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Britain said Donald Trump was “wrong to diminish” the role of NATO troops in Afghanistan, as a claim by the US president that they did not fight on the front line sparked outrage.In an interview with Fox News aired on Thursday, Trump appeared unaware that 457 British soldiers died during the conflict in the South Asian country following the September 11 attacks on the United States.”They’ll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan,” Trump told the US outlet, referring to NATO allies.”And they did, they stayed a little back, a little off the front lines,” he added.Trump also repeated his suggestion that NATO would not come to the aid of the United States if asked to do so.In fact, following the 9/11 attacks, the UK and a number of other allies joined the US from 2001 in Afghanistan after it invoked NATO’s collective security clause.As well as British forces, troops from other NATO ally countries including Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Denmark and others also died.”Their sacrifice and that of other NATO forces was made in the service of collective security and in response to an attack on our ally,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s official spokesman said.”We are incredibly proud of our armed forces and their service and sacrifice will never be forgotten,” he added.  – ‘Heroes’ -Care Minister Stephen Kinnock earlier said he expected Starmer would bring the issue up with Trump.”I think he will, I’m sure, be raising this issue with the president… He’s incredibly proud of our armed forces, and he will make that clear to the president,” he told LBC Radio.”It just doesn’t really add up what he said, because the fact of the matter is the only time that Article 5 has been invoked was to go to the aid of the United States after 9/11,” he added in an interview with Sky News.Defence Minister John Healey said NATO’s Article 5 has only been triggered once.”The UK and NATO allies answered the US call. And more than 450 British personnel lost their lives in Afghanistan,” he said.The troops who died were “heroes who gave their lives in service of our nation”, he added.Lucy Aldridge, whose son William died aged 18 in Afghanistan, told The Mirror newspaper that Trump’s remarks were “extremely upsetting”.Emily Thornberry, chair of parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, denounced them as “so much more than a mistake”.”It’s an absolute insult. It’s an insult to 457 families who lost someone in Afghanistan. How dare he say we weren’t on the front line?” the Labour Party politician said on the BBC’s Question Time programme on Thursday evening.According to official UK figures, 405 of the 457 British casualties who died in Afghanistan were killed in hostile military action.The US reportedly lost more than 2,400 soldiers.

Stocks were subdued and precious metals hit fresh highs Friday after a turbulent week that saw US President Donald Trump back down from threats to seize Greenland and to issue tariffs against European allies. Gold — a safe haven asset — pushed towards a record $5,000 an ounce despite “a calmer end to a chaotic week on the markets”, said Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell.”Gold nudged ahead… as investors were reluctant to let go of their safety blanket, just in case Donald Trump woke up with another controversial idea,” he added.Sentiment has calmed over the past two days after the US president pulled back from his warning to hit several European nations with levies because of their opposition to Washington taking over the Danish autonomous territory.European stocks hesitated Friday, with Paris dipping while Frankfurt and London were flat approaching the half-way stage. Asian markets closed higher tracking a successive advance on Wall Street.Trump’s latest salvo against allies revived trade war fears and uncertainty about US investment, putting downward pressure on the dollar this week.Analysts said there was no guarantee that Europe-US relations had improved durably.The Republican’s willingness to threaten tariffs over any issue had rattled confidence on trading floors, weighing on the dollar and boosting safe-haven metals, analysts said.Investors were also preparing for next week’s Federal Reserve meeting following economic data broadly in line with forecasts and after US prosecutors took aim at boss Jerome Powell, raising fears over the bank’s independence.The bank is tipped to hold interest rates, having cut them in the previous three meetings.The meeting also comes as Trump considers candidates to replace Powell when his term comes to an end in May.Elsewhere, the Bank of Japan left its key interest rate unchanged Friday ahead of the country’s snap election next week which could impact government spending plans. After sharp volatility in the wake of the announcement, the yen traded slightly higher. In company news, the share price of Japanese giant Nintendo closed up 4.5 percent as industry data showed that its Switch 2 console led the US hardware market in unit and dollar sales in 2025.Czech weapons manufacturer CSG debuted on the Amsterdam stock market Friday, raising 3.8 billion euros ($4.5 billion) in the world’s biggest initial public offering in the defence sector.Next week’s US earnings calendar is packed with results from Apple, Microsoft, Boeing, Tesla, Meta and other corporate giants. – Key figures at around 1100 GMT -London – FTSE 100: UP 0.1 percent at 10,159.13 pointsParis – CAC 40: DOWN 0.4 percent at 8,116.40Frankfurt – DAX: FLAT at 24,860.23Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.3 percent at 53,846.87 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.5 percent at 26,749.51 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.3 percent at 4,136.16 (close)New York – Dow: UP 0.6 percent at 49,384.01 (close)Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1735 from $1.1751 on ThursdayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3530 from $1.3500Dollar/yen: DOWN at 158.20 yen from 158.39 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 86.73 pence from 87.05 penceWest Texas Intermediate: UP 1.4 percent at $60.19 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: UP 1.4 percent at $64.95 per barrel

Democrats and local officials in Minneapolis expressed outrage Thursday at the detention of a five-year-old boy in a massive immigration crackdown, as US Vice President JD Vance defended federal agents’ actions.Thousands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have been deployed to the Democratic-led city, as the administration of President Donald Trump presses its campaign to deport what it says are millions of illegal immigrants across the country.Vance confirmed Thursday that the five-year-old boy, Liam Conejo Ramos, was among those detained, but argued that agents were protecting the boy after his father “ran” from an immigration sweep.”What are they supposed to do? Are they supposed to let a five-year-old child freeze to death?” he said.Democratic Texas congressman Joaquin Castro rejected that explanation, branding Homeland Security authorities “sick liars.”Castro said that he had not been able to locate the boy, who was reportedly being held with his father in San Antonio, Texas.”My staff and I have been working to figure out his whereabouts, make sure that he’s safe and also to demand his release by ICE,” he said in a video posted on X.But ICE “have not given us information,” he said.Former US vice president Kamala Harris said she was “outraged” by Ramos’s detention.”Liam Ramos is just a baby. He should be at home with his family, not used as bait by ICE and held in a Texas detention center,” she wrote on X.Harris shared a photo of the child wearing a blue knitted hat with dangling, white rabbit ears, while a person behind him appears to hold onto his backpack.Another photo circulating online shows Ramos escorted by a man wearing black clothes and a black face covering.Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton accused law enforcement of “terrorizing a population” and “using children as pawns.”Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said the federal government was treating children “like criminals.”Frey said the influx of 3,000 federal agents felt like an “occupation,” the Minnesota Star Tribune newspaper reported.The Homeland Security department rejected claims that ICE agents targeted the child, saying he had been “abandoned” by his father during an operation to arrest the man.”For the child’s safety, one of our ICE officers remained with the child while the other officers apprehended (his father) Conejo Arias,” it posted on X.”Parents are asked if they want to be removed with their children, or ICE will place the children with a safe person the parent designates.”- ‘Taking a toll’ -Ramos is one of at least four children detained in the same Minneapolis school district this month, US media have reported citing local administrators.Zena Stenvik, the Columbia Heights Public Schools District superintendent, said the children were “apprehended and taken away by masked and armed ICE agents with no identifying badges.””The onslaught of ICE activity in our community is inducing trauma and is taking a toll on our children,” she told reporters.The children’s detention came as the US attorney general announced the arrests of three activists accused of disrupting a church service with a protest accusing a pastor of working for ICE.Videos of that protest showed dozens of demonstrators chanting “ICE out!” in the church.Minneapolis has been rocked by increasingly tense protests since federal agents shot and killed US citizen Renee Good on January 7.The officer who fired the shots that killed Good, Jonathan Ross, has neither been suspended nor charged with any crime. Trump and his officials quickly defended his actions as legitimate self-defense.The lawyer for Ramos and his father, Marc Prokosch, said the pair are not US citizens and followed the legal process in applying for asylum in Minneapolis, which is a sanctuary city, meaning police do not cooperate with federal immigration sweeps.Vance claimed such local efforts were hindering ICE efforts.”The lack of cooperation between state and local officials makes it harder for us to do our job and turns up the temperature,” Vance said.Minnesota has sought a temporary restraining order for the ICE operation in the state which, if granted by a federal judge, would pause the sweeps. There will be a hearing on the application Monday.

Asian markets extended their recovery on Friday after Donald Trump withdrew his tariff threats over Greenland, although lingering uncertainty about US policy weighed on the dollar and helped push precious metals to fresh records.Investors were also preparing for next week’s Federal Reserve meeting following data broadly in line with forecasts and after US prosecutors took aim at boss Jerome Powell, raising fears over the bank’s independence.Sentiment has picked up over the past two days after the US president pulled back from his warning to hit several European nations with levies because of their opposition to Washington taking over the Danish autonomous territory.Asian stocks extended Thursday’s gains in light of the row-back, with Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Taipei, Sydney, Seoul, Singapore and Bangkok in positive territory.London was flat at the open but Paris and Frankfurt fell.That followed a second successive advance on Wall Street.However, Trump’s latest salvo against allies — as well as his ouster of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro this month — revived trade war fears and uncertainty about US investment, putting downward pressure on the dollar this week.Analysts said there was no guarantee that Europe-US relations had improved durably.The Republican’s willingness to threaten tariffs over any issue had rattled confidence on trading floors, weighing on the dollar and boosting safe-haven metals, analysts said.In Asian trade, gold rallied to a fresh peak above $4,967 an ounce while silver touched more than $99.With the Greenland crisis over for now, investors turned their attention to the US economy, which grew slightly more than originally estimated in the third quarter thanks to a boost in exports and investment, according to data delayed by last year’s government shutdown.Separate figures showed jobless numbers dipped and inflation settled slightly lower to where it was before the shutdown.The bank is tipped to hold interest rates, having cut them in the previous three meetings.The gathering comes against the backdrop of a deepening row between Trump and Powell, who the president has lambasted for not cutting borrowing costs quickly enough.The pressure ramped up on Powell this month when the administration issued subpoenas hinting at a possible probe into a $2.5 billion renovation of the Fed headquarters. “The bar to a further cut is too high and (Trump appointee) Steve Miran notwithstanding the Federal Open Market Committee are likely to err on the side of a hold, which will inevitably incur the wrath of president Trump,” wrote MCH Market Insights’ Michael Hewson, referring to the Fed’s decision-makers.Fiona Cincotta at City Index added: “Sticky inflation and solid growth provide little incentive for the Fed to cut rates further for now. These data points support the Fed’s wait-and-see stance.”The meeting also comes as Trump considers candidates to replace Powell when his term comes to an end in May.The president told reporters on Thursday that “I have somebody that I think will be very good but I’m not going to reveal it”.”It’s someone very respected, very, very well known, and will do, I think, a very good job.”While the dollar has struggled against most currencies, it rose against the yen on Friday after the Bank of Japan decided to hold off hiking interest rates while it tries to ascertain the impact of recent increases on inflation, which data showed remains above its two percent target. In company news, Japanese giant Nintendo jumped as much as 6.9 percent after gaming data firm Circana said its Switch 2 console led the US hardware market in unit and dollar sales in 2025. The firm ended 4.5 percent higher.The “Switch 2 remains the fastest selling video game hardware platform in tracked history”, Circana’s Mat Piscatella wrote on BlueSky.Next week’s US earnings calendar is packed with results from Apple, Microsoft, Boeing, Tesla, Meta and other corporate giants. There will also be a Federal Reserve monetary policy decision.- Key figures at around 0815 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 0.3 percent at 53,846.87 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.5 percent at 26,749.51 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.3 percent at 4,136.16 (close)London – FTSE 100: FLAT at 10,152.45Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1739 from $1.1751 on ThursdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3496 from $1.3500Dollar/yen: UP at 158.50 yen from 158.39 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 86.98 pence from 87.05 penceWest Texas Intermediate: UP 0.5 percent at $59.63 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: UP 0.4 percent at $64.34 per barrelNew York – Dow: UP 0.6 percent at 49,384.01 (close)

Progressive white women have been persistent punching bags of President Donald Trump’s MAGA movement, but attacks targeting the demographic group have become particularly vicious in recent weeks.The death of Renee Good, a 37-year-old American woman killed by a federal agent while protesting Trump’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota, has prompted harsh comments against her by numerous conservative commentators.Radio host Erick Erickson coined an acronym to describe Good — “AWFUL,” or Affluent White Female Urban Liberal.”White liberal women are a cancer on the nation. They have no real problems, so they’re bored” and take on other people’s fights, right-wing comedian Vincent Oshana wrote on X.”They just want to feel important.”Columnist David Marcus meanwhile derisively referred to women activists, like Good, protesting against Trump’s immigration actions as “organized gangs of wine moms.”- Women’s suffrage a ‘tragedy’ -The attacks come amid a dual offensive on the American right — against modern feminism and placing renewed value on masculinity.Some right-wing players, particularly Christian nationalists, have for years called for a rethink of the role of women in modern society, even demanding the end of the constitutional right to vote.The 19th Amendment to the US Constitution “has been a moral and political tragedy for America,” firebrand pastor Dale Partridge said in a video last month.”Why? Women were not made to lead, but to follow and to feel.”Juliet Williams, a gender studies professor at University of California Los Angeles, said such comments are typical of a patriarchal worldview that requires men to “understand themselves as inherently superior.”Trump’s administration has meanwhile sought to portray a masculine persona — typified by Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth, who frequently posts videos doing push-ups with soldiers.Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently praised Trump’s testosterone levels, saying that another official called them “the highest” he has seen for someone over 70.In this ideology, Williams said, “hatred of white liberal women is really necessary” because they challenge the ideals of the Christian right.Women in general favored the Democratic candidate in the 2016, 2020, and 2024 presidential elections — but majorities of white women actually voted for Trump, according to Pew Research polling.Several studies suggest a growing divergence among younger voters.Gen Z women largely identify as progressive, while young men — an important demographic in Trump’s latest victory — increasingly lean right.Williams said attacks on women Democratic voters could be aimed at influencing young women who “are more aware than ever of how closely their social value is indexed on looking a certain way.”- ‘Just hotter’ -The women who gravitate around Trump’s White House usually wear stylish clothes, high heels, have long wavy hair, and wear heavy makeup. Botox and filler are not rare.Katie Miller — a podcaster and wife of Stephen Miller, one of the US president’s most influential advisers — openly mocks what she considers to be the unattractive and unkempt appearance of left-wing women.”Conservative women are just hotter than Liberal women,” she wrote on X, claiming that was the reason conservative families have more children.The Millers recently announced they are expecting their fourth child, as did Vice President JD Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance. White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt is also pregnant with her second child.

TikTok announced Thursday it has established a majority American-owned joint venture to operate its US business, allowing the company to avoid a ban over its Chinese ownership.The video-sharing app is a global digital entertainment powerhouse but its mass appeal and links to China have raised concerns over privacy and national security.The TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC will serve more than 200 million users and 7.5 million businesses while implementing strict safeguards for data protection and content moderation, the company said.The new structure responds to a law passed under US President Donald Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden that forced Chinese-owned ByteDance to sell TikTok’s US operations or face a ban in its biggest market.Trump welcomed and claimed credit for the deal, but also thanked Chinese President Xi Jinping for approving it.”I am so happy to have helped in saving TikTok!” Trump said in a post on Truth Social late Thursday.”It will now be owned by a group of Great American Patriots and Investors, the Biggest in the World, and will be an important Voice.””I would also like to thank President Xi, of China, for working with us and, ultimately, approving the Deal,” he added.- Cybersecurity audit -ByteDance retains a 19.9 percent stake in the joint venture — keeping its ownership below the 20 percent threshold stipulated by the law.Three investors — Silver Lake, Oracle and Abu Dhabi-based AI investment fund MGX — each hold 15 percent stakes. Oracle’s executive chairman Larry Ellison is a longtime Trump ally.Other investors include Dell Family Office, affiliates of Susquehanna International Group and General Atlantic.The joint venture will retain decision-making authority over trust and safety policies and content moderation for US users.But TikTok’s global entities will manage international product integration and commercial activities including e-commerce and advertising.Under the arrangement, US user data will be stored in Oracle’s secure cloud environment, with cybersecurity audited by third-party experts and adhering to federal standards, TikTok said.Jasmine Enberg, co-CEO of Scalable, a media company focused on the creator economy, said TikTok users would be relieved by the deal but that there were “still big questions about how this will all play out.””Behind the scenes, TikTok is likely working hard to assure advertisers it will remain business as normal,” she told AFP.”While the need for users to download a new app seems unlikely, brand partners will want to know that their TikTok strategies won’t be disrupted.”- Ellison in spotlight -The joint venture will be governed by a seven-member, majority-American board including TikTok CEO Shou Chew and executives from investment firms.TikTok executive Adam Presser was appointed CEO of the new entity, with Will Farrell serving as chief security officer.The 2024 law came as US policymakers, including Trump in his first presidency, warned that China could use TikTok to mine Americans’ data or exert influence through its algorithm.But Trump, crediting the app for his appeal with young voters, delayed enforcement through successive executive orders, most recently extending the deadline to January 22.The deal largely confirms an outline announced to staff by Chew last month.In September, one-time venture capitalist and Vice President JD Vance said the US entity would be valued at about $14 billion but it would ultimately be up to investors to determine pricing.That month, Trump said a new venture had been agreed with China and would meet the law’s requirements.Trump specifically named Ellison, one of the world’s richest men, as a major player in the arrangement.Ellison has returned to the spotlight through his dealings with Trump, who has brought his old friend into major AI partnerships with OpenAI.

Vice President JD Vance confirmed Thursday that a five-year-old boy was among those detained by federal agents during a massive immigration crackdown in Minneapolis, stirring outrage in the northern city and across the US.As “the father of a five-year-old” himself, Vance acknowledged he was stunned by news of the child’s predicament at first.”I think to myself ‘Oh, my God, this is terrible. How did we arrest a five-year-old?'” Vance said Thursday, pivoting to say he then did more research and changed his mind because Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained the child after his father ran from immigration agents.”Well, what are they supposed to do? Are they supposed to let a five-year-old child freeze to death?”More broadly, Vance blamed local leaders for disorder on a visit to the troubled midwestern state, which has been rocked by increasingly tense protests since federal agents shot and killed US citizen Renee Good on January 7.The child’s detention came as the US attorney general announced Thursday the arrests of three activists accused of disrupting a St. Paul church service in a protest, accusing a pastor at the church of working for ICE.Thousands of federal agents have been deployed to the Democratic-led state, as the Trump administration presses its campaign to deport what it says are millions of illegal immigrants across the country.The arrests of lawyer and social activist Nekima Levy Armstrong, Chauntyll Louisa Allen and William Kelly in connection with a Sunday protest at Cities Church in the state capital St. Paul, were announced by Attorney General Pam Bondi on X.Bondi said Armstrong “allegedly played a key role in organizing the coordinated attack on Cities Church.” Videos of that protest showed dozens of demonstrators chanting “ICE out!” in the church.Amid growing local anger over the use of pepper spray, tear gas and other forceful tactics adopted by ICE in the streets of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Vance defended the conduct of ICE and called on protesters to be peaceful.”Yes, protest. Protest me. Protest our immigration policy, but do it peacefully. If you assault a law enforcement officer the Trump administration and the Department of Justice is going to prosecute you,” Vance said, flanked by ICE officers and vehicles.- Plight of a 5-year-old -The latest uproar over ICE’s tactics has been over the ICE detention on Tuesday of a five-year-old boy, Liam Conejo Ramos, and his father — one of at least four children detained in the same Minneapolis school district this month, according to administrators, local media have reported.Ramos and his father are now held in San Antonio, Texas, in the custody of Homeland Security authorities, the family’s lawyer, Marc Prokosch, was quoted as saying by The Washington Post. Prokosch said they are not US citizens but have followed the legal process in applying for asylum, in Minneapolis which is a sanctuary city, meaning police do not cooperate with federal immigration sweeps.Vance claimed such local efforts were hindering ICE efforts.”The lack of cooperation between state and local officials makes it harder for us to do our job and turns up the temperature,” Vance said.Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey told a news conference that he agreed with Vance that people should protest peacefully.But he complained that the influx of 3,000 federal agents in the city felt like an “occupation” and that agents were “terrorizing people,” the Minnesota Star Tribune reported Thursday.Minnesota has sought a temporary restraining order for the ICE operation in the state which, if granted by a federal judge, would pause the sweeps. There will be a hearing on the application Monday.The officer who fired the shots that killed Good, Jonathan Ross, has neither been suspended nor charged with any crime. Trump and his officials quickly defended his actions as being legitimately made in self-defense.The federal immigration sweeps in Minneapolis have occurred amid a highly politicized fraud investigation in Minnesota.

Video-sharing platform TikTok has over a billion users worldwide, including more than 170 million in the United States, it says — nearly half the country’s population.Here is a closer look at the app, which on Thursday announced it had established a majority American-owned joint venture to operate its US business:- Born in China -TikTok’s transformation from niche video app to global digital entertainment powerhouse is one of the biggest shifts in the sector since the advent of social media.From friends dancing together to home chefs demonstrating recipes or people sharing political views, TikTok can turn ordinary users into celebrities, revolutionizing the traditional path to stardom.The platform was launched in 2016 by Chinese tech company ByteDance for the local market, where it is called Douyin. The international version, TikTok, was released in 2017.It gained massive momentum after merging with Musical.ly, a lip-synching app, a year later.- ‘For You’ page -The so-called secret sauce in TikTok’s rapid expansion has been its innovative recommendation algorithm.Instead of showing content from accounts that users already follow, the endless scroll of TikTok’s “For You” page is based on viewing habits, engagement patterns and sophisticated content analysis.A video from a complete unknown can reach millions of people if the algorithm determines it engaging enough — a model that the app’s rivals have been keen to follow.TikTok’s focus on short clips also helps keep users hooked.It was initially limited to uploads of 15 seconds, but this was later expanded to up to 10 minutes, and now some users can post videos as long as 60 minutes.- Suspicions -TikTok’s mass appeal has made its rise controversial — mainly over its Chinese ownership and built-in unpredictability.The platform has faced scrutiny worldwide, particularly in the United States, over data privacy and potential ties to the Chinese government, including accusations of spying and propaganda.India banned TikTok along with other Chinese apps in 2020, citing national security concerns.And a European Union watchdog fined TikTok 530 million euros ($620 million) last year for failing to guarantee its user data was shielded from access by Chinese authorities.The social media giant has appealed the fine, insisting it has never received any requests from Chinese authorities for European users’ data.- Sell or be banned -The US Congress passed legislation in 2024 requiring that ByteDance divest control of TikTok in the United States, or be banned.The matter was a major sticking point in US-China trade negotiations, and last month, an internal memo from TikTok’s CEO said an agreement had been reached on a new joint venture in the United States.On Friday, TikTok unveiled its new business structure, which it said would implement strict safeguards for data protection, algorithm security and content moderation.ByteDance retains a 19.9 percent stake in the joint venture, keeping its ownership below the 20 percent threshold stipulated by the law.Three investors — Silver Lake, Oracle and Abu Dhabi-based AI investment fund MGX — each hold 15 percent stakes. Oracle’s executive chairman Larry Ellison is a longtime Trump ally.- Teenage safety fears -In a world first in December, Australia banned under-16s from major social media platforms including TikTok, with the onus on tech firms to kick young users off their services.Other countries have expressed concern about the potential effects of TikTok on young users, including accusations it funnels them into echo chambers and fails to contain illegal, violent or obscene content.Albania banned TikTok for a year in March after a 14-year-old schoolboy was killed in the culmination of a confrontation that started on social media.burs-kaf/abs

Venezuelan lawmakers on Thursday gave their initial backing to plans to throw open the oil sector to private investors, paving the way for the return of US energy majors — a key demand of President Donald Trump.Less than three weeks after the US ouster of Nicolas Maduro, MPs endorsed on first reading a bill allowing private companies to independently engage in oil exploration and extraction.If adopted on a second reading, the bill would roll back decades of state controls over Venezuela’s oil sector, which were tightened by Maduro’s late mentor, socialist firebrand Hugo Chavez, in the mid-2000s.The bill has been promoted by Maduro’s former deputy, acting president Delcy Rodriguez, who has overseen a lightning-fast thaw in ties with Washington since taking the helm.On Thursday, Trump called her leadership “very strong” and said the United States is already taking a cut of Venezuela’s oil.”Our country will become richer and that means our taxes will be going down and they will do better — Venezuela’s going to do better than they’ve ever done,” Trump said.Another change unfolded in Caracas Thursday, with the United States confirming Laura F. Dogu — a former ambassador to Nicaragua and Honduras — as the new charge d’affaires to Venezuela. That was seen as a step toward restoration of full diplomatic ties.- Warming relations -Caracas and Washington severed relations after Maduro’s first widely disputed claim to reelection in 2019.Within days of Maduro’s January 3 capture in Caracas, US diplomats travelled to the Venezuelan capital to discuss reopening the embassy.Trump has boasted that he is working “really well” with Rodriguez, who was vice president and petroleum minister — a position she still holds — in Maduro’s fiercely anti-US government.On Wednesday, a senior US official said Rodriguez would soon visit the United States, despite still being under Washington sanctions.Maduro was toppled after a monthslong US pressure campaign and flown to New York with his wife to face trial on drug trafficking charges.Rodriguez has appeared ready to comply with Trump’s open interest in Venezuela’s oil.”We are in a process of dialogue, of working with the United States, without fear,” she said Wednesday.- Lost opportunities -This week she ploughed $300 million from a US-brokered oil sale into propping up the ailing national currency, the bolivar.The mere anticipation of the injection drove down the price of dollars, the currency in which many Venezuelans conduct their business.But economists warned that true relief from spiraling prices would require a sustained influx of dollars — which in turn requires foreign investment.Venezuela has the world’s largest proven reserves of oil but output has fallen from over three million barrels per day in the early 2000s to around 1.2 million today.The energy reform bill before parliament ends a Chavez-era requirement for private companies to form joint ventures with state-owned oil firm PDVSA, which insisted on holding a majority.”Having oil underground serves no purpose,” parliament speaker Jorge Rodriguez, the interim president’s brother, told lawmakers Thursday, urging them to back the reform.”Every day that passes is a day lost and a day of (oil reserves) that we cannot use.”To win the support of both Venezuelans and Washington, Delcy Rodriguez needs to quickly show improvements in the economy and signal an end to a decade of worsening repression under Maduro.In the past two weeks, her government has slowly freed dozens of political prisoners from the hundreds behind bars.On Thursday, authorities released the son-in-law of opposition figure Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who was serving a 30-year sentence on terrorism charges.Gonzalez Urrutia, in exile in Spain, is widely considered the rightful winner of Venezuela’s 2024 election.His son-in-law Rafael Tudares was arrested by masked men in January 2025 while heading to school with his two children.Since Maduro’s ouster, Trump has ramped up pressure on another Latin American arch-foe, communist Cuba, a longtime Venezuela ally.Trump has vowed to cut off all oil supplies to Cuba, which has relied for years on heavily-subsidized Venezuelan oil and cash to remain afloat.Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said Thursday he spoke by telephone with Rodriguez to express his “support and solidarity.”

An unusually brutal winter storm is set to pummel more than 160 million Americans from Friday, as a stretched “polar vortex” sends a devastating blast of Arctic air, bringing heavy snows and freezing rains.Winter Storm Fern is forecast to engulf an area well over half the length of the continental United States, stretching from Texas and the Great Plains region to the mid-Atlantic and northeastern states.Scientists say the increasing frequency of such disruptions of the polar vortex may be linked to climate change, though the debate is not yet settled and natural variability also plays a role.– What is the polar vortex? –The polar vortex is a large region of cold, low-pressure air that circulates counterclockwise high above the Arctic, in the stratosphere some 10 to 50 kilometers (six to 30 miles) above Earth’s surface.In a typical winter, it forms a relatively compact, circular system that helps lock in the coldest air to high northern latitudes.”Usually the vortex spins merrily along and has little effect on our weather, but occasionally it moves or stretches southward over North America, bringing with it a jolt of cold,” Jennifer Francis, a senior scientist at the Woodwell Climate Research Center, told AFP.– What happens when it stretches? -At times, big atmospheric waves that form closer to the ground can travel upward and knock the polar vortex out of whack.Rather than completely breaking down — as happens during dramatic “sudden stratospheric warming” events — the vortex can stretch out into a more oval shape.”Think of it like a rubber band being pulled,” Judah Cohen, a climate dynamics scientist at MIT, told AFP.”That allows the cold air to expand much further south, like we’re like we’re seeing this week here in the United States.”Jason Furtado, a meterologist at the University of Oklahoma whose research focuses on long-range forecasting, said these stretching events aren’t as long-lasting as complete breakdowns, but are significant nonetheless, especially for North America.-Is it linked to climate change? –This is where the science becomes more debated.There is broad agreement — reflected in assessments by the UN’s climate science body — that the Arctic is warming much faster than the global average, through a process known as Arctic amplification, and human-caused climate change is behind it. Cohen argues that this uneven warming helps amplify large atmospheric waves over Eurasia, which in turn makes the polar vortex spill more frequently over North America.”Studies suggest these aberrations in the vortex are happening more often in a warming world, which favors more frequent winter extremes,” said Francis.Furtado said observations from the past 20 years do show an increase in such events, but he cautioned against drawing strong long-term conclusions tying them directly to human-caused climate change.”In my opinion, it’s harder to make that connection going out much further, simply because I think we just don’t have enough data.”