Overview
- President Donald Trump said a wide-scale U.S. operation captured Nicolás Maduro and his wife and removed them from Venezuela, with reports of explosions, low-flying aircraft and power outages in Caracas as authorities declared a state of emergency.
- Venezuela requested an urgent UN Security Council meeting, Moscow, Minsk, Tehran and Havana condemned the U.S. action, and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas urged restraint as Spain offered to help mediate and European governments assessed regional security impacts.
- Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López announced a broad deployment of ground, air and naval forces and referenced ballistic missiles, while not addressing the U.S. claim about Maduro’s detention.
- In Ukraine, the General Staff reported 116 combat engagements on Jan. 2 and 104 by mid-afternoon Jan. 3, as a Russian strike on Kharkiv killed a woman and a three-year-old boy, injured dozens, and damaged at least 32 buildings with rescue work continuing.
- Ukraine’s Energy Ministry said the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant lost power on one high‑voltage line due to fighting, and national-security advisers from 15 allied countries met in Kyiv ahead of a Paris leaders’ session as the UK and Ukraine discussed potential multinational forces after a ceasefire.