#naval-blockade

#naval-blockade

Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose more than 8 percent on Sunday to top $103 a barrel, marking the first time it exceeded the $100 threshold since Tuesday.

Germany started the First World War (1914-18) with the belief its armed forces could win a quick and decisive victory over France and then Russia. The reality turned out to be much more complicated as more countries became involved in a global war that lasted five years. An alternative title to this article, of course, could be How the Allies Won the War.

Venezuela has told the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) that the United States has continental ambitions over much of Latin America as it wages an unofficial war to remove the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. It's not just about Venezuela. The ambition is continental, Venezuela's UN ambassador, Samuel Moncada, told a meeting of the 15-member UNSC on Tuesday. The US government has expressed this in its National Security Strategy, which states that the future of the continent belongs to them, Moncada said.

Speculation was rife when the White House announced Donald Trump would be making an address to the nation on Wednesday night.

Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest armada ever assembled in the history of South America. It will only get bigger, and the shock to them will be like nothing they have ever seen before - until such time as they return to the United States of America all of the oil, land, and other assets that they previously stole from us.

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced a "blockade" of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, increasing the pressure on Nicolas Maduro's government. Trump has not disclosed how his administration would block the sanctioned oil vessels, nor whether he will ask the Coast Guard to intercept vessels like last week. The US has already deployed thousands of troops, nearly a dozen warships and an aircraft carrier in the Carribean.

In recent months, the Trump administration has blown up several boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific, alleging that the vessels were carrying drugs. Most of the boats originated in Venezuela, and at least 90 people have been killed in the strikes. Notably, Venezuela does not produce fentanyl, which is by far the deadliest illicit substance in the U.S. Last week, the Trump administration also seized an oil tanker from Venezuela, whose government it sought to overthrow during Trump's first term.

The Global Sumud Flotilla, the most ambitious and largest maritime mission to try to reach Gaza to date, set sail from various ports at the end of August. It comprises nearly 1,000 participants, including the Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg, the former mayor of the Spanish city Barcelona Ada Colau, and the Irish actor Liam Cunningham. The flotilla, which is defined as a fleet of ships under one command, was warmly received during a stopover in Tunisia on Sunday.