US keeps large military force around Venezuela after Maduro capture

Good morning and welcome to 2026. We're off to a roaring start! Here's what happened overnight and what you need to know today.

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1.

Caribbean leverage: The US said it would maintain a naval “quarantine” around Venezuela and keep a large military force in the Caribbean as leverage over the country’s leadership after Saturday’s capture of President Nicolás Maduro. On Sunday (Monday morning AEDT), Secretary of State Marco Rubio told CBS’s Face the Nation the US would block sanctioned oil shipments and keep pressure on Venezuela until it sees changes, including running the oil industry “for the benefit of the people” and clamping down on drug trafficking. Rubio said talk of Venezuelan elections was “premature” and that Washington was focused on dismantling drug smuggling operations and judging remaining leaders by their actions. There were no US boots on the ground in Venezuela, but General Dan Caine said about 15,000 US troops, aircraft and warships remained positioned in the region. Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, remained in US custody in Brooklyn ahead of an expected Manhattan federal court appearance on drug and weapons charges. Meanwhile, Venezuela’s interim leader Delcy Rodríguez denounced the US action, insisting Maduro remained Venezuela’s legitimate president. Inside Venezuela, many described fear and uncertainty. Abroad, Venezuelans rallied in cities including Brisbane, New York, Chicago, Washington, Buenos Aires, Lima and Mexico City, with both celebrations and protests. (Capital Brief)(CBS)(DoJ)(NYT)(FT)

2.

World reacts: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called for a “peaceful, democratic transition” in Venezuela as Canberra stressed respect for international law and warned Australians not to travel to the country. Albanese said Australia was monitoring developments and urged dialogue and diplomacy to prevent escalation. Opposition Leader Sussan Ley welcomed Maduro’s removal, while the Greens described the US action as a “kidnapping" of Maduro and his wife, condemning it as a gross breach of international law. Venezuela’s defence minister said most of Maduro’s security team was killed during the operation. Reports citing an unnamed Venezuelan official said at least 40 Venezuelans were killed in the Caracas raid. The operation won Trump broad approval from hawkish Republicans but drew sharp criticism from others within the US. Republican lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene said the strikes ran against the “America First” platform and questioned why the administration was not targeting Mexican cartels instead. International reaction remains divided. Russia, China, Brazil, Mexico and others condemned the strikes as violations of sovereignty and international law. The UN warned the action set a dangerous precedent. Israel and Argentina praised the move. Colombia reinforced its border. And in Australia, DFAT urged Australians in Venezuela to be prepared to shelter in place, while demonstrations in Sydney reflected deep divisions within the Venezuelan diaspora. (ABC)(AFR)(The Guardian)

3.

Output hold: OPEC+ kept oil output unchanged on Sunday (Monday AEDT), reaffirming a November decision to pause production increases in the first quarter, even as political crises across member states intensified. The meeting came hours after the US captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and Trump said Washington would take control of Venezuela “until a transition to a new administration becomes possible”. The brief meeting of eight members, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, avoided discussion of the political crises affecting a number of the group’s members. Tensions between Saudi Arabia and the UAE have also recently flared over Yemen. While on Friday Trump wrote that if Iran killed more protesters the US would “come to their rescue”. “We are locked and loaded and ready to go,” Trump said in a social media post. The protests began in Tehran with residents angered by another sharp fall in the rial, with at least eight people reported to have died during the week-long protests. “The countries will continue to closely monitor and assess market conditions, and in their continuous efforts to support market stability,” the cartel said in a statement. (Capital Brief)(OPEC)(Bloomberg)(Reuters)

4.

Missile message: North Korea launched multiple ballistic missiles off its eastern coast on Sunday local time, just hours before South Korean President Lee Jae Myung departed for China for a summit with President Xi Jinping. South Korean officials said the missiles were fired from the capital region around 7:50am and flew about 900 kilometres. Japan confirmed at least two missiles were launched, with defence minister Shinjiro Koizumi saying they were a serious threat to regional and international peace and security. The launches were North Korea’s first ballistic tests in two months and followed the US military operation that removed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from power. North Korea’s foreign ministry called the US action “the most serious form of encroachment of sovereignty” and said it showed “the rogue and brutal nature of the US”. On Saturday, Kim Jong Un visited a munitions factory and ordered a 2.5-fold increase in the production of tactical guided weapons, according to state media. Lim Eul-chul, a professor at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies in Seoul said North Korea was sending a message that it is “different from Venezuela”, capable of “aggressive deterrence” (AP)(Reuters)

5.

Far out: The German activist network Volcano Group claimed responsibility for an arson attack that knocked out power to about 50,000 households and 2,000 businesses in southwest Berlin on Saturday local time. The far-left group said the fossil fuel industry was its target, according to a letter posted on Nachrichten aus Leipzig, a platform used by such groups to anonymously share information. “We apologise to the less affluent residents of southwest Berlin,” the letter stated, adding that the group had limited sympathy for villa owners. Berlin’s Interior Minister Iris Spranger said the letter had been classified as authentic and condemned the incident as an “inhumane attack”. Mayor Kai Wegner said military support may be used to manage the impact, accusing suspected left-wing extremists of putting lives at risk, including patients, the elderly, children and families. Grid operator Stromnetz Berlin said 38,000 households and 2,000 businesses remained without power and warned it may take until 8 January for full restoration. Mobile phone service and heating were affected in some areas, shops were forced to close, and patients and residents were relocated from hospitals and retirement homes. (Bloomberg)

6.

Joint strike: British and French warplanes carried out a joint airstrike on an underground facility in Syria that the UK Ministry of Defence said was used by Islamic State (IS) militants to store weapons and explosives. The operation took place on Saturday evening local time in a mountainous area north of Palmyra, in Homs province. Several access tunnels were hit and were joined by French aircraft. The UK defence ministry said there were no civilians in the area and early indications suggest the strike successfully engaged the target. Defence Secretary John Healey said in a statement the action demonstrated the UK leadership’s determination to stand with allies to prevent a resurgence of IS and its violent ideologies. The joint operation follows a wave of US airstrikes in December on IS targets in Syria, launched in response to a gunman attack that killed two American soldiers and a civilian interpreter. IS cells remain active in the region despite losing territorial control in 2019. (FT)(NBC)(Al Jazeera)

7.

Reform agenda: Shanghai unveiled an action plan to improve its business environment by streamlining government services and increasing support for foreign investment and global expansion. Published on the municipal government’s website, the plan sets out measures to boost regulatory transparency and approval efficiency, particularly for emerging industries and key sectors. It includes steps to strengthen supervision and enforcement against monopolistic and unfair conduct, and to limit what it calls “involution-style” competition. The plan outlines efforts to improve financing coordination mechanisms for small and micro enterprises, standardise intermediary financing services and eliminate illegal ones. It also seeks to curb the spread of false or misleading corporate information during major events such as initial public offerings, prevent coercive business partnerships, and reinforce the responsibilities of internet platforms. Authorities said they will improve how online infringement cases involving enterprises are handled. (Bloomberg)

8.

Yearly lift: Australia’s home-price growth slowed in December as the risk of renewed interest rate hikes weighed on sentiment and the housing outlook, according to Cotality. Its Home Value Index for major cities rose 0.5% over the month, with both Sydney and Melbourne slipping 0.1%. Perth and Adelaide recorded the strongest gains at 1.9%, followed by Brisbane and Darwin at 1.6%. Cotality said speculation that the Reserve Bank of Australia’s next move could be a hike had dented confidence, and that a ‘higher for longer’ rate environment, combined with cost-of-living and affordability pressures, had taken heat out of the market. Nevertheless, every capital city and rest-of-state region recorded annual dwelling value gains in 2025, ranging from 4.8% in Melbourne to 18.9% in Darwin. The upper quartile of the market continued to weigh on monthly growth, rising 0.2%, while lower and middle segments rose 1.1%. With the cash rate at 3.6%, more than 1 percentage point above the 2.5% pre-pandemic average, mortgage repayments on a median-priced home now take up 45% of pre-tax income. And RBA Governor Michele Bullock has warned a return to rate increases is possible if inflation persists. (Bloomberg)(Capital Brief)