09/01/2026

FRIDAY | JAN 9, 2026

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US to dictate Venezuela decisions, oil sales: Trump

Thousands of UK policemen hired without proper checks LONDON: London’s Metropolitan Police (Met) hired more than 5,000 police officers and staff without required background checks between 2018 and 2023, Britain’s Interior Ministry said yesterday, launching an independent inquiry to find out what went wrong. The Met, Britain’s largest police force, has been badly tarnished by serving officers committing serious crimes, including murder and rape, and a 2023 review that found it is institutionally racist, misogynistic and homophobic. Yesterday’s announcement, which presented the findings of an internal Met review, said the force could not confirm if a further 17,000 officers and staff had undergone the correct pre-employment checks. “Abandoning vetting checks on officers was a dereliction of the Met’s duty to keep London safe,“ said Interior Minister Shabana Mahmood. The Met said it had deviated from some standard vetting procedures partly in response to government recruitment targets. This means some people who would not have passed those checks joined or remained in the force, and some of those people became involved in criminal behaviour or misconduct, it said. “We found that some historical practices did not meet the strengthened hiring and vetting standards we have today,“ said Assistant Commissioner Rachel Williams. “We identified these issues ourselves and have fixed them quickly while making sure any risk to the public has been properly and effectively managed.” Mahmood said she is seeking to restore trust in the force’s ability to protect and serve the public by ordering an urgent inspection to discover why normal vetting practices were not followed and check that they are now being applied. The findings of the inspection are expected later this year. Met Chief Mark Rowley was appointed when his predecessor Cressida Dick was effectively forced out by London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who said he did not think she could root out problems within the force. Rowley has previously promised to rid the Met of corrupt and unacceptable officers following a series of scandals, but problems have continued. In November, a report cited systemic racism in how the Met dealt with Black members of the public and its own staff. Rowley said the report showed that the force needs systematic change. In October, five officers were fired after a BBC documentary programme secretly filmed officers displaying racist or misogynist attitudes. – Reuters

American woman on the streets of Minneapolis on Wednesday, leading to huge protests and outrage from local leaders who rejected White House claims that she was a domestic terrorist. The woman, identified in local media as 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good, was hit at point blank range as she apparently tried to drive away from agents who were crowding around her car, which they said was blocking their way. Footage of the incident shows a masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent fire three times into the car, which then hurtles out of control and smashes into stationary vehicles as horrified onlookers hurl abuse at the federal officers. Her bloodied body is seen slumped in the crashed vehicle. US President Donald Trump’s administration moved quickly to claim that Good had been trying to kill the agents, an assertion Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called “bullshit” as he urged ICE to get out of his city. Thousands of protesters took to the frigid streets of Minneapolis after the shooting, holding signs reading “ICE out of MPLS“, a common abbreviation for the city. Despite the objections of local officials, ICE federal agents have been at the forefront of the Trump administration’s immigrant deportation drive. The Homeland Security WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump’s administration said on Wednesday it would dictate decisions to Venezuela’s interim leaders and control the country’s oil sales “indefinitely” after toppling Nicolas Maduro. Trump’s assertion of US dominance over the oil-rich South American country comes despite its interim leader Delcy Rodriguez saying there is no foreign power governing Caracas. “There is a stain on our relations such as had never occurred in our history,” said Rodriguez about the US attack to depose her predecessor. US special forces snatched Maduro and his wife on Saturday in a lightning raid and whisked them to New York to face trial on drug charges, underscoring what Trump has called the “Donroe Doctrine” of US dominance over its backyard. threat of further force to ensure cooperation of interim president US o Washington relying on naval blockade,

Venezuela’s state oil firm said it is discussing oil sales with the United States for the “sale of volumes of oil” under existing commercial frameworks. But Washington is looking at longer term control, according to Energy Secretary Chris Wright. Today, Trump will meet executives from US oil companies, whom he has said would invest in Venezuela’s crumbling facilities, despite no firm having yet made such pledges amid the turmoil in the country. “It is just a meeting to discuss, obviously, the immense opportunity that is before these oil companies right now,” Leavitt told reporters. Trump also invited leftist Colombian President Gustavo Petro to meet at the White House “in the near future”, after the two had their first phone call on Wednesday since Trump took office last year. Washington moved further to stamp its authority on Venezuela when it seized two oil tankers, including a Russian-linked vessel that it pursued from Venezuela to the North Atlantic. Moscow condemned the operation but Leavitt insisted that the oil tanker had been “deemed stateless after flying a false flag”. – AFP

as bodyguards. Trump’s administration, which has indicated that it intends to stick with Rodriguez and sideline opposition figures, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado, has given few details about its plans. State Secretary Marco Rubio insisted on Wednesday, after meeting lawmakers on Capitol Hill who have been critical about the post-Maduro planning, that the United States is “not just winging it”. However, the US plan relies heavily on what Trump said on Tuesday was an agreement for Venezuela to hand over between 30 million and 50 million barrels of oil to the United States for it to then sell. Trump said under the deal, Venezuela “is going to be purchasing only American-made products, with the money they receive” from the oil profits. That would include agricultural products, machinery, medical devices and energy equipment, he added. Rubio said in a second “recovery” phase, US and Western companies would have access to the Venezuelan market and “at the same time, begin to create the process of reconciliation nationally within Venezuela”.

Department launched an aggressive recruitment campaign last summer to add 10,000 additional ICE agents to the existing 6,000-strong contingent. That sparked criticism that new officers in the field are insufficiently trained. Department chief Kristi Noem said “any loss of life is a tragedy” but called the incident “domestic terrorism” and said Good “had been stalking and impeding (ICE) work all throughout the day”. “She then proceeded to weaponise her vehicle.“ Wednesday’s incident came during protest action against immigration enforcement in the southern part of Minneapolis, located in the midwestern state of Minnesota. The department, which runs ICE, said the victim had tried to run over its officer, who fired “defensive shots”. Minnesota’s Governor Tim Walz called the federal government’s response to the incident“propaganda” and vowed that his state would “ensure there is a full, fair and expeditious investigation”. A witness interviewed by local station FOX9 described a grisly scene. “The surviving passenger got out of the car covered in blood.“ He recounted seeing a man who identified himself as a doctor attempting to reach Good but being refused access by officers. There have been many protests against immigration operations of the Trump administration, which has vowed to arrest and deport what it says are “millions” of “We obviously have maximum leverage over the interim authorities in Venezuela right now” following the capture operation, said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. “We are continuing to be in close coordination with the interim authorities and their decisions are going to continue to be dictated by the United States.” Trump has said the United States would “run” Venezuela, which has the world’s largest proven oil reserves. But Washington has no boots on the ground, and appears to be relying on a naval blockade and the threat of further force to ensure the cooperation of the interim president. Meanwhile, Caracas announced on Wednesday that at least 100 people were killed in the US attack and a similar number were injured. Among those hurt were Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, said Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello. The couple were seen walking on their own during a New York court arraignment earlier this week. The death toll includes 32 members of the Cuban military. Maduro, much like his firebrand predecessor Hugo Chavez, employed specialised Cuban soldiers

ICE agent fatally shoots woman, sparks protests MINNEAPOLIS: A US immigration officer shot and killed an

A protester holding a sign as she marches through frigid conditions in Minneapolis, Minnesota during a rally calling for the removal of ICE. – AFPPIC

undocumented migrants priorities during his second term, and has tightened conditions for entering the United States and obtaining visas. ICE, which critics accuse of transforming into a paramilitary force under Trump, has been tasked with deporting an unprecedented number of undocumented migrants. US authorities said up to 2,000 officers are in Minneapolis for immigration sweeps. A US immigration enforcement officer shot and killed an undocumented immigrant in Chicago in September after federal authorities alleged that the man tried to resist detention by driving his car into the official. – AFP

undocumented migrants. The department called the violence a “direct consequence of constant attacks and demonisation of our officers”. The officer who opened fire, who was released from hospital following the incident, was rammed and dragged along a road by an anti-ICE protester in June, said Noem. The victim’s mother Donna Ganger told newspaper Minnesota Star Tribune that her daughter “was probably terrified”. Good was “not part of anything like” challenging ICE officers, she added. Trump has made preventing unlawful immigration and expelling