Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro made his first appearance in a US courtroom on Monday following his capture, entering a plea of not guilty to all charges and asserting that he remains Venezuela’s legitimate leader.“I am innocent, I am not guilty,” Maduro told the judge, adding, “I am a decent man.” As he continued speaking in Spanish, he said, “I am still president of my country,” before being cut off by Judge Alvin Hellerstein.

“A plea of not guilty will be entered on behalf of Mr Maduro,” Hellerstein said, halting Maduro mid-sentence. Defence attorney Barry Pollack later confirmed that Maduro was entering a plea of not guilty to all four charges.During the hearing, Maduro told the court that he had not yet seen the indictment against him and was unaware of his legal rights. “I did not know of these rights,” he said through an interpreter. “Your honor is informing me of them now,” reported AP.Earlier in the hearing, a court-appointed translator relayed Maduro’s account of his arrest. “I was captured at my home in Caracas, Venezuela,” the translator said on his behalf.Maduro entered the courtroom shortly after 12 pm (local time) wearing prison attire, with his feet shackled and headphones on for translation, reported CBS news.His wife, Cilia Flores, who appeared alongside him, wore similar prison clothing. Both had their hands unshackled. Maduro briefly shook hands with his attorney upon entering the courtroom.After Maduro entered his plea, Judge Hellerstein turned to his wife to confirm her identity. Speaking in Spanish through an interpreter, she said, “I am first lady of the Republic of Venezuela.”When asked to enter a plea, Flores responded, “Not guilty. Completely innocent.”Near the end of the hearing, Maduro’s lawyer said his client “is head of a sovereign state and entitled to the privilege” that such a status confers. Pollack also raised “questions about the legality of his military abduction,” adding that there would be “voluminous” pretrial filings to challenge the case on legal grounds.The proceedings concluded at 12.31 pm (local time) after Flores’s attorney, Mark Donnelly, told the court that his client was suffering from “health and medical issues that will require attention.” Donnelly said Flores, 69, may have sustained a fracture or severe bruising to her ribs and could require a full X-ray examination.Both Maduro and Flores agreed to remain in custody for now, with their lawyers reserving the right to seek bail at a later stage.Maduro is being represented by Pollack, a veteran trial lawyer. Pollack previously represented WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. He also helped broker the 2024 plea deal under which Assange pleaded guilty to a single felony count related to publishing US military secrets.Further proceedings in the case will be held on March 17.

FILE – Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. (AP Photo/Nic Coury, File)

Ever since Mark Zuckerberg announced the creation of Meta Superintelligence Labs in first half of 2025, Meta CEO has been on an AI hiring blitz. A Twitter user who goes by the moniker @HinataMotivates, said to be a tech-motivation account, shared a podcast clip (going back to 2022) where Zuckerberg talks about Meta hiring rule and his advice for college students. Mark Zuckerberg has a hiring rule that he says is cardinal for him while hiring anyone and the one that he says is also an important tip for any college student. In an episode of the “Lex Fridman Podcast,” hosted by MIT computer scientist Lex Fridman, Zuckerberg said that most people know Facebook’s dorm-room origin story and that many have learned the wrong lesson from it. He said that his initial ability to launch Facebook wasn’t because he dropped out of college. According to Zuckerberg, it was due to the personal connections he made while he was still in school.Who you spend time with in college, Zuckerberg said, is “the most important decision” any student can make in college. He advised college students that choosing their social circle is the most pivotal decision, as people tend to emulate those around them. “You become the people you surround yourself with,” he said in the podcast. “I think probably people are too, in general, objective focused, and maybe not focused enough on the connections and the people who they’re basically building relationships [with].” Meta CEO Zuckerberg is said to have met his Facebook co-founders ⁠— Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz, Chris Hughes and Andrew McCollum ⁠— while the five were students at Harvard University.

While the group split up in a not-so-happy manner, Zuckerberg said on the podcast that he tries to prioritize relationships over objectives. This applies especially to hiring. Zuckerberg said that he extends the idea to his Meta hiring philosophy: He only employs candidates he did hypothetically work for, underscoring reciprocity and alignment in professional networks. When evaluating a job candidate, he imagines what it would be like to work for that person. “I will only hire someone to work for me if I can see myself working for them,” he said.Zuckerberg said that the strategy creates a work environment that’s both more cohesive and more productive: If you work with people who share your values on a human level, you’ll be more likely to smoothly achieve your work goals together. It’s all about finding personal compatibility, he said, not unlike “choosing friends or a partner.”

Elon Musk has just confirmed that the dinner that had the internet buzzing recently. In a post on microblogging platform X (formerly known asTwitter), Musk shared a photo from a Saturday (January 3) evening event at Mar-a-Lago in Florida where the tech billionaire can be seen dining with Trump and first lady Melania Trump. “Had a lovely dinner last night with @POTUS and @FLOTUS. 2026 is going to be amazing!,” he captioned the post. In January last year after Trump’s win, Musk became a close ally, advising on the government efficiency effort and set up DOGE – a task force focused on reducing federal spending and streamlining operations. According to Reuters, he was one of the Republican Party’s biggest political donors, contributing hundreds of millions of dollars to the 2024 election campaign.

However, tensions grew later in the year when Musk publicly criticized Trump-backed spending proposals, particularly the One Big Beautiful Bill, raising concerns about the size of federal outlays. Sharing a post on June 3, Musk wrote on X: “I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore. This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it”. Trump replied back saying he was “very disappointed” in Elon Musk’s criticism of his bill adding, “Elon and I had a great relationship. I don’t know if we will anymore.”Things escalated when the Tesla CEO hit back saying “Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate.”

When Elon Musk formed a new party

The feud grew to a point when Musk accused Trump of being one of the names in the still-sealed Epstein files. Sharing a post on X, Musk said “Donald Trump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!”.Trump responded sharing a post on social media writing “I am saddened to watch Elon Musk go completely ‘off the rails,’ essentially becoming a TRAIN WRECK over the past five weeks.”Later, Musk formed a new political party. In July 2025, he announced the launch of a new political party in the United States called the America Party, claiming it represents 80% of the US population.

The Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2026 is set to ignite the cricketing world as it enters its fourth blockbuster season starting January 9. This edition promises a fresh competitive edge following a high-stakes mega auction and historic venue shifts to Navi Mumbai and Vadodara.

Defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) will launch the tournament in a high-octane opener against 2024 winners Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the DY Patil Stadium. With five world-class franchises battling across 22 matches, the league continues to solidify its status as the premier global platform for women’s T20 cricket. Fans are particularly eager to see if a new leader or a recurring powerhouse will claim the trophy on February 5 in the Vadodara final.

Aakash Chopra picks the WPL 2026 winner

Former Indian cricketer and analyst Aakash Chopra has made a bold prediction, tipping the Delhi Capitals (DC) to finally secure their maiden title in 2026. Despite reaching the final in all three previous seasons, DC has famously struggled at the final hurdle, losing twice to Mumbai and once to RCB.

Chopra noted on JioStar’s ‘TATA WPL 2026 Predictions’ that the Capitals have “put together a very good squad” and deserve to break their jinx after being consistent finalists. This year, the team moves away from the veteran leadership of Meg Lanning and enters a new era under Jemimah Rodrigues. The young Indian star is riding a massive wave of momentum after her “instant classic” 127 off 134 balls* against Australia in the 2025 World Cup semi-final, which helped India chase down a record-breaking 339 to eventually claim the world title.

“I think Delhi Capitals will win, this time around. They have put together a very good squad and they have reached the finals all three times. Let them win it once,” Chopra said on Star Sports.

Also READ: Not Smriti Mandhana! Marizanne Kapp predicts India’s next captain after Harmanpreet Kaur

The Race for the Orange Cap in the WPL 2026

When it comes to individual brilliance, Chopra identified RCB skipper Smriti Mandhana as the “frontrunner” to clinch the Orange Cap for most runs this season. Mandhana is coming off a legendary 2025 calendar year where she became the first woman to score 1,700+ runs in a single year across formats, recently surpassing 10,000 international runs. While her WPL average of 24.84 has been modest compared to her international standards, her recent form, including centuries in all three formats in 2025—suggests a massive breakout season is imminent.

However, Chopra was quick to name DC opener Shafali Verma as a potent threat to Mandhana’s ambitions. Shafali currently sits as the fourth-highest run-getter in WPL history with 865 runs at a staggering strike rate of 162.59, and after ending 2025 with a T20I average of 52.12, she remains the most explosive weapon in the Delhi arsenal.

“I think it could be RCB captain, Smriti Mandhana, to score the most number of runs this WPL season. Smriti Mandhana might be the frontrunner in the race to win the Orange Cap and she might even win it. Alongside her, I feel, Shafali Verma, who will open for the Delhi Capitals, could be a strong contender as well.”

Also READ: From emerging player to WPL 2026 winner: Deepti Sharma shares bold predictions for the Women’s Premier League

This article was first published at WomenCricket.com, a Cricket Times company.

Mumbai: Alleging bias and malpractice, a 48-year-old social worker and aspiring political candidate, Mohd Anwar Abdulla Sheikh, filed an appeal in the City Civil Court against the Returning Officer (RO) following the rejection of his nomination for the upcoming BMC elections. Sheikh, representing the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) party, sought to overturn the RO’s decision to disqualify his candidacy for Ward No 119, Hariyali Village in Vikhroli. The court directed the Returning Officer and several others to remain present before it on Tuesday at 11 am.“The appellant states that he is not the only one who was treated, tricked and misled like this. There are multiple such candidates who faced the same problem, and the grievance of most of such candidates is almost identical. Not only this, the S-Ward, which is under this RO, faced the most rejections, which was almost 34 candidates. It is to be noted that one odd candidate can make a mistake or can claim false malpractice, but almost a dozen people faced the same, and they cannot state falsely the same fact,” the plea said.In his appeal, Sheikh described a “tumultuous and egregiously unorganised” environment at the nomination centre on December 30, 2025. He claimed that after receiving his party ticket on short notice, he arrived to find a scene of “pandemonium” caused by a lack of crowd management.According to the plea, Sheikh was “involuntarily propelled forward” by the crowd directly to the Returning Officer. At that time, he reportedly disclosed that his form still required signatures and certain details to be filled in. Sheikh alleged the RO assured him he would have time to complete the form and issued him a token, only to later hand him a notice for a scrutiny session the following day rather than allowing him to finalise the document on the spot.He claimed that while his corrected form was rejected during the scrutiny session on December 31, 2025, other candidates were permitted to rectify similar minor defects. Specifically, the appeal cited the case of another candidate who was allegedly allowed to fill out and resubmit an entirely new nomination form after her initial submission was found to have missing signatures and blank sections.Sheikh argued that his rejection for “incomplete signatures” violated the Representation of the People Act, which prohibits the rejection of nominations for defects that are not of a “substantial character”. He contended the error was a remediable technical omission that should have been overlooked or corrected on the spot.

Iran’s attempts to suppress a fresh wave of anti-government protests have been complicated by Donald Trump’s threat to side with demonstrators — a warning underscored by the US capture of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro, officials and insiders said on Monday.A day after US President Trump threatened military action, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council held a late-night emergency meeting on Friday to discuss ways to contain nationwide protests with less violence and to prepare for potential strikes, three Iranian officials familiar with government deliberations told The New York Times. Tehran’s options remained limited by Trump’s threats and a long-running economic crisis that deepened after Israel, joined by the US, launched strikes on the Islamic Republic in June in a 12-day war that pummelled several of Iran’s nuclear sites.“These twin pressures have narrowed Tehran’s room for manoeuvre, leaving leaders caught between public anger on the streets and hardening demands and threats from Washington, with few viable options and high risks on every path,” one Iranian official told Reuters.The view was echoed by two other officials and a former Iranian official who remained close to Iran’s decision makers. A second official said that, after US action in Venezuela, some of the authorities feared Iran could be “the next victim of Trump’s aggressive foreign policy”.Iran’s economy has been hammered by years of US sanctions, but its rial has been in freefall since last year’s Israeli-US strikes that mainly targeted nuclear sites, where the West said Tehran worked on nuclear arms. Iran denied this.The protests that erupted in Tehran and spread to some cities in western and southern Iran did not match the scale of unrest that swept the nation in 2022-23 over the death of Mahsa Amini, who died in the custody of Iran’s morality police for allegedly violating the hijab law.But, even if smaller, these protests quickly expanded from an economic focus to broader frustrations, with some protesters chanting “Down with the Islamic Republic” or “Death to the dictator” – a reference to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who has the final say in all state matters.That presented a challenge for the authorities, which tried to maintain and nurture the spirit of national unity that emerged during and after the Israeli-US strikes. A third official said worries were growing in Tehran that “Trump or Israel might take military action against Iran, like what they did in June.”Iran, which for years allied itself with fellow oil producer Venezuela, which like Iran suffered under years of US sanctions, condemned Washington’s action in Caracas. It also condemned Trump’s statements about Iran.Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said such statements about “Iran’s internal affairs amount, under international norms, to nothing more than incitement to violence, incitement to terrorism, and incitement to killing”.On Friday, Trump threatened to intervene if protesters faced violence, declaring, “We are locked and loaded and ready to go,” though he offered no details on what actions he might take.The protests threatened what has long been Khamenei’s defining priority: preserving the Islamic Republic at any cost. In a sign of the leadership’s concern, Khamenei on Saturday accused “enemies of the Islamic Republic” of fomenting unrest and warned that “rioters should be put in their place”.Authorities attempted to maintain a dual approach to the unrest, saying protests over the economy were legitimate and would be met by dialogue, while meeting some demonstrations with tear gas amid violent street confrontations.However, at least 17 people were killed in a week, rights groups said on Sunday. Authorities said at least two members of the security services died and more than a dozen were injured in the unrest.The country’s clerical establishment was still coming to terms with the 2025 Israeli and US strikes on Iranian nuclear and military targets. The attacks, which killed top Revolutionary Guard commanders and nuclear scientists, were launched just a day before a planned sixth round of talks with Washington over Tehran’s disputed nuclear programme.Negotiations stalled since the June conflict, even as both sides insisted they remained open to a deal.Washington and its allies accused Iran of using its nuclear programme as cover to develop weapons capability, a charge Tehran denied, saying its ambitions were purely peaceful.Economic grievances remained at the heart of the latest unrest.Widening disparities between ordinary Iranians and a privileged clerical and security elite, compounded by mismanagement, runaway inflation and corruption — factors even acknowledged by state media — fuelled public anger.Witnesses in Tehran, Mashhad and Tabriz reported a heavy security presence in main squares. “You can feel the tense atmosphere in Tehran, but life continues as normal,” said Amir Reza, 47, a carpet shop owner in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar.President Masoud Pezeshkian urged dialogue and promised reforms to stabilise the monetary and banking systems and protect purchasing power.Starting January 10, the govt will provide a monthly stipend of 10,000,000 rials per person (about Rs 580) in non-cashable electronic credit for use in select grocery stores, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.For lower-income households, whose monthly salaries barely exceeded Rs 12,450, the measure represented a modest but meaningful boost. The rial lost roughly half its value against the dollar in 2025, while official inflation reached 42.5% in December.

Mumbai: With Shiv Sena (UBT) rebels in four out of six wards in Worli, the area considered a bastion of the party is now a challenge for it and its alliance partner MNS. Since Worli is Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray‘s constituency, winning here is a prestige issue for the Shiv Sena (UBT) and MNS.

As many tickets were given to members of Shiv Sena (UBT) netas’ families in Worli, slighted long-time karyakartas decided to file their nominations as independents. While Aaditya Thackeray is the sitting MLA from Worli, there are two party MLCs, Sachin Ahir and Sunil Shinde, from Worli. Political observers said there were signs that the widespread rebellion could change equations in the wards concerned and it remained to be seen whether the Shiv Sena (UBT) would succeed in retaining Worli like the undivided Shiv Sena did in the 2017 BMC election.With the campaign underway in full swing, accusations are being levelled that the party preferred netas’ families over core party workers. “There was rebellion in wards 193, 194, 196 and 197 in the Worli assembly constituency, and the rebels who entered the election refused to withdraw their nominations. They are mostly party workers and were forced to file their nominations as independents since they were denied tickets,” a political observer said.Shiv Sena (UBT) MLC Sunil Shinde’s brother, Nishikant, is a candidate from Ward No. 194. Here, local party functionary Sonal (Shailaja) Pawar filed her nomination as an independent candidate in rebellion from the ward.Former Shiv Sena (UBT) corporator Ashish Chemburkar’s wife, Padmaja, is a candidate from Ward No. 196 (Worli). Here, Shiv Sena (UBT) functionary Sangeeta Jagtap entered the fray as an independent, challenging Chemburkar.The Shiv Sena (UBT) fielded former deputy mayor Hemangi Worlikar from Ward No. 193 in Worli Koliwada. Angered by this, Suryakant Koli, a local shakha pramukh, rebelled and filed his nomination as an independent.In Ward No. 197, MNS’s Rachna Salvi was fielded by the alliance. Here, Shrawani Desai, wife of former corporator Parashuram Desai, filed her nomination as an independent.“The battle for Worli is a real test for the Sena (UBT)-MNS combine, but more so for the Sena (UBT) since it is its bastion and also Aaditya’s constituency. In the 2024 assembly polls, the MNS was also in the fray against Sena (UBT), but this time it is with Sena (UBT), so there can be a consolidation of votes. However, it will all depend on how many votes the rebels can pull,” a political observer said.In the 2019 assembly polls, making his political debut, Aaditya, who was the first member from the Thackeray family to contest an election, defeated his NCP rival Suresh Mane by a margin of over 70,000 votes. However, in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Arvind Sawant got a lead of only 6,715 votes from the Worli assembly constituency.In the 2024 assembly polls, Aaditya managed to win his Worli assembly constituency by a margin of just 8,801 votes against the Shiv Sena’s Milind Deora.