This Week in the World Affairs Brief
TRUMP’S SURGICAL STRIKE ON VENEZUELA
During the night of Saturday, Jan 3, President Trump gave the go-ahead for a targeted attack on the illegally installed strongman of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, and his even more radical wife—both residing in a secure home on a high security military base in Caracas. While the Trump raid was questionable in its legality, it is about the only thing that has gone right in Trump’s first attempt to deal with a far-Left nation in Latin America under the growing Chinese and Russian influence in our southern hemisphere. Every one of America’s enemies were duly impressed with the US military’s ability to penetrate Venezuela’s defenses and pull off this spectacular grab of a ruling dictator. No other country in the world could have put 150 types of aircraft into the air in a highly coordinated jamming and aerial attack that took out Venezuela’s Chinese-built radars, Russian air defenses and five military bases within minutes. Delta Force special operations helicopters carried their teams through the gauntlet in marginal weather at low altitude to land at Maduro’s secure location with such stealth and surprise that he and his wife were both captured before they could enter and close the door on their safe room. But despite the dramatic performance of this textbook use of combined arms to carry out the snatch of Maduro, it’s been downhill ever since as Trump bragged to the world that he would “run” Venezuela from Washington, and use the US military to further threaten half a dozen other mostly hostile nations into compliance. Even though most of the 8 million Venezuelan exiles in nearby countries rejoiced at seeing a dictator like Maduro overthrown, they are all too aware that it’s not safe to return to that country while it is still controlled by the rest of his broad cadre of communists. To receive a free, one-time sample of the Brief, along with options on how to subscribe, click on Request a sample on the left.
Also:
- World Leader’s Reactions to Trump’s Capture of Maduro
- Was Trump’s Intervention Legal?
- ICE Targets Minnesota with Massive Immigration Enforcement Operation
Washington :The U.S. Government and Lockheed Martin have announced a landmark agreement to dramatically expand manufacturing of the PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) interceptor, an advanced component of the Patriot Air And Missile Defense System. The new framework aims to increase annual production from approximately 600 interceptors to 2,000 per year over a seven-year period, a move officials say will strengthen U.S. and allied defenses amid rising global threats.
“I was elected as a Democratic socialist and I will govern as a Democratic socialist.”
That was the new mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani, in his inaugural address, where he made headlines by going with a speech that made him sound like the caricature of an Ayn Rand villain.
The Department of Justice notified New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani that anti-white discrimination would not be tolerated, following publication of past controversial statements by his top housing aide.
The comments come after the UK and France signed a letter of intent to send members of their armed forces to Ukraine in the event of a peace deal to guard against any potential future aggression from Moscow.
Among these targets outlined in a presidential memorandum, 31 entities are tied to the United Nations.
Shortly after the ICE-involved shooting that left one woman dead, multiple videos of the incident went viral on X. In at least one video, she appears to be blocking the street with her vehicle in an attempt to impede ICE agents and is later shot and killed after advancing toward one of the agents. Numerous angles of the incident are circulating on X, offering competing narratives.
President Donald Trump is asking the state of Georgia to reimburse $6.26 million in attorney fees and costs he incurred defending against his now-dismissed election interference case in the state.
On Thursday the demonstrations have disrupted life in the capital in a big way, and there are reports of nationwide internet and cellular outages.
Anti-government slogans and calls to "rise up" have been observed in Tehran and elsewhere, and in some places supporters of exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi have actually heeded his repeat public calls to take to the streets (though this 'pro-Shah' contingent likely only remains an extreme minority at this stage).
The legislation - which was introduced by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), was cosponsored by Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY), Adam Schiff (R-CA) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
“For decades, decades, under both Republicans and Democrats, federal incentives have promoted low-quality, highly-processed foods, and pharmaceutical interventions instead of prevention,” Rollins said.
“As a result, nutrient-dense whole foods grown by America’s farmers and ranchers have been increasingly displaced. The Trump administration is acutely aware of this danger, and today this announcement is making a major step in doing something about it.”
The message is simple: eat real food.
To Make America Healthy Again, we must return to the basics. American households must prioritize diets built on whole,
nutrient-dense foods—protein, dairy, vegetables, fruits, healthy fats,
and whole grains. Paired with a dramatic reduction in highly processed foods laden with refined carbohydrates, added sugars,
excess sodium, unhealthy fats, and chemical additives
The M/V Bella 1, a Russian-flagged oil tanker, was seized in the Atlantic Ocean, officials say.
Federal agents and officers were going door to door at businesses in the area suspected of being involved in illegal hiring and fraud, Lyons said.
Gordon Chang, an analyst on China, said Greenland has taken center stage because the Arctic has become important.
“And China and Russia are seeking to control the Arctic.”
Greenland’s officials have rebuffed United States acquisition desires with the autonomous territory’s leader, Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen, posting on Facebook on Dec. 22, 2025: “We have woken up again to a new announcement from the U.S. president. This may sound big, but it does not change anything for us. We decide our own future.”
Yu said neither Chinese nor Russian air-defense systems “made the slightest bit of difference” once the United States brought real-time intelligence, electronic warfare, and precision weapons to bear.
The real contest, he said, wasn’t just radar range or missile specs, but a fast chain of detection, communications, decision-making, and joint execution—exactly where weaker militaries tend to break.
The changes stem from reviewing practices in other nations, including consulting experts in Denmark, Germany, and Japan.
The former Venezuelan leader and his wife have been indicted on charges related to narco-terrorism.
‘I’ve decided to step out of the race and let others worry about the election while I focus on the work,’ Walz stated.
What started as an economic protest has turned into demonstrators chanting the name of opposition figure Reza Pahlavi, Iran’s crown prince.
Ship tracking services detected around a dozen ships identified as loaded oil tankers departing from Venezuela in the first week of 2026, all of them targeted by U.S. sanctions.
Several of the tankers allegedly sailed in “dark mode,” presumably with the blessing of Venezuelan officials, meaning their satellite tracking devices were switched off to conceal their movements.
One piece of speculation floating around is that Klobuchar would step into the governor’s race.
Walz has been under intense pressure as multiple Somali fraud scandals have blossomed throughout a state that has been run exclusively by Democrats for decades, with Walz at the top of the political caste system as governor for seven years.
“We extend an invitation to the US government to work together on a cooperation agenda, aimed at shared development, within the framework of international law, and to strengthen lasting community coexistence,” she said.
"...
What they are doing is they’re stealing money from the American taxpayer, and every one of them should be forced to leave this country, including [Rep.] Ilhan Omar, who’s a total crook, and she’s one of the leaders..."
So I don’t think we can count on them to be pro-American at all. I hope they turn turn over a new page. I hope they begin to meet our demands. And it is the case that Venezuela still owes many billions of dollars in legal judgments to American oil companies.”
The indictment comes hours after their capture and extraction by U.S. armed forces in Caracas in the early hours of Jan. 3.
Early Saturday, multiple explosions rang out and low-flying aircraft swept through Caracas. Maduro's government accused the U.S. of hitting civilian and military installations, calling it an "imperialist attack" and urging citizens to take to the streets.
The assault lasted less than 30 minutes, and the explosions — at least seven blasts — sent people rushing into the streets, while others took to social media to report what they saw and heard. Some Venezuelan civilians and members of the military were killed, said Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, without giving a number. Trump said some U.S. forces were injured but none were killed.
Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs separately said it "strongly condemns the American military attack on Venezuela and the flagrant violation of the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country."
As for China, we know what they think, given the timing is a hugely symbolic shot across Beijing's bow by Trump:
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro received a Chinese government representative at the presidential palace in Caracas on Friday, hours before US President Donald Trump claimed Maduro had been captured following American military strikes.
According to Nima, there is frustration with the government, i.e., Pezeshkian, over the high inflation and that is one impetus driving the protests. However, it is not directed at the Islamic regime despite Western press reports claiming otherwise. Nima also pointed out that about 25% of the population is quite conservatie (these are the folks who supported Ahmadinejad) and they are angry with Pezeshkian because he is viewed as too accommodating of the West. These folks, while miffed at the government, are staunch supporters of the Ayatollah Khameni.
Russians young and old are already reaping the benefits of their country’s “digital transformation”—including very, very young Russians.
The Russian government is working on amending federal legislation to allow schools across the country to monitor and identify students using biometrics, Kommersant reported on December 3. Plans for a standardized “biometric turnstile system” for Russian schools are already being tested in Tatarstan.
Saudi warplanes on Friday carried out airstrikes targeting positions held by the Southern Transitional Council (STC) in Yemen's southeastern oil-rich province of Hadramout, as fierce clashes broke out on the ground, local officials and sources said.
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