CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Backed by Venezuela’s military, President Nicolas Maduro went on the offensive against an opposition leader who declared himself interim president and his U.S. supporters, setting up a potentially explosive struggle for power in the crisis-plagued South American nation.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — A U.S. Navy veteran detained in Iran in July is being held in connection to a “private complaint,” the semi-official Mehr news agency reported Friday.

Michael White, 46, has been held since July, and is the first known American to have been detained in Iran since Donald Trump became president. His family says he traveled to Iran to visit his girlfriend, who he met online, and was arbitrarily detained.

MOSCOW, January 24. /TASS/./TASS/. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said he is not going to step down, Agencia Venezolana de Noticias (AVN) quoted the president as he addressed the Supreme Court on Thursday.

"I will never give up on commitments to the homeland, I will never do this," said the president who was inaugurated for the second term on January 10. The US and the Lima Group countries with the exception of Mexico refused to recognize Maduro’s re-election.

ROCKMART, Ga. (AP) — Authorities say the search continues for a suspect after four people were killed and one wounded in two shootings in northwest Georgia.

News outlets report the Polk County Sheriff’s Office says the shootings occurred Thursday night in Rockmart.

WXIA-TV reports investigators believe the incident was related to drugs. The sheriff says the two crime scenes include a house and an apartment, which are just yards away from each other.

Authorities initially said six people had been shot but later corrected that information.

ANKARA, January 24. /TASS/. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday he was shocked by the decision of US President Donald Trump to recognize Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim president.

"I was shocked by Trump's attitude [to the situation in Venezuela]. It is necessary to respect the person who won the election. We are coming out against any anti-democratic actions," Erdogan told a news conference in Ankara after talks with Maltese President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A prominent American-born anchorwoman for Iran’s state television says she believes the U.S. government jailed her because of her work as journalist and her beliefs, and as a warning to her to “watch your step.”

Toronto, Jan 24 (AP) Canada's ambassador to China said he thinks a top Chinese executive has a strong case to avoid extradition to the United States and said he hopes she will be released soon in remarks one of his predecessors called "mind-boggling."

Ambassador John McCallum told Chinese language media in Markham, Ontario, on Tuesday that Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou has "quite good arguments," including "political involvement by comments from Donald Trump on her case."

BEIJING, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- China on Thursday voiced support for Venezuela's efforts in safeguarding its sovereignty, independence and stability as well as opposition to foreign interference in the South American country's internal affairs.

According to media reports, Juan Guaido, president of Venezuela's National Assembly, proclaimed himself "interim president" of the country on Wednesday, about which the United States, Brazil and some other countries have issued statements in recognition of his presidency.

25 Jan 2019; AFP: Donald Trump's billionaire commerce secretary fueled accusations Thursday that the US administration was deaf to the impact of the government shutdown after saying he didn't understand why some federal workers were turning to food banks.

Wilbur Ross shrugged off the impact of the shutdown -- now in its 34th day -- saying workers should just take out loans to cover their expenses.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced Thursday that the United States had imposed sanctions against two Syria-based, Iran-backed militias and two aviation entities linked to Iranian airline Mahan Air.

The Treasury accused that the fighters of the two Syria-based militias, mostly Afghan and Pakistani refugees and migrants residing in Iran, are recruited by Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC).

ADEN, Yemen, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi met on Thursday with the United Nations (UN) Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths and UN cease-fire monitoring chief Patrick Cammaert in his office in Saudi Arabia's capital of Riyadh.

During their meeting, Hadi discussed with the UN officials the efforts being exerted to solve the country's conflict and reiterated his adherence to peaceful solutions, according to the state-run Saba news agency.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Signs of strain from the 34-day partial government shutdown are emerging on the Senate floor.

Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado tore into Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas on Thursday after Cruz backed a GOP bill to pay Coast Guard members but not reopen the government.

The normally mild-mannered Bennet erupted in a fiery speech, saying, “These crocodile tears that the senator from Texas is crying for first responders are too hard for me to take.”