UNITED KINGDOM

Washington keeping 15,000-strong military presence in Caribbean in case interim president hinders US objectivesUS politics liveThe prospect of the United States seizing direct control of Venezuela appeared to recede on Sunday after the shocking seizure of President Nicolás Maduro – but US officials said Washington was keeping a 15,000-strong force in the Caribbean and might make a fresh military intervention if Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, did not accommodate their demands.While Rodriguez kept up a defiant tone in public, the substance of conversations she had had in private with US officials was not clear. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/04/us-running-venezuela-now-seems-less-likely-but-second-intervention-possible

Lawmakers call US intervention and capture of Maduro ‘wildly illegal’ and say it lacked congressional approvalTrump’s Venezuela intervention: latest updatesDemocratic leaders responded with fury on Sunday to Donald Trump’s military intervention in Venezuela, slamming it as an illegal act carried out in the absence of required congressional approval that would lead to disaster for the American people.Top Democrats took to the Sunday TV political talk shows to express their dismay at the lack of any prior notification of lawmakers about the audacious military raid 24 hours earlier. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/04/democrats-trump-white-house-venezuela Author : Ed Pilkington in New York

Reduction follows Bank of England’s base cut in December, with further cuts expected this yearHSBC has become the first major lender to cut mortgage rates this year, a move that could spark a price war over the coming months.The banking group, which is one of the UK’s largest mortgage lenders, has cut rates across a range of residential and landlord buy-to-let mortgage products. The new rates come into effect on Monday. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jan/04/hsbc-first-big-uk-lender-cut-mortgage-rates-2026 Author : Mark Sweney Publish date : 2026-01-04 15:54:00 Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.