Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Hi, I'm Sharon Reich-Garson in New Jersey. It's Saturday, January 17th. Today, Minnesotans rally in Sub-Zero cold as federal agents surge into the Twin Cities. Machado courts Trump in Washington as the CIA chief holds quiet talks in Caracas. Plus, meet the holy DJ packing a Beirut nightclub.
This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes, seven days a week.
Chapter 2: What are the recent developments in the Minnesota protests?
The sound of Minnesota residents bundled up against Sub-Zero wind on Friday to protest the massive surge of federal immigration agents in the Twin Cities. For nearly two weeks, the Trump administration has flooded the Minneapolis region with almost 3,000 federal officers, a deployment larger than the city's own police force.
The move followed the fatal shooting of Renee Good on January 7, and then another ICE shooting just this past Thursday, when an officer wounded a Venezuelan man during an attempted vehicle stop. On Friday, a U.S. judge in Minnesota issued a major injunction restricting what immigration officers can do during these protests.
The judge's order blocks ICE and Border Patrol from arresting peaceful protesters or using tear gas or pepper spray on people who aren't interfering, saying the government hadn't shown why force against peaceful observers was necessary.
At the same time, the Justice Department has launched a probe into Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey over alleged interference with immigration operations. Accusations both reject.
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado met with President Donald Trump in Washington this week, even presenting him with her Nobel Peace Prize medal as she tried to sway him to give the opposition a role in determining Venezuela's future. But her visit hasn't clarified how much influence she actually has.
We spoke to Reuters correspondent Graham Slattery, who explains why her priorities may not line up with Washington's.
Given what we know, it's very clear that Machado and the Venezuelan opposition in general have very different priorities than Trump and his administration. Machado is understandably very interested in a political transition, free and fair elections, the end of human rights abuses in Venezuela. That's not a top priority for the Trump administration, and they've been clear about that.
And while Machado was touring Washington, D.C., Trump's CIA director, John Ratcliffe, was in Caracas, sitting down with Venezuela's interim leader, Delcy Rodriguez.
It's pretty common for a CIA director to take action. sensitive meetings. We can certainly expect them to have talked about what the administration considers designated terrorist organizations, drug trafficking. There's a lot of concerns within the Trump administration about drug flows through Venezuela.
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