A (0:00)

Today is Thursday, January 15th. We'll break down the latest on tensions with Iran, including where US Troops are now evacuating and what leaders around the world are saying about potential military action. Also, what to know about new clashes between ICE and protesters in Minnesota as another person is shot and why the FBI conducted a rare search of a reporter's home. Plus, which major US Luxury retailer has filed for bankruptcy, what music many Americans seem to prefer these days and and how a surprisingly popular show is boosting hockey fandom and gym memberships. Those stories and even more news to know next. Welcome to the Newsworthy all the days news in less than 15 minutes. I'm Erica. Mandy. Thanks so much for being here. Let's do this. The US Is on high alert as it faces a potential military conflict with Iran. Just yesterday, some American troops and equipment were evacuated from an air base in Qatar and several other bases in the region. But then President Trump made it seem like the US Was taking a wait and see approach instead of going ahead with an attack right away. He explained by saying the Iranian regime has stopped its brutal crackdown on protesters, specifically that it's backed down from its plan to execute those who had been detained, though he also said he received that information from sources and would find out later if it was accurate. So Trump didn't take US Military action off the table completely. And Reuters cites European officials who actually say an American military intervention could come in the next 24 hours. An Israeli official also said it seemed President Trump had decided to intervene. Remember, Trump has repeatedly said the US Would stand up for protesters in Iran, and thousands of them have already reportedly been killed. Some Iranian officials confirm the number is in the thousands. Other Iranian officials say that's not true and that the higher figures are just part of a misinformation campaign meant to drag the US Into a conflict. Iran also warns if the US does get the military involved, American bases in places like Saudi Arabia, the UAE and elsewhere could also be attacked. The UN Security Council is set to meet today about Iran at the request of the US well, more violence has broken out in Minneapolis as backlash grows over an immigration crackdown. Last night, authorities say an ICE agent shot a man in the leg. They say the agent was trying to make an arrest when he was attacked by multiple people with a shovel and a broom handle. So he took a shot in self defense. The man who was shot is now in the hospital but is expected to be okay. Two other people are now in custody. The incident made things even more tense in a city that's been on high alert already near the site of the shooting last night, federal officers and protesters squared off. A group of officers wearing gas masks and helmets fired tear gas and grenades into a crowd while protesters threw snowballs and chanted our streets. It's a scene that's become common all around Minneapolis. ICE agents have pulled people from cars and homes and have been confronted by angry bystanders who are demanding officers leave their city, The Trump administration says. Overall, more than 2,000 arrests have been made since the operation began in Minneapolis. On the ICE website, more than 200 are listed as convicted felons. About 100 are considered to be violent criminals. But many ICE observers are asking questions about the other 95% of people who have been detained. During a televised speech last night, Minnesota Governor Tim Walls described his state as being in chaos, saying what's happening defies belief. He he promised accountability will be coming through the courts. There is a lawsuit now challenging the tactics used by federal officers when they encounter protesters. Another is requesting the federal government pause its immigration crackdown in Minnesota altogether. Both were filed after the death of Renee Good, who was shot by an ICE officer last week. More information is still coming out about that incident as well. For example, the Homeland Security Department now says the ICE officer who shot Good suffered internal bleeding to his torso during the encounter, though DHS is not giving many other details, like about the extent of the bleeding or exactly how the injury happened. Remember, Good was killed while she was in the driver's seat of her suv. The Homeland Security Department says she was using her vehicle as a weapon. Critics say she was only trying to get out of harm's way. Good's family has now hired the same law firm that represented George Floyd's family in a $27 million settlement with Minneapolis. That law firm now says it's going to be conducting its own investigation and will publicly share what it learns. The US will stop process visas for people from 75 different countries, at least for now. The pause will impact applications from Latin American countries like Brazil and Colombia, South Asian countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh, and several from Africa, the Middle east, the Caribbean and beyond. The State Department says visa holders from those countries are more likely to rely on public assistance in the US And a directive last year told diplomats to make sure applicants would be financially self sufficient. So the US Government says it's putting the applications on hold while it makes sure all screening and vetting is as strict as it can be. This doesn't impact tourists, but people looking to immigrate permanently, typically through marriage, family ties or work sponsorship. Already, the State Department has revoked more than 100,000 visas in the last year. It's also adopted a stricter policy on granting all visas. And this week, the Brookings Institution put out a new report that found the US experienced negative net migration in 2025 for the first time in at least 50 years. In other words, more people left the country than entered the country. And that trend is expected to continue in 2026. A group of astronauts is headed back to Earth in the first medical evacuation of the International Space Station. Three American astronauts and one Japanese astronaut are returning now a month early. NASA hasn't said which astronaut has the medical issue or exactly what it is, but the agency does say that astronaut is stable and won't immediately have to go to the hospital. It also said it was not a work related injury on the space station. The group is set to arrive this morning. Now that these four astronauts have left, the ISS crew is down to just three others for the next few weeks, one American and two Russians. More news is still ahead, but first a break to talk about our sponsor. Government data has shown that each year Americans throw away about 25% more trash from Thanksgiving to New Year's. So now in 2026, I'm thinking about how I can personally make a difference. That's why I've made the switch to blueland across all the cleaning products in my home, especially going into the new year when I'm rethinking routines and trying to build more sustainable habits at home. Certified by Cradle to Cradle. Blueland products meet the highest standard of clean. They're effective, yet gentle on people and on the planet. From cleaning sprays and toilet bowl cleaner to dishwasher and laundry detergent tablets, Blueland's 100% microplastic free EPA safer choice certified formul are safe to use around my child and my cat in the house, which gives me so much peace of mind. I love not having to choose between the safe option and what actually gets my house clean. Blueland is trusted in over 1 million homes and now that includes mine. Blueland has a special offer for our listeners. So right now you can get 15% off your first order by going to blueland.comnewsworthy. you won't want to miss this. Blueland.comnewsworthy for 15% off. That's blueland.comnewsworthy to get 15% off. Now back to the news. Venezuela's opposition leader is visiting the White House. President Trump is set to meet with Maria Corina Machado today. Remember, she won the Nobel Peace prize for her work to promote democracy and human rights in Venezuela, and she's been supportive of President Trump's actions in the country. But Trump went along with Venezuelan Vice President Delsey Rodriguez taking over the country after Maduro's capture, allowing a top ally of Maduro's to hold on to power. The White House hasn't said exactly what Trump and Machado will be talking about, but Republicans expect it to be a long meeting. It's also not clear exactly what will come next for Venezuela, but at this point, it seems President Trump can act without worrying about getting approval from Congress. The Senate yesterday blocked a resolution that would have restricted further military action in Venezuela without lawmakers signing off. The vote was close, though Two of the five Republicans who had voted with all Democrats last week changed their votes this time, and that brought the final tally to 54 and 50 against. Vice President J.D. vance cast the tiebreaker vote. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is moving forward with its plan for Venezuelan oil. The first oil sale, valued at half a billion dollars, was completed yesterday, and now revenue from that sale is being held in bank accounts controlled by the US Government. More sales are expected in the coming days and weeks. President Trump is reiterating his desire to take over Greenland, even after a high stakes meeting between American d Danish and Greenlandic officials. Top diplomats from both Greenland and Denmark met with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President J.D. vance yesterday, and in the end, a top Danish official said there was still a fundamental disagreement over the territory. That said, they did agree to create a working group to talk about ways to work through their differences. Trump says anything less than Greenland being under American control is unacceptable, since he says Greenland and Denmark cannot be relied upon to protect the island against China and Russia. Meanwhile, Denmark announced plans to boost the country's military presence in the Arctic and North Atlantic. Several of the country's allies like Germany, France, Norway and Sweden are also joining Danish personnel in Greenland to take part in joint exercises or map out further military cooperation. Back in the U.S. president Trump's new special envoy to Greenland plans to travel to the nation's capital today for talks about the territory. The FBI conducted an exceptionally rare search of a journalist's home this week. Agents executed a search warrant at the home of a Washington Post reporter who's been covering President Trump's transformation of the federal government, including thousands of firings. She recently published a piece describing how she gained hundreds of new sources, leading one colleague to call her the federal government whisperer. Well, the search happened as part of an investigation into a government contractor's handling of classified material. And when the FBI agents left the home, they took with them a phone, two laptops and a Garmin watch. It was highly unusual because a 1980 law generally banned search warrants for reporters work materials unless the reporters themselves are suspected of committing a crime. Now, some free speech experts are condemning the move as an aggressive escalation that could undermine the freedom of the press. But President Trump says it helped the government catch a very bad leaker, and he suggested similar investigations are underway, saying, quote, we're hot on their trail. It's being described as one of the largest retail collapses since the pandemic. The parent company of Saks, Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman has filed for bankruptcy. The iconic US Luxury fashion brand never fully recovered from the pandemic as online competition rose and brands started selling more items through their own stores. For now, Saks says its stores will stay open. The bankruptcy process is meant to give the retailer room to negotiate a debt restructuring with creditors or find a new owner. If the company cannot do those things, it may be forced to close. More than 2 million Verizon customers across the US were impacted by a massive outage that lasted for more than seven hours yesterday. People could not make phone calls, send text messages, or browse on cellular networks, and several major cities had to tell people to use other carriers to call emergency services. Verizon said the issue was finally resolved last night, and it told customers if they're still having issues to restart their devices. The company did not say what might have caused this outage, though it says it doesn't seem to have been a cyberattack. It's now promising to offer account credits to customers. The global music industry hit a new record in 2025, racking up 5.1 trillion streams. That's according to an industry data and analytics company called Luminate that just put out its 2025 year end report. It notes how in the US a lot of people are into older music. Less than half of American on demand audio streams were from songs released just in the last five years. Of course, there are exceptions, like Taylor Swift's Life of a Showgirl and Morgan Wallen's I'm the Problem. If you add together sales, downloads and streaming activity, each of their albums reached the equivalent of more than 5 million full albums sold last year, and it's the first time two individual albums reach that milestone. By the way, the genre that saw the biggest uptick from 2024 was was Christian and gospel music, followed by rock and Latin music. That's it for the main news today. So now it's time for Thing to Know Thursday, an unexpected TV hit is doing something the NHL and some personal trainers have struggled to do for years getting more people into hockey and into the gym. The show is Heated Rivalry on HBO Max. It's a romance about two rival hockey stars, and fans aren't just binge watching, they're apparently bulking up on social media. Viewers say the show inspired them to start lifting weights, get back to spin class, or finally use that gym membership. Fitness instructors have even created heated rivalry themed workouts with a big focus on strength training. At the same time, interest in hockey is rising, especially among women and younger viewers who don't typically follow that sport. The show has been praised for humanizing hockey players as well, mixing physicality with vulnerability, and for giving LGBTQ audiences rare representation in men's sports. In fact, at least one real life hockey player says the show inspired him to come out. So whether it's Jim Gaines or new fans in the stands, a fictional rivalry appears to be having a very real world impact. And by the way, Heated Rivalry has officially been renewed for season two. Thank you so much for listening today. We'll catch you up on more news to know tomorrow. Until then, have a great day.