President Trump ordered a blockade on sanctioned oil tankers going to and from Venezuela Tuesday, ramping up his threats on the country’s leader, Nicolás Maduro. In a post on social media, Trump said, “Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America. It will only get bigger, and the shock to them will be like nothing they have ever seen before.” Last week, the U.S. seized a tanker in the Caribbean Sea that was carrying Venezuelan oil for Cuba and China. Since September, the U.S. military has been carrying out airstrikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific near Venezuela, killing at least 95 people in 25 attacks. Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday there are no plans to release the full unedited video showing a deadly second strike on an alleged drug boat on September 2. Legal experts and human rights groups have described the strike on two survivors clinging to the wreckage of the boat as a war crime. This comes as Trump’s Chief of Staff Susie Wiles suggested in an interview with Vanity Fair that the U.S. military’s attacks on alleged drug boats aim to ultimately topple President Maduro. Wiles said, “[Trump] wants to keep on blowing boats up until Maduro cries uncle. And people way smarter than me on that say that he will.” This is President Maduro speaking yesterday in Caracas.

President Nicolás Maduro: “We tell the people of the United States our truth, and it is very clear: Imperialism and the Nazi-fascist right wing want to colonize Venezuela to take our wealth — oil, gas, gold, iron, aluminum and other minerals. We have sworn to defend our homeland. And in Venezuela, peace will always prevail, along with stability and shared happiness for our people.”

We’ll have more on this story later in the broadcast.

In Gaza, Al Jazeera reports a 2-week-old infant has frozen to death, as winter storms batter the territory and Israel continues to block the entry of shelter and other humanitarian supplies for the hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians forced to live in makeshift tents or buildings damaged by Israeli bombings. Meanwhile, in another violation of the U.S.-brokered truce, Al Jazeera reports Israeli forces killed at least one Palestinian in the last 24 hours. This comes as efforts to recover the remains of the last Israeli hostage in Gaza have been hampered by the heavy rains.

The International Criminal Court has rejected Israel’s bid to block an investigation into war crimes committed by Israel in Gaza.

In more related news, Axios reports the White House sent an angry private message to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following the killing of Hamas senior commander Raed Saad, which Trump officials said violated the U.S.-brokered ceasefire that went into effect in October. Netanyahu is scheduled to meet Trump at Mar-a-Lago at the end of the month as tensions rise around the implementation of the next phase of the agreement with Hamas.

In Sydney, Australia, the first funerals were held today for victims of the Bondi Beach mass shooting, including for Rabbi Eli Schlanger and Rabbi Yaakov Levitan. Meanwhile, authorities announced that one of the gunmen, 24-year-old Naveed Akram, has been charged with 59 offenses, including murder and terrorism. The other gunman, his father, Sajid Akram, was shot dead by police at the scene.

In Rhode Island, the manhunt for the gunman who killed two students and injured nine others at Brown University on Saturday has entered its fifth day. Authorities released a new photo, “enhanced” videos and a video timeline showing a person of interest’s movements in the hours leading up to Saturday’s shooting. One shooting victim remains in critical condition, and two have been discharged from the hospital; six others are in stable condition. All classes and exams have been canceled, and the campus remains on edge. This is Parth Gupta, a senior at Brown.

Parth Gupta: “Brown was, honestly, one of the happiest Ivies. That’s how it was always known. But now, after everything that’s happened, it’s kind of become extremely scary. As a senior, having seen three years at Brown, like, I don’t even know how this incident is going to change campus. It’s very scary to go back, and it’s extremely unfortunate to see what happened to a place like Brown.”

An MIT professor was fatally shot at his home in Brookline, Massachusetts. Authorities have opened a homicide investigation into the killing of 47-year-old Nuno Loureiro, who was the director of MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center. In January, President Biden had awarded the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers to Loureiro.

In an explosive set of articles in Vanity Fair, journalist Christopher Whipple, author of a book on chiefs of staff, conducted 11 interviews with President Trump’s Chief of Staff Susie Wiles over the course of a year. Wiles characterized President Trump as having an “alcoholic’s personality” and said that she urged him not to pardon the most violent rioters from the January 6 insurrection. In the interview, she said that she thought Trump’s efforts to go after his political enemies would end after 90 days, and mentioned that his campaign against New York Attorney General Letitia James “may look like retribution.” Wiles also said that Vice President JD Vance has “been a conspiracy theorist for a decade,” and called Russell Vought, the budget director, “a right-wing absolute zealot.” She also called Elon Musk “an avowed ketamine” user and blasted his dismantling of USAID, saying, “No rational person could think the USAID process was a good one. Nobody.” On immigration, Wiles said, “I will concede that we’ve got to look harder at our process for deportation.” Wiles also criticized Attorney General Pam Bondi’s handling of the Epstein files, saying, “She said that the witness list, or the client list, was on her desk. There is no client list, and it sure as hell wasn’t on her desk.” Meanwhile, the deadline for the Justice Department to release the Epstein files is set for Friday, December 19.

House Speaker Mike Johnson says he will not call for a vote to extend Affordable Care Act healthcare subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year. As a result, millions of U.S. residents will have to pay higher health insurance premiums starting January. Republican Congressmember Mike Lawler of New York said, “Everybody has a responsibility to serve their district, to their constituents. You know what is funny? Three-quarters of people on Obamacare are in states Donald Trump won.” Some House Republicans have signaled that they would join Democrats in passing a discharge petition to force a House vote on a clean three-year extension of the subsidies, but that is unlikely to get a floor vote until next year.

President Trump has signed an order expanding his travel ban into the U.S., with partial or full restrictions to nationals from at least 20 additional countries, including Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan and Syria. The Trump administration has also fully restricted travel into the U.S. for individuals holding Palestinian Authority travel documents.

The New York Times reports the Trump administration has transferred 22 Cuban immigrants to the Guantánamo Bay U.S. naval base in Cuba. The men are believed to be the first Cuban citizens to be sent to Guantánamo since Trump returned to office and began his mass deportation campaign. It is estimated that ICE has detained over 700 immigrants at Guantánamo this year.

In news from Sudan, the UAE-backed paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has been attempting to cover up its mass killings of civilians in the city of El Fasher by burning and burying bodies. That’s according to a new report by Yale’s Humanitarian Research Lab, which analyzed satellite images depicting RSF fighters likely disposing of tens of thousands of remains following its capture of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, in October. At least 1,500 people were killed in just 48 hours after the RSF seized the city. The report said, “This pattern of body disposal and destruction is ongoing.”

This comes as over 100 civilians were killed in drone attacks on the Kordofan region, where fighting between the RSF and Sudanese military has intensified. Tens of thousands of people have been displaced as warring parties shift focus toward Kordofan. U.N. experts have described Sudan’s war as the world’s largest humanitarian disaster.

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, M23 leaders say they have agreed to withdraw from the key town of Uvira in the eastern DRC at the request of the Trump administration. This came just days after Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned the city’s capture last week, saying it violated a U.S.-brokered truce signed by Rwandan President Paul Kagame and DRC leader Félix Tshisekedi earlier this month at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., hosted by Trump. M23 fighters are not signatories of that deal and have been involved in parallel peace talks led by Qatar. Rwanda has been repeatedly accused of backing M23.

In related news, Human Rights Watch reports at least 22 civilians were killed and scores more injured in an attack by militia fighters in late November 2025 on a territory in the western DRC. As ethnic conflicts rise in the region, HRW said in a statement, “The global focus on the peace accords in eastern Congo shouldn’t distract from the unchecked violence and injustice and the cycles of impunity in other areas.”

In India, authorities are mandating all private and government employers to direct staff to work from home, and schools have canceled in-person classes, as dense toxic smog has engulfed New Delhi, pushing dangerous pollution levels to a record high. Healthcare officials have advised residents to avoid all outdoor activities and to wear a mask, as hospitals have reported a rising number of people suffering from breathing conditions and eye irritation. The toxic haze has also affected visibility, impacting travel, with dozens of flights and trains delayed. This is a tourist who was stranded in New Delhi.

Aryan Punia: “Visibility is very low. I can’t see anything. We reached here by car yesterday. Due to fog and pollution, we could not see anything. We came to India Gate, but we can’t see it. We can hardly see it as we have come closer. Pollution is also affecting my health a lot.”

Greece’s Parliament approved a new budget on Tuesday as massive protests were held by farmers and public-sector workers denouncing low wages amid skyrocketing food and housing costs. Earlier on Tuesday, protesters gathered in Athens.

Argyria Rotokritou: “We are striking today across the entire public sector and coordinating with the struggle waged by farmers against the government’s passage of this budget. It is a budget that cuts millions from public hospitals, where I also work, and channels the money into military spending. It hands it to the banks. We will not allow this.”

Warner Bros. Discovery is reportedly rejecting Paramount Skydance’s $108 billion hostile takeover bid to acquire the company. On Tuesday, Affinity Partners, which is run by President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, backed out of Paramount’s deal. The move paves the way for Netflix to go ahead with its $83 billion bid for Warner Bros.