Morning Mail: how the US snatched Maduro; children among Swiss blaze victims; SCG hails Bondi heroes

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Good morning. After the audacious US raid to seize Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro, we look at the rising global diplomatic backlash, Donald Trump’s oil ambitions and who is stepping up to fill Maduro’s shoes.

Elsewhere, as forensic investigators continue their painstaking work, girls aged 14 and 15 have been identified among the victims of the New Year’s Eve bar fire in Crans-Montana, Switzerland.

And Australia’s bowlers will be hoping for an early breakthrough on day two of the Ashes Test at the SCG, after a first day marked by sensible English batting and a roar of gratitude for the Bondi attack first responders.

Australia

Police and paramedics gather around a man being treated after being pulled from the water at Green Patch/Iluka beach in Jervis Bay. Photograph: Matthew Abbott/The Guardian

World

Portraits of Venezuela’s late President Hugo Chavez (right) and Nicolas Maduro during a protest after the latter’s apprehension by US military forces. Photograph: Camilo Freedman/SOPA Images/Shutterstock

Full Story

Kehlani Councillor and Derek Councillor pose for a portrait near Bootenal Springs in Greenough, Western Australia. Composite: Tamati Smith/The Guardian

The Descendants episode 1: decoding a massacre

Colonial pastoralist Major Logue is a figure of note in the city of Geraldton, Western Australia. But his diaries, written partly in code, reveal a dark and confronting chapter of Australia’s past – a history that Yamatji people already know all too well. Sarah Collard and Lorena Allam discuss decoding the truth behind Logue’s diaries – and how descendants of colonial violence are now coming together to heal from the horrors of the past.

In-depth

Delcy Rodríguez, pictured in 2022, has held posts including foreign minister and became vice-president of Venezuela in 2018. Photograph: Miguel Gutiérrez/EPA

In her first speech as Venezuela’s interim leader, Delcy Rodríguez struck a defiant tone – lambasting the US and pledging fealty to Nicolás Maduro. But, as Rory Carroll explains, the Donald Trump administration has made a cold calculation: that she will bow to Washington.

Not the news

Simon Stone: ‘The dip-in, dip-out attitude of Aussies to theatre, opera and film – which I very much don’t blame anyone for – isn’t enough for me.’ Photograph: Suki Dhanda/The Observer

Having recently directed the likes of Alicia Vikander, Andrew Scott and Olivia Colman on stage, the Australian director Simon Stone is returning to Australia in February to direct his adaptation of Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard – staged entirely in Korean, with subtitles – at the Adelaide festival. He speaks to Steve Dow about luring film stars to his projects, family tragedy and one of the proudest moments in his career.

Sport

England’s Joe Root bats on day one of the fifth Ashes test at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Photograph: Robbie Stephenson/PA

The Australian cricket great Damien Martyn has woken up from an induced coma, ABC News reports. Australia’s housing market roared back to life last year but 2026 is shaping up as a year it taps the brakes, the Age reports.

What’s happening today

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