In today’s newsletter: Two wounded after they were shot by a Border Patrol agent in Portland, a day after the fatal incident in Minneapolis. AI-generated images in the wake of the Venezuela attack stir suspicion and confusion about real news. And Russia attacked Ukraine with a new hypersonic ballistic missile.
Here’s what to know today.
Two people shot by Border Patrol agent in Portland just one day after Minneapolis shooting
Two people were wounded yesterday after being shot by a Border Patrol agent in Portland, Oregon, police said, in what federal officials called an act of self-defense during a targeted vehicle stop.
Officers found a male and a female with apparent gunshot wounds at the scene. The two were transported to a hospital and “their conditions are unknown,” police said.
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The Department of Homeland Security said agents were targeting the passenger, a Venezuelan in the U.S. without authorization who is a suspected gang member.
The driver allegedly “weaponized his vehicle” and tried to run them over, a DHS spokesperson said.
Portland Mayor Keith Wilson said that the Trump administration’s account of events can no longer be trusted.
“We know what the federal government says happened here,” Wilson, a Democrat, said at a news conference. “There was a time that we could take them at their word. That time has long passed.”
The shooting came one day after Renee Nicole Good, 37, a U.S. citizen and mother, was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis while she was in her car.
Wilson said he spoke with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.
“We shared not just our concerns, but our grief for the families that are suffering and grief for the recklessness of our federal government,” Wilson said.
Read what else we know and follow live updates here.
More on the Minneapolis shooting:
- Videos contradict President Donald Trump’s claim a Minneapolis driver “viciously ran over” an officer in the fatal ICE shooting.
- The ICE officer who fatally shot a Renee Nicole Good was previously dragged by a car during an incident in June, a DHS spokeswoman said.
- Just a few hours after the Minneapolis shooting yesterday, U.S. Border Patrol agents clashed with teachers and protesters at a high school in the area.
- Vice President JD Vance said Good’s death was “a tragedy of her own making.”
AI is intensifying a 'collapse' of trust online, experts say
For years, seeing was believing. Now, what’s fake often looks real and what’s real often looks fake. Within the first week of 2026, that has already become a conundrum many media experts say will be hard to move past, thanks to advances in artificial intelligence.
President Donald Trump’s Venezuela operation almost immediately spurred the spread of AI-generated images, old videos and altered photos across social media.
X owner Elon Musk was among those sharing what appeared to be an AI-generated video of Venezuelans thanking the U.S. for capturing Nicolás Maduro.
The confusion around AI content comes as many social media platforms have given users incentives to recycle old photos and videos to ramp up emotion around viral news moments. The amalgam of misinformation, experts say, is creating a heightened erosion of trust online.
Related news:
- Trump says he plans to meet with Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado in the U.S. next week.
- Trump administration officials briefed lawmakers this week on a new legal opinion justifying the operation to capture Maduro and his wife.
- Venezuela is releasing political prisoners, a move that could be the first sign the new government is bending to pressure from the U.S. on the issue.
Russia attacks Ukraine with new Oreshnik ballistic missile
Russia attacked Ukraine overnight with a new hypersonic ballistic missile, an advanced weapon capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.
President Vladimir Putin has boasted the Oreshnik missile is impossible to intercept as it can travel up to 10 times the speed of sound, but analysts have questioned this claim.
The Russian Defense Ministry said early Friday that it had carried out the “massive strike” against critically important targets.
December jobs report will offer a final read on 2025 employment
As the steady flow of government data resumes after the longest shutdown in U.S. history, today’s jobs report will offer the final read on how the labor market performed in 2025.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics will return to its regularly scheduled release, with December payrolls and unemployment data set to be published later this morning.
Economists largely expect to see a rebound from the weakness seen in recent months.
Overall, the U.S. economy is expected to have added 73,000 jobs in December, with unemployment projected to nudge down to 4.5%, according to economists surveyed by Dow Jones.
Iranian government shuts down internet as violent crackdown continues
Iran’s supreme leader signaled a hard line Friday against protesters rocking the Islamic Republic, accusing them of acting on behalf of President Donald Trump.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said demonstrators were “ruining their own streets to make the president of another country happy,” according to news agencies.
Khamenei signaled authorities would intensify their crackdown on protests, with the internet shut down nationwide and international calls not reaching the country.
Protests erupted in several cities on Thursday despite clashes with security forces that have left dozens dead.
Shops were shuttered in the main bazaar of capital Tehran and smaller cities, according to online video, as inflation soared and the Iranian currency crashed against the U.S. dollar this week.
Demonstrations — which have raged for 12 days — have also taken a more political tone, with protesters chanting against Khamenei.
Read All About It
- Alleged killer Luigi Mangione returns to court today for a crucial hearing where his defense attorneys will ask a judge to toss out two of the four federal counts against him.
- Miami defeated Ole Miss 31-27 to advance to their first College Football Playoff final in more than two decades.
- Two-time Olympic gold medalist Chloe Kim dislocated her shoulder and is unsure if she’ll compete in the Winter Games next month.
- Harvey Weinstein is considering pleading guilty to a third-degree rape charge to avoid facing trial for a third time, his lawyer said.
- The House voted to revive expired Obamacare funds for three years, but Republican leaders in the Senate have pronounced the legislation dead on arrival.
- NASA said that it will bring four astronauts aboard the International Space Station back to Earth earlier than planned because of a medical issue.
Staff Pick: An advocate fighting maternal mortality becomes its latest statistic
When Janell Green Smith, a passionate 31-year-old midwife, became pregnant with her first child, she and her husband were overjoyed.
But she was also nervous. She had devoted her career to improving health outcomes for women in her position: Black mothers-to-be, who are three times more likely than their white counterparts to die from pregnancy or childbirth-related causes.
Green Smith died on New Year’s Day, less than a week after she gave birth to her baby girl, following a surgical complication from her C-section incision site.
Her death has left family, friends and colleagues stunned.
In conversations with NBC News, all expressed the same sentiment: How could this happen to a woman who was fighting to eradicate this very problem?
Hearing about Green Smith’s larger-than-life personality and her dedication to the hundreds of mothers she helped gave me clear insight into the effervescent person she was — and served as a reminder that behind every maternal death in this country is a person whose life shouldn’t have been cut short.
— Elizabeth Chuck, national reporter
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