Troops practiced an evacuation for possible emergencies in the recently reopened embassy in Caracas The US military on Saturday conducted a drill in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas that rehearsed a potential emergency and evacuation at its embassy. The exercise, which had been authorized by the Venezuelan authorities, is the first US military drill held in the country after Washington kidnapped President Nicolas Maduro and his wife. The drill involved two USMC MV-22B Osprey aircraft, which landed near the US Embassy, as well as naval vessels that entered Venezuelan waters in the Caribbean. The US mission shared footage of the aircraft landing near the compound, stating the drill was a “military response exercise.” “Ensuring the army’s rapid response capability is a key component of mission readiness, both here in Venezuela and around the world,” the embassy said. ...
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30 UAVs worth nearly $1 billion have reportedly been destroyed or damaged since start of the war, with the model no longer being produced The US military has lost up to 30 MQ-9 Reaper drones since the start of the conflict with Iran, which accounts for nearly a fifth of Washington’s entire pre-war fleet and is valued at close to $1 billion, Bloomberg has reported. The bulk of them were destroyed or seriously damaged by Iranian fire, according to the outlet. The MQ-9 Reaper is capable of conducting both reconnaissance and strike missions. A single drone is estimated to cost more than $30 million. General Atomics halted production of the model last year, although variants are still being manufactured for foreign customers. In an article on Thursday, Bloomberg, citing an anonymous source, reported that “Iran has destroyed more than two dozen MQ-9 Reaper drones operated by US forces since the war b...
Tehran has said the sides were moving closer to a “convergence of views,” but expressed concerns about a U-turn by Washington The US and Iran are poised to sign a deal which will prolong the ceasefire another 60 days, during which the Strait of Hormuz will be reopened and restrictions on oil trade against Tehran lifted, Axios has reported, citing American officials. In the meantime, the sides will try to reach a final deal to end the conflict, it added. US President Donald Trump claimed on Saturday that the memorandum of understanding (MOU) has been “largely negotiated” and is currently being finalized. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said the same day that the sides were moving closer to a “convergence of views,” but noted that Tehran remains concerned about a possible U-turn by Washington. A fragile truce between Washington and Tehran was established in early A...
The pro-Palestinian activists have called for an independent investigation into the incident Four people were arrested at Spain’s Bilbao Airport after police clashed with supporters of the Global Sumud Flotilla returning from detention in Israel on Saturday. The mission was the latest in a series of Gaza-bound maritime initiatives organized by pro-Palestinian aid workers seeking to challenge Israel’s naval blockade of the enclave. It departed from Türkiye earlier this month carrying around 400 activists from about 40 countries before being intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters on May 18. The participants were later deported. According to local media reports, the incident happened shortly after 2 PM local time on Saturday, as six members of the Basque delegation posed for journalists after arriving at the airport. A confrontation broke out after a supporter tried to approach...
Petr Pavel has accused Moscow of provocations following recent Ukrainian drone incursions into NATO airspace Czech President Petr Pavel has urged NATO to “show its teeth” in response to what he described as Russian “provocations” on the bloc’s eastern flank. Pavel’s remarks follow a series of Ukrainian drone incursions into NATO airspace in Europe. Since mid-March, long-range UAVs have repeatedly crossed Baltic and Nordic airspace en route to targets in northwestern Russia, particularly oil facilities in Leningrad Region. The incursions prompted fighter jet deployments, and some drones crashed inside NATO states, causing damage. Moscow has accused European NATO members of quietly allowing Kiev to use their airspace for attacks on Russian territory, but Western officials deny this, instead blaming Russia for the incursions and claiming that Russian electronic warfare sy...
The original ban was introduced in 2023 to protect Hungarian farmers from cheap Ukrainian imports flooding the markets Hungary has restored a ban on Ukrainian food imports after the new government “accidentally” allowed the restrictions to lapse. The ban, covering around 20 categories of agricultural goods, was introduced in 2023 after former Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government declared an emergency over the economic fallout of the Ukraine conflict. Budapest argued that cheap Ukrainian imports flooded EU border markets after Brussels lifted tariffs, undercutting Hungarian farmers and destabilizing the agriculture sector. While transit shipments were allowed, imports for the Hungarian market were restricted, and the ban stayed in place even after the EU replaced its temporary tariff-free regime with a trade pact last year. Read more ...