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Can the world stop malaria with new vaccines?

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Can the world stop malaria with new vaccines?

After decades of research and trials, a groundbreaking malaria vaccine is being rolled out across West Africa in a major attempt to eliminate the disease which is the second-biggest cause of death of children on the continent.

On January 22, health workers in Cameroon began gathering babies and children below five years of age for the first doses of the RTS,S vaccine, which has been developed by pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and PATH, a non-profit health organisation. The vaccine’s designation – RTS,S – refers to the genes of the parasite it was produced from.

Children in Burkina Faso will be next to receive the jab, starting this month. A second vaccine, R21, was approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) in December and is likely to be rolled out in a matter of months. This vaccine is already being used in some African countries, Ghana being the first to approve it last year.

These vaccines have been developed as part of a global push to stamp out malaria, a disease which can be deadly for children and pregnant women. Nearly all of the more than 200 million annual cases in the world occur in African countries.

Here’s all you need to know about the new malaria vaccines:

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How do the vaccines work?

Although research for a malaria vaccine has been ongoing since the 1980s and trials started as far back as 2004, the RTS,S vaccine was recommended by the WHO in 2021 as part of a process towards certification. In July 2022, WHO officially approved the vaccine for use. It has a 75 percent efficacy rate.

Named Mosquirix, the vaccine is formulated to activate antibodies and target the infectious stage of Plasmodium falciparum, a malaria-causing parasite. This parasite is spread by the female anopheles mosquito when it bites.

In trials carried out between 2009 and 2011 across seven African countries, the RTS,S vaccine prevented infants from developing malaria for at least three years after the first vaccination. Over the four years, malaria cases among children immunised with the vaccine when they were aged between five and 17 months dropped by 39 percent. Among those immunised between six and 12 weeks after birth, malaria cases dropped by 27 percent.

In a pilot programme launched in Ghana, Malawi and Kenya in 2019, the WHO reported that the use of the vaccine had resulted in a 13 percent decline in the number of deaths from malaria among more than two million children monitored.

R21, or Matrix-M, is a second malaria vaccine that was approved by the WHO in December 2023. It was developed by Oxford University and manufactured by Serum Institute of India. In test trials, R21 showed an efficacy rate of 75 percent over 12 months. There are plans to roll out this jab in Africa alongside the RTS,S vaccine in mid-2024.

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Wendy Prudhomme O’Meara, a professor at Duke University, told Al Jazeera the main drawback of the Oxford vaccine is that frequent boosters are required.

“Efficacy wanes within a year [and] this makes it very effective for seasonal protection but we hope that as we continue to build the R&D [research and development] pipeline for malaria, we can improve on this,” O’Meara said. “I think the malaria community understands that this is an important first step, but it is not the end of the road.”

Two vials of the Mosquirix vaccine inside a cold chamber in Nairobi, Kenya, October 2021 [Patrick Meinhardt/Getty Images]

How dangerous is malaria?

Severe malaria can cause complications such as organ failure and can result in death. It is the number two cause of toddler deaths in Africa after respiratory illnesses – nearly half a million children die from malaria in African countries every year.

The disease is especially deadly for children because they are less likely to have built up any immunity to it.

Pregnant women in their second and third trimesters are also particularly vulnerable to becoming infected with malaria because their immunity levels are reduced. People visiting high transmission areas from malaria-free zones are vulnerable too because they lack any built-up immunity that comes from living in endemic areas.

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Millions of malaria cases are recorded every year around the world. In 2022 alone, some 249 million cases were recorded, with a death toll of 608,000 across 85 countries.

Nearly all – 94 percent – of these were in African countries.

Why are African countries so vulnerable to malaria?

A host of factors including weather patterns, poor sanitation and weak public healthcare systems contribute to the continent carrying nearly all of the world’s malaria burden.

In 2022, nearly all deaths from malaria worldwide were recorded on the continent. Four countries – Nigeria (27 percent), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (12 percent), Uganda (5 percent) and Mozambique (4 percent) – accounted for almost half of all cases.

Malaria thrives in the tropics, where climatic conditions allow the anopheles mosquito to successfully produce malaria parasites in its saliva, which it transmits to humans when it bites them. Waterlogged, damp places are the insect’s favourite breeding ground. During the rainy season, therefore, malaria transmission rates tend to be higher.

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Some analysts describe malaria as “a disease of the poor”. Families living in mosquito-infested environments who cannot afford chemically treated mosquito nets or insecticides often bear the brunt of the disease. Treatments for the disease can be expensive. In Mozambique, a 2019 study found that one household will need to spend $3.46 for treatments for an uncomplicated case, but up to $81.08 for treatments for a severe case. The average household income in Mozambique is about $149 per month.

Even without vaccines, malaria could be eliminated if more attention is paid to reducing poverty structures and providing better living environments, O’Meara of Duke University said.

“Malaria was eliminated in the US before modern insecticide-treated nets, before DDT [insecticide] and certainly before artemisinin combination drugs or vaccines,” she said. “Malaria ecology in the US was of course much different than Africa, but still that was achieved by environmental management, bednets [untreated] and by reducing human-mosquito contact through better living conditions. Poor housing construction, open windows and eaves, open drainage systems and poor urban water management contribute significantly to the persistence of malaria.”

Countries in Asia, the Pacific and South America also experience malaria transmission, especially Papua New Guinea. Outside Africa, the disease is also spread by the female anopheles, but it carries Plasmodium vivax, another malaria parasite that can thrive in lower temperatures.

Malaria
Residents in Mandiba, Mozambique use a river for bathing and laundry, but the waters that pool at the river’s edge are prime breeding grounds for malaria-carrying mosquitoes, August 18, 2023 [Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post via Getty Images]

Which African countries have eliminated malaria?

So far, three African countries have successfully rid themselves of malaria: Mauritius (1973), Algeria (2019) and Cape Verde, which was certified malaria-free by the WHO last month after reporting zero transmissions for three consecutive years.

It took a huge effort. Cape Verde, for example, took decades to get the WHO certification. All 10 of its islands were affected by malaria in the 1950s. Using targeted insecticide spraying campaigns, the country reported itself malaria-free in 1967 and again in 1983, only to discover more malaria cases later.

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Could malaria be wiped out worldwide?

Eliminating malaria everywhere in the world might be possible, but not with vaccines alone.

Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates, who commits billions of dollars to malaria research through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, predicts that malaria could be eradicated by 2040, based on elimination targets at the country level.

The new vaccines are a “momentous achievement” and will provide a huge boost to the global eradication push, but they will not be effective alone, says Krystal Birungi, an entomologist with Target Malaria, an organisation working on developing genetically modified mosquitoes to reduce malaria transmission.

“It is an important addition to the toolbox for the fight against malaria and will save many lives,” Birungi said. “That said, research has shown that no one tool is a silver bullet against malaria and it is still vitally essential to utilise the existing tools, like insecticide sprays, long-lasting insecticide-treated nets and antimalarial drugs, as well as to continue developing new tools like genetically modified mosquitoes and gene drive to fight malaria.”

Many countries already distribute insecticide nets, chemicals and preventive oral solutions in high-risk areas free of charge. However, there are monetary and logistical challenges to carrying out widespread, consistent spraying, with conflict and instability in several countries hindering those measures.

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Furthermore, mosquito behaviour is changing. As the world continues to warn because of climate change, studies show that mosquitoes will gain more breeding environments, meaning there could be higher transmission rates for diseases like malaria.

Currently, African countries are trying to tackle the anopheles stephensi, an invasive species originally from South Asia that thrives in urban environments.

“Due to the vector being a mosquito that can fly and doesn’t respect boundaries, we need to achieve malaria elimination everywhere in order to ensure safety for all, even places where malaria has been declared eliminated,” Birungi added.

female anopheles mosquite
A feeding female anopheles funestus mosquito. The species is a known transmitter of malaria [James Gathany/CDC via AP]

What happens next with the vaccines?

Burkina Faso – which recorded nearly 12.5 million cases of malaria in 2022 – began its inoculation campaign on February 5, adding the RTS,S to other routine vaccines for children. Some 250,000 children are being immunised in an initial phase because of a limited number of doses.

Children from five months old are eligible for the scheduled four-dose treatment – or five doses for infants and children in high-risk areas.

Liberia, Niger and Sierra Leone will be next to deploy the jab later this year.

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There is a very high demand for the vaccines, so supply is likely to fall far short. Only 18 million doses of the RTS,S vaccine are currently available to cover 12 countries through 2025, according to Gavi [full name, organisation, etc?]. It is unclear how many doses are needed or what the shortfall is, however, there are about 207 million children aged below four across the continent. In all, African countries will need some 40 to 60 million malaria doses annually by 2026.

The rollouts may also face social challenges. In the past, rumours that vaccines make women sterile have caused people to shun polio jabs in countries like Nigeria. Bringing the doses to rural and remote areas, as well as finding adequate electricity supply to store them at the required cool temperature, could also prove to be significant hurdles that will have to be overcome.

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Sportico Top 100: NFL Again Towers Over U.S. Media in 2025

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Sportico Top 100: NFL Again Towers Over U.S. Media in 2025

Imagine, if you will, a scenario in which the newly crowned NFL sack king Myles Garrett is tasked with teaching the Muppets about the fundamentals of football, and you’re maybe about a quarter of the way toward appreciating the league’s almost cartoonish dominance over what remains of the American monoculture. Picture the 6’ 4”, 272-pound collection of fast-twitch muscle fibers bearing down on Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and his eternally harried lab assistant, Beaker, in a hands-on demonstration of the ouchiest branch of Newtonian physics—MEEP!—and you’ve got yourself an analogy that’s been all done up in distressed felt and crushed ping pong balls.

It ends badly for all of Kermit’s showbiz pals. A blindside hit reduces Fozzie Bear to a muddied scrap of area rug, while whatever’s left of Miss Piggy will get hosed off Garrett’s cleats and redirected to the Wilson plant in Ada, Ohio. Up in the balcony, even Statler and Waldorf have stopped cracking wise. Scooter had a family!

If entertainment fare has long been shut out of the annual list of America’s biggest TV and TV-adjacent events—the last time a scripted show found a toehold among the top 100 was in 2019, when the series finale of The Big Bang Theory scared up 18.5 million viewers—the NFL also has made short work of much of its sports competition. Having accounted for 83 of the most-watched transmissions in 2025, the Shield put up its second-best numbers on the books, trailing only its run from two years ago, when it nearly ran the table with 93 entries. (A surging college game helped put this year’s football tally at an even 90 entries.)

For all that, the real hero of the 2025 list may well be Nielsen. As much as the NFL kicked off the season by suggesting that the audience for such tentpole events as the Super Bowl and the Thanksgiving Day slate have been undercounted, an upgrade of the company’s methodology—especially as it pertains to an expanded out-of-home sample—has gone a long way toward putting such concerns on pause. (Executives have been complaining about Nielsen practically since it began its 75-year reign as the currency czar, but no pretender yet has managed to supplant it as the underwriter of the $70 billion-and-change TV ad market.)

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On the day the jaw-dropping ratings for the Thanksgiving games were released, NFL EVP of media distribution Hans Schroeder gave Nielsen props for beefing up its OOH scrutiny, noting that the efforts to track these impressions in all U.S. TV markets helped “capture the viewership in a more accurate way.” CBS’ Chiefs-Cowboys broadcast averaged 57.23 million viewers, smashing the previous regular-season record by 36%. Strip away all the holiday co-viewing that took place across the nation and CBS’ Tryptophan Bowl turnout would have been closer to 35 million.

And while TV execs rarely make an effort to shout out Nielsen, Fox’s Mike Mulvihill wasn’t stinting in his praise. “Nielsen takes a lot of criticism in this business, but you have to give them credit for the fact that through their rollout of out-of-home measurement, the scorekeeping in this business has finally caught up to the reality,” Fox Sports’ president of insights and analytics told reporters during the post-Turkey Day media scrum. “Sports does have [the power] to bring us together and facilitate shared experience, and the numbers finally reflect the reality that’s been in place for many, many years, and it’s a welcome change.”

The impact of the new method of counting the house is perhaps best appreciated by looking back to the 2023 list. While last year’s top 100 was a bit of an outlier, thanks to a frenzied presidential election cycle, the 2023 tally is particularly instructive when you start digging into the back portion. The cutoff for our latest list was 17.39 million viewers, whereas the count from two years ago halted at 15.03 million viewers. Transpose the 2023 data with the current chart and the bottom quarter drops off into the void. In other words, the new-look Nielsen has helped recapture a sufficient volume of impressions that 27 of the broadcasts that made the cut two years ago wouldn’t have been eligible for inclusion in today’s ranking.

If the Nielsen data should go a long way toward ensuring that the NFL will continue to maintain most, if not all, of its legacy TV partnerships—during the post-Thanksgiving huddle, Schroeder made a point of crediting “the power … and reach of broadcast TV” for doing a lot of the heavy lifting—the streaming giants are an increasingly invasive species. Events that were exclusive to streaming platforms accounted for eight of the 100 items on the list, up from three in 2024, and nearly all the trad TV broadcasts were enhanced by a non-linear simulcast. (Peacock and other digital outlets now account for 11% of NBC’s Sunday Night Football deliveries, up from 5% just a few years ago.)

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For all that, an argument can be made for the exclusion of at least one streaming event, as the stateside audience for Netflix’s presentation of the Sept. 13 Canelo Alvarez-Terence Crawford bout was determined without any input from Nielsen. Netflix’s self-reported deliveries are derived via a sort of mysterious alchemy, as the company’s results are a function of the marriage of its own in-house figures and estimates from VideoAmp. As there’s no way to audit these results, the Netflix numbers radiate a heady “trust me, bro” vibe. That said, gatekeeping kept last month’s mandible-shattering Jake Paul fiasco off the list, as Netflix declined to break out the fight’s U.S.-only numbers.

Drop the unverifiable boxing deliveries, and the NFL has bragging rights to 84 of the top 100 events on the list. That quibble aside, sports all but gobbled up the entire chart, as 95 of the items on the list were devoted to football, baseball, basketball, horseracing and boxing. Political events and news programming ran off with 16 of the top spots in 2024, but in the absence of a collar-grabbing quadrennial circus, only three Beltway spectacles carved out space on this year’s chart. The other two non-sports entries were NBC’s presentation of the 99th installment of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and ABC/Hulu’s staging of the Oscars.

As far as individual results are concerned, the humbled Kansas City Chiefs grabbed 18 spots on the 2025 list, eclipsing their dynasty-disrupting foes the Philadelphia Eagles (14) and the ever-popular Dallas Cowboys (13). Among the networks, Fox earned top marks with 26 appearances, edging NBC (23) and CBS (22), while Disney siblings ESPN and ABC combined to take 19 of the top slots. The NFL, meanwhile, drummed up 19 of the year’s 20 biggest audiences and 46 of the top 50.

Lastly, Major League Baseball staged a welcome return to the upper reaches of the list, as the final frame of Fox’s epic Dodgers-Blue Jays Fall Classic claimed the No. 25 slot. The power of a World Series Game 7 is hard to overstate, even when one of the teams involved has no stateside representation; by comparison, the 2024 Yankees-Dodgers showdown topped off at No. 84 with 18.15 million viewers. A seventh broadcast featuring the reps of the two largest media markets likely would have crashed the top 10, but New York’s farcical fifth-inning meltdown in Game 5 robbed Fox of a potential ratings bonanza.

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As for the big-time sporting events that failed to secure a berth in 2025, the NBA Finals fell short despite drawing 16.61 million viewers with Game 7, leaving the league out of the winner’s circle for the sixth straight year. Women’s college basketball failed to repeat its top 100 performance of a year ago, although the men’s game returned to the fold care of CBS’ coverage of the Florida-Houston title tilt. The Kentucky Derby also stormed back onto the list after a three-year layoff, as nearly 18 million people in funny hats (including 959,000 streamers) cheered on Sovereignty’s muddy victory, a turnout enhanced by Nielsen’s OOH upgrade.

Lastly, 2025 saw a rare loss for a Super Bowl lead-out, as Fox’s broadcast of the Season 3 premiere of the Rob Lowe-helmed game show The Floor served up a record-low 13.94 million viewers, this despite the 127.71 million sets of eyeballs that were in place during Philly’s big win over KC. While nothing will ever unseat NBC’s remarkable 1996 showing—the one-hour episode of Friends that aired immediately after Super Bowl XXX notched a now-unthinkable 52.93 million viewers—as the keeper of the Muppets flame, ABC could put up some big numbers in 2027 if they were to give Kermit & Co. the coveted post-Super Bowl LXI slot.

Throw a rampaging Myles Garrett into the mix, and ABC might even have a shot at beating its most recent Super Sunday mark, a special installment of Grey’s Anatomy that drew 37.8 million viewers in 2006 after the Steelers topped the Seahawks in Detroit. Bear in mind that Pittsburgh’s victory “only” delivered 90.75 million viewers; given the new Nielsen currency and the league’s unwavering expansionist tendencies, we’ll likely never again see an NFL championship game dip below the 100 million mark.

For anyone out there still trying to compete with the NFL for the hearts and minds of the American consumer, the only valid response to the league’s latest showing can be summed up in a single interjection: MEEP!

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After Maduro, Venezuela power vacuum exposes brutal insiders and enforcers

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After Maduro, Venezuela power vacuum exposes brutal insiders and enforcers

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As Venezuela enters the post-Nicolas Maduro era, former officials and regional experts warn the country may be facing not a democratic transition, but a period of deeper instability and internal conflict between possible successors that some warn could be even worse than Maduro.

Marshall Billingslea, the former assistant secretary for terrorist financing and financial crimes in the U.S. Treasury Department, said Maduro’s removal has exposed a fractured system that was never held together by a single strongman, but by competing criminal power centers now moving independently.

“The cartel has always been a loose association, with each of the mafia bosses having their own centers of gravity,” Billingslea said. “Maduro was the frontman, but he didn’t exercise total control. Now we’re seeing each of those centers spinning off on their own.”

MADURO’S SON GIVES ‘UNCONDITIONAL SUPPORT’ TO NEWLY SWORN IN INTERIM VENEZUELA PRESIDENT

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U.S. State Department “wanted” posters show Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López (left) and senior regime figure Diosdado Cabello, both accused by U.S. authorities of corruption and links to drug trafficking networks. (U.S. State Department )

Billingslea said the capture of Cilia Flores, Maduro’s wife, was as consequential as Maduro’s removal itself.

“The capture of Cilia Flores is a particularly big deal because she was the brains behind the operation and the one who cleared out potential rivals,” he said. “Her removal is equally significant.”

TRUMP ISSUES DIRECT WARNING TO VENEZUELA’S NEW LEADER DELCY RODRÍGUEZ FOLLOWING MADURO CAPTURE

Billingslea outlined what he described as five competing power centers, four within the regime and one outside it. “The removal of Maduro, and particularly the removal of Cilia Flores, leaves a huge power vacuum in the cartel,” he said. “We haven’t yet reached a new equilibrium here.”

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In the interim, he foresees a high risk of internal power struggles, violence and further repression as rival factions maneuver to secure control in a post-Maduro Venezuela. But he notes that the Trump administration anticipates this and is executing a clear-eyed strategy to first secure U.S. core interests, followed by the gradual restoration of democracy, all without needing American “boots on the ground.”

TRUMP VOWS US ‘IN CHARGE’ OF VENEZUELA AS HE REVEALS IF HE’S SPOKEN TO DELCY RODRÍGUEZ

Delcy Rodríguez takes over, but power remains contested

Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro’s longtime vice president, was quickly installed as interim leader. But her rise has done little to reassure Venezuelans or international observers that meaningful change is coming.

Rodríguez is deeply embedded in the Maduro system and has long played a central role in overseeing Venezuela’s internal intelligence and security apparatus. According to regional reporting, her focus since taking office has been consolidating control within those institutions rather than signaling political reform.

Former U.S. and regional officials say Delcy Rodríguez’s rise has revived long-standing questions about who truly influences her decisions as she moves to consolidate power.

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Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodriguez addresses the media in Caracas, Venezuela, on March 10, 2025.  (Leonardo Fernandez Viloria/Reuters)

Those officials point to Rodríguez’s deep ties with Cuban intelligence, which helped build and operate Venezuela’s internal security and surveillance apparatus over the past two decades. Cuban operatives played a central role in shaping how the regime monitored dissent and protected senior leadership, embedding themselves inside Venezuela’s intelligence services.

At the same time, former officials say Rodríguez appears to be testing cooperation with Washington, creating uncertainty over how much leverage the United States actually holds. Some view her limited engagement with U.S. demands as tactical, aimed at buying time while she works to secure loyalty inside the regime and neutralize rival factions.

A former Venezuelan official previously told Fox News Digital that Rodríguez “hates the West” and represents continuity with the Maduro regime, not a break from it.

KRISTI NOEM DELIVERS TRUMP’S ULTIMATUM TO VENEZUELA’S VICE PRESIDENT FOLLOWING MADURO CAPTURE OPERATION

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A U.S. State Department “wanted” poster for senior Venezuelan regime figure Diosdado Cabello Rondon, whom U.S. authorities have accused of ties to narcotics trafficking and narco-terrorism (U.S. State Department )

Cabello mobilizes loyalists

Diosdado Cabello, one of the most feared figures in the country, has emerged as a central player in the post-Maduro scramble for control.

Cabello, who wields influence over the ruling party and interior security, has been rallying armed colectivos and loyalist groups. Those groups have been active in the streets, detaining opponents and reinforcing regime authority through intimidation.

Sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury for corruption and alleged ties to drug-trafficking networks, Cabello is widely viewed as a figure capable of consolidating power through force rather than institutions.

Jorge Rodríguez holds the levers of control

Jorge Rodríguez, president of the National Assembly and brother of Delcy Rodríguez, remains one of the regime’s most important political operators.

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Rodríguez has served as a key strategist for Maduro, overseeing communications, elections and internal coordination. Recent reporting indicates he continues to work closely with his sister to maintain control over intelligence and security structures, reinforcing the regime’s grip despite Maduro’s removal.

Experts say Rodríguez could play a central role in shaping any managed transition that preserves the system Maduro built.

TRUMP’S VENEZUELA STRIKE SPARKS CONSTITUTIONAL CLASH AS MADURO IS HAULED INTO US

U.S. State Department “wanted” posters show Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López accused by U.S. authorities of conspiracy to distribute cocaine on board an aircraft registered in the U.S.

Padrino López

Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López, long considered the backbone of Maduro’s survival, remains a critical figure as well.

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While Padrino López has not publicly positioned himself as a successor, analysts note that the armed forces are no longer unified behind a single leader. Senior generals are split across competing factions, raising the risk of internal clashes or a shift toward overt military rule if civilian authority weakens further.

Beyond the power struggle among regime elites, Venezuela faces a broader danger.

Large parts of the country are already influenced by criminal syndicates and armed groups. As centralized authority weakens, those actors could exploit the vacuum, expanding control over territory and smuggling routes.

Experts warned that an uncontrolled collapse could unleash forces more violent and less predictable than Maduro’s centralized repression, and the events unfolding now suggest that risk is growing.

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado waves a national flag during a protest called by the opposition on the eve of the presidential inauguration, in Caracas on Jan. 9, 2025. (Juan Barreto/AFP via Getty Images)

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Outside the regime, opposition leader María Corina Machado remains the most popular political figure among Venezuelan voters. But popularity alone may not be enough to translate into power.

Machado lacks control over security forces, intelligence agencies or armed groups. As repression intensifies and rival factions maneuver, her ability to convert public support into political authority remains uncertain.

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Police patrol in La Guaira, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that President Nicolás Maduro had been captured and flown out of the country. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Maduro’s fall, analysts say, did not dismantle Venezuela’s power structure. It fractured it.

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With armed loyalists in the streets, rival factions competing behind the scenes, and an interim leader struggling to assert authority, Venezuela now faces a dangerous period in which the aftermath of Maduro’s rule could prove more chaotic — and potentially more brutal — than what came before, experts say. For Venezuelans, the question is no longer whether Maduro is gone, but whether anything that replaces him will be better.

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EU Commission examines childlike sexual images created by Musk’s AI

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EU Commission examines childlike sexual images created by Musk’s AI

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The European Commission has announced it is looking into cases of sexually suggestive and explicit images of young girls generated by Grok, the AI chatbot integrated into social media platform X, following the introduction of a paid feature known as “Spicy Mode” last summer.

“I can confirm from this podium that the Commission is also very seriously looking into this matter,” a Commission spokesperson told journalists in Brussels on Monday.

“This is not ‘spicy’. This is illegal. This is appalling. This is disgusting. This has no place in Europe.”

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On Sunday, in response to growing anger and alarm at the images, the social media platform said the images had been removed from the platform and that the users involved had been banned.

“We take action against illegal content on X, including Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), by removing it, permanently suspending accounts, and working with local governments and law enforcement as necessary,” the X Safety account posted.

Similar investigations have been opened in France, Malaysia and India.

The European Commission also referenced an episode last November in which Grok generated Holocaust denial content. The Commission said it had sent a request for information under the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), and that it is now analysing the response.

In December, X was fined €120 million under the DSA over its handling of account verification check marks and its advertising policy.

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“I think X is very well aware that we are very serious about DSA enforcement. They will remember the fine that they have received from us,” said the EU Commission spokesperson.

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