A Lebanese man held prisoner in Israel has been released and handed over to Lebanese authorities, officials say

By The Associated Press
September 4, 2026 | 3:00 AM

BEIRUT (AP) — A Lebanese man held prisoner in Israel has been released and handed over to Lebanese authorities, officials say.

Venezuelans’ pride is bruised by deal to give US one-fifth of their oil reserves

By The Associated Press
September 4, 2026 | 3:36 AM

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Nothing has shaped what it means to be Venezuelan today more than oil. For more than 100 years, in good times and bad, Venezuelans’ identity has been built around the belief that their country’s bountiful oil resources belong to the people, not a government or a company. This belief, and a troubled nation’s pride, took a bruising last week when acting President Delcy Rodríguez agreed to give the United States control of roughly one-fifth of Venezuela’s oil reserves – the largest in the world. While the deal could eventually generate billions of dollars for an oil industry and economy wrecked by years of mismanagement, many Venezuelans see it as a surrender. Some say they are not surprised; they believe that gaining control of Venezuelan oil was the ultimate objective when President Donald Trump ordered U.S. forces to capture then-President Nicolás Maduro at the beginning of the year, leaving Rodríguez in charge.

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