US strikes boat killing 2 in Pacific

The US military conducted its first strike on a vessel suspected of drug-trafficking in the eastern Pacific since late last year, killing two people and prompting a US Coast Guard search for a third survivor, in an operation that follows the Trump administration’s campaign against alleged smuggling boats begun in early September and comes shortly after US forces captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro earlier this month; meanwhile, a Venezuelan town hopes to benefit from initial plans to open the nation’s oil sector to private investment, potentially attracting US energy majors.