Prominent Venezuelan activist released after over four years in jail

Mike LaFleur, offensive coordinater for the Los Angeles Rams, was named head coach of the NFL's Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, on a five-year deal, the Cardinals announced Sunday.

LaFleur replaces Jonathan Gannon, who was fired last month after the Cardinals finished 3-14, missing the playoffs for the ninth time in 10 seasons.

"I couldn't be more fired up to become the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals," LaFleur said. "Having competed against them in the NFC so many times in recent years, I know the type of talent and toughness the team has and cannot wait to get to Arizona to hit the ground running."

LaFleur, whose older brother is Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur, had been the Rams offensive coordinator for three seasons and called plays in his two seasons as the New York Jets' offensive coordinator.

LaFleur, 39, becomes the 11th head coach for the Cardinals since their move from St. Louis to Arizona before the 1994 campaign.

"Mike has been around some of the best and brightest coaches in football and has been a key contributor to highly successful teams," Cardinals general manager Monti Ossenfort said. "He understands what winning football looks like and what it takes to achieve it.

"Mike is a strong communicator with a detail-oriented teaching style that has always gotten the best from his players and we are incredibly excited for him to bring that to the Cardinals."

LaFleur began his NFL coaching career under Kyle Shanahan in Cleveland and Atlanta before becoming Shanahan's passing game coordinator in San Francisco from 2017-2020 before joining the Jets.

"Mike LaFleur possesses all the traits necessary to lead this team to success," Cardinals owner Michael Bidwell said. "He's highly intelligent with an exceptionally sharp, creative football mind. Mike is also a dynamic and innovative leader."

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Nelly Korda captured her 16th career LPGA title on Sunday at the season-opening Tournament of Champions after the event was shortened to 54 holes by sub-freezing temperatures.

Korda completed an eight-under par 64 in the third round on Saturday at Lake Nona Country Club but six leaders were left on the course when play was halted on the Orlando, Florida, layout.

They finished Sunday afternoon but none could catch Korda, the 27-year-old American winning for the first time since November 2024 in a seven-win season that qualified her for the tournament.

"I really, over the off-season, was motivated to get back in the winner's circle," Korda said.

Tokyo Olympic champion Korda, a two-time major winner, called her Saturday 64 in blustery and cold conditions among her greatest career rounds.

"I would probably say a top-three round of my career," Korda said. "Conditions were brutal and they just got worse and worse throughout the day.

Korda added that holes "17 and 18 were brutal. I think they were probably the hardest holes I've ever played in professional golf."

After consulting with players and the grounds crew on Sunday, officials made the decision to complete 54 holes but cancel Sunday's scheduled final round.

"Play will continue with Lake Nona Golf and Country Club becoming playable in competitive competition at its peak temperature, but conditions will deteriorate later today and tomorrow making it difficult to complete 72 holes," the LPGA said in a statement.

Ricki Lasky, the LPGA chief tour business and operations officer, spoke with players, who struggled to practice in frigid weather.

"As I ws driving up this morning it was 23 degrees (-5 celsius), feels like temperature of 11, so pretty shocking," she said.

"The ground was really hard and it was changing the trajectory of their shots as they were practicing.

"We tried to take as much time as we could to get all 72 holes into play. We couldn't. We had to make the really hard decision to call it after 54."

Poor forecasts put a Monday finish out of reach, she said.

"We wanted to ensure the competition was up to championship caliber," Lasky said. "To be fair to the entire field, we felt we had to call it after 54 holes."

When play resumed, Korda had a three-stroke lead over South Korea's Amy Yang, who parred 17 and 18 on Sunday to seize second on 206 with a closing 69.

Canada's Brooke Henderson was third on 209 after completing a third-round 66 on Saturday.

New Zealand's Lydia Ko, the 36-hole leader, was fourth on 210 after completing a third-round 74 on Sunday, with Japan's Miyu Yamashita and South Korean Hwang You-min sharing fifth on 211.

Korda warmed up in case of a playoff, but a tense day ended without her returning to the course.

"Today was a little bit nerve wracking, especially waiting for what the final say was going to be," Korda said.

"Trying to be in that mindset that I'm going to go out and play 18 holes and it's going to be tough -- I was trying to stay in that mindset."

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Tens of thousands of Czechs rallied in Prague on Sunday to support the country's pro-Ukrainian president, who is locked in a dispute with the government's nationalist billionaire leader Andrej Babis.

Organisers from the independent Million Moments for Democracy movement claim up to 90,000 people attended the demonstration, where some participants waved Czech, European and Ukrainian flags.

Babis leads a government comprising his catch-all ANO party and two eurosceptic parties, the far-right SPD and the right-wing Motorists, following a general election last October.

President Petr Pavel and the government have since then been embroiled in disagreement over Babis's naming of a contentious minister under investigation for rape, and over the question of whether the Czech Republic should continue supporting war-ravaged Ukraine.

- 'Devil of dictatorship' -

"We are here to show the president that he is not alone -- the devil of dictatorship never sleeps and we have to stay vigilant," Alena Krotka, a pensioner who demonstrated against the communist regime in Prague on the same Wenceslas square in 1989, told AFP.

On Tuesday, Pavel published short messages in which Motorists chairman and Foreign Minister Petr Macinka threatened retaliation if the president keeps refusing to name Motorists candidate Filip Turek as the environment minister.

Turek, a former member of the European Parliament, is under investigation for domestic violence and rape following a complaint filed by a former girlfriend.

Media have published Turek's posts on social networks, describing them as racist and misogynistic, and police also probed allegations that he owned Nazi paraphernalia and made the Nazi salute, before shelving the case.

"We have to stop such behaviours in high politics, this cannot go on like this," said 16-year-old student Teodor, who sported a banner praising the head of state.

Pavel has refused to name Turek, saying his actions "raise doubts about his loyalty to the values set out in the Czech constitution".

Macinka, now serving as both foreign and environment minister, said on Czech public TV on Sunday that he would "ignore" the president, who he said should not represent the country at the next NATO summit.

The parliamentary opposition has initiated a vote of confidence for next week, which Babis's cabinet is almost certain to survive.

- Petition -

"The unprecedented blackmail of the president by Petr Macinka is absolutely unacceptable. This has no place in a democratic culture," Million Moments for Democracy said on Facebook.

In 2019, the movement brought some 250,000 people to a rally against Babis serving his first term as premier, accusing him of graft and urging him to resign.

It announced that a new demonstration would be organised if the recently launched petition called "We Stand Behind the President" was signed by more than a million people. It has now gathered over 622,000 signatures.

In an X post, Pavel said he values people who are "willing to stand up for decency, truth, solidarity and mutual respect".

"I deeply appreciate all those who do not remain indifferent to what is happening around them and who feel responsible for the state of our country," he said.

Pavel and Babis also clash over Czech-made jet fighter supplies to Ukraine -- while the president sees no problem in sending four L-159 planes, the government opposes providing military aid to Kyiv and insists Prague needs the jets.

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Renowned Venezuelan human rights activist Javier Tarazona was freed Sunday after more than four years in a notorious Caracas prison on charges including terrorism and treason.

This was the latest step by interim president Delcy Rodriguez to free prisoners under pressure from the United States after it ousted Nicolas Maduro on January 3 and declared it is in effect running this country.

To cries of "Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!" and applause from Catholic faithful, the 43-year-old dissident was taken to the forecourt of a Caracas church after being released from Helicoide prison. 

"Javier is free at last," his brother Rafael told AFP.

Javier Tarazona, one of Venezuela's most prominent jailed dissidents, is among roughly 1,000 political prisoners, some of whom are gradually being freed as Venezuela seeks reforms after many years of authoritarian leftist rule. 

Released outside the church -- authorities often do not free inmates in front of prisons -- Tarazona was reunited with his brother and his mother, Teresa de Jesus Sanchez Garcia, 71.

Then came Omar de Dios Garcia, an activist arrested while accompanying Javier Tarazona on July 2, 2021. The Tarazona brothers and De Dios, who at one point shared the same cell for four months, embraced for a long time.

The men prayed together and then left the church, as the faithful at La Candelaria church clapped.

"People are applauding out of a great longing for freedom, out of hope for reunions among Venezuelans, out of joy," Javier Tarazona told AFP. "People fervently wish that we can embrace one another with joy, with enthusiasm. Without fear." 

He was freed two days after Rodriguez announced the closure of Helicoide and a general amnesty law. 

This in turn came less than a month after US forces attacked Caracas and seized Maduro, whisking him and his wife Cilia Flores away to the United States to face US drug-trafficking charges.

"The message remains the same: four years and seven months in prison did not silence the truth. The truth set me free," said Tarazona, who was incarcerated for 1,675 days. 

Tarazona is a major opposition figure in Venezuela. Amnesty International and other human rights groups had been calling for his release. 

The rights group Foro Penal says there are still 711 political prisoners held in Venezuela. 

The government has started to release some, but relatives of these detainees and rights groups say the process is too slow. The amnesty is expected to speed things up.

Tarazona, director of the rights NGO Fundaredes, had been imprisoned since July 2021. Besides treason and terrorism he was accused of incitement to hatred.

He is known for his role in reporting clashes between military forces and guerrilla groups along the porous 2,000-kilometer (1,240-mile) Colombia-Venezuela border. 

Fundaredes had accused the Maduro government of harboring Colombian guerrilla leaders in Venezuela.

US President Donald Trump says he is now running Venezuela and has allowed Rodriguez to be interim leader so long as she toes Washington's line -- in particular granting US access to Venezuela's vast oil reserves.

Rodriguez has quickly moved to overhaul Venezuelan society in ways sought by the Trump administration.

"The closure of the Helicoide does not solve the problem of injustice in this country. If closing the Helicoide means erasing a memory, I believe we have to work to ensure it does not happen again," Tarazona said.

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Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu on Sunday paid tribute to Afrobeat king Fela Kuti after his posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammys, the first African artist to be honoured this way.

After a lifetime of clashes with successive powers in Africa's most populous country, Fela was recognised nearly three decades after his death and long after his influence reshaped global music.

"Fela was more than a musician," Tinubu said in a statement day after the award was bestowed at a ceremony in Los Angeles.

"He was a fearless voice of the people, a philosopher of freedom, and a revolutionary force whose music confronted injustice and reshaped global sound," he added. 

"The award is an affirmation of his enduring global influence and the foundational role he has played in the evolution and impact of Africa on modern music," he said.

In the 1970s, multi-instrumentalist Fela invented Afrobeat: a mixture of jazz, funk and African rhythms. 

That laid the groundwork for Afrobeats -- a later genre that has attracted a global audience by blending traditional African rhythms with contemporary pop sounds, with its roots in Nigeria.

His children, including Femi Kuti received the award in Los Angeles on Saturday night. Davido, one of the Nigeria's leading stars riding the global Afrobeats craze was also seen with the Kuti family in Los Angeles.

Fela's grandson Made Kuti, who was nominated for a Grammy in 2022 said his grandfather "was on the same professional level as the best of the best in the world that have ever existed".

"There are not many people you can trace back as an originator of a style of music that would take that risk and be so creative that it's really, truly developed into a genre that lives on its own," he said from his home in Lagos Sunday.

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A five-year-old boy whose detention in the Trump administration's aggressive immigration raids in Minneapolis shocked the world is now back home, a lawmaker said Sunday.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, who are asylum seekers from Ecuador, on January 20 as the boy arrived home from preschool.

Images of the boy with a blue bunny hat and backpack being held by officers whizzed around the world and added fire to public outrage at the federal immigration crackdown, during which agents have shot dead two US citizens.

The father and son spent 10 days in a detention center in Texas, hundreds of miles from home, until a judge ordered them freed on Saturday.

"Liam is now home. With his hat and his backpack," Democratic congressman Joaquin Castro, who accompanied them on the trip from his home state, wrote on X in a post with photos of the child.

The Trump administration sought to justify the boy's detention by arguing that ICE took him into custody after his father tried to flee from immigration agents.

During a visit to the detention center last week, Castro said Adrian Conejo Arias described his son as being sad and depressed.

"His dad said that he hasn't been himself," Castro wrote on X then.

US District Judge Fred Biery, who ordered the boy's release, said in a scathing opinion "the case has its genesis in the ill-conceived and incompetently-implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas, apparently even if it requires traumatizing children."

He criticized what he called the government's apparent "ignorance" of the US Declaration of Independence that "enumerated grievances against a would-be authoritarian king over our nascent nation."

Biery also cited the Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution, which protects the right against "unreasonable searches and seizures."

After this ruling came out, Castro went to pick up the boy and his father and flew home with them to Minnesota. 

"We won't stop until all children and families are home," Castro wrote.

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Manchester City's Premier League title challenge hit a fresh stumbling block as Dominic Solanke's acrobatic strike salvaged a 2-2 draw for struggling Tottenham on Sunday, while Benjamin Sesko secured another thrilling 3-2 win for Manchester United over Fulham.

City were cruising towards what would have been another damaging defeat for Spurs boss Thomas Frank as they led 2-0 at half-time.

But Solanke scored twice in the second half to leave Pep Guardiola's men six points adrift of leaders Arsenal.

City have won just one of their six league games in 2026 to allow the Gunners to move closer to a first title in 22 years.

Rayan Cherki fired the visitors into an early lead and was only denied a spectacular second by a brilliant Guglielmo Vicario save.

Antoine Semenyo did double City's advantage before the break to spark uproar from the furious Spurs support at half-time.

However, Tottenham flipped the script in the second period to give Frank some breathing space.

Solanke's absence for most of the season due to injury has played a major part in Spurs' struggles.

The England international's finish from close range halved the deficit before he produced a stunning moment of athleticism to hook the ball past Gianluigi Donnarumma with a scorpion kick.

- Sesko rides to Man Utd rescue -

A third consecutive win since Michael Carrick took the reins at Old Trafford propelled United back into the top four at the expense of Chelsea and Liverpool.

A week on from a 3-2 win at Arsenal, it was another throwback to United's glory days during Carrick's playing career as they snatched victory in dramatic fashion after a Fulham fightback.

Goals from Casemiro and Matheus Cunha either side of half-time put United in command.

Just a second defeat in nine league games dealt a blow to Fulham's own hopes of European football next season.

The visitors showed plenty of fight as Raul Jimenez's penalty five minutes from time began a frantic finale before Kevin's spectacular strike looked to have salvaged a point.

But United went straight down the other end and Sesko spun onto Bruno Fernandes' pass before blasting into the top corner.

"It's the best feeling I have to say," Carrick said.

"Some of the best moments I've been part of here, you can dissect performances and there are plusses and not, and then you get a moment of elation and excitement like that."

- Villa's title dreams fade -

To cap a fine day for Arsenal, third-placed Aston Villa were beaten 1-0 at home by 10-man Brentford to remain seven points off the top.

Kevin Schade was sent off for kicking out at Matty Cash on 42 minutes.

But in first-half stoppage time, the Bees took the lead when Dango Ouattara blasted in from a narrow angle.

Villa laid seige to the Brentford goal after the break but lacked the invention to break the visitors down.

Tammy Abraham did have the ball in the net but was denied a debut goal on his return to Villa after a VAR review found the ball had gone out of play in the build-up.

Crystal Palace also failed to make the most of a man advantage in a 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest.

Morgan Gibbs-White's early strike put Forest in front, but Neco Williams' decision to punch the ball clear off his own goal-line just before half-time was the break the visitors needed.

Ismaila Sarr netted from the penalty spot after Williams was shown a red card.

However, Palace failed to end their 12-game wait for a win and remain just three points above Forest and nine clear of the bottom three.

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Horror flick "Send Help" debuted atop the North American box office at $20 million, industry estimates showed Sunday, as Melania Trump's new documentary bested expectations.

20th Century's "Send Help" stars Rachel McAdams and Dylan O'Brien as a woman and her boss trying to survive on a deserted island after their plane crashes.

It marks a return to the genre for director Sam Raimi, who first made his name in the 1980s with the "Evil Dead" films.

"This is an excellent opening for an original horror film," said analyst David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research. "This is terrific, broad-appeal entertainment."

Debuting in second place was sci-fi thriller "Iron Lung" at $18 million, Exhibitor Relations reported.

The video game adaptation written, directed and financed by YouTube star Mark Fischbach, known by his pseudonym Markiplier, is a post-apocalyptic adventure.

"Melania," Amazon MGM's documentary about the first lady, opened in third place with a better-than-expected $7 million in ticket sales.

"As good as this opening is for a documentary, for any other film, with $75 million in costs and limited foreign potential, it would be a problem," Gross said.

"But this is a political investment, not a for-profit movie venture," he added. "$75 million is insignificant to Amazon."

Disney's Oscar-nominated animated film "Zootopia 2" kept chugging, finishing in fourth place at $5.8 million in the United States and Canada.

Opening in fifth place was action thriller "Shelter" starring Jason Statham with a disappointing $5.5 million.

Rounding out the top 10 are:

"Mercy" ($4.7 million)

"Avatar: Fire and Ash" ($3.5 million)

"The Housemaid" ($3.5 million)

"Marty Supreme" ($2.9 million)

"28 Years Later: The Bone Temple" ($1.6 million)

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A top US prosecutor signaled Sunday that authorities would not bring any more charges after the release of millions of new documents related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in a case that has drawn in many world-famous names.

"The review that we had done before concluded that there was no such information, and that's where we remain for what we've seen and what we've released from the Epstein files," Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said on CNN's "State of the Union" show.

More than three million items made available online over the weekend included emails, photos and video clips, and mentions of numerous powerful figures such as President Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Bill Gates and former prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

"This review is over," Blanche added in an interview on ABC's "This Week," saying just a small number of documents were still being reviewed by a judge.

Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's former girlfriend, is the only other person charged in connection with his crimes. She was convicted of trafficking underage girls for Epstein and is serving a 20-year prison sentence.

Survivors of Epstein have said their alleged abusers "remain hidden and protected" despite the latest release of documents.

Blanche, who previously served as Trump's personal lawyer, has dismissed suggestions that embarrassing material about the president was redacted, and Trump suggested that the latest document dump cleared his name.

"I didn't see it myself, but I was told by some very important people that not only does it absolve me, it's the opposite of what people were hoping -- you know, the radical left," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One late Saturday.

- Social circles -

The explosive case has dogged Trump, who moved in the same social circles as the disgraced financier in Florida and New York, with the president fighting for months to prevent release of the vast trove of documents.

Trump's right-wing base has long been obsessed by the Epstein saga and the belief that the financier oversaw a sex trafficking ring for the world's elite.

Blanche has said he did not expect the "Epstein files" to quell public curiosity and conspiracy theories.

Trump has given varying accounts of why he fell out with Epstein and has criticized the file dumps, saying that people who innocently met Epstein over the years risked having their reputations smeared.

The series of document dumps in recent months have shed light on Epstein's ties to top business executives such as Microsoft's Gates, celebrities such as filmmaker Woody Allen, academics and politicians, including Trump and former president Bill Clinton.

In a draft email among the latest published documents, Epstein said Gates had engaged in extramarital affairs, a claim the Gates Foundation denied in a statement to The New York Times.

Former prince Andrew, who was stripped of his royal titles over his ties to Epstein, is mentioned many times, including in a document inviting Epstein to Buckingham Palace in 2010 after Epstein proposed introducing Andrew to a Russian woman.

Epstein was convicted of soliciting an underage person for prostitution and died in a New York prison cell in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking of underage girls. His death was ruled a suicide.

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Pope Leo XIV said Sunday that the Winter Olympics -- starting in less than a week's time in northern Italy -- were an opportunity to "rekindle hope for a world at peace".

The American-born pontiff, after wishing the best to athletes and organisers in remarks after the Angelus prayer, noted that the modern Olympic Games were founded on a credo of international peace and "fraternity".

With the Milan-Cortina Games, he expressed hope that "all those who care about peace among peoples and are in positions of authority will take this opportunity to make concrete gestures of detente and dialogue".

The Winter Olympics will begin on Friday with its opening ceremony, and run to February 22, followed by the Winter Paralympics from March 6 to 15.

In his remarks, the pope also stressed "greatly troubling news regarding an increase in tensions between Cuba and the United States of America".

He urged the two countries to engage in "sincere and effective dialogue, in order to avoid violence and every action that could increase the suffering of the dear Cuban people".

US President Donald Trump has been ramping up his threats against Cuba, following his deployment of the military in early January to attack Caracas and grab Venezuela's leader, Nicolas Maduro.

On Thursday, Trump issued an executive order threatening extra tariffs on countries that sell oil to Cuba, whose government he accused of aligning with "numerous hostile countries, transnational terrorist groups, and malign actors".

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