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In recent months, a series of videos surfaced on Donald Trump’s social-media platform, showing what appeared to be drone footage of small vessels exploding somewhere in the Caribbean. The clips were accompanied by triumphant statements from the former president, who claimed that U.S. forces had struck “drug boats” operated by Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua cartel as they ferried narcotics toward the American coastline. Within hours of the first announcement, officials confirmed that “multiple interdictions” had taken place, that several suspected traffickers were dead, and that survivors were in custody.

For Washington, the operation was presented as a new frontier in counter-narcotics self-defense. For much of Latin America, it looked alarmingly like extrajudicial warfare. Colombia’s president protested that one of the destroyed boats had been Colombian, carrying his own citizens. Caracas called the attacks “acts of piracy.” And legal scholars, both in the United States and abroad, began to question not only the strikes’ legitimacy under international law but also who, exactly, had carried them out.

The Law of the Sea Meets the War on Drugs

The United States is not a signatory to the 1982 U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, yet successive administrations have claimed to act “in a manner consistent” with its provisions. Under that framework, ships on the high seas enjoy freedom of navigation. Interference is allowed only in narrow cases such as piracy, slavery, or “hot pursuit” when a vessel flees territorial waters after violating a state’s laws. The deliberate destruction of a boat on the open ocean—without proof of an immediate threat—sits uneasily within those boundaries.

“Force can be used to stop a boat,” observed Luke Moffett of Queen’s University Belfast, “but it must be reasonable and necessary in self-defense where there is an immediate threat of serious injury or loss of life.” Nothing in the public record suggests the crews of these vessels fired upon U.S. assets. The claim of self-defense, therefore, stretches maritime law close to breaking point.

International law’s broader prohibition on the use of force, codified in Article 2(4) of the U.N. Charter, is equally uncompromising. Only an armed attack, or an imminent threat of one, allows a state to respond with force in self-defense. Trump’s officials insist that Tren de Aragua constitutes a transnational terrorist organization waging “irregular warfare” against the United States. Yet, as Michael Becker of Trinity College Dublin argues, “Labelling traffickers ‘narco-terrorists’ does not transform them into lawful military targets. The United States is not engaged in an armed conflict with Venezuela or with this criminal organization.”

Nonetheless, a leaked memorandum reportedly informed Congress that the administration had determined the U.S. to be in a “non-international armed conflict” with drug cartels—a remarkable claim that effectively militarizes the war on drugs. If accurate, it would mean Washington has unilaterally extended the legal geography of war to the Caribbean, with traffickers recast as enemy combatants rather than criminals.

Domestic Authority and the Elastic Presidency

The constitutional footing for these operations is no clearer. The power to declare war resides with Congress, but Article II designates the president commander-in-chief of the armed forces. Since 2001, successive presidents have leaned on the Authorization for Use of Military Force—passed in the wake of 9/11—to justify counter-terror operations across the globe. That statute, intended to target al-Qaeda and its affiliates, has been stretched from Yemen to the Sahel. Extending it to Venezuelan cartels represents another act of legal contortion.

Rumen Cholakov, a constitutional scholar at King’s College London, suggests that rebranding cartels as “narco-terrorists” may be a deliberate attempt to fold them into the AUMF’s reach. But it remains uncertain whether Congress ever envisaged such an interpretation. Nor has the White House explained whether the War Powers Resolution’s requirement of prior consultation with lawmakers was honored before the first missile struck.

The Pentagon, asked to disclose its legal rationale, declined. The opacity has fuelled speculation that the operations were not conducted solely by uniformed military forces at all, but by an entirely different arm of the American state—one that operates in deeper shadows.

The “Third Option”: Covert Power and the CIA’s Ground Branch

In October, Trump confirmed that he had authorized the Central Intelligence Agency to “conduct covert operations in Venezuela.” The statement was brief, but within the intelligence world it carried enormous significance. For decades, the CIA’s Special Activities Center—once known as the Special Activities Division—has been Washington’s chosen instrument for deniable action. Its paramilitary component, the Ground Branch, recruits largely from elite special-operations units and specializes in missions that the U.S. government cannot publicly own: sabotage, targeted strikes, and the training of proxy forces.

These operations fall under Title 50 of the U.S. Code, which governs intelligence activities rather than military ones. By law, the president must issue a classified “finding” declaring that the action is necessary to advance foreign-policy objectives and must notify congressional intelligence leaders. Crucially, Title 50 operations are designed so that “the role of the United States Government will not be apparent or acknowledged publicly.”

That distinction—between covert and merely secret—sets Title 50 apart from the military’s Title 10 authority. Traditional special-operations forces under the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) operate as uniformed combatants in overt or clandestine missions authorized under defense law. Their actions are governed by the law of armed conflict, subject to military oversight, and, at least in theory, open to public accountability. CIA paramilitaries, by contrast, function outside those rules. They wear no uniforms, deny official affiliation, and are overseen not by the Pentagon but by the White House and select members of Congress.

Since 9/11, the line separating the two worlds has blurred. Joint task forces have fused intelligence officers and military commandos under hybrid authorities, allowing presidents to act quickly and quietly without triggering the political friction of formal war powers. The “drug boat” strikes appear to be the latest iteration of that model: part counter-narcotics, part counter-terrorism, and part covert action.

A Legal Twilight Zone

If CIA paramilitary officers were indeed involved, the implications are profound. A covert maritime campaign authorized under Title 50 would have required a presidential finding and congressional notification, but those documents remain classified. Conducting lethal operations at sea through the intelligence apparatus—rather than under military or law-enforcement authority—creates a twilight zone of accountability.

The law of armed conflict applies only when a genuine armed conflict exists; human rights law governs peacetime use of force. Covert paramilitary strikes sit uneasily between the two. They may infringe the sovereignty of other states without ever triggering a formal act of war, and they obscure responsibility by design. Survivors of the October strike—a Colombian and an Ecuadorian now detained by U.S. authorities—exist in a legal limbo, neither civilian nor combatant.

Mary Ellen O’Connell, professor at Notre Dame Law School, calls the rationale “utterly unconvincing.” No credible facts, she argues, justify treating these actions as lawful self-defense. “The only relevant law for peace is international law—that is, the law of treaties, human rights, and statehood.”

The Price of Secrecy

Covert action was conceived as a tool for influence and sabotage during the Cold War, not as an instrument of maritime interdiction. Applying it to counter-narcotics missions risks collapsing the boundary between espionage and war. Oversight mechanisms designed for covert influence operations struggle to accommodate lethal paramilitary campaigns. Only a handful of legislators—the so-called “Gang of Eight”—receive full briefings, and judicial review is virtually nonexistent. In practice, the president’s signature on a secret finding becomes the sole check on executive power.

The “drug boat” operations thus reveal how the United States’ shadow-war architecture has evolved since 9/11. The Special Activities Center, once reserved for coups and clandestine support to insurgents, now appears to function as an offshore strike arm for missions the military cannot legally or politically conduct. The public framing—protecting Americans from narcotics smuggling—masks a far broader assertion of authority: the right to employ lethal force anywhere, against anyone, without declaration or disclosure.

War Without War

Trump’s supporters hail the strikes as decisive. His critics see a dangerous precedent—a campaign that bypasses Congress, ignores international law, and blurs the line between defense and vigilantism. The tension runs deeper than partisanship. It touches the central question of modern U.S. power: who decides when America is at war?

The CIA’s motto for its paramilitary wing, Tertia Optio—the “third option”—was meant to describe a choice between diplomacy and open war. Yet as that option expands into an instrument of regular policy, it threatens to eclipse both. When covert action becomes a substitute for law, secrecy replaces accountability, and deniability becomes the new face of sovereignty.

Whether these “drug boats” carried cocaine or simply unlucky sailors may never be known. What is certain is that the legal boundaries of America’s global operations are eroding at sea. The United States may claim it is defending itself; international law may call it aggression. In that unresolved space—the realm of the third option—the world’s most powerful democracy is waging a war it will not name.

For decades, the image of maritime power centered on gray hulls and carrier groups. Today, the center of gravity has shifted to the white hulls that police, escort, ram, repel, rescue, and repair in the murky space between peace and open conflict. Call it the coast-guardification of security. In the Indo-Pacific, and especially around the South China Sea, coast guards are now the first responders for sovereignty spats, illegal fishing, disaster relief, drone sightings, and the protection of undersea infrastructure. The trend is not cosmetic. It is strategic, and it is accelerating. Recent scenes off Scarborough Shoal and near Thitu Island show why. In September and October 2025, the China Coast Guard used water cannons and ramming tactics on Philippine civilian and government vessels, injuring crew and damaging hulls, while Washington and others publicly backed Manila. These were not naval shootouts. They were high-stakes law enforcement encounters led by white hulls that managed political sensitivity without signaling immediate military escalation.

History helps explain how we got here. Through the 2010s, piracy in Southeast Asia declined as coordinated patrols tightened the Strait of Malacca. At the same time, gray zone pressure rose as coast guard and militia fleets, not destroyers, pushed claims around the Senkakus and the Spratlys. A 2015 Reuters dispatch already highlighted Japanese and Philippine coast guard anti-piracy drills, and by 2025 Japanese reporting still records routine intrusions by Chinese coast guard vessels around the Senkakus. White hull presence became the everyday instrument of statecraft at sea, a domain where legal authorities matter as much as tonnage.

Coast guards have also become the backbone of coalition building. The most telling images of 2025 are not only of naval flotillas but also of trilateral coast guard exercises among Japan, the United States, and the Philippines. Tokyo hosted large drills in June, the Philippine flagship returned from joint maneuvers later that month, and USNI News has tracked a steady tempo of multilateral activities that blend navies and coast guards. These events rehearse search and rescue, firefighting, interdiction, and uncrewed systems integration. They build habits of cooperation at the level most relevant to day-to-day friction.

What counts as “security” has widened too. Undersea cables that carry the world’s data now sit squarely on the white hull docket. Policymakers across the region are writing playbooks for detection, attribution, and rapid repair when cables are cut or damaged. Analysts urge Quad Plus partners to formalize protocols and run sabotage response drills that rely on law enforcement and coast guard authorities. New scholarship details how geoeconomic competition around cables is intensifying across the Indo-Pacific and why civilian maritime forces will need new sensors, legal tools, and public-private coordination to keep data flowing after an incident.

The mission creep is not only about geopolitics. It is also about fish. Vietnam has spent 2025 pushing to shed the European Commission’s IUU “yellow card,” tightening enforcement and compliance across its vast fishing fleet. IUU policing is classic coast guard work. It requires boarding teams, AIS analytics, community outreach, and a credible threat of penalties. Success here matters for livelihoods and for legitimacy, since foreign perceptions of fishing practices can shape export earnings as much as tariffs do.

Technology is transforming these forces in real time. Maritime drones and high-altitude ISR have moved from prototypes to daily tools for search and rescue, disaster response, and wide-area surveillance. Regional programs, from Japanese UAV support to Southeast Asian partners to Malaysia’s investments, reflect a simple truth. Persistent eyes and quick cueing make small coast guards feel bigger without inviting the diplomatic blowback that armed naval build-ups can trigger.

If coast guards now run the show, two practical steps can help them run it better.

First, fund an Indo-Pacific Seabed Protection Network with coast guards in the lead. Start with an agreed checklist for cable incident response that combines attribution standards, rapid permitting for repair ships, common data on seabed maps, and a secure channel for operators to notify authorities. Build this around recurring tabletopand at-sea exercises that simulate simultaneous cable cuts, and let civilian agencies command the play unless naval forces must step in. The legal authorities and public legitimacy of coast guards make them the right first responders for cable attacks that sit below the threshold of armed conflict. Allies are already converging on this logic. They should codify it.

Second, scale coast guard capacity through targeted training pipelines and shared tech. The U.S. Coast Guard’s 2025 program that opens more than a hundred training courses to Philippine personnel is a good template. Expand it to include a regional curriculum on IUU enforcement, drone employment, incident documentation, and evidence handling for prosecutions. Pair classrooms with pooled hardware. A rotating inventory of UAVs, portable radars, and small craft that partner coast guards can book for surge operations would lift outcomes faster than waiting for each budget cycle to deliver new ships.

Coast Guard decks will never replace carrier decks, and they should not try. What they can do is shape almost every day short of war. In Southeast Asia’s crowded waters, that is where strategy lives. The white hulls are already writing the script. Policymakers should give them the resources and rules they need to keep the peace, protect the seabed, and put predatory behavior on notice.

Published on
21/10/2025 – 9:22 GMT+2

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Kenny Loggins has reacted to Donald Trump using his song ‘Danger Zone’ in the president’s “disgusting” AI-generated video showing himself wearing a crown, flying a “KING TRUMP” fighter jet and bombing a crowd of protesters with feces.

The video was published as a response to the historic “No Kings” protests which took place across the US on Saturday.

The American singer-songwriter recorded the hit song for the soundtrack of the 1986 Tom Cruise movie Top Gun. He has now called for Trump’s video to be taken down on copyright grounds.

In a statement to Variety, Loggins said: “This is an unauthorized use of my performance of ‘Danger Zone.’ Nobody asked me for my permission, which I would have denied, and I request that my recording on this video is removed immediately.”

He continued: “I can’t imagine why anybody would want their music used or associated with something created with the sole purpose of dividing us. Too many people are trying to tear us apart, and we need to find new ways to come together.”

“We’re all Americans, and we’re all patriotic. There is no ‘us and them’ — that’s not who we are, nor is it what we should be. It’s all of us. We’re in this together, and it is my hope that we can embrace music as a way of celebrating and uniting each and every one of us.”

Well put – especially considering the video has provoked widespread outrage online, with many expressing dismay over the way it shows Trump’s clear disdain for people exercising their right to protest.

Social media users accused Trump of having “the maturity and decorum of a 12-year-old boy”, while others commented: “Can’t believe that’s a president of a country.”

Many posts also pointed out that Trump’s “childish” and “disgusting” AI post revealed a transparent representation of his genuine feelings toward the American people. “It tells you everything you need to know about what he thinks about the people of America who are, in fact, America,” one person commented, while another added: “Him taking a dump on the country is the most honest thing he’s ever posted.”

This is far from the first time that Trump and his administration have used artists’ work without authorisation.

There is an extensive list of musicians who have objected to Trump’s authorized use of their songs. These include ABBA, The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Rihanna, Neil Young, R.E.M., Woodkid, Beyoncé and Semisonic.

Sinead O’Connor’s estate previously issued Trump with cease-and-desist orders, while Isaac Hayes’ estate sued him for 134 counts of copywright infringement.

Céline Dion also condemned the use of her song from the Oscar-winning film Titanic, ‘My Heart Will Go On’, which was used at one of Trump’s rallies. Dion’s team questioned the song choice, writing: “And really, THAT song?”

Another band which added their name to the ever-growing list of artists who have sued Trump over the illegal use of their songs in campaign videos was The White Stripes. Last year, the rock band highlighted the “flagrant misappropriation” of their hit song ‘Seven Nation Army’. Jack White captioned a copy of the legal complaint in an Instagram post with: “This machine sues fascists.”

The most recent example to date is Metallica, who forced the US government to withdraw a social media video that used their song ‘Enter Sandman’ without authorisation.

This weekend’s “No Kings” protests saw millions of Americans marching against Trump’s administration, opposing the president’s “authoritarian power grab.”

The 18 October protest, the third mass mobilisation since Trump’s return to the White House, drew nearly 7 million people across all 50 states according to organisers. This figure would make it the largest single-day mobilisation against a US president in modern history.

With a large-scale ICE operation now underway in the Chicago area, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has enacted a uniquely massive 15-mile radius prohibition against drone flights. The FAA told us the temporary flight restriction (TFR) for drones in this area was requested by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The no-fly zone lasts through Oct. 12.

Under this restriction, only drones operated in support of national defense, homeland security, law enforcement, search and rescue and other emergency response efforts, or commercially used drones with a valid statement of work are allowed to fly. In addition, media organizations can apply for an approved special governmental interest airspace waiver. Any drones violating this restriction can be seized or destroyed, the TFR explains. It also extends about 15 miles into Lake Michigan, without any explanation.

There have been no reports that drones have created major problems for federal agents. However, having uncrewed aerial vehicles flying during an ongoing operation like the one taking place in the Chicago area clearly raises concerns about operational security as well as the safety of helicopters and other aviation assets flying in support of it. Meanwhile, despite the possibility of waivers for commercial and journalistic purposes, the restriction is also drawing the ire of commercial drone operators and sparking worries about civil liberties violations.

The move comes as the Trump administration has followed through on its vow to bring federal forces into the nation’s third-largest city. Hundreds of federal agents have poured into the region. On Tuesday, President Donald Trump suggested responding to protests in Chicago and elsewhere would be a good way to prepare troops for combat.

“…we should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military – National Guard – but military, because we’re going into Chicago very soon,” Trump told a room full of admirals and generals gathered at Marine Base Quantico.

In response to these actions, hundreds of people have taken to the streets in downtown Chicago. They are protesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) immigration arrests and Trump’s promised federal troop deployment. One hundred National Guard troops are being deployed to Illinois to protect federal facilities.

Early on Tuesday, about 300 agents from various federal organizations, “using drones, helicopters, trucks and dozens of vehicles, conducted a middle-of-the-night raid on a rundown apartment building on the South Side of Chicago, leaving the building mostly empty of residents by morning and neighbors stunned,” The New York Times reported. Sources said the raid targeted the Tren de Aragua cartel, which the Trump administration has declared a narco terrorist organization.

Federal officials say they have made nearly 1,000 arrests for immigration violations in what has been dubbed Operation Midway Blitz, according to the DHS.

In addition, many of the protests have been aimed at a federal facility in suburban Broadview, located about 10 miles west of Chicago. The facility is being used to detain hundreds of people arrested on immigration violations. At least five people have been arrested amid clashes between protesters and agents in which chemical agents have been deployed to disperse crowds.

Issuing TFRs for emerging security concerns is not uncommon. However, the area this one covers is unusually large. TFRs are more commonly much more focused geographically.

For instance, a previous TFR was imposed over the Broadview facility. There is also one that is active over the federal facility in Portland, Oregon, which is a hotpoint for protests, that is one mile in radius.

Last year, for example, dozens of drone no-fly zones were created in the New Jersey area following thousands of reported mystery drone sightings, most of which proved to be unfounded. However, unlike the Chicago-area TFR, those were imposed on a localized level, mostly over power infrastructure sites. The vast majority only covered a one-mile radius of airspace. The TFR imposed over the Picatinny Arsenal was an outlier with a three-mile radius, a fraction of the area covered by the Chicago restrictions.

Not surprisingly, the local drone industry, which relies on flying the skies of Chicago to conduct business, is not happy with the restriction.

“The airspace closure affects Chicago’s substantial commercial drone industry, including real estate photographers, construction inspectors, and infrastructure surveyors who rely on drones for daily operations,” wrote Haye Kesteloo, Editor in Chief of two drone tech publications: DroneXL.co and EVXL.co. “Part 107 commercial pilots cannot work in the restricted airspace, while recreational pilots face the same grounding through mid-October.”

The restriction “represents one of the most expansive non-emergency TFRs affecting civilian drone operations in a major U.S. city, comparable to airspace closures during major events like the Super Bowl but lasting significantly longer,” he added.

“There’s zero legitimate security reason for this TFR,” Charles Black, a Chicago resident who writes software, complained on X.

The Global Sumud Flotilla says its fleet has sailed into the ‘high-risk zone’, where the Israeli navy is believed to have formed a blockade to try to stop the fleet from reaching Gaza.

Bianca Adler, who is aiming to become the youngest female to conquer the world’s highest peak, has admitted her devastation at having to turn around when so close to the summit

A girl who is in the process of attempting to climb Mount Everest has been praised on social media after her latest update revealed the toll four days in the mountain’s ‘Death Zone‘ had had on her – before things took an even worse turn. Climbing Everest is a complicated process, which typically requires mountaineers to spend months training both physically and mentally, as well as acclimatising to such high altitudes.

Bianca Adler, 17, is already the youngest female to reach the summit of Manaslu [the eighth-highest mountain in the world at 8,163 metres] and Ama Dablam [6812 metres], and now she has her sights set on the world’s highest peak too. The teenager is documenting her progress, with her clip on TikTok going viral, with a staggering 26million views in just 24 hours.

In it, Bianca shared footage of herself struggling to catch her breath after returning to her camp. Climbers are required to complete their ascent in stages, working their upwards via several camps along the treacherous route.

‘Death Zone’ sits at the ridge of Everest’s summit, some 8,000 metres above sea level and close to its peak of 8,849 metres. It is so-called as the pressure of oxygen is insufficient to sustain human life for an extended time span.

Camp 2, meanwhile, which is located on the expedition’s more popular South Route, sits at approximately 6,553 metres high – and it is the trek there from Base Camp (5,364 meters) that Bianca is currently working on.

Barely able to speak, she muttered under her breath: “I just got back from Camp 2 and I’m at Base Camp and I feel horrible.”

Coughing and gasping for air, she continued: “My throat and my lungs… I’m so out of breath even though yesterday I was at 8,000 metres. I’m feeling the worst I have ever felt.”

In a follow-up video shared on Tuesday (September 23), a dejected Bianca explained that she later made it as high as Camp 4 (7,925 metres) but was “devastated” after being forced to turn around for her own safety.

“It’s so hard. I was feeling so good and so strong but I had to turn around due to something out of my control,” she explained, with the aid of an oxygen mask. “I can’t do anything about that and it would have been stupid to carry on.”

She elaborated on Instagram: “I had to turn around on Mt Everest at 8450m (400m below the summit). The winds were way too strong for what I believed was right for my own safety. I could feel my hands and toes going numb, the first step of frostbite.

“I couldn’t see anything, there was snow blowing everywhere. It was an extremely tough decision, but I always want to choose life over a potential summit. I felt strong, like I could summit, and was devastated.”

Bianca continued: “The next night, my Sherpa guides and I tried again from Camp 4, but I was too exhausted from the 10-hour effort the previous night, and turned around. After three nights, and almost four days in the Death Zone at 8,000m or above, we descended back down to Camp 2.”

She concluded: “On the summit push, dad got sick and stayed at Camp 2 whilst I went up. On the way down, he was still sick and I was exhausted. We both got diagnosed with HAPE (high altitude pulmonary edema) and dehydration (which is normal for mountaineering). I still feel quite sick and extremely exhausted so taking time to recover.”

Scores of mountaineers were quick to praise Bianca’s efforts, however, offering words of comfort and encouragement. “I’m more impressed by how you handled this situation than if you would have pushed yourself to the top… now you can live another day,” one responded on Instagram. “That is what’s important. A true warrior.”

A second person noted: “Such a great effort and the summit isn’t what matters the most, sounds like it was extremely hard and you had to push yourself far but still had to make a tough, but correct decision, which is one of the most valuable and fulfilling experiences you can have in the mountains. So proud!”

Whilst a third individual confessed: “I can’t even imagine how thought that decision was, but safety is always number 1 and you made the right choice. The mountains will always be there girl, well done and huge congratulations on everything you achieved this season.”

Mediterranean Sea – Everyone gathered on the top deck of a Global Sumud Flotilla vessel loaded with humanitarian supplies for Gaza and volunteers determined to deliver it.

Security protocols in case of an emergency were reviewed and put into action: life vests, head counts and designated muster points.

They were training for scenarios that could occur on any vessel – fire, someone falling overboard, collision.

But this training was different because there was another scenario.

The volunteers were instructed on how to raise their hands in the event that Israeli soldiers intercepted the vessel, boarded it and detained them. The focus is on acting in a nonviolent way, in accordance with their mission.

The flotilla was approaching the “yellow zone” after it departed from Sicily, Italy – the zone in international waters between Italy and Cyprus where Israeli attacks are possible – and it was time to practise how to act if an attack occurred.

‘Old propaganda strategy’

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently described the humanitarian flotilla, which is sailing to break the Israeli siege on the people of Gaza, as a “jihadi flotilla” and claimed it has ties to Hamas.

The so-called “Flotilla to Gaza” is openly backed by jihadi Hamas.

In Hamas’s own words: “We call for mobilizing all means to support the Global Steadfastness Flotilla heading to Gaza.”

This is not humanitarian. This is a jihadist initiative serving the terror group’s agenda. pic.twitter.com/vciWdnTswC

— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) September 18, 2025

Earlier this month, as the flotilla set sail from Spain, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir announced that he wanted to declare the humanitarian activists “terrorists” and detain them accordingly.

Flotilla steering committee member Saif Abukeshek, speaking to journalists online on Saturday, said such allegations are “psychological warfare” and added: “The propaganda is an old strategy.”

In the training, a coordinator tells the gathered group: “We have to decide collectively whether we will react or whether someone should intervene if soldiers begin to beat one of us.”

The question was met with silence but could not be avoided. Holding a bullhorn, the coordinator took the initiative.

“If I am dragged or beaten, I don’t want any of you to react or tell the soldiers to stop. Please respect my decision.”

The bullhorn was passed around. One by one, the volunteers repeated the words. By the third volunteer, the phrase had been reduced to two words: “the same”. All the volunteers echoed it.

The strategy was conceived to prevent further violence. Any reaction – even asking Israeli soldiers to stop – could provoke them to more violence.

One volunteer summed it up: “If you react or speak up while being beaten, you will not only put your own safety at risk but also that of the others – and you will break the will of the group.”

Another told Al Jazeera: “We know why we are here and the risks we have taken.”

Mental and physical pressures

The delays and challenges the flotilla has faced have taken a toll on its organisers and volunteers alike.

Drone attacks while at port in Tunisia, technical difficulties faced by boats ill-suited to the high seas and the general difficulties inherent in organising an underfunded civilian initiative to sail to Gaza have put pressure on everyone.

Every person on board also has to do a night watch, scanning the skies all night for more drone attacks while their companions rest.

When asked what keeps them going, each of them cites the urge to act to help the people of Gaza, who are suffering bombardments, starvation and loss as Israel wages war on them.

They know they are sailing into risky waters because Israel has intercepted all past flotillas, even killing 10 people on board the Mavi Marmara a decade ago.

The boats had set out for Sicily from Tunisia on Tuesday with a reduced number of people on board after hard decisions were made.

There were more people wanting to be on a flotilla boat than there was capacity on the vessels, especially as some boats failed technical inspections – the organisers worrying about their ability to cope with the unpredictable nature of the Mediterranean.

Lists were read in Bizerte, Tunisia. Crews were reshuffled among the boats, and tears flowed as volunteers who had forged strong emotional ties said their goodbyes.

Their part on board the mission was over for now, but their support for the flotilla bound for Gaza would continue on land.

Some talked to the coordinators to try to get their spots back. Others waited with their colleagues on the boats, helping out until they had to return to a hotel to await their flights back home.

“Please put this [Palestinian] flag somewhere on the boat. It has been in my friend’s window for years,” said Marcin, a Polish volunteer living in Norway who was among those cut from the crew list.

Eventually, everyone boarded their assigned ships and met their crews. All hands were on deck to clean and prepare the vessels for the next leg of the journey to Italy. Some of the volunteers have sailing experience, and others with no previous sailing experience learned quickly to help out.

After a few days in Italy, the boats have set out again, sailing through the yellow zone, getting ever closer to the red zone, where the danger multiplies 100 nautical miles (185km) from the Gaza shore.

And the drills continue.

The al-Mawasi area in southern Gaza where Israel has told displaced people to go is among places targeted this morning.

BEIRUT — Saudi Arabia and Qatar are ready to invest in an economic zone in south Lebanon near the border with Israel that would create jobs for members of the militant Hezbollah group and its supporters once they lay down their weapons, President Trump’s envoy to the Middle East said Tuesday.

Tom Barrack made his comments in Beirut after trips to Israel and Syria where he discussed with officials there the ongoing situation in Lebanon following this month’s decision by the Lebanese government to disarm Hezbollah by the end of the year. Hezbollah’s leader rejected the government’s plan, vowing to keep the weapons.

On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli forces could begin withdrawing from territory they hold in southern Lebanon after the Lebanese government’s “momentous decision” to disarm Hezbollah.

The U.S.-backed Lebanese army is preparing a plan for Hezbollah’s disarmament that should be ready by the end of August. The government is expected to discuss the army’s plan and approve it during a meeting scheduled for Sept. 2.

“We have to have money coming into the system. The money will come from the Gulf,” Barrack told reporters after meeting President Joseph Aoun. “Qatar and Saudi Arabia are partners and are willing to do that for the south (of Lebanon) if we’re asking a portion of the Lebanese community to give up their livelihood.”

“We have 40,000 people that are being paid by Iran to fight. What are you gonna do with them? Take their weapon and say ‘by the way, good luck planting olive trees’? It can’t happen. We have to help them,” Barrack said. He was referring to tens of thousands of Hezbollah members who have been funded since the early 1980s by Tehran.

“We, all of us, the Gulf, the U.S., the Lebanese are all gonna act together to create an economic forum that is gonna produce a livelihood,” Barrack said.

When asked why the U.S. doesn’t go to discuss the Hezbollah issue directly with Iran rather than traveling to Israel and Syria, Barrack said: “You think that’s not happening? Goodbye.” Barrack then ended his news conference and walked out of the room.

Speaking on the U.N. peacekeeping force that has been deployed in south Lebanon since Israel first invaded the country in 1978, Barrack said the U.S. would rather fund the Lebanese army than the force that is known as UNIFIL. Speaking about this week’s vote at the United Nations in New York, Barrack said the U.S. backs extending UNIFIL’s term for one year only.

Conflict escalated to war in September 2024, before November ceasefire

A low-level conflict between Israel and Hezbollah started a day after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack against Israel from Gaza, when Hezbollah began launching rockets across the border in support of its Palestinian ally. The conflict escalated into war in September 2024 and left more than 4,000 people dead, and caused destruction worth $11 billion in Lebanon, according to the World Bank.

The war ended in November with a U.S.-brokered ceasefire and since then Hezbollah says it has ended its presence along the border area. Israel has continued almost daily airstrikes that have killed dozens of Hezbollah members.

Amnesty International in a report released Tuesday said it had identified more than 10,000 buildings that were “heavily damaged or destroyed” in southern Lebanon between October 2024 and January this year.

Israeli forces remained in much of the border area for weeks after the ceasefire agreement went into effect and are still holding five strategic points.

Amnesty’s report alleged that Israeli forces may have violated international law by destroying civilian property in areas they were controlling with “manually laid explosives and bulldozers” after the active fighting had ended and there was no longer an “imperative military necessity.”

Barrack chides journalists before news conference, provoking ire

At the start of the joint news conference with U.S. envoy Morgan Ortagus, Barrack warned journalists at the presidential palace to be quiet, telling them to “act civilized, act kind, act tolerant.” He threatened to end the conference early otherwise.

“The moment that this starts becoming chaotic, like animalistic, we’re gone,” said Barrack. He then asked: “Do you think this is economically beneficial for Morgan and I to be here putting up with this insanity?”

None of the journalists present responded to his comments but the Lebanese press syndicate issued a statement about the “inappropriate treatment” that the Lebanese journalists were subjected to and called on Barrack and the State Department to apologize. It added that if no apology were made, it could escalate by calling for boycotting Barrack’s visits and meeting.

The Presidential Palace also issued a statement regretting the comments made by “one of our guests” and greeted journalists who cover news at the palace, thanking them for their “hard work.”

Mroue and Chehayeb write for the Associated Press. AP writer Abby Sewell contributed to this report.

Welcome to Screen Gab, the newsletter for everyone who struggles with setting boundaries in any type of relationship.

That sound you hear is the lingering sigh of relief — or is it sadness? Confusion? The frustration over what could have been? — as “And Just Like That” completed its last sprint in heels this week. The “Sex and the City” sequel concluded its three-season run with a Thanksgiving from hell and an epilogue for Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda, Lisa and Seema that will surely generate plenty of TikTok analysis to occupy us all weekend. The decision to end the series was surprising, sure, but hardly shocking — even if it still feels like a fever dream that’s not quite over. Our crew of dedicated watchers unpacked some of what they’re feeling — grab a slice of pie, pull up a chair and join the attempt to process it all. It’s a safe place.

But don’t fret, there are some other peeps you can add to your friend group to help ease the loss. Rose Byrne and Seth Rogen prove that men and women can be strictly (incredibly co-dependent) friends in Apple TV+’s “Platonic.” The comedy returned earlier this month for its second season, and creators Francesca Delbanco and Nicholas Stoller dropped by Guest Spot to discuss the challenges of making opposite-sex friendship more compelling than a romance, plus the story behind the perfectly pathetic pet name they have Rogen’s character saying all season.

Also in this week’s Screen Gab, our streaming recommendations include a crime drama that sees a “Clueless” star enter her sleuth era? That’s right, TV critic Robert Lloyd tells you about a new Acorn series that stars Alicia Silverstone as an L.A. divorce lawyer who hightails it to Ireland after receiving a mysterious message from her estranged father. If you’re in the camp of people who prefer shows with a lighter touch on death, culture columnist Mary McNamara drops in to suggest an old-fashioned workplace/fish-out-of-water comedy set in the world of probate law — Huh, you say? Trust us! It’s funny!

ICYMI

Must-read stories you might have missed

Daniel Dae Kim is the star and executive producer of Prime Video’s “Butterfly.”

(Ariana Drehsler / For The Times)

Daniel Dae Kim hopes ‘Butterfly’ can be the ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ of spy thrillers: The actor discusses bridging Korean and American culture on his new show, how “inclusive” isn’t a bad word and good allyship in action.

Developing ‘Alien: Earth’ was all about building suspense — and getting classic ‘Alien’ lore just right for TV: Noah Hawley leaned into the ‘Alien’ franchise’s retro-futurism when making ‘Alien: Earth,’ adding Peter Pan mythology and Easter eggs.

How John Slattery and Milo Callaghan learned to spar (and put on an accent) in ‘The Rainmaker’: The veteran actor and newcomer star in USA’s adaptation of the bestselling John Grisham novel.

Hollywood takes a wrecking ball to Los Angeles: Filmmakers seem to take a special pleasure in depicting an apocalyptic future for Los Angeles — how come?

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Recommendations from the film and TV experts at The Times

Alicia Silverstone as Fiona Sharpe in Acorn’s “Irish Blood.”

(Szymon Lazewski / Acorn TV)

“Irish Blood” (Acorn)

Alicia Silverstone stars as Fiona Murphy, an American divorce lawyer — no husband for her! — whose unsuspected past comes calling in form of a photograph mailed from Ireland, showing a picture of a locker with a phone number written on the backside. Not being me, she calls it right away and so begins a dark treasure hunt that brings her to Wicklow, Ireland, where she discovers the father (Jason O’Mara in flashbacks) who left on her 10th birthday was living, and is now dead, under possibly suspicious circumstances. She also discovers a briefcase full of clues; family she didn’t know she had; an inherited house; potential romance with the local owner of a boxing gym (Leonardo Taiwo); and a quirky policewoman (Ruth Codd), excited to help when Fiona is mysteriously attacked. As in many, or most, stories in which a city person travels to the country — “I Know Where I’m Going” or “Local Hero,” just to be Celtic about it — Fiona will experience a feeling of renewal, notwithstanding the threat of death. The mystery keeps you guessing, the characters are appealing, and Silverstone gives a lovely, lived-in performance. — Robert Lloyd

“Fisk” (Netflix, Season 3 premieres Wednesday)

I can’t say I was looking for a comedy that revolved around Australian probate law, but one found me and now I’m hooked. Co-created by and starring Australian comedian Kitty Flanagan, “Fisk” is an old-fashioned workplace/fish-out-of-water comedy that follows recently divorced Helen Tudor-Fisk (Flanagan), who has fled the shining lights of Sydney for the more sedate Melbourne where her father, a retired Supreme Court justice, lives. And she needs a job. After a disastrous interview with a legal recruitment firm — Fisk only wears brown, has no references and “is not a people person” — she lands at Gruber & Gruber, a small firm dealing mostly with wills. Ray Gruber (Marty Sheargold), an easily distracted schlub, is thrilled to hire the daughter of a Supreme Court justice; his sister Roz (Julia Zemiro), a woman so tightly wound she controls the key to the firm’s one restroom, is not. But Roz has been suspended; hence the need for Helen. Misanthropic and quietly contentious, Helen has little patience for client hand-holding, social niceties and, well, patience; but, as time inevitably tells, she is a good lawyer and her heart is not nearly as hard as she wants everyone to believe it is.

With a revolving cast of clients, and the requisite Gen Z assistant (here played to great effect by Aaron Chen), “Fisk” is a deceptively small show — “The Office” seems hectic and flashy by comparison — but it deftly mines the mundane and often quiet absurdities of life to laugh-out-loud effect. Flanagan, too, plays it close to the vest (or in this case, an over-large brown suit), making Helen the queen of the raised eyebrow and muttered aside. She is neither savior nor saint — many of her problems are of her own making — but anyone who has ever wondered why ordering a smoothie, or renting an Airbnb, or having a straight-forward conversation about just about anything has to be so complicated these days will find a “but that makes no sense” advocate in “Fisk.” — Mary McNamara

Guest spot

A weekly chat with actors, writers, directors and more about what they’re working on — and what they’re watching

Rose Byrne and Seth Rogen in Season 2 of Apple TV+’s “Platonic.”

(Katrina Marcinowski / Apple TV+)

In “Platonic,” the only will-they/won’t-they tension is about whether two longtime friends with co-dependency issues can avoid a breakup of their friendship. The Apple TV+ series stars Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne as formerly estranged besties who, in the first season, rekindled their friendship at pivotal junctures in their lives — Sylvia (Byrne) is a married mother of three children who feels unfulfilled, while Will (Rogen) is a middle-aged hipster and brewer going through a divorce — and help each other in their quest to get back on track. The series returned earlier this month with Will experiencing cold feet at the prospect of marrying his fiancée (and boss), while Sylvia, who is helping to plan the ceremony, gets caught in the crosshairs just as she must contend with developing sore spots in her own marriage. Creators Delbanco and Stoller stopped by Guest Spot to discuss how platonic friendships can be love stories, too, and the story behind this season’s embarrassing pet name.

What is the challenge in depicting a platonic friendship between people of the opposite sex when viewers enjoy character shipping? How do you make “just friends” something to root for?

Stoller: It’s definitely a challenge to break story as almost all TV show plots involve either sex or murder. But the funniest comedies explore human relationships honestly. Our artistic project with “Platonic” is to delve into the complications and rewards of male-female friendships. We think anyone who’s ever had this kind of friendship will find the show relatable. While “Platonic” is a hang-out show, we also are invested in the show having a strong story drive. We think we have figured out series arcs for our characters that go deep on midlife and hopefully will make you laugh out loud.

Delbanco: In a way, platonic friendships are love stories too — not exactly the same kind of love stories, of course, but they do have certain similar preoccupations: Can we survive our disagreements? Are we ultimately good for each other or not? Is our relationship going to last through all of the phases of our lives as we change and grow? Ultimately, we’re hoping we can make viewers feel the same degree of investment in “will they make it” as friends that we’re all accustomed to feeling in rom-coms. It’s definitely a creative challenge, but we all know how important friendships are to our overall emotional health, so it stands to reason that they deserve some exploration onscreen too.

This season provides an opportunity to explore the intimidation factor of a new significant other experiencing the Sylvia-Will dynamic. How did that make you think about Will’s fiancée, Jenna [Rachel Rosenbloom]?

Stoller: We originally conceived of “Platonic” as an anthology series where we were going to explore a different platonic friendship each season. While shooting the first season, we had such a great time making it that we asked Seth and Rose if they wanted to do more of the show together, and luckily for us they said yes. The Jenna character had been created to give Will a happy ending. We knew that to make more episodes of the show we would have to give Will a new conflict. We knew that Sylvia needed to understand Will in a way Jenna just didn’t. But we also wanted Jenna to be a legitimate partner for Will. So in the Season 2 writers’ room, we reconceived Jenna to just be operating at a slightly different wavelength than both Will and Sylvia. We worked with Rachel Rosenbloom, who plays Jenna and is super funny, to figure out a character that was just a little out of step with both Will and Sylvia.

Delbanco: We really wanted to write Jenna as a human, relatable character rather than a one-dimensional “lame girlfriend” type of comedy villain, because at its core, the insecurity that Jenna feels about Sylvia is a feeling most of us have had before: Who is this woman my boyfriend/fiancé/husband spends so much time with, and how can I be sure he isn’t actually in love with her? Likewise, we didn’t want Jenna to be someone Sylvia could easily dismiss: In many ways she’s good for Will, and intimidating in her own right. There have been so many amazing comedies about introducing a significant other to your parents, and your family, but there’s a lot of great dramatic tension to mine when new love interests collide with old friends.

What is the backstory with the “penguini” pet name? What were other iterations before you landed on that one?

Stoller: We just tried to think of the most embarrassing thing that Will would have to say in front of Sylvia. And so “penguini” was born. Hilariously, one of our locations where we shot this season turned out to be right next to a restaurant called Caffe Pinguini.

Delbanco: It made us laugh so hard to imagine Seth having to use a private baby-talk, lovey-dovey voice — it just doesn’t suit his character, and it’s so mortifying to be overheard in that mode. It felt like a strong way to announce that something new was going on with him this season.

What have you watched recently that you are recommending to everyone you know?

Stoller: I just watched the Billy Joel documentary [“Billy Joel: And So It Goes,” HBO Max]. I’ve always been a fan of his, but the documentary uncovers a lot of pain and history I was unaware of. It made me revisit his music and understand it in a whole new light. I also just saw the film “Sorry, Baby” [VOD], which is hilarious, beautifully-shot, moving and even, at times, slightly scary.

Delbanco: I recently finished the second season of “Wolf Hall” [PBS.org], and I can’t stop thinking about it — I loved the novels and was floored that they were adapted for the screen with such incredible depth and power. The finale is still haunting me even though I watched it weeks ago. Main takeaway: I am so freaking glad I wasn’t born during the reign of Henry VIII.

What’s your go-to “comfort watch,” the movie or TV show you go back to again and again?

Stoller: I watch “Rushmore” [Hulu, Disney+], “When Harry Met Sally” [VOD] and “The Shining” [VOD] once a year. The endings of both “Rushmore” and “When Harry Met Sally” never fail to make me cry. Every time I watch “Rushmore,” I notice a new detail. And “The Shining” casts a hypnotic spell that makes me want to revisit the Overlook [Hotel] again and again.

Delbanco: I guess we’re an early Wes Anderson household, because “The Royal Tenenbaums” [Hulu, Disney+] is the movie I see on repeat when I close my eyes. It makes me laugh and also cry in all the right ways, and I love its desultory, romantic mood. I don’t think any scene has ever worked for me as well as Gwyneth Paltrow’s walk towards Luke Wilson when she gets off the bus. The bus station! Her fur coat! Nico! What could ever top it?

Displaced Palestinians and several Israeli politicians alike slam the Israeli government’s plans for what it calls a “humanitarian city” in Rafah. Critics say forcing Palestinians into the zone would amount to a “concentration camp.”

MILWAUKEE — Yoshinobu Yamamoto was one pitch away from a clean first inning Monday night.

Instead, it devolved into a sudden, unstoppable nightmare.

In the shortest start of his MLB career, and in an outing that somehow rivaled his disastrous debut in the majors last March in South Korea, Yamamoto missed one chance after the next to escape the bottom of the first against the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field. Poor defense and bad batted-ball luck didn’t help in what became a 41-pitch collapse.

By the time it was all over, the Brewers were leading by five runs, manager Dave Roberts was summoning a reliever just two outs into the game, and the Dodgers were well on their way to a fourth consecutive defeat, never coming close to a comeback in a 9-1 loss to open a six-game road trip.

The trouble started quickly beneath an open retractable roof on a mild summer night in Wisconsin.

Sal Frelick hammered a hanging curveball for a leadoff double. Willson Contreras drew a walk when Yamamoto couldn’t locate his splitter near the zone. And the two outs that followed — a fly ball from Jackson Chourio and grounder from Christian Yelich — proved to be only a temporary reprieve.

In the next at-bat, newly acquired Brewers slugger Andrew Vaughn came to the plate in his first game with the team. He got three straight sliders from Yamamoto to start, fanning on the first before laying off two that missed the zone next. Then, after a called strike on a fastball at the knees evened the count 2-and-2, catcher Will Smith dialed up another curveball from Yamamoto again.

It was supposed to be down and on the outside corner. Instead, it fluttered up and above the zone. Vaughn connected with a mighty upper-cut swing. The ball soared beyond the left-field wall, making it 3-0 Brewers just like that.

Somehow, the inning would only get worse from there.

Despite entering the night coming off a first-career All-Star selection, and leading the majors in road ERA at 1.57, Yamamoto failed to settle down.

In a 1-and-2 count against Isaac Collins, he left a fastball down the middle that was hammered for a single. After falling behind 3-and-0 to Brice Turang, Yamamoto worked the count full only to miss badly with a fastball and issue an inning-extending walk.

With his pitch count climbing at that point, Roberts began to stir the bullpen.

Yamamoto appeared to finally find an escape route against Caleb Durbin, inducing a grounder with a splitter that was hit straight to shortstop Mookie Betts. But, in a rare defensive lapse at his new position, Betts spiked a throw to first that Freddie Freeman couldn’t corral. Collins came racing around from second to score. The inning stayed alive when it once again should’ve ended.

Yamamoto’s leash finally ran out on pitch 41, when Andruw Monasterio lobbed a bloop RBI single down the right-field line in the next at-bat. As another run scored, Roberts came walking out of the bullpen to give the team’s season-long ace an unimaginably early hook.

The two teams played the final eight innings. But the result already seemed well in hand.

The Dodgers’ lineup was shorthanded, missing Teoscar Hernández with a bruised foot and Tommy Edman with a pinky toe fracture (both are expected back in the lineup by Wednesday). Before the game, Kiké Hernández was also put on the injured list with an elbow injury that had been bothering him since he made an awkward slide in Cleveland in late May, and flared up to the point of requiring a cortisone shot this past weekend. Not to be forgotten, Max Muncy also remains sidelined by his bum knee.

In their places, the Dodgers started James Outman in center field (who was called up from triple A pregame), Miguel Rojas at third base and Hyeseong Kim at second against Brewers All-Star right-hander Freddy Peralta.

The outcome was predictable: Six innings of shutout ball in which the Dodgers managed only five hits, one walk and struck out seven times.

July 2 (UPI) — The Pentagon is establishing a fourth military defense zone along the U.S.-Mexico border, where American soldiers can apprehend noncitizens on charges of trespassing, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman Sean Parnell said Wednesday, amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration.

The fourth National Defense Area will be controlled by the U.S. Navy and encompass approximately 140 miles of federal property along the U.S.-Mexico border near the Barry M. Goldwater Range in Arizona.

The announcement comes a week after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directed the establishment of a 250-mile NDA along the Rio Grande River in Texas’ Cameron and Hidalgo Counties, which is to be controlled by the U.S. Air Force.

The first NDA was established on April 21, spanning 170 miles along the New Mexico border, followed by the second erected on May 1 in West Texas, covering 63 miles between El Paso and Fort Hancock.

The NDAs are zones where U.S. military personnel can temporarily detain alleged trespassers, in this case, those who are seeking to enter the United States via Mexico, and transfer them to appropriate law enforcement authorities.

The authorization for their creation comes under President Donald Trump‘s April 11 memorandum directing the U.S. military to seal the southern border to repel an alleged “invasion” of immigrants trying to enter the country. And the military’s ability to perform immigration law enforcement duties follows a March 20 order from Hegseth to become involved in border operations.

Parnell announced the creation of the fourth military buffer zone during a regular press conference Wednesday while updating reporters on the military’s immigration activities.

He said there are approximately 8,500 U.S. soldiers performing duties with Joint Task Force Southern Border, and since March 20, days after the task force was formed, they have conducted more than 3,500 patrols.

The militarization of the U.S. southern border is part of Trump’s plan to crack down on immigration after having been elected following a campaign during which he often spouted derogatory rhetoric and misinformation about immigrants while vowing to conduct mass deportations.

According to Parnell, the relationship between the military and Customs and Border Protection “yielded exceptional results between June 28 and June 30 with zero gotaways across the entire southern border.

“We have made incredible progress and will continue to work toward achieving 100% operational control of the border,” he said.

June 26 (UPI) — Amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the establishment of another buffer zone along the U.S.-Mexico border where the military can apprehend non-citizens.

The National Defense Area, announced Wednesday, will cover about 250 miles of the Rio Grande River in Texas’ Cameron and Hidalgo Counties. According to a statement from the U.S. Air Force, Hegseth issued the directed on June 18.

“This designation marks the latest in a series of NDAs established to strengthen interagency coordination and bolster security operations along the U.S. southern border,” the Air Force said.

With the move, three NDAs have been established along the U.S.-Mexico border under President Donald Trump‘s April 11 memorandum directing the U.S. military to seal the southern border to repel an alleged “invasion” of immigrants trying to enter the country.

Border security was a key focus of Trump’s re-election campaign, which included him spouting derogatory rhetoric and misinformation about migrants. Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has led a crackdown on immigration.

In NDAs, U.S. military personnel can temporarily detain alleged trespassers and then transfer them to appropriate law enforcement.

So far, the Trump administration has erected three NDAs including the one announced Wednesday.

The first NDA was established in New Mexico on April 21 and spans some 170 miles along the state’s border. The second one was erected on May 1 in West Texas, covering about 63 miles between El Paso and Fort Hancock.

The first trial conviction for trespassing in an NDA occurred earlier this month.

The Sudanese Armed Forces say they have withdrawn from the area as part of its ‘defensive arrangements’.

Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have said their fighters have seized a strategic zone on the border with Egypt and Libya, as the regular government-aligned army, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), announced its withdrawal from the area.

The announcements on Wednesday came a day after SAF accused forces loyal to eastern Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar of launching a cross-border attack alongside the RSF, the first allegation of direct Libyan involvement in the Sudanese war.

“As part of its defensive arrangements to repel aggression, our forces today evacuated the triangle area overlooking the borders between Sudan, Egypt and Libya,” army spokesperson Nabil Abdallah said in a statement.

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

القيادة العامة للقوات المسلحة

تعميم صحفي

الأربعاء ١١ يونيو ٢٠٢٥م

في إطار ترتيباتها الدفاعية لصد العدوان، أخلت قواتنا اليوم منطقة المثلث المطلة علي الحدود بين السودان ومصر وليبيا.

(نصر من الله وفتح قريب)

مكتب الناطق الرسمي باسم القوات المسلحة

General… pic.twitter.com/3o5Z1xDfb0

— القوات المسلحة السودانية (@SudaneseAF) June 11, 2025

Since April 2023, the brutal civil war has pitted SAF chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against his erstwhile ally Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who leads the RSF, in a bitter power struggle.

In a statement on Wednesday, the RSF said its fighters had “liberated the strategic triangle area”, adding that army forces had retreated southward “after suffering heavy losses”.

SAF said on Tuesday that Haftar’s troops, in coordination with the RSF, attacked its border positions in a move it called “a blatant aggression against Sudan”.

Sudan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also accused the United Arab Emirates of backing the assault, describing it as a “dangerous escalation” and a “flagrant violation of international law”.

It also described the latest clash as part of a broader foreign-backed conspiracy.

Haftar, who controls eastern Libya, has long maintained close ties with both the United Arab Emirates and Egypt.

While Cairo has supported Sudan’s leadership under Burhan since the war began in April 2023, Khartoum has repeatedly accused the UAE of supplying the RSF with weapons, which the Emirati government has denied.

Tensions between Khartoum and Abu Dhabi escalated in May after drone strikes hit the wartime capital of Port Sudan for the first time since the outbreak of the war.

After the attacks, Sudan severed its diplomatic ties with the UAE and declared it an “aggressor state”.

Since the war began more than two years ago, multiple countries have been drawn in. It has effectively split Sudan in two, with SAF holding the centre, east and north, including the capital Khartoum, while the paramilitaries and their allies control nearly all of Darfur and parts of the south.

The fighting has killed tens of thousands and displaced 13 million, including four million who fled abroad, triggering what the United Nations has called the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

Efforts by international mediators to halt the fighting have so far failed, with violence continuing to escalate across the western Darfur region and the Kordofan region in the country’s south.

Three times in the ninth inning last Friday night in New York, new Dodgers closer Tanner Scott made the same simplistic, save-blowing mistake.

In an inning that saw Scott blow a three-run Dodgers lead — forcing the team into a 13-inning marathon that, despite eventually winning, their overworked bullpen could ill-afford — Scott got to two strikes against a Mets batter, only to leave a mistake pitch over the plate.

To Starling Marte, it was a 1-and-2 fastball up and over the middle, resulting in a leadoff single.

After a one-out walk to Pete Alonso, Scott had Jeff McNeil 2-and-2 before throwing a belt-high heater on the inner half that was ripped for a two-run triple.

Another two-strike count followed to Tyrone Taylor, but Scott’s 1-and-2 slider hung up around the heart of zone, leading to a tying single that marked Scott’s fourth blown save in 14 opportunities this year and raised his ERA to 3.42 — hardly the numbers expected out of an All-Star left-hander signed to a $72-million contract this offseason.

“I think the stuff is still good,” manager Dave Roberts said afterward. “It’s just right now, it just seems like when there is a mistake, they find some outfield grass or put a good swing on it.”

And lately, such mistakes have been coming in more abundance than usual for Scott, highlighting one early-season trend the Dodgers are now working to address.

“Right now, he’s just kind of living in the middle, the midline of the zone,” pitching coach Mark Prior said. “You leave it in that spot, more than likely they’re gonna put a good swing on it.”

Dodgers pitcher Tanner Scott embraces catcher Dalton Rushing after a 3-1 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium on May 21.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

For a pitcher who struggled with command issues early in his career — before blossoming into one of the top left-handed relievers in the sport of the last several seasons — Scott is now seemingly suffering from the opposite problem.

So far this year, more than 58% of his pitches have been in the strike zone, a rate that is easily a personal career high (well up from his previous high mark of 52.4% last year) and ranks 18th among qualified big-league relievers.

On top of that, hitters have been on such offerings as well, making contact on 80% of swings against Scott’s pitches over the plate (compared to his 76% career rate) and averaging almost 92 mph of exit velocity on balls put in play (leaving Scott in the seventh percentile of MLB arms when it comes to batted ball contact).

The good news is that Scott has 25 strikeouts and only two walks. Even with his fastball playing a tick down velocity-wise (averaging 96.1 mph this year compared to 97 mph last year), he converted nine of his first 11 save opportunities, squandering only a pair of one-run leads while posting a sub-2.00 ERA through his first 21 appearances.

This past week, however, Scott was knocked around twice: Giving up three runs on two homers to the Arizona Diamondbacks last week (in another game that necessitated extra innings before the Dodgers came back to win) before his ninth-inning meltdown at Citi Field on Sunday.

“He’s actually been pretty good for us,” Roberts said of Scott’s performance overall. “But the last couple, the last two of three, he’s obviously given up leads.”

Scott said his increased aggressiveness in the strike zone has not been by design.

“I don’t even look at it,” he bristled when asked about his rise in in-zone pitch percentage this weekend. “I don’t even look at it.”

But Prior acknowledged it is something on the coaching staff’s radar.

“Obviously, we want strikes; more strikes than balls,” Prior said. “But he gets in situations where he can get into counts, and I think we’re just leaving too many balls in the zone late in counts, instead of going for more miss.”

Friday’s blown save being Exhibit A.

“I’m not putting [guys] away,” acknowledged Scott, whose whiff rate has also dropped to 26.6% this season compared to his 34.7% career average. “I’m not getting the swing-and-miss, and I’m keeping the ball in the zone too much.”

To Prior, it’s even OK if Scott starts “to walk a few more guys,” he said, “[if] in turn he can get more chase out of the zone when you have leverage.”

“He’s still a really good pitcher,” Prior added. “So we’re going to bank on him.”

Dodgers pitcher Tanner Scott throws from the mound against the Arizona Diamondbacks on May 20 at Dodger Stadium.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Right now, the Dodgers don’t have much of a choice.

Fellow high-leverage relievers Evan Phillips (forearm discomfort), Blake Treinen (forearm sprain), Kirby Yates (hamstring strain) and Michael Kopech (shoulder impingement) are all out injured. And while Kopech is on a minor-league rehab assignment, and Yates and Treinen are both beginning throwing programs, Phillips’ absence is starting to become “concerning,” Roberts acknowledged this weekend, with the team’s former ninth-inning fixture now going on three weeks without throwing because of an injury initially expected to keep him out for only the minimum 15 days.

“I’m getting a little kind of concerned,” Roberts said of Phillips, “but hoping for the best.”

It all makes Scott’s performance in save opportunities particularly crucial for the Dodgers right now.

Given the team’s MLB-high bullpen workload this year, Roberts has been forced to be selective when it comes to the usage of the few high-leverage relievers still at his disposal. Having Scott blow games in which the team has already burned its best other relief bullets, and could potentially face the added burden of resulting extra innings, are all taxing side effects the Dodgers are not currently equipped to handle.

“To be quite fair,” Roberts noted of Scott, whose 23 ⅔ innings are only fourth-most in the bullpen, “the other guys have been used a lot more than he has.”

Thus, while Scott might only require simple adjustments, such as better locating his fastball up and out of the zone and more consistently executing his slider in locations that induce more chase, enacting such changes quickly is paramount.

After all, the Dodgers made him one of the highest-paid relievers in baseball this offseason to stabilize their bullpen. And lately, he’s instead been one more source of unneeded flux.

Most of us don’t even know that carbon monoxide (CO) is one of the prominent causes of workplace poisoning and the resulting fatalities globally. Our industries are filled with machinery and processes that emit carbon monoxide, the silent killer. To prevent this silent killer, whose small amount can also be fatal, our industries should employ a Carbon Monoxide (CO) Gas Detector.

What is carbon monoxide? Remember this: it is a highly poisonous, colorless, and odorless byproduct that human beings can’t detect without actually getting poisoned. A carbon monoxide gas detector helps humans identify a potential CO gas leak so we can take necessary preventative actions.

So how does a carbon monoxide gas detector actually “know” when CO is present? Most industrial-grade CO detectors use what’s called an electrochemical sensor. Inside the sensor, there’s a small chamber with two electrodes and an electrolyte. When carbon monoxide gas enters the chamber, it reacts with the chemicals inside and causes a small electric current to flow.

Electrochemical CO sensor cross-section, illustrating electrodes, electrolyte, and gas diffusion layer. Current output is proportional to CO concentration. Image credit: gasdog.com

Here’s the smart part: the strength of that current is directly proportional to the amount of CO in the air. So the more CO you have, the stronger the signal gets. The detector reads this signal in real time, and if it crosses a preset safety threshold, it triggers the alarm. This type of sensor is highly accurate, reliable over time, and doesn’t produce false alarms easily, which makes it ideal for use in busy, high-risk industrial environments.

To know the intensity of the damage this silent killer can cause, know that even a small amount can inflict irreversible brain damage or sudden death. Yes, death! Read on to know why you need to install a CO gas detector in your industry.

Reason 1 – This Threat Is Invisible And Demands Vigilance

Carbon monoxide (CO) gas detectors are necessary in industrial zones because of the basic nature of this gas. Can’t be seen! This hidden peril is dominating the poisonous gas market because it is colorless, odorless, and tasteless, like air. You will think that you are breathing fresh air, but it can be the lethal CO gas that damages your health within seconds.

Human senses are without any doubt incapable of seeing through this looming danger as it goes undetected. Our industry workers are focused on their work in the sounds and smells of various industrial processes. Not a single employee can notice this gas that is invisible in such a busy setting. They won’t get any sensory cues and will be breathing lethal levels of CO.

We are not just saying out of the blue, we have read a report by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) that:

“Because it is colorless, odorless, and non-irritating, people can be exposed to CO without warning.”

This invisibility is the main reason it begins to poison you without you even realizing it. Workers inhale it, which gets mixed up with hemoglobin in their red blood cells. This forms carboxyhemoglobin (COHb) in your body. This means oxygen won’t get transported throughout the body.

Initially, a person won’t understand what is happening to their bodies. They will consider the poison symptoms as common ailments. These common symptoms include flu, fatigue, headache, nausea, etc. As the person doesn’t understand, staying in this state for a bit longer worsens symptoms. In the worst-case scenario, the person will suffer severe incapacitating symptoms such as confusion, loss of coordination, chest pain, and even loss of consciousness.

But this works faster than we think, and before you understand, you are about to collapse. Given the lack of detectability, industrial settings must have a Carbon Monoxide (CO) Gas Detector.

Reason 2 – Almost Every Industry Produces CO Risks

Reason 3 – Early Detection To Prevent Severe Health Consequences

For example, it will detect the CO gas levels. Many companies, including Gas Dog, have developed upgraded CO gas detectors designed specifically for industrial environments where early detection can save lives.

These detectors use electrochemical sensors, which are known for their high accuracy and low false alarm rates, making them ideal for noisy, high-interference settings like warehouses or factories. They can detect carbon monoxide concentrations from 0 up to 1000 ppm, with a fine sensitivity of just 1 ppm—so even small leaks won’t go unnoticed. What sets these devices apart isn’t just detection, but smart functionality. Most models come with built-in data logging, which helps safety teams monitor exposure levels over time and analyze trends after an event.

And when danger strikes, they respond fast. With audible alarms, visual warning lights, These devices have pre-determined safety thresholds that, upon breaching, the alarm goes on. And, these thresholds have sensory triggers that turn on the alert mode with loud alarm sounds, loud enough to wake even the sleeping workers in every nook and corner. The alarm makes a sound around 85 decibels that is louder than normal industrial noise levels. Once the alarm is on, the entire setting is evacuated to identify the source of the leak and take necessary steps to make the setting gas-free.

Reason 4 – Legal Responsibility Mandate Action As Per Regulations

Conclusion

The magistrate ruled that apprehended migrants may not have been aware they were crossing into a military zone.

A United States judge in the southwestern state of New Mexico has dismissed trespassing charges against dozens of migrants apprehended in a military zone recently created under President Donald Trump.

The military zone is one of two so far that the Trump administration has created along the US-Mexico border, in order to deter undocumented migration into the country.

Entering a military zone can result in heightened criminal penalties. As many as 400 cases have since been filed in Las Cruces, New Mexico, alleging security violations and crimes like trespassing on restricted military property.

But starting late on Wednesday and continuing into Thursday, Chief US Magistrate Judge Gregory Wormuth began issuing dismissals at the request of the federal public defender’s office in Las Cruces.

Wormuth ruled that the government had failed to demonstrate that the migrants knew they were entering a military zone.

“The criminal complaint fails to establish probable cause to believe the defendant knew he/she was entering” the military zone, Wormuth wrote in his orders dismissing charges.

The ruling is the latest legal setback for the Trump administration, as it seeks to impose stricter restrictions and penalties for undocumented immigration. But the president’s broad use of executive power has drawn the ire of civil liberties groups, who argue that Trump is trampling constitutional safeguards.

Establishing new military zones has been part of Trump’s strategy to reduce the flow of migration into the US.

Normally, the crime of “improper entry by an alien” carries fines or a prison sentence of up to six months. But trespassing on a military zone comes with steeper penalties than a typical border crossing, and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has warned of a possible combined sentence of up to 10 years.

“You can be detained. You will be detained,” Hegseth warned migrants. “You will be interdicted by US troops and border patrol working together.”

On April 18, the first military zone was unveiled, called the  “New Mexico National Defence Area”. It covered a stretch of about 274 kilometres — or 180 miles — along the border with Mexico, extending into land formerly held by the Department of the Interior.

Hegseth has said he would like to see more military zones set up along the border, and in early May, a second one was announced near El Paso, Texas. That strip was approximately 101km or 63 miles.

“Let me be clear: if you cross into the National Defense Area, you will be charged to the FULLEST extent of the law,” Hegseth wrote in a social media post.

Hegseth has previously stated that the military will continue to expand such zones until they have achieved “100 percent operational control” of the border.

Trump and his allies have frequently compared undocumented immigration to an “invasion”, and they have used that justification to invoke wartime laws like the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.

In a court brief on behalf of the Trump administration, US Attorney Ryan Ellison argued that the new military zones were a vital bulwark for national security. He also rejected the idea that innocent people might be caught in those areas.

“The New Mexico National Defense Area is a crucial installation necessary to strengthen the authority of servicemembers to help secure our borders and safeguard the country,” Ellison said.

He noted that the government had put up “restricted area” signs along the border. But the public defender’s office in New Mexico argued that the government had not done enough to make it sufficiently clear to migrants in the area that they were entering a military zone.

In the US, the public defenders noted that trespassing requires that the migrants were aware of the restriction and acted “in defiance of that regulation for some nefarious or bad purpose”.

Despite this week’s dismissals, the migrants involved still face less severe charges of crossing the border illegally.