Somber atmosphere at United Nations as Washington’s Venezuela actions debated

January 6, 2026

Dark mood at UN as US actions in Venezuela discussed — The UN Security Council held an emergency meeting to discuss US actions in Venezuela

When a Helipad Became the World’s Stage

The morning air outside the United Nations felt colder than usual — not because of the weather, but because of the silence. Diplomats moved through the glass atrium like statues carved from protocol: buttoned suits, tight expressions, the practiced anonymity of people trained not to be surprised. Reporters shuffled their notepads and microphones in the plaza, chasing scraps of sound. For a moment, the city — loud, indifferent, capable of swallowing any headline — seemed to be holding its breath.

Across the river, a Brooklyn courthouse hummed with a different kind of tension. Men in suits shepherded a figure through security and into a helicopter bound for Manhattan; a name that once bloomed in the headlines of Caracas and Caracas’s exiled communities now landed on a U.S. federal docket. Cameras blinked. The story began to spin outward, fast as a dropped coin in a fountain.

Justice, Sovereignty, and the Question of Precedent

How do you balance the hunger for accountability with the bedrock rules that have, for seven decades, kept the world from tearing itself apart? The UN Charter is blunt on the matter: territorial integrity and political independence of states are not decoration. They are the framework. Yet those same lines felt less authoritative the day diplomats trickled into an emergency Security Council session, faces closed, voices taut.

“You cannot simply reach across a border and take what you want,” a European delegate muttered to a colleague, not for attribution but for gravity. “If we allow that to stand, what do smaller states actually have?”

The friction here is not academic. It is visceral. In the Council chamber, voices rose with the cadence of the global moment — anger, fear, and a chilling sense that a new rule book is being written in the margins. For many nations, the scene was not just about one man being brought to heel. It was about the precedent of a global heavyweight deploying force beyond its borders, and what that means for the bedrock notion of sovereignty.

Voices from the Chamber

“This is not merely a law enforcement action; it is an affront to the sovereignty of a people,” said a Latin American ambassador, adjusting a stack of papers before her. Her voice carried the tiredness of someone who’s watched external powers redraw lines on maps from afar. “There is no justification for unilateral force.”

Across the table a U.S. envoy leaned forward, his words clipped and unyielding. “We are not against a nation. We are against narco-trafficking and terror networks,” he replied. “When malign actors turn sovereign territory into a staging ground for violence and trafficking, they are forfeiting their claim to impunity.”

Outside the Halls: Real Lives, Real Questions

Back on the streets of New York, opinions were as loud and varied as the city itself. At a bodega in Washington Heights, a woman originally from Venezuela watched re-runs of the hearing on a tiny TV above the candy counter. “He ruined my country,” she said, her voice steady despite the tears she kept at bay. “If this brings any accountability, then let it be. But I fear what it means when the rules nobody asked us about get changed overnight.”

In a park in Queens where Venezuelan expats gather on Sundays to trade news, recipes, and grief, a young man in a baseball cap spoke with bluntness: “We want justice. But we also came here because our country stopped being a safe place to live. How much longer until other leaders get snatched like this?”

A long-serving UN security inspector in the corridor outside the emergency meeting shrugged and added, “There’s a difference between law and power. Law is supposed to hold power accountable. Lately, power just remakes the law.”

Geopolitics, Energy, and the Long Shadow of Competition

Beyond the human stories are the blunt instruments of statecraft: oil, alliances, and regional security. Venezuela is widely reported to hold some of the largest proven oil reserves on the planet, a fact that turns any move involving Caracas into more than a local matter. Energy maps are geopolitical maps: pipelines, ports, and ownership become chess squares.

“You are watching a collision of criminal justice and geopolitical strategy,” observed Dr. Ana Ríos, an international law scholar who has written extensively on extraterritorial enforcement. “Arresting a leader on charges of narcotrafficking is legally complex. Doing so with force that crosses borders is another layer entirely. The message is as much about deterrence as it is about law.”

For regional neighbors like Colombia — where security corridors and migration flows have violently intersected for years — the rhetoric on the podium felt dangerously proximate. “If these actions are normalized, the neighborhood could see a sharp escalation in tit-for-tat maneuvers,” said a security analyst in Bogotá. “We need careful diplomacy, not headline-driven impulses.”

Allies and Adversaries

In the chamber, Russia and China responded with language meant to signal alarm. Their delegates described the operation as a dangerous step toward a world where might answers questions once reserved for law. “You cannot rebuild international order by tearing its foundations,” a senior diplomat told the press, his words steady and rehearsed.

It is a tug-of-war over narratives: the United States frames the action as a defensive necessity against transnational crime and malign foreign influence; critics see it as a troubling reassertion of unilateralism that could empower the very chaos it claims to oppose.

What Happens Now?

Procedurally, a lengthy legal process lies ahead in U.S. courts. Politically, an even longer contest will play out in capitals from Caracas to Beijing. For the world at large, the question will be whether this event is an exceptional episode of hard-handed enforcement against a versatile adversary — or the first note in a new songbook of cross-border operations.

“The important thing is not who wins the argument today,” Dr. Ríos said, “but whether the international community can collectively agree on the rules of engagement going forward. If not, we are drifting toward a system where power, not law, sets the agenda.”

Where Do We Stand — and Where Do We Go?

As readers, what should we make of this? Do we celebrate the capture of a leader accused of grave crimes? Do we worry about the erosion of norms designed to protect small states? Can the scales of justice and sovereignty be balanced when geopolitical rivals sit across the table with vetoes in their back pockets?

There are no easy answers. But there are stakes: millions displaced from Venezuela over recent years, a region bristling with old grievances and new alliances, and a global order that depends on shared rules and mutual restraint. If those shared rules unravel, the shock will be felt most keenly by the world’s less powerful nations.

In the coming months, watch not just the courtroom transcripts or televised diplomacy, but the quieter measures: how neighboring states recalibrate their security postures, how multilateral institutions respond, and whether a consensus emerges on what constitutes acceptable conduct across borders.

After all, the era of headline-sized operations may be over — or it may be only beginning. The choice of which rests not in a courtroom nor in a single council chamber, but in the collective decisions of states, public opinion, and the institutions that prize law over impulse. What kind of world do we want? That is the question that echoes beyond the helicopter rotors and courthouse doors.

European leaders affirm Greenland belongs to its own people

hanad

January 6, 2026

Greenland belongs to its people, say European leaders — Commercial buildings near the port in Nuuk, Greenland

Greenland in the Crosshairs: Ice, Ironies and an Old-World Stand

Imagine standing on a wind-stung quay in Nuuk as late afternoon light slides off icebergs like silver coins. A dog team clunks past, a woman in a red anorak hauls in a net, and the harbor hums with the small, steady commerce of a place that has always balanced on two edges: the Arctic and the world beyond.

Now imagine that quiet being discussed in capitals from Copenhagen to Paris, Warsaw to Washington. That is the strange, sudden reality for Greenland — the vast island of 2.16 million square kilometers and some 57,000 people — which has again become the subject of geopolitical fever. In recent weeks, a public push from the United States rekindled a debate that once made headlines: should Greenland be anything other than Greenlanders’ land? And who, exactly, decides?

Europe’s Reply: A Chorus for Sovereignty

European capitals answered not with diplomacy’s usual hedging but with a clear, collective voice. Leaders from across the continent — from France and Britain to Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and Denmark — issued a statement emphasizing something basic and urgent: Greenland’s destiny belongs to its people. They framed security in the High North as a collective responsibility for NATO allies, not a private deal, and pledged to step up military and civilian activity in the Arctic to deter any would-be provocateurs.

“We will not treat one another like possessions,” said one European diplomat in Brussels, speaking on background. “When the question is about sovereignty, this is not a chess piece.”

Poland’s prime minister, arriving at a press briefing in Warsaw, warned plainly that coercion inside NATO would hollow out the alliance’s meaning. “No member should attack or threaten another member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation,” he said. The message was blunt: intra-alliance conflict is a fast route to weakening the very structures that keep Europe secure.

The American Signal: Strength, Maps and a Media Storm

The immediate provocation came from Washington. Former President Donald Trump — revisiting an idea first aired during his White House tenure — has again suggested the United States ought to “own” Greenland, arguing it is essential for military strategy. The notion ignited a media storm and revived a trope many Greenlanders and Danes find insulting: that a nation is something to be bought, sold or traded like real estate.

At the same time, comments from a senior White House official that “we live in a world…governed by strength” and a provocative social-media image of Greenland painted with Stars and Stripes left European allies jittery. “You can talk all you want about international niceties,” the official told CNN, “but the world is governed by power.”

Whether intended as saber-rattling or blunt realpolitik, those gestures landed badly in capitals that have been working to keep transatlantic ties intact, even as they face their own domestic and geopolitical anxieties.

Voices from Nuuk: Not for Sale

Walk the streets of Nuuk and you find a steady stream of reactions that mix bemusement with unease. At a café near the harbor, a university student named Sara explains, “This island is where my grandparents hunted seal, where we speak Kalaallisut and make our living from the sea. We are not a currency to be traded.”

A fisherman named Aqqaluk, who has spent years hauling Greenland halibut from the deep, leans on his boat and adds: “They talk about bases and minerals. They don’t talk about our pensions, our schools, our language. That’s what matters.”

Those personal perspectives matter because Greenland is not merely a strategic addendum; it is a society with its own politics. The island has home-rule arrangements that have steadily expanded since 1979 and then again in 2009, and while it is part of the Kingdom of Denmark, Greenlanders have on multiple occasions rejected union-forced solutions that would strip them of self-determination.

Local Color

In the Nuuk market, dried fish hangs beside Inuit handicrafts, a reminder that culture and commerce here are braided.
Kalaallisut is visible on shop signs; Danish is spoken in official settings, but Greenlandic remains the heart language for many.
Dog sled tracks, modern snowmobiles and satellite dishes coexist in a landscape where tradition meets high technology.

Why Greenland Matters: Ice, Missiles and Minerals

Greenland’s strategic value is not simply romantic geopolitics; it is concrete. The island anchors air and sea routes between North America and Europe and hosts Thule Air Base, the northernmost U.S. military installation that has long formed part of American missile-warning architecture. Open new shipping lanes as Arctic ice retreats, and Greenland’s location becomes even more vital.

Then there is what is underfoot: known deposits of rare earth elements and other critical minerals essential for technologies from smartphones to electric vehicles. Major powers are racing to secure supply chains and reduce dependence on single-source providers. That makes Greenland a prize beyond its ice and vistas — a node in the global scramble for materials of the future.

Denmark, responding to criticism about Arctic defenses, pledged last year to invest roughly 42 billion Danish kroner — around $6.6 billion — to beef up military presence, infrastructure and readiness in the Arctic. The message is clear: Europe intends to be present and capable in the High North.

The Broader Picture: Indigenous Rights, Climate and Alliance Cohesion

This dispute is never just about borders. It raises questions about indigenous rights, climate justice and the ethics of resource extraction. Who gets to decide whether a landscape of cultural and ecological significance is opened to mining? How will the climate-driven thaw change communities whose lives have been shaped by ice? And how will NATO — an alliance built to deter external threats — respond when a member’s territory is the subject of open commentary from an ally?

“This is where the local becomes global,” says Dr. Anna Sørensen, an Arctic security specialist in Copenhagen. “When you talk about Arctic sovereignty, you are also talking about climate resilience, indigenous voices, economic futures, and the rules that govern international behavior.”

Paths Forward: Diplomacy, Respect and the Power of Choice

What comes next is not preordained. Several possible scenarios exist, each with profound implications:

Strengthened NATO cooperation with clear rules and collective security measures focused on the Arctic.
A diplomatic cooling-off where the U.S. reiterates respect for Danish sovereignty and focuses on bilateral agreements without talk of annexation.
An internal Greenland conversation about closer ties with other partners while affirming self-determination — perhaps new economic partnerships that don’t compromise cultural integrity.

All of these require one thing above all: listening. Listening to Greenlanders first, and to allies second. It’s a lesson that echoes beyond Nuuk’s harbor into a world where resources, climates and borders are shifting faster than sometimes comfortable conversations can keep up with.

Questions to Carry Home

As you close this piece, ask yourself: who gets to decide the fate of a place? How do we balance the strategic needs of nations with the rights of small communities? And if the Arctic is warming, should it become a new field of contest or a common area for cooperation?

Greenland’s story is, in microcosm, the story of our times: local lives entangled with global power, cultures facing rapid change, and an old continent unwilling to let its values be overwritten by unilateral force. The island’s ice will melt on its own timetable; our choices about respect, diplomacy and restraint are the ones we still can control.

So next time you picture Greenland, imagine not a slice on a map but a place full of names, languages and histories. Imagine, too, the heavy responsibility that comes with being a grown-up on the world stage: to act with strength, perhaps, but also with restraint and deep respect for those whose lives hang in the balance.

Greenland’s prime minister tells Trump “That’s enough” over threats

hanad

January 6, 2026

'That's enough' - Greenland's PM reacts to Trump threats — Donald Trump said: 'Let's talk about Greenland in 20 days'

When Greenland Became a Word on the World Stage

On a bright, bitter morning in Nuuk the houses stood like a string of beads along the fjord—reds and yellows and blues against a backdrop of looming ice. A woman pushed a stroller past a café whose windows fogged with steam; a fisherman in a wool cap read the latest headlines on his phone and shook his head. For the 56,000 people who call Greenland home, the place is both intimate and immense: small communities clustered on a coastline that skirts a continent-sized ice sheet.

Then a headline arrives from thousands of miles away and the private rhythms of island life become entangled in big-power talk. “We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security,” came the line from the President of the United States aboard Air Force One, repeated with the bluntness of command. “We’ll worry about Greenland in about two months … let’s talk about Greenland in 20 days.”

The words ricocheted around a world that has long been paying closer attention to the Arctic. For some they were a blunder; for others a reminder that geography rarely stays quiet. For Greenlanders they were a provocation.

A firm reply from Nuuk

“That’s enough now,” Jens-Frederik Nielsen, Greenland’s prime minister, wrote on Facebook. “No more pressure. No more insinuations. No more fantasies of annexation. We are open to dialogue. We are open to discussions. But this must happen through the proper channels and with respect for international law.”

It was not only the prime minister who reacted. Across Europe capitals issued pointed reminders: Denmark—responsible for Greenland’s foreign affairs under the constitutional arrangement of the Kingdom of Denmark—stood firm; Britain’s prime minister said plainly the destiny of Greenland belonged to Greenland and Denmark; France’s foreign ministry described borders as not being changed by force.

Why a piece of ice matters to empires

Greenland is vast—about 2.16 million square kilometers, roughly four times the size of Texas—but almost 80% of that landscape is the Greenland Ice Sheet. What catches global attention is the narrow slice of coastline that opens to the North Atlantic and the Arctic Ocean, and the strategic lines that pass through it.

Population: roughly 56,000 people, concentrated in just a few coastal towns.
Military presence: the United States operates Thule Air Base in northwest Greenland, a facility with weather and missile-tracking roles dating back to the Cold War.
Environment: as the Arctic warms faster than the global average, new shipping lanes and access to untapped resources become possible.

That combination—strategic location, changing ice, and known deposits of rare-earth and critical minerals—turns Greenland into a geopolitical prize in some calculations. “It’s not just about land,” said an Arctic security analyst I spoke to over a crackling phone line. “It’s about monitoring the northern approaches, about satellite and missile tracking, about resource access. Whoever controls Greenland has a vantage point.”

Voices from the fjord and the capital

Back in Nuuk, responses were human-sized, textured and often wry. “We’ve been here a long time,” said Aput, an elder who sells smoked halibut at the market. “Our houses are small, our dogs are many. We don’t want to be a trophy in someone else’s history book.” Her voice carried the quiet steadiness of someone whose life is measured by sea ice and seasons, not policy briefs.

A fisherman named Lars told me, “Of course countries will look at Greenland. But our people—our language, our schools—these are not for sale. Please don’t treat us like a map coordinate.” When I asked whether talk of annexation changed how he felt about Denmark, he shrugged. “Denmark is part of our history, yes. But the future? We will decide that.”

Social media and symbolism

The moment was amplified by the strange theatre of social media. An image of Greenland bathed in American flag colors, posted by a former White House official with the one-word caption “SOON,” generated outrage. “Disrespectful,” Nielsen wrote in reply. “Our country is not for sale, and our future is not decided by social media posts.”

Danish diplomats attempted a steadier tone. Jesper Moeller Soerensen, Denmark’s ambassador in Washington, offered what he termed a “friendly reminder” that Denmark has worked closely with the United States on Arctic security and that the two nations remain close allies. “We are allies and should continue to work together as such,” he said.

What the world sees—and what should worry us

This episode is more than a diplomatic squall. It is a window into a larger story: the reawakening of strategic competition in the Arctic among NATO countries, Russia and China; the scramble for access to minerals and new shipping lanes as ice retreats; and urgent questions of indigenous rights and self-determination in places whose voices have too often been sidelined.

China has been increasing its Arctic activity in recent years—research partnerships, mining interest, and shipping ambitions—prompting warnings from several Western capitals. Russia, meanwhile, continues to fortify parts of its Arctic coastline. In such a crowded geopolitical field, every outburst of rhetoric matters.

“No one decides for Greenland but Greenland and Denmark,” Finland’s president wrote on social media, echoing a line that has been taken up across Scandinavia. It is a simple sentence with heavy implications: international law, post-war norms and the principle of self-determination still count for something.

Looking past headlines: the human stakes

Pause for a moment and consider what is at risk if loud voices override local ones. Greenlanders face economic choices—mining projects promise jobs but also threaten fragile ecosystems; climate change brings both disruption and new opportunity, altering access to fish stocks and transport routes. Social cohesion can fray if decisions are made in faraway capitals without meaningful consent.

“You can bring money and machines,” said a young teacher in Sisimiut. “But we will lose ground that we can’t get back: language, traditions, the way we understand the sea. Development must be in partnership, not imposed.”

Questions to carry forward

What does it mean for a people to control their future when the world’s powers suddenly discover value in their backyard?

How do notions of security—to one country a strategic advantage, to another a threat—get balanced against rights of self-determination?

And perhaps most urgently: as climate change redraws coastlines and opens access to resources, who gets to decide what happens next?

Closing thoughts

The headlines may move on, but the conversation about Greenland will continue. For now there are firm words from Nuuk and Copenhagen, reminders from allies, and the tired, wary faces of people who watch ice calve into cold water and wonder what comes next. “We are not a chess piece,” said a shopkeeper on the main street in Nuuk. “We have names and stories. Remember them.”

In a world where distance is no protection and every coastline can be measured for value, these small statements of dignity—spoken in simple, stubborn tones—are an argument worth hearing. They remind us that when geography and power collide, the human story must not be the footnote.

Video shows skiers forming heart-shaped tribute after Swiss fire

hanad

January 6, 2026

Watch: Skiers make heart-shaped tribute after Swiss fire

A slope shaped like a heart: an alpine town holds its breath

The morning sun laid a sugar-icing of fresh snow over the Crans-Montana plateau, and for a few trembling hours the usual chatter of skiers and the hum of chairlifts were replaced by silence—an almost reverent hush that felt like a physical thing.

Below the ridgeline, on a broad, gentle run that normally hosts children in bright snowsuits and confident holiday skiers, a group moved with careful choreography. They were not carving new tracks or racing for a view; they were forming a symbol. From above, their skis and poles traced a bright, painstaking heart against the white. It was a human mosaic: friends, seasonaires, instructors, visitors—each one a small gesture of solidarity for the 40 people whose lives ended in a blaze that ripped through the Le Constellation bar in the small hours of New Year’s Eve.

“We wanted something that shows we are together,” said Marie Dupont, a local ski instructor who helped organize the formation. “There are names behind those numbers. We wanted those names to feel loved.”

Inside the night: how a celebration turned tragic

People come to Crans-Montana for powder and peaks, for the hush of pine forests and nights that shimmer with Alpine lights. On the last night of the year, Le Constellation—like many mountain bars—was full of holiday energy: champagne bottles, music, laughter, the loosened restraint that comes with a collective countdown to a new year.

Authorities say investigators have pointed to a likely ignition source: sparklers attached to or affixed to champagne bottles, raised close to a low ceiling, where embers caught a combustible surface. It is a small, terrible sequence of events that has been the undoing of 40 lives and left 119 others injured—many severely.

“We had no idea it could happen so fast,” a survivor, who asked not to be named, told me. “The ceiling was low. It was packed. One moment people were singing, the next it was smoke and shouting. I ran, but I saw friends who didn’t make it.”

Swiss emergency services say the earliest reporting showed rapid fire spread inside the bar’s enclosed space. Local firefighters and mountain rescue teams were on scene within minutes, and patients were rushed to hospitals across the canton. Officials later confirmed all 40 victims were identified on Sunday, a grim milestone for families waiting for news.

What investigators are saying

Investigators have been methodical, combing through CCTV, eyewitness accounts, and the remains of the venue. “Initial findings suggest that indoor pyrotechnics—sparkler-style devices used on bottles—played a central role,” a spokesperson for the Valais cantonal police told reporters. “We are treating this as a major incident and examining every aspect, including product source and how it was used.”

Many countries and venues have strict rules about indoor pyrotechnics; many consumer sparklers are intended for outdoor use and can pose significant fire risks in confined spaces. Fire-safety experts stress that even a small ember near flammable materials can become catastrophic when a crowded room leaves people little room to escape.

“This is a heartbreaking reminder that celebrations need safety built into them,” said Dr. Anya Fischer, a fire-safety specialist who studies mass gathering incidents. “A seemingly festive device becomes deadly in the wrong context: low ceiling, packed room, limited exits. Regulations exist for a reason.”

The human cost and a community’s response

Numbers tell part of the story: 40 dead, 119 injured. But behind each statistic is a life—teenagers planning university, workers who saved for seasons in the Alps, a band of friends who had met on holiday years earlier. Many of those who died were young, which has made the grief in Crans-Montana and beyond feel almost unbearable.

“There are families who came for one night and will never return,” said Mayor Lucien Favre in a brief statement. “Our thoughts are with the victims and with those providing care and support. We stand together in this difficult time.”

Local volunteers have organized donation drives, counseling centers, and vigils. The Crans-Montana tourism office released a video of the heart formation on its social channels with a short message: “In deep solidarity, Crans-Montana and the entire ski community mourn together.” That clip—simple, quiet, human—has been watched and shared well beyond the canton, a reminder that some moments break past municipal borders.

“We had guests who pulled over on the pass to lay flowers,” said Jean-Claude, a hotel concierge who has worked in the resort for twenty years. “It’s not just the town. It’s visitors, alpinists, the whole winter community.”

Questions for tomorrow: safety, tourism, and how we commemorate

After the initial shock, difficult conversations begin. How do small tourist towns protect the celebratory moments that are part of their economy and culture? What regulation and training should be required for venues that host large crowds? And how do communities rebuild the trust that is shaken when a place of joy becomes a site of loss?

There are policy questions and moral ones. Many jurisdictions have tightened rules on indoor pyrotechnics after tragic incidents elsewhere; some venues now require professional display companies, flame-retardant materials, and certified safety officers on the premises. Yet enforcement can be uneven, especially during peak holiday nights when venues operate at capacity and oversight is stretched thin.

“We will need a national review of how these devices are sold and used,” said Senator Mireille Basset, who has called for parliamentary hearings after the tragedy. “This should not be about assigning blame—it must be about preventing another family from waking to such grief.”

How the world watches

Crans-Montana is a small place with global connections: holidaymakers from across Europe and beyond, luxury chalets, world-class slopes. The images of a heart-shaped formation, of candles and skis arranged like a vigil, will travel. They will be engraved alongside stories of policy and mourning in the public imagination.

And they will prompt other communities—coastal towns lit with fireworks, urban clubs, festival organizers—to ask themselves: what precautions do we take when we turn up the music and the lights and invite strangers to share the night?

Remembering, and moving forward

There are flowers at the base of the slope and names whispered in alpine cafés. There are practical needs—medical care, counseling, housing for those who cannot face hotel lobbies where they once danced. There are also rituals, small and large, that begin to stitch a community back together: a choir on the town square, shared meals, a memorial plaque that will someday sit on a bench where skiers rest and look at the mountains.

When I left Crans-Montana, a group of teenagers were writing names in the snow with their skis. They moved slowly, reverent strokes, and then they photographed it, perhaps to remember or to carry the memory elsewhere. “We will not forget,” one of them said simply. “We owe them that.”

How do you honor people lost in a flash of smoke and light? Perhaps by asking again and again whether our celebrations are worth the risks we take—and by making sure the answer is safety first, joy second. For a town on the edge of the world’s winter playgrounds, the work of remembrance and reform begins now.

Maduro insists he remains president amid a not-guilty plea

hanad

January 6, 2026

Maduro says he is still president amid not guilty plea — Nicolas Maduro is seen in handcuffs after landing at a Manhattan helipad

When Dawn Fell Over Caracas: A Country Shackled and a World Watching

There are mornings in capitals that arrive like any other: vendors sweeping the corner, the scent of strong coffee drifting from a street stall, the clatter of buses finding their rhythm. Then there are mornings when history barges into the ordinary and rearranges everything. This was one of those mornings for Caracas—when the skyline was split not by thunder, but by the sudden, surreal presence of foreign warplanes and a story that will be retold around kitchen tables and in diplomatic backrooms for years to come.

On 3 January, in a dramatic operation that stunned both allies and adversaries, former Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro was brought into Manhattan custody. At 63, wearing an orange shirt and moving with the slow, unbowed cadence of a man who has survived countless battles, he stood before a federal judge and spoke three short words that echoed with defiance: “Estoy inocente” — “I’m innocent.”

From Caracas to Manhattan: The Courtroom and the Capture

The picture was almost cinematic: a leader who once presided over a petrostate, now standing in a packed courtroom in New York. Beside him, his wife, Cilia Flores, entered a plea of not guilty as well. The judge, in a brief but firm exchange, reminded them of courtroom protocol, curbing any long statements and setting a new hearing for 17 March while ordering both to remain in custody.

“I was captured at my home in Caracas,” Maduro told the court through an interpreter, his voice calm, as if narrating an unavoidable fact. “I am president of the Republic of Venezuela and I have been kidnapped here since 3 January.”

Outside the courthouse, the story took on immediate political weight. Thousands marched across the capital—some in open support of a man they still saw as a protector of the Bolivarian Revolution, others in bewilderment, anger, or quiet dread. In the government’s seat of power, Delcy Rodríguez was sworn in as acting president, handing the reins to a familiar face as the nation held its breath.

A Nation on Edge: Streets, Voices, and the Long Shadow of Oil

Walk through Caracas these days and you’ll hear the past in the present: the slow shuffle of retirees who remember the Chávez years, the clipped impatience of taxi drivers who know the routes by heart, the laughter of children chasing pigeons across cracked plazas. Yet under that everyday noise is an electric tension.

“We were sleeping; then the planes,” said Rosa, a vendor who sells arepas along Avenida Bolívar. “My niece’s phone rang with rumors. We don’t know who will be safe. We just know the lines at the grocery are longer, and the price of a kilo of rice keeps rising.”

Venezuela is a nation of roughly 30 million people—lively, resilient, and exhausted after decades of economic collapse, migration, and political stalemate. And beneath the human drama lies the geological and geopolitical prize: the world’s largest proven oil reserves, estimated at over 300 billion barrels. Oil—once a golden river—has by now become a complicated liability: difficult to extract, crippled by a creaking infrastructure and years of sanctions and mismanagement.

Markets, Muskets, and Migrants

Within hours of the raid, global markets reacted. Shares in major US oil companies jumped, and indices like the Dow Jones and the FTSE 100 hit new records, a reflection of investors pricing in a new and unpredictable chapter for Venezuela’s oil. “Access to oil,” President Donald Trump declared in a blunt public comment following the operation, suggesting a willingness to take control of the country’s oil industry—but only after “fixing” what he described as the country’s broken institutions.

Such pronouncements, and the military means used to effect them, have international actors uneasy. Brian Finucane of the International Crisis Group said he was alarmed by what he described as a growing willingness to sideline international law. “An operation of this scale in a sovereign state, with civilian casualties reported, raises profound questions,” he said. “It’s not just about one regime; it’s about precedent.”

And the human toll, in the immediate term, is palpable. Cuba reported 32 of its nationals killed during the operation; U.S. officials said nearly 200 personnel were involved in the raid, with some injuries on both sides. “We prepared for the worst,” said a U.S. Defense official, speaking on background. “But we also planned for restraint.”

Voices from Inside and Out

The country’s opposition figures offered a fractured chorus. Maria Corina Machado, a prominent opposition leader who has been in exile since leaving to accept a Nobel prize, denounced the new acting president. “Delcy Rodríguez is rejected by the Venezuelan people,” she told a broadcaster from an undisclosed location. “She is one of the main architects of persecution and corruption.” Machado also signaled her intent to return, telling supporters she would come back “as soon as possible.”

Meanwhile, diplomats and former officials warned that the path ahead could be darker before it gets better. Brian Naranjo—a former U.S. diplomat expelled from Venezuela in 2018—said he has never been more worried about Venezuela’s future. “There’s a very real possibility things get much, much worse before they get better,” he told me. “Any transition that does not center Venezuelan civil institutions risks more collapse.”

What Caracas Feels Like Today

At a small tienda near El Silencio, an old man named Jorge rolled a cigarette and looked at the skyline where the air patrols had been. “We lived through shortages,” he said. “We lived through marches. But this—this feels like someone picked up our house and shook it to see what was inside.”

Across town, a nurse at a public hospital spoke quietly about long shifts and the uncertainty of supplies. “We treat whoever comes,” she said. “But if the power goes, if the oxygen stops—who will answer for that?”

Beyond Borders: What This Moment Means

Ask yourself: when a powerful nation uses force inside another sovereign state in pursuit of resources and to capture a leader, what message does that send to the rest of the world? To governments watching their own oil, to internal opposition movements, to the millions of migrants who have already left Venezuela? This episode forces a global reckoning with sovereignty, resource politics, and the limits of coercion as a tool for change.

There are sobering precedents: toppling a leader does not instantly repair institutions, rebuild pipelines, or return the skilled doctors who left. Nor does it guarantee quicker or fairer elections. As one Venezuelan academic put it over coffee: “You cannot fix decades of decay with a headline.”

Questions to Carry Forward

Will international law and humanitarian concerns be upheld as power shifts hands?
Can an economy as dependent on oil as Venezuela’s be diversified in time to staunch the humanitarian wounds?
Who will be the legitimate voice for Venezuelans inside the country and out—those who have stayed, those who fled, or those now claiming authority?

We are in a moment that will be studied in classrooms and argued in parliaments. But at the core are people like Rosa and Jorge and the nurse—whose lives are measured in daily realities, not geopolitical strategy. They need food on the table, water in the taps, hospitals that run, and schools for their children.

For now, Caracas waits. The plaza lights burn long into the night. The rumor columns churn with new theories. Diplomats redraw travel plans. Embassies send terse cables. Outside the noise, many Venezuelans simply hope for an end to fear and scarcity. They hope that whatever comes next will be rooted in law, dignity, and a chance for ordinary lives to recover.

And you—how do you weigh a moment when force meets a failing state? When resources, geopolitics, and human suffering collide? In the days and weeks ahead, the answers the world chooses will matter—deeply, and forever—to the people living under the shadow of Venezuela’s oil fields and beyond.

Two popes attend Catholic Jubilee, drawing 33 million pilgrims to Rome

hanad

January 6, 2026

'Two-pope' Catholic Jubilee draws 33m pilgrims to Rome — Pope Leo XIV delivered his Sunday Angelus blessing yesterday overlooking St Peter's Square

The Last Pilgrim: Rain, Bronze and the Quiet Closing of a Jubilee

The rain came like an insistence—a steady, silver curtain that turned cobblestones into mirrors and umbrellas into a moving constellation outside St Peter’s Basilica.

Inside, the air smelled of wax and wet wool. Voices rose and fell in a dozen languages. Some carried the tired, triumphant hush of people who had walked for an intention; others laughed with the lightness of those who had simply wanted to bear witness. And at the center of it all stood the Holy Door—an ornate bronze portal usually bricked up, now open for the final time in a year that drew millions.

“We waited ten years to make this pilgrimage,” said Marta Kovács, a nurse from Budapest, wiping rain from her forehead. “When I crossed that threshold, I felt like something heavy inside me eased. You cannot explain it. You have to walk it.”

Numbers that Stir: 33 Million, 185 Countries, One Year of Passage

The Vatican announced that more than 33 million people visited Rome during the 2025 Jubilee, coming from 185 countries to take part in 35 flagship events that marked a once-in-a-generation Holy Year. The statistics read like a map of faith in motion: roughly 60% of those pilgrims came from Europe, 16% from North America, and the rest from across Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

For Catholics—and for curious onlookers around the world—the Jubilee was more than an itinerary. It was a ritual of repair. By tradition, passing through the Holy Door grants the faithful a “plenary indulgence,” a symbolic form of pardon that is meant to encourage reflection and renewal. Tomorrow, the basilica’s bronze door will be ceremonially closed, ending a chapter that began when Pope Francis first opened it a year ago.

A Rare Two-Pope Jubilee

This Jubilee will be remembered for other historic reasons. It unfolded across the waning leaves of one pontificate and the opening pages of another. Pope Francis, who opened the Year, died in April, and the papacy passed to Pope Leo XIV, the Church’s first pope to come from the United States.

“This year has been, in a way, a ‘middle world,’” observed Andrea Gagliarducci, a Vatican analyst. “There was continuity, but also the inevitable sense that a new chapter was being prepared.” The overlap of two pontificates during a Holy Year is extraordinarily rare—the last time a pope died during a Holy Year was in 1700.

Faces of the Jubilee: Youth, Canonisations and a Global Pilgrimage

Amid processions and prayer vigils, the Jubilee staged moments both intimate and spectacular. A festival for young Catholics filled parks with music and conversation; a canonisation heralded the Church’s first saint born in the millennium; parishes around Rome opened their doors and their hearts.

“We tried to make room for every story,” said Archbishop Rino Fisichella at a press briefing that summarized the year. “From the young person who came with a backpack and a dream, to the elderly pilgrim who arrived to give thanks—Rome welcomed them all.” His words echoed in halls still warm from gatherings, and in neighborhoods where parish volunteers offered directions, coffee, and kindness to strangers.

What the Numbers Hide—and Reveal

Large figures can flatten the human texture of an event. But look closely and the Jubilee’s data become intimate: 33 million footsteps, 35 major ceremonies, countless conversations held under octagonal loggias and against the backdrop of a city that has been a theater of faith for two millennia.

33 million pilgrims touched the city in 2025.
Pilgrims came from 185 countries to attend 35 headline events.
About 60% of visitors were European; 16% came from North America.

Rome—Spruced Up, Strained, Reimagined

Streets that normally hum with local life were swept into procession routes; monuments like the Trevi Fountain received careful attention and cleaning as part of a civic effort to welcome visitors. Mayor Roberto Gualtieri called it “a boom year” for the capital, saying the Jubilee offered a chance to prove Rome could host the world.

But not everyone shared that celebratory view. Local shopkeeper Gianluca Moretti, whose family has run a tabaccheria near Piazza Navona for three generations, said the influx brought strains as well as sales. “We love the pilgrims,” he said. “They bring life. But when buses line up and the tram is packed, people who live here get squeezed. The question is: who benefits, and who pays the cost?”

Critics warned that a city already grappling with overtourism would be pushed to its limits. Public transport—beautiful in its antiquity but patchy in peak hours—sometimes groaned under the load. Yet other Romans found new reasons for optimism: sticky notes of gratitude on neighborhood noticeboards, volunteer groups springing up to offer language help and first aid, and streets buzzing into the night with small concerts and impromptu prayer circles.

Transitions of Power—and of Purpose

Pope Leo XIV, Chicago-born and relatively new to the Vatican’s highest role, is now tasked with translating the momentum of the Jubilee into a clear direction for the future. Since his election, he has published documents that had been prepared under his predecessor and kept promises to continue certain diplomatic trips, like journeys to Lebanon and Turkey that were in Pope Francis’ plans.

“The Jubilee’s end is not an end to renewal,” a theologian at the Gregorian University told me. “It’s the point where ritual has to meet governance—where gestures of welcome become policies and structures that either sustain or squander the goodwill generated this year.”

What Comes Next?

As the Holy Door is sealed, questions remain. Will the influx of faith and curiosity translate into lasting changes for the Church? Will Rome, refreshed in places and frayed in others, capitalize on new attention to tackle long-standing urban problems?

And for you, the reader: what does it mean when millions gather—across borders, languages, generations—to seek renewal? Can a ritual year tilt the balance of a sprawling institution toward empathy and structural reform?

Closing, and an Open Invitation

Tomorrow, at the appointed hour—5.30pm local time—the last pilgrim will step through the Holy Door, sealing a year that felt for many like a pilgrimage of the world itself. The bronze will close. The candlelight will drift down to the cobbles. And in the quiet that follows, Rome will keep its scars and its new polish, its questions and its small, stubborn miracles.

“We came to be seen and to be healed,” said Sister Amara, a volunteer from Lagos, as she folded wet vestments after a wet procession. “I do not know what the next day holds. But I know I will carry what I learned here home. That, perhaps, is the Jubilee’s truest work.”

Government backed a peaceful transfer of power in Venezuela, Martin says

hanad

January 6, 2026

Govt favoured peaceful transition in Venezuela - Martin — Micheál Martin is in China for an official visit

When Diplomacy Meets a Raid: Ireland, Venezuela and the New Geography of Uncertainty

From an ornate conference room in Beijing to the sun-baked avenues of Caracas, one event has rippled across hemispheres: the dramatic capture, during a military raid, of Venezuela’s president. It is the sort of headline that bends the world’s attention toward questions that don’t admit easy answers—about sovereignty, about justice, and about how small and medium states navigate a crisis when great powers move.

On a four‑day official visit to China, Ireland’s Taoiseach found himself answering those questions in real time. He did not mince words about the Venezuelan leadership, calling it oppressive and a source of regional instability. At the same time, he stressed that Ireland’s preference had long been for a peaceful handover decided by Venezuelans themselves. Those twin notes—moral clarity and pragmatic restraint—have become the leitmotif of many European capitals as they reconcile human rights concerns with the realities of global trade and diplomacy.

Beijing, Diplomacy, and the View from Dublin

It is an odd image: a leader from a small Atlantic nation, framed against Beijing’s winter sky, offering commentary on an incident that unfolded thousands of miles away. “We never recognized the legitimacy of that government,” he said, sketching the contours of a long-standing Irish stance. “But our aim has been to see a democratic transition fuelled by the Venezuelan people, not by foreign boots or quick, disorderly change.”

He also pushed back on any notion that Ireland might retreat from ties with the United States. “Dialogue is key,” he said. “We export roughly 90% of what we produce to global markets. We cannot turn inward. Engagement—consistent, values-driven engagement—has to be our approach.”

That balancing act—between standing up for international norms and maintaining the economic relationships that sustain livelihoods back home—is a familiar one for small open economies like Ireland. It is also a reminder that geopolitics no longer plays out only among superpowers; the reverberations touch factory floors in Cork, universities in Limerick, and ports in Rosslare.

Caracas: A City Between Fear and Hope

Back in Venezuela, the raid has deepened an already pervasive uncertainty. For many who remained in Caracas after years of economic collapse and mass migration, the sight of troop movements revived old fears. “We’ve lived through blackouts, empty shelves, and the constant worry for our children,” said María, a teacher who has taught in the same barrio for a decade. “If this brings change, we’ll welcome it—but not if it becomes another wound.”

Across town, a taxi driver who asked to be called José laughed bitterly when asked what he thought the raid might change. “They always tell us there will be a better tomorrow,” he said, “but tomorrow keeps taking from us. I want security for my family, not another political story on the evening news.”

Venezuela is, by many metrics, a nation in crisis: its economy has shrunk dramatically over the past decade, millions have left—UN agencies estimate more than seven million Venezuelans have sought refuge abroad in recent years—and everyday life has been upended by hyperinflation, shortages, and a collapsing public health system. Yet the country also sits atop one of the world’s largest proven oil reserves, a paradox that has made it both geopolitically significant and tragically vulnerable to exploitation and mismanagement.

Washington’s Response and Caracas’ Offer

Following the raid, the U.S. administration signalled a pivot: officials suggested they would work with whatever authority remained in place in Caracas to tackle narcotics trafficking and to reopen the country’s oil sector. That posture—less about immediate elections and more about stabilisation and economic access—reflects a broader, often transactional approach to foreign policy.

In turn, Venezuelan acting leadership sought to recast the episode as an opportunity. In a social media statement, the acting president called for respectful relations with the United States and invited collaboration on development projects framed within international law. “Our people deserve peace and dialogue, not war,” the statement read—an evocation of weary populations across the region who yearn for stability but fear external interference.

Voices from the Ground and the Diaspora

Beyond official statements, the human chorus is messy and diverse. A Venezuelan nurse working in Madrid spoke of relief tinged with skepticism: “If this helps us send medicine back home and get family members the care they need, I’ll be grateful. But history has taught us to question quick fixes.”

Meanwhile, an Irish export-manager in Dublin, whose company ships medical devices worldwide, said the episode underlines the economic tightrope his sector walks. “We depend on predictable trade lanes,” he said. “When geopolitics becomes volatile, supply chains and small jobs are the first to feel the shock.”

What This Means for International Order

There are larger, structural questions here. When a powerful nation intervenes—overtly or covertly—in another country’s leadership, it prompts debate about the validity of state sovereignty, the role of international law, and the limits of moral authority. Do harsh regimes forfeit sovereignty? Who gets to draw that line? And can a return to normalcy be built on cooperation with actors who themselves may be tainted by human rights abuses?

Experts caution against simplistic narratives. “We have to be careful not to romanticize transitions imposed from the outside,” says Dr. Elena Ruiz, a scholar of Latin American politics. “Sustainable peace usually requires internal buy-in, institutional reform, and economic rebuilding. External actions can catalyse change, but they can also entrench divisions if not paired with robust, multilateral strategies.”

Paths Forward: Practical Steps and Moral Choices

So where do we go from here? There are no easy recipes, but several pillars emerge as essential:

Protect civilians and ensure humanitarian access to medicines, food, and basic services.
Prioritise multilateral approaches—through the UN, regional bodies, and neutral mediators—to legitimise transition processes.
Stabilise the economy in ways that address corruption and uplift ordinary citizens, not just corporate interests.
Keep channels open for dialogue between nations, even when disagreement is profound.

These may sound like platitudes when headlines scream with drama. But the slow, often unglamorous work of rebuilding institutions and trust is what determines whether a country emerges on the other side with the rule of law intact or fragmented and resentful.

Closing Questions

As citizens of an interconnected world, what responsibility do we bear when a crisis plays out continents away? How do we weigh the instinct to act against the wisdom of restraint? And how do we ensure that the people most affected—the teachers, nurses, small-business owners—are the ones whose futures are prioritized?

The capture in Caracas has raised those questions again. It has also offered a reminder: geopolitics is not a chess game of capitals; it is a lived reality for millions. For Ireland, for China, for the United States, and for the people of Venezuela, the choices in the coming days will reveal whether diplomacy can be more than rhetoric—whether it can become the steady hand that guides a nation toward a future its citizens choose for themselves.

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