World Report - January 3: Saturday's top stories in 10 minutes

Episode Date: January 3, 2026

The U.S. says it captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife in a surprise military operation, triggering protests and international backlash.Canada’s defence minister Anita Anand calls for restraint and respect for international law following the U.S. action in Venezuela.Russia and Iran condemn the U.S. strike on Venezuela, urging diplomacy to avoid further escalation.The U.S. strike on Venezuela is drawing mixed reactions across Latin America, from celebration to sharp condemnation.Iran’s supreme leader is signaling a tougher crackdown as deadly economic protests spread nationwide.Swiss authorities have identified four victims of the New Year’s Eve bar fire and launched a criminal investigation into the bar’s managers.Power is back in a northern Manitoba First Nation, but residents now face weeks of damage and repairs after the outage.

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It was dark. and it was deadly. U.S. President Donald Trump is speaking from Palm Beach, Florida, this hour after U.S. forces carried out an overnight attack in Venezuela's capital. Trump says President Nicholas Maduro and his wife were captured by U.S. forces and are being taken to New York to face criminal charges, including drug trafficking. Trump says the U.S. will now decide its next steps on Venezuela's political future. We're going to run the country until such time as we can do a season.

safe, proper, and judicious transition. So we don't want to be involved with having somebody else get in and we have the same situation that we had for the last long period of years. So we are going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition. And it has to be judicious because that's what we're all about. We want peace, liberty, justice for the great people of Venezuela. And that includes many from Venezuela that are now living in the United States and want to go back to their country. It's their homeland. We can't take a chance that somebody else takes over Venezuela that doesn't have the good of the Venezuelan people in mind. We've had decades of that. We're not going to let that happen. We're there,

now and what people don't understand, but they understand, as I say this, we're there now, but we're going to stay until such time as the proper transition can take place. So we're going to stay until such time, we're going to run it essentially until such time as a proper transition can take place. As everyone knows, the oil business in Venezuela has been a bust, a total bust for a long period of time. They were pumping almost nothing by comparison to what they could have been pumping and what could have taken place. We're going to have our very large United States oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world, go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure, and start making money for the country.

That is a segment of remarks this morning from U.S. President Donald Trump, who is speaking in Florida, that news conference is still underway. Canada is reacting to the U.S. action in Venezuela. Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand says Canada has not recognized the legitimacy of Nicholas Maduro's government since 2019 when it closed its embassy in Caracas. She says Canada opposes the repression of the Venezuelan people and is calling on all sides to respect international law. Annan says Canada is working with international partners

and is monitoring this situation closely. There is also reaction from Russia and Iran. Russia is condemning the U.S. strike on Venezuela. In a statement, Moscow's foreign ministry says it is deeply concerned by what it calls an act of aggression and is urging a diplomatic solution to prevent further escalation. Iran has also denounced the attack coming just hours after U.S. President Donald Trump warned Tehran

over its own handling of current protests there. News of Maduro's ouster is being met with mixed reaction across Latin America. We've reached reporter Manuel Rueira in Bogota, Colombia. Manuel, what are governments in the region saying about the U.S. action? Well, you have different kinds of reactions, and it really goes down ideological lines. The governments that are more left-wing are condemning the attack. In that camp, you have, for example, Colombia, Mexico, and Brazil, whose president, issued a very strong statement, calling this a vagrant violation of international law.

Then on the other hand, you have right-wing or conservative governments who are actually celebrating the attack. And in that camp, you have Argentina and Ecuador, for example. Argentina's president published a message on social media saying, long-lived freedom. Then there are smaller nations in the Caribbean, which have taken a more neutral position, let's say. In that case, would be Trinidad, for example, which said that they are still in peace with the Venezuelan people and that they're not involved. However, Trinidad and the Dominican Republic in recent weeks have been collaborating with the U.S. operations in the Caribbean, and they've signed deals so that U.S. military planes can use their airports. So that's the political response.

What about people then, Manuel? Like many of Venezuela's neighbors host a diaspora that's left Venezuela. What's the reaction on the streets of those countries? Right. I mean, over the past 10 years, about a quarter of Venezuela's population have left. Most of them have gone to South American countries like Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Chile. I just saw a video of Venezuelans like in an apartment block in Chile banging pots and pants to celebrate what's going on. Venezuelans abroad are largely in favor of having Maduro removed.

Even if they're not political refugees, they've been affected by the politics and by the policies of this government. Because from the Venezuelan point of view, this is about restoring democracy in Venezuela. I'd say it's more of a moment of expectation, of anxiety, of whether this will just finish like this, or will this lead to a bigger change within Venezuela? Manuel, thank you. Absolutely. Reporter Manuel Rueda in Bogota. In other news, Iran's Supreme Leader is signaling a tougher crackdown

as protests over the country's economy continue. Ayatollah Ali Hamenei says rioters must be put in their place. During demonstrations across 22 provinces, at least 10 people had been killed. Video from the city of Combs shows police violently arresting a protester on the street. The unrest in Iran is the largest since 2022 when nationwide demonstrations followed the death of Masa Amini in police custody. Authorities in Switzerland have identified the first four victims of the New Year's Eve fire at a ski resort bar. They are two females, 21 and 16 years of age and two males. aged 18 and 16.

Gianne Lorenzo Coronado is the Italian ambassador to Switzerland. There are 121 injured and 40 dead, including four identified, whose families have already been notified. The identification process will continue today and tomorrow and should be largely completed by tomorrow afternoon. However, there will be some cases where identification will take longer. Officials say sparklers may have ignited a fire in the ceiling of the bar. Swiss prosecutors have now placed the bar's managers under criminal investigation.

Here at home, power has been restored to a northern Manitoba First Nation. There was no electricity for up to four days in bitterly cold weather. The damage left behind is creating new problems. Gavin Axelrod has that story. Pimichikamak Cree Nation has power again, but the community faces more challenges. Chief David Monia says burst pipes are causing damages to homes. He also worries how the extreme cold will impact the First Nations water treatment system. Water spraying, water freezing, windows freezing.

We have pathups that are frozen. We have toilets that are tilted because the water froze underneath it and it's pushing it up. The community has put a plea out for help from plumbers from across the prairies. Welcome news for Randy Spence, who is one of 10 plumbers in the First Nation. He says they're in for weeks of repairs. It's very hectic right now. We speak. I get a lot of cold. Pimichikamak declared a state of emergency earlier this week, after a snapped power line cut electricity to the community. Over 1,000 people were evacuated, seeking warmth and shelter at hotels or with loved ones across the province.

Manitoba Hydro spokesperson Peter Chura says crews worked as fast as they could to fix the outage. Given the location and the terrain with a 300-meter span of cable in between two islands and a river on ice that couldn't support vehicles, It was just very difficult to make that repair. Indigenous Services Canada says its Emergency Management Assistance Program will provide financial support to Pima Chickamaicamac to help with damages. Chief Monias also says there's no concrete timeline for when residents can go home. Gavin Axelrod, CBC News, Winnipeg. Recapping our top story, the news conference still underway in Florida

with U.S. President Donald Trump, offering details of the U.S. special operation in Venezuela overnight, saying that President Nicholas Maduro and his wife have both been captured and are facing American justice. And that, quote, we're going to run the country until such a time as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition. And quote, Donald Trump says he's ready to stage a second attack on Venezuela if the United States needs to do so.

That is the latest national. And international news from World Report for News Anytime, go to cbcnews.ca. I'm Martina Fitzgerald. This is CBC News.