Here’s what we know

VENEZUELA – Venezuela is set to inaugurate a head of state on Friday – but there are still two men claiming to be the nation’s rightful president. Incumbent Nicolás Maduro is scheduled to attend a swearing-in ceremony on January 10 to begin his third term in power, despite many countries around the world disputing his claims to have won the presidential election in July. His challenger Edmundo González Urrutia, who had been in exile in Spain since September, is determined to return to the capital Caracas by January 10 to take office, even under the threat of arrest by Venezuelan authorities. Here’s what we know about the power struggle and what it means for the country and region.

Maduro and González both claimed victory in the presidential election on July 28. Venezuela’s National Electoral Council, a body stacked with Maduro allies, formally declared Maduro the winner without providing voting tallies. The opposition disputed the claim and released tens of thousands of tallies gathered from across the country, saying they proved González won by a landslide.

Independent observers and CNN’s own analysis concluded that the tallies published by the opposition are likely to be valid, and several countries including the United States recognized Gonzalez as president-elect in recent months. Thousands of Venezuelans protested the results in the immediate aftermath of the vote, demanding transparency. Many marched in the streets and clashed with police, fed up with the prospect of another Maduro presidency.

Venezuela’s government responded by launching a massive crackdown on the country’s opposition movement, arresting more than two thousand people, including hundreds of minors, in the first week after the election.

Venezuela’s public prosecutor’s office later issued a warrant for the arrest of González, prompting him to flee the country, and his fellow opposition leader María Corina Machado to go into hiding.

González has long vowed to return to Venezuela to form a new government and prevent a new Maduro term. Earlier this week, he urged the military to recognize him as their commander-in-chief and “put an end to the leadership” of Maduro, who has been in power since 2013. (CNN)

Photo: Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro (left) and opposition leader in exile Edmundo González (right) both claimed victory in July’s presidential election. (Getty Images)

GREENLAND – Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said Russia is closely monitoring the situation, after US President-elect Donald Trump refused to rule out military action to take Greenland from Denmark. Peskov said the Arctic was in Russia’s “sphere of national and strategic interests and it is interested in peace and stability there”. Trump’s remarks on Greenland – a largely autonomous Danish territory – have drawn a warning from European leaders.

EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas has stressed that “we have to respect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Greenland”, and Germany’s Olaf Scholz has made clear that “borders must not be moved by force”. Trump said earlier this week that the US needed both Greenland and the Panama Canal “for economic security”, and refused to rule out using either economic or military force in taking them over.

• He also referred to the border with Canada as an “artificially drawn line”. Denmark and Canada are both close Nato allies of the US. Dmitry Peskov said Trump’s claims were a matter for the US, Denmark and other nations, but Russia was watching the “rather dramatic” situation surrounding his remarks. “We are present in the Arctic zone, and we will continue to be present there,” he said. (BBC)
• Photo: Earlier this week Donald Trump Jr amplified his father’s claims with a private visit to Greenland. (EPA)

NEW YORK – New York’s highest court on Thursday declined to block Donald Trump’s upcoming sentencing in his hush money case, leaving the US Supreme Court as the president-elect’s likely last option to prevent the hearing from taking place Friday. One judge of the New York Court of Appeals issued a brief order declining to grant a hearing to Trump’s legal team.

Trump has asked the Supreme Court to call off Friday’s sentencing. His lawyers turned to the nation’s highest court Wednesday after New York courts refused to postpone the sentencing by Judge Juan M Merchan, who presided over Trump’s trial and conviction last May on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. Trump has denied wrongdoing.

In a filing to the top New York court, Trump’s attorneys had said Merchan and the state’s mid-level appellate court both “erroneously failed” to stop the sentencing, arguing that the Constitution requires an automatic pause as they appeal and that the sentencing would disrupt the Republican’s presidential transition as he prepares to return to the White House on January 20.

Prosecutors pushed back, saying there’s no reason for the high court to take the “extraordinary step” of entering a state case to halt a sentencing that’s been delayed at Trump’s request. (Jamaica-Gleaner)

Photo: President-elect Donald Trump talks to reporters after a meeting with Republican leadership at the Capitol. (AP)

JAMAICA – Preliminary investigations suggest that the two dead stowaways found in the wheel well of a JetBlue plane after it landed at a Florida airport are not Jamaicans. The revelation was made by Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Kamina Johnson Smith on social media platform X on Thursday morning. “Further information received, now indicates that the individuals are not Jamaican. We still, however, await formal reports as investigations continue,” the minister said. According to US media reports, the bodies of the two individuals were badly decomposed when they were found in the airplane’s landing gear compartment by airport staff on Monday night. The bodies were discovered during a post-flight maintenance inspection after it operated as Flight 1801 from John F Kennedy International Airport in New York to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. (Jamaicaobserver)

WINDSOR  –  The Prince of Wales has wished his wife, Catherine, a happy birthday, as she turns 43. “To the most incredible wife and mother. The strength you’ve shown over the last year has been remarkable,” William wrote in a message posted on social media. “George, Charlotte, Louis and I are so proud of you. Happy Birthday, Catherine. We love you. W.”

The princess has returned to royal duties after having preventative chemotherapy treatment as a result of being diagnosed with cancer last year. Kensington Palace posted the personal written message from William alongside a previously unseen picture of Catherine taken by photographer Matt Porteous in Windsor last summer. The black and white picture showed the princess looking relaxed and smiling, wearing jeans, a white shirt and a scarf. It follows in the couple’s style of informal pictures, without any traditional royal imagery. The Royal Family also wished her a happy birthday.

The monarchy’s official media account shared a message on X saying: “Happy Birthday to The Princess of Wales!” along with a birthday cake emoji. The post also had a photo of Catherine collecting flowers from wellwishers while attending church in Sandringham on Christmas Day. That was the last time the Prince and Princess of Wales were seen together in public. It is understood that Catherine is celebrating her birthday at home in Windsor, with William and their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.

William has previously described 2024 as probably “the hardest year” of his life, with his father, the King, also diagnosed with cancer. Last month, the Prince and Princess of Wales issued a Christmas card showing a picture taken from the video released when Catherine announced the end of her chemotherapy.

The emotional video, with its emphasis on family and supporting each other in difficult times, was filmed in Norfolk in August. It had the message from Catherine that “out of darkness can come light”. (BBC/ Kensington Palace)