Foreign News
Colombia sees ‘real threat’ of US military action, president tells BBC
Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro has told the BBC that he believes there is now a “real threat” of US military action against Colombia.
Petro said the United States is treating other nations as part of a US “empire”. It comes after Trump threatened Colombia with military action. He said that the US risks transforming from “dominating the world” to becoming “isolated from the world.”
He also accused US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents of acting like “Nazi brigades”. Trump has significantly expanded ICE operations as part of what the administration says is a crackdown on crime and immigrants who illegally entered the US.
The BBC has approached the White House for comment.t
Following US strikes on Venezuela and the seizure of Nicolás Maduro, US President Donald Trump said a military operation targeting Colombia “sounds good”.
Trump has also repeatedly told Petro to “watch his ass”, remarks Petro strongly condemned.
Trump and Petro spoke by phone on Wednesday evening, after which Trump said he would meet hisColombian counterpart at the White House in the near future. Writing on his Truth Social platform late on Wednesday after the call, Trump described his conversation with Petro as a “Great Honour”. A Colombian official said at the time that the conversation had reflected a 180-degree shift in rhetoric “from both sides.”
But on Thursday, Petro’s tone suggested relations had not significantly improved.
He told the BBC the call lasted just under an hour, “most of it occupied by me,” and covered “drug trafficking Colombia” and Colombia’s view on Venezuela and “what is happening around Latin America regarding the United States.”
Petro strongly criticised recent US immigration enforcement, accusing ICE agents of operating like “Nazi brigades”.
President Trump has often blamed immigration for crime and trafficking in the US, using it to justify large-scale enforcement operations, and has accused countries like Colombia and Venezuela of not doing enough to tackle drug-trafficking.
Since returning to the White House, the US president has sent ICE agents to cities across the country. The agency enforces immigration laws and conducts investigations into undocumented immigration. It also plays a role in removing undocumented immigrants from the US.
The administration says it deported 605,000 people between 20 January and 10 December 2025. It also said 1.9 million immigrants had “voluntarily self-deported”, following an aggressive public awareness campaign encouraging people to leave the country on their own to avoid arrest or detention.
About 65,000 people were in ICE detention as of 30 November 2025, according to data obtained by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse’s immigration project, a compendium of government data from Syracuse University.
This week a US immigration agent shot dead a 37-year-old US citizen in the city of Minneapolis, sparking protests overnight.
Federal officials said the woman, Renee Nicole Good , had tried to run over immigration agents with her car but the city mayor, Democrat Jacob Frey, said the agent who shot her had acted recklessly and demanded agents leave the city.
Petro said ICE had “reached the point where it no longer only persecutes Latin Americans in the streets, which for us is an affront, but it also kills United States citizens.”
He added that if this continued, “instead of a United States dominating the world – an imperial dream – it is a United States isolated from the world. An empire was not built by being isolated from the world.”
Petro said the US has for “decades” treated other governments, particularly in Latin America, as an “empire” regardless of the law.
The two leaders have long been adversaries, frequently trading insults and tariff threats on social media.
Following the US’s military action in Venezuela, Petro accused Washington of seeking wars over “oil and coal,” adding that if the US had not pulled out of the Paris Agreement, where countries agreed to limit global temperature rising by reducing fossil fuel use, “there would be no wars, there would be a much more democratic and peaceful relationship with the world. And South America.”
“The Venezuelan issue is about this,” he said.
After Trump’s comments threatening military action in Colombia, demonstrations were held across the country in the name of sovereignty and democracy.
Petro told the BBC that Trump’s remarks amounted to a “real threat”, citing Colombia’s loss of territory such as Panama in the 20th century, and said “the prospect of removing [the threat] depends on the ongoing conversations.”
Asked how Colombia would defend itself in the event of a US attack, Petro said he would “prefer it to be about dialogue.” He said that “work is being done” on this.
But he added: “Colombia’s history shows how it has responded to large armies.”
“It’s not about confronting a large army with weapons we don’t have. We don’t even have anti-aircraft defenses. Instead, we rely on the masses, our mountains, and our jungles, as we always have.”
Petro confirmed he had also spoken to Delcy Rodríguez, Venezuela’s acting president and former vice president and oil minister, and invited her to Colombia.
He said Venezuela had “long been subject to interference by various intelligence agencies,” adding that while such agencies had permission to operate in Colombia, it was solely to combat drug trafficking. He denounced attempts at what he said were other “covert operations” in Colombia.
He did not directly comment when asked whether he feared the CIA could carry out covert operations similar to their actions in Venezuela in Colombia, or whether he feared his own government or inner circles may have informants.
Maduro was captured by the US army’s Delta Force, the military’s top counter-terrorism unit, after a CIA source in Venezuelan government helped the US track his location.
As the world’s largest producer of cocaine, Colombia is a major hub for the global drug trade. It also has significant oil reserves, as well as gold, silver, emeralds, platinum and coal.
The US has said it will control sales of Venezuelan oil “indefinitely” as it prepares to roll back restrictions on the country’s crude in global markets.
Speaking aboard Air Force One after the Venezuela operation, Trump described Petro as a “sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States,” adding: “He’s not going to be doing it for very long.”
Petro denied the claims, saying it has “always been proven that I’m not involved in that.”
“For 20 years I have been fighting against the drug cartels, at the cost of my family having to go into exile,” he said.
A former guerrilla, Petro has pursued a “total peace” strategy since taking office, prioritising dialogue with armed groups. Critics say the approach has been too soft, with cocaine production reaching record levels.
Asked what failed and whether he accepted responsibility, Petro said coca cultivation growth was slowing and described “two simultaneous approaches.”
“One, talking about peace with groups that are bandits. And the other, developing a military offensive against those who don’t want peace.”
He said negotiations were ongoing in southern Colombia, “where the greatest reduction in coca leaf cultivation has occurred” and “where the homicide rate in Colombia has fallen the most.” Cocaine is made from the leaves of the coca plant.
The policy of dialogue, he said, was intended to “de-escalate violence”, adding: “we’re not fools, we know who we’re negotiating with.”
(BBC)
A person has died after jumping an airport perimeter fence in the US state of Colorado and being struck by a Frontier Airlines plane, according to authorities.
Denver International Airport said the unusual incident occurred late Friday, after the unidentified individual gained access to the tarmac.
It said the “pedestrian jumped the perimeter fence and was hit just two minutes later while crossing the runway”.
A brief engine fire followed the collision, which was put out by emergency responders, according to the airport.
It said that 12 of the 231 people on board suffered minor injuries, with five hospitalised.
The airport said investigators had examined the fence line where the individual entered and “found it to be intact”.
It added that the struck individual “is not believed to be an employee of the airport”.
“We are extremely saddened by this incident and express our sympathies to those involved,” the airport said.
Both local authorities and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) were investigating the incident.
Airport safety in the US came under renewed scrutiny earlier this year amid a prolonged shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which temporarily left both Transportation Security Agents (TSA) and air traffic controllers working without pay.
While instances of people being killed on airport tarmacs are rare, Friday’s incident came a day after a Delta employee was killed after an airport vehicle struck an airbridge at Orlando International Airport.
In March, two pilots were killed after an Air Canada Express plane crashed into a fire-rescue vehicle at LaGuardia Airport in New York.
About 225,000 people travel through Denver International Airport a day.
[Aljazeera]
A massive ‘megatsunami’ wave created when part of an Alaskan mountain crumbled into the sea is the second tallest ever recorded – and a reminder of the risks posed by melting glaciers, say scientists.
Last summer a giant wave swept through a remote fjord in southeast Alaska leaving destruction in its wake.
The event went largely unreported at the time, but a new scientific analysis shows it was caused by a massive landslide.
An incredible 64 million cubic metres of rock – the equivalent of 24 Great Pyramids – splashed into the water below. The sheer power of that amount of rock plunging into the fjord in under a minute created a gigantic wave almost 500 metres tall.
Only the time it happened – in the early hours of the morning – prevented tourist cruise ships being caught up in the devastation, say the researchers.
Dr Bretwood Higman, an Alaskan geologist, who saw for himself the damage at Tracy Arm Fjord, said it was “a close call”.
“We know that there were people that were very nearly in the wrong place,” he said. ‘I’m quite terrified that we’re not going to be so lucky in the future.”
These huge waves, labelled megatsunamis, happen when a landslide caused by either an earthquake or loose rock hit water below. They are usually localised and dissipate quickly.
The other type of tsunamis happen in the open ocean and are directly triggered by earthquakes, or occasionally other powerful events such as underwater volcanoes.
They, like the 2011 Japan tsunami, can travel for thousands of miles, hitting populated areas and causing widespread devastation and loss of life.
The biggest megatsunami was in the 1950s and was over 500 metres. This latest megatsunami was the second largest.
Dr Higman arrived on the scene a few weeks after the tsunami hit at the Tracy Arm Fjord – a destination popular with cruise ships exploring the natural wonders of Alaska.
He found broken trees littering the mountainside and hurled into the water, and vast swathes of scarred rock stripped of soil and vegetation.
Alaska is especially vulnerable to megatsunamis because of its steep mountains, narrow fjords and frequent earthquakes.
Now new research published in Science suggests glacier melt driven by climate change is making such collapses far worse.
The team combined field work, seismic and satellite data to reconstruct a domino chain of events and trace the height of the wave.
Dr Stephen Hicks of University College London said the glacier was previously “helping to hold up this piece of rock”, and so when the ice retreated, it exposed the bottom of the cliff face, “allowing that rock material to suddenly collapse into the fjord”.
He and his colleagues have studied tsunamis for decades and are worried.
“More people are now going to remote areas – often these tourist cruises are going to see the natural beauty of the area to actually learn more about climate change – but they are also dangerous places to be.”
Dr Higman said there is little doubt that the risks of megatsunamis are increasing.
“At this point, I’m pretty confident that these are increasing not just a little bit, but increasing a lot,” he said.
“Maybe in the order of 10 times as frequent as they were just a few decades ago.”
The scientists are calling for wider monitoring of hazards in parts of Alaska that might be vulnerable to megatsunamis.
Some cruise companies have announced they are to stop sending ships into Tracy Arm amid safety fears.
[BBC]
Vivek Ramaswamy won the Republican nomination for Ohio governor on Tuesday, putting the staunch ally of Donald Trump on a path to running the Rust Belt state.
In unofficial results, he defeated Casey Putsch, a car designer with an automotive-themed YouTube channel, for a place in the general election, according to US media reports.
Ramaswamy, a health-technology entrepreneur, gained national recognition during his unsuccessful run against Trump for president in 2024. He later threw his support behind Trump.
In the Ohio primary, even as he ran against Republicans, he focused on Democratic nominee Amy Acton, the former Ohio public health director who guided the state’s response to the Covid pandemic and ran unopposed.
During a victory speech, Ramaswamy thanked Ohio voters “for getting us to this point”, adding, “The real destination is in November.”
Acton, who will face Ramaswamy in the general election, said during her own victory speech that she is running for governor to make Ohio more affordable again.
“It shouldn’t be this hard,” she said. “It is time to put working families first.”
Ohio’s current governor, Republican Mike DeWine, cannot run for re-election because of term limits.
Trump boosted Ramaswamy in a social media post on Tuesday: “I know Vivek well, competed against him, and he is something SPECIAL. He is Young, Strong, and Smart!”
Vice President JD Vance, who previously represented Ohio in the US Senate, travelled to Cincinnati on Tuesday to cast his ballot for Ramaswamy and others.
The state has shifted towards Republicans in recent years, and Ramaswamy benefitted from name recognition and shuffling in the top ranks of the state’s Republican Party caused by the ascension of Vance to the vice presidency.
Ramaswamy burst onto the national political scene in 2023 as a neophyte with a knack for using social media and podcast appearances to bolster his image. His mile-a-minute cadence and brash attacks resulted in viral moments during the 2024 Republican presidential debates, but he dropped out early due to lackluster support from voters.
Ramaswamy went on to serve as a top Trump surrogate during the 2024 presidential race and was involved in the effort to start Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, before ceding control of the project to Elon Musk.
When he announced his run for Ohio governor, Ramaswamy cleared the Republican primary field of most competitors. He has drawn on his personal fortune to help fund his campaign; The Columbus Dispatch reported he loaned his operation $25m (£18.4m).
His victory sets up a general election campaign focused on the lingering fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Acton had a highly visible role as the state’s public health director during the height of the crisis. Under DeWine’s leadership, Ohio took a more moderate approach to the pandemic response than other Republican-controlled states. Still, Ohio suspended in-person dining and postponed its presidential primary in 2020 as the virus spread.
But ongoing political backlash to Covid-19 restrictions, including masking and school closures, has opened up a path for Republicans to attack Acton six years later.
Ramaswamy recently released an ad claiming that Acton “called off Ohio’s election at the last minute, defying a judge’s order and abusing her power.”
DeWine – who has endorsed Ramaswamy – took the unusual step of defending Acton from the ad’s claims.
“I told her to issue the health order,” DeWine told NBC4 news station. “The decision was mine.”
The race promises to get more intense and expensive heading into the general election in November.
Meanwhile, seven Republican senators in Indiana who voted against Trump’s redistricting plan faced challengers in Tuesday’s primary election.
Five of the Trump-backed challengers have beat the incumbents, while one has lost. Results for the seventh race have not yet been determined.
The Indiana Republicans defied intense pressure from Trump last December by rejecting his demands to pass a voting map meant to favour their party in midterm elections, scheduled for November.
In one of the most conservative states in the US, 21 Republicans in the Senate joined all 10 Democrats to torpedo the redistricting plan last year.
Trump warned at the time that Republicans who did not support the initiative could risk losing their seats.
[BBC]
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