WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military said Friday that it has carried out another deadly strike on a vessel accused of trafficking drugs in the Caribbean Sea.

U.S. Southern Command said on social media that the boat “was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Caribbean and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations.” It said the strike killed three people. A video linked to the post shows a boat moving through the water before exploding in flames.

Friday’s attack raises the death toll from the Trump administration’s strikes on alleged drug boats to 133 people in at least 38 attacks carried out since early September in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declared last week that “some top cartel drug-traffickers” in the region “have decided to cease all narcotics operations INDEFINITELY due to recent (highly effective) kinetic strikes in the Caribbean.” However, Hegseth did not provide any details or information to back up this claim, made in a post on his personal account on social media.

President Donald Trump has said the U.S. is in “armed conflict” with cartels in Latin America and has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs. But his administration has offered little evidence to support its claims of killing “narcoterrorists.”

Richard Caulkin, 44, and Wendy Caulkin, 46, have both had their lives saved by organ transplants. Wendy received a new heart in 2011 while Richard had a double lung transplant in 2009. The couple are urging people to join the organ donor register. Wendy needs a new kidney as her have failed as a side-effect of the drugs needed to protect her new heart (NHSBT/PA)

Sir Keir Starmer will accuse parties like Reform UK and the Greens of being “soft on Russia”, “weak on NATO” and more likely to leave the nation divided and defeated.

The prime minister will further risk the wrath of Nigel Farage and his Brexiteers by saying that the UK is no longer the “Britain of the Brexit years” in a call for European unity to defend the continent from Russian aggression as the US steps back.

The comments will be delivered in a speech to global leaders at a security summit in Munich on Saturday.

However, despite the strong language, he is not expected to announce any plans to speed up a pledge to increase core defence spending from just over 2.3% to 3.5% of GDP by 2035.

Military officers privately concede this near-decade-long timeline, despite being agreed by all NATO allies, is far too slow and unambitious, given the scale of the threat posed by Russia and the need for the European side of the transatlantic alliance to do much more to defend itself as Donald Trump moves US assets away from the continent to focus on other priorities.

In an extraordinary attack on Reform UK and the Green Party, Sir Keir underlined the need to explain to the public why it is important to invest in rebuilding Britain’s defences.

“Because, if we don’t, the peddlers of easy answers on the extreme left and the extreme right are ready. They will offer their solutions instead,” he will say, according to excerpts from the speech released in advance.

“It’s striking that the different ends of the spectrum share so much. Soft on Russia and weak on NATO – if not outright opposed.

“And determined to sacrifice the longstanding relationships that we want and need to build, on the altar of their ideology.

“The future they offer is one of division and then capitulation. The lamps would go out across Europe once again. But we will not let that happen.”

A spokesperson for Reform UK fought back in a statement: “This is a speech from a weak prime minister on the verge of being hounded out of office by his own party. This is a man that refuses to find the money to increase defence spending and is making our country weaker and less secure.

“Reform UK believes our priority should be rebuilding our armed forces, properly funding defence to at least 3.5% of GDP, standing up to China and Russia and strengthening our bilateral relationships.”

Read more from Sky News:
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The Starmer government is looking to forge closer relations with European Union allies in procuring military equipment, such as missiles, warplanes and drones – a strengthening of ties that were badly strained after the UK voted to leave the bloc a decade ago.

“We are not the Britain of the Brexit years anymore,” the prime minister is expected to say.

“Because we know that, in dangerous times, we would not take control by turning inward – we would surrender it. And I won’t let that happen.

“There is no British security without Europe, and no European security without Britain. That is the lesson of history – and it is today’s reality too.”

The comments triggered an instant backlash from the Conservatives.

Dame Priti Patel, the shadow foreign secretary, said: “Keir Starmer has a habit of handing away sovereignty and now he is once again rolling the pitch for greater EU integration and less control for the UK.

“Britain is uniquely placed to help bring the US and Europe together, ensuring NATO is as strong as possible. We must not be overdependent on America, but neither should we offer Europe a blank cheque, prepared to accept any and all costs as Labour are.”

In what has become the biggest public annual gathering on European security, the three-day Munich Security Conference is also bringing together Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, as well as leaders of European allies such as Germany and France, plus delegates from across the world, including China’s foreign minister.

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Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president, is also present and is due to give his speech to the conference as well on Saturday, with efforts still under way, led by the US, to secure a peace deal between Kyiv and Moscow even as Russia’s full-scale war is about to enter its fifth year.

Mindful of the need to keep Washington close, Sir Keir is expected to say that the US remains an indispensable ally – but that the UK and Europe need to be able to operate militarily with more independence.

“I’m talking about a vision of European security and greater European autonomy that does not herald US withdrawal but answers the call for more burden sharing in full, and remakes the ties that have served us so well,” he is expected to say.

A wine lover has shared her tip for getting ‘quality’ bottles of wine for under £6 each away from supermarkets

I hold three wine qualifications, so getting the right bottle is important to me. I often find myself visiting my local supermarket ASDA to pick one up, but, sometimes, I find myself wanting more of a superior range.

There are certain wines on the supermarket shelves that are nice enough, but when I’m paying over £10 a bottle, I feel like I’d likely discover both improved value and quality elsewhere. I’d heard excellent things about Naked Wines, and was fortunate enough to test their wine advent calendar years ago, but I’d never actually tried a case before.

That is until last week. I browsed through the range of cases that were on offer and whilst I do enjoy a smooth red and crisp white, I didn’t select that box. Instead I compared the wines inside with the Adventurer’s Mixed Selection Case and decided it was worth the risk.

How Naked Wines operates is subscribers pay £25 a month in credit they can spend on their choice of wine – with options to use their experts to pick for them if desired. However, new subscribers can secure a £144.99 case for £69.99 by claiming a voucher, which reduces the price to £5.83 a bottle – significantly cheaper than the supermarket for inferior quality wine, reports the Mirror.

This is because Naked Wines eliminates the middle-person to deliver wine directly to the consumer from the winemakers. Now, it only arrived last week and turned up at my door in time for the weekend.

£75 off Naked Wines

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£69.99

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Three days afterwards, the wines listed as included in the box on the website have altered, with the Tempranillo rosé and Pinot Grigio I brought to my book club switched out.

I’m delighted that the wines change regularly – for those wanting to sample new wines, it appears to be a reliable wager that there will constantly be a variety available in the cases. However, Angels – the name of subscribers to Naked Wines – can rate their wines and add them to future orders as long as they’re still available, so there’s still a chance to get preferred wines back.

There is also a complimentary bottle of wine whenever they order a case of 12. As long as someone has the storage capacity for the wine I think this is a brilliant way to do it, I can see 12 bottles lasting me months.

I went through two of the bottles at the weekend with my book club and I’m eyeing up the pinotage for a lovely dinner when my best friend comes to visit.

I’m pleased that on the back of the bottles there’s a QR code that leads to a more comprehensive description of what’s in the bottle. There’s also a concise description of the wine and a guide for what food it’s best paired with.

This makes it considerably easier to grab a bottle after dinner is already served or to even plan a meal around the bottle. The bottles I’ve sampled so far were delightful.

I chose a bottle of white and a bottle of rosé that we enjoyed between mouthfuls of hummus and tortilla chips as we delved into the finer details of our latest read. The wine was such a success that my aunt even enquired where she could purchase it.

The Tempranillo rosé is a fresh and ‘ready to party’ rosé which absolutely hit the spot. It boasts typical notes of strawberries, cherries and a hint of grapefruit.

Although it can be paired with fish, vegetables and spicy food, we decided against matching it with a hot meal and instead savoured it as we chatted.

The Giano Pinot Grigio DOC was incredibly easy to drink. With hints of peach and green apple alongside a zesty lemon note, it complemented the hummus well but would pair even better with a light pasta dish. These are by no means the most complex wines I’ve ever experienced (that accolade belongs to some very old bottles of reds that I actually don’t wish to drink again) but they are so effortless to drink.

It’s crucial to always remember to drink responsibly, but I think with a good bottle of wine that can be appreciated, that’s simple to do.

I have sampled and enjoyed other wine subscription services, with Virgin Wines (which has cases beginning at £122.88) actually introducing me to some of my favourites like Gruner Veltliner and Good Pair Days notably having incredible wine accessories that are ideal for a picnic or when hosting guests. The prices are quite comparable.

One thing’s for certain, I definitely see the advantages in purchasing wine online rather than winging it in the supermarket. The quality is massively superior.

A reader feels Sony was the weakest part of the recent State of Play and draws a comparison with Valve’s disengagement from making video games.

Despite the late starting time I stayed up and watched the State of Play on Thursday and I’d say in general I wasn’t disappointed. There was a lot of great games and a decent range of genres. I would’ve given it top marks if the Castlevania game had been 3D or we’d seen something on the third Final Fantasy 7 remake game but overall I was entertained and very interested in Silent Hill Townfall, John Wick, and Yakoh Shinobi Ops.

The biggest disappointment by far though, and the thing that almost ruined it for me, was seeing how little effort Sony themselves put into it. GC covered some of this in their report on the livestream, but Sony didn’t really announce anything new that was made by themselves, they’re just publishing games made by outsiders again – their own studios working on who knows what (or just getting covered in cobwebs).

As everyone knows, they’ve been like this for a while but what hit me with this State of Play is how similar they’ve become to modern day Valve. Both are important pillars of the gaming industry but both seem to have lost all interest in making video games, apparently because they make so much money by simply selling other people’s.

I realise making money is the one and only goal of a company, but I still find this a very strange attitude. Video games are still profitable – very much so if they’re a big hit – and exclusive games are a big reason why people pick a particular console. Although I suppose that matters less to Sony now that no one is picking an Xbox.

But making video games is still something Sony is expected to do, it’s why us fans have been so frustrated and angry with them over the last few years. There’s always an excuse though, first it was Covid, then it was rising costs, then it was the stupid live service pivot – which may or may not be over now.

With this latest State of Play it occurred to me that it’s a lot simpler than that: Sony just isn’t that interested in making games anymore. They do the bare minimum to justify keeping their studios going and that is it. They’re just not that bothered about speeding things up and there doesn’t seem to be any passion for anything.

The head of PlayStation, whoever that even is now, never appears on these things anymore and you can see from the half-hearted way that Horizon Hunters Gathering (which wasn’t in the State of Play) was announced that they’re just going through the motions.

I wouldn’t be surprised if they started shutting down their first party studios and just didn’t bother with games anymore, then they’d be even more like Valve.

Valve used to be one of the most respected developers in the world, with games like Half-Life, Left 4 Dead, and Portal but now that Steam has a monopoly on PC gaming they just don’t care anymore. They haven’t made a normal single-player game in over a decade and all their talent slowly left, after years spent twiddling their thumbs.

It’s been so long most younger gamers probably don’t even realise Valve used to make their own games and I worry it’s going to get like that with Sony. They had their longest ever State of Play and they couldn’t even announce a single new game made by a first party developer (if it’s found out they are doing the God Of War remake trilogy then that will still be the lamest, least interesting option possible).

I just don’t get it. Especially as it’s always been true that companies make more money on software than hardware (Microsoft better hope that’s true at least). Presumably they’ve run the numbers and figured out that sitting around doing nothing is the best option but It doesn’t seem that way to me.

By reader Soldat

The reader’s features do not necessarily represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.

You can submit your own 500 to 600-word reader feature at any time, which if used will be published in the next appropriate weekend slot.

Just contact us at gamecentral@metro.co.uk or use our Submit Stuff page and you won’t need to send an email.

MORE: Xbox can’t be a third party publisher if no one likes their games – Reader’s Feature

MORE: The redemption of the PS5 beings with Horizon Hunters Gathering – Reader’s Feature

MORE: I’m glad GAME is going away as buying games digitally is better than physical – Reader’s Feature

One woman, who has face blindness, has difficulty watching films with more than four characters, but her companion helped to explain who is who when she got confused. Another woman, with severe dyslexia, used the AI to help her read labels in shops. And another, with misophonia – she finds everyday noises overwhelming – says 4o could help regulate her by making her laugh.

President Trump vowed to impose voter ID requirements ahead of the midterms, with or without congressional approval, the latest escalation of his campaign to assert more control over elections, which he baselessly claims Democrats have been rigging against him and others.

“We cannot let the Democrats get away with NO VOTER I.D. any longer,” the president wrote in a Truth Social post on Friday afternoon. “These are horrible, disingenuous CHEATERS.”

“I have searched the depths of Legal Arguments not yet articulated or vetted on this subject, and will be presenting an irrefutable one in the very near future,” he wrote in another post. “There will be Voter I.D. for the Midterm Elections, whether approved by Congress or not!”

The president, in his posts, also made an unusually partisan direct address to the Supreme Court, claiming that if the status quo remained, Democrats would eventually try to pack the court with an expanded number of justices, end the filibuster in Congress, and add additional U.S. states.

“Our Country will never be the same if they allow these demented and evil people to knowingly, and happily, destroy it,” Trump wrote.

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The comments alarmed critics of the president.

“Trump’s authoritarian takeover and interference in the midterm elections under the guise of ‘election integrity’ has begun,” Melanie D’Arrigo, executive director of the advocacy group Campaign for New York Health, wrote on X.

This week, the House passed the SAVE Act along party lines, which would require proof of citizenship to vote and let the Department of Homeland Security seize voter rolls.

Republicans supporting the bill echoed the president’s unfounded claims of mass election interference from Democrats.

“Cheating is the only path to victory,” Representative Mary Miller, Republican of Illinois, told The New York Times.

Critics of the effort, which is unlikely to advance through the Senate, accuse the Republicans of pursuing a thinly veiled attempt at voter disenfranchisement, given that it is already illegal for non-citizens to vote, and millions of Americans don’t possess the legal documents, like a passport, that would help them prove their citizenship.

Almost all states require voters to attest that they are citizens to vote, under penalty of perjury.

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Earlier this month, a federal judge in Washington blocked parts of a previous Trump executive order requiring documented proof of citizenship when military members register to vote and mandating agencies “assess citizenship” before providing federal voting forms.

“Put simply, our Constitution does not allow the President to impose unilateral changes to federal election procedures,” U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly wrote.

The Constitution leaves administering elections largely to the states, but President Trump has continued to push for more federal involvement, an effort rooted in his continued insistence that non-citizens are cheating in elections, even though analysis, including a review by the Trump administration, suggests this barely ever happens and does not sway elections.

Earlier this month, the president called on Republicans to “nationalize” elections.

The White House has said it can offer “no guarantee” that federal immigration agents won’t be present at polling stations, as MAGA allies like podcaster and former White House strategist Steve Bannon have pushed to use armed immigration agents to “surround the polls.”

The Justice Department has sued multiple states to force them to turn over voter registration information.

Leaders in Illinois accused the administration of using federal force there to dampen civic participation and voter turnout in future elections.

Gov. JB Pritzker called the efforts a way to “circumvent our democracy, militarize our cities, and end elections.”

The celebrity chef has set the record straight on what really happened at Brooklyn Beckham’s wedding

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Gordon Ramsay has revealed what actually took place at Brooklyn Beckham’s wedding – including the reality behind Lady Victoria’s supposedly ‘inappropriate’ dancing.

The celebrity chef is a close friend of the Beckham family and attended Brooklyn’s 2022 wedding to Nicola Peltz. Earlier this year, Brooklyn stunned the world by sharing a damning statement about his family on Instagram, reports the Mirror..

Amongst his claims against them, he alleged that his mother “hijacked” his first dance with his wife to “dance very inappropriately on me”.

Many have questioned what this entailed and speculated about how ‘inappropriate’ Victoria’s dancing actually was. However, Gordon has now clarified the situation, revealing what genuinely occurred.

“We were there at the wedding,” he told The Sun. “There was nothing salacious. There was nothing inappropriate. Everyone was having fun, having a dance.”

The chef was asked whether Victoria ‘grinded’ on her son, as numerous memes have suggested. “No! Nothing of the sort. It was fun,” he replied.

Gordon also said he had not seen the memes about Victoria but that the former Spice Girl has a “great sense of humour”. He added that she would be “right to be upset” about the wedding but “can bat that other s*** away in a heartbeat”.

Gordon’s wife, Tana, has reportedly been a source of support for Victoria recently. Like the Beckhams, the Ramsays are embroiled in a family feud, as their daughter, Holly, and her husband, Adam Peaty, uninvited the Peaty family from their December wedding.

During his wedding speech, Gordon is believed to have remarked that Tana was a “good mum” to both the bride and groom. Some have interpreted this comment as a veiled criticism of Adam’s mother, Caroline, who was amongst the first to have her wedding invitation withdrawn.

The Michelin-starred chef claims he remains in touch with Brooklyn. He revealed that he and the wannabe photographer-turned-wannabe chef have “messaged a little bit” and that their “relationship is solid”.

Gordon expressed his love for Brooklyn, describing his “heart is incredible” whilst cautioning that things become difficult “when you’re infatuated”.

Gordon suggested it’s easy to “get carried away” but forecast that Brooklyn “will come back” eventually, despite the 26 year old’s firm stance that he has no intention of reconciling with his family. Gordon not only described David and Victoria Beckham as “incredible” parents, but also stated it was simply “a matter of time” before Brooklyn “understands what his parents mean to him”.

Wedding DJ Fat Tony has backed Gordon’s claim that Victoria’s dancing wasn’t inappropriate. The DJ clarified that it wasn’t the dancing itself that was problematic, but rather when it occurred.

Appearing on This Morning, he explained: “There was no slut dropping, there was no PVC catsuit, there was no Spice Girls actions. The word inappropriate – why I said it was inappropriate as well, because it was the timing.

“What happened was – basically, Marc Anthony was performing on stage, he then called Brooklyn onto the stage. Everyone is expecting Nicola to go up and do the first dance and then Marc asks the most beautiful woman in the room to come to the stage.

“Then he said: ‘Victoria, come to the stage.’ At that point, Brooklyn is devastated because he thought he was going to do his first dance with his wife.”

Andrew Trimble joined Patrick Kielty on the popular talk show

Andrew Trimble spoke about life after rugby, Ulster identity and Ireland’s prospects in Six Nations as he appeared on RTE’s Late Late Show.

The former Ireland and Ulster Rugby star joined Patrick Kielty on the popular talk show tonight where he spoke about his new career on the television since finishing his playing days, with him recently appearing on Ireland’s Fittest Family where he won the show as coach of the McKenna family.

Andrew talked about his highlights in an Ireland career, such as filling in for Brian O’Driscoll after an injury and helping the team to become one of the best in the world.

READ MORE: Una Healy, Andrew Trimble and Tom Allen lead Valentine’s Late Late Show line-upREAD MORE: Andrew Trimble family: From Ulster rugby legend to podcaster and TV analyst

He also spoke to Patrick about his documentary on his identity in Ulster coming from a protestant background and reflecting on how that fits in with the world now.

He did admit he was anxious to talk about the Six Nations but said that people are being “very dramatic” about a good Irish squad despite an upsetting game against France in Paris.

Andrew did warn that Italy will be a tough game on Saturday, but going to Twickenham will be a “big ask” for the team when they face off against England next week.

He also told Patrick about his children and how while his son has followed his footsteps into rugby, his daughters prefer singing, dancing and K-Pop Demon Hunters.

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