Month: October 2025

The U.S. military carried out another series of strikes on four vessels in the eastern Pacific on Monday — killing 14 people and leaving a single survivor — as part of the administration’s broader campaign against groups it holds responsible for trafficking narcotics to the United States.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted on X that the attacks were carried out in three separate actions against boats, which the Pentagon stated were operating along known smuggling routes. Hegseth said the operations were conducted at the direction of the president and posted footage of the strikes online. In his message he described the mission this way: “Yesterday, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War carried out three lethal kinetic strikes on four vessels operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations (DTO) trafficking narcotics in the Eastern Pacific.” He added that the strikes brought the campaign’s overall death toll in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific to more than 50.

According to Hegseth’s account of the incidents, the three strikes hit different boats carrying suspected traffickers: “Eight male narco-terrorists were aboard the vessels during the first strike. Four male narco-terrorists were aboard the vessel during the second strike. Three male narco-terrorists were aboard the vessel during the third strike. A total of 14 narco-terrorists were killed during the three strikes, with one survivor. All strikes were in international waters with no U.S. forces harmed.”   Hegseth said U.S. forces launched immediate search-and-rescue efforts for the lone survivor, and that Mexican authorities accepted responsibility for coordinating that rescue.

The strikes have also generated sharp debate in Washington about the legal and political limits of using U.S. military force at sea against suspected smugglers. The White House has framed the operations as a hardline effort to disrupt transnational drug networks; and Hegseth echoed that stance, stating that “these narco-terrorists have killed more Americans than Al-Qaeda, and they will be treated the same. We will track them, we will network them, and then, we will hunt and kill them.”

President Trump, who is traveling in Asia, has said the administration will brief Congress on the strikes but does not intend to seek a formal declaration of war. In remarks last week, Trump said, “I think we’re just going to kill people that are bringing drugs into our country. OK? We’re going to kill them. You know? They’re going to be like, dead.” His comments, and the expanded use of lethal force at sea, have drawn criticism from some lawmakers who called the operations “extrajudicial killings” and complained of limited transparency from the administration.

Officials say the campaign has also included increased naval activity in the region: last week the U.S. ordered the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group and additional air assets into waters near Central and South America as part of efforts to pressure criminal organizations and governments accused of enabling trafficking. While Pentagon officials say some units are being reduced in other places, they emphasize the United States will continue recruiting and deploying forces for “key strategic areas” where it sees the greatest need to protect American interests.

Editorial credit: Joshua Sukoff / Shutterstock.com

Amazon announced Tuesday that it plans to cut roughly 14,000 positions from its corporate and technology workforce as part of a broad effort to simplify its structure, reduce bureaucracy, and redirect resources toward its most important priorities, including artificial intelligence.

The announcement comes just ahead of Amazon’s quarterly earnings report, as the company continues to reshape itself to stay competitive in an increasingly AI-driven economy. The company plans to invest $118 billion in AI and cloud development in 2025, underscoring its shift toward automation and advanced technology.

The layoffs, which will affect about 4% of Amazon’s 350,000 corporate and tech employees, represent one of the largest workforce reductions in the company’s 30-year history. Amazon employs about 1.54 million people globally, with most working in warehouses and logistics.

Beth Galetti, Amazon’s senior vice president of People Experience and Technology, detailed the restructuring in a company blog post, describing the move as a continuation of the streamlining process that began in 2024. She wrote: “last year, [Amazon CEO] Andy Jassy posted a note about strengthening our culture and teams — explaining how we want to operate like the world’s largest startup, the importance of having the right structure to drive that level of speed and ownership, and the need to be set up to invent, collaborate, be connected, and deliver the absolute best for customers.”  Jassy, who has overseen about 27,000 layoffs since taking the helm four years ago, warned earlier this year that further workforce reductions were likely as Amazon leans more heavily on generative AI to improve efficiency. He has encouraged employees to experiment with AI tools and “learn how to get more done with scrappier teams.”

Galetti added that the latest changes are intended to “get even stronger by further reducing bureaucracy, removing layers, and shifting resources to ensure we’re investing in our biggest bets and what matters most to our customers’ current and future needs.”

Employees impacted by the cuts will receive support over the coming weeks and months, and those who do not secure another position will be offered severance packages, health benefits, and outplacement services to assist with the transition. Galetti said “we’re working hard to support everyone whose role is impacted, including offering most employees 90 days to look for a new role internally (the timing will vary some based on local laws), and our recruiting teams will prioritize internal candidates to help as many people as possible find new roles within Amazon.”

Amazon emphasized that while certain divisions are being downsized, it will continue hiring in “key strategic areas”  as it ramps up investment in artificial intelligence – which Amazon described as the most transformative technology since the internet, which is reshaping the way companies innovate and operate. Galetti said: “What we need to remember is that the world is changing quickly. We’re convicted that we need to be organized more leanly, with fewer layers and more ownership, to move as quickly as possible for our customers and business.”

Despite the cuts, Galetti said Amazon remains optimistic about its future: “I don’t know of any other company with the breadth of Amazon, the number of exciting bold bets we’re making, and all the ways we can make customers lives better and easier around the world.”

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