An official with Yemen’s separatist Southern Transitional Council rejected an announcement that the group is disbanding, telling Al Jazeera that delegation members in Riyadh were “coerced” into making a statement that the group is finished.
Venezuela’s government has said it is in “exploratory” talks to restore diplomatic ties with the United States in the wake of Washington’s abduction of President Nicolas Maduro.
The government led by interim President Delcy Rodriguez also said on Friday that US Department of State officials were visiting Caracas and that Venezuela would soon reciprocate by sending a delegation to Washington.
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The government “has decided to initiate an exploratory process of a diplomatic nature with the Government of the United States of America, aimed at the re-establishment of diplomatic missions in both countries”, it said in a statement.
US-Venezuela relations tanked in the wake of the rise of left-wing President Hugo Chavez in 1999. Over the following 10 years, both countries withdrew their respective ambassadors.
In 2019, diplomatic relations fully ceased after the administration of US President Donald Trump recognised opposition figure Juan Guaido as the country’s interim president.
Since then, the US has handled Venezuela affairs from an office in Colombia’s capital, Bogota.
Rodriguez was sworn in as Venezuela’s interim president just two days after the US military seized Maduro. The operation has been roundly condemned as a blatant violation of international law.
The former vice president had continued to decry the US actions as a flagrant violation of Venezuela’s sovereignty, even as she has softened her tone on cooperation in the US.
“Our people and our region deserve peace and dialogue, not war,” she said.
The Trump administration has pledged to use military pressure and sanctions to indefinitely assert its will on Venezuela’s government and the country’s management of its vast oil reserves.
Trump had initially threatened that Rodriguez would pay a “bigger price” than Maduro if she did not comply with US interests. Maduro remained in a US federal facility on Friday after being indicted earlier this week on “narco-terrorism” conspiracy and drug trafficking charges.
In a post on Truth Social on Thursday, Trump said he had cancelled “the previously expected second Wave of Attacks” on Venezuela, citing increased cooperation with Caracas.
That included Venezuela’s move on Thursday to release a small fraction of its political prisoners, in what Trump called a sign of “seeking peace”.
“The USA and Venezuela are working well together, especially as it pertains to rebuilding, in a much bigger, better, and more modern form, their oil and gas infrastructure,” Trump said, adding that US military assets would remain surged to the region.
Trump and his top officials have offered competing justifications for Maduro’s abduction and the ongoing pressure campaign against Caracas. The administration has called the attack a one-off “law enforcement operation” while also saying the use of military force to achieve its goals remain on the table.
Earlier Friday, US forces seized a fifth oil tanker in the Caribbean since Trump announced a blockade on vessels under sanction by Washington in December.
UN experts have said the blockade and Washington’s efforts to assert control over Venezuela’s oil industry are also violations of international law.
Recalled striker Iliman Ndiaye scored in the first half to give Senegal a 1-0 victory over 10-man Mali in Tangiers on Friday in the first 2025 Africa Cup of Nations quarterfinal.
Mali hopes were dealt a severe blow in first-half added time when Yves Bissouma was sent off after being shown a second yellow card.
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The only goal followed a blunder by Mali goalkeeper Djigui Diarra, who then made a string of superb saves to prevent Senegal increasing their lead.
Senegal now face defending champions Ivory Coast or record seven-time winners Egypt, who meet on Saturday, in the semifinals.
Malian Lassine Sinayoko appealed for a penalty just three minutes into the first half, alleging he was fouled by Senegal captain Kalidou Koulibaly, who was back after a one-match suspension.
However, the South African referee waved play on, and VAR confirmed his decision was correct. Big-screen replays showed Sinayoko was guilty of simulation.
Mali captain Bissouma was yellow-carded midway through the half for fouling veteran Senegal striker and twice African player of the year Sadio Mane.
Sinayoko then broke clear only to be foiled by a superb sliding tackle from fellow French Ligue 1 player Krepin Diatta.
The deadlock was broken after 27 minutes on a cold, cloudy evening in the Mediterranean city thanks to Ndiaye.
He was involved three times in a move which ended with goalkeeper Djigui Diarra allowing a Krepin Diarra cross to slip under his body, and Ndiaye struck the loose ball into the net.
While the goal was a gift, it gave Senegal a deserved lead as they had dominated possession in only the second AFCON clash between the countries. The first was drawn at the group stage in 2004.
Pape Gueye, who scored twice for Senegal in the last-16 victory over Sudan, was just off target with a shot from outside the box.
Then, for the second successive knockout match, Mali were reduced to 10 men before half-time with Bissouma shown a second yellow card, followed by a red.
The Tottenham Hotspur midfielder fouled Idrissa Gueye in midfield, and Malian pleas for the incident to be reviewed by VAR were rejected.
Mali displayed tremendous spirit when reduced to 10 men against Tunisia in the round of 16, and it was evident again against the Senegalese as the second half progressed.
They came close to levelling on 55 minutes when defender Abdoulaye Diaby advanced for a free-kick. His close-range shot brought a reflex save from former Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy.
Diarra atoned for his first-half blunder by making several superb saves to keep alive Malian dreams of winning a maiden AFCON title.
With 15 minutes of regular time remaining, scorer Ndiaye was substituted. In his place came 17-year-old Paris Saint-Germain forward Ibrahim Mbaye, whose goal sealed victory over Sudan.
Diarra rescued Mali again as time ticked away, blocking a shot from substitute Pathe Ciss, who had broken clear.
The White House is summoning oil executives to discuss potential investment in Venezuela, and while a preliminary list of attendees features the big names of US oil companies – Chevron, Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips – it also includes several smaller independents and private equity-backed players.
The meeting with US President Donald Trump is scheduled for Friday at 2:30pm (19:30 GMT).
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Only the largest US oil producers have the scale and capacity to operate in Venezuela and have experience doing so, said an oil industry source. The inclusion of smaller domestic companies in the meeting is notable, given that they mostly operate in the US.
Continental Resources, which bills itself as the biggest privately owned oil and natural gas producer in the world, will be in attendance, as will HKN Inc, which was formerly known as Harken Energy.
Several of the companies have connections to Denver, Colorado, the home turf of Secretary of Energy Chris Wright and a relatively small hub for oil and gas activity compared with other parts of the United States.
Oil output in PADD 4, the production region that includes Colorado, totalled 1.02 million barrels per day (bpd) in October, according to the latest data from the US Energy Information Administration. PADD 3, which includes states like Texas and New Mexico, produced 10.28 million bpd that month.
Raisa Energy, which acquires non-operated stakes in energy assets and has a Venezuelan CEO, is based in Denver and backed by investment funds Citadel and Ares Management.
Tallgrass Energy – a midstream company with pipeline and terminal assets in areas including the US Rocky Mountains and Oklahoma – and Aspect Holdings, which lists former Speaker of the US House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy as an independent director, are also headquartered in Denver.
The Department of Energy did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Raisa, Tallgrass, and Aspect did not immediately reply to questions about any previous discussions they may have had about Venezuela ahead of the Friday meeting.
Many of the smaller firms and independents may not have as much experience with heavy oil that is typical in Venezuela, but they will be familiar with lighter oil around Lake Maracaibo and shale that has not yet been tapped, said a long-time oil industry executive.
US forces have seized a fifth oil tanker in the Caribbean as Washington ramps up enforcement against sanctioned Venezuelan oil shipments. The vessel, Olina, was boarded in a pre-dawn operation by US Marines and Navy forces, the military said.
The mayor of Minneapolis and the local elected officials have called on the administration of US President Donald Trump to “embrace the truth” and guarantee an impartial investigation into an immigration agent’s killing of a city resident earlier this week.
The appeal on Friday came a day after an independent state investigatory body said it had been cut out of a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) probe into the shooting of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent.
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The unusual move raised concerns of bias in the federal government’s investigation into one of its own agents.
“This is not a time to hide from the facts,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said during a news conference. “This is a time to embrace them, making sure that we’re pushing for transparency every step of the way.”
Trump administration officials had swiftly claimed the incident, which took place in a residential Minneapolis neighbourhood on Wednesday, was an act of “domestic terrorism”, and that the involved agent was acting in self-defence as the victim tried to run him over.
But video evidence has cast doubt over the federal government’s narrative.
Frey said it was deeply “concerning” that the Trump administration had already “come to a conclusion” about the facts of the case, long before any investigation had been completed.
Without the involvement of independent local investigators, he added, any findings by the FBI will be seen as tainted and would only further foment unrest and distrust.
“This is not some radical, way out there group,” Frey said of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), which had initially been invited by the FBI to take part in the probe, before being abruptly cut out.
“This is a group that is formed by experts who understand how to investigate, many of them have been police officers themselves.”
The mayor added that people in Minneapolis are demanding “justice and the truth.”
Protests have continued across Minneapolis and other cities in the US following the killing.
Several videos of the incident on Wednesday show Good parked in the middle of the road in a maroon Honda Pilot SUV as ICE agents walked towards her vehicle.
One officer approached the driver side window, telling Good to exit the SUV, although another agent is seen waving at her, in what some say may have been a conflicting order.
Good’s vehicle is then seen reversing and then driving forward slowly. That’s when an agent standing near the front left bumper of the SUV opens fire. The vehicle continued forward down the road before crashing into a utility pole and another car.
A video of the aftermath appeared to show law enforcement agents refusing to allow an individual who identifies himself as a physician to give medical aid to Good, who was pronounced dead soon after.
Good – a 37-year-old mother of three – was dropping off her youngest child at school.
Just moments after the killing, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin claimed in a statement that Good was a “violent rioter” who “weaponized her vehicle” in an attempt to “run over” law enforcement.
Hours later, Trump called Good without evidence a “professional agitator” who “violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE Officer”, blaming the incident on the “Radical left”.
The US president claimed it was “hard to believe” the involved agent was alive, despite video showing him walking around the scene after opening fire.
Joining a lengthy White House news conference on Thursday, Vice President JD Vance also presented an incendiary account of the incident, calling it “classic terrorism” and suggesting Good had been “brainwashed” by the “radical left”.
He also falsely claimed that the officer who opened fire “is protected by absolute immunity” from state prosecution because he was a federal law enforcement agent “doing his job”.
The shooting has brought renewed scrutiny to Trump’s mass deportation drive, which has seen his administration flood communities across the country with federal agents as it has sought to quickly grow the ballooning ranks of ICE.
Prior to the killing, The Trace news website had documented 16 incidents in which federal agents enforcing the immigration crackdown shot someone since Trump took office in January 2025. Good was among four people killed in those shootings, it said.
On Thursday, two Customs and Border Patrol agents, who fall under DHS like ICE agents, opened fire and wounded a man and a woman during a traffic stop in Portland, Oregon.
A bill signed into law by Trump in 2025 allocates $75bn for ICE’s personnel, enforcement and detention budget over the next four years – funds that far surpass the military budgets of most countries in the world.
Speaking at Friday’s news conference, Minneapolis city council member Jason Chavez said it was imperative to have an independent investigation into Good’s killing for local residents to be able to “have a sense of trust in this process”.
Good’s killing came as the administration surged ICE agents to Minneapolis in its latest targeting of Somali Americans, leaving many living in fear, he added.