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SEOUL, Dec. 12 (UPI) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un praised his country’s military modernization efforts as addressing security challenges “effectively and correctly” at a key ruling party meeting, state-run media reported Friday.

Kim said the regime’s push to strengthen defense capabilities was the “exact” direction to ensure North Korea’s security amid shifting geopolitical dynamics, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

The comments came as the three-day enlarged plenary meeting of the Workers’ Party of Korea’s Central Committee wrapped up on Thursday. The session reviewed this year’s policy implementation results and laid groundwork for a key party congress set for early next year.

During his remarks, the North Korean leader also highlighted the deployment of troops to Russia as a major achievement of the country’s defense strategy.

“The signal military gains made by … the Korean People’s Army in the overseas military operations over the past nearly one year demonstrated to the world the prestige of our army and state,” Kim said.

Pyongyang has provided significant support for Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine, sending thousands of shipping containers of munitions and deploying 15,000 troops to assist Russian forces in the Kursk region, according to Seoul’s National Intelligence Service.

In exchange, experts assess that Russia is transferring advanced military technology to Pyongyang, including assistance with space launch vehicles, reconnaissance satellites and air defense systems.

On Friday, the commander of U.S. Forces Korea warned of the expanding threat posed by North Korea as it deepens military cooperation with Russia.

“Russian-DPRK collaboration is real — it is not a quid pro quo relationship,” Gen. Xavier Brunson said during a webinar.

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is the official name of North Korea.

“There are things we know are happening right now that give me pause as I look at what might face us down the road, whether that be training, or techniques and procedures they’re learning from the front,” Brunson said.

The ruling party’s Ninth Congress, expected in early 2026, is widely expected to outline a new five-year economic plan and recalibrate Pyongyang’s military and foreign policy priorities.

Analysts say that the event may also cement a hard-line posture toward South Korea. In 2024, North Korea officially designated the South as a “hostile state,” according to state media, while Kim publicly rejected the long-held goal of reunification.

Fatima Alhassan is twenty years old now, but her voice still carries the weight of a ten-year-old girl who watched her world collapse a decade ago. Her father, Shahid Alhassan, was killed on Dec. 12, 2015, during the infamous ‘Zaria Massacre’.

“Despite our little time with him, we were always happy around him,” she said. “We were very close. Since we lost him, that vacuum has not been filled in our hearts.”

It was a Saturday morning, and Shahid had just returned home from a funeral. He lay on the sofa, with dust still on his palms. After some moments, he rubbed it across his face and said, “I am next”. His wife, Hauwa Muhammad, found those words unsettling. 

Immediately, Hauwa dismissed it, insisting it was not yet time and that they still had years to spend together, but he replied quietly that “my grave would not be dug in Kano, but in Gyallesu [a suburb in Zaria, Kaduna State, in North West, Nigeria].”

Shahid rose from the sofa, bathed, and had breakfast, and together they walked to the door, exchanging pleasantries before he left.

Around noon, news broke that officers of the Nigerian Army opened fire on some members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) in Zaria town.

That Saturday was the first day of Maulud, the birth month of Islam’s Holy Prophet Muhammad. Shahid and other IMN faithful had gone out for the celebrations. 

Founded in the early 1980s, the IMN grew under the leadership of Ibrahim Zakzaky, then a student activist at Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria. Inspired by the 1979 Iranian Revolution, Zakzaky advocated for an Islamic state governed by Sharia law. What began as a campus-based movement quickly expanded nationwide, attracting millions of followers who aligned with Shi’a Islam.

What really led to the Zaria Massacre?

The military claimed that the convoy of the then Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen. Tukur Yusuf Buratai, was denied access through the road where the members of IMN were preparing for the Maulud celebration. 

However, Mukhtar Bashir, an IMN representative in Kano State, told HumAngle that the group were hoisting a flag when they sighted the convoy and some soldiers stationed near a filling station. Immediately, they felt something was off, and then some members confronted the convoy to enquire what was happening.

Over the decades, IMN’s growing influence and its confrontations with state authority led to heightened tensions with Nigerian security forces. One of the most significant clashes occurred in July 2014, when soldiers killed three of Zakzaky’s sons and 30 IMN members during a Quds Day procession. 

The incident deepened mistrust and left many IMN members expecting hostility whenever the military appeared. As Mukhtar recalled: “We thought it was another attack.”

What began as a “simple confrontation” quickly escalated into a full-scale assault, which continued through the weekend. Mukhtar told HumAngle that the soldiers opened fire indiscriminately on unarmed civilians, including women and children, killing hundreds as the violence stretched across three days. 

By Tuesday and Wednesday, the focus had shifted from gunshots to the evacuation of dead bodies that were buried in mass graves. Mukhtar said the burials were held without religious rites, or “any form of dignity”. Amnesty International confirmed this claim in a report on the incident. 

Based on IMN records, “a thousand members of the organisation” were killed in the massacre. Muktar noted that when the numbers of passersby who were caught in the violence and also lost their lives are added, the death toll will be significantly higher. “We can show the houses of each person killed or missing,” he added.

The aftermath

When the news got to Hauwa, she was at home, anxiously waiting for her husband’s return. During those tense moments, she remembered the words Shahid had said while on the sofa. “What if his prayers had been answered?” She thought. 

Hauwa kept dialling her husband’s phone number, but every call went unanswered. Later in the evening, she began receiving different accounts about Shahid’s whereabouts; some said he was injured, others said he was dead. 

“Initially, I never believed he was killed,” she recounted. “We heard that it was our neighbour who died. Even my husband’s uncle said he was alive. Until Shahid’s friend, Malam Abdulkadir, drove to Zaria and confirmed that he was dead.” 

Hauwa still didn’t believe that testimony until a local newspaper published images of the deceased Shi’a Muslims. That was when she accepted his death. 

What followed was silence, Hauwa said it was unbearable. “Every day, in every aspect of my life, I felt the absence of my husband, the only pillar of our household. He had been a devoted father to our seven children and a loving companion to me,” she said. 

His loss left the family adrift. Twenty-one months after the incident, Hauwa’s youngest son also died. It deepened the tragedy for the family. 

“I miss my husband,” she said. “It was through him that I fell in love with the path I am on as a Muslim. I have nothing to say, only to ask Allah to bless him for all he has done for us, and may his soul continue to rest in peace.” Hauwa believes that Shahid died a martyr—a gift he had long prayed for. 

However, the challenges of raising their children alone, the weight of grief, and the absence of justice have defined the family’s life for the past decade.

“Some days are filled with happiness, while others are filled with pain and hunger. The sad days are more than the happy ones,” said Fatima, staring away from the camera. She attends a secondary school in Kano, where she also lives with her mother and six siblings in a modest three-room apartment. 

Each morning, as she prepares for school, she asks her mother for transport fare. Too often, her mother has nothing to give. Fatima does not feel anger; it is the ache of knowing her father is not there to shoulder the burden. 

While in school, Fatima says she is often silent when conversations come up with friends about their fathers and their life plans. “Living without a father is emotionally disturbing,” she told HumAngle. “We just have to do everything with our mother, and it saddens me.”

The loss has reshaped her dreams. Once, she imagined herself studying commerce, perhaps medicine or journalism. But after her father’s death, affordability dictated her path. She now studies Arabic, hoping to become a teacher—a future she never planned for, but one forced upon her by circumstance.

It is ten years since the massacre, but families, like Shahid’s, said they have not gotten justice. “They even painted it to look like we are the ones who committed an offence,” Fatima said. “The government has not done anything tangible. To them, it might have passed, but to us, it is as fresh as it was ten years ago.”

After the massacre, the former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, set up a judicial commission of inquiry, whose report found evidence of human rights violations by the Nigerian Army and also noted that 347 IMN members were killed in the incident. 

“The commission recommended prosecution of the soldiers who participated in the killings, but that has not been done,” said  Haruna Magashi, legal practitioner and human rights activist.

IMN also accused the soldiers of demolishing their buildings, including the residence of their founding leader, Ibrahim Zakzaky. In November, when HumAngle visited Zakzaky’s house and some of the IMN centres, some had been turned into a refuse dump site, while others were still not in shape.

Some survivors who spoke to HumAngle three years ago recalled scenes of chaos as homes were raided, people shot at close range, and corpses left scattered on the streets.

Zakzaky was arrested by Nigerian authorities after the incident, but he was discharged and acquitted by the court in July 2021. “All the concluded cases against the IMN were in their favour,” said Haruna. 

A Nigerian court has since ruled that the activities of IMN are “acts of terrorism and illegality”, an allegation that it has persistently denied. IMN was banned in July 2019. 

Echoes of grief

While some of the survivors were teenagers and are now young adults, others can’t even remember because they were babies, but they have formed memories through stories. 

Fatima Alhassan was four when her father died in the massacre. The 14-year-old said she only tries to picture her father through the good things her mother has said about him. Through the stories, she knows that his father was a good cook, and he always bathed his children and cared for the household whenever illness struck.

“Honestly, we have all been cheated in our family,” she said. “This is because whenever my mother falls sick and my elder siblings aren’t home, she has to do all the chores by herself. But if my father were around, I am sure he wouldn’t leave her like that. Even if she insists he go to work, he would still stay behind to assist her. Such moments break my heart, and I wish he were still alive.”

Those recollections make her long for the father she never really met. At her former school, she and her siblings were bullied by classmates who mocked them for not having a father, flaunting gifts they received, while they reminded them of what they had lost.

Fatima says her uncles and other close relatives have been supportive, especially during festive seasons, but the longing for her father never fades.

“It hurts me a lot. If I were to see him now, I would tell him that we have missed him a lot and we have suffered without him,” she said as tears rolled down her cheek.

‘To live my father’s dreams’

Amidst an unending grief that aches now and then, Al’haidar Alhassan said he wants to live his father’s dream. He is studying at Basita Darwish Chami Academy, a boarding school in Kano State built for orphans whose parents were killed in the massacre, and he hopes to be a scientist and a researcher someday. 

“Glory be to God Almighty that we have gotten the support we need, and I believe we will achieve what we intend. Nevertheless, I still feel heartbroken. The thought of losing my father and pillar still affects me because I feel demotivated sometimes,” he said. 

After his father’s death, the 19-year-old and his siblings dropped out of school for two years. Al’haidar said that his father’s greatest wish was for his children to be educated. 

“I miss the father-and-son bond we shared. Whenever he was leaving for work, I never wanted to let him go. Whenever I see a child and his father, the more I miss him, and in some cases, I have no choice but to cry,” Al’haidar added.

A father’s loss

While Al’haidar misses the bond with his father, Bashir Muktar sits on the floor in his living room, in between the portraits of his two sons who were killed in the massacre. The bond with his children was one of deep affection and shared ambition.

Shahid Abba, his eldest son, had just completed his remedial studies at the College of Arts and Islamic Studies a few days before the incident. The 20-year-old was brimming with plans to pursue chemical engineering at the university. Meanwhile, Bashir’s younger son, Hujjatullahi, was still in secondary school at Fudiya Science in Kano. The 18-year-old has dreams of becoming a doctor.

“A child is a flesh of yours,” Bashir said, “and you live your life trying to ensure that you build them up. You have certain ambitions towards your children. In every household, every father tries to build his children to greatness because they are your successors.”

Even though he kept a smiling face, it broke his heart as he recounted some of his sons’ youthful curiosity. He speaks about a day in 2014 when he found the younger son under the staircase, carving something for a school experiment. 

He teased him for “still behaving childishly”, but Hujjatullahi replied that: “It is an assignment. I am going to conduct an experiment on meiosis and mitosis.” That was the day his son revealed to him his dream of becoming a doctor. These memories, Bashir said, are etched in his heart.

He was on a trip in Abuja, North Central Nigeria, when his children called to ask if they could attend the Maulud programme in Zaria. He suggested they meet there at the event, but he was caught up in a late meeting, and his sons kept reaching out to confirm what was happening.

“They sent a text message enquiring what was happening in Zaria. I replied with, ‘Nothing is happening.’ They asked if they could proceed, and I said yes, not knowing soldiers had attacked and opened fire at the venue earlier that day,” Bashir recounted. 

By the time he tried reaching them again, their phones were no longer connecting. Bashir attempted to travel to Zaria the following day, but the roads were sealed off as news spread quickly that soldiers had blocked the entrance to the city.

Two days later, while having breakfast, he got a call: “I extended salutations, then I heard, ‘Father! Father!!’ It was the voice of Hujjatullahi. I confirmed by calling his name, then I started recording and put the call on speaker. I asked, ‘What’s happening, Hujjatullahi?’ He said, ‘Please forgive us, Father.’ I asked again, ‘What is happening?’ He responded, ‘Forgive us for whatever we have done to you until we meet at Darul Salam [referring to the final abode of the deceased righteous in Islam].’”

The words that followed were devastating.

“My elder brother has been shot in the stomach, and I have been shot in the stomach and my arm,” Hujjatullahi told him.

Bashir said that how his sons were buried worsened his grief.

“If they had travelled or fallen sick and died, it would have been different. But the manner in which they lost their lives is painful,” he said. “After killing them, they took their corpses, both men, women, children, pregnant mothers, and the elderly, then dug a massive hole and buried them all together like animals. No religious ritual was performed. With these, there are a lot of things to remember, and we can’t forget them.”

When asked what justice looks like for him and other grieving families, Bashir said that the fight for justice is not only about acknowledging the massacre but also about reclaiming the dignity of those who were killed.

“The most important thing for us in this fight for justice is the corpse of our loved ones,” he told HumAngle. “Where are the dead bodies of the people they killed and buried without prayer, spiritual bath, no shroud, no graves, nothing at all?”

“I believe even if someone is sentenced to death, after the life is taken, the body belongs to the family. So, where are the bodies? Despite killing them without any valid reason, they are still depriving us of their dead bodies.”

The last witness

In the same incident, Zainab Isa lost nearly everything.

Her husband, Abdullahi Abbas, and six of their children—Abdulrazaq, Muhammad, Abbas, Ahmad, Ibrahim, and Jawwad—were all killed in the Zaria massacre.

A decade later, at her home in the Rimin Danza community in Zaria, she imagines what her youngest son, Jawwad, who was only 18 when he died, might have become at 28. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he were a doctor by now,” she said.

She said Jawwad was quiet, intelligent, and reserved and carried the kind of promise that only time could have revealed. Instead, his life ended before it even began.

Her eldest, Abdulrazaq, was over thirty when he was killed, four years after graduating from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

He had plans to further his education once he secured a job. She remembers his brilliance in school, his demur anytime he was announced first in class, and his humility in admitting that his younger brother Jawwad was even smarter.

Jawwad contributed to scholarship by writing an Islamic book, the Forty Hadiths, which was published and shared at his graduation, before his death. 

Zainab can go over and over again about the stories of each of them. She told HumAngle that even other people in her community remember her children not only for their achievements but also for their kindness. 

Neighbours told her of small acts of generosity—paying transport fares for strangers, helping to fetch water for a neighbour, and offering support without being asked. “Wherever they went, they were loved,” she said. “I am not saying it to prove anything. It was God Almighty that blessed me and made them upright.”

Since that incident happened, her husband’s words about the frailty of life have stayed with her: “Only God knows who would be the first to leave this world between us. I just pray God accepts my worship before He takes my life.” 

“The scar will never heal,” she said. “Even if they would bring a truckload of dollars to my house, with the intention of making me happy, honestly, it won’t make me happy. If times could change, I would ask them to stay behind and go there myself to die instead, because they were still young and had dreams and were loved by everyone.”

Zainab is one of the few surviving witnesses to her family’s tragedy. 

Between grief and discrimination

Sadiya Muhammad, another widow of Abdullahi Abbas, was left between the pain of losing her husband and the discrimination her daughter endured in its aftermath.

Sadiya’s daughter, Radiya, was only two years old in 2015. Too young to remember her father, she grew up knowing his face only through photographs. “Whenever you hand her a picture, she would be able to point out her father,” Sadiya said.

But at school, where students and teachers came from different Islamic sects, her daughter faced painful words that deepened her grief. One day, a teacher openly told the class, “Do not be carried away by the prayers and fasting of any person who is a member of the Shi’a sect; they are worse than unbelievers, and they are all going to hell.”

The little girl returned home troubled, asking her mother, “Since my teacher said those who are Shi’a are all going to hellfire, is my father also going to hellfire?”

Sadiya’s response was firm yet tender: “I told her that her father is not going to hell; rather, he was martyred, and by Allah’s mercy, he is going to paradise.”

In the years after the massacre, her family’s mourning was made heavier by the sectarian prejudice of others, forcing her to constantly remind her children of their father’s honour and the value of their faith.

Human rights activists like Magashi believe the massacre carries a broader warning about minority rights in Nigeria. “You are in danger of extinction once you are a minority in the country,” he said. “This is dangerous as far as human rights are concerned. The Shi’ites are the minority Muslims in Nigeria, but they share the same human rights as the majority.”

F-35 Joint Strike Fighters from the Vermont Air National Guard‘s 158th Fighter Wing will be heading down to the Caribbean to take part in Operation Southern Spear, a U.S. official told The War Zone. The move would be the latest buildup of U.S. forces in the region for the mission to counter narcotics and pressure Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro. You can catch up with our previous story about this operation here.

The official could not say how many, when they will arrive or where they will go, but suggested they will most likely fly to the former Roosevelt Roads U.S. Navy base in Puerto Rico which has served as a staging ground for aviation assets and troops gathered in the region.

As we previously reported, F-35s from the U.S. Marine Corps began arriving at Roosevelt Road in the middle of September. E/A-18G Growler electronic attack jets just arrived there yesterday as well, which is possibly the most glaring sign that the U.S. is preparing for airstrikes as any over the last few months. You can read more about that deployment and its significance here.

On Wednesday, Vermont media outlets reported that wing assets were being prepared for a deployment but didn’t say where.

“Lt. Col. Meghan Smith confirmed to Vermont Public on Wednesday that the 158th Fighter Wing ‘has received a federal mobilization order,” the Vermont Public news outlet reported. “While we can’t discuss specific timelines or locations, our Airmen train continuously to ensure they are fully prepared to support federal and state missions whenever and wherever they are needed,” Smith said in an email.

Republican Gov. Phil Scott told Vermont Public on Wednesday that he did not know where the jets are going.

“Scott said during his weekly media briefing Wednesday that the Pentagon issued the mobilization orders under Title 10, the federal statute that allows the president to place National Guard troops under federal command,” according to the news outlet. “There isn’t much I can share because I don’t know a lot about any of the mission,” Scott said. “Everything from my understanding is coming out of either the National Guard or the Pentagon at this point.”

F-35A deployed to the Caribbean — the first USAF tactical jets to do so — would offer the ability to drop 2,000lb-class guided bombs on targets deep inside Venezuelan airspace. The F-35Bs currently deployed to Puerto Rico are limited to 1,000lb-class weapons. They also have significantly less range and reduced agility. No F-35s are deployed aboard the USS Gerald R. Ford, it only carries Super Hornets and the USS Iwo Jima is currently carrying a small contingent of AV-8B+ Harriers.

Taking all this into account, the F-35A deployment is a major signal of what type of operations could be on the horizon.

This is a developing story.

Update: 8:29 PM Eastern –

In addition to the F-35As, more aviation assets are being deployed for Operation Southern Spear, including combat search and rescue (CSAR) aircraft and refueling tankers. You can read about that in our story here.

Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com

Dec. 12 (UPI) — The State Department is offering a $5 million reward for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Francisco Manuel Bermudez Cagua, an alleged leader of the Ecuadorian Los Choneros cartel who is wanted in the United States on drug trafficking charges.

The reward, announced Thursday, is being offered under the Narcotics Rewards Program of the State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.

Bermudez Cagua, also known as Churron, is the alleged leader of Los Choneros, which was designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization and a Specially Designated Global Terrorists by the Trump administration in September amid President Donald Trump‘s crackdown on illegal drugs and immigration.

Federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York indicted Bermudez Cagua, along with Jose Adolfo Macias Villamar, the principal leader of the Los Choneros, in a superseding indictment unsealed June 27, 2025, charging him with international cocaine distribution conspiracy, international cocaine distribution and use of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking offenses.

“As alleged, Bermudez Cagua is a top lieutenant within the leadership of Los Choneros, an extremely violent foreign terrorist organization responsible for pumping drugs into the United States, causing harm to our communities, and wreaking havoc in his homeland of Ecuador,” U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. said in a statement.

According to the State Department, the 29-year-old Bermudez Cagua reports to Macias Villamar and became his right-hand man while in prison. Once they both escaped, Bermudez Cagua became Macias Villamar’s spokesperson.

“Bermudez Cagua regularly participated in the decisions Macias Villamar made related to the organization’s drug and weapons trafficking and served as an intermediary, relaying critical information between Macias Villamar and their associates,” according to the State Department website.

Los Choneros is considered one of Ecuador’s most violent criminal organizations and is linked to the infamous Sinaloa Cartel of Mexico. Ecuador designated the group as a terrorist organization in 2024, and the U.S.’ Treasury imposed sanctions against it that same year.

The Department of Homeland Security has pledged to appeal the latest ruling, slamming it as ‘naked judicial activism’.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whose case has become a flashpoint in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in the United States, has been freed from detention on a judge’s order and returned to his home, according to reports.

Abrego Garcia was due to check in with US immigration officials on Friday, The Associated Press news agency reported, a day after returning to his home following his release from an immigration processing centre in the latest twist in a convoluted case of deportation and detention targeting the Maryland man.

In a ruling on Thursday, US District Judge Paula Xinis in Maryland ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement to let Abrego Garcia go immediately, writing that federal authorities had detained him again after his return to the US without any legal basis.

The face of Trump’s hardline immigration policies

Abrego Garcia has an American wife and children and has lived in Maryland for years, under protected legal status since 2019, when a judge ruled he should not be deported because he could be harmed in his home country by a gang that targeted his family. He originally moved to the US without documentation as a teenager.

He then became the highest-profile case among more than 200 people sent to the notorious El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison as part of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on refugees, migrants and asylum seekers in the US.

He was wrongfully deported by the Trump administration to El Salvador in March. A court later ordered his return to the US, where he was detained again, as immigration officials sought to deport him to a series of African countries instead of El Salvador.

‘Judicial activism’

The Department of Homeland Security slammed Thursday’s ruling and said it would appeal, labelling the decision as “naked judicial activism” by a judge appointed during President Barack Obama’s administration.

“This order lacks any valid legal basis, and we will continue to fight this tooth and nail in the courts,” said Tricia McLaughlin, the department’s assistant secretary.

Abrego Garcia’s lawyer, Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg, said he expected his client’s ordeal was far from over, and he was preparing to defend him against further deportation efforts.

“The government still has plenty of tools in their toolbox,” Sandoval-Moshenberg said.

“We’re going to be there to fight to make sure there is a fair trial.”

The lawyer said the judge’s ruling had made it clear that the government could not detain a person indefinitely without legal authority, adding that Abrego Garcia had already “endured more than anyone should ever have to”.

Legal battles ongoing

Abrego Garcia has filed a federal lawsuit claiming the Trump administration is illegally using the deportation process to punish him due to the attention his case received.

Since his return, federal authorities have also filed charges against Abrego Garcia for alleged human smuggling related to a 2022 traffic stop.

He has pleaded not guilty and filed a motion to dismiss the charges, claiming the prosecution is vindictive.

In her ruling on Thursday, Judge Xinis said Trump lawyers “affirmatively misled” the court, including falsely claiming that Costa Rica had rescinded an offer to accept Abrego Garcia.

Abrego Garcia has said he was willing to resettle there in the event he was deported from the US.

In a separate proceeding, Abrego Garcia has also petitioned to reopen his immigration case to seek asylum in the US.

The 156-day trial, the most high-profile use of Beijing’s draconian national security law, is set to come to a close.

Hong Kong’s High Court is set to hand down a verdict in the case of pro-democracy campaigner and media mogul Jimmy Lai next week, bringing an end to his lengthy national security trial.

Lai’s verdict will be delivered by a three-judge panel in a hearing that begins at 10am local time (02:00 GMT) on Monday, according to a court diary notice seen on Friday.

Founder of the now-shuttered pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper, Lai, 78, is charged with foreign collusion under Hong Kong’s national security law, which Beijing imposed following huge and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in 2019.

He previously pleaded not guilty to two counts of conspiring to collude with foreign forces, as well as a third count of sedition under a colonial-era law.

Authorities accuse Lai, who has been detained since December 2020, of using the Apple Daily to conspire with six former executives and others to produce seditious publications between April 2019 and June 2021.

He is accused of using his publication to conspire with paralegal Chan Tsz-wah, activist Andy Li, and others to invite foreign countries – including the United States, Britain and Japan – to impose sanctions, blockades and other hostile measures against Hong Kong and China.

Prosecutors also accuse Lai of stoking hatred against authorities in Beijing and Hong Kong through writing and publishing more than 150 critical op-eds in the outlet.

He faces life imprisonment if convicted.

Lai has been held in solitary confinement for more than 1,800 days, with his family saying they fear for his wellbeing and his health is deteriorating as he suffers from diabetes, high blood pressure, as well as heart palpitations that require medication.

In August, the court postponed closing arguments in his 156-day trial – which began in December 2023 – citing a “medical issue” involving the 78-year-old’s heart.

Authorities say Lai has received proper treatment and medical care during his detention.

Trump to do ‘everything I can to save him’

Hong Kong was handed back to China in 1997 after more than 150 years under British colonial rule.

As part of the “one country, two systems” approach, Hong Kong officially operates a separate judicial system based on Common Law traditions, meaning Lai has greater legal protections than he would in mainland China.

But Hong Kong has experienced significant democratic backsliding in recent years, which accelerated following mass pro-democracy protests in 2019-20, which resulted in a harsh crackdown on dissent in the territory by Beijing.

In 2020, Chinese authorities introduced a draconian national security law to crush the protest movement, establishing secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign organisations as crimes carrying hefty punishments.

Lai’s trial represents the most high-profile use of that law, with critics condemning his trial as politically motivated.

The Chinese and Hong Kong governments insist Lai is being given a fair trial and have said the legal process must be allowed to reach its conclusion.

But his case has drawn international scrutiny, including from US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly promised to “save” Lai. In August, Trump promised to do “everything I can to save him”.

“His name has already entered the circle of things that we’re talking about, and we’ll see what we can do,” Trump told Fox News Radio.

Trump also reportedly raised Lai’s case during a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping when the pair met in South Korea in October.

Dec. 12 (UPI) — European Union member states have approved nearly $2.7 billion in funding for Ukraine as part of a plan to bolster the war-besieged nation’s recovery, reconstruction and modernization.

The disbursement of the funds was approved Thursday by the European Council, the 27-member block’s top political steering body, to boost Ukraine’s macro-financial stability and support the functioning of its public administration, the council said in a statement.

“I am grateful to the EU for the steadfast support,” Sergii Marchenko, Ukraine’s minister of finance, said in a statement.

“The [Ukraine-EU] partnership ensures our financial stability today and lays the foundation for Ukraine’s shared future in the EU.”

According to Ukraine’s Ministry of Finance, $2.4 billion of the funds will be provided as loans, with the remainder in grants.

It is the sixth regular disbursement of funds from the Ukraine Facility, the EU’s main framework for sustaining Ukraine’s economy, governance and reconstruction amid its defense against Russia’s invasion.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said in a statement that this disbursement is “essential” for Ukraine to maintain its “financial resilience” during the war, which began with Russia’s invasion on Feb. 24, 2022.

“We are grateful to our European partners for their consistent support and for continuing the program,” she said.

The council agreed to release the funds as Ukraine successfully completed the eight steps required for the disbursement as well as an outstanding step from the fourth disbursement, according to the council.

The reforms were implemented before the end of the third quarter in the areas of public finance management, the judiciary, the business environment, the banking sector, environmental protection and others, according to the finance ministry.

“The government of Ukraine is working to further improve compliance with Ukraine Facility conditions in the upcoming reporting period,” Svyrydenko added.

The announcement comes a little over a month after the EU approved the fifth disbursement in early November.

“This quick consecutive provision of funds mirrors Ukraine’s speed and commitment to implement reforms aligned with the country’s EU accession goals,” the council said.

The Ukraine Facility entered into force March 1, 2024, to provide Ukraine with up to more than $58 billion in grants and loans through 2027.

To date, Ukraine has received more than $28.6 billion under the program, with $9.7 billion having been received this year alone, according to the Ministry of Finance.

“This is stable and predictable financial support that enables us to maintain budget liquidity and ensure social payments,” Marchenko added in a separate statement.

“Thanks to this support, Ukraine remains on the path of reforms and is moving closer to EU membership.”

The Ukraine Facility is closely linked to advancing the so-called Ukraine Plan that outlines Kyiv’s strategy not only for recovery, reconstruction and modernization but also for implementing reforms to achieve its goal of becoming the 28th member of the EU.

The announcement coincided with the EU and Ukraine agreeing on a 10-point plan on implementing reforms to ensure Kyiv aligns with the bloc and eventually becoming a member.

The EU is Ukraine’s largest backer during its war against Russia, giving it about $80.2 billion since the war began, of which $30.9 billion was given this year.

The Trump administration has imposed new sanctions on Venezuela, targeting three nephews of President Nicolas Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores, as well as six crude oil tankers and shipping companies linked to them, as Washington steps up pressure on Caracas.

Two of the sanctioned nephews were previously convicted in the United States on drug trafficking charges before being released as part of a prisoner exchange.

The US is also targeting Venezuela’s oil sector by sanctioning a Panamanian businessman, Ramon Carretero Napolitano, whom it says facilitates the shipment of petroleum products on behalf of the Venezuelan government, along with several shipping companies.

The US Treasury Department said on Thursday that the measures include sanctions on six crude oil tankers it said have “engaged in deceptive and unsafe shipping practices and continue to provide financial resources that fuel Maduro’s corrupt narco-terrorist regime”.

Four of the tankers, including the 2002-built H Constance and the 2003-built Lattafa, are Panama-flagged, with the other two flagged by the Cook Islands and Hong Kong.

The vessels are supertankers that recently loaded crude in Venezuela, according to internal shipping documents from state oil company PDVSA.

‘An act of piracy’

In comments on Thursday night, Trump also repeated his threat to soon begin strikes on suspected narcotics shipments making their way via land from Venezuela to the US.

His remarks followed the US seizure of an oil tanker off Venezuela’s coast.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the US would take the tanker to a US port.

“The vessel will go to a US port, and the United States does intend to seize the oil,” Leavitt said during a news briefing. “However, there is a legal process for the seizure of that oil, and that legal process will be followed.”

Maduro condemned the seizure, calling it “an act of piracy against a merchant, commercial, civil and private vessel,” adding that “the ship was private, civilian and was carrying 1.9 million barrels of oil that they bought from Venezuela”.

He said the incident had “unmasked” Washington, arguing that the true motive behind the action was the seizure of Venezuelan oil.

“It is the oil they want to steal, and Venezuela will protect its oil,” Maduro added.

Maduro’s condemnation came as US officials emphasised that the latest sanctions also targeted figures close to the Venezuelan leader.

Maduro’s relatives targeted

Franqui Flores and Efrain Antonio Campo Flores, nephews of Venezuelan first lady Cilia Flores, were also sanctioned. The two became known as the “narco nephews” after their arrest in Haiti in 2015 during a US Drug Enforcement Administration sting.

They were convicted in 2016 on charges of attempting to carry out a multimillion-dollar cocaine deal and sentenced to 18 years in prison, before being released in a 2022 prisoner swap with Venezuela.

A third nephew, Carlos Erik Malpica Flores, was also targeted. US authorities allege he was involved in a corruption scheme at the state oil company.

Maduro and his government have denied links to criminal activity, saying the US is seeking regime change to gain control of Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.

Beyond the individuals targeted, the US is also preparing to intercept additional ships transporting Venezuelan oil, the Reuters news agency reported, citing sources.

Asked whether the Trump administration planned further ship seizures, White House spokesperson Leavitt told reporters she would not speak about future actions but said the US would continue executing the president’s sanctions policies.

“We’re not going to stand by and watch sanctioned vessels sail the seas with black market oil, the proceeds of which will fuel narcoterrorism of rogue and illegitimate regimes around the world,” she said on Thursday.

Wednesday’s seizure was the first of a Venezuelan oil cargo amid US sanctions that have been in force since 2019. The move sent oil prices higher and sharply escalated tensions between Washington and Caracas.

Fighting between Cambodia and Thailand has entered its fifth day, with Cambodia accusing the Thai military of continued shelling and Thailand’s caretaker Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul confirming that he is scheduled to speak with United States President Donald Trump.

Thai forces allegedly carried out new attacks in three Cambodian provinces in the early hours of Friday morning, according to Cambodian news outlet The Khmer Times.

The newspaper reported that Thai forces opened fire in the Ta Moan, Ta Kra Bei and Thmar Daun areas of Cambodia’s Oddar Meanchey province.

It also reported Thai shelling in the Phnom Khaing and An Ses areas of the country’s Preah Vihear province, as well as the areas of Prey Chan Village and Boeung Trakuan in nearby Banteay Meanchey province.

No new casualties were reported following the renewed fighting.

At least 20 people have been killed across both countries, with nearly 200 more wounded, since fighting resumed on Monday.

An estimated 600,000 people have also been displaced on both sides of the Thai-Cambodia border since the breakdown of a peace agreement brokered by Trump in October.

In a Facebook post, Cambodia’s Ministry of Defence also rejected as “fake news” a claim from the Thai military that it was using foreign mercenaries to operate suicide drones in its attacks on targets in Thailand.

“The Ministry of National Defence of Cambodia would like to reject propaganda disseminated on the Thai 2nd Army Area Facebook page, which accused Cambodia of using foreigners to help launch FPV [first person view] drones in the Cambodian-Thai border conflict,” the ministry said.

Separately, the ministry also rejected accusations from Thai media outlets alleging that it was preparing to launch Chinese-made PHL-03 missiles in the border dispute.

The PHL-03 is a truck-mounted multiple rocket launcher that can fire guided and unguided rockets with a range of 70km to 130km (43.5 miles to 81 miles), according to a US military database, while Cambodia’s BM-21 Soviet-designed multi-rocket launchers have a range of just 15km to 40km (9.3 miles to 25 miles).

“Cambodia demands the Thai side to deliberately stop spreading false news in order to divert attention to its violations of international law by painting Cambodia as a pretext to use more violent weapons on Cambodia,” the Defence Ministry said.

The Southeast Asian neighbours accuse one another of reigniting the conflict that centres around a centuries-old border dispute along their 800-kilometre (500-mile) frontier, where both sides claim ownership over a smattering of historic temples.

The continued fighting involving artillery, fighter jets, tanks and drones comes as Thailand’s caretaker Prime Minister Anutin confirmed he was scheduled to speak with President Trump at 21:20 local time (14:20 GMT) on Friday.

Trump promised on Wednesday to reach out to the leaders of both countries, saying he thinks he “can get them to stop fighting”.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Thursday that Trump had yet to call the Thai and Cambodian leadership, but added that “the administration is obviously tracking this at the highest levels and is very much engaged”.

Thailand’s top diplomat Sihasak Phuangketkeow spoke with US counterpart Marco Rubio on Friday ahead of the planned call between Trump and Anutin, Thailand’s foreign ministry said.

Sihasak told Rubio that Thailand was committed to a peaceful resolution, but said sustainable peace must be backed up by actions and genuine commitment, the ministry said in a statement, adding that Rubio confirmed US readiness to constructively promote peace.

Anutin also said his decision to dissolve parliament on Thursday – earlier than expected – would not affect the management of the ongoing border conflict.

The move comes following a breakdown in relations between Anutin’s Thai Pride Party and the opposition People’s Party, the largest bloc in the Thai legislature.

Government spokesperson Siripong Angkasakulkiat said a legislative impasse had paralysed the government’s agenda, meaning Anutin’s party “can’t go forward in parliament”.

Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn endorsed the dissolution, the country’s official Royal Gazette announced on Friday, making way for early elections.

The national polls must now be held within 45 to 60 days in Thailand.

In the large displacement camps of Gaza, rows upon rows of makeshift tents blanket debris, empty lots and what remains of flattened neighbourhoods. With Storm Byron descending upon the enclave, a sense of terror has seized a population already exhausted from two years of Israel’s genocidal war with its unrelenting bombardment, starvation and chaos.

For the 1.5 million Palestinians living under plastic sheets and tattered tarps, the storm means something more than just bad weather. It’s another danger piled on top of the current battle for survival.

For several days, meteorologists have warned that heavy rainfall and strong winds could hit the strip today, tomorrow and over the weekend, risking flash flooding and significant wind damage. What is certain, though, is that Gaza is not facing this storm with ready infrastructure, stocked shelters or functioning drainage systems.

It faces it with tents propped up with pieces of scrap metal, paths that become mud rivers after only one night of rain and families who have nothing left to protect.

Solidarity a survival strategy

In the camps of Gaza City, the scenes of vulnerability are everywhere. Most tents are constructed from aid tarpaulins, pieces of plastic salvaged from rubble and blankets tied to recycled wooden poles. Many sag visibly in the middle; others are erected inadequately, so much so that they quiver and flap violently under the slightest breeze.

“When the wind starts, we all hold the poles to keep the tent from falling,” said Hani Ziara, a father sheltering in western Gaza City after his home was destroyed months ago.

His tent was flooded last night in the heavy rain, and his children had to stay outside in the cold. Hani wonders painfully what else he can do to protect his children from the rain and strong winds.

In many camps, the ground was already soft from previous rainfall. Wet sand and mud stick to shoes, blankets and cooking pots as people shuffle through. Trenches dug by volunteers to divert water often collapse within hours. With nowhere else to go, families who live in low-lying areas are preparing for the worst: that floodwaters will be pushed directly into their tents.

Stocking up on food, storing clean water and securing shelter are the most basic steps when people prepare for a storm, but that is considered a luxury for the displaced of Gaza.

Most families receive scant water deliveries, going sometimes days without enough to cook or wash. Food supplies are equally strained, and while irregular aid distributions provide basics like rice or canned beans, the quantities seldom last more than a few days. Preparing for a storm by cooking ahead, gathering dry goods or storing fuel is simply not possible.

“We could not sleep last night. Our tent was flooded with rainwater. Everything we had was flushed out by water. We want to prepare, but how?” asked Mervit, a mother of five children displaced near the Gaza port. She added, “We barely have enough food for tonight. We can’t save what we don’t have.”

Despite poverty, solidarity has become Gaza’s strongest survival strategy. Neighbours, with whatever they have, help secure the tents. Young men go through the rubble and scavenge for metal and wood remains to serve as temporary posts. The women organise collective cooking so that hot meals can be distributed to families in need, particularly those with young children or elderly family members, whenever possible.

These unofficial networks become more active the closer a storm gets. Volunteers trudge from tent to tent, helping families raise sleeping areas off the ground, patch holes in canopies with plastic sheets, and dig drainage channels. Crowds try to move those who are in precarious, extremely exposed areas to other locations, sharing information about safer places.

‘We are exhausted’

Beyond physical danger, the psychological impact is deep. After months of displacement, loss and deprivation, another crisis – this time, not war, but forces of nature – feels overwhelming.

“Our tents were destroyed. We are exhausted,” said Wissam Naser. “We have no strength left. Every day there is a new fear: hunger, cold, disease, now the storm.”

Many residents describe the feeling of being sandwiched between the sky and the ground, exposed on both ends and unable to protect their families from either.

As clouds mass along Gaza’s shore, families prepare to take a hit. Some weigh down tent walls against the wind with rocks and sandbags. Others push children’s blankets to the driest corner, hoping a roof will last. Most don’t have a plan. They just wait.

The storm will not be another single-night affair for the displaced in Gaza. It would be a further reminder of how fragile life has become, how survival depends not on preparedness but rather on endurance.

They wait because they have no alternative. They prepare with what little they have. They pray that this time, the winds will be merciful.

Dec. 11 (UPI) — President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday night that limits states’ ability to regulate artificial intelligence companies.

The order is designed “to sustain and enhance the United States’ global AI dominance through a minimally burdensome national policy framework for AI,” according to a release on the White House website.

“To win, United States AI companies must be free to innovate without cumbersome regulation,” the order says. “But excessive State regulation thwarts this imperative.”

Trump has been a strong proponent of U.S. leadership in AI development, and said at the executive order signing ceremony Thursday night that AI companies “want to be in the United States, and they want to do it here, and we have big investment coming. But if they had to get 50 different approvals from 50 different states, you could forget it.”

The order instructs Attorney General Pam Bondi to establish an “AI Litigation Task Force” within 30 days whose “sole responsibility shall be to challenge State AI laws” that don’t align with the Trump administration’s minimal approach to regulation.

It could also revise existing state laws, and directs Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to identify state laws that “require AI models to alter their truthful outputs,” which aligns with Trump’s efforts to prevent what he describes as “woke AI.”

Trump has also used federal funding as an incentive to encourage states with such laws not to enforce them. Under terms of the executive order, federal AI law would preempt state regulations. State AI laws designed to protect children would not be affected.

The executive order comes after congress voted in July and November against creating a similar policy.

Critics of the plan created by the executive order call it an attempt to block meaningful regulation on AI and say congress is not equipped to replace state-specific laws with a single, nationwide standard.

Tech companies have been supportive of efforts to limit the power of states to regulate AI. The executive order marks a victory for tech companies like Google and OpenAI, which have launched campaigns through a super PAC, and have as much as $100 million to spend in an effort to shape the outcome of next year’s midterm elections.

The order is also seen as a move to thwart Democrat-led states such as California and New York from exerting state laws over AI development

A British backpacker who struck and killed a man while riding an e-scooter drunk has been jailed for four years in Australia.

Alicia Kemp, 25 – from Redditch, Worcestershire – was driving at speeds of 20 to 25km/h (12 to 15mph) when she hit 51-year-old Thanh Phan from behind on a Perth sidewalk in May.

She had been drinking with a friend all afternoon, the court heard, and had an alcohol level more than three times the legal limit.

Phan, a father-of-two, hit his head on the pavement and died in hospital from a brain bleed two days later.

A friend of Kemp, who was a passenger on the scooter, was also hurt in the crash – sustaining a fractured skull and broken nose – but her injuries were not life-threatening.

Kemp, who was in Australia on a working holiday visa, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death in the Perth Magistrates Court in August.

Her sentence will be backdated to 1 June, and she’ll be eligible for parole after serving two years of her sentence. Her driver’s licence was also disqualified for two years.

DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY,

A tsunami warning has been issued following a strong quake off northeast coast of Japan.

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.7 has hit Japan’s northeastern region, prompting a tsunami advisory from the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA).

The earthquake struck on Friday off the coast of Aomori Prefecture at 11:44am local time (02:44 GMT) at a depth of 20km (12.4 miles), according to the JMA.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) also said that the quake measured 6.7.

Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority said there were no immediate signs of abnormalities at the region’s nuclear facilities.

National broadcaster NHK said that the level of shaking from the quake was less than a bigger magnitude 7.5 earthquake that hit in the same region on Monday and tore apart roads, smashed windows and triggered tsunami waves of up to 70 centimetres (2.3ft).

Following Monday’s quake, which injured at least 50 people, the JMA issued a rare special advisory warning to residents across a wide area, from Hokkaido in the north to Chiba, east of Tokyo, to be on alert for an increased possibility of a powerful earthquake hitting again within a week.

The northeast region is haunted by the memory of a massive magnitude 9.0 undersea quake in 2011, which triggered a tsunami that left about 18,500 people dead or missing.

The JMA issued its first special advisory in 2024 for the southern half of Japan’s Pacific coast warning of a possible “megaquake” along the Nankai Trough.

The government has said that a quake in the Nankai Trough and subsequent tsunami could kill as many as 298,000 people and cause up to $2 trillion in damages.

Amid fears of a “megaquake”, NHK reported on Thursday that people in the northeast of Japan were stocking up on disaster-related goods such as torches, water storage tanks and support poles to prevent furniture toppling over due to tremors.

One shop in Hokkaido’s Hakodate City reported sales of bottled water and disaster kits tripling following Monday’s quake.

“We decided to prepare, so I bought disaster kits for everyone,” a male customer in his 30s told NHK while visiting a shop with his family.

Japan sits on top of four major tectonic plates along the western edge of the Pacific “Ring of Fire” and is one of the world’s most seismically active countries.

The Pentagon is continuing to rapidly add military capabilities to Operation Southern Spear, a mission that began as a counter-narcotics effort but is increasingly aimed at Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro. Images emerged online today of Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) aircraft having arrived in Puerto Rico. In addition, KC-135 Stratotanker aerial refuelers are now flying missions out of the Dominican Republic. We also found that KC-46 Pegasus tankers have been flying sorties out of the U.S. Virgin Islands for months, with a major ramp-up in activity in recent weeks. This is all on top of yesterday’s arrival of EA-18G Growler electronic attack jets in Puerto Rico and the news we broke today that USAF F-35As are being sent to the Caribbean, as well.

Clearly, the Pentagon is moving into a posture in the region that is much better equipped for tactical air combat operations over hostile territory than it was just days ago.

Despite all this movement, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told reporters Thursday afternoon that U.S. President Donald Trump does not want to see a protracted conflict in Venezuela.

“A prolonged war is something the president is not interested in,” she said, adding that Trump wants to “see the end of illegal drugs trafficked into the United States.”

On Thursday, Reuters published photos showing HC-130J Combat King II combat search and rescue (CSAR) planes and HH-60W Jolly Green Giant II CSAR helicopters on the ramp at Roosevelt Roads, the former U.S. Navy facility in Puerto Rico. These aircraft are stationed at Moody Air Force Base in Georgia, though the helicopters reportedly arrived from deployment to Kadena Air Base in Japan.

A Reuters image from today (11 Dec) shows 3x USAF HC-130Js from Moody AFB on the ramp at Roosevelt Roads in Puerto Rico.

Credit: Ricardo Arduengo/Reuters. pic.twitter.com/oAV7VEp9yn

— LatAmMilMovements (@LatAmMilMVMTs) December 11, 2025

The deployment of dedicated CSAR aircraft to the region is a sign that the Trump administration could be about to drastically increase its pressure on Maduro and go after the cartels inland with strikes. The aircraft are needed for rapid rescues of any aircrews that are lost during military operations, specifically over contested territory. While the Marine aviation force from USS Iwo Jima and its escorts are also capable of this mission, as are helicopters from the USS Gerald R. Ford, to varying degrees, the unique capabilities and the highly specialized crews the HC-130J and HH-60W bring to the table are prized. This is especially true now that USAF tactical airpower in the form of F-35As is about to arrive in-theater.

The Stratotankers arrived in the Dominican Republic sometime around Sunday or Monday, according to the @LatAmMilMovements X account, an open-source tracker who has been closely following these deployments. They are now taking up a good portion of an entire runway at the airport.

A Sentinel-2 pass from today (10 Dec) shows a total of six USAF KC-135s at Aeropuerto Internacional Las Américas (SDQ/MDSD) in the Dominican Republic.

From here, the tankers will continue to support E-3G and RC-135 missions in the Caribbean.

Work w/ @MikeRomeoAv. pic.twitter.com/tzJ8PNhqdD

— LatAmMilMovements (@LatAmMilMVMTs) December 10, 2025

Forward deploying the tankers reduces the amount of time needed to fly to the region and thus increases time on station and sortie rates. The presence of these jets in the Dominican Republic also represents a widening of the mission’s footprint, a U.S. official told us. The bulk of U.S. land-based operations are run out of Puerto Rico, and Roosevelt Roads in particular.

Noted parked up at Santo Domingo Airport ( SDQ ) in the Dominican Republic today, 6 Boeing KC135 refueling aircraft of the United States Air Force pic.twitter.com/U4bnLhhFIQ

— Michael Kelly (@Michaelkelly707) December 11, 2025

“This is an expansion of Southern Spear,” the U.S. official said of the Stratotanker presence in the Dominican Republic. “This is about capabilities and location. In case of any service support needed, you want to have that in a strategic area. The Dominican Republic is not too close, not too far and they have the capabilities to support a number of aircraft.”

The Dominican Republic presence, however, was not the first tankers operating forward in the region. They have been operating out of the U.S. Virgin Islands for months.

The KC-46s have been in the U.S. Virgin Islands since the middle of September, according to archived satellite imagery. This presence has grown steadily with now between five and six tankers being seen on the ramp there at any given time. The low-resolution satellite photo below was taken Dec. 9 and obtained by The War Zone via Planet Labs.

As the relatively sudden surge of assets to the Caribbean continues, the world waits to see what the Trump administration plans to do with all of it.

Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com

Dec. 11 (UPI) — President Donald Trump on Thursday said he granted “a full Pardon” to election denier Tina Peters who was convicted for helping outsiders illegally breach voting machine security, though Colorado officials say he has no power to do so for state crimes.

Peters, a 70-year-old former Mesa County, Colo., clerk, is serving a nine-year prison sentence. She was convicted in August 2024 of attempting to influence a public servant and criminal impersonation for aiding an unauthorized person in copying voting-machine hard-drive data during a 2021 software update.

That data, including sensitive election-system information, was later leaked online by election-fraud conspiracy theorists who claimed it proved Trump’s Big Lie that the 2020 election had been stolen from him.

While maintaining the unfounded claim that the 2020 election was stolen, Trump has been a vocal supporter of the effort to secure Peters’ release, describing Peters as a pro-democracy activist.

“Tina is sitting in a Colorado prison for the ‘crime’ of demanding Honest Elections,” Trump said Thursday evening in a post to his Truth Social account.

“Today I am granting Tina a full Pardon for her attempts to expose Voter Fraud in the Rigged 2020 Presidential Election!”

Colorado state officials have been adamant amid Trump’s demands for Peters’ release that he does not have the authority to pardon her, as she was convicted on state charges.

“Tina Peters was convicted by a jury of her peers, prosecuted by a Republican District Attorney and found guilty of violating Colorado state laws, including criminal impersonation,” Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said in a statement Thursday in response to Trump’s announcement.

“No President has jurisdiction over state law nor the power to pardon a person for state convictions,” Polis continued. “This is a matter for the courts to decide, and we will abide by court orders.”

Trump has feuded with Polis, a Democrat, over Peters’ incarceration, calling the governor a “SLEAZEBAG” earlier this month on Truth Social for refusing “to allow an elderly woman, Tina Peters, who was unfairly convicted of what the Democrats do, cheating on Elections, out of jail!”

Trump’s declaration of Peters’ pardon came hours after her lawyer, Peter Ticktin, announced he had formally asked Trump to pardon his client, whom he called “a necessary witness in exposing election misconduct.”

“Tina Peters is rightfully in Colorado state prison,” Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., said in a statement on X on Thursday.

“Trump’s corrupt and political attempts at a pardon won’t work here. Once again, if you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime.”

Since returning to the White House, Trump has used his powers to issue pardons to many of those connected to the effort to overturn the 2020 election who were convicted on federal charges, including the more than 1,500 people who stormed Congress on Jan. 6, 2021.

For the first time since the termination of the Cold War, a major military crisis is heating up in the Caribbean. Since early September 2025, United States aerial combat drones have been patrolling and targeting the suspected smuggler boats in the international waters of the Caribbean Sea. These strikes were initially portrayed as kinetic measures to choke off the drug trade through the Caribbean Sea. According to US officials, by 04 December, 22 strikes have been conducted and 87 narco-terrorists have been killed. However, it’s worthy to note that the majority of cocaine production is centered in Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, and Mexico and enters into the United States through an inland or Pacific route—not through the Caribbean Sea. Out of 22 strikes, only 10 have been conducted in the Pacific waters.

Washington’s political ambitions eventually became evident in October once it forward deployed a naval flotilla at the strike range to Venezuela. Currently, eight US Navy vessels are operating in the Caribbean Sea. The USS Gerald Ford aircraft carrier, with its vast combat aviation wing comprising F-35C Lightning IIs, F/A-18 E/F Super Hornets, and a variety of support fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, is currently stationed in the US Virgin Islands. Other forward-deployed naval vessels include the MV Ocean Trader command vessel and the USS Iwo Jima amphibious assault ship with over 4,000 marines. These ships are supported by two Ticonderoga-class cruisers, two Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, and the USS Newport News, a Los Angeles-class nuclear attack submarine (SSN), each equipped with Tomahawk cruise missiles. The presence of this naval flotilla suggests that the USN has mustered enough capability to not only launch aerial and cruise missile strikes but also conduct amphibious operations at the Venezuelan coast. In parallel, Venezuelan airspace has been declared ‘closed’ by the Trump administration. Such assertive measures are not meant for anti-narcotic operations but perhaps for regime change either through coercive diplomacy or through direct military action. Whatever the case may be, it’s evident that for the first time in decades, the United States is apparently preparing for a direct military conflict in its own hemisphere.

Understanding how this crisis escalated requires looking back at the recent history of bilateral tensions. The fractures began to appear in US-Venezuela relations from 1999, when Hugo Chávez came to rule on a wave of anti-American populism and nationalized the country’s oil industry. Within three years, mutual relations collapsed so abruptly that first Washington imposed sanctions and then briefly removed Chávez from power through a CIA-backed coup. Chávez regained the rule in a matter of a few days. This move, however, further intensified anti-American sentiments in the Venezuelan public. Chávez made subversion of Washington a political identity; his successor Nicolás Maduro turned it into state doctrine. In 2019, Washington even declared Juan Guaidó, the opposition leader of Venezuela, as the country’s ‘legitimate president.’ Besides the open political signaling of the White House, the CIA also attempted another coup to topple the Maduro regime but again failed to achieve the requisite results.

Maduro successfully exploited continuous intervention by the United States to augment its political narrative at the public level and managed to earn a third consecutive term in 2025. However, the results of elections were regarded as dubious and were generally dismissed as fraudulent, further degrading relations with the West.

For Venezuela, oil has attracted more trouble than prosperity. The country has more than 300 billion barrels of proven oil reserves—more than Saudi Arabia (267 billion barrels)—yet it produces less than 10 percent of its 1990s highest productivity rate. The Venezuelan crude oil is ultra-heavy (8-12° API) and has very high sulfur content. Such dense oil is not only very challenging to refine—both economically and technologically—but also very hard to transfer and cannot be pumped through pipelines without imported diluents. In a nutshell, despite possessing the largest proven oil reserves, Venezuela cannot refine and export its black gold without significant foreign assistance. The current oil infrastructure, developed during the Cold War, is gradually crumbling. Pipelines are either blocked or leaking, and refineries are now operating below 15 percent capacity. Approximately 58 billion USD worth of investment is required to repair and revive the current infrastructure. Being a struggling economy, Venezuela simply does not have the financial capacity to do so. Meanwhile, the majority of technical expertise has been eroded due to brain drain. For example, PDVSA once employed more than 40,000 engineers but now has a total strength of only 12,000 with a large portion of untrained manpower. Currently, while Gulf nations are earning huge revenue from oil exports, Venezuela stands isolated as an oil superpower that cannot even power itself.

The aforementioned factors have imparted grave consequences on the Venezuelan economy. Its national GDP has shrunk from about 300 billion USD to a mere 110 billion USD approximately. More than half of the population is living in poverty, and unemployment has crippled public development. Roughly 28 percent of the total population is in need of humanitarian assistance. These financial woes have compelled common Venezuelan citizens to seek refuge outside the country. Currently, nearly 8 million locals have left the country and are living as refugees in neighboring countries, including Columbia, Peru, Brazil, and even the United States.

To survive internal implosion, Caracas has sought external assistance from Washington’s strategic competitors, including Russia, China, and even Iran. Both Russia and Venezuela are signatories of the 10-year Strategic Partnership Treaty, which was ratified in Oct-Nov 2025 with the overarching objective of combating unilateral coercive measures. Russia has provided military assistance and technical support for the training of troops and maintenance of military equipment, which is predominantly of Soviet origin. China has repeatedly provided diplomatic support and financial loans to support Venezuela’s energy infrastructure. Both Russia and China have vetoed resolutions at the UN Security Council for imposing stringent sanctions against Venezuela. With Iran, Venezuela also shares a strong relation, which was formalized by a 20-year agreement in 2022. Their domains of cooperation include trade, repairing of energy infrastructure, modernization of the defense force, and technology sharing for refinement of crude oil. For the United States, these collaborations are meant to develop a foothold in Latin America by Russia, China, and Iran—something Washington considers intolerable.

When the Trump administration returned in 2025, within weeks, it scrapped Chevron’s license, eliminating Venezuela’s last stable revenue stream. The most significant escalation came on July 25, 2025, when the US Treasury designated Venezuela’s military leadership—the Cartel de los Soles—as a global terrorist organization. No foreign military in American history had ever received such a label. Simultaneously, the reward for the arrest of President Nicolás Maduro has been doubled to 50 million USD by the Trump administration on federal charges of narcoterrorism and conspiracy to import cocaine. And now, with a fully equipped US naval strike force sailing in the Caribbean Sea, the situation is getting increasingly volatile. The Venezuelan military simply does not possess the capability to defend against such a strike force.

If hostilities break out, then instead of placing boots on the ground, the United States is likely to conduct targeted strikes at key assets, impose and sustain a naval blockade, and eventually undermine the Venezuelan military’s and nation’s loyalty to Maduro through coercive diplomacy. The current crisis illustrates that although the Trump administration claims to have taken numerous initiatives to end conflicts and promote trade & collaboration in the Eastern Hemisphere, it will show little to no tolerance for the growing influence of Moscow and Beijing in the Western Hemisphere. Under the Monroe Doctrine, the United States seeks to sustain its control in the Western Hemisphere, including Latin America. For Trump, an example can be crafted out of Venezuela to demonstrate the potential consequences of deepening collaboration with Moscow and Beijing in Washington’s backyard.

These are the key developments from day 1,387 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Here’s where things stand on Friday, December 12:

Fighting

• Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked the Russian army after its forces reportedly took control of the town of Siversk in eastern Ukraine. Ukraine’s military responded, saying it remained in control of the town.
• News agencies were unable to verify the battlefield claims around Siversk, a longstanding target in Russia’s drive to capture all of Ukraine’s Donetsk region.
• Moscow’s forces have also taken control of the village of Lyman in Ukraine’s eastern Kharkiv region, Russian state news agencies reported, citing the Ministry of Defence.
• Russia said Ukraine launched a major aerial attack with at least 287 drones downed over a number of regions inside the country, including Moscow. Russia’s Defence Ministry said at least 40 drones were shot down over the Moscow region, home to more than 22 million people.
• Ukrainian drones hit two chemical plants in Russia’s Novgorod and Smolensk regions, the commander of Kyiv’s drone forces said. Ukrainian drones also struck Russia’s Filanovsky oil platform in the Caspian Sea for the first time, halting production at the facility owned by Lukoil, according to a Ukraine Security Service official.
• Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has called on Britain to disclose what British soldier George Hooley, who was recently killed in Ukraine, was doing in the country.
• Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused London of helping Kyiv carry out “acts of terrorism” on Russia, but provided no evidence for her assertion. Britain’s Ministry of Defence said Hooley died while observing Ukrainian forces test a new defensive capability away from the front line with Russian forces.

Peace deal

• Ukraine has presented the United States with a revised 20-point framework to end its war with Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, adding that the issue of ceding territory to Russia remains a major sticking point in negotiations.
• Zelenskyy said, as a compromise, the US is offering to create a “free economic zone” in Ukraine-controlled parts of the eastern Donbas, which Russia has demanded Ukraine cede.
• “They see it as Ukrainian troops withdrawing from the Donetsk region, and the compromise is supposedly that Russian troops will not enter this part of Donetsk region. They do not know who will govern this territory,” Zelenskyy said, adding that Russia is referring to it as a “demilitarised zone”.
• Zelenskyy also said that Ukrainians should vote on any territorial concessions in a referendum and that he had discussed security guarantees for Ukraine in a video call with top US officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and White House special envoy Steve Witkoff.

• Speaking at a meeting of the “coalition of the willing” – a group of 34 nations led by Britain and France that have pledged support for Ukraine against Russian aggression – Zelenskyy said that holding elections in Ukraine during wartime would require a ceasefire.
• US President Donald Trump said the US will send a representative to participate in talks in Europe on Ukraine this weekend if there is a good chance of making progress on a ceasefire deal.
• “We’ll be attending the meeting on Saturday in Europe if we think there’s a good chance. And we don’t want to waste a lot of time if we think it’s negative,” Trump said.
• Earlier, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Trump had grown weary of multiple meetings that never reached an agreement on ending the war in Ukraine.

Regional security

• NATO chief Mark Rutte urged allies to step up defence efforts to prevent a war waged in Europe by Russia, which could be “on the scale of war our grandparents and great-grandparents endured”.
• In a speech in Berlin, Rutte said too many allies of the military alliance did not feel the urgency of Russia’s threat in Europe and that they must rapidly increase defence spending and production to prevent war.

Sanctions

• Russian and Belarusian youth athletes should compete in international events without access restrictions, the International Olympic Committee said, marking a first step in easing sanctions imposed following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

• European Union governments have started a process to freeze Russian central bank assets immobilised in Europe for the long term to avoid votes every six months on rolling over the freeze, a move that would pave the way to use the money to provide a loan to Ukraine.
• Belgium’s Deputy Prime Minister Vincent Van Peteghem said Russian frozen assets will have to be used for Ukraine at some point, adding that Brussels “would not take any reckless compromises” before it agreed to any deal on the issue.
• Brussels has opposed an unprecedented plan to use Russian funds frozen in the EU – primarily in Belgian banking institutions – to fund a loan to Ukraine, saying it places the country at outsized risk of future legal action from Moscow.
• Russia’s Foreign Ministry reiterated that the EU’s “manipulations” with Moscow’s frozen assets would not go unanswered.
• Germany’s top fiscal court has ruled that authorities cannot, for now, sell or use an oil tanker and its cargo seized off the Baltic Sea coast, siding with the vessel’s owners in two separate cases.
• The Panama-flagged Eventin was found drifting off Germany’s coast in January after departing Russia with about 100,000 metric tonnes of oil worth about 40 million euros ($47m). German authorities suspect the vessel is part of a “shadow fleet” used by Russia to skirt EU sanctions

Economy

• Russia’s revenues from exports of crude oil and refined products fell again in November, the International Energy Agency said, touching their lowest level since its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

The midwestern state of Indiana has dealt a setback to United States President Donald Trump’s redistricting push ahead of the pivotal 2026 midterm elections, voting down legislation to redraw its congressional map.

Late on Thursday afternoon, Indiana’s state Senate voted 31 to 19 to reject the proposed congressional districts, despite a strong Republican majority in the chamber.

Of the state Senate’s 50 seats, 39 are held by Republicans, and the state has voted consistently Republican in every presidential race since 1968, save for a single flip for Democrat Barack Obama in 2008.

The vote is likely to reinforce the sentiment that the Republican Party is fracturing under Trump’s leadership, as his poll numbers slump during the first year of his second term.

Trump was confronted with the results of the Indiana vote at an Oval Office signing ceremony shortly after it happened.

“Just a few moments ago, the Senate there rejected the congressional map to redistrict in that state,” one reporter said. “What’s your reaction?”

Trump responded by touting his successes in pushing other Republican-led states.

“ We won every other state. That’s the only state,” the president said, before referencing his three presidential bids. “It’s funny because I won Indiana all three times by a landslide, and I wasn’t working on it very hard.”

Trump then proceeded to denounce the Indiana Senate president, Rodric Bray, and threatened to support a primary challenge against the Indiana leader.

“He’ll probably lose his next primary, whenever that is. I hope he does,” Trump said.

“It’s, I think, in two years, but I’m sure he’ll go down. He’ll go down. I’ll certainly support anybody that wants to go against it.”

Fractures in the caucus

Currently, Indiana sends nine Congress members to the US House of Representatives, one for each of its nine districts. Two of those seats are currently occupied by Democrats.

Republican leaders in the state, however, had proposed a new map of congressional districts that sought to disempower Democratic voters in the state, clearing the way for conservative candidates to claim all nine seats in next year’s midterm races.

The proposed map was part of a nationwide effort by the Trump administration to defend Republican control in the US Congress.

Already, the partisan map had passed the lower chamber of Indiana’s legislature. On December 5, Indiana’s House of Representatives voted 57 to 41 to send the House Bill 1032 to the state Senate.

The bill had the backing of Indiana’s Republican Governor Mike Braun, who encouraged the state senators to emulate their colleagues in the lower chamber.

But even before the bill arrived in the state Senate, there were cracks in the Republican caucus. Twelve Republicans in the state House broke ranks to vote against the map.

And certain Republican state Senators likewise expressed reticence.

Some Republicans, like Indiana state Senator Greg Walker, had a history of opposing redistricting efforts. He was quoted in the Indiana Capital Chronicle as saying, “I cannot, myself, support the bill for which there must be a legal injunction in order for it to be found constitutional.”

Partisan redistricting has long been a controversial practice in US politics, with opponents calling the practice undemocratic and discriminatory.

Critics also pointed out that the Indiana proposal would force some voters in urban centres like Indianapolis to commute more than 200 kilometres for in-person voting.

Walker joined a total of 21 Republican state Senators, including Bray, in voting against the redistricting bill on Thursday.

A nationwide campaign

But the Trump administration had invested significant time and effort into swaying the vote.

In October, Vice President JD Vance travelled to the Hoosier State to try to convince wary Republicans. US House Speaker Mike Johnson reportedly made personal phone calls to state leaders. And a day before the critical state Senate vote, Trump took to social media with a mixture of cajoling and pressure.

“I love the State of Indiana, and have won it, including Primaries, six times, all by MASSIVE Majorities,” Trump began in a winding, 414-word post.

“Importantly, it now has a chance to make a difference in Washington, D.C., in regard to the number of House seats we have that are necessary to hold the Majority against the Radical Left Democrats. Every other State has done Redistricting, willingly, openly, and easily.”

Currently, the US House of Representatives holds a narrow 220-member Republican majority, out of a total of 435 seats.

All of those seats, however, will be up for grabs in the 2026 midterm elections, and Democrats are hoping to flip the chamber to their control.

Starting in June, reports began to emerge that Trump was petitioning the state legislature in the right-wing stronghold of Texas to redistrict, in an effort to help conservative candidates sweep up five extra congressional seats.

Texas Republicans complied, and in August, the state legislature embraced a new redistricted map, overcoming a walkout from state Democrats.

Republicans in other states, including Missouri and North Carolina, have followed suit, passing new maps that seek to increase right-wing gains in the midterm races.

But Democrats have fired back. In November, California voters passed a referendum to suspend their independent districting commission and adopt a Democrat-leaning map created by state lawmakers.

Indiana, however, appeared poised to buck the redistricting trend. In Wednesday’s lengthy post, Trump warned that the state could put Republican power “at risk” if it failed to pass a new map.

He also called Bray and other Republican splinter votes “SUCKERS” for the Democrats.

“Rod Bray and his friends won’t be in Politics for long, and I will do everything within my power to make sure that they will not hurt the Republican Party, and our Country, again,” Trump wrote.

“One of my favorite States, Indiana, will be the only State in the Union to turn the Republican Party down!”

In the wake of Thursday’s defeat, Trump and his allies doubled down on their threats to remove the 21 Republican state senators who voted against the bill from office.

“I am very disappointed that a small group of misguided State Senators have partnered with Democrats to reject this opportunity,” Governor Braun wrote on social media, calling it a decision to “reject the leadership of President Trump”.

“Ultimately, decisions like this carry political consequences. I will be working with the President to challenge these people who do not represent the best interests of Hoosiers.”

Dec. 11 (UPI) — Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a wrongfully deported Salvadoran immigrant, was released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention Thursday following a federal judge’s order.

Garcia is facing U.S. charges by the Trump administration. His attorneys confirmed that he had been released by Thursday afternoon.

Immigration Customs Enforcement officials sought to deport Abrego Garcia to an African nation where he has no connection, despite his ongoing protection from removal to El Salvador.

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis said that the Trump administration lacked the legal authority to continue holding Abrego Garcia in an ICE detention facility.

“Because Abrego Garcia has been held in ICE detention to effectuate third-country removal absent a lawful removal order, his requested relief is proper,” according to U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis.

The judge mandated his “immediate” release.

“Separately, respondents’ conduct over the past months belie that his detention has been for the basic purpose of effectuating removal, lending further support that Abrego Garcia should be held no longer,” Xinis added.

The order cleared ICE to release Abrego Garcia, but he still must comply with pretrial conditions in an ongoing human smuggling case.

“This is naked judicial activism by an Obama-appointed judge,” a U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson wrote on social media.

DHS claimed the order “lacks any valid legal basis and we will continue to fight this tooth and nail in the courts.”

Abrego Garcia is a Salvadoran national who illegally entered the U.S. almost 15 years ago and drew nationwide attention after his wrongful March deportation to El Salvador’s notorious megaprison despite a protective order.

He has accused the White House of vindictive prosecution.

It ignited controversy amid U.S. President Donald Trump‘s hardline immigration enforcement push.

The administration labeled him an MS-13 gang member, which he has denied.

“The history of Abrego Garcia’s case is as well known as it is extraordinary,” said Xinis.

With a standing order that prevents deportation to El Salvador, Trump administration officials pivoted to proposing an African destination.

“This evidently remained an inconvenient truth for respondents,” Xinis wrote.

“But more to the point, respondents’ persistent refusal to acknowledge Costa Rica as a viable removal option, their threats to send Abrego Garcia to African countries that never agreed to take him, and their misrepresentation to the court that Liberia is now the only country available to Abrego Garcia, all reflect that whatever purpose was behind his detention, it was not for the ‘basic purpose’ of timely third-country removal,” the judge wrote.

Twenty states had challenged the end of the programme, meant to make localities more resilient to natural disasters.

A federal judge has said the administration of United States President Donald Trump acted unlawfully in ending a programme aimed at helping communities become more resilient to natural disasters.

The Trump administration had targeted the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) programme as part of a wider effort to overhaul the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

But on Thursday, US District Judge Richard Stearns ruled that the administration lacked the authority to end the grant programme. The decision came in response to a lawsuit filed by 20 states, the majority led by Democrats.

Stearns said the administration’s action amounted to an “unlawful executive encroachment on the prerogative of Congress to appropriate funds for a specific and compelling purpose”.

“The BRIC program is designed to protect against natural disasters and save lives,” Stearns wrote, adding that the “imminence of disasters is not deterred by bureaucratic obstruction”.

Stearns had previously blocked FEMA from diverting more than $4bn allocated to BRIC to other purposes.

Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell was among the plaintiffs praising the decision.

“Today’s court order will undoubtedly save lives by preventing the federal government from terminating funding that helps communities prepare for and mitigate the impacts of natural disasters,” she said in a statement.

BRIC is the largest resiliency programme offered by FEMA, designed to reduce disaster-related risks and bolster efforts to recover quickly.

The programme is emblematic of efforts under FEMA to take preventive measures to prepare for natural disasters, as climate change fuels more extreme weather across the country.

According to the lawsuit, FEMA approved about $4.5bn in grants for nearly 2,000 projects, primarily in coastal states, over the last four years.

Upon taking office for his second term, Trump initially pledged to do away with FEMA, with the agency sitting at the crossroads of the president’s climate change denialism and his pledge to end federal waste.

Trump has since softened on his position amid pushback from both Republican and Democratic state lawmakers. He has said he plans to reform the agency instead.

In November, acting FEMA head David Richardson stepped down from his post. That came amid internal pushback over Richardson’s lack of experience and cuts to the agency.

In a letter in August, nearly 200 FEMA staffers warned the cuts risked compounding future disasters to a devastating degree.

Upon taking on the role in May, Richardson threatened he would “run right over” anyone who resisted changes to the agency.