3 h. ago Putin's week of 'humiliation' at the hands of Trump: Experts explain how Russian dictator has been 'put in a corner' by Atlantic ship raid and Maduro capture as US flexes its muscles around the world

Donald Trump has put Vladimir Putin 'in a corner' by taking Venezuela's leader prisoner and storming a Russian oil tanker this week, experts have said. 

Politics

14 h. ago US could ease sanctions on Venezuela next week, says Bessent

Trump is seeking to convince sceptical US oil companies to invest in Latin American nation after overthrow of Maduro

Politics

20 h. ago A week in photos from Venezuela after U.S. strike removed its president

Venezuelans navigated a tense week after U.S. forces captured former President Nicolás Maduro and his wife.

Politics

67 h. ago Two oil tankers under US sanctions sailing through Channel towards Russia

Aria and Tia both south of Britain after US-UK seizure of Marinera, deemed to be part of Moscow’s ‘shadow fleet’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. Continue reading...

Events

3 d. ago The Guardian view on Britain and Europe: time to move together, faster and further | Editorial

The chaos that Donald Trump is causing in the world makes the case for continental solidarity and explicit repudiation of Brexit divisions Sir Keir Starmer’s plan for 2026 was to talk more about the domestic issues that concern British voters. Donald Trump knocked that plan off course. US intervention in Venezuela inevitably demanded the prime minister’s attention, as did this week’s summit of Ukraine’s allies, the “coalition of the willing”, in Paris. Progress towards agreeing security guarantees for Kyiv in the event of a peace deal with Russia was overshadowed by Mr Trump restating his ambition to wrest control of Greenland from Denmark. The dust had not settled when American special forces boarded a Russian-flagged oil tanker in European waters, ostensibly to enforce a blockade against Venezuela.Prime ministers have to multitask, but under these circumstances it is understandable if Sir Keir’s mind has been filled with foreign affairs. He should be used to this by now. Mr Trump’...

Politics

3 d. ago US forces seize rogue oil tanker with British support in daring commando

The United States has seized a Venezuela-linked oil tanker after a more than two-week-long pursuit across the Atlantic. 

Events

4 d. ago US forces 'are attempting to board rogue oil tanker in the Atlantic despite presence of Russian vessels'

The United States is attempting to seize a Venezuela-linked oil tanker after a more than two-week-long pursuit across the Atlantic. 

Events

4 d. ago China touts new microwave weapon that ‘can destroy drone swarm from 3km away’

Chinese military hardware is under intensified scrutiny this week after its radar systems failed to warn Venezuela of impending US attack

Events

5 d. ago Coalition of the willing to discuss Ukraine security guarantees in Paris amid Trump threats over Greenland – Europe live

Volodymyr Zelenskyy will talk with leaders including Starmer, Macron, Merz and Carney as well as US delegation led by Steve WitkoffBefore Venezuela, Witkoff last week had indicated progress in talks on measures to protect Ukraine against future Russian aggression.On 31 December, he had tweeted that the “productive” discussions with national security advisers of Ukraine, UK, France and Germany had focused on “strengthening security guarantees and developing effective deconfliction mechanisms to help end the war and ensure it does not restart.” Continue reading...

Events

5 d. ago DAN HODGES: From Brexit to Venezuela, this week has proved there's a gaping hole where No 10's foreign policy should be

A couple of months after Sir Keir Starmer was elected I asked a Labour minister what the PM's foreign policy priorities would be. 'It's not about specifics,' he answered. 'It's more about a vision.'

Events

7 d. ago Ukraine war briefing: Ukraine will fight on if peace talks fail, Zelenskyy vows

Ukraine’s top allies hold security talks in Kyiv; Russia condemns US attack on Venezuela. What we know on day 1,411The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, says he hopes for a leaders’ summit in the US by the end of January to discuss proposals on how to end the war with Russia. Security advisers from Ukraine’s top allies met in Kyiv on Saturday for talks on a US-brokered plan to end the war, days after Kyiv announced a deal was “90%” ready. Officials from 15 countries including the UK, France and Germany as well as representatives from Nato and the EU joined the meeting. The US special envoy Steve Witkoff also joined virtually, a Ukrainian official said, although the US military attack on Venezuela earlier in the day overshadowed proceedings.Next week, the talks will continue during a European leaders’ meeting in Paris and then with US negotiators. “And after that we will be preparing for a meeting in the United States at the leadership level. We would like all of this to happ...

Events

1 week ago Syria’s mass graves haunt loved ones a year on from Assad, as hunt for clues finally starts

Syria has yet to start the wide-scale hunt for its missing after it being gutted by autocratic rule, civil war and crippling sanctions, writes chief international correspondent Bel Trew in Sayyida Zeinab, south east Syria

Politics

1 week ago US struck ‘big facility’ in Venezuela, Trump claimed without offering details

Trump alleged that US forces hit ‘very hard’ in what would mark his team’s first land strike on Venezuela if confirmedDonald Trump has claimed that US forces struck a “big facility” in Venezuela last week – but the president did not specify what it was, or where, and the White House has not commented further.“We just knocked out – I don’t know if you read or you saw – they have a big plant, or a big facility, where the ships come from. Two nights ago, we knocked that out. So we hit them very hard,” Trump told Republican donor and New York supermarket owner John Catsimatidis on Friday. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Christmas in Venezuela, polleras and more top photos this week in Latin America and the Caribbean

Dec. 19–25, 2025

Culture

3 w. ago Venezuela accuses Trinidad and Tobago of taking part in US seizure of oil tanker

Maduro regime accuses Caribbean nation of participating in ‘theft of Venezuelan oil’ as tensions mount in regionVenezuela has accused the government of Trinidad and Tobago of taking part in the US seizure of an oil tanker off Venezuela’s coast last week, as Donald Trump’s four-month pressure campaign against Nicolás Maduro continues to reverberate across the region.In a statement on Monday, the Maduro regime accused Trinidad and Tobago of participating in “the theft of Venezuelan oil, committed by the US administration on 10 December with the assault on a vessel transporting this strategic Venezuelan product”. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago Nobel prize winner Maria Machado fractured spine fleeing Venezuela on fishing boat to reach ceremony

Machado endured a gruelling three day journey from Venezuela to Oslo over perilous waters last week

Politics

3 w. ago Machado suffered vertebra fracture on secret trip from Venezuela to Norway

Opposition leader and Nobel peace prize laureate’s injury was reportedly sustained during high-risk sea crossingVenezuelan opposition leader and Nobel peace prize laureate María Corina Machado suffered a vertebra fracture during her secret journey from Venezuela to Norway last week, her spokesperson has confirmed.Machado previously said she feared for her life during the perilous voyage to receive her award in Oslo. Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago Nobel Peace Prize laureate and others who took on Belarus' president are among the freed prisoners

Belarusian authorities have freed 123 prisoners, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski and key opposition figures Maria Kolesnikova and Viktar Babaryka, as part of a deal with Washington that lifted U.S. sanctions on the Eastern European country’s vital fertilizer exports

Events