Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodríguez used her first state of the union message Thursday to advocate for opening the crucial state-run oil industry to more foreign investment following the Trump administration's pledge to seize control of Venezuelan crude sales.

For the first time, Rodríguez laid out a vision for Venezuela's new political reality — one that challenges her government's most deeply rooted beliefs less than two weeks after the United States captured and toppled former President Nicolás Maduro.

The White House says it is moving into the second phase of President Donald Trump's Gaza ceasefire plan – breathing new life into a proposal that aims to rebuild the war-ravaged area and reshape the wider Middle East.

Trump's Mideast envoy, Steve Witkoff, broke the news Wednesday in a post on X, saying the new phase will include the establishment of a transitional Palestinian governing committee and begin the complicated tasks of disarming Hamas and reconstruction.

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said she presented her Nobel Peace Prize medal to President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday even as he has questioned her credibility to take over her country after the U.S. ousted then-President Nicolás Maduro.

The Nobel Institute has said Machado could not give her prize to Trump, an honor that he has coveted. Even if the gesture proves to be purely symbolic, it was extraordinary given that Trump has effectively sidelined Machado, who has long been the face of resistance in Venezuela. He has signaled his willingness to work with acting President Delcy Rodríguez, who had been Maduro's second in command.

If the byproduct of Wednesday's raid on a Washington Post journalist's home is to deter probing reporting of government action, the Trump administration could hardly have chosen a more compelling target.

Hannah Natanson, nicknamed the "federal government whisperer" at the Post for her reporting on President Donald Trump's changes to the workforce, had a phone, two laptops and a Garmin watch seized in the search of her Virginia home, the newspaper said.

Elon Musk's AI chatbot Grok won't be able to edit photos to portray real people in revealing clothing in places where that is illegal, according to a statement posted on X.

The announcement late Wednesday followed a global backlash over sexualized images of women and children, including bans and warnings by some governments.

Bayern Munich still has rivals for the Bundesliga title, in theory at least, and Leipzig is one of them.

After Bayern matched the record points total for the halfway stage of a Bundesliga, beating the record on goal difference, only a spectacular collapse over the next four months would put Bayern's 11-point lead under threat.

Youssef El-Nesyri scored the winning penalty and Yassine "Bono" Bounou saved two as Morocco advanced to the Africa Cup of Nations final with a 4-2 win on penalties over Nigeria on Wednesday.

Nigeria goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali saved one but was bettered by Bono in the shootout after the teams drew 0-0 with extra time in front of 65,458 mostly Morocco supporters in Rabat's Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium.

On the first trip by a Canadian leader to China in eight years, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Thursday that the two countries are entering a new era of relations.

Carney, who became prime minister 10 months ago, is attempting to repair ties with China following several years of acrimony over issues ranging from Canada's 2018 arrest of a senior Chinese tech executive to 100% Canadian tariffs on China-made electric vehicles.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cast the announcement that the fragile ceasefire in Gaza would advance to its second phase as largely symbolic, raising questions about how its more challenging elements will be carried out.

Speaking late Wednesday with the parents of the last Israeli hostage whose remains are still in Gaza, Netanyahu said the governing committee of Palestinians announced as part of the second phase was merely a "declarative move," rather than the sign of progress described by U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff.

In 2025, Vietnam marked a pivotal moment in its economic trajectory. Amid persistent global uncertainties, the country recorded GDP growth of 8.02%. Vietnam's economic scale also reached a new threshold, with GDP estimated at approximately USD 514 billion and GDP per capita surpassing USD 5,000, officially elevating the country into the upper-middle-income category. Notably, Vietnam led ASEAN in growth momentum, reinforcing Vietnam's rising profile as a resilient and increasingly attractive destination for long-term global capital.

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