Cuba has accused the United States of pushing towards the violent removal of Venezuela’s leadership, warning that the growing deployment of US military forces in the Caribbean represents an “exaggerated and aggressive” threat to regional stability.
“We appeal to the people of the United States to stop this madness”, Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said in a statement on Tuesday.
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He cautioned that “the US government could cause an incalculable number of deaths and create a scenario of violence and instability in the hemisphere that would be unimaginable”, adding that such actions would breach international law as well as the United Nations charter.
#Cuba denuncia la actual escalada militar en el Caribe en los términos más enérgicos posibles y reafirma su pleno apoyo a #Venezuela.
Si estalla la guerra, ¿dónde estará el Secretario de Estado? ¿Realmente alguien piensa que acompañará a los jóvenes soldados a arriesgar sus… pic.twitter.com/5O3RrbPsiI
The condemnation comes as US President Donald Trump weighs additional actions against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, with the White House refusing to rule out more forceful measures.
The Trump administration has repeatedly accused Maduro of leading a campaign to smuggle drugs into the US, even though it has not provided any evidence to back its claim.
Over the past two months, the US has bombed 21 boats in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, killing at least 83 people. It claimed that these boats were involved in drug trafficking, but authorities have released no evidence showing narcotics were present, and legal scholars argue that even if drugs were found, the attacks would likely still violate international law.
The US military footprint in the region is now the largest it has been in decades, with roughly 15,000 US personnel stationed across the Caribbean.
Trump has repeatedly insisted he is not seeking to topple the Venezuelan government.
Still, recent developments have heightened concerns about potential US intervention. On Saturday, the Reuters news agency reported – citing four US officials – that Washington was preparing to enter a new phase of operations related to Venezuela, and two of those officials said the options included attempting to overthrow Maduro.
Last month, Trump authorised the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela. Meanwhile, the US has also maintained a $50m reward for Maduro, an incentive that has expanded significantly since Trump’s first term.
Maduro, who has governed since 2013, maintains that Washington aims to remove him from power and says both the Venezuelan military and people would resist such efforts.
Tensions rose further this week when the US formally added the Cartel de los Soles – or Cartel of the Suns – to its list of foreign terrorist organisations (FTO). Cartel de los Soles is a term that Venezuelans use to describe high-level corruption by the country’s senior officials and leaders, but it isn’t an organised cartel, per se.
Trump told advisers on Monday that he intends to speak directly with Maduro at a date yet to be announced.
A Caribbean tour
Amid the soaring tensions, top US military officials began a tour of the Caribbean this week, meeting with leaders in the region.
Dan Caine, the top US military officer, travelled to Trinidad and Tobago on Tuesday for talks with Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar. According to a summary released by Caine’s office, the two reaffirmed bilateral ties and “exchanged views on challenges affecting the Caribbean region, including the destabilizing effects of illicit narcotics … and transnational criminal organization activities”.
Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also assured Persad-Bissessar of Washington’s commitment to “address shared threats and deepen collaboration across the Caribbean”, the Pentagon said.
He began his tour of the Caribbean on Monday with a stop in Puerto Rico, where he met US troops.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is scheduled to continue the diplomatic push on Wednesday in Santo Domingo, where he will meet Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader and Defence Minister Carlos Antonio Fernandez Onofre. The Pentagon said the visit is intended “to strengthen defense relationships and reaffirm America’s commitment to defend the homeland”.
Most Caribbean leaders have responded cautiously to the US strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats, calling for restraint and dialogue. Persad-Bissessar, however, has openly supported the attacks.
In early September, she said she had no sympathy for drug traffickers, declaring that “the US military should kill them all violently”. Her comments prompted criticism from regional figures and some domestic opposition politicians.
Amery Browne, Trinidad’s former foreign minister, told the local newspaper Newsday that the prime minister’s position is “reckless” and has distanced Trinidad and Tobago from CARICOM, the regional trade bloc.
Representative Eric Swalwell, a California Democrat who has been a frequent critic of Donald Trump, filed a lawsuit on Tuesday claiming Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte abused his power to retaliate against one of the president’s political opponents.
Swalwell alleges Pulte obtained and used the lawmaker’s personal mortgage records in violation of US privacy laws and constitutional protections for political expression. Pulte sent a criminal referral to the US Justice Department earlier this month claiming Swalwell committed mortgage fraud, which the congressman’s lawyers said was false and “a gross mischaracterization of reality,” according to the court filing.
The federal lawsuit marks the latest escalation of accusations by prominent Democrats and other Trump critics that US officials are using the might and resources of the federal government to carry out a retribution campaign on behalf of the president.
Swalwell alleged that Pulte “abused his position” by searching the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac databases to “concoct fanciful allegations of mortgage fraud” against prominent Democratic lawmakers. Pulte also made mortgage fraud referrals against New York Attorney General Letitia James and California Senator Adam Schiff, among others.
According to the lawsuit, Pulte accused Swalwell of claiming his home in the District of Columbia as his primary residence on a mortgage agreement to secure more favorable terms. The lawmaker said his sworn affidavit on the agreement made clear that the home would be his wife’s primary residence — not his — and that he remained a permanent resident of California.
A spokesperson for the housing agency and Swalwell’s attorneys did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Tuesday afternoon.
Damaged Reputation
Swalwell recently launched his campaign for California governor with a platform highlighting his record opposing the president. His attorneys argued in the complaint that Pulte’s mortgage fraud allegations hurt Swalwell’s “reputation at a critical juncture in his career” and forced him “to divert attention away” from his nascent campaign.
The lawmaker also said that the widespread publication of information about the address of his family’s home has exposed him and his young children to heightened security risks and caused “significant anguish and distress.”
“Pulte’s brazen practice of obtaining confidential mortgage records from Fannie Mae and/or Freddie Mac and then using them as a basis for referring individual homeowners to DOJ for prosecution is unprecedented and unlawful,” his lawyers wrote in the complaint.
Pulte has publicly lodged mortgage fraud allegations against several high-profile current and former officials that Trump has identified as political foes. His criminal referral of Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook laid a foundation for Trump to move to fire her. Cook denied the claims and has successfully fought in court to keep her job so far. The US Supreme Court is set to hear arguments soon.
The case against James, the New York attorney general, led to an indictment by a federal grand jury, but it was tossed out this week by a judge who concluded the lead prosecutor was unlawfully appointed. The administration has vowed to appeal. James’ lawyers separately have argued that the case should be dismissed because it’s a vindictive prosecution effort. Schiff and Cook haven’t been charged.
Swalwell wants a court to order Pulte to withdraw the criminal referral to the Justice Department. He’s also seeking an unspecified amount of money as compensation for the alleged privacy violations.
The case is Swalwell v. Pulte, 25-cv-4125, US District Court, District of Columbia (Washington).
A parking inspector and his wife have been arrested on suspicion of embezzling more than €1m (£878,000) from the parking meters of a small German town.
The unnamed municipal employee is thought to have taken coins out of parking meters in Kempten “on numerous occasions” and placed them in bank accounts that his wife had access to, local police said in a statement.
A money laundering report by a credit institution alerted investigators to the suspected theft. The parking inspector has been charged with 720 counts of theft, while his wife faces 720 counts of aiding and abetting theft.
Kempten Mayor Thomas Kiechle said he was “stunned and dismayed” by the allegations.
In October, the Kempten public prosecutor’s office was informed that cash was repeatedly being deposited into several bank accounts, according to the German news agency DPA.
Police then searched office premises in the early hours of 24 November, the same day that a 40-year-old man and a 38-year old woman were arrested.
They are now being held in separate detention facilities.
It is not clear how long it might have taken the couple to accrue the sum.
In response to the allegations, Kiechle announced the appointment of a commission to “review past work processes, uncover potential weaknesses, and reliably remedy them for the future.”
Kiechle noted that the names of the couple could not currently be released due to the ongoing investigation and privacy concerns.
In a written statement, Kiechle said: “I naturally support the public prosecutor’s office and the police in their thorough investigation of the allegations.”
“Until the proceedings are concluded, the presumption of innocence applies,” he added.
Kempten is one of the oldest settlements in Germany. Located in the country’s south, it sits under the hills of the Allgäu and has around 70,000 residents.
Warner Music Group and AI music generator Suno have struck what they call a “first-of-its-kind partnership”.
They claim the deal will “open new frontiers in music creation, interaction, and discovery, while both compensating and protecting artists, songwriters, and the wider creative community”.
The deal also settles previous litigation between the companies.
The deal, according to a press release, “brings together Suno’s best-in-class AI capabilities with WMG’s artist development leadership and expertise at the intersection of music and technology”.
Artists and songwriters, according to the companies, “will have full control over whether and how their names, images, likenesses, voices, and compositions are used in new AI-generated music”.
In 2026, according to the press release, Suno will make “several changes to the platform, including launching new, more advanced and licensed models”.
The release added: “When the new models launch in 2026, the current models will be deprecated. Moving forward, downloading audio will require a paid account”.
Suno also says that it will introduce download restrictions in certain scenarios: “specifically, in the future, songs made on the free tier will not be downloadable and will instead be playable and shareable”.
Paid tier users will have limited monthly download caps with the ability to pay for more downloads, according to the company.
Suno has also acquired Songkick, the live music, concert-discovery platform, from Warner Music Group, and will continue to run it as “a successful fan destination”.
The press release continued that “the combination of Suno and Songkick will create new potential to deepen the artist-fan connection”.
WMG and Suno say they are “committed to forging a blueprint for a next-generation licensed AI music platform”.
Robert Kyncl, CEO, WMG said: “This landmark pact with Suno is a victory for the creative community that benefits everyone.
“With Suno rapidly scaling, both in users and monetization, we’ve seized this opportunity to shape models that expand revenue and deliver new fan experiences.”
“This landmark pact with Suno is a victory for the creative community that benefits everyone.”
Robert Kyncl, WMG
Added Kyncl: “AI becomes pro-artist when it adheres to our principles: committing to licensed models, reflecting the value of music on and off platform, and providing artists and songwriters with an opt-in for the use of their name, image, likeness, voice and compositions in new AI songs.”
“Our partnership with Warner Music unlocks a bigger, richer Suno experience for music lovers, and accelerates our mission to change the place of music in the world by making it more valuable to billions of people.”
Mikey Shulman, Suno
Mikey Shulman, CEO, Suno said: “Our partnership with Warner Music unlocks a bigger, richer Suno experience for music lovers, and accelerates our mission to change the place of music in the world by making it more valuable to billions of people.
“Together, we can enhance how music is made, consumed, experienced and shared. This means we’ll be rolling out new, more robust features for creation, opportunities to collaborate and interact with some of the most talented musicians in the world, all while continuing to build the biggest music ecosystem possible.”
The round was led by Menlo Ventures with participation from NVentures (NVIDIA’s venture capital arm), Hallwood Media, Lightspeed, and Matrix.
WMG also settled its lawsuit with Udio last week and struck a licensing deal with the company for ‘next-generation’ AI music platform coming in 2026.
The Udio news arrived just an hour after WMG announced a new partnership with Stability AI on Wednesday (November 19), which the companies said will “advance the use of responsible AI in music creation”.
The settlements and licensing deals come just over a year after the RIAA, on behalf of all three major record companies, sued Udio and rival AI platform Suno for “mass infringement” of copyright.
Universal Music Groupalso settled with Udio last month, in addition to signing a deal for a licensed AI music platform set to launch in 2026.
Entities such as Denmark’s Koda and Germany’s GEMA, continue to pursue copyright claims against Suno.Music Business Worldwide
Intense cold can be dangerous for personal safety. Long stretches can also affect energy consumption, agriculture and transportation. Here’s the latest forecast, and where it’s expected to be colder than usual:
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Low-temperature forecast for Tuesday
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Sources: University of Maine Climate Change Institute and the National Centers for Environmental Prediction Global Forecast System
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Note: Maps on this page show forecasts for the period between 12 a.m. and 9 p.m. U.T.C. on Tuesday, Nov. 25, which corresponds to 7 p.m. on Nov. 24 through 4 p.m. on Nov. 25 Eastern time.
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The 27-year-old’s first outing at 147lbs did not exactly go according to plan, however, as a lacklustre performance ultimately saw him lose a unanimous decision to Rolando Romero.
That second professional defeat arrived in May, just over a year removed from Garcia’s controversial majority decision victory over Haney, which was later overturned to a no-contest.
This was because ‘King Ry’ had tested positive for ostarine, a performance-enhancing substance, which then prompted the New York State Athletic Commission to hand him a year-long ban. Despite that, and indeed his loss to Romero, Garcia is set for the chance to become world champion at 147lbs in 2026..
Since his first encounter with Garcia, meanwhile, Haney has bounced back with an uneventful win over Jose Ramirez, who he outpointed in May, and a far more impressive display against Brian Norman Jr.
After flooring his man in the second round of their fight last Saturday, Haney encountered minimal difficulty before claiming a unanimous decision victory over Norman and being crowned the new WBO welterweight champion.
With the 27-year-old having become a three-division world champion, it would seem that a rematch with Garcia remains at the top of his wish list.
Speaking with Fight Hub TV after his victory over Norman, Haney expressed his confidence that their potential showdown will materialise and that it will be a unification.
“Of course [I want the rematch with Garcia] – that’s redemption. The same way he was rooting for me [against Norman], I’ll be rooting for him [against Barrios].
“I want him to win, and I think that [the stars] will align. It’ll be a massive fight.”
If Garcia can defeat Barrios, a two-belt clash against Haney would certainly be one of the biggest fights of 2026.
DARPA’s X-65, that replaces conventional aircraft flight controls with puffs of air, is coming together at Boeing subsidiary Aurora’s Bridgeport, West Virginia facility. The fuselage is taking shape and awaits its radical wing design.
With its advanced diamond wing, the X-65 Control of Revolutionary Aircraft with Novel Effectors (CRANE) uncrewed demonstrator looks like it sneaked out of a science fiction movie. It’s already strange enough with its odd angles and unconventional flight services, but its purpose makes it even stranger as more details are released about its design.
The goal of the X-65 is to study how to do away with things like rudders, flaps, ailerons and other control surfaces. True, these are necessary for a small thing like making an aircraft able to fly, but they do have inherent drawbacks.
For one thing, they rely on complex mechanical systems to move, control systems to operate them, and structural elements to hold it all together, which means weight, complexity, and money. Another problem is that all the gaps, hinges, and deflecting surfaces for these control surfaces result in more drag, which reduces the aircraft’s efficiency.
About the size of a jet trainer, the X-65 aims at replacing all of this with a new Active Flow Control (AFC) system, where holes in the wings and the empennage shoot out carefully controlled jets of air from 14 nozzles to disrupt the airflow streaming over the aircraft, turning areas into virtual control surfaces.
By selectively activating these nozzles on one side of the aircraft or on sections of the wing, the AFC can instantly increase lift on one side by inducing roll, change the downwash at the rear to control pitch, or manipulate flow over the vertical surfaces to control yaw.
The X-65 fuselage under construction
Aurora Flight Science
In addition, the system can increase lift by controlling airflow on the leading edge of the wing, and the lack of control surfaces makes the aircraft inherently more stealthy because there’s less chance of radar signals finding angles to bounce off of.
So why the weird diamond wing?
The diamond wing is a low-aspect-ratio, straight-edged appendage that was chosen because, according to the designers, it’s the optimum testbed for the CRANE program. The straight edges of the wing and the variety of acute sweep angles enable the X-65 to generate different types of airflow patterns across its surfaces. It’s also highly susceptible to flow separation or breakdown of smooth airflow. The AFC system is designed to counteract and manipulate this breakdown. In fact, it exploits it in order to create the virtual control surfaces.
Because this is a test aircraft, the X-65 incorporates conventional moving control surfaces. DARPA describes these as “training wheels” that provide an added margin of safety, and in the early flights will establish a performance baseline against which to measure later flights using the AFC system. During these flights, the aircraft will reach transonic speeds, yet the new system is also expected to improve the performance of the diamond wing at slower speeds and high angles of attack – a part of the flight envelope that it generally handles poorly.
The X-65 is a few years behind schedule due to technical difficulties, and the maiden flight is now set for late 2027. After the CRANE program is completed, its replaceable modular components will allow it to be used as a testbed for later projects. This modularity also gives engineers the ability to use different nozzle configurations during current testing.
“We’re excited to continue our longstanding partnership with DARPA to complete the build of the X-65 aircraft and demonstrate the capabilities of active flow control in flight,” said Larry Wirsing, VP of aircraft development at Aurora Flight Sciences. “The X-65 platform will be an enduring flight test asset, and we’re confident that future aircraft designs and research missions will be able to leverage the underlying technologies and flight test data.”
Bogota, Colombia – Santiago Uribe, the brother of former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, has been sentenced to 28 years and three months in prison for aggravated homicide and conspiracy to commit a crime while leading a paramilitary group.
In Tuesday’s verdict, a three-judge panel in the northwestern province of Antioquia ruled that, in the early 1990s, Uribe “formed and led an illegal armed group”.
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Under Uribe’s leadership, the group allegedly “carried out a plan to systematically murder and exterminate people considered undesirable”.
Uribe has denied having any associations with paramilitary groups. His defence team plans to appeal.
The ruling reverses a lower court’s acquittal last year. The case will now pass to Colombia’s Supreme Court for a final verdict.
The conviction is the latest twist in a longstanding criminal investigation into the Uribe family and its alleged paramilitary ties.
Former President Alvaro Uribe has likewise been investigated for ties to paramilitary groups [File: Miguel Lopez/AP Photo]
Critics have accused Uribe and his brother, the former president, of maintaining ties to groups involved in grave human rights abuses during Colombia’s six-decade-long internal conflict.
Tuesday’s conviction relates to activities that took place on and around the Uribe family’s La Carolina cattle ranch, located in Antioquia.
In its 307-page ruling, the court detailed how the ranch was used as a base for The 12 Apostles, a far-right paramilitary group formed by ranchers in the early 1990s to combat leftist rebels, notably the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
The court described The 12 Apostles as a “death squad”, saying it performed “social cleansing” by killing “undesirables” including sex workers, drug users, people with mental illnesses and suspected leftist sympathisers.
Not only did the paramilitary group hold meetings at La Carolina, but training and weapons distribution were also carried out on site, according to the ruling.
Those were “acts with which crimes against humanity were committed”, the judges wrote.
Describing Uribe as the leader of The 12 Apostles, the court found him responsible for ordering the murder of Camilo Barrientos, a bus driver who was shot near La Carolina in 1994 for being a suspected rebel collaborator.
Tuesday’s ruling also highlighted collusion between paramilitaries and state security forces, saying the militia “enjoyed the cooperation, through action and inaction, of agents of the State”.
Uribe was first investigated for his involvement with The 12 Apostles in the late 1990s, but the investigation was dropped in 1999 due to a lack of evidence.
Colombian authorities resumed their investigation in 2010, detaining Uribe in 2016 on charges of homicide.
Former President Alvaro Uribe addresses his brother Santiago’s arrest during a news conference on March 6, 2016 [File: Luis Benavides/AP Photo]
While the trial ended in 2020, the lower court announced its verdict years later, in November 2024. The judge overseeing the case at the time, Jaime Herrera Nino, ruled there was insufficient evidence and acquitted Uribe.
Tuesday’s decision overturns that verdict. Human rights advocates applauded the ruling as a step towards accountability, even at the highest levels of power.
“The sentence is extremely important,” said Laura Bonilla, a deputy director at Colombia’s Peace and Reconciliation Foundation (Pares). “It shows the level of penetration that paramilitarism had in Colombian society.”
Gerson Arias, a conflict and security investigator at the Ideas for Peace Foundation, a Colombian think tank, said the complexity of the case reflects the power structures involved.
“Paramilitarism was deeply rooted in the upper echelons of society, and therefore clarifying what happened takes years,” he said.
“It is therefore likely that many of the collective things we know about paramilitarism are still pending resolution and discovery.”
The defendant’s brother, former President Alvaro Uribe, led Colombia from 2002 to 2010.
The ex-president himself was found guilty earlier this year of bribing former paramilitary members not to testify to his involvement with them.
The ruling was overturned in October, after a court ruled the evidence was gathered through an unlawful wiretap. It also cited “structural deficiencies” in the prosecution’s arguments.
The former president remains a powerful figure in right-wing politics in Colombia, and he has pledged to form a coalition to oppose a left-wing government in the 2026 elections.
“I feel deep pain over the sentence against my brother. May God help him,” the ex-president wrote on the social media platform X following Tuesday’s ruling.
