The Justice Department is attempting to revive a centuries-old law to speed up efforts to claim Iranian oil tankers seized during the war with Iran, but maritime law experts say the plan could face hurdles. The top federal prosecutor in southern Texas confirmed last month that his office is involved in the effort to revive…
The United States military intercepted and sank a vessel that was allegedly being used to support at-sea drug trafficking by the Ecuadorian criminal organization Los Choneros, officials said on Wednesday. It came after a similar operation on Friday that destroyed another vessel linked to the gang, one of Ecuador’s main drug trafficking and extortion groups….
Washington — An Air Force email from August and obtained by CBS News shows the Pentagon was instructing personnel to stop referring to ongoing U.S. military operations in Iran as “Operation Epic Fury” — three months after the Trump administration declared it had ended. In response to questions from CBS News, the Pentagon said Wednesday…
The head of the U.S. military’s Central Command, Adm. Brad Cooper, has echoed President Trump’s insistence that the Strait of Hormuz shipping lanes are clear of sea mines, saying they are “open, and momentum is building.” He acknowledged, however, that vessels still seek direct U.S. military protection to use the vital waterway, which Iran has…
Kiribati, a tiny Pacific neighbor to Hawaii that has grown ties with Beijing, detained a Chinese vessel this month for illegally harvesting shark fins, its maritime police told AFP. The practice of cutting fins off live sharks and throwing the carcasses back into the sea is banned in much of the Pacific Ocean, but persists…
The United States military said Monday it carried out a strike on an alleged drug-trafficking boat in the Pacific Ocean, killing two people. U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) said in a post on X that the strike, which took place Sunday, targeted a vessel “operating along established narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific.” “Confirmed intelligence revealed…
Washington — The U.S. on Thursday imposed fresh sanctions on 15 individuals and entities based in Ecuador, along with 10 vessels, for their roles in an alleged maritime cocaine trafficking operation. According to the Treasury Department, the network — tied to Ecuadorian groups Los Choneros and Los Lobos, both designated by the U.S. as foreign…
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday defined Project Freedom, a day-old U.S. military operation to assist commercial vessels stuck in the Persian Gulf to get out via the Strait of Hormuz, as completely separate from hostilities with Iran that began with joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on the country on Feb. 28. “This operation is separate…
Adm. Brad Cooper, the head of U.S. Central Command, praised the crew of the USS Abraham Lincoln after he visited the cruiser on Saturday. In a statement shared on social media, Cooper said his time aboard the Lincoln was “awe-inspiring.” “I wish every American could see the crew in action,” he said. “You would beam…
A Russian tanker carrying millions of gallons of oil has run aground off the coast of Oman — and now risks breaking apart, potentially causing an environmental disaster on the scale of the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill. The Caroline Bezengi, which has been linked to Russia’s so-called shadow fleet to move sanctioned oil around the…
