Top US military adviser tours Caribbean as pressure on Venezuela deepens

The top military officer of the United States traveled to Puerto Rico on Monday as Venezuela’s largest naval deployment in the Caribbean for decades escalates tensions with Venezuela, which are alleged to be a result of anti-drug operations.

On Monday, Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the chief military adviser to Donald Trump, met with military personnel stationed in Puerto Rico and on a Navy warship in regional waters. Caine’s office stated that he would be able to “interact with service members and express gratitude to them for their outstanding support of regional missions” during the visit.

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Caine’s second visit to the area comes after the Pentagon expanded its operations in the Caribbean, including the deployment of the Navy’s largest and most recent aircraft carrier, the Gerald R Ford. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stated that the Marines were “on the front lines of defending the American homeland” during their first deployment.

Trump is considering additional measures against Venezuela, including aggressive options that he has declined to exclude. At least 83 people have died on 21 boats as a result of the administration’s maritime strikes on ships it claims were drug traffickers. Legal experts claim that the strikes would likely violate international law if drug trafficking was proven even though there is no proof that narcotics were aboard.

Trump said in a statement to his advisers on Monday that he intends to speak with Venezuela’s president on an unspecified date.

Marines on amphibious ships and about 5, 000 service members with bases in Puerto Rico are just a few thousand US personnel currently stationed in the Caribbean. A second round of exercises, starting in a month, will be conducted in Washington and Trinidad and Tobago in an effort to combat violent crime and drug trafficking.

Tomorrow, Caine will meet with Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar in Trinidad and Tobago.

On November 13, 2025, the US Navy’s Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group, which includes the USS Winston S. Churchill, USS Mahan, and USS Bainbridge, sails in the Atlantic Ocean under F/A-18E/F Super Hornets and a US Air Force B-52 Stratofortress.

Pressure is increased by the terrorist designation.

Despite the fact that Caracas is not a cartel in the traditional sense, the US has increased its influence on the region by defining the Cartel de los Soles (or Cartel of the Suns) as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO). Prior to this year, organizations with political goals, including al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS), were largely exempt from the FTO label.

Washington officially designated the Cartel de los Soles on Monday for allegedly importing drugs into the US. Despite lacking any evidence, the administration claims that Maduro and senior Venezuelan officials are included in the network. The action was denounced by Venezuela, calling it a “ridiculous” attempt to sanction a “non-existent” group.

Eight Latin American criminal organizations linked to migrant smuggling and drug trafficking have been given this designation in response to earlier laws. According to US officials, the Cartel de los Soles and the Tren de Aragua gang in Venezuela have collaborated to move drugs north.

Officials haven’t been able to identify the organizations behind the US strikes’ target boats. The new designation, according to Headseth, will give the United States “a whole host of new options” when dealing with Maduro. When asked whether such options might include land attacks inside Venezuela, he replied that “nothing is off the table, but nothing comes naturally.” According to experts, the FTO statute does not authorize military action.

Caracas backs away.

The Maduro government claims to have participated in criminal activities and accuses Washington of attempting to overthrow Venezuela’s resources.

Venezuela’s oil and gas reserves are desired. without having to pay anything. Venezuela’s gold is their desire. They want Venezuela’s iron, diamond, and bauxite. On state television, oil minister Delcy Rodriguez expressed his desire for Venezuela’s natural resources.

Foreign Minister Yvan Gil echoed that sentiment, claiming that the US designation is the result of “an infamous and vile lie” being used to justify Venezuela’s illegitimate and unlawful intervention.

The cartel narrative, according to InSight Crime, an organization that looks at organized crime, is “more accurately described as a system of corruption where military and political officials profit from working with drug traffickers.”

Russia attacks Kyiv, killing two, as US, Ukraine discuss plan to end war

At least two people were killed when Russian forces launched a drone and missile attack on the Ukrainian capital as Ukrainian and American officials attempted to rewrite a strategy put forth by Washington to put an end to the conflict.

The overnight attack on Kyiv damaged residential structures in the Pecherskyi and Dniprovskyi districts, according to the Ukrainian State Emergency Service in a statement on Tuesday.

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According to the service, “Due to a night attack in Kyiv, two people were killed, six were hurt, and 18 people were saved, including three children,” according to the report.

A 14-year-old child was seriously injured in a second attack on Brovarsky, Bila Tserkva, and the districts of Vyshgorod, it added.

Russia did not respond right away.

The attack came after US and Ukrainian representatives held talks in Geneva, Switzerland, to thrash out Washington’s so-called “28-point plan,” which Kyiv and its allies in Europe, saw as a Kremlin wish list.

In his late-night speech on Monday, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the talks in Geneva “can make the list of necessary steps to end the war become realizable.”

But he claimed that he would talk with US President Donald Trump about “sensitive issues” that he would still have to deal with.

There are fewer points now than there are after Geneva, and many of the necessary factors have been taken into account. We must finish the document with dignity, he said, and there is still work to be done by everyone of us. It is very difficult to do so.

Millions of Ukrainians rely on and deserve a dignified peace, he added, adding that “Ukraine will never be an obstacle to peace. This is our principle, a shared principle.”

No scheduled Trump-Zelenskyy meeting.

Trump also made hints about fresh developments.

Is it actually possible that Russia and Ukraine’s peace talks are progressing significantly? The US president wrote earlier on Monday on his Truth Social platform, “Don’t believe it until you see it, but something good may be happening.”

There are still some issues to be resolved, but White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said, “we’re confident that we’ll be able to work through those.”

She claimed that Trump wanted a deal with Zelenskyy as soon as possible, but neither the US president nor Zelenskyy are currently scheduled to meet.

Trump, who pledged to end the war this year and refocused US policy from steadfast support for Kyiv to accepting some of Russia’s justifications for its 2022 invasion, has done so since taking office.

US policy toward the conflict has not been consistent.

Trump’s hastily scheduled summit with Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, in August sparked concerns that Washington was ready to accept numerous Russian demands, which in turn led to increased US pressure on Russia.

Many in the US government, Kyiv, and Europe were caught off guard by the most recent, 28-point peace proposal, which also sparked new concerns that the Trump administration might be hesitant to pressure Ukraine into signing a deal with a strong Moscow-to-paz agreement.

The proposed agreement would require Kyiv to cede more territory, accept restrictions on its military, and forbid it from ever joining NATO, demands Kyiv has long resisted as a means of surrender.

Additionally, it wouldn’t help to fend off any further Russian aggression in Europe.

A counterproposal from Ukraine’s European allies was put together, which included a US security guarantee similar to that of NATO, according to the Reuters news agency, would end fighting at the moment’s front lines, leaving territory-related issues for the future.

The draft that was being worked on in Geneva has not yet been released.

Kremlin criticizes EU proposal

One unresolved issue, according to a Zelenskyy adviser who was present at the talks in Geneva, is that the decision-making process can only be made at the head of state level.

Oleksandr Bevz added that any agreement involving Ukraine must be based on security guarantees, which the US showed “great openness and understanding.”

He stated that the leaders of Ukraine and the US would meet after the US leaders would continue to work on the plan. The plan would then be presented to Russia.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz expressed surprise at the “interim result” of the Geneva discussions, stating that the US proposal has now been “significantly modified” without providing specifics.

Merz added that Moscow must now take an active role in the process.

He stated in Angola while speaking at a summit between African and European Union nations that “Russia must come to the table.” It takes a long time to complete. This week, it will advance at most in smaller steps. This week’s breakthrough does not seem to be coming, in my opinion.

The revised peace plan has not yet been seen by the Kremlin.

Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated that while there is no schedule for a meeting between the US and Russia this week, they are still “open for such contacts.”

The Kremlin’s foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, claimed that many of the provisions in the plan Moscow received before the Geneva talks “seem quite acceptable.” However, he said that European proposals were “completely unconstructive” and “floating around.”

Following the Geneva discussions, countries that support Kyiv are scheduled to hold a video call on Tuesday.

Turkiye added that it hopes to establish diplomatic relations with Ukraine.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey, claimed that he had a phone conversation with Putin and that Ankara would support any diplomatic efforts to facilitate direct contact between Russia and Ukraine.

Viola Ford Fletcher, survivor of 1921 Tulsa Massacre, dies age 111

‘Everyone was startled’: Thai woman due for cremation found alive in coffin

A Thai woman began moving in her coffin after being brought in for cremation, outburst the staff at a Buddhist temple.

A woman lying in a white coffin in the back of a pick-up truck, slightly moving her arms and head, and confusing the temple staff, who lives in the province of Nonthaburi on the outskirts of Bangkok, posted a video on its Facebook page.

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The 65-year-old woman’s brother drove her away from Phitsanulok on Monday, according to Pairat Soodthoop, the temple’s general and financial affairs manager, for her funeral service, according to Pairat Soodthoop.

He claimed that the coffin was muffled by a minor knock.

Everyone was startled when I asked them to open the coffin, he said, because I was a little surprised.

She knocked on the side of the coffin as she opened her eyes slightly. She must have been knocking a while ago.

The brother claimed his sister had been in a bed for about two years before she stopped breathing two days prior and started to feel unwell.

The woman had previously requested that the brother donate her organs, so the brother placed her in a coffin before making the 500-kilometer (300-mile) journey to a Bangkok hospital.

Because the brother didn’t have an official death certificate, Pairat claimed, the hospital turned down his offer. The brother approached his temple on Sunday, but the missing document also prevented him from speaking with them because they offer a free cremation service.

When the brother heard the knocking, the temple manager claimed to be explaining to the brother how to obtain a death certificate. After that, they evaluated her and took her to a nearby hospital.

Pairat claims that the temple would pay for Pairat’s medical expenses.

Trump launches ‘Genesis Mission’ to harness AI for scientific breakthroughs

Donald Trump, president of the United States, has unveiled a national initiative to mobilize artificial intelligence (AI) to accelerate scientific advancements.

Trump’s administration’s most aggressive strategy, which promotes deregulation, infrastructure investment, and public-private collaboration, was formally established by an executive order on Monday to become “The Genesis Mission.”

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According to Trump’s order, Chris Wright, the US Energy Secretary, must unite the nation’s 17 national laboratories into a single, cooperative research system.

According to the order, US supercomputers and data resources will be combined to create a “closed-loop AI experimentation platform” in accordance with the initiative.

The White House stated that the “greatest scientific challenges of our time” would include nuclear fusion, semiconductors, critical materials, and space exploration, and compared the initiative to the Apollo program, which led to the birth of the first man on the moon.

The White House’s top science adviser, Michael Kratsios, said the ; scientific research was approached in a “revolutionary approach” by initiative.

The Genesis Mission uses cutting-edge technology to connect the most cutting-edge American AI to produce breakthroughs in fields like medicine, energy, materials science, and beyond, according to Kratsios.

On Monday, chipmaker Nvidia and AI startup Anthropic announced that they would work with the Trump administration on the initiative.

This initiative, which brings together the US government (USG), industry, and academia, will bring together America’s top supercomputers, AI systems, and next-generation quantum computers to the most complex scientific tool ever created, accelerating advancements in energy, discovery, and national security, Nvidia said in a social media post.

Trump has made reducing red tape a key component of his economic agenda since re-entering the White House to accelerate the development of AI.

Trump criticized state governments for their laws governing the emerging technology and demanded that the US Congress pass legislation to establish a national standard for AI.

On his Truth Social platform, Trump stated, “Overregulation by the States is threatening to undermine this Growth Engine.

Instead of a patchwork of 50 state regulatory regimes, we SHOULD have one Federal Standard. ”

The initiative was welcomed as a step in the direction of the “diffusion” of the technology, according to Benjamin H. Bratton, an AI expert at the University of California, San Diego.

According to Bratton, “It is less important who has access to AI that they do not,” Bratton said.

Cultural, economic, and political incumbents are the most effective at halting AI in the USA and the European Union. ”