VENEZUELA GOVERNMENT, OPPOSITION TO HOLD NEW ROUND OF TALKS

SANTO DOMINGO: Venezuelan government and opposition delegates meeting in the Dominican Republic will hold a new round of talks on Thursday on resolving the crisis facing the country, the Dominican president said. Venezuela is in the throes of a deepening crisis caused by falling oil prices, spiraling inflation and corruption that has ravaged the oil-rich country’s economy. President Nicolas Maduro has increasingly consolidated power, aided by disarray in the opposition. “Although we have very important advances, we are still left with pending issues,” President Danilo Medina said Saturday. The two sides will hold further talks in Santo Domingo on January 18, said Medina, one of those working to encourage the dialogue. After 10 hours of meetings aimed at finding solutions to the protracted political and economic crises, Jorge Rodriguez, the main Venezuelan government delegate, said there was consensus on the “majority of the points.”

DEATH TOLL FROM CALIFORNIA MUDSLIDES RISES TO 19

LOS ANGELES: Authorities in southern California raised the death toll from mudslides that battered the region to 19 on Saturday as rescue workers continued the search for victims. Five people are still missing after the mudslides, according to an update on the County of Santa Barbara’s website, which warned people to “anticipate the numbers of missing persons to fluctuate significantly.”“Crews continue to search buildings and debris flows for trapped victims. The unstable environment remains a critical threat to civilians and responders,” it said. “The large amounts of mud and debris are making access and progress challenging.” Heavy rain on Tuesday, which followed 10 months of drought, sent sticky mud and debris flowing down the hills into Montecito.

WHISTLEBLOWER MANNING SEEKS US SENATE SEAT

WASHINGTON: Whistleblower Chelsea Manning, jailed for leaking classified information, is seeking election to the US Senate in the state of Maryland, a document seen on Saturday (Sunday in Manila) says. Manning has now gone from prison to US senatorial candidate in less than a year during which she often made headlines, as the fame and infamy she gained by leaking a trove of classified documents follows her after release. The Federal Election Commission document, filed Thursday, lists Chelsea Elizabeth Manning of North Bethesda, Maryland, as a Democratic candidate for the Senate. Manning, now 30, was an army intelligence analyst sentenced to 35 years in prison in 2013 for leaking more than 700,000 classified documents related to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.