Classified Venezuela briefings precede likely war powers vote

WASHINGTON — Congressional leaders, emerging Monday from a classified briefing on Venezuela, offered sharply contrasting takes on both the president’s odds of overhauling that country’s government and whether leaving Congress out of the decision to strike was constitutional.

The full House and Senate are expected to be briefed behind closed doors this week on the Jan. 3 operation that extracted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from Caracas and brought him to the United States.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters after Monday night’s classified briefing for a select group of lawmakers that he expects all-members briefings to take place Wednesday.

Then, on Thursday, the Senate will vote on a war powers joint resolution by Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., that would bar U.S. military action in or on Venezuela without congressional authorization, a Kaine aide said.

—CQ-Roll Call

Detroit pastor invokes 'Bloody Sunday' on Jan. 6 anniversary at US Capitol

WASHINGTON— A conservative pastor from Detroit gathered a group of his congregants at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday to protest alleged election fraud and commemorate the fifth anniversary of the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.

Lorenzo Sewell, a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump who led a prayer at his 2025 inauguration, likened the Jan. 6 riot to violence at the "Bloody Sunday" marches in Selma on March 7, 1965. Images and video of state troopers beating peaceful protesters turned that day into a flashpoint of the Civil Rights movement.

"January 6 is the equivalent to the Bloody Sunday of this day. Remember, on Bloody Sunday, Martin Luther King was able to show the entire world that racism was evil. And five years ago, on this day, we saw the evil of election fraud," said Sewell, 44, in an interview.

Sewell and about 40 members of his congregation from Detroit's 180 Church prayed inside the U.S. Capitol dome and urged continued investigations into election fraud across the country, including the 2020 presidential election that Trump lost and other contests since then.

—The Detroit News

Environmentalists sue feds to protect ‘prehistoric’ crabs that frequent South Carolina coast

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Environmentalists are suing the federal government over what they say is a failure to protect the horseshoe crab, a prehistoric looking species that is important to the survival of shore birds in South Carolina and other coastal states.

The Center for Biological Diversity says the National Marine Fisheries Service has not met a deadline to decide whether the crabs should be protected under the federal Endangered Species Act.

The center says horseshoe crab populations have “crashed’’ as a result of climate change, habitat loss, excessive harvesting and the use of the crabs by the biomedical industry. Populations have stabilized in recent years, but are down by as much as 70% from historic levels, the center reports.

But the federal government has not made a preliminary assessment that would allow a final decision on protection of the crabs to be made, said Will Harlan, a senior scientist with the center. A deadline for the preliminary finding was in 2024, he said.

—The State

Renewed protests erupt in Tehran's Grand Bazaar as rial plummets

TEHRAN, Iran — Spontaneous protests have erupted in Tehran's Grand Bazaar, with clashes between demonstrators and security forces ensuing, eyewitnesses, activists and media reported on Tuesday.

Videos on social media showed crowds in the bazaar's alleys chanting protest slogans. "Freedom, freedom, freedom," could be heard in one video.

The HRANA human rights network wrote on X that security forces had fired tear gas to disperse the demonstrators, which included both traders and local residents.

The latest outbreak has been linked to renewed turbulence on the foreign exchange market, with the rial plunging in early trading on unofficial markets. One report said $1 could now buy 1.47 million rials. The falling value of the rial contributed to the outbreak of mass protests more than a week ago.

—dpa