Venezuela says it’s releasing a ‘significant number’ of prisoners as gesture to ‘seek peace’

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By JORGE RUEDA

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela is releasing a “significant number” of citizens and foreigners from its prisons in a decision that the head of the country’s legislature described Thursday as a gesture to “seek peace” less than a week after former President Nicolás Maduro was captured by U.S. forces to face federal drug-trafficking charges in New York.

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Jorge Rodríguez, brother of acting President Delcy Rodríguez and head of the National Assembly, did not specify who they would be releasing or how many people would be released. But he said the release of prisoners “is happening right now.”

The Penal Forum, a human rights organization in Venezuela, said that as of Dec. 29, 2025, there were 863 people detained in Venezuela “for political reasons.” In a post on X, director of the forum, Alfredo Romero, said the liberations were “good news” in a country that’s been wracked by political turmoil in recent days.

“We will be verifying each release,” Romero wrote. “We already know of some people on their way to freedom, including foreigners.”

The release of opposition figures and critics has been a longtime demand by Venezuela’s opposition and the United States government.

Despite mass detentions following the tumultuous 2024 election, Venezuela’s government denies that there are “political prisoners” and accuse those detained of plotting to destabilize Maduro’s government.

“Consider this a gesture by the Bolivarian government, which is broadly intended to seek peace,” Rodríguez said in an announcement publicized over TV.

Little movement was immediately seen outside one of Venezuela’s most notable prisons, where a number of the detainees are held.

On Wednesday, the Trump administration sought to assert its control over Venezuelan oil, seizing a pair of sanctioned tankers transporting petroleum and announcing plans to relax some sanctions so the U.S. can oversee the sale of Venezuela’s petroleum worldwide.

Both moves reflect the administration’s determination to make good on its effort to control the next steps in Venezuela through its vast oil resources after U.S. President Donald Trump pledged after the capture of Maduro that the U.S. will “run” the country.

Janetsky reported from Mexico City.

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

U.S. Bank Center acquired by St. Paul Downtown Development Corporation

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A nonprofit formed last year by the St. Paul Downtown Alliance has acquired yet another troubled building from the former portfolio of Madison Equities — the 25-story U.S. Bank Center, which had been scheduled to go to auction later this month.

The office building, located at 101 East Fifth St., was sold by former lender First Interstate Bank of Omaha, which held its distressed mortgage. In announcing the acquisition on Thursday, the St. Paul Downtown Development Corporation did not disclose full financial details except to say in a written statement that the purchase was “fully funded by private investment, and no public funds were involved.”

The Downtown Development Corporation closed on the bank note on Dec. 30.

“U.S. Bank Center is a key asset on Fifth Street, a property that will be critical to bridging the vibrancy of the entertainment district and Lowertown,” said Development Corporation President Dave Higgins, in the statement. “Acquiring this property’s debt gives the SPDDC additional influence on the continuing stabilization of the downtown core.”

The acquisition was praised by new St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her, who said in the statement that “a thriving downtown and a functional urban core will make our city far more desirable for people to live, work and do business here. … I am confident that the St. Paul Downtown Development Corporation’s acquisition of the U.S. Bank Center mortgage to their growing portfolio will open more doors and possibilities in St. Paul.”

The building, spanning more than 516,000 square feet, includes 25 floors of office and commercial space, as well as a 348-stall parking ramp. The skyway-connected property faces the Green Line light rail corridor’s Central Station and was recently listed as 26% occupied. It fell into foreclosure a year ago, and was initially listed to be up for auction Nov. 10 through Nov. 12.

A listing broker with Colliers International said last month that title work and other issues had repeatedly delayed the sale, which was advertised with a minimum starting bid of $1 million. The minimum bid could yet be lowered, he said at the time, before the scheduled auction on Jan. 12.

In mid-2024, U.S. Bank announced it would not renew its office lease on nine floors at U.S. Bank Center, though it chose to keep a skyway branch open in the building.

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The Downtown Development Corporation, which was formed in early 2025, has been steadily acquiring office buildings, commercial centers and parking ramps downtown for the past three months. In October, it purchased the sprawling Alliance Bank Center. In November, it acquired the Capital City Plaza parking ramp. In December, it bought the Empire Building on Robert Street and the single-story Endicott Arcade annex building adjoining it on 5th Street.

Each structure had been owned in the recent past by Madison Equities, once downtown St. Paul’s most prominent property owner. Following the death of company principal James Crockarell in January 2024, Madison put most of its downtown portfolio up for sale, though that hasn’t prevented many of its buildings from falling into foreclosure and being sold off by major lenders.

Early birds can begin filing their taxes on Jan. 26 this year

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By FATIMA HUSSEIN

WASHINGTON (AP) — Jan. 26 marks the official start date of the 2026 tax filing season, when the IRS will begin accepting and processing 2025 tax returns. April 15 is the filing deadline.

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Tax experts, including the IRS’ independent watchdog, have warned that this year’s filing season could be hampered by the loss of tens of thousands of tax collection workers who left the agency through planned layoffs and buyouts spurred by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.

The IRS will also be responsible for implementing major provisions of Republicans’ tax and spending package signed into law last summer. Several provisions in the law retroactively affect the 2025 tax year, likely leading to more questions from taxpayers and requiring the IRS to update tax forms.

“President Trump is committed to the taxpayers of this country and improving upon the successful tax filing season in 2025,” said acting IRS Commissioner Scott Bessent in a news release. “I am confident in our ability to deliver results and drive growth for businesses and consumers alike.”

The IRS expects to receive roughly 164 million individual income tax returns this year, which is on par with what it received last year.

The latest National Taxpayer Advocate report to Congress published in June states that the IRS workforce has fallen from 102,113 workers at the end of the Biden administration to 75,702. The IRS website does not include the latest employment numbers on the agency’s workforce.

IRS employees involved in last year’s tax season were not allowed to accept a buyout offer from the Trump administration until after the taxpayer filing deadline of April 15, 2025.

The June National Taxpayer Advocate report to Congress warned that the 2026 season could be rocky.

“With the IRS workforce reduced by 26% and significant tax law changes on the horizon, there are risks to next year’s filing season,” said Erin M. Collins, who leads the organization assigned to protect taxpayers’ rights.

Denmark sees talks with the US as a chance for ‘the dialogue that is needed’ over Greenland

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By CLAUDIA CIOBANU

Denmark has welcomed a meeting with the U.S. next week to discuss President Donald Trump’s renewed call for the strategic, mineral-rich Arctic island of Greenland to come under American control.

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“This is the dialogue that is needed, as requested by the government together with the Greenlandic government,” Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen told Danish broadcaster DR on Thursday.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio had said on Wednesday a meeting about Greenland would happen next week, without giving details about timing, location or participants.

“I’m not here to talk about Denmark or military intervention. I’ll be meeting with them next week, we’ll have those conversations with them then,” Rubio told reporters on Capitol Hill.

Greenland’s government has told Danish public broadcaster DR that Greenland will participate in the meeting between Denmark and the U.S. announced by Rubio.

“Nothing about Greenland without Greenland. Of course we will be there. We are the ones who requested the meeting,” Greenland’s Foreign Minister Vivian Motzfeldt told DR.

The island of Greenland, 80% of which lies above the Arctic Circle, is home to about 56,000 mostly Inuit people.

Vance criticizes Denmark

U.S. Vice President JD Vance said on Wednesday that Denmark “obviously” had not done a proper job in securing Greenland and that Trump “is willing to go as far as he has to” to defend American interests in the Arctic.

In an interview with Fox News, Vance repeated Trump’s claim that Greenland is crucial to both the U.S. and the world’s national security because “the entire missile defense infrastructure is partially dependent on Greenland.”

He said the fact that Denmark has been a faithful military ally of the U.S. during World War Two and the more recent “war on terrorism” did not necessarily mean they were doing enough to secure Greenland today.

“Just because you did something smart 25 years ago doesn’t mean you can’t do something dumb now,” Vance said, adding that Trump “is saying very clearly, ‘you are not doing a good job with respect to Greenland.’”

Right to self-determination

Vance’s comments came after Rubio told a select group of U.S. lawmakers that it was the Republican administration’s intention to eventually purchase Greenland, as opposed to using military force.

“Many Greenlanders feel that the remarks made are disrespectful,” Aaja Chemnitz, one of the two Greenlandic politicians in the Danish parliament, told The Associated Press. “Many also experience that these conversations are being discussed over their heads. We have a firm saying in Greenland, ‘Nothing about Greenland, without Greenland.’”

She said most Greenlanders “wish for more self-determination, including independence” but also want to “strengthen cooperation with our partners” in security and business development as long as it is based on “mutual respect and recognition of our right to self-determination.”

Chemnitz denied a claim by Trump that Greenland is “covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place.”

Greenland is “a longstanding ally and partner to the U.S. and we have a shared interest in stability, security, and responsible cooperation in the Arctic,” she said. “There is an agreement with the U.S. that gives them access to have bases in Greenland if needed.”

France’s President Emmanuel Macron has denounced the “law of the strongest” that is making people “wonder if Greenland will be invaded.”

In a speech to French ambassadors at the Elysee presidential palace on Thursday, Macron said: “It’s the greatest disorder, the law of the strongest, and everyday people wonder whether Greenland will be invaded, whether Canada will be under the threat of becoming the 51th state (of the United States) or whether Taiwan is to be further circled.”

He pointed to an “increasingly dysfunctional” world where great powers, including the U.S and China, have “a real temptation to divide the world amongst themselves.”

The United States is “gradually turning away from some of its allies and freeing itself from the international rules,” Macron said.

Surveillance operations for the US

“Greenland belongs to its people,” Antonio Costa, the President of the European Council, said on Wednesday. “Nothing can be decided about Denmark and about Greenland without Denmark, or without Greenland. They have the full solid support and solidarity of the European Union.”

The leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and the U.K. joined Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on Tuesday in defending Greenland’s sovereignty in the wake of Trump’s comments about Greenland, which is part of the NATO military alliance.

After Vance’s visit to Greenland last year, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen published a video detailing the 1951 defense agreement between Denmark and the U.S.. Since 1945, the American military presence in Greenland has decreased from thousands of soldiers over 17 bases and installations on the island, Rasmussen said, to the remote Pituffik Space Base in the northwest with some 200 soldiers today. The base supports missile warning, missile defense and space surveillance operations for the U.S. and NATO.

The 1951 agreement “offers ample opportunity for the United States to have a much stronger military presence in Greenland,” Rasmussen said. “If that is what you wish, then let us discuss it.”

‘Military defense of Greenland’

Last year, Denmark’s parliament approved a bill to allow U.S. military bases on Danish soil. The legislation widens a previous military agreement, made in 2023 with the Biden administration, where U.S. troops had broad access to Danish air bases in the Scandinavian country.

Denmark is moving to strengthen its military presence around Greenland and in the wider North Atlantic.

Last year, the government announced a 14.6 billion-kroner ($2.3 billion) agreement with parties including the governments of Greenland and the Faroe Islands, another self-governing territory of Denmark, to “improve capabilities for surveillance and maintaining sovereignty in the region.”

The plan includes three new Arctic naval vessels, two additional long-range surveillance drones and satellite capacity.

Denmark’s Joint Arctic Command, headquartered in Nuuk, is tasked with the “surveillance, assertion of sovereignty and military defense of Greenland and the Faroe Islands,” according to its website. It has smaller satellite stations across the island.

The Sirius Dog Sled Patrol, an elite Danish naval unit that conducts long-range reconnaissance and enforces Danish sovereignty in the Arctic wilderness, is also stationed in Greenland.

Seung Min Kim in Washington and Sylvie Corbet in Paris contributed to this report.