Air India Flight to London Crashes After Take-Off in Ahmedabad; 169 Indians, 53 British Nationals Among 242 on Board

The Venezuelan parliament has inaugurated Delcy Rodríguez as interim president, two days after US forces kidnapped President Nicolás Maduro.

Rodriguez took the oath of office during a ceremony in the National Assembly on Monday, telling lawmakers she was doing so "in the name of all Venezuelans."

She said she was "in pain over the kidnapping of our heroes, the hostages in the United States," referring to Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores.

Parliament slammed the kidnapping of leftist leader Maduro while vowing support for his stand-in Rodriguez after the US military attack that shocked Caracas and the world.

Outside the legislature, thousands of Venezuelans gathered to demand the release of their leader, chanting: "Maduro, hold on: Venezuela is rising!"

Members of the National Assembly offered their full backing to Rodriguez, who had been Maduro's vice president, and reelected her brother Jorge Rodriguez as parliament speaker.

As Monday's session opened, lawmakers chanted: "Let's go Nico!", a slogan of Maduro's presidential campaign ahead of 2024 elections.

On President Donald Trump's orders, US military forces early Saturday launched an attack on the Venezuelan capital and abducted Maduro and his wife.

"The president of the United States, Mr Trump, claims to be the prosecutor, the judge, and the policeman of the world," senior lawmaker Fernando Soto Rojas said in an address to colleagues.

"We say: you will not succeed. And we will ultimately deploy all our solidarity so that our legitimate president, Nicolas Maduro, returns victorious to Miraflores," the presidential palace, he added.

'In good hands'

Venezuela's Supreme Court on Saturday ordered Delcy Rodriguez to assume the presidency "in an acting capacity," and on Sunday the military also threw its support behind her.

With Jorge Rodriguez's reelection, the influential siblings are in control of Venezuela's executive and legislative branches.

Jorge Rodriguez vowed in front of his lawmaker colleagues Monday to pursue "all procedures, all platforms, and all avenues to bring back Nicolas Maduro Moros, my brother, my president."

Maduro's lawmaker son Nicolas Maduro Guerra also offered his support for the acting president.

"Count on me, count on my family," Maduro Guerra, known as "Nicolasito," told Rodriguez during an address to parliament, adding the country was "in good hands" until his parents' "return."

New members of Venezuela's single-chamber parliament were chosen last May in elections.

Maduro Guerra said Monday Venezuela "asks for neither privileges nor concessions; it demands respect... We want international relations with everyone, based on equality, mutual respect, and cooperation, without threats and without interference."

He stepped outside to address the protesters, telling them he was in "indirect" contact with his father.

"We have a strong team over there that’s supporting us," he said.

Delcy Rodriguez, who on Saturday insisted Maduro remains the country's "only" president, later extended an offer of cooperation to Washington, who has said it would work with Venezuela's leaders if they do what it wants.

Trump meanwhile warned Rodriguez could face a fate worse than Maduro if she failed to heed US demands on policy reforms and oil access. 

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to grant bail to activists Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in the 2020 Delhi riots case, saying there was a prima facie case against them under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

However, a bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and N V Anjaria granted bail to activists Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa Ur Rehman, Mohd. Saleem Khan, and Shadab Ahmad in the case.

Here is what the Bench said on the matter:

"This court is satisfied that the prosecution material disclosed a prima facie allegation against the appellants Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam. The statutory threshold stands attracted qua these appellants. This stage of proceedings does not justify their enlargement on bail," the Bench said.

"Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam stand on a qualitatively different footing as compared to other accused," it said, as reported by Bar and Bench.

The Court added that Khalid and Imam can "move for bail on completion of examination of protected witnesses or completion of one year from present order."

The Court further stated, "The UAPA as a special statute represents a legislative judgment as to the conditions on which bail may be granted in pre trial stage. Delay serves as a trigger for heightened judicial scrutiny. The discussion has been confined to delay and prolonged incarceration. UAPA offences are rarely confined to isolated acts. The statutory scheme reflects this understanding," as mentioned by the publication.

"Section 43D(5) of UAPA departs from general provisions for grant of bail. (But) it does not exclude judicial scrutiny or mandate denial of bail in default," the Bench noted.

On December 10, the top court reserved its verdict on separate pleas of the accused after hearing arguments from Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for Delhi police, and senior advocates Kapil Sibal, Abhishek Singhvi, Siddhartha Dave, Salman Khurshid and Sidharth Luthra, appearing for the accused.

Umar, Sharjeel and the other accused were booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), an anti-terror law, and provisions of the erstwhile IPC for allegedly being the "masterminds" of the 2020 riots, which left 53 people dead and more than 700 injured in northeast Delhi.

The violence erupted during widespread protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

The accused moved the apex court challenging a Delhi High Court order dated September 2 denying them bail in the "larger conspiracy" case of the February 2020 riots.

Donald Trump has linked his repeated threats to seize Greenland to his failure to win the Nobel Peace Prize, in a letter to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.

The authenticity of the letter, in which Trump says he no longer feels obligated to “think purely of peace,” was confirmed by Støre to the Norwegian newspaper VG.

“Considering your country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped eight wars plus, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of peace,” Trump wrote, adding he can now “think about what is good and proper for the United States.”

Støre said Trump’s letter was in response to a short message he had sent earlier, on behalf of himself and Finland’s President Alexander Stubb.

Trump has escalated rhetoric toward Greenland, a self-governing Danish territory, insisting the US will take control “one way or the other.” Over the weekend, he tweeted: “Now it is time, and it will be done!!!”

On Saturday, Trump threatened a 10% tariff on imports from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, and Finland from 1 February until the US is allowed to purchase the island. EU diplomats met for emergency talks on possible retaliatory tariffs and sanctions.

In his letter, Trump argued Denmark “cannot protect” Greenland from Russia or China, questioning Danish ownership: “There are no written documents; it’s only that a boat landed there hundreds of years ago.” He added that NATO should support the US, claiming the world is “not secure unless we have complete and total control of Greenland.”

Trump’s stance has unsettled the EU and NATO, as he refused to rule out military action to take control of the mineral-rich island.

The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded by the independent Norwegian Nobel Committee, not the government. Trump had campaigned for last year’s prize, which went to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, who dedicated her award to him.

Støre reiterated that the Nobel Prize decision rests solely with the committee.