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American guitarist and songwriter Bob Weir, a founding member of the revolutionary, psychedelic jam band Grateful Dead, has died aged 78, his family announced Saturday.Weir was diagnosed with cancer in July and had beaten the disease, but “succumbed to underlying lung issues,” his family said in a statement on his personal website, without specifying where or when he died.”For over sixty years, Bobby took to the road,” the statement said. “Bobby will forever be a guiding force whose unique artistry reshaped American music.””His work did more than fill rooms with music; it was warm sunlight that filled the soul, building a community, a language, and a feeling of family that generations of fans carry with them.”Founded in San Francisco by Weir, Jerry Garcia, Ron “Pigpen” McKernan, Phil Lesh, and Bill Kreutzmann, the Grateful Dead became one of the leading music groups to emerge from the 1960s counterculture movement.With its trademark improvisational, genre-blending style, the band became known for never performing the same show twice, winning an avid and diverse legion of fans, and selling millions of records.The group revolutionized fan engagement, as followers — famously known as “Deadheads” — recorded and swapped bootleg tapes of the concerts in a communal, drug-addled camp environment that traveled from stadium to stadium, a trend later copied by other bands’ fandoms.The rockers disbanded in 1995, a few months after lead guitarist Garcia’s death at the age of 53, and a year after the group was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.Weir would however continue to perform intermittently with other living bandmembers, more recently in the group Dead & Company, which also included guitarist and singer John Mayer.”As we remember Bobby, it’s hard not to feel the echo of the way he lived,” the family said.”A man driftin’ and dreamin’, never worrying if the road would lead him home. A child of countless trees. A child of boundless seas,” the family said, quoting the songs “Cassidy” and “Lost Sailor,” written by Weir and the late John Perry Barlow.Following Weir’s death, 79-year-old drummer Kreutzmann became the last living co-founder of the Grateful Dead.Bassist Lesh died in October 2024 at the age of 84, while keyboardist McKernan died aged 27 in 1973.Drummer Mickey Hart, 82, joined the group in 1967.In 2024, the final year of Joe Biden’s presidency, Weir and other living Grateful Dead members were given Kennedy Center Honors, among the highest American arts awards.”The Grateful Dead has always been about community, creativity, and exploration in music and presentation,” Weir, Hart, Lesh and Kreutzmann said at the time.”Our music belongs as much to our fans, the Dead Heads, as it does to us. This honor, then, is as much theirs as ours.”

Several hundred supporters of deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro staged protests in the capital Saturday, a week after his capture by US forces, as the interim government moved to revive ties with Washington and slowly released some prisoners.Waving flags and placards with the face of the mustachioed ex-leader and his wife Cilia, around 1,000 protesters rallied in the west of Caracas and a few hundred in the eastern Petare district — far smaller than demonstrations Maduro’s camp has mustered in the past.”I’ll march as often as I have to until Nicolas and Cilia come back,” demonstrator Soledad Rodriguez, 69, said of the presidential couple who were taken by US forces to New York to face trial on drug-trafficking charges.”I trust blindly that they will come back — they have been kidnapped.”Notably absent from the rallies were top figures from the government, which has said it is reviving diplomatic contact with Washington and discussing possible cooperation on US President Donald Trump’s oil demands.Interim president Delcy Rodriguez instead attended an agricultural fair, where she vowed in televised comments she would “not rest for a minute until we have our president back.”The other two hardline powers in the government, Interior Minister and street enforcer Diosdado Cabello, and Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez, were also not seen at the demos.- Diplomatic maneuvers -Maduro claimed he was “doing well” in jail, his son Nicolas Maduro Guerra said in a video released Saturday by his party.Despite the shock of his capture during deadly nighttime raids on January 3, signs emerged Friday of cooperation with Washington after Trump’s claim to be “in charge” of the South American country.Rodriguez said Venezuela would deal with the United States through “the diplomatic route,” and Washington said US envoys visited Caracas on Friday to discuss reopening their embassy.The Venezuelan government did not respond when asked by AFP whether the US officials had met with Rodriguez.She has pledged to cooperate with Trump over his demands for access to Venezuela’s huge oil reserves.But she also moved to placate the powerful pro-Maduro base by insisting Venezuela is not “subordinate” to Washington.The US embassy in Colombia warned Saturday that “the security situation in Venezuela remains fluid” and advised Americans to leave the country “immediately” as commercial flights become available.- Anxiety over prisoners -Anxious relatives meanwhile camped outside jails, awaiting the promised release of political prisoners.Rodriguez’s camp on Thursday began freeing prisoners jailed under Maduro, saying a “large” number would be released in a gesture of appeasement that Washington took credit for.”Venezuela has started the process, in a BIG WAY, of releasing their political prisoners. Thank you! I hope those prisoners will remember how lucky they got that the USA came along and did what had to be done,” Trump posted Saturday night on his Truth Social platform.However, prisoners’ rights groups and the opposition said only 21 people had been released by Saturday evening, including several prominent opposition figures. Rights groups estimate there are 800 to 1,200 political prisoners in Venezuela.Families held candlelight vigils outside El Rodeo prison east of Caracas, and El Helicoide, a notorious prison run by the intelligence services, displaying signs with the names of their imprisoned relatives.”I am tired and angry,” Nebraska Rivas, 57, told AFP, as she waited for her son to be released from El Rodeo.”But I have faith that they will hand him over to us soon,” she said, after sleeping on the pavement outside the prison for two nights.- Oil talks -Following Maduro’s capture, Trump vowed to secure US access to Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.The White House said Trump has signed an emergency order protecting US-held revenues derived from sales of Venezuelan oil, preventing them from being seized by courts or creditors.Chevron is currently the only US firm licensed to operate in Venezuela, through a sanctions exemption.At a White House meeting on Friday, he pressed top oil executives to invest in Venezuela’s reserves, but was met with a cautious reception.Experts say Venezuela’s oil infrastructure is creaky after years of mismanagement and sanctions.

The future of the Chrysler Building, a unique monument to art deco architecture on the Manhattan skyline, remains in limbo as it awaits a possible sale.The building, affixed with gargoyles, stainless steel design nods to early Chrysler vehicles and a celebrated crown and needle top, has been put up for sale after a New York judge expropriated the property in September 2024 from prior leaseholders who were in arrears.The famed skyscraper, which began hosting tenants in April 1930 and was once the world’s tallest building, continues to draw tourists to its blue-chip address of 405 Lexington Avenue in the heart of Manhattan.But real estate insiders say the property is badly in need of remodeling, with aging office spaces, tiny windows, fickle elevators and a pesky rodent population among its ills.”The beautiful (Chrysler Building) has lots of technical issues but it’s unclear what the best use for the building is,” said Ruth Colp-Haber, a partner at Wharton Property Advisors, who believes costly investment will be needed to update the structure.”Everything’s on hold there until they figure out who’s the owner and what’s his game plan,” she said. “They are not showing spaces.”- Cooper Union connection -The Chrysler Building was first envisioned in the roaring 1920s, prior to the 1929 Wall Street crash, and completed in just two years.It opened with fanfare and hosted an observation deck until 1945. The building stood as the tallest structure in the world prior to the completion of the Empire State Building in 1931.The land on which the building sits has been owned since 1902 by the Cooper Union, a private college that specializes in art, architecture and engineering.The school’s most recent tenant, a consortium of real estate firm RFR and Austrian firm Signa, had reached an agreement in 2019 to buy the building for $151 million with a promise of $250 million in upgrades.But Signa filed for insolvency in 2023 and RFR stopped paying rent in May 2024, according to legal documents reviewed by AFP, with the latter owing $21 million when the property was expropriated. Cooper Union leaders have said the Chrysler Building’s travails will not result in higher tuition rates or fewer scholarships. “We have built important reserves and surpluses over the last seven years,” Cooper Union interim president Malcolm King said in a message to employees and students, adding that they had “planned for a range of scenarios, including this one.”Current tenants of the building include prestigious law firms, investment groups and creative agencies.New York’s commercial real estate industry has partially recovered from the pandemic and early post-pandemic period when companies were slow to return to the office. But the Chrysler Building faces tough competition from newer buildings, like the nearby One Vanderbilt Avenue or the gleaming Hudson Yards structures. Further complicating the situation is the structure’s 1978 designation as a New York City landmark, a distinction that means significant changes must be approved by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.Exactly what will happen to the building remains clouded in mystery. AFP queries to the Cooper Union, the landmark commission and leading real estate brokers went unanswered.In any case, “it is extraordinarily rare for the commission to approve the demolition of an individual landmark,” said an expert who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Toy makers at the Consumer Electronics Show were adamant about being careful to ensure that their fun creations infused with generative artificial intelligence don’t turn naughty.That need was made clear by a recent Public Interest Research Groups report with alarming findings, including an AI-powered teddy bear giving advice about sex and how to find a knife.After being prompted, a Kumma bear suggested that a sex partner could add a “fun twist” to a relationship by pretending to be an animal, according to the “Trouble in Toyland” report published in November.The outcry prompted Singaporean startup FoloToy to temporarily suspend sales of the bears.FoloToy chief executive Wang Le told AFP that the company switched to a more advanced version of the OpenAI model used.When PIRG tested the toy for the report, “they used some words children would not use,” Wang Le said.He expressed confidence that the updated bear would either evade or not answer inappropriate questions.Toy giant Mattel, meanwhile, made no mention of the report in mid-December when it postponed the release of its first toy developed in partnership with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI.- Caution advised -The rapid advancement of generative AI since ChatGPT’s arrival has paved the way for a new generation of smart toys.Among the four devices tested by PIRG was Curio’s Grok — not to be confused with xAI’s voice assistant — a four-legged stuffed toy inspired by a rocket that has been on the market since 2024.The top performer in its class, Grok refused to answer questions unsuitable for a five-year-old.It also allowed parents to override the algorithm’s recommendations with their own and to review the content of interactions with young users.Curio has received the independent KidSAFE label, which certifies that child protection standards are being applied.However, the plush rocket is also designed to continuously listen for questions, raising privacy concerns about what it does with what is said around it.Curio told AFP it was working to address concerns raised in the PIRG report about user data being shared with partners such as OpenAI and Perplexity.”At the very least, parents should be cautious,” Rory Erlich of PIRG said about having chatbot-enabled toys in the house.”Toys that retain information about a child over time and try to form an ongoing relationship should especially be of concern.”Chatbots in toys do create opportunities for them to serve as tutors of sorts.Turkish company Elaves says its round, yellow toy Sunny will be equipped with a chatbot to help children learn languages.”Conversations are time-limited, naturally guided to end, and reset regularly to prevent drifting, confusion, or overuse,” said Elaves managing partner Gokhan Celebi. This was to answer the tendency that AI chatbots get into trouble — spouting errors or going off the rails — when conversations drag on.Olli, which specializes in integrating AI into toys, has programmed its software to alert parents when inappropriate words or phrases are spoken during exchanges with built-in bots.For critics, letting toy makers police themselves on the AI front is insufficient.”Why aren’t we regulating these toys?” asks Temple University psychology professor Kathy Hirsh-Pasek.”I’m not anti-tech, but they rushed ahead without guardrails, and that’s unfair to kids and unfair to parents.”

Pendants and brooches packed with artificial intelligence abounded at the Consumer Electronics show, using cameras and microphones to watch and listen through the day like a vigilant personal assistant.The return of the wearable tech comes about a year after the discontinuation of a Humane AI Pin panned by reviewers after it was launched amid high expectations in early 2024.It also comes as OpenAI chief Sam Altman and renowned industrial designer Jony Ive collaborate on a device for interacting with AI, expected to be ready by next year.Not everyone is a fan of always-watching neckwear as a fashion accessory.”Go make some real friends” became common graffiti on New York City subway ads for Friend brand AI pendants late last year to protest “surveillance capitalism.”Nonetheless, at the CES show in Las Vegas, gadget makers have pitched AI pendants as note-takers or ways to remember beautiful or important moments of each day.Technical advances including improved chips have helped overcome early problems with poor battery life, buggy software, and stumbling conversations that tainted early pendant models.China-based laptop titan Lenovo unveiled a prototype pendant from its Motorola subsidiary that allows voice control of its AI assistant Qira.The device worn around the neck will capture sound and images hands-free.Amazon made a deal to buy wearable AI startup Bee last year, and Meta acquired AI device company Limitless.Bee devices are worn on the wrist, belt or lapel, and primarily function as an assistant by taking notes, offering reminders and keeping calendars.Meanwhile, Meta has made a priority of developing AI “superintelligence” and is successfully packing AI into Ray-Ban glasses.- Style choices -Companies are taking an array of approaches to wearable AI.Startup Vocci, which focuses on AI-assisted notetaking, has opted for a ring, while Plaud has a pin as well as a rectangular device barely thicker than a credit card for keeping track of what is being said.Chinese startup iBuddi came to Las Vegas to present a prototype of a companion medallion aimed at combating screen fatigue.”Our core philosophy is to build a body-worn AI companion that replaces some phone interactions, rather than adding another screen that absorbs attention,” iBuddi founder Yin Haitian told AFP.The entrepreneur, who aims for a commercial launch in July, was adamant that iBuddi “is not driven by surveillance” but instead “reacts to the moments that matter instead of continuously recording everything.”A Looki L1 AI wearable, on the other hand, continuously captures a wearer’s point of view, promising to advise when to avoid another cup of coffee, to comment on places or objects around you, and to summarize each day in a comic strip.”Consumer expectations regarding privacy haven’t gone away entirely, but they are shifting,” said Avi Greengart, an analyst at tech research and advisory group, Techsponential. “We’re already being surveilled by billions of smartphones, city camera networks and smart devices that we willingly placed in our homes.”The analyst does not expect wearable AI to replace smartphones any time soon but sees them becoming common additions to personal tech ensembles along with smart watches, rings and glasses.For those uncomfortable with idea of omnipresent surveillance, a startup at CES offered “Wearphone” — a mask with built-in earbuds and microphones designed to help keep conversations private.

Here are the nominees in key categories for the 83rd Golden Globe Awards, which will be handed out on Sunday.”One Battle After Another” leads all contenders with nine nods, followed by “Sentimental Value” with eight and “Sinners” with seven.- FILM -Best film, drama”Frankenstein””Hamnet””It Was Just An Accident””The Secret Agent””Sentimental Value””Sinners”Best film, musical or comedy”Blue Moon””Bugonia””Marty Supreme””No Other Choice””Nouvelle Vague””One Battle After Another”Best male actor, dramaJoel Edgerton, “Train Dreams”Oscar Isaac, “Frankenstein”Dwayne Johnson, “The Smashing Machine”Michael B. Jordan, “Sinners”Wagner Moura, “The Secret Agent”Jeremy Allen White, “Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere”Best female actor, dramaJessie Buckley, “Hamnet”Jennifer Lawrence, “Die, My Love”Renate Reinsve, “Sentimental Value”Julia Roberts, “After the Hunt”Tessa Thompson, “Hedda”Eva Victor, “Sorry, Baby”Best male actor, musical or comedyTimothee Chalamet, “Marty Supreme”George Clooney, “Jay Kelly”Leonardo DiCaprio, “One Battle After Another”Ethan Hawke, “Blue Moon”Lee Byung-hun, “No Other Choice”Jesse Plemons, “Bugonia”Best female actor, musical or comedyRose Byrne, “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You”Cynthia Erivo, “Wicked: For Good”Kate Hudson, “Song Sung Blue”Chase Infiniti, “One Battle After Another”Amanda Seyfried, “The Testament of Ann Lee”Emma Stone, “Bugonia”Best supporting actorBenicio Del Toro, “One Battle After Another”Jacob Elordi, “Frankenstein”Paul Mescal, “Hamnet”Sean Penn, “One Battle After Another”Adam Sandler, “Jay Kelly”Stellan Skarsgard, “Sentimental Value”Best supporting actressEmily Blunt, “The Smashing Machine”Elle Fanning, “Sentimental Value”Ariana Grande, “Wicked: For Good”Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, “Sentimental Value”Amy Madigan, “Weapons”Teyana Taylor, “One Battle After Another”Best directorPaul Thomas Anderson, “One Battle After Another”Ryan Coogler, “Sinners”Guillermo Del Toro, “Frankenstein”Jafar Panahi, “It Was Just An Accident”Joachim Trier, “Sentimental Value”Chloe Zhao, “Hamnet”Best non-English language film”It Was Just An Accident” (France)”No Other Choice” (South Korea)”The Secret Agent” (Brazil)”Sentimental Value” (Norway)”Sirat” (Spain)”The Voice of Hind Rajab” (Tunisia)Best cinematic and box office achievement:”Avatar: Fire and Ash””F1″”KPop Demon Hunters””Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning””Sinners””Weapons””Wicked: For Good””Zootopia 2″Best animated feature”Arco””Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba — Infinity Castle””Elio””KPop Demon Hunters””Little Amelie or the Character of Rain””Zootopia 2″- TELEVISION -Best drama series”The Diplomat””The Pitt””Pluribus””Severance””Slow Horses””The White Lotus”Best male actor, dramaSterling K. Brown, “Paradise”Diego Luna, “Andor”Gary Oldman, “Slow Horses”Mark Ruffalo, “Task”Adam Scott, “Severance”Noah Wyle, “The Pitt”Best female actor, drama Kathy Bates, “Matlock”Britt Lower, “Severance”Helen Mirren, “Mobland”Bella Ramsey, “The Last of Us”Keri Russell, “The Diplomat”Rhea Seehorn, “Pluribus”Best musical or comedy series”Abbott Elementary””The Bear””Hacks””Nobody Wants This””Only Murders in the Building””The Studio”Best male actor, musical or comedyAdam Brody, “Nobody Wants This”Steve Martin, “Only Murders in the Building”Glen Powell, “Chad Powers”Seth Rogen, “The Studio”Martin Short, “Only Murders in the Building”Jeremy Allen White, “The Bear”Best female actor, musical or comedy Kristen Bell, “Nobody Wants This”Ayo Edebiri, “The Bear”Selena Gomez, “Only Murders in the Building”Natasha Lyonne, “Poker Face”Jenna Ortega, “Wednesday”Jean Smart, “Hacks”Best limited series or TV movie”Adolescence””All Her Fault””The Beast in Me””Black Mirror””Dying for Sex””The Girlfriend”Best male actor, limited series or TV movie Jacob Elordi, “The Narrow Road to the Deep North”Paul Giamatti, “Black Mirror”Stephen Graham, “Adolescence”Charlie Hunnam, “Monster: The Ed Gein Story”Jude Law, “Black Rabbit”Matthew Rhys, “The Beast in Me”Best female actor, limited series or TV movie Claire Danes, “The Beast in Me”Rashida Jones, “Black Mirror”Amanda Seyfried, “Long Bright River”Sarah Snook, “All Her Fault”Michelle Williams, “Dying for Sex”Robin Wright, “The Girlfriend”- FILMS WITH MOST NOMINATIONS -“One Battle After Another” – 9″Sentimental Value” – 8″Sinners” – 7″Hamnet” – 6″Frankenstein” – 5″Wicked: For Good” – 5

Hollywood’s A-listers are set to hit the red carpet on Sunday for the Golden Globes, with the politically charged “One Battle After Another” expected to solidify its status as the film to beat this awards season.With nine nominations, “One Battle” appears a lock to take home the prize for best comedy/musical film.”We’re seeing a real sweep and a juggernaut in that movie,” Deadline’s awards columnist and chief critic Pete Hammond told AFP, two months ahead of the Oscars.Paul Thomas Anderson’s screwball thriller, which centers on an aging revolutionary (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his teenage daughter (Chase Infiniti), is a rollicking ride featuring violent leftist radicals, immigration raids and white supremacists.At a time when the United States is deeply polarized, many critics and pundits have hailed the film as capturing the moment.DiCaprio will vie for best actor at the Globes — a sometimes eccentric bellwether for the Academy Awards — with Timothee Chalamet, who stars in “Marty Supreme” as an ambitious 1950s table tennis player.”Leonardo DiCaprio would be tremendously helped by actually winning at the Globes. That’s the ideal moment to stop Timothee Chalamet’s momentum before the Oscars,” Hammond said.Teyana Taylor, who plays an unapologetically bold leftist revolutionary, could fuel a sweep for “One Battle” if she can pick up the prize for best supporting actress.But in her way are Amy Madigan for her wacky villainous turn in “Weapons” and Ariana Grande for her portrayal of Glinda in the blockbuster “Wicked: For Good.”- ‘Sinners’ versus ‘Hamnet’ -The Golden Globes offer separate awards for dramas and comedies/musicals — widening the field of stars in attendance, and fueling the suspense. “Sinners,” Ryan Coogler’s period horror film about the segregated South of the 1930s, is expected to be the toughest competition for “One Battle” at the Oscars. But at the Globes, they are in separate categories.”Sinners” surprised moviegoers with its eclectic mix of vampires, politics, race relations and blues music.It is the frontrunner for the best drama film Globe, against rival “Hamnet,” which stars Paul Mescal as William Shakespeare and Jessie Buckley as his grief-stricken wife, as the two cope with the death of their young son.”Sentimental Value,” the Norwegian family dramedy starring Stellan Skarsgard, earned a strong eight nominations and is also in the running.A “Sinners” victory “would be an indication of a real change,” Hammond says, noting that in the past, voters “were never actually that drawn to Black stories.”Buckley is the favorite for best drama actress honors.The Golden Globes went through a crisis period, following a Los Angeles Times expose in 2021 that showed that the awards’ voting body — the Hollywood Foreign Press Association — had no Black members.Now under new ownership, and with the HFPA disbanded, a wider net of overseas critics has been brought in to pick the winners.”These new voters are less keen on movies that make a lot of money at the box office, and more interested in international movies that are highly praised in Cannes and Venice,” Hammond explained.- Prize for Iran’s Panahi? -One of those movies is Brazilian thriller “The Secret Agent,” and lead actor Wagner Moura is favored to win best drama actor honors over “Sinners” star Michael B. Jordan, according to awards prediction site Gold Derby. Skarsgard, a Hollywood stalwart, is poised to take home the award for best supporting actor. “The Secret Agent” and “Sentimental Value” will vie for the Globe for best non-English language film with “It Was Just An Accident” from Iranian dissident director Jafar Panahi. “The Globes may want to make a statement and give him this prize,” Hammond said of Panahi.The Globes also honor the best in television, with HBO’s black comedy anthology “The White Lotus,” sci-fi office thriller “Severance” and searing teen murder saga “Adolescence” leading the contenders.Comedian Nikki Glaser will return as host of the gala in Beverly Hills.

Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Minneapolis on Saturday chanting the name of the woman killed by a federal agent in the city, amid widespread anger at use of force in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.Organizers said more than 1,000 events were planned across the United States under the slogan “ICE, Out for Good” — referring to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency that is drawing growing opposition over its execution of President Donald Trump’s effort at mass deportations.The slogan is also a reference to Renee Good, the 37-year-old mother shot dead in her car by an ICE agent on Wednesday. Thousands braved frigid weather and streamed toward a snow-covered park to mobilize near the scene of the shooting. They carried signs demanding “ICE OUT” of Minnesota.At the start of the protest, a voice called out, “Say her name!” The crowd shouted back: “Renee Good!”Her death has sparked strong emotions in this Democratic stronghold, and across the nation.”We got ICE shooting women in the face for self-defense. It doesn’t make any sense,” said Alex Vega, a protester in Boston.”Let them come around here with that, and let’s see what’s really going to happen to ICE.”In Philadelphia, protesters marched in the rain from City Hall to the ICE field office. Others mobilized in New York, Washington and Boston, with the gatherings drawing dozens to hundreds of demonstrators.More protests were planned for Sunday.The calls to protest were being amplified by the “No Kings” movement, a network of left-wing organizations that mounted nationwide demonstrations against Trump last year.- ‘I’m not mad at you’ -The Trump administration has sought to paint Good as a “domestic terrorist,” vigorously insisting the agent who fatally shot her was acting in self-defense.This narrative is strongly disputed by local officials, who say footage shows Good’s vehicle turning away from the agent and did not pose a threat to his life.Cell phone footage apparently taken by the officer who fired the fatal shots shows him interacting with Good, who had blocked the road with her car in an apparent effort to impede the agents.He approaches and circles Good’s car, as she says to him: “I’m not mad at you.”Another agent can be heard ordering Good to exit the vehicle before she tries to drive off and shots ring out.The agent filming the video can then be heard saying “fucking bitch.”The White House insisted the video gave weight to the officer’s claim of self-defense — even though the clip does not clearly show the moment the car moved away, or him opening fire. – ‘Our rights are being taken away’ -Drew Lenzmeier, 30, said he joined the protest in Minneapolis “because I feel our rights are being taken away from us and we are turning into an authoritarian dictatorship.””No one is stopping the Trump administration from now murdering citizens and stealing, kidnapping human beings. It’s time to stop,” he said.On Friday evening, hundreds gathered noisily in front of Minneapolis hotels believed to be housing ICE agents, equipped with whistles, loudspeakers and musical instruments.Several people were arrested and then quickly released, according to police. Officials and residents in Minnesota have expressed concern that local law enforcement agencies have been shut out of the FBI investigation into the Minneapolis shooting.According to The Trace, a media outlet focusing on gun violence, Good was the fourth person killed by federal immigration agents since the launch of the Trump administration’s deportation campaign. Seven people have been injured.In a separate incident, two people were injured Thursday in Portland, Oregon, by shots fired by federal border police during a traffic stop.

Thousands of demonstrators chanting the name of the woman killed by a federal agent in Minneapolis took to the city’s streets Saturday, amid widespread anger at use of force in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.Organizers said more than 1,000 events were planned across the US under the slogan “ICE, Out for Good” — referring to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency that is drawing growing opposition over its execution of President Donald Trump’s effort at mass deportations. The slogan is also a reference to Renee Good, the 37-year-old mother shot dead in her car by an ICE agent in the midwestern US city of Minneapolis on Wednesday. Thousands braved frigid weather and streamed toward a snow-covered park to mobilize near the scene of the shooting. They carried signs demanding “ICE OUT” of Minnesota.At the start of the protest, a voice called out, “Say her name!” The crowd shouted back: “Renee Good!”Her death has sparked strong emotions in this Democratic stronghold, and further afield. In Philadelphia, protesters marched in the rain from City Hall to the ICE field office. Others mobilized in New York, Washington and Boston. More protests were planned for Sunday. The calls to protest were being amplified by the “No Kings” movement, a network of left-wing organizations that mounted nationwide demonstrations against Trump last year.- ‘I’m not mad at you’ -The Trump administration has sought to paint Good as a “domestic terrorist,” insisting the agent who fatally shot her was acting in self-defense. This narrative is strongly disputed by local officials, who say footage shows Good’s vehicle was turning away from the agent and did not pose a threat. Cell phone footage apparently taken by the officer who fired the fatal shots shows him interacting with Good, who had blocked the road with her car in an apparent effort to impede the agents.He approaches and circles Good’s car, as she says to him: “I’m not mad at you.”After he passes in front of the car, another agent can be heard ordering Good to exit the vehicle before she tries to drive off and shots ring out.The agent filming the video can be heard saying “fucking bitch” at the end of the clip.The White House insisted the video gave weight to the officer’s claim of self-defense — even though the clip does not show the moment the car moved away, or him opening fire. – ‘Our rights are being taken away’ -Drew Lenzmeier, 30, said he joined the protest in Minneapolis “because I feel our rights are being taken away from us and we are turning into an authoritarian dictatorship.””No one is stopping the Trump administration from now murdering citizens and stealing, kidnapping human beings. It’s time to stop,” he said.On Friday evening, hundreds gathered noisily in front of Minneapolis hotels believed to be housing ICE agents, equipped with whistles, loudspeakers and musical instruments.Several people were arrested and then quickly released, according to police. Officials and residents in Minnesota have expressed concern that local law enforcement agencies have been shut out of the FBI investigation into Minneapolis shooting.According to The Trace, a media outlet focusing on gun violence, Good was the fourth person killed by federal immigration agents since the launch of the Trump administration’s deportation campaign. Seven people have been injured.In a separate incident, two people were injured Thursday in Portland, Oregon, by shots fired by federal border police during a traffic stop.

Supporters of Venezuela’s deposed leader Nicolas Maduro geared up for a mass protest Saturday to mark one week since his dramatic capture by US forces.Anxious relatives meanwhile camped outside jails, awaiting the promised release of political prisoners by the interim government.Despite the shock of Maduro’s capture during deadly nighttime raids on January 3, signs emerged Friday of cooperation with Washington after US President Donald Trump’s claim to be “in charge” of the South American country.Venezuela’s foreign minister said Friday it had launched talks with the United States on restoring diplomatic ties, which were severed in 2019 during Trump’s first term.Washington said US diplomats had visited Caracas to discuss reopening the American embassy.A State Department official told AFP on Saturday they had left again on Friday “as scheduled.” “The Trump Administration remains in close contact with interim authorities” in Venezuela, the official addded.Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodriguez has pledged to cooperate with Trump over his demands for access to Venezuela’s huge oil reserves after Maduro’s ouster.But she also moved to placate the powerful pro-Maduro base by insisting Venezuela is not “subordinate” to Washington.In a gesture of ongoing defiance, organisers scheduled a rally of activists from the ruling leftist “Chavista” movement on Saturday.The demo caps a week of angry protests after the United States launched airstrikes on Caracas, seized Maduro and took him to New York to face trial on drug-trafficking charges alongside his wife, Cilia Flores.- Anxiety over prisoners -Rodriguez’s camp on Thursday began releasing prisoners jailed under Maduro, promising a “large” number would be freed in a gesture of appeasement pending talks with Washington.However, prisoners’ rights groups said on Saturday that so far fewer than 20 had been freed, including several prominent opposition figures.Families slept out overnight under blankets near El Rodeo prison east of Caracas, hoping for the release of their loved ones.”I am tired and angry,” Nebraska Rivas, 57, told AFP, as she waited for the release of her son.”But I have faith that they will hand him over to us soon,” she said, after sleeping out on the pavement for two nights.”I have been fighting for this for seven years and I feel encouraged now because this is the home stretch. But I am also disappointed because nothing is happening.”The exiled opposition candidate from the 2024 elections, Edmundo Gonzalez Urritia, who was hoping for the release of his son-in-law, complained on X that “fewer than one percent of the announced releases” had taken place.”Each hour that goes by without answers is a new form of violence against the families,” he wrote.- Oil talks -Following Maduro’s capture, Trump vowed to secure access for US companies to Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.Chevron is currently the only US firm licensed to operate in Venezuela, through a sanctions exemption.The White House said Saturday Trump had signed an emergency executive order protecting US-held revenues derived from sales of Venezuelan oil, to prevent them from being seized by courts or creditors.At a White House meeting on Friday, Trump pressed top oil executives to invest in Venezuela’s reserves, but was met with a cautious reception.ExxonMobil chief executive Darren Woods dismissed the country as “uninvestable” without sweeping reforms.Experts say Venezuela’s oil infrastructure is creaky after years of mismanagement and sanctions.Trump said foreign firms had enjoyed no meaningful protections under Maduro, “but now you have total security. It’s a whole different Venezuela.”He stressed that the companies would deal only with Washington, not Caracas, when exploiting Venezuela’s oil resources.Washington has maintained maritime pressure on oil tankers in the Caribbean, where it seized a fifth tanker carrying Venezuelan crude on Friday. Trump said that oil would be sold.A sustained increase in Venezuelan oil production would take “months to years,” Latin America specialist Orlando J. Perez, of the University of North Texas at Dallas, told AFP.”It requires legal clarity on who can sign contracts, predictable sanctions relief, credible security conditions for firms, and major capital/technical inputs in a degraded sector.”