Anthony Joshua, the former world heavyweight champion, reportedly returned to the UK following the fatal car accident in Nigeria that claimed the lives of two of his close friends.
On Monday, Sina Ghami and Latif “Latz” Ayodele died when Joshua and the car they were traveling in collided with a stationary truck on a road near Lagos.
The two-time heavyweight champion was discharged from hospital on Wednesday after being declared clinically fit to spend the night recuperating at home. Joshua suffered minor injuries.
On Saturday, Joshua was reportedly reported to have left before Ghami and Ayodele’s funerals.
Ayodele trained in addition to Ghami, who was Joshua’s strength and conditioning coach. Joshua and Ayodele shared video of their table tennis game on social media just hours before the collision.
Adeniyi Mobolaji Kayode, 46, was charged with dangerous driving causing death by Nigerian police after he made his return. On January 20, he will make his court appearance.
When the Lexus SUV Joshua and his friends were traveling struck the truck, killing it on a busy highway between Lagos and Ibadan in southwest Nigeria.
After Donald Trump announced that the US would “run” Venezuela following the abduction of President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, protesters gathered all over the world. What they call US imperialism and aggression are being denounced by demonstrators in Paris and Sao Paulo.
In a move that stunned the world, the United States bombed Venezuela and toppled President Nicolas Maduro amid condemnation and plaudits.
In a news conference on Saturday at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, President Donald Trump praised the operation to seize Maduro as one of the “most stunning, effective and powerful displays of American military might and competence in American history”.
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It was the riskiest and most high-profile military operation sanctioned by Washington since the US Navy’s SEAL team killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in a safe house in Pakistan’s Abbottabad in 2011.
News of the 63-year-old Maduro being abducted took over the global news cycle.
After months of escalation and threats over Maduro’s alleged involvement in shipping drugs to the US, the Trump administration had increased pressure on Caracas with a military build-up in the Caribbean and a series of deadly missile attacks on alleged drug-running boats that had killed more than 100 people and whose legality has been heavily questioned by the United Nations and legal experts.
The US had also previously offered a $50m reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest.
But while the military was conducting operations in the Caribbean, US intelligence had been gathering information about Maduro, his eating habits, and special forces covertly rehearsed a plan to remove him from power forcibly.
Here’s everything we know about how Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were “captured”.
How was Maduro abducted?
The operation, named “Absolute Resolve”, was carefully rehearsed for months, according to General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who spoke at Trump’s news conference.
Trump also told Fox News that US forces had practised their extraction of Maduro on a replica building.
“They actually built a house which was identical to the one they went into with all the same, all that steel all over the place,” Trump said.
At 11:46pm local time on Friday (03:46 GMT on Saturday), Trump gave the green light.
On Friday night, Caine said, “the weather broke just enough, clearing a path that only the most skilled aviators in the world could move through”, with about 150 aircraft involved in the operation, taking off from 20 different airbases across the Western Hemisphere.
As part of the operation, US forces disabled Venezuela’s air defence systems, with Trump saying the “lights of Caracas were largely turned off due to a certain expertise that we have”, without elaborating.
Several deafening explosions rang out across the capital, with Pete Hegseth, the defence secretary, describing it as part of a “massive joint military and law enforcement raid” that lasted less than 30 minutes.
US helicopters then touched down at Maduro’s compound in the capital at 2:01am (06:01 GMT) on Saturday, with the president and his wife then taken into custody.
There has been no readout on whether there was an exchange of fire, in a chaotic scramble, or if they were taken without a struggle.
At 4:29am (08:29 GMT), just two and a half hours later, Maduro was put on board a US aircraft carrier, en route to New York. Trump later posted a photograph of the Venezuelan leader on his Truth Social social media platform, blindfolded, wearing a grey tracksuit.
After departing the USS Iwo Jima, US forces escorted Maduro on a flight, touching down in New York’s Stewart Air National Guard Base at about 4:30pm (21:30 GMT).
How many people were killed in the US strikes on Venezuela?
The US strikes hit Caracas as well as the states of Miranda, Aragua and La Guaira, according to the Venezuelan government.
To Linda Unamumo, a public worker, the US attacks caused an explosion that was so strong it destroyed the roof of her house.
“Even up until a little while ago, I was still crying … I was crying because I was so scared … I had to leave my house with my daughter, with my family, and go to another house, a neighbour’s house. It was really traumatic. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, really,” she told the AFP news agency.
While official casualty counts have yet to be released, an official told The New York Times newspaper on condition of anonymity that at least 40 people had been killed in the attacks.
According to Trump, a few US members were injured in the operation, but he believed no one was killed.
What’s next for Venezuela?
During his news conference on Saturday, Trump announced that the US would “run” the country until a new leader was chosen.
“We’re going to make sure that country is run properly. We’re not doing this in vain,” he said. “This is a very dangerous attack. This is an attack that could have gone very, very badly.”
The president did not rule out deploying US troops in the country and said he was “not afraid of boots on the ground if we have to”.
Trump also, somewhat surprisingly, ruled out working with opposition figure and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado, who had dedicated her prize, which he so wanted to win himself, to the US president.
“She doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country,” he said.
The Constitutional Chamber of Venezuela’s Supreme Court ordered Vice President Delcy Rodriguez to serve as acting president following the US’s abduction of Maduro.
The court ruled that Rodriguez will assume “the office of President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, in order to guarantee administrative continuity and the comprehensive defence of the Nation”.
The court also said it would work to “determine the applicable legal framework to guarantee the continuity of the State, the administration of government, and the defense of sovereignty in the face of the forced absence of the President of the Republic”.
Trump had said earlier on Saturday that the US would not occupy Venezuela, provided Rodriguez “does what we want”.
Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez speaks to the press at the Foreign Office in Caracas, Venezuela, on August 11, 2025 [Ariana Cubillos/AP Photo]
The crowd at the Sydney Cricket Ground and the cricket teams of England and Australia honored the emergency service personnel and members of the media who responded to the December mass shooting at Bondi Beach.
Before the fifth Test match of the Ashes series, which started on Sunday, both teams formed an on-field guard of honor, which the spectators loudly applauded.
Ahmed al-Ahmed, who ran towards one of the attackers and wrestled the gun from him before leaving with his right arm in a sling, received the most cheers from the sold-out crowd.
The 43-year-old owner of a fruit shop attacked and disarmed one of the attackers, who was later hailed as a hero. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese cited al-Ahmed’s actions as an example of “Australians coming together”
Al-Ahmed is a Syrian-born Australian Muslim citizen who was born in the Syrian town of al-Nayrab. He is thought to have relocated to Australia in 2006.
Al-Ahmed intervened after arriving at the scene for lunch while he was there.
On day one of the fifth Ashes , Test match between Australia and England at Sydney Cricket Ground on January 4, 2026, Ahmed al-Ahmed and members of the emergency service received a guard of honor.
Authorities identified the shooting as a terrorist attack against Jews that occurred close to the Sydney Cricket Ground’s famous tourist destination of Bondi Beach.
Two men, later identified as the father-son duo Sajid and Naveed Akram, opened fire on Bondi Beach, killing 15 people and injuring at least 42 others, during a gathering at a Jewish Hanukkah celebration.
Todd Greenberg, the head of cricket Australia, described the incident as “a devastating tragedy.”
The extraordinary bravery of the first responders and community members who were at the scene of the Bondi attack served as a reminder of the nation’s spirit of community and sacrifice, he said.
“As a sport, we will continue to offer the best assistance to those affected by this devastating tragedy.”
Ambulance personnel, police officers, surf lifesavers, and Jewish community organizations were just a few of the honorees.
Police wearing uniformed and mounted, as well as public order and riot squad officers manning the venue, are conducting aheightened security operation for the test.
Donald Trump, the president of the United States, celebrated his “success” within hours of a massive regime change operation in Venezuela. He addressed the American audience by posting a photo of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in handcuffs.
He praised the military for “one of the most stunning, effective, and powerful displays of American military might” in history, claiming Venezuelan forces were “powerless” and “powerless.” He claimed without providing any proof that US operations have reduced maritime drug trafficking by 97 percent and that Maduro and his wife will be charged with “narcoterrorism” in New York.
Trump went further, saying that until an unspecified transition could be made, before openly threatening a “second and much larger attack.” He explicitly invoked the 1823 Monroe Doctrine in order to frame these claims in a wider sense of US “domination over the Western Hemisphere.”
Venezuela’s military intervention is much more dangerous than just one violent act. It is the most recent instance of US interference that has left Latin America awash in history. The Trump administration’s continued support for this outdated policy of interventionism is evident from the regime change operation in Caracas. And that indicates a negative future for the area.
The situation is no less tragic because this attack targeted Maduro’s corrupt and oppressive government, which was to blame for many Venezuelans’ agonizing suffering. Any notion of moral authority is undermined by Washington’s long history of supporting brutal dictatorships in the area. Given that Trump is already embroiled in a significant political scandal and has a long history of support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza, he can hardly claim any moral support.
Venezuela is just one more example of the Trump administration’s catastrophic breach of international law. The entire body of international law becomes meaningless if the US unilaterally launches military strikes against sovereign nations at will. Every nation is told by this that power and might overshadow legality and sovereignty.
The implications are chilling, particularly for Latin America. One must take a close look at the attack’s history to understand why it has a so painful impact on the area. Surprisingly frequently, the US has orchestrated or supported coups and military dictatorships in the area.
The CIA overthrew Jacobo Arbenz’s democratically elected government in Guatemala in 1954. The US supported the coup that overthrew Augusto Pinochet’s rule in Chile in 1973, launching a period of unchecked political unrest. To overthrow Grenada’s socialist government, the US invaded and occupied the island nation in 1983. Washington provided training, funding, and political cover for military dictatorships that tortured dissidents and murdered civilians in Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and throughout Central America.
Who will be the next if the US successfully implemented a regime change in Venezuela? Gustavo Petro, the president of Colombia and the Trump administration, was quick to respond and is right to be concerned, as Trump threatened an intervention in December by saying “he’ll be next.” The area’s residents are also concerned.
Latin America now faces the potential regional instability that a regime change in Caracas is likely to cause, in addition to the looming threat of US intervention. Venezuelans fled poverty and repression, but the political crisis under Maduro already extended beyond its borders to neighboring Colombia and Brazil. The impact of the regime change brought about by the US is unfathomable.
Venezuelans are likely to be celebrating Maduro’s ouster. The political opposition in Venezuela is directly undermined by US intervention, though. It would diminish the legitimacy of the regime, which appears to be in control, by portraying the opposition as foreign agents.
Venezuela’s citizens deserve democracy, but they must do it themselves with international support in order for it to be enforced at gunpoint by a foreign power with a documented history of pragmatism and geopolitical dominance.
Latin Americans should not have to choose between domestic violence and imported authoritarianism. They don’t need American bombs, but they do need genuine self-determination respect.
Despite Maduro’s authoritarian tendencies, the US lacks moral authority to attack Venezuela. Both Maduro and his followers are correct in saying that US military intervention is an unlawful act of aggression that won’t solve Venezuela’s democracy crisis.
People themselves, who are free from the oppressive influence, must decide the region’s future.
Trump’s attack on Venezuela has been condemned by US senator Bernie Sanders, who claims he has evaded the law and is now calling for war on the nation. He claims that it incites imperialism and risks bringing about global instability.
