Another boat strike in the eastern Pacific Ocean leaves 2 dead, US military says The U.S. military says it carried out another strike Monday on a boat accused of trafficking drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing two people The U.S. military said it carried out another strike Monday on a boat accused of trafficking drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing two people. The campaign of attacks on vessels that the Trump administration says are trafficking drugs in Latin American waters has persisted for more than seven months and continues even as the military has been preoccupied for more than six weeks with the Iran war. It was the second day in a row that U.S. Southern Command announced a strike on social media. It said Sunday that it blew up two boats in the eastern Pacific on Saturday, killing a total of five people and leaving one survivor. It was not immediately clear what happened to that person. With the latest attack Monday, at least 170 people have been killed in the boat strikes since the effort began in early September, months ahead of the U.S. raid in January that captured then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. He was brought to New York to face drug trafficking charges and has pleaded not guilty. U.S. Southern Command repeated previous statements by saying it had targeted the alleged drug traffickers along known smuggling routes. The military did not provide evidence that the vessel was ferrying drugs. It posted a video on X showing a small boat floating in the water before a huge blast hits it and smoke is seen pouring from the vessel. President Donald Trump has said the U.S. is in “armed conflict” with cartels in Latin America and has justified the attacks as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States and fatal overdoses claiming American lives. But his administration has offered little evidence to support its claims of killing “narcoterrorists.” Trump on Monday appeared to reference the tactic of boat strikes in Latin America while issuing new threats against Tehran as a blockade of Iranian ports took effect. “Warning: If any of these ships come anywhere close to our BLOCKADE, they will be immediately ELIMINATED, using the same system of kill that we use against the drug dealers on boats at Sea,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
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Vice President JD Vance downplayed the scope of the conflict in Iran, saying he would not describe it as “a war” given that major combat operations ended several weeks ago — even though military strikes recently intensified in the region. Bloomberg's Abeer Abu Omar has the latest.
Sep 4th, 2026 US VP Vance on Iran Conflict: “I Wouldn’t Call it a War” | Daybreak Europe 9/4/2026 Bloomberg Daybreak Europe is your essential morning viewing to stay ahead. Live from London, we set the agenda for your day, catching you up with overnight markets news from the US and Asia.
And we'll tell you what matters for investors in Europe, giving you insight before trading begins. Vice President JD Vance downplayed the scope of the conflict in Iran, saying he would not describe it as “a war” given that major combat operations ended several weeks ago — even though military strikes recently intensified in the region.
Global stocks extended their advance as easing bets on a Federal Reserve interest-rate hike this month lifted sentiment. And Volkswagen’s supervisory board backed a sweeping restructuring that calls for 50,000 additional job cuts, far fewer models and a smaller industrial footprint, giving Chief Executive Officer Oliver Blume his clearest mandate yet to overhaul Europe’s biggest carmaker.
Jordan, a U.S. ally hosting American military forces, has faced repeated drone and missile attacks, which reports suggest are linked to Iranian operations, alongside broader economic challenges and regional instability. Despite these security risks, Jordanian officials have affirmed their commitment to the alliance, while King Abdullah II warned that current global and regional disruptions pose a broad threat to international stability.
Oil prices rose this week as conflict intensified in the six-month war, with Iran reportedly maintaining control of the Strait of Hormuz while the US presses a counter-blockade of Iranian ports. Iranian authorities claimed to have targeted US military assets in Kuwait and the UAE, though Kuwait confirmed intercepting a missile and drone attack on its air base, while the UAE reported no evidence of an attack on its own facilities.
These exchanges followed Iran’s attribution of a deadly wedding strike in Kuhestak to the US, a claim US Vice President JD Vance stated is currently under investigation but disputed by Washington.