Raw Story

The FBI has officially notified Minnesota officials that it will not provide evidence from the shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti to local law enforcement.

In a statement on Monday, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) said the FBI had contacted it about three shootings by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents.

"The FBI formally notified the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) on Feb. 13 that it will not provide the BCA with access to any information or evidence that it has collected in the Jan. 24 shooting death of Alex Pretti," the statement said. "The BCA reiterated the request to receive information, access to evidence, and cooperation in the Jan. 7 shooting death of Renee Good and the Jan. 14 shooting of Julio Sosa-Celis. It remains unclear if there will be any cooperation or sharing of information related to those two shootings."

"While this lack of cooperation is concerning and unprecedented, the BCA is committed to thorough, independent and transparent investigations of these incidents, even if hampered by a lack of access to key information and evidence," the statement added. "Our agency has committed to the FBI and Department of Justice that should its stance change we remain willing to share information that we have obtained with that agency and would welcome a joint investigation. We will continue to pursue all legal avenues to gain access to relevant information and evidence."

The BCA said it would continue to investigate the shootings without the FBI's cooperation.

"Anyone with information about the shooting of Alex Pretti, Renee Good or Julio Sosa-Celis is urged to contact the BCA at 651-793-7000 or by email at bca.tips@state.mn.us," the agency noted.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem abruptly shut down a news conference Friday after being pressed about reports that Border Patrol officials may have mistakenly targeted party balloons with a high-energy laser, triggering a brief airspace shutdown over El Paso, Texas.

The moment came during a press conference in Phoenix, where a reporter asked Noem to clarify why the Federal Aviation Administration had abruptly closed the airspace over El Paso earlier this week – a decision that was reversed just eight hours later with little explanation.

When the subject came up on Friday, Noem declined to answer directly.

“This was a joint agency task force mission that was undertaken, and we're continuing to work on the communication through that,” Noem said. “But recognize we’re grateful for the partnership of the Department of War and the FAA as we go forward. Thank you.”

As the reporter attempted to follow up, Noem immediately cut off the exchange.

“All right, thanks everybody," she said, abruptly ending the news conference before additional questions could be asked.

According to multiple reports, the closure followed a test by Customs and Border Protection at nearby Fort Bliss of a high-energy laser against suspected foreign drones, which turned out to be party balloons.

Officials from the FAA and the Pentagon are scheduled to meet on Feb. 20 to discuss the technology and its potential risk to civilian aircraft.

President Donald Trump argued Friday that he would push to change voter ID laws ahead of the midterm elections — regardless of congressional approval.

Trump has long threatened that elections should have stricter voter ID laws. He has said that such measures are necessary to prevent voter fraud and ensure election integrity, despite widespread evidence showing that voter fraud is extremely rare in U.S. elections.

His push for voter ID requirements and other voting restrictions has become a central issue in midterm campaigns, with Republicans generally supporting such measures while Democrats argue they disproportionately suppress voter turnout among minority communities and other key Democratic constituencies.

Trump wrote the following on his Truth Social platform:

"The Democrats refuse to vote for Voter I.D., or Citizenship. The reason is very simple — They want to continue to cheat in Elections. This was not what our Founders desired. I have searched the depths of Legal Arguments not yet articulated or vetted on this subject, and will be presenting an irrefutable one in the very near future. There will be Voter I.D. for the Midterm Elections, whether approved by Congress or not! Also, the People of our Country are insisting on Citizenship, and No Mail-In Ballots, with exceptions for Military, Disability, Illness, or Travel."

President Donald Trump walked back his criticism of UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer's agreement to transfer ownership of a strategically located island to Mauritius.

The 79-year-old president has complained that the United Kingdom plans to decolonize the Chagos Islands, including the site of the U.S. military base on Diego Garcia, but he said Starmer had reassured him on the transfer of sovereignty of the Indian Ocean archipelago.

"I have had very productive discussions with Prime Minister Keir Starmer about the Island of Diego Garcia," Trump posted on Truth Social. "It is the site of a major U.S. Military Base, strategically situated in the middle of the Indian Ocean and, therefore, of great importance to the National Security of the United States."

"I understand that the deal Prime Minister Starmer has made, according to many, the best he could make," he added. "However, if the lease deal, sometime in the future, ever falls apart, or anyone threatens or endangers U.S. operations and forces at our Base, I retain the right to Militarily secure and reinforce the American presence in Diego Garcia."

Trump vowed to keep the base at Diego Garcia no matter what Mauritius might decide in the future.

"Let it be known that I will never allow our presence on a Base as important as this to ever be undermined or threatened by fake claims or environmental nonsense," he posted. "Thank you for your attention to this matter! PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP."

Layoffs hit their highest total last month since the Great Recession nearly two decades ago, according to a new analysis, and employers don't look to be adding jobs soon.

U.S. employers announced 108,435 layoffs for January, up 118 percent from the same period a year ago and 205 percent from December, according to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, and CNBC reported those were the highest totals for January since the depths of the global financial crisis in 2009.

“Generally, we see a high number of job cuts in the first quarter, but this is a high total for January,” said Andy Challenger, chief revenue officer for the firm. “It means most of these plans were set at the end of 2025, signaling employers are less-than-optimistic about the outlook for 2026.”

Companies announced only 5,306 new hires, also the lowest January since 2009, and the Challenger data calls into question a narrative that has formed around a no-hire, no-fire labor market.

"Some high-profile layoff announcements have boosted fears of wider damage in the labor market," CNBC reported. "Amazon, UPS and Dow Inc. recently have announced sizable job cuts. Indeed, transportation had the highest level from a sector standpoint in January, due largely to plans from UPS to cut more than 30,000 workers. Technology was second on the back of Amazon’s announcement to shed 16,000 mostly corporate level jobs."

Planned hiring dropped 13 percent since January 2025 and fell off 49 percent since December, and initial jobless claims spiked since early December to a seasonally adjusted total of 231,000 for the last week of January.

"Sobering data from Challenger on the US labor market," said Wharton School professor Mohamed A. El-Erian. "Announced job cuts in January more than doubled year-over-year, hitting their highest level since the 2009 Great Recession. Most notably, these layoffs are occurring while GDP continues to grow at approximately 4 percent, accelerating the decoupling of employment from economic growth — a phenomenon that, if it persists, has profound economic, political, and social implications."

Dramatic new polling results have revealed that Americans want Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem fired and a majority oppose ICE's actions, according to CNN's data guru Thursday.

CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten described the attitude among voters towards ICE's harsh immigration tactics and specifically the high dissatisfaction against the Trump administration, namely Noem, who has led and carried out Trump's harsh immigration policies — and now 58% of Americans want her out of the job.

"The numbers absolutely tell a story," Enten said. "It has been a bad political situation for the president of the United States. And more than that, it is only getting worse. Just take a look at ICE's approval rating. I mean, look at this. And unfortunately immigration. Look, it was already low in early January, right? It was -17 points. But look, after the events of the last month, we are now talking about -29 points, the worst it has ever been. You look among independents, it is even worse than that. We are talking about a negative 40, -40 net approval rating for ICE on enforcing immigration laws. No wonder the president of United States, the president of United States, is changing his tone. And that is because you just look here. You see, the American people aren't just not with him — they are on a totally other planet."

The results have also pointed to a serious problem for President Donald Trump.

"Yeah, there's a reason why John [Berman] stuttered over that and couldn't figure out exactly, because the bottom line is this Kristi Noem has turned into an absolute political albatross," Enten said.

"Look at this. Take a look here. Voters on Noem job performance disapproved in early January 50th 2% and now want her fired. Fired is up to 58%, 58% want her removed," Enten added. "We're not just talking about the fact that her disapproval rating is through the roof. We're now talking about nearly 3 in 5 Americans who believe that Kristi Noem should be removed from her job as DHS secretary. No wonder Tom Homan is in there. And that is because Kristi Noem is a big reason why this has turned into such a deepening political problem for the president."