VENEZUELA - The most revealing response to Nicolás Maduro’s removal did not come from diplomats, NGOs, or international legal bodies. It came from Venezuelans themselves. Across the Diaspora – in Miami, Madrid, Bogotá, Toronto – the reaction was not confusion or fear, but relief. Celebration. A stunned disbelief that the nightmare might finally be ending.

VENEZUELA - Forget fentanyl and cocaine. The substance Donald Trump really wants to stop flowing out of Venezuela is crude oil to China. This is not because America craves the stuff itself. The United States produces more oil than Saudi Arabia and more gas than Russia. True, some American refineries would like more of Venezuela's glutinous oil, which is good for making asphalt and similar products, but it is by no means essential. No, what really bothers Washington is Beijing's special deal with Venezuela's narco-communist thugs: to buy oil on the cheap, reportedly at a $14-per-barrel discount on the price of Brent crude, the world benchmark.

IRAN - US Senator Lindsey Graham warned that if Iran’s security forces continue killing protesters, President Donald Trump would order the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday. Graham delivered the warning in a Fox News interview, addressing Iran’s clerical leadership and urging an end to the crackdown. His comments came as nationwide demonstrations entered their eleventh day. Graham said Tehran’s leadership should “take Trump seriously,” asserting that continued lethal force against demonstrators would invite direct retaliation at the highest levels. The senator directed his message at the regime's leadership, saying, "If you keep killing your people who are demanding a better life, Donald J Trump is going to kill you.”

VENEZUELA - Cocaine trafficking was a transparent excuse for attacking Venezuela. US President Donald Trump ordered the midnight raid and seizure of the country’s president because he sought a bigger prize, not because of any imminent threat of drugs flooding American cities. He was confident he could get away with it. He saw no need to consult Congress, much less ask for a declaration of war, his advisers said. He was confident that a toadying GOP-led Congress would buy his argument that this was merely law enforcement arresting a wanted criminal. Moreover, he believes he has a blanket grant of immunity from the Supreme Court to do as he pleases and a disposition that sees himself as the ultimate ruler, not an elected president.

FRANCE - Britain and her allies need to accept that Trump cannot be depended on to defend Ukraine. The Prime Minister is in Paris to co-host a meeting of the coalition of the willing alongside Emmanuel Macron, attended by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and his other allies. Donald Trump has deigned to send special envoy Steve Witkoff and his own son-in-law Jared Kushner to lead the US delegation – incidentally, Witkoff has met with Putin at least twice as many times in the last 12 months as he has with Zelensky.

GREENLAND - For the past eight decades, NATO has survived the plots of its enemies and the disputes of its allies. But the only storm the alliance could not weather would be the spectacle of one ally invading another. If Donald Trump acts on his public threat – or even promise – to seize Greenland from Denmark, that would make a nonsense of NATO’s core function, which is to convince an aggressor that every ally would defend any member which came under attack. Mr Trump surely knows this. He must also grasp that wrecking NATO would hand the greatest possible victory to Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping. But that only raises the question: does Mr Trump care?

CUBA - As Nicolás Maduro was flown blindfolded and handcuffed in a special forces helicopter to a New York jail, Cuban-Americans took to the streets to celebrate. This was a moment they had been waiting on for decades, with many seeing it as a catalyst for change in Cuba – one that could free their nation from communist rule. But 90 miles away in the beleaguered Caribbean island, the celebrations were more muted – especially after Donald Trump declared: “Cuba is ready to fall.” Cubans told The Telegraph they wanted their own regime change – but not one that is forced on them by Washington. They fear a Trump-led takeover of the island after United States forces decapitated the Venezuelan regime in mere hours.

UK - Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe: "For those who identify as transgender, personally," he says, “I think that there are a very small number of people who suffer from gender dysphoria. You have to welcome them. I don’t think anybody can simply say ‘I have the right to say I’m a woman’, because our biology is fundamental. If people genuinely have ambiguity in their gender identity, accompany them [on their journey] – but you discover who you are in the adventure of living. You don’t stand up and say, ‘I’ve decided that I’m going to be this’. That’s a false illusory idea of freedom.”

UK - From loony Greenism to anti-Israel hatred, the fairer sex are embracing extremism. We have all been very worried about young men. And for good reason: white, working-class boys are amongst the groups that perform worst in school. Young men are responsible for the vast majority of violent crime. But there is a new, arguably greater threat: the extremism of young women. If young men have trended Rightwards and downwards, young women have gone to the dark Left. Haven’t you noticed that the most passionate disrupters, yelling till puce in the face, are women?

ISRAEL - The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have been ordered to prepare for a possible simultaneous war against Iran, Lebanon, and the West Bank, according to Israeli Channel 12. One scenario reportedly includes an “explosive operation” against Tehran, which is currently facing widespread Israeli-backed cost-of-living protests. The preparations are part of a four-year long-term plan led by IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, the broadcaster revealed on Wednesday. On top of war readiness, they also reportedly include plans to develop capabilities to attack both satellites and ground targets from space. Officials in West Jerusalem expect Iran to attack Israel to “prevent the dissolution” of the Iranian government under the pressure of the protests, Channel 12 said.

ISRAEL - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has approved a new attack plan on Iran, while the Israeli army has entered a state of maximum alert. Israeli sources reported today that Netanyahu approved the new attack plan, dubbed the “Iron Strike.” According to the Israeli channel i24news, the Israeli army has gone on high alert amid fears that Iran might redirect its fire toward Israel. The Israeli intelligence branch is also conducting military exercises. The channel reported that “Netanyahu presented during the meeting the results of his discussions with US President Donald Trump during their recent meeting in Florida,” noting that “Netanyahu outlined priorities for action against Iran and the timing of operations.”

USA - America’s artificial intelligence (AI) boom is colliding with an older, slower-moving entity: the nation’s ageing electrical grid. From Virginia’s data-center corridor to multi-state electricity markets, analysts, government agencies, and AI insiders say the scramble to handle technology’s expanding power demands will be an uphill battle. At the same time, big tech companies and data centers are working to reduce the impact of AI’s expansion on the United States’ grid infrastructure. Some experts believe changes and significant investment are needed to reduce grid stress and possible energy shortages. A primary driver of this concern is the explosion in data centers being built across the United States to support rapid AI buildout.

MIDDLE EAST - The Islamic State is becoming more dangerous again. The West should be terrified. Britain and its allies must try to do what it can with what little it has to fight the Hydra’s many heads. Over the weekend, while the United States was capturing the Venezuelan president, Britain and France struck targets linked to the Islamic State (IS) in Syria. Britain hit a suspected cache of arms, and MoD press releases talked with suppressed excitement of the Typhoon jets and the Paveway munitions used. “Target engaged” satisfactorily. We’re in a new era of the war against the Islamic State. The new Syrian government of Ahmed al-Sharaa has formally signed up to the Global Coalition against the Islamic State.

USA - Maduro’s capture proves the US president has ripped up the international rulebook. The ignominious capture of Nicolás Maduro proves, if nothing else, that America no longer bothers with pretences. Trump was never going to take his case to the UN or rally his allies behind the cause of defenestrating Maduro. American interests, he decided, required the removal of Venezuela’s dictator, so Trump sent the US Delta Force, an elite military unit renowned for involvement in high-stakes rescue and capture missions, to accomplish exactly that. Nothing else mattered. Britain and its neighbours will need to rebuild their own military strength and turn Trump’s unconstrained power and sheer unpredictability to their advantage. If the assault on Caracas blows away the last delusions, forcing us to deal with the world as it really is, rather than the one we might wish for, it might yet do some good.

USA - Trump’s Venezuela gamble could redraw the global balance of power. Two days on from Donald Trump’s extraordinary capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, the dust has barely begun to settle. Maduro is appearing today in a New York court where he will be charged with “narco-terrorism” and conspiracy to import cocaine, which can carry life sentences under US law. But Maduro is not the only loser in all of this. Iran, Russia and China have all lost a valuable client - one who sold them oil, bought their weapons, and provided them with a beachhead on America’s doorstep.