Venezuelan socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro, who has presided over the ruination of his country, will likely be inaugurated again as president on Friday despite evidence of having lost a July election to retired diplomat Edmundo González Urrutia and opposition mounting. Meanwhile, Maduro has been brutalizing the opposition. “The regime arrested more than 2,000 dissidents after the July election controversy triggered mass demonstrations,” The Wall Street Journal reported. “This week, regime forces arrested González’s son-in-law, Rafael Tudares, along with Carlos Correa, who is one of Venezuela’s most prominent advocates for freedom of expression.” Opposition leader María Corina Machado was briefly detained on Thursday after she finally reappeared following months in hiding from the government’s secret police. Machado appeared at an East Caracas demonstration protesting Maduro’s imminent inauguration; she stated, “All this strength that we have built and that grows every day prepares us to finish this final phase. Whatever they do tomorrow, they will be completely buried.” Ahora mismo @MariaCorinaYA en Chacao pic.twitter.com/Jq2ZM4Biwg — Rafael Hernández (@sincepto) January 9, 2025 #ÚLTIMAHORA | María Corina Machado (@MariaCorinaYA): "Toda esta fuerza que hemos construido y que crece cada día nos prepara para terminar esta fase final. Hagan lo que hagan mañana, se terminan de enterrar". Conéctate AQUÍ https://t.co/07p7jDX8yl pic.twitter.com/NTmwPIDyuX — VPItv (@VPITV) January 9, 2025 Machado’s party, Vent Venezuela, reported on X, “Today, leaving the rally in Chacao, Caracas, María Corina Machado was intercepted and knocked off the motorcycle she was riding. Firearms were fired during the incident. She was taken away by force. During the period of her kidnapping she was forced to record several videos and was later released.” #Atención ‼️ Hoy, #9Ene, saliendo de la concentración en Chacao, Caracas, María Corina Machado (@MariaCorinaYA) fue interceptada y tumbada de la moto en la que se trasladaba. En el suceso detonaron armas de fuego. Se la llevaron retenida por la fuerza. Durante el periodo de su… — Vente Venezuela (@VenteVenezuela) January 9, 2025 Earlier this week, Gonzalez, whom Maduro threatened with arrest if he returned to Venezuela, traveled to Washington D.C., where he met with incoming National Security Advisor Mike Waltz. He then went to Argentina and Panama with the ballots from the July election to prove he had won. “We elected by a landslide, a good man and Edmundo Gonzalez. We have the proof of that victory, and the whole world knows it,” Machado told Fox News. “We won.” JOIN THE MOVEMENT IN ’25 WITH 25% OFF DAILYWIRE+ ANNUAL MEMBERSHIPS WITH CODE DW25 “What we need is for all American institutions [to] understand that Venezuela is the most important conflict in the Western Hemisphere for national security of the U.S.,” Machado said. “We can be the best ally the United States will have in the Americas, first of all, because we also are desperate to solve the migration problem in our region. We want those Venezuelans to come back in billions and voluntarily. And that will happen when they’ll see there’s a future in their country. … Maduro has lost everything but fear and repression. Maduro lost all popular support, all legitimacy, and even he’s weakened or isolated internationally. What has he left? Russia, Iran, Hezbollah.” “The regime has sent secret police units to encircle her family members’ homes, sent a drone over her mother’s house, and kidnapped President-elect Gonzalez’s brother-in-law on Tuesday,” Fox News noted. In addition, Hezbollah has provided support to Maduro’s regime, according to the Atlantic Council. “Too often, Hezbollah in Venezuela is characterized as only a potential terrorist threat. In reality, the Lebanese terrorist group has helped to turn Venezuela into a hub for the convergence of transnational organized crime and international terrorism. Hezbollah’s crime-terror network in Venezuela has facilitated Iran’s cooperation with the Maduro regime,” the Atlantic Council has reported.

Mel Gibson gave an update on his upcoming sequel to the hit 2004 movie “The Passion of the Christ,” saying filming could begin in 2026. The 69-year-old actor, director, and writer discussed his plans during an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast this week. “I’m hoping next year sometime. There’s a lot required because it’s an acid trip,” Gibson said of the project. He noted that he’s “never read anything like” the script, which he worked on for more than six years along with screenwriter Randall Wallace. The title will be “The Resurrection of the Christ,” he confirmed. “My brother and I and Randall all sort of congregated on this. So there’s some good heads put together, but there’s some crazy stuff,” Gibson went on. “And I think in order to really tell the story properly you have to start with the fall of the angels, which means you’re in another place, you’re in another realm. You need to go to hell.” The filmmaker confirmed that he plans to have actor Jim Caviezel reprise his role as Jesus. Gibson also said he might use “a few techniques” to de-age Caviezel since more than two decades have passed since the first film’s release, and the events will take place three days after “The Passion” ends, when Jesus rose from the dead following his crucifixion.  JOIN THE MOVEMENT IN ’25 WITH 25% OFF DAILYWIRE+ ANNUAL MEMBERSHIPS WITH CODE DW25 Gibson said the entire project was “very ambitious” and that the story will encompass “the fall of the angels to the death of the last apostle.” “It’s about finding the way in that’s not cheesy or obvious,” he said.  Gibson added, “I think I have ideas about how to do that and how to evoke things and emotions in people from the way you depict it, and the way you shoot it. So I’ve been thinking about it for a long time. It’s not going to be easy, and it’s going to require a lot of planning and I’m not wholly sure I can pull it off to tell you the truth, it’s really super ambitious. But I’ll take a crack at it because that’s what you got to do, right, walk up to the plate, right?” “The Passion of the Christ” was a massive hit, earning $600 million against a $30 million budget.

Just minutes after Judge Juan Merchan imposed an “unconditional discharge” sentence on President-elect Donald Trump on Friday, Trump blasted Democrats for the “pathetic, unAmerican Witch Hunt.” While the unconditional discharge sentence carries no further punishments, it cements Trump’s status as a felon days before he is sworn in for his second term in the White House. Before imposing the sentence, Judge Merchan said the court had never seen such a “unique and remarkable set of circumstances,” adding that Trump is only protected from a prison sentence because the office of president shields him. In a Truth Social post, Trump argued that the unconditional discharge “proves that, as all Legal Scholars and Experts have said, THERE IS NO CASE, THERE WAS NEVER A CASE.” “The Radical Democrats have lost another pathetic, unAmerican Witch Hunt,” Trump wrote. “After spending tens of millions of dollars, wasting over 6 years of obsessive work that should have been spent on protecting New Yorkers from violent, rampant crime that is destroying the City and State, coordinating with the Biden/Harris Department of Injustice in lawless Weaponization, and bringing completely baseless, illegal, and fake charges against your 45th and 47th President, ME, I was given an UNCONDITIONAL DISCHARGE.” Trump added that “this whole Scam fully deserves to be DISMISSED” and vowed to appeal the case. JOIN THE MOVEMENT IN ’25 WITH 25% OFF DAILYWIRE+ ANNUAL MEMBERSHIPS WITH CODE DW25 “The real Jury, the American People, have spoken, by Re-Electing me with an overwhelming MANDATE in one of the most consequential Elections in History,” he said. “As the American People have seen, this “case” had no crime, no damages, no proof, no facts, no Law, only a highly conflicted Judge, a star witness who is a disbarred, disgraced, serial perjurer, and criminal Election Interference.” Trump fought to delay the sentencing hearing, but in a 5-4 decision on Thursday, the Supreme Court rejected Trump’s request to pause it. The majority of the court did not rule on the merits of Trump’s argument but said that the question could be decided through an appeal. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett sided with the court’s three liberal justices to reject Trump’s request. With Judge Merchan’s sentence officially imposed, Trump will enter the White House as the first president in U.S. history convicted of a felony.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) slammed the media during a press conference with other Republican governors on Thursday night at Mar-a-Lago. DeSantis made the remarks when a reporter asked if it was appropriate for President-elect Donald Trump to criticize California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) for his response to the California fires. “Is it appropriate for people in your industry to try to create division and to try to create narratives anytime these things happen?” DeSantis fired back. “Now, you’re not as interested in doing that because Newsom is a D. If Newsom was a Republican, you guys would have him nailed to the wall for what they’re doing over there.” “And I know we’ve dealt with it,” he continued. “We just assume in Florida, anytime something happens, it’s going to be politicized by the media. So you guys sitting in judgment of Donald Trump, I mean, excuse me, I think your track record of politicizing these things is very, very bad.” JOIN THE MOVEMENT IN ’25 WITH 25% OFF DAILYWIRE+ ANNUAL MEMBERSHIPS WITH CODE DW25 DeSantis said the same thing applied to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D), who was on a trip to Africa when the fire broke out. “That mayor of LA, if that were a Republican mayor, I could only imagine what that would do,” he said. “I mean, you know, the fires are at high risk and you try to go to Africa or wherever she was to go on some type of voyage? You should have been there preparing and doing that. And yet I don’t see a lot of heat being directed on that thing.” “If Newsom were a Republican, you guys would have him nailed to a wall.” “When we had the Surfside tower collapse, I had people from the Washington Post trying to blame me for it.” “That Mayor of L.A. ..you know the fires are at high risk and you try to go to Africa?” – DeSantis pic.twitter.com/MICYxZkTTn — Howard Mortman (@HowardMortman) January 10, 2025

STUPID TRIAL COMES TO STUPID END... BIDEN DONOR SENTENCES TRUMP TO NO PUNISHMENT IN BOOKKEEPING DISPUTE... AP: President-elect Trump sentenced to unconditional discharge in hush money case NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump was formally sentenced Friday in his hush money case, but the judge declined to impose any punishment. The outcome cements Trump’s conviction while freeing him to return to the White House unencumbered by the threat of a jail term or a fine.

A post shared on Threads claims House Resolution 7 will require women to get permission to obtain birth control and abortions.   View on Threads   Verdict: False The claim is false. House Resolution 7 does not include any language indicating it will require women to get permission to obtain birth control and abortions. Fact […]

A post shared on social media purportedly shows a video of a truck full of bodies recently found in Mexico. Verdict: False The video is from 2018. Fact Check: Mexican Drug cartels have publicly threatened multiple artists, including regional singer Natanael Cano, CBS News reported. Mexican law enforcement has offered protection to Cano after threats circulated on social media […]