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“Avatar: Fire and Ash” has surpassed the $1 billion mark at the global box office, as it kept the top spot in North American theaters with another $40 million in ticket sales, industry estimates showed Sunday.  The third installment in director James Cameron’s blockbuster series has now earned $306 million in the United States and Canada, and another $777 million abroad, putting the total at $1.08 billion, Exhibitor Relations reported. “Fire and Ash” stars Zoe Saldana as Na’vi warrior Neytiri and Sam Worthington as ex-Marine Jake Sully, who must battle a new foe threatening their family’s life on the planet Pandora.It is the fourth Cameron film to pass the $1 billion mark, with the first two “Avatar” films and “Titanic.”In second place in North America was “Zootopia 2,” Disney’s feel-good animated film and an Oscar contender, at $19 million. Its global total now stands at nearly $1.6 billion.Coming in third at $14.9 million was Lionsgate’s “The Housemaid,” a film version of Freida McFadden’s best-selling novel about a young woman (Sydney Sweeney) who is hired by a wealthy couple (Amanda Seyfried and Brandon Sklenar) with dark secrets.”Marty Supreme,” A24’s period sports drama starring Timothee Chalamet, finished in fourth place with $12.6 million.”Anaconda,” the new meta comedy action flick starring Paul Rudd and Jack Black as friends trying to reboot the original 1997 horror film, finished in fifth place with $10 million.Rounding out the top 10 are:”The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants” ($8.2 million)”David” ($8 million)”Song Sung Blue” ($5.8 million)”Wicked: For Good” ($3.3 million)”Five Nights at Freddy’s 2″ ($2.7 million)

A top US official on Sunday said the Trump administration will work with the existing Venezuelan leadership, after a stunning military operation snatched president Nicolas Maduro and brought him to face trial in New York.Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s comments indicated that Washington is not seeking complete regime change and sought to clarify President Donald Trump’s earlier statement that the United States will “run” the Latin American country of about 30 million people.Rubio told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that the US was fighting drug traffickers, “not a war against Venezuela.”The streets of Caracas were calm in the wake of Saturday’s raid, in which US commandos swooped into Caracas on helicopters, backed by attack jets and naval forces, to seize Maduro and his wife.Residents queued up to buy food in grocery stores and the masked, heavily armed police visible the previous day were gone, AFP correspondents said.The Venezuelan military announced it recognized Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, as acting president, and urged people to resume normal life.Despite the success of the initial US operation, questions mounted over Trump’s strategy.The US president on Saturday indicated deep, long-lasting US involvement centered on securing access to the world’s largest proven oil reserves.”We’re going to run the country” until a transition can be made, he said, also insisting that military “boots on the ground” remained a possibility.Rubio did multiple television interviews Sunday morning to make clear that Washington is not looking for upheaval.He said Washington is ready to work with Rodriguez and the rest of Maduro’s cabinet — as long as they adhere to US demands.”We’re going to make an assessment on the basis of what they do, not what they say publicly in the interim,” he told CBS News.Underlining the lack of focus on democracy or desire to help long-backed opposition candidates to get power, Rubio told NBC it was “premature” to talk of new elections for Venezuela.While Trump had threatened “a second wave” of military action if needed, Rubio said US pressure would remain on Venezuela in the form of an oil export embargo enforced by Navy ships in the Caribbean.”That allows us to exert tremendous leverage over what happens next,” he said on CBS.The Democratic leader in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, told ABC News that Americans were left “scratching their heads in wonderment and in fear.”- ‘Good night’ -The deposed Venezuelan leader was in a detention center ahead of an expected Manhattan court hearing on narcotrafficking charges Monday.Handcuffed and in sandals, Maduro was escorted by federal agents through a Manhattan US Drug Enforcement Administration facility late Saturday, a video posted by the White House on social media showed.”Good night, happy new year,” the 63-year-old leftist was heard saying in English.Earlier, he was photographed on board a US naval ship blindfolded and handcuffed, with noise-canceling ear protectors.Maduro, a self-described socialist, led Venezuela with an iron fist for more than a decade through a series of elections widely considered rigged. He came to power after the death of his charismatic mentor, Hugo Chavez.As news of his seizure rippled out, exiled Venezuelans waved flags and celebrated in plazas from Madrid to Santiago. About eight million Venezuelans have fled the grinding poverty and political suppression of their homeland. There was muted joy too in Caracas. – Massive crude reserves  -The Trump administration faces accusations of acting illegally in a pressure campaign that began with blowing up small boats accused of transporting drugs near Venezuela and climaxed with Saturday’s toppling of Maduro.The Democratic leader in the House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries, said the raid was an act of war which should have been authorized by Congress.Trump has cast the attack on Venezuela as essentially a police operation against an alleged narcotrafficking ringleader.However, he has made clear that the broader goal is to secure access to Venezuela’s enormous oil reserves and to keep US rivals out of the region.Trump vowed massive US investments in the oil industry which has collapsed under years of international sanctions and lack of investment.Venezuela does “not have the capability to bring up that industry again. They need investment from private companies who are only going to invest under certain guarantees and conditions,” Rubio told CBS.”We’re pretty certain that there will be dramatic interest from Western companies. Non-Russian, non-Chinese companies will be very interested,” Rubio said.burs-sms/des

Around a thousand people gathered outside the US embassy in Madrid on Sunday to blast “imperialist aggression” after US special forces seized Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a military operation.The demonstrators held up numerous banners, including one showing US President Donald Trump greedily swallowing a can of oil in the colours of the Venezuelan flag.Another proclaimed “Trump aggressor”, while one banner read “No to imperialist aggression against Venezuela”.Several protesters carried flags of the far-left Podemos party, or Spain’s communists, while others held aloft Venezuelan colours.Following his dramatic abduction, Maduro now finds himself in a New York jail awaiting a court appearance on drug-trafficking and weapons charges.Trump has meanwhile vowed that the United States will “run” Venezuela for a transitional period and tap its vast oil resources.Spain’s Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, whose country gave shelter to Venezuela’s opposition candidate in the 2024 presidential election, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, on Saturday slammed what he termed “an intervention which violates international law” which could threaten regional stability.Sanchez called for a transitional period which would be “just and with dialogue”.The Venezuelan opposition maintains that Urrutia defeated Maduro in the 2024 poll.Sanchez, whose government relies on the backing of far-left coalition partner Sumar, on Sunday doubled down on his criticism of the US operation in a letter to Socialist Party members, where he criticised “the recent violation of international law in Venezuela, an act that we condemn in the strongest terms”.Several hundred people also demonstrated in Amsterdam outside the US consulate on Sunday, holding up placards with slogans such as “Yankee go home”, “Stop killing for oil” or “Stop Trumps Fossil Army”, according to the ANP news agency.

Denmark on Sunday made its displeasure known after the wife of President Donald Trump’s most influential aide posted a social media picture of Greenland painted in the colours of the US flag.Katie Miller — wife of Trump’s deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller — put the contentiously altered image of the Danish autonomous territory on her X feed late Saturday, after the US military operation against Venezuela. Her post had a single word above it: “SOON”. Denmark’s ambassador to the US, Jesper Moeller Soerensen, reacted on Sunday with his own post saying “we expect full respect for the territorial integrity” of Denmark, above a link to Katie Miller’s image.Trump has repeatedly made clear that he wants Greenland to become an annexed part of the United States. Moves edging towards that goal by his government — including his appointment of an envoy to the Danish territory — have drawn the ire of both Copenhagen and the European Union.Stephen Miller is widely seen as the architect of much of Trump’s policies, guiding the president on his hardline immigration policies and domestic agenda.America’s European allies were rattled by Trump sending in his military on Saturday to attack Caracas and grab Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro, who is now being held by US authorities in New York.Trump has said the United States will now “run” Venezuela indefinitely and tap its huge oil reserves.In Greenland’s case, Trump has claimed that making the Danish territory part of the United States would serve US national security interests, given its strategic location on the Arctic. Greenland is also rich in key critical minerals used in high-tech sectors.Denmark’s ambassador gave a pointed “friendly reminder” in response to Katie Miller’s post that his country — a NATO member — has “significantly boosted its Arctic security efforts” and worked together with the US on that.”We are close allies and should continue to work together as such,” Soerensen wrote.Katie Miller was deputy press secretary under Trump at the Department of Homeland Security during his first term.She later worked as communications director for then vice president Mike Pence and also acted as his press secretary.

Venezuela’s president Nicolas Maduro was in a New York jail on Sunday after a shock US snatch-and-grab raid to remove him from power and assert Washington’s control over the oil-rich South American nation.The US military carried out air strikes on Venezuela’s capital Caracas early on Saturday. Commandos captured Maduro and his wife, who were flown to New York City where they face drug-trafficking and weapons charges.Handcuffed and in sandals, Maduro was escorted by federal agents through a Manhattan US Drug Enforcement Administration facility, a video posted by the White House on social media showed.”Good night, happy new year,” the 63-year-old leftist was heard saying in English.Maduro has led Venezuela with an iron fist for more than a decade through a series of elections widely thought to have been rigged. He came to power after the death of his charismatic mentor, former president Hugo Chavez.As news of his seizure rippled out, exiled Venezuelans waved flags and celebrated in plazas from Madrid to Santiago. About eight million Venezuelans have fled the grinding poverty and political suppression of their homeland. There was muted joy too in Caracas. “I felt the explosions lift me out of bed. In that instant I thought: ‘My God, the day has come,’ and I cried,” Maria Eugenia Escobar, a 58-year-old resident told AFP.But the streets in the Venezuelan capital remained quiet and many residents were apprehensive about what is to come.Trump said he was “designating people” from his cabinet to take control, but gave no further details. The Republican leader appeared to reject the possibility of the country’s opposition taking power, instead saying he could work with Maduro’s Vice President Delcy Rodriguez. Rodriguez poured cold water on that prospect, demanding Maduro’s release and vowing to “defend” the country.Late Saturday, Venezuela’s Supreme Court ordered Rodriguez to assume presidential powers “in an acting capacity”.But Trump indicated US involvement is likely for the long haul, adding to the confusion over how the country would be run.”We’re going to stay until such time as the proper transition can take place,” he said.- Massive crude reserves  -Trump’s interest in tapping into Venezuela’s massive crude reserves also became clearer.”We’re going to have our very large United States oil companies… go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure,” he said. “We’ll be selling large amounts of oil.”Venezuela produces just under a million barrels of crude a day, according to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), and sells most of it on the black market at steep discounts.Trump claims Caracas is using oil money to finance “drug terrorism, human trafficking, murder and kidnapping”.Venezuelan territory contains about 17 percent of the world’s oil reserves, the International Energy Agency (IEA) reported in 2023, but is far from being a leading global producer after years of mismanagement and corruption.- Blackout and bombing -Venezuelans had been bracing for attacks as US forces spent months massing off the coast.Caracas residents woke to explosions and the sound of military helicopters around 2:00 am (0600 GMT). Air strikes hit a major military base and an airbase, among other sites, for nearly an hour.The top US military officer, General Dan Caine, said 150 aircraft took part in the operation, supporting troops who choppered in to seize Maduro with the help of months of intelligence into his daily habits — down to “what he ate” and what pets he kept.Maduro and his wife “gave up” without a struggle and there was “no loss of US life,” he said.Venezuelan authorities have yet to release casualty figures. But Trump told the New York Post that “many” Cubans in Maduro’s security detail were killed.At a celebration in Santiago, Venezuelan Yasmery Gallardo, 61, said she planned to return home soon from Chile where she had lived for the past eight years, telling AFP that Maduro’s capture was “tremendous for us”.In Miami, revelers cheered Trump as they embraced and waved the Venezuelan flag.For others in Florida, the uncertainty that surrounded the future of their home country sapped their euphoria.”I don’t trust Trump but I am very grateful,” said Eleazar Morrison, a 47-year-old Venezuelan.Countries such as China, Russia, and Iran, which have longstanding ties with Maduro’s government, were quick to condemn the operation, but their alarm was also shared by Washington’s allies including France and the EU.Venezuela’s ally China on Sunday called for Maduro to be “immediately released”.United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “deeply concerned that the rules of international law have not been respected”.At Venezuela’s request, the UN Security Council will meet Monday to discuss the crisis, the Somali presidency of the Council told AFP.

The US military operation that led to the seizure of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Saturday sparked international alarm, with allies and foes of Washington and Caracas expressing disquiet.President Donald Trump said that the United States would “run” Venezuela and tap its huge oil reserves, and  posted a picture of Maduro in custody on a US naval ship wearing a blindfold and handcuffs. Maduro and his wife were flown by helicopter to New York City, where they face drug-trafficking and weapons charges.They were seized by US special forces during a pre-dawn attack in which air strikes pounded sites in and around the Venezuelan capital Caracas late on Saturday.Countries such as China, Russia, and Iran, which have longstanding ties with Maduro’s government, were quick to condemn the operation but their alarm was also shared by Washington’s allies including France and the EU.Here are the main reactions:- China -China made calls on Sunday for Maduro to be “immediately released” after saying it “strongly condemns” the US operation in Venezuela.China’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a statement that the US is in “clear violation of international law, basic norms in international relations, and the purposes and principles of the UN Charter”.- Russia -Russia demanded the US leadership “reconsider its position and release the legally elected president of the sovereign country and his wife”.- Iran -Iran, which Trump bombed last year, said it “strongly condemns the US military attack on Venezuela and a flagrant violation of the country’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity”.- Mexico -Mexico, which Trump has also threatened with military force over drug trafficking, strongly condemned the US military action in Venezuela, saying it “seriously jeopardises regional stability”. – Colombia -Colombian President Gustavo Petro — whose country neighbours Venezuela — called the US action an “assault on the sovereignty” of Latin America which would lead to a humanitarian crisis.- Brazil -Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva slammed the US attacks as a “serious affront” to Venezuela’s sovereignty.- Cuba -Cuba, a strong ally of Venezuela, denounced “state terrorism against the brave Venezuelan people”.- Spain -Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said the intervention “violates international law and pushes the region toward a horizon of uncertainty and militarism”.- France -France said the US operation undermined international law, and no solution to Venezuela’s crisis can be imposed externally.President Emmanuel Macron called for 2004 presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia to lead a political transition.- Germany -Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that Maduro had “led his country to ruin”, but called the US action legally “complex”.- EU -The EU more generally expressed concern at the developments and urged respect for international law, even as it noted that Maduro “lacks legitimacy”.EU candidate country North Macedonia, along with fellow Balkan nations Albania and Kosovo, backed Washington, however.”We stand with the United States and the Venezuelan people for freedom and democracy,” North Macedonia FM Timco Mucunski said on X.- Britain -Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the UK will discuss the “evolving situation” in Venezuela with US counterparts while noting Britain will “shed no tears” about the demise of Maduro’s “regime”.- Italy -In a rare expression of support for the US operation by a major European country, far-right Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni — a Trump ally — argued the US military action in Venezuela was “legitimate” and “defensive”.- Israel -Israel also hailed the operation, saying Washington acted as the “leader of the free world”.- Ukraine -Ukraine — dependent on US support in its war against invading Russia — did not address the legality of a big country like America using military force against a much smaller one like Venezuela.Foreign minister Andriy Sybiga instead focused on Maduro’s lack of legitimacy and the Venezuelan government’s repression, while backing “democracy, human rights, and the interests of Venezuelans”.- South Africa -South Africa, which Trump accuses of alleged discrimination — and even “genocide” — of minority white Afrikaners, said: “Unlawful, unilateral force of this nature undermines the stability of the international order and the principle of equality among nations.”- UN -UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was “deeply alarmed” by the US strikes, with his spokesman quoting him as saying it could “constitute a dangerous precedent”.- Greece -Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on X that Maduro “presided over a brutal and repressive dictatorship that brought about unimaginable suffering on the Venezuelan people.” “The end of his regime offers new hope for the country. This is not the time to comment on the legality of the recent actions,” he said.

A lingering smell of explosives hung over Venezuela’s capital Caracas on Saturday as shocked residents took stock after an early-morning US strike that ousted strongman Nicolas Maduro.While a few hundred Maduro supporters gathered to clamor for his freedom, the streets were otherwise eerily quiet.”I felt the explosions lift me out of bed. In that instant I thought: ‘My God, the day has come,’ and I cried,” Maria Eugenia Escobar, a 58-year-old resident of the city of six million people, told AFP.  The strikes started around 2:00 am local time, with dozens of detonations that some people at first mistook for fireworks.Windows rattled from the shockwaves and residents rushed out onto terraces and balconies as military aircraft zoomed overhead.”It was horrible, we felt the planes flying over our house,” said a resident of the Coche neighborhood, near the city’s largest military complex, which was targeted in the raid.Residents saw columns of smoke rising from several parts of the city, which was soon cloaked in a fog-like haze.Witnesses spoke of bombings in La Guaira, Caracas’s airport and port, in Maracay to the west, and in Higuerote to the east. – ‘Absurd! -In the aftermath, Venezuelans soon learned their long-ruling leader Maduro was out.US special forces seized Maduro and took him to face trial in New York.A few hundred supporters gathered in Caracas to demand news of their leader’s fate.”Long live Nicolas Maduro,” echoed a rally cry from a hastily erected stage with speakers blaring revolutionary music.”Long live!” responded the crowd.Katia Briceno, a 54-year-old university professor, came out to protest against what she described as US “barbarism.””How is it that a foreign government comes into the country and removes the president? It’s absurd!” she told AFP.Apart from the protesters, there were few Venezuelans out, and just occasional cars on the usually bustling streets.Those who did venture out did so under the watchful eye of black-clad agents patrolling the center with long guns.Many stores were closed after the attack, while queues formed at others that were letting people in a few at a time.Damage from the explosions was mostly limited to military installations, where vehicles stood riddled by bullets, others smouldering and charred.Defense Minister General Vladimir Padrino Lopez accused the US forces of attacking civilian areas with missiles and rockets fired from combat helicopters.President Donald Trump said no US soldiers died in Saturday’s strikes, but the toll on the Venezuelan side remained unknown.For residents of Caracas, the future is uncertain.Trump said he was “not afraid of boots on the ground” and mooted the possibility of a “much bigger” second wave of strikes if necessary.He also said the United States will “run” Venezuela until a political transition occurs.Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado insists Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, whom the opposition says won elections in July 2024 in which Maduro claimed victory, “must immediately assume his constitutional mandate” as president.Trump appeared to scotch any expectation that Machado herself might emerge as Venezuela’s new leader. She does not have “support or respect” there, he said.Trump indicated he could instead work with Maduro’s deputy, Delcy Rodriguez, saying “she’s essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again.”Neighboring Colombia was reinforcing its border with Venezuela, using tanks and armed soldiers who normally fight guerrillas to secure the frontier.Colombian security forces deployed at the main border crossings on the orders of leftist President Gustavo Petro, who has clashed with Trump over his months-long military buildup in the region.Petro’s government has warned of a potential humanitarian crisis with migrants pouring over the border from Venezuela.However, on the Simon Bolivar bridge in Villa del Rosaria, the main crossing point, the number of people walking across on Saturday was far below normal.

Twelve hours after the United States bombed Venezuela during an operation to oust President Nicolas Maduro, the smoke continued to seep from hangars in the port of La Guaira north of Caracas.La Guaira was one of several areas in or near Caracas struck by jets during a stealth mission to snatch Maduro and whisk him out of the country.Deformed shipping containers, their contents spilling onto the docks, bore testimony to the force of the strikes that US officials said were designed to clear the way for helicopters to swoop in on Maduro’s hiding place.There were no reports of casualties in the area.Firefighters used an excavator to remove broken glass and gnarled metal strewn across the site as policemen with pump-action rifles patrolled on motorbike to prevent looting.Curious onlookers filmed the scene on their smartphones, many still incredulous at the speed and magnitude of the day’s events. In a little over an hour, US forces removed an authoritarian leader who had stubbornly clung to power through years of US sanctions and coup plots.The blasts blew out the windows of public buildings on La Guaira’s seafront and ripped the roofs off several houses.”Psssh, first we saw the flash and then the explosion,” said Alpidio Lovera, a 47-year-old resident, who ran to a hill with his pregnant wife and other residents to escape the strikes.His sister Linda Unamuno, 39, burst into sobs as she recalled a nightmarish night.”The blast smashed the entire roof of my house,” she said.Unamuno’s first thoughts were that La Guaira was experiencing another natural disaster, 26 years ago after a landslide of biblical proportions swept away 10,000 people, many of them washed out to sea.”I went out, that’s when I saw what was happening. I saw the fire from the airstrikes. It was traumatizing,” she sobbed, adding she “wished it on no-one.”Alirio Elista, a pensioner whose water tank was damaged in the strikes, said those who cheered the US intervention for bringing down the unpopular Maduro “don’t know what they’re talking about.”He said he believed news of Maduro’s capture was “fake” — despite US President Donald Trump having posted a picture of him blindfolded and handcuffed on a US warship.Like many in Venezuela, the 68-year-old expressed nostalgia for the heyday of the Caribbean country between the 1950s and 1970s, when it was flush with oil riches.In the past decade Maduro ran the economy into the ground, causing rampant inflation and widespread shortages of fuel, medicine and some basic foodstuffs.Elista’s pension of under half a dollar a week “doesn’t pay for anything,” he complained.”We’re hungry,” he said.But unlike Trump, he had few illusions of a quick fix for the country’s ills.The Republican leader outlined his vision Saturday of US oil companies pouring into Venezuela to repair crumbling infrastructure — and reap the rewards with surging oil revenues.Venezuela has the world’s largest proven oil reserves but its output has tanked in recent years due to a US oil embargo and chronic underinvestment.”We’ll need at least 15 years to get back to where we were,” Elista predicted.

Less than a year after watching flames raze his home in the Altadena foothills, Ted Koerner has moved into a brand new house, one of the first to rebuild in this Los Angeles suburb.It has been an uphill battle, and Koerner is visibly moved as he brings his dog, Daisy, back home. “We’ve been through a lot this year,” he told AFP.Altadena was hardest hit by the fires that ravaged parts of the sprawling US metropolis in January 2025. Thousands of homes were destroyed and 19 people died in the town — compared to 12 killed in the upscale Pacific Palisades neighborhood.To rebuild his home, Koerner, a 67-year-old head of a security company, had to front up several hundred thousand dollars as his mortgage lender refused to release insurance payouts for months.Koerner also had to contend with the uncertainties created by the policies of US President Donald Trump.Tariffs on steel, wood, and cement, all of which are often imported, have increased construction costs, and Latino construction workers fear arrest by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).”If ICE grabs construction crews and Trump does that to us on top of tariffs, we’ll never get this town rebuilt,” Koerner said.Slowly, however, Altadena is coming back to life. Amid the thousands of empty lots, a few frames are beginning to rise from the ground. – ‘Chaos and delays’ -The hurricane-strength 160 kilometer (100 mile) per hour gusts of wind that spread the fire at breakneck speed last January are still fresh in everyone’s minds. But despite the destruction and the pervasive threat of climate change in California, dogged survivors refuse to move away. “Where are you gonna go?” sighs another Altadena resident, Catherine Ridder, a 67-year-old psychotherapist. “There’s no place around here that’s not vulnerable to catastrophic weather.”Her construction project has begun and she hopes to move in by August — before the $4,000 monthly rent she pays for a furnished apartment exhausts the housing allowance from her insurance.To speed things up, the Californian bureaucracy has streamlined its processes. Los Angeles County is issuing building permits within a few months. Before, it often took more than a year.But Ridder has been frustrated by delays in inspections to verify compliance with new building codes, such as requiring a fire sprinkler system in the roof. “There’s a lot of chaos and delays. I mean, maybe it’s faster than pre-fire stuff, but this doesn’t feel easy at all,” she told AFP. “I know that I’m way better off than a lot of people who were underinsured.”- Losing the ‘melting pot’ -In this high-risk area, many residents were covered by the state’s insurer of last resort, and their compensation is too meager to rebuild homes that often cost more than a million dollars. So many are counting on the financial outcome of lawsuits filed against Southern California Edison, the company that owns the faulty power line suspected of having triggered the fire that destroyed Altadena. Carol Momsen couldn’t wait.She was compensated only $300,000 for the destruction of her home, so the 76-year-old retiree sold her land. That paid for a new apartment elsewhere. “Even if I had the money, I don’t think I’d want to rebuild in Altadena, because it’s just a sad place right now,” the former saleswoman said.There is palpable anxiety that this diverse town, home to a sizable African American population, will lose its soul because people cannot afford to rebuild.Several empty lots display signs: “Altadena, not for sale!” and “Black homes matter.”Ellaird Bailey, 77, a retired technician at a telecommunications company, settled here with his wife in 1984 so his children could grow up in this “melting pot.””So many of those people that we’ve known for 20 or 30 years are moving away” to more affordable communities, he said.”It’s hard to visualize what it’s going to be like moving forward.”

President Donald Trump said Saturday that the United States will “run” Venezuela and tap its huge oil reserves after seizing leftist leader Nicolas Maduro during a bombing raid on Caracas.Trump’s announcement came hours after a lightning pre-dawn attack in which special forces grabbed Maduro and his wife — while air strikes pounded sites in and around the capital city — then whisked him out of the country.Maduro landed at a US military base shortly after nightfall, then was transported by helicopter to New York City, where the couple will face drug trafficking and weapons charges.Despite the success of the risky operation, what happens next is highly uncertain.Trump said he was “designating people” from his cabinet to be in charge in Venezuela but gave no further details.In another surprise, Trump indicated US troops could be deployed, saying Washington is “not afraid of boots on the ground.”But he appeared to reject the possibility of the country’s opposition taking power and said he could work instead with Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodriguez.One aspect that became clearer was the White House’s motivation, with Trump indicating regime change and Venezuela’s oil riches were the major goals.”We’re going to have our very large United States oil companies… spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure,” he said. “We’ll be selling large amounts of oil.”- Trump dismisses opposition leader -US-backed opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who won the Nobel Peace Prize last year, posted on social media that “the hour of freedom has arrived.”She called for the opposition’s 2024 election candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, to “immediately” assume the presidency.But Trump was surprisingly cold about expectations that Machado could become Venezuela’s new leader, saying she doesn’t have “support or respect” there.Instead, he touted Rodriguez, saying “she’s essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again.”Rodriguez poured cold water on that, demanding Maduro’s release and vowing to “defend” the country.Reflecting the confusion, Trump indicated US involvement is likely for the long haul.”We’re going to stay until such time as the proper transition can take place,” he said.China, a backer of Maduro’s leftist regime, said it “strongly condemns” the US operation, while France warned a solution cannot “be imposed from outside.”United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “deeply concerned that the rules of international law have not been respected.”At Venezuela’s request, the UN Security Council will meet Monday to discuss the US operation to seize Maduro, the Somali presidency of the Council told AFP.- Blackout and bombing -Venezuelans had been bracing for attacks as US forces spent months massing off the coast.Caracas residents woke to explosions and the whir of military helicopters around 2 am (0600 GMT). Air strikes hit a major military base and an airbase, among other sites, for nearly an hour.The top US military officer, General Dan Caine, said 150 aircraft took part in the operation, supporting troops who choppered in to seize Maduro with the help of months of intelligence into his daily habits — down to “what he ate” and what pets he kept.Maduro, 63, and his wife “gave up” without a struggle and there was “no loss of US life,” he said.Venezuelan authorities have yet to release casualty figures. But Trump told the New York Post that “many” Cubans who were part of Maduro’s security detail were killed.Within hours of the operation, Caracas had fallen eerily quiet, with police stationed outside public buildings and the smell of smoke drifting through the streets.- Shifting justifications -The US and numerous European governments did not recognize Maduro’s legitimacy, saying he stole elections in 2018 and 2024.Maduro — in power since 2013 after taking over from leftist mentor Hugo Chavez — long accused Trump of seeking regime change in order to control Venezuela’s oil reserves.Trump has offered several justifications for the aggressive policy toward Venezuela, at times stressing illegal migration, narcotics trafficking and the country’s oil industry.But he had previously avoided openly calling for regime change.Several members of Congress quickly questioned the legality of the operation. However, Trump’s key ally Mike Johnson, top Republican in the House of Representatives, said it was “justified.”burs-sms/ksb/acb