ADVERTISEMENT

Some 15,000 nurses went on strike Monday in New York city at three large private hospital groups over pay and conditions.

Officials declared a state of emergency over the work stoppage which the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) said on its website came after months of bargaining for a new contract reached a deadlock.

The association says it is the largest strike by nurses in the city’s history.

Picket lines were set up at several private hospitals across New York including facilities of New York-Presbyterian, Montefiore Bronx, and Mount Sinai.

“Unfortunately, greedy hospital executives have decided to put profits above safe patient care and force nurses out on strike when we would rather be at the bedsides of our patients,” Nancy Hagans, NYSNA’s president, said.

“Hospital management refuses to address our most important issues — patient and nurse safety.”

New York’s Democratic socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani rallied in support of the nurses Monday, saying “we know that during 9/11 it was nurses that tended to the wounded.”

“We know that during the global pandemic, it was nurses that came into work, even at the expense of their own health,” he said, wearing a red NYSNA scarf.

Mamdani called on all sides to “return immediately to the negotiating table and not leave. They must bargain in good faith.”

The hospital groups involved discharged or transferred a number patients, canceled some surgeries and drafted in temporary staff.

A Mount Sinai spokesperson told CBS News that “unfortunately, NYSNA decided to move forward with its strike while refusing to move on from its extreme economic demands, which we cannot agree to, but we are ready with 1,400 qualified and specialized nurses — and prepared to continue to provide safe patient care for as long as this strike lasts.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Donald Trump has proclaimed he’s the “Acting President of Venezuela

Incumbent January 2026.” Styled like an edited Wikipedia page, an image, posted to social media, displayed his official portrait and listed his tenure as both the 45th and 47th President of the United States.

The actual Wikipedia page does not list Trump as Venezuela’s acting president, nor has any international body recognised the claim.

The post followed the US’ capture and removal of sitting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who was flown to New York along with his wife to face federal drug trafficking charges. The operation came after months of US pressure, sanctions, and military activity targeting the oil-rich nation. Maduro has claimed he was “kidnapped.” China, Russia, Colombia, and even Spain have called the US action a blatant violation of international law.

Hours after the operation, Trump declared that the US would “run” Venezuela temporarily, citing security concerns and the need for a controlled transition. He also said the US would oversee and sell Venezuelan oil to global markets during this interim period.

Inside Venezuela, Maduro’s second-in-command, Delcy Rodriguez, took the oath as interim President. Rodriguez rejected US claims of authority, demanded Maduro’s release, and declared him the nation’s rightful leader.

Trump warned that Rodriguez could “pay a very big price” if she did not cooperate with the US. Trump suggested her consequences could be even more severe than Maduro’s, who is being held in New York on narcoterrorism and drug trafficking charges.

Trump also claimed credit after Venezuela announced it would release a number of political prisoners as a gesture to “seek peace.” On Truth Social, he said that the releases had occurred “in a big way” following US action and warned the freed prisoners to “never forget it.”

The US President also asked major American oil companies to invest up to $100 billion in Venezuela to rapidly expand the country’s oil production. Speaking at a White House meeting with oil executives last week, Trump said the US would decide which companies are allowed to operate in Venezuela and help rebuild its deteriorated oil sector.

He praised an agreement with Venezuela’s interim leadership to supply 50 million barrels of crude oil to the US and said deliveries could continue indefinitely. He said that increased supply would help lower US energy prices.

Trump also signed an executive order protecting money held in the United States that is derived from sales of Venezuelan oil.

ADVERTISEMENT

Sean “Diddy” Combs, currently serving a four-year jail term for offences related to prostitution, has reportedly sought a presidential pardon from Donald Trump, a request the US president says he has no intention of granting.

In an interview with The New York Times published on Thursday, Trump said he was not considering clemency for the hip-hop star or several other prominent figures, including Venezuela’s former leader, Nicolas Maduro.

Combs, 56, was convicted in July on two counts of transporting individuals across state lines for prostitution, although a jury cleared him of more serious charges involving sex trafficking and racketeering.

Trump confirmed that Combs had written to him requesting a pardon but made clear he was uninterested in acting on it. Asked about Maduro—who was recently captured by US forces and now faces drug trafficking charges—Trump replied, “No, I don’t see that.”

The president also recalled that he granted clemency in November to former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez, who had been serving a 45-year sentence for drug-related crimes.

Trump further ruled out pardons for disgraced cryptocurrency executive Sam Bankman-Fried, sentenced to 25 years in prison, and former Democratic senator Robert Menendez, who is serving 11 years for bribery.

Responding to questions about Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted in the 2020 killing of George Floyd, Trump said, “I haven’t been asked about it.”

On his inauguration day, Trump issued pardons to more than 1,500 individuals convicted or charged in connection with the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol, and has since extended clemency to several loyalists.