President Donald Trump said that the US is engaged in a "non-international armed conflict" with drug cartels, shows a document informing Congress in Washington of the legal justification for deadly US strikes on ships off the coast of Venezuela, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
The agency notes that the text of the document, provided to it yesterday, was presented to US lawmakers by the Pentagon's chief lawyer this week, as legal experts question the legality of killing suspected drug traffickers at sea, instead of detaining them along with their cargo.
Last month, the US military blew up at least three ships suspected of drug trafficking, killing at least 17 people in operations that critics describe as Trump's latest efforts to test the scope of his powers as US president. The document describes those killed as "illegal combatants".
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it was changing helicopter routes in the area of two international airports near Washington, months after an "American Airlines" plane collided with a military "Black Hawk" helicopter near the US capital, Reuters reported.
The two airports are "Baltimore Washington Thurgood Marshall" and "Dulles" International Airport near Washington, the FAA said.
"These changes are a precautionary measure that will create an additional buffer zone between aircraft and increase the distance between helicopters and aircraft operating to and from each airport," the US Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.