Venezuela's Top Lawmaker Says Over 400 Prisoners Freed, NGOs Say Numbers Much Lower

The Department of Justice (DOJ) building in Washington, D.C., U.S., November 28, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan Howard/File Photo

• Resignations span Civil Rights Division and Minnesota U.S. Attorney's Office
• Shooting by ICE officer has sparked tension

At least a dozen federal prosecutors have indicated plans to leave the U.S. Justice Department over the Trump administration's handling of the fatal shooting of a Minnesota woman by a U.S. immigration officer and other civil rights cases, according to three people familiar with the situation.

The departures spanned the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division in Washington and the U.S. Attorney's Office in Minneapolis, the sources said.

Six federal prosecutors in Minnesota have resigned over a request from Justice Department leadership to investigate the widow of 37-year-old Renee Good, who was shot and killed in Minneapolis on January 7, according to two of the sources.

It was not clear exactly what DOJ officials wanted to investigate, but Trump administration officials have accused Good of impeding an immigration operation. The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive internal matter.

Another six senior prosecutors in the criminal section of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division also informed the department they planned to leave.

The head of the division, Harmeet Dhillon, an appointee of President Donald Trump, informed the unit last week they would not be involved in the probe of the Minnesota shooting, two sources said.

The section typically plays a leading role working with FBI agents to investigate potential civil rights violations and use-of-force by law enforcement officers. Several of the prosecutors accepted an early retirement offer from the Trump administration, some of the sources said.

The resignations are the latest sign of tumult in the Justice Department under Trump, which has fired and expelled dozens of career officials and pursued investigations of Trump's perceived political enemies.

The departures also prompted renewed concern about the federal investigation into the shooting, which has prompted protests nationwide and drawn renewed scrutiny of the Trump administration's sweeping immigration crackdown in U.S. cities.

The Minnesota probe was only one factor in the decision of the civil rights lawyers to leave the department. The prosecutors, veteran lawyers who had served across presidential administrations, had grown disillusioned with the direction of the division, whose priorities had been reshaped to align with Trump, according to the sources.

OFFICIAL RESPONSE TO RESIGNATIONS

A Justice Department official confirmed the departures from the Civil Rights Division. The lawyers who requested to participate in an early retirement program did so well before the Minnesota shooting, the official said.

The official said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is conducting an internal investigation into the shooting in parallel with the FBI.

"There is currently no basis for a criminal civil rights investigation," Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement.

Tension erupted in Minnesota last week, when a federal immigration officer shot and killed Good, a 37-year-old mother of three who was observing the federal law enforcement action.

The Trump administration accused Good of attempting to ram the officer with her vehicle, a claim state officials disputed.

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, the chief state prosecutor in Minneapolis, told Reuters on Tuesday that the departures at the Justice Department are an indication that career prosecutors are "not being allowed to do their job."

"And that's because of politics, not because of what actually happened here," Moriarty said.

Source: Reuters

Japan's five-year government bond yield surged to its highest level since the bond's introduction in 2000, driven by deepening concerns over the country's fiscal policy following reports that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is planning a snap election.

The yield climbed as much as 1.5 basis points to 1.615% on Wednesday. Rates on two-year and 10-year bonds also moved higher, reflecting broader market anxiety. Investors are now closely watching a five-year bond auction scheduled for later today, which will serve as a crucial test of market appetite amid rising fiscal and supply-side risks.

Election Speculation Rattles Markets

The market's reaction follows a Nikkei report that Prime Minister Takaichi intends to inform Liberal Democratic Party leaders of her plan to call an early election. This move is widely seen as an attempt to capitalize on her high approval ratings and strengthen the party's majority in the powerful lower house of parliament.

According to investors, a decisive election victory would pave the way for a large fiscal stimulus package later this year. This prospect is raising concerns about Japan's "fiscal premium," putting downward pressure on both the yen and Japanese government bonds (JGBs).

Fiscal Expansion and BOJ Pressure

The Takaichi government is already planning a record initial budget for the fiscal year beginning in April. The Ministry of Finance previously announced that despite the increased spending, it would reduce the issuance of super-long government bonds. However, sales of two- and five-year debt are set to increase, adding to supply pressure in the shorter end of the market.

This fiscal backdrop is complicating the Bank of Japan's (BOJ) policy calculations. Although the central bank raised its policy rate to a three-decade high in December, the yen has continued to weaken. This slide, combined with worries over government spending, could force the BOJ to act more aggressively.

Makoto Sakurai, a former BOJ board member, stated in an interview that the central bank might raise its benchmark interest rates as early as April, citing market concerns over the government's fiscal approach.

President Donald Trump visited Detroit on Tuesday to deliver a confident message on the economy, aiming to shift the national conversation back to U.S. manufacturing and away from the rising cost of living that continues to worry American families.

In a wide-ranging speech to the Detroit Economic Club, Trump declared his economic policies a resounding success after just 11 months, claiming he had successfully rebuilt the U.S. economy.

"Growth is exploding, productivity is soaring, investment is booming, incomes are rising," he stated. "Inflation is defeated. America is respected again like never before."

Economic Reality Check: Inflation and Jobs Data

Despite the president's optimistic tone, recent economic data presents a more complicated picture. Consumer prices increased last month, largely due to higher costs for food and rent. Meanwhile, job growth has been sluggish, and affordability remains a primary concern for the electorate.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll from December highlighted this disconnect, showing Trump's approval rating on cost-of-living issues at just 27%. The numbers reflect a broader challenge for the White House, which is trying to convince households that it is effectively managing their economic anxieties.

The visit also comes as some White House aides have reportedly urged the president to focus more on domestic concerns, particularly as the Republican Party prepares for a difficult midterm election battle in November.

Figure 1: President Trump speaks with auto industry personnel during his visit to Detroit, a trip intended to highlight his economic policies.

Focus on Autos: A Mismatch on Tariffs and Trade

Trump's trip to the heart of the American auto industry coincided with the Detroit Auto Show, where Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis are showcasing their latest vehicles. However, the industry backdrop is grim.

Nationwide factory employment fell by 8,000 jobs in December, a figure that contradicts the manufacturing renaissance Trump promised would result from his aggressive import taxes. On Tuesday, he repeated his assertion that tariffs were driving a boom in new auto factory construction, though there is little evidence to support this claim.

"Now we have more plants being built in our country than at any time in history," Trump said before a tour of a Ford production facility in Dearborn.

The president also expressed indifference toward renegotiating the United States-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) trade agreement, calling it "irrelevant."

"We don't need cars made in Canada," he said. "We don't need cars made in Mexico. We want to make them here."

This position is at odds with U.S. automakers, who have lobbied Trump to extend the free-trade pact. They argue that parts sourced from Mexico and Canada are essential for manufacturing vehicles in the United States. Auto executives, including Ford CEO Jim Farley and Executive Chairman Bill Ford who accompanied Trump on his tour, have spent the past year navigating the financial impact of the president's tariffs and trade disputes.

Figure 2: Donald Trump tours a Ford production center in Dearborn, accompanied by auto executives, as he pushes his message of a manufacturing renaissance.

Political Stakes: Midterms Loom Over Economic Messaging

The Detroit speech is part of a broader strategy to communicate Trump's economic achievements directly to voters ahead of the November midterms, especially after Democrats secured key state-level victories in 2025. Michigan itself is a crucial political battleground with an open U.S. Senate seat and several competitive House races.

While billed as an economic address, Trump's speech veered into other topics, including immigration, former President Joe Biden, transgender athletes, and Venezuela.

His visit follows a series of recent economic-focused announcements that have impacted markets but lack clear legislative support. These include:

• Pressuring credit card companies to temporarily lower interest rates.

• Announcing a ban on Wall Street purchases of single-family homes.

• Urging global oil companies to increase Venezuelan crude output to potentially lower consumer prices.

This flurry of activity signals a White House eager to reframe the economic narrative as a critical election season approaches.

Venezuela's acting president plans to send an envoy to Washington to meet with senior US officials on the same day that opposition leader Maria Corina Machado will be in town for her own talks in the wake of Nicolas Maduro's ouster.

Ambassador Felix Plasencia, the chief of mission at Venezuela's embassy in the UK and a former foreign minister, plans to visit Thursday at acting President Delcy Rodriguez's behest, according to people familiar with the plans. They asked not to be identified discussing private deliberations.

Machado, the popular Nobel Peace Prize-winning opposition figure, is expected to meet with President Donald Trump on the same day, US officials have said. The dueling visits come as the US and Venezuela look to restore diplomatic ties after years of conflict, after Trump pledged to "run" the country by pressuring the government in Caracas with a Navy-enforced oil quarantine.

Maduro, Venezuela's longtime leader, was captured by US forces in a nighttime raid on Jan. 3 and is in the US awaiting trial on narco-trafficking charges.

Venezuela's information ministry the White House and the State Department didn't respond to requests for comment on Tuesday.

The rival visits also underscore how various factions are jockeying to fill Venezuela's power vacuum now that Maduro is no longer in control. Trump earlier this month opted to work with Rodriguez, Maduro's longtime vice president and a target of US sanctions. He said Machado wasn't ready to lead even though she won more than 90% of the vote in an opposition primary in 2023.

Plasencia, a veteran diplomat, has been a close confidant of Rodriguez for years, including as her director of protocol when she was foreign affairs minister from 2014 to 2017. Plasencia then had his own turn as Maduro's foreign affairs minister in 2021 and 2022.

An American team visited Caracas last week to explore reopening the US embassy more than six years after it was closed. The Venezuelan embassy in Washington was operated by the team of Juan Guaido, whom Trump recognized as Venezuela's interim president in 2019, until Guaido's term as president of the national assembly ended in early 2023.

Some Trump advisers had long favored a transition to Rodríguez as an off-ramp from Maduro's hard-line leadership. They argue that a gradual transition will be less disruptive than a transition to Machado or Edmundo González, the stand-in candidate Machado backed for the 2024 election after she was barred from running.

Venezuelan authorities on Tuesday freed at least one US citizen who has already left the country, according to people with knowledge of the situation.

It marks the first known release of an American citizen since authorities in Caracas began freeing detainees as part of an effort to meet Washington's demands following Maduro's capture.

Source: Bloomberg

New Zealand's job market is showing clear signs of recovery, with employers adding more positions for the third time in four months this November. This hiring surge is powered by lower interest rates and a significant boost in business confidence, signaling that the nation's economic rebound is building solid momentum.

November Data Reveals Strong Employment Growth

According to figures released by Statistics New Zealand, filled jobs rose by 6,569, or 0.3%, from October to reach 2.35 million. This figure marks the highest level of employment since March and represents a notable turnaround from a two-and-a-half-year low recorded just four months earlier in July.

The data suggests a return to consistent jobs growth in the final three months of 2025, potentially ending a five-quarter period of either contraction or stagnation in the labor market.

Rising Confidence Bolsters Economic Outlook

An improving employment landscape adds weight to the idea that the economy's 1.1% gross domestic product (GDP) surge in the third quarter is sustainable. As households feel more secure about their incomes, their confidence grows, supporting broader economic activity.

A Westpac survey published Wednesday showed that worker confidence climbed to its highest point since early 2024 in the fourth quarter. Michael Gordon, a senior economist at Westpac, noted in the report that this result suggests the national jobless rate may have already peaked at a five-year high of 5.3% in the third quarter.

Business Sentiment Reverses After Prolonged Slump

The recent optimism marks a sharp reversal from a period of stalled employment growth. New Zealand had been struggling to recover from a 2024 recession when business confidence was further shaken by US President Donald Trump's trade policies in mid-2025.

That negative mood has now lifted. A New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) opinion survey published yesterday showed business sentiment is now at its highest level in almost 12 years. The report also documented the first quarterly increase in hiring in two years, with a net 22% of businesses planning to increase staff numbers in the three months through March.

Central Bank Stimulus Fuels Momentum

The economic recovery has been significantly supported by the Reserve Bank's monetary policy. The central bank has provided stimulus by cutting interest rates, which helped buoy the 1.1% GDP expansion in the third quarter.

In November, the Reserve Bank lowered the Official Cash Rate to 2.25%. This was the latest step in an easing cycle that has delivered 325 basis points of cuts since August 2024.

Bond traders are increasingly confident the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates by the middle of the year following a weaker-than-expected U.S. inflation reading.

Market data from interest-rate swaps shows traders have almost fully priced in a rate cut by the Fed's June policy meeting. While there's a small chance of an earlier move, the odds of a cut this month on January 28 remain minimal.

"If we cut through the noise, it's a pretty encouraging number," said Dan Carter, a senior portfolio manager at Fort Washington Investment Advisors. "Inflation is drifting lower, which is keeping the Fed cuts on the table. But to get the near-term cuts, you need to see more weakness in the labour market."

Inflation Cools, Supporting Rate Cut Case

The latest inflation report on January 13 signaled a return to normalcy after a six-week U.S. government shutdown in 2025 distorted the data for October and November.

The core consumer price index (CPI), which strips out volatile food and energy costs, rose just 0.2% from November. This was below the median economist forecast of 0.3%. On an annual basis, the core CPI advanced 2.6%, matching a four-year low and providing more room for the central bank to ease policy.

The Federal Reserve has already cut rates three times since September to address signs of weakness in the labor market. These decisions have been contentious, as inflation remains above the central bank’s 2% target. The division was clear in the December meeting, where two Fed officials dissented in favor of holding rates steady, while another argued for an even larger reduction.

Strong Labor Market Complicates the Outlook

Despite softer inflation, economists and traders believe the timing of future Fed rate cuts now hinges primarily on the health of the jobs market.

An unexpected drop in the U.S. unemployment rate in December, reported on January 9, prompted several Wall Street banks to reassess their forecasts. Morgan Stanley, Barclays, and Citigroup all pushed their expectations for Fed rate cuts further into 2026.

Analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. went a step further, stating they no longer expect a rate cut at all in 2026 and now foresee a potential rate hike in 2027.

"Our take was that as inflation has taken a back seat to the employment figures, today's data was unlikely to shift the January Fed pause pricing," wrote Ian Lyngen, head of U.S. rates strategy at BMO. "That appears to be the market's response."

Meanwhile, recent political developments, including a Justice Department grand jury investigation into Fed Chair Jerome Powell, have failed to rattle markets. The probe has drawn support for Powell from congressional Republicans and foreign central banks, including the European Central Bank, the Bank of England, and the Bank of Canada.