NEW YORK (AP) — The wife of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was set to be back in court Thursday, where her lawyers will urge a judge to free her from jail and put her under house arrest because she has heart problems.
Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores have been behind bars in New York since early January when forces seized them from their Caracas home in a middle-of-the-night raid.
Both have pleaded not guilty in a criminal case first brought six years ago against them and numerous alleged co-conspirators. They face potential life prison sentences if convicted of being part of a conspiracy to send cocaine into the U.S.
Their attorneys have asked for the case to be dismissed on the grounds that they have immunity as the leader and first lady of a foreign country.
Lawyers for Flores, 69, have also argued that she has medical issues that cannot be treated effectively in jail, and that she could instead be allowed to live under 24-hour guard at a residence in New York.
They also said she suffered permanent scarring when she was “thrown against a wall or dresser” during the U.S. military action that led to her capture.
Her lawyers say she has lost 25 pounds (11 kilograms) while imprisoned at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn and has been told that she might need heart surgery. They said she also suffers from “lingering lightheadedness, dizziness and shortness of breath" and might have suffered a minor heart attack in July.
Prosecutors opposed the bail request. In a court filing, they wrote that Flores would pose an “extreme risk of flight and danger to the public” if released. They also said she has been taken from the jail to get treatment at a local hospital, when care was needed.
President Donald Trump’s administration has defended the raid to capture Maduro as a “surgical law enforcement operation.” Maduro has called himself a prisoner of war and his capture a kidnapping.
Flores is charged with participating in a cocaine importation conspiracy with her husband, Maduro, who served as Venezuela's president from 2013 until his capture by American forces in January.
Lawyers for Flores said she was no threat to flee because she is “intent on supporting her husband with her constant presence.”
FILE - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores wave after his swearing-in ceremony for a third term at the National Assembly in Caracas, Venezuela, on Jan. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)
Britain says it has reached an agreement with Israel over its consulate in east Jerusalem, even as Israel said the building had “ceased to function” as a consulate and that 20 diplomats would leave the country. The sign outside it was removed.
The British military said late Wednesday that several projectiles struck a tanker off the coast of Qatar, causing multiple casualties, but did not provide more details.
Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Thursday. Read our full coverage here.
Britain said it had reached an agreement with Israel's government to downgrade its consulate in east Jerusalem, and a small team of diplomats will continue to operate in what will now be known as the U.K. Mission.
Israel's government said last month it would close the consulate in response to the United Kingdom banning trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said in a statement that the consulate had “ceased to function as a consulate.” He said twenty British diplomats will leave Israel, and that the building will continue to operate with seven diplomats engaged in limited activity.
“Israel will no longer turn its cheek to diplomatic attacks against it," he said.
British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband denied the building will close and said it will be known as the U.K. Mission. Miliband said the seven diplomats remaining will continue to work with Palestinians, but gave no details. The UK said based on the current agreement, it would not take reciprocal action such as expelling Israeli diplomats from London.
The British military said late Wednesday that several projectiles struck a tanker off the coast of Qatar, causing multiple casualties.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center said the attack took place in the Persian Gulf, north of Qatar’s city of Madinat ash Shamal. The city is on the northern tip of Qatar.
The U.K. military did not identify the tanker and did not provide any details about the casualties. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack and no comment from Qatar.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s former military secretary has accused the Israeli leader of altering official transcripts of phone calls from the morning of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks.
The accusations by Maj. Gen. Avi Gil came in a wide-ranging interview with the right-wing Israel Hayom newspaper.
In excerpts of the interview published Thursday, Gil accused Netanyahu of attempting to change records of their phone calls in the first hour of the attack, possibly in an attempt to shift blame for failures that morning from the prime minister to his advisers.
Gil said he reported the attempt, allegedly made by Netanyahu's chief of staff, to the attorney general. Gil served as military secretary from 2021 to 2024.
In the interview, Gil also confirmed that a senior Egyptian intelligence official had visited Israel shortly before the Oct. 7 attack. Asked whether there had been a warning, Gil said he did not know what message was relayed, but added: "Whoever met with someone or received something is still concealing it today.”
Gil’s full interview is expected to be published over the weekend, and an interview with an Israeli TV channel is also planned.
The report comes as Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister, is seeking re-election on Oct. 27. His Likud party told Israel Hayom that Gil's comments are part of an attempt to oust Netanyahu from power, the paper said.
This report will be updated throughout the day as new developments emerge.
A mosque's minaret and buildings are seen in the West Bank village of Abu Dis behind the Israel's separation wall near Jerusalem, Monday, Oct. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
