Reuters World News - ICE in Italy, Ilhan Omar, TikTok and Hamas police

Episode Date: January 28, 2026

Italians are outraged that U.S. ICE agents will be deployed to their Winter Olympics. A man attacks Congresswoman Ilhan Omar during a townhall. The administration scrambles to contain the fallout of Alex Pretti’s fatal shooting, as President Trump says he shouldn’t have been carrying a gun. And Hamas seeks a role for its police force in Gaza. Plus, TikTok settles before a social media addiction lawsuit goes to trial.  Listen to the Morning Bid podcast ⁠⁠here⁠⁠. Sign up for the Reuters Econ World newsletter ⁠⁠here⁠⁠. Listen to the Reuters Econ World podcast ⁠⁠here⁠⁠. Find the Recommended Read here. Visit the Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement for information on our privacy and data protection practices. You may also visit megaphone.fm/adchoices to opt out of targeted advertising. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hi, I'm Kim Vinal in Wanganui, New Zealand. It's Wednesday, January 28th. Today, fury over US ice agents being deployed to Italy for the Winter Olympics. Minnesota's Ilhan Omar is attacked during a town hall. The Fed is expected to hold rates steady and keep them there for months. And Hamas wants a role in Gaza for its police force. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything. you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes, seven days a week. We start with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Personnel heading to Italy.

The Department for Homeland Security has confirmed that ICE agents will back up the diplomatic security service at the Winter Olympics in Milano-Cortina. DHS officials say security operations will remain under Italian authority and that ICE doesn't conduct immigration enforcement operations in foreign countries. Despite those reassurances, the news has not gone down well in Italy. At a regional council meeting in Milan, centre-left opposition party members hold up placards reading ICE out. We called up Rome-based reporter Crispian Barmer for more.

There's been an awful lot of stories out of America about what's been going on in Minnesota, and that have caused great alarm and dismay here. The television team from the state broadcaster Rye was threatened by ICE people at the weekend in their car, and then news that ICE would be helping out with the security for the US delegation did not go down very well at all. Nobody really has expected them to turn up wearing balaclavas and clutching automatic weapons, but that is the way they're perceived now in Italy. Italy's foreign minister has called for a measured response, telling reporters at a Holocaust memorial event that it's not as if the Nazi SS are coming. And Crispian says there is a precedent for this kind of deployment.

It's totally normal for foreign police forces, foreign security officials to come and provide security for their own delegations. They do have an international investigative team which seems to operate against criminal. gang, human trafficking, and they have been present at previous international sporting events, including the 24th Paris Olympics, without so much kind of a murmur of protest or surprise. In Minnesota itself, Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar was attacked while holding a town hall meeting where she condemned ICE actions. Footage of the incident shows a man charging toward her spraying her with a foul-smelling liquid.

Omar asked for a napkin, then continued her speech, apparently unharmed. We're going to keep talking. The Trump administration is scrambling to contain the political fallout after federal agents shot and killed 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Preti. President Trump, after initially siding with his officials over Preti's killing, has since distanced himself from Homeland Security Secretary, Christy Noem, who Democrats and a few Republicans are threatening with impeachment. Noam said Preti was at fault, labeling him a domestic terrorist for carrying a handgun,

despite having a license to do so. Trump stopped short of blaming Preti, but did have this to say. You can't walk in with guns. You can't do that, but it's just a very unfortunate incident. Bo Erickson covers the White House and says officials are looking at ways to try and de-escalate the situation in Minnesota. Here's Bo on what one official told Reuters about the president's calculations. The president was debating whether or not to eventually pull back immigration agents out of

Minnesota. But he was saying in these meetings that any exit would need to be negotiated with state leaders. We are now seeing that as Tom Holman is meeting with the governor of Minnesota, Tim Walls, and also the mayor of Minneapolis as well. But when we are talking about maybe a complete pullback out of Minneapolis, I was told that that is likely not to happen because that would look like a capitulation to some of the protesters

and some of the top elected leaders in the state, and they said that would send the wrong message. In Minneapolis, protesters celebrate the departure of Border Patrol commander, Greg Bovino. Bavino is heading back to California, where he's expected to retire soon, according to the Atlantic. It's one of the moves that the Trump administration is making to try and calm the outrage in Minneapolis. Meanwhile, the acting chief of ICE is being ordered to appear in court

to explain why the agency has repeatedly ignored court orders. Judge Patrick Schlitz says Todd Lyons must explain why, among other things, his agency missed a deadline to provide a detainee with a bond hearing. He added that the court has been extremely patient, given that ICE sent thousands of agents to Minnesota to detain people without making provisions for court cases that were sure to result. And over in Arizona, a U.S. Border Patrol agent shot and wounded a man who officials say is wanted for human trafficking. Sheriff Chris Nanos says the suspect fired on a federal government helicopter before getting into a shootout with that.

the agent. The suspect is a fugitive who had escaped from a halfway house related to a previous smuggling conviction, according to officials. Now yesterday we reported on the 19-year-old bringing a case against meta, TikTok and YouTube, accusing their social media apps of fueling a mental health crisis. Well, one party has already bowed out of the landmark trial. TikTok has agreed to settle. The settlement came just as jury selection was set to begin for what was supposed to be a key test case accusing social media platforms of engineering addictive apps. And now over to the Federal Reserve, which is expected to hold rates steady later today. It's a pause investors see lasting beyond Fed Chief Jerome Powell's final meetings in April. Let's check in with Mike Dolan from our sister Markets podcast Morning Bit.

Yeah, the first Fed decision of 2026 and perhaps the least controversial aspect of it will be the decision itself. There's so much else going on for the Fed, the drama over potential indictment of Chairman Jay Powell, who his replacement might be, an announcement that might come this week as well. And, of course, a falling dollar in the background and the lowest consumer confidence in more than 11 years in the United States. a lot going on. The Fed won't change rates, but it has a lot to consider. Thanks, Mike. You can listen to MorningBid wherever you get your podcasts. And now a Reuters exclusive from Gaza. Hamas is looking to incorporate 10,000 of its police officers into the new US-backed Palestinian

administration, which will run the enclave. Already on the streets of Gaza City, Hamas police are on patrol, assault rifles slung across their chests. Around them, amongst the rubble, a local market is bustling. Hamas spokesperson, Haseem Kassim, says as the new government takes over, Hamas police officers are ready to work under its authority. But Israel is almost certain to oppose any Hamas involvement at all. Under the ceasefire brokered by President Trump,

any future Israeli withdrawal from areas it still controls is tied to Hamas giving up its weapons. But Hamas is signaling it won't accept large-scale dismissals and is pushing for long-term guarantees. And for today's recommended read, as British Prime Minister Kiyosdama heads to China, we look at the country's appeal as President Trump's policies push US allies closer to Beijing.

Many saw trouble for China's sluggish economy when Trump took office for the second time, but Beijing has managed to thaw frosty relations, relationships with trade partners to post a record trade surplus. Our story digs into this pivot, and there's a link to it in the pod description. For more on any of the stories from today, check out Reuters.com or the Reuters app. Don't forget to follow us on your favourite podcast player. If you're listening on a smart speaker, just ask for the latest news from Reuters seven days a week.

We'll be back tomorrow with our daily headline show.