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The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford and its air wing have officially joined the enhanced counter-narcotics mission under U.S. Southern Command’s (SOUTHCOM) purview, the command said in a statement on Tuesday. The carrier had been ordered to the Caribbean, but it stalled for a number of days off Africa before proceeding. You can catch up with our previous reporting on this operation, which is also designed to pressure Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro, here.
The Ford, the first in the newest class of aircraft carriers, is now in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility (AOR), the command stated, without giving the ship’s precise location. It transited from the Mediterranean region through the Strait of Gibraltar into the Atlantic on Nov. 4.
The world’s largest aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), is now in the U.S. Southern Command region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jacob Mattingly)
The AOR extends as far northeast as near the Cape Verde islands, about 2,000 miles from Venezuela and just a few hundred miles from Africa. We asked SOUTHCOM for additional details about the carrier’s location and will update this story if it responds.
The U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility. (SOUTHCOM)
“The enhanced U.S. force presence in the USSOUTHCOM AOR will bolster U.S. capacity to detect, monitor, and disrupt illicit actors and activities that compromise the safety and prosperity of the United States homeland and our security in the Western Hemisphere,” said Chief Pentagon Spokesperson Sean Parnell in a statement on Tuesday. “These forces will enhance and augment existing capabilities to disrupt narcotics trafficking and degrade and dismantle Transnational Criminal Organizations.”
The Ford brings a great deal of additional capability to the Joint Task Force assigned to the counter-narcotics operation. There are four squadrons of F/A-18 Super Hornets, a squadron of E/A-18 Growler electronic warfare jets, a squadron of E-2D Advanced Hawkeye airborne command and control aircraft, MH-60S and MH-60R Seahawk helicopters and a detachment of C-2A Greyhound Onboard Delivery planes.
Sailors assigned to USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) and Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 8 are now assigned to the enhanced counter-narcotics mission in the Caribbean. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Nolan Pennington) USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78)
In addition to those assets, several other elements of the Ford Carrier Strike Group will take part in this operation.
“Destroyer Squadron Two’s Arleigh Burke class guided-missile destroyers USS Bainbridge (DDG 96) and USS Mahan (DDG 72), and the integrated air and missile defense command ship USS Winston S. Churchill (DDG 81)” will join the Ford. Two other Arleigh Burke class destroyers assigned to the strike group – the USS Forrest Sherman and USS Mitscher – were still operating in the Red Sea, a U.S. official told us last week.
While it is unclear where any of these vessels are, online ship watchers have located the Bainbridge at about 800 nautical miles northeast of Trinidad and Tobago.
The Trump administration’s plans for the Ford and its escorts are still unknown. President Donald Trump has wavered between saying he won’t order an attack on Venezuela to answering in the affirmative if he thought Maduro’s days were numbered. If Trump does order strikes in Venezuela, he has several options, The Washington Post noted on Tuesday. They range from hitting Venezuelan military bases to cocaine refinery labs, clandestine airstrips or guerrilla camps.
Regardless of the intention, the Ford and its escorts will join a growing array of U.S. military assets in the region “under a Joint Task Force, created to defeat and dismantle criminal networks that exploit our shared borders and maritime domains,” the Pentagon stated.
There are at least seven Navy surface vessels, a special operations mothership and aircraft, including F-35B stealth fighters, MQ-9 Reaper drones, and AC-130 Ghostrider gunships deployed to the region. Beyond that, there are “site surveys ongoing to see if more military assets should be sent to the region,” a U.S. official told The War Zone Friday morning.
In addition to the counter-narcotics operation, at least one of these vessels in this flotilla, theSan Antonio class amphibious transport dock ship USS San Antonio, is supporting humanitarian relief efforts in Jamaica following the devastating Hurricane Melissa, SOUTHCOM announced.
USS San Antonio (LPD 17) sails off the coast of Jamaica in support of disaster relief efforts there following #HurricaneMelissa, Nov. 6, 2025. At the direction and request of #SOUTHCOM and Jamaica’s government, U.S. military forces are providing foreign assistance in the wake of… pic.twitter.com/m37bitIBOU
To date, the Pentagon has limited its kinetic operations in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific to attacking suspected drug boats. The U.S. carried out two more in the eastern Pacific on Monday that War Secretary Pete Hegseth said killed all six people aboard, raising the total in about 20 such attacks to more than 70 deaths. The majority of those strikes were carried out by the MQ-9s and some by the AC-130 Ghostriders, as we have noted and as CNN reported today.
Yesterday, at the direction of President Trump, two lethal kinetic strikes were conducted on two vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations.
These vessels were known by our intelligence to be associated with illicit narcotics smuggling, were carrying narcotics, and… pic.twitter.com/ocUoGzwwDO
These attacks, however, have been criticized for being extrajudicial strikes without Congressional authorization. The administration has justified the strikes by declaring drug cartels to be “unlawful combatants,” and Trump has claimed, without proof, that each sunken boat has saved 25,000 American lives, presumably from overdoses.
Meanwhile, the U.K. “has stopped sharing intelligence with the U.S. about suspected drug trafficking vessels in the Caribbean because it does not want to be complicit in US military strikes and believes the attacks are illegal,” CNN is reporting.
“…shortly after the U.S. began launching lethal strikes against the boats in September… the U.K. grew concerned that the U.S. might use intelligence provided by the British to select targets,” the cable network suggested. “British officials believe the US military strikes, which have killed 76 people, violate international law, the sources said. The intelligence pause began over a month ago, they said.”
The U.K. controls several territories in the Caribbean where it bases intelligence assets, the cable network noted. They have “helped the U.S. locate vessels suspected of carrying drugs so that the U.S. Coast Guard could interdict them. That meant the ships would be stopped, boarded, its crew detained, and drugs seized.”
We reached out to the White House, the U.K. MoD and the Pentagon for comment.
“We don’t discuss intelligence matters,” the Pentagon told us. Neither the White House nor MoD immediately responded to our queries.
Meanwhile, in the midst of the growing U.S. pressure against him, Maduro has ordered his forces to prepare for a “guerrilla-style resistance or sow chaos in the event of a U.S. air or ground attack,” Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing “sources with knowledge of the efforts and planning documents seen by Reuters.”
While no one knows for sure what Trump will do about Venezuela, he has a large and growing array of assets to carry out the missions he selects.
Sean Combs, the disgraced music mogul convicted of prostitution-related offences, has been accepted into a drug abuse rehabilitation program that could reduce his sentence by up to a year
11:04, 11 Nov 2025Updated 11:05, 11 Nov 2025
Combs’s lawyers have said that he had abused drugs for years – including opiates for a time – but was able to get sober while in jail(Image: Getty Images)
Disgraced hip hop mogul Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs has entered into rehab behind bars – a move that could cut up to a year from his sentence.
The I’ll Be Missing You hitmaker is currently being held at the Federal Correctional Institution in Fort Dix, New Jersey, a low-security prison after he was convicted on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. He was sentenced on October 3 to 50 months in prison and received 14 months’ credit for time already served.
Now, his spokesman, Juda Engelmayer, has confirmed the Bad Boy Entertainment founder had entered the programme and is “committed to sobriety, healing and trying to set an example for others”. He added: “Mr Combs is an active participant in the Residential Drug Abuse Program (RDAP) and has taken his rehabilitation process seriously from the start.”
Engelmayer said the rapper has been accepted into the programme and is working in the prison’s church library.
“He works in the chapel library, where he describes the environment as warm, respectful, and rewarding,” he said. According to the federal inmate locator, Combs is scheduled for release in May 2028.
Successful completion of RDAP could reduce that date, though he would still be subject to five years’ supervision after release, alongside drug testing and mental health treatment conditions. He is currently appealing his sentence.
Prosecutors had sought more than 11 years, citing what they described as a sustained pattern of coercion, manipulation and violent sexual abuse.
During the trial, former girlfriend Cassie Ventura testified that Combs used violence to force her participation in so-called “freak-offs” – drug-fuelled sex sessions involving sex workers he hired. She told the court she felt “disgusted” and “humiliated” afterwards.
At sentencing, US District Judge Arun Subramanian told Combs he “abused the power and control with women you professed to love” and said: “You abused them physically, emotionally and psychologically.” Combs apologised to Ventura and another former girlfriend, calling his conduct “disgusting, shameful and sick.”
Combs’ legal team reached out to President Donald Trump for a pardon after the conviction, according to a source close to the defence.
In an interview with Newsmax on August 1, Trump said he had once been “very friendly” with Diddy, but claimed Combs “was very hostile” during his presidential campaign.
Asked whether he would pardon the artist, Trump replied, “I would say so.”
Combs is living in a nine-person room inside a larger 200-bed unit.
Engelmayer said he has restarted “Free Game with Diddy,” a class designed to help inmates build confidence, learn entrepreneurial skills, and plan for employment after release.
He previously ran the programme while held at the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn.
As United States lawmakers fail to agree on a deal to end the government shutdown, around 750,000 federal employees have been furloughed, millions of Americans go without food assistance, and air travel is disrupted across the country.
The shutdown began on October 1, after opposing sides in the US Senate failed to agree on spending priorities, with Republicans rejecting a push by Democrats to protect healthcare and other social programmes.
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Since then, both sides have failed to agree on 14 separate funding measures, delaying payment to hundreds of thousands of federal staff.
After 40 days, senators from both parties are working this weekend to try to end what has become the longest government shutdown in US history. But talks on Saturday showed little sign of breaking the impasse and securing long-term funding for key programmes.
On Friday, Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer offered Republicans a narrower version of an earlier Democratic proposal – a temporary extension of healthcare subsidies. Republicans rejected the offer, prolonging the record-breaking shutdown.
So what do we know about the shutdown, and how it has impacted Americans?
More than 1,530 flights were cancelled across the US on Saturday, while thousands more were delayed as authorities ordered airports to reduce air traffic.
According to the flight tracking website FlightAware, Saturday’s cancellations marked an increase from 1,025 the previous day. The trend looks set to continue, with at least 1,000 cancellations logged for Sunday.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said staffing shortages were affecting 42 control towers and other facilities, leading to delays in at least a dozen major cities – including Atlanta, Newark, San Francisco, New York and Chicago.
The travel chaos could prove politically costly for lawmakers if disruptions persist, especially ahead of the holiday season. Reduced air traffic will also hit deliveries and shipping, since many commercial flights carry cargo alongside passengers.
The CEO of Elevate Aviation Group, Greg Raiff, recently warned that the economic impact would ripple outward. “This shutdown is going to affect everything from business travel to tourism,” he told the Associated Press.
“It’s going to hurt local tax revenues and city budgets – there’s a cascading effect from all this.”
Threat to food assistance
In recent weeks, US President Donald Trump has said he will only restore food aid once the government shutdown ends.
“SNAP BENEFITS, which increased by Billions and Billions of Dollars (MANY FOLD!) during Crooked Joe Biden’s disastrous term … will be given only when the Radical Left Democrats open up government,” he wrote earlier this week on Truth Social.
The US Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or food stamps, provides low-income Americans with roughly $8bn a month in grocery assistance. The average individual benefit is about $190 per month, while a household receives around $356.
Health insurance standoff
Democrats blame the shutdown on Republicans’ refusal to renew expiring healthcare subsidies under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Talks stalled again on Saturday after Trump declared he would not compromise on the issue.
Democrats are pushing for a one-year extension of the ACA subsidies, which mainly help people without employer or government health coverage buy insurance. But with a 53–47 majority in the Senate, Republicans can block the proposal.
Trump intervened on Saturday via Truth Social, calling on Republican senators to redirect federal funds used for health insurance subsidies toward direct payments for individuals.
“I am recommending to Senate Republicans that the Hundreds of Billions of Dollars currently being sent to money sucking Insurance Companies … BE SENT DIRECTLY TO THE PEOPLE SO THAT THEY CAN PURCHASE THEIR OWN, MUCH BETTER, HEALTHCARE, and have money left over,” he said.
Roughly 24 million Americans currently benefit from the ACA subsidies. Analysts warn that premiums could double by 2026 if Congress allows them to expire.
Has this happened before?
This is not the first time Washington has faced such a standoff. The graphic below shows every US funding gap and government shutdown since 1976, including how long each lasted and under which administration it occurred.
(Al Jazeera)
The current federal budget process dates back to 1976. Since its creation, the government has experienced 20 funding gaps, leading to 10 shutdowns.
Prior to the 1980s, such funding lapses rarely caused shutdowns. Most federal agencies continued operating, expecting Congress to soon approve new funding.
That changed in 1980, when Attorney General Benjamin Civiletti issued legal opinions clarifying that, under federal law, agencies cannot spend money without congressional authorisation. Only essential functions (like air traffic control) were permitted to continue.
From 1982 onward, this interpretation has meant that funding gaps have more frequently triggered full or partial government shutdowns, lasting until Congress reaches a resolution.
What happens next?
No breakthrough was announced after the US Senate convened for a rare Saturday session. The chamber is now expected to reconvene at 1:30pm local time on Sunday.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters that the chamber will continue meeting until the government reopens. “There’s still only one path out – it’s a clean funding extension,” he said.
Some 1.3 million service members are now at risk of missing a paycheque, and that might put pressure on both sides to agree on a deal. Earlier this month, staff were paid after $8bn from military research and development funds were made available at the intervention of Trump.
But questions remain about whether the administration will resort to a similar procedure if the shutdown is prolonged. Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire told reporters on Friday that Democrats “need another path forward”.
Shaheen and several moderate Democrats are floating a proposal that would temporarily fund certain departments – such as veterans’ services and food aid – while keeping the rest of the government open until December or early next year.
It’s understood that Shaheen’s plan would include a promise of a future vote on healthcare subsidies, but not a guaranteed extension. It remains unclear whether enough Democrats would support that compromise.
Thune, meanwhile, is reportedly considering a bipartisan version of the proposal. On Friday, he said he thinks the offer is an indication that Democrats are “feeling the heat … I guess you could characterise that as progress”.
Looking ahead, it remains unclear what Republicans might offer regarding healthcare.
For now, Democrats face a stark choice: keep pressing for a firm deal to renew healthcare subsidies and prolong the shutdown – or vote to reopen the government and trust Republicans’ assurances of a future healthcare vote, with no certainty of success.
