Author: Justin M. Larson
ReutersDonald Trump has warned Venezuela’s new leader Delcy Rodríguez she could “pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro” if she “doesn’t do what’s right”.His comments to US magazine The Atlantic came as the country’s deposed president Nicolás Maduro was set to appear in a New York court on Monday.The US accuses Maduro, who is charged with drug trafficking and weapons offences, of running a “narco-terrorist” regime, a claim he denies. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has insisted the US is not at war with Venezuela, after air strikes in Caracas on Saturday led to Maduro and his…
The charity Brigitte Bardot established has issued a warning about “scam” merchandise purporting to fund its work following the French actress’s death.The Brigitte Bardot Foundation said it was aware of “crude fabrications” being advertised online alongside claims the proceeds will go to the animal welfare charity.It threatened to take legal action against anyone taking part in “these alleged illegal fundraising efforts”, stating: “Everyone is asked to respect the memory of the deceased.”Bardot died aged 91 last Sunday. After revolutionising 1950s French cinema and becoming a symbol of sexual liberation, she quit acting to devote her life to animals.But the actress-turned-activist…
Iran and Venezuela found kinship in anti-American ideology and in evading U.S. sanctions. Source link
The prime minister’s very notable tilt on the UK’s ties to the European Union post-Brexit on Saturday was designed to send a message to business, to Brussels and to other European capitals, as well as his backbenchers.Closer post-Brexit economic relations are now expected to be looked at as part of an annual process of bilateral talks rather than just at this year’s formal review of the UK-EU deal.It was Downing Street’s answer to political questions about a more ambitious Brexit reset involving rejoining the customs union with the EU.Some Labour backbenchers, union leaders and cabinet ministers have joined calls crystallised…
Delcy Rodríguez is the torchbearer of a government whose revolutionary roots are in disarray. She must appease constituencies who loathe U.S. meddling while fielding Washington’s demands. Source link
BBCThe course attracts both typical early 20s students and French government spies on day releaseUniversity professor Xavier Crettiez admits that he doesn’t know the real names of many of the students on his course.This is a highly unusual state of affairs in the world of academia, but Prof Crettiez’s work is far from standard.Instead, he helps train France’s spies.”I rarely know the intelligence agents’ backgrounds when they are sent on the course, and I doubt the names I’m given are genuine anyway,” he says.If you wanted to create a setting for a spy school, then the campus of Sciences Po…
Latin America was already struggling to how to handle President Trump’s interventions in the region. Then he attacked Venezuela. Source link
The skyline of Tokyo city, Japan.Tomohiro Ohsumi | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesAsia-Pacific markets were set to open higher Monday, after the U.S. attacked Venezuela and captured its leader Nicolas Maduro on Saturday, while oil prices edged lower amid uncertainty over the oil-rich country and risk premiums.Following the attack, Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were flown to New York — where they were charged with narco-terrorism conspiracy and other crimes. Drug trafficking, according to the indictment, “has enriched and entrenched Venezuela’s political and military elite.”Brent crude prices slipped more than 1% earlier before paring losses, and were last trading 0.25% lower,…
The attackers also abducted an unspecified number of people, including students from a Catholic school where over 300 people were kidnapped in November. Source link
Getty ImagesWhen US forces conducted a night raid on the Venezuelan capital Caracas, they didn’t just drag President Nicolás Maduro from his compound and put him on a boat to New York – they took his wife too.Cilia Flores, 69, has long been seen as one of the most powerful figures in Venezuela, a political operator in her own right who for decades has shaped the country’s fortunes.After years leading Venezuela’s National Assembly, she helped consolidate her husband’s grip on power after his 2013 presidential election victory.As First Lady, she was dubbed “First Warrior” by Maduro. But in that role…
Vanessa BuschschlüterLatin America editor, BBC News OnlineREUTERS/Leonardo Fernandez ViloriaMany of those who tuned in to US President Donald Trump’s news conference on Saturday were probably hoping to hear dramatic details of how US forces seized Venezuela’s leader, Nicolás Maduro, in a pre-dawn raid. But arguably a more surprising moment came when Trump announced that now that Maduro was in custody, the US would “run” Venezuela “until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition”.In another unexpected development, he added that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had been speaking to Maduro’s Vice-President, Delcy Rodríguez, who he said…
The videos, filmed on cellphones by people mainly in Caracas and La Guaira, showed the exact moments in which the U.S. air and ground incursion played out in real time. Source link
Getty ImagesFor many, this weekend marks the final pause of the Christmas break – a moment when most are still officially off work, but mentally edging closer to what comes next. After weeks of late nights, family time and a slower pace, the shift back to routine can bring a mix of reluctance, anxiety and low energy – even if you don’t dislike your job. Psychologists and workplace experts say that feeling is common and the challenge is less about finding the motivation to return to work and more about adjusting your mindset. That mindset starts with how you frame…
Before-and-after imagery released on Sunday shows that at least five buildings at the complex were destroyed by U.S. forces. Source link
Jennifer McKiernan,Political reporter andLaura Kuenssberg,Sunday with Laura KuenssbergJeff Overs/BBC/PA WireSir Keir Starmer has said the UK should move towards closer alignment with EU markets “if it’s in our national interest”.The prime minister told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg it would be “better looking to the single market rather than the customs union for our further alignment”, in order to protect trade deals with India and the US.But he ruled out revisiting manifesto promises not to rejoin the EU single market or customs union, or to end freedom of movement.The comments are the clearest indication yet that Sir Keir wants to pursue…
“I had utterly lost hope,” said one Venezuelan who has lived in exile from his country for seven years. Source link
AFP via Getty ImagesThe King said he was “privileged and proud” to have known Eva SchlossKing Charles has led tributes to Anne Frank’s step-sister and Holocaust survivor Eva Schloss who has died aged 96.Mrs Schloss was the co-founder and honorary president of the Anne Frank Trust, which Queen Camilla is Patron of.In the 1940s, Mrs Schloss and her family were chased from their home in Austria. They lived as refugees in the Netherlands before they were captured and sent to the notorious Auschwitz concentration camp.In a tribute posted on social media, the King wrote: “My wife and I are greatly…
After President Trump’s surprise ouster of Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, a team of New York Times editors set to work redoing the front page. Source link
ReutersDenmark has urged the US to respect its “territorial integrity”, after the wife of one of Donald Trump’s top aides tweeted a map of Greenland in the colours of the American flag.Katie Miller, who is married to the US president’s deputy chief of staff, posted the altered image of the Danish autonomous territory on her X feed late on Saturday, alongside the word “SOON”.Danish ambassador to the US, Jesper Moeller Soerensen, reposted her message, with a “friendly reminder” of the close defence ties between the countries. Trump has repeatedly raised the possibility of Greenland becoming an annexed part of the…
ReutersDenmark has urged the US to respect its “territorial integrity”, after the wife of one of Donald Trump’s top aides tweeted a map of Greenland in the colours of the American flag.Katie Miller, who is married to the US president’s deputy chief of staff, posted the altered image of the Danish autonomous territory on her X feed late on Saturday, alongside the word “SOON”.Danish ambassador to the US, Jesper Moeller Soerensen, reposted her message, with a “friendly reminder” of the close defence ties between the countries. Trump has repeatedly raised the possibility of Greenland becoming an annexed part of the…
Here’s the latest. Source link
A far-left activist group in Germany has claimed responsibility for a suspected arson attack that left tens of thousands of homes, as well as hospitals and businesses, without power in around-freezing temperatures.The Vulkangruppe (Volcano Group) said in a statement that the fossil fuel economy, not cutting power, was the target of the action.It will take until Thursday to reconnect power for all customers, with some schools due to be closed at the start of this week.Early on Saturday, several cables on a bridge were spotted burning near a power plant in south-west Berlin. The fire was quickly put out, but…
The secretary of state said that a military “quarantine” on some oil exports would stay in place to put pressure on the country’s acting leadership. Source link
Tiffany WertheimerandBBC Visual Journalism team@realdonaldtrumpThe US says its military operation to capture Venezuela’s president took months of planning, but when Donald Trump gave the order to launch, “Operation Absolute Resolve” only lasted about 150 minutes.The surprise early-morning attack on Saturday marked an unprecedented event in modern politics and culminated in the arrest of Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.Captured by troops from an elite US army unit as they tried to flee into a fortified safe room, the pair are now being held in a detention centre in New York and face narco-terrorism charges.As the sun rose on Saturday,…
