US strikes alleged drug boats in eastern Pacific, killing two

The U.S. military reported on Friday that it struck an alleged drug-smuggling boat in the eastern Pacific, marking the first known strike of its kind since the U.S. raid on Venezuela on January 3.

Two people were killed in the latest strike and one survived, the U.S. Southern Command said in a post on X.

"Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations," said the command.

The U.S. military has sunk over 30 alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific since September 2025, resulting in more than 110 deaths.

World Economic Forum (WEF) President Borge Brende has described dialogue as both an "aspiration" and a "necessity" for fostering global cooperation in an increasingly polarized world in an exclusive interview with China Media Group (CMG) in Geneva, Switzerland.

He emphasized the need for a "win-win" mindset and adapting to an era of "bespoke" and "plurilateral" cooperation,facing geopolitical fragmentation and a shifting paradigm of international relations,

His interview took place some days before the WEF Annual Meeting 2026 in Davos, a five-day gathering held from January 19 to 23 under the theme "A Spirit of Dialogue". The meeting focused on five pressing global challenges: how to cooperate in a more contested world, unlock new sources of growth, invest more effectively in people, deploy innovation at scale and responsibly, and build prosperity within planetary boundaries.

"So 'A Spirit of Dialogue' is an aspiration. We want more dialogue because we think talking to each other can bring the world more together and unfortunately we do see a bit of a fragmented and polarized world and we want to see leaders coming together and thinking that win-win, kind of dimension, what is good for your neighbor is also good for me and vice versa, so that's our aspiration," he said.

"We have a long tradition in bringing governmental leaders and business leaders together and we know that we can also at our best, based on dialogue, we can see that they can also reach agreements and and better understandings. And this is very important for us and we are hopeful that this year will be a year where we will see better global cooperation," he said.

Brende acknowledged that the context for international engagement has fundamentally changed, requiring new approaches.

"In the past, it was easier to bring people and leaders together because there was this approach of not beggar than neighbor but prosper than neighbor. Today we are seeing that globalization, that was what was the modus operandi for decades, is we're changing into a kind of a new paradigm where there's more competition between nations and cooperation will also change. It's more bespoke cooperation. It's more also this plurilateral, meaning that nations are coming together, those that do agree and they can move things forward," he said.

"In this new context, we also have to change and be realistic. We also, at the World Economic Forum, of course, we also very much, we're thriving under the former thinking where also the multilateral organizations played a more important role. But we also have to take into account the realities, the real politics of the world," he said.