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Global Security Situation Brief

30/01/2026

Minnesota

  • U.S. Customs and Border Protection stated yesterday that the two agents involved in the shooting of Alex Pretty in Minneapolis last week have been suspended, describing the move as standard procedure. An agency spokesperson said the two have been suspended since last Saturday. However, Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino said on Sunday that all agents involved in the incident are currently working at other locations, not in Minneapolis, adding that this is for their safety. (POLITICO)
  • Yesterday's leaked video shows that 11 days before Pretti was shot, he kicked the taillight of a federal immigration enforcement officer's vehicle during a protest in Minneapolis and was subsequently forcibly pinned to the ground. (Associated Press)
  • According to internal guidance documents reviewed by Reuters, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials were instructed yesterday to avoid contact with instigators during immigration enforcement operations. The new guidance also requires federal immigration enforcement personnel to target only immigrants with criminal charges or convictions. When asked about the new guidance, the White House stated: Discussions are currently underway on how to most effectively conduct operations in Minnesota. Any guidance documents should not be considered final until officially released.
  • A federal judge expressed deep concern yesterday over Attorney General Pam Bundy's posting of photos of some of the 16 defendants accused of assaulting immigration officers in Minneapolis on social media, adding that the court would not tolerate such behavior. Bundy released photos of 11 of the defendants shortly before Wednesday's hearing, calling them thugs and stating that nothing would stop President Trump and the Department of Justice from enforcing the law. (The New York Times)
  • White House officials hope that Tom Homan, the head of border affairs, can alleviate public concerns about the Trump administration's tough enforcement actions in Minnesota and help avoid a partial government shutdown before Friday's funding deadline. Everything is still under observation. I think a lot depends on the reform plan proposed by Homan, a White House official said, adding that if sufficient positive progress is made in this regard, it could prompt congressional Democrats to return to the negotiating table. (POLITICO)
  • According to an email obtained by Axios, House Democratic lawmakers were privately advised by leadership not to travel to Minnesota to show support for local protesters against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). A senior aide to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) urged members to stay in their districts for safety reasons, adding that the best course of action would be to participate in action day events held in their respective districts this week. (Axios)

Israel-Hamas war

  • The United States informed the United Nations Security Council yesterday that the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip would include disarming through an agreed-upon process supported by an internationally funded buyback program. This aligns with point 13 of Trump's 20-point Gaza peace plan. Two Hamas officials told Reuters that neither Washington nor the mediators have presented Hamas with any controversial or specific disarmament proposals.

Iran

  • President Trump said yesterday that if Iran does not accept the demands put forward by the Trump administration, he will launch an attack swiftly and fiercely. U.S. and European officials stated that during the talks, they presented three demands to Iran: permanently cease all uranium enrichment activities and destroy existing stockpiles; limit the range and quantity of its ballistic missiles; and stop supporting all proxy groups in the Middle East. None of these demands addressed the issue of protecting Iranian protesters. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said yesterday that Iran did not request a meeting with the United States, and he himself has not been in contact with U.S. Special Envoy Steve Wittkopf recently. Araghchi added that if the United States wants to hold negotiations, it must abandon threats, excessive demands, and unreasonable questions. (The New York Times)
  • According to two sources, Trump is weighing various options against Iran, including targeted strikes on Iranian security forces and leaders to encourage protesters and create conditions for regime change. The sources stated that Trump hopes to target institutions and commanders that Washington believes are responsible for the violent crackdown on protesters this month, in order to boost protesters' confidence in storming government and security agency buildings. (Reuters)
  • The European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, stated today that it is highly likely the EU will designate Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization. (Reuters)

U.S. Caribbean and Pacific Operations

  • Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated at a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee yesterday that President Trump reserves the right to use military force against Venezuela if interim President Delcy Rodriguez fails to fully comply with U.S. demands. He added that currently, the United States does not anticipate the need to resort to force. Rubio also mentioned that the U.S. has not imposed a blockade on Venezuela but has implemented quarantine measures to control oil exports. Furthermore, Rubio noted that Rodriguez has agreed to submit a monthly budget to the Trump administration, which will be funded from an account initially managed by Qatar and financed by oil sales revenue. (The New York Times)
  • According to Reuters, two U.S. officials revealed that the United States is transferring an oil tanker seized this month to Venezuela. The officials did not explain the reason for returning the tanker.

Other Global Development Trends

  • According to an order from the Israeli Supreme Court seen by Reuters, 32 Palestinian families in the Silwan area of East Jerusalem have received eviction notices in favor of an Israeli settler organization. The organization has already occupied part of the Palestinian land in the area.
  • Corneille Nangaa, leader of the Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC), including the M23 armed group, told Reuters that the agreement reached between Kinshasa and Washington on December 4 regarding the Democratic Republic of Congo's critical mineral resources is seriously flawed and unconstitutional. Nangaa also accused Kinshasa of obstructing the peace process, stating that the ceasefire commitments discussed during the Qatar-mediated, U.S.-backed Doha talks have not been implemented. The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo denied these allegations and attributed the ongoing violence to rebel groups. Nangaa further stated that the AFC is cooperating with neighboring countries Rwanda and Uganda on security issues but denied receiving support from Kigali. (Reuters)

American relations

  • Rubio stated yesterday that technical talks on the Arctic security agreement among the United States, Denmark, and Greenland are currently underway. The foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland agreed earlier this month to establish a working group to address any disagreements with the United States. Rubio said: The talks begin today and will be held regularly. We will strive to avoid each meeting turning into a media circus. (Associated Press)
  • The United States announced yesterday that it will lift the suspension of aid to Somalia. Previously, the U.S. claimed that the authorities in Mogadishu had acknowledged responsibility for the disruption of World Food Programme assistance, which led to the aid suspension. The Somali government has not commented on the matter. (Associated Press)
  • According to sources, U.S. State Department officials have held multiple secret meetings with leaders of the Alberta Prosperity Project (APP), a far-right separatist organization dedicated to promoting the independence of Alberta, a province in western Canada. The APP plans to meet with Treasury officials again next month to request a $500 billion credit line to fund the province in the event that a yet-to-be-held independence referendum passes. A State Department official stated: The State Department regularly meets with members of civil society. As is customary with such routine meetings, no commitments were made during this engagement. (Financial Times)
  • According to the 2025 Artificial Intelligence Application Case List released by the Department of Homeland Security yesterday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been using Palantir's generative artificial intelligence tools to classify and summarize immigration enforcement leads from its publicly submitted forms. This service, called AI-enhanced ICE Lead Processing, aims to help ICE investigators identify and handle leads more quickly, and translate non-English submissions. It also provides BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front), which is a high-level summary of leads generated using at least one large language model. (Wired Magazine)
  • Yesterday, an immigration judge approved the asylum application of ZG citizen Guan Heng. Guan Heng has been detained since his arrest by immigration law enforcement in August 2025. In 2020, Guan Heng secretly photographed detention facilities in Xinjiang, further confirming that ethnic minorities in the region, especially Uyghurs, are suffering widespread human rights violations. (AP)
  • Democratic lawmakers are intensifying efforts to restrict and challenge federal immigration policies within their respective states. A bill proposed in Colorado this month would allow individuals to sue federal law enforcement officials for civil rights violations. A bill in Delaware would prohibit commercial airlines from enjoying aviation fuel tax exemptions when transporting individuals detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) without a warrant and due process. Following the shooting of Pretty on Saturday, a California legislator stated that he will introduce two bills: one requiring an independent state-level investigation into any shooting involving ICE agents, and another prohibiting ICE from using state-owned land as staging grounds for federal operations. (The New York Times)
  • According to two officials, President Trump and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) took steps last night toward reaching an agreement that could avert a government shutdown early Saturday. The officials said that under the emerging plan, the Senate would separate the funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from a package containing six spending bills, ensuring that other federal agencies and programs receive funding for the remainder of the fiscal year. The Senate will pass these bills before Friday's deadline, while Congress will consider a short-term extension for DHS operations. This temporary funding bill will buy time for lawmakers and the White House to draft a new DHS spending bill, which will include new restrictions on immigration enforcement personnel. (The New York Times)

Actions of the Trump administration

  • According to documents obtained by National Public Radio (NPR), the Trump administration revised a series of nuclear safety directives and distributed them to the companies under its supervision, but did not make the new regulations public. These directives significantly cut hundreds of pages of reactor safety requirements and relaxed protections for groundwater and the environment. The modifications were aimed at accelerating the research and development of next-generation nuclear reactor designs.
  • The Trump administration announced yesterday that California's allowance for schools to conceal students' gender identity information from parents violates federal law. This investigation targets a policy signed by California Governor Gavin Newsom in 2024. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon stated that the federal investigation concluded that state officials severely abused their authority by pressuring local school districts to remain silent regarding transgender students. (POLITICO)
  • Yesterday, the FBI searched an election office in Fulton County, Georgia, seeking records related to the 2020 general election. The documents seized included ballots, tally tapes from scanners used for vote counting, electronic ballot images, and voter rolls. An FBI spokesperson stated that agents were carrying out a court-authorized law enforcement operation. (Associated Press)

Trump Administration Lawsuit

  • A chief federal judge in Minnesota yesterday rescinded the subpoena he issued on Tuesday, which had demanded the acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Todd Lyons, appear in court to explain why he should not be held in contempt of court. In the new ruling, the judge stated that contempt proceedings could be reinstated if violations continue. The judge noted that ICE has violated nearly 100 court orders in the state, breaching more judicial directives in January alone than some federal agencies have violated throughout their entire existence. (The New York Times)
  • Last night, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order instructing federal agents to stop detaining and deporting refugees who have legally entered the United States in Minnesota, and to immediately release those currently detained pending a review of their cases. (The New York Times)