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Citgo Petroleum Corp, the eighth largest U.S. refiner and Venezuela's top foreign asset, is in the middle of a tug-of-war as the Trump administration tries to use the company as leverage to topple Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. from Reuters: World News https://reut.rs/2MGllfJ

Venezuela has told dozens of expatriate staff working for Citgo Petroleum Corp in the United States that they must return to Caracas by the end of February, people familiar with the matter said, following U.S. sanctions aimed at forcing socialist President Nicolas Maduro from power. from Reuters: World News https://reut.rs/2GifBrJ

Australia's two biggest mining firms on Thursday backed calls for an indigenous advisory body in parliament, saying Prime Minister Scott Morrison's opposition to the proposal did not "stand up to scrutiny." from Reuters: World News https://reut.rs/2FVWJz6

Thousands of commuters flock to Manila's railway tracks every day, but rather than boarding the trains, they climb on to wooden carts pushed along the tracks, to avoid the Philippine capital's infamous traffic gridlock. from Reuters: World News https://reut.rs/2HQsETg

Venezuelan authorities detained three foreign journalists and a driver working for the Spanish news agency EFE on Wednesday, the company said, in the latest arrests of reporters covering U.S.-backed efforts to oust President Nicolas Maduro. from Reuters: World News https://reut.rs/2BegZrI

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday he was dispatching a team to make preparations for the next summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to be held somewhere in Asia late in February. from Reuters: World News https://reut.rs/2TnsjsT

Canada has decided to cut the number of diplomatic staff in Cuba by up to half after another person fell ill, Ottawa said on Wednesday, bringing the total to 14 Canadians suffering mysterious symptoms since 2017. from Reuters: World News https://reut.rs/2RpHuji

Three days after proclaiming himself Venezuela's head of state, Juan Guaido wrote to the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres asking for help in tackling the country's urgent humanitarian crisis. from Reuters: World News https://reut.rs/2FWd0nX

Venezuela's opposition has had clandestine meetings with members of the country's military and security forces, Venezuela's self-proclaimed interim president, Juan Guaido, said in an opinion piece published on Wednesday. from Reuters: World News https://reut.rs/2MHDr1d

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence plans to head to Miami on Friday, home to the country's largest community of Venezuelan exiles, to rally support for the opposition ahead of Venezuelan protests against President Nicolas Maduro, a White House official said. from Reuters: World News https://reut.rs/2RsQxjp

White House national security adviser John Bolton said he had a "very productive meeting" on Wednesday with Citgo's executive team, two days after Washington slapped sanctions on the company's parent, Venezuelan state-owned oil firm PDVSA. from Reuters: World News https://reut.rs/2SfhkUL

Signs of the bitter cold are all around — most notably surrounding the Chicago River, which is currently "smoking" and starting to freeze over while in the powerful polar vortex's grip. from FOX News https://fxn.ws/2CSxg5Q

The arctic deep freeze brought more than just cold weather. from FOX News https://fxn.ws/2WvyUmM

Thieves in New Zealand have stolen two little blue penguins after using a crowbar to force their burrow open. A third penguin was killed in the raid, according to officials. from FOX News https://fxn.ws/2FZfzpd

If you thought you were having a bad day, think again – the Earth almost lost its magnetic field 565 million years ago. But it may have been saved by a geo-dynamic phenomenon according to a new study. from FOX News https://fxn.ws/2DGYNbS

The retreat of Arctic glaciers is exposing landscapes that haven't seen the sun for nearly 120,000 years. from FOX News https://fxn.ws/2RqFCa1

If you've ever thought about naming your cockroach after an ex-lover, a conversation center in England is allowing you to do just that! from FOX News https://fxn.ws/2DJKKT1