Good morning.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reported to Congress that two officers fired their guns at Alex Pretti during his fatal shooting.
As federal immigration crackdowns in Minnesota continued on Tuesday, the DHS report to Congress did not say that Pretti had been “brandishing” a gun, as administration officials almost immediately claimed.
The report emerged as Donald Trump indicated he may begin reducing the numbers of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other federal agents in the state. Backlash against the crackdowns has been fueled by videos circulating online showing aggressive behavior by federal agents.
What did the report say? Obtained by CNN and CBS News, the report of the initial investigation by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) into the shooting of Pretti states: “CBP personnel attempted to take Pretti into custody. Pretti resisted CBP personnel’s efforts and a struggle ensued. During the struggle, a BPA [border patrol agent] yelled: ‘He’s got a gun!’ multiple times. Approximately five seconds later, a BPA discharged his CBP-issued Glock 19 and a CBPO [CBP officer] also discharged his CBP-issued Glock 47 at Pretti.”
How has Trump been responding? Kristi Noem, the DHS secretary, has faced mounting calls from Democrats to resign or be impeached over her handling of immigration operations and the department’s response to the killing of Pretti and Renee Good, but Trump said he would not fire her. “I think she’s doing a very good job. The border is totally secure,” he said.
Ilhan Omar sprayed with substance at Minneapolis town hall
The congresswoman Ilhan Omar was sprayed with an unidentified substance by a man with a syringe on Tuesday at a town hall in Minneapolis, where she was calling for ICE to be abolished “for good”.
A man in the audience got up and began to shout and spray her with a liquid. He was tackled by a security guard and arrested on suspicion of third-degree assault.
Some colleagues urged Omar to end the town hall but she insisted on continuing. “I learned at a young age that you don’t give into threats,” she said.
What’s the context of the attack? Omar has been the target of repeated xenophobic attacks from the president. Trump has said she should be “sent back to Somalia” – despite Omar becoming a citizen more than 25 years ago after arriving in the US as a refugee aged 12. She told the Guardian last month about the increase in death threats since Trump was re-elected.
‘Delays, lowballs, outright denials’: how the LA wildfires have exposed a broken insurance industry
Fire survivors attempting to collect on their insurance policies in fire-ravaged neighborhoods across the LA region have experienced frustrations and delays, with the Department of Angels non-profit saying almost eight in 10 homeowners surveyed reported a variety of obstacles, including multiple adjusters, lowball estimates, fights over property lists and poor communication.
“We’re at a real breaking point,” one said. “It’s exhausting, having to fight for what should be a relatively straightforward transaction.”
What does it say about the wider insurance industry? In an age of climate volatility, the industry is facing a crisis, with troubling questions about the stability of home ownership and housing affordability – the bedrock of the American middle class.
In other news …
The families of two men killed in Trump’s military boat strikes are suing the US government. Civil rights attorneys filed a federal lawsuit yesterday on behalf of the families of two Trinidad men killed in a US military airstrike in the Caribbean Sea in October.
Russia has pounded the Ukrainian city of Odesa with missiles and drones in recent months as the war – which had settled into stalemate – heats up again in the Black Sea.
United Parcel Service said on Tuesday it would cut up to 30,000 operational roles in 2026, adding to last year’s job reductions. UPS is accelerating plans to slash millions of low-profit deliveries for Amazon.
Stat of the day: DHS has deployed facial recognition app 100,000 times since last June, lawsuit claims
Immigration enforcement agents are increasingly relying on the smartphone app Mobile Fortify to scan faces and fingerprints in the field, according to a lawsuit brought by Illinois and Chicago against the Department of Homeland Security. DHS has deployed the app more than 100,000 times since its launch in about June 2025, the lawsuit says.
Well Actually: Stuck in a reading rut? How to get back into reading for fun
In a world full of distractions, it can be difficult to form a habit that needs attention. In this November piece from our How to start series, Madeleine Aggeler spoke to experts on how to get back into reading. “Read 10 minutes before bed for about 20 days,” one tells her. “By the end, you’ll have created a habit.”
Don’t miss this: Zoey Deutch on playing Jean Seberg in a joyous film celebrating Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless
Richard Linklater’s new film Nouvelle Vague is a celebratory tribute act of the early French New Wave. Zoey Deutch – who plays Jean Seberg – spoke to the film critic Jonathan Romney, who writes of her performance: “Deutch’s Seberg may be mystified and infuriated at Godard’s unpredictability and gnomic pontifications, but she gives as good as she gets, mischievously deflating him, often to his delight.”
Climate check: Why Patagonia’s wildfires are almost impossible to stop
Since 5 January more than 90,000 acres of native forests, grasslands, villages and tourist resorts in Patagonia have been ravaged by wildfires, mainly in the southern Argentine province of Chubut. Funding cuts by Argentina’s president, Javier Milei, as well as conspiracy theories and monoculture pine plantations all help explain why the forest fires are so ferocious.
Last Thing: Two-year-old pots two Guinness World Records with snooker trick shots
A British toddler has become the holder of two Guinness World Records. Jude Owens, 2, from Manchester, is officially the youngest person ever to perform a pair of trick shots in snooker. When asked who would win in a snooker match between him and his father, Jude replied confidently: “Me.”
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