MEXCICO CITY (Sputnik) - Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez has alleged that US oil giant Exxon Mobil sponsored preparations for the 2023 foiled assassination attempts on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro with the aim of exploiting rich resources of the Essequibo region.
On Monday, Venezuelan Prosecutor General Tarek William Saab said that the country's security forces had thwarted preparations for five terrorist attacks and conspiracies, with 27 people detained in the case. The detainees are believed to have recruited Venezuelan military personnel and planned, in coordination with the US authorities, assassination attempts on Maduro, Padrino and Freddy Bernal, the governor of the Venezuelan state of Tachira.
"I dare say, this is funded by Exxon Mobil so that once the task of these conspiratorial actions is completed — the task of assassinating the Venezuelan constitutional president, our commander-in-chief, of killing him, taking him out — [the US can] come after the Essequibo region. These are not crazy ideas, this is a geopolitical analysis constantly carried out by the General Staff of the Bolivarian armed forces," Padrino Lopez said in an speech broadcast by the state-run VTV channel on Monday.........more below
US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is preparing to leave the Trump administration after what a new report has described as months of tension with Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, potentially triggering another change at the army’s top echelons.
According to the Friday report by The Wall Street Journal, Driscoll is expected to step down before the end of the year and could leave his post earlier. The newspaper cited people familiar with discussions over his departure.
The Journal reported that Driscoll and his family vacated the official residence assigned to the army secretary at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall this summer, a move that could indicate he was preparing to leave the position.
The reported departure would come at a time of continuing uncertainty at the top echelons of the army.
Hegseth abruptly removed Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George in April, while Trump has not yet nominated a permanent successo....more below
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The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) warns the enemies that any act of aggression against the Islamic Republic will not go unanswered.
In a statement on Thursday, the IRGC issued a “stern warning” to the enemies after US forces launched strikes against the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas.
Following the US military attack on a point on the outskirts of Bandar Abbas Airport with aerial projectiles, the IRGC carried out new strikes targeting the US air base from which the attack originated in the wee hours of Thursday, it added.
“This response is a serious warning to the enemy that they should know the act of aggression will not go unanswered,” the IRGC emphasized.
The elite military force warned of a “more decisive” response if the enemy repeated any act of aggression.
It also said the responsibility for the consequences of any IRGC response lies with the aggressor.
The statement comes after the IRGC Navy on Thursday forced an American tanker to turn back. The tanker ...
