Canada's Chrystia Freeland to quit as MP and become adviser to Zelensky
Canada's former deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland has said she will leave parliament to accept a job as adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, BBC reported.
Freeland said her role as an economic development adviser for Ukraine would be unpaid. In July, she will also take on a position to lead the Rhodes Trust, an educational charity, in the UK.
She was elected in 2013, and served in key roles such finance, foreign affairs and international trade minister under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, according to BBC.
Venezuela swears in interim president after defiant Maduro pleads not guilty
Delcy Rodriguez was sworn in as Venezuela's interim president in a parliamentary session that began with demands for the release of ousted leader Nicolas Maduro from US custody, BBC reported.
Rodriguez, 56, vice president since 2018, said she was pained by what she called the "kidnapping" of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, who were seized by US forces in an overnight raid on Saturday.
In a dramatic scene inside a New York court room two hours earlier, Maduro had insisted he was still president of Venezuela as he pleaded not guilty to four charges of drug trafficking and terrorism, according to BBC.
US sharply criticised by foes and friends over Maduro seizure
The US seizing of Venezuela's leader has faced strong criticism from both America's friends and foes at an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, BBC reported.
Many member states agreed with the US that Nicolás Maduro had been an illegitimate and repressive leader.
But many also condemned the US military action as a breach of international law and the UN Charter, and they demanded a democratic transition that reflected the will of the Venezuelan people, according to BBC.
Greenland dismisses US takeover fears amid Trump's remarks
Greenland is seeking to strengthen ties with the United States, and its citizens should not fear an imminent American takeover, Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said on Monday, following renewed interest in the Arctic island by US President Donald Trump, Reuters reported.
European powers rallied behind Greenland on Monday, after the US military operation in which Venezuela's leader was seized, rekindling concerns that the island, an autonomous Danish territory, might face a similar scenario.
"We are not in the situation where we are thinking that a takeover of the country might happen overnight," Nielsen said at a press conference in the capital Nuuk, speaking via a translator. "You cannot compare Greenland to Venezuela. We are a democratic country."
