WORLD
Polymarket says the US did not ‘invade’ Venezuela and bettors are furious
The prediction platform’s refusal to settle a $10.5 million market after the raid that captured Nicolás Maduro is exposing the legal, financial and ethical grey zones of the booming betting-on-politics industry.
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How Maduro and his wife were injured during the US raid, and what officials told US Congress
Trump administration officials say the Venezuelan leader and Cilia Flores were hurt while trying to flee and hide, even as lawyers describe the incident as a violent abduction and questions swirl about the scale of the operation.
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Trump’s off-script speech was packed with false claims. Here’s what the facts actually show
From crime in Washington to January 6, mail-in voting and the economy, the president recycled a long list of debunked talking points — and added some new distortions.
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Elon Musk shares viral Diddy-Maduro meme after Venezuelan president’s capture
Elon Musk jumped into the online chatter by sharing a meme that quickly started doing the rounds. It was his way of reacting to the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, and it showed how fast serious world events can turn into internet humour. Jokes, edits and sarcastic posts began spreading almost as quickly as the news itself.
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Grok in trouble: Musk-linked influencer says AI turned her childhood photos into fake images
A personal feud involving Elon Musk stepped into the spotlight this week after a woman claiming to share a child with the billionaire accused his AI chatbot of generating inappropriate images from her own childhood. The controversy has reignited a wider debate about deepfake technology, online consent and the limits of artificial intelligence.
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Who was the 52-year-old Indian man attacked by transwomen in Thailand over 'service' payment dispute
A holiday in Thailand ended badly for an Indian tourist after a violent clash in Pattaya left him injured and in hospital. The incident, which was caught on video and widely shared online, has sparked fresh concern about tourist safety in the busy resort city.
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Baby found alone at Disney World as park reports sixth death in recent years
A disturbing incident at Walt Disney World in Florida has drawn fresh scrutiny to safety at the world’s most visited theme park. A baby was found unattended in the Magic Kingdom, and authorities confirmed this comes amid a troubling pattern of fatalities on Disney properties in the United States.
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Say goodbye to prime time junk food ads: UK tightens rules for children
The United Kingdom is introducing new rules to stop junk food advertisements from appearing on TV before 9 pm and across major online platforms. The effort is aimed at protecting children from constant marketing of unhealthy foods and reducing the nation’s stubbornly high levels of obesity.
WORLD
Ancient Greenland rocks reveal how quickly seas could rise again
Bedrock drilled from beneath Greenland’s ice shows a vast dome melted within the last 10,000 years, suggesting today’s warming could trigger far more sea-level rise than many models predict.
WORLD
Which childhood vaccines are no longer routinely recommended in the US and why it matters
The Trump administration has narrowed US federal guidance on several paediatric vaccines, arguing for parental choice and international alignment, while doctors warn the shift could leave more children vulnerable to preventable disease.
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Trump’s former critic Pete Hegseth now defends his military authority
Comments Hegseth made in 2016 about a president’s limits as commander in chief are colliding with his current role defending the legality of Trump-era military actions.
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Why Trump’s Venezuela strike could hand Russia and China a dangerous precedent
By seizing Venezuela’s leader and asserting US dominance in the Western Hemisphere, Washington may have weakened its own arguments against aggression elsewhere, analysts warn.
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Can the US actually prove Nicolás Maduro ran a narco state?
Prosecutors allege Venezuela’s former leader ran a state-backed trafficking network for decades, but securing a conviction will depend on proving direct involvement in moving drugs, weapons and money.
WORLD
Robots that ‘feel’ pain: the new electronic skin bringing machines closer to human touch
Robots are about to experience the world in a way we never thought possible. Scientists in Hong Kong have developed a new electronic skin that allows humanoid machines not only to feel touch but also to detect pain and react reflexively, similar to a human being. Such a development can make robots safer, more intuitive to work with, and better equipped to live outside controlled factory floors in the future.
WORLD
Eerie prediction: Peruvian shaman foresaw Maduro’s fall days before US capture
It began as just another seasonal forecast. Then real world events gave it an unexpected spotlight. Every December, shamans across Peru share their predictions for the year ahead. The practice is old, familiar, and widely covered by local television and newspapers. These forecasts are usually broad, touching on politics, weather, conflict, and public health. Most are treated as cultural tradition rather than serious political analysis.
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A quiet discovery in the Great Salt Lake that no one saw coming
It started as ordinary fieldwork and ended with scientists questioning what they thought they knew. In one of the harshest lakes in North America, a living creature was found where almost no one expected life at all.
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An old cartoon, a new crisis: why a 2007 sketch is trending now
A political cartoon that was drawn nearly twenty years ago is suddenly everywhere again. The image, shared widely in the aftermath of recent developments in Venezuela, has revived debates of US foreign policy and coincidence, or how people read meaning into history.
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America First versus intervention: Why Venezuela is splitting the MAGA coalition
Donald Trump’s decision to use US military force to capture Nicolás Maduro has thrilled parts of the Republican base but unsettled others who backed him for ending foreign wars. The fallout is exposing fresh cracks inside the MAGA movement.
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Why Iran’s rulers are in survival mode as unrest grows at home and threats mount abroad
Iran’s leadership is confronting a rare convergence of pressures, with spreading protests fuelled by economic collapse colliding with warnings of military action from the United States and Israel.
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How Venezuela shattered the illusion of an anti-war Trump presidency
The Venezuela operation lays bare how far the America First promise can stretch when strategic resources are at stake.
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Marco Rubio’s Venezuela problem: Toppling Maduro was the easy part
After years pushing for regime change, the US secretary of state is now tasked with helping run a fractured country of 29 million, manage its oil wealth and avoid a nation-building disaster.
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How people are recovering from AI-fuelled delusions by reconnecting with real humans
As cases of chatbot-induced paranoia and obsession draw scrutiny, a small online community has become a lifeline for those trying to reclaim their mental footing.
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Will US invade Colombia after Venezuela? ‘Sounds good to me,’ says Donald Trump
Will US invade Colombia after Venezuela? ‘Sounds good to me,’ says Donald Trump
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Maduro isn’t the first: past cases of US forces capturing foreign rulers
Large world events often cut across history in peculiar ways, and this dramatic seizure of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by US forces has raised many questions on how often the United States has taken a foreign leader into custody. In the case of Maduro in January 2026, it is quite extraordinary, but indeed, there was precedent in a few cases where US action directly resulted in the arrest or removal of another head of state.
