CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) – Venezuela’s legislature advanced a bill on Thursday to loosen state control over the country’s vast oil sector in the first major overhaul since the late socialist leader Hugo Chávez nationalized parts of the industry in 2007. The legislation would formally break decades of state command over some of the world’s largest oil reserves.
NEW YORK (AP) - The U.S. stock market finished its zigzag week full of tariff threats and cancellations with a quiet and tentative close. The S&P 500 closed barely changed Friday and notched a second straight week with a modest loss. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.6%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.3%. The majority of U.S. stocks fell, including Intel.
DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) – U.S. President Donald Trump used the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, to unveil a proposed ” Board of Peace ” for Gaza, bringing leaders from more than a dozen countries onstage Thursday, although many top American allies aren’t participating in the board.
NASHVILLE (AP) – A massive winter storm made for a brutal travel day Sunday, with widespread cancellations and delays at some of the nation’s busiest airports. Widespread snow, sleet and freezing rain threatened nearly 180 million people – more than half the U.S. population – in a path stretching from the southern Rocky Mountains to New England.
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) – Colombia announced Thursday that it will apply a 30% tax on a group of products from Ecuador and will suspend the sale of energy to that country, in response to a matching tariff announced the previous day by the government of Ecuadorian Daniel Noboa.
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) – American rock climber Alex Honnold ascended the Taipei 101 skyscraper on Sunday without any ropes or protective equipment. Cheers erupted from a street-level crowd as he reached the top of the spire of the 508-meter (1,667-foot) tower about 90 minutes after he started. “It was like what a view, it’s incredible, what a beautiful day,” he said afterward.
FLORIDA, Chile (AP) – Firefighters and security forces battling blazes in Chile that have killed at least 21 people and ravaged swaths of forest this week faced other dangers, too, from attempted attacks to the threat of drone collisions.
Jan. 19 – The Washington Post says Congress has dropped the ball regarding oversight of ICE, DHS. Geraldo Lunas Campos died at a Texas detention center on Jan. 3 while pleading for air as guards choked him, according to a fellow detainee. The local medical examiner’s office is considering classifying his death as a homicide, The Post reports.
WASHINGTON (AP) – The House rejected a Democratic-backed resolution Thursday that would have prevented President Donald Trump from sending U.S. military forces to Venezuela after a tied vote on the legislation fell just short of the majority needed for passage.