Plus, concerns about Starmer's future mount.

Get full access to Reuters.com for just $1/week. Subscribe now.

 

Daily Briefing

Daily Briefing

By Kate Turton

Hello. The US Justice Department unit on police misconduct sees probes scaled back, China removes three lawmakers with defence-sector ties, and a 'software-mageddon' leaves investors bargain-hunting but wary.

Plus, the heavy reality of Venezuela's oil.

Today's Top News

 

Trump speaks during his visit to the Department of Justice to address its workers, in Washington, D.C., March 14, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan Howard/File Photo

United States

  • The Justice Department unit responsible for prosecuting potential wrongdoing by law enforcement, including during the crackdown on illegal immigration in Minneapolis, has lost two-thirds of its prosecutors and is under orders to scale back its investigations of excessive force, people familiar with its work told Reuters.
  • A team working for President Donald Trump's spy chief, Tulsi Gabbard, last spring led an investigation into Puerto Rico's voting machines, said Gabbard's office and three sources familiar with the previously unreported events.
  • Popular US morning news anchor Savannah Guthrie posted a video message addressing anyone who might be holding her missing elderly mother, presumed abducted from her Arizona home this week, pleading for them to open a line of communication.

In other news

  • Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has earned global admiration for openly declaring the end of a global order based on rules, but he has had far less success addressing a growing and more quotidian concern at home: the rising cost of food.
  • The US and Iran have agreed to hold talks in Oman, officials for both sides said, even as they remained at odds over Washington's insistence that negotiations include Tehran's missile arsenal and Iran's vow to discuss only its nuclear program.
  • Three Chinese lawmakers with ties to the defence sector have been removed from their positions, state media said in the wake of an investigation of the nation's top general, just as Beijing tries to modernise its military.
  • Concerns are mounting over whether Prime Minister Keir Starmer can survive the fallout from his decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as US ambassador despite knowing about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. 
  • As Russia and Ukraine started new US-brokered peace talks in Abu Dhabi, Moscow's forces have slowly ground forward along various parts of the 745 mile front line in recent months.
  • US athletes in Milan are bracing for what could be a chilly Winter Games reception as political unrest at home spills into the host country and fuels protests. Global Sports Editor Ossian Shine will be sharing his insights in the Reuters Inside Track newsletter for the duration of the Winter Olympics. Sign up here.
 

Business & Markets

 
  • This week's AI-fueled stock selloff has refocused questions on whether AI technology is a threat to the job market. Reuters economics editor Mark John tells the Reuters World News podcast that there is evidence that hiring is slowing down as AI use in workplaces expands.
  • Alphabet is taking on OpenAI with a gusto that underscores Wall Street's perception that the Google parent is the leader in AI, a turn of events from a year ago when investors thought it was badly lagging behind rivals and punished its stock.
  • Big US banks' lobbying spend jumped 12% last year, the most in more than a decade, as they intensified efforts to navigate major policy flux in Washington Trump's administration, according to a Reuters analysis of disclosure data and industry lobbyists.
  • Online retailers such as Shein will face a "year of resistance" in France, the country's minister for small and medium-sized businesses Serge Papin said, adding that the platforms posed unfair competition to French chains.
  • Britain's aviation authority has asked Air India to explain how a Boeing Dreamliner passenger jet which was grounded on arrival in India for safety checks took off from London with a possibly faulty fuel switch, a letter shows.
  • Bitcoin was on the cusp of breaking below the key $70,000 level as a slide in the world's largest cryptocurrency showed no signs of stopping. 
 

The heavy reality of Venezuela's oil

 


Since US forces seized and deposed Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro on January 3, the US has said it would control Venezuela's vast oil resources indefinitely.

Despite having the world’s largest reserves, Venezuela’s crude production has been low, accounting for about 1% of global production in 2024 — less than 1 million barrels per day.

Venezuela’s oil reserves are massive, but not all crude is created equal.

View our graphics
 

And Finally...

Models present creations from the Michael Kors Spring 2026 collection during New York Fashion Week. September 11, 2025. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo 

New York Fashion Week will kick off the month-long fashion show season, at a time when some US labels are finding new popularity even as the luxury industry struggles with a global slowdown.

Among the closely watched catwalk shows will be Ralph Lauren and Coach, both of whom have bucked the trend and are enjoying strong demand, with preppy styles in and some shoppers opting for more affordable handbags after sharp price hikes at the likes of Chanel and Dior.
Read more