Good morning. After the audacious US raid to seize Venezuelan president Nicol\u00e1s Maduro, we look at the rising global diplomatic backlash, Donald Trump\u2019s oil ambitions and who is stepping up to fill Maduro\u2019s shoes.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, as forensic investigators continue their painstaking work, girls aged 14 and 15 have been identified among the victims of the New Year\u2019s Eve bar fire in Crans-Montana, Switzerland.<\/p>\n
And Australia\u2019s bowlers will be hoping for an early breakthrough on day two of the Ashes Test at the SCG, after a first day marked by sensible English batting and a roar of gratitude for the Bondi attack first responders.<\/p>\n
AustraliaPolice and paramedics gather around a man being treated after being pulled from the water at Green Patch\/Iluka beach in Jervis Bay. Photograph: Matthew Abbott\/The GuardianWorldPortraits of Venezuela\u2019s late President Hugo Chavez (right) and Nicolas Maduro during a protest after the latter\u2019s apprehension by US military forces. Photograph: Camilo Freedman\/SOPA Images\/ShutterstockFull StoryKehlani Councillor and Derek Councillor pose for a portrait near Bootenal Springs in Greenough, Western Australia. Composite: Tamati Smith\/The Guardian<\/p>\n
The Descendants episode 1: decoding a massacre<\/strong><\/p>\n Colonial pastoralist Major Logue is a figure of note in the city of Geraldton, Western Australia. But his diaries, written partly in code, reveal a dark and confronting chapter of Australia\u2019s past \u2013 a history that Yamatji people already know all too well. Sarah Collard and Lorena Allam discuss decoding the truth behind Logue\u2019s diaries \u2013 and how descendants of colonial violence are now coming together to heal from the horrors of the past<\/a>.<\/p>\n In-depthDelcy Rodr\u00edguez, pictured in 2022, has held posts including foreign minister and became vice-president of Venezuela in 2018. Photograph: Miguel Guti\u00e9rrez\/EPA<\/p>\n In her first speech as Venezuela\u2019s interim leader, Delcy Rodr\u00edguez struck a defiant tone \u2013 lambasting the US and pledging fealty to Nicol\u00e1s Maduro. But, as Rory Carroll explains, the Donald Trump administration has made a cold calculation: that she will bow to Washington<\/a>.<\/p>\n Not the newsSimon Stone: \u2018The dip-in, dip-out attitude of Aussies to theatre, opera and film \u2013 which I very much don\u2019t blame anyone for \u2013 isn\u2019t enough for me.\u2019 Photograph: Suki Dhanda\/The Observer<\/p>\n Having recently directed the likes of Alicia Vikander, Andrew Scott and Olivia Colman on stage, the Australian director Simon Stone is returning to Australia in February to direct his adaptation of Chekhov\u2019s The Cherry Orchard \u2013 staged entirely in Korean, with subtitles \u2013 at the Adelaide festival. He speaks to Steve Dow about luring film stars to his projects, family tragedy and one of the proudest moments in his career<\/a>.<\/p>\n SportEngland\u2019s Joe Root bats on day one of the fifth Ashes test at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Photograph: Robbie Stephenson\/PA<\/p>\n The Australian cricket great Damien Martyn has woken up from an induced coma<\/a>, ABC News<\/strong> reports. Australia\u2019s housing market roared back to life last year but 2026 is shaping up as a year it taps the brakes<\/a>, the Age<\/strong> reports.<\/p>\n What\u2019s happening todaySign up<\/p>\n If you would like to receive this Morning Mail update to your email inbox every weekday, sign up here<\/a>, or finish your day with our Afternoon Update newsletter<\/a>. You can follow the latest in US politics by signing up for This Week in Trumpland<\/a>.<\/p>\n Brain teaser<\/p>\n And finally, here are the Guardian\u2019s crosswords to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Good morning. After the audacious US raid to seize Venezuelan president Nicol\u00e1s Maduro, we look at the rising…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":673924,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5311],"tags":[49,978,659],"class_list":{"0":"post-673923","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"tag-united-states","9":"tag-us","10":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115838571159166924","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/673923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=673923"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/673923\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/673924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=673923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=673923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=673923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}