Donald Trump's tone on Minneapolis has changed in the last 24 hours. He’s now having conciliatory meetings and phone calls with State Governor Tim Walz and the city's Mayor Jacob Frey.
And it looks like he’s removed his Border Commander Gregory Bovino and put him out to pasture in California. What's behind the change of heart? Was it the polls? The murder of American citizens? Or the fact that his administration’s account of the killings has been flatly caught out by camera evidence. Is his ICE policy in meltdown? Or just on hold?
Later - how extremism is climbing in the UK pushed by social media algorithms - Andy Hughes from The Crime Agents joins us.
The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/
Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman has renounced the party that gave her power, and defected to Reform. She's telling us today that Britain is broken and “she” (Britain, not Suella) was “suffering”.
Are Reform better off with her? Are the Tories better off without her? And has it been enough of a distraction from the Andy Burnham saga to give Keir Starmer a lucky break?
Later, is Trump panicking about his ICE strategy after the latest murder of a US citizen on the streets of Minneapolis?
The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/
In Minneapolis right now, there are more ICE and border patrol agents than there are police officers. The national guard - the army - is on standby to deploy to the city.
Everybody in the city has a story about being targeted by ICE. Many now carry passports on them when they leave the house. If they are fortunate enough not to have been stopped themselves, they will know a neighbour, a friend, a colleague or a relative. Some Minnesotans literally do not know where their family have been taken.
State senators have told The News Agents there is "a war against the State" being waged by the federal government.
And in this new kind of authoritarianism, there has been a remarkable reaction. Citizens taking to the streets on patrols, huge community mobilisation, delivering food and goods to those too afraid to leave their homes. Plane spotters, monitoring ICE deportation flights that the administration no longer publicly records.
If that all sounds like a democratic breakdown - there is a good case to be made that this is exactly what is happening, what Donald Trump is intent on unleashing on a Democratic stronghold that is home to America's largest Somali community.
Lewis has this special report from Minneapolis and St Paul in Minnesota.
Everyone’s been talking about the Beckhams and Naomi Osaka this week. Hard to believe a family feud and a jellyfish outfit at the Australian Open have anything in common - but where Sir Alex Ferguson used to fight to keep David Beckham's focus on the pitch, sport is now embracing fashion like never before...
Lewis Hamilton and Serena Williams pictured at the Met Gala, Stella McCartney designing Arsenal kits, and the famous NBA Tunnel Walks.
Have we all grown up enough to appreciate that athletes having other interests doesn’t mean they aren’t distracted from getting the win? How much money does Naomi Osaka going viral as a jellyfish make for brands and athletes? And should more sports be using fashion to grow the game?
Gabby is joined by The Athletic's Tennis Correspondent, Charlie Eccleshare, and Mayowa Quadri, Football Culture Writer and Head of Brand at Versus.
Plus, we look back at the best bits of The Sports Agents this week: should managers like Oliver Glasner and clubs like Crystal Palace should accept their place in the football food chain? And is a female coach in the Premier League really the holy grail or not?
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Executive Producer: Adonis Pratsides
Producer: Sophie Penney
Video Producer: Sam Trudgill
Social Media Editor: Calum Scotland
Tom Hughes is Editor for The News Agents podcast network
Vicky Etchells is the Commissioning Editor for Global
You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The Sports Agents".
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Originally intended to be a small group overseeing a ceasefire in Gaza, Trump's Board of Peace has evolved into something much bigger. Apparently "a lot of great people" want to join, but who’s going to pay the billion dollars to sit on it? And what are Trump's real aspirations for the Board of Peace? On today’s show we try and break down what he’s hoping to achieve, whether the UN should feel threatened and why there’s no mention of Gaza in the draft text.
Later, we are joined by Peter Frankopan - did Trump “get" Greenland or has NATO just found a way to make him think so?
The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/
Donald Trump took to the stage at Davos to take the military invasion of Greenland off the table, cue sighs of relief from European leaders and NATO.
But his ambitions for the US to own the territory have gone nowhere. He still wants to acquire it, and demanded immediate negotiations to begin that process. Increasingly. it seems that America's one-time allies have grown impatient with Trump's belligerent approach. What happens if he doesn’t get what wants? And is Europe actually growing a bit of a spine?
It was a rambling speech from Donald Trump, in which he appeared to forget names, and frequently referred to Greenland as Iceland. Is it any surprise that his critics are starting to hone in on his mental acuity?
The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/
We bring you a special report today of the 'dark flights' that are deporting hundreds of people - the vast majority of them here legally - in shackles from Minnesota to Texas detention centres.
There is no official record these flights exists, so one man - an aviation specialist - has made it his life’s work to document each flight that leaves and count the number of people who are being "disappeared" without trace.
But - on this inauguration anniversary - we start with the latest conundrum for the world’s leaders: who is Trump threatening to invade now? And can any of their words make a difference to what comes out of his mouth next?
The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/
Emily and Lewis report from Minneapolis which has become the dark heart of President Trump's ICE agent immigration crackdown. We patrol the streets with ICE watchers - witnessing a raid alongside the patrollers literally sounding the alarm. We are at a far right rally - watching a January 6th insurrectionist get chased out of town. And we are with people from Somali and Latino communities who describe to us how their lives have been turned upside down by Trump's random and often lawless deportation plans.
Why Minneapolis? Why now? And could Trump really send the army to the streets of the city?
Later - Trump suggests he wants Greenland because he didn’t get given the Nobel peace prize. Yes, really. How will this work out for Europe and NATO?
The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/
Just a few months ago, historian and author Rutger Bregman found himself at the centre of a very British controversy. He had been asked to deliver a BBC Reith lecture. His theme was the decadence of the political elite and in his lecture, he made a throw away line about President Trump. But when the lecture was broadcast, that critical line had been taken out. What followed was a row about censorship, media power and truth.
This Friday, Rutger Bregman joins Lewis in the studio to talk about that controversy, why broadcasters must stand up to Trump, and our moral obligations in a divisive political society.
The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/
Hosts Morocco face Senegal in the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final on Sunday. At this AFCON almost 40% of players were born outside Africa, like the face of the tournament Ashraf Hakimi.
So where should teams be putting their money - improving recruitment from the diaspora or investing more at home? What needs to change to attract these players? And can Sadio Mane and Senegal stop the powerhouse of Morocco from winning their first AFCON in 50 years?
Gabby and Mark are joined by former Premier League defender and Sierra Leone captain, Steven Caulker, and The Athletic's Jay Harris.
Plus, we look back at the best bits of The Sports Agents this week, from the civil war in golf after Brooks Koepka's departure, to the unbelievable story of Macclesfield's rise from the ashes to pull off the greatest FA Cup upset ever against holders Crystal Palace.
📩 Got a question? Send it here: https://forms.gle/9SBbW1SYWqXLKnRT7
💭 Tell us your thoughts in our listener survey: https://forms.gle/YMUvajQktqBuimgh6
🖥️ Watch our full episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SportsAgentsPod
📱Follow us on socials:
TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@thesportsagents
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thesportsagents/
X - https://x.com/sportsagentspod
📥 Email: [email protected]
Executive Producer: Adonis Pratsides
Producer: Sophie Penney
Video Producer: Sam Trudgill
Social Media Editor: Calum Scotland
Tom Hughes is Editor for The News Agents podcast network
Vicky Etchells is the Commissioning Editor for Global
You can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The Sports Agents".
👕 The Sports Agents have merch! You can buy yours now: https://store.global.com/collections/the-sports-agents
The politician who once complained of not seeing enough "white faces" in Birmingham probably had a very white one himself this morning.
Robert Jenrick's apparent imminent plot to defect to Reform was left in tatters when his party leader Kemi Badenoch uncovered the plan, sacked him and booted him out of the party, and announced it to the world on a polished video clip.
What happens now to the shadow justice secretary - as was - and to both the Tory party and Reform?
Emily and Lewis speak to theTory party anthropologist Paul Goodman.
The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/