In January 2026, the death of Renée Good, a mother of three in Minneapolis, by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent, and the subsequent fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old nurse, by federal agents, sparked outrage and protests within the US. Nobel laureate Daron Acemoglu of Massachusetts Institute of Technology swiftly diagnosed the malady in a Project Syndicate piece. This could be “a turning point,” he declared. The killings represented “a key distinguishing feature of authoritarian governments” – the ability to deploy excessive force against opponents. The Trump…
Posts published in “Politics”
Few ideas in global finance generate as much anxiety as de-dollarization. To some Western observers, any attempt to reduce reliance on the US dollar is automatically framed as a political challenge to American power. Yet for much of the developing world, the conversation is far less ideological and far more practical. The push to diversify global payment systems and promote the use of local currencies is not about confrontation; it is a response to economic realities that many countries have lived with for decades. The dominance of the dollar has…
On Thursday, US President Donald Trump once again turned on the klieg lights by launching a new major international initiative – the “Board of Peace.” Though this multilateral body is supposed to start with managing the post-conflict restoration and future development of the Gaza Strip, many argue that its real goal has a larger scale and might reflect the US president’s ambition to find an efficient alternative to the UN, which he shows no respect for. If the pilot Gaza project turns out to be a success story, this model…
More than 1,000 people gathered for a vigil and rally Saturday night at Whittier Park in Minneapolis to mourn Alex Pretti, the man who was shot and killed by a Border Patrol agent. After the vigil, demonstrators marched in subzero temperatures to the site where Pretti was killed on Nicollet Avenue, south of 26th Street. The site of the shooting has been turned into a makeshift memorial of candles and flowers, less than 2 miles away from the memorial in the Powderhorn neighborhood made for Renee Good on January 7,…
Determined to push back against online falsehoods, the French state is turning to facts, humour and a new digital voice to challenge misleading narratives wherever they spread. France has set up a new digital rapid-response unit – titled “French Response” – to push back against what it sees as a rising tide of online disinformation, and it wasted little time making its presence felt. When the US secretary of state Marco Rubio took a swipe at European culture on X this week, the English-language account run by the French foreign…
Tens of thousands of Minnesotans marched in downtown Minneapolis Friday in a negative 30 degree windchill to protest the federal government’s continuing surge of immigration enforcement — demanding civil rights and a withdrawal of the 3,000 officers sent here by the administration of President Donald Trump. The demonstration took place on “ICE Out of Minnesota: Day of Truth & Freedom,” ageneral strike supported by Minnesota unions, progressive faith leaders and community activists. Proponents encouraged all Minnesotans to stay home from work, school and refrain from shopping — disruptions of normal…
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration plans to expand a policy that blocks foreign aid dollars from going to organizations that discuss, refer or perform abortions to also include groups that address transgender health care or have policies on diversity, equity and inclusion, Vice President JD Vance said Friday. “We’re expanding this policy to protect life, to combat DEI and the radical gender ideologies that prey on our children. And with these additions, the rule will now cover every non-military foreign assistance that America sends,” Vance announced at the March for…
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has defended many recorded violent incidents as legitimate uses of force. State leaders who want to curb the increasingly violent arrest tactics of immigration enforcement agents in Minneapolis and elsewhere are struggling to push back. They’ve promised civil rights legislation that could offer alleged victims another route to courts, ordered up official tribunals to gather video and other records, or asked cities to refuse requests to cooperate with raids. But for the most part, states looking for concrete ways to push back find themselves…
The renewed campaign by United States President Donald Trump to acquire Greenland has escalated, with tariff threats against European allies. Asked on Tuesday how far he is willing to go to “acquire” Greenland, Trump replied: “You’ll find out”. This is the latest episode in a long-running effort under Trump 2.0 to remake the international order with major geopolitical implications: There is a chance of both escalation and de-escalation when Trump holds meetings this week on Greenland with European leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. US–Greenland relations and…
Across the country, community leaders gathered to celebrate the life and legacy of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday. Some leaders took the opportunity to criticize the Trump administration. Early in the afternoon, there were no significant disruptions being reported. Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebrates the Jan. 15 birthday of the civil rights leader on the third Monday of January. He would have been 97. King delivered his “I have a Dream” speech on Aug. 28, 1963, in sight of the Lincoln Memorial and Washington…