US in Talks for Venezuela Oil Stake; Trump Renames Lake Ontario

The Trump administration is in advanced negotiations with Venezuela for the United States to acquire a direct ownership stake in 17 of the country's oil-and-gas fields. The move, reported by the Wall Street Journal, would mark a significant shift in US energy policy toward the South American nation.

Separately, President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday to rename Lake Ontario as "Lake America." The decision is seen as an escalation in the ongoing trade dispute with Canada, which shares the lake's shoreline.

In other developments, a federal judge ruled late Thursday that the administration violated the First Amendment rights of artificial-intelligence company Anthropic by blacklisting it as a supply-chain risk. The ruling could have implications for how the government designates technology firms.

Federal authorities are also preparing charges against a US servicemember suspected of earning over $1 million from bets placed on Polymarket regarding military operations. The case highlights concerns about insider trading on prediction markets.

In the corporate world, Solstice Advanced Materials and Element Solutions have abandoned their planned merger, citing feedback from shareholders. Meanwhile, Nvidia has paused some deals under a new financing initiative that offered credit support to AI cloud providers in exchange for a share of revenue.