AP News in Brief at 11:04 p.m. EST

The dramatic action capped an intensive Trump administration pressure campaign on the South American nation and its autocratic leader and months of secret planning resulting in the most assertive American action to achieve regime change since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Legal experts immediately raised questions about whether the operation was lawful. Venezuela’s vice president Delcy Rodríguez demanded in a speech that the U.S. free Maduro and called him the country’s rightful leader, before Venezuela’s high court ordered her to assume the role of interim president.

Speaking to reporters hours after Maduro's capture, Trump revealed his plans to exploit the leadership void to “fix” the country’s oil infrastructure and sell “large amounts” of oil to other countries.

Maduro and his wife, seized overnight from their home on a military base, were first taken aboard a U.S. warship on their way to face prosecution for a Justice Department indictment accusing them of participating in a narco-terrorism conspiracy.

How the US captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro

WASHINGTON (AP) — For months, the U.S. military had been amassing a presence off Venezuela's coast and conspicuously blowing up alleged drug trafficking boats and killing the occupants.

At the same time, U.S. intelligence agencies were carefully studying the country's authoritarian President Nicolás Maduro, learning minute details such as his eating habits while special forces secretly rehearsed a plan to forcibly remove him.

Months of covert planning led to the brazen operation overnight, when President Donald Trump gave an order authorizing Maduro's capture. The U.S. plunged the South American country's capital into darkness, infiltrated Maduro's home and whisked him to the United States, where the Trump administration planned to put him on trial.

Trump, during a news conference Saturday at his Florida home, laid out the details of the strike, after which he said Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were flown by helicopter to a U.S. warship.

The operation termed “Absolute Resolve” unfolded under the cover of darkness, with U.S. forces holding fast in the region, awaiting the ideal weather conditions to give pilots clear routes into Caracas. The extensive planning included practice on a replica of the presidential compound, as well as U.S. service members armed with what Trump said were “massive blowtorches” in the event the steel walls of a safe room needed to be cut open to extract the pair.

Capture of Maduro and US claim that it will run Venezuela raise new legal questions

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration's capture of Venezuela's president and claims that it will “run” the country are raising stark new questions about the legality of the U.S. actions and its future operations in the South American nation.

The middle-of-the-night seizure of Nicolás Maduro, who was transported with his wife on a U.S. warship to face narco-terrorism conspiracy charges in New York, is beyond even the most high-profile historical examples of aggressive American actions toward autocratic governments in Panama, Iraq and elsewhere, legal experts said. It came after a surprise U.S. incursion that rocked the Venezuelan capital with overnight explosions.

“This is clearly a blatant, illegal and criminal act,” said Jimmy Gurule, a Notre Dame Law School professor and former assistant U.S. attorney.

The stunning development caps months of aggressive U.S. military action in the region, including the bombing of boats accused of trafficking drugs and seizures of oil tankers off the coast of Venezuela. The Trump administration has conducted 35 known boat strikes against vessels, killing more than 115 people since September, and positioned an armada of warships in nearby waters.

The bigger debate than legality is yet to come, said John Yoo, an early architect of the George W. Bush administration’s policy in Iraq and now a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley.

Maduro's ouster sparks celebrations among Venezuelans in South Florida

DORAL, Fla. (AP) — Revelers chanted “liberty” and draped Venezuelan flags over their shoulders in South Florida on Saturday to celebrate the U.S. military operation to capture Nicolás Maduro and remove him from the country — a stunning outcome they had longed for but left them wondering what comes next in their troubled homeland.

For some Venezuelan natives, the military action — culminating months of stepped-up U.S. pressure — brought their dreams of reuniting with loved ones closer to reality after years of heartbreaking separations.

People gathered for a rally in Doral — the Miami suburb where President Donald Trump has a golf resort and where roughly half the population is of Venezuelan descent — as word spread that Venezuela's now-deposed president had been captured and flown out of the country.

Outside El Arepazo restaurant, a hub of the Venezuelan culture of Doral, one man held a piece of cardboard with “Libertad” scrawled with a black marker. It was a sentiment expressed by other native Venezuelans hoping for a new beginning for their home country as they chanted “Liberty! Liberty! Liberty!"

"We’re like everybody — it’s a combination of feelings, of course," said Alejandra Arrieta, who came to the U.S. in 1997. "There’s fears. There’s excitement. There’s so many years that we’ve been waiting for this. Something had to happen in Venezuela. We all need the freedom.”

Venezuelans wonder who's in charge as Trump claims contact with Maduro's deputy

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelans on Saturday scrambled to understand who was in charge of their country after the U.S. military captured President Nicolás Maduro, ousting the strongman who had outlasted a botched coup attempt, several army mutinies, mass protests and economic sanctions in the vast nation of 29 million.

“What will happen tomorrow?” asked Juan Pablo Petrone, a resident of Venezuela's capital of Caracas. As fear gripped the city, streets quickly emptied save for long lines snaking from supermarkets and gas stations. “What will happen in the next hour?”

President Donald Trump offered a shocking answer: The United States would take control of Venezuela, perhaps in coordination with one of Maduro's most trusted aides.

Delcy Rodríguez, who is next in the presidential line of succession, served as Maduro's vice president since 2018, overseeing much of Venezuela's oil-dependent economy as well as its feared intelligence service. On Saturday, Venezuela’s high court ordered her to assume the role of interim president.

“She’s essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again,” Trump told reporters of Rodríguez, who faced U.S. sanctions during Trump’s first administration for her role in undermining Venezuelan democracy.

US military operation in Venezuela disrupts Caribbean holiday travel, hundreds of flights canceled

The U.S. military operation that captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and flew him out of the country early Saturday also disrupted Caribbean travel at a busy travel time for the region.

No airline flights were crossing over Venezuela that day, according to FlightRadar24.com. And major airlines canceled hundreds of flights across the eastern Caribbean region and warned passengers that disruptions could continue for days after the Federal Aviation Administration imposed restrictions.

Flights were canceled to and from Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Aruba and more than a dozen other destinations in the Lesser Antilles island group north of Venezuela. Airlines waived change fees for passengers who had to reschedule flights.

But U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Saturday night that the restrictions would end at midnight EST and airlines would be able to resume normal operations Sunday.

At the Queen Beatrix airport in Aruba, a popular holiday destination for U.S. vacationers just 15 miles (24 kilometers) off Venezuela’s coast, officials said they expected a return to normal Sunday after a day of canceled flights that stranded travelers or blocked them from flying to the island.

Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers beat the Panthers 16-14, stay alive in chase for NFC South title

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers find themselves in the uncomfortable position of rooting for the New Orleans Saints. The Carolina Panthers are pulling for the Atlanta Falcons.

The winner of the NFC South will have a losing record and be crowned at home watching on television.

Mayfield threw a touchdown pass to Cade Otton, Chase McLaughlin kicked three field goals and the Buccaneers avoided elimination with a sloppy 16-14 victory over the Carolina Panthers on a rain-soaked Saturday.

The Buccaneers (8-9) need New Orleans (6-10) to beat or tie Atlanta (7-9) on Sunday to clinch a fifth straight NFC South title.

If the Falcons win, the Panthers (8-9) will secure their first division championship since coach Ron Rivera and quarterback Cam Newton led them to a 15-1 record and a Super Bowl appearance 10 years ago.

Iran's leader says rioters 'must be put in their place' as protest death toll reaches at least 15

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran's supreme leader insisted Saturday that “rioters must be put in their place” after a week of protests that have shaken the Islamic Republic, likely giving security forces a green light to aggressively put down the demonstrations.

The first comments by 86-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei come as violence surrounding the demonstrations sparked by Iran's ailing economy has killed at least 15 people, according to human rights activists. The protests show no sign of stopping and follow U.S. President Donald Trump warning Iran on Friday that if Tehran “violently kills peaceful protesters,” the United States “will come to their rescue.”

While it remains unclear how and if Trump will intervene, his comments sparked an immediate, angry response, with officials within the theocracy threatening to target American troops in the Mideast. They also take on new importance after Trump said Saturday that the U.S. military captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, a longtime ally of Tehran.

The protests, have become the biggest in Iran since 2022, when the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody triggered nationwide demonstrations. However, the protests have yet to be as widespread and intense as those surrounding the death of Amini, who was detained over not wearing her hijab, or headscarf, to the liking of authorities.

State television aired remarks by Khamenei to an audience in Tehran that sought to separate the concerns of protesting Iranians upset about the rial's collapse from “rioters.”

Investigation is opened into managers of Swiss bar where fire killed 40

CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland (AP) — Swiss authorities have opened a criminal investigation into the managers of the bar where a fire at a New Year’s party left 40 people dead, authorities said Saturday.

The two are suspected of involuntary homicide, involuntary bodily harm and involuntarily causing a fire, the Valais region's chief prosecutor, Beatrice Pilloud, told reporters. She said the investigation was opened on Friday night and that it would help “explore all the leads.” The announcement of the investigation did not name the managers.

More than 100 other people were injured in the blaze that broke out around 1:30 a.m. on Thursday at Le Constellation bar in the Alpine resort town of Crans-Montana. Police have said many were in their teens to mid-20s.

The process of identifying the dead and injured continued on Saturday, leading to an agonizing wait for relatives.

Investigators said Friday they believe sparkling candles atop Champagne bottles ignited the fire when they came too close to the ceiling of the crowded bar.

Security advisers discuss peace proposals in Ukraine ahead of leaders' summit

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — National security advisers from Europe and other allies visited Kyiv on Saturday to discuss security guarantees and economic support as a U.S.-led diplomatic push to end the nearly 4-year-old war in Ukraine intensifies.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, preparing to travel to Paris for a meeting with partners, said work on the peace proposals could now accelerate as Ukraine has shared all documents under discussion with the 18 national security advisers, including those on security guarantees.

“We expect that this further work will now take place in the capitals of European countries as well as Canada, Japan and other representatives of the Coalition of the Willing,” he said, referring to the approximately 30 countries who support Kyiv’s effort to end the war with Russia on acceptable terms.

“We are not allocating a great deal of time for this process,” Zelenskyy added.

He said representatives from Ukraine’s General Staff and military sector would meet on Monday in Paris, followed by a meeting Tuesday of European leaders, where he said he hoped documents on security guarantees would be finalized. He said there also would be meetings with U.S. representatives in Paris.