US government starts likely brief shutdown

Plus, Warsh 'regime change' faces steep hurdles.

Get full access to Reuters.com for just $1/week. Subscribe now. Weekend Briefing Weekend Briefing From Reuters Daily Briefing   By Kate Turton Hello, we've reached the end of January at last. This week's On Assignment podcast goes behind the scenes with Reuters journalists in Minneapolis. Elsewhere, Cubans are under siege as a U.S. stranglehold sets in. Plus, our latest City Memo heads to Milan. US government shutdown in effect as House fails to act in time   Minneapolis, Minnesota. REUTERS/Brian Snyder  A national day of protest: Thousands of protesters took to the streets in Minneapolis and students across the United States staged walkouts to demand the withdrawal of federal immigration agents from Minnesota following the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens. The US government has shut down again as lawmakers debate immigration enforcement tactics. Central casting Fed chief: President Donald Trump chose former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh to head the U.S. central bank when Jerome Powell's leadership term ends in May. Warsh, a frequent Fed critic, now has a chance to put his idea of monetary policy "regime change" into practice just as the White House pushes for more control over the setting of interest rates. Here are five things to know about Warsh. World discovers it can hedge US trade risk Pivot to China: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's visit to China is the latest win for Beijing in its rivalry with Washington. But the deal Starmer brings back to London also shows the limits as middle powers balance their approach to the two global powers. He follows Canadian counterpart Mark Carney, who struck a trade deal on a similar visit. "We're drowning." Cubans from all walks of life are hunkering into survival mode, navigating lengthening blackouts and soaring prices for food, fuel and transport as the U.S. threatens a stranglehold on the communist-run nation. Trump has said tariffs will be imposed on imports from countries that supply Cuba with oil, ratcheting up the pressure on Washington's long-time foe. Envoys to Israel blocked warning of 'Apocalyptic Wasteland' in Gaza Leaving the rubble:  Israel carried out its heaviest airstrikes in Gaza in weeks, killing 26 people according to local health authorities. Israel will reopen the Rafah border crossing on Sunday for people to travel between Gaza and Egypt, a government agency said, the first opening of effectively the sole route in or out of the Palestinian territory since May 2024. Blame game: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said that U.S., Israeli and European leaders had exploited Iran's economic problems, incited unrest and provided people with the means to "tear the nation apart" in recent protests. Trump has said he planned to speak with Iran, even as the U.S. dispatched another warship to the Middle East. Russia and Ukraine halt energy strikes Lights out: Parts of Ukraine and Moldova, including the capitals of both neighbouring countries, were plunged into blackouts caused by malfunctions to high-voltage power lines, officials said. Power move: U.S. and European officials are growing increasingly worried as hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. energy assistance previously pledged for Ukraine remain unreleased, even as a bone-cold winter pushes the nation's war‑damaged power grid to the brink, said several sources familiar with the matter. Before I forget… Tens of thousands of people have fled a remote mountainous region in northwestern Pakistan in recent weeks, residents said, after warnings broadcast from mosques urged families to evacuate ahead of a possible military action against Islamist militants. Paramilitary fighters kidnapped children during their takeover of the Sudanese city of al-Fashir in October and in other attacks in the Darfur region over the course of Sudan's civil war, in some cases killing their parents first, witnesses say. Luigi Mangione will not face the death penalty after a U.S. judge dismissed murder and weapons charges against the accused killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, in a major blow to federal prosecutors. A cable car intended to carry spectators to the women's Olympic Alpine skiing events in Cortina will not be ready in time, prompting Games organisers to request school closures to ease the pressure on the Dolomite resort's transport system. Read our exclusive. Activist investors initially saw little to get excited about in Toyota's plan to take an affiliate private. But the bid for Toyota Industries quickly ignited a battle between shareholders demanding top dollar and a Japanese corporate culture that prizes stakeholder harmony over shareholder returns. Catherine O'Hara, the Emmy-winning actor who brought the eccentric Moira Rose of "Schitt's Creek" to global acclaim, has died at 71, said a representative from the office of her manager Marc Gurvitz. India's new luxury symbol is water: At an Indian gourmet food store, Avanti Mehta is organising a blind tasting of drinks sourced from France, Italy and India. Participants use tiny shot glasses to check the minerality, carbonation and salinity in samples of water.   Sponsors are not involved in the creation of newsletters or other Reuters news content. Advertise in this newsletter or on Reuters' website   Weekend Briefing is sent once a week. Think your friend or colleague should know about us? Forward this newsletter to them. They can also sign up here. Want to stop receiving this email? Unsubscribe here. To manage which newsletters you're signed up for, click here. This email includes limited tracking for Reuters to understand whether you’ve engaged with its contents. For more information on how we process your personal information and your rights, please see our Privacy Statement. Terms & Conditions   © 2026 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved. 3 Times Square, New York, NY 10036

Trump says Fed chair pick due today

All eyes are on former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh.

Get full access to Reuters.com for just $1/week. Subscribe now. Daily Briefing Daily Briefing By Linda Noakes Hello. Trump's nomination of a new Federal Reserve chair will lift a cloud of uncertainty that has hung over markets for months. SpaceX is in merger talks with other Musk companies ahead of a blockbuster IPO. And why an end may be in sight to more than 50 years of mutual constraints on nuclear weapons. Today's Top News   The Federal Reserve building in Washington as construction work continues. REUTERS/Nathan Howard President Donald Trump is expected to name a successor to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell today after a White House meeting with former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh, who has said the US central bank needs "regime change" to regain lost credibility. Trump endorsed a spending deal negotiated by US Senate Republicans and Democrats to avoid a government shutdown, although he acknowledged one could still occur, while lawmakers continued negotiating guardrails to rein in immigration agents. Student organizers have called for walkouts and protests across the United States to demand that federal immigration agents withdraw from Minnesota, after two fatal shootings of US citizens generated public outrage. Trump said it was dangerous for Britain to be getting into business with Beijing, as Prime Minister Keir Starmer lauded the economic benefits of resetting relations with China during a visit there. We look at how Starmer's trip shows the drawbacks of a 'China pivot'. The Syrian government and the Kurdish-led group the Syrian Democratic Forces said they had agreed to a comprehensive ceasefire and a phased integration of military and administrative bodies into the Syrian state under a broad deal. Trump said he planned to speak with Iran, even as the US dispatched another warship to the Middle East. Jeanne Shaheen, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, sat down with the Reuters World News podcast to talk about US foreign policy. The Kremlin said that President Vladimir Putin had agreed to a personal request from Trump to halt strikes on Kyiv until February 1 to create "favourable conditions" for peace talks. Business & Markets   A countdown clock displaying a photo of NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 members in Cape Canaveral. REUTERS/Steve Nesius/File Photo SpaceX is exploring deals with other companies helmed by serial entrepreneur Elon Musk, leaving investors working through permutations between space, autonomous driving and artificial intelligence to analyze which combination makes the most sense. China has given its top AI startup DeepSeek approval to buy Nvidia's H200 artificial intelligence chips with regulatory conditions that are still being finalized, people familiar with the matter told Reuters. Apple forecast higher-than-expected revenue growth of up to 16% for the March quarter, powered by strong demand for its iPhones and a sharp rebound in China and accelerating demand in India. Amazon is in talks to invest dozens of billions in ChatGPT-maker OpenAI and the figure could be as high as $50 billion, a source told Reuters. Trump said the US was decertifying Bombardier Global Express business jets and threatened 50% import tariffs on all aircraft made in Canada until the country's regulator certified a number of planes produced by US rival Gulfstream. Panama's Supreme Court has annulled key port contracts held by a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison, leaving the future ownership of some Panama Canal operations unclear. The Week Ahead Investors will look for evidence of a strengthening US jobs market in the monthly employment report next Friday, as they assess the prospects for further rate cuts. Meanwhile, another heavy crop of earnings reports is about to land. Among them are two of the 'Magnificent Seven' megacap companies: Google parent Alphabet and Amazon, which just confirmed 16,000 corporate job cuts. The European Central Bank meets on Thursday and investors will be on the look-out for any indication on how a stronger euro might impact rates.  Asia's premier aviation event is poised to showcase planes, parts and weapons as the industry juggles growing demand for air travel with geopolitical challenges and chronic supply constraints. Here's a look at the week ahead in markets. US and Russia teeter on brink of new arms race   An unarmed missile is test-launched off the coast of California in 2018. Handout via REUTERS/ File Photo The United States and Russia could embark on an unrestrained nuclear arms race for the first time since the Cold War, unless they reach an eleventh-hour deal before their last remaining arms control treaty expires in less than a week. The New START treaty is set to end on February 5. Without it, there would be no constraints on long-range nuclear arsenals for the first time since Richard Nixon and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev signed two historic agreements in 1972 on the first-ever trip by a US president to Moscow. Read more The Week in Pictures Indian soldiers march during the Republic Day parade in New Delhi. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi See a selection of our top photography from around the world this week. View gallery   Sponsors are not involved in the creation of newsletters or other Reuters news content. Advertise in this newsletter or on Reuters' website   Reuters Daily Briefing is sent 5 days a week. Think your friend or colleague should know about us? Forward this newsletter to them. They can also sign up here. Want to stop receiving this email? Unsubscribe here. To manage which newsletters you're signed up for, click here. This email includes limited tracking for Reuters to understand whether you’ve engaged with its contents. For more information on how we process your personal information and your rights, please see our Privacy Statement. Terms & Conditions   © 2026 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved. 3 Times Square, New York, NY 10036