VENEZUELA
Opposition reports raid
A leading opposition party said that a group of armed men with their faces covered on Friday raided its headquarters, taking cellphones, computers and ID cards from staffers and raising tensions the night before a nationwide protest against President Nicolas Maduro. Popular Will members said that Juan Guaido, who belongs to the party, was not inside at the time. They said they believe the armed men were some kind of government or security officers, although they did not identify themselves or show a court order. Guaido arrived at the 18th-floor office in Caracas minutes later and called for an end to Maduro’s “dictatorship,” saying the men who broke into the office were “cowards” for covering their faces and not identifying themselves. “What they were looking for was to intimidate us,” Guaido said. “They didn’t succeed.”
UNITED STATES
Robocall bill makes progress
House and Senate leaders on Friday said that they had reached an agreement in principle on merging bills to clamp down on robocalls and sent it to President Donald Trump this year. The final bill would require phone companies to verify that phone numbers are real and to block calls for free. It would also give government agencies more ability to go after scammers. Phone companies have been rolling out verification tools after prompting from regulators. They are also offering call-blocking apps for smartphones and many home phones, although not always for free.
UNITED STATES
Epstein guards refuse deal
Federal prosecutors offered a plea deal to two correctional officers responsible for guarding Jeffrey Epstein on the night of his death, but the officers have declined the offer, people familiar with the matter said. The existence of the plea offer signals that the Department of Justice is considering criminal charges in connection with the wealthy financier’s death at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York in August. The city’s medical examiner ruled Epstein’s death a suicide. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not permitted to publicly discuss the investigation.
UNITED STATES
Kanye West follows Cash
Kanye West has followed the Johnny Cash route and performed for inmates at a Houston jail. In secret from the public, the star rapper-turned-gospel singer performed songs on Friday from his new gospel album Jesus is King. He and his choir performed for more than 200 male inmates at one jail facility before crossing the street to another facility and performing for a smaller crowd of female inmates. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said West’s representatives asked jail officials about doing secret shows. The concerts were performed two days before West is to speak at Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church in Houston. The events were reminiscent of prison concerts given by country singer Cash in California.
UNITED STATES
Boy catches big catfish
A nine-year-old New Mexico boy landed a 19kg blue catfish on Sunday last week while fishing in the Elephant Butte Reservoir. Kris Flores said that his son, Alex, made the big catch by himself and shattered dad’s record of reeling in a 16kg fish. Flores said the fourth grader named the fish Wailord after a Pokemon character. The father said his son released the fish back into the reservoir after taking some photos and videos. The biggest fish reportedly caught in Elephant Butte was 35kg.
Shamans in Peru on Monday gathered for an annual New Year’s ritual where they made predictions for the year to come, including illness for US President Donald Trump and the downfall of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. “The United States should prepare itself because Donald Trump will fall seriously ill,” Juan de Dios Garcia proclaimed as he gathered with other shamans on a beach in southern Lima, dressed in traditional Andean ponchos and headdresses, and sprinkling flowers on the sand. The shamans carried large posters of world leaders, over which they crossed swords and burned incense, some of which they stomped on. In this
Near the entrance to the Panama Canal, a monument to China’s contributions to the interoceanic waterway was torn down on Saturday night by order of local authorities. The move comes as US President Donald Trump has made threats in the past few months to retake control of the canal, claiming Beijing has too much influence in its operations. In a surprising move that has been criticized by leaders in Panama and China, the mayor’s office of the locality of Arraijan ordered the demolition of the monument built in 2004 to symbolize friendship between the countries. The mayor’s office said in
‘TRUMP’S LONG GAME’: Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said that while fraud was a serious issue, the US president was politicizing it to defund programs for Minnesotans US President Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday said it was auditing immigration cases involving US citizens of Somalian origin to detect fraud that could lead to denaturalization, or revocation of citizenship, while also announcing a freeze of childcare funds to Minnesota and demanding an audit of some daycare centers. “Under US law, if an individual procures citizenship on a fraudulent basis, that is grounds for denaturalization,” US Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. Denaturalization cases are rare and can take years. About 11 cases were pursued per year between 1990 and 2017, the Immigrant Legal Resource
‘RADICALLY DIFFERENT’: The Kremlin said no accord would be reached if the new deal with Kyiv’s input did not remain within the limits fixed by the US and Russia in August Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is to meet US President Donald Trump in Florida this weekend, but Russia on Friday accused him and his EU backers of seeking to “torpedo” a US-brokered plan to stop the fighting. Today’s meeting to discuss new peace proposals comes amidst Trump’s intensified efforts to broker an agreement on Europe’s worst conflict since World War II. The latest plan is a 20-point proposal that would freeze the war on its current front line, but open the door for Ukraine to pull back troops from the east, where demilitarized buffer zones could be created, according to details revealed by
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