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

A woman checks her phone on a hill in Tehran, Iran on Oct. 2, 2025. Iran was plunged into a nationwide internet blackout on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, internet monitoring groups said, amid widespread protests over dire economic conditions and anger at the Islamic Republic. (Arash Khamooshi/The New York Times) By PRANAV BASKAR and SANAM MAHOOZI Iran was plunged into a nationwide internet blackout Thursday, internet monitoring groups said, amid widespread protests over dire econom

Long lines at a pharmacy in the Vedado neighborhood in Havana, Dec. 14, 2024. Never before have Cubans experienced such a wholesale collapse of the social safety net that the country’s leaders — starting with Fidel Castro — once prided themselves on. (Jorge Luis Baños/The New York Times) By DAVID C. ADAMS and FRANCES ROBLES By all accounts, Cuba is enduring the worst economic moment in the 67-year history of its communist revolution. While the island nation has endured period

The Cardon oil refinery in Punto Fijo, Venezuela, Dec. 30, 2021. The United States on Wednesday seized an oil tanker in the North Atlantic that had evaded its effort to crack down on Venezuela’s energy exports, U.S. officials said. (Adriana Loureiro Fernández/The New York Times) By NICHOLAS NEHAMAS, ERIC SCHMITT, JULIAN E. BARNES and CHRISTIAAN TRIEBERT The United States on Wednesday seized an oil tanker in the North Atlantic that had evaded its effort to crack down on Venezu

Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, in Kyiv, on Feb. 15, 2024. The Ukrainian leader is reshuffling his cabinet as a corruption scandal reshapes the political landscape at a pivotal point in peace negotiations. (Brendan Hoffman/The New York Times) By CONSTANT MÉHEUT For several weeks, with peace talks at a critical moment, Ukraine faced a power vacuum. It had no energy minister amid rolling blackouts caused by Russian strikes. No justice ministe