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The killing of a US citizen by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis on Saturday triggered a wave of criticism, from family members and local leaders to Hollywood stars.Federal agents shot Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse, less than three weeks after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer shot and killed Renee Good, also 37, in her car.The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Pretti was found to be carrying a pistol and ammunition, but cell phone footage of the incident has raised serious questions about the federal government’s description of the incident.- Local leaders -Minnesota Governor Tim Walz called the shooting “horrific” and demanded state authorities lead the investigation.”The federal government cannot be trusted to lead this investigation. The state will handle it, period,” Walz told a news conference.Senator Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican, wrote on X: “The events in Minneapolis are incredibly disturbing. The credibility of ICE and DHS are at stake.””There must be a full joint federal and state investigation. We can trust the American people with the truth.”Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey urged President Donald Trump to end the immigration operation, which has sparked sometimes violent demonstrations.”This is a moment to act like a leader. Put Minneapolis, put America first in this moment — let’s achieve peace. Let’s end this operation,” Frey told a news conference.- Family and colleagues -Pretti’s parents said in a statement he was “a kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends.” “The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting,” they said.”Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump’s murdering and cowardly ICE thugs.”Dimitri Drekonja, chief of the Infectious Diseases Section at the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs hospital and a colleague of Pretti, called him “a good kind person who lived to help.”Pretti was a nurse working “to support critically ill Veterans,” he said in a post on the Bluesky social media platform.- Hollywood -Hollywood stars used red carpet appearances at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah on Saturday to denounce the killing.Olivia Wilde said the shooting was “unfathomable.””I can’t believe that we’re watching people get murdered in the street,” she told AFP at “The Invite” premiere.”These brave Americans who have stepped out to protest the injustice of these ICE quote/unquote ‘officers,’ and watching them be murdered — it’s unfathomable. We cannot normalize it.”Natalie Portman, who was promoting “The Gallerist,” became emotional as she described her feelings about a “horrible day.””What is happening in our country is just obscene,” she told AFP.”What (President Donald) Trump and (Homeland Security Secretary) Kristi Noem and ICE are doing to our citizens and to undocumented people is outrageous and needs to end.”- Gun rights groups -Some gun rights advocates — often staunch supporters of the Republican president — raised concerns about the Trump administration quickly linking Pretti’s legal gun possession to an intent to do harm.The Gun Owners of America (GOA) condemned a statement by Bill Essayli, a federal prosecutor in California, who had said on X: “If you approach law enforcement with a gun, there is a high likelihood they will be legally justified in shooting you.””The Second Amendment protects Americans’ right to bear arms while protesting — a right the federal government must not infringe upon,” GOA said in a statement.The National Rifle Association said the sentiment of Essayli’s statement was “dangerous and wrong.””Responsible public voices should be awaiting a full investigation, not making generalizations and demonizing law-abiding citizens,” it said on X.

The US citizen shot dead by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis on Saturday was an intensive care nurse at a local veterans’ hospital who “wanted to make a difference in this world,” family members said.Alex Pretti, 37, was shot and killed while scuffling with immigration officials on an icy roadway in the Midwestern city, less than three weeks after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer shot and killed Renee Good, also 37, in her car.The latest killing sparked fresh protests and rebukes from local officials, who disputed the Trump administration’s quick claims that Pretti intended to harm federal agents as he participated in demonstrations against a sweeping immigration crackdown.Pretti was “a kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends” and those he cared for at a Minneapolis Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital, his parents said in a statement on Saturday. “Alex wanted to make a difference in this world. Unfortunately, he will not be with us to see his impact,” his parents said. Dimitri Drekonja, chief of the Infectious Diseases Section at the Minneapolis VA hospital and a colleague of Pretti’s, called him “a good kind person who lived to help.””He had such a great attitude. We’d chat between patients about trying to get in a mountain bike ride together. Will never happen now,” Drekonja wrote on the social media platform Bluesky.He said Pretti was a nurse working “to support critically ill Veterans.”Pretti graduated from high school in Green Bay, Wisconsin, in 2006, according to local media reports. He went to nursing school before joining the VA.Trump administration officials have sought to brand Pretti as a violent aggressor but their accounts are contradicted by video, which AFP has not verified, aired widely by US media.Pretti’s parents said their son had stepped in front of a federal agent who shoved a woman protester shortly before his death.They denounced what they called “sickening lies” from the Trump administration and said the gun found on Pretti, which local officials said he was licensed to carry, was not in his hand when he was shot.”Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump’s murdering and cowardly ICE thugs,” his parents said in the statement.”He has his phone in his right hand and his empty left hand is raised above his head while trying to protect the woman ICE just pushed down all while being pepper sprayed.”The family asked the public to “get the truth out about our son. He was a good man.””We are heartbroken but also very angry,” they said.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel defended his country’s military preparedness exercises on Saturday as a deterrent against potential aggression from the United States.US President Donald Trump this month warned that Cuba “is ready to fall” and told Havana to “make a deal” or pay a price similar to Venezuela, whose ousted leader Nicolas Maduro was taken to America by US forces in a January 3 bombing raid that killed dozens of people.Venezuela was a key ally of Cuba and a critical supplier of oil and money, which Trump has vowed to cut off.Diaz-Canel on Saturday supervised military exercises that included a tank unit from Cuba’s armed forces. He was accompanied by Cuban General Alvaro Lopez Miera, who is the minister of the armed forces, and other high-ranking military officials.”The best way to prevent aggression is for imperialism to have to calculate the price of attacking our country,” Diaz-Canel said in remarks broadcast on Cuban television.”And that has a lot to do with our preparation for this type of military action… This takes on significant importance in the current circumstances,” he added.Cuba’s National Defense Council, which is led by Diaz-Canel, recently met “with the objective of increasing and improving the level of preparedness and cohesion” among the country’s leadership, according to an official government statement.The council met to “analyze and approve the plans and measures for transitioning to a State of War,” the statement added, without providing further details.These military exercises are part of the country’s preparation “under the strategic concept of the War of the Entire People,” a term used by authorities for the mobilization of civilians in the event of armed conflict.

Hollywood stars used red carpet appearances at the Sundance Film Festival on Saturday to denounce the killing of an American protester who was shot dead on the streets of Minneapolis by federal immigration agents.Actress Olivia Wilde, who was in Park City, Utah, for the premiere of “The Invite,” said the death of a second protester in just three weeks at the hands of federal agents was “unfathomable.””I can’t believe that we’re watching people get murdered in the street,” she told AFP.”These brave Americans who have stepped out to protest the injustice of these ICE quote/unquote ‘officers,’ and watching them be murdered — it’s unfathomable. We cannot normalize it.”Wilde’s comments come after the killing of 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti, who died after being pinned to the ground and shot multiple times by federal agents.Pretti’s death came weeks after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer shot and killed Renee Good, also 37, in her car in the city.Wilde, who wore an “ICE OUT” badge, said the US government violence against people exercising their right to free expression was “un-American.””We may have a government that is somehow trying to make excuses for it and legitimize it, but we (Americans) don’t.”Fellow actress Natalie Portman, who was promoting “The Gallerist,” got emotional as she described her feelings over a “horrible day.””What is happening in our country is just obscene,” she told AFP in Park City.”What (President Donald) Trump and (Homeland Security Secretary) Kristi Noem and ICE are doing to our citizens and to undocumented people is outrageous and needs to end.”

A massive winter storm headed towards the northeast United States on Sunday after sweeping across much of the country, threatening tens of millions of Americans with blackouts, transportation chaos and bone-chilling cold.After battering the country’s southwest and central areas, the storm system began to hit the heavily populated mid-Atlantic and northeastern states with snow and freezing rain as a frigid air mass settled in across the nation.”The snow/sleet impacts will linger well into next week with rounds of re-freezing that keeps surfaces icy and dangerous to both drive and walk on for the foreseeable future,” the National Weather Service (NWS) said.Snowfall was reported across the central United States, including Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri, where some spots already recorded eight inches (20 centimeters) on the ground by Saturday night, the NWS said.Shoppers stripped supermarket shelves as the weather service forecast huge snowfall in some areas and possibly “catastrophic” ice accumulations.Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned that up to 240 million Americans could be affected by the storm.At least 20 states and the US capital Washington have declared states of emergency.”Take this storm seriously, folks,” the NWS said on X, predicting an “astonishingly long swath” of snowfall from Colorado to Maine.About 14,000 flights in and out of the United States had been canceled over the weekend, with thousands more delayed, according to tracker FlightAware.In Dallas, which has typically mild temperatures in January, freezing rain pelted the Texas city and the mercury plummeted to 21F (-6C).State officials vowed that the Texas power grid was in better shape than five years ago, when it failed during a deadly winter storm and left millions without power.More than 180,000 US customers were without power as of early Sunday morning, according to tracking site poweroutage.us, with about 45,000 reported in Texas and about 67,000 in neighboring Louisiana.Speaking at the Washington headquarters of the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem urged Americans impacted by the weather to “be smart, stay home if possible, take care of your family members, check on your neighbors and continue to work with your local officials.”US President Donald Trump, who was riding out the storm at the White House, said on his Truth Social platform: “We will continue to monitor, and stay in touch with all States in the path of this storm. Stay Safe, and Stay Warm!”- Polar vortex -The brutal storm system is the result of a stretched polar vortex, an Arctic region of cold, low-pressure air that normally forms a relatively compact, circular system but sometimes morphs into a more oval shape, sending cold air spilling across North America.Scientists say the increasing frequency of such disruptions of the polar vortex may be linked to climate change, though the debate is not settled and natural variability plays a role.But Trump — who scoffs at climate change science and has rolled back green energy policies — questioned how the cold front fit into broader climate shifts.”WHATEVER HAPPENED TO GLOBAL WARMING???” the Republican leader posted on Truth Social.The NWS warned that heavy ice could cause “long-duration power outages, extensive tree damage, and extremely dangerous or impassable travel conditions,” including in many states less accustomed to intense winter weather.- ‘Five or six minutes’ -New York Governor Kathy Hochul warned residents to stay inside amid frigid conditions: “Five or six minutes outside could literally be dangerous for your health.”She stressed precautions like protecting pipes, using heaters safely, and checking on vulnerable neighbors.Authorities warned of life-threatening cold that could last a week post-storm, especially in the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest, where wind chill lows were forecast to dip to extremes under -50F (-45C).Such temperatures can cause frostbite within minutes. 

In a coffee shop in Greenland’s capital Nuuk, Lykke Lynge looked fondly at her four kids as they sipped their hot chocolate, seemingly oblivious to the world’s convulsions.Since Donald Trump returned to the White House last year with a renewed ambition to seize Greenland, international politics has intruded into the Arctic island’s households. Dictated by the more or less threatening pronouncements of the US president, it has been an unsettling experience for some people here — but everyone is trying to reassure their children.Lynge, a 42-year-old lawyer, relied on her Christian faith. “There’s a lot of turmoil in the world,” she said. “But even if we love our country, we have even higher values that allow us to sleep soundly and not be afraid,” she said.As early as January 27, 2025, one week after Donald Trump’s inauguration, the Greenlandic authorities published a guide entitled “How to talk to children in times of uncertainty?””When somebody says they will come to take our country or they will bomb us or something, then of course children will get very scared because they cannot navigate for themselves in all this news,” said Tina Dam, chief programme officer for Unicef in the Danish territory.- Unanswerable questions -This guide — to which the UN agency for children contributed — recommends parents remain calm and open, listen to their children and be sensitive to their feelings, and limit their own news consumption. As in many parts of the world, social media, particularly TikTok, has become the primary source of information for young people.Today, children have access to a lot of information not meant for them, said Dam — “and definitely not appropriate for their age”, she added.”So that’s why we need to be aware of that as adults and be protective about our children and be able to talk with our children about the things they hear — because the rhetoric is quite aggressive.”But reassuring children is difficult when you do not have the answers to many of the questions yourself.Arnakkuluk Jo Kleist, a 41-year-old consultant, said she talked a lot with her 13-year-old daughter, Manumina. The teenager is also immersed in TikTok videos but “doesn’t seem very nervous, luckily, as much as maybe we are”, she added.”Sometimes there are questions she’s asking — about what if this happens — that I don’t have any answers to” — because no one actually has the answer to such questions, she said.- ‘Dear Donald Trump’ -The Arctic territory’s Inuit culture also helped, said Kleist.”We have a history and we have conditions in our country where sometimes things happen and we are used to being in situations that are out of our control,” said Kleist.”We try to adapt to it and say, well, what can I do in this situation?”Some Greenlandic children and teenagers are also using social media to get their message out to the world.Seven-year-old Marley and his 14-year-old sister Mila were behind a viral video viewed more than two million times on Instagram — the equivalent of 35 times the population of Greenland.Serious in subject but lighthearted in tone, the boy addresses the American president.”Dear Donald Trump, I have a message for you: you are making Greenlandic kids scared.”Accompanied by hard stares, some serious finger-wagging and mostly straight faces, he and his sister go on to tell Trump: “Greenland is not for sale.””It’s a way to cope,” his mother, Paninnguaq Heilmann-Sigurdsen, told AFP of the video. “It’s kid-friendly, but also serious.”I think it’s a balance between this is very serious, but also, this is with kids.”

An American climber took on Taiwan’s tallest building on Sunday, becoming the first person to scale Taipei 101 without a rope, harness or safety net.Hundreds of spectators gathered at the base of the 101-storey tower to watch Alex Honnold, 40, embark on his daredevil feat, which was also broadcast live on Netflix.After an hour and a half, he successfully made it up 1,667 feet (508 metres) before triumphantly rappelling down to reunite with his wife, Sanni McCandless Honnold. Speaking at a press briefing afterwards, Honnold said “time is finite”, and people should “use it in the best way”.”If you work really hard… you can do hard things,” Honnold added.Honnold has conquered some of the world’s most intimidating rock faces and rose to global fame in 2017 after he climbed Yosemite’s “El Capitan”, lauded among his peers as the pinnacle of technical difficulty on the massive granite monolith.It had always been a dream of Honnold’s to add scaling Taipei 101 to his list of achievements he told reporters, adding that his first request had been rejected. He did not offer more details about why this was the case.”For the project to come together more than a decade later… It’s so great. What an opportunity, it is such a pleasure,” he added.Honnold is the first person to free solo climb Taipei 101, without a rope, harness, or safety net, but not the first to reach its peak.In 2004, Alain Robert, dubbed “the French Spiderman,” was the first to take on the challenge, but used safety ropes because of the rainy conditions.Sunday’s spectacle drew crowds of hundreds, with onlooker Richard Bode, 34, calling the event a “once-in-a-lifetime experience.”Benson, 24, told AFP that Honnold was “incredibly brave”, while others, like Lin Chia-jou, 54, said it was “terrifying” to watch.Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te congratulated Honnold in a Facebook post on Sunday, branding the challenge “truly moving”.”The climb was tense, setting hearts racing,” he added in the post.- Daring feat -The event, titled “Skyscraper Live”, was scheduled to be broadcast on Netflix on Saturday (0100 GMT), but it was postponed due to bad weather.Dressed in a red T-shirt and yellow custom-made climbing shoes, Honnold moved up the southeast face of the glass and steel building swiftly on Sunday when better weather permitted the climb.At one point, he stepped onto a platform midway up to wave down at fans and onlookers who were taking photos.People watching from inside the building could be seen gawking and tapping at the glass, as Honnold moved past the enclosed observation deck on the 89th floor.Taipei 101 chairwoman Janet Chia said on Saturday on Threads that it was touching to hear that fans had travelled from Singapore, Hong Kong and southern Taiwan to watch the climb and apologised for the delay in the event.

The killing of a US citizen by federal immigration agents on Saturday — the second in Minneapolis this month — sparked new protests and impassioned demands by local leaders for the Trump administration to end its operation in the city.Federal agents shot dead Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, while scuffling with him on an icy roadway, less than three weeks after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer shot and killed Renee Good, also 37, in her car.The Trump administration quickly claimed, as it did after Good’s death, that Pretti had intended to harm the federal agents, even as video of the incident appeared to contradict their account.The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) pointed to a pistol and ammunition it said was discovered on Pretti.”He was there to perpetuate violence,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told a briefing, while White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller referred to Pretti as an “assassin,” in a post amplified on X by Vice President JD Vance.However, as with Good’s death, cell phone footage of the incident raised serious questions about the federal government’s description of the incident.Video aired widely by US media, which AFP has not verified, shows Pretti filming agents in the snow-lined street and directing traffic.After an agent shoves a woman protester to the ground on the sidewalk, Pretti steps in between them and is sprayed in the face by a chemical irritant.The agent then pulls Pretti to the ground and several officers struggle to detain him on the icy roadway.Seconds later, as an officer apparently discovers and pulls a gun from Pretti’s pants, agents open fire, also shooting his motionless body several times from a distance.Pretti’s parents in a statement circulated by US media called him a “kindhearted soul” and accused the Trump administration of telling “sickening lies” about their son.Minnesota Governor Tim Walz called the shooting “horrific” and demanded state authorities lead the investigation.”The federal government cannot be trusted to lead this investigation. The state will handle it, period,” Walz told a news conference.Federal authorities controversially blocked local investigators from jointly probing Good’s death.One Senate Republican on Saturday called for a joint investigation into the shooting.”The events in Minneapolis are incredibly disturbing. The credibility of ICE and DHS are at stake,” Senator Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican, wrote on X.”There must be a full joint federal and state investigation. We can trust the American people with the truth.”- ‘Insurrection’ -Republican President Donald Trump meanwhile ratcheted up his war of words with Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, accusing the Democratic leaders of “inciting insurrection” with their rhetoric.Trump had previously threatened to send troops to Minnesota by invoking the Insurrection Act.As the president presses a sweeping campaign to deport undocumented migrants, thousands of ICE agents have been deployed to the Democratic-led city.Public outrage was also rekindled earlier this week by the detention of a five-year-old boy as federal agents sought to arrest his father.Frey at a news conference urged Trump to end the federal immigration operation, which has sparked sometimes violent demonstrations.”This is a moment to act like a leader. Put Minneapolis, put America first in this moment — let’s achieve peace. Let’s end this operation.”Police Chief Brian O’Hara said an “incredibly volatile scene” erupted after the shooting as protesters arrived, with local officials unable to secure the scene for investigation.O’Hara told a later briefing that Minnesota National Guard troops would help secure a vehicle exclusion zone set up around the site.Local resident Maria, 56, told AFP the situation in the city was “escalating.””They’re attacking and terrorizing our communities right now.”Hundreds of protesters gathered in a park in Minneapolis Saturday evening, despite bitterly cold temperatures in the northern US city.The shooting comes a day after tens of thousands of people braved the cold to gather in downtown Minneapolis to voice opposition to the federal operation.- 2nd Amendment -O’Hara said police believed the victim did not have any serious criminal background and was a “lawful gun owner with a permit to carry.”Some gun rights advocates — often staunch supporters of the president — have raised concerns after the Trump administration quickly linked Pretti’s legal gun possession to an intent to do mass harm.The Gun Owners of America (GOA) condemned a statement by Bill Essayli, a federal prosecutor in California, who had said on X: “If you approach law enforcement with a gun, there is a high likelihood they will be legally justified in shooting you.””The Second Amendment protects Americans’ right to bear arms while protesting — a right the federal government must not infringe upon,” GOA said in a statement.

Actress and director Olivia Wilde used her red carpet appearance at the Sundance Film Festival on Saturday to slam the “murder” of an American protester, who was shot dead on the streets of Minneapolis by federal agents.Wilde, who was in Park City, Utah, for the premiere “The Invite,” which she directed and starred in, said the death of a second protester in just three weeks at the hands of federal agents was “unfathomable.””I can’t believe that we’re watching people get murdered in the street,” she told AFP.”These brave Americans who have stepped out to protest the injustice of these ICE quote/unquote ‘officers,’ and watching them be murdered. It’s unfathomable. We cannot normalize it.”Wilde’s comments come after the killing of 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti, who died after being pinned to the ground by federal agents who then shot him multiple times.Pretti’s death comes weeks after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer shot and killed Renee Good, also 37, in her car.Wilde, who wore an “ICE OUT” badge, said the US government violence on people exercising their right to free expression was “un-American.””We may have a government that is somehow trying to make excuses for it and legitimize it, but we (Americans) don’t.”

The US Federal Reserve is widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged when it meets in the coming week, holding firm despite President Donald Trump’s pressure to slash levels as it guards against threats to its independence.The central bank has cut rates three consecutive times since September as the jobs market weakened, bringing them to a range between 3.50 percent and 3.75 percent.But Fed Chair Jerome Powell has signaled the bar would be higher for a further reduction in January. They meet on Tuesday and Wednesday.”The fact that growth is strong, unemployment is low, equity markets are close to all-time highs and inflation is above target all argue for a pause,” said analysts at ING bank.Powell’s robust defense of Fed independence in response to ongoing pressure from Trump to lower rates confirms this, ING added.On January 11, Powell released a rare, solemn statement revealing that the Department of Justice was investigating him over a $2.5 billion renovation of the bank’s headquarters.He slammed the threat of criminal charges as the result of policymakers setting rates in the public’s best interests — rather than bowing to the president’s wishes.Trump has made no secret of his disdain for Powell, claiming there is “no inflation” and repeatedly questioning the Fed chair’s competence and integrity.Yet, US inflation has been well above the bank’s two-percent target for over five years, said former Cleveland Fed president Loretta Mester.”I think the Fed needs to keep a pretty tight eye on where the inflation is going,” she told AFP.Price increases could cool after Trump’s trade tariffs filter through the world’s biggest economy, but Mester flagged the need for “more convincing evidence.”Meanwhile, existing cost hikes have brought about a “large wedge” between how affluent and lower-income households view the economy, said KPMG chief economist Diane Swonk.Even if the gap could temporarily narrow as fiscal stimulus hits in early 2026 — with a rise in tax refunds incoming due to tax cut expansions — this could “cause a more entrenched bout of inflation,” she warned.Another complication is stagnating employment, forcing policymakers to walk a tightrope between lowering rates to boost the economy and keeping them higher to curb inflation.- External pressure -The Fed meets eight times a year to consider interest rate levels, and Michael Pearce of Oxford Economics said the dilemma it faces has eased.Figures suggest that risks to the labor market appear less pressing than a few months ago, while the likelihood of rising inflation also seems to have moderated, he said in a note.Nonetheless, events outside of the rate-setting committee “have the potential to shake up the path of monetary policy,” Pearce added.Besides the probe into Powell, Trump has sought to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook, sparking a legal battle crucial to shaping how much discretion the president has in changing the Fed’s leadership.A president can only fire Fed board members “for cause,” traditionally understood to mean malfeasance or dereliction of duty.But the Trump administration appears to be pushing a broader interpretation, as Trump moved to fire Cook over mortgage fraud allegations she denies.The Supreme Court heard arguments on the issue on Wednesday, and Cook stressed in a statement afterwards the importance of insulating the Fed from political threats.She said her case is about whether the Fed will set rates “guided by evidence and independent judgment or will succumb to political pressure.”Pearce flagged a “small risk” that the government succeeds in ousting Cook, saying this could “pave the way for a substantial dovish transformation on the committee over time.”Policymakers seen as “hawkish” favor higher rates to fight inflation, while a “dovish” Fed tends towards lower levels.Analysts expect Powell to avoid discussing political issues at his press briefing after the two-day Fed meeting on Wednesday, while divisions remain over the path of future policy.