Good morning.
Gregory Bovino, the border patrol commander who has become the public face of the Trump administration’s on-the-ground immigration crackdown in Minneapolis, is expected to leave the city today. The move is part of the Trump administration’s reshuffling of the leadership of its immigration enforcement operation, and the scaling back of the federal presence in the city after the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, 37.
A senior Trump administration official told Reuters that Bovino, 55, who has been a lightning rod for criticism from Democrats and civil liberties activists, would be leaving Minnesota along with some of the agents deployed alongside him.
Donald Trump announced on Monday that he was sending Tom Homan, his “border tsar”, to Minnesota to oversee operations on the ground there – dubbed Operation Metro Surge – reporting directly to the president.
Are administration officials rowing back? After Pretti was killed, administration officials were quick to label him a “domestic terrorist”. But during a White House press briefing yesterday, Karoline Leavitt struck a more conciliatory tone, calling Pretti’s death a “tragedy” – though she was careful not to directly contradict Stephen Miller, who called Pretti a “would-be assassin”, and she blamed the shooting on Democrats.
What about the president? Trump said he held “a very good call” with the governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, and the mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Frey.
What has Pretti’s family said? The family of the intensive care nurse – who had no criminal record and held a legal permit to carry a firearm – said after his killing: “The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting.”
US winter storm: at least 30 people dead and nearly 200m under cold alerts
A powerful winter storm sweeping across much of the US over the weekend has been linked to at least 30 deaths.
In New York City, the mayor, Zohran Mamdani, said over the weekend that five people were found dead outdoors. In Texas, authorities in Frisco said a 16-year-old died in a sledding accident. A woman in Kansas was said to have died from hypothermia and was found covered in snow.
How disruptive has the storm been? There were more than 670,000 power outages on Monday evening, most in the south, where weekend blasts of freezing rain caused tree limbs and power lines to snap. On Monday, nearly 5,000 US flights were cancelled.
California governor Gavin Newsom accuses TikTok of suppressing content critical of Trump
The governor of California, Gavin Newsom, has accused TikTok of suppressing content critical of President Trump, as he launched a review of the platform’s content moderation practices to determine if they violated state law, even as the platform blamed a systems failure for the issues.
The step comes after TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, said last week it had finalized a deal to set up a majority US-owned joint venture that would secure US data, to avoid a US ban on the short video app used by more than 200 million Americans.
What did Monday’s statement from Newsom’s office say? “Following TikTok’s sale to a Trump-aligned business group, our office has received reports, and independently confirmed instances, of suppressed content critical of President Trump.”
How did the joint venture for TikTok’s US operations respond? A representative blamed a datacenter power outage for bugs and user issues. “It would be inaccurate to report that this is anything but … technical issues.”
In other news …
The Italian coastguard has said up to 380 people may have drowned attempting to cross the Mediterranean last week, as Cyclone Harry battered southern Italy and Malta.
The remains of the Israeli police sergeant Ran Gvili, who was killed fighting Hamas-led militants on 7 October 2023, have been returned to Israel. The handover of the body marks the completion of a key initial demand of Donald Trump’s Gaza ceasefire plan.
Georgia is leading a push to ban datacenters used to power America’s AI boom, leading the fight against the rapid growth of facilities using huge amounts of energy and water.
Stat of the day: disappeared bodies and mass burials – what is the truth of Iran’s death toll?
Amid Iran’s brutal crackdown on dissent, estimates of the number of people killed vary substantially, hampered by the continuing internet shutdown. The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency says it has verified more than 5,800 dead – and has more than 17,000 other recorded deaths under investigation. Estimates from doctors based outside Iran range up to 33,000 or more. Guardian reporters delved into what we know.
Culture pick: Industry season four – ‘truly twisted, top-tier television’
Industry, the slow-burn HBO/BBC series that firmly hit its stride in season three, is back. And good news, Hannah J Davies writes: “Season four is even better, truly top-tier television that’s surely destined for end-of-year lists. That’s seriously impressive when we’re only in January.” She continues: “At its core, this series finds a societal rot that has been there for a long time, and draws out all of its horrors anew.”
Don’t miss this: how Israel is planning to build an ‘apartheid road’ – video
Israel plans to start work next month on a bypass that will close off the heart of the occupied West Bank to Palestinians, Emma Graham-Harrison reports – cementing the de facto annexation of an area critical for the viability of a future Palestinian state. The far-right Israeli finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, said the plans were intended to “bury the idea of a Palestinian state”.
Climate check: number of people living in extreme heat to double by 2050 if 2C rise occurs, study finds
The number of people living with extreme heat will more than double by 2050 – to 3.79 billion, from 1.54 billion in 2010 – if global heating reaches 2C, according to a new paper published in Nature Sustainability, which shows how the energy demands for air conditioners and heating systems are expected to change across the world.
Last Thing: capturing the New York City immigrant experience – in pictures
A new exhibition at the New York Historical museum looks at the immigrant experience through a range of revealing and diverse viewpoints, with more than 100 photographs and objects showing how the city has been shaped by people from across the globe. It runs to 29 March.
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