Greetings! Happy National Bird Day to those celebrating.

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🇻🇪 Delcy Rodríguez steps in as Venezuela’s interim president. The Supreme Tribunal of Justice tapped Vice President Delcy Rodríguez after Nicolás Maduro’s capture. She is a 55-year-old lawyer who rose under Hugo Chávez and served as foreign minister. President Donald Trump called her dangerous and urged her to restore democracy and free captives. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said she must organize elections, not cling to power. Venezuelan law sets 30 days for a vote, but the court called her term temporary. Rodríguez insists she will pacify the troubled country.

🇻🇦 Vatican officials tout a Holy Year that drew 33.5M pilgrims. The Vatican said 33,475,369 people crossed Rome’s Holy Doors in 2025. Italy, American visitors, and Spain topped the nationality list. Jubilee upgrades used about €4B in public funds, from plazas to transit. Officials say 110 of 117 projects finished before the closing rites. Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri and Archbishop Rino Fisichella sparred over whether fountains should have run earlier. Pope Leo XIV will shut the door opened by Pope Francis.

🗽 Maduro tells a New York judge he was captured. Deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro appeared in a federal courtroom and pleaded not guilty to drug-trafficking and narco-terrorism charges. He insisted he remains Venezuela’s president and called his seizure a kidnapping. Prosecutors say the case targets a network that turned state power into cartel logistics. After the hearing, Maduro was returned to detention, still defiant, officials said. In Caracas, allies and rivals watched for what his arrest means for power at home. The hearing turned geopolitics into a docket number.

🕹️ CES 2026 bets bigger on artificial intelligence and cars. The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) opens Jan 6 in Las Vegas with about 4,500 exhibitors. The Consumer Technology Association (CTA) expects about 142K attendees and 6K media badges. Organizers say artificial intelligence is the through-line, from health wearables to home robots. Automakers and chipmakers will pitch driver-assist systems as safety, not sci-fi. The show’s subtext is power, data, and who gets to regulate the smart future. For everyone else attending and streaming, CES is a peek at what 2026 will sell you.

🛢️ Oil spikes and stocks climb after Venezuela shockwaves. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index (S&P 500) rose 0.6%, while the Nasdaq composite jumped 1.2%. American crude gained $1.50 to $74.28 a barrel, and Brent rose $1.36 to $77.29. Chevron Corporation ($CVX) surged 5.4%, and Exxon Mobil Corporation ($XOM) climbed 3.2%. The energy move tracked fears of supply disruption after the raid and leadership upheaval. Wall Street also watched the Federal Reserve, with traders still pricing in 2026 cuts. In markets, geopolitics is just another ticker, until it isn’t.

🗳️ Tim Walz exits Minnesota race and opens a Democratic scramble. Governor Tim Walz said he will not seek a third term after 2 terms in office. He cited family and burnout after the 2024 campaign. Walz said Minnesota is on the path to being a top 10 state and he wants that to stick. His exit lands as fraud probes and paused aid, including child-care funds, keep headlines hot. Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan is considering a run, advisers say. Senator Amy Klobuchar said she is also weighing a bid. Politics does not mourn vacancies, it auctions them.

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That’s all for today!

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