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Senate advances war powers resolution to stop Trump from taking further military action in Venezuela

The US Senate on Thursday advanced a bipartisan war powers resolution to prevent Donald Trump from taking further military action against Venezuela, after he ordered a weekend raid to capture that country’s president, Nicolás Maduro, without giving Congress advance notice. The measure passed with 52 senators in favor and 47 opposed. All Democrats voted for the resolution, as did Republicans Rand Paul, Todd Young, Lisa Murkowski, Josh Hawley and Susan Collins. Should the Senate approve the measure, it will need to pass the House and be signed by Trump to take effect. The vote was a significant rebuke of the president, and Trump responded by saying that the Republican senators who supported the resolution “should never be elected to office again”. “This Vote greatly hampers American Self Defense and National Security, impeding the President’s Authority as Commander in Chief,” he wrote on Truth Social. Trump went on to call the War Powers Resolution, the Vietnam-war era legislation Congress passed to stop presidents from conducting unapproved wars, “unconstitutional”. The resolution introduced by the Democratic senator Tim Kaine requires Trump to seek permission before attacking or otherwise using the military against Venezuela. Following the Saturday raid that saw US special forces assault the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, and spirit Maduro to New York to face trial on charges related to “narco-terrorism”, the president said he did not tell lawmakers beforehand because “Congress has a tendency to leak”. That sparked outrage among Democrats and some Republicans, who argued that the raid was illegal, and risked plunging the United States into a prolonged conflict. “After the administration’s actions over the weekend, which resulted in several injuries to US service members … Congress needs to tell the American public where it stands,” Kaine said in a speech on the Senate floor on Tuesday. Concern over US involvement in Venezuela is “about an instinctive wisdom among the American people that says war should be a last resort and it shouldn’t be entered into upon the say-so of one person”, he added. The resolution was the latest to be proposed by Congress’s Democratic minority to halt Trump’s campaign against Venezuela’s government, which intensified in September when Trump approved airstrikes on boats off its coast that he alleges carried drugs. Those attacks have killed at least 110 people, though experts have disputed Trump’s claim that the vessels were carrying fentanyl to US shores. Controversy intensified after it emerged that the military opted to kill two survivors of a strike rather than take them captive. Previous war powers resolutions proposed in both chambers failed – albeit narrowly – to garner enough support from the Republican majority to advance. Many in the Republican party have praised Trump’s strikes on Venezuela as well as the rendition of Maduro as effective uses of US power. “The world is safer because Maduro is apprehended in the hands of the US justice system,” said Mike Johnson, the Republican House speaker, on Wednesday after the US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, and the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, briefed members of both chambers. Johnson added: “President Trump is a strong president who takes decisive action, and that sends an important message to other dangerous people, terrorists and tyrants around the world. I think that’s an important role for America to play.” Paul, the Kentucky senator who co-sponsored the resolution, and Murkowski of Alaska had been the only Republicans to consistently break with their party and support the earlier war powers attempts. In comments to reporters the day prior, Paul argued that Congress must assert its authority over waging war even when a military operation is successful, or risk allowing the country to be “run by emergency”. “The reason you argue on principle against even things that appear to be good … isn’t even always for the current president, it’s for the next president,” he said. Trump’s broadside swept up not just Collins, Murkowski and Paul – the few Republican senators who are known to defy the president – but also Young and Hawley, who have rarely opposed him. Following the vote, Hawley, who represents Missouri, said in a statement: “My read of the constitution is that if the president feels the need to put boots on the ground there in the future, Congress would need to vote on it.” Indiana senator Young noted that the resolution restrains future military actions and not the raid that captured Maduro, which the senator praised. “President Trump campaigned against forever wars, and I strongly support him in that position. A drawn-out campaign in Venezuela involving the American military, even if unintended, would be the opposite of President Trump’s goal of ending foreign entanglements,” he said. “The constitution requires that Congress first authorize operations involving American boots on the ground, and my vote today reaffirms that longstanding congressional role.” Asked by reporters at the Capitol about the president’s criticism, Young said he had “no concerns, and no comments”. The Democratic senator John Fetterman, who represents swing-state Pennsylvania, praised the Saturday attack as a “positive for Venezuela” but said he voted for the resolution “so we can continue this important debate on the floor of the Senate”. Kaine said he expected lawmakers to introduce other war powers resolutions intended to stop hostilities towards Nigeria, Cuba, Mexico and Colombia – all countries Trump has struck in the past year, or threatened to attack. Shortly after the Senate vote, a group of House Democrats introduced a similar war powers resolution dealing with Venezuela in that chamber. “Maduro was a horrible tyrant and a terrible human being. Nobody here disputes that. But when it comes to putting American troops in harm’s way, Congress is in charge, and that’s not me saying that, it’s the constitution,” said Jim McGovern, a congressman and the measure’s sponsor.

Venezuela to release ‘important number’ of detainees

Five days after the US seized Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela has announced it is releasing an “important number” of detainees in what the congressional president characterised as a gesture to “consolidate peace”. It is unclear how many people are being freed. Human rights organisations working in the country estimate that Venezuela holds between 800 and 1,000 political prisoners, most of them detained for taking part in protests after the 2024 election, widely believed to have been stolen by Maduro. The congressional president, Jorge Rodríguez, the brother of the acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, said the move was a “unilateral gesture to reaffirm our unbreakable decision to consolidate peace in the republic and peaceful coexistence among all”. Spain’s foreign ministry confirmed the release of five Spanish nationals, one of them a citizen with dual nationality, who it said were “preparing to travel to Spain with assistance from our embassy in Caracas”. “Spain, which maintains fraternal relations with the Venezuelan people, views this decision as a positive step in the new phase Venezuela is entering,” the ministry said. Spain’s foreign minister, José Manuel Albares, told the public broadcaster RNE that the dual national was Rocío San Miguel, a Spanish-Venezuelan lawyer, activist and human rights defender who was detained in February 2024 and accused by the regime of treason, conspiracy and terrorism in connection with an alleged plot to assassinate Maduro. Before Venezuela’s announcement, estimates suggested there were more than 40 foreign nationals detained in the country, including about 20 Spaniards and five US citizens, among them James Luckey-Lange, 28, who disappeared in December and was being held at military counterintelligence headquarters in Caracas. On Tuesday, Donald Trump said Venezuela had “a torture chamber in the middle of Caracas that they’re closing up”, without elaborating. In recent days, speculation has centred on the Helicoide de la Roca Tarpeya, an iconic structure inaugurated in 1956 as an avant garde shopping centre and later turned into a prison and torture site under Chavismo, though there has been no confirmation. The announcement of the detainees’ release is being treated with caution. In the days leading up to the US operation, the regime said it would release 187 people – 99 on Christmas Day and 88 on New Year’s Day – but organisations were able to independently verify the release of only a portion of that total. Alfredo Romero, the head of Foro Penal, an NGO that estimates there are still 806 political prisoners in Venezuela, posted a video saying: “We have good news that you all already know – it’s now official, and we have high expectations for the release of all political prisoners.” Romero said he hoped this would be “a real transformation, a process of national reconciliation and pacification, and not a simple gesture … or a fiction in which some people are released only for others to be jailed. We hope this truly marks the beginning of the dismantling of Venezuela’s repressive system.” The NGO Justicia, Encuentro y Perdón (Justice, Meeting and Forgiveness), which also monitors political detentions and estimated that there were 1,011 political prisoners, posted that it welcomed the announcement but was still waiting for the releases to be “effective, immediate and verifiable”. “It is essential to reiterate that freedom is not a benefit or a concession granted by those in power: freedom is a fundamental human right. No one should be deprived of it for legitimately exercising rights such as freedom of expression, political participation or the defence of human rights,” the organisation wrote. In addition to demanding the release of all political prisoners, the NGO stressed that any release must be “full, immediate and without conditions” – a reference to the fact that many people freed in recent months were granted only conditional liberty, subject to precautionary measures such as travel bans, mandatory court appearances and restrictions on speaking to the media about their cases. The NGO Comité por la Libertad de los Presos Políticos (Committee for the Freedom of Political Prisoners) posted that so far the regime had not provided full information. “Opacity and discretion continue to prevail in the handling of these releases, increasing the anxiety, anguish and uncertainty of families and political prisoners,” it said. At a press conference announcing the decision, Jorge Rodríguez said: “In the next few minutes you will learn the nature of the people who are receiving the benefit of release. In order to contribute and collaborate in the effort that all of us must make for national unity and peaceful coexistence, the Bolivarian government, together with the institutions of the state, has decided to free an important number of Venezuelan and foreign individuals, and these release processes are taking place from this very moment. “Consider this gesture by the Bolivarian government, with its broad intention of seeking peace, as the contribution that all of us must make so that our republic can continue its life in peace and in pursuit of prosperity.”

Iran plunged into internet blackout as protests over economy spread nationwide

Iran was plunged into a complete internet blackout on Thursday night as protests over economic conditions spread nationwide, increasing pressure on the country’s leadership. While it was unclear what caused the internet cut, first reported by the internet freedom monitor NetBlocks, Iranian authorities have shut down the internet in response to protests in the past. NetBlocks had reported outages in the western city of Kermanshah earlier in the day, as authorities intensified their crackdown against protesters. The Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR) said on Thursday that Iranian security forces had killed at least 45 protesters, including eight children, since the demonstrations began in late December. Shopkeepers heeded calls from seven Kurdish political groups for a general strike on Thursday, closing their doors in Kurdish regions and dozens of other cities around Iran. Demonstrations reached all 31 provinces on Thursday as the protest movement showed no signs of abating. In the southern Fars province demonstrators pulled down the statue of the former senior Revolutionary Guards al-Quds force commander Qassem Suleimani – considered a hero of mythical proportions by government supporters. IHR said Wednesday was the bloodiest day of the now 12-day movement, with 13 protesters confirmed killed. “The evidence shows that the scope of the crackdown is becoming more violent and more extensive every day,” said the IHR director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, adding that hundreds more had been wounded and more than 2,000 arrested. Media inside Iran and official statements have reported at least 21 people killed, including security forces, since the protests began, according to an Agence France-Presse tally. The protest movement is the largest in three years, and while it has not yet reached the size of the 2022 Woman, Life, Freedom demonstrations, it has alarmed Iran’s political and security leadership. The Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, on Thursday called for restraint in how the demonstrations are handled. “Any violent or coercive behaviour should be avoided,” said Pezeshkian in a statement on his website, urging “utmost restraint” as well as “dialogue, engagement and listening to the people’s demands”. The trigger for the protests, the sudden slide of the country’s currency and general economic malaise, has made it difficult for the government to address the grievances of protesters. The currency has continued to depreciate, while the government announced the end of a subsidised exchange rate for importers – a move that has already caused the price of groceries to soar. Everyday life has become increasingly unaffordable for Iranians. The average price of food has increased by more than 70% since last year, and medicine about 50% in the same time period. The government has said that solving the economic crisis afflicting the country is largely out of its hands, and that while it will work to tackle corruption and price gouging, it has few tools to use. It blamed the economic woes of the country on external factors, primarily the harsh sanctions placed on Iran mainly by the west in response to Iran’s nuclear programme. The protests thus far seem to be decentralised and lacking in a central figure, in contrast to the 2022 protests, when demonstrators rallied around 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died in police custody after being arrested for allegedly wearing the hijab improperly. The exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi, the son of the shah who was ejected by the 1979 Iranian revolution, has been trying to fill the leadership vacuum in the movement. He urged Iranians to yell from their windows on Thursday and Friday at 8pm local time to show their support. “Based on your response, I will announce the next calls to action,” Pahlavi said in a widely shared video. It is unclear the level of support Pahlavi enjoys, though videos of protests over the last 12 days have showed demonstrators chanting in support for the exiled prince. A social media channel close to Iran’s security forces published a video which purported to show intelligence agents visiting people in their homes warning them not to take part in Pahlavi’s protest, with other outlets claiming drones would be used to identify those who do participate. Though authorities have used violence against protesters, their crackdown has not reached nearly the same intensity as it did in 2022. Analysts have said that the state may feel less secure than it did three years ago, rocked by its June war with Israel. The government also faces threats from abroad, with the US president, Donald Trump, threatening to intervene in protests if Iran killed demonstrators. The US state department also encouraged protesters online, sharing footage of some placing Trump stickers on road signs. “When prices are set so high that neither consumers can afford to buy nor farmers can afford to sell, everyone loses,” the state department said in a post on X. On Thursday night the US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, said the Iranian economy was “on the ropes”. Speaking to the Economic Club of Minnesota, he said: “It’s a very precarious moment. He (Trump) does not want them to harm more of the protesters. This is a tense moment.” The Iranian foreign ministry and military have lashed out over Trump’s comments, with Iran’s army chief threatening on Wednesday to carry out pre-emptive strikes on states that threaten Iran. Authorities have increasingly cast protesters as violent, saying that while the right to protest was legitimate, rioters and foreign-backed saboteurs had hijacked protests. Outlets close to the government said a police colonel was stabbed outside Tehran, while a police station in Chenaran, north-east of Tehran, was attacked on Wednesday night leading to the death of five people.

Two oil tankers under US sanctions sailing through Channel towards Russia

Two oil tankers under US sanctions are sailing east through the Channel towards Russia, prompting speculation over whether the US and UK would be willing to seize further vessels linked to Moscow. The Aria and the Tia, which has changed its name and country of registration several times, were both travelling south of Britain a day after the Marinera oil tanker was captured in the Atlantic by the US with UK help. John Healey, the defence secretary, told MPs on Wednesday evening that the seizure of the Marinera was justified not only because it was falsely flagged but also because it was part of Russia’s shadow fleet that shipped oil illicitly “to bankroll its illegal invasion of Ukraine”. That created an expectation that the UK, perhaps with the help of the US, would be willing to target other Russian or Russia-linked tankers near the country that have already been hit with sanctions by the US Treasury. The Ministry of Defence, when asked on Thursday if it was aware of the sanctioned ships, said it would not discuss any possible plans to seize the vessels or “give a running commentary on live maritime traffic websites”. A spokesperson returned to Healey’s comments from the night before: “The defence secretary set out in parliament yesterday that deterring, disrupting and degrading the Russian shadow fleet is a priority for this government.” The Tia, using the name Tiavan, is on a voyage from Turkey to a port on Russia’s Gulf of Finland, due to arrive on 13 January, according to Lloyd’s List. Under the name Tia, it was placed under sanctions by the US for carrying crude oil from Venezuela in 2024, after which its name was changed to Arcusat and finally Tiavan. The Aria, registered under the flag of Barbados, was recorded sailing between Plymouth and Jersey early on Thursday evening, heading towards the Ust-Luga commercial port in the eastern Baltic. It is listed as being under sanctions from the US Treasury, with a note that it is linked to Russia’s largest shipping company. On Wednesday afternoon, US forces seized the Marinera oil tanker, previously the Bella 1, north-west of the British Isles in an operation supported by the Royal Navy and RAF, after following it for two and a half weeks from the Caribbean. It had been sailing towards Venezuela and the crew had refused to give permission for the US Coast Guard to board as it approached the South American country. The boat then fled north up the Atlantic, changing its name and adopting a Russian registration, though this was not enough to put off the US military.

Harvey Weinstein weighing guilty plea to resolve third-degree rape charge

Disgraced former movie mogul Harvey Weinstein is weighing a potential guilty plea to resolve an undecided third-degree rape charge and avoid a third trial in New York on charges that came to define the #MeToo era. Weinstein, in a wheelchair and looking noticeably paler than he did when he was last in court in June, was brought to Judge Curtis Farber’s court on Thursday, seeking to have his latest sex crime conviction thrown out over claims of juror intimidation. Farber denied the motion, saying that tensions among jurors, which had spilled into open court during deliberations, had not risen to that level. In sworn statements, two jurors said they didn’t believe Weinstein was guilty, but had given in because of other jurors’ verbal aggression. “Jurors don’t always behave in the manner we’d hope,” Farber said in denying the motion to dismiss the verdicts, adding: “I believe you had a fair trial.” Weinstein was found guilty of forcing oral sex on Miriam Haley in 2006, and cleared of assaulting another woman, Kaja Sokola, also in 2006, and there was a hung jury on a third charge involving hairstylist and actor Jessica Mann in a Manhattan hotel in 2013. Dozens of other women have accused Weinstein of abuse and sexual attacks during his long career as a huge player in Hollywood, where he was one of the most powerful figures in the movie industry. Weinstein, 73, has maintained his innocence and denied all the charges. His lawyers insisted during the most recent trial that the encounters were “transactional” and “consensual” and that the women willingly accepted his advances in hopes of getting work in the entertainment business. Weinstein, who has been held at New York’s notorious Rikers Island jail for close to two years while awaiting the outcome of the latest round of prosecution, told the court: “I know I was unfaithful, I know I acted wrongly, but I never assaulted anyone.” He said every day in the jail – which is under federal control due to decades of violence, corruption and bad conditions – “feels like a slow march toward death … The isolation is unbearable. My body is failing.” He said in a letter to the court asking for the verdict to be thrown out because of alleged juror-on-juror intimidation last year that he felt “broken, abandoned and terrified” and claimed that “outside pressures and juror misconduct have turned this process into something that feels predetermined, not just flawed”. He said conditions at Rikers “are not merely harsh, they are soul-crushing. My time at Rikers awaiting a fair trial is proving to be a death sentence.” Weinstein is now scheduled for retrial on the charge involving Jessica Mann in early March. But Farber indicated he could override prosecutors’ demands for a third trial if Weinstein pleads guilty. As it stands, Weinstein has two weeks to confirm or reject plea talks with prosecutors. “To say he’s unenthusiastic about pleading guilty is an understatement,” Weinstein attorney Arthur Aidala said outside the court. “However, going through these trials is tremendously taxing and his health is horrible.” Weinstein, Aidala indicated, is weighing a plea. But, he maintained, if his client’s name wasn’t Harvey Weinstein, the case would have been resolved. “To say justice is blind, unfortunately, is not accurate,” he said. In court, prosecutors denied that they had singled Weinstein out. “This is what justice is in New York for sexual assault survivors,” said prosecutor Nicole Blumberg, adding that the decision to try him a third time was not “about his name or what he represents”. Thursday’s hearing was just the latest turn in a landmark #MeToo-era case that has spanned seven years. Weinstein has been tried twice in New York, and once in California, where he was sentenced to 16 years in prison. He also is appealing a rape conviction in Los Angeles. • Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organizations. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html

Venezuela cooperating fully and US will control its oil for years, Trump claims

The US is receiving full cooperation from Venezuela’s regime and will control the country and its vast oil reserves for years, Donald Trump has claimed. Caracas was giving Washington “everything that we feel is necessary” and the US would remain a political overlord there for an indefinite period, the US president said. “We will rebuild it in a very profitable way,” Trump told the New York Times. “We’re going to be using oil, and we’re going to be taking oil.” Asked how long the White House would demand direct oversight of Venezuela, he said “only time will tell”. Asked if it would be longer than a year, he replied: “I would say much longer.” His comments came after Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, defended plans to open up her country’s oil market to Washington. Rodríguez said on Wednesday that the US attack to remove her predecessor, Nicolás Maduro, had put a “stain” on the countries’ relations, but that it was “not unusual or irregular” to trade with the US, adding that Venezuela was “open to energy relations where all parties benefit”. In his New York Times interview Trump made a similar claim, saying: “We’re getting oil prices down, and we’re going to be giving money to Venezuela, which they desperately need.” Trump did not answer questions about why he endorsed Rodríguez – a veteran member of a government he has accused of “narco-terrorism” – as Venezuela’s new leader instead of backing María Corina Machado, the opposition leader who led a successful election campaign in 2024 and won the Nobel peace prize. He declined to say if he had spoken to Rodríguez but said his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, did so “all the time”. The president made no commitments about when Venezuela might hold elections. On Thursday, Rodríguez’s powerful brother, the congressional president, Jorge Rodríguez, announced the release of “a significant number of Venezuelan and foreign individuals”, which he said was intended to “contribute and collaborate in the effort we must all make towards national unity and peaceful coexistence”. It is unclear exactly how many detainees will be released, but Alfredo Romero, the head of Foro Penal, a leading civil society organisation that has estimated there are more than 800 political prisoners in the country, posted: “We already know of some people on their way to freedom, including foreigners.” The announcement, however, is being treated with caution. In the days leading up to the US operation, the regime said it would release 187 people who were detained after protesting against Maduro’s theft of the 2024 election, but organisations were only able to independently verify the release of some of that total. The NGO Justicia, Encuentro y Perdón, which also monitors political detentions, said it welcomed the announcement of the releases but was waiting for them to be “effective, immediate and verifiable”. “It is essential to reiterate that freedom is not a benefit or a concession granted by those in power: freedom is a fundamental human right. No one should be deprived of it for legitimately exercising rights such as freedom of expression, political participation or the defence of human rights,” the organisation wrote. US forces seized a pair of sanctions-hit tankers on Wednesday and the administration announced it would manage all sales of Venezuela’s future crude production and oversee the sale of the country’s petroleum worldwide. Chris Wright, the US energy secretary, said: “We’re going to market the crude coming out of Venezuela.” On Thursday, Wright said there would be room for China to have a role in Venezuela’s commercial relations, but only as long as the US remained “the dominant force there”. “Within that framework, where Venezuela’s main partner … is the US, can there be commerce with China? Sure. Are we going to allow Venezuela to become a client state of China? Absolutely not,” he told Fox Business Network. In another interview on Fox News, the US vice-president, JD Vance, said Venezuela would be able to sell its oil only if it served the interests of Washington. “We control the energy resources, and we tell the regime: you’re allowed to sell the oil so long as you serve America’s national interest, you’re not allowed to sell it if you can’t serve America’s national interest,” Vance said. On Tuesday, Trump announced a deal to access to up to $3bn worth of Venezuelan crude, a sign that Venezuelan government officials are responding to Trump’s demand that they open up to US oil companies or risk more military intervention. On top of the ongoing embargo on oil, the US energy department has said the “only oil transported in and out of Venezuela” will be through approved channels consistent with US law and national security interests. That level of control over the world’s largest proven reserves of crude oil could give the Trump administration a broader hold on oil supplies globally in ways that could enable it to influence prices. Since the capture of Maduro, Trump has continued to pledge that the US will “run” the country, despite pushback from Rodríguez. On Wednesday, Trump said Venezuela would only buy US-made products with the profits it makes from any deal with Washington to sell oil. In a social media post, he wrote: “I have just been informed that Venezuela is going to be purchasing ONLY American Made Products, with the money they receive from our new Oil Deal.” Trump is scheduled to meet the heads of major oil companies at the White House on Friday to discuss ways of raising Venezuela’s oil production. The Financial Times reported that oil executives were expected to press the president on providing strong legal and financial guarantees before they agreed to commit capital to Venezuela. US officials had in recent weeks told US oil executives they would need to return to Venezuela quickly and invest significant capital there to revive the damaged industry, Reuters reported earlier this week. The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that the US had begun scaling back its naval presence in the Caribbean off Venezuela’s coast, moving the USS Iwo Jima and the USS San Antonio to waters north of Cuba in the Atlantic and reducing troop numbers from about 15,000 to 12,000. It remains unclear, however, whether this marks the beginning of a de-escalation or a temporary reduction. On Thursday night, Venezuela’s interior minister, Diosdado Cabello, said the death toll from the US attack had reached 100 – including Venezuelan and Cuban soldiers as well as civilians – with a similar number injured. While the regime has held funerals for 24 Venezuelan troops and Cuba has released the names of 32 Cuban soldiers, few details are known about the remaining victims, aside from a handful of civilians identified so far, including Rosa Elena González, an 80-year-old woman killed in her apartment near a military base hit by a missile. Cabello, who has reportedly been warned by the Trump administration that he could be next to fall if he does not support Rodríguez, called Maduro’s capture a “barbaric, treacherous and terrible attack”. The minister also claimed – without providing evidence – that the original US plan did not include capturing Maduro’s wife, Cilia Flores. “When they were taking away brother Nicolás Maduro, they were not going to take Cilia, and Cilia told them: ‘If you take my husband, you have to take me too, you have to take me too,’” said Cabello. With Reuters and Agence France-Presse