World

Venezuela frees six US men

Feb 02, 2025

Caracas [Venezuela], February 2: Venezuela has freed six US detainees after talks in Caracas between President Nicolas Maduro and a senior Trump administration official.
The release of the men was announced on social media by Donald Trump and his special envoy, Richard Grenell. Their names have not been made public. Grenell - who published online a photo of the six on board his plane - said they had spoken by phone to President Trump to thank him.
Earlier, the White House had called on Venezuela to release what it called "US hostages" - as well as agreeing to receive Venezuelan criminals deported by the US - or face consequences. At least nine people with US citizenship or residency are believed to be among over 2,200 detained by Venezuelan authorities following nationwide protests over the disputed July 2024 election results, in which Nicolas Maduro claimed victory.
Source: Qatar Tribune

More news

Astra Studios and VerSe Innovation launch the Astra-Spark Alliance at MIPCOM, opening an AI-native co-production model to global studios, streamers and brands

Cannes [France], October 13: Astra Studios, backed by India's leading production house Hombale Group, and VerSe Innovation today joined forces to form the Astra-Spark Alliance. The announcement coincides with Astra Studios' launch of AstraLabs, its technology IP arm. The two companies will co-develop and take to market an AI-native production architecture built on SparkStation, VerSe’s AI Content Operating System, which is a unified creative workflow platform that orchestrates the entire content creation journey from ideation and scripting through storyboarding, asset generation including casting, locations, costumes, multi-angle shots, music and dialogue, editing, captioning, rendering, ad formats and distribution live in one continuous pipeline. The alliance combines Astra’s cinematic craft and production expertise with SparkStation’s continuity AI engine and end-to-end pipeline. The aim is high-quality professional-grade film, series, animation and brand content at a speed and cost the industry has not seen before.

Oct 13, 2026