Monday morning news: January 12, 2026

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Iran protest deaths » Activists say Iran’s crackdown on nationwide protests has now killed well over 500 people, with thousands more detained as demonstrations stretch into a third week.

A U.S.-based human rights group reports more than 10,000 arrests and says most of those killed were protesters.

Iranian-born British actress and activist Nazanin Boniadi says the protests started over Iran’s struggling economy and plummeting currency, but:

BONIADI: This time, there is no demand other than “we want you gone.” This time it's unequivocal that what they're saying is, “we want this regime gone.”

Protests continued Sunday in Tehran and other major cities. Iranian officials warned that U.S. or Israeli forces could become targets if outside powers intervene.

Cuba warning » President Trump is warning Cuba to strike a deal with the United States after the ouster of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.

Cuba has long relied on Venezuelan oil, but shipments have stopped as U.S. forces seize tankers and move to control Venezuela’s exports.

In a social media post, Trump said Cuba benefited from Venezuelan oil and money in exchange for security support, but said that arrangement is over. He urged Havana to “make a deal” without going into detail.

Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel fired back online, blaming U.S. sanctions for Cuba’s deepening economic crisis.

SOUND: ICE protests in Minnesota

MN immigration shooting latest » Protesters screaming in Minneapolis days after an immigration enforcement agent shot and killed a woman who federal officials say tried to hit him with her vehicle.

US House Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota is accusing the state’s Democratic Gov. Tim Walz of fomenting unrest.

EMMER: Tim Walz should have come out right away and said, “Everybody, be calm, withhold your judgment. We know that this is a very, uh, sensitive matter. Let law enforcement do their work.”

Democrats say the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration is to blame.

Newly released cell phone video is adding fresh detail to the shooting of Renee Nicole Good. The video shows Good apparently moving her vehicle back and forth as agents try to get around her.

Federal officials say the footage supports their claim that Good was interfering with the operation and posed a threat. But Minnesota Democrats say the video shows her trying to leave, not attack anyone.

Thune govt shutdown » Two months after ending the longest government shutdown in US history, Congress is staring down the barrel at another potential shutdown.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune says he’s hopeful that there’s enough common ground to avoid that.

THUNE:  Let's do the basic things that the American people expect, and funding the government is one of those, and I'm hopeful, um, that we'll have some cooperation from Democrats.

The stopgap funding bill passed back in November only keeps the bills paid through the end of this month.

At the center of last year’s 43-day shutdown was a demand by Democrats that Republicans agree to extend Obamacare subsidies.

The House just passed a bill agreeing to do just that, but the Senate is still deciding how to proceed on healthcare spending.

Mars landing » NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman says he believes the United States can land astronauts on Mars in the years ahead.

President Trump has repeatedly pledged that the US would become the first country to do that, even saying his administration aims to do it by the end of his second term.

And Isaacman says that’s the kind of vision that gets everyone excited.

ISASSCMAN: I love President Trump's ambitious and achievable vision of American astronauts going to Mars and planting the stars and stripes. We've gone to our very close neighbor the moon, we will return, but to actually set a goal to travel to a planet other than our own for the first time ever is just so inspiring.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has expressed his interest in landing humans on Mars and wants to do it as soon as 2029.

I’m Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: U.S. immigration judges decide what amounts to persecution to trigger asylum. Plus, The Monday Moneybeat with David Bahnsen.

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