Tag Archives: Venezuela

THE NEW YORK TIMES – FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2026

Battles Over Truth Rage Online Amid Iran’s Internet Blackout

The shutdown of online discourse within Iran has allowed both the government and its critics to flood social media with disinformation campaigns and fake images.

A Ragtag Network of Activists Is Piercing Iran’s Digital Barricades

Venezuelan Opposition Leader Gives Trump Her Peace Prize Medal

The opposition leader María Corina Machado gave the prize to President Trump at the White House. The Nobel Committee has said that the honor is not transferable.

C.I.A. Director Meets With Venezuela’s Interim President in Caracas

Emergency Call Transcripts Record a Crisis Unfolding in Real Time

The killing of Renee Good by an ICE agent was instantly reported to the Minneapolis Police. The calls reflect shock, fury and confusion.

Renee Good Was Concerned About ICE, a Lawyer Says, but Wasn’t Following Agents

THE NEW YORK TIMES – THURSDAY, JANUARY 15, 2026

Trump Vows to Make Venezuela Rich. It Will Take More Than U.S. Cash.

History suggests that the price of oil and a wider distribution of wealth are as important as foreign investment.

President Trump to Meet With Venezuela’s Opposition Leader

Maduro’s Enforcer Faces an Uneasy Transition, and a Bounty on His Head

Diosdado Cabello, Venezuela’s interior minister, is accused by U.S. prosecutors of drug trafficking and is linked to repression at home.

Trump Says Iran Is Stopping Its Killings of Protesters as U.S. Moves Troops

Nonessential personnel were moved from Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, an American site that could be a target of Iran if President Trump ordered an attack.

Chinese Universities Surge in Global Rankings as U.S. Schools Slip

Harvard still dominates, though it fell to No. 3 on a list measuring academic output. Other American universities are falling further behind their global peers.

Federal Agent Shoots Man in Minneapolis, Prompting Tense Protests

The agent shot a Venezuelan man who was resisting arrest, an official said. Protesters and law enforcement clashed for hours, as officials urged people to go home.

THE GUARDIAN WEEKLY – JANUARY 16, 2026 PREVIEW

THE GUARDIAN WEEKLY: The latest issue features ‘The New Age of Empire’

We’re just a couple of weeks into 2026 and already it feels like an eternity has passed.

From Venezuela to Greenland, a blitz of revanchist US foreign policy moves by Donald Trump has thrown the world into turmoil. Domestically, it’s little better: in Minneapolis, the killing last week of Renee Nicole Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent – who was defended aggressively by Trump – prompted shock and fury across America.

While some argue that recent events simply represent a more honest, open approach towards US policy goals than in the recent past, others believe such brazen expansionism profoundly threatens the world order.

In a terrific essay this week, our senior international correspondent Julian Borger argues that these events signal a shift away from the postwar rules-based order and into a new age of global imperialism where, alongside Vladimir Putin’s Russia and Xi Jinping’s China, powerful nations use overtly brute force to achieve their objectives.

Spotlight | Iran protests: ‘The streets are full of blood’
After several days of protests amid an information blackout and a brutal crackdown, demonstrators recount their experiences on the frontlines to Deepa Parent and William Christou

Technology | Elon Musk’s pervert chatbot
‘Add blood, forced smile’: Amelia Gentleman and Helena Horton investigate how Grok’s AI nudification tool went viral

Feature | Trump’s assault on the Smithsonian
The US president has vowed to kill off ‘woke’ in his second term in office, and the venerable cultural institution a few blocks from the White House is in his sights. Charlotte Higgins reports

Opinion | As the bombs fell, my family planted hope in a garden in Gaza
Amid constant danger, Taqwa Ahmed ­al-Wawi’s seed-planting was a tiny act of resistance, offering food – and a sense of achievement among the devastation

Culture | Interview with Park Chan-wook
The South Korean film director talks to Steve Rose about cultural dominance, the capitalist endgame and why we can’t beat AI

THE NEW WORLD MAGAZINE – JANUARY 15, 2026 PREVIEW

THE NEW WORLD MAGAZINE: The latest issue features ‘Iran on the Ropes’….

The only path to Iranian revolution

The nation has changed out of all recognition since the Shah was deposed in 1979. There is now only one way that the country can enter the modern world – the state must crack

Trump’s dark age of spectacle and power

A president without decency or any interest in policy runs America like a TV show: gripping its audience with shocks, suspense and relentless action

Can MAGA tech firm Palantir be trusted to run Britain’s data?

It’s wildly overvalued, politically extreme and puts Trump first – but somehow has £1bn of deals to run Britain’s tech infrastructure

The press that thinks it’s the opposition

Westminster journalists are having a tantrum over No 10 briefings. But the real problems are their right wing bias and focus on gossip over policy

The tough guys who learned to love tyranny

For decades, US survivalists have warned about a future with troops on the street and plain-clothes goons disappearing the White House’s enemies. Now it’s all happening under Trump, they are silent

THE NEW YORK TIMES – WEDNESDAY, JAN. 14, 2026

China Announces Record Trade Surplus as Exports Flood World’s Markets

A $1.2 trillion surplus last year, the world’s largest ever, came despite efforts by President Trump to use tariffs to contain China’s factories.

U.S. Refiners to Profit as Trump Asserts Control Over Venezuelan Oil

The companies that turn oil into gasoline and diesel are likely to benefit more, right away, than the businesses that pump oil out of the ground.

Venezuelan Envoy to Make First Washington Trip in Years Amid Thaw

Ahead of White House Meeting, Trump Insists U.S. ‘Needs Greenland’

The foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland were set to meet with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio today.

A Top Fed Official Says the Trump Administration’s Threats Are ‘About Monetary Policy’

Neel Kashkari, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, defended Jerome Powell, the Fed chair, in an interview.

How ICE Crackdowns Set Off a Resistance in American Cities

In Minneapolis and other cities where federal agents have led immigration crackdowns, residents have formed loose networks to track and protest them.

An Emboldened Trump Places His Bets From Caracas to Tehran

President Trump has left himself plenty of room for maximal intervention. But there are a host of potential wild cards, each with risks for the president.

THE NEW YORK TIMES – TUESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2026

Inflation Steady as Fed Considers Rate Path

Consumer prices in December were 2.7 percent higher than a year ago, a similar rate to the previous month. Food Prices Shot Up in December

Shoot to Kill’: Accounts of Brutal Crackdown on Protests Emerge From Iran

As many as 3,000 are feared dead after witnesses described government forces firing on unarmed protesters.

Trump Urges Iranians to Keep Up Antigovernment Protests

Deposed Shah’s Son, Now in Exile in U.S., Seeks Center Stage Amid Protests

Facing Contempt Threat, Clintons Refuse to Testify in Epstein Inquiry

The couple denounced the efforts by Representative James R. Comer, the chairman of the Oversight Committee, to force them to appear, setting the stage for a legal battle.

THE NEW YORK TIMES – MONDAY, JANUARY 12, 2026

Federal Prosecutors Open Investigation Into Fed Chair Powell

The investigation, which is said to center on renovations of the Federal Reserve’s headquarters, escalates President Trump’s pressure campaign on Jerome Powell.

Why Russia’s Fearsome Arsenal Fizzled in Venezuela

The Venezuelan regime had high-powered air defense systems from its allies in the Kremlin, but failed to set much of it up.

Venezuela Frees 24 More Political Prisoners, Rights Group Says

Markets Waver After Prosecutors Open Investigation Into Fed Chair

As Death Toll Surges in Iran, Leaders Take Tough Line Against Protesters

Rights groups reported casualties in the hundreds as President Masoud Pezeshkian expressed sympathy for economic concerns but said the state must respond to “rioters.”

Deposed Shah’s Son Hopes Trump Will Put Iran Regime ‘Down for Good’

THE NEW YORK TIMES – SUNDAY, JANUARY 11, 2026

Trump’s ‘Superstar’ Appellate Judges Have Voted 133 to 12 in His Favor

Trump promised to fill the appeals courts with “my judges.” Now they’ve formed a nearly united phalanx to defend his agenda from legal challenges.

Trump Is Briefed on Options for Striking Iran as Protests Continue

The president has said he will be “hitting them very hard” if Iranian leaders kill protesters amid widespread demonstrations calling for changes in the country.

Death Toll Grows as Nationwide Protests Rock Iran for a Third Night

Antigovernment unrest that began two weeks ago has intensified in recent days, as has violence.

Trump Is the Political Earthquake Shaking Latin America

The U.S. capture of Nicolás Maduro has divided the region. But every nation wants to avoid being next.

U.S. Launches Major Strikes on Islamic State Targets in Syria

The airstrikes followed an even larger attack in December to avenge the killing of three Americans last year.

Smithsonian Removes Label Noting Trump Impeachments

When the National Portrait Gallery replaced a portrait of President Trump this week, it took down a biography of his first term.

THE GUARDIAN WEEKLY – JANUARY 9, 2026 PREVIEW

THE GUARDIAN WEEKLY: The latest issue features ‘The Donroe Doctrine’ – Donald Trump stakes his claim to the Western Hemisphere.

Donald Trump consigned the remnants of the rules-based international order to the bottom of the Caribbean Sea as US forces extracted Nicolás Maduro to face trial in the US. With allies and adversaries of Washington still adjusting to last weekend’s audacious assault on Caracas, Trump and his inner circle are thinking about their next steps to secure US interests in what they regard as “our hemisphere”.


Our reporting team, led by Latin American correspondent Tom Phillips, gauges the reaction to Maduro’s abduction on the ground in Caracas and among Venezuela’s closest neighbours, while Dan Sabbagh explains how the US military had planned and executed the operation.

Since the start of the US military buildup and blockade of Venezuela, Trump had claimed that Maduro needed to be “brought to justice” for his alleged role in drug trafficking, which Trump claimed had caused thousands of deaths in the US. But, as international commentators Julian Borger and Nesrine Malik explain, that has proved the thinnest of justifications and already by last Saturday it was clear that Venezuela’s huge oil reserves were uppermost on his mind.

Spotlight | Iran in turmoil
An ailing economy and plummeting exchange rate have prompted the biggest street protests in many years, report Deepa Parent and William Christou

Science | Is de-extinction really possible?
Bringing woolly mammoths and dire wolves back to life captured the public’s imagination last year but, Patrick Greenfield reports, there are questions around what can actually be achieved

Feature | The power and purpose of guilt
Psychologist Chris Moore saw first-hand how powerful and complex an emotion it is, as he explains to Emine Saner

Opinion | Adieu to the French art of lunch
Paul Taylor mourns the demise of a convivial lunch at a bistro serving freshly prepared food and the end of an unpretentious part of working culture

Culture | Is the crisis in masculinty just a joke?
It’s a ridiculous time to be male – and that’s good news for a new genre of social media comedy poking fun at the manosphere, finds Matthew Cantor

News: Putin Seeks 5th Term In Russia Elections, Japan-Ukraine Military Support

The Globalist (March 15, 2024): We discuss this weekend’s presidential election in Russia, which will grant Vladimir Putin another six-year term.

Plus: US efforts to involve Japan in providing additional military support to Ukraine, the future of government in the Netherlands and theatre news.