Danish PM backed by regional leaders as Trump doubles down on claim that Greenland should become part of US
Meanwhile, at least two people were killed in a series of overnight Russian attacks on Ukraine, just a day before a high-level diplomatic summit in Paris on ending the war.
AFP reported that the strikes caused power outrages in some areas of the country, with backup systems activated to maintain water and heating supplies, the official said, as temperatures dropped to -8C.
A UK minister would not be drawn into saying whether his government believes the US capture of Venezuela’s president was influenced by the country’s rich oil reserves.
Asked on Sky News why he thought Donald Trump had captured Nicolás Maduro and said America would “run” Venezuela, Home Office minister Mike Tapp said:
This is for Donald Trump to answer, and I think he has said in his press conference, which I watched with interest around narco-terrorism and that threat.
It’s not just the triumphalism in the White House. Leaders loth to oppose this gangsterism must think how that looks to Putin, Xi and in the UAE
I never thought it possible that you could look back on the Iraq war, and the foreign invasions of the “war on terror” in general, and feel some measure of nostalgia. For a time when there were at least concerted attempts to justify unilateral interventions and illegal warsin the name of global security, and even a moral duty to liberate the women of Afghanistan or “free the Iraqi people”.
Now, as the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, is in essence abducted and Venezuela taken over by the US, there is barely any effort to situate the coup in any reasoning other than the US’s interests. Nor are there any attempts to solicit consent from domestic or international law-making bodies and allies, let alone the public. The days of the US trying to convince the world that Saddam Hussein did in fact have weapons of mass destruction despite secretly having no reliable intelligence were, in fact, the good old days.
President Trump says Cuba is “ready to fall" after the U.S. operation that captured Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro, cutting off a key economic and security lifeline to Havana.
Trump has called on Venezuela’s interim leader to adhere to US demands as top Republicans scramble to answer questions about what happens next – key US politics stories from 4 January 2026
Proclaiming the US would “run” Venezuela after abducting its president and his wife, president Trump has now qualified his claim. Amid questions, including from top Republicans, Trump has now called on Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, to accommodate US demands or face the possibility of a fresh military intervention.
Rodríguez, 56, who had on Saturday pledged fealty to ousted president Nicolás Maduro and condemned his capture as an “atrocity”, appears to be adhering to the US line.
On Air Force One, President Trump threatened Colombia and its president, described Cuba as “ready to fall” and reasserted his desire to acquire Greenland.
President Trump claimed the U.S. is "in charge" of Venezuela after Maduro's arrest, outlining plans to rebuild economy and delay elections until recovery is complete.
British and French aircraft struck an underground ISIS facility in Syria believed to be used for weapons storage. RAF Typhoon jets targeted the site north of Palmyra.
Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s president, and his wife, Cilia Flores, will make their first appearance on Monday in a New York City courthouse, the site of other high-profile proceedings.
The trials of many notorious defendants have taken place at the courthouse in Lower Manhattan where Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, will be arraigned on Monday.
Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores face "worst-case scenario" in U.S. custody according to expert, with federal indictments on drug and weapons charges.
Trump's arrest of Venezuelan dictator Maduro sparks fierce debate as Democrats allegedly call it "illegal" while supporters cite constitutional authority.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene criticized President Donald Trump's Venezuela strikes capturing Maduro, arguing domestic policy should be priority over foreign intervention.
Protests bubbled up in several US cities over the weekend as people demonstrated against the Trump administration’s unilateral military intervention in Venezuela – even as many in the diaspora publicly celebrated the forced removal of president Nicolás Maduro.
Gatherings took place as crowds expressed opposition to a potential war with Venezuela and to declare illegal the US operation to snatch Maduro early on Saturday and bring him to the US to face drug-trafficking charges in court.
Elon Musk and President Donald Trump appear to reconcile after political tensions over federal spending, sharing a "lovely dinner" at Mar-a-Lago following disagreements.
Denmark called on the United States to stop "threatening" Greenland Sunday, as President Donald Trump told U.S. media he "absolutely" needed the territory, a day after Washington seized the leader of Venezuela. Read More
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. will use leverage over oil to force further change in Venezuela as he seizes a long-awaited chance to try to shape Latin America in Washington’s favor. Read More
Washington keeping 15,000-strong military presence in Caribbean in case interim president hinders US objectives
The prospect of the United States seizing direct control of Venezuela appeared to recede on Sunday after the shocking ousting of president Nicolás Maduro – but US officials warned they might make a fresh military intervention if interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, did not accommodate their demands.
Speaking to reporters late Sunday, Donald Trump also raised the possibility of military action in Colombia.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio at a news conference with President Trump at Mar-a-Lago, the president’s private estate and club in Palm Beach, Fla., on Saturday morning.
Venezuelans around the U.S. celebrated the downfall of Nicolás Maduro, expressing hope for the future of their country even as uncertainty swirls after the longtime leader’s forced removal and arrest by U.S. forces. Read More
The operation to capture the Venezuelan president and his wife involved at least 150 aircraft, months of surveillance – and reportedly a spy in the government
It took the US two hours and 28 minutes to snatch President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in the small hours of Saturday morning, an extraordinary display of imperial power that plunges 30 million Venezuelans into a profound uncertainty. But it was also months in the planning.
Critical to Operation Absolute Resolve was the work of the CIA and other US intelligence agencies. From as early as August, their goal was to establish Maduro’s “pattern of life”, or as Gen Dan Caine, the chair of the US joint chiefs of staff, described it, to “understand how he moved, where he lived, where he travelled, what he ate, what he wore, what were his pets”.
The illegal abduction of Venezuela’s president, and threat to ‘run’ his country, is a dangerous act. Its repercussions will be felt far beyond the region
Amid the immense confusion surrounding the US strikes on Venezuela, the seizure of the president, Nicolás Maduro, and Donald Trump’s announcement that the US will “run” the country and “take back the oil”, one thing is clear – they set a truly chilling precedent. The US has a grim history of interference, invasion and occupation in the region, but the early hours of Saturday saw its first major military attack on South American land. “American dominance in the western hemisphere will never be questioned again,” Mr Trump declared. The decision to unilaterally attack another country and abduct its leader – days after he publicly sought an off-ramp – has still wider repercussions. It should alarm us all.
Venezuelans have endured a repressive, kleptocratic and incompetent regime under Mr Maduro, widely believed to have stolen the last election. They now face profound uncertainty at best. Mr Trump has suggested that Mr Maduro’s deputy, Delcy Rodríguez, would follow US instructions, and dismissed the rightwing opposition leader and Nobel prize-winner María Corina Machado as a plausible replacement. But Ms Rodríguez, now interim president, has so far struck a defiant tone – and other parts of the decapitated regime are more hardline.
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New York’s new mayor will face headwinds as he attempts to carry out a programme of civic renewal. But his affordability agenda speaks to the times
The multiple firsts achieved by New York’s new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, have been well chronicled: he is the first Muslim to occupy that role, the first south Asian and the first to be born in Africa. He is also the youngest mayor of the largest city in the United States for over a century, having received more votes in November’s election than any candidate since the 1960s. And politically, he is probably the most leftwing incumbent of the office since Fiorello La Guardia in the 1930s and 40s.
Hardly surprising then, that Mr Mamdani’s extraordinary rise to prominence should be accompanied by high expectations and tense anticipation. At last Thursday’s inauguration ceremony, he promised to “govern expansively and audaciously”. Whether he succeeds in doing so will have considerable ramifications for progressive politics more widely.
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