☕ The Minnesota church protests, explained

Good morning,

The Justice Department has announced it will investigate protests held at a Minnesota church over the weekend, with demonstrators targeting the pastor over his apparent work as an Immigration and Customs Enforcement official. We’ll bring you up to speed in today’s two-minute read.

I’ve got 30 seconds

Some headlines from this morning:

• President Trump is expected to announce the Board of Peace for Gaza and sign a reconstruction plan for Ukraine at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week. The President arrives in Davos today for his first appearance at the event since 2020. Overnight, Trump posted memes suggesting U.S. expansion into Greenland and Canada, escalating tensions with Europe after two weeks of aggressive posturing toward Greenland's takeover. The threat of new U.S. tariffs against eight European nations over Greenland is expected to be discussed.

• Spain will begin three days of mourning after a train crash in the country's south left at least 40 people dead and more than 150 injured. Two high-speed trains collided near the town of Adamuz on Sunday when one train derailed and slammed into an oncoming train, sending carriages down a four-meter slope. Emergency workers continue searching for bodies in what officials called "a twisted mass of metal," with three more bodies believed trapped in the wreckage. Officials are investigating a broken section of track discovered at the crash site.

• Dozens of beaches along Australia's east coast have been closed after four confirmed shark attacks since the weekend. The latest attack occurred on Tuesday near Port Macquarie, about 400km north of Sydney, where a 39-year-old surfer was bitten but escaped serious injury. A 27-year-old man was left in critical condition Monday night following an attack at Sydney’s Manly Beach, while another surfer narrowly escaped when a shark bit his surfboard at another nearby beach the same day. On Sunday, a 12-year-old boy was attacked by a shark in Sydney Harbour and remains in a critical condition. Experts say recent heavy rains around Sydney have created ideal conditions for shark attacks, with brackish water reducing visibility and sewage runoff drawing baitfish and sharks to coastal areas.

• Italian designer Valentino Garavani has died at home in Rome, his foundation says. Usually known ​only by his first name, Valentino was ⁠93, and had retired in 2008. The foundation said in a statement posted on social media: "Valentino Garavani was not only a constant guide and inspiration for all of us but a true source of light, creativity and vision.” The funeral will be held on Friday.

I’ve got 1 minute

A group of seven high-profile UK figures, including Prince Harry, Elton John, and Liz Hurley, have accused Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) of invading their privacy. ANL owns news outlets, including the Daily Mail UK and Metro.

The civil trial is expected to run for nine weeks. It is the last of three court cases Prince Harry has been involved in against UK tabloids since 2023.

Claimants

There are seven claimants in the case: Prince Harry, Sir Elton John and his husband David Furnish, former politician Sir Simon Hughes, and actresses Liz Hurley and Sadie Frost.

It also includes British Jamaican anti-racism campaigner Doreen Lawrence. In 1993, a group of white teenagers killed Lawrence’s 18-year-old son, Stephen, in an unprovoked, racially motivated attack. No charges were laid at the time.

Lawrence’s activism led to an inquiry into racism in the police and the 2012 conviction of two men for Stephen’s murder.

Case

The seven claimants allege that ANL collected information about them illegally and misused it. The alleged time period is from “at least 1993 until 2011, and even continued beyond until 2018.”

The claimants accuse ANL of “unlawful information gathering” techniques, including intercepting voicemails, hiring private investigators, gathering information by deception, and tapping phone calls. This information was then allegedly published.

The BBC reports London’s High Court heard a statement from Prince Harry saying he felt “paranoid beyond belief” by ANL’s alleged “grave breaches of privacy”. Barrister David Sherborne stated that 14 articles allegedly contained unlawfully obtained information.

Sir Elton John and Furnish accused ANL of “stealing” their son’s birth certificate.

Response

The BBC reported ANL’s barrister, Antony White, called John and Furnish’s claim “utterly baseless.”

White said Prince Harry’s network “was known to be a good source of leaks or disclosure of information to the media about what he got up to in his private life.”

Addressing articles with information gathered through alleged tapping, White said ANL “is able to call a witness or witnesses to explain how the article was in fact sourced.”

I’ve got 2 minutes

A Minnesota church became the center of protests over the weekend after demonstrators learned its pastor also serves as the region's top immigration enforcement official - amid escalating tensions over the death of Renenae Good by ICE agents, and federal troop deployments. Here’s what you need to know.

What happened?

Protesters interrupted Sunday services at Cities Church in St. Paul, chanting "ICE out" and "Justice for Rennae Good" for 25 minutes before moving outside. St. Paul police said over 40 demonstrators were present.

The target was Pastor David Easterwood, who protest organizers say is the same David Easterwood leading Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations across Minneapolis and St. Paul. Easterwood was not present at the service and has not responded to media inquiries.

David Easterwood

Easterwood was named as a defendant in a December lawsuit alleging ICE agents "pepper-sprayed, violently subdued, and aimed assault rifles at protesters and observers" during immigration enforcement operations.

Protesters say his dual role as pastor and ICE director is incompatible. "The actions of ICE go against the teachings of the church," demonstrators told parishioners outside the building.

The Minneapolis Protests

Protests have intensified since ICE agents killed Rennae Good, a local mother, earlier this month. Federal officials say Good was a "domestic terrorist" who tried to ram an agent with her car. State officials and critics say she was trying to drive away when she was killed.

Days later, ICE shot and killed an undocumented Venezuelan migrant who agents say attacked them with a shovel.

President Trump has threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act - allowing military deployment on U.S. soil - if Minneapolis officials don't control the protests. The Department of Homeland Security says 1,500 active duty troops could be sent to the city, and ICE has already arrested over 3,000 people in the Twin Cities in the past six weeks.

Federal response

Attorney General Pam Bondi announced a federal investigation into Sunday's protest, calling it an attack on religious freedom. "Attacks against law enforcement and the intimidation of Christians are being met with the full force of federal law," she wrote on X.

The investigation will examine whether protesters violated the FACE Act, which "prohibits the use or threat of force and physical obstruction that injures, intimidates, or interferes with a person seeking to exercise the First Amendment right of religious freedom."

What’s next?

The federal investigation proceeds as protests continue and ICE operations expand across Minneapolis and St. Paul. The Department of Homeland Security says enforcement targets will remain at current levels as the administration pursues its immigration crackdown.

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