From the BBC World Service: After a rocky 2025, many analysts expect a similarly unsettled 2026. Plus, a new study indicates faster weight gain after quitting GLP-1 drugs, and X has failed to meet a deadline to address explicit content generated by its AI chatbot Grok.
Marketplace All-in-One - Venezuela wakes up to continued uncertainty
From the BBC World Service: The U.S. stunned the world with the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro over the weekend. Donald Trump has said U.S. companies will fix Venezuela's badly broken oil infrastructure and start making money for the country. We’ll hear more about reactions on the ground in Venezuela and learn more about its role in the global oil supply chain. Also: an allowance for Iranian citizens and a meeting between the leaders of China and South Korea.
WSJ Minute Briefing - Nicolás Maduro to Appear in Manhattan Federal Court
Plus: Chevron shares rally, but oil futures are muted after President Trump says the U.S. could keep some of the profits from Venezuela’s oil output. And news of a potential market-first diabetes treatment for children as young as one.
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Marketplace All-in-One - How U.S. political campaigns have used generative AI
The 2024 presidential race was the first big election to happen in the new generative AI era. There have, of course, been major concerns that the technology could be used to deceive voters or interfere with the exercise of democracy. But so far, that kind of activity has been limited, according to Tim Harper, a senior policy analyst and coauthor of a recent report from the Center for Democracy and Technology.
Stuff They Don't Want You To Know - CLASSIC: Did Milwaukee Police Protect a Child Abuse Ring?
Earlier this year, two children went missing in Milwaukee. Despite the pleas of their parents and loved ones, the local police did not treat these children as "critically missing," meaning they issued no Amber Alert. Desperate for answers, family members took matters into their own hands, tracing one of the missing children's phones to a duplex in town. Amid ongoing, unrelated protests, more and more citizens of Milwaukee began to believe the authorities were actively preventing a full investigation of the house in question. So what actually happened?
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
array(3) { [0]=> string(150) "https://www.omnycontent.com/d/programs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/2e824128-fbd5-4c9e-9a57-ae2f0056b0c4/image.jpg?t=1749831085&size=Large" [1]=> string(10) "image/jpeg" [2]=> int(0) }Up First from NPR - U.S. In Venezuela, Future Of Venezuela, Maduro In NYC Court
Venezuela’s acting president Delcy Rodriguez shifts from defiance to calls for cooperation as the White House ramps up pressure and threatens further action.
And Nicolás Maduro is set to appear in a New York courtroom, facing drug trafficking, weapons, and narco-terrorism charges that could test the reach of U.S. law overseas.
Want more analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.
Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Andrew Sussman, Tara Neill, Krishnadev Calamur, Mohamad ElBardicy, and HJ Mai.
It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas and Christopher Thomas.
We get engineering support from Neisha Heinis. And our technical director is Carleigh Strange.
(0:00) Introduction
(01:54) U.S. In Venezuela
(05:49) Future Of Venezuela
(09:46) Maduro In NYC Court
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WSJ What’s News - Trump’s Bet on Reviving Venezuela’s Broken Oil Industry
A.M. Edition for Jan. 05. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is slated to appear in a federal court Monday, facing charges related to cocaine trafficking. This as President Trump reiterates that the U.S. is calling the shots in Venezuela as a new landscape of power players in the country emerges. That said, any profits stemming from Venezuelan oil are likely years away, according to Energy Aspect founder Amrita Sen. And we look at a potential market-first diabetes treatment for children as young as one. Luke Vargas hosts.
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The Daily - From President to Defendant: The Legal Case Against Maduro
Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela was brought to New York with his wife over the weekend to face criminal charges.
Charlie Savage, who covers national security and legal policy, discusses the legality of Mr. Maduro’s capture and whether the operation could undermine the legal case against him.
Guest: Charlie Savage, who covers national security and legal policy for The New York Times.
Background reading:
- Can the United States legally “run” Venezuela after Mr. Maduro’s capture? Here’s what to know.
- The U.S. indictment of Mr. Maduro cites cocaine smuggling. Venezuela’s role in the trade is believed to be modest.
For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.
Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.
Start Here - Trump Wants to “Run” Venezuela. What Does That Mean?
With Nicolas Maduro in an American jail cell, Trump Administration officials oscillate on what it would mean to “run” Venezuela. Anti-Maduro activists consider whether to support the American operation. And we’ll get you caught up on the stories you missed over the holidays.
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CrowdScience - Did I inherit my laugh?
CrowdScience listener Limbikani in Zambia is always being told he has his Dad’s laugh, so he set us the challenge of trying to find out whether a laugh can be passed down in our genes or if it’s something we learn from our environment.
Presenter Caroline Steel steps into the world of one of the world’s greatest laughter experts, Professor Sophie Scott, neuroscientist at University College London. In her office stuffed with memorabilia of a life filled with fun, they discuss how the shape of our bodies could play a role in how we laugh.
Also joining the fun is Dr Gil Greengross, evolutionary psychologist at Aberystwyth University in Wales, UK. Gil tells us how Charles Darwin was the first person to question how laughter evolved.
Caroline also speaks to Dr Nancy Segal, Professor of Developmental Psychology and Director of the Twin Studies Center at California State University, Fullerton. Nancy is an expert in studies that demonstrate the role of nature vs nurture in how who we are and how we behave. She tells the story of the ‘Giggle Twins’, who were separated at birth but found they laughed identically when they met three decades later.
So does that mean that we really do inherit our laughs from our parents?
Presenter: Caroline Steel
Producer: Tom Bonnett
Editor: Ben Motley
Credit: The sound of rats laughing (slowed down so that our ears can detect the ultrasound) is courtesy of Dr. Jaak Panksepp
(Photo: Father and son on yellow background- stock photo Credit: Georgijevic via Getty Images)
