It doesn’t feel like Christmas in Venezuela.

Officials say that France’s TotalEnergies and U.S. hydrocarbon company APA Corp. plan to invest $10 billion to extract oil off the coast of Suriname in a historic investment for the South American country.

Venezuela’s government has announced the arrest of a fourth U.S. citizen in connection with an alleged plot to kill President Nicolás Maduro.

Venezuela’s main opposition coalition has urged the U.S. to cancel licenses for Chevron and other energy companies.

Taiwan beat Venezuela 4-1 in the championship game of the international bracket at the Little League World Series.

Venezuela’s government will order former opposition candidate Edmundo González to provide sworn testimony in an ongoing investigation into what it considers attempts to spread panic in the South American country by contesting the results of last month’s presidential election.

Venezuela is tense.

As thousands of people demonstrate across Venezuela, opposition candidate Edmundo González has announced that his campaign has the proof it needs to show he won the country’s disputed election whose victory electoral authorities handed to President Nicolás Maduro.

Maria Corina Machado has walked highways, sought shelter in supporters’ homes and seen her closest collaborators detained and persecuted as she crisscrossed Venezuela ahead of the upcoming presidential election.

Unlike previous elections in Venezuela, thousands of supporters of the typically fractured opposition have agreed to organize, mobilize and support voters during the highly anticipated July 28 presidential contest.

Officials in Venezuela have arrested the head of security for the country’s top opposition leader, a little more than a week before President Nicolás Maduro faces a tough reelection.

Venezuela’s government faces its toughest electoral test in decades in a July 28 presidential election, which could give President Nicolas Maduro another six years in power or end the self-described socialist policies that once successfully boosted anti-poverty programs but whose sustained mismanagement later pushed the country into an ongoing economic crisis.

A relentless heat wave continues to bake most of the U.S., with numerous areas expected to see record-breaking temperatures.

Venezuela’s ruling party is feeling its decades-long grip on power under threat.

A cluster of tarp-covered tents in a grassy lot south of Seattle highlights the strain facing many communities are facing.

Six planets will line up in the early morning sky on June 3, but most won't be visible to the naked eye.

A proposal meant to guide electoral authorities in setting the date for Venezuela’s presidential election includes more than 20 potential options ranging from as soon as the last week of March through early December.

The collapse of an illegally operated gold mine in a remote area of central Venezuela has laid bare the sense of abandonment that plagues communities across the South American country.

Officials in Venezuela say at least 14 people are confirmed dead from the collapse of an illegally operated open-pit gold mine in central Venezuela.

Representatives of several human rights organizations have held a press conference demanding the immediate release of a prominent attorney and activist detained last week.

Mexican immigration officials are moving to clear a migrant encampment on the banks of the Rio Grande river, as U.S. officials met with Mexico’s president to press for measures to limit a surge of migrants reaching the U.S. southwestern border.

Two suspects in the kidnapping of the parents of Liverpool soccer player Luis Díaz were ordered sent to prison by a judge, according to Colombia’s Prosecutor’s Office, which accused one of the men of being the link to a person close to the family who provided information about the victims.

U.S. authorities say illegal border crossings from Mexico fell 14% in October from a month earlier, following three months of big increases.

Volunteers, churches and advocacy groups are scrambling to find indoor shelter for migrants in Chicago as the temperatures drop.

Venezuela’s chief prosecutor has announced a criminal investigation into organizers of a presidential primary election held over the weekend.

Venezuelans became the largest nationality arrested for illegally crossing the U.S. border last month, replacing Mexicans for the first time on record.

A faction of Venezuela’s opposition is set to pick its candidate for next year’s presidential election.

Some migrants say the U.S. government’s plan to restart deportation flights to Venezuela in the coming days won't stop them from continuing their journeys.

Authorities say 16 migrants from Venezuela and Haiti are dead following a bus crash in southern Mexico.

Rain-swollen rivers only briefly slowed the otherwise uninterrupted flow of migrants through this jungle-covered border of Colombia and Panama and by midweek another 2,000 bedraggled migrants stumbled out of the Darien jungle.

Whether stuffed with juicy steak or packed with shredded chicken, you’re sure to love the Venezuelan sandwiches at El Rey De Las Arepas.

Nearly 1,600 migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. will be relocated from Chicago police stations to winterized camps with massive tents under a plan by Mayor Brandon Johnson.

Japan is one win away from getting back to the Olympics.

Coming back to the Little League World Series after losing last year’s title game, Curacao doesn’t just want to be good for its size.

The fishermen of Lake Maracaibo say they face their worst nightmare everyday as fish stocks decline and pollution degrades the health of this great freshwater lake, one of the oldest — and largest — in the world.

Leaders of Venezuela’s fractured opposition are shaking voters’ hands and promising — yet again — that they will defeat President Nicolás Maduro at the ballot box.

A recent increase of migrants in the Brownsville, Texas, area of the U.S.-Mexico border is highlighting immigration challenges as the U.S. prepares for the end of a coronavirus pandemic-era policy that allowed it to quickly expel many migrants.

A dozen senators are making a bipartisan appeal to President Joe Biden to reinvigorate the power of U.S. authorities to seize Iranian oil assets.

Award-winning Bolivian journalist Harold Olmos, who led Associated Press operations in Venezuela and Brazil, has died at age 78.

There's a special chance this week to see five planets lined up in the night sky.

Houston Astros star Jose Altuve has had surgery on his broken right thumb.

Houston Astros star Jose Altuve has a broken right thumb and needs surgery after getting hurt in Venezuela’s 9-7 quarterfinal loss to the United States at the World Baseball Classic.

Jose Altuve left Venezuela’s 9-7 quarterfinal loss to the United States with a possible broken right thumb after getting hit by a pitch.

Cuba advanced to the World Baseball Classic semifinals for the first time since 2006 with a 4-3 win over Australia as Alfredo Despaigne hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly and Yoelkis Guibert followed with a two-run single in three-run fifth inning.

Eugenio Suárez and Anthony Santander had two hits each as Venezuela beat Nicaragua 4-1 and improved to 3-0 in the World Baseball Classic.

Colombia’s government and its largest remaining rebel group have met in Mexico City to resume peace talks.

The Biden administration says U.S. authorities have seen a 97% decline in illegal border crossings by migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela since Mexico began accepting those expelled under a public health order.

People worldwide are more gloomy about their economic prospects than ever before and trust business far more than governments, nonprofits and the media in an increasingly divided world.

The Biden administration has been conspicuously silent about how migrants who plan to claim asylum should enter the United States when Trump-era limits end, fueling rumors, confusion and doubts about its readiness.

The Biden administration is easing some oil sanctions on Venezuela in an effort to support newly restarted negotiations between the Venezuelan government and its opposition.

As migrants, especially Venezuelans, struggle to come to terms with a new U.S. policy discouraging border crossings, one small town in southern Mexico is unexpectedly playing host to thousands of migrants camped far from the U.S. border.

Venezuelan Gilbert Fernández still plans to cross the dangerous Darién jungle into Panama headed over land toward the U.S. despite Washington's announcement that it will grant conditional humanitarian permits only to 24,000 Venezuelan migrants arriving by air.

A day after burying his mother, Rafael Negrín has carried the coffin of his aunt who also died in floods and landslides in central Venezuela that killed at least 43 people and left dozens missing.

Rescue workers in Venezuela are clearing rocks and mud from the streets of a north-central city that was hit by a massive landslide three days earlier.

Authorities say a landslide fueled by flooding and days of torrential rain has swept through a town in central Venezuela, leaving at least 22 people dead as it dragged mud, rocks and trees through neighborhoods.

Delegates of Colombia’s government and the nation’s largest remaining guerrilla group announced that they will restart peace talks that were suspended in 2018.

Cuban firefighters have been joined by special teams sent by Mexico and Venezuela as they battle for a second day to control a fire blazing at a big oil tank farm.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center says a storm that has hurled rain on the southern Caribbean and the northern shoulder of South America is expected to hit Central America as a tropical storm over the weekend and eventually develop into a hurricane over the Pacific.

President Joe Biden plans to meet on July 12 at the White House with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

Senior Biden administration officials have quietly traveled to Caracas in the latest bid to rebuild relations with the South American oil giant as the war in Ukraine drags on, driving higher gas prices and forcing the U.S. to recalibrate other foreign policy objectives.

Several thousand migrants have started walking through southern Mexico, covering ground before the heat of the day — and while authorities show no signs yet of trying to stop them.

The Biden administration has renewed a license partially exempting Chevron from sanctions on Venezuela so it can keep operating in the oil-rich, socialist-run nation.

The Detroit Tigers’ Miguel Cabrera has made baseball history Saturday, becoming the 33rd player to ever reach 3,000 hits and the first-ever Venezuelan player to do it -- and his fans couldn’t be more excited for him.

Miguel Cabrera recorded his 3,000th career hit Saturday against the Colorado Rockies, becoming the 33rd MLB player to join that exclusive club, and the first ever Venezuelan player to do it.

Three checkered oil regimes that President Joe Biden and past U.S. leaders have spectacularly snubbed — Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and Iran — are the targets of U.S. outreach as global fuel prices hit dizzying highs during the Ukraine crisis.

Senior U.S. officials secretly traveled to Venezuela over the weekend in a risky bid to unfreeze hostile relations with Vladimir Putin’s top ally in Latin America, a top oil exporter whose re-entry into U.S. energy markets could mitigate the fallout at the pump from a possible oil embargo on Russia.

Venezuela’s National Electoral Council says an opposition petition drive seeking to force a recall referendum against President Nicolás Maduro fell far short of the signatures needed.

Voters in the home state of Venezuela’s late President Hugo Chávez have picked an opposition candidate for governor in a closely watched special election called after the contender representing that faction in November’s regular contest was retroactively disqualified as he was ahead in the vote count.

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Farmer Julio Álvarez hasn’t sold milk in about a year and a half even though the cows at his farm in northwestern Venezuela are milked every day.

The developer of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine says it will work on adapting it to the new omicron COVID-19 variant.

Millions from Latin America to the Middle East are waiting for promised doses of the Russian-made Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine due to manufacturing problems and other issues.

At least 13 people were injured following an explosion at a police station near Colombia’s border with Venezuela, officials in the city of Cucuta said.

The 25-year-old said her chance of breaking Ukrainian Inessa Kravets' 1995 world record mark of 15.50m in Tokyo was a 'real possibility.'

Canada's men's volleyball team on Friday kept pace in the ultra-competitive Pool A at the Tokyo Olympics.

USA Baseball on Friday announced the 24-man roster that will represent the United States on the diamond in Japan

The World Health Organization has issued an emergency use listing for the COVID-19 vaccine made by Sinovac in adults 18 and over.

Six American oil executives jailed in Venezuela more than three years ago on corruption charges have been granted house arrest in a gesture of goodwill toward the Biden administration as it reviews its policy toward the politically turbulent South American country.

A U.S. government watchdog report is questioning the methods used in a USAID effort to get aid to Venezuela in 2019.

Brazil’s health regulator has rejected a request from several states to import almost 30 million doses of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine, citing safety concerns.

(AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)BARQUISIMETO – For some children in Venezuela, garbage is the main source of their livelihood. AdWaste has been drastically reduced during the pandemic, particularly food from homes, restaurants and wholesale markets. That was trash was coveted by garbage pickers in Barquisimeto, once a thriving agro-industrial city where food waste was notable. But for many who stayed — adults and children alike — rummaging through garbage in search of food scraps or valuable items has become an increasingly common activity. Longtime garbage pickers are finding “equal or less” usable garbage because more people are competing for it, García said.

The Washtenaw County Health Department announced Saturday, Jan. 23 that a total of five cases of the virus variant, also known as B117, have been identified in county residents. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) also identified one case of the virus variant in a Wayne County man. The Washtenaw County Health Department is warning residents of potential exposure sites, where patrons may have came into contact with the virus variant. A total of 5 cases of the variant have been identified and additional sequencing continues for other possible cases already positive for COVID-19. The virus variant has reportedly made its way to at least 20 states in the country so far.

The Trump administration plans to use proceeds from the sale of fuel confiscated from Iranian tankers to benefit victims of terrorism, officials announced Thursday. The U.S. government in August seized 1.1 million barrels of fuel from four Iranian tankers that were en route to Venezuela. The fuel has since been sold, and officials say the proceeds will go to a special fund for victims of state-sponsored terrorism. The Trump administration has had a decidedly contentious relationship with Iran, announcing last month that it had restored all United Nations sanctions that had been eased under the 2015 nuclear deal. Last week, officials accused Iran of election interference through the distribution of threatening emails to Democratic voters in multiple states.

(AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world:___UMass says it will play football this fall, reversing an August decision to postpone the season until the spring. One of few independents in the Football Bowl Subdivision, the school says it will start in mid-October. Games still need to be scheduled, which could be a challenge because most leagues are playing a limited number of nonconference games, if any. UMass was an occasional power in Division I-AA, now known as the Football Championship Subdivision, winning it all in 1998 and returning to the title game eight years later. Results show that “a number of our first-team squad have tested positive for COVID-19.”Those who tested positive will follow government self-isolation guidelines.

(AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)NEW DELHI India has reported more than 67,000 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, raising the countrys number of reported infections to 3.2 million with 1.5 million reported infections coming this month alone. New reported infections dropped to around 61,000 on Monday and Tuesday, but picked up again in the past 24 hours. ___BEIJING China has suspended a flight from Abu Dhabi to Shanghai for a week after passengers on board tested positive for coronavirus. Oahu has seen a surge in daily positive cases. ___MELBOURNE, Australia Australias hard-hit Victoria state on Wednesday recorded one of its deadliest days of the pandemic despite new COVID-19 infections continuing to trend down.

Health authorities tested people arriving at the market as a preventive measure to help curb the spread of the new coronavirus. In two other hospitals, the Chiquinquir and Adolfo Pons, beds for virus patients have been set up in outpatient examination areas, a nurse said. Dr. William Barrientos, a surgeon and opposition legislator, said 20 small and midsized hotels in Maracaibo are being used as quarantine centers for suspected virus patients. Health workers told AP she had been infected by a virus patient. Health experts and human rights groups have been called for more international aid for Venezuela's health system because of the virus.

Given the crushing U.S. sanctions imposed on Iran, also-sanctioned Venezuela appears to be the country that would have nothing to lose from accepting the shipments. Raja said Refinitiv had no data on any Iranian gasoline shipment ever going to South America before. Iran and Venezuela are two independent nations that have had trade with each other and they will in the future. Rob Lodewick, a Pentagon spokesman, declined to comment on the Iranian vessels. ___Associated Press writers Nasser Karimi and Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, and Joshua Goodman in Miami contributed to this report.

Alex Wong/Getty ImagesWASHINGTON, D.C. - If your friends and allies won't tell you what they really think, check their travel advisories. Close US allies have long warned their citizens about the risks of exploring the United States. "The likelihood of a tourist being a victim of such a (mass shooting) incident is low," adds Canada. "Active shooter incidents occur from time to time in the United States," the advisory adds in a "Crime" section. Amid new trade tensions in June, China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism issued a general travel advisory citing "shootings, robberies and thefts" as risks to tourists.

Countries issue travel warnings for the U.S. following two mass shootings. WASHINGTON, D.C. - Two countries issued travel warnings to their citizens about the United States following two mass shootings that killed 31 people. Both Venezuela and Uruguay warned their residents about violence and hate crimes in the United States Monday. In April, the US State Department gave Venezuela its highest travel advisory, Level 4: Do Not Travel, citing crime, civil unrest and the arbitrary arrest and detention of US citizens. Uruguay is listed as a Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution on the State Department's travel advisory list.