Machado wants to ‘share’ Nobel Peace Prize with Trump
Speaking on Fox News last night, Maria Corina Machado was glowing in her praise of U.S. president Donald Trump.
It is a transparent attempt to gain Trump’s favor after he said explicitly on Saturday that he did not view Machado was a suitable next president for the country, claiming she did not have enough support.
There have been suggestions that Trump is upset by Machado’s 2025 Nobel Peace Prize win, an award he so desperately wanted.
Machado dedicated the award to Trump during her victory speech in December, and is now continuing a campaign of flattery.
“Actually, I spoke with President Trump on October 10th, the same day the prize was announced. Not since then,” she said.
She admitted she had not offered to give him the prize.
“It hasn’t happened yet,” she said, “but I certainly would love to be able to personally tell him that we believe, the Venezuelan people, because this is a prize of the Venezuelan people, certainly want to give it to him, and share it with him.”
Alex Croft6 January 2026 10:49
U.S. action in Venezuela shows powerful can do what they want – U.N.
The UN’s human rights office has fiercely criticised the U.S. for its action in Venezuela, saying it shows that powerful countries can do whatever they like.
The international community must be clear that the US intervention in Venezuela is a breach of international law, the UN’s OHCHR said, adding that it damages the architecture of international security.
The office said that it has previously warned about the human rights situation in Venezuela, and that it fears the latest intervention will now make matters worse.
We’ll bring you more as it comes through.
Alex Croft6 January 2026 10:31
Mapped: Every country Trump has threatened after capture of Venezuelan president Maduro
Donald Trump has issued a series of threats against multiple countries after American troops captured Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro.
The US president followed Maduro’s shock arrest with threats against Colombia, Mexico, Greenland, Iran and Cuba.
But these are far from the only countries the Nobel Peace Prize hopeful Trump has lashed out at at.
Below, The Independent looks at the nations in the US leader’s firing line, after he boasted that “American dominance in the Western hemisphere will never be questioned again.”
Alex Croft6 January 2026 09:54
More than a dozen media workers detained while covering events in Caracas – report
More than a dozen media workers were detained on Monday while covering events in the Venezuelan capital Caracas, including a march in support of ousted President Nicolas Maduro and the swearing-in of the country’s new legislature, the South American nation’s press association said.
All 14 of those detained were later released, the press association (SNTP) said on X, though one was a foreign journalist who was deported.
SNTP said that those detained included 11 people working with international media outlets and one with a national outlet.
China’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that all Chinese reporters in Venezuela were safe.
Venezuela’s information ministry, which handles all contact with the government, did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the detentions.
Gunfire was reportedly heard in Caracas near the Venezuelan presidential palace Monday night (Jesus Vargas/Getty Images)
Alex Croft6 January 2026 09:30
Top White House official says it would be ‘absurd’ to put Machado in charge
A top White House official has warned it would be “absurd” for the U.S. to immediately install Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado as the country’s leader.
“It would be absurd and preposterous for us to suddenly fly her into the country and to put her in charge”, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller told CNN.
One of the main issues would be that Venezuela’s military would not view her as legitimate, he explained.
Miller said the U.S. military is currently “stationed outside the country” and that the Trump administration has “set the terms and conditions” for what is to come.
He also spoke out on Greenland, a country which Trump has again made clear his desire for the US to control, insisting that it “should be part of the United States” but that there will be no military combat over the future of Greenland.
Alex Croft6 January 2026 09:09
Blanche says U.S. has ‘absolute legal right’ to arrest Maduro
US deputy attorney general Todd Blanche has claimed that the U.S. “has an absolute legal right” to arrest people like Nicolas Maduro.
Blanche said the seizure of Maduro and his wife from Caracas “was not an invasion of a country”, and that capturing the Venezuelan leader over the weekend did not “violate any international law”.
He said the mission was about “securing the arrests of two individuals wanted for very, very serious crimes in the United States”.
Multiple legal experts have raised concerns over the validity of Maduro’s arrest under international law.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar6 January 2026 08:53
Now is ‘not the time to destabilise Nato’, Streeting warns Trump
Our political correspondent Millie Cooke reports:
Now is “not the time to destabilise Nato” and “undermine our collective security”, British health secretary Wes Streeting has warned after Donald Trump doubled down on his threat to take over Greenland.
Asked about the continued threats, the Cabinet minister told Sky News that the UK and Nato members are “doubling down on support for Greenland, their right to self-determination, their place as part of the Kingdom of Denmark and the role that they are already playing as part of the Nato alliance”.
He added: “The good news for President Trump is that Greenland is already part of the team and is playing its part in defending our national security as the UK and our collective security…
“At a time when we can see the security of Nato members and the Alliance at threat, particularly from Russia, but also from our other adversaries, this is not the time to destabilise Nato and to undermine our collective security.
“We’re really clear about where we stand. We’re really clear with the United States about where we stand on Greenland.”
British Health Secretary Wes Streeting (Lucy North/PA) (PA Wire)
Alex Croft6 January 2026 08:38
Machado says she hasn’t spoken with Trump since October
Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado said on Monday she hasn’t spoken to Donald Trump since October 2025.
“Actually, I spoke with President Trump on October 10, the same day the (Noble Peace) Prize was announced, (but) not since then,” Machado said on Fox News’ ‘Hannity’ program.
She was awarded the prize for her fight against what the Norwegian Nobel Committee called a dictatorship.
Machado – widely seen as Nicolas Maduro’s most credible opponent – left Venezuela last month to travel to Norway to accept the award, and hasn’t returned since.
Trump on Saturday dismissed the idea of working with Machado, saying “she doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country.”
Alex Croft6 January 2026 08:25
Mystery trader earns huge payout after betting on removal of Nicolas Maduro
An anonymous trader has reportedly secured a staggering profit of around $410,000 after successfully betting on the removal of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro.
The individual’s Polymarket account had built positions in contracts linked to Maduro’s ousting, initially placed at long odds. These wagers, valued at approximately $34,000 before the weekend’s events, saw their worth surge dramatically following reports of a US military operation targeting the Venezuelan leader, according to Polymarket data.
The news also prompted a rise in major stock indexes and oil prices on Monday, with energy shares experiencing significant gains after Maduro was captured by the US military.
Alex Croft6 January 2026 08:10
The four questions China is asking about Venezuela that will shape its next move
It is only two days since Nicolas Maduro received Xi Jinping’s special envoy for talks on the hundreds of agreements that have bound Venezuela and China together on energy, finance and political cooperation.
Michael Sheridan examines how the US military’s raid on Caracas may have just made a decapitation strike against Taiwan much easier.
The four questions China is asking about Venezuela that will shape its next move
It is only two days since Nicolas Maduro received Xi Jinping’s special envoy for talks on the hundreds of agreements that have bound Venezuela and China together on energy, finance and political cooperation. Michael Sheridan examines how the US military’s raid on Caracas may have just made a decapitation strike against Taiwan much easier
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar6 January 2026 07:56