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US Pentagon orders troops to prepare for potential Minnesota deployment

US Pentagon orders troops to prepare for potential Minnesota deployment

The Pentagon in the United States has ordered some 1,500 active duty soldiers in Alaska to be ready to be deployed to Minnesota, where large protests have been taking place against federal immigration raids, US media reported. Two unnamed officials told Reuters on Sunday that two infantry battalions from the Army’s 11th Airborne Division, which is based in Alaska and specialises in operating in arctic conditions, have been given prepare-to-deploy orders to the twin cities of Minneapolis and St Paul, where protests against raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers are continuing, despite freezing conditions. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list In a statement emailed to The Associated Press news agency, Pentagon chief spokesman Sean Parnell did not deny that the orders were issued and said the military “is always prepared to execute the orders of the Commander-in-Chief if called upon.” ABC News was the first to report the development. The news comes as widespread protests continue in the twin cities of Minneapolis and St Paul against violent tactics used by close to 3,000 federal ICE agents deployed to the city, following the shooting death of Minneapolis resident and mother Renee Nicole Good, 37. Multiple people have been injured as the raids continue, with ICE also reporting on Sunday that a man had died in ICE detention after being arrested in Minneapolis. Victor Manuel Diaz, a 36-year-old from Nicaragua, died in ICE custody at Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas, on Sunday afternoon, 12 days after he was arrested in Minneapolis, ICE said in a statement. Advertisement The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which is also part of the federal operation in Minnesota, said that a federal officer shot a Venezuelan man in the leg on Wednesday as the immigration raids continued. The Minneapolis Fire Department also said that a six-month-old baby and a child were hospitalised on Wednesday after they sustained injuries from tear gas deployed by ICE agents, according to Minnesota Public Radio (MPR). ICE director Todd M Lyons said on Wednesday that US federal agents had arrested 2,500 people since starting their operation in Minnesota. However, human rights advocates and legal observers have expressed concerns about overcrowding and inhumane conditions in the country’s immigration detention facilities, as well as on deportation flights. Hundreds of Venezuelan men were deported to the Centre for the Confinement of Terrorism (CECOT) maximum security prison in El Salvador in March 2025. An expose on CECOT, which was reportedly delayed from airing on CBS News’s 60 Minutes programme last month, prompting backlash, went to air on Sunday night. Minneapolis police officers charge at people who kneel in front of them during an anti-ICE protest outside the Whipple Federal Building, in Fort Snelling, Minnesota, on January 15 [Plga Fedorova/EPA] Insurrection Act The potential deployment of troops to Minnesota comes after the Pentagon sent some 700 US Marines to Los Angeles in June and July in response to protests over aggressive immigration enforcement operations under way there, although the soldiers’ role was limited to guarding two federal properties in the greater Los Angeles area. At the time, Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act, a law from 1807, to broaden the soldiers’ role, but ultimately did not do so. Trump has again threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act in recent days, this time in Minnesota, before appearing to walk back the threat a day later, telling reporters at the White House that there was not a reason to use it “right now”. “If I needed it, I’d use it,” Trump said. “It’s very powerful.” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey on Sunday described the 3,000 ICE and border control agents waging Trump’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants as an “occupying force that has, quite literally, invaded our city”. “It’s ridiculous, but we will not be intimidated by the actions of this federal government,” Frey told CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday. “It is not fair, it’s not just, and it’s completely unconstitutional.” Thousands of Minneapolis citizens are exercising their First Amendment rights, and the protests have been peaceful, Frey said, referring to the section of the US Constitution that covers freedom of speech and the right to peacefully protest. Advertisement Governor Tim Walz has also mobilised the Minnesota National Guard, although no units have been deployed to the streets. Meanwhile, US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem has said that the crackdown will continue “until we are sure that all the dangerous people are picked up, brought to justice and then deported back to their home countries”. Adblock test (Why?)

China says GDP grew 5% in 2025, among weakest expansions in decades

China says GDP grew 5% in 2025, among weakest expansions in decades

BREAKINGBREAKING, The world’s second-largest economy grew 4.5 percent in the final quarter, data shows. China’s economy grew 5 percent in 2025, hitting Beijing’s annual target even as it registered one of the weakest expansions in decades, according to official statistics. The Chinese economy grew in line with official expectations despite US President Donald Trump’s trade war, official data showed on Monday, as surging exports helped offset weak consumer spending and a prolonged property downturn. Still, despite shrugging off Trump’s tariffs, growth was still well below the recent historical trend of about 8 percent between 2000 and 2025. The world’s second-largest economy slowed to annualised growth of 4.5 percent in the October-December period, compared with expansions of 4.8 percent year and 5.2 percent, respectively, in the third and second quarters. “Generally speaking, the national economy sustained momentum of steady progress in 2025 despite multiple pressures, and high-quality development registered new achievements,” China’s National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement. “However, we must be aware that the impact of changes in the external environment is growing, the contradiction of strong supply and weak demand in the domestic market is prominent, and the numerous longstanding issues and new challenges still remain in the economic development.” Exports drove the Chinese economy’s expansion, with their total value raising 6.1 percent to 26,989 billion yuan, according to the data. China’s trade surplus reached a record high of nearly $1.2 trillion last year, according to official data, as Chinese firms sought out new markets in Asia, Africa, Latin ⁠America and Europe to mitigate the fallout of Trump’s tariffs. Advertisement Consumption and real estate, both persistent drags on China’s economy in recent years, continued to weigh on growth. Retail sales grew 0.9 percent on a yearly basis in December, the slowest gain since Beijing lifted its ultra-strict COVID-19 controls in late 2022, according to the figures. Fixed-asset investment fell 3.8 percent across the year, with spending on infrastructure and real estate development declining by 2.2 percent and 17.2 percent, respectively. “Today’s GDP read shows that it’s mission accomplished for 2025, as China managed to complete its growth target of around 5 percent,” Lynn Song, chief economist for Greater China, told Al Jazeera. “However, growth clearly decelerated in the second half of the year, and now the focus shifts to how to achieve another year of solid growth in 2026 to get the 15th five-year period off to a strong start,” Song added, referring to Beijing’s five-year plan for 2026-2030. Adblock test (Why?)

European leaders slam Trump’s tariff threats over Greenland

European leaders slam Trump’s tariff threats over Greenland

European leaders have condemned United States President Donald Trump’s threat to slap tariffs on countries that resist his bid to take over Greenland, warning the move risks a “dangerous downward spiral” in transatlantic ties. In a joint statement on Sunday, the eight countries targeted by Trump for new tariffs said they “stand in full solidarity” with Denmark and the people of Greenland, a semi-autonomous Danish territory. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list “Building on the process begun last week, we stand ready to engage in a dialogue based on the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity that we stand firmly behind,” Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom said in the statement. “Tariff threats undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral. We will continue to stand united and coordinated in our response. We are committed to upholding our sovereignty.” The rebuke came as European officials were preparing to hold emergency talks on coordinating a response to Trump’s escalating pressure campaign over the future of the vast island. European Council President Antonio Costa said on Sunday that the bloc was united in upholding national sovereignty and to “defend ourselves against any form of coercion” ahead of a planned extraordinary meeting of member states in the coming days. European officials are expected to discuss a range of options for responding to Trump’s economic threats, including retaliatory tariffs and market restrictions for US firms. Advertisement Trump announced on Saturday that the eight countries would face a 10 percent tariff from February 1, rising to 25 percent from June 1, until a deal is reached for the US to buy Greenland. The Financial Times reported that the bloc was considering imposing 93 billion euros ($108bn) worth of tariffs on US goods as well as activating the Anti-Coercion Instrument, commonly known as the “trade bazooka”, adopted by the bloc in 2023. The mechanism, which has never been used, allows for sweeping restrictions on investments and the withdrawal of intellectual property protections for foreign firms in the bloc. “The Anti-Coercion Instrument (ACI), designed precisely for such cases, must now be used,” German MEP Bernd Lange, who chairs the European Parliament’s trade committee, said in a post on X. “I call on the European Commission to activate it immediately.” Trump’s insistence on controlling Greenland has plunged US-European relations to their lowest point in decades, prompting fears for the survival of NATO. Trump, who has not ruled out the use of military force to seize the territory, has brushed aside concerns about splitting the 32-member transatlantic alliance, which is built on the principle that an armed attack against any one member is considered an attack against all. Trump reiterated his determination for the US to take ownership of Greenland in a social media post early on Monday, claiming that Denmark had been “unable to do anything” about Russian threats to the territory. “Now it is time, and it will be done!!!” Trump said on Truth Social. Denmark has ruled out selling Greenland, and opinion polls suggest the vast majority of the island’s 57,000 residents do not wish to be part of the US. On Saturday, thousands of protesters took to the streets of Danish cities to rally against Trump’s threats, chanting “Greenland is not for sale” and holding banners with slogans such as “Hands off Greenland”. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on Sunday expressed appreciation for the “strong support” being offered to her country. “We want to cooperate, and it is not us who are seeking conflict. And I am pleased by the consistent messages from the rest of the continent: Europe will not be blackmailed,” Frederiksen said in a statement on social media. French President Emmanuel Macron said that “no intimidation or threat” would influence his government’s position on Greenland. “Tariff threats are unacceptable and have no place in this context,” Macron said on social media. “Europeans will respond in a united and coordinated manner should they be confirmed. We will ensure that European sovereignty is upheld.” Advertisement UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer called Trump’s planned tariffs “completely wrong”. “We will of course be pursuing this directly with the US administration,” he said on social media. Adblock test (Why?)