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Morning Brief: US Justice Department Probes Church Protest, German Recon Team Wraps Up Short Greenland Mission, Hackers Hijack Iranian State TV

BY Guy D. McCardle

US DOJ eyes church protest as Europe fumes over tariffs and Gaza talks expand. Here’s your Monday morning brief for January 19, 2026.

A screengrab shows protesters disrupting a morning worship service at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minn., January 18, 2026. Image Credit: Don Lemon/YouTube

On January 19, 2026, the week starts with rising geopolitical friction: the DOJ opens a church-protest probe in Minnesota, Europe debates retaliation over Trump’s Greenland tariffs, and Ukraine and Russia escalate energy strikes as winter blackouts deepen.

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Justice Department Probes Church Protest Linked to ICE Official in Minnesota

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) is investigating protesters who disrupted a church service in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Sunday after activists accused a church pastor of also leading a local US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office.

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Demonstrators interrupted services at Cities Church to protest the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis and to demand an end to aggressive immigration enforcement.

Federal officials said the protest may have violated civil rights laws protecting religious worship, while protesters defended the action as a response to alleged ICE abuses.

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The case centers on David Easterwood, listed as a pastor at the church and identified in court filings as the acting director of ICE’s St. Paul field office.

 

60 Minutes Airs Delayed Deportation Report After Internal Dispute Over Political Pressure

CBS’s 60 Minutes aired a previously delayed report Sunday examining Trump administration deportations to El Salvador’s CECOT prison, ending a month-long internal dispute over editorial independence.

The segment, reported by correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi, focuses on migrants sent to the high-security prison and the administration’s deportation policies.

CBS News leadership pulled the story from the December 21 broadcast, citing concerns about balance and prior reporting, a decision Alfonsi said was driven by political pressure rather than editorial judgment.

The Trump administration declined on-camera interviews, but the final version included written statements from the White House and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

 

Trump Invites Dozens of Nations to Join New ‘Board of Peace’ to Shape Gaza’s Future

The United States has invited at least eight additional countries to join President Donald Trump’s newly created Board of Peace, a Trump-led body intended to oversee the next steps in Gaza following the current ceasefire.

Hungary and Vietnam confirmed they have accepted invitations, while India, Australia, Jordan, Greece, Cyprus, and Pakistan said they were invited and are reviewing the proposal. The board is expected to be formally announced in the coming days, likely at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

According to US officials, members would guide Gaza’s reconstruction, security arrangements, and political transition, with permanent membership available in exchange for a $1 billion contribution toward rebuilding the territory.

The initiative signals Washington’s ambition to expand the board’s role beyond Gaza and positions it as a potential alternative to the United Nations Security Council, as debate grows over its scope, legitimacy, and coordination with Israel.

 

German Recon Team Wraps Up Short Greenland Mission as Arctic Tensions Grow

A 15-member German military reconnaissance team completed a 44-hour deployment in Greenland and began returning home Sunday, according to German media and the Bundeswehr.

The team arrived last Friday to assess conditions on the Arctic island as part of a broader European effort to strengthen security in the North Atlantic and Arctic regions. German officials said the mission went as planned, though weather prevented access to one site, and gathered information to support future coordination with NATO partners.

Germany led the exploratory deployment, with France, Sweden, Norway, and the United Kingdom also participating ahead of a planned joint exercise.

The mission unfolded amid rising geopolitical tensions, as US President Donald Trump announced new tariffs on several European countries after criticizing their response to US pressure over Greenland.

 

EU Weighs Retaliation as Trump Threatens Tariffs Over Greenland Bid

European Union ambassadors met Sunday in Brussels to consider whether to retaliate against the United States after US President Donald Trump threatened to impose new tariffs on eight European countries unless they support his push to acquire Greenland.

The proposed tariffs, announced on Saturday, would target Britain, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden, all of which recently deployed troops to Greenland.

European Union diplomats discussed possible countermeasures, including tariffs and restrictions on US companies, but showed a preference for de-escalation while preparing for an extraordinary EU summit later this week.

France urged use of the bloc’s strongest trade tools, while Denmark and others pressed for continued diplomacy.

The dispute has raised concerns about damaging NATO unity and emboldening Russia and China, as US and European leaders exchanged sharp public warnings and defended competing security and sovereignty claims.

 

Drone Strikes Knock Out Power in Occupied Southern Ukraine as Russia Presses Energy Attacks

Ukrainian drone strikes damaged power networks in Russian-occupied parts of southern Ukraine on Sunday, cutting electricity to more than 200,000 households in the Zaporizhzhia region, according to Kremlin-installed officials.

The outages followed attacks that Ukrainian authorities said targeted energy infrastructure controlled by Russian forces. At the same time, Russia continued overnight strikes on Ukraine’s energy grid, killing at least two people and wounding several others across multiple regions, including Odesa and Dnipropetrovsk.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia used hundreds of drones, bombs, and missiles over the past week as part of its campaign against critical infrastructure.

The attacks came as Ukrainian officials traveled to the United States for talks on a US-led diplomatic push to end the war.

Separately, Ukrainian crews began repairs on a backup power line to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant under an International Atomic Energy Agency-brokered ceasefire, highlighting the continued risks to regional energy security.

 

Hackers Hijack Iranian State TV as Protest Death Toll Nears 4,000 and Tensions Rise

Hackers briefly disrupted Iranian state television broadcasts late Sunday to air messages supporting exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi and urging security forces to stop targeting protesters, Iranian media and online footage showed.

The incident occurred amid a nationwide crackdown on protests that activists say has killed at least 3,919 people since demonstrations began December 28 over Iran’s struggling economy.

The broadcast interruption affected multiple satellite channels run by Iran’s state broadcaster, which acknowledged a signal disruption but did not identify the source.

The hack came as Iran maintains an internet shutdown and as tensions with the United States escalated, with US President Donald Trump warning Tehran against killing protesters or carrying out mass executions.

Separately, US naval movements suggested an aircraft carrier group may be heading toward the Middle East, underscoring the growing international stakes as Iran faces its deadliest unrest in decades.

 

Taiwan Detains Journalist, Officers in Alleged China Espionage Case

Taiwanese authorities detained a television journalist and five current and former military officers on suspicion of bribery and leaking military information to people from mainland China, prosecutors said over the weekend.

The Qiaotou District Prosecutors Office accused the reporter, identified by the surname Lin, of paying small sums to serving officers in exchange for sensitive information, in violation of national security and corruption laws. The detentions followed raids Friday on the homes of the journalist and nine military personnel.

CTi TV confirmed that one of its reporters, Lin Chen-you, was detained and called for a fair judicial process.

The case comes as Taiwan intensifies efforts to counter alleged Chinese infiltration amid rising military pressure from Beijing, which claims the self-ruled island as its territory and has increased drills near Taiwan in recent months.

 

Sources: News Agencies

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