Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at the backlash to U.S. President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota, a potential U.S.-Ukraine security agreement, and an election in Myanmar.
The Front Line of the U.S. Immigration Battle
U.S. President Donald Trump is facing one of the most serious tests to date of his aggressive immigration crackdown over the actions of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Minneapolis following the fatal shooting of ICU nurse Alex Pretti by an ICE agent on Saturday.
The death marked the second killing of a U.S. citizen by an ICE agent in that city since the Trump administration surged agents there in early December. On Jan. 7, an ICE agent fatally shot Renee Good.
Good’s death provoked outrage not just in Minneapolis but in cities across the country, with demonstrators taking to the streets to protest against the Trump administration’s broader immigration enforcement campaign, including reports of sexual abuse in ICE detention centers and intimidation around schools and health care facilities that many say has deterred people from sending children to class or seeking medical care.
That public outrage has intensified following Pretti’s death, with ICE tactics such as the use of chemical irritants on nonviolent protesters drawing criticism from former immigration officials as protesters risk their lives to document agent conduct.
The political backlash is growing as well, with key Senate Democrats now pledging to oppose legislation necessary to avoid another federal government shutdown if a bill providing funding for the Department of Homeland Security (which includes ICE) is part of the package. More Republicans, including some who have largely demurred from publicly criticizing Trump, have also begun to express concern over ICE’s actions, including calling for an investigation into Pretti’s killing. The U.S. Justice Department has not opened investigations into the killings of Good or Pretti, though Trump said on Sunday that his administration is “reviewing everything” regarding the latter incident.
The Trump administration also faces trouble on the legal front. A federal judge in Minnesota heard arguments on Monday on whether ICE’s presence in the state should be temporarily halted, but she has not yet delivered her decision.
The Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign has become a major domestic political issue in this midterm election year, and this latest killing promises to escalate the issue’s importance even further.
“The horror of watching a U.S. citizen die at the hands of federal or state officials transcends ordinary politics. Such a ruthless deployment of power not only evokes deep and widespread human emotion but also collides directly with fundamental U.S. values rooted in the Constitution,” columnist Julian E. Zelizer wrote in Foreign Policy.
For his part, Trump seems to recognize that the situation in Minneapolis has become politically problematic for him. On Monday, Trump announced that he is sending White House border czar Tom Homan to Minneapolis to manage ICE operations there—a move some have interpreted as a shift in strategy in response to criticism.
Also on Monday, Trump posted on Truth Social that he had received a “very good call” from Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz—a Democrat whom Trump and other administration officials have repeatedly lambasted in recent weeks—and that he and Walz “seemed to be on a similar wavelength.”
“I told Governor Walz that I would have Tom Homan call him, and that what we are looking for are any and all Criminals that they have in their possession. The Governor, very respectfully, understood that, and I will be speaking to him in the near future,” Trump wrote.
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The World This Week
Tuesday, Jan. 27: Nasry Asfura is inaugurated as president of Honduras.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosts the European Union-India Summit.
The U.S. withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement goes into effect.
Wednesday, Jan. 28: A verdict is expected in the criminal case against former South Korean first lady Kim Keon-hee.
The two-day International Economic Forum of Latin America and the Caribbean kicks off in Panama.
Thursday, Jan. 29: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected to arrive in China for a two-day visit.
Friday, Jan. 30: The U.S. Congress’s latest short-term continuing resolution expires.
Saturday, Jan. 31: Starmer is expected to arrive in Japan.
Sunday, Feb. 1: Further trilateral talks between Ukraine, Russia, and the United States are set to begin in the United Arab Emirates.
Presidential and legislative general elections take place in Costa Rica.
What We’re Following
Ukraine peace talks. Following two days of negotiations among Ukraine, Russia, and the United States, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that a U.S. security agreement for Kyiv was ready to be signed. After a signing date and location are set, Zelensky said, the agreement would need to be ratified by the U.S. Congress and the Ukrainian parliament.
“For us, security guarantees are first and foremost guarantees of security from the United States,” Zelensky told reporters in Vilnius. “The document is 100% ready, and we are waiting for our partners to confirm the date and place when we will sign it.” In a post on X, Zelensky added that the trilateral meetings were “constructive.”
Zelensky’s remarks on the first face-to-face talks among the three parties suggested some slight optimism in a long and arduous effort to end Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which is now nearing its fourth year. Still, numerous sticking points remain, and Russian airstrikes have continued to bombard Ukraine in recent days. Further talks are expected to continue on Feb. 1, according to U.S. officials.—Christina Lu
Election results. Myanmar’s junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) claimed on Monday that it had secured victory in the country’s first election since the military seized power in 2021. That outcome was all but assured, given reports of increasingly restricted internet access, voter suppression, the exclusion of opposition parties amid Myanmar’s ongoing civil war, and the fact that 25 percent of parliamentary seats were reserved for the military.
Critics say the election, which was held in three phases beginning Dec. 28, 2025, and ending Jan. 25, 2026, was held to legitimize the USDP’s rule following the coup that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government in 2021 and thrust the country into a civil war in which more than 7,000 civilians have been killed. Final results are expected later this week, after which a president will be elected by the military appointees and new members of parliament.
Analysts have pointed to Beijing’s influence in the election as Chinese authorities tighten alliances with military leaders.
“Cynics and opportunists may argue that Washington is losing the game of influence to Beijing and therefore the time has come to reengage the junta. But this is shortsighted,” Hunter Marston wrote in Foreign Policy. “The United States would be better served by supporting Myanmar’s democratic resistance so that when military rule inevitably ends, Washington retains the goodwill and support of the people, who continue to distrust China.”
Final Israeli hostage recovered. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted on social media on Sunday that Israel had agreed to a “limited reopening” of Gaza’s Rafah crossing with Egypt for pedestrians, “subject to a full Israeli inspection mechanism” and contingent on the completion of a wide-scale operation to locate the remains of Israeli police officer Ran Gvili, the final remaining hostage in Gaza. Just hours later, on Monday, the Israeli military announced that it had recovered Gvili’s remains.
The recovery of Gvili’s body, who was killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack, marks the closing of a painful chapter for Israel. It also clears a key condition of the first phase of the October 2025 cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas, which requires the return of all deceased Israelis and foreign nationals before the Gaza-Egypt border can reopen—a major sticking point in negotiations over a longer-term truce.
If the Rafah crossing—which has been mostly closed since May 2024—is reopened, Palestinians who fled Gaza during the two-year war will be able to return, while those in need of medical care abroad could be evacuated, according to aid officials. The Associated Press reports that Israel intends to restrict entry into Gaza so that more Palestinians are allowed to leave than return, although it is not clear yet how such a policy would be enforced.
The developments come amid continued violence: Israeli strikes last week killed at least 11 Palestinians in Gaza, and on Monday, Israeli forces reportedly fatally shot a man near the site of the search operation for Gvili. According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, more than 480 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the October 2025 cease-fire began.
Odds and Ends
Could this be the end of panda diplomacy between China and Japan? Throngs of visitors traveled to Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo on Sunday, braving hourslong lines for a final glimpse of twin panda cubs Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei before their return to China on Tuesday. China has loaned more than 30 giant pandas to Japanese zoos since Tokyo and Beijing normalized diplomatic ties in 1972. But with the cubs’ departure, Japan will be without a giant panda for the first time in five decades, as tensions between the two countries continue to worsen.
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