January 28, 2026 – Short News

A train, four dead, and a peace board!

At least four people were killed and two others injured when a Russian drone struck a passenger train in the northeastern Ukrainian region of Kharkiv. The train was not a military target, but part of everyday life, a space between departure and arrival, filled with people who were traveling, not prepared for violence, not protected, not involved in decisions. The impact ended lives abruptly and turned an ordinary journey into a crime scene. Such attacks are not an exception, they are part of a war that repeatedly strikes where civilians are. At the same time, there is talk of peace, of new formats for talks, of invitations and gestures. Just a few days earlier, Donald Trump had invited Vladimir Putin to his so-called Board of Peace. While these words hang in the air, drones fall. While order is discussed, people are torn from their lives. For those affected in Kharkiv, no boards and no announcements matter, only the loss of people who will not return. The struck train makes visible how great the distance is between political declarations and the reality of this war.

Crisis meeting in the Oval Office

After the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, an internal crisis meeting took place at the White House. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem met President Donald Trump in the Oval Office, accompanied by key figures from the White House inner circle. The meeting lasted around two hours and took place at Noem’s request, as the political situation surrounding the deployment of federal agents in Minnesota came under increasing pressure. At the center was Noem’s early reaction to Pretti’s death. Like others in the government, she had labeled him an in domestic terrorist without evidence. This wording caused internal unrest. Publicly, the White House subsequently sought distance. The presidential spokesperson explained that Trump himself had not made this classification and wanted to await the outcome of the investigations.

Despite growing criticism, Trump demonstratively stood by Noem. He ruled out a resignation and praised her work. At the same time, responsibilities shifted noticeably. Border coordinator Tom Homan was placed directly under the president and sent to Minnesota, bypassing previous decision-making channels within the Department of Homeland Security. The relationship between Noem and Homan has long been considered highly strained. Now Homan took over operational control on the ground. Talks with the governor of Minnesota and the mayor of Minneapolis followed. Both made it clear that the city would not enforce federal deportation policy. The step of deploying Homan calmed parts of the Republican Party, which internally were calling for a tougher reckoning of the case. At the same time, it marks a new operational line. Whether this is now better is open to doubt.

Miller never disappoints him, Tillis said, when it comes to incompetence

Republican Senator Thom Tillis said a sentence that lands and cannot be taken back. It is directed at Stephen Miller, one of the central strategists of the administration.

Miller never disappoints him, Tillis said, when it comes to incompetence.

This is not an attack from outside, not a comment from the opposition, but criticism from within his own political camp. The timing is notable, as it falls in a phase of growing tensions after the events in Minneapolis. The sentence is short, but it lays bare how brittle inner-party discipline has become. Within the party, grumbling is no longer confined to closed doors, but spoken publicly. Miller has for years been regarded as a driving force behind the hardline migration policy. That a Republican senator attacks him so directly marks a clear break with habitual loyalty. It is not about tone or style, but about responsibility and the consequences of political action. The sentence is coolly formulated, almost casually, and precisely for that reason effective. It shows that even powerful figures are no longer untouchable. Sometimes a single sentence is enough to make visible how isolated someone has become.

New alliances, a quiet farewell to Washington

India and the European Union have agreed on a comprehensive free trade agreement, significantly deepening their economic and strategic relations. It is a treaty between two of the largest markets in the world, carried by the will to create planning certainty and reliability. The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, spoke of a historic step and said that the largest of all agreements had been delivered. The agreement comes at a time when many states are reorienting themselves. Under Donald Trump, the United States is increasingly attacking its allies and imposing tariffs on key trading partners. Trust in the US as a stable trading partner is visibly eroding. States and economic blocs are seeking alternatives, not out of spite, but out of precaution. Attention is turning to new markets and resilient relationships. Just a few days ago, the European Union signed another major free trade agreement with the South American Mercosur bloc, the largest trade agreement in the EU’s history. Taken together, these agreements mark a clear development. The EU and its partners are building networks, while Washington erects walls. Global trade is reorganizing itself, quietly but decisively.

What happened in Minneapolis todaye

In the northeast of Minneapolis, ICE agents were deployed today, in the middle of residential streets, in front of houses, among people who just wanted to live their everyday lives. The images show scenes that are hard to bear. They show fear, overwhelm, and situations in which no one was prepared for what was coming. People are taken away, children scream, neighbors stand helplessly by. No one explains, no one reassures, no one pauses. The operation does not appear targeted, but broad and intimidating. What is happening in Minneapolis today will not remain without consequences. It leaves fear, anger, and a sense of powerlessness that cannot simply be shaken off. This entire case has now become one of the highest priorities for us as well. The necessary support measures are already underway and are being continuously expanded. We are currently reviewing further concrete legal steps in order to help quickly and effectively.

85 seconds to midnight

The symbolic Doomsday Clock now stands at 85 seconds to midnight, closer than ever before. The scientists behind the clock see a world acting increasingly aggressively, confrontationally, and nationalistically. Nuclear weapons play a central role, as do unresolved conflicts between nuclear-armed states. Russia’s war against Ukraine, tensions in South Asia, and open questions surrounding Iran’s capabilities are exacerbating the situation. At the same time, the trust between states that would be necessary to jointly limit risks is disappearing.

Added to this is the climate crisis, which is already manifesting itself in droughts, heat waves, and floods, while international agreements remain weak or blocked. Particularly criticized is the course of continuing to expand fossil fuels and slowing down renewables. New technologies also increase the pressure. Artificial intelligence and biotechnology are being deployed without clear rules or effective oversight. The clock has existed since 1947 as a warning signal. After the end of the Cold War, it once stood at seventeen minutes to midnight. Today, minutes are no longer counted, but seconds. The message is clear. A path back is possible, but only through cooperation. Without it, midnight moves ever closer.

America 2026

Kinder in Handschellen. Bundesbeamte, die Menschen auf unseren Straßen erschießen. Unmenschliche Misshandlungen in staatlichem Gewahrsam. Familien von Migrantinnen und Migranten, die dem Rechtssystem der Vereinigten Staaten allein gegenüberstehen. Das sind die erschreckenden Szenen, die wir seit Monaten in Minneapolis und im ganzen Land erleben – und genau deshalb können wir uns Untätigkeit nicht leisten.

“Elite,” he says – the images say something else

Stephen Miller calls ICE an “elite federal law enforcement agency.” It is the kind of sentence that sounds good at a desk and works like a shield at press briefings. But then the images come. And those images alone show the incompetence within these units. This is not just a legal question, there is a fact in the room: such behavior says more than any psychological test. Anyone who acts like this delivers a self-description that no agency can correct anymore.

Spain opens a path while others close doors

Spain has unexpectedly adopted a decree that offers hundreds of thousands of people without papers a way out of legal limbo. Those already living in the country can apply for a temporary residence permit and thus work. The decision deliberately sets the country against the course of many Western states that have recently tightened their migration policies. The government justifies the step with social cohesion, economic stability, and the reality of a labor market that does not function without migrants. Agriculture, tourism, and services depend in large part on their work.

The new status does not apply across the board. Requirements include an earlier entry into the country, a minimum period of residence, and a clean criminal record. Applications are time-limited, permits initially run for one year and can be extended. It is a regulated, narrow framework, not an open gate. Nevertheless, the opposition reacts sharply. Conservatives speak of distraction, far-right parties of an alleged overburdening of the state and announce legal challenges.

In an international comparison, Spain’s course appears like a counter-model. While large-scale arrests and deportations are taking place in the United States, the United Kingdom is tightening rules, and other countries are threatening detention or planning outsourcing, Spain opts for regularization. The country is not naive. Border control has been outsourced, agreements with North African states continue. But internally, there is an acknowledgment that people who have long lived here, worked, and supported families cannot be kept permanently in the shadows. Estimates speak of several hundred thousand affected. For them, the decree means above all one thing: planning certainty. Working without fear, living without hiding, an everyday life with rights and obligations. Spain has taken this path before, under different governments. Today’s step is not a break with history, but its continuation. In a time of closure, the country opts for order through recognition.