Idrees Ali

The Pentagon on Monday threatened to recall U.S. Senator Mark Kelly, a retired Navy captain, to active duty status in order to prosecute him after what it described as seditious behavior by the former astronaut and decorated veteran.

U.S. official sources told Reuters covert operations would likely be the first part of the new action.

President Donald Trump's decision to designate an alleged drug cartel that the U.S. links to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro as a foreign terrorist organization provides the Pentagon with a range of new options, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said.

Large defense companies have "conned" the U.S. military into buying expensive equipment when cheaper commercial options would have been available, U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll said.

This dramatically escalates a military buildup that has deepened tensions with Venezuela.

The U.S. Army aims to buy at least a million drones in the next two to three years and could acquire anywhere from a half million drones to millions of them annually in the years that follow, U.S. Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll said.

The strikes come against the backdrop of a U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean that includes guided-missile destroyers, F-35 fighter jets, a nuclear submarine, and thousands of troops.

The U.S. military staged a helicopter rescue for the survivors after the strike on their semi-submersible vessel.

The admiral who leads U.S. military forces in Latin America will step down at the end of this year, two years ahead of schedule, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on Thursday, in a surprise move amid escalating tensions with Venezuela.

A U.S. strike on a boat off the coast of Venezuela on Tuesday killed six suspected drug traffickers, President Donald Trump said, the latest such operation in recent weeks as the U.S. builds up military forces in the region.