TV News LIES

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said she presented President Donald Trump her Nobel Peace Prize medal during their Jan. 15 meeting at the White House, an extraordinary gesture to try to earn Trump's backing.

Machado, speaking to reporters after the meeting ended, said she gave Trump her Nobel Peace Prize medal, which Trump has long coveted, "as a recognition for his unique commitment with our freedom." She did not say whether Trump accepted the medal.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The meeting was held as Machado is seeking Trump's approval to have a role in the Venezuelan government following the United States' Jan. 3 attack on Venezuela and capture of the country's president, Nicolás Maduro. Trump has instead embraced Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro's vice president, as the next leader, praising her cooperation as the United States begins to sell Venezuelan oil.

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With heavy hearts, Bedouins in a West Bank village dismantle their sheep pens and load belongings onto trucks, forced from their homes in the Israeli-occupied territory by rising settler violence.

While attacks by Israeli settlers affect communities across the West Bank, the semi-nomadic Bedouins are among the territory's most vulnerable, saying they suffer from forced displacement due in large part to a lack of law enforcement.

"What is happening today is the complete collapse of the community as a result of the settlers' continuous and repeated attacks, day and night, for the past two years," Farhan Jahaleen, a Bedouin in the village of Ras Ein al-Auja, told AFP.

Since Israel took control of the West Bank in 1967, Israeli outposts have steadily expanded, with more than 500,000 settlers now living in the territory, which is also home to three million Palestinians.

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President Volodymyr Zelensky declared a state of emergency in Ukraine’s energy sector on Wednesday – prompting a review of Ukraine’s regional curfew rules and the establishment of an energy headquarters in Kyiv among other special measures.

In recent weeks, Russian missile attacks have created disasters verging on a humanitarian crisis by targeting energy infrastructure across Ukraine. Early Tuesday, a massive overnight Russian drone attack on Kryvyi Rih knocked out heat to more than 700 apartment buildings as temperatures dropped to –7°C (+19°F).

Writing on Telegram, Zelensky announced plans to combat the “severe” consequences of Russian strikes on energy infrastructure and worsening weather conditions in three main areas.

Firstly, he said, a special headquarters will be established in Kyiv to coordinate a full-time response to the energy crisis.

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The State Department said Wednesday it will suspend the processing of immigrant visas for citizens of 75 countries whose nationals are deemed likely to require public assistance while living in the United States.

The State Department, led by Secretary Marco Rubio, said it had instructed consular officers to halt immigrant visa applications from the countries affected in accordance with a broader order issued in November that tightened rules around potential immigrants who might become “public charges” in the U.S.

The suspension, which will begin Jan. 21, will not apply to applicants seeking non-immigrant visas, or temporary tourist or business visas.

“The Trump administration is bringing an end to the abuse of America’s immigration system by those who would extract wealth from the American people,” the department said in a statement. “Immigrant visa processing from these 75 countries will be paused while the State Department reassess immigration processing procedures to prevent the entry of foreign nationals who would take welfare and public benefits.”

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The Trump administration has completed its first Venezuelan oil sale, valued at $500 million, an administration official confirmed to The Hill on Wednesday.

The official also said additional sales are expected in the coming days and weeks. 

Semafor first reported the deal, including that revenue from it is being held in bank accounts, including one in Qatar, that are controlled by the U.S. government. 

The announcement comes after President Trump announced last week that Venezuela would turn over between 30 and 50 million barrels of oil to the U.S.

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Russian strikes damaged the Polish consulate in the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa overnight, according to Poland’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Maciej Wewiór.

"As a result of the overnight bombardment, the Polish consulate in Odesa was damaged,” Wewiór wrote on X, describing it as “another night of Russian terror.”

He added that no consulate employees had been injured and praised the diplomats’ work, saying: “Great respect for the entire [Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs] team working in Ukraine.”

Russia overnight struck cities across the country in one of its largest attacks of the yr so far.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Moscow had launched almost 300 drones, 18 ballistic missiles and seven cruise missiles in the sweeping attacks which affected eight regions and targeted energy-generation facilities and substations.

Four people were killed in Kharkiv when missiles and drones hit a postal terminal.

At least five people were injured in Odesa as temperatures dropped to –7°C and fires broke out at a residential building, a fitness center and a garage, causing extensive damage.

Emergency psychologists were forced to assist 14 people, including one child.

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