The design of the bridge windows on the Coast Guard's fast response cutters and failures by the watch on the cutter Winslow Griesser contributed to the death of a recreational fisherman off Puerto Rico last August, a service investigation has concluded. It also cited the actions of the crew of the 22-foot boat with which the cutter collided.

Results from a major incident investigation published Friday by the Coast Guard found that the two fishermen aboard a 22-foot center console recreational boat, the Desakatado, failed to yield right of way to the cutter Winslow Griesser, resulting in a collision that killed Puerto Rican resident Carlos Rosario and injured his brother, Samuel Rosario Beltrán.

But the investigation also found there was "sufficient evidence" that the Winslow Griesser did not maintain a proper lookout or a safe speed that might have made the Aug. 8, 2022, accident preventable.

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The rules of the maritime road say that ships on the starboard side have the right of way, while the general rule of thumb for most mariners is that smaller boats should always give way to larger ones.

The Desakatado failed to do either.

But in his report, Vice Adm. Kevin Lunday, Atlantic Area commander, noted mistakes on the Coast Guard vessel that prevented the cutter from anticipating the accident or taking corrective measures to avoid it.

This included the officer of the deck remaining stationary in the middle of the helm, subject to blind spots created by the bridge's metal window frames, instead of walking around to get a full picture of the horizon.

Lunday also said that the cutter's speed was a factor in failing to prevent the accident, even as he did not rule that the cutter was traveling at an unsafe speed.

"While the sea state played a factor in restricting the visibility for small vessels when they dip below swell height, I do not believe it necessitated either vessel to reduce speed for the prevailing conditions," Lunday wrote.

Nonetheless, based on the findings, Lunday concluded that the accident was caused because neither the cutter nor the recreational boat saw the other.

Two U.S. Air Force drones flying over Syria have had unsafe encounters with Russian jets in the past week, an increasing pace of incidents that experts say may be a reflection of Russia's growing military weakness in the face of extended fighting in Ukraine.

The incidents drew the condemnation of both the Air Force as well as the Pentagon, which released dramatic video of both encounters, while U.S. military officials have vowed to continue flying drones in the region.

Experts who have studied the incidents say that, while Russia has a long history of using these tactics to advance its policy goals, the spike in recent dangerous encounters suggests there's a rising concern among its military about being perceived as weak and ineffectual as the war in Ukraine drags on and a recent mutiny from a top commander raises questions about the country's future.

On Wednesday, the Air Force announced that three of its MQ-9 Reaper drones were harassed by three Russian fighter jets that "dropped multiple parachute flares in front of the drones, forcing our aircraft to conduct evasive maneuvers."

"Additionally, one Russian pilot positioned their aircraft in front of an MQ-9 and engaged [the] afterburner," the service said in a statement.

Then, Thursday evening, the Air Force said that the Russian pilots harassed another set of MQ-9 drones by again dropping flares and flying dangerously close to the aircraft.

Pentagon spokesman Gen. Patrick Ryder stressed at a briefing with reporters Thursday that the two incidents will not stop the mission the drones were all engaged in -- the U.S. military's continued efforts against ISIS.

He also pushed back on the assertion that the U.S. should have done more to avoid the incident.

"We have rules in place -- well-established processes and procedures -- and have very successfully deconflicted with the Russians over many years when it comes to safe operations in that region," Ryder said. "To suggest that somehow this is our fault is ridiculous."

What stands out to experts is the growing pattern of Russian action.

RICHMOND, Ky. — The last of the United States’ declared chemical weapons stockpile was destroyed at a sprawling military installation in eastern Kentucky, the White House announced Friday, a milestone that closes a chapter of warfare dating back to World War I.

Workers at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky destroyed rockets filled with GB nerve agent, completing a decadeslong campaign to eliminate a stockpile that by the end of the Cold War totaled more than 30,000 tons.

“For more than 30 years, the United States has worked tirelessly to eliminate our chemical weapons stockpile,” President Joe Biden said in a statement released by the White House. “Today, I am proud to announce that the United States has safely destroyed the final munition in that stockpile — bringing us one step closer to a world free from the horrors of chemical weapons.”

The weapons' destruction is a major watershed for Richmond, Kentucky and Pueblo, Colorado, where an Army depot destroyed the last of its chemical agents last month. It's also a defining moment for arms control efforts worldwide.

The U.S. faced a Sept. 30 deadline to eliminate its remaining chemical weapons under the international Chemical Weapons Convention, which took effect in 1997 and was joined by 193 countries. The munitions being destroyed in Kentucky are the last of 51,000 M55 rockets with GB nerve agent — a deadly toxin also known as sarin — that have been stored at the depot since the 1940s.

By destroying the munitions, the U.S. is officially underscoring that these types of weapons are no longer acceptable in the battlefield and sending a message to the handful of countries that haven't joined the agreement, military experts say.

“Chemical weapons are responsible for some of the most horrific episodes of human loss,” Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said in a statement. “Though the use of these deadly agents will always be a stain on history, today our nation has finally fulfilled our promise to rid our arsenal of this evil.