Donald Trump has ordered “a total and complete” blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, ramping up pressure on the country’s authoritarian leader Nicolás Maduro.
The move comes amid an escalating campaign by the Trump administration against Maduro that has included a ramped-up military presence in the region and more than two dozen military strikes on vessels in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea near Venezuela, which have killed dozens of people.
Last week, US forces seized an oil tanker off Venezuela’s coast that was traveling across the Caribbean. The tanker was thought to be loaded with about 2m barrels of Venezuela’s heavy crude, according to the New York Times. The Venezuelan government accused the US of “blatant theft” and described the seizure as “an act of international piracy”, further heightening tensions between the two countries.
In a post on social media on Tuesday night announcing the blockade, Trump alleged Venezuela was using oil to fund drug trafficking and other crimes and vowed to escalate the military buildup.
International Glance
Ukraine has launched a new, previously unreported “Sub Sea Baby” underwater drone and sank a Russian Kilo-class submarine in the Novorossiysk port, according to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).
President Donald Trump took aim at another media outlet on Monday by filing a $10 billion lawsuit against the BBC.
Germany’s foreign ministry on Saturday denounced Israel’s approval of a new plan that would see over 750 settler housing units built in the occupied West Bank, amid growing international concern over its violations of international law.
U.S. envoys arrived in Berlin Sunday morning for another round of talks intended to secure a deal to end the war in Ukraine.
A man who disarmed one of the gunmen in the deadly attack at Sydney's Bondi Beach is being praised for his heroic efforts and saving lives.
At least 11 people were killed and dozens more were wounded in a shooting at Sydney's popular Bondi Beach on Dec. 14 that targeted Australia's Jewish community, police and officials said.





























