Top story: Juan Guaidó offers amnesty if president goes quietly

Good morning. This is Alison Rourke bringing you the last briefing for the week.

Venezuela’s crisis shows no signs of abating as the US state department ordered all its non-emergency staff to leave the country and urged US citizens to “strongly consider” leaving. It came as the head of Venezuala’s armed forces warned of a civil war sparked by a Washington-backed “criminal plan” to unseat president Nicolás Maduro. “We are here to avoid, at all costs … a conflict between Venezuelans,” defence minister Vladimir Padrino said in a live broadcast, as he declared his support for Maduro.

Meanwhile, the president’s challenger, opposition leader and self-appointed interim president, Juan Guaidó, offered Maduro an amnesty if he went quietly. In his first interview since Wednesday’s dramatic declaration, Guaidó said he was determined to bring Maduro’s “dictatorship” to an end, stabilise his economically devastated nation and organise free elections “as soon as possible”.

In Washington, diplomatic onlookers were left scratching their heads over the possible next steps in US’s push for regime change in Caracas. As Julian Borger writes, remarks by senior administration figures suggest the Trump White House has not completely worked out the full details of its ambitious gambit to change the Venezuelan leader.

‘Common ground’ – The Queen has delivered a speech calling for people never to lose “sight of the bigger picture” in what has been seen in some quarters as an veiled reference to Brexit. In the speech to the Sandringham Women’s Institute, she spoke of the virtues of “respecting” the other person’s point of view. It echoed her Christmas address when she touched on the same theme, telling the nation: “Even with the most deeply held differences, treating the other person with respect and as a fellow human being is always a good first step towards greater understanding.” Her speech came as Philip Hammond told business leaders they needed to accept the result of Britain’s EU referendum and warned that a failure to implement it would damage the country’s political stability. He said a promise had been made to voters in 2016 that they were choosing a more prosperous future: “Not leaving would be a betrayal, but leaving without a deal would also be a betrayal.”

US shutdown – Opposing bills in the US Senate have failed to break the political impasse in Washington where the partial government closure is entering its 35th day. It’s a fresh blow for Donald Trump that has deepened the sense of dysfunctional government and left Washington in deadlock. Meanwhile, Trump’s commerce chief, billionaire Wilbur Ross, was ridiculed for saying he didn’t “understand why” unpaid government workers were turning to food banks, suggesting they should take out loans instead. Critics say Ross’s comments characterise a more general response to the shutdown from the wealthy right, some of whom have suggested workers caught in the shutdown are “better off” because they had time off over Christmas, without having to use up annual leave.

Play Video 1:50 'We want to work': how the shutdown is affecting US federal workers – video

C02 set to soar – The Met Office says the level of climate-warming carbon dioxide in the atmosphere globally will rise by near-record amounts in 2019, fuelled by the continued burning of fossil fuels and the destruction of forests. It will be particularly high in 2019 due to an expected return towards El Niño-like conditions, during which plants and trees’ ability to absorb C02 is reduced. “This year we expect these carbon sinks to be relatively weak, so the impact of record high human-caused emissions will be larger than last year,” he said.

Windrush – The high court has ordered a new inquest into the death of Dexter Bristol after the original coroner failed to consider the impact of the Home Office’s “hostile environment” policy on his health. Bristol was 57 when he died, having moved from Grenada to the UK in 1968, when he was eight. He was sacked from his cleaning job last year because he had no passport, and was denied benefits. The original inquest found he died of natural causes but the assistant coroner declined to consider evidence that stress was a contributing factor, something his family challenged.

‘Needle in a haystack’ – The remains of the famous British explorer Matthew Flinders, who led the first circumnavigation of Australia, have been uncovered near London’s Euston station, 200 years after he was buried. The graveyard is being excavated to make way for the high-speed line between London and Birmingham. Only a small proportion of the 40,000 bodies being exhumed from St James’s cemetery, behind the station, have been identified so far, making the discovery of Flinders’ remains earlier this month a “needle in a haystack” find, according to the project’s lead archaeologist.

Today in Focus podcast: The Catholic church faces its past



Last year investigations around the world showed that historical sexual abuse within the Catholic church had been covered up for decades. India Rakusen talks to two survivors and hears from the Guardian’s religion correspondent Harriet Sherwood on how the church plans to move forward. Plus: the Guardian’s Tom Phillips on Juan Guaidó’s attempted take over in Venezuela.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Pope Francis visiting Panama City on Wednesday for World Youth Day events. Photograph: Arnulfo Franco/AP

Lunchtime read: The business of kidnapping

Kidnapping and ransom insurance was created in the 1930s, but it wasn’t until the 60s that it began to really catch on, following a spate of kidnappings in Europe by groups such as Eta in Spain, the Red Army Faction in Germany and the Red Brigades in Italy. The appeal was simple: in the event of a kidnapping, the insurance would provide reimbursement for ransom payment.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Jennifer Guinness with her husband John Guinness at a press conference following her release, April 1986. Photograph: Independent News and Media/Getty Images

Nearly a century later, London is the global centre for kidnap and ransom insurance, but it has not always been a comfortable fit. Official policy in the UK (and US) – unlike in many other countries – is to never make concessions to kidnappers, refusing to negotiate with terrorists, pay ransom or make concessions. The logic of that policy is that paying ransom puts a target on the back of British citizens, increasing the risk of future kidnappings. But those taken sometimes die as a result. Joel Simon asks if it is time to rethink.

Sport

Maurizio Sarri claimed Carabao Cup progress beyond Tottenham on penalties into the first major final of his coaching career will breathe new “enthusiasm” into Chelsea’s season. Eighteen wickets fell on a bewildering second day of the first Test which ended with West Indies leading England by 339 runs with four second innings wickets remaining. The family of the footballer Emiliano Sala have pleaded for rescuers to continue searching for the player and a pilot after their light aircraft went missing over the Channel Islands. Thierry Henry has been suspended by Monaco three months after his appointment as manager.

Fifa has urged Thailand’s government to immediately release the Bahraini footballer Hakeem al-Araibi, who has been held in a Bangkok prison for nearly two months and fears he will be tortured and possibly killed if he is sent back to his home country. And a 47-year-old English woman named Dee Ford is taking the heat on Twitter for a gaffe made by the Kansas City Chiefs linebacker of the same name.

Business

While Brexit has invoked many stories of economic doom, one upside may be the ability to fix your mortgage payments on a cheap rate for the next decade. According to the latest research from the mortgage number crunchers Moneyfacts, the average 10-year fixed mortgage rate has decreased significantly over the past five years and now stands at an average of 3.05%.

The pound is buying €1.16 and $1.31.

The papers

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Photograph: The Guardian

Alex Salmond is on the front of many of the papers. “Salmond accused of sexual assault and attempted rape” is the Guardian’s headline. The Scotsman and the i devote their entire front pages to Salmond, with the headlines “Salmond charged with attempted rape” and “In the dock”, respectively. The Telegraph also splashes on the story: “Alex Salmond charged with two counts of attempted rape”.



The FT and the Times both carry pictures of Salmond but devote their splashes to Brexit. “Queen calls for end to Brexit feud” is the Times headline. The FT has “Industry chiefs implore May to rule out no-deal Brexit ‘madness’”. The Express also goes with Brexit: “Gear up for no deal Brexit!” it says.

The Mirror and the Mail both splash on Jack Shepherd. Under the headline “Speedboat Killer Outrage” the Mail reports the “final insult” that Shepherd is “using YOUR money to appeal his conviction”. The Mirror has “Speedboat killer’s high life on the run”.



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