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BBC News with Neil Nunes.
Thousands of supporters of Nicolás Maduro have rallied in the Venezuelan capital Caracas to demand he be returned from the United States, where he's appeared in court on drug trafficking and terrorism charges. The Caracas march followed a ceremony in which Mr. Maduro's deputy, Delcy Rodríguez, was sworn in as acting president. Here's our Latin America correspondent Will Grant. Rather than address a full chamber of deputies, Delcy Rodríguez was sworn in by her brother, Jorge, the head of the National Assembly, while flanked by military leaders. In her swearing-in ceremony, she said the forced removal of her predecessor from power amounted to a kidnapping, and referred to Nicolás Maduro and his wife as "hostages" in the United States of America. She said it pained her to be there, but that she was still honored to become Venezuela's first woman president. Meanwhile, at the court hearing in New York, Mr. Maduro insisted that he was still the president of Venezuela, describing his seizure by U.S. forces on Saturday as "kidnapping." He and his wife, Cilia Flores, who was also captured, pleaded not guilty. More now from our North America editor, Sarah Smith. In handcuffs and wearing tan-colored prison clothing, Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were surrounded by heavy security while they were moved from a Brooklyn jail to the courthouse in Manhattan. As they were deliberately paraded in front of live television cameras, Mr. Maduro appeared to be limping slightly. His wife had a bandage on her forehead and what looked like bruising on her face. Inside the courtroom, the couple pled not guilty to accusations of narco-terrorism conspiracy and weapons charges. Speaking in Spanish, Mr. Maduro addressed the court, insisting that he remains the president of Venezuela, complaining that he had been kidnapped by the United States and describing himself as a prisoner of war. He will next appear in court on the 17th of March. Sarah Smith. The United Nations Security Council has discussed the crisis in Venezuela at an emergency meeting. Foremost among the hostile voices was China, who demanded that the U.S. change its course. Its representatives said no country could act as the world's police or presume to be the international judge. Speaking through an interpreter, Russia's envoy, Vassily Nebenzia, was also critical. "We cannot allow the United States to proclaim itself as some kind of a supreme judge, which alone bears the right to invade any country, to label culprits, to hand down and to enforce punishments, irrespective of notions of international law." The U.S. Ambassador Mike Waltz said the largest energy reserves in the world could not be left in the hands of illegitimate leaders who were the adversaries of the United States. This is the world news from the BBC. The U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said he's begun proceedings against a Democratic senator, Mark Kelly, that could strip him of his retired military rank as navy captain and cut his pension. In a video published in November, Mr. Kelly and five other senior Democrats urged active duty military members to defy any illegal orders. The U.S. has announced changes to its federal childhood vaccine schedule, recommending six fewer shots to treat fewer diseases. The new schedule is supposed to mirror that of Denmark. Andrew ??? has this report. The U.S. health secretary, the vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has previously stated that American children get too many vaccines. Instead of the 18 diseases they used to be vaccinated against, they'll now be inoculated against 11. Only children in high-risk categories will be advised to receive some of the immunizations, such as for hepatitis A and B. The U.S. seems to be modeling its schedule on Denmark's. But critics say the Scandinavian nation has a more robust health system which is free and universal. They also say that unlike the U.S., Denmark is a more homogenous nation. The head of NVIDIA has announced plans to launch a new driverless car powered by his company's AI chip technology in partnership with Mercedes-Benz. In a live-streamed presentation, Jensen Huang said his autonomous vehicles would be able to integrate with urban smart technology to safely navigate city chaos and predict hazards. NVIDIA's entry into the U.S. market will compete with Tesla and other self-driving vehicle companies. Egypt and Nigeria are through to the quarterfinals of the men's Africa Cup of Nations on the third day of the knockout phase. Egypt had to work hard for their victory, needing extra time to beat Benin. Nigeria were more convincing in their 4-0 defeat of Mozambique. BBC World News. |