Venezuela's Maduro sworn in as US raises reward for his capture

 Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, whose nearly 12 years in office have been marked by deep economic and social crisis, was sworn in for a third term on Friday, despite a six-month-long election dispute, international calls for him to stand aside, and an increase in the U.S. reward offered for his capture.

Maduro, president since 2013, was declared the winner of July's election by both Venezuela's electoral authority and top court, though detailed tallies confirming his victory have never been published.

Venezuela's opposition says ballot box-level tallies show a landslide win for its former candidate Edmundo Gonzalez, who is recognized as president-elect by several countries, including the United States. International election observers said the vote was not democratic.

The months since the election have seen Gonzalez's flight to Spain in September, his ally Maria Corina Machado going into hiding in Venezuela, and the detentions of high-profile opposition figures and protesters.

Gonzalez has been on a whistle-stop tour of the Americas this week and had promised to return to Venezuela.

But Machado, appearing in a video posted on social media on Friday, said the moment was not right for his return.

"Edmundo will come to Venezuela to be sworn in as constitutional president of Venezuela at the right time," Machado said. "Today, it isn't viable for Edmundo to enter Venezuela. I've asked him not to do so because his integrity is fundamental for the final defeat of the regime and the transition to democracy, which is very close."

"Maduro consolidated the coup and the violation of our constitution," Machado added, calling for street protests. "It's time to do whatever is necessary to restore it."

The government, which has accused the opposition of fomenting fascist plots against it, has said Gonzalez will be arrested if he returns and offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to his capture.

"Soon, very soon, whatever they do, we will manage to enter Venezuela and put an end to this tragedy," Gonzalez said in his own remarks from the Dominican Republic, asking the military to ignore "illegal orders" from Maduro and cease any repression.

In the latest in a series of punitive steps, the outgoing Biden administration increased its reward for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Maduro on drug trafficking charges to $25 million, from a previous $15 million.

It also issued a $25 million reward for Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello and a $15 million reward for Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino, as well as new sanctions against eight other officials including the head of state oil company PDVSA Hector Obregon.

The U.S. indicted Maduro and others on narcotics and corruption charges, among others, in 2020. Maduro has rejected the accusations.

The U.S. move coincided with sanctions by Britain and the European Union, each targeting 15 officials including members of the National Electoral Council and the security forces, and Canadian sanctions targeting 14 current and former officials.

The Maduro government has always rejected all sanctions, saying they are illegitimate measures that amount to an "economic war" designed to cripple Venezuela.

"The outgoing government of the United States doesn't know how to take revenge on us," Maduro said during his inauguration speech, without directly mentioning sanctions.

The Venezuelan communications ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the sanctions, while U.S. officials declined to comment on possible further sanctions, including on the oil industry.

Maduro and his allies have cheered what they say is the country's resilience despite the measures, though they have historically blamed some economic hardships and shortages on sanctions.

Maduro's inauguration was illegitimate, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement, and the U.S. will not recognize him as president.

"The Venezuelan people and world know the truth – Maduro clearly lost the 2024 presidential election and has no right to claim the presidency," Blinken said.

Later on Friday, Padrino led members of the armed forces in a separate ceremony, where they swore complete loyalty to Maduro.

DETENTION DETAILS

Both Gonzalez and Machado are being investigated by the attorney general's office for alleged conspiracy, but only Gonzalez has a public warrant out for his arrest.

Machado's first public appearance since August at an anti-government march in Caracas on Thursday was marred by a brief detention.

Machado said in her Friday video that she was stopped by the police after leaving the march on Thursday, pulled off the motorcycle where she was a passenger and put on another. She said she was later told to film several videos and that she would then be released.

One of the motorcyclists who had been accompanying her was shot and arrested, she said.

One video shared on social media and by government officials showed her sitting on a curb and recounting losing her wallet.

The government scoffed at the incident and denied any involvement, saying it was an opposition attempt to stoke sympathy for Machado.

Some 42 people have been detained for political reasons since Tuesday, judicial NGO Foro Penal said.

Maduro was sworn in at the national assembly in Caracas and said he was taking his oath in the name of sixteenth-century Indigenous leader Guaicaipuro and late President Hugo Chavez, his mentor, among others.

"May this new presidential term be a period of peace, of prosperity, of equality and the new democracy," Maduro said, adding he would convene a commission dedicated to constitutional reform.

"This act is possible because Venezuela is peaceful, in full exercise of its national sovereignty, of its popular sovereignty, of its national independence," Maduro said.

Some 2,000 invitees from 125 countries attended the inauguration, according to the government.

Cuba's President Miguel Diaz-Canel and Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega, staunch allies of Maduro, attended, as did Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of Russia's lower house of parliament. Bolivian President Luis Arce congratulated Maduro on social media.

ECONOMIC TROUBLES

Venezuela closed its borders and airspace to Colombia for 72 hours starting at 0500 local time (1000 GMT), the foreign ministry in Bogota said in a statement, adding the border on the Colombian side would remain open.

The opposition, non-governmental organizations and international bodies such as the United Nations have for years decried increasing repression of opposition political parties, activists and independent media in Venezuela.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has said the country is being run by a dictator.

The Venezuelan government has repeatedly accused the opposition of plotting with foreign governments and agencies including the Central Intelligence Agency to commit acts of sabotage and terrorism.

The government said this week it had detained seven "mercenaries," including a high-ranking FBI official and a U.S. military official.

In recent years, Venezuela's economy has experienced a prolonged crisis marked by triple-digit inflation and the exodus of more than 7 million migrants seeking better opportunities abroad.

Many of Machado's supporters, among them retired Venezuelans who would like to see their children and grandchildren return to the country, say jobs, inflation and unreliable public services are among their top concerns.

The government, meanwhile, has employed orthodox methods to try to tamp down inflation, with some success. Maduro said this month that the economy grew 9% last year.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/venezuelas-maduro-sworn-third-term-110642170.html

'Western powers warn Syria over foreign jihadists in army, sources say'

 U.S., French and German envoys have warned Syria's new Islamist rulers that their appointment of foreign jihadists to senior military posts is a security concern and bad for their image as they try to forge ties with foreign states, two sources familiar with the matter said.

The warning from the U.S., part of Western efforts to get Syria's new leaders to reconsider the move, was delivered in a meeting between U.S. envoy Daniel Rubinstein and Syria's de facto ruler Ahmed al-Sharaa on Wednesday at the presidential palace overlooking Damascus, a U.S. official said.

"These appointments will not help them with their reputation in the U.S.," the official said.

The foreign ministers of France and Germany, Jean-Noel Barrot and Annalena Baerbock, also broached the issue of foreign fighters drafted into the army during their meeting with Sharaa on Jan. 3, an official aware of the talks said.

Reuters reported the appointments on Dec. 30. The envoys' comments on the appointments have not previously been reported.

Sharaa's armed group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, led an offensive that ousted former president Bashar al-Assad on Dec. 8 and has since installed a government and disbanded the Assad-era army. It is now making efforts to reconstitute the armed forces.

Late last year, it made nearly 50 appointments including at least six foreign fighters, among them Chinese and central Asian Uyghurs, a Turkish citizen, an Egyptian and a Jordanian, Reuters reported at the time.

Three were given the rank of brigadier-general and at least three others the rank of colonel, a Syrian military source said.

HTS and allied groups have hundreds of foreign fighters in their ranks who came to Syria during the country's 13-year civil war, many of them followers of hardline interpretations of Islam.

Foreign capitals generally view foreign fighters as a key security threat as they suspect that some may seek to carry out attacks in their home countries after gaining experience abroad.

Officials of the new Syrian administration have said foreign fighters made sacrifices to help overthrow Assad and would have a place in Syria, adding they could be granted citizenship.

The Syrian defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment. The German foreign ministry did not comment.

A State Department spokesperson said Washington is in a continuing dialogue with the interim authorities in Damascus.

"Discussions have been constructive and have covered a wide range of domestic and international issues," the spokesperson said, adding there has been "tangible progress on counter-terrorism priorities, including ISIS."

'MIDDLE PATH'

During the war, some foreign fighters in Syria formed their own armed groups, while others joined established formations such as the ultra hardline Islamic State as it rampaged across Iraq and Syria before being beaten back.

Other groups of foreign jihadists joined HTS, which disavowed previous links to al-Qaeda and Islamic State and fought bloody battles against them before going on to spearhead the lightning advance that toppled Assad.

The U.S., European and Arab Gulf States are engaging with the new administration to try to push it towards an inclusive political transition and also to seek cooperation on counter-terrorism and limiting Iranian influence in the region.

But they remain wary of how the rebels-turned rulers will manage the country and have questions over how they will bring together disparate groups with varying views on the direction the new Syria should take.

The U.S. official and a Western source said that Damascus explained the appointments of foreign fighters by saying they could not simply be sent back home or abroad where they may face persecution, and it was better to keep them in Syria.

The U.S. official said authorities also explained that these people had helped rid Syria of Assad and some had been in the country for more than 10 years and so were part of society.

Diplomats said the U.S., European and Arab countries, particularly Egypt and Jordan, opposed the appointments because they suspected the moves could send encouraging signals to transnational jihadists.

Those appointed to the post of brigadier-general include Jordanian citizen Abdul Rahman Hussein al-Khatib and Chinese Uyghur militant Abdulaziz Dawood Khudaberdi, also known as Zahid.

Zahid commands the Turkistan Islamic Party's forces in Syria, which seeks to establish an independent state in parts of China and which Beijing designates as a terrorist group.

Also appointed was Egyptian militant Alaa Mohamed Abdelbaqy, who fled Egypt in 2013 and was sentenced to life in prison in absentia in 2016 on terrorism charges.

He headed the al Qaeda-linked al Nusra Front in Egypt and was the main link between it and other al Qaeda-linked groups, according to Egyptian security sources.

Syria-focused diplomats and analysts say the country's new rulers face a challenge balancing the interests and demands of many factions, including foreigners, with the demands of Western and Arab powers whose support they need to rebuild the country.

Aaron Zelin, Senior Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said the rationale from Damascus for appointing foreign fighters to the military was that they are trusted and loyal, but also that Syria's new rulers want to prevent them causing trouble in the country or abroad.

"Maybe this is a middle path that works for everybody that hopefully leads to nothing happening outside of the country, but also they become sort of part of just Syrian society now," Zelin said.

"But I imagine there will still be risks locally as well as concerns globally."

https://www.aol.com/news/exclusive-western-powers-warn-syria-172037534.html

House passes ICC sanctions bill; GOP Senate leader promises to bring it to floor

 The House on Thursday passed legislation to sanction officials with the International Criminal Court (ICC), pushing back against the court’s decision to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister for their actions during Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. 

The legislation reached the majority threshold by midafternoon on Thursday, with dozens of Democrats joining Republicans, but the vote was left open as lawmakers returned to Capitol Hill from former President Carter’s funeral. 

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Brian Mast (R-Fla.) made the ICC bill, which was introduced Friday, a priority as soon as the 119th Congress kicked off. 

A GOP congressional aide told The Hill earlier this week that Mast, who co-sponsored the bill along with Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), wanted to send a message early that the U.S. would stand by Israel.

“A kangaroo court is seeking to arrest the prime minister of our great ally, Israel, which is not only responding to an enemy which conducted a genocide,” Mast said on the House floor on Thursday ahead of the vote, “but an enemy who still holds 100 hostages.”

The bill had support from not just Republicans but also centrist Democrats who view the ICC as having no legal jurisdiction to pursue warrants against top Israeli officials. They say the court is drawing unfair comparisons between Israel and Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization.

“The ICC has set a precedent for criminalizing self-defense: any country daring to defend itself against an enemy that exploits civilians as human shields will face persecution posing as prosecution,” Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) posted on the social platform X ahead of the vote.  

“Not only did Hamas wage war on Israel, causing the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust, it carefully constructed a battlefield designed to maximize the loss of civilian life. None of that context seems to matter to the kangaroo court of the ICC, which cannot let facts get in the way of its ideological crusade against the Jewish State.”

The bill, called the Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act, calls for sanctions on any officials with the court, or entities supporting the court, over attempts “to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute” a U.S. citizen or citizen of an allied country that is not a signatory to the Rome Statute, the treaty establishing the court and the countries over which it holds jurisdiction. 

The bill, which would take effect 60 days after enactment, applies to the 32-member Western security alliance NATO and 19 major non-NATO countries, including allies such as Israel. 

In November, the ICC published arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, along with Mohammed Deif, the Hamas commander responsible for the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel in which the group killed some 1,200 people and took around 250 hostages. Israel claimed to have killed Deif, but Hamas has never confirmed his death.

ICC prosecutors announced they were seeking arrest warrants last spring, accusing both Hamas and Israel of war crimes. More than 46,000 Palestinians have died in Gaza since the war began, and Israel has also faced accusations of blocking humanitarian aid efforts. A special committee with the United Nations concluded in November that Israel’s actions in Gaza amounted to genocide, including using starvation as a weapon of war. 

The Biden administration has rejected characterizations of genocide, but it said in a May report that Israel’s use of U.S. arms likely violated international law. 

Both the U.S. and Israel are not party to the ICC and argue they are not subject to the court’s jurisdiction. But in the November release announcing the warrants, ICC judges said the court has jurisdiction because the state of Palestine is a party. The warrants mean Netanyahu and Gallant can’t travel to countries party to the ICC without risk of arrest.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) announced Tuesday his intention to bring the bill to the floor, saying Congress would put “ICC prosecutor Karim Khan back in his place.”

“He does not have jurisdiction over Israel or the United States, and it is outrageous that they’re issuing arrest warrants,” Johnson said. “The ICC is actually equating Israel and Hamas, even as Hamas still holds Israelis and Americans hostage.”

Some Democrats pushed back against the bill. Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) slammed Republicans for prioritizing sanctioning the ICC amid economic challenges and pressing disasters like the wildfires in California.

“All those challenges, and this is what the out-of-touch elitist billionaire Republican Party wants to waste time on,” he said.

McGovern took a firm stand on the floor, debating with Republicans on the measure, which he said would not free the hostages and would hamper the ICC in working across the world where human rights violations are committed.

He said the GOP has not criticized the ICC for warrants against Hamas or against Russian President Vladimir Putin. And he accused Republicans of moving against the court because they “don’t want the rules to apply to everyone.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has committed to bringing the legislation to the floor in the Senate, but it is likely to require 60 votes to overcome the filibuster. 

“In November, I promised that if Leader Schumer wouldn’t bring the ICC sanctions bill to the floor, Republicans would, and we’ll soon fulfill that promise and have a vote to support our ally Israel,” Thune said on the Senate floor on Wednesday, referring to Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.).   

While Schumer and the White House opposed bringing the ICC legislation to the floor during the previous Congress, then-Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Ben Cardin (D-Md.) said he was looking for bipartisan agreement on an ICC sanctions bill. 

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), now the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told Jewish Insider on Tuesday that Democrats are “looking at whether there’s an opportunity to offer an alternative” to the current ICC legislation.

The previously passed ICC legislation gained support from some House Democrats now in the Senate, including Sens. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) and Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), who both voted in favor of the measure in September as members of the House.

“I tend to vote consistently,” Slotkin told Jewish Insider when asked about a Senate vote. 

Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) was a “no” vote when serving in the House, as was Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.). 

Former House lawmaker and now-Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) was not present for the vote in September. 

https://thehill.com/policy/international/5076598-house-legislation-icc-sanctions/

Apple CEO Pay Rises 18%; Company Opposes Anti-Diversity Measure

 

Apple Inc. disclosed a 18% pay increase for Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook ahead of its annual meeting next month, while also saying it opposed a shareholder measure calling for an end to the company’s diversity program.

Cook’s compensation grew to $74.6 million in 2024, compared with $63.2 million the prior year, Apple said in its annual proxy filing on Friday. In addition to executive compensation, investors will vote on four outside proposal at the meeting on Feb. 25. The company opposed all of them.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-01-10/apple-ceo-pay-rises-18-company-opposes-anti-diversity-measure

CMS releases proposed rule for 2026 Medicare Advantage, prescription drug plans

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Nov. 26 proposed changes to the Medicare Advantage and prescription drug programs for contract year 2026. Those changes would permit coverage of anti-obesity medications in the Medicare and Medicaid programs; fortify existing limitations on insurer use of internal coverage criteria and requirements for MA plans to provide coverage for all reasonable and necessary Medicare Part A and B benefits; and apply additional guardrails to insurer use of artificial intelligence to ensure it does not result in inequitable treatment or access to care. CMS also proposes to update MA and Part D plan medical loss ratio reporting requirements to improve oversight, align reporting with commercial and Medicaid reporting, and request additional information on MLR and vertical integration. 
 
Among other provisions, the proposed rule would require MA plans to make provider directory information more widely available through the Medicare Plan Finder tool; limit enrollee cost sharing for behavioral health services to an amount that is no greater than Traditional Medicare; enhance CMS oversight of MA agent and broker marketing and communication materials; increase insurer reporting requirements related to insurer use of prior authorization and potential health equity implications; and add new requirements governing MA plan use of debit cards to administer enrollee supplemental benefits. Finally, the proposed rule would also codify several provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act, such as capping certain out-of-pocket costs in Medicare Part D, and other pharmacy-related provisions, such as new requirements for Part D sponsors on formulary inclusion and placement of generic drugs and biosimilars. 
 
In a statement shared with media, AHA Senior Vice President Ashley Thompson said, “The AHA commends CMS for taking important steps to increase oversight of 2026 Medicare Advantage plans to help ensure enrollees have equal access to medically necessary health care services. The AHA has previously raised concerns about the negative effects of certain Medicare Advantage practices and policies that have the potential to directly harm patients through unnecessary care delays or outright denial of covered services.

“We appreciate that CMS’ proposed rule builds upon prior rulemaking to strengthen limitations on commercial insurer use of internal or proprietary coverage criteria that are more restrictive than Traditional Medicare and can compromise enrollee access to Medicare-covered services. We also are pleased that it would increase oversight of prior authorization and utilization management tools, apply important guardrails on insurer use of artificial intelligence, and update medical loss ratio reporting requirements to ensure appropriate oversight of vertically integrated insurers. As enrollment in Medicare Advantage has for the first time reached more than half of all people enrolled in Medicare, it is more important than ever to establish and implement stronger consumer and beneficiary protections and curtail practices that can impede patient access to care.

“The AHA will continue to carefully review the proposed rule and support efforts to improve the Medicare Advantage program for patients and their providers.” 
 
For more on the rule, see the CMS fact sheet. AHA members will receive a Special Bulletin with further details about the proposed rule. Comments on the proposed rule are due Jan. 27, 2025.

https://www.aha.org/news/headline/2024-11-26-cms-releases-proposed-rule-2026-medicare-advantage-prescription-drug-plans

California Imposes 1-Year Insurance Cancellation Freeze In Areas Ravaged By Wildfires

 by Tom Ozimek via The Epoch Times,

Los Angeles and surrounding wildfire-hit regions are shielded by a new one-year moratorium on insurance non-renewals, according to California’s insurance commissioner, Ricardo Lara, who announced the year-long freeze on Jan. 9.

“I am using my moratorium powers to prevent insurance companies from canceling or non-renewing policies in wildfire-impacted areas, so people don’t face the added stress of finding new insurance during this horrific event,” Lara said in a statement.

The one-year moratorium on policy non-renewals and cancellations protects residents in and near the ZIP codes affected by the Palisades and Eaton fires in Los Angeles County, regardless of whether the properties sustained damage, according to Lara.

[ZH: ... and all it took was a bunch of angry rich democrats losing their homes!!!]

The ZIP codes covered by the moratorium are listed in the Commissioner’s Bulletin, a document that formalizes the freeze.

The California Department of Insurance may release a supplemental bulletin if new ZIP codes are identified as being within or near the fire perimeter related to the declared state of emergency for Los Angeles and Ventura counties, according to Lara.

The authority to issue such moratoriums was granted to the insurance commissioner by Senate Bill 824, introduced by Lara during his tenure as a state senator and signed into law in 2018. The law prohibits insurers from canceling or refusing to renew residential property policies in wildfire-affected areas when a state of emergency is declared. It also provides policyholders who lose their homes to fire with protection for up to 24 months.

The freeze is effective starting from Jan. 7, the day that Gov. Gavin Newsom declared an emergency to support the communities impacted by the fires. Newsom’s declaration noted that much of Southern California faced life-threatening winds and extreme fire risk.

Besides the moratorium, Lara announced a two-day workshop on Jan. 18–19 for residents affected by the fires to help them understand their insurance policies and provide them with additional resources.

At least 10 people have been killed in the wildfires to date, Los Angeles County officials have confirmed. Around 180,000 people remain under mandatory evacuation orders as firefighters work to contain the infernos.

Nearly 36,000 acres had been burned and over 10,000 structures had been destroyed by the fires in the Los Angeles area, according to Cal Fire on Friday morning. Forecasters say the high-fire weather risk will continue into Friday.

The potential economic loss and damage from the fires is estimated to be between $135 billion and $150 billion, according to AccuWeather data released on Jan. 9. Previously, the company estimated damages to be between $52 billion and $57 billion. The preliminary damage estimate accounts for both insured and uninsured losses, including property damage, wage impacts, infrastructure destruction, supply chain disruptions, and other related effects.

“These fast-moving, wind-driven infernos have created one of the costliest wildfire disasters in modern U.S. history,” AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter said in a statement. “Hurricane-force winds sent flames ripping through neighborhoods filled with multi-million-dollar homes. The devastation left behind is heartbreaking and the economic toll is staggering.”

The insurance industry is bracing for significant losses. Early projections from Morningstar DBRS estimate the catastrophe could result in $8 billion in insured losses.

“Property insurance affordability is likely to remain a challenge in the state going forward, with many property owners opting to remain uninsured or under-insured because of the high costs,” Patrick Douville, vice president of global insurance and pension ratings at Morningstar DBRS, said in a Jan. 9 note.

Bloomberg Intelligence analysts project that insured losses could reach $10 billion, citing the high value of homes at risk.

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/california-imposes-1-year-insurance-cancellation-freeze-areas-ravaged-wildfires