Thousands of protesters rallied in Minneapolis on Friday in the latest show of anger over US President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, as a prominent journalist was charged over his coverage of protests in the northern city. Crowds marched with signs blasting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the agency leading Trump’s mass deportation drive, in response to a call for a “national shutdown” across the United States.Minneapolis has become the epicenter of the immigration policy backlash after two protesters, both US citizens, were shot dead by federal agents this month.”I don’t think our federal government should be terrorizing our people like this,” Sushma Santhana, 24, told AFP as demonstrators chanted “our streets!” around her.The crowd gathered in freezing temperatures after Bruce Springsteen performed at an anti-ICE concert in the city. The US rock legend recently released “Streets of Minneapolis,” a tribute to the pair who were gunned down in separate incidents.Another protester, 24-year-old Max Maffor, said he was demonstrating “to conserve what we would consider our democracy and all the liberties that we get from living in America.”Demonstrators also held rallies in New York and across Los Angeles, where immigration raids last year sparked protests, with thousands carrying signs outside City Hall.In Washington, the federal government entered a partial shutdown at midnight Friday following Democratic anger over the violent immigration crackdown, which derailed talks over new funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).- Journalist charged -Earlier Friday, the Trump administration charged former CNN anchor Don Lemon and eight others with civil rights violations, after Lemon and other reporters covered a protest at a church where an ICE official is a pastor.The journalist’s lawyer said he was taken into custody in Los Angeles overnight, adding that his work covering the protest “was no different to what he has always done.”Lemon faces two charges of conspiracy to deprive rights and interfering with First Amendment rights, a DHS spokesperson told AFP, referencing the constitutional protection for freedom of expression, including religion.Political figures and media advocates condemned Lemon’s arrest, with Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries calling for his immediate release.”This is an egregious attack on the First Amendment and on journalists’ ability to do their work,” the Committee to Protect Journalists’ chief Jodie Ginsberg said.Lemon was released from custody after a short court hearing in Los Angeles, US media reported. His next hearing is in Minneapolis on February 9. “I will not stop now,” he said after his release.”In fact, there is no more important time than right now, this very moment, for a free and independent media that shines a light on the truth and holds those in power accountable.”- Civil rights probe -Trump meanwhile walked back his conciliatory tone to describe Alex Pretti, the 37-year-old nurse killed last week, as an “agitator and, perhaps, insurrectionist” after new footage allegedly showed him in a scuffle with federal agents.AFP could not immediately verify the video, in which a man said to be Pretti is seen kicking and breaking the taillight of the agents’ car before they emerge and tackle him to the ground.Some Minneapolis residents were unstirred by the footage.”So the guy kicked a car’s light, does that mean he deserved to die?” Pedro Wolcott, a Latino sandwich shop owner, told AFP. The Justice Department has opened a civil rights investigation into Pretti’s death, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told reporters Friday. There is no similar probe for Renee Good, who was shot dead by agents on January 7.- Mass deportation to continue -Trump had claimed he wanted to “de-escalate a little bit” in the fallout of the deaths and appointed a new point man in Minneapolis, top immigration adviser Tom Homan.Homan said that “certain improvements could and should be made,” a marked difference in tone from his predecessor on the ground, combative Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino.Homan also said his staff was “working on a drawdown plan” for some of the more than 3,000 federal agents, if there was greater cooperation from the local authorities in the Democratic-run city.He told Fox News on Friday that Trump was still “going to have a mass deportation.” The administration was in Minneapolis “to save lives — to save lives of officers, to save lives of the community and do smart law enforcement operations”, he said.

Late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein proposed introducing a Russian woman to King Charles III’s brother Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, newly released documents showed Friday.The discussion about the woman appears in some of the millions of new pages released Friday by the US Justice Department, as well as an apparent exchange weeks later about an invitation to Buckingham Palace.In one August 12, 2010 email, Epstein told Andrew — addressed as “The Duke” — that he had “a friend who I think you might enjoy having dinner with” and said she would be in London from August 20 to 24, the documents show. Andrew asked what Epstein had told her about him and whether she would be bringing “a message” from Epstein, the messages indicate.In a subsequent email, Andrew replied that he would be in Geneva on August 22, but “would be delighted to see her”.Epstein said the woman was 26, Russian, clever and beautiful, adding that she had the prince’s email.There is no suggestion in the materials that any meeting took place.Andrew, who has always denied any wrongdoing, was last year stripped by the king of all his royal titles over his association with Epstein.Weeks later, they apparently discussed dinner at Buckingham Palace.According to one message, Epstein contacted Andrew on September 27, 2010 during a stay in London, writing: “What time would you like me… we will also need (to)… have private time.”Andrew replied that he was just leaving Scotland, adding: “We could have dinner at Buckingham Palace and lots of privacy.”Two days later Andrew emailed again.”Delighted for you to come here to BP (Buckingham Palace). Come with whomever and I’ll be here free from 1600ish to 2000,” he wrote.It was not clear whether any dinner at the palace — then the official London residence of the late Queen Elizabeth II — ever took place.Epstein had been released on probation from house arrest in August 2010 following his sentencing for procuring for prostitution a girl below the age of 18.In a 2019 interview with the BBC, Andrew claimed he had cut ties with the sex offender after December 2010, but court documents revealed later showed he continued to communicate with him.Other documents made public last year and a posthumous memoir by Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre — who had accused Andrew of sexual assault — reignited UK anger over his ties to Epstein.It culminated in the king deciding to remove all of his brother’s royal titles and honours and announcing that he would be ousted from his 30-room mansion on the royal estate at Windsor, west of London.The former prince, now known by as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, has always denied that he sexually abused Giuffre, who alleged that she was trafficked to have sex with him on three occasions, twice when she was just 17.After she launched a lawsuit against him, he paid her a multi-million-pound settlement in 2022 without making any admission of guilt.Giuffre, a US and Australian citizen, died by suicide at her home in Australia in April.Epstein died by suicide in jail in 2019.

The US government entered a partial shutdown Saturday as a midnight funding deadline passed without Congress approving a 2026 budget, though disruption was expected to be limited with the House set to move early next week to ratify a Senate-backed deal.The funding lapse followed a breakdown in negotiations driven by Democratic anger over the killing of two protesters in Minneapolis by federal immigration agents, which derailed talks over new money for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).”Instead of going after drug smugglers, child predators, and human traffickers, the Trump Administration is wasting valuable resources targeting peaceful protestors in Chicago and Minneapolis,” Senate Democratic Minority Whip Dick Durbin posted on social media.”This Administration continues to make Americans less safe.”Roughly three-quarters of federal operations are affected, potentially triggering shutdown procedures across a wide range of agencies and operations, from education and health to housing and defense. Federal departments were expected to begin implementing shutdown plans overnight, but congressional leaders in both parties said the Senate’s action made a short disruption far more likely than a prolonged impasse.If the House approves the package as expected early next week, funding would be restored within days, limiting the practical impact of the shutdown on government services, contractors and federal workers.If the shutdown extended more than a few days, however, tens of thousands of federal workers would risk being put on unpaid leave or working without their money until funding is restored.Late Friday, the Senate passed a package clearing five outstanding funding bills to cover most federal agencies through September, along with a two-week stopgap measure to keep DHS operating while lawmakers continue negotiations over immigration enforcement policy.The House of Representatives was out of session as the deadline expired and is not scheduled to return until Monday. President Donald Trump backed the Senate deal and urged swift House action, signaling he wanted to avoid a prolonged shutdown — the second of his second term — after a record-length stoppage last fall disrupted federal services for more than a month.- Political backlash -The Senate breakthrough came only after Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina lifted a procedural block that had stalled the package late Thursday. Graham had objected to provisions in the DHS stopgap and to House-passed language repealing an earlier measure that allowed senators to sue the Justice Department if their phone records were seized during past investigations.Graham agreed to release his hold after Senate leaders committed to holding future votes on legislation he is sponsoring to crack down on so-called “sanctuary cities” that refuse to cooperate with federal deportation operations.Democrats, meanwhile, have remained united in opposing new DHS funding without changes to immigration enforcement following the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis.Their deaths intensified scrutiny of federal agents’ conduct and hardened opposition to approving money for immigration agencies without new guardrails.Party leaders have accused immigration authorities of operating with insufficient oversight and have demanded reforms including tighter warrant requirements, limits on certain enforcement tactics and greater accountability for agents in the field.Much of the US media interpreted the White House’s willingness to split DHS funding from the broader budget package as a recognition that the administration needed to recalibrate its deportation strategy after the political backlash over the Minneapolis deaths.Republicans are divided over that approach. While some lawmakers have acknowledged the need for changes following the shootings, conservatives have warned against concessions they say could weaken immigration enforcement. Several have signaled they will push their own priorities during the upcoming DHS negotiations, including measures targeting states and cities that limit cooperation with federal authorities.Although Congress has already approved six of the 12 annual funding bills, those measures account for only a minority of discretionary spending. The remaining bills fund large swaths of the federal government, making the lapse significant if it ends up being prolonged.The Office of Management and Budget on Friday night issued a memo ordering agencies to prepare for an “orderly shutdown,” saying: “It is our hope that this lapse will be short.”

Venezuela’s acting president announced on Friday a proposal for mass amnesty in the country, in her latest major reform since the US toppling of Nicolas Maduro just weeks ago.Delcy Rodriguez, in a speech at the Venezuelan Supreme Court attended by top government officials, said she will propose a “general amnesty law covering the entire period of political violence from 1999 to the present.”Leftist revolutionary Hugo Chavez assumed the presidency in 1999, and was succeeded upon his death in 2013 by Maduro, who oversaw an increasingly authoritarian government and whose two re-elections were widely dismissed as fraudulent.”This law will serve to heal the wounds left by political confrontation, fueled by violence and extremism. It will allow us to put justice back on track in our country,” Rodriguez said, also announcing a “major national consultation for a new judicial system.”She also announced plans to close the notorious El Helicoide prison in Caracas, where rights groups say political prisoners were tortured by Maduro’s intelligence services.The massive facility, originally built as a shopping mall, will be turned into a “sports, cultural and commercial center for police families and neighboring communities,” Rodriguez said.A mother interviewed by AFP near El Helicoide was overjoyed that her son, imprisoned inside, may soon be released under the law.”It’s wonderful! I haven’t heard from my son in six months, so, damn it, this is a huge joy, it’s an amnesty, my God, it’s total liberation,” said Betsy Orellana, 63.- Wary opposition -Formerly Maduro’s vice president, Rodriguez, 56, has quickly moved in less than four weeks in power to overhaul Venezuelan society in ways sought by the United States, earning high praise from US President Donald Trump.Along with her brother, National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez, she has passed a new law opening up the country’s critical oil sector to private investments — a key demand of Trump.The move on Thursday was almost immediately followed by a rollback on US sanctions targeting Venezuela’s oil industry.The government also agreed on January 8, five days after Maduro was seized in a deadly US military operation, to free inmates considered political prisoners by rights groups.Families — many of whom began camping outside the prisons — and rights groups have criticized the slow pace of the releases, with the Foro Penal NGO counting less than 300 in total released since January 8.Opposition figures in Venezuela have voiced reserved optimism at the changes taking place, wary that Maduro’s closest allies still remain in power.Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado said Friday that Rodriguez’s amnesty proposal came only after she was pushed by Washington.”This is not a voluntary gesture by the regime, but a response to pressure from the United States government. And I hope that the prisoners will soon be able to be with their families,” she posted on social media.Opposition lawmaker Tomas Guanipa, whose two brothers are imprisoned, said he hope the amnesty would end “an era of repression.””May this be the beginning of a path that leads us to freedom and democracy, definitively and forever,” he told AFP in an interview at his home in Caracas.- Americans freed -US authorities on Friday announced that all Americans known to be held prisoner in Venezuela had been released. The announcement came hours after the release of Peruvian-American political prisoner Arturo Gallino Rullier, whom the Foro Penal group said was on his way to the United States.For years, Venezuela has routinely arrested foreigners and domestic opposition actors on a range of charges from spying to plotting attacks — charges critics dismiss as fabricated.In a sign of Trump’s satisfaction with the new Venezuelan authorities, his administration lifted a ban on US flights to the South American country.And after years of the US embassy being shuttered, Washington is also preparing to re-establish its diplomatic presence in Caracas.Seasoned diplomat Laura Dogu was recently named US charge d’affaires for Venezuela — the highest level representative below an ambassador.Dogu is expected to arrive in Caracas on Saturday, diplomatic sources told AFP.