Venezuela's embattled President Nicolas Maduro has rejected a European ultimatum that gave him eight days to call new elections.
For more on this and other news around the world we turn to our Ro Aram…
Aram… pressure keeps piling on Maduro, but he's not going out without a fight…

That's right Mark… the UK and four other European nations said they would formally recognize the head of Venezuela's parliament, Juan Guaido, as the legitimate president.
If that happens, they would be joining the U.S. and a host of other nations that have already done so.
In an interview with CNN Turk, Maduro accused Europe of "kneeling" before U.S. President Donald Trump.

"……Europe has had a very insolent position, not sustainable, unpresentable, and must withdraw its ultimatum….. All of Europe is kneeling before Donald Trump, its that simple, especially in the Venezuelan issue."

Maduro has accused Washington of leading an imperialist intervention in his country.
He has the backing of nations such as Russia, China and Iran who have all expressed similar sentiment.
But, far more countries are backing Guaido, who has declared himself interim president.
The opposition leader is also stepping appeals for Venezuela's military to turn against the socialist leader.

"Venezuelan soldiers, I'm speaking to you: it's the time to get on the side of the Constitution, it's not the time to fear. It's not the time to back out."

While small rebellions against Maduro have broken out in Venezuela's armed forces in recent months, there has not yet been any large scale military uprising against him.
The Venezuelan political crisis has now become the stage for international tensions, with heated exchanges at the UN Security Council over the weekend regarding the situation.