Deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, captured in a US military operation on January 3, appeared in court for the first time in New York. They are accused of narco-terrorism. Earlier, US President Donald Trump told reporters that he could order a new strike on Venezuela if representatives of the Maduro regime remaining in the country do not cooperate with Washington. Trump also said that the United States is still taking control of Venezuela.

How will the balance of power in the energy market change?

Radiy Khabirov at a meeting with Vladimir Putin. Archive photo The authorities of Bashkortostan have increased the regional one-time payment for those wishing to go to war with Ukraine to 1 million rubles - despite the budget deficit for 2025-2027 and the sharp increase in housing and communal services tariffs, which will reach 27.3% in some areas this year. "Idel.Realii" looked into how these decisions fit into the logic of the policy of the republican leadership.

Diana Loginova In 2025, repressions in Russia affected street musicians for the first time: the Ministry of Internal Affairs subjected to "carousel" arrests of members of the group "Stoptime", videos from whose performances gained popularity on social networks. "Stoptime" performed songs by anti-war authors in the squares of St. Petersburg, and listeners willingly sang along with them. In total, the musicians spent more than a month in the special detention center.

Ben Rhyne is a neuroscientist, human brain researcher, chief scientist at the Mind Science Foundation, lecturer at Stanford University, and science communicator. The Current Time TV channel talked with him about how the modern Internet and the use of social networks affect the functioning of the human brain and whether it is worth limiting the use of these tools. Ryan noted that, like many inhabitants of the Earth, he cannot imagine life without social networks.

Consequences of the operation on a satellite image The FSB detained 48-year-old resident of the Arkhangelsk region Anton Mikhov on charges of justifying terrorism. Sever.Realii reports this. The video of the arrest was published by the state agency TASS.

Abroad is a concept both physical, administrative, and philosophical, metaphorical. There is a concept of internal emigration. The heroes of the podcast are people who have changed their daily lives due to their political, religious or moral principles. They, too, are building the history of the 21st century.

Brigitte Macron A Paris court found 10 people guilty of online harassment of French First Lady Brigitte Macron. Those convicted were given a variety of punishments, from mandatory courses on the dangers of cyberbullying and fines to suspended prison sentences of up to eight months, Le Monde and Reuters report. Eight people aged from 41 to 65 were found guilty.

Illustrative photography Russian courts sentenced 100 people to life imprisonment from January to November 2025. Prior to this, the highest figures were in 2005 and 2012 – 84 convictions each. In total, from 2005 to 2024, the courts made 1,316 such decisions. The statistics for last year were reported by the state agency TASS with reference to the press service of the Supreme Court. This is a record number of life sentences over the past 20 years, notes Current Time.

Poster 1990 List of the best paintings of the century according to Radio Liberty "My guys." USA, 1990. Duration - 139 minutes. Directed by Martin Scorsese. Screenplay by Scorsese and Nicholas Pileggi, based on the best-selling documentary by Pileggi. Cinematographer Michael Ballhouse. Starring: Robert De Niro (Jimmy Conway), Ray Liotta (Henry Hill), Joe Pesci (Tommy Devito), Paul Sorvino (Paul Cicero), Lorraine Bracco (Karen Hill). Produced by Irwin Winkler. Distributed by Warner Brothers.

Journalist of the Current Time TV channel Arina Fedorovykh asks Vitaly Portnikov about unknown drones that began to appear in the skies over EU countries, about the impact of the war in Ukraine on other countries, and also about how Ukrainian society lives under constant Russian shelling.

Representatives of Russia and China at a meeting of the UN Security Council on January 5 sharply criticized US actions in Venezuela and called on the United States to immediately release the authoritarian leader of the country, Nicolas Maduro, captured by the US military and taken to the United States. The US representative emphasized that the United States is not at war with or occupying Venezuela.

How long will peace between Israel and Hamas last? Will peace be concluded between Russia and Ukraine? History contains examples of the reconciliation of enemies who had long experienced fierce hatred for each other. But it also happened no less often that their peace agreements laid the foundation for new conflicts in advance.

Radio Liberty News: final release

Will Donald Trump take Ukraine's side in the new year? Is Putin's Russia running out of reserves? Radio Liberty discusses these and other questions with leading researcher at the Institute for War and Peace Studies at Columbia University Rajan Menon , economist, former adviser to the governments of several countries Anders Aslund and sociologist, employee of Rutgers University Sergei Erofeev .