By LUIS ANDRES HENAO and GIOVANNA DELL’ORTO

Faith leaders who minister to Christians in Venezuela and the Venezuelan diaspora in the United States are urging prayers for peace as they attend to congregations roiled by uncertainty and high emotions following the U.S. capture of deposed leader Nicolás Maduro.

Related Articles

US military action in Venezuela is seen as both a blessing and a curse for Russia’s Putin

US seeks to assert its control over Venezuelan oil with tanker seizures and sales worldwide

What’s next in deposed Venezuela leader Nicolás Maduro’s criminal case

Commentary: Nicolás Maduro is not just a corrupt leader. He’s also a direct threat to US security

Trump says his voters loved the Venezuela attack — here’s what they really think

In Venezuela, initial statements from the Catholic bishops’ conference and the Evangelical Council of Venezuela were cautious, appealing for calm and patience, while many pastors in the diaspora welcomed Maduro’s ouster. The Catholic archbishop of Miami, who ministers to the largest Venezuelan community in the U.S., said there is an anxiousness about what is next, but he believes the church has a key role to play in helping the Catholic-majority country move forward.

About 8 million people have  fled Venezuela  since 2014, settling first in neighboring countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. After the COVID-19 pandemic, they increasingly set their sights on the United States, walking through the jungle in Colombia and Panama or flying to the U.S. on humanitarian parole with a financial sponsor.

Many have settled in South Florida, where they make up the country’s biggest Venezuelan community. Community members took to the streets waving flags in celebration after Maduro and his wife were captured in a U.S. military operation on Saturday.

But some have mixed feelings, Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski said. Since the start of February, the Trump administration has ended two federal programs that together  allowed more 700,000 Venezuelans  to live and work legally in the U.S.

“People are happy because Maduro is out, but there’s still a lot of uncertainty,” Wenski told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

“As far as for those who are here in this country that have lost their temporary protective status, they’re anxious about returning unless there is a real change of the political and social situation in the country.”

FILE – People celebrate after President Donald Trump announced Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro had been captured and flown out of the country, in Doral, Fla., Jan. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck, File)

Archbishop says the Catholic Church has a role to play

Amid the rising uncertainty in Venezuela, interim President Delcy Rodríguez has taken the place of Maduro and offered to collaborate with the Trump administration in what could be a seismic shift in relations between the adversary governments.

Wenski said he hopes conditions for the Catholic Church in Venezuela improve now that Maduro has been ousted.

“There have been over the years great tensions between the Maduro and Chavez regimes with the Catholic Church,” said Wenski, referring to Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chávez. “And still, in Venezuela, the church is perhaps the only institution that is independent of the government, that can speak quite courageously about the situation in the country.”

Among the tensions between the Maduro administration and the church, Wenski recalled how Cardinal Baltazar Porras, the archbishop emeritus of Caracas and a critic of the Maduro government, recently had his passport confiscated by Venezuelan immigration officials and was banned from traveling abroad.

“I think that the church should continue to speak up for democracy, but at the same time be patient, to be calm,” Wenski said. “The church is always promoting reconciliation and certainly given the polarization in Venezuela over these years … the church has to be a voice urging reconciliation between the different factions and the different political opinions or political parties in the country.”

In Doral, a Miami suburb of 80,000 that has been nicknamed “Little Venezuela” or “Doralzuela” because of its large Venezuelan population, many prayed for the future of their native country during Sunday services a day after Maduro was captured.

The Rev. Israel Mago, the Venezuelan born-pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Doral, told worshippers to pray for “a fair and peaceful transition in Venezuela, so peace and justice can reign.”

At the end of the service, he invited the congregation to join him in a special afternoon vigil to pray for justice in their countries of origin, especially, he said in Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua, where human rights advocates, exiled priests and the U.S. government say the Nicaraguan government is carrying out a crackdown on religion.

Pastors and the faithful turn to prayer

Also in Doral, the Rev. Frank López of Jesus Worship Center started his Sunday sermon by “congratulating” the Venezuelan people and thanking God for President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

“It’s time that in America, starting with Venezuela and may it continue with Cuba too, the glory and freedom might be manifested that Christ bought for you, for me, on the cross at Calvary,” the evangelical pastor told the cheering congregation, which counts more than 3,000 members from over 40 different nationalities.

In Philadelphia, members of the Venezuelan community gathered for a special Sunday service at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul. Many carried Venezuelan flags and prayer beads or wore jerseys of the national soccer team. The gathering was organized by Casa de Venezuela and other Venezuelan nonprofits in the U.S.

“We wanted to do it at the church so people would feel comfortable, protected. And this is regarded as a space of reconciliation,” said Arianne Bracho, vice president of Casa de Venezuela Philadelphia.

As a baptized but nonpracticing Catholic, she still felt compelled to pray for her country in a service that she described as emotional. “This was a gathering to reaffirm our hope, our faith, to call on tranquility and calm. And I think the house of God, whichever religion it might be, is the right place,” she said in Spanish.

Most of her family, she said, has been living abroad across the world, from “Japan to Colombia,” due to the political and economic crises in Venezuela. Today, she feels conflicted emotions about the country’s moment.

“I’m convulsed; I have mixed feelings. It was tough seeing our country being bombed. But it was necessary to remove Maduro for his drug crimes and human rights violations,” she said.

“What was clear to me, on that day where we gathered at the church, is that we all have faith that this will end.”

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

By ALEX VEIGA and GABRIELA AOUN ANGUEIRA, Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — On the first anniversary of the most destructive wildfires in the L.A. area, the scant home construction projects stand out among the still mostly flattened landscapes.

Fewer than a dozen homes have been rebuilt in Los Angeles County since the Jan. 7, 2025, Palisades and Eaton fires erupted, killing 31 people and destroying about 13,000 homes and other residential properties. The fires burned for more than three weeks and clean-up efforts took about seven months.

For those who had insurance, it’s often not enough to cover the costs of construction. Relief organizations are stepping in to help, but progress is slow.

Among the exceptions is Ted Koerner, whose Altadena home was reduced to ash and two chimneys. With his insurance payout tied up, the 67-year-old liquidated about 80% of his retirement holdings, secured contractors quickly, and moved decisively through the rebuilding process.

An aerial view shows houses being rebuilt on cleared lots months after the Palisades Fire, Dec. 5, 2025, in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Shortly before Thanksgiving, Koerner was among the first to finish a rebuild in the aftermath of the fires, which were fueled by drought and hurricane-force winds.

But most do not have options like Koerner.

The streets of the coastal community of Pacific Palisades and Altadena, a community in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, remain lined with dirt lots. In the seaside city of Malibu, foundations and concrete piles rising out of the sand are all that’s left of beachfront homes that once butted against crashing ocean waves.

Neighborhoods are pitch black at night, with few streetlamps replaced. Even many homes that survived are not inhabited as families struggle to clear them of the fire’s toxic contaminants.

Koerner was driven in part by fear that his beloved golden retriever, Daisy Mae, now 13 years old, might not live long enough to move into a new home, given the many months it can take to build even under the best circumstances.

He also did not have to wait for his insurance payout to start construction.

“That’s the only way we were going to get it done before all of a sudden my dog starts having labored breathing or something else happens,” Koerner said.

Once construction began, his home was completed in just over four months.

Daisy Mae is back lying in her favorite spot in the yard under a 175-year-old Heritage Oak. Koerner said he enjoys his morning coffee while watching her and it brings tears to his eyes.

“We made it,” he said.

Many fear they can’t afford to rebuild

About 900 homes are under construction, potentially on pace to be completed later this year.

Still, many homeowners are stuck as they figure out whether they can pay for the rebuilding process.

Scores of residents have left their communities for good. More than 600 properties where a single-family home was destroyed in the wildfires have been sold, according to real estate data tracker Cotality.

“We’re seeing huge gaps between the money insurance is paying out, to the extent we have insurance, and what it will actually cost to rebuild and/or remediate our homes,” said Joy Chen, executive director of the Eaton Fire Survivors Network, a group of 10,000 fire survivors mostly from Altadena.

Ellaird Bailey and his wife, Charlotte, who lost their home in the Eaton Fire, stand for a photo in front of their RV, which is parked on the property where their house once stood, Dec. 11, 2025, in Altadena, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

By December, less than 20% of people who experienced total home loss had closed out their insurance claims, according to a survey by the Department of Angels, a nonprofit that formed after the disaster to advocate for recovery efforts.

About one-third of insured respondents had policies with State Farm, the state’s largest private insurer, or the California FAIR plan, the insurer of last resort. They reported high rates of dissatisfaction with both, citing burdensome requirements, lowball estimates, and dealing with multiple adjusters.

In November, Los Angeles County opened a civil investigation into State Farm’s practices and potential violations of the state’s Unfair Competition law. Chen said the group has seen a flurry of substantial payouts since then.

State Farm has said it was focused on helping its customers recover from the largest fire disaster the company has ever faced.

Without answers from insurance, households can’t commit to rebuilding projects that can easily exceed $1 million.

“They’re worried about getting started and running out of money,” Chen said.

An uncertain future

Jessica Rogers discovered only after the Palisades fire destroyed her home that her coverage had been canceled.

The mother of two’s fallback was a low-interest loan from the Small Business Administration, but the application process was grueling. After losing her job because of the fire and then having her identity stolen, her approval for $550,000 came through last month.

Related Articles

Actor Awards, formerly SAG Awards, will announce nominations Wednesday

New dietary guidelines urge Americans to avoid processed foods and added sugar

Job openings slide to 2nd lowest level in 5 years as hiring remains sluggish

Wall Street’s hot start to the year cools as stocks drift

Horror of school attack in Uvalde, Texas, brings tears as officer faces trial over police response

She is still weighing how she’ll cover the remaining costs and says she wonders: “Do I empty out my 401(k) and start counting every penny in a penny jar around the apartment?”

Rogers — now executive director of the Pacific Palisades Long Term Recovery Group — estimates there are hundreds like her in Pacific Palisades who are “stuck dealing with FEMA and SBA and figuring out if we could piecemeal something together to build our homes.”

Also struggling to return home are the community’s renters, condo owners, and mobile homeowners. Meanwhile, many are also dealing with their trauma.

“It’s not what people talk about, but it is incredibly apparent and very real,” said Rogers, who still finds herself crying at unexpected moments.

A slow start

That so few homes have been rebuilt a year after the wildfires echoes the recovery pattern of a December 2021 blaze that erupted south of Boulder, Colorado, destroying more than 1,000 homes.

“At the one-year mark, many lots had been cleared of debris and many residents had applied for building permits, said Andrew Rumbach, co-lead of the Climate and Communities Program at Urban Institute. “Around the 18-month mark is when you start to see really significant progress in terms of going from handfuls to hundreds” of homes rebuilt.

A home being rebuilt is seen, Dec. 3, 2025, in Altadena, Calif., months after the Eaton Fire. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Time will bring the scope of problems into focus.

“You’re going to start to see some real inequality start to emerge where certain neighborhoods, certain types of people, certain types of properties are just lagging way far behind, and that becomes the really important question in the second year of a recovery: Who’s doing well and who is really struggling and why?” Rumbach said.

That’s a key concern in Altadena, which for decades drew aspiring Black homeowners who otherwise faced redlining and other forms of racial discrimination when they sought to buy a home in other L.A.-area communities. In 2024, 81% of Black households in Altadena owned their homes, nearly twice the national Black homeownership rate.

But recent research by UCLA’s Latino Policy & Politics Institute found that, as of August, 7 in 10 Altadena homeowners whose property was severely damaged in last year’s wildfire had not begun taking steps to rebuild or sell their home. Among these, Black homeowners were 73% more likely than others to have taken no action.

Determined to rebuild

Al and Charlotte Bailey have been living in an RV parked on the empty lot where their home once stood.

Ellaird Bailey, who lives in an RV on the property where his home was destroyed in the Eaton Fire, looks at building plans, Dec. 12, 2025, in Altadena, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

The Baileys are paying for their rebuild with funds from their insurance payout and a loan. They’re also hoping to receive money from Southern California Edison. Several lawsuits claim its equipment sparked the wildfire in Altadena.

“We had been here for 41 years and raised our family here, and in one night it was all gone,” said Al Bailey, 77. “We decided that, whatever it’s going to cost, this is our community.”

Minnesota opened Tuesday’s win over Miami with an action designed to get Donte DiVincenzo a touch.

Anthony Edwards brought the ball up the floor and attempted to get the ball to the sharpshooter, but Norman Powell — who went over the top of the off-ball screen — poked the pass away.

Edwards collected the loose ball, got a ball screen from Rudy Gobert and buried a triple.

There was a dead ball on Miami’s ensuing offensive possession in which Edwards and DiVincenzo convened to discuss the coverage, at which point Edwards shouted to his teammates, “Run the same play.”

This time, Minnesota took advantage of the aggressive coverage on DiVincenzo, running the shooter through the entire action that featured three separate screens. A patient Edwards hit the guard in the corner for an open catch-and-shoot 3-point attempt. It didn’t fall, but it was a great look generated by good offense.

And it was identified by a star guard growing more and more comfortable with what he’s being asked to do.

“He’s really settling into kind of his point guard mentality but still maintaining his aggressiveness,” Wolves coach Chris Finch said. “Figuring out ways to get his teammates involved, whether it be with the screening off the ball, I think he’s done a good job with that, calling their number, just keeping it simple.”

Simple, easy, consistent. Those words haven’t always defined Edwards’ loud brand of basketball, but they were adjectives to define Tuesday’s performance.

His shot diet was exemplary: He fired off-the-dribble triples when opponents abandoned the arc while dropping back in pick-and-roll coverage; he attacked the rim at other points via tactical prods; he found a number of catch-and-shoot chances while playing off the ball.

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) and forward Julius Randle (30) celebrate after scoring during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Miami Heat, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)

The latter portion of his offensive game continues to grow, as he ran around screen actions with the necessary force while relocating around the arc and cutting to make himself available in other instances.

As the point, he identified proper sets to get teammates involved while setting a tone of transition via his own attacks and by intentionally seeking out hit-ahead passes to get the ball up the floor.

It was far from the helio-centric offense Minnesota has at times played with the star guard.

The willingness to modify his approach opened natural windows for others to be aggressive. It was Julius Randle and Naz Reid in the first half; it was Jaden McDaniels and Donte DiVincenzo in the second. And it was all supplemented by a steady dose of Edwards throughout.

The Wolves’ top six rotational pieces all scored 12-plus points.

Edwards still scored 26 points in 29 minutes — a higher rate of points per minute (.89) than he has averaged throughout this prolific offensive season (.84). Equally efficient, less exhausting.

Isolation basketball is hard. It requires a significant amount of effort to create and make shots when the entire defense is designed to stop you from doing just that. What Edwards is starting to do on the offensive end looks far easier, and seems to be freeing up energy to expend on the defensive end.

The performance he put forth in that department on Tuesday — the end of the floor on which he’s been disappointing for much of the season — was outstanding. He walled up his man in isolation situations countless times. Edwards was only credited with one steal, but twice his defensive pressure resulted in his man losing the ball out of bounds, and on another occasion it led to an errant pass that resulted in a Naz Reid interception returned for an easy fastbreak layup.

Perhaps more significant was Edwards’ attention to off-ball responsibilities. He was in the proper gaps, providing the proper help. He was one of Minnesota’s best low-man defenders in the paint.

Opponents defended by Edwards are shooting just 7 for 22 from the field over Minnesota’s last two outings.

“His defense has been great the last few games,” Finch said.

On one possession, Edwards was hesitant to step into the lane to help, as he assumed Rudy Gobert had the situation handled in pick-and-roll coverage, as he often does. But Miami scored at the rim.

Edwards went over to the center after the play, discussed the situation, patted Gobert and moved forward.

The superstar was quiet, consistent and efficient, setting the tone for Minnesota’s third-straight workmanlike victory. He is orchestrating the team’s preferred brand of basketball on both ends of the floor with great success.

On the floor following the win, Gobert was asked how good the Timberwolves can be when they consistently play this way.

“A championship team,” he replied.

That is still Minnesota’s ceiling, but it requires consistent effort, tenacity and attention to detail. How much better are the Timberwolves when their best player is driving the bus in those “little things” departments, as he’s been doing of late?

“Exponentially,” Finch said.

Related Articles

‘A championship team’: Timberwolves dominant again in win over Miami

Anthony Edwards scores 35 points as Timberwolves rip Wizards, 141-115

Timberwolves snap Heat’s 4-game winning streak

Timberwolves housed by Hawks for third loss in four games

Frederick: Nickeil Alexander-Walker has bigger role in Atlanta, but is it better?

By MIKE SCHNEIDER and DAVID FISCHER

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday he plans to call a special session in April for the Republican-dominated legislature to draw new congressional districts, joining a redistricting arms race among states that have redrawn districts mid-decade.

Related Articles

Trump threats against Greenland pose new, potentially unprecedented challenge to NATO

Trump officials loosen strings on federal education money for Iowa. More states could follow

Trump leaves Venezuela’s opposition sidelined and Maduro’s party in power

Rubio says he plans to meet Danish officials next week to talk about US interest in Greenland

A Craigslist ad seeking child actors for Minnesota day care center was posted as a prank

Even though Florida’s 2026 legislative session starts next week, DeSantis said he wanted to wait for a possible ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court on a key provision of the Voting Rights Act. The ruling in Louisiana v. Callais could determine whether Section 2, a part of the Voting Rights Act that bars discrimination in voting systems, is constitutional. The governor said “at least one or two” districts in Florida could be affected by the high court’s ruling.

“I don’t think it’s a question of if they’re going to rule. It’s a question of what the scope is going to be,” DeSantis said at a news conference in Steinhatchee, Florida. “So, we’re getting out ahead of that.”

Currently, 20 of Florida’s 28 congressional seats are held by Republicans.

Congressional districts in Florida that are redrawn to favor Republicans could carry big consequences for President Donald Trump’s plan to reshape congressional districts in GOP-led states, which could give Republicans a shot at winning additional seats in the midterm elections and retaining control of the closely divided U.S. House.

Nationwide, the unusual mid-decade redistricting battle has so far resulted in a total of nine more seats Republicans believe they can win in Texas, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio — and a total of six more seats Democrats expect to win in California and Utah, putting Republicans up by three. But the redrawn districts are being litigated in some states, and if the maps hold for 2026, there is no guarantee the parties will win the seats.

In 2010, more than 60% of Florida voters approved a constitutional amendment prohibiting the drawing of district boundaries to unfairly favor one political party in a process known as gerrymandering. The Florida Supreme Court, however, last July upheld a congressional map pushed by DeSantis which critics said violated the “Fair Districts” amendment.

After that decision, Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez last August announced the creation of a select committee to examine the state’s congressional map.

Follow Mike Schneider on the social platform Bluesky: @mikeysid.bsky.social