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  Iran Protests Swell in Bazaar Authorities arrest hundreds and disrupt internet as currency falls to new low BY BENOIT FAUCON Iranian authorities met a large protest in the Tehran Grand Bazaar on Tuesday with a heavy police response, as the unrest extended into a second week and the currency fell to a new low. Videos posted on social media showed crowds of demonstrators gathering in the capital’s central market—the beating heart of Iran’s economy. The protesters then rushed out as tear gas spread in the narrow alleyways and a nearby metro station, according to footage verified by Storyful, which is owned by News Corp, the parent company of The Wall Street Journal. Police also fired tear gas  into the grounds of Sina Hospital, roughly 1.7 miles north of the bazaar, according to verified footage. The Fars news agency, which is affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said the gatherings were scattered and posted pictures of people walking by in nearby streets. The...
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  Putin will feel Maduro’s loss more than most The Russian president is running out of friends and safe places to flee to when the game is up Roger Boyes @rogerboyes Roger Boyes Vladimir Putin is fast losing friends. Nicolás Maduro, once a stalwart ally, is led beshackled into a Manhattan courthouse. Bashar al-Assad of Syria, who once provided a warm water port to the Russian navy, is stuck with his family in Moscow exile. According to intelligence reports he might soon be joined by the ailing Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Iranian supreme leader. Putin was unable to save Maduro from humiliation by Donald Trump, unable to prevent the Butcher of Damascus being ousted by an ex-jihadist and unable to head off US and Israeli forces crippling much of Iran’s nuclear programme. The fact is the autumn of Putin the patriarch is looking pretty wintry. His hopes for a Red Sea naval base in Port Sudan? Put on hold by the embattled Sudanese government. Russia has been swept out of the Transcaucasu...
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  Real lessons of Trump’s impetuous action Venezuela may yet fall into chaos but president’s readiness to act contrasts with Britain’s lawyerly approach to governing Daniel Finkelstein @DANNYTHEFINK Within hours of snatching Maduro Donald Trump faced reporters Next image  › Ten minutes after the capture of Nicolás Maduro was announced on social media, the White House correspondent of the New York Times wanted words from the administration for his paper’s rolling news coverage. Fortunately, he knew just who to call. He dialled the president of the United States. Donald Trump answered after only three rings and gave him an interview on the spot. It was 4.30 in the morning. A few hours later the president, looking slightly worse for wear, held a press conference and told a startled collection of correspondents gathered at his Palm Beach social club that he now intended to “run Venezuela”. There were no answers on how he intended to do this or even how he intended to be in a posit...
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  U.S. Confrontation With Venezuela | Global Conflict Tracker Updated January 5, 2026 In the early morning of January 3, 2026, the United States launched large-scale  military strikes  on Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, and surrounding areas, in an operation named “Absolute Resolve.” President Donald Trump announced that U.S. forces captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, who were transported to the USS  Iwo Jima  warship to face narco-terrorism charges in New York. The operation, which involved Delta Force special operations troops and CIA intelligence support, marked a dramatic escalation of a monthslong pressure campaign that began in September 2025 with U.S. military strikes on alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean. Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez confirmed that Maduro and his wife are  missing and demanded  “proof of life,” while Venezuela’s government declared a state of emergency and accused the Un...
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