Will Chalk

Yksi taso, josta uskon, että Venäjän hallituksen tehtävä on tärkeää, on se, että he olivat aina menettäneet sääntöä, kun Venäjän sääntöjen sääntöjen sääntöjen sääntöjen sääntöjen sääntöjen sääntöjen

Joten tämän tasolle se ei ole todennäköistä, mutta tietenkin se tarkoittaa enemmän repressiota, enemmän rikkoja. Ja älä unohda, että Venäjällä on toinen ryhmä armeijan, joka on militia-ryhmät, lojaaleja.

to both Nicolas Maduro, but more broadly to the Bolivarian revolution. They have been out in force too. And to have these sort of armed civilian militias known as colectivos intimidating the populists, turning out in force, as we were hearing from that Venezuelan in the clip there, it really does paint a very, very intimidating and frightening picture, particularly when we add the uncertainty of not knowing exactly what's coming next.

We've heard lots of comments from Donald Trump on this, and I think in a lot of them he sounds quite celebratory about the military action. How's that going down in the region? Well, I think obviously there are those who never wanted Nicolas Maduro in power, you know, haven't wanted to see him there for a long time and voted against him only to see him remain in power after the last election. So they have that relief that he's gone, but they can't turn out

To celebrate it anyway because of the intimidation we've just been talking about. And maybe they don't necessarily share that celebratory tone that you're referring to that Donald Trump is showing when he addressed Republicans and so on. Because they just don't feel that. Because at the moment it is so uncertain. It is so dangerous for ordinary Venezuelans.

They feel like the thing is on a knife edge. They are of course trying to return to a semblance of daily life. I was talking to a Venezuelan friend. She said people are out shopping. They're beginning to think about sending their kids back to school after the holidays next week. Things like that. The semblance of normal life. But it is anything but normal in so many ways. The United States has just launched...

I mentioned you're on the Colombian border. What about reaction from Venezuela's neighbors in the region?

It's been an interesting one from Colombia in the sense that the first thing they did too was move troops to this border region where I am. And they are showing a pretty clear presence. There are tanks at the border crossings. There are troops in larger numbers. 30,000 more troops were sent here. They in part are monitoring the movement of irregular forces as they put them. That is the left-wing rebel groups again who are protected by and who have been allied to Colombia.

The left-wing revolution in Venezuela. So there is tension really all over. That's this side, and of course out to the Caribbean there's the question of Cuba, which is so dependent on Venezuelan oil and really doesn't know what Del Cid Rodriguez will mean for their future either.

Will Grant there on the Venezuelan-Colombian border. Now President Trump has said very little about the continuing repression that Will was mentioning in Venezuela. But he has said he'll work with the new president, Delce Rodriguez. Whatever his plans though, Donald Trump appears to have sidelined the opposition leader Maria Carina Machado, who late last year won the Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to bring democracy to Venezuela.

She said she wants to return home, but it's not clear when that might happen or what kind of reception she would get. Our South America correspondent Ioni Wells reports. Maria Corina Machado has long been the main face of Venezuela's opposition. She was banned from running in the last elections in 2024.

Ioni Wells. Anti-government demonstrations have again fled up in the Iranian capital, Tehran. Large crowds staged a sit-in at the city's Grand Bazaar, chanting slogans against the country's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei. There were clashes between police and protesters, with security forces firing tear gas and closing down areas of the city's historic market. BBC Persian, together with BBC Verify's Merlin Thomas, have this assessment of what's been happening on the ground.

Merlin Thomas. For generations, the humble plastic Lego brick has been a big part of children's toy boxes and the shelves of some slightly nerdier adults as well. But if you've got fond memories of making pew-pew and zoom noises as you played, that might soon be a thing of the past. Because after much secrecy, Legos unveiled some smart bricks, which it says will allow toys to come alive.

which enables these smart bricks to sense motion, position and distance. So it's a super clever brick. It's the biggest thing they've done for 50 years since they introduced the minifigure. Lego has also released smart minifigures with different personalities and smart tags as part of the new high-tech world. The first smart sets will be Star Wars themed, so you'll be able to have realistic lightsaber fights.

But many have voiced concern that in an age where children are turning to video games and iPad screens, introducing technology could undermine LEGO's historic strength. Josh Golan is from the NGO Fair Play. Adding these smart bricks is actually going to undermine children's creativity and imagination, which was really the strong suit of LEGO. And when we transfer that power of who's making the noise, who's driving the play,

That is all from us for now, but there will be a new edition of the Global News Podcast later. If you want to comment on this podcast or the topics we've been covering, you can send us an email. Our address is globalpodcast at bbc.co.uk. You can also find us on X at BBC World Service. Use the hashtag globalnewspod.

This edition was mixed by Nick Randall. The producer was Wendy Urquhart. The editor is Karen Martin and I'm Will Chalk. Until next time, goodbye.

Herra budjettiministeri, kuinka neuvottelut sujuivat? Kiteytän lopputuloksen kahteen sanaan. Suk C. Voitteko hieman tarkentaa? Suk C, sau, vaa, mo, no. Mitä nyt hiihtämiseen tarvitaan? Mutta mit... Sitä, että toimittaja on hyvä ja suk C siitä putkesporttiin. Sieltä saa kaikki hiihtovermeet nyt liikuttavan halvalla. putkesport.fi