Overview
- The Department of War said a U.S. strike on a small boat in international waters killed three men it labeled narco-terrorists, with no U.S. casualties reported.
- Secretary Pete Hegseth posted a 20-second clip of the blast on X, but Reuters said it could not verify the time or location, and officials have not released public evidence linking the boat to narcotics or a designated terrorist group.
- Since September, U.S. forces have carried out repeated strikes on small vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, with official tallies putting total deaths at about 70.
- The Senate rejected 51–49 a bipartisan measure to require authorization for military action in Venezuela, with Republicans Rand Paul and Lisa Murkowski joining Democrats in support.
- The United Nations said the attacks violate international humanitarian law and urged the U.S. to halt them, while France’s Emmanuel Macron emphasized respect for state sovereignty in counter-narcotics efforts.