International News Briefs for Tuesday, January 27, 2026
HAVANA TIMES – We bring you some of the top international news stories compiled by Democracy Now on Tuesday, January 27, 2026.
Trump Admin Removes Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino from Minnesota
Jan 27, 2026
The Trump administration is removing Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino from Minnesota after border agents beat and fatally shot Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, Saturday morning. Bovino had claimed Pretti intended to “massacre law enforcement,” but eyewitness video directly contradicted the claim. Pretti was attacked by agents as he attempted to help a woman who had been violently shoved by officers.
Greg Bovino has led Trump’s paramilitary-style immigration crackdown in Minneapolis, Chicago and other cities. The Atlantic magazine reports Bovino will return to his previous job as chief patrol agent in El Centro, California, and that he may soon retire.
On Monday night, protesters gathered outside a Minnesota hotel where Bovino was believed to be staying.
Protester: “Getting fired is not justice. It’s not enough. Their man needs to be brought to trial for what he’s wrought on Minneapolis and the state of Minnesota.”
The shooting of Alex Pretti has sparked bipartisan outrage across the country and has forced the White House to reassess its operations in Minnesota. On Monday, the White House announced border czar Tom Homan would head to Minnesota. Homan is a longtime immigration hard-liner who was an architect of Trump’s first-term family separation policy. In September, House Democrats began investigating Homan amid revelations he was recorded last year accepting a Cava bag containing $50,000 in cash from a pair of FBI agents who were posing as business executives.
On Monday, President Trump held calls with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. Trump said he and Walz “seemed to be on a similar wavelength.” Walz talked to Minnesota Public Radio after the call.
Gov. Tim Walz: “First of all, I asked that we have a fair and independent investigation into the murder of both Renee Good and Alex and that we have to be able to do that. And he said, ’We’ll look at that. We’ll take a look at that.’ And I said, ‘We just have to reduce these numbers.’ We started out with that. And he pledged that, ‘Look, I’m going to send Tom Homan in. We’ll do things differently.’”
On Monday, Trump also held a two-hour meeting at the White House with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who had called Alex Pretti a “domestic terrorist” shortly after he was fatally shot. One hundred forty Democratic lawmakers are calling for Noem to be impeached.
In legal news, the Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit has sided with the Trump administration and blocked a lower court order that would have prevented officers from arresting, detaining, pepper-spraying or retaliating against protesters in Minneapolis without probable cause.
In a separate legal case, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison was in court Monday seeking to halt the immigration crackdown known as Operation Metro Surge. The judge did not issue a decision on Monday. We will speak to Keith Ellison after headlines.
This all comes as protests continue in Minnesota over the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigrants. Students at the University of Minnesota walked out of classes on Monday.
Protester: “I’m really angry. I’m angry, and I’m sad, like all of the time. I’m a university student. I can’t focus on my classes. I have a lot of friends who are really scared to go outside right now, you know, regardless of their citizenship status. Like, people are really afraid, and they have a right to be, you know? Just on our campus, we have ICE agents staying just a few streets away here in Cedar-Riverside, in the neighborhood nearing ours. They’ve faced so much brutality and violence the past couple of weeks.”
Minnesota GOP Gubernatorial Candidate Drops Out of Race, Citing Trump’s Immigration Crackdown
Jan 27, 2026
Image Credit: madelforgovernor.com
In other news from Minnesota, Republican gubernatorial candidate Chris Madel has dropped out of the race, citing President Trump’s immigration crackdown. Madel is a Minneapolis lawyer who recently represented Jonathan Ross, the immigration agent who fatally shot Renee Good. He released this video on Monday.
Chris Madel: “Number one, I cannot support the national Republican stated retribution on the citizens of our state, nor can I count myself a member of a party that would do so.”
Partial Government Shutdown Likely as Senate Dems Refuse to Back Funding Bill over DHS Funding
Jan 27, 2026
In news from Washington, the likelihood of a partial government shutdown at the end of the week is growing. Senate Democrats are refusing to back a sweeping funding bill if it includes money for the Department of Homeland Security and ICE.
Immigrant Families Protest Inside ICE’s Detention Facility in Dilley, Texas
Jan 27, 2026
Image Credit: AP Photo/Brenda Bazán
In Dilley, Texas, dozens of detained immigrant families held a protest Saturday inside ICE’s South Texas Family Residential Center demanding the release of detained children. Protesters held signs reading “Libertad para los niños,” or “Liberty for the kids.”
Detainees in Dilley include 5-year-old Liam Ramos, who was detained with his father in Minnesota after the boy came from preschool last week. Images of Liam went viral after he was picked up while still wearing his Spiderman backpack and a blue hat with bunny ears.
Also being held at Dilley is a 7-year-old named Diana Crespo. She and her parents were detained in the parking lot of a hospital in Portland, Oregon, two weeks ago. Her parents were trying to get help for the second grader who had a long-lasting nosebleed — but they never made it inside the hospital. The Oregon Nurses Association condemned what happened, saying, “No parent should ever be forced to weigh their child’s health against the risk of detention.”
Immigration Agents Detain 2-Year-Old Girl in Minnesota and Her Father
Jan 27, 2026
Image Credit: Family handout
Federal immigration agents detained a 2-year-old girl and her father, Elvis Tipan-Echeverria, in Minneapolis on Thursday and transported them to Texas without a warrant, according to court filings. The toddler was taken to Texas despite a court order requiring her immediate release. By Friday, immigration officials allowed the child and her father to return to Minnesota. The child is currently in the custody of her mother, while her father remains detained in Minnesota.
Israel Recovers Remains of Last Hostage Held in Gaza
Jan 27, 2026
Israel’s military says it has recovered the remains of the last hostage held in Gaza, fulfilling a key condition in the first phase of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire. The remains of police officer Ran Gvili were held in Gaza for 840 days and will now be prepared for burial. The return of Gvili’s remains was a key condition for a limited reopening of the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt. A U.S.-backed Palestinian committee has said the crossing will open this week, though Israeli officials have not confirmed a timeline. It comes as a U.S. official tells Al Jazeera that disarmament by Hamas will be accompanied by “some sort of amnesty” for the Palestinian group. Meanwhile, Gazans are still facing continued Israeli airstrikes.
Shaher al-Yaziji: “The situation is dire. As you can see, one runs from dawn prayer to get water. Sometimes it’s salty, sometimes fresh, and so on. And the fighting hasn’t ended yet. All night there was fighting and blasts, and we don’t know when this will end. They have taken their last Israeli remains back. So, when will they open the crossings? Why don’t they let in caravans, find any solution, let in supplies? But we’re just left stranded in the street.”
U.N. Says 37,000 Palestinians Forcibly Displaced in the Occupied West Bank in 2025
Jan 27, 2026
The United Nations warns more than 37,000 Palestinians were forcibly displaced in the occupied West Bank in 2025 largely due to Israeli military operations in refugee camps. It comes as Haaretz reports that U.S. authorities chartered a private jet belonging to an Israeli American businessman to deport eight Palestinians residing in the U.S. to Israel. They were then handed over to Israeli officials and transferred to the occupied West Bank. Sources told Haaretz that the deportations came at the special request of the U.S. to Israeli officials.
Human Rights Activists News Agency: Iranian Security Forces Killed 5,777 Protesters in Anti-Gov’t Protests
Jan 27, 2026
The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency estimates that at least 5,777 protesters, including 86 minors, were killed by Iranian security forces in recent anti-government protests. The group also claims that 49 civilians who weren’t demonstrating were killed in Iran’s crackdown on the protests, and that nearly 42,000 people have been arrested. Meanwhile, a U.N. expert on Iran said she’s receiving reports of Iranian security forces detaining protesters at hospitals.
Mai Sato: “And I think this creates a really chilling effect. I mean, medical facilities need to be a safe place for everyone.”
This comes as the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group arrived in the Middle East. President Trump referred to the warships as an “armada” after the commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps warned that his forces had their “finger on the trigger.”
ICC Rules Former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte Can Stand Trial
Jan 27, 2026
Judges at the International Criminal Court have ruled that Rodrigo Duterte, the former president of the Philippines, is fit to stand trial. Duterte is currently held in The Hague over murders committed during his so-called war on drugs. According to ICC prosecutors, Duterte created, funded and armed death squads that killed as many as 30,000 people in anti-drug operations.
South Sudan’s Military Orders All Civilians and U.N. Personnel to Evacuate Jonglei State
Jan 27, 2026
South Sudan’s military is ordering all civilians and United Nations personnel to evacuate Jonglei state ahead of operations against rebel groups. A senior military leader in South Sudan urged his troops to “spare no-one,” including “children, the elderly, and civilians.” In response, the head of the U.N.’s mission in South Sudan said, “Inflammatory rhetoric calling for violence against civilians is utterly abhorrent and must stop now.” The U.N. estimates that more than 180,000 people have been forced to flee their homes due to escalating fighting. This is Edmund Yakani, a South Sudanese civil society leader.
Edmund Yakani: “And we have seen a huge population being displaced, specifically the triangle of Akobo, Nyirol, Wurol, that’s one of the populated areas in Jonglei state. And now the war is active in that area, so there’s a huge humanitarian situation there. And unfortunately, there’s no humanitarian actors that are responding to the situation, because this conflict is happening at a moment where the world is cutting down humanitarian assistance to the humanitarian organizations. So, the humanitarian situation in Jonglei is dire.”
Over 30,000 Kaiser Permanente Healthcare Workers Go on Strike
Jan 27, 2026
Over 30,000 Kaiser Permanente nurses and healthcare workers across California and Hawaii went on strike Monday, demanding higher wages and better staffing. The union is seeking 25% raises over four years and says that Kaiser Permanente halted contract negotiations in December. Meanwhile, in New York City, nearly 16,000 nurses have entered their third week on strike, but some progress has been made. Over the weekend, the New York State Nurses Association says two hospitals — Mount Sinai and NewYork-Presbyterian — agreed to maintain health benefits for nurses.