In Short:
– The CIA conducted its first drone strike in Venezuela since the Trump administration’s military campaign began.
– Trump’s operation targeted a dock linked to drug trafficking, resulting in no casualties.

The United States has carried out its first confirmed drone strike inside Venezuela, marking a dramatic escalation in Washington’s expanding military campaign across the Caribbean. The operation, reportedly conducted by the CIA, targeted a remote port facility believed to be used by the Tren de Aragua gang to store and transport narcotics. No casualties were reported, as the dock was empty at the time of the strike.

President Donald Trump publicly acknowledged the attack in late December, describing a “major explosion” at a dock where drug-laden boats were allegedly loaded. Trump first revealed the strike during a radio interview, placing the operation around December 24, before later confirming it to reporters while declining to specify whether the CIA or the military carried out the mission. “I know exactly who it was, but I don’t want to say who it was,” he said from his Mar-a-Lago residence.

Drug networks

The strike comes amid a significant expansion of Operation Southern Spear, now the largest US military deployment in the Caribbean since the Cuban Missile Crisis. Around 15,000 US troops have been positioned across the region, supported by the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group and F-35 fighter jets. Since September, US forces have carried out at least 28 strikes on vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, resulting in more than 100 deaths, as Washington intensifies efforts to dismantle transnational drug networks.

The campaign has drawn fierce criticism from legal experts and international bodies. United Nations investigators have condemned the strikes as “extrajudicial executions,” warning they violate the UN Charter’s prohibition on the use of force. US legal scholars have also questioned the domestic legality of the operation, arguing it exceeds constitutional and statutory limits on executive power.

A slave’s peace

Venezuela has not formally commented on the dock strike, though Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello has accused the United States of months of “imperial madness.” President Nicolás Maduro has rejected Trump’s demands to step aside, telling supporters the country seeks peace “with sovereignty, equality, and freedom” — not what he described as “a slave’s peace.”

In Short:
– NASA and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory will launch the Pandora Mission on January 5, 2026, to find signs of life.
– The mission will study 20 exoplanets’ atmospheres for biosignatures, utilising an innovative telescope design.

NASA is gearing up to launch the Pandora Mission on January 5, 2026, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base. The compact satellite, developed with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, is designed to probe distant exoplanets for signs of life by analyzing their atmospheric composition. This $20 million mission focuses on detecting water vapor and other biosignatures across 20 known worlds.

At the core of Pandora is CODA, a 45-centimeter all-aluminum telescope offering innovative, cost-effective observations in both visible and near-infrared light. By separating planetary signals from the bright light of host stars, scientists hope to confirm the presence of water—a critical ingredient for life as we know it. Each of the 20 target planets will be observed 10 times during planetary transits, enabling continuous 24-hour monitoring sessions.

Pandora arrives amid growing excitement over exoplanet discoveries, including potential biosignatures found on K2-18b in 2025. Its observations will pave the way for future missions, like NASA’s Habitable Worlds Observatory, while rideshare payloads from Spire Global and Kepler Communications join the launch. The mission operations center at the University of Arizona will process all incoming data.

In Short:
– Trump and Zelenskyy discussed a peace plan at Mar-a-Lago, expressing optimism despite unresolved territorial disputes.
– Zelenskyy indicated a 90% agreement on the peace plan, emphasising security guarantees and significant reconstruction funding for Ukraine.

US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy have held high-stakes talks at Mar-a-Lago, claiming a revised peace framework to end Russia’s nearly four-year war in Ukraine is now 90% agreed. The meeting followed weeks of negotiations between US and Ukrainian officials and came just hours after Trump held an unexpected phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a move that reportedly caught Kyiv off guard.

Zelenskyy says security guarantees are the central breakthrough, with the plan allowing Ukraine to maintain an 800,000-strong military while receiving NATO Article 5-style protections from the United States and European allies. The proposal also includes an $800 billion reconstruction fund and an accelerated path toward European Union membership. Trump described the talks as “outstanding,” warning that without a deal, the conflict could drag on with devastating human costs.

However, major obstacles remain — particularly over territorial control in the eastern Donbas region and the future of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Russia is demanding Ukraine surrender all of Donbas, while Kyiv wants borders frozen at the current battle lines. Washington has floated demilitarised and free economic zones, while Zelenskyy has signalled he may put the full proposal to a national referendum. The talks come as Russia intensifies missile and drone attacks on Kyiv, even as European leaders join calls to shape the next phase of negotiations.