The abducted Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro on a US warplane to New York, January 3, 2026
EA on International Media: Trump’s “Act of War” with Abduction of Venezuela’s Maduro
See also Strikes and Protests Spread Over Iran’s Economic Problems
I joined a 55-minute panel on RTE Radio 1’s Brendan O’Connor Show on Sunday to deal with the week’s headline issues, from the Trump Administration’s kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to protests across Iran to the stand against a far-right movement in Ireland.
The other panellists are former Irish Government minister Josepha Madigan; Liz Carolan of TheBriefing.ie; and Pat Leahy of the Irish Times. The guest host is Dearbhail McDonald.
The first half of the discussion is devoted to the causes and consequences of the Trumpist invasion of Venezuela, shattering international law, to seize Maduro. We evaluate the effect on the international system and the possibility of a US occupation, seizure of oil, and military action against other countries.
We summarize the state of the protests over economic conditions in Iran and the unhelpful intervention by Donald Trump.
Turning to Ireland, we consider the risk of a far right movement exploiting the conflation of the issues of housing and immigration. I summarize the attempt by Steve Bannon — white nationalist, convicted felon, and former chief strategist for Donald Trump — to propel that movement. And we set out a productive response to deal with issues of Irish infrastructure, social media, and migration.
Iran’s Dual Challenge: Unrest at Home, Threat of Strikes From Abroad: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/04/world/middleeast/iran-protests.html
“In the past few days, the unrest has turned into riots in many places, with young men attacking government buildings, clashing with security forces and setting on fire cars, motorcycles and trash cans, according to videos posted on social media, Iranian media outlets, and the BBC Persian service…..But in Tehran, with the exception of the bazaar downtown, the university campus, and a few working-class neighborhoods, the city seemed normal, residents said in interviews and videos on social media suggested. Ski resorts north of Tehran were packed with affluent day trippers.”
The reality of the situation on the ground. The government now has some tough economic decisions to make to reduce inflation and corruption.
Meanwhile, the Times of London cites “intelligence sources” that Ayatollah Khamenei is preparing to flee to Moscow: https://www.thetimes.com/world/middle-east/article/iran-ayatollah-khamenei-escape-moscow-protests-revealed-h5f95ctb5
[Editor’s Note: Net immigration in the year to April 2025 was 59,700, largely because of refugees from Ukraine.]
How foolish are the irish people that read the mainstream media here that they actually believe immigration has no impact on the housing crisis? Come again? We had 125,300 immigrants come in between April 2024 and April 2025 and built around 32,000 homes. Make that make sense. We can have 125000 people come and build 32000 new homes but it has no effect on the housing crisis? Where are the immigrants living then?
If we aren’t building enough homes to satisfy homegrown needs then you are living in fairy land if you believe our rampant immigration is having no effect. Sure as the government said in the ad last year, we should all be satisfied to move back in with our parents or go homeless. How dare we expect more.