U.S. Faces Scrutiny Over Venezuela Operation, While Domestic Issues Mount
Washington, D.C. – The United States faced increasing scrutiny over its recent military operation in Venezuela, while simultaneously grappling with domestic issues ranging from nuclear safety regulations to immigration enforcement and public health concerns, according to multiple news sources.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio was scheduled to testify Wednesday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to defend the U.S. military operation that ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and outline the administration's strategy moving forward, NPR reported. In prepared remarks, Rubio planned to push back on claims that the U.S. was at war with Venezuela, stating, "There is no war against Venezuela, and we did not occupy a country."
Meanwhile, the Trump administration had secretly overhauled nuclear safety directives, according to NPR. Details of the changes were not immediately available.
On the domestic front, President Trump reshuffled the leadership of his immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota following widespread anger over two fatal shootings of U.S. citizens by federal agents, NPR reported. Operation commander Gregory Bovino was removed, and Border Czar Tom Homan was appointed to take over. Critics, however, questioned whether changes at the top could address a more fundamental issue: the relative inexperience of immigration agents in urban policing and crowd control. According to NPR, critics say they were unprepared for Minnesota.
In global health news, as the U.S. prepared to formally withdraw from the World Health Organization (WHO), California Governor Gavin Newsom met with WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at the 2026 Davos gathering to discuss collaboration on monitoring emerging public health threats, NPR reported. California's Department of Public Health has been participating in weekly calls organized by the WHO to discuss health emergencies worldwide.
In other news, researchers unveiled plans to investigate the mysterious production of "dark oxygen" on the sea floor, Nature reported. The discovery of the oxygen 4,000 meters below the surface of the Pacific Ocean was first published in 2024 in Nature Geoscience. The research team is embarking on a new series of studies to verify their findings and determine the cause of the phenomenon. The team unveiled a suite of instruments specifically for the study at a press conference in London last week, according to Nature.
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