A rally in support of Nicolás Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela, Jan. 4, 2026. Venezuela’s leading human rights organization said on Monday that at least 24 political prisoners had been released from prison in the early morning, bringing the total freed in recent days to at least 41. (The New York Times) By ANATOLY KURMANAEV When Venezuela’s interim government announced last week that it would start freeing political prisoners, Ramón Guanipa Linares, a college psychology student,

President Donald Trump walks to speak with reporters aboard Air Force One as he travels back to Washington from Florida, Jan. 11, 2026. President Trump is exploring options for diplomacy with Iran as he weighs whether to attack the country to try to deter its leaders from killing more protesters, U.S. officials said. (Eric Lee/The New York Times) By ABDI LATIF DAHIR and LEILY NIKOUNAZAR President Donald Trump called on Iranians on Tuesday to keep protesting against their gove

President Donald Trump during an interview at the White House in Washington on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (Doug Mills/The New York Times) By MICHAEL D. SHEAR, ERIC SCHMITT, STEVEN ERLANGER and JEANNA SMIALEK For Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen of Denmark and leaders across Europe, the threat of violence from their American allies was shocking. Stephen Miller, one of President Donald Trump’s closest aides, was asked last Monday to rule out the use of military force to seize Gre

Government supporters calling for the release of Nicolás Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela, Jan. 7, 2025. The U.S. capture of Nicolás Maduro has divided the region. But every nation wants to avoid being next. (Alejandro Cegarra/The New York Times) By JACK NICAS and ANA IONOVA By the time dawn broke Jan. 3, WhatsApp had already lit up across Latin America with frantic messages from heads of state, grappling with how to respond to perhaps the region’s biggest political event in deca

Vice President Delcy Rodriguez of Venezuela arrives to be sworn in as interim leader in Caracas, on Monday Jan. 5, 2026. Rodríguez got American help with the return of an oil tanker linked to one of her political rivals that had left the country without authorization. (Alejandro Cegarra/The New York Times) By ANATOLY KURMANAEV and CHRISTIAAN TRIEBERT The government of Venezuela’s interim leader, Delcy Rodríguez, enlisted U.S. military support to return an oil tanker that left

President Masoud Pezeshkian of Iran at a news conference in Tehran, Iran on Sept. 16, 2024. President Masoud Pezeshkian expressed sympathy for protesters’ economic pain, but said the state must respond to “rioters.” Rights groups reported a big spike in the death toll. (Arash Khamooshi/The New York Times) By ERIKA SOLOMON and SANAM MAHOOZI Faced with surging anti-government protests, Iran’s president vowed to address economic grievances but showed no signs of backing off a ha

A former radar station in eastern Greenland in June 2025. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has told lawmakers that President Donald Trump plans to buy Greenland rather than invade it, while Trump has asked aides to give him an updated plan for acquiring the territory, U.S. officials said on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (Ivor Prickett/The New York Times) By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN, AMELIA NIERENBERG and MAYA TEKELI President Donald Trump has ridiculed Denmark’s dog sled teams in Greenland.

By EMMA BUBOLA Venezuela’s government announced the release of what it described as “an important number” of political prisoners, both Venezuelan and foreign national, on Thursday, the first ostensible gesture of change by the new administration since the ouster of President Nicolás Maduro. Jorge Rodríguez, the head of Venezuela’s National Assembly, did not specify how many people would be freed but said that the releases would take place “in the next few hours.” The decision