Iran, ICE, Nipah virus and the Fed
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Hi, I'm Kim Vennell in Whanganui, New Zealand. It's Thursday, January 29th. Today, Trump steps up his threats against Tehran. Democrats demand ICE agents unmask in a row that could partially shut down the government. The administration's attempt to dial it down in Minnesota has little impact on the ground.
What threats did Trump issue against Iran?
The Fed holds interest rates steady while Jerome Powell stays defiant. And the Nipah virus prompts airport screenings in Asia. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes, seven days a week. We start with US President Donald Trump's ramped up threats against Iran. He's issued a stark ultimatum on Truth Social, demanding Iran comes to the table to make a nuclear deal, or the next US attack will be quote, far worse than the June strike on its nuclear facilities. Iran was quick to hit back, saying if pushed, it will respond like never before. Two sources have told Reuters Trump is escalating his threats to inspire protesters, saying he wants to create conditions for regime change.
Arab and Israeli officials have warned him that air power alone won't be enough to topple the government there. US intelligence reports are raising doubts about whether Venezuela's interim president, Delce Rodriguez, will cooperate with Washington's demand. It wants Venezuela to cut ties with Iran, China, and Russia. In the meantime, the US is handing over a tanker to Venezuela that it seized earlier this month. That's according to two officials. to Minneapolis now, where ICE agents have new orders. They've been told to avoid engaging with agitators as they continue their crackdown. That's according to new internal guidance reviewed by Reuters, which also tells agents to only target, quote, aliens with a criminal history.
It comes as at least two federal agents involved in Saturday's fatal shooting of Alex Preti are placed on administrative leave. That's according to media reports. An initial U.S. government review of the fatal shooting found no mention of him brandishing a firearm, despite initial statements by Trump officials contradicting that. Even so, immigration agents aren't slowing down. Ecuador's foreign ministry says an ICE agent tried to get into Ecuador's consulate in Minneapolis on Tuesday.
Video footage shows the agent was stopped by consulate staffers.
Trump has softened his rhetoric around the deployment and has ushered in a change of leadership of immigration operations in Minneapolis. Reporter Brad Brooks is there and has more on what that translates to on the ground.
Since borders are tom homan has taken over operations here we've seen subtle slight shifts and also our sources who are neighborhood observers they've confirmed that they are also seeing the same sort of shifts that we are seeing which is ice and border patrol seems to be doing smaller operations now and highly targeted instead of just showing up in a neighborhood and randomly stopping people They are not, however, abating or stopping. They are not getting out of town. We do not know if the numbers of agents in Minneapolis is dropping or not, but they are certainly not ceasing activity.
But in Washington, those new ICE orders don't go far enough. Senate Democrats are calling for new restrictions on immigration agents, including forcing them to use body cameras and prohibiting them from covering their faces with masks. Their demands set up a showdown which could lead to a partial government shutdown, the second of Trump's second term. To explain why, here's reporter David Morgan in Washington, D.C.
funding for the Department of Homeland Security and these other departments, including the Department of Defense, is set to expire at midnight on Friday. That means that without an extension of funding, those government programs would shut down. The main question is whether Republicans are willing to strip Democrats funding for the Department of Homeland Security out of a much larger funding package. So far, they have not shown a willingness to do that.
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