caused flight cancellations to and from Caribbean airports. So far, there have been nearly 900 cancellations and over 4,000 delays.

    The airspace closure impacted thousands of people traveling to or from Caribbean countries, all as a busy holiday travel season winds down.

    Related video above: See a report on the strikes and capture of Venezuela’s president

    The legal authority for the strike — and whether Trump consulted Congress beforehand — was not immediately clear. The stunning, lightning-fast American military action, which plucked a nation’s sitting leader from office, echoed the U.S. invasion of Panama that led to the surrender and seizure of its leader, Manuel Antonio Noriega, in 1990 — exactly 36 years ago Saturday.

    Here’s what the attack on Venezuela means for travel in the region:

    FAA imposes airspace restriction on Puerto Rico

    The Federal Aviation Administration has imposed a temporary airspace restriction on Puerto Rico’s international airport and surrounding regions.

    An announcement by Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan posted on the social media site X said the restriction was placed because of the “security situation related to military activity” in Venezuela.

    MIGUEL J. RODRIGUEZ CARRILLO

    Passengers wait at Luis Munoz Marin International Airport as all flights are cancelled following U.S. military action in Venezuela, on Jan. 3, 2026, in Carolina, Puerto Rico. 

    As a result, most commercial airlines to and from the airport that are operated by U.S. airlines have been suspended or may be canceled.

    Foreign airlines and military aircraft are not included in this restriction, the statement said. “Passengers are urged to check the status of their flight directly with their airline before heading to the airport.”

    Delta Airlines announced that it began canceling flights in Caribbean airspace Saturday morning, and announcements from American Airlines and United followed soon after.

    State Department urges Americans in Venezuela to shelter in place

    The State Department issued a new travel alert early Saturday, warning Americans in Venezuela urging them to “shelter in place” due to the situation.

    “U.S. Embassy Bogota is aware of reports of explosions in and around Caracas, Venezuela,” it said without elaboration.

    “The U.S. Embassy in Bogota, Colombia, warns U.S. citizens not to travel to Venezuela. U.S. citizens in Venezuela should shelter in place.” The embassy in Bogota has been shuttered since March 2019 but operates remotely.

    The view from New England

    The cancellations affected many New England travelers, some of whom became stranded in foreign countries.

    “At first, we didn’t know what was going on because they kept delaying the flight,” said Tricia Maloney. “All the flights but ours were cancelled, and ours kept being delayed and delayed and delayed and it was finally cancelled.”

    Maloney and her family were scheduled to fly back to Boston on Saturday from vacation in Curacao, which is about 40 miles from Venezuela.

    Plans quickly changed for them.

    “Our hotel didn’t have any availability, so everyone was scrambling for hotels,” Maloney said. “So, we’re in a new hotel now for tonight, and we’ll have to figure something out tomorrow.”

    Others, like the Marchese family from Wilbraham, ran into the opposite problem.

    They were supposed to vacation in Aruba, but amid ongoing flight restrictions, their plan B is Florida.

    Two families from New Hampshire are now struggling to make changes.

    “Everyone is like panicking, we can’t even find flights out here until Friday,” said Casie Woodman of Fremont, New Hampshire.

    A vacation to Aruba for Casie Woodman, of Fremont, New Hampshire, is taking an unexpected turn after she woke up Saturday to learn of the U.S military actions in Venezuela and the closed airspace in the area.

    “There’s no flights through any airlines, even just to get in the United States, until Friday,” said Woodman.

    Woodman says families at the resort are scrambling and older people are concerned about getting their medicine.

    Manchester’s Gus Emmick and his family thought they’d be spending their vacation in Saint Martin, but now they are at Logan Airport.

    “Many, many families are just sitting here trying to scramble and figure out what happened and what they are going to do,” said Gus Emmick, of Manchester, New Hampshire.

    The family is switching gears and looking to head to Florida.

    “As much as we love New Hampshire, December has been a little rough, so we are looking for warmer weather and hoping we’ll see some,” said Emmick.

    Aviation expert Tom Kinton said safety is the reason behind the airspace closure.

    “There were hundreds of aircraft and fixed-wing drones as part of this operation. You want to get that all cleaned up before you let civilian aircraft back into that airspace again,” said Tom Kinton.

    According to the FAA, the closed airspace is impacting flights in and out of Caribbean destinations like Aruba, Barbados and even Puerto Rico.

    Delta flights to and from the following airports have been cancelled for the day, according to a spokesperson. They are as follows:

    • Luis Munoz Marin International Airport in Puerto Rico (SJU)
    • Princess Juliana International Airport in Sint Maarten (SXM)
    • Henry E. Rohlsen Airport in Saint Croix (STX)
    • Cyril E. King Airport in St. Thomas (STT)
    • Queen Beatrix International Airport in Aruba (AUA)
    • Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport on St. Kitts, Caribbean Islands (SKB)
    • Curaçao International Airport in Curaçao (CUR)
    • Grantley Adams International Airport in Barbados (BGI)
    • Hewanorra International Airport in St. Lucia (UVF)
    • Bonaire International Airport near Kralendijk in the Caribbean Netherlands (BON)
    • Argyle International Airport in Argyle, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (SVD)
    • Maurice Bishop International Airport in Grenada (GND)
    • V.C. Bird International Airport in Antigua and Barbuda (ANU)

    It’s unclear when the Delta flights will resume for these airports.

    Now, Kinton said the airspace is slated to open at 5 a.m. Sunday. However, it could be that a narrower airspace is opened for the time being or the opening could be delayed.

    The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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  • Get the Facts: Is Venezuela a primary drug trafficker to the United States?

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    Get the Facts: Is Venezuela a primary drug trafficker to the United States?

    OK, thank you very much. This is big stuff. And we appreciate you being here. Late last night. And early today. At my direction, the United States armed forces. Conducted an extraordinary military operation in the capital of Venezuela. Overwhelming American military power, air, land and sea was used to launch *** spectacular assault. And it was an assault like people have not seen since. World War II. It was *** force against *** heavily fortified military fortress in the heart of Caracas. To bring outlaw dictator Nicolas Maduro to justice. This was one of the most stunning. Effective and powerful displays of American military might and competence. In American history. And if you think about it, we’ve done some, Other good ones like the, Attack on Soleimani. The attack on al-Baghdadi. And the Obliteration and decimation of the Iran nuclear sites. Just recently. In an operation known as Midnight Hammer. All perfectly executed and done. No nation in the world could achieve what America achieved yesterday or frankly in just *** short period of time. All Venezuelan military capacities were rendered powerless as the men and women of our military working with US law enforcement successfully captured Maduro in the dead of night. It was. Dark, the, uh, lights of Caracas were largely turned off. Due to *** certain expertise that we have. It was dark and it was deadly. But captured along with his wife. Celia Flores. Both of whom now face American justice. Maduro and Flores have been indicted in the Southern District of New York. Jay Clayton for their campaign of deadly narco-terrorism against the United States and its citizens. I want to thank the men and women of our military who achieved such an extraordinary success overnight. With breathtaking speed, power, precision, and competence. You rarely see anything like it. You’ve seen some raids in this country that didn’t go so well. They were an embarrassment. If you look back to Afghanistan or if you look back to The Jimmy Carter days, they were different days. We’re *** respected country again like maybe like never before. These highly trained warriors operating in collaboration with US law enforcement caught them in *** very ready position. They were waiting for us. They knew we had many ships out. In the sea we just sort of waiting. They knew we were coming, so they were in *** ready, what’s called *** ready position. But they were completely overwhelmed and very quickly incapacitated. If you would have seen what I saw last night, you would have been very impressed. I’m not sure that you’ll ever get to see it, but it was an incredible thing to see. Not *** single American service member was killed and not *** single piece of American equipment was lost. We had many helicopters, many planes, many. Many people involved in that fight. But think of that not one piece of military equipment was lost, not one service member was more importantly killed. The United States military is the strongest and most fearsome military on the planet by far, with capabilities and skills, our enemies can. Scarcely begin to imagine we have the best equipment anywhere in the world. There’s no equipment like what we have, and you see that even if you just look at the boats, you know, we’ve knocked out 97% of the drugs coming in by sea. 90%. Each boat kills 25 on average 25,000 people. We knocked out 97%. And those drugs mostly come from *** place called Venezuela. We’re going to run the country until such time as we can do *** safe, proper, and judicious transition, so. We don’t want to be involved with having somebody else get in, and we have the same situation that we had for the last long period of years, so we are going to run the country until such time as we can do *** safe, proper, and judicious transition, and it has to be judicious. Because that’s what we’re all about. We want peace, liberty and justice for the great people of Venezuela. And that includes many from Venezuela that are now living in the United States and want to go back to their country, it’s their homeland. We can’t take *** chance that somebody else takes over Venezuela that doesn’t have the good of the Venezuelan people in mind. Had decades of that. We’re not going to let that happen. We’re there now, and what people don’t understand, but they understand as I say this, we’re there now, but we’re. Going to stay until such time as the proper transition can take place, so we’re going to stay until such time as we’re going to run it essentially until such time as *** proper transition can take place. As everyone knows, the oil business in Venezuela has been *** bust, *** total bust for *** long period of time. They were pumping almost nothing by comparison to what they could. have been pumping and what could have taken place. We’re going to have our very large United States oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world, go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure. And start making money for the country. And we are Ready to stage *** second and much larger attack if We need to do so, so we were prepared to do *** second wave. If We needed to do so. We actually assumed that *** second wave would be necessary, but now it’s probably not. The first wave, if you’d like to call it that, the first attack was so successful we probably don’t have to do *** second, but we’re prepared to do *** second wave, *** much bigger wave actually. This was pinpoint, but we have *** much bigger wave that. Probably won’t have to do this partnership of Venezuela with the United States of America, *** country that everybody wants to be involved with because of what we were able to do and accomplish, will make the people of Venezuela rich, independent, and safe, and it will also make the many, many people from Venezuela that are living in the United States extremely happy. They suffered. They suffered. So much was taken from them. They’re not going to suffer anymore. The illegitimate dictator Maduro was the kingpin of *** vast criminal network responsible for trafficking colossal amounts of deadly and illicit drugs into the United States. As alleged in the indictment, he personally oversaw the vicious cartel known as Cartel de las Solis. Which flooded our nation with lethal poison responsible for the deaths of countless Americans, the many, many Americans, hundreds of thousands over the years of Americans died because of him. Maduro and his wife will soon face the full might of American justice and stand trial on American soil. Right now they’re on *** ship they’ll be heading to ultimately New York and then *** decision will be made, I assume between New York and. Miami or Florida. But we have People where the overwhelming evidence of their crimes will be presented in *** court of law, and I’ve seen it. I’ve seen what we have. It’s It’s both horrible and breathtaking that something like this could have been allowed to take place. For many years after his term as president of Venezuela expired, Maduro remained in power and waged *** ceaseless campaign of violence, terror, and subversion against the United States of America, threatening not only our people but the stability of the entire region. And you also, in addition to trafficking gigantic amounts of illegal drugs. That inflicted untold suffering and human destruction all over the country, all over, in particular the United States. Maduro sent savage and murderous gangs, including the bloodthirsty prison gang Tren de Arragua, to terrorize American communities nationwide, and he did indeed. They were in Colorado. They took over apartment complexes. They cut the fingers of people if they call police. They were brutal. But they’re not so brutal now? And I just have to Congratulate our military, Pete and everybody in our National Guard. Because the job that they’ve done, whether it’s in Washington DC where we have *** totally safe city where it was one of the most unsafe cities anywhere in the world, frankly, and now we have no crime in Washington DC. We haven’t had *** killing. We had the terrorist attack *** few weeks ago. Uh, *** little bit of *** different kind of ***, *** threat, but we haven’t had *** killing in *** long period of time, 67 months, we used to have 2, on average 2 *** week in Washington, our capital. We don’t have that anymore. The restaurants are opening. Everyone’s happy. They’re going, they’re walking their daughters, they’re walking their children, their wives, they walk to restaurants. Restaurants are opening all over Washington DC. So I want to thank the National Guard. I want to thank our military, and I want to thank law enforcement. It’s been amazing. And they should do it with more cities. We’re doing it, as you know, and uh we’re doing it in Memphis, Tennessee right now, and crime is down. We’ve just sort of started *** few weeks ago, but crime is down now 77%. And uh the governor of Louisiana called, great person. And he wanted us to help him, as you know, in *** certain very nice part of Louisiana, and we have done that and it’s *** rough, it was *** rough, rough section and we have climbed down. I, I understand it’s down to almost nothing already after 2.5 weeks. New Orleans, it’s down to almost nothing, and we’ve only been there for 2.5 weeks. Can’t imagine why governors wouldn’t want us to help. We also helped, as you know, in Chicago, and crime went down *** little bit there. We did *** very small help because we had no, no. We had no working ability with the governor. The governor was *** disaster and the mayor was *** disaster, but it knocked down crime. But we’re pulling out of there when they need us, we’ll know. You’ll know. You’ll be writing about it. And likewise Los Angeles, where we saved Los Angeles early on where the. Head of the police department made *** statement that if the federal government didn’t come in we would have lost Los Angeles. That’s after long after the fires. That’s when they had the riots in Los Angeles. We did *** great job. We got no credit for it whatsoever, but that’s OK. It doesn’t matter. We don’t need the credit. But we’ll be pulling out when they need us. They’ll call or we’ll go back if we have to. We’ll go back, but we did *** great job in various cities. But the thing, the place that we’re very proud of is Washington DC because it’s our nation’s capital. We took it from being *** crime ridden mess to being one of the safest cities in the country. But the gangs that they sent raped, tortured, and murdered American women and children. They were in all of the cities I mentioned, Trendaragua. And they were sent by Maduro to terrorize our people and now Maduro will never again be able to threaten an American citizen or anybody from Venezuela. There will no longer be threats. For years I’ve highlighted the stories of those innocent Americans whose lives. We’re so heartlessly robbed by this Venezuelan terrorist organization, really one of the worst, one of the worst, they say the worst. Americans like 12 year old Jocelyn Nungary from Houston. Beautiful Jocelyn. Nungarary, what happened to her? They, uh, as you know, they kidnapped, assaulted and murdered by Trende Aragua. Animals they murdered Jocelyn. And Left her dead under the bridge. There was *** bridge. *** bridge that will never be the same to so many people after seeing what happened. As I’ve said many times, the Maduro regime emptied out their prisons, sent their worst and most violent monsters into the United States to steal American lives, and they came from mental institutions and insane asylums. They came from prisons and jails. The reason I say both, they sound similar actually. Prisons, *** little bit more. *** little bit more hostile, *** little bit tougher. *** mental institution isn’t as tough as an insane asylum, but we got them both. They sent from their mental institutions. They sent from their jails, prisons. They were drug dealers. They were drug kingpins. They sent everybody bad into the United States. But no longer, and we have now *** border where nobody gets through. In addition, Venezuela. Unilaterally seized and sold American oil, American assets, and American platforms, costing us billions and billions of dollars. They did this *** while ago, but we never had *** president that did anything about it. They took all of our property. It was our property. We built it. And we never had *** president that decided to do anything about it. Instead they fought wars that were 10,000 miles away. We built Venezuela oil industry with American talent, drive and skill, and the socialist regime stole it from us during those previous administrations, and they stole it through force. This constituted one of the largest thefts of American property in the history of our country, considered the largest theft of property in the history of our country. Massive oil infrastructure was taken like we were babies, and we didn’t do anything about it. I would have done something about it. America will never allow foreign powers to rob our people or drive us back into. And out of our own hemisphere, that’s what they did. Furthermore, under the now deposed dictator Maduro, Venezuela was increasingly hosting foreign adversaries in our region. And acquiring menacing offensive weapons that could threaten US interests and lives, and they used those weapons last night. They used those weapons last night, potentially in league with the cartels operating along our border. All of these actions were in gross violation of the core principles of American foreign policy dating back more than two centuries. And uh not anymore all the way back it dated to the Monroe Doctrines. And the Monroe Doctrine is *** big deal, but we’ve superseded it by *** lot. By *** real lot. They now call it the Don Ro document. I don’t know. It’s, uh, Monroe Doctrine, we sort of forgot about it. It was very important, but we forgot about it. We don’t forget about it anymore. Under our new national security strategy, American dominance in the Western Hemisphere will never be questioned again. Won’t happen. So just in concluding, for decades other administrations have neglected or even Contributed to these growing security threats in the Western Hemisphere. Under the Trump administration, we are reasserting American power in *** very powerful way. In our home region. And our home region is very different than it was just *** short while ago. The future will be, and we did this in my first term. We had great dominance in my first term, and We have far greater dominance right now. Everyone’s coming back to us. The future will be determined by the ability to protect commerce and territory and resources that are core to national security. These are core to our national security. Just like tariffs are, they’ve made our country rich and they’ve made our national security strong, stronger than ever before. But these are the iron laws that have always determined global power. And we’re going to keep it that way. We will secure our borders. We will stop the terrorists. We will crash the cartels, and we will defend our citizens against all threats, foreign and domestic. Other presidents may have lacked the courage or whatever to defend America, but I will never allow terrorists and criminals to operate with impunity against the United States. This extremely successful operation should serve as *** warning to anyone who would threaten American sovereignty or endanger American lives. Very importantly, the embargo on all Venezuelan oil remains in full effect. The American. Armada remains poised in position, and the United States retains all military options until the United States demands have been fully met and fully satisfied. All political and military figures in Venezuela should understand. What happened to Maduro can happen to them, and it will happen to them. If they aren’t just fair, even to their people, the dictator and terrorist Maduro. is finally gone in Venezuela. People are free. They’re free again. It’s been *** long time for them, but they’re free. America is *** safer nation. This morning It’s *** prouder nation this morning because it didn’t allow. This horrible person and this country that was Doing very bad things to us, it didn’t allow it to happen, and the Western Hemisphere is right now *** much safer place to be. So I want to thank everybody for being here. I want to thank General Raisin Kane. He’s *** fantastic man. I’ve worked with *** lot of generals. I worked with some I didn’t like. I worked with some I didn’t respect. I worked with some that just weren’t good. But this guy is fantastic. I watched last night one of the most precise. Attacks on sovereignty. I mean it was an attack for justice and I’m very proud of him and I’m very proud of our Secretary of War Pete Hegseth who I’m going to ask to say *** few words. Thank you very much.


    Data Visualization Journalist

    The Trump administration has set its sights on Venezuela in its latest campaign against illegal drugs, but data shows that the country is responsible for just a sliver of drug trafficking directly to the United States. The Get the Facts Data Team analyzed data on cocaine and fentanyl trafficking. While Venezuela is a player in cocaine manufacturing and trafficking, drug seizure data shows that it’s not as prominent a supplier of cocaine to the U.S. as other South American and Latin American countries. There is also no evidence that any significant level of illegal fentanyl — the primary killer in U.S. overdose deaths — is produced in South America, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).UNODC analyzes global drug trafficking based on reporting from its member states, open sources and drug seizure information.Most illegal fentanyl enters the U.S. from Mexico, per UNODC and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Illicit fentanyl can also be diverted, or stolen, from legal sources as medical professionals use the drug.Yet President Donald Trump has linked his administration’s attacks on drug vessels in Latin America to the fentanyl crisis, among other drugs.After the Sept. 19 attack on a boat in the Caribbean that killed three people, Trump posted on Truth Social, claiming that the boat was carrying drugs and headed for America. “STOP SELLING FENTANYL, NARCOTICS, AND ILLEGAL DRUGS IN AMERICA,” his post said. The next day, in a speech, Trump said that thousands are dying because of “boatloads” of fentanyl and drugs. He’s also repeatedly said that each boat strike would save 25,000 lives.As of Friday, the number of known boat strikes was 35, and the number of people killed stands at least 115, according to the Trump administration.Previously, Trump said that the U.S. is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels and has justified the boat strikes as necessary to stem the flow of drugs into the U.S. Hearst Television’s partner PolitiFact labeled that 25,000 number mathematically dubious.Maduro’s capture on Jan. 3On Saturday, the Trump administration struck Venezuela in a new, stunning way, capturing its leader, Nicolas Maduro, and his wife. Both are being taken to the United States to face charges related to drug trafficking.The strike followed a monthslong Trump administration pressure campaign on the Venezuelan leader, including a major buildup of American forces in the waters off South America and attacks on boats in the eastern Pacific and Caribbean accused of carrying drugs. Last week, the CIA was behind a drone strike at a docking area believed to have been used by Venezuelan drug cartels — the first known direct operation on Venezuelan soil since the U.S. began strikes in September.Venezuela’s role in cocaine traffickingVenezuela is not among the primary direct traffickers of cocaine to the U.S. Like fentanyl, most cocaine enters the U.S. from Mexico and typically gets to Mexico via maritime transportation on both the Pacific and Caribbean sides, according to UNODC research officer Antoine Vella. Some also arrives in Mexico via land transportation.While the Trump administration’s early September attacks targeted Venezuelan boats, there is no known direct cocaine trade route from Venezuela to the U.S. via sea. The only known direct Venezuela to U.S. trafficking route is via air, according to drug seizure data from UNODC. Cocaine could still arrive from Venezuela to the U.S. through intermediary countries.Colombia, Ecuador and Panama are among the main direct traffickers of cocaine to the U.S. via boat. From harvest to productionCoca, the plant that cocaine is made from, is grown primarily in Colombia, Peru and Bolivia. Once coca is harvested, the cocaine in the leaf needs to be extracted. That processing occurs at illegal manufacturing facilities around the globe.The three coca-growing countries also have the most illegal processing facilities. Colombia had by far the most of any country at about 26,400 detected and dismantled from 2019 to 2023, according to UNODC data. It’s followed by about 3,200 processing facilities in Bolivia and 2,400 in Peru. Venezuela, which neighbors Colombia, had about 260 illegal processing facilities detected and dismantled from 2019 to 2023, according to UNODC data. It’s ranked fifth among countries with the most processing facilities.”Every country that borders Colombia has an issue with cocaine in terms of cocaine trafficking,” Vella said. PHNjcmlwdCB0eXBlPSJ0ZXh0L2phdmFzY3JpcHQiPiFmdW5jdGlvbigpeyJ1c2Ugc3RyaWN0Ijt3aW5kb3cuYWRkRXZlbnRMaXN0ZW5lcigibWVzc2FnZSIsKGZ1bmN0aW9uKGUpe2lmKHZvaWQgMCE9PWUuZGF0YVsiZGF0YXdyYXBwZXItaGVpZ2h0Il0pe3ZhciB0PWRvY3VtZW50LnF1ZXJ5U2VsZWN0b3JBbGwoImlmcmFtZSIpO2Zvcih2YXIgYSBpbiBlLmRhdGFbImRhdGF3cmFwcGVyLWhlaWdodCJdKWZvcih2YXIgcj0wO3I8dC5sZW5ndGg7cisrKXtpZih0W3JdLmNvbnRlbnRXaW5kb3c9PT1lLnNvdXJjZSl0W3JdLnN0eWxlLmhlaWdodD1lLmRhdGFbImRhdGF3cmFwcGVyLWhlaWdodCJdW2FdKyJweCJ9fX0pKX0oKTs8L3NjcmlwdD4=

    The Trump administration has set its sights on Venezuela in its latest campaign against illegal drugs, but data shows that the country is responsible for just a sliver of drug trafficking directly to the United States.

    The Get the Facts Data Team analyzed data on cocaine and fentanyl trafficking. While Venezuela is a player in cocaine manufacturing and trafficking, drug seizure data shows that it’s not as prominent a supplier of cocaine to the U.S. as other South American and Latin American countries.

    There is also no evidence that any significant level of illegal fentanyl — the primary killer in U.S. overdose deaths — is produced in South America, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

    UNODC analyzes global drug trafficking based on reporting from its member states, open sources and drug seizure information.

    Most illegal fentanyl enters the U.S. from Mexico, per UNODC and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Illicit fentanyl can also be diverted, or stolen, from legal sources as medical professionals use the drug.

    Yet President Donald Trump has linked his administration’s attacks on drug vessels in Latin America to the fentanyl crisis, among other drugs.

    After the Sept. 19 attack on a boat in the Caribbean that killed three people, Trump posted on Truth Social, claiming that the boat was carrying drugs and headed for America. “STOP SELLING FENTANYL, NARCOTICS, AND ILLEGAL DRUGS IN AMERICA,” his post said.

    The next day, in a speech, Trump said that thousands are dying because of “boatloads” of fentanyl and drugs. He’s also repeatedly said that each boat strike would save 25,000 lives.

    As of Friday, the number of known boat strikes was 35, and the number of people killed stands at least 115, according to the Trump administration.

    Previously, Trump said that the U.S. is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels and has justified the boat strikes as necessary to stem the flow of drugs into the U.S. Hearst Television’s partner PolitiFact labeled that 25,000 number mathematically dubious.

    Maduro’s capture on Jan. 3

    On Saturday, the Trump administration struck Venezuela in a new, stunning way, capturing its leader, Nicolas Maduro, and his wife. Both are being taken to the United States to face charges related to drug trafficking.

    The strike followed a monthslong Trump administration pressure campaign on the Venezuelan leader, including a major buildup of American forces in the waters off South America and attacks on boats in the eastern Pacific and Caribbean accused of carrying drugs. Last week, the CIA was behind a drone strike at a docking area believed to have been used by Venezuelan drug cartels — the first known direct operation on Venezuelan soil since the U.S. began strikes in September.

    Venezuela’s role in cocaine trafficking

    Venezuela is not among the primary direct traffickers of cocaine to the U.S.

    Like fentanyl, most cocaine enters the U.S. from Mexico and typically gets to Mexico via maritime transportation on both the Pacific and Caribbean sides, according to UNODC research officer Antoine Vella. Some also arrives in Mexico via land transportation.

    While the Trump administration’s early September attacks targeted Venezuelan boats, there is no known direct cocaine trade route from Venezuela to the U.S. via sea. The only known direct Venezuela to U.S. trafficking route is via air, according to drug seizure data from UNODC. Cocaine could still arrive from Venezuela to the U.S. through intermediary countries.

    Colombia, Ecuador and Panama are among the main direct traffickers of cocaine to the U.S. via boat.

    From harvest to production

    Coca, the plant that cocaine is made from, is grown primarily in Colombia, Peru and Bolivia.

    Once coca is harvested, the cocaine in the leaf needs to be extracted. That processing occurs at illegal manufacturing facilities around the globe.

    The three coca-growing countries also have the most illegal processing facilities. Colombia had by far the most of any country at about 26,400 detected and dismantled from 2019 to 2023, according to UNODC data. It’s followed by about 3,200 processing facilities in Bolivia and 2,400 in Peru.

    Venezuela, which neighbors Colombia, had about 260 illegal processing facilities detected and dismantled from 2019 to 2023, according to UNODC data. It’s ranked fifth among countries with the most processing facilities.

    “Every country that borders Colombia has an issue with cocaine in terms of cocaine trafficking,” Vella said.

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  • Live updates: U.S. attacks Venezuela, captures Maduro

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    The United States carried out a large-scale strike against Venezuela’s socialist regime early Saturday morning, bombing several military and key government installations and capturing strongman Nicolás Maduro, who was flown out of the country along with his wife, President Donald Trump announced on social media.

    Reports from Venezuela say at least 17 aircraft crossed the skies of Caracas among the many explosions, which appeared to target the airport of La Carlota, the 23 de Enero neighborhood, the Fuerte Tina military headquarters and the area of Higuerote.

    There were also reports of power outages in some areas. Videos filmed by Caracas residents showed parts of the city in the dark and the shadows of what appeared to be helicopters and airplanes firing at targets on the ground.

    Here are live updates:

    Venezuelans in Caracas shocked by U.S. attack

    Around 2 a.m. Venezuelans began sharing videos on social media of helicopters and aircraft flying over Caracas at low altitude. Other videos showed tall columns of fire and smoke rising through the darkness.

    According to people in Caracas and nearby towns, deafening explosions began to be heard in the Venezuelan capital and around the headquarters of the Nicolas Maduro government.

    “I was awakened by the bombs. I felt the windows rumbling and the house was shaking,” said a resident of San Antonio de Los Altos, a town located on the outskirts of Caracas. “I still hear the airplanes flying over the skies”, she added around 3 a.m.

    Read the full story: ‘We turned off the lights and hid’: Venezuelans shocked by U.S. attacks in Caracas

    Trump says Maduro captured, flown out of Venezuela after U.S. strikes shake Caracas

    Early Saturday the United States allegedly launched coordinated strikes on military and government targets in the capital city Caracas and several Venezuelan states, with President Donald Trump claiming on social media that strongman Nicolás Maduro and his wife were captured and flown out of the country. The move follows a U.S. pressure campaign on a regime Washington considers illegitimate and tied to drug trafficking.

    Residents across Caracas described loud explosions, low-flying aircraft, fires near key military bases, and widespread fear amid limited verifiable information. Maduro later appeared on state media denouncing the attacks as a grave U.S. military aggression, declaring a nationwide state of emergency, mobilizing security forces, and appealing to international bodies for condemnation, while neighboring Colombia and other regional actors urged de-escalation and warned of risks to regional stability against the backdrop of long-simmering U.S.-Venezuela tensions.

    Read the full story: Trump says Maduro captured, flown out of Venezuela after U.S. strikes shake Caracas

    This story was originally published January 3, 2026 at 5:57 AM.

    Antonio Maria Delgado

    el Nuevo Herald

    Galardonado periodista con más de 30 años de experiencia, especializado en la cobertura de temas sobre Venezuela. Amante de la historia y la literatura.

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  • Charlotte-area teen charged with planning ISIS-inspired New Year’s Eve attack

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    An 18-year-old from Mint Hill planned to use knives and hammers to kill people in a grocery store and fast-food restaurant in an ISIS-inspired New Year’s Eve attack, U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson said Friday.

    FBI agents foiled Christian Sturdivant’s plans and charged him with attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, Ferguson said at a news conference after Sturdivant’s first appearance in federal court in Charlotte.

    Christian Sturdivant
    Christian Sturdivant Gaston County jail

    “He was targeting Jews, Christians and LGBTQ (persons),” Ferguson said.

    Sturdivant considered various Mint Hill grocery stores for his attack and planned to kill people in whichever he found most crowded, said James Barnacle Jr., special agent in charge of the FBI in North Carolina.

    Monday night, law enforcement officers conducted a search warrant at Sturdivant’s home and found handwritten documents, one titled “New Years Attack 2026,” according to a criminal complaint in U.S. District Court.

    The FBI says suspect Christian Sturdivant titled this handwritten document, “New Years Attack 2026,” according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
    The FBI says suspect Christian Sturdivant titled this handwritten document, “New Years Attack 2026,” according to an arrest warrant affidavit. SCREENSHOT OF PHOTO IN FBI ARREST WARRANT AFFIDAVIT

    The document listed items planned for the attack, including a vest, mask, tactical gloves and two knives, and mentioned stabbing as many civilians as possible, up to 20 or 21, the complaint says.

    A section of the note labeled “martyrdom Op” mentioned attacking responding police officers so Sturdivant “would die a martyr,” according to the document.

    Sturdivant lived with a relative who tried to secure knives and hammers from him, the complaint says, although FBI agents seized two hammers and two butcher knives from under his bed, the complaint says.

    Officers also seized a list of targets from his bedroom, the complaint says.

    “It was a very well-thought-out plan he had,” Ferguson said.

    An initial Charlotte Observer search of N.C. court records found no prior criminal charges for Sturdivant, and a spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office said he had no prior federal charges.

    FBI’s previous encounter with suspect

    But the FBI did investigate him years earlier, when he was 14, officials said Friday.

    Agents learned that he’d been in contact on social media at that time with an unidentified ISIS member from a European country, Friday’s complaint says. He received direction from the ISIS member to dress in all black, knock on people’s doors and attack them with a hammer.

    Sturdivant also was accused of using his cellphone at the time to communicate with ISIS members online.

    In January 2022, according to the complaint, Sturdivant dressed in all black and left his house to kill a neighbor with a hammer and a knife, the FBI agent said in the complaint.

    Sturdivant’s grandfather restrained him and returned him to Sturdivant’s house, the complaint says. Sturdivant also is accused of pledging “Bayat,” a loyalty oath, to the terrorist group before he planned the hammer attack, an FBI agent said in the complaint.

    A state magistrate judge in Mecklenburg County denied the FBI’s request at the time to involuntarily commit Sturdivant, Ferguson said. That probably was because of his age and because he agreed to, and did, stop using social media, Ferguson said.

    ‘I will do jihad soon’

    Friday’s criminal complaint lays out what the FBI says were Sturdivant’s communications with a person he thought was an ISIS member in the weeks before the planned attack. The person was a New York City undercover officer, officials said Friday.

    Sturdivant worked at a Burger King in Mint Hill, the complaint says. He told the undercover officer that he was targeting a grocery store not named in the complaint.

    On Dec. 12, Sturdivant began communicating with the person, saying “I will do jihad soon,” the complaint says. He proclaimed himself “a soldier of the state,” meaning ISIS, according to the document.

    The FBI’s criminal complaint against 18-year-old Christian Sturdivant of Mint Hill includes a photograph of this social media post the FBI says Sturdivant made in early December 2025.
    The FBI’s criminal complaint against 18-year-old Christian Sturdivant of Mint Hill includes a photograph of this social media post the FBI says Sturdivant made in early December 2025. SCREENSHOT OF PHOTO IN FBI CRIMINAL COMPLAINT

    Earlier in December, he posted an image of two miniature figurines of Jesus with on-screen text that read, “May Allah curse the cross worshipers,” according to the complaint.

    On Dec. 14, Sturdivant sent an online message to the person with an image of two hammers and a knife, the FBI agent said. That was significant, according to the FBI, because an article in the 2016 issue of an ISIS propaganda magazine encouraged using knives in terror attacks in western countries.

    Sturdivant is accused of later telling the person he planned to attack a specific grocery store in North Carolina and planned to buy a gun to use with the knives in the attack, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

    On Dec. 19, the FBI said, he sent a voice recording of himself to the undercover officer in which he pledged Bayat, the affidavit says.

    Sturdivant was in federal custody without bond in the Gaston County jail Friday.

    This story was originally published January 2, 2026 at 1:10 PM.

    Joe Marusak

    The Charlotte Observer

    Joe Marusak has been a reporter for The Charlotte Observer since 1989 covering the people, municipalities and major news events of the region, and was a news bureau editor for the paper. He currently reports on breaking news.
    Support my work with a digital subscription

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    Joe Marusak

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  • Charlotte-area teen charged with planning ISIS-inspired New Year’s Eve attack

    [ad_1]

    An 18-year-old from Mint Hill planned to use knives and hammers to kill people in a grocery store and fast-food restaurant in an ISIS-inspired New Year’s Eve attack, U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson said Friday.

    FBI agents foiled Christian Sturdivant’s plans and charged him with attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, Ferguson said at a news conference after Sturdivant’s first appearance in federal court in Charlotte.

    Christian Sturdivant
    Christian Sturdivant Gaston County jail

    “He was targeting Jews, Christians and LGBTQ (persons),” Ferguson said.

    Sturdivant considered various Mint Hill grocery stores for his attack and planned to kill people in whichever he found most crowded, said James Barnacle Jr., special agent in charge of the FBI in North Carolina.

    Monday night, law enforcement officers conducted a search warrant at Sturdivant’s home and found handwritten documents, one titled “New Years Attack 2026,” according to a criminal complaint in U.S. District Court.

    The FBI says suspect Christian Sturdivant titled this handwritten document, “New Years Attack 2026,” according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
    The FBI says suspect Christian Sturdivant titled this handwritten document, “New Years Attack 2026,” according to an arrest warrant affidavit. SCREENSHOT OF PHOTO IN FBI ARREST WARRANT AFFIDAVIT

    The document listed items planned for the attack, including a vest, mask, tactical gloves and two knives, and mentioned stabbing as many civilians as possible, up to 20 or 21, the complaint says.

    A section of the note labeled “martyrdom Op” mentioned attacking responding police officers so Sturdivant “would die a martyr,” according to the document.

    Sturdivant lived with a relative who tried to secure knives and hammers from him, the complaint says, although FBI agents seized two hammers and two butcher knives from under his bed, the complaint says.

    Officers also seized a list of targets from his bedroom, the complaint says.

    “It was a very well-thought-out plan he had,” Ferguson said.

    An initial Charlotte Observer search of N.C. court records found no prior criminal charges for Sturdivant, and a spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office said he had no prior federal charges.

    FBI’s previous encounter with suspect

    But the FBI did investigate him years earlier, when he was 14, officials said Friday.

    Agents learned that he’d been in contact on social media at that time with an unidentified ISIS member from a European country, Friday’s complaint says. He received direction from the ISIS member to dress in all black, knock on people’s doors and attack them with a hammer.

    Sturdivant also was accused of using his cellphone at the time to communicate with ISIS members online.

    In January 2022, according to the complaint, Sturdivant dressed in all black and left his house to kill a neighbor with a hammer and a knife, the FBI agent said in the complaint.

    Sturdivant’s grandfather restrained him and returned him to Sturdivant’s house, the complaint says. Sturdivant also is accused of pledging “Bayat,” a loyalty oath, to the terrorist group before he planned the hammer attack, an FBI agent said in the complaint.

    A state magistrate judge in Mecklenburg County denied the FBI’s request at the time to involuntarily commit Sturdivant, Ferguson said. That probably was because of his age and because he agreed to, and did, stop using social media, Ferguson said.

    ‘I will do jihad soon’

    Friday’s criminal complaint lays out what the FBI says were Sturdivant’s communications with a person he thought was an ISIS member in the weeks before the planned attack. The person was a New York City undercover officer, officials said Friday.

    Sturdivant worked at a Burger King in Mint Hill, the complaint says. He told the undercover officer that he was targeting a grocery store not named in the complaint.

    On Dec. 12, Sturdivant began communicating with the person, saying “I will do jihad soon,” the complaint says. He proclaimed himself “a soldier of the state,” meaning ISIS, according to the document.

    The FBI’s criminal complaint against 18-year-old Christian Sturdivant of Mint Hill includes a photograph of this social media post the FBI says Sturdivant made in early December 2025.
    The FBI’s criminal complaint against 18-year-old Christian Sturdivant of Mint Hill includes a photograph of this social media post the FBI says Sturdivant made in early December 2025. SCREENSHOT OF PHOTO IN FBI CRIMINAL COMPLAINT

    Earlier in December, he posted an image of two miniature figurines of Jesus with on-screen text that read, “May Allah curse the cross worshipers,” according to the complaint.

    On Dec. 14, Sturdivant sent an online message to the person with an image of two hammers and a knife, the FBI agent said. That was significant, according to the FBI, because an article in the 2016 issue of an ISIS propaganda magazine encouraged using knives in terror attacks in western countries.

    Sturdivant is accused of later telling the person he planned to attack a specific grocery store in North Carolina and planned to buy a gun to use with the knives in the attack, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

    On Dec. 19, the FBI said, he sent a voice recording of himself to the undercover officer in which he pledged Bayat, the affidavit says.

    Sturdivant was in federal custody without bond in the Gaston County jail Friday.

    This story was originally published January 2, 2026 at 12:10 PM.

    Joe Marusak

    The Charlotte Observer

    Joe Marusak has been a reporter for The Charlotte Observer since 1989 covering the people, municipalities and major news events of the region, and was a news bureau editor for the paper. He currently reports on breaking news.
    Support my work with a digital subscription

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    Joe Marusak

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  • Trump says US ‘hit’ facility along shore where he says alleged drug boats ‘load up’

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    PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Donald Trump has indicated that the U.S. has “hit” a dock facility along a shore as he wages a pressure campaign on Venezuela, but the U.S. 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 U.S. struck a facility where boats accused of carrying drugs “load up.”

    “There was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs,” Trump said as he met in Florida with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “They load the boats up with drugs, so we hit all the boats and now we hit the area. It’s the implementation area. There’s where they implement. And that is no longer around.”

    It is part of an escalating effort to target what the Trump administration says are boats smuggling drugs bound for the United States. It moves closer to shore strikes that so far have been carried out by the military in international waters in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean.

    Trump declined to say if the U.S. military or the CIA carried out the latest strike or where it occurred. He did not confirm it happened in Venezuela.

    “I know exactly who it was, but I don’t want to say who it was. But you know it was along the shore,” Trump said.

    Trump first referenced the strike on Friday, when he called radio host John Catsimatidis during a program on WABC radio and discussed the U.S. strikes on alleged drug-carrying boats. The attacks have killed at least 105 people in 29 known strikes since early September.

    “I don’t know if you read or saw, they have a big plant or a big facility where they send the, you know, where the ships come from,” Trump said. “Two nights ago, we knocked that out. So, we hit them very hard.”

    Trump did not offer any additional details in the interview.

    Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth or one of the U.S. military’s social media accounts has in the past typically announced every boat strike in a post on X, but there has been no post of any strike on a facility.

    The Pentagon on Monday referred questions to the White House, which did not immediately respond to a message seeking more details. The press office of Venezuela’s government did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Trump’s statement.

    Trump for months has suggested he may conduct land strikes in South America, in Venezuela or possibly another country, and in recent weeks has been saying the U.S. would move beyond striking boats and would strike on land “soon.”

    In October, Trump confirmed he had authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela. The agency did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment Monday.

    Along with the strikes, the U.S. has sent warships, built up military forces in the region, seized two oil tankers and pursued a third.

    The Trump administration has said it is in “armed conflict” with drug cartels and seeking to stop the flow of narcotics into the United States.

    Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has insisted the real purpose of the U.S. military operations is to force him from power.

    White House chief of staff Susie Wiles said in an interview with Vanity Fair published this month that Trump “wants to keep on blowing boats up until Maduro ‘cries uncle.’”

    Price reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Konstantin Toropin in Washington and Regina Garcia Cano in Caracas, Venezuela, contributed to this report.

    Copyright © 2025 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

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  • Major Russian drone, missile attack on Ukraine kills at least 3 people, cuts power

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    Russia fired more than 600 drones and three dozen missiles at Ukraine in a large-scale attack that began during the night and stretched into daylight hours Tuesday, officials said. At least three people were killed, including a 4-year-old child, two days before Christmas.The barrage struck homes and the power grid in 13 regions of Ukraine, causing widespread outages in bitter temperatures, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, a day after he described recent progress on finding a peace deal as “quite solid.”The bombardment demonstrated Russian President Vladimir Putin’s intention of pursuing the invasion of Ukraine, Zelenskyy said in a post on the Telegram messaging app. Ukrainian and European officials have complained that Putin is not sincerely engaging with U.S.-led peace efforts.The attack “is an extremely clear signal of Russian priorities,” Zelenskyy said. “A strike before Christmas, when people want to be with their families, at home, in safety. A strike, in fact, in the midst of negotiations that are being conducted to end this war. Putin cannot accept the fact that we must stop killing.”For months, U.S. President Donald Trump has been pressing for a peace agreement, but the negotiations have become entangled in the very different demands from Moscow and Kyiv.U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff said Sunday he held “productive and constructive” talks in Florida with Ukrainian and European representatives. Trump was less effusive Monday, saying, “The talks are going along.”Initial reports from Ukrainian emergency services said the child died in Ukraine’s northwestern Zhytomyr region, while a drone killed a woman in the Kyiv region, and another civilian death was recorded in the western Khmelnytskyi region, according to Zelenskyy.Russia launched 635 drones of various types and 38 missiles, Ukraine’s air force said. Air defenses stopped 587 drones and 34 missiles, it said.It was the ninth large-scale Russian attack on Ukraine’s energy system this year and left multiple regions in the west without power, while emergency power outages were in place across the country, acting Energy Minister Artem Nekraso said. Work to restore power would begin as soon as the security situation permitted, he said.Ukraine’s largest private energy supplier, DTEK, said the attack targeted thermal power stations in what it said was the seventh major strike on the company’s facilities since October.DTEK’s thermal power plants have been hit more than 220 times since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022. Those attacks have killed four workers and wounded 59.Authorities in the western regions of Rivne, Ternopil and Lviv, as well as the northern Sumy region, reported damage to energy infrastructure or power outages after the attack.In the southern Odesa region, Russia struck energy, port, transport, industrial and residential infrastructure, according to regional head Oleh Kiper.A merchant ship and over 120 homes were damaged, he said.

    KYIV, Ukraine —

    Russia fired more than 600 drones and three dozen missiles at Ukraine in a large-scale attack that began during the night and stretched into daylight hours Tuesday, officials said. At least three people were killed, including a 4-year-old child, two days before Christmas.

    The barrage struck homes and the power grid in 13 regions of Ukraine, causing widespread outages in bitter temperatures, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, a day after he described recent progress on finding a peace deal as “quite solid.”

    The bombardment demonstrated Russian President Vladimir Putin’s intention of pursuing the invasion of Ukraine, Zelenskyy said in a post on the Telegram messaging app. Ukrainian and European officials have complained that Putin is not sincerely engaging with U.S.-led peace efforts.

    The attack “is an extremely clear signal of Russian priorities,” Zelenskyy said. “A strike before Christmas, when people want to be with their families, at home, in safety. A strike, in fact, in the midst of negotiations that are being conducted to end this war. Putin cannot accept the fact that we must stop killing.”

    For months, U.S. President Donald Trump has been pressing for a peace agreement, but the negotiations have become entangled in the very different demands from Moscow and Kyiv.

    U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff said Sunday he held “productive and constructive” talks in Florida with Ukrainian and European representatives. Trump was less effusive Monday, saying, “The talks are going along.”

    Initial reports from Ukrainian emergency services said the child died in Ukraine’s northwestern Zhytomyr region, while a drone killed a woman in the Kyiv region, and another civilian death was recorded in the western Khmelnytskyi region, according to Zelenskyy.

    Russia launched 635 drones of various types and 38 missiles, Ukraine’s air force said. Air defenses stopped 587 drones and 34 missiles, it said.

    It was the ninth large-scale Russian attack on Ukraine’s energy system this year and left multiple regions in the west without power, while emergency power outages were in place across the country, acting Energy Minister Artem Nekraso said. Work to restore power would begin as soon as the security situation permitted, he said.

    Ukraine’s largest private energy supplier, DTEK, said the attack targeted thermal power stations in what it said was the seventh major strike on the company’s facilities since October.

    DTEK’s thermal power plants have been hit more than 220 times since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022. Those attacks have killed four workers and wounded 59.

    Authorities in the western regions of Rivne, Ternopil and Lviv, as well as the northern Sumy region, reported damage to energy infrastructure or power outages after the attack.

    In the southern Odesa region, Russia struck energy, port, transport, industrial and residential infrastructure, according to regional head Oleh Kiper.

    A merchant ship and over 120 homes were damaged, he said.

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  • US military launches strikes in Syria targeting Islamic State fighters after American troop deaths

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    The Trump administration launched military strikes Friday in Syria to “eliminate” Islamic State group fighters and weapons sites in retaliation for an ambush attack that killed two U.S. troops and an American civilian interpreter almost a week ago. A U.S. official described it as “a large-scale” strike that hit 70 targets in areas across central Syria that had IS infrastructure and weapons. Another U.S. official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive operations, said more strikes should be expected.“This is not the beginning of a war — it is a declaration of vengeance. The United States of America, under President Trump’s leadership, will never hesitate and never relent to defend our people,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on social media.The new military operation in Syria comes even as the Trump administration has said it’s looking to focus closer to home in the Western Hemisphere, building up an armada in the Caribbean Sea as it targets alleged drug-smuggling boats and vowing to keep seizing sanctioned oil tankers as part of a pressure campaign on Venezuela’s leader. The U.S. has shifted significant resources away from the Middle East to further those goals: Its most advanced aircraft carrier arrived in South American waters last month from the Mediterranean Sea.Video below: Trump commented on the strikes during a speech Friday nightTrump vowed retaliationPresident Donald Trump pledged “very serious retaliation” after the shooting in the Syrian desert, for which he blamed IS. Those killed were among hundreds of U.S. troops deployed in eastern Syria as part of a coalition fighting the militant group.Trump in a social media post said the strikes were targeting IS “strongholds.” He reiterated his backing for Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, who Trump said was “fully in support” of the U.S. effort.Trump also offered an all-caps threat, warning IS against attacking American personnel again.“All terrorists who are evil enough to attack Americans are hereby warned — YOU WILL BE HIT HARDER THAN YOU HAVE EVER BEEN HIT BEFORE IF YOU, IN ANY WAY, ATTACK OR THREATEN THE U.S.A.,” the president added.The attack was conducted using F-15 Eagle jets, A-10 Thunderbolt ground attack aircraft and AH-64 Apache helicopters, the U.S. officials said. F-16 fighter jets from Jordan and HIMARS rocket artillery also were used, one official added.U.S. Central Command, which oversees the region, said in a social media post that American jets, helicopters and artillery employed more than 100 precision munitions on Syrian targets.How Syria has respondedThe attack was a major test for the warming ties between the United States and Syria since the ouster of autocratic leader Bashar Assad a year ago. Trump has stressed that Syria was fighting alongside U.S. troops and said al-Sharaa was “extremely angry and disturbed by this attack,” which came as the U.S. military is expanding its cooperation with Syrian security forces.Syria’s foreign ministry in a statement on X following the launch of U.S. strikes said that last week’s attack “underscores the urgent necessity of strengthening international cooperation to combat terrorism in all its forms” and that Syria is committed “to fighting ISIS and ensuring that it has no safe havens on Syrian territory and will continue to intensify military operations against it wherever it poses a threat.”Syrian state television reported that the U.S. strikes hit targets in rural areas of Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa provinces and in the Jabal al-Amour area near the historic city of Palmyra. It said they targeted “weapons storage sites and headquarters used by ISIS as launching points for its operations in the region.”IS has not said it carried out the attack on the U.S. service members, but the group has claimed responsibility for two attacks on Syrian security forces since, one of which killed four Syrian soldiers in Idlib province. The group in its statements described al-Sharaa’s government and army as “apostates.” While al-Sharaa once led a group affiliated with al-Qaida, he has had a long-running enmity with IS.The Americans who were killedTrump this week met privately with the families of the slain Americans at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware before he joined top military officials and other dignitaries on the tarmac for the dignified transfer, a solemn and largely silent ritual honoring U.S. service members killed in action.The guardsmen killed in Syria last Saturday were Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, 25, of Des Moines, and Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, 29, of Marshalltown. Ayad Mansoor Sakat, of Macomb, Michigan, a U.S. civilian working as an interpreter, also was killed.The shooting near Palmyra also wounded three other U.S. troops as well as members of Syria’s security forces, and the gunman was killed. The assailant had joined Syria’s internal security forces as a base security guard two months ago and recently was reassigned because of suspicions that he might be affiliated with IS, Interior Ministry spokesperson Nour al-Din al-Baba has said.The man stormed a meeting between U.S. and Syrian security officials who were having lunch together and opened fire after clashing with Syrian guards.___Associated Press writer Abby Sewell in Beirut, Lebanon, contributed.

    The Trump administration launched military strikes Friday in Syria to “eliminate” Islamic State group fighters and weapons sites in retaliation for an ambush attack that killed two U.S. troops and an American civilian interpreter almost a week ago.

    A U.S. official described it as “a large-scale” strike that hit 70 targets in areas across central Syria that had IS infrastructure and weapons. Another U.S. official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive operations, said more strikes should be expected.

    “This is not the beginning of a war — it is a declaration of vengeance. The United States of America, under President Trump’s leadership, will never hesitate and never relent to defend our people,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on social media.

    The new military operation in Syria comes even as the Trump administration has said it’s looking to focus closer to home in the Western Hemisphere, building up an armada in the Caribbean Sea as it targets alleged drug-smuggling boats and vowing to keep seizing sanctioned oil tankers as part of a pressure campaign on Venezuela’s leader. The U.S. has shifted significant resources away from the Middle East to further those goals: Its most advanced aircraft carrier arrived in South American waters last month from the Mediterranean Sea.

    Video below: Trump commented on the strikes during a speech Friday night

    Trump vowed retaliation

    President Donald Trump pledged “very serious retaliation” after the shooting in the Syrian desert, for which he blamed IS. Those killed were among hundreds of U.S. troops deployed in eastern Syria as part of a coalition fighting the militant group.

    Trump in a social media post said the strikes were targeting IS “strongholds.” He reiterated his backing for Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, who Trump said was “fully in support” of the U.S. effort.

    Trump also offered an all-caps threat, warning IS against attacking American personnel again.

    “All terrorists who are evil enough to attack Americans are hereby warned — YOU WILL BE HIT HARDER THAN YOU HAVE EVER BEEN HIT BEFORE IF YOU, IN ANY WAY, ATTACK OR THREATEN THE U.S.A.,” the president added.

    The attack was conducted using F-15 Eagle jets, A-10 Thunderbolt ground attack aircraft and AH-64 Apache helicopters, the U.S. officials said. F-16 fighter jets from Jordan and HIMARS rocket artillery also were used, one official added.

    U.S. Central Command, which oversees the region, said in a social media post that American jets, helicopters and artillery employed more than 100 precision munitions on Syrian targets.

    How Syria has responded

    The attack was a major test for the warming ties between the United States and Syria since the ouster of autocratic leader Bashar Assad a year ago. Trump has stressed that Syria was fighting alongside U.S. troops and said al-Sharaa was “extremely angry and disturbed by this attack,” which came as the U.S. military is expanding its cooperation with Syrian security forces.

    Syria’s foreign ministry in a statement on X following the launch of U.S. strikes said that last week’s attack “underscores the urgent necessity of strengthening international cooperation to combat terrorism in all its forms” and that Syria is committed “to fighting ISIS and ensuring that it has no safe havens on Syrian territory and will continue to intensify military operations against it wherever it poses a threat.”

    Syrian state television reported that the U.S. strikes hit targets in rural areas of Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa provinces and in the Jabal al-Amour area near the historic city of Palmyra. It said they targeted “weapons storage sites and headquarters used by ISIS as launching points for its operations in the region.”

    IS has not said it carried out the attack on the U.S. service members, but the group has claimed responsibility for two attacks on Syrian security forces since, one of which killed four Syrian soldiers in Idlib province. The group in its statements described al-Sharaa’s government and army as “apostates.” While al-Sharaa once led a group affiliated with al-Qaida, he has had a long-running enmity with IS.

    The Americans who were killed

    Trump this week met privately with the families of the slain Americans at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware before he joined top military officials and other dignitaries on the tarmac for the dignified transfer, a solemn and largely silent ritual honoring U.S. service members killed in action.

    The guardsmen killed in Syria last Saturday were Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, 25, of Des Moines, and Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, 29, of Marshalltown. Ayad Mansoor Sakat, of Macomb, Michigan, a U.S. civilian working as an interpreter, also was killed.

    The shooting near Palmyra also wounded three other U.S. troops as well as members of Syria’s security forces, and the gunman was killed. The assailant had joined Syria’s internal security forces as a base security guard two months ago and recently was reassigned because of suspicions that he might be affiliated with IS, Interior Ministry spokesperson Nour al-Din al-Baba has said.

    The man stormed a meeting between U.S. and Syrian security officials who were having lunch together and opened fire after clashing with Syrian guards.

    ___

    Associated Press writer Abby Sewell in Beirut, Lebanon, contributed.

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  • US military says 2 strikes on alleged drug boats kill 5 in eastern Pacific

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    The U.S. military said Thursday that it had conducted two more strikes against boats it said were smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing five people.U.S. Southern Command posted on social media, “Intelligence confirmed that the vessels were transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and were engaged in narco-trafficking operations,” though it did not provide evidence. It posted videos of each boat speeding through water before being struck by an explosion.The military said three people in one vessel and two in the other were killed.The attacks brought the total number of known boat strikes to 28 while at least 104 people have been killed, according to numbers announced by the Trump administration. President Donald Trump has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States and asserted the U.S. is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels.The administration is facing increasing scrutiny from lawmakers over the boat strike campaign. The first attack in early September involved a follow-up strike that killed two survivors clinging to the wreckage of a boat after the first hit.

    WASHINGTON —

    The U.S. military said Thursday that it had conducted two more strikes against boats it said were smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing five people.

    U.S. Southern Command posted on social media, “Intelligence confirmed that the vessels were transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and were engaged in narco-trafficking operations,” though it did not provide evidence. It posted videos of each boat speeding through water before being struck by an explosion.

    The military said three people in one vessel and two in the other were killed.

    The attacks brought the total number of known boat strikes to 28 while at least 104 people have been killed, according to numbers announced by the Trump administration. President Donald Trump has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States and asserted the U.S. is engaged in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels.

    The administration is facing increasing scrutiny from lawmakers over the boat strike campaign. The first attack in early September involved a follow-up strike that killed two survivors clinging to the wreckage of a boat after the first hit.

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  • Feds say they foiled New Year’s Eve terror plot in L.A., Southern California

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    A plan to attack several Los Angeles-area businesses on New Year’s Eve was detailed, dangerous and already in motion, authorities said.

    But as four people allegedly tied to an anti-government group gathered last week in the Mojave Desert to make and test several test bombs, FBI officials foiled the terror plot.

    “They had everything they needed to make an operational bomb at that location,” First Assistant U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli said at a news conference Monday morning. “We disrupted this terror plot before buildings were demolished or innocent people were killed.”

    The four people were arrested on suspicion of plotting an attack that Essayli called “organized, sophisticated and extremely violent.” They were all tied to a radical faction of the Turtle Island Liberation Front called Order of the Black Lotus, which FBI Assistant Director in Charge Akil Davis called “a violent homegrown anti-government group.”

    Officials wouldn’t say what buildings or businesses were planned to be targeted but Essayli said they were different “logistics centers” similar to ones that Amazon might have.

    Officials said they believe that everyone involved in the planned attack has been arrested, though the investigation into the plot remains ongoing.

    The four alleged conspirators, Audrey Carroll, Zachary Page, Dante Gaffield and Tina Lai, have been charged with conspiracy and possession of an unregistered destructive device, Essayli said.

    “The subjects arrested envisioned planting backpacks with improvised explosive devices to be detonated at multiple locations in Southern California, targeting U.S. companies,” Davis said.

    The plans the FBI uncovered also included follow-up attacks after the bombings, which included plans to target ICE agents and vehicles with pipe bombs, Essayli said.

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    Grace Toohey

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  • Violent conflict over water hit a record last year

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    In Algeria, water shortages left faucets dry, prompting protesters to riot and set tires ablaze.

    In Gaza, as people waited for water at a community tap, an Israeli drone fired on them, killing eight.

    In Ukraine, Russian rockets slammed into the country’s largest dam, unleashing a plume of fire over the hydroelectric plant and causing widespread blackouts.

    These are some of the 420 water-related conflicts researchers documented for 2024 in the latest update of the Pacific Institute’s Water Conflict Chronology, a global database of water-related violence.

    The year featured a record number of violent incidents over water around the world, far surpassing the 355 in 2023, continuing a steeply rising trend. The violence more than quadrupled in the last five years.

    The new data from the Oakland-based water think tank show also that drinking water wells, pipes and dams are increasingly coming under attack.

    “In almost every region of the world, there is more and more violence being reported over water,” said Peter Gleick, the Pacific Institute’s co-founder and senior fellow, and it “underscores the urgent need for international attention.”

    The researchers collect information from news reports and other sources and accounts. They classify it into three categories: instances in which water was a trigger of violence, water systems were targeted and water was a “casualty” of violence, for example when shell fragments hit a water tank.

    Not every case involves injuries or deaths but many do.

    The region with the most violent incidents was the Middle East, with 138 reported. That included 66 in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, both in Gaza and the West Bank.

    In the West Bank there were numerous reports of Israeli settlers destroying water pipelines and tanks and attacking Palestinian farmers.

    In Gaza the Israeli military destroyed more than 30 wells in the southern towns of Rafah and Khan Younis.

    Gleick noted that when the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli and Hamas leaders last year, accusing them of crimes against humanity, the charges mentioned Israeli military attacks on Gaza water systems.

    “It is an acknowledgment that these attacks are violations of international law,” he said. “There ought to be more enforcement of international laws protecting water systems from attacks.”

    Water systems also were targeted frequently in the Russia-Ukraine war, in which the researchers tallied 51 violent incidents.

    People fill water in bottles.

    Residents collect water in bottles in Pokrovsk, Ukraine, where repeated Russian shelling has left civilians without functioning infrastructure.

    (George Ivanchenko / Associated Press)

    Russian strikes disrupted water service in Ukrainian cities, and oil spilled into a river after Russian forces attacked an oil depot.

    “These aren’t water wars. These are wars in which water is being used as a weapon or is a casualty of the conflict,” Gleick said.

    The researchers also found water scarcity and drought are prompting a growing number of violent conflicts.

    “Climate change is making those problems worse,” Gleick said.

    Many conflicts were in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.

    In India, residents angry about water shortages assaulted a city worker.

    In India, a woman carries a container of drinking water filled from leaking water pipes.

    In Jammu, India, a woman carries a container of drinking water filled from leaking water pipes in March.

    (Channi Anand / Associated Press)

    In Cameroon, rice farmers clashed with fishers, leaving one dead and three injured.

    At a refugee camp in Kenya, three people died in a fight over drinking water.

    There’s an increase in conflicts over irrigation, disputes pitting farmers against cities, and violence arising in places where only some water is safe to drink.

    A man carries jugs to fetch water from a hole in the sandy riverbed.

    A man carries jugs to fetch water from a hole in the sandy riverbed in Makueni County, Kenya in February 2024.

    (Brian Inganga / Associated Press)

    Gleick, who has been studying water-related violence for more than three decades, said the purpose of the list is to raise awareness and encourage policymakers to act to reduce fighting, bloodshed and turmoil.

    The United Nations, in its Sustainable Development Goals, says every person should have access to water and sanitation.

    “The failure to do that is inexcusable and it contributes to a lot of misery,” Gleick said. “It contributes to ill health, cholera, dysentery, typhoid, water-related diseases, and it contributes to conflicts over water.”

    In Latin America, there were dozens of violent incidents involving water last year.

    In the Mexican state of Veracruz, protesters were blocking a road to denounce a pork processing plant, which they accused of using too much water and spewing pollution, when police opened fire, killing two men.

    In Honduras, environmental activist Juan López, who had spoken up to protect rivers from mining, was gunned down as he left church. He was the fourth member of his group to be murdered.

    A man fills containers with water due to the shortage caused by high temperatures.

    A man fills containers with water because of a shortage caused by high temperatures and drought in Veracruz, Mexico in June 2024.

    (Felix Marquez / Associated Press)

    “There needs to be more attention on this issue, especially at the international level, but at the national level as well,” said Morgan Shimabuku, a senior researcher with the Pacific Institute. “It is getting worse, and we need to turn that tide.”

    For 2024, there were few events in the U.S., but among them were cyberattacks on water utilities in Texas and Indiana.

    In one, Russian hackers claimed responsibility for tampering with an Indiana wastewater treatment plant. Authorities said the attack caused minimal disruption. In another, a pro-Russian hacktivist group manipulated systems at water facilities in small Texas towns, causing water to overflow.

    The Pacific Institute’s database now lists more than 2,750 conflicts. Most have occurred since 2000. The researchers are adding incidents from 2025 as well as previous years.

    During extreme drought in Iran worsened by climate change, farmers were desperate enough to go up against security forces, demanding access to river water. Iran’s water crisis, compounded by decades of excessive groundwater pumping, has grown so severe that the president said Tehran no longer can remain the capital and the government will have to move it to another city.

    Tensions also have been growing between Iran and Afghanistan over the Helmand River, with Iranian leaders accusing their upstream neighbor of not letting enough water flow into the country.

    Gleick said if the drought persists and the Iranian government doesn’t improve how it manages water, “I would expect to see more violence.”

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    Ian James

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  • Suicide bombers strike security force headquarters in northwestern Pakistan

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    Two suicide bombers attacked the headquarters of a security force in northwestern Pakistan on Monday morning, killing at least three officers and wounding five others, police and rescue officials said.The attack took place in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, said city Police Chief Saeed Ahmad.Video above: Pakistani officials say the insurgent attack on a train has ended but some hostages are deadHe said one attacker detonated his explosives at the main gate of the provincial headquarters of the Federal Constabulary, while the second bomber was shot and killed by officers near the parking area.According to Ahmad, a large number of security personnel were on open ground inside the headquarters for morning parade drills when the attack took place. “The terrorists involved in today’s attack were on foot and failed to reach the parade area and a timely response by our forces prevented a much larger tragedy,” he told The Associated Press.No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.However, the Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, have been blamed for similar previous assaults in the country, which has witnessed a surge in militant attacks. The TPP is separate from but allied with the Afghan Taliban that leads Afghanistan.The latest attack came less than two weeks after a suicide bomber struck outside a court in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad, detonating his explosives next to a police car and killing 12 people.The attacks have strained ties between Islamabad and Afghanistan’s Taliban government, with Pakistan accusing the Pakistani Taliban of operating freely inside Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover in 2021.Pakistan’s government often accuses Afghanistan of turning a blind eye to cross-border attacks by militants.Kabul denies the allegation, but tensions between the two sides escalated after Afghanistan blamed Pakistan for Oct. 9 drone strikes in Kabul and vowed retaliation. The ensuing fighting killed dozens of people, including soldiers, civilians and militants, before Qatar brokered a ceasefire on Oct. 19, which remains in place.It was followed by two rounds of talks in Istanbul, during which the two sides failed to reach an agreement after Afghanistan refused to give guarantees in writing about preventing the TTP from using Afghan soil for attacks inside Pakistan.Pakistan in recent weeks has stepped up operations against the TTP, killing dozens of insurgents near regions bordering Afghanistan. Associated Press writer Rasool Dawar in Peshawar, Pakistan, contributed to this story.

    PESHAWAR, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa —

    Two suicide bombers attacked the headquarters of a security force in northwestern Pakistan on Monday morning, killing at least three officers and wounding five others, police and rescue officials said.

    The attack took place in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, said city Police Chief Saeed Ahmad.

    Video above: Pakistani officials say the insurgent attack on a train has ended but some hostages are dead

    He said one attacker detonated his explosives at the main gate of the provincial headquarters of the Federal Constabulary, while the second bomber was shot and killed by officers near the parking area.

    According to Ahmad, a large number of security personnel were on open ground inside the headquarters for morning parade drills when the attack took place. “The terrorists involved in today’s attack were on foot and failed to reach the parade area and a timely response by our forces prevented a much larger tragedy,” he told The Associated Press.

    No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

    However, the Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, have been blamed for similar previous assaults in the country, which has witnessed a surge in militant attacks. The TPP is separate from but allied with the Afghan Taliban that leads Afghanistan.

    The latest attack came less than two weeks after a suicide bomber struck outside a court in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad, detonating his explosives next to a police car and killing 12 people.

    Muhammad Zubair

    Security officials and rescue workers gather at the site of a suicide bombing at the main gate of headquarters of the Federal Constabulary (FC) in Peshawar, Pakistan, Monday, Nov. 24, 2025.

    The attacks have strained ties between Islamabad and Afghanistan’s Taliban government, with Pakistan accusing the Pakistani Taliban of operating freely inside Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover in 2021.

    Pakistan’s government often accuses Afghanistan of turning a blind eye to cross-border attacks by militants.

    Kabul denies the allegation, but tensions between the two sides escalated after Afghanistan blamed Pakistan for Oct. 9 drone strikes in Kabul and vowed retaliation. The ensuing fighting killed dozens of people, including soldiers, civilians and militants, before Qatar brokered a ceasefire on Oct. 19, which remains in place.

    It was followed by two rounds of talks in Istanbul, during which the two sides failed to reach an agreement after Afghanistan refused to give guarantees in writing about preventing the TTP from using Afghan soil for attacks inside Pakistan.

    Pakistan in recent weeks has stepped up operations against the TTP, killing dozens of insurgents near regions bordering Afghanistan.

    Associated Press writer Rasool Dawar in Peshawar, Pakistan, contributed to this story.

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  • Number of children abducted in Nigerian school attack raised to more than 300

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    A total of 303 schoolchildren and 12 teachers were abducted by gunmen during an attack on St. Mary’s School, a Catholic institution in north-central Nigeria’s Niger state, the Christian Association of Nigeria said Saturday, updating an earlier tally of 215 schoolchildren.The tally was changed “after a verification exercise and a final census was carried out,” according to a statement issued by the Most. Rev. Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, chairman of the Niger state chapter of CAN, who visited the school on Friday.He said 88 other students “were also captured after they tried to escape” during the attack. The students were both male and female and ranged in age from 10 to 18.The school kidnapping in Niger state’s remote Papiri community happened four days after 25 schoolchildren were seized in similar circumstances in neighboring Kebbi state’s Maga town, which is 170 kilometers (106 miles) away.No group has yet claimed responsibility for the abductions and authorities have said tactical squads have been deployed alongside local hunters to rescue the children.Yohanna described as false a claim from the state government that the school had reopened for studies despite an earlier directive for schools in that part of Niger state to close temporarily due to security threats.“We did not receive any circular. It must be an afterthought and a way to shift blame,” he said, calling on families “to remain calm and prayerful.”School kidnappings have come to define insecurity in Africa’s most populous nation, and armed gangs often see schools as “strategic” targets to draw more attention.UNICEF said last year that only 37% of schools across 10 of the conflict-hit states have early warning systems to detect threats.The kidnappings are happening amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s claims of targeted killings against Christians in the West African country. Attacks in Nigeria affect both Christians and Muslims. The school attack earlier this week in Kebbi state was in a Muslim-majority town.The attack also took place as Nigerian National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu was visiting the U.S. where he met Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday.

    ABUJA, Nigeria —

    A total of 303 schoolchildren and 12 teachers were abducted by gunmen during an attack on St. Mary’s School, a Catholic institution in north-central Nigeria’s Niger state, the Christian Association of Nigeria said Saturday, updating an earlier tally of 215 schoolchildren.

    The tally was changed “after a verification exercise and a final census was carried out,” according to a statement issued by the Most. Rev. Bulus Dauwa Yohanna, chairman of the Niger state chapter of CAN, who visited the school on Friday.

    He said 88 other students “were also captured after they tried to escape” during the attack. The students were both male and female and ranged in age from 10 to 18.

    The school kidnapping in Niger state’s remote Papiri community happened four days after 25 schoolchildren were seized in similar circumstances in neighboring Kebbi state’s Maga town, which is 170 kilometers (106 miles) away.

    No group has yet claimed responsibility for the abductions and authorities have said tactical squads have been deployed alongside local hunters to rescue the children.

    Yohanna described as false a claim from the state government that the school had reopened for studies despite an earlier directive for schools in that part of Niger state to close temporarily due to security threats.

    “We did not receive any circular. It must be an afterthought and a way to shift blame,” he said, calling on families “to remain calm and prayerful.”

    School kidnappings have come to define insecurity in Africa’s most populous nation, and armed gangs often see schools as “strategic” targets to draw more attention.

    UNICEF said last year that only 37% of schools across 10 of the conflict-hit states have early warning systems to detect threats.

    The kidnappings are happening amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s claims of targeted killings against Christians in the West African country. Attacks in Nigeria affect both Christians and Muslims. The school attack earlier this week in Kebbi state was in a Muslim-majority town.

    The attack also took place as Nigerian National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu was visiting the U.S. where he met Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday.

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  • ‘I was in a headlock’: 14-year-old boy recovering after violent attack at Pleasant Grove High School

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    A violent attack at Pleasant Grove High School in Elk Grove sent a 14-year-old boy to the hospital after he was assaulted by a group of students, resulting in the arrest of four students. Hunter, who didn’t want to share his last name, said that it all started over a girl he used to date, who he said then dated one of the alleged attackers. “I just got out of class and then I just see that group of kids coming towards me,” Hunter said. He described how one of the students approached him while yelling and punched him. He said as he took off his backpack and tried to defend himself, three other students joined in the attack. “More kids started going in and I was in a headlock. And then, I got thrown to the floor and, like, this kid is like, three times my size, and he’s like sitting on me, throwing punches at me and then another kid joins in, kicks me and starts hitting me,” he said.Screenshots from a video sent to Hunter’s father by the Elk Grove Police Department show the fight ending with Hunter face down on the ground as a teacher intervened. “I literally got full-on stomped into concrete like face down,” Hunter said. “I’m just laying on the floor. I’m not even fighting back.”The four students involved, all 14 years old, were arrested on assault charges and taken to juvenile hall, according to the Elk Grove Police Department. Hunter was taken to the hospital following the attack, where he was treated for his injuries, including a concussion. “He told me he’s like, ‘Dad I could have been killed. I could be paralyzed. I couldn’t play football anymore,’” Sean, Hunter’s father, said. While Hunter is expected to recover, his father said he wished more had been done sooner. “It just blows my mind that where’s security? You know, there’s teachers there,” he said.The school principal sent a message to families on Thursday, stating that school staff and security responded immediately to de-escalate the situation and emphasized that safety is their top priority. “Today, an altercation occurred on campus involving several students. School staff, along with EGUSD Safety and Security, responded immediately to de-escalate the situation and ensure the safety of all students. Due to the nature of the incident, law enforcement was called as a precautionary measure.Thanks to the swift and coordinated actions of our staff, the situation was contained. School administration, law enforcement, and support staff are actively following up with the students involved and have contacted their parents/guardians directly,” the message reads.However, Hunter said he does not feel safe. “I got jumped twice in the same month,” he said. Now, his father is considering pulling him out of Pleasant Grove High School. “What’s going on at the school with social media, the violence, the just the kids getting off on it, like thinking it’s like it’s entertainment at school these days. It’s just, it blows my mind,” he said.Elk Grove Unified School District is investigating the incident.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel

    ELK GROVE, Calif. —

    A violent attack at Pleasant Grove High School in Elk Grove sent a 14-year-old boy to the hospital after he was assaulted by a group of students, resulting in the arrest of four students.

    Hunter, who didn’t want to share his last name, said that it all started over a girl he used to date, who he said then dated one of the alleged attackers.

    “I just got out of class and then I just see that group of kids coming towards me,” Hunter said.

    He described how one of the students approached him while yelling and punched him. He said as he took off his backpack and tried to defend himself, three other students joined in the attack.

    “More kids started going in and I was in a headlock. And then, I got thrown to the floor and, like, this kid is like, three times my size, and he’s like sitting on me, throwing punches at me and then another kid joins in, kicks me and starts hitting me,” he said.

    Screenshots from a video sent to Hunter’s father by the Elk Grove Police Department show the fight ending with Hunter face down on the ground as a teacher intervened.

    “I literally got full-on stomped into concrete like face down,” Hunter said. “I’m just laying on the floor. I’m not even fighting back.”

    The four students involved, all 14 years old, were arrested on assault charges and taken to juvenile hall, according to the Elk Grove Police Department.

    Hunter was taken to the hospital following the attack, where he was treated for his injuries, including a concussion.

    “He told me he’s like, ‘Dad I could have been killed. I could be paralyzed. I couldn’t play football anymore,’” Sean, Hunter’s father, said.

    While Hunter is expected to recover, his father said he wished more had been done sooner.

    “It just blows my mind that where’s security? You know, there’s teachers there,” he said.

    The school principal sent a message to families on Thursday, stating that school staff and security responded immediately to de-escalate the situation and emphasized that safety is their top priority.

    “Today, an altercation occurred on campus involving several students. School staff, along with EGUSD Safety and Security, responded immediately to de-escalate the situation and ensure the safety of all students. Due to the nature of the incident, law enforcement was called as a precautionary measure.

    Thanks to the swift and coordinated actions of our staff, the situation was contained. School administration, law enforcement, and support staff are actively following up with the students involved and have contacted their parents/guardians directly,” the message reads.

    However, Hunter said he does not feel safe.

    “I got jumped twice in the same month,” he said.

    Now, his father is considering pulling him out of Pleasant Grove High School.

    “What’s going on at the school with social media, the violence, the just the kids getting off on it, like thinking it’s like it’s entertainment at school these days. It’s just, it blows my mind,” he said.

    Elk Grove Unified School District is investigating the incident.

    See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel

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  • US military’s 20th strike on alleged drug-running boat kills 4 in the Caribbean

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    The U.S. military’s 20th strike on a boat accused of transporting drugs has killed four people in the Caribbean Sea, the U.S. military said Friday, coming as the Trump administration escalates its campaign in South American waters.The latest strike happened Monday, according to a social media post on Friday by U.S. Southern Command, which oversees military operations in the Caribbean and Latin America. The latest strike brings the death toll from the attacks that began in September to 80, with the Mexican Navy suspending its search for a survivor of a strike in late October after four days.Southern Command’s post on X shows a boat speeding over water before it’s engulfed in flames. The command said intelligence confirmed the vessel “was involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics.”Southern Command’s post marked a shift away from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s practice of typically announcing the attacks on social media, although he quickly reposted Southern Command’s statement.Hegseth had announced the previous two strikes on Monday after they had been carried out on Sunday. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is expanding the U.S. military’s already large presence in the region by bringing in the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier. The nation’s most advanced warship is expected to arrive in the coming days after traveling from the Mediterranean Sea.Hegseth on Thursday formally named the mission “Operation Southern Spear,” emphasizing the growing significance and permanence of the military’s presence in the region. Once the Ford arrives, the mission will encompass nearly a dozen Navy ships as well about 12,000 sailors and Marines.The Trump administration has insisted that the buildup of warships is focused on stopping the flow of drugs into the U.S., but it has released no evidence to support its assertions that those killed in the boats were “narcoterrorists.” The strikes have targeted vessels largely in the Caribbean Sea but also have taken place in the eastern Pacific Ocean, where much of the cocaine from the world’s largest producers is smuggled.Some observers say the aircraft carrier is a big new tool of intimidation against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who faces charges of narcoterrorism in the U.S. Experts disagree on whether American warplanes may bomb land targets to pressure Maduro to step down.Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the U.S. doesn’t recognize Maduro, who was widely accused of stealing last year’s election, as the leader of Venezuela and has called the government a “transshipment organization” that openly cooperates with those trafficking drugs toward the U.S.Maduro has said the U.S. government is “fabricating” a war against him. Venezuela’s government this week touted a “massive” mobilization of troops and civilians to defend against possible U.S. attacks.Trump has justified the attacks by saying the United States is in “armed conflict” with drug cartels and claiming the boats are operated by foreign terror organizations that are flooding America’s cities with drugs.Lawmakers, including Republicans, have pressed for more information on who is being targeted and the legal justification for the strikes.Rubio and Hegseth met with a bipartisan group of lawmakers who oversee national security issues last week, providing one of the first high-level glimpses into the legal rationale and strategy behind the strikes.Senate Republicans voted a day later to reject legislation that would have put a check on Trump’s ability to launch an attack against Venezuela without congressional authorization.

    WASHINGTON —

    The U.S. military’s 20th strike on a boat accused of transporting drugs has killed four people in the Caribbean Sea, the U.S. military said Friday, coming as the Trump administration escalates its campaign in South American waters.

    The latest strike happened Monday, according to a social media post on Friday by U.S. Southern Command, which oversees military operations in the Caribbean and Latin America. The latest strike brings the death toll from the attacks that began in September to 80, with the Mexican Navy suspending its search for a survivor of a strike in late October after four days.

    Southern Command’s post on X shows a boat speeding over water before it’s engulfed in flames. The command said intelligence confirmed the vessel “was involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics.”

    Southern Command’s post marked a shift away from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s practice of typically announcing the attacks on social media, although he quickly reposted Southern Command’s statement.

    Hegseth had announced the previous two strikes on Monday after they had been carried out on Sunday. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is expanding the U.S. military’s already large presence in the region by bringing in the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier. The nation’s most advanced warship is expected to arrive in the coming days after traveling from the Mediterranean Sea.

    Hegseth on Thursday formally named the mission “Operation Southern Spear,” emphasizing the growing significance and permanence of the military’s presence in the region. Once the Ford arrives, the mission will encompass nearly a dozen Navy ships as well about 12,000 sailors and Marines.

    The Trump administration has insisted that the buildup of warships is focused on stopping the flow of drugs into the U.S., but it has released no evidence to support its assertions that those killed in the boats were “narcoterrorists.” The strikes have targeted vessels largely in the Caribbean Sea but also have taken place in the eastern Pacific Ocean, where much of the cocaine from the world’s largest producers is smuggled.

    Some observers say the aircraft carrier is a big new tool of intimidation against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who faces charges of narcoterrorism in the U.S. Experts disagree on whether American warplanes may bomb land targets to pressure Maduro to step down.

    Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the U.S. doesn’t recognize Maduro, who was widely accused of stealing last year’s election, as the leader of Venezuela and has called the government a “transshipment organization” that openly cooperates with those trafficking drugs toward the U.S.

    Maduro has said the U.S. government is “fabricating” a war against him. Venezuela’s government this week touted a “massive” mobilization of troops and civilians to defend against possible U.S. attacks.

    Trump has justified the attacks by saying the United States is in “armed conflict” with drug cartels and claiming the boats are operated by foreign terror organizations that are flooding America’s cities with drugs.

    Lawmakers, including Republicans, have pressed for more information on who is being targeted and the legal justification for the strikes.

    Rubio and Hegseth met with a bipartisan group of lawmakers who oversee national security issues last week, providing one of the first high-level glimpses into the legal rationale and strategy behind the strikes.

    Senate Republicans voted a day later to reject legislation that would have put a check on Trump’s ability to launch an attack against Venezuela without congressional authorization.

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  • Former Massachusetts mayor shares harrowing story of surviving near-fatal stabbing

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    NewsCenter 5 sat down with former Fall River, Massachusetts, Mayor Will Flanagan on Thursday as he shared his experience of surviving a near-fatal stabbing attack.On Oct. 20, 2025, Flanagan, who served as mayor from 2010 to 2014, was walking on Hartwell Street when he was stabbed several times by an unknown assailant.Surveillance video showed the moment the suspect ran up to Flanagan from behind before making striking motions toward his head and neck. Flanagan said he never saw the attack coming. “I pop up to my feet, I walk over to wear … the seniors told me I was stabbed,” Flanagan told NewsCenter 5. “They convinced me to call 911 because I’m confused, I’m not sure what’s happening.”Flanagan said he got on the phone with 911 dispatch and told them his location. “I told the operator, ‘Please send rescue, I think I’m dying.’”The former Fall River mayor describes being in the ambulance within minutes and being transported to St. Luke’s Hospital.He says the EMTs reassured him to stay awake because of the amount of blood he was losing.After arriving at St. Luke’s, Flanagan said he was taken in for imaging and continued to spit up blood.”The doctor said, ‘We need to put him on a ventilator, we don’t have much time,’” Flanagan said.At that point, Flanagan asked to briefly see his family.Hospital staff then worked diligently to repair the deep lacerations to his head and neck.”Next thing I knew, I woke up on the ventilator,” he said.Flanagan said the near-death experience has changed him.”I feel it definitely will change how I go out into the world, but the more I think about it, the more I think as a society we have to focus more on mental health,” he said. “My attacker should not have been on the streets; he should’ve been in some facility where he was getting the help he needed.”Flanagan says society needs to put more emphasis on mental health and getting potentially violent offenders off the street and into the correct institutions.”I think of the Ukrainian girl who was stabbed on the train who was killed … her attacker fits the same description as my attacker,” he said. “People like that cannot be on the streets of America.”Flanagan said he thought about what it would take to get people like his attacker the help they needed while lying in his hospital bed.He says President Trump should revisit the idea of opening institutions and asylums.Beyond that, Flanagan says the experience brought him closer to his faith.”I do believe God saved my life,” the former mayor said.His goal is to be “independent and back to normal life” by Christmas, and he credits his children as powerful motivators to getting him healthier and stronger every day. “When I spoke to the eye doctor yesterday he looked me in the face and said, ‘Do you know how lucky you are?’ I said, ‘I believe I do.’ And he goes, ‘No, you’re like Powerball lucky,’” Flanagan said. Despite the life-altering experience, Flanagan says he will still continue to walk around Fall River, but will be much more aware of his surroundings.”It’s my city,” he said.Corree Gonzales, 31, was arrested in connection with the stabbing just days after the attack. He was charged with two felonies in the attack on Flanagan, including armed assault to murder and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon resulting in serious bodily injury.Flanagan says neither he nor the police know what weapon was used or why Gonzales allegedly committed the crime.According to Fall River police, Gonzales has an extensive criminal record.He was ordered to undergo further mental health evaluations at Bridgewater State Hospital after pleading not guilty in his arraignment on Oct. 22. Gonzales has an extensive criminal record and court paperwork from arrests in 2024 have listed him as homeless.In one incident, Gonzales allegedly threatened his mother and sister. A police report stated that his mother told officers that Gonzales had suffered from mental illness since he was 15 years old.

    NewsCenter 5 sat down with former Fall River, Massachusetts, Mayor Will Flanagan on Thursday as he shared his experience of surviving a near-fatal stabbing attack.

    On Oct. 20, 2025, Flanagan, who served as mayor from 2010 to 2014, was walking on Hartwell Street when he was stabbed several times by an unknown assailant.

    Surveillance video showed the moment the suspect ran up to Flanagan from behind before making striking motions toward his head and neck.

    Flanagan said he never saw the attack coming.

    “I pop up to my feet, I walk over to wear [the senior housing facility is] … the seniors told me I was stabbed,” Flanagan told NewsCenter 5. “They convinced me to call 911 because I’m confused, I’m not sure what’s happening.”

    Flanagan said he got on the phone with 911 dispatch and told them his location. “I told the operator, ‘Please send rescue, I think I’m dying.’”

    The former Fall River mayor describes being in the ambulance within minutes and being transported to St. Luke’s Hospital.

    He says the EMTs reassured him to stay awake because of the amount of blood he was losing.

    After arriving at St. Luke’s, Flanagan said he was taken in for imaging and continued to spit up blood.

    “The doctor said, ‘We need to put him on a ventilator, we don’t have much time,’” Flanagan said.

    At that point, Flanagan asked to briefly see his family.

    Hospital staff then worked diligently to repair the deep lacerations to his head and neck.

    “Next thing I knew, I woke up on the ventilator,” he said.

    Flanagan said the near-death experience has changed him.

    “I feel it definitely will change how I go out into the world, but the more I think about it, the more I think as a society we have to focus more on mental health,” he said. “My attacker should not have been on the streets; he should’ve been in some facility where he was getting the help he needed.”

    Flanagan says society needs to put more emphasis on mental health and getting potentially violent offenders off the street and into the correct institutions.

    “I think of the Ukrainian girl who was stabbed on the train who was killed … her attacker fits the same description as my attacker,” he said. “People like that cannot be on the streets of America.”

    Flanagan said he thought about what it would take to get people like his attacker the help they needed while lying in his hospital bed.

    He says President Trump should revisit the idea of opening institutions and asylums.

    Beyond that, Flanagan says the experience brought him closer to his faith.

    “I do believe God saved my life,” the former mayor said.

    His goal is to be “independent and back to normal life” by Christmas, and he credits his children as powerful motivators to getting him healthier and stronger every day.

    “When I spoke to the eye doctor yesterday he looked me in the face and said, ‘Do you know how lucky you are?’ I said, ‘I believe I do.’ And he goes, ‘No, you’re like Powerball lucky,’” Flanagan said.

    Despite the life-altering experience, Flanagan says he will still continue to walk around Fall River, but will be much more aware of his surroundings.

    “It’s my city,” he said.

    Corree Gonzales, 31, was arrested in connection with the stabbing just days after the attack. He was charged with two felonies in the attack on Flanagan, including armed assault to murder and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon resulting in serious bodily injury.

    Flanagan says neither he nor the police know what weapon was used or why Gonzales allegedly committed the crime.

    According to Fall River police, Gonzales has an extensive criminal record.

    He was ordered to undergo further mental health evaluations at Bridgewater State Hospital after pleading not guilty in his arraignment on Oct. 22.

    Gonzales has an extensive criminal record and court paperwork from arrests in 2024 have listed him as homeless.

    In one incident, Gonzales allegedly threatened his mother and sister. A police report stated that his mother told officers that Gonzales had suffered from mental illness since he was 15 years old.

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