United States

But car makers have urged an extension to the USMCA, saying it is crucial to US auto production.

US President Donald Trump says the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) is not relevant to the US, but that Canada wants it, as he pushed for companies to bring manufacturing back home.

“There’s no real advantage to it; it’s irrelevant,” Trump said about the trade agreement on Tuesday, during a visit to Detroit, Michigan.

“Canada would love it. Canada wants it. They need it.”

Detroit’s three big automakers, Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, are heavily reliant on supply chains that include significant parts production in Mexico and Canada, and all three produce hundreds of thousands of vehicles annually in both countries.

Major car makers, including Tesla, Toyota and Ford, in November also urged the Trump administration to extend USMCA, saying it is crucial to US auto production.

The American Automotive Policy Council, representing the Detroit Three automakers, said the USMCA “enables automakers operating in the US to compete globally through regional integration, which delivers efficiency gains” and accounts “for tens of billions of dollars in annual savings”.

Mark Reuss, president of General Motors, said at an event on Tuesday, “Our supply chains go all the way through all three countries. It’s not simple. It’s very complex. The whole North American piece of that is a big strength.”

Trump made his comments as he toured a Ford factory in Dearborn, Michigan, ahead of a speech he is delivering on the economy in Detroit on Tuesday.

“The problem is, we don’t need their product. You know, we don’t need cars made in Canada. We don’t need cars made in Mexico. We want to take them here. And that’s what’s happening,” he said.

Stellantis said in November that under the 15 percent tariffs with Japan, US vehicles complying with North American content rules “will continue to lose market share to Asian imports, to the detriment of American automotive workers”.

The USMCA is up for review this year on whether it should be left to expire or another deal should be worked out.

The trade pact, which replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement in 2020 and was negotiated during Trump’s first term as president, requires the three countries to hold a joint review after six years.

On Wall Street, two of Detroit’s major automakers are trending downwards. Ford is 0.25 percent below the market open and Stellantis is down 2.9 percent, while General Motors is up by 0.6 percent.

The decision is expected to affect about 1,100 people and is likely to face legal challenges.

The administration of United States President Donald Trump will end temporary deportation protections and work permits for some Somali nationals in the US, authorities say.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on Tuesday that the Trump administration was ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which shields migrants from deportation to countries where it is deemed unsafe to return and grants temporary work authorisation, for Somalis living in the US.

“Country conditions in Somalia have improved to the point that it no longer meets the law’s requirement for Temporary Protected Status,” Noem said in a statement. “Further, allowing Somali nationals to remain temporarily in the United States is contrary to our national interests. We are putting Americans first.”

The decision, which is expected to affect about 1,100 people, is likely to face legal challenges.

The Somali community has become a frequent target of the Trump administration. The US president has called Somalis “garbage” and depicted them as criminals.

In recent weeks, the Trump administration has lashed out at Somalis in the US, alleging large-scale public benefit fraud in Minnesota’s Somali community, the largest in the country, with about 80,000 members.

Trump has threatened to strip any naturalised Somali or foreign-born person of their US citizenship if they were convicted of fraud, as he continued his attacks on the Somali community.

“We’re going to revoke the citizenship of any naturalised immigrant from Somalia or anywhere else who is convicted of defrauding our citizens,” Trump said on Tuesday.

The administration has additionally cut off Minnesota’s access to federal childcare assistance and surged immigration enforcement agents to the state, home to a sizeable Somali population, prompting widespread anger and condemnation from local and state officials over aggressive immigration raids.

Heavily-armed agents have broken car windows and detained people, used frequent force against protesters, and asked residents for proof of citizenship, drawing concerns from civil liberties groups.

Tensions rose further after a federal immigration agent last week shot and killed Renee Good, a US citizen and mother of three, who had been acting as a legal monitor of federal immigration activity in Minneapolis.

US president issues latest threat to midwestern state, where protests have continued after ICE agent killed woman.

United States President Donald Trump has said that a “day of reckoning and retribution” is coming to Minnesota, as outrage and protests have continued days after an immigration agent fatally shot a woman in the state’s largest city, Minneapolis.

Trump did not provide further details on the statement, which came at the end of a lengthy screed on the president’s Truth Social account on Tuesday.

The apparent threat represented the latest pledge to come down hard on the midwestern state in the wake of the killing of Renee Nicole Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent last week.

The administration on Monday promised to send hundreds more ICE agents to Minneapolis, where federal officer ranks already dwarf local law enforcement, in what city and state leaders have called a dangerous escalation.

“All the patriots of ICE want to do is remove them from your neighborhood and send them back to the prisons and mental institutions from where they came, most in foreign Countries who illegally entered the USA though Sleepy Joe Biden’s HORRIBLE Open Border’s Policy,” Trump said, referring to his predecessor, US President Joe Biden.

“FEAR NOT, GREAT PEOPLE OF MINNESOTA, THE DAY OF RECKONING & RETRIBUTION IS COMING!” he said.

The phrase was quickly quoted by the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees domestic US immigration enforcement, in a post on X.

Later on Tuesday, a federal judge was set to hear arguments in a lawsuit filed by Minnesota’s Attorney General and the cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, alleging that the surge of immigration agents violates residents’ freedom of speech while trampling on the state’s constitutionally protected authorities.

“People are being racially profiled, harassed, terrorised, and assaulted,” the state’s attorney general said in a statement upon filing the lawsuit.

“Schools have gone into lockdown. Businesses have been forced to close. Minnesota police are spending countless hours dealing with the chaos ICE is causing.”

“This federal invasion of the Twin Cities has to stop, so today I am suing DHS to bring it to an end,” it said.

Ongoing outrage

Daily protests have continued across the state since Good’s killing during an enforcement operation in Minneapolis.

Within moments of the shooting, the Trump administration labelled Good a “domestic terrorist”, while claiming the officer was acting in self-defence after the 37-year-old “weaponised her vehicle”.

Widely circulated video evidence quickly cast doubt on their claims, with many observers saying recordings appeared to show Good attempting to flee the scene in her Honda Pilot SUV when the agent opened fire. Questions have also been raised over the conduct of the agents involved, including a series of actions that appeared to escalate the situation.

Last week, local officials decried the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) unorthodox move to block an independent state investigatory body from taking part in a probe of Good’s killing. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said the move – coupled with the Trump administration’s comments – raises questions over the integrity of any conclusions reached.

On Tuesday, the UN Human Rights Council also called for a “prompt, independent and transparent” investigation into the incident.

Prior to Good’s killing, the Trump administration had surged immigration agents to Minnesota as the president increasingly focused on alleged fraud in the large Somali-American community in the state, at times employing racist rhetoric as he sent 2,000 immigration agents to the area.

On Wednesday, the Trump administration announced it was revoking so-called Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Somalia, a special designation that protects individuals from deportation due to unsafe conditions in their home country.

In a statement on X, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said the move means Somalis who had been on TPS are required to leave the country by March 27.

“If we have to choose between the United States and Denmark here and now, we choose Denmark,” said Greenland’s PM.

Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen has said the self-governed Danish territory wants to remain part of Denmark rather than join the United States, amid US President Donald Trump’s ongoing push to take over the island.

Speaking at a news conference in Copenhagen alongside Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Nielsen said the autonomous Arctic territory would prefer to remain Danish.

“We are now facing a geopolitical crisis, and if we have to choose between the United States and Denmark here and now, we choose Denmark,” he said.

Frederiksen said it had not been easy to stand up to what she slammed as “completely unacceptable pressure from our closest ally”.

Nielsen’s comments came a day after the government of Greenland rejected Trump’s threats of a takeover.

“The United States has once again reiterated its desire to take over Greenland. This is something that the governing coalition in Greenland cannot accept under any circumstance,” said the island’s coalition government.

“As part of the Danish commonwealth, Greenland is a member of NATO, and the defence of Greenland must therefore be through NATO,” it added.

Trump has insisted that he will seize Greenland, threatening that the territory will be brought under US control “one way or another”.

Those threats have created a crisis for NATO, sparking outrage from European allies who have warned that any takeover of Greenland would have serious repercussions for ties between the US and Europe.

On Wednesday, US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio will host a meeting with the foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland at the White House.

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen and his Greenlandic counterpart, Vivian Motzfeldt, told reporters in Copenhagen on Tuesday that they had requested the meeting with Rubio after Trump’s threats.

“Our reason for seeking the meeting we have now been given was to move this whole discussion … into a meeting room where we can look each other in the eye and talk about these things,” Rasmussen said.

Aaja Chemnitz, a Greenlandic politician in the Danish parliament, told Al Jazeera that a majority of Greenland’s 56,000 people did not want to become US citizens.

“Greenland is not for sale, and Greenland will never be for sale,” Chemnitz, from the Inuit Ataqatigiit party, said.

“People seem to think they can buy the Greenlandic soul. It is our identity, our language, our culture – and it would look completely different if you became an American citizen, and that is not something a majority in Greenland want.”

US immigration agents have clashed with protesters in Minneapolis days after the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an ICE officer. Meanwhile, Minnesota officials sued the Trump administration to block a planned surge of immigration agents, calling the deployment unlawful.

Prosecutors accused sailor Jinchao Wei of selling information about US Navy ships to Chinese intelligence operatives.

A former United States Navy sailor has been sentenced to more than 16 years in prison after being convicted of selling technical and operating manuals for ships and operating systems to an intelligence officer working for China.

On Monday, a federal judge in San Diego sentenced Jinchao Wei, 25, to 200 months in prison.

In August, a jury convicted Wei of six crimes, including espionage, based on accusations he was paid more than $12,000 for selling information, the US Department of Justice said in a statement.

Wei, an engineer for the amphibious assault ship USS Essex, was one of two California-based sailors charged on August 3, 2023, with providing sensitive military information to China. The other, Wenheng Zhao, was sentenced to more than two years in 2024 after he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and one count of receiving a bribe in violation of his official duties.

For years, US officials have expressed concern about the espionage threat they say the Chinese government poses, and prosecutors have pursued criminal cases against Beijing intelligence operatives who have allegedly stolen sensitive government and commercial information, including through illegal hacking.

Wei was recruited via social media in 2022 by an intelligence officer who portrayed himself as a naval enthusiast working for the state-owned China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, prosecutors said.

Evidence presented in court showed Wei told a friend that the person was “extremely suspicious” and that it was “quite obviously” espionage.

Wei disregarded the friend’s advice to delete the contact and instead moved conversations with the intelligence officer to a different encrypted messaging app he believed to be more secure, prosecutors said.

Over the course of 18 months, Wei sent the officer photos and videos of the Essex, advised him of the location of various naval ships and told him about the Essex’s defensive weapons, prosecutors said.

Wei sold the intelligence officer 60 technical and operating manuals, including those for weapons control, aircraft and deck elevators. The manuals contained export control warnings and detailed the operations of multiple systems on board the Essex and similar ships.

He was a petty officer second class, which is an enlisted sailor’s rank.

The navy’s website says the Essex is equipped to transport and support a Marine Corps landing force of more than 2,000 personnel during an air and amphibious assault.

In a letter to the judge before sentencing, Wei apologised and said he should not have shared anything with the person whom he had considered a friend. Wei said “introversion and loneliness” clouded his judgement.

A US district judge ruled that Trump’s decision singled out states that voted for Democrats in the 2024 elections.

A United States judge has ruled that the administration of President Donald Trump acted illegally when it cancelled the payment of $7.6bn in clean energy grants to states that voted for Democrat Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.

In a decision on Monday, US District Judge Amit Mehta said the administration’s actions violated the Constitution’s equal protection requirements.

“Defendants freely admit that they made grant-termination decisions primarily – if not exclusively – based on whether the awardee resided in a state whose citizens voted for President Trump in 2024,” Mehta wrote in a summary of the case.

The grants were intended to support hundreds of clean energy projects across 16 states, including California, Colorado, New Jersey and Washington state. The projects included initiatives to create battery plants and hydrogen technology.

But projects in those states were cancelled in October, as the Trump administration sought to ratchet up pressure on Democratic-led states during a heated government shutdown.

At the time, Trump told the network One America News (OAN) that he would take aim at projects closely associated with the Democratic Party.

“We could cut projects that they wanted, favourite projects, and they’d be permanently cut,” he told the network.

Russell Vought, the Trump-appointed director for the Office of Management and Budget, posted on social media that month that “funding to fuel the Left’s climate agenda” had been “cancelled”.

The cuts included up to $1.2bn for a hub in California aimed at accelerating hydrogen technology, and up to $1bn for a hydrogen project in the Pacific Northwest.

St Paul, Minnesota, was among the jurisdictions affected by the grant cuts. The city and a coalition of environmental groups filed a lawsuit to contest the Trump administration’s decision.

Second legal setback

A spokesperson for the US Department of Energy, however, said the Trump administration disagrees with the judge’s ruling.

Officials “stand by our review process, which evaluated these awards individually and determined they did not meet the standards necessary to justify the continued spending of taxpayer dollars”, spokesman Ben Dietderich said.

The Trump administration has repeatedly pledged to cut back on what it considers wasteful government spending.

Monday’s ruling was the second legal setback in just a matter of hours for Trump’s efforts to roll back the clean energy programmes in the US.

A separate federal judge ruled on Monday that work on a major offshore wind farm for Rhode Island and Connecticut can resume, handing the industry at least a temporary victory as Trump seeks to shut it down.

The US president campaigned for the White House on a promise to end the offshore wind industry, saying electric wind turbines – sometimes called windmills – are too expensive and hurt whales and birds.

Instead, Trump has pushed for the US to ramp up fossil fuel production, considered the primary contributor to climate change. The US president has repeatedly defied scientific consensus on climate change and referred to it as a “hoax”.

United States Senator Mark Kelly has sued the Department of Defense and its secretary, Pete Hegseth, over allegations they trampled his rights to free speech by embarking on a campaign of “punitive retribution”.

The complaint was filed on Monday in the US district court in Washington, DC. It also names the Department of the Navy and its secretary, John Phelan, as defendants.

“I filed a lawsuit against the Secretary of Defense because there are few things as important as standing up for the rights of the very Americans who fought to defend our freedoms,” Kelly, a veteran, wrote in a statement on social media.

Kelly’s lawsuit is the latest escalation in a feud that first erupted in November, when a group of six Democratic lawmakers – all veterans of the US armed services or its intelligence community – published a video online reminding military members of their responsibility to “refuse illegal orders”.

Democrats framed the video as a simple reiteration of government policy: Courts have repeatedly ruled that service members do indeed have a duty to reject orders they know to violate US law or the Constitution.

But Republican President Donald Trump and his allies have denounced the video as “seditious behaviour” and called for the lawmakers to face punishment.

A focus on Kelly

Kelly, in particular, has faced a series of actions that critics describe as an unconstitutional attack on his First Amendment right to free speech.

A senator from the pivotal swing state of Arizona, Kelly is one of the highest-profile lawmakers featured in November’s video.

He is also considered a rising star in the Democratic Party and is widely speculated to be a candidate for president or vice president in the 2028 elections.

But before his career in politics, Kelly was a pilot in the US Navy who flew missions during the Gulf War. He retired at the rank of captain. Kelly was also selected to be an astronaut, along with his twin Scott Kelly, and they served as part of the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

His entry into politics came after his wife, former Representative Gabby Giffords, was shot in the head during a 2011 assassination attempt. On Monday, Kelly described the Senate as “a place I never expected to find myself in”.

“My wife Gabby was always the elected official in our family,” he told his Senate colleagues. “If she had never been shot in the head, she would be here in this chamber and not me. But I love this country, and I felt that I had an obligation to continue my public service in a way that I never expected.”

Kelly’s participation in the November video has placed him prominently within the Trump administration’s crosshairs, and officials close to the president have taken actions to condemn his statements.

Shortly after the video came out, for instance, the Defense Department announced it had opened an investigation into Kelly. It warned that the senator could face a court-martial depending on the results of the probe.

The pressure on Kelly continued this month, when Hegseth revealed on social media that he had submitted a formal letter of censure against the senator.

That letter accused Kelly of “conduct unbecoming of an office” and alleged he had “undermined the chain of command” through his video.

Hegseth explained that the letter sought to demote Kelly from the rank he reached at his retirement, as well as reduce his retirement pay.

“Senator Mark Kelly — and five other members of Congress — released a reckless and seditious video that was clearly intended to undermine good order and military discipline,” Hegseth wrote on the platform X.

“As a retired Navy Captain who is still receiving a military pension, Captain Kelly knows he is still accountable to military justice. And the Department of War — and the American people — expect justice.”

Attacking political speech

Kelly responded to that claim by alleging that Hegseth had embarked on a campaign of politically motivated retribution, designed to silence any future criticism from US military veterans.

“Pete Hegseth is coming after what I earned through my twenty-five years of military service, in violation of my rights as an American, as a retired veteran, and as a United States Senator,” Kelly wrote on social media on Monday.

“His unconstitutional crusade against me sends a chilling message to every retired member of the military: if you speak out and say something that the President or Secretary of Defense doesn’t like, you will be censured, threatened with demotion, or even prosecuted.”

Kelly also took to the floor of the Senate on Monday to defend his decision to sue officials from the Trump administration.

“Every service member knows that military rank is earned. It’s not given. It’s earned through the risks you take,” Kelly told his fellow senators.

“After my 25 years of service, I earned my rank as a captain in the United States Navy. Now, Pete Hegseth wants even our longest-serving military veterans to live with the constant threat that they could be deprived of their rank and retirement pay years or even decades after they leave the military, just because he or another secretary of defence or a president doesn’t like what they’ve said.”

His lawsuit calls for the federal court system to halt the proceedings against him and declare Hegseth’s letter of censure unlawful.

The court filing makes a twofold argument: that the efforts to discipline Kelly not only violate his free speech rights but also constitute an attack on legislative independence, since they allegedly seek to intimidate a member of Congress.

“It appears that never in our nation’s history has the Executive Branch imposed military sanctions on a Member of Congress for engaging in disfavored political speech,” the lawsuit asserts.

The complaint also accuses the Trump administration of violating Kelly’s right to due process, given the high-profile calls from within the government to punish the senator.

It pointed to social media posts Trump made, including one that signalled he felt Kelly’s behaviour amounted to “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOUR, punishable by DEATH”.

The lawsuit also argues that Hegseth’s letter of censure appeared to draw conclusions about Kelly’s alleged wrongdoing, only to then request that the Navy review his military rank and retirement benefits.

Such a review, the lawsuit contends, can therefore not be considered a fair assessment of the facts.

“The Constitution does not permit the government to announce the verdict in advance and then subject Senator Kelly or anyone else to a nominal process designed only to fulfill it,” the lawsuit said.

Almost 15,000 nurses walked off the job in New York City, demanding better working conditions, marking the largest nurses’ strike in the city’s history as contract negotiations failed to gain traction.

Workers walked off the job early on Monday morning across three private hospital systems in the largest city in the US, Mount Sinai, Montefiore and NewYork-Presbyterian.

“After months of bargaining, management refused to make meaningful progress on core issues that nurses have been fighting for: safe staffing for patients, healthcare benefits for nurses, and workplace violence protections,” the New York State Nursing Association said in a statement on Monday.

“Management at the richest hospitals in New York City are threatening to discontinue or radically cut nurses’ health benefits,” the nursing group added.

NewYork-Presbyterian reported a net income of $547m in 2024. Mount Sinai reported $114m, while Montefiore reported $288.62m, according to ProPublica’s nonprofit tracker, which monitors the finances of nonprofit organisations, which these three hospitals are.

Striking nurses claim hospital management has threatened to cut healthcare benefits. The union alleges that hospitals are attempting to roll back safe staffing standards. Al Jazeera was unable to independently verify the validity of these claims.

In 2021, New York state signed into law a requirement that hospitals establish committees at every facility to outline staffing plans by division, including a minimum one-to-two nurse-to-patient ratio in critical care units, as strains on the healthcare system became amplified during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“You can’t divorce this from the experience of COVID in New York. COVID tested our healthcare system and tested nurses in particular. They last went on strike in 2023 and continue to face chronic understaffing, leaving them feeling overextended,” Lindsey Boylan, a community activist at the picket line on Monday morning, told Al Jazeera.

In 2023, after a three-day strike, nurses successfully pushed hospital systems, through arbitration, to enforce those standards across all hospital units.

The union alleges that hospitals are walking back the standards and that hospital management has failed to agree to requests to strengthen protections for workers amid a rise in workplace violence. Union representatives told Al Jazeera that the requests include installing metal detectors at hospital entrances.

The strike comes amid heightened concerns about hospital safety following an active shooter incident at a Mount Sinai hospital in November and a fatal shooting at a NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital in Brooklyn last week.

Mount Sinai has also allegedly disciplined nurses who raised concerns about alleged union-busting, resulting in a complaint filed with the National Labor Relations Board in October.

Al Jazeera reached out to NewYork-Presbyterian, Montefiore and Mount Sinai hospitals for comment.

“We’re ready to keep negotiating a fair and reasonable contract that reflects our respect for our nurses and the critical role they play, and also recognises the challenging realities of today’s healthcare environment. We have proposed significant wage increases that keep our nurses among the highest paid in the city,” a spokesperson for NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital told Al Jazeera in a statement.

When pressed for specifics, the hospital did not respond. The union told Al Jazeera the hospital offered nurses $4,500 in single lump-sum payments that could be used towards healthcare benefits, staffing, or wages.

Representatives for Mount Sinai Hospital and Montefiore did not reply to requests for comment.

Unified nurses

“The fact that the people who provide healthcare need to be asking for healthcare is ironic and infuriating,” Alex Bores, a state assembly member and congressional candidate in New York’s 12th district, told Al Jazeera. Bores was at the picket line in the early hours of Monday.

“The energy was incredible. It was 6am and still dark, but people were marching and chanting. Everyone was energised and ready for the fight. There was no hesitation and no fear. It was clear the nurses were unified and prepared to go the distance,” Bores added.

The strike comes at the height of a severe flu season in New York, with hospitalisations reaching record highs. During the week of December 20, nearly 9 percent of emergency room visits were for the flu. Rates have since begun to decline, according to city health data.

“This [the severe flu season] leads to an increase in the number of people who need to be seen in emergency rooms and hospitals. As a result, staffing needs are actually higher, making this a particularly difficult time to not have all healthcare professionals available,” said Bruce Y Lee, a professor of health policy and management at the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health & Health Policy.

For the week of January 3, the most recent data available, flu cases fell to 5 percent of emergency department diagnoses.

Healthcare demands may give nurses added leverage in negotiations.

“I think there’s a lot of leverage at this time. New Yorkers understand the role nurses played during COVID and beyond, and with a very difficult flu season now under way, we are all aware of how important nurses are, and how overextended they are,” Boylan added.

The political test

The strike poses a major political test at both the city and state levels. Governor Kathy Hochul is up for re-election, and pro-labour Zohran Mamdani’s recent mayoral win in New York City has increased pressure on the governor to side with progressives across the state.

“My top priority is protecting patients and ensuring they can access the care they need. At the same time, we must reach an agreement that recognises the essential work nurses do every day on the front lines of our healthcare system,” Hochul said in a statement on Sunday night.

Representatives for the governor did not respond to requests for additional comment after nurses officially began striking.

The strike comes early in Mamdani’s administration and marks a significant political test for the city’s new mayor, who has historically been pro-labour.

“There were so many people, it was flooding both sides of the street,” Boylan added.

In response to a request to the mayor’s office for comment, senior spokesperson Dora Pekec referred Al Jazeera to a post that Mamdani published on X on Sunday evening, ahead of the strike.

“No New Yorker should have to fear losing access to health care — and no nurse should be asked to accept less pay, fewer benefits or less dignity for doing lifesaving work. Our nurses kept this city alive through its hardest moments. Their value is not negotiable,” Mamdani wrote.

On Monday, the mayor joined picketers outside a hospital in Manhattan.

“This strike is not just a question of how much nurses earn per hour or what health benefits they receive, although both of those issues matter deeply. It is also a question of who deserves to benefit from this system,” Mamdani said at a news conference.

The spokesperson did not respond to our request for further comment.

Nearly 15,000 nurses walked off their jobs at major New York City hospitals on Monday in one of the largest health care strikes in decades. They are demanding higher pay, safer staffing levels and better security measures at hospitals. Mayor Zohran Mamdani visited the nurses on a picket line.

In a video statement, US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said an investigation by the Trump administration against him is a pretext to undermine the central bank’s independence. Federal investigators have opened a criminal investigation into Powell’s congressional testimony over the central bank’s renovation.

Former Federal Reserve chairs called the indictment an ‘unprecedented attempt’ to undermine the independence of the US central bank in a joint letter.

United States Senator Lisa Murkowski threw her support behind fellow Republican Thom Tillis’s plan to block President Donald Trump’s Fed nominees after the Justice Department over the weekend threatened to indict Fed Chairman Jerome Powell.

“The stakes are too high to look the other way: if the Federal Reserve loses its independence, the stability of our markets and the broader economy will suffer,” Murkowski wrote on X on Monday.

Murkowski is one of a small handful of Trump’s fellow Republicans who have shown themselves willing to vote against his wishes at times in the US Senate, where his party holds a 53-47 majority.

Since returning to office last year, Trump has been increasingly publicly pressuring the Fed to cut interest rates, breaking with longstanding practice meant to insulate the central bank from political pressure and allowing it to focus on economic data.

Alaska lawmaker Murkowski said she had spoken earlier on Monday with Powell, who on Sunday said the US central bank had received subpoenas last week that he called “pretexts” aimed at the Fed’s basing interest rates on policy and not on Trump’s preferences.

Murkowski called the Justice Department threat “nothing more than an attempt at coercion”, adding that Congress should investigate the department if it believes probing the Fed was warranted over renovation cost overruns, which she called “not unusual”.

Hassett weighs in

Powell’s term is up in May, and White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett has largely been seen as a potential pick to succeed him.

Hassett questioned Powell’s congressional testimony about the Fed’s new building construction, which is at the centre of the Justice Department’s probe.

“Right now, we’ve got a building that’s got like, dramatic cost overruns and plans for the buildings that look inconsistent with the testimony, but again, I’m not a Justice Department person. I hope everything turns out OK for Jay,” Hassett told the CNBC news programme Squawk Box.

Later, Hassett said he would support the investigation if he were in charge of the Fed, telling reporters that it “seems like the Justice Department has decided that they want to see what’s going on over there with this building that’s massively more expensive than any building in the history of Washington”.

Trump, who has long pushed for more aggressive interest rate cuts, said in a post on his Truth Social platform in December, “The United States should be rewarded for SUCCESS, not brought down by it. Anybody that disagrees with me will never be the Fed Chairman!”

Former officials condemn probe

The past three heads of the US Federal Reserve on Monday joined with other former federal government economic policy leaders in condemning the Trump administration’s criminal probe of the Fed chair, likening it to the interference with central bank independence more often seen in emerging market countries with “weak institutions”.

“The reported criminal inquiry into Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell is an unprecedented attempt to use prosecutorial attacks to undermine that independence,” a statement signed by former Fed chairs Janet Yellen, Ben Bernanke and Alan Greenspan said.

“This is how monetary policy is made in emerging markets with weak institutions, with highly negative consequences for inflation and the functioning of their economies more broadly. It has no place in the United States whose greatest strength is the rule of law, which is at the foundation of our economic success.”

The three were joined by 10 other former top economic policymakers appointed by both Republican and Democratic presidents.

Penitentiary Services Ministry says those freed had been ‘deprived of their liberty’ for acts associated with disrupting the constitutional order.

At least 116 prisoners have been released in Venezuela after their arrests during the presidency of Nicolas Maduro, the government has announced, nine days after the United States abducted Maduro.

Venezuela’s Ministry of Penitentiary Services reported on Monday that the prisoners had been released “in the past few hours”. It followed a similar release a few days ago.

The ministry added that those freed had been “deprived of their liberty for acts associated with disrupting the constitutional order and undermining the stability of the nation”.

Two Italian citizens were also released, and Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani pledged to upgrade Rome’s relations with Caracas in response.

Dozens of dual Italian-Venezuelan nationals remain in prison.

However, the Foro Penal group, a human rights organisation, contended earlier on Monday that only 41 people had been released, including 24 people freed overnight.

The release of political prisoners in Venezuela has been a long-running call of human rights groups, international bodies and opposition figures.

Human rights groups estimated there are 800 to 1,200 political prisoners in Venezuela.

The releases, which began on Thursday, came after pressure by US President Donald Trump, who stated that Washington was “in charge” of the Latin American country following the military operation on January 3 to abduct Maduro, which sparked global protests and criticism.

Maduro now faces drug-trafficking charges and is currently being held in a prison in New York.

On Saturday, Trump celebrated the release of the prisoners in what he called a “big way”.

He added that he hopes those freed “will remember how lucky they got that the USA came along and did what had to be done”.

A papal audience

In the meantime, Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado met with Pope Leo XIV during a private audience on Monday.

So far, few details have been released about the meeting.

On Friday, the pontiff called for Venezuela’s sovereignty to be protected and issued an appeal “to respect the will of the Venezuelan people and to safeguard the human and civil rights of all.”

Machado, who is currently touring Europe, is expected to meet with Trump this week after he said on January 3 that she did not have the support or respect to lead the country.

She had dedicated her Nobel Peace Prize to Trump, who deeply covets the honour himself.

The Venezuelan opposition, which has been supported by Republican and Democratic administrations in the US, had pledged to replace Maduro with one of their own.

However, after the abduction of Maduro, Trump sidestepped the group, and Vice President Delcy Rodriguez became interim president.

Los Angeles police say they are looking into “assault with a deadly weapon” charges after someone drove a truck through a crowd of people demonstrating in support of protesters in Iran. A banner on the side of the vehicle said “No Shah” and “Don’t repeat 1953” in apparent reference to that year’s US-backed coup.

US President Donald Trump has doubled down on his ambition to bring Greenland under US control. Trump said if the US didn’t control Greenland – China or Russia would. But Trump’s desire for Greenland goes beyond security ambitions. Al Jazeera’s Rory Challands explains.

For decades, Reza Pahlavi was the polite face of the Iranian opposition in exile – a former fighter pilot who spoke of nonviolent resistance and secular democracy from his home in the United States.

But this weekend, the tone of the 65-year-old heir to the Peacock Throne and son of Iran’s last shah changed dramatically.

In a direct challenge to the Iranian government, Pahlavi called on Iranians to “seize city centres” and prepare for his imminent return, prompting what Iranian state media described as “armed terrorist attacks” across the country.

“Our goal is no longer merely to come into the streets,” Pahlavi declared in a statement released on his X account. “The goal is to prepare to seize city centres and hold them.”

From heir to exile

Pahlavi was born in Tehran on October 31, 1960, seven years after the US and the UK engineered a coup against Iran’s then-elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh, who had nationalised the assets of the Anglo-Persian oil company, now known as BP, in 1951.

Pahlavi was officially named crown prince at the age of seven. His path seemed destined for the throne until the 1979 revolution upended the region.

At 17, he left Iran for fighter pilot training in the US at Reese Air Force Base in Texas. While he was away, the repressive monarchy collapsed, and the current political system was established, barring his return.

Pahlavi completed his training and later earned a degree in political science from the University of Southern California. During the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s, he famously volunteered to serve as a fighter pilot for his country but was rejected by the authorities in Tehran.

He has lived in exile ever since, residing in the US with his wife, Yasmine Pahlavi, and their three daughters.

‘Preparing to return’

For more than 40 years, Pahlavi advocated for a referendum and nonviolent change. However, his rhetoric has sharpened significantly in recent days.

On Saturday, he urged workers in key sectors — transport, oil, and gas — to launch nationwide strikes to “cut off the financial lifelines” of the state. He specifically called on the “youth of the Immortal Guard” — the erstwhile imperial forces — and security forces to defect.

“I, too, am preparing to return to the homeland so that at the time of our national revolution’s victory, I can be beside you,” he stated.

His call to action comes amid reports of the largest antigovernment protests in years. Pahlavi asked supporters to hoist the pre-1979 “Lion and Sun” flag, a symbol of his father’s rule, and to occupy public spaces starting from 6pm local time (14:30 GMT).

‘Terrorist’ accusations

The response from Tehran has been furious. On Sunday, state-affiliated media outlets labelled the protests as a “new phase of insecurity” and an “internal armed war”.

A report by the conservative Vatan-e Emrooz newspaper, cited by the Tasnim news agency, described Pahlavi’s call as cover for “terrorist nuclei” to attack police and Basij forces.

“Do not be mistaken; this is not merely a riot … these were armed terrorist attacks,” the report stated, claiming that dozens of security personnel had been killed.

Officials have linked Pahlavi’s escalation to foreign interference, specifically accusing the US and Israel. They claimed the unrest is a “Plan B” by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following the conclusion of the 12-day war between Israel and Iran in May last year.

‘Opposition against the opposition’?

While Pahlavi has found renewed popularity on the streets, he faces sharp criticism from within the fractured Iranian opposition.

Alireza Nader, an Iran expert, argued in a recent article that Pahlavi’s political activities have become divisive. Critics accuse his circle of attacking other prominent dissidents, such as Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi, labelling them “leftists” or “terrorists”.

“Pahlavi has doubled down on his advisors despite others’ unease about them,” Nader wrote, questioning whether the prince has become “the opposition against the opposition”.

There are also concerns about manipulation. Nader noted that Pahlavi’s online support is partly driven by cyber-armies linked to the Iranian government, designed to sow discord, raising questions about “who is co-opting whom”.

Despite these internal rifts, Pahlavi remains the most visible figurehead for the current wave of unrest. With the Trump administration maintaining a hands-off approach — asserting it is “up to Iranians to choose their own leaders” — and the streets of Tehran burning, the exiled prince appears to be making his final gamble for the throne he lost 47 years ago.

President Donald Trump said the US is considering “very strong options,” including possible military action, over the deaths of protesters during unrest in Iran. Nationwide protests over economic hardship have been met with mass arrests and a security crackdown.

DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY,

Chalamet picks up best actor award for his role in sport comedy-drama Marty Supreme.

Hollywood actor Timothée Chalamet has nabbed his first Golden Globe at the 83rd edition of the annual awards ceremony.

Chalamet, 30, picked up the award for best actor in a musical or comedy on Sunday in recognition of his role in the sport comedy-drama Marty Supreme.

“My dad instilled in me a spirit of gratitude growing up: Always be grateful for what you have,” Chalamet said in his acceptance speech at The Beverly Hilton hotel in Beverly Hills, California.

“It’s allowed me to leave this ceremony in the past empty-handed, my head held high, grateful just to be here. I’d be lying if I didn’t say those moments didn’t make this moment that much sweeter.”

More to follow…

DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY,

US president says Washington is closely monitoring protests in Iran and considering possible military intervention.

United States President Donald Trump has said that Washington is considering “strong options” in response to the protests in Iran, including possible military intervention.

“We’re looking at it very seriously. The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options. We’ll make a determination,” he told reporters on board Air Force One late on Sunday.

He said Iran’s leadership had called, seeking “to negotiate” after his threats of military action, and that a “meeting is being set up”.

But he added that “we may have to act before a meeting”.

More soon… 

BREAKINGBREAKING,

Central bank chair condemns ‘intimidation’ following grand jury subpoenas.

United States President Donald Trump’s administration has opened a criminal investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, in a development set to heighten concerns about the independence of US monetary policy.

Powell said on Sunday that the central bank had been served with grand jury subpoenas related to his testimony about renovations to the Fed’s headquarters in Washington, DC.

“The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the president,” Powell said in a rare video message.

“This is about whether the Fed will be able to continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions – or whether instead, monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation.”

More to follow…