Politics
UN chief Guterres raises concerns about instability in Venezuela, legality of US operation
- UN Security Council meets before Maduro was due in court.
- Colombia calls US violation of Venezuela’s sovereignty.
- Guterres says ready to support Venezuela in finding peaceful.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres raised concerns on Monday about a possible intensification of instability in Venezuela after the US capture of the Latin American country’s president Nicolas Maduro.
The 15-member Security Council met at UN headquarters in New York just hours before Maduro was due to appear in a Manhattan federal court on drug charges including narco-terrorism conspiracy. Maduro has denied any criminal involvement.
“I am deeply concerned about the possible intensification of instability in the country, the potential impact on the region, and the precedent it may set for how relations between and among states are conducted,” Guterres said in a statement delivered to the council by UN political affairs chief Rosemary DiCarlo.
Guterres called on all Venezuelan actors to engage in an inclusive and democratic dialogue, adding: “I welcome and am ready to support all efforts aimed at assisting Venezuelans in finding a peaceful way forward.”
He also expressed concern that the US operation to capture Maduro in Caracas on Saturday did not respect the rules of international law.
‘Act of aggression’
Colombia, which requested Monday’s meeting, condemned the US operation as a clear violation of the sovereignty, political independence and territorial integrity of Venezuela.
“There is no justification whatsoever, under any circumstances, for the unilateral use of force to commit an act of aggression,” Colombian UN Ambassador Leonor Zalabata Torres told the council.
“Such actions constitute a serious violation of international law and the United Nations Charter.”
Legal experts have said the US operation was illegal because it lacked UN Security Council authorisation, did not have Venezuelan consent and did not constitute self-defense against an armed attack.
But the United States cannot be held accountable for any violation by the UN Security Council, which is charged with maintaining international peace and security. The United States wields a veto – along with Russia, China, Britain and France — so it can block any action.
The founding UN Charter states that members “shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.” There are currently 193 members of the United Nations.
US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz on Sunday cited Article 51 of the UN Charter, which says that nothing “shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defense if an armed attack occurs against a member of the United Nations.”
Trump has threatened another strike if Venezuela does not cooperate with opening its oil industry and stopping the flow of drugs. Trump also threatened Colombia and Mexico, and said Cuba’s communist government “looks like it’s ready to fall.”
CAMBRIDGE: Two Pakistani Muslims have been elected to top city positions in Cambridge, a city in the US state, Massachusetts.
Sumbul Siddiqui, a lawyer originally from Karachi, has been elected mayor by the Cambridge City Council for the 2026-27 term, marking her third tenure in the role. She is the first Muslim and Asian woman to serve as mayor of Cambridge.
Burhan Azim, an MIT-trained engineer from Burewala, has been elected deputy mayor of Cambridge, becoming the city’s youngest councillor in history.
Siddiqui first won a city council seat in 2017 and served as mayor twice between 2020 and 2024, making her a prominent figure in local politics.
- Donald Trump says Modi “not that happy” due to US tariffs on India
- Tariffs could rise if India doesn’t curb Russian oil imports: US president.
- US imposed 50% tariffs on India, including 25% linked to Russian oil.
United States President Donald Trump has recounted a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that Modi had sought permission to meet him.
Delivering remarks at the House GOP Member Retreat, Trump was speaking on the demand for the US-made Apache helicopters and said India has been waiting for five years for the Apache helicopters.
Trump said that India ordered 68 Apaches and “Prime Minister Modi came to see me, ‘Sir, may I see you please’. Yes.”
The US president said that Modi was “not that happy with me” because of the tariffs imposed by Washington on Delhi for its purchases of Russian oil.
“I have a very good relationship with him. He’s not that happy with me because you know they’re paying a lot of tariffs now because they’re not doing the oil, but they are, they’ve now reduced it very substantially, as you know, from Russia,” Trump said.
Trump has imposed 50% tariffs on India, including 25% for its purchases of Russian oil.
On Sunday, the US president said that Washington could raise tariffs on India if New Delhi doesn’t meet its demand to curb purchases of Russian oil.
“Modi […] knew I was not happy, and it was important to make me happy,” Trump added.
“They do trade, and we can raise tariffs on them very quickly,” Trump said in response to a question on India’s Russian oil purchases.
The US doubled import tariffs on Indian goods to 50% last year as punishment for its heavy buying of Russian oil. Despite the hefty tariffs, India’s exports to the US leapt in November.
- STC leader Zubaidi skips flight to Riyadh, flees unknown.
- Presidential council strips Zubaidi of membership over treason.
- STC and Yemen government feud deepens amid armed clashes.
The leader of Yemen’s Southern Transitional Council (STC), Aidarous al-Zubaidi, failed to board a plane set to take him to Riyadh and fled instead to an unknown destination, the Saudi-backed coalition in the country said on Wednesday.
The remarks came amid efforts to end fighting that erupted last month between the STC and Yemen’s internationally recognised government.
Zubaidi was set to travel to Saudi Arabia days after Yemen’s government said it had asked Riyadh to host a forum on the southern issue.
In a statement, coalition spokesperson Turki al-Maliki said a flight carrying a large number of senior leaders of the separatist group departed after a delay of more than three hours without Zubaidi, and with no information on his whereabouts.
During the delay, “information became available indicating that he had moved large forces,” Maliki added, citing “calls for mobilisation and the movement and arming of factions with light and medium weapons”.
The Houthis seized the Yemeni capital of Sanaa in 2014 and Gulf countries intervened the following year in support of the internationally recognised government, splitting Yemen into rival zones of control.
The coalition also said it carried out limited pre-emptive airstrikes in Yemen’s southern province of al-Dhalea after monitoring the movements of armed forces that had left their camps.
Domestic sources and sources within the STC reported more than 15 strikes in the province, the birthplace of Zubaidi.
Following the developments, the presidential council stripped Zubaidi of his membership and referred him to the public prosecutor on charges including high treason, state news agency SABA said.
The decision, issued by council chairman Rashad al-Alimi, accused Zubaidi of inciting armed rebellion, attacking constitutional authorities and committing abuses against civilians in southern Yemen.
For years, the STC has been part of Yemen’s internationally recognised government.
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