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Richard Tsong-Taatarii/The Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS

Border Cmdr. Greg Bovino has been ever-present during Twin Cities immigration crackdown

Current News / News & Features /

MINNEAPOLIS — He’s the ever-present face, sans mask, of the Trump administration’s seven-week-old-and-counting federal immigration crackdown in the Twin Cities.

Just as he’s done during enforcement actions in Chicago, Los Angeles and elsewhere, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commander at Large Greg Bovino shows up frequently in ...Read more

Andy Cross/The Denver Post/TNS

Adams County water district sues Denver over contamination from fire training facility

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DENVER — An Adams County water district filed a lawsuit against Denver on Tuesday, alleging that foam from the city’s fire training facility has contaminated its water for decades.

The South Adams County Water and Sanitation District says the city’s Roslyn Fire Training Facility, near the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge, ...Read more

Jeff Wheeler/The Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS

Minnesotans and ICE alike brace for subzero cold snap

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MINNEAPOLIS — Even in a state where the unofficial motto is “there is no bad weather, only bad clothing choices,” 20 degrees below zero is pretty bad weather.

Pipes burst. Boiling water tossed in the air freezes to snow before it hits the ground. Every bit of exposed skin hurts.

Now a cold front is about to sweep a week’s worth of ...Read more

Alejandro A. Alvarez/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

A major snowstorm is looking more likely this weekend for Philly, and maybe a white week

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PHILADELPHIA — Computer models continue to insist with a rather uncharacteristic certainty that the Philadelphia region and much of the Mid-Atlantic can expect a significant snowstorm during the weekend.

Now, when have they ever been wrong?

On Wednesday, models were in general agreement that Philly had a high likelihood of a snowfall of at ...Read more

Report accuses Michigan State Police director of disregarding policy, retaliation and racial discrimination

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LANSING, Mich. — A scathing report by the state House Oversight Committee accuses Michigan State Police Director Col. James Grady of routinely displaying a "disregard for past practice and policy," promoting key leadership personnel based solely on their race, and retaliating against anyone who questioned his decisions.

The 14-page report, ...Read more

Nancy Lane/Boston Herald/TNS

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu not backing down from tax shift bill after Senate rebuke

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BOSTON — Boston Mayor Michelle Wu wants opponents of her White Stadium plan to roll over and go away but she’s refusing to listen to lawmakers who have rejected numerous times her contentious tax shift bill.

Wu said twice this week that she intends to stick with her bill to override the state’s property tax law despite continued ...Read more

Fabrice Coffrini/Getty Images North America/TNS

Putin to meet US envoys as Trump pushes for Ukraine peace deal

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U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff said he and Jared Kushner will travel to Russia on Thursday for talks with President Vladimir Putin on the latest proposals for a peace plan to end the war in Ukraine.

“The Russians have invited us to come and that’s a significant statement from them,” Witkoff said in an interview with Bloomberg Television’s ...Read more

Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Trump tells Europe to hand over Greenland, but rules out force

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President Donald Trump upped the pressure on Europe to cede control of Greenland or face the consequences, saying that NATO owes it to the U.S. to grant it full rights to the Arctic island.

In a speech to the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday after prompting days of elevated transatlantic tensions over his plans, Trump said that he was...Read more

Monica Herndon/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

Disabled Delaware immigrant ordered back to Ecuador at climactic hearing on Tuesday

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PHILADELPHIA — A disabled Ecuadoran immigrant who was arrested and detained by ICE after he flagged down an officer in September was ordered back to his homeland on Tuesday.

Victor Acurio Suarez, who is 52 but childlike and unable to live on his own, was issued an order of voluntary departure by Immigration Judge Dennis Ryan.

That is not the...Read more

Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Trump at Davos seeks immediate talks on acquiring Greenland

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President Donald Trump said he was seeking immediate talks on the U.S. acquiring Greenland while saying he did not plan to use force, during an address to the world’s business and political elite in Davos on Wednesday.

“I’m seeking immediate negotiations to once again discuss the acquisition of Greenland by the United States, just as we ...Read more

Ronaldo Bolanos/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Copper thefts turned these upscale LA streets pitch dark. Frustrated residents are fighting back

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LOS ANGELES — It's been months since a swath of Hancock Park lost its streetlights — and it'll be several more long months of what residents say are "pitch black" streets and roaming burglars before there's a fix.

So neighbors have been improvising.

Last fall, copper thieves plundered about a dozen public streetlights over three city ...Read more

NASA head Isaacman tempers Artemis praise with ideas on program's future

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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — Even as NASA celebrated the rollout of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft for Artemis II over the weekend, NASA’s new administrator Jared Isaacman made sure to put an asterisk on the program’s future.

“The architecture you see behind us here with SLS and the Orion spacecraft is just the ...Read more

Fabrice Coffrini/Getty Images North America/TNS

US envoys to meet Putin on Ukraine peace plan, Witkoff says

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U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff said he and Jared Kushner will travel to Russia on Thursday for talks with President Vladimir Putin on the latest proposals for a peace plan to end the war in Ukraine.

“The Russians have invited us to come and that’s a significant statement from them,” Witkoff said in an interview with Bloomberg Television’s ...Read more

EU 'fully prepared' to hit back over Trump's Greenland tariffs

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The European Union is ready to strike back at Donald Trump over his tariff threats as he seeks to take Greenland, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said, toughening her rhetoric against the U.S. president.

“We are at a crossroads,” said von der Leyen, the top E.U. executive, speaking before the European Parliament in ...Read more

Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images AsiaPac/TNS

Ex-South Korea Prime Minister Han Duck-soo gets 23 years for martial law role

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Former South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo was sentenced to 23 years in prison, a term significantly longer than prosecutors had sought, for his role in an insurrection tied to former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s failed attempt to impose martial law in 2024.

The Seoul Central District Court on Wednesday declared Yoon’s bid to put the ...Read more

Shalina Chatlani/Stateline/TNS

AI therapy chatbots draw new oversight as suicides raise alarm

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Editor’s note: If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org.

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States are passing laws to prevent artificially intelligent chatbots, such as ChatGPT, from being able to offer mental health advice to young ...Read more

Alex Kormann/The Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS

How the whistle became an anti-ICE rallying cry in Minneapolis

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MINNEAPOLIS — The ICE operations on Minneapolis street corners are often heard before they are seen, as protesters and local residents fill the air with the piercing sound of whistles.

Activists, observers and other concerned residents are using the omnipresent whistles to bring attention to the scene of raids and other ICE activity, as the ...Read more

Clarens Siffroy/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Why a Haitian police officer's request for ammunition, assault rifles raises eyebrows

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On the surface, it appeared to be a reasonable security proposal: extend the perimeter around Haiti’s National Palace grounds, replace aging weapons and add more officers to guard against gang attacks.

But the acquisition request submitted late last year by the police officer charged with overseeing Haiti’s elite presidential security units...Read more

Elizabeth Flores/The Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS

This west-central Minnesota city is rich with immigrants and conservatives. Views on ICE are complicated

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WILLMAR, Minn. — Frieda’s Cafe is a classic hometown diner on the edge of this downtown, known for homemade caramel rolls and pancakes the size of your head. A bowl near the cash register offers free miniature Bibles as servers pour 50-cent coffees.

The restaurant is surrounded by businesses that show how Willmar stands out as one of ...Read more

Anthony Soufflé/The Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS

Somalisnaps uses social media to inform and comfort community

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MINNEAPOLIS — When filmmaker Abdi Mohamed wanted to debunk rumors that Somalis didn’t care about Renee Good’s death, he knew just where to go.

His video of Somalis distributing free sambusas and chai to ICE protesters got more than 4,200 likes on Instagram after it was shared on the account Somalisnaps, the Minneapolis-based marketing ...Read more