Day: January 26, 2026
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German Chancellor Friedrich Merz voiced concern on Monday regarding the fatal shooting of a US citizen during an operation conducted by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in Minneapolis.
“I find the news we’ve been getting from the USA in the last few days indeed worrying. And it’s obviously always one region or one city that is affected,” Merz said in Hamburg, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
“I assume that the American authorities will now really clarify whether it was necessary to shoot here, whether there really was a threat to the officers involved. In any case, I have to say I find this level of use of violence in the USA worrying, to put it that way,” he added.
A 37-year-old man was shot and killed Saturday in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in the city’s second fatal shooting of a US citizen by federal agents this month. The US government described the fatal shooting as self-defense; however, video footage of the scene posted online paints a different picture.
The killing of Alex Pretti, who worked as an intensive care nurse at a Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Minneapolis, further inflamed tensions, sparking street clashes between protesters and law enforcement. The incident followed the fatal shooting on Jan. 7 of Renee Good, a 37-year-old mother, by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer on Jan. 7 in Minneapolis.
The post Merz slams ICE for deadly shooting in Minneapolis appeared first on azeritimes.com.
On Sunday, Iranian authorities unveiled a new mural on a massive billboard in central Tehran, delivering a direct warning to the United States against attempting a military strike on the country, as U.S. warships move toward the region.
The image shows a bird’s-eye view of an aircraft carrier with damaged and exploding fighter planes on its flight deck, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
The deck is strewn with bodies and streaked with blood that trails into the water behind the ship to form a pattern reminiscent of the stripes of the American flag. A slogan is emblazoned across one corner: “If you sow the wind, you will reap the whirlwind.”
The unveiling of the mural in Enghelab Square comes as the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and accompanying warships move toward the region. U.S. President Donald Trump has said the ships are being moved “just in case” he decides to take action.
“We have a massive fleet heading in that direction and maybe we won’t have to use it,” Trump said Thursday.
Enghelab Square is used for gatherings called by the state and authorities change its mural based on national occasions. On Saturday, the commander of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard warned that his force is “more ready than ever, finger on the trigger.”
Tension between the U.S. and Iran has spiked in the wake of a brutal crackdown on nationwide protests that saw thousands of people killed and tens of thousands arrested. Trump had threatened military action if Iran continued to kill peaceful protesters or carried out mass executions of those detained.
There have been no further protests for days and Trump claimed recently that Tehran had halted the planned execution of about 800 arrested protesters — a claim Iran’s top prosecutor called “completely false.”
But Trump has indicated he is keeping his options open, saying on Thursday that any military action would make last June’s U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear sites “look like peanuts.”
U.S. Central Command said on social media that its Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle now has a presence in the Middle East, noting the fighter jet “enhances combat readiness and promotes regional security and stability.”
Similarly, the U.K. Ministry of Defense said Thursday that it deployed its Typhoon fighter jets to Qatar “in a defensive capacity.”
The protests in Iran began on Dec. 28, sparked by the fall of the Iranian currency, the rial, and quickly spread across the country. They were met by a violent crackdown by Iran’s theocracy, which does not tolerate dissent.
The death toll reported by activists has continued to rise since the end of the demonstrations, as information trickles out despite a more than two-week internet blackout — the most comprehensive in Iran’s history.
The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency on Sunday put the death toll at 5,848, with the number expected to increase. It says more than 41,280 people have been arrested.
The group’s figures have been accurate in previous unrest and rely on a network of activists in Iran to verify deaths. That death toll exceeds that of any other round of protest or unrest there in decades, and recalls the chaos surrounding Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution. The Associated Press has not been able to independently verify the toll.
Iran’s government has put the death toll at a far lower 3,117, saying 2,427 were civilians and security forces, and labeled the rest “terrorists.” In the past, Iran’s theocracy has undercounted or not reported fatalities from unrest.
The post Iran displays mural warning of response to potential US attack appeared first on azeritimes.com.
