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US Police Arrest Suspect Vance Boelter for Minnesota Lawmakers’ Shooting 

Devin Bruce of Minneapolis places flowers at a memorial for US Minnesota State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, who were fatally shot in their Brooklyn Park home on 14 June, at the State Capitol in Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA, 15 June 2025. (EPA)
Devin Bruce of Minneapolis places flowers at a memorial for US Minnesota State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, who were fatally shot in their Brooklyn Park home on 14 June, at the State Capitol in Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA, 15 June 2025. (EPA)
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US Police Arrest Suspect Vance Boelter for Minnesota Lawmakers’ Shooting 

Devin Bruce of Minneapolis places flowers at a memorial for US Minnesota State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, who were fatally shot in their Brooklyn Park home on 14 June, at the State Capitol in Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA, 15 June 2025. (EPA)
Devin Bruce of Minneapolis places flowers at a memorial for US Minnesota State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, who were fatally shot in their Brooklyn Park home on 14 June, at the State Capitol in Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA, 15 June 2025. (EPA)

A massive two-day manhunt ended on Sunday with the arrest of Vance Boelter, 57, for allegedly killing a Minnesota Democratic state lawmaker and her husband while posing as a police officer, Governor Tim Walz said.

Boelter allegedly shot dead Melissa Hortman, the top Democrat in the Minnesota House, and her husband, Mark, in their home on Saturday - a crime Governor Tim Walz characterized as a "politically motivated assassination."

Authorities said Boelter also allegedly shot and wounded another Democratic lawmaker, state Senator John Hoffman, and his wife Yvette at their home a few miles away.

"After a two-day manhunt, two sleepless nights, law enforcement have apprehended Vance Boelter," Walz told a news conference. "One man's unthinkable actions have altered the state of Minnesota.

"A moment in this country where we watch violence erupt, this cannot be the norm. It cannot be the way that we deal with our political differences. Now is the time for us to recommit to the core values of this country, and each and every one of us can do it."

Walz said Hoffman, who had been hit with nine bullets, came out of his final surgery and was moving towards recovery.

Boelter has links to evangelical ministries and claimed to be a security expert with experience in the Gaza Strip and Africa, according to online postings and public records reviewed by Reuters.

Boelter was charged with two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of second-degree attempted murder, the criminal complaint showed.

Three of those charges are punishable with jail terms of up to 40 years, according to the complaint unsealed on Sunday.

Boelter had been impersonating a police officer while carrying out the shootings, wearing an officer's uniform and driving a Ford SUV with police-style lights, according to a Hennepin County criminal complaint unsealed on Sunday.

Boelter fled on foot early on Saturday when officers confronted him at Hortman's Brooklyn Park home, said authorities who had warned residents to stay indoors for their own safety and unleashed the state's biggest manhunt.

When police searched Boelter's SUV after the shootings they discovered three AK-47 assault rifles, a 9-mm handgun, and a list of other public officials including their addresses, the criminal complaint showed.

Working on a tip that Boelter was near his home in the city of Green Isle, more than 20 SWAT teams combed the area, aided by surveillance aircraft, officials said. Boelter was armed but surrendered with no shots fired.

"The suspect crawled to law enforcement teams and was placed under arrest," Lieutenant Colonel Jeremy Geiger of the Minnesota State Patrol told the briefing. "The suspect was taken into custody without any use of force."

The operation to capture Boelter, drawing on the work of hundreds of detectives and a wide range of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, was the largest manhunt in state history, Brooklyn Park police Chief Mark Bruley said.

"Now begins the hard work of looking at what the motive is," Bruley said.

The killing was the latest episode of high-profile US political violence.

Such incidents range from a 2022 attack on former Democratic US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband at their home, to an assassination bid on Donald Trump last year, and an arson attack at Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro's house in April.

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World

Iran Summons French, German, Italian, UK Envoys Over Support for Protests

Cars burn in a street during a protest over the collapse of the currency's value, in Tehran, Iran, January 8, 2026. Stringer/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
Cars burn in a street during a protest over the collapse of the currency's value, in Tehran, Iran, January 8, 2026. Stringer/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
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Iran Summons French, German, Italian, UK Envoys Over Support for Protests

Cars burn in a street during a protest over the collapse of the currency's value, in Tehran, Iran, January 8, 2026. Stringer/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
Cars burn in a street during a protest over the collapse of the currency's value, in Tehran, Iran, January 8, 2026. Stringer/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

Iran on Monday summoned diplomats in Tehran representing France, Germany, Italy and the UK to object to what it described as support by those countries for the protests that have shaken the country, its foreign ministry said.

The diplomats were shown a video of the damage caused by "rioters" and told their governments should "withdraw official statements supporting the protesters", the ministry said in a statement quoted by state television.

In Paris, the French foreign ministry confirmed that "European ambassadors" had been summoned by Iran.

World

Iran’s Traders, Frustrated by Economic Losses, Turn Against Clerics

Cars burn in a street during a protest over the collapse of the currency's value, in Tehran, Iran, January 8, 2026. Stringer/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
Cars burn in a street during a protest over the collapse of the currency's value, in Tehran, Iran, January 8, 2026. Stringer/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
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Iran’s Traders, Frustrated by Economic Losses, Turn Against Clerics

Cars burn in a street during a protest over the collapse of the currency's value, in Tehran, Iran, January 8, 2026. Stringer/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
Cars burn in a street during a protest over the collapse of the currency's value, in Tehran, Iran, January 8, 2026. Stringer/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

Iran's bazaar merchants, the trader class who were the financial backbone of the 1979 revolution, have turned against the clerics they helped bring to power, fueling unrest over an economy that has morphed into full-blown anti-government protests.

Frustration among bazaar merchants, from small-scale shopkeepers to large wholesale traders, has grown as their political and economic clout in Iran has diminished over the decades while the elite Revolutionary Guards have tightened their grip on the economy, building sprawling and tightly held networks of power.

"We are struggling. We cannot import goods because of US sanctions and because only the Guards or those linked to them control the economy. They only think about their own benefits," said a trader at Tehran’s centuries-old Grand Bazaar, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The wave of protests that has engulfed the country, posing one of the toughest challenges ever to the clerical leadership, erupted in late December in Tehran's Grand Bazaar, where hundreds of shopkeepers denounced the sharp fall in the rial currency.

The demonstrations quickly swelled and turned political, challenging the Islamic Republic's legitimacy. Protesters burned images of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and chanted "Death ‌to the dictator" - ‌undeterred by security forces armed with tear gas, batons, and, in many cases, live ammunition.

Iran’s ‌rulers, ⁠while acknowledging economic difficulties, have ‌blamed their longtime foes the US and Israel for fomenting the unrest. They appear intent on holding onto power at any cost, backed by a security apparatus refined over decades of suppressing ethnic revolts, student movements, and protests over economic hardship and social freedoms.

A combination of international sanctions and the Guards' sprawling economic empire has limited the government's ability to ease the dire economic situation.

Tehran-based analyst Saeed Laylaz said the government has lost control over the situation.

"What is striking is that the unrest began in the bazaar. For merchants, the core issue isn’t inflation - it’s price volatility, which leaves them unable to decide whether to buy or sell," he said.

Economic disparities between ordinary Iranians and the clerical and security elite, along with economic mismanagement and state corruption - ⁠reported even by state media - have fanned discontent at a time when inflation is pushing the price of many goods beyond the means of most people.

Iran's rial currency has lost nearly ‌half its value against the dollar in 2025, with official inflation reaching 42.5% in December.

CONTROL ‍OF SECTORS FROM OIL TO CONSTRUCTION

Created by the republic's ‍late founder Khomeini, the Guards first secured an economic foothold after the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, when clerical rulers allowed them ‍to invest in leading Iranian industries.

Their influence expanded exponentially over decades, benefiting from Khamenei's full backing and from opportunities created by Western sanctions, which effectively excluded Iran from the global financial and trading system.

The Guards now control vast sectors of the economy, from oil to transportation, communications, and construction.

Another trader said the crisis was not over, as the Guards have long proved adept at defending their economic interests.

"The government wants to resolve the problem, but it lacks the means and power in this system. The economy is not controlled by the government," said the trader, a 62-year-old carpet seller in Tehran.

All aspects of the country's sanctions-hit oil business have come under the growing influence of the ⁠Guards - from the shadow fleet of tankers that secretly ship sanctioned crude, to logistics and front companies selling the oil, mostly to China.

"No one knows how much of the oil money that the Guards get from selling Iran’s oil returns to the country ... they are too powerful to be questioned about it,” said a senior Iranian official, who asked not to be named.

During his 2013–2021 presidency, pragmatist Hassan Rouhani repeatedly clashed with the Guards, accusing them publicly of resisting budget cuts, while his attempts to curb their commercial networks and assets were largely frustrated.

THE ESTABLISHMENT RELIES ON THE GUARDS TO END UNREST

Even as it has relinquished economic power, the clerical establishment has relied on its loyal forces - the Guards and its affiliated Basij paramilitary - to violently crush ethnic uprisings, student unrest, and protests over economic hardship, preserving the political order.

"Given the sensitive circumstances when the country faces foreign threats, Khamenei cannot upset the Guards by curbing their economic influence. The establishment needs them to quell the protests and confront foreign threats," said an insider, close to Rouhani.

US-based rights group HRANA said it had verified the deaths of 544 people - 496 protesters and 48 security personnel - with 10,681 people arrested since ‌the protests began on December 28 and spread around the country. Reuters was unable to independently verify the tallies.

The authorities have not given numbers of casualties, but officials say many members of the security forces have been killed by "terrorists and rioters" linked to foreign foes, including the US States and Israel.

World

Greenland Says It Should Be Defended by NATO, Rejects Any US Takeover

A view of houses in Nuuk, Greenland, June 22, 2025. (AP)
A view of houses in Nuuk, Greenland, June 22, 2025. (AP)
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Greenland Says It Should Be Defended by NATO, Rejects Any US Takeover

A view of houses in Nuuk, Greenland, June 22, 2025. (AP)
A view of houses in Nuuk, Greenland, June 22, 2025. (AP)

Greenland's government said on Monday it will increase efforts to ensure the defense of the Arctic territory takes place under the auspices of NATO and again rejected US President Donald Trump's ambition to take over the island.

Trump has said the United States must own Greenland, an autonomous part of the Kingdom of Denmark, to prevent Russia ‌or China occupying the ‌strategically located and minerals-rich territory ‌in ⁠the future.

"All ‌NATO member states, including the United States, have a common interest in the defense of Greenland," the island's coalition government said in a statement, adding that it can in no way accept a US takeover of Greenland.

"As part of ⁠the Danish commonwealth, Greenland is a member of NATO and ‌the defense of Greenland ‍must therefore be through NATO," ‍the government said.

The European Union Commissioner ‍for Defense and Space Andrius Kubilius said earlier on Monday that any US military takeover of Greenland would be the end of NATO.

Trump first floated the idea of a US takeover of Greenland in 2019 during his first term ⁠in office, although he faces opposition in Washington, including from within his own party.

While Denmark has ruled Greenland for centuries, the territory has gradually been moving towards independence since 1979, a goal shared by all political parties elected to the island's parliament.

"We are a democratic society that makes our own decisions. And our actions are based on international law," Greenland's Prime Minister ‌Jens-Frederik Nielsen wrote on LinkedIn.