Newshour

The Venezuelan opposition leader, Maria Corina Machado, has said the removal from power of President Nicolas Maduro by US special forces is a huge step for freedom despite being sidelined by Trump. We hear from inside the country amid a crackdown in Caracas. Also on the programme, European leaders meet in Paris to discuss an end to the war in Ukraine, and a battle to save a historic monument to one of the great Antarctic explorers, Ernest Shackleton.(Photo: Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado looks on, outside the Grand Hotel after she was in the audience at the Royal Palace in Oslo, Norway, 12 December, 2025. Credit: NTB/Ole Berg-Rusten/Reuters)

The Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro pleads not guilty in New York to drug trafficking and other charges while Delcy Rodríguez has been sworn in as Venezuela’s interim president. Can she command the support of regime insiders as well as Washington? Also on the programme: we'll hear how ordinary Venezuelans are responding to the upheaval; and ask a Republican member of congress about President Trump's astonishing use of raw American power and the diplomatic conundrum for the US allies. (Photo: A screen grab taken from a handout video screenshot made available by Venezuela's state television VTV shows Venezuelan Executive Vice President Delcy Rodriguez being sworn in as acting president of the country in Caracas, Venezuela. Credit: EPA/Shutterstock)

The Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife are being transferred to a court in New York to face drugs charges -- two days after they were seized by US troops. Meanwhile in Caracas, Delcy Rodriguez is due to be sworn in as Venezuela's interim leader. She's offered to cooperate with Washington, after President Trump threatened further action. Also in the programme: A French court has found ten people guilty of spreading lies online about President Macron's wife Brigitte; as protests in Iran continue for a ninth day, the Speaker of Parliament has said that the protesters' demands must be heard; and Venezuela has the world's biggest oil reserves, what happens to that now?(Photo credit: Reuters/Adam Gray)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told CBS news that the US will defend its interests in its own western hemisphere and insists Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is an indicted criminal. In this edition dedicated to the Venezuelan crisis; we hear from a Caracas resident; and the intriguing details of the operation to extract Nicolás Maduro.(Photograph: a supporter of President Maduro in Caracas holding dolls of Maduro and his wife. Credit: Shutterstock)

The US will "run" Venezuela until a "safe, proper and judicious transition" can be ensured, Donald Trump has said, after US strikes led to the capture of the Latin American country's president and his rendition to New York.What happens next in Venezuela? There's been celebration and condemnation of America's intervention. We'll hear from in Caracas and also the Colombia-Venezuela border.Also in the programme: We also hear from a former Trump insider who worked with him on Venezuela, ask a leading international criminal lawyer about the legality of the situation; and we'll hear about weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic, Mounjaro and Wegovy.(Photo shows Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro at the offices of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in New York. Credit: White House's Rapid Response 47 account on X.com)