World News Roundup: Government Funding in Limbo, Venezuelan Amnesty, Gaza Strikes, and Tech Funding Boom
Washington D.C. - The U.S. government faced a potential partial shutdown over the weekend after the Senate passed a Trump-backed government funding deal on Friday, according to Euronews. The bill, which passed with a 71-29 vote, now heads to the House of Representatives, which was not scheduled to return until Monday. This delay raised the possibility of a temporary partial shutdown until the House could pass the legislation.
The bill provides funding for most of the government through the end of September, while granting a temporary extension for Homeland Security funding. US Congress has two weeks to debate new restrictions on federal immigration raids across the country.
In Venezuela, President Nicolás Maduro's government proposed a full amnesty law covering political prisoners detained since 1999, during the entire Chavista period, Euronews reported. Delcy Rodríguez, instructed the Judicial Revolution Commission to prepare the legal text in the coming hours for a vote in the National Assembly. The measure excludes individuals convicted of murder, drug trafficking, and human rights violations. Families of political prisoners are reportedly waiting cautiously for the law to be enacted. The Venezuelan president presented the initiative on Friday during the opening ceremony of the judicial year at the Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, in Gaza, Israeli strikes resulted in the deaths of at least 29 Palestinians on Saturday, hospital sources told Euronews. The strikes hit various locations in both northern and southern Gaza, including an apartment building and a police station in Gaza City, as well as a tent in Khan Younis. According to media reports, this marks one of the highest death tolls since the October ceasefire.
In the tech world, January 2026 saw the emergence of five new European unicorns, TechCrunch reported. These startups, spanning from Belgium to Ukraine, achieved valuations exceeding $1 billion after recent funding rounds. TechCrunch noted that some of these companies, like Lovable, may be incorporated outside of Europe (in Lovable's case, Delaware) but maintain strong ties to the European tech scene. TechCrunch cautioned that "valuation doesn't equal commercial success," and it remains to be seen whether these companies will achieve significant traction.
Waymo, Alphabet's robotaxi company, is reportedly finalizing a $16 billion funding round that would value the company at $110 billion, according to the Financial Times, as reported by TechCrunch. The majority of the funding, over three-fourths, is expected to come from Alphabet itself. New investors such as Dragoneer, Sequoia Capital, and DST Global are reportedly participating, along with existing backers Andreessen Horowitz and Abu Dhabi sovereign fund Mubadala. A Waymo spokesperson, when contacted by TechCrunch, stated, "While we don't comment on private financial matters, our trajectory is clear: with over 20 million trips completed, we are focused on the safety-led operational excellence." Waymo was incubated as part of Alphabet's moonshot factory X.
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