CHINA - China has called for the immediate release of Nicolas Maduro after he was captured by American forces. China, a key ally of Venezuela, condemned the operation as a “clear violation of international law”. “China calls on the US to ensure the personal safety of President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, release them at once, stop toppling the government of Venezuela,” the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement on Sunday. A source close to the Trump administration claimed on Saturday that the operation to remove Maduro would “devastate” China. Nicolas Maduro met with Qi Xiaoqi, China’s special envoy to Venezuela, the day before his capture by US forces in Caracas. The two countries are close allies, with Beijing having poured billions into the South American country’s oil infrastructure.

VENEZUELA - China is facing a shortfall in its oil supplies following Donald Trump’s military strikes on Venezuela and the capture and removal of the oil-rich nation’s president and his wife. America’s intervention follows months of tension with president Nicolas Maduro over allegations of drug trafficking. But the attack still took the country by surprise and analysts will now be tracking the implication on oil prices. Although Venezuela has the world’s largest proven oil reserves, its ability to sell oil has been restricted by US sanctions in place since 2019. However, the restrictions do not apply to China, which has become a major importer of oil from the Latin American country.

IRAN - Iran’s supreme leader has acknowledged the unrest sweeping the country and offered to speak to protesters. In a rare move on Saturday, Ali Khamenei distinguished between legitimate demonstrators and “rioters” – in his first public comments since the protests began last weekend in Tehran. “Protest is justified, but protest is different from rioting,” he said. “We talk with protesters, but talking with rioters is useless. Rioters must be put in their place.” It came as Iranian security forces killed at least three more people hours after Donald Trump, the US president, threatened to intervene. The deaths on Friday night raised the toll to at least 10 since demonstrations over the country’s economic crisis began on Sunday. The unrest has since evolved into anti-regime protests. The killings came hours after Mr Trump warned on his Truth Social network that if Tehran “violently kills peaceful protesters”, the United States would “come to their rescue.”

MIDDLE EAST - Conflict between two states sitting at the heart of the world’s energy supply won’t remain parochial for long. Saudi Arabia’s decision to bomb what it claimed was an arms shipment to Yemeni insurgents sent from the United Arab Emirates brought into the open the dangerous tension between the Middle East’s leading oil-rich Sunni Muslim states. China is anxious for peace in the region where it has vast commercial interests and which it needs for safe trade routes to Europe for its exports and back to China for its energy imports. Beijing has its own reasons for pouring oil on troubled waters in the Gulf. But as Mao’s veteran foreign minister, Zhou Enlai, once warned, “Distant waters cannot quench local fires.”

USA - Are we on the brink of a worldwide nightmare? Many have described what we are currently experiencing as a “perfect storm”. We have been getting hit with one crisis after another as global events have greatly accelerated in recent months. But now it feels like the next chapter that we are entering is going to take things to an entirely different level. The following are 10 very important trends to watch as we enter 2026…

EUROPE - Bulgaria’s adoption of the euro may be the spark that ignites a new Greek-style debt disaster. On January 1, Bulgaria became the 21st member of the euro. But the backdrop couldn’t be worse. The country has been plunged into political turmoil, corruption is rife and its debts are rising. In reality, the next crisis for Europe is looming – and ironically, Brussels is welcoming it with open arms. It is not precisely the smooth transition officials at the European Central Bank would have hoped for. As the Bulgarian lev joins the lira, peseta and franc in the history books, it might have been hoped that the zone could welcome a new member with a stable government, enthusiastic public support and a booming industrial base.

IRAN - Six dead in Iran after Tehran launches violent crackdown on protesters. Riot squads open fire on demonstrators and carry out mass arrests on fifth day of unrest. At least six people were confirmed dead on the fifth day of spreading unrest across Iran. Protesters vowed not to back down amid a violent regime crackdown on Thursday in which riot squads opened fire on demonstrators and carried out mass arrests. More cities joined the protests as night fell and clashes intensified in several locations, which forced officials to send in reinforcements. Protesters in more than a dozen cities chanted, “This year is a year of blood, Seyyed Ali will be overthrown” and “death to the dictator,” referring to supreme leader Ali Khamenei. Strikes and protests over the country’s deepening economic crisis, later spread into anti-regime demonstrations. Merchants in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar, whose closures have historically signalled serious political trouble for Iranian governments, kept their shops closed for the fifth consecutive day.

USA - 'The United States of America will come to their rescue,' President Donald Trump announced about the protestors on Truth Social. US President Donald Trump declared that the United States was "locked and loaded and ready to go" if Iran killed any more protestors, in a post on Truth Social early Friday morning. An advisor to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Ali Larijani, responded to Trump's message, in a post on Twitter/X, stating that "Trump should know that American interference in this internal issue is equivalent to chaos across the entire region and the destruction of American interests." Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi also continued to encourage the Iranian people on day six of the protests in a post on Twitter/X. "You are making history; a history written with the courage, solidarity, and determination of a nation to reclaim its country," Pahlavi said in his post. "Stay united. Stay focused on the goal. Victory is ours."

EUROPE - “War appears to be as old as mankind,” wrote the great Victorian jurist Sir Henry Maine, “but peace is a modern invention”. Events in the New Year 2026 will doubtless prove his wisdom by showing the terrible fragility of that particular invention. Even if they had never heard of Maine, the most complacent Europeans should have learnt from Vladimir Putin’s onslaught against Ukraine that peace is neither a natural state nor the default setting of advanced countries, but rather a historical aberration that can only be preserved through strength and vigilance.

TAIWAN - Taipei risks losing its ‘silicon shield’ of protection against China as firms move production of semiconductors abroad. Behind the nondescript grey buildings that line the streets of Hsinchu lies one of the most important pieces of technology in the world. Whirring away inside are rows of white machines that are so advanced – and so secretive – that a select few are allowed inside. Economists warn that an invasion of Taiwan would cost the world’s economy £7.5 trillion – far more than the cost of the Russian invasion of Ukraine or the Covid-19 pandemic. Analysts argue that this very fact would act as a key deterrence against Beijing following through on its threats, as China knows if it does invade, its economy would take a direct hit from the fallout. Known as the “silicon shield”, the theory argues that Taiwan’s semiconductor industry offers it a de facto security blanket, which would stop China from invading – both because of its own dependency on the chips and the US’s, which could come to Taiwan’s defence.