CARACAS/WASHINGTON (Dispatches) -- Venezuela released two jailed U.S. citizens in an apparent goodwill gesture toward the Biden administration following a visit to Caracas by a high-level U.S. delegation. One of the freed prisoners was Gustavo Cardenas, among six Citgo oil executives arrested in 2017. The other was a Cuban American, identified as Jorge Alberto Fernandez. “We are bringing Gustavo Cardenas and Jorge Fernandez home,” President Joe Biden said in a statement. He gave no more details about their release. The weekend visit by the U.S. delegation focused not only on the fate of detained Americans but on the possibility of easing U.S. oil sanctions on the OPEC member to fill a supply gap if Biden banned Russian oil imports in response to Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine - something he did on Tuesday. Venezuela is Russia’s closest ally in South America. Washington has sought the release of at least nine men, including those known as the “Citgo 6,” two former Green Berets and a former U.S. Marine.

 

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LONDON (Reuters) — Britain will take a look at all choices to spice up power provides to attempt to sort out spiraling costs after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson mentioned on Wednesday. Wholesale gasoline costs hit a document excessive in Britain this week, sparking fears its cap on power costs might want to rise considerably once more in October after a 54% hike due in April. Johnson mentioned on Wednesday he would set out a plan to assist Britain develop into extra unbiased in its power era and fight the value hikes within the subsequent few days.This commercial has not loaded but, however your article continues under.  “You’d anticipate the prime minister to have a look at all choices … We have to take a look at our power combine going ahead each within the quick and long run,” Johnson’s spokesman advised reporters.

 

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MARYLAND (AP) - The first person to receive a heart transplant from a pig has died, two months after the groundbreaking experiment, the Maryland hospital that performed the surgery announced Wednesday. David Bennett, 57, died Tuesday at the University of Maryland Medical Center. Doctors didn’t give an exact cause of death, saying only that his condition had begun deteriorating several days earlier.

 

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JOPLIN, Mo. (AP) — One Joplin police officer and a suspect have died after a shooting in the southwest Missouri city, police said. Two other Joplin officers remain hospitalized, one in critical condition and the other in serious but stable condition, Assistant Police Chief Brian Lewis said in a news release. The officers responded to a disturbance about 1:30 p.m. outside a store at the Northpark Crossing shopping center. Shots were exchanged and two officers were injured, he said.

 

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The former chairman of the U.S. right-wing group the Proud Boys, Enrique Tarrio, has been arrested on a conspiracy charge for his alleged role in plotting the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol in a bid to block certification of President Joe Biden’s election. Tarrio, 38, appeared in a virtual Miami-based federal court hearing from a cellblock in a nearby local jail, and prosecutors said they were seeking to have him detained pending trial because they believe he is a danger to the community and poses a risk of flight.