Leo said at a Vatican ceremony that the record 33.5 million pilgrims who visited Rome during the Holy Year should have learned not to treat humans as mere “products”
International News via Reuters:
Pope Leo closed the Catholic Church’s Holy Year on Tuesday by sealing shut the special “Holy Door” in St. Peter’s Basilica and urging Christians worldwide to help those in need and treat foreigners with kindness.
Leo, who has made care for immigrants a central theme of his early papacy, said at a Vatican ceremony that the record 33.5 million pilgrims who visited Rome during the Holy Year should have learned not to treat humans as mere “products”.
“Around us, a distorted economy tries to profit from everything,” said the pope. “After this year, will we be better able to recognise a pilgrim in the visitor, a seeker in the stranger, a neighbour in the foreigner?”
Holy years, or jubilees, typically occur every 25 years and are considered a time of peace, forgiveness and pardon. Pilgrims to Rome can enter special “Holy Doors” at four Rome basilicas, and can attend papal audiences throughout the year.
At 9:41 a.m. (0841 GMT) on Tuesday, Leo, dressed in gold-trimmed robes, pulled shut the special bronze door at St. Peter’s, officially ending the year.
The next jubilee is not expected before 2033, when the Church may have a special one to mark 2,000 years since the death of Jesus.
Vatican and Italian officials said on Monday that pilgrims to Rome for the 2025 jubilee came from 185 countries, with Italy, the United States, Spain, Brazil and Poland leading the pack.
The 2025 jubilee was marked by an historical rarity not seen for 300 years. It was opened by one pope, Francis, and closed by his successor, Leo.
Francis died in April after 12 years leading the 1.4-billion-member Church. The last jubilee held under two popes was in the year 1700, when Clement XI closed a holy year opened by Innocent XII.
Leo, who has pledged to keep Francis’ signature policies such as welcoming gay Catholics and discussing women’s ordination, echoed the late pope’s frequent criticisms of the global economic system on Tuesday.
Leo, the first U.S. pope, lamented that the markets “turn human yearnings of seeking, travelling and beginning again into a mere business.”
Wirecard collapsed in 2020 in Germany’s biggest post-war fraud scandal after conceding that 1.9 billion euros ($2.23 billion) it had booked in its accounts had never existed
International News via Reuters:
A Singapore court sentenced two businessmen to lengthy jail terms on Tuesday for falsifying documents that tricked auditors into believing payments firm Wirecard had hundreds of millions of euros in bank accounts, local media reported.
Wirecard collapsed in 2020 in Germany’s biggest post-war fraud scandal after conceding that 1.9 billion euros ($2.23 billion) it had booked in its accounts had never existed.
Singaporean R Shanmugaratnam, 59, and Briton James Henry O’Sullivan, 51, were given jail terms of 10 years and six-and-a-half years’ respectively, local news outlet CNA reported.
The court did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation of the decision.
Shanmugaratnam and O’Sullivan had taken instructions from senior Wirecard executives then issued false confirmation letters, intentionally misrepresenting to auditors that the fintech startup had hundreds of millions in euros held in escrow bank accounts of Singapore accounting form Citadelle, reported CNA.
In September, Citadelle’s director Shanmugaratnam was convicted of 13 charges for falsifying 13 balance confirmation letters between 2016 and 2018, while O’Sullivan, who had used Citadelle’s services to set up Singapore companies, was found guilty of five charges of abetting Shanmugaratnam, according to CNA.
Both men would appeal the sentences and convictions, it said.
Europe’s STOXX 600 closed at an all-time high on Monday, and on Wall Street the Dow Jones Industrial Average also hit a new record helped by gains in U.S. oil companies and financials
International News via Reuters:
Stock markets continued to rally in early European trading on Tuesday, as global markets remained upbeat ahead of key market data this week, while the U.S. raid and capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro did not dampen traders’ risk appetite.
Europe’s STOXX 600 closed at an all-time high on Monday, and on Wall Street the Dow Jones Industrial Average also hit a new record helped by gains in U.S. oil companies and financials. The risk-on mood continued during Asian trading on Tuesday, and European stocks opened higher.
Toppled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro pleaded not guilty on Monday to narcotics charges, after the United States seized him and took him to New York at the weekend. Markets remained positive, with the STOXX 600 up roughly 0.1% on the day at 1000 GMT, having touched a new all-time high earlier in the session. The MSCI World Equity Index was up 0.2%, while London’s FTSE 100 was up 0.4%.
“It doesn’t look like it’s rattling the market in any serious way at all… The market’s not pricing in an escalation of risk, not pricing in a ripple effect of Trump potentially delving into other South American countries,” said Fiona Cincotta, senior markets analyst at City Index.
“The general sense of the market is upbeat at the moment.”
The raid on Venezuela provided a boost to big U.S. oil companies’ stock on Monday, as investors bet Washington would give U.S. firms access to Venezuela’s oil reserves. U.S. President Donald Trump plans to meet with executives from U.S. oil companies later this week to discuss boosting Venezuelan oil production, Reuters reported, citing a person familiar with the matter.
Oil prices edged slightly higher on Tuesday, but analysts said it was too early to assess the impact on Venezuela’s oil output. Brent crude futures were up 0.3% at $61.94 a barrel.
“Venezuela’s energy infrastructure remains in severe disrepair, so any meaningful production rebound will be a multi-year prospect at best,” UBS analysts wrote in a research note.
U.S. ECONOMIC DATA TO SET MARKET TONE
The U.S. dollar was steady, with the dollar index at 98.395. It had surged to a four-week high in the previous session but gave up all of its gains after a measure of U.S. manufacturing activity slumped to a 14-month low. The euro was little changed at $1.1715.
The upbeat mood in markets was driven by expectations for U.S. interest rate cuts. Traders were focused on a U.S. monthly employment report, due on Friday, which will influence the market’s monetary policy expectations. Financial markets are pricing in two Federal Reserve rate cuts this year, according to LSEG data.
In an interview on CNBC on Monday, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari warned of the risk that the jobless rate could “pop” higher, but said inflation is slowly trending down.
“While Kashkari’s neutral stance may slow rate cut expectations, we believe continued labor market weakness and softer macroeconomic data will keep the FOMC on track for another rate cut this quarter and maintain downward pressure on the US dollar,” UBS analysts wrote.
The euro zone economy expanded at a slower pace last month but ended 2025 with its strongest quarterly growth in more than two years, PMI data showed. Consumer prices data showed prices rose slightly less than expected in France, while climbing 1.8% in Germany’s most populous state. Euro zone government bond yields dropped after the data, with the benchmark ten-year German yield at 2.8561% .
Gold prices hovered near a one-week high, with spot gold around $4,451. Copper hit an all-time high.
Reporting by Elizabeth Howcroft; Editing by Hugh Lawson
Opening arguments were to begin Tuesday in the trial of Adrian Gonzales, 52, who was a member of the school district police force
International News via Reuters:
One of the first police officers on the scene of the 2022 attack at a Texas elementary school that killed 19 students and two teachers is now the first to stand trial, accused of failing to act as the gunman continued one of the deadliest mass killings targeting students in U.S. history.
Opening arguments were to begin Tuesday in the trial of Adrian Gonzales, 52, who was a member of the school district police force. Hundreds of officers from local, state and federal agencies waited 77 minutes before entering a classroom where the gunman was holed up. Teachers and children made lengthy calls to 911 emergency services, saying they were in the room with the gunman and surrounded by bodies.
Gonzales was charged in 2024 with 29 counts of child endangerment, according to his indictment, which said that he “failed to engage, distract, and delay the shooter” and that he also failed “to follow his active shooter training to respond to gun fire by advancing toward the gun fire.”
Each count carries the possibility of two years in prison. Gonzales has pleaded not guilty. Gonzales’ attorney, Nico LaHood, has said that his client showed up to help children, and that he did in fact help many evacuate.
Pedro “Pete” Arredondo, the former chief of the Uvalde schools police and the person who investigators say was the officer in charge of the scene, faces 10 counts of the same charge. His trial has not yet been scheduled.
State and federal investigations into the shooting found that officers left the 18-year-old gunman alone inside the classroom with children while weighing how to confront him.
By the time a tactical team led by Border Patrol officers stormed in, the toll had reached among the worst in the history of a country known for high-profile school shootings.
Debates between proponents of gun control measures and defenders of the constitutional right to bear arms have resulted in few restrictions on firearms in the United States compared to other industrialized nations.
Former U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, in remarks made while presenting the federal report on Uvalde in 2024, said that “lives would have been saved” had the police immediately confronted the gunman.
Reporting by Brad Brooks in Colorado; Editing by Nia Williams
The move in euro/sterling was particularly notable as British and euro zone interest rates have largely moved in unison – relative changes in interest rates are often major factors in currency moves
International News via Reuters:
Sterling hit its highest in nearly four months against both the dollar and euro on Tuesday, buoyed by improved global investor sentiment, easing worries about Britain’s fiscal position and hints of Britain pursuing a closer relationship with Europe.
The pound hit its highest since mid-September on the dollar, and was last flat on the day at $1.3536, while the euro dropped as low as 86.44 pence again, its lowest in nearly four months, extending the previous day’s 0.57% fall.
The move in euro/sterling was particularly notable as British and euro zone interest rates have largely moved in unison – relative changes in interest rates are often major factors in currency moves.
Instead, analysts pointed to a melange of factors behind sterling’s strength.
Lee Hardman, senior currency analyst at MUFG, noted the pound typically outperforms when investor sentiment is positive – world stocks are at record highs – and that as the pound had now recovered all its losses in the run-up to last year’s budget, it seemed to be benefiting “from the reduction in UK fiscal and political risks in the near-term.”
British finance minister Rachel Reeves, in November, raised taxes to a post-war high, giving her greater room to meet her deficit-reduction targets.
On top of that, currency volatility is fairly low, making carry trades attractive – these see investors borrow in low-yielding currencies to buy higher-yielding ones, and British rates remain higher than many peers.
As well, Hardman said, “the stronger pound could have been encouraged by recent comments from government officials indicating a desire to return to a closer trading relationship with the EU.”
Britain should seek closer alignment with the European single market on an “issue-by-issue” basis when it is in the national interest, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Sunday.
Also in the mix, but having little effect on the pound, was data showing Britain’s dominant services sector ended 2025 on a weaker footing than previously thought.
The airlines are free to choose which flights they cancel so long as they reduce takeoffs and landings, a spokesperson told Reuters
International News via Reuters:
France’s civil aviation authority on Monday asked airlines to cancel 15% of flights until later in the evening at Orly and Charles de Gaulle airports following heavy snowfalls in the French capital Paris.
The airlines are free to choose which flights they cancel so long as they reduce takeoffs and landings, a spokesperson told Reuters.
Airlines were asked to reduce flights until 2000 CET (1900 GMT) at Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport, and until 2330 CET (2230 GMT) at Paris-Orly.
The French transport ministry urged travellers to check if their flight was taking off before leaving home, and to go to the airport by public transportation rather than by car.
Meanwhile, Amsterdam Schiphol airport, one of Europe’s busiest hubs, cancelled almost 500 flights on Monday morning and was closed to incoming traffic until 1200 GMT also because of snowfalls, news agency ANP reported.
Reporting by Inti Landauro and Louise Rasmussen, Editing by Charlotte Van Campenhout
The 15-member Security Council met at U.N. headquarters in New York just hours before Maduro was due to appear in a Manhattan federal court on drug charges including narco-terrorism conspiracy
International News via Reuters:
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres raised concerns on Monday about a possible intensification of instability in Venezuela after the U.S. capture of the Latin American country’s president Nicolas Maduro.
The 15-member Security Council met at U.N. headquarters in New York just hours before Maduro was due to appear in a Manhattan federal court on drug charges including narco-terrorism conspiracy. Maduro has denied any criminal involvement.
“I am deeply concerned about the possible intensification of instability in the country, the potential impact on the region, and the precedent it may set for how relations between and among states are conducted,” Guterres said in a statement delivered to the council by U.N. political affairs chief Rosemary DiCarlo.
Guterres called on all Venezuelan actors to engage in an inclusive and democratic dialogue, adding: “I welcome and am ready to support all efforts aimed at assisting Venezuelans in finding a peaceful way forward.”
He also expressed concern that the U.S. operation to capture Maduro in Caracas on Saturday did not respect the rules of international law.
‘ACT OF AGGRESSION’
Colombia, which requested Monday’s meeting, condemned the U.S. operation as a clear violation of the sovereignty, political independence and territorial integrity of Venezuela.
“There is no justification whatsoever, under any circumstances, for the unilateral use of force to commit an act of aggression,” Colombian U.N. Ambassador Leonor Zalabata Torres told the council. “Such actions constitute a serious violation of international law and the United Nations Charter.”
Legal experts have said the U.S. operation was illegal because it lacked U.N. Security Council authorization, did not have Venezuelan consent and did not constitute self-defense against an armed attack.
But the United States cannot be held accountable for any violation by the U.N. Security Council, which is charged with maintaining international peace and security. The United States wields a veto – along with Russia, China, Britain and France – so it can block any action.
The founding U.N. Charter states that members “shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.” There are currently 193 members of the United Nations.
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz on Sunday cited Article 51 of the U.N. Charter, which says that nothing “shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defense if an armed attack occurs against a member of the United Nations.”
Trump has threatened another strike if Venezuela does not cooperate with opening its oil industry and stopping the flow of drugs. Trump also threatened Colombia and Mexico, and said Cuba’s communist government “looks like it’s ready to fall.”
Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Katharine Jackson and Will Dunham
Grok said on Friday lapses in safeguards had resulted in “images depicting minors in minimal clothing” on X, saying it was urgently fixing them
International News via Reuters:
Britain has demanded Elon Musk’s social media site X explain how its AI chatbot Grok was able to produce undressed images of people and sexualised images of children, and whether it was failing in its legal duty to protect users.
Grok said on Friday lapses in safeguards had resulted in “images depicting minors in minimal clothing” on X, saying it was urgently fixing them.
British media regulator Ofcom said it was aware of “serious concerns” raised about the feature.
“We have made urgent contact with X and xAI to understand what steps they have taken to comply with their legal duties to protect users in the UK,” a spokesperson said.
Grok said on Friday: “xAI has safeguards, but improvements are ongoing to block such requests entirely.”
Creating or sharing non-consensual intimate images or child sexual abuse material, including sexual deepfakes created by artificial intelligence, is illegal in Britain.
In addition, tech platforms have a duty to take steps to stop British users encountering illegal content and take it down when they become aware of it.
The request comes after ministers in France reported X to prosecutors and regulators over the disturbing images, saying in a statement on Friday the “sexual and sexist” content was “manifestly illegal”.
Reporting by Paul Sandle;Editing by Alison Williams
Caribbean Transport Organisation will gather tourism ministers from the region in a meeting Tuesday morning to discuss potential industry impacts by US-Venezueula intervention
Seismic events in Venezuela are creating a ripple effect across the region, and travellers have been feeling the impact.
The Trump administration’s capture of President Maduro has triggered various aftershocks, and air travel has been disrupted.
Bermuda will be represented at an urgent meeting with the Caribbean Tourism Organization tomorrow.
A spokesperson for the Bermuda Airport Authority said it will continue to monitor the situation with its strategic partners, including other airlines, the FAA, and Skyport.
U.N. Chief Antonio Guterres raised concerns about instability in Venezuela and the legality of Trump’s strike, the most dramatic U.S. intervention in Latin America since the 1989 Panama invasion
International News via Reuters:
Toppled Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro arrived at a New York court on Monday to face U.S. drug trafficking charges after President Donald Trump’s stunning capture of him rattled world leaders and left officials in Caracas scrambling to respond.
U.N. Chief Antonio Guterres raised concerns about instability in Venezuela and the legality of Trump’s strike, the most dramatic U.S. intervention in Latin America since the 1989 Panama invasion. U.S. Special Forces swooped into Caracas by helicopter on Saturday, shattered his security cordon and dragged him from the threshold of a safe room.
On Monday morning, Maduro – his hands zip-tied – and his wife Cilia Flores were escorted by armed guards in tactical gear from a Brooklyn detention center to a helicopter bound for Manhattan federal court where they faced a noon (1700 GMT) hearing.
Maduro is accused of overseeing a cocaine-trafficking network that partnered with violent groups including Mexico’s Sinaloa and Zetas cartels, Colombian FARC rebels and Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang.
Maduro, 63, has long denied the allegations, saying they were a mask for imperialist designs on Venezuela’s oil.
While world leaders and U.S. politicians grappled with the extraordinary seizure of a head of state, an emergency order in Venezuela, published in full on Monday, orders police to search and capture anyone who supported the U.S. attack.Amid global consternation at Trump’s seizure of a foreign head of state – albeit an unpopular one – the U.N. Security Council was due to debate its legality and implications. Russia, China and leftist allies of Venezuela have condemned the raid.
MADURO, WIFE TO FACE U.S. DRUG CHARGES
Maduro was expected to hear the charges against him and enter a plea during the arraignment hearing before U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein. He faces decades to life in prison on each count if convicted.
Prosecutors say Maduro has been involved in drug trafficking from the time he began serving in Venezuela’s National Assembly in 2000 to his tenure as foreign minister and subsequent 2013 election as the late president Hugo Chavez’s successor.
Federal prosecutors in New York first indicted him in 2020 as part of a long-running narcotics trafficking case against current and former Venezuelan officials and Colombian guerrillas. An updated indictment made public on Saturday added some new details and co-defendants, including Cilia Flores.
The U.S. has considered Maduro an illegitimate dictator since he declared victory in a 2018 election marred by allegations of massive irregularities.
Experts in international law have questioned the legality of the raid, with some condemning Trump’s actions as a repudiation of a rules-based international order.
TRUMP ASSERTS OIL ASPIRATIONS
In Caracas, senior officials from Maduro’s 13-year-old government remain in charge of the South American oil producer of 30 million people, first spitting defiance then pivoting to possible cooperation with the Trump administration.
U.S. oil companies’ shares jumped on Monday, fueled by the prospect of access to Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.
Trump has made no secret of wanting to share in Venezuela’s oil riches.
American oil companies will return to Venezuela and rebuild the sector’s infrastructure, Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday.
“We’re taking back what they stole,” Trump said. “We’re in charge.”
Venezuela has the world’s largest reserves – about 303 billion barrels – but the sector has long been in decline from mismanagement, under-investment and U.S. sanctions, averaging 1.1 million bpd output last year, a third of its 1970s heyday.
After first denouncing Maduro’s capture as a colonial oil-grab and “kidnapping,” Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, softened her stance on Sunday, saying it was a priority to have respectful relations with Washington.
“We invite the U.S. government to work together on an agenda of cooperation,” Rodriguez said. “President Donald Trump, our peoples and our region deserve peace and dialogue, not war.”
Trump has threatened another strike if Venezuela does not cooperate with opening its oil industry and stopping drugs. Trump also threatened Colombia and Mexico on Sunday and said Cuba’s communist government “looks like it’s ready to fall”.
Just how the U.S. would work with a post-Maduro government, full of sworn ideological enemies, is unclear. Trump appears to have sidelined for now the Venezuelan opposition, where many anti-Maduro activists had assumed this would be their moment.
Rodriguez, daughter of a leftist guerrilla who has been praised as a “tigress” by Maduro, is also known as a pragmatist with good connections in the private sector and a belief in economic orthodoxy.
GLOBAL CONSTERNATION
Washington’s allies, most of whom did not recognize Maduro as president due to vote-rigging allegations, have been more muted, stressing the need for dialogue and adherence to law.
Trump’s raid has created a political storm in the U.S., with opposition Democrats saying they were misled. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was due to brief top lawmakers later on Monday.
While a handful of conservative figures have criticized the Venezuela operation as a betrayal of Trump’s “America First” pledge to avoid foreign entanglements, most supporters have largely praised it as a swift, painless win.
Inside Venezuela, Maduro opponents have kept celebrations on hold as his allies remain in power and there is no sign of the military turning against them, even though many suspect some insiders helped in Saturday’s operation.
Reporting by Reuters bureaux worldwide; writing by Lincoln Feast, Andrew Cawthorne and Doina Chiacu; editing by Steve Coates, Neil Fullick, William Maclean, Mark Heinrich and Howard Goller
The victim is in stable condition after sustaining multiple stab wounds
The Bermuda Police Service is investigating a stabbing incident that occurred in the early hours of the morning, Sunday 4 January 2026, outside the Front Yard Night Club.
At approximately 3:08 a.m., police officers were in the area of the Front Yard Night Club when a fight broke out inside the establishment involving approximately four unidentified patrons. Officers observed a male, leaving the club wearing a white T-shirt that appeared to be covered in blood. The injured male mounted a motorcycle and rode away. Police officers made enquiries at Front Yard Night Club and attempted to speak with patrons that were present , however the officers were unable to obtain any information of evidential value regarding the incident or those involved.
Police later received information that an injured male arrived at KEMH with stab wounds.
Police officers attended the hospital and confirmed that this injured male had been stabbed at the Front Yard Club Night Club. Preliminary information received indicates that the victim sustained multiple stab wounds, and was reported to be in stable condition.
The Bermuda Police Service continues to investigate this matter and is appealing to anyone who may have witnessed the incident, or who has information that could assist, to contact the investigating officer PC Justina Watson on 295-0011 or provide information anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 800-8477.
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
