Key events
Minneapolis mayor calls for local authorities to have access to fatal shooting investigation
The Democratic mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Frey, has urged federal authorities to not “hide from the facts” of the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good.
Frey noted that the Trump administration has already branded Good as a “domestic terrorist”.
“They’re calling the actions of the agent involved as some form of defensive posture. We know that they’ve already determined much of the investigation, and even if they haven’t, there is the appearance that there is some conclusion drawn from the very beginning,” he added.
A reminder that the Minneapolis Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) was denied access to evidence this week, after the FBI took sole control of the case.
“Our ask is to embrace the truth,” Frey said today. “Our ask is to include the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension in this process, because we in Minneapolis want a fair investigation.”
Supreme court does not issue ruling on Trump’s sweeping tariffs
The highest court did not issue a highly anticipated decision today on the legality of Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs.
Supreme court set to issue first decision of latest term
The supreme court is on track to deliver the first decision of its latest term today. One of the most anticipated rulings is on the legality of Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs. The highest court is tasked with deciding whether the president can invoke the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose levies on dozens of countries without the approval of Congress.
In November, justices heard arguments in one of the most consequential cases on the docket. They appeared skeptical of the administration’s use of the IEEPA – a decades-old law grants the president authority to regulate international commerce during a “national emergency”. Notably, the IEEPA doesn’t actually mention the word “tariff” as a justified means of curbing a national security threat.
It’s important to note, however, that we don’t know which decision the supreme court will issue today, and it could be in response to any of the several arguments they’ve heard so far this term.
Where were jobs created in December?
Graeme Wearden
More than half of the 50,000 jobs created in the US last month were at food services and drinking places, where payrolls rose by 27,000.
Health care continued to add workers in December; payrolls rose by 21,000, including 16,000 in hospitals.
Employment in social assistance rose by 17,000.
But it was a tougher jobs market in retail, where 25,000 jobs were cut.
Federal government employment rose by 2,000, suggesting that the Doge jobs cull may have abated – after 277,000 jobs were lost through 2025
Read more about the latest jobs data at our dedicated business liveblog:
Lauren Aratani
Federal Reserve officials are expected to weigh this latest data at their next policy meeting at the end of January, when they will decide whether to lower interest rates, which sit at a range of 3.5% to 3.75%, or keep them on hold.
Officials have signaled that a pause in cuts is likely. Minutes from the board’s December meeting revealed stark division when members made their third consecutive cut to rates last month. “Some participants suggested that, under their economic outlooks, it would likely be appropriate to keep [rates] unchanged for some time,” the notes said.
In a press conference last month, the Fed chair, Jerome Powell, said officials will proceed with caution as they remain hopeful that the labor market will stabilize in the upcoming year and inflation will start to cool. Prices rose 2.7% in November, a cooling-off after rising 3% in September.
But the Fed’s vigilance over the economy continues to clash with the outlook of Donald Trump and his economic advisers, who have demanded lower interest rates. Cutting rates could stimulate economic growth, including bolstering the labor market, but at the risk of making prices rise faster.
Employers added 50,000 more jobs in December, according to latest report
Lauren Aratani
Hiring held firm in the US last month, official data showed, amid uncertainty over the strength and direction of the world’s largest economy.
Employers added 50,000 jobs to the US labor force last month, following a year of uneven growth, according to data released from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday.
The closely watched reading was slightly shy of the approximately 73,000 jobs economists expected to be added in the US economy in December. Previous readings for October and November were also revised lower, with the BLS now estimating that the US added 76,000 fewer jobs during those two months.
The unemployment rate, which rose to a four-year high of 4.6% in November, fell back to 4.4% in December.
US intercepts fifth sanctioned oil tanker – report
The US Coast Guard is in the process of seizing a fifth sanctioned tanker, suspected of carrying oil to and from Venezuela, according to Reuters.
The targeted vessel is the Olina. A industry source tells Reuters that the tanker left last week fully loaded with oil as part of a flotilla, after the US captured and arrested Nicolás Maduro. It was returning, fully loaded, to Venezuela when it was seized today.
We’ll bring you more details as they emerge.
Trump to meet with top US oil executives at White House
Donald Trump will be in Washington today, before he travels to Palm Beach this evening.
He has a series of closed door meetings today, the most notable is his 2pm ET sit-down with top oil company executives, to discuss the next steps in handling Venezuela’s oil production.
CNBC reports that the president will meet with the CEOs of Exxon, Shell and ConocoPhillips, as well as a representative from Chevron. Energy secretary Chris Wright is also set to join the meeting.
Pope Leo XIV has denounced how nations are using force to assert their dominion worldwide, saying they are “completely undermining” peace and the post-Second World War international legal order, AP reported.
In his most substantial critique of US, Russian and other military incursions in sovereign countries, Leo told ambassadors who represent their countries’ interests at the Holy See that “war is back in vogue and a zeal for war is spreading”.
Leo did not name individual countries that have resorted to force in his lengthy speech, the bulk of which he delivered in English in a break from the Vatican’s traditional diplomatic protocol of Italian and French.
But his speech came amid the backdrop of the recent US military operation in Venezuela to remove Nicolas Maduro from power, Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine and other conflicts.
The occasion was the Pope’s annual audience with the Vatican diplomatic corps, which traditionally amounts to his yearly foreign policy address.
Rory Carroll
Donald Trump has claimed that he cancelled a second wave of attacks on Venezuela because it was cooperating with the US on oil infrastructure and had released political prisoners.
The US president said early on Friday that he cancelled planned military action in recognition that the authorities in Caracas had released “large numbers” of prisoners and were “seeking peace”.
“This is a very important and smart gesture,” Trump posted on social media. “The USA and Venezuela are working well together, especially as it pertains to rebuilding, in a much bigger, better, and more modern form, their oil and gas infrastructure. Because of this cooperation, I have cancelled the previously expected second Wave of Attacks, which looks like it will not be needed.”
Trump did not elaborate on the alleged plan for fresh strikes but said the US navy armada in the Caribbean would remain, leaving Washington with the ability to attack Venezuela at short notice. “All ships will stay in place for safety and security purposes.”
He said he would meet American oil industry figures later on Friday. “At least 100 Billion Dollars will be invested by BIG OIL, all of whom I will be meeting with today at the White House.”
Jonathan Yerushalmy
Just days after launching an unprecedented operation in Venezuela to seize its president and effectively take control of its oil industry, Donald Trump sat down with New York Times journalists for a wide-ranging interview that took in everything from international law, Taiwan, Greenland and weight-loss drugs.
The president, riding high on the success of an operation that has upended the rules of global power, spoke candidly and casually about the new world order he appears eager to usher in; an order governed not by international norms or long-lasting alliances, but national strength and military power.
Here are some key points from his interview with the Times:
Democrats threaten to withhold funding after ICE killing in Minneapolis
Lauren Gambino
A day after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed a 37-year-old US citizen in Minneapolis, Democrats on Capitol Hill are demanding restraints on the agency Donald Trump has empowered to carry out his mass deportation campaign – and some are threatening to use the next funding deadline to force those changes.
Democrats sharply condemned the Trump administration over the killing of Renee Nicole Good, demanding accountability after the president; JD Vancethe vice-president; and the secretary of homeland security, Kristi Noem repeatedly claimed that the officer acted in “self-defense”.
Videos taken from multiple angles show Good behind the wheel, reversing her car and then attempting to drive away when an agent shoots her multiple times, remaining on his feet and walking away, apparently uninjured.
“Democrats cannot vote for a [Department of Homeland Security] budget that doesn’t restrain the growing lawlessness of this agency,” Chris Murphy, a Democratic senator of Connecticut, wrote on X, sharing a video of the shooting.
Axios reported on Thursday that Murphy was preparing to introduce a sweeping reform package that would require a warrant for arrests, ban agents from wearing masks during enforcement operations and limit border patrol agents from operating in cities far from the border.
Richard Luscombe
The killing of a US citizen by a federal immigration agent in Minneapolis was a five-alarm fire for the Trump administration. But a torrent of untruths, half-truths, smears, and innuendo has been unleashed by the White House, and amplified by its social media and cable television acolytes, in an attempt to douse the flames.
Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic House minority leader, called homeland security secretary Kristi Noem a “stone cold liar” on Thursday for her efforts to falsely portray the victim Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother of three and award-winning poet, as a “domestic terrorist”.
Good, Noem said, without presenting evidence, had been “stalking and impeding” Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) officers before using her car as a weapon to try to run down the agent who killed her.
Jacob Frey, the Democratic mayor of Minneapolis, condemned as “bullshit” a concerted push by homeland security officials and others to immediately paint the officer’s action as self-defense, when video of the incident is unclear at best, and an investigation had yet to begin.
“People in positions of power have already passed judgment, from the president to the vice-president, to Kristi Noem … [they] have stood and told you things that are verifiably false, verifiably inaccurate,” Tim Walz, Minnesota’s Democratic governor, told a press conference on Thursday.
The Italian prime minister, Giorgia Melon, said on Friday she did not believe the United States would launch a military strike to take control of Greenland, warning that any such move would have serious consequences for Nato.
At her traditional new year’s press conference, Meloni added that there was a need for a “serious and significant” Nato presence in the Arctic region, including Greenland.
Supreme court could rule on Trump tariffs later today
The US Supreme court could issue a ruling later in the day determining whether Trump can invoke the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose tariffs without the approval of Congress.
Although it is unclear whether the supreme court will issue a ruling, it has scheduled Friday as a “decision day” for releasing opinions, fuelling speculation that the tariff case could be decided this afternoon.
The case centers on whether the administration can invoke the IEEPA to impose the tariffs and, if not, whether the United States would be required to refund duties already paid by importers.
The court’s ruling could also fall short of a definitive outcome on both issues.
Moscow says US released two Russian crew from seized tanker
Russia on Friday said the United States had decided to release two Russian members of the crew of a Russian-flagged oil tanker that Washington seized earlier this week, AFP reported.
The American authorities said the tanker was part of a shadow fleet that carried oil for countries such as Venezuela, Russia and Iran in violation of US sanctions, and seized it in the North Atlantic despite the ship being escorted by the Russian navy.
“In response to our request, US president Donald Trump has decided to release two Russian citizens aboard the Marinera tanker, previously detained by the United States during an operation in the North Atlantic,” Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement.
“We welcome this decision and express our gratitude to the US leadership,” she added.
Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev said on Telegram that Trump decided to release “all Russians” on board the Marinera tanker. The United States said previously the Marinera’s crew could be prosecuted – which Russia said was “categorically unacceptable.”
Moscow on Thursday accused Washington of stoking tensions and threatening international shipping with the seizure of the tanker, which it has cast as illegal.
Russia’s foreign ministry said the move will “only result in further military and political tensions”, adding that it was worried by “Washington’s willingness to generate acute international crisis situations.”
Two people shot by US federal agents in Portland
Robert Mackey
US border patrol agents shot two people outside a hospital in Portland, Oregon, a day after an ICE officer shot and killed a woman in Minneapolis.
The Portland police bureau (PPB) said in a statement on Thursday afternoon that two people were in hospital after a shooting involving federal agents, adding that the conditions of those shot were not known.
Police initially responded to reports of a shooting outside the Adventist hospital campus in east Portland, the department said, before learning “that a man who had been shot was calling and requesting help” about 3 miles (5km) away.
“Officers responded and found a male and female with apparent gunshot wounds. Officers applied a tourniquet and summoned emergency medical personnel. The patients were transported to the hospital,” the police said.
“Officers have determined the two people were injured in the shooting involving federal agents.”
Authorities have not confirmed the condition of the injured, but emergency dispatch audio obtained by FOX 12 Oregon indicated that the 911 call came from a man who said he was shot twice in the arm and his wife had been shot in the chest.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson, Tricia McLaughlin, said in a statement that US border patrol agents had stopped a vehicle to search for a man they suspected of being an undocumented immigrant connected to a Venezuelan gang. According to the agents, they opened fire when the driver of the vehicle tried to run them over, the statement said. “Fearing for his life and safety, an agent fired a defensive shot. The driver drove off with the passenger, fleeing the scene,” McLaughlin said.
Portland’s mayor, Keith Wilson, said at a news conference: “We know what the federal government says happened here. There was a time when we could take them at their word. That time is long past.”
Bob Day, the Portland police chief, said: “This is a federal investigation. It’s being led by the FBI.”
Trump claims he cancelled second wave of attacks on Venezuela
Good morning. Posting on his social media platform, Truth Social, in the early hours of this morning, Donald Trump claimed that he had cancelled a second wave of attacks on Venezuela that would have followed Saturday’s raid, in which the US seized the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro.
The US president wrote:
Venezuela is releasing large numbers of political prisoners as a sign of “Seeking Peace.” This is a very important and smart gesture. The U.S.A. and Venezuela are working well together, especially as it pertains to rebuilding, in a much bigger, better, and more modern form, their oil and gas infrastructure. Because of this cooperation, I have cancelled the previously expected second Wave of Attacks, which looks like it will not be needed, however, all ships will stay in place for safety and security purposes. At least 100 Billion Dollars will be invested by BIG OIL, all of whom I will be meeting with today at The White House. Thank you for your attention to this matter!
Earlier, Venezuela had announced the release of an “important number” of detainees in what the congressional president characterised as a gesture to “consolidate peace”.
Former opposition candidate Enrique Márquez was among those released from prison, according to an opposition statement. “It’s all over now,” Márquez said in a video taken by a local journalist who accompanied him and his wife, as well as another opposition member Biagio Pilieri, who was also released.
Thiago Rogero, our South American correspondent, has further details on the release:
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