The Venezuelanalysis Podcast is back. In our new season premiere, we tackle the fallout of the January 3rd military escalation against Caracas, an event that marks a volatile new chapter in the long history of US intervention in the region.
Join Venezuelanalysis Lead Editor Ricardo Vaz, Associate Editor Lucas Koerner, and VA Founder Greg Wilpert as they break down the geopolitical shift from “maximum pressure” to direct confrontation. This episode goes beyond the headlines to analyze the underlying causes and the global consequences of Washington’s renewed focus on “its” hemisphere.
British singer-songwriter Lola Young is opening up about the “breaking point” that steered her toward recovery.
The “Messy” hitmaker told Rolling Stone in a recent interview that she was grateful that she fainted onstage late last year, and framed the scary ordeal as a wake-up call. “What do you call that? Like, a breaking point which allowed me to then be able to be here today, allowed me to be better for my fans, better for the future, and better for myself,” she told the outlet.
In September, the Grammy winner collapsed onstage during a performance at the All Things Go Music Festival in New York City. Following the health scare — which drew speculation and worry from fans who’d watched the viral video of Young stumbling and dropping her microphone before falling backward — Young canceled the remainder of her tour, which included a 21-stop North American run.
The tour, in support of her third album, “I’m Only F— Myself,” was expected to conclude with two dates at the Hollywood Palladium in December. Instead, she spent two months seeking holistic addiction treatment in a facility that prioritizes psychotherapy. She’s now attending 12-step meetings and working with a sponsor.
When announcing that she would have to nix forthcoming performances to prioritize her health, Young told fans on social media that she was “going away for a while” and apologized, writing, “I love this job and I never take my commitments and audience for granted so I’m sorry to those who will be disappointed by this. … I really hope you’ll give me a second chance … once I’ve had some time to work on myself and come back stronger.”
Young told Rolling Stone that, naturally, some folks were really angry that she’d canceled her tour. “[I]t was a decision that I had to make, and it was sad that I had to do that. What else was I going to do, die? That was the reality of where my addiction was heading.”
This wasn’t the first health incident for Young, who is known for her chart-topping breakout hit, “Messy.” The budding megastar performed at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in 2025, and during her Weekend 1 performance, she struggled to get through. The heat lingered around 100 degrees, and while Young danced and sang, she began to visibly gag and retch before running off the stage and asking for a bucket.
The acclaimed artist has been candid about her struggles with cocaine and alcohol addiction and often explores those struggles in her lyrics. In the song “d£aler,” a bouncy goodbye letter to her drug dealer, she sings about spending the day trying to be sober but feeling miserable nonetheless: “I wanna get away, far from here / Pack my bags, my drugs, and disappear.” … “Pack my bags and tell my dealer I’ll miss him.”
Young also sat down with the Times UK and said that she didn’t want to say too much but confirmed that she was in recovery for drug addiction. “But what I would say is that recovery is an ongoing process. I’m not the finished article, but I’m doing a hell of a lot better.”
“The US government has deported more than 500,000 people from the USA in 2025, more than six times as many people than will watch the World Cup final in the MetLife Stadium”, said Amnesty’s head of economic and social justice Steve Cockburn.
“…It’s a deeply troubling time in the US, which will certainly extend to fans who want to take part in World Cup celebrations.”
Last month, the acting head of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said that the agency is “a key part of the overall security apparatus for the World Cup”, vowing it was “dedicated to ensuring that everyone that visits the facilities will have a safe and secure event”.
Earlier this year, ICE agents shot and killed two American citizens as part of US president Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in Minneapolis.
Trump has sent federal agents, as well as the National Guard, to major US cities over the past year to make good on his campaign promise to crack down on illegal immigration. They have been met with protests and legal challenges in Democrat-led cities like Portland, Los Angeles and Chicago.
“Despite the astounding numbers of arrests and deportations, neither Fifa nor the US authorities have provided any guarantees that fans and local communities will be safe from ethnic and racial profiling, indiscriminate raids, or unlawful detention and deportation,” said Cockburn.
“Only four of the 16 host cities have so far published their human rights plans, and none of those that have done so to date say anything about protection from abusive immigration enforcement.
“This World Cup is no longer the ‘medium risk’ tournament that Fifa once judged it to be – whether it is to protect people from ICE, guarantee the right to protest or prevent homelessness, urgent action is needed to make sure the reality of this World Cup matches its original promise.”
Amnesty says that ICE and other agencies “pose a chilling threat to people living in the US, those traveling to see a game, and players themselves”.
It added: “Fans face intrusive surveillance, with proposals to force visitors to make their social media accounts available for vetting, and screening for “anti-Americanism”.
In January, fan group Football Supporters Europe (FSE) told BBC Sport it was “extremely concerned by the ongoing militarisation of police forces in the US” before the World Cup”.
At the time, Fifa said the safety and security of fans and participants was its “top priority”, adding it works closely with local authorities “to plan, co-ordinate and deliver comprehensive security measures for the tournament”.
The White House’s World Cup Task Force said that the tournament will be “the largest, safest, and most welcoming sporting event in history” and that it was working to deliver an event “that highlights America’s hospitality, commitment to security, and spirit of excellence”. It promised that fans “can look forward to a smooth, secure, and truly unforgettable tournament”.
And the campaign group also claims that in Canada, a growing housing crisis has “raised fears that people experiencing homelessness will again be displaced and pushed further to the margins”.
Céline Dion is officially coming back to the stage.
The singer announced on Instagram that she will return to the stage this fall, performing 10 shows at the Paris La Défense Arena. In 2022, Dion canceled her North America tour due to muscle spasms. She was later diagnosed with stiff-person syndrome, an autoimmune neurological disorder, which prevented her from performing.
The concert announcement comes after speculation last week by fans in Paris who spotted posters around the city referencing Dion’s songs, including “Power of Love” and “Pour Que tu M’aimes Encore.”
Dion, who turned 58 on Monday, called this news “the best gift” of her life.
“I’m so happy. I’m so ready to do this. I’m feeling good. I’m strong,” Dion said. “I’m feeling excited, obviously. Of course, a little nervous, but most of all, I am grateful to all of you. I can’t wait to see you again.”
While Dion performed at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympics in Paris and at an Elie Saab fashion show in Saudi Arabia, she has not headlined her own concert since her Courage World Tour in 2020. In her video, Dion thanked her fans, who supported her in the “most difficult times.”
“Over these last few years, every day that’s gone by, I felt your prayers and support, your kindness and love,” Dion said. “You’ve helped me in ways that I can’t even describe, and I’m truly so fortunate to have your support. I’ve missed you so much.”
Dion will perform twice a week — on Wednesdays and Saturdays — from Sept. 12 to Oct. 14. In a press statement, Frédéric Longuépée, president of La Défense Arena, called Dion’s residency a major milestone for the venue, which opened in 2017.
Fans can register for presale tickets until April 2, and general ticket sales will go on sale April 10.
Dion discussed her battle with stiff-person syndrome in her 2024 documentary, “I Am: Celine Dion.” In the film, the singer explained how SPS causes a vocal strain that makes it difficult for her to perform. Before her 2022 diagnosis, she had already experienced symptoms for 17 years.
While SPS has no known cure, Dion did not lose motivation to continue performing.
“If I can’t run, I’ll walk. If I can’t walk, I’ll crawl, but I won’t stop,” Dion said.
OLIVIA DEAN proved she’s unstoppable after sweeping the MOBO Awards – just weeks after dominating the Brits.
The singer scooped Best Female Act, Album Of The Year for The Art Of Loving and Song Of The Year for Man I Need, cementing her reign at the top.
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Singer Olivia Dean swept the MOBO AwardsCredit: GettyOlivia with her Best Female Act, Album Of The Year and Song Of The Year gongsCredit: PA
It means Olivia has now cleaned up at two of the biggest nights in British music in a matter of weeks – a seriously impressive streak.
Fresh from her chart-topping success, she also wowed with a stunning performance of A Couple Minutes, marking the song’s first televised outing.
There was another huge moment when Alesha Dixon made a surprise appearance to present Album of the Year to Olivia.
Elsewhere, Jim Legxacy took Best Male Act, Central Cee won Best Hip Hop Act and Raye picked up Video Of The Year, while Flo continued their rise with Best R&B/Soul Act.
Special honours went to Pharrell Williams and Slick Rick, with the latter also taking to the stage.
Performances were just as big, with Flo debuting new music, Aitch bringing out schoolkids to join him on stage, and a huge Grime 25 medley featuring Chip and Wiley.
Earlier in the day, I caught up with some of them on the VIP train from London, where DJ Davda had kicked the party off.
In an exclusive chat, Keisha Buchanan – who later presented an award alongside Little Mix‘s Leigh Anne – told me: “It’s always a vibe – they have the best parties.”
Teasing new Sugababes music, she added: “We have new music coming this year, sooner than people think.”
Indiyah and Ella were dancing through the aisles, with Ella even bringing her dog along for the ride as the carriage turned into a rave.
Meanwhile, Tobi Brown kept it real, saying: “I don’t function this early.”
The bash airs on BBC One at 11.25pm tomorrow night
Alesha Dixon and Bashy present the Song of the Year award onstageCredit: Getty
Kiki Shepard, the actor and entertainer best known for co-hosting the syndicated variety show “Showtime at the Apollo,” has died. She was 74.
LaShirl Smith, a representative for Shepard, confirmed her client’s death, writing in an Instagram post Tuesday that the loss “hurts an awful lot.” Shepard died Monday in Los Angeles after a heart attack, Smith confirmed to TMZ. On Tuesday, Smith honored Shepard with a video collage of their shared moments over the years, lamenting she will no longer be able to speak with her friend “three/four times a day everyday at least for an hour or two.”
“Rest easy cousin, heaven got a good one,” Smith said in her post.
The Texas native, born in July 1951, co-hosted “Showtime at the Apollo” from 1987 to 2002. During her tenure, she shared the stage with a variety of co-hosts including Steve Harvey, Sinbad and Mo’Nique, introducing a range of musical acts at the historic theater in Harlem. The Apollo honored Shepard on its marquee Tuesday, remembering her as a “true Apollo legend.”
“Together, [the hosts] carried the electrifying spirit of our legendary stage into living rooms across the nation, introducing rising stars, celebrating icons, and making millions feel Harlem from wherever they were,” the theater said on Instagram, “reminding the world that we have always been a place where Black excellence takes center stage.”
More than a host, Shepard had an entertainment career that included TV appearances — among them “Baywatch,” “A Different World,” “NYPD Blue” and “Grey’s Anatomy” — and a handful of stints as a choreographer. An alumna of what was then called North Texas State University and Howard University, Shepard also had a minor role in “The Wiz.”
Her television credits include “Thunder in Paradise,” “Baywatch Nights,” “Family Law,” “Everybody Hates Chris” and the 2025 series “Highly Favored.” Shepard also pursued a career on stage, appearing in Broadway productions of “Bubbling Brown Sugar,” “Reggae” and “Porgy and Bess.”
Beyond entertainment, Shepard devoted herself to raising awareness for sickle cell anemia after a friend died of the affliction. In 2006, she founded the Kis Foundation, an organization that seeks to support sickle cell disease patients and their families, following years of other advocacy efforts.
“KiKi believed that compassion, community, and education could change lives. Her voice uplifted countless individuals who often felt unseen, and her work created lasting pathways for hope, resources, and understanding for those living with this disease,” Shepard’s family said in a statement to ABC7.
To daytime talk show host Sherri Shepherd, the beloved “Showtime at the Apollo” personality “was the life of every party” who had a welcoming and warm presence.
“Kiki I am devastated that you are gone, but I am rejoicing because you LIVED and you lived boldly and joyfully,” the “Sherri” host wrote in an Instagram tribute.
“Your love of God was evident and I know you are having a ball up there,” she added.
Mo’Nique and Jackée Harry also honored Shepard’s life and legacy on Instagram. “Rest easy, my dear sweet friend,” comedian Harry said, “I’ll carry you with me always.”
Thursday’s protest ended at the National Assembly in Caracas. (Archive)
Caracas, March 14, 2026 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuelan workers, activists, and trade union organizers held marches in several cities on Thursday to demand wage increases and respect for labor rights.
A coalition of labor organizations staged protests in Caracas and over 25 other cities across the country. In the Venezuelan capital, around 1,000 demonstrators marched from Plaza Morelos and broke through a police cordon to reach the National Assembly in the city center.
“Mobilizations like the one we had today will continue and grow until the government changes its salary policies,” José Gregorio Afonso, president of the Central University of Venezuela (UCV) professors’ association, stated. “We believe the economic conditions allow for the establishment of a minimum wage as determined by the Constitution and the Labor Law.”
Afonso added that the Constitution mandates the government adjust the minimum wage at least once a year to keep up with inflation, but the last increase was in 2022. He likewise pointed to recent official figures of economic growth and prospects of increased oil revenues.
Thursday’s rally consisted largely of education sector trade unions, as well as public sector retirees. A commission met with a group of legislators at the end of the march to deliver a list of 17 demands signed by over 200 trade unions.
A similar document was delivered to the Labor Ministry following prior nationwide rallies on February 26. The labor organizations’ demands include raising the minimum wage in accordance with the Constitution and labor legislation, the release of workers and trade unionists allegedly arrested for defending labor rights, and the repeal of statutes such as the 2792 Memorandum that suspended several collective bargaining rights.
Activists have also voiced opposition to plans to implement a pro-business reform of the country’s Organic Law of Labor and Workers (LOTTT) that would cut benefits, social security contributions, and other employer responsibilities.
The historic 2012 law, approved by former President Hugo Chávez, prohibits unfair dismissal and outsourcing, enshrines the world’s third-longest maternity leave, guarantees the right to work for both women and people with disabilities, and extends retirement pensions to all workers, including full-time mothers and the self-employed.
Later on Thursday, the ruling Socialist Party (PSUV) held its own march in Caracas along the same route, with spokespeople urging the defense of the country’s peace and sovereignty, as well as calling for the release of kidnapped President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores.
Labor Minister Eduardo Piñate told reporters that the rally was in “firm backing” of the Maduro and Rodríguez government’s labor policies.
Gov’t increases bonus amid salary debates
On Friday, unofficial channels reported that the acting Rodríguez administration had raised the monthly “economic war bonus” by 25 percent, from US $120 to $150. Coupled with a $40 food bonus, the move brings the monthly income floor for public sector workers to $190. The amount is paid in bolívars at the official exchange rate.
Venezuelan government officials have not commented on the increase. It is not presently known whether public sector retirees and pensioners, who receive $70 and $50 economic war bonuses, respectively, will benefit from similar hikes.
Venezuela’s monthly minimum wage was set at 130 bolívars (BsD) in March 2022 and has not been adjusted since. At the time, 130 BsD amounted to around US $30, but with the Venezuelan currency’s devaluation, it is now equivalent to $0.29. With the Venezuelan economy heavily battered by US sanctions, the Nicolás Maduro government prioritized non-wage bonuses as the main income source for workers and pensioners.
Trade unions and leftist organizations have criticized the policy for violating the country’s labor laws and favoring business sector interests by reducing labor costs and making dismissals more flexible.
In recent weeks, trade union coalitions have put forward proposals for a minimum wage adjustment. Center-right and right-wing alliances such as the Independent Union Alliance (ASI) and the Confederation of Venezuelan Workers (CTV) have urged authorities to set the monthly minimum salary at $200 before pegging it to a cost-of-living index.
For its part, the government-aligned Bolivarian Socialist Union of Workers (CBST) proposed that the minimum wage be raised by $50 each quarter, though it did not specify a time frame. The CBST added that, should the government deem the salary increase unfeasible, it should implement a similar increase in non-wage bonuses.
Liberal economists, including Asdrúbal Oliveros and José Guerra, have argued that minimum wage increases beyond $100 and $150 a month, respectively, might place too high a burden on the state’s budget. At the same time, business sector representatives have called for a flexibilization of labor protections and benefits.
Leftist economists, including former PSUV congressman Tony Boza, Pasqualina Curcio, and Juan Carlos Valdez, have proposed raising wages and pegging them to inflation as is currently done by private banks with interest rates.
It is the second time in three years organisers have been forced to abandon plans for a summit finish in the so-called ‘queen stage’ of the race, which concludes in Nice on Sunday.
Vingegaard goes into the final stage with a commanding lead of three minutes 22 seconds over Colombia’s Dani Martinez in the general classification.
“I think it is very important that we race. This is one of the biggest races in the world, but it was pretty slippery towards the end,” Vingegaard said.
“We were, and still are, very much in favour of racing. You have to understand that Paris-Nice is one of the biggest races in the world, there are many sponsors involved, and they want to stage their finish – so we were keen to race.
“But when the finish line is here, maybe it is no longer possible. It would have been better to place the finish line 10 kilometres earlier. For us as riders, rain is part of the job, but when there is snow it is different.
“There were a few crashes at the end, probably because it was very slippery. In that situation it would have been better to say, ‘Let’s move the finish line a little earlier’. That was what we actually wanted.”
If David Nihill was a philosopher, his credo might be “I digress, therefore I am.”
Instead, Nihill is a comedian. Kind of. “I don’t know if I think of myself in those terms,” says Nihill, whose “Cultural Appreciation” special has 2.5 million views on YouTube. “I wouldn’t even call mine comedy specials.”
Nihill is a conversational storyteller who rarely even moves on stage. “I don’t know how to do performance,” he says, “but I do know how to talk.”
His current show, “Taking Tangents,” which takes him to Irvine, Pasadena and Los Angeles from March 13 to 17, is a wide-ranging collection of tales, with some material shifting from show to show. We’ll come back to it, but first, a few tangents.
Growing up in Ireland, Nihill, 47, struggled to learn, hampered by dyslexia — “I came in the lowest five percentile in the whole country of Ireland for spelling, and I didn’t even spell my name right on the test” — and an aversion to math. He was made to feel inferior because of his difficulties. “I was 100% in the ‘I am a moron’ category,” he says.
Nihill was shoved into a vocational program and most of his friends dropped out of school. He stayed in, but even when his father offered to buy him a Super Nintendo for certain math scores, Nihill fell short. His father bought it for him anyway, he says, “but I sold it and bought myself a motorcycle even though I was 15 and not legally old enough to drive.”
He finished high school and became a poorly paid, overworked apprentice electrician. That was enough to motivate him to go to college; there, he figured out how his brain worked and how to learn. He even developed a passion for reading: His last show, “Shelf Life,” wove in dozens of book recommendations.
During our conversation via video after a New York show, I’d ask one question, then follow Nihill as he ambled through his personal history. He started with a story about jumping off a cliff in Greece and shattering his leg — a part of “Tangents” — then going to Australia, before he stumbled into a master’s degree studying business back in Ireland (despite botching his application). A new friend there took him to his first-ever comedy show in Glasgow — there are even tangents within his digressions — before getting him a job with Enterprise Ireland, the government’s investment fund to boost Irish business overseas. That landed him in San Francisco, part of the “Cultural Appreciation” special. He left to pursue business opportunities in Mexico but, due to a hurricane, somehow ended up in Chile, spent a year wandering north toward America, and then scored an internship in Colombia.
Nihill is a conversational storyteller who rarely even moves on stage. “I don’t know how to do performance,” he says, “but I do know how to talk.”
(Jim McCambridge)
Eventually, Nihill’s story works its way to his current career, which began by accident. “It was never a dream or a goal,” he says. A friend in San Francisco had suffered a spinal cord injury and Nihill wanted to run a fundraiser, but dreaded public speaking.
That leads to a minor diversion, back to a college public speaking course in which Nihill was so terrified that he got drunk before his presentation and introduced himself “as an exchange student from Southern Yemen.”
In San Francisco, he started doing live comedy to overcome that fear. Meanwhile, his business background led him to see an opportunity and he created FunnyBizz, a company and conference where comedians help teach business leaders, like Kevin Harrington of “As Seen on TV,” how to use humor to communicate. The business bankrolled Nihill’s early days in comedy.
While Nihill has lived in America for years, most recently in Los Angeles, he remains passionately Irish, which shapes his shows in several ways.
In Ireland, “your nature is to just default to funny stories.”
He says American stand-up is about taking a topic and making it funny, aspiring for a five-minute joke-filled late night TV spot. Irish comedians say, “This thing happened to me and I think that’s funny. Let me just repeat it.”
The new show is named after “tangents” so that Nihill can go down different rabbit holes each night if he wants. “My head is always doing 60 different things,” he says, and he loves keeping his storytelling “free form and unfiltered,” whether he’s in a pub or on stage (or, apparently, in an interview).
The new show’s subjects will be familiar to Nihill’s fans: his parents, his foolish behavior (there are drunken college-age antics in a story that somehow eventually weaves in White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt) and Irish culture. “There are few countries that punch above their weight in social justice and social impact,” he says, and he always looks to draw connections with other cultures around the world. But the observations and connections he draws are new.
In New York, he added a bit about how 35% of Jamaicans have some Irish roots, quipping “imagine how fast they’d be without that” (in a nod to legendary sprinters like Usain Bolt). But for Nihill, that joke only works if it’s couched within the larger context of the cross-cultural connections, including the fact that Jamaican-born political activist Marcus Garvey drew upon the Irish independence movement for inspiration.
“There has to be some social value to doing it,” he says, although he’s quick to add his comedy isn’t overtly political. “My dad’s a teacher and that lives inside of me. Humor can be the ultimate tool for social activism. I am deliberately getting people to expand their minds in understanding these connections. I want comedy that makes everyone feel good and maybe learn something.”
Nihill on stage at Hollywood Improv.
(Jim McCambridge)
That “feel good” part is central: While he discusses his mother’s death from cancer last year, he leaves out a beautiful but poignant part of their final days together. “I’m deliberately avoiding that,” he says, because he wants to maintain an upbeat mood.
He digresses to tell me the story, however, and it’s literally longer than this entire article’s word count. “A very long answer to a very short question,” he admits, before swerving into a tale about back when his father had overstayed his visa in New York — it involves his dad being interviewed on CNN, getting into a bar fight and avoiding deportation because the immigration officer hailed from County Cork and Nihill’s dad burst into a song from there, earning him a six-month visa extension. The humanity of that scene “in contrast to a 5-year-old being dragged off to a detention center” may end up in a future Nihill show.
Nihill loves sharing the stories that come from observing and listening to people but says he doesn’t love the spotlight, which, he admits, makes comedy an odd career choice. He says he prefers telling stories to just a few people.
“With comedy, the best part for me is that before a show I eat half a chocolate bar and I leave the other half in the hotel room,” he says. “After the show, I get to finish it. That’s true happiness.”
