joins

New Zealand’s high performance chief Mike Anthony is switching from rugby union to football to join Premier League side Brighton.

Anthony will join the club next month as the club’s first head of player development and high performance in what they feel is an innovative move focused on culture and mentality.

Anthony has 25 years’ experience in sport, including four years with rugby union side Gloucester.

However, he has made his name with New Zealand Rugby, where he has spent 14 years in a variety of senior performance roles.

Anthony’s key attributes lie in the areas of strength and conditioning, performance science, player development and elite culture building,

At Brighton, he will work with sporting director Jason Ayto, technical director Mike Cave and men’s head coach Fabian Hurzeler with the aim of improving and sustaining performance in the men’s first team.

Brighton are currently in their ninth consecutive top-flight season and two years ago played European football for the first time.

“Mike’s track record within one of world sport’s most successful high‑performance systems speaks for itself,” said sporting director Jason Ayto.

“He has an exceptional ability to build environments where players, coaches and teams can thrive, and his expertise will strengthen every part of our performance structure. We’re excited for him to get started.”

Jan. 6 (UPI) — Vocal Trump critic George Conway officially announced his run for the House of Representatives as a Democrat in New York for the seat being vacated by Rep. Jerry Nadler.

Conway, 62, filed his paperwork to run on Dec. 22 but made his campaign official Tuesday with a video ad. He is a former Republican.

“We have a corrupt president, a mendacious president, a criminal president whose masked agents are disappearing people from our streets, who’s breaking international law, and he’s running our federal government like a mob protection racket,” Conway said in his video.

Conway is a formerly conservative lawyer who rose to widespread fame when his then-wife, Kellyanne Conway, became an adviser to President Donald Trump in his first term. Despite his wife’s position, he was an outspoken voice against the president. They divorced in 2023.

“I know how to fight these people. They are corrupt, amoral people,” Conway said. “They will stop at nothing to rig the system for themselves. I’ve been fighting Trump for years, and nothing will stop me.”

Nadler, D-N.Y., announced in September that he would retire from Congress. The 78-year-old Nadler said he wanted to make room for a younger generation. He represents New York’s 12th District, which includes Midtown and the Upper West and Upper East sides of Manhattan.

The 12th District voted for Vice President Kamala Harris by 64 points in 2024.

The field for that primary is crowded. Other candidates include Jack Schlossberg, President John F. Kennedy‘s grandson; New York State Assemblypeople Micah Lasher and Alex Bores; activists Cameron Kasky and Mathew Shurka; journalist Jami Floyd; civil rights lawyer Laura Dunn; fundraiser Alan Pardee; nonprofit founder Liam Elkind; entrepreneur Micah Bergdale; and software engineer Christopher Diep.

“We’re at a crossroads in our country, and Donald Trump is the greatest threat to the Constitution and the rule of law and democratic government that we have ever seen in our lifetime,” Conway told NBC News.

Conway only recently moved back to the district, a point his opponents have made.

“This campaign welcomes George to the race. And the city. And the party,” Bores said in a statement. “I personally would be delighted to offer George local dining tips. Tell him to give me a call when he’s in town.”

Pardee made a statement and mentioned Conway’s “years living in D.C. advancing a conservative agenda before discovering the monster he helped create.”

Floyd, who was a White House fellow under President Bill Clinton, said, “I’m not concerned about George Conway.” She said he “is a life-long conservative Republican and not even from here. So why isn’t he running in Bethesda, Md., or Alpine, N.J., where he belongs?”

Conway said he spent his legal career working in the district and that it has “been the epicenter of my life.”

“I lived in this district for decades before moving out to the suburbs,” he said. “All four of my kids were born in this district, and my life is centered around this district.”

The reported capture of Venezuelan president evokes previous eras when other leaders were seized by the US.

President Donald Trump’s claim that the United States has captured his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro and his wife amid “large scale” attacks on Venezuela, has stunned the world.

Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodriguez says the government does not know the whereabouts of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.

In an audio message broadcast on state television on Saturday, Rodriguez said the government was demanding proof that Maduro and Flores are still alive.

The rapidly escalating developments follow repeated deadly strikes by US forces in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean on what Washington claims are drug-smuggling boats, and an attack on a docking area for alleged Venezuelan drug boats.

The reported capture of Maduro evokes previous eras when other leaders, such as Panama’s former military leader Manuel Noriega and former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, were seized by the US.

Manuel Noriega

In another direct intervention into Latin America, the US invaded Panama in 1989 to depose military and de facto leader Manuel Noriega, citing the protection of US citizens in Panama, undemocratic practices, corruption and the illegal drug trade.

Before attacking Panama, the US indicted Noriega for drug smuggling in Miami in 1988, just as it has targeted Maduro.

Noriega forced Nicolas Ardito Barletta to resign in 1985, cancelled the elections in 1989 and backed anti-US sentiment in the country, before the operation took place.

The US foray into Panama was at the time the largest US combat operation since the Vietnam War. The US government trotted out various justifications for the operation, such as improving the lot of the Panamanians by hauling Noriega off to the US to face drug-trafficking charges.

When the general began to show signs of being less obliging to US regional designs, however, he was rendered persona non grata by Washington.

He was tried on the Miami indictment after being flown to the US and was imprisoned there until 2010, when he was extradited to France to face another trial. France then sent him back to Panama a year later.

Noriega died in prison in Panama in 2017, where he was serving a sentence for his crimes.

Saddam Hussein

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was captured by US forces on December 13, 2003, nine months after the US-led invasion and occupation of Iraq started based on false intelligence of Baghdad possessing weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

Like Noriega, Saddam had for years been a key Washington ally, in his case, during the years of the Iraq-Iran war in the 1980s that killed one million people.

The US also claimed in the build-up to the 2003 war, without basis, that Saddam supported armed groups like al-Qaeda.

However, no WMDs were ever found in the country.

Saddam was found hiding in a hole near his hometown of Tikrit.

He stood trial in an Iraqi court and received the death penalty, leading to his execution by hanging for crimes against humanity on December 30, 2006.

Juan Orlando Hernandez

The case of Honduras’s Hernandez demonstrates what some observers suggest is a hypocritical approach by the US.

Hernandez was captured in his home in Tegucigalpa in an operation by the US agents and Honduran forces in February 2022 – only days after he left his position as president of his country.

In April 2022, he was extradited to the US over his alleged involvement in corruption and the illegal drug trade, and in June of the same year, he was sentenced to 45 years in prison.

However, Hernandez was pardoned by US President Donald Trump on December 1, 2025.

Days later, Honduras’s top prosecutor issued an international arrest warrant for Hernandez, intensifying legal and political turmoil just days after the ex-leader walked free from a United States prison.

Searle had won 14 consecutive sets without reply to reach his first World Championship quarter-final.

The 38-year-old extended that run to 17 with some clinical finishing in the first three sets against Clayton and a 111 finish in the deciding leg of the fifth, one of his three ton-plus checkouts in the match, helped to secure a spot in the last four.

Clayton scored better for long spells of the quarter-final but too many missed attempts on the outer ring proved costly for the Welsh fifth seed, who landed just 10 of his 40 attempts at doubles (25%).

Searle, in contrast, hit 17 of his 30 attempts (56.7%).

Searle lives with dominant optic atrophy, a genetic eye condition which affects his vision and for which he wears contact lenses.

Speaking to Sky Sports on stage after his win, he said: “I can’t see particularly well.

“Other people who try to play darts, if they can’t see particularly well, try not to let that hold you back.

“I try to be an inspiration to them.”

One of the U.S. Air Force’s last remaining EC-130H Compass Call electronic warfare planes is now in Puerto Rico, video emerging on social media shows. The arrival marks the latest in an increasing buildup of military assets in the region to pressure Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro and for what seems increasingly likely to be a contingency for a sustained kinetic operation over Venezuela.

You can catch up with our latest coverage on Operation Southern Spear in the Caribbean here.

The Compass Call landed 10 p.m. on Saturday at the Luis Muñoz Marin International Airport in Puerto Rico, the videographer, an aircraft spotter who uses the Instagram handle Pinchito.Avgeek, told us. Other aircraft spotters told The War Zone that this is the first confirmed Compass Call to be seen in Puerto Rico as of late. The airport is also home to the Puerto Rico Air National Guard’s 156th Wing and has seen C-17 Globemaster III and other military aircraft operating there for Southern Spear.

While there are a number of C-130 Hercules variants in Puerto Rico, a screencap of that video shows that antennas under the tail and on top of the aircraft behind the cockpit conclusively show this is an EC-130H Compass Call.

Though the Air Force is phasing these aircraft out in favor of EA-37B Compass Call jets, the EC-130H brings capabilities that would be called upon for an attack on Venezuela should one be ordered. The heavily modified C-130 Hercules cargo planes carry a suite of electronic attack gear that can find and track “emitters” like radios and radars and then scramble their signals. This equipment can also jam cell phones.

The equipment aboard the Compass Call would help to blind Venezuelan air defenses, communications and command and control, making it harder to respond to attacks by combat aircraft and cruise missiles. The four-engine aircraft can fly for many hours without refueling and much longer with tanker support, giving U.S. Southern Command a long-loitering airborne EW platform.

As we noted in an earlier story: “Previous iterations of the EC-130H-based Compass Call system have proven their value in combat zones on multiple occasions in the past two decades. A contingent of these aircraft was continuously forward-deployed in the Middle East, from where they also supported operations in Afghanistan, between 2001 and 2021. EC-130Hs supported the raid that led to the death of Al Qaeda founder Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011 and prevented the detonation of an improvised explosive device that might have killed then-Maj. Gen. James Mattis, who later rose to the rank of General and also served as Secretary of Defense under Trump, in Iraq in 2003, among many other exploits, according to a recent story from Air Force Times.”

The current status and location of the Compass Call are not publicly known. The videographer told us he only saw it land. A U.S. official we spoke with could not comment on the arrival of the EC-130H but told us that there have been no new military orders for Southern Spear.

The EC-130H joins a squadron of E/A-18G Growler electronic attack jets, deployed on the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, as well as another squadron on land, as airborne electronic warfare assets now operating in the Caribbean. While Compass Calls offer some overlapping capabilities and some significantly different ones than the Growlers, the arrival of the EC-130J is another indication that electronic warfare is clearly taking a lopsided focus compared to the size of the rest of the fighting force deployed in the region.

While it is unclear if the Compass Call has performed any of its offensive operations yet, both the U.S. and Venezuela are using defensive jamming to protect assets. This has become an increasing problem for the region as tensions rise.

“At least some of the U.S. warships that have deployed to the Caribbean in recent months have been jamming GPS signals in their vicinity,” The New York Times reported, citing an analysis of data provided by Stanford University and a U.S. official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters.

In an effort to protect important resources, “the armed forces of President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela have jammed the GPS signals around the country’s critical infrastructure, including military bases, oil refineries and power plants,” the publication noted, citing an analysis by Spire Global, a satellite data firm.

Combined, the jamming is raising concerns for aviation.

“Whether jamming is due to the U.S. or Venezuelan forces, it really doesn’t matter: You don’t want an aircraft going in there,” Gen. Willie Shelton, the former head of the U.S. Air Force’s Space Command, told The Times.

As for the EC-130Hs, the aircraft is being retired from the Air Force inventory.

“Currently, the U.S. Air Force is operating and maintaining eight EC-130H aircraft,” Capt. Ridge Miller, a spokesperson for Air Combat Command (ACC) told The War Zone Monday afternoon. “A total of 10 EA-37B aircraft are on track to be delivered while simultaneously retiring the EC-130H fleet in a phased approach. Both platforms currently operate out of the 55th Electronic Combat Group at Davis Monthan AFB in Arizona.”

The EA-37B is based on a heavily modified version of the Gulfstream G550 airframe.

In addition to the Compass Call, other C-130 variants are operating out of Puerto Rico. One of which is the Marine Corps’ KC-130J Hercules tanker/transport aircraft. The KC-130Js uses the probe-and-drogue method for Navy and Marine Corps aircraft, and is used to refuel fixed-wing fighter aircraft and helicopters.

Plane spotter @LatAmMilMovements told us that at least one of these aircraft, and sometimes two, have had a steady presence ever since Marine F-35B Lightnings arrived in Puerto Rico in September. This matches the imagery and satellite photos we have seen of the installation for months now. AV-8B Harriers, MV-22 Ospreys, and CH-53 Sea Stallions, all from the USS Iwo Jima and its flotilla, are also using the base regularly and they can all refuel from the KC-130J.

Air Force HC-130J Combat King II combat search and rescue (CSAR) planes are also flying out of Puerto Rico. Traditionally, they provide fuel to HH-60W Jolly Green Giant II CSAR helicopters, CV-22 Ospreys, and, to a lesser degree, the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR) helicopters.

These types are just part of a growing fleet of aerial refuelers in the region. The Air Force has also deployed KC-135 Stratotankers and KC-46 Pegasus tankers to the Dominican Republic and U.S. Virgin Islands.

As more tanker aircraft arrive in Puerto Rico, they are also building up at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida. Aerial images show at least 28 KC-135s at the base. The image also shows at least two E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft are operating from MacDill, located about 1,400 miles northwest of Venezuela. As we pointed out last week, at least one Sentry was recently tracked on FlightRadar24 flying close to the Venezuelan coast. 

While E-3s may have been present but not trackable over the Caribbean in recent days, this one being trackable was not a mistake. U.S. military aircraft executing easily trackable sorties very near Venezuelan airspace have been a key component of the pressure campaign placed on Maduro. 

In addition to the growing military pressure on the Venezuelan leader, the U.S. is also raising the stakes economically. Since President Donald Trump declared a blockade against sanctioned oil tankers, U.S. authorities have seized two tankers. On Sunday, the Coast Guard was in “active pursuit” of the massive tanker Bella 1 after it refused to submit to U.S. seizure efforts. The status of that effort was unclear as of Monday afternoon. We have reached out to the Coast Guard for more details.

Though the military and economic pressure are building on Maduro, Trump’s exact intentions remain an open question, although they appear to be becoming clearer by the day. During his announcement of the new Trump class battleships Monday afternoon, the president again said that the U.S. would soon be going after drug cartels on land; however, he explained that would not just be focused on Venezuela.

Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com

Other countries, including Brazil, Colombia, Ireland, Mexico, Spain and Turkiye, have already joined the case in The Hague.

Belgium has formally joined the case launched by South Africa at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) alleging Israel is committing genocide in the Gaza Strip.

In a statement on Tuesday, the ICJ – The Hague-based highest court of the United Nations – said Belgium had filed a declaration of intervention in the case.

Other countries, including Brazil, Colombia, Ireland, Mexico, Spain and Turkiye, have already joined the proceedings.

South Africa brought the case in December 2023, arguing that Israel’s war in Gaza violates the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

Israel has rejected the allegations and criticised the case.

While a final ruling could take years, the ICJ issued provisional measures in January 2024 ordering Israel to take steps to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza and to allow unimpeded access for humanitarian aid.

The court’s orders are legally binding although it has no direct mechanism to enforce them.

The ICJ also said Israel’s presence in occupied Palestinian territory is unlawful and its policies amount to annexation.

Israel has continued its assaults in Gaza and the occupied West Bank despite the rulings and growing international criticism while advancing plans to seize large parts of Palestinian territory.

Meanwhile, the United States and several of its European allies continue to provide military and financial support to Israel.

Washington has rejected the merits of South Africa’s case, and US lawmakers have criticised the country and issued threats against it.

The US has also imposed sanctions on members of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which has issued arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.

Belgium was also among a group of countries that recognised the State of Palestine in September. Nearly 80 percent of UN member states now recognise Palestine.

Since a ceasefire began on October 10, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza said, Israel has killed at least 406 Palestinians and injured 1,118 in the enclave. Since the start of the war on October 7, 2023, the ministry said, at least 70,942 Palestinians have been killed and 171,195 wounded.

As military and economic pressure builds on Venezuelan dictator Nicholas Maduro, an E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft was tracked on FlightRadar24 flying close to the Venezuelan coast. To our knowledge, at least in recent days, these aircraft have not been present on flight tracking software in this increasingly high-activity area. And if they have popped-up, their presence has been impersistent at best. At the same time, E-3s are no stranger to this region though and have played a role in drug interdiction operations for years in this exact area.

While E-3s may have been present but not trackable over the Caribbean in recent days, this one being trackable is not a mistake. U.S. military aircraft executing easily trackable sorties very near Venezuelan airspace has been a key component of the pressure campaign placed on Maduro.

The reappearance of the E-3s is a relatively important development, as they would be key to any major kinetic operation against Venezuela. While the carrier-based E-2D Hawkeye, which have been a staple of operations in the area for weeks, is extremely capable, and in some ways more so than the E-3, they are not as well suited for providing airborne early warning, data-sharing and command and control functions for a large and diverse force beyond the carrier air wing. The E-3 also has a higher perch for its radar and passive sensors to take advantage of. It can also better integrate with USAF forces.

Now that one has reappeared publicly in the region, we will likely be seeing much more of them, especially once the contingent of F-35As from the Vermont Air National Guard arrives.

Meanwhile, other U.S. combat aircraft made their closest and most sustained publicly-known presence near the northern Venezuelan coast on Thursday. It’s worth mentioning that we do not know how close aircraft with transponders turned off have been getting, as we can only see the flights that are publicly trackable. These missions are part of Operation Southern Spear, a counter-narcotics mission that morphed into one aimed at Maduro and Venezuelan oil, the country’s main source of income.

The FlightRadar24 open source flight-tracking site showed a U.S. Navy F/A18E Super Hornet making repeated loops reportedly right on the outer edge of Venezuela’s northern airspace. In addition, two U.S. Navy E/A-18G Growler electronic warfare jets, two more Super Hornets, and an E-2D Advanced Hawkeye airborne early warning plane were tracked on FlightRadar24 flying close to the Venezuelan coast. There has been a notable uptick in such trackable flights recently.

Amid all this aerial activity, President Donald Trump today said he was open to notifying Congress before a direct attack on Venezuela. His comments to reporters at the White House today came a day after the House of Representatives shot down measures requiring the president to obtain prior permission for such an action.

“I wouldn’t mind telling them,” Trump said when asked if he would seek permission from lawmakers for land and boat attacks against Venezuela. He added that prior notification is not required. 

“I don’t have to tell them,” he posited. “It’s been proven, but I wouldn’t mind at all. I just hope they wouldn’t leak it. You know, people leak it. They are politicians, and they leak like a sieve, but I have no problem.”

BREAKING: Reporter: Will you be seeking any authorization from Congress for any land attacks on cartels in Venezuela?

Trump: I don’t have to tell them, but I would not mind it at all. I just hope they would not leak it. They are politicians, and they leak like a sieve. pic.twitter.com/UpFHPtt2vX

— World Source News (@Worldsource24) December 18, 2025

Trump’s views on Congressional authority have generated debate on Capitol Hill that broke down almost completely along party lines, with nearly all Republicans in agreement and Democrats opposed.

Under the 1973 War Powers Resolution, the Commander-In-Chief must notify Congress within 48 hours after “introducing United States Armed Forces into hostilities or into situations where imminent involvement is clearly indicated by the circumstances.” The Resolution also says any such actions are limited to 60 days without subsequent Congressional authorization, though the President can extend that timeline by 30 days with a written certification of the need for the continued use of force.

Donald Trump does NOT have the authority to carry out his current plans to use military force in the Caribbean without authorization from Congress.

If he acts without congressional authorization, the Senate will move a bipartisan resolution to prevent the unauthorized use of…

— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) December 17, 2025

Trump, who ordered a blockade against sanctioned ships carrying oil to and from Venezuela, continues to assert that the U.S. has a right to that oil. On, Wednesday, Trump doubled down on his blockade warning, telling reporters that the U.S. is “not gonna let anybody go through that shouldn’t go through.”

Trump on Venezuela:

It’s a blockade, not gonna let anybody going through that shouldn’t be going through…

They took all of our oil… They illegally took it… We want it back.pic.twitter.com/viHn5G9us7

— Clash Report (@clashreport) December 17, 2025

The blockade announcement sparked a separate debate in Congress and elsewhere about its legality.

“American presidents have broad discretion to deploy U.S. forces abroad, but Trump’s asserted blockade marks a new test of presidential authority,” international law scholar Elena Chachko of U.C. Berkeley Law School told Reuters.

Meanwhile, Venezuela condemned the blockade and said it would take its case to the United Nations.

Venezuela has released a statement. Here is the English translation of both pages:

On the night of today, December 16, 2025, the President of the United States, Donald Trump, violating International Law, free trade, and freedom of navigation, has issued a reckless and serious… https://t.co/dS3e4Yib1X pic.twitter.com/Irf9ECnaux

— AZ Intel (@AZ_Intel_) December 17, 2025

Despite Trump’s pronouncement, several ships carrying oil byproducts from the South American country sailed from Venezuela’s east coast under escort from that country’s Navy “between Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning,” The New York Times reported.

“The ships transporting urea, petroleum coke and other oil-based products from the Port of José were bound for Asian markets,” per that story, citing anonymous sources. “The Venezuelan government imposed the military escort in response to Mr. Trump’s threats.”

🇻🇪🇺🇸 Venezuela’s government has ordered its Navy to escort ships carrying petroleum products from port following Trump’s blockade announcement.

Several ships sailed from the country’s east coast with a naval escort between Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning, according to… pic.twitter.com/xY9huYtMqa

— Status-6 (Military & Conflict News) (@Archer83Able) December 17, 2025

The blockade announcement came after the U.S. government had already seized one sanctioned oil tanker, the M/T Skipper. That mission, which occurred on December 10, was led by the U.S. Coast Guard with elements of the U.S. military providing support.

Today, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, and the United States Coast Guard, with support from the Department of War, executed a seizure warrant for a crude oil tanker used to transport sanctioned oil from Venezuela and Iran. For multiple… pic.twitter.com/dNr0oAGl5x

— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) December 10, 2025

In a social media post on Tuesday, Trump designated the Maduro regime as a foreign terror organization. That announcement and the blockade declaration were the latest moves in the Trump administration’s efforts to increase the range of actions it can take. The cartel Maduro allegedly leads was officially designated as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) last month, a move Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said increases U.S. military options in the region.

To that end, the U.S. military, as we have frequently noted, has been building up a large military presence in the region.

At present, the Navy has at least 11 surface warships in the region, including the USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier. It has 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 carrier onboard delivery planes.

There are also a number of other aircraft, including combat search and rescue (CSAR) aircraft, E/A-18G electronic warfare aircraft, Marine Corps F-35B and AV-8B Harrier II combat jets, and MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotors, MQ-9 Reaper drones, AC-130 Ghostrider gunships, and various helicopters already in the region. In addition, there is a looming deployment of an unspecified number of F-35A stealth fighters, which we were the first to report. 

The presence of aerial refueling tankers is also growing. KC-46 Pegasus tankers have been flying sorties out of the U.S. Virgin Islands for months, with a ramp-up in activity in recent weeks. There are now at least 10 KC-135 Stratotanker refuelers deployed to the Dominican Republic.

While these assets, along with about 15,000 deployed U.S. troops, are capable of limited sustained operations, it is far from the force that would be required for a land invasion or any large ground operation in Venezuela.

Since September, U.S. military operations in the Caribbean Sea, as well as the Eastern Pacific, have already included nearly two dozen strikes on boats allegedly involved in drug smuggling. The first of these strikes, which came on September 2, has become the focus of particular controversy, including allegations that it may have constituted a war crime.

The Sept. 2 incident has spurred numerous Congressional briefings, but on Wednesday, the Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Mike Rogers, an Alabama Republican, said he was satisfied by testimony about that strike and that no further hearings would be held. It is unclear if there will be other Congressional action, though, since the Senate Armed Services Committee has also been investigating the matter.

The boat attacks continued on Wednesday, with another four suspected traffickers killed, bringing the total number of fatalities to about 100.

On Dec. 17, at the direction of @SecWar Pete Hegseth, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organizations in international waters. Intelligence confirmed that the vessel was transiting along a known… pic.twitter.com/Yhu3LSOyea

— U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) December 18, 2025

Amid all this tension, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva offered to serve as an intermediary between Trump and Maduro to “avoid armed conflict.”

Lula told reporters on Thursday that Brazil was “very worried” about the mounting crisis between Venezuela and the United States. He added that he told Trump that “things wouldn’t be resolved by shooting, that it was better to sit down around a table to find a solution.”

The Brazilian leader suggested that he may speak to Trump again before Christmas to reinforce this offer “so that we can have a diplomatic agreement and not a fratricidal war.”

“I am at the disposal of both Venezuela and the US to contribute to a peaceful solution on our continent.”

🇧🇷🇺🇸🇻🇪 | Lula da Silva: “Estoy pensando que, antes de Navidad, posiblemente tenga que conversar con el presidente Trump otra vez, para saber en que puede contribuir Brasil para que tengamos un acuerdo diplomático y no una guerra fraticida”

Lula se ofrece como mediador entre… pic.twitter.com/0k7gPEtbO5

— Alerta Mundial (@AlertaMundoNews) December 18, 2025

We’ve reached out to the White House to see if Trump might be amenable to having Lula, an influential leftest leader, as a go-between.

In the interim, the world continues to wait to see what the U.S. president will do with the forces he has amassed in the Caribbean.

Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com

Katie Pavlich, a longtime contributor to Fox News, is leaving the network to join NewsNation.

Pavlich, a conservative political analyst, will have a nightly 10 p.m ET program starting early next year, the Nexstar-owned cable news channel announced Monday.

Pavlich, 37, will replace Ashleigh Banfield, who held down the time period since 2021. Banfield will partner with the network to create digital true crime content, including a podcast.

Pavlich has spent the last 16 years as news editor of the conservative website Townhall.com. She appeared regularly on cable ratings leader Fox News since 2013, appearing as a guest co-host on “The Five” and a fill-in host on its prime-time programs.

Pavlich becomes the latest Fox News alum to join NewsNation. Leland Vittert, a former correspondent for the network, is NewsNation’s 9 p.m. Eastern host. Chris Stirewalt, who was fired from Fox after the 2020 presidential election, is politics editor for the network.

Veteran cable news host Ashleigh Banfield joined NewsNation in March.

(NewsNation)

NewsNation was launched in 2020 as an alternative to the three major cable news networks at a time when all leaned heavily into opinion programming in prime time. But the network has moved toward political debate since Chris Cuomo became its highest rated host in prime time.

An Arizona native who grew up as an avid hunter, Pavlich is a strong advocate of the 2nd Amendment. She poses with firearms in a number of photos on her Instagram.

Pavlich is the author of several books, including New York Times bestsellers “Fast and Furious: Barack Obama’s Bloodiest Scandal” and “Assault and Flattery: The Truth About the Left and Their War on Women.”