Machado claims mandate to lead Venezuela; Trump eyes Greenland
Millions of barrels are moving north as Washington cuts a deal with Venezuela. Maduro is out, oil money is in motion and the question of who will lead the country next remains wide open.
Plus, President Donald Trump says the U.S. needs Greenland for national security. The White House says no options are off the table. Lawmakers and allies are pushing back, warning the rhetoric alone could have real consequences.
And a new study raises concerns about tap water on airplanes, including what’s used for coffee and tea. Why bottled water may be the safer choice at 30,000 feet.
These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Wednesday, January 7, 2026.
Who leads Venezuela next? Opposition leader says ‘ready and willing to serve’
Venezuela’s future remains uncertain, as the country’s opposition leader says, “The people of Venezuela have already chosen” who should lead the country now that American forces have ousted Nicolás Maduro from power.
María Corina Machado says the people have already spoken, citing the 2024 election, in which her opposition movement claims a clear victory.
Machado won the opposition primary but was later barred from running by Maduro’s government. Her ally, Edmundo González, took her place on the ballot and is recognized by the United States and other countries as the legitimate winner. Maduro is accused of rigging the vote.
Machado says the outcome gives her the right to govern.
“We got a mandate, very strong, very clear, through the primary process in October 2023, but we won an election in 2024 by a landslide, so there is a mandate there,” Machado said.
When asked if she should be the next leader of Venezuela, she said, “Absolutely, yes.”
“We have a president-elect, who is Edmundo González Urrutia, and we are ready and willing to serve our people as we have been mandated,” she continued.
It’s still unclear whether or when Machado and González will return to Venezuela to help lead the country. Both fled and went into hiding after the election, citing fears of political persecution.
Many Venezuelans had expected Machado to step into a leadership role after U.S. forces captured Maduro over the weekend. Instead, Trump has moved to install Maduro’s former vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, as the country’s interim leader, saying that Machado lacks the respect needed in Venezuela.
Trump has said he wants to work with Rodríguez — and other holdovers from Maduro’s government — as long as they agree to his terms for oil, warning that if she doesn’t “do what’s right,” she’ll “pay a big price.” He has spoken with Rodríguez by phone.
Late Tuesday, Trump announced on Truth Social that Venezuela would sell between 30 and 50 million barrels of oil to the United States. He said the proceeds would “benefit the people” of both countries.
White House officials said a meeting is scheduled for Friday with U.S. oil executives to discuss next steps regarding Venezuela.
Trump eyes Greenland, military action not ruled out
The White House has now openly acknowledged that Trump is seriously exploring ways to acquire Greenland, and incorporating the U.S. military remains a possibility. This comes just days after the U.S. operation in Venezuela.
The discussion about Greenland has triggered alarm bells across Congress and among America’s closest allies.
Greenland is massive, resource‑rich and strategically positioned between the U.S., Europe and Russia. Trump says the stakes are simple: “We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security.”
More specifically, the president wants to contain China’s and Russia’s influence on Arctic shipping around Greenland. But Denmark — a NATO ally — says the takeover talk crosses a dangerous line.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen says the issue must be taken seriously, warning that any U.S. military move against Greenland could effectively end NATO as we know it.
That concern is now being echoed on Capitol Hill.
“Does anyone really, really think that NATO would still exist if America violated the territorial integrity of a NATO ally? It’s totally counter to the whole concept of NATO. I think it’s very dangerous kind of language,” Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said.
Still, the White House is not backing off.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement Tuesday that the president views Greenland as a national security priority and that all options remain on the table.
And on CNN, senior adviser Stephen Miller went even further:
“The United States should have Greenland as part of the United States. There’s no need to think or talk about this in the context that you’re asking — in a military confrontation. Nobody is going to fight the United States militarily over the future of Greenland.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers Monday that the administration is exploring a purchase, not an invasion. But sources tell CNN the State Department has already been asked to assess Greenland’s resources and the cost of acquiring them.
Currently, Greenland’s government has expressed its desire for direct negotiations with the United States. Meanwhile, European leaders are uniting in support of Denmark. In Washington, lawmakers from both parties are cautioning that inflammatory rhetoric could lead to tangible consequences.
Unrest spreads in Iran as rights groups report dozens dead
As night approaches in Iran, tension continues to rise following days of protests, a deadly crackdown and the government showing no signs of relenting. Demonstrations against the collapsing economy are spreading and becoming increasingly confrontational across the country.
Security forces fired tear gas inside Tehran’s Grand Bazaar on Tuesday as protesters chanted against Iran’s clerical rulers. The bazaar — the economic heart of the capital — has been a flashpoint since shopkeepers first walked out over the plunging currency.
The Iranian rial has reached record lows, inflation is soaring, and food prices are rising quickly.
What started as economic anger has expanded into wider unrest. Demonstrations now occur in dozens of cities and towns, including in western Iran, where larger and more defiant crowds have gathered.
Human rights groups reported that at least 35 people have been killed over the past 10 days, and more than 1,000 others have been arrested. The Islamic Republic government has not released an official death toll.
Iran’s Supreme Leader is taking a firm stance, warning that he will not tolerate what he calls “rioters.” The judiciary has echoed that message, stating that there will be no leniency for unrest, even as it acknowledges real economic pain.
Human rights groups accuse security forces of extreme tactics, including raids on hospitals where wounded protesters were treated.
Brown University shooter held ‘grudge,’ confessed on video: Report
The man accused of killing two Brown University students and an MIT professor had been harboring what prosecutors now call a “lengthy grudge.” Federal prosecutors said the suspect, Claudio Neves Valente, left behind a series of short confession videos before he was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound inside a New Hampshire storage unit last month.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Neves Valente said he had been planning the shooting for a “long time” and identified Brown University, where he attended school in the early 2000s, as his intended target.
Prosecutors said he never clearly stated his motive, nor did he offer a specific reason for the killing of MIT physics professor Nuno Loureiro.
In a statement, prosecutors said Neves Valente showed no remorse, writing: “He exposed his true nature when he blamed innocent, unarmed children for their deaths at his hand and grumbled about a self-inflicted injury he suffered when he shot the MIT professor at close range.”
Lawmakers who raised alarms on Minnesota fraud to testify at hearing
On Wednesday, the House Oversight Committee will conduct its initial hearings to investigate alleged widespread fraud and the misuse of government funds in Minnesota. The hearings will focus on why fraud has been so prevalent in Minnesota’s social services programs — and what, if anything, failed.
Three Republican state legislators, claiming they were among the first to raise the alarm, are set to testify.
The Trump administration announced last week that it is freezing all federal child‑care funding to Minnesota in response to the exposure of multiple fraudulent child‑care operations.
On Tuesday, the administration expanded the move, announcing that it is also withholding funding for family‑support programs in four other Democrat‑led states: California, Colorado, Illinois and New York.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who announced Monday that he will not seek reelection in 2026, is expected to testify at a second oversight hearing on Feb. 10 alongside the state’s attorney general.
Airline water warning: Study finds poor quality water on planes
A new report from the nonprofit Center for Food as Medicine and Longevity found that some airlines may be serving potentially unhealthy water.
The advice? Opt for bottled water and avoid drinking coffee or tea during flights.
The study examined roughly 35,000 water samples collected over three years from 10 major airlines and 11 regional carriers. It found that 2.7% of the samples contained coliform bacteria, which can signal the presence of organisms that cause illness.
Which airlines performed best and worst? Delta and Frontier received top marks with “A” grades, while American Airlines and JetBlue earned “D,” the lowest among big carriers. Both airlines have responded.
American Airlines told CBS News that its water is potable and meets U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards, and JetBlue confirmed compliance with EPA, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations.
The main takeaway: when flying, stick to bottled water. Also, avoid using bathroom tap water to wash your hands — use hand sanitizer instead, as the study suggests it’s more effective.
More from Straight Arrow News:
Amid charred lots and lumber, Palisades residents share struggles of the rebuild
Mark Smith lived in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles for eight years with his partner, who lived there for more than 40. In an instant, it was gone.
Their home on Michael Lane went up in flames when the Palisades Fire tore through West LA a year ago, and the pain lingers one year later.
Any smell of the few remaining charred vehicles had been tamped down by weeks of heavy rain in the area.. Construction workers generate noise. A walk down the street is a sobering contrast of burned-out lots next to homes where residents who survived the disaster continue to live.
“There’s still a lot of anxiety, there’s a lot of anger, there’s deep depression, there’s been a lot of loss,” Smith told Straight Arrow News.
The Palisades Fire killed 12 people and burned more than 6,000 structures. A suspect accused of starting the fire could face the death penalty.
It occurred at the same time as the Eaton Fire in Altadena, about 35 miles northeast of the Palisades. That fire killed 18 people and destroyed more than 19,000 structures.
Back in the Palisades, the rebuild resembles one of the many construction vehicles lurching about the neighborhood: a complex, slow-moving machine with different parts, including the city of LA, insurance agencies and the homeowners themselves rolling along to get the job done.Some of those entities have made things easier, while others may be slowing things down, according to those SAN spoke with. Read the full story now>
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
