New Minneapolis shooting sparks some GOP backlash
On Saturday, 50,000 people took to the freezing Minneapolis streets to demand Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s exit from the city, according to organizers. But one protester never made it back home, as an ICE agent shot and killed Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, while he was on the ground. Pretti had brought a handgun, but was disarmed before he was shot. The moment was captured on video. Some Republican lawmakers – including a few who seldom speak out against the Trump administration – are calling for an investigation. Even the NRA criticized federal prosecutors’ move to blame Pretti for being armed, citing his legal right as a gun owner. The situation is still evolving: Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, called in the National Guard on Saturday, a move that could theoretically pit law enforcement groups against one another. There’s also legal movement: A judge is set to hear arguments today over whether the ICE operation in Minneapolis is legal.
China accuses top general of being a spy
Chinese authorities have placed the country’s highest-ranking general, Zhang Youxia, under investigation. Zhang reportedly stands accused of passing nuclear secrets to the US and accepting bribes for promotions. The move against Zhang — a Politburo member and friend of President Xi Jinping — underscores the severity of a broader corruption crackdown under Xi. At least 50 senior defense officials have been investigated or removed in the past three years. It’s the biggest purge of military brass since the Mao era, but why now? The move comes amid deepening tensions with the US and China’s increased harassment of Taiwan, which Xi has pledged to reincorporate. However, experts caution that it also leaves a competency vacuum at the top of one of the world’s largest militaries.
Israel retrieves the last hostage – but can they disarm Hamas?
The Israeli military said on Monday that it had recovered the remains of the final hostage taken by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023. This fulfills a key condition of the first phase of the ceasefire deal that Israel and Hamas struck last October. The next phase could be even more challenging: one condition involves disarming Hamas, a move the militant group will see as political suicide. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly said that Hamas must be disarmed, but the group has also been a useful political foil for him over the years. Separately, Israel said it would open the Rafah crossing at the Egypt-Gaza border to pedestrians, a move that will allow many Palestinians to return home for the first time.
