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Trump administration carries out lethal strike in Caribbean, killing six
President Donald Trump announced that the United States has carried out another air strike on a vessel off the Venezuelan coast, once again accusing the boat of transporting drugs.
In a social media post on Tuesday, Trump said six people were killed in the latest bombing.
“Under my Standing Authorities as Commander-in-Chief, this morning, the Secretary of War, ordered a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO),” Trump wrote.
“The strike was conducted in International Waters, and six male narcoterrorists aboard the vessel were killed in the strike. No U.S. Forces were harmed.”
Trump did not offer any evidence to confirm his allegation that the boat was “conducting narcotrafficking”.
But as with past strikes, he shared an unclassified video of the bombing, which appeared to show a small boat seemingly drifting in the water, not moving, before the US missile makes impact.
This latest attack is believed to be the fifth such US bombing in the Caribbean Sea. Experts and rights groups have described the US strikes as a clear violation of International law since drug traffickers do not qualify as armed combatants.
Despite their dubious legality, the strikes have become commonplace over the last month and a half.
The first such attack took place on September 2, killing 11 people. Two further attacks took place on September 15 and 19, with three people killed in each case.
Then, a fourth strike came on October 3, with US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth claiming four fatalities aboard that boat. Tuesday’s attack brings the known death toll to 27.
[Aljazeera]
The computer system at the Department of Registration of Persons has been rectified and the services are back to normal.
Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has lost a key referendum on a constitutional reform which had turned into a vote on her government.
The result gives around 54% to the “No” campaign and 46% to the “Yes” vote which Meloni had backed.
In a video posted on social media even before all the ballots were counted, Meloni said Italians had voted “with clarity” and she would respect their decision, but she regretted a “lost chance to modernise” the country.
It is the first significant defeat for Meloni and her right-wing coalition, which has overseen a rare period of political stability for Italy. Opposition parties are hailing the result as a sign that voters are looking for change, with a general election due next year.
When the two-day referendum ended on Monday afternoon, exit polls initially showed the “No” vote leading by a small margin, but that grew to a substantial lead as the count progressed.
Despite the complex question on the ballot paper, turnout was almost 60%. A high figure had been expected to favour the government, but it was not enough to swing the vote.
The reform voters rejected would have inscribed a firm separation between judges and prosecutors into the constitution. It also proposed distinct bodies to govern them and a new disciplinary court.
The government argued the change was critical to improving judicial independence.
The opposition countered that it would shatter a careful balance of powers established following the defeat of fascism, and increase political influence over the courts.
Many Italians struggled to understand the technical details – perhaps a communication failure by Team Meloni – and the vote quickly morphed into a plebiscite on her near-record three and half years in office.
[BBC]
US President Donald Trump announced that discussions are ongoing with Iran to “determine whether a broader agreement can be reached”, saying that “this time, Iran means business; they want to settle. They want peace”.
But Teheran denied that talks with the US are taking place, with Iran’s parliamentary speaker saying such claims are “fake news” and being “used to manipulate financial and oil markets”.
Oil prices dropped by about 11 percent after Trump announced a delay to attacks on Iran’s power plants for five days amid his claims of talks.
Despite Trump’s comments, US Central Command says US forces “continue to aggressively strike” targets in Iran, as Iranian missiles and drones continued to target Gulf countries – including Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait – overnight.
Israeli warplanes bombed Beirut’s southern neighborhood as the Lebanese Health Ministry said the death toll from Israel’s attacks on the country had reached 1,039 people, with 2,786 people injured, since March 23.
[Aljazeera]
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