Venezuela's military and police pledged allegiance to interim President Delcy Rodriguez on Wednesday, weeks after former President Nicolas Maduro was reportedly abducted by the United States military. The pledge occurred during a ceremony at the Military Academy of the Bolivarian Army in Caracas, according to Al Jazeera.
Meanwhile, in the United States, immigration policies continued to draw scrutiny. Congressman Joaquin Castro met with five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father at the Dilley detention center in Texas on Tuesday, The Guardian reported. Castro shared a photograph on social media of Liam resting in his father's arms, stating he told Liam "how much his family, his school, and our country loves him and is praying for him," according to Castro's X account. Liam became a focal point after being detained on his way home from preschool in Minneapolis, while wearing a blue bunny hat and Spider-Man backpack.
The Guardian also reported on the case of Génesis Ester Gutiérrez Castellanos, a five-year-old U.S. citizen who was deported to Honduras on January 11 alongside her mother, Karen Guadalupe Gutiérrez Castellanos. Génesis had never been to Honduras. According to Génesis's mother, whose visa application was pending, she plans to send her daughter back to the U.S. soon, accompanied by another relative. She stated, "The day I separate from my daughter will be the most painful of my life."
In other news, Guan Heng, a Chinese man who filmed evidence of human rights abuses in Xinjiang, was granted asylum in the U.S., The Guardian reported. Heng's lawyer stated that his exposed evidence of persecution of Uyghurs makes him a "textbook example of why asylum should exist." Heng filmed secret detention facilities holding Uyghurs in the Chinese region.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing on Thursday to bolster economic ties between the UK and China, according to The Guardian. Starmer is the first UK leader to visit China in eight years and hopes to strengthen the bond with the superpower amid uncertainty over the U.S. alliance. Starmer insisted he is "clear-eyed about the threat China poses to the UK's national security."
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