MIAMI – The United States (US) Coast Guard on Tuesday said the crew of Coast Guard Cutter Forward offloaded in Port Everglades, Florida more than 7,302 pounds of cocaine with an assessed street value of about US$96 million, interdicted in the Caribbean Sea.

The US Coast Guard said its crews, working alongside interagency and international partners, interdicted the illegal drugs during three separate cases.  “This was another vital success of our combined drug interdiction efforts,” Lieutenant Commander Juan Ramirez said. “These drug offloads underscore our continued partnerships with the US Navy and the Royal Netherlands Navy in combating the flow of illicit narcotics across the Caribbean.”

“The success of our joint efforts to save lives by reducing the availability of these harmful drugs is dependent on our cooperation with regional and international partners,” he added. The US Coast Guard said three suspected smugglers will face prosecution in US federal courts by the Department of Justice. “Detecting and interdicting illegal drug traffickers on the high seas involves significant interagency and international coordination,” said the US Coast Guard.

“Once interdiction becomes imminent, the law enforcement phase of the operation begins, and control of the operation shifts to the US Coast Guard throughout the interdiction and apprehension,” the US Coast Guard continued. It said interdictions in the Caribbean Sea are performed by members of the US Coast Guard under the authority and control of the Coast Guard’s Seventh District, headquartered in Miami. (Jamaicaobserver)…[+]

GAZA – Families of hostages held captive in Gaza condemned Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to the United States Congress, as pressure grows on the Israeli prime minister to agree to a deal to secure their release. The speech and applause won’t erase the one sad fact: The words ‘Deal Now!’ were absent from the prime minister’s address,” The Hostage and Missing Families Forum in Israel said in a statement.
Although Netanyahu’s speech drew raucous applause inside Congress, dozens of Democrats refused to attend. Among those who snubbed the speech was former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who called it “by far the worst presentation of any foreign dignitary invited and honored with the privilege of addressing the Congress of the United States.”
People gathered at the so-called Hostages Square in Tel Aviv to watch Netanyahu’s speech on Wednesday. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum has become a potent political force in Israel since some 250 people were abducted by Hamas on October 7, and the square a regular site of protests demanding that the hostages be brought home. “They came to watch the broadcast of the speech and hear addresses from family members of the hostages, hoping to hear the Prime Minister utter the two crucial words: ‘There’s a deal,’” the statement from the Forum said.
During his nearly 52-minute address, Netanyahu lashed out against critics of Israel’s war in Gaza but did not mention the status of the ceasefire negotiations, despite intense international pressure to find a deal and growing optimism that one could soon be struck. Rather than mentioning a deal, a bellicose Netanyahu told Congress: “The war in Gaza could end tomorrow if Hamas surrenders, disarms and returns all the hostages. But if they don’t, Israel will fight until we destroy Hamas’ military capabilities, end its rule in Gaza and bring all our hostages home.” But Netanyahu is facing growing calls to negotiate a deal to secure the hostages’ release. Noam Peri, daughter of Chaim Peri, who the Israeli government last month said died in Hamas captivity, said: “You can no longer save my father, but you must return to our shared values and restore the basic contract between us – before it’s too late.” “Sign the deal, save the hostages who are alive and fighting for their lives every moment,” she urged. Criticism from families of hostages was echoed by Yair Lapid of the opposition Labor party, who wrote on X: “Disgrace! An hour of talking without saying the one sentence: ‘There will be a kidnapping deal.’ But Netanyahu’s speech was lauded by members of his government. (CCN)…[+]

UKRAINE – The black box sits on the army truck dashboard like a talisman, its tiny screen lighting up with warnings when Russian drones are above us. We are driving fast along a country road in the darkness near the front lines outside Kharkiv. Like many in this war, the soldiers inside have come to revere the little cube they call “sugar”; it warns of the unseen dangers above.
On the vehicle’s roof are three mushroom-shaped antennas that make up separate drone-jamming equipment. The car emits an invisible aura of protection that will thwart some, but not all, of the Russian attack drones patrolling the skies above this battlefield.
“It has detected the Zala Lancet Russian drones,” says Senior Lt Yevhenii, 53, from the front passenger seat, describing one of the most powerful long-range Russian drones and its targeting drone. “Is that why we’re driving so fast?” I ask, aware that the drone-jamming antenna is useless against a Lancet. We’re not a priority for them, but it’s still better not to slow down because it’s very dangerous,” says Yevhenii, from the Khartia Brigade of Ukraine’s National Guard.
The jamming equipment blocks roughly 75% of frequencies that drones use to communicate with their operators, but some like the Lancet are difficult to block because they are entirely autonomous once their target has been marked. Because of the Lancet’s power, it tends to be used on larger targets, such as armoured vehicles or infantry positions, the Ukrainians say.
Almost none of this technology was here in Ukraine a year ago; now it is commonplace. Drones, which were once peripheral to the war, are a central component for both sides, alongside infantry and artillery as Ukraine struggles to hold back Russian advances. Ukraine has been thrown into the bleak future of war, where within minutes individual soldiers, fast-moving vehicles and trench positions can be precisely targeted. Drones have civilians in their sights too: about 25 from Russia attacked Kharkiv on Tuesday night, although most were intercepted.
Ukraine’s army is fighting back with its own drones, and there are dozens across this stretch of front line. One Ukrainian soldier tells me every day they kill 100 Russians. The last images from drone cameras are usually of men panicking, their arms flailing, weapons firing before they are killed. The brigade’s 37-year-old drone commander, who goes by the call sign Aeneas, says that without shelter in a building there is little chance of survival – for Russians, and his men too. (BBC)…[+]