US military strike kills three in second alleged drug boat attack this week

Move brings total number of people killed in US strikes on suspected boats since September to at least 148

The US military launched a strike on an alleged drug smuggling boat in the eastern Pacific on Friday, killing three men in its second strike this week.

“Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations,” US Southern Command, which oversees operations in Latin America and the Caribbean, said on Twitter/X.

Continue reading...

5 European nations pledge millions to use Ukrainian know-how to make cheap drone defenses – AP News

  1. 5 European nations pledge millions to use Ukrainian know-how to make cheap drone defenses  AP News
  2. UK agrees drone defence plan with four EU allies  BBC
  3. 5 NATO allies agree to produce low-cost drones  politico.eu
  4. E5 defence ministers in Krakow say 'Europe has woken up'  Euronews.com
  5. 5 European allies pledge millions to build cheap drone defenses with Ukrainian know-how  PBS
Posted in Uncategorized

RSF’s Hemetti backs African mediation following Museveni meeting – Sudan Tribune

  1. RSF’s Hemetti backs African mediation following Museveni meeting  Sudan Tribune
  2. 'Affront to humanity': Sudan slams Uganda for hosting RSF paramilitary boss  BBC
  3. Sudan condemns RSF chief’s visit to Uganda as minimising ‘human values’  Al Jazeera
  4. Uganda's Museveni holds talks with Sudan's RSF leader amid push to end war  africanews.com
  5. West Darfur Governor: Rebel Hemedti Promotes a Morally Unviable Project  Sudan Horizon
Posted in Uncategorized

US citizen shot and killed by federal immigration agent last year, new records show

Shooting death of Ruben Ray Martinez, 23, in Texas was not publicly disclosed by Department of Homeland Security

Newly released records show a US citizen was shot and killed in Texas by a federal immigration agent last year during a late-night traffic encounter that was not publicly disclosed by the Department of Homeland Security.

The death of Ruben Ray Martinez, 23, would mark the earliest of at least six deadly shootings by federal officers since the start of a nationwide immigration crackdown in Donald Trump’s second term. On Friday, DHS said the shooting on South Padre Island last March occurred after the driver intentionally struck an agent.

Continue reading...

Nightly raids and violent beatings: Australia urged to accept citizens trapped in Syria as conditions in Roj camp deteriorate

Aid workers say the camp where 34 women and children are being held are ‘dire’ and present more risk than if they were repatriated

Conditions in the north-eastern Syrian camp where 34 Australians have been forcibly returned are deteriorating dramatically, with reports of near-nightly raids, and increasingly violent beatings, amid worsening uncertainty over their futures.

The 11 women and 23 Australian children forced back to Roj camp on Monday returned to find their tents – formerly huddled collectively in a row known as Australia Street – demolished and their possessions seized.

Continue reading...

Why is South Korea angry that Yoon Suk Yeol wasn’t sentenced to death? – The Guardian

  1. Why is South Korea angry that Yoon Suk Yeol wasn’t sentenced to death?  The Guardian
  2. Former South Korean president sentenced to life in prison for imposing martial law  PBS
  3. An Enemy’s Fall Frees Up South Korea’s Leader. Now Comes the Tough Part.  The New York Times
  4. South Korea's ex-President Yoon apologizes after life sentence over martial law  NBC News
  5. The splitting image: Yoon verdict will deepen divisions  The Economist
Posted in Uncategorized

Furious Trump signs global 10% duty after supreme court issues tariff blow

President calls six justices a ‘disgrace to the nation’ while praising three justices who dissented

Donald Trump on Friday railed against the supreme court justices who blocked his use of tariffs, calling them a “disgrace to the nation”, and later signing documents imposing a 10% tariff on all countries.

Trump said he would immediately sign an order increasing tariffs globally by 10% under section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 and will begin investigations of unfair trade practices allowing further tariffs. He asserted that he had the authority to impose additional tariffs under existing statutes without congressional approval.

Continue reading...

Russia’s Ukraine ‘Victory’: NATO Expansion, 1.2 Million Casualties and a Battered Economy – 19FortyFive

  1. Russia’s Ukraine ‘Victory’: NATO Expansion, 1.2 Million Casualties and a Battered Economy  19FortyFive
  2. Russia’s economy has entered the death zone  The Economist
  3. The Russian economy is now eating itself to death as Putin's war on Ukraine destroys future capacity  Fortune
  4. Breakingviews - Moscow’s war funding sows seeds of long-term slump  Reuters
  5. Russia: Economic Slowdown to Continue Through 2026...  Jordan News
Posted in Uncategorized

Ukraine liberates 300 square km in southern counteroffensive, Zelensky says — here’s what that means – The Kyiv Independent

  1. Ukraine liberates 300 square km in southern counteroffensive, Zelensky says — here's what that means  The Kyiv Independent
  2. Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, February 21, 2026  Institute for the Study of War
  3. Ukraine makes fastest battlefield gain in 2.5 years  France 24
  4. Elon Musk flipped a switch. Now, Russia is desperately sending men up towers to die  Scripps News
  5. Musk cuts Starlink access for Russian forces - giving Ukraine an edge at the front  BBC
Posted in Uncategorized

At least 10 killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon’s Bekaa valley, health ministry says

Hezbollah leader among dead as Israel says it hit militant command centres

At least 10 people have been killed and 24 wounded – including three children – in Israeli strikes in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa valley, the Lebanese health ministry has said.

Israel said it had hit “command centres” of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah in the Bekaa valley. Two security sources told Reuters that senior Hezbollah leader Hussein Yaghi was killed in the attacks.

Continue reading...