16 people died in Venezuela || Breaking News, 24th of January, 2019

The former head of the Venezuelan parliament, the opposition leader Juan Guaido, who was previously removed from his post by the decision of the Venezuelan Supreme Court, on Wednesday declared himself an interim president of Venezuela, and he already took the oath, Interfax reports. The US President Donald Trump announced that from now on he officially recognizes the President of the National Assembly of Venezuela, Juan Guaido, as interim President of Venezuela. According to Donald Trump — «he will continue using all the economic power and the diplomatic leverage of the United States to restore the Venezuelan democracy». The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in his turn, asked the President of Venezuela, Nicholas Maduro, to hand over his power to Juan Guaiido.

The German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas called the briefing of the Russian Ministry of Defense on the 9-M-7-29 missile and the following promises of Moscow to demonstrate the missile to the Western military »insufficient». He demanded more transparency from Russia — TASS reports while citing the DPA agency. Heiko Maas made such statements in Washington, after his meeting with the US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo. Before his flight to Washington, Heiko Maas urged Moscow to remove the 9M729 missile from the Russian armament. The NATO considers this missile to be a violation of the INF treaty. “Showing one missile wasn’t enough. Russia still hasn’t shown its willƒingness to ensure the full transparency” — the German minister said in Washington. According to him, NATO continues to wait for Moscow to fulfill its obligations under the INF treaty.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced his decision to cut off the diplomatic and political relations with the United States. Nicolas Maduro announced his decision during his speech in Caracas. He added that the American diplomats have 72 hours to leave Venezuela, TASS reports. During his speech, the President of the Bolivarian Republic accused the US government in carrying out a coup d’etat, and in establishment of a puppet government in Venezuela. The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that Washington will maintain diplomatic relations with Venezuela through the government of interim President Juan Guayido, who asked the United States to remain in Venezuela. He also added that he doesn’t recognize the statement of Nicolas Maduro regarding the break of the diplomatic relations with the United States.

As a result of the riots in Venezuela, 16 people died, more than 200 were detained. According to Alfredo Romero, the head of the non-governmental organization ‘Penal Forum’ — over 200 people have been arrested since the start of the protest actions in Venezuela. The political opposition in Venezuela organized the anti-government demonstrations. Clashes with the law enforcements, that have led to casualties, occur in a number of regions. During one of such manifestations — the opposition leader Juan Guaido proclaimed himself the interim president of the country.

The press service of the Israel Defense Forces reported a skirmish on the border with Syria, on Thursday night. “During the night time, the Israeli soldiers that were presented in the enclave zone near the Syrian border fence, spotted shots fired on them. They returned fire.” — the report said. There is no information about the casualties on the Israeli side — TASS reports. Earlier, on the Monday night, the Israeli Air Forces attacked targets on Syrian territory.