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Christopher Magan/The Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS

Sharp rise in deportation orders for Somalis in Minnesota

Current News / News & Features /

MINNEAPOLIS — More than 1,000 Somali asylum-seekers have been ordered deported since February, reflecting the Trump administration’s continued follow-through on last winter’s federal enforcement action in Minnesota.

More than half the deportation orders involve Somalis living in Minnesota, a nearly tenfold increase from 2025, according to...Read more

Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Trump offering $90 payments to 20 million Medicare recipients

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WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said his administration would soon send checks of “nearly $100” to more than 20 million older Americans to “help pay for their Medicare Part B premiums.”

The president, who made the announcement in a post on Truth Social late Friday, said the money would come from the Medicare Improvement Fund, ...Read more

Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Nurse convicted of murder in high-speed South LA car wreck that killed six

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LOS ANGELES — A traveling nurse who slammed her Mercedes into a crowded South L.A. intersection at 131 mph was convicted of murder on Friday afternoon after jurors rejected an argument that she had a seizure behind the wheel.

Several gasps and sobs erupted from some of the victims’ relatives as the verdict was read, and they later shared ...Read more

Halldor Kolbeins/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Iceland to broach defense cooperation as Rubio visits next week

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Iceland plans to discuss closer cooperation with the U.S., including on defense, as Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrives for a visit next week.

That’s after the U.S. struck a security deal over neighboring Greenland just last month.

“There are threats out there which make it important that we strengthen our solidarity,” Foreign ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

US Coast Guard intercepts ship bound for Cuba loaded with hidden fuel cargo

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The U.S. Coast Guard said Friday it intercepted a cargo ship in the Caribbean last month that was carrying fuel bound for Cuba, the latest move in a Trump administration campaign to cut off oil supplies to the Cuban government.

The Coast Guard did not say where the fuel aboard the container ship Grace was loaded or disclose the amount or type ...Read more

Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times/TNS

California state Capitol 'deemed safe' following threat, evacuation

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A threat at California’s state Capitol forced construction workers and legislative staff to evacuate for much of Friday, but the building will reopen for normal hours on Monday, officials said.

At around 5 p.m. Friday, the California Highway Patrol announced it had finished sweeping the construction site and the Capitol building in Sacramento...Read more

Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Court challenges mount over Trump's funding clawback

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WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is now facing a bevy of federal lawsuits over its effort to claw back about $810 million in federal funding without Congress’ approval.

The administration announced the cancellation last week, through a maneuver known as a “pocket rescission,” days before the funding expired at the end of the fiscal...Read more

Hector Amezcua/The Sacramento Bee/TNS

Over utility resistance, Northern California fire survivors' bill signed into law

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation mandating the state look into whether electrical utility companies can be pushed to pay more money to victims of destructive wildfires caused by Pacific Gas & Electric Co. before the company declared bankruptcy in 2019.

Victims of those fires, which included the Camp fire ...Read more

Santa Ana Police Department/Santa Ana Police Department/TNS

Anaheim woman charged with felony animal cruelty after allegedly killing puppy by driving her van over it

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ANAHEIM, Calif. — A 75-year-old Anaheim woman is facing felony animal cruelty and abuse charges after prosecutors allege she used dog food to lure her 9-month-old puppy under her van and then ran over and killed the pup.

Hanh Minh Nguyen is also facing a felony enhancement for using her vehicle as a weapon to kill Blackey, her black and white...Read more

Barry Williams/New York Daily News/TNS

Trump DOJ lawsuit using abortion-access law vs. pro-Palestinian activists is tossed

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A federal judge has dismissed a first-of-its-kind lawsuit brought by the Trump Justice Department against pro-Palestinian activists who opposed a New Jersey auction of land in Gaza and the West Bank, partly finding the government’s legal logic — hinging on a law created to protect abortion providers — sought to “demonize” protesters ...Read more

News briefs

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Guns, voting and immigration on deck for Supreme Court

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court begins its new term Monday facing cases on Americans’ civil rights, federalist struggles between states and the federal government, and the looming specter of more last-second litigation over the coming midterm elections.

The court, currently controlled ...Read more

Win McNamee/Getty Images North America/TNS

Trump set to name Jay Clayton as AI czar with safety fear rising

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WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is expected to name U.S. Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton as his next artificial intelligence czar, according to people familiar with the matter, tasking him with spurring the technology’s development even as it faces backlash over safety risks.

The president may reveal Clayton’s ...Read more

Sean Gallup/Getty Images North America/TNS

Joshua tree preservation projects scrapped after Trump administration blocks funding

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LOS ANGELES — A slate of projects aimed at preserving the future of the iconic Joshua tree has been scrapped after the Trump administration blocked more than $25 million in funding for national parks this year.

The funding already had been secured for more than 130 agreements with outside partners that would have supported projects in ...Read more

A 20-year-old Amish woman with leukemia got measles and died in Pa.'s largest outbreak in three decades

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PHILADELPHIA — The headstone had not yet been placed Thursday on the freshly dug grave where a 20-year-old Amish woman was buried this week amid the rolling clover fields and dairy farms at the edge of suburban Philadelphia.

Newly wed, and receiving treatment for blood cancer, she was the last of nine siblings sickened when measles swept ...Read more

Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times/TNS

LAFD acknowledges missteps involving Palisades fire following independent investigation

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LOS ANGELES — In the wake of an independent report, the Los Angeles Fire Department acknowledged missteps leading up to the 2025 Palisades fire and in its initial response to the blaze, which killed 12 people and destroyed more than 6,800 structures.

An investigation commissioned by Gov. Gavin Newsom found the Fire Department ignored multiple...Read more

Jose Luis Villegas/The Sacramento Bee/TNS

California leads lawsuit challenging Trump's rollback of fuel economy rules

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California is leading a coalition of states and local governments in suing the Trump administration over its rollback of federal vehicle mileage standards, alleging the new rules illegally weaken fuel-economy requirements for cars and light trucks.

The lawsuit, filed Friday by California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta and a group of 26 states, counties ...Read more

K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal/TNS

Woman injured from mechanical ride at Fremont Street bar, lawsuit alleges

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LAS VEGAS — A woman has sued a Fremont Street bar after she said she was injured when thrown from a “mechanical penis” ride last year.

The Wednesday filing in Clark County District Court alleges the injury occurred on a bull ride-like attraction at The Nerd, located in the Neonopolis shopping center.

Plaintiff Amber Zabran is suing The ...Read more

High school in Santa Barbara rocked by blackface TikTok post. NAACP calls for 'systemic change'

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LOS ANGELES —A viral TikTok post showing four students at a Santa Barbara-area high school in blackface sparked outrage and calls for increased punishment as a community reckoned with allegations of racism on campus.

The four female students were identified and disciplined, according to officials at San Marcos High School and the Santa ...Read more

Ludovic Marin/Pool/AFP/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/TNS

G7 to release up to 100 million barrels of diesel, crude

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The Group of Seven nations and its partners plan to release as much as 100 million barrels of emergency oil and diesel stocks, capping a week of mounting pressure from the Trump administration to bring down soaring fuel prices.

The release, coordinated by the International Energy Agency, will take place over the next four months, with an ...Read more

Tierney L. Cross/Getty Images North America/TNS

Virginia Beach schools violated Title IX for years, feds find. It may be more complicated

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VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — A review by the federal Department of Education found the public school system of Virginia Beach had violated federal Title IX law for years, asserting that school officials failed to “adequately investigate and record reports of sexual misconduct against students.”

The federal agency’s Office of Civil Rights and ...Read more