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BBC News with Fiona MacDonald.
The family of a man killed by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis say he cared deeply about people and was upset by President Trump's immigration crackdown in his city. Alex Jeffrey Pretti, who was 37, was an intensive care nurse for retired soldiers. He's the second person shot dead by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis this month. Videos on social media show masked agents grappling him to the ground before several shots are fired. In a news conference the city mayor Jacob Frey said Minneapolis was taking the brunt of President Trump's immigration crackdown. "Our communities have been placed on the very front line and this has been ongoing now for weeks. It must end. Remember it's only our city that will suffer if there is damage or destruction that is done. To the victims family and friends our hearts are with you, our love goes out to you. I know that there is nothing that I can say right now that will ease the pain." Democratic officials have reacted furiously to the shooting. The governor of Minnesota Tim Walz described the incident as "sickening." He said claims by the Department of Homeland Security that the victim had attacked immigration officials were nonsense and lies. Senator Amy Klobuchar called for the federal immigration agents to leave Minneapolis. President Trump has paid tribute to British soldiers who fought in Afghanistan. He sparked widespread anger among America's allies this week by suggesting NATO troops had avoided front line combat during the conflict. ??? reports. Donald Trump is not a man who apologizes easily or often, but such was the outrage from veterans, from politicians, from bereaved families over his claim that NATO forces had stayed away from the front lines in Afghanistan he clearly felt he had to say something. He wrote on social media "The GREAT and very BRAVE soldiers of the United Kingdom will always be with the United States of America!" He said they were "among the greatest of all warriors." "It's a bond too strong to ever be broken." He signed off "We love you all, and always will!" A massive winter storm has dumped snow and freezing rain on the U.S. states of New Mexico and Texas as it spreads across the country. Two hundred million people in the U.S. could be affected. More than 3,400 flights have been cancelled, with more than a thousand others delayed. The Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has issued this warning. "This storm is going to produce heavy snow. It's going to produce dangerous freezing rain and ice and life-threatening wind chills that will be sustained for days. Power outages, road closures and other impacts have already started to impact the Midwest, the South and the East Coast. The most important thing that people can do across this country is to please stay off the roads." BBC News. The army in Thailand says it has erected a statue of the Buddha on the site where it knocked down a giant statue of the Hindu god Vishnu last month. The site is in a disputed area on the Cambodian border and Cambodian officials had condemned the destruction. Thailand and Cambodia are Buddhist majority but historically Hinduism has had an important cultural influence across the region. The third and final round of elections is taking place in dozens of constituencies in Myanmar. The dominant pro-military party is expected to win a landslide victory in a vote that has been described by the United Nations and human rights groups as neither free nor fair. Myanmar has been ravaged by internal conflict since the military ousted a civilian government nearly five years ago. Investigators in Belgium say a gang of criminals has been passing themselves off as Belgian royalty over the past year to try to get money out of foreign dignitaries, business leaders and families close to the royal family. Arjan Schippers reports. There's yet unidentified criminals started contacting potential victims early last year via email or WhatsApp messages pretending to be King Philippe himself or key members of his staff. They asked for financial support to free Belgian journalists they said were abducted in Syria. Most victims quickly caught on to the deception and in only one instance was money transferred. In a series of new attempts this month, business leaders were invited to a video call with the king. Prosecutors said images in the video interview were likely generated by artificial intelligence. Mexico's President Claudia Schoenbaum has heralded an ancient Zapotec tomb as the country's most significant archaeological discovery in the last decade. Unearthed in Oaxaca state, the extremely well-preserved site is about 1,400 years old. Mexico's anthropology Institute said the tombs intricate sculptures would reveal great things about the Zapotec. BBC News. |