Typhoon Kalmaegi has killed at least five people in Vietnam after slamming into its central and highland provinces, according to Vietnamese state media.
Kalmaegi made landfall in central Vietnam on Thursday evening, bringing heavy wind and rain that damaged thousands of buildings across the region, the state-run Vietnam News reports.
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The storm led to the collapse of nearly 57 houses and ripped the roofs off an estimated 3,000 more, the news outlet said, while also causing 11 boats to sink and downing power lines across the country.
Vietnam’s Dak Lak, Quang Ngai, and Gia Lai provinces were some of the hardest hit, Vietnam News said, with the government reporting five deaths and seven injuries as of midday on Friday local time.
More than 8,000 people have been evacuated from storm-hit areas while 1.28 million households remain without power, according to Vietnam News.
The government said it had mobilised more than 268,000 soldiers for search-and-rescue operations while the US embassy in Hanoi issued a travel advisory, warning that coastal Vietnam could see waves of between 4-8 metres (13-26ft) high and winds of up to 135km (84 miles) per hour in some parts of the country.
Kalmaegi – the 13th typhoon to form in the South China Sea this year – has now weakened to a tropical storm, according to Vietnam’s weather forecaster, as it moves on to nearby Cambodia and Laos.
Earlier this week, Kalmaegi tore through the central Philippines, killing at least 188 people in one of the worst disasters of the year, according to its Office of Civil Defense.
According to Philippine authorities, the death toll may continue to rise, as 135 people are still missing following heavy rains and flooding from Kalmaegi.
The United States military has carried out another lethal strike on a vessel in the Caribbean Sea, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has said.
Three men were killed in the attack, Hegseth wrote in a post on X late on Thursday, which he said was carried out at the direction of US President Donald Trump and struck a “vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organization”.
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Hegseth, who said the vessel was attacked in international waters, posted a 20-second video clip, marked unclassified, of the boat being struck by a munition and exploding as it sped through the water.
Though providing no evidence that the vessel was involved in drug smuggling, Hegseth said such attacks would continue until “narco-terrorists” stopped their “poisoning of the American people”.
“To all narco-terrorists who threaten our homeland: If you want to stay alive, stop trafficking drugs. If you keep trafficking deadly drugs – we will kill you,” he said.
Since early September, more than 60 people have been killed in US attacks on at least 18 vessels – 17 boats and a semi-submersible – in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean.
United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk has condemned the strikes as “extrajudicial killing”, while US lawmakers – mostly Democrat, but also several senior Republicans – have demanded clarity from the Trump administration on the legal basis for carrying out deadly attacks in international waters.
The Trump administration has yet to publicly provide any substantial evidence proving its claims that the vessels are being operated by drug traffickers.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has accused Trump of seeking to destabilise his government through the attacks, as well as through a major military build-up of US naval forces in the region over recent months.
Maduro, who Trump accuses of being involved in drug trafficking, said Washington’s “war on drugs” was merely a pretext to topple him from power.
Trump has threatened to carry out direct strikes on Venezuelan territory. He has also publicly stated that he has authorised covert CIA operations to take place in the South American country to counter drug cartels.
On Thursday, Senate Republicans rejected legislation that would have put a check on Trump’s ability to launch an attack against Venezuela without congressional authorisation.
Democratic Senator Adam Schiff – who pushed the resolution, which was voted down 51-49 – said it is an “open secret” that the build-up of US troops in the Caribbean was “much more about potential regime change” in Venezuela than stopping drug trafficking.
A court run by Moscow-installed authorities in Ukraine’s occupied Donetsk region has sentenced two Colombian nationals to 13 years in prison each for fighting on behalf of Kyiv.
The ruling, announced on Thursday, is the latest in a series of lengthy sentences handed to foreign fighters accused by Moscow-backed prosecutors of being “mercenaries”.
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“For participating in hostilities on the side of the Armed Forces of Ukraine” – Alexander Ante, 48, and Jose Aron Medina Aranda, 37 – “were each sentenced to 13 years in prison”, the prosecutor’s office said on the Telegram messaging app.
According to reports, the pair fought for Ukraine in 2023 and 2024 before disappearing in July while transiting through Venezuela, a close ally of Russia, on their way home to Colombia after serving in the war.
Colombian newspaper El Tiempo reported in July 2024 that the men were detained in the Venezuelan capital Caracas while still wearing Ukrainian military uniforms.
A month later, Russian authorities said they had taken custody of the two, who both hail from the western Colombian city of Popayan.
Footage released by Russia’s FSB security service showed the men handcuffed and dressed in prison uniforms as masked officers escorted them through a court building.
News of the pair’s sentencing on Thursday was widely covered in Colombian media.
“I don’t know if we will see them again one day. That’s the sad reality,” said Medina’s wife, Cielo Paz, in an interview with the AFP news agency, adding that she had not heard from her husband since his arrest.
#Colombia 🇨🇴🇷🇺 Alexander Ante y José Medina fueron condenados por participar como “mercenarios” en las hostilidades del lado de las Fuerzas Armadas de Ucrania.
👉Lee la nota completa en: https://t.co/UrlDjv6Tnp pic.twitter.com/1kiEl1rlU2
Translation: Alexander Ante and Jose Medina were convicted for participating as “mercenaries” in the hostilities on the side of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
In June, Russian state news agency TASS reported that Pablo Puentes Borges, another Colombian national, was handed a 28-year prison term by a Russian military court on charges of terrorism and mercenary activity for fighting alongside Ukrainian forces.
Earlier, in April, Miguel Angel Cardenas Montilla, also from Colombia, received a nine-year sentence for fighting with Ukrainian forces.
While Russian investigators have labelled foreigners who fight alongside Ukrainian forces as “mercenaries”, the Kyiv Post notes that most foreign fighters serving in Ukraine’s armed forces are formally enlisted and receive the same pay and status as Ukrainian soldiers.
That formalisation of their status in the Ukrainian army means they do not meet the legal definition of a mercenary under international law, the media outlet reported.
But Moscow continues to prosecute captured foreign fighters as “mercenaries” – a charge that carries up to 15 years in prison – rather than recognising them as prisoners of war who are protected under the Geneva Conventions.
Colombia’s government says dozens of its citizens have been killed fighting in Ukraine since the war began in February 2022.
Apartment buildings damaged by a Russian military strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in the front-line town of Kostiantynivka in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, on November 1, 2025 [Yan Dobronosov/Reuters]
Hundreds of flights across the US have been cancelled following an order from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to temporarily cut air traffic by 10 percent at the country’s 40 largest airports to maintain safety amid a shortage of air traffic controllers due to the government shutdown.
More than 790 flights scheduled for Friday were cut from airline schedules, according to FlightAware, a website that tracks flight disruptions.
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That number, already four times higher than Thursday’s daily total of cancellations, was likely to keep climbing, while almost 500 have been cancelled for Saturday so far, according to the website.
The FAA issued its order on Thursday in response to the growing number of absences by air traffic controllers amid the record-breaking US government shutdown, as Republicans and Democrats remain locked in a standoff in Congress over legislation to fund government services.
“Since the beginning of the shutdown, controllers have been working without pay,” the FAA order said.
“This has resulted in increased reports of strain on the system from both pilots and air traffic controllers. This past weekend, there were 2,740 delays at various airports,” it said.
US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the decision to cancel flights was a proactive safety decision rather than a political measure as the shutdown enters its 38th day on Friday.
“My department has many responsibilities, but our number one job is safety. This isn’t about politics – it’s about assessing the data and alleviating building risk in the system as controllers continue to work without pay,” Duffy said.
“It’s safe to fly today, and it will continue to be safe to fly next week because of the proactive actions we are taking,” he said.
.@USDOT has many responsibilities, but our number one job is safety.
This isn’t about politics – it’s about assessing the data and alleviating building risk in the system as controllers continue working without pay.
It’s safe to fly today, tomorrow, and the day after because… pic.twitter.com/YRrq5sdy4T
The FAA’s phased-in cuts to air traffic over the next week will see a 4 percent reduction in air traffic on Friday, and will end with 10 percent by November 14.
The FAA’s order also specifies that airlines do not need to cut international flights, although this decision will be left up to their discretion.
Impacted airports include Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson, Dallas-Fort Worth, Denver, Chicago O’Hare, and New York’s John F Kennedy international airports.
FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said his department would not hesitate to take “further action”, suggesting further cuts to flights could be made down the road.
The FAA decision puts renewed pressure on Senate Democrats, who are blocking a government spending bill over healthcare spending, as the US is preparing for its busiest travel days of the year at the end of November.
The FAA employed just over 14,000 air traffic controllers in fiscal year 2024, according to its website.
United States lawmakers have written to Andrew, Britain’s disgraced former prince, requesting that he sit for a formal interview about his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a day after King Charles III formally stripped his younger brother of his royal titles.
Separately, a secluded desert ranch where Epstein once entertained guests is coming under renewed scrutiny in the US state of New Mexico, with two state legislators proposing a “truth commission” to uncover the full extent of the financier’s crimes there.
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On Thursday, 16 Democratic Party members of Congress signed a letter addressed to “Mr Mountbatten Windsor”, as Andrew is now publicly known, to participate in a “transcribed interview” with the US House of Representatives oversight committee’s investigation into Epstein.
“The committee is seeking to uncover the identities of Mr Epstein’s co-conspirators and enablers and to understand the full extent of his criminal operations,” the letter read.
“Well-documented allegations against you, along with your longstanding friendship with Mr Epstein, indicate that you may possess knowledge of his activities relevant to our investigation,” it added.
The letter asked Andrew to respond by November 20.
The US Congress has no power to compel testimony from foreigners, making it unlikely Andrew will give evidence.
The letter will be another unwelcome development for the disgraced former prince after a turbulent few weeks.
On October 30, Buckingham Palace said King Charles had “initiated a formal process” to revoke Andrew’s royal status after weeks of pressure to act over his relationship with Epstein – who took his own life in prison in 2019 while facing sex trafficking charges.
The rare move to strip a British prince or princess of their title – last taken in 1919 after Prince Ernest Augustus sided with Germany during World War I – also meant that Andrew was evicted from his lavish Royal Lodge mansion in Windsor and moved into “private accommodation”.
King Charles formally made the changes with an announcement published on Wednesday in The Gazette – the United Kingdom’s official public record – saying Andrew “shall no longer be entitled to hold and enjoy the style, title or attribute of ‘Royal Highness’ and the titular dignity of ‘Prince’”.
Andrew surrendered his use of the title Duke of York earlier in October following new abuse allegations from his accuser, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, in her posthumous memoir, which hit shelves last month.
The Democrat lawmakers referenced Giuffre’s memoir in their letter, specifically claims that she feared “retaliation if she made allegations against” Andrew, and that he had asked his personal protection officer to “dig up dirt” on his accuser for a smear campaign in 2011.
“This fear of retaliation has been a persistent obstacle to many of those who were victimised in their fight for justice,” the letter said. “In addition to Mr. Epstein’s crimes, we are investigating any such efforts to silence, intimidate, or threaten victims.”
Giuffre, who alleges that Epstein trafficked her to have sex with Andrew on three occasions, twice when she was just 17, took her own life in Australia in April.
In 2022, Andrew paid Giuffre a multimillion-pound settlement to resolve a civil lawsuit she had levelled against him. Andrew denied the allegations, and he has not been charged with any crime.
Jeffrey Epstein’s Zorro Ranch as seen on July 8, 2019 [KRQE via AP Photo]
On Thursday, Democratic lawmakers also turned the spotlight on Zorro Ranch, proposing to the House of Representatives’ Courts, Corrections and Justice Interim Committee that a commission be created to investigate alleged crimes against young girls at the New Mexico property, which Epstein purchased in 1993.
State Representative Andrea Romero said several survivors of Epstein’s abuse have signalled that sex trafficking activity extended to the secluded desert ranch with a hilltop mansion and private runway in Stanley, about 56 kilometres (35 miles) south of the state capital, Santa Fe.
“This commission will specifically seek the truth about what officials knew, how crimes were unreported or reported, and how the state can ensure that this essentially never happens again,” Romero told a panel of legislators.
“There’s no complete record of what occurred,” she said.
Representative Marianna Anaya, presenting to the committee alongside Romero, said state authorities missed several opportunities over decades to stop Epstein.
“Even after all these years, you know, there are still questions of New Mexico’s role as a state, our roles in terms of oversight and accountability for the survivors who are harmed,” she said.
New Mexico laws allowed Epstein to avoid registering locally as a sex offender long after he was required to register in Florida, where he was convicted of soliciting a minor for prostitution in 2008.
Republican Representative Andrea Reeb said she believed New Mexicans “have a right to know what happened at this ranch” and she didn’t feel the commission was going to be a “big political thing”.
Republicans in the United States Senate have voted down legislation that would have required US President Donald Trump to obtain congressional approval for any military attacks on Venezuela.
Two Republicans had crossed the political aisle and joined Democrats to vote in favour of the legislation on Thursday, but their support was not enough to secure passage, and the bill failed to pass by 51 to 49 votes.
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“We should not be going to war without a vote of Congress,” Democratic Senator Tim Kaine said during a speech.
The vote comes amid a US military build-up off South America and a series of military strikes targeting vessels in international waters off Venezuela and Colombia that have killed at least 65 people.
The US has alleged, without presenting evidence, that the boats it bombed were transporting drugs, but Latin American leaders, some members of Congress, international law experts and family members of the deceased have described the US attacks as extrajudicial killings, claiming most of those killed were fishermen.
Fears are now growing that Trump will use the military deployment in the region – which includes thousands of US troops, a nuclear submarine and a group of warships accompanying the USS Gerald R Ford, the US Navy’s most sophisticated aircraft carrier – to launch an attack on Venezuela in a bid to oust President Nicolas Maduro.
Washington has accused Maduro of drug trafficking, and Trump has hinted at carrying out attacks on Venezuelan soil.
Senator Adam Schiff, a California Democrat, referencing Trump’s military posturing towards Venezuela, said on Thursday: “It’s really an open secret that this is much more about potential regime change.”
“If that’s where the administration is headed, if that’s what we’re risking – involvement in a war – then Congress needs to be heard on this,” he said.
Earlier on Thursday, a pair of US B-52 bombers flew over the Caribbean Sea along the coast of Venezuela, flight tracking data showed.
Data from tracking website Flightradar24 showed the two bombers flying parallel to the Venezuelan coast, then circling northeast of Caracas before heading back along the coast and turning north and flying further out to sea.
The presence of the US bombers off Venezuela was at least the fourth time that US military aircraft have flown near the country’s borders since mid-October, with B-52s having done so on one previous occasion, and B-1B bombers on two other occasions.
Little public support in US for attack on Venezuela
A recent poll found that only 18 percent of people in the US support even limited use of military force to overthrow Maduro’s government.
Research by YouGov also found that 74 percent of people in the US believe that the president should not be able to carry out military strikes abroad without congressional approval, in line with the requirements of the US Constitution.
Republican lawmakers, however, have embraced the recent strikes on vessels in the Caribbean and Pacific, adopting the Trump administration’s framing of its efforts to cut off the flow of narcotics to the US.
Questions of the legality of such attacks, either under US or international law, do not appear to be of great concern to many Republicans.
“President Trump has taken decisive action to protect thousands of Americans from lethal narcotics,” Senator Jim Risch, the Republican chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in remarks declaring his support for the strikes.
While only two Republicans – Senators Rand Paul and Lisa Murkowski – defected to join Democrats in supporting the legislation to limit Trump’s ability to wage war unilaterally on Thursday, some conservatives have expressed frustration with a possible war on Venezuela.
Trump had campaigned for president on the promise of withdrawing the US from foreign military entanglements.
