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Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Europe returns focus to Ukraine after fractious week with Trump

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Europe is ready to get back to work with the United States, wary, frustrated and knowing it can’t trust an ally it’s relied on for decades.

With Donald Trump’s threats to seize Greenland off for now, European Union leaders at an emergency summit in Brussels on Thursday said the bloc should now return to a to-do list that was already long ...Read more

Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune/TNS

State finds nearly $500 million in budget reserves amid federal funding uncertainty

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Gov. JB Pritzker’s administration on Thursday announced it has identified nearly $500 million it will keep in budget reserves following the governor’s request last year that state agencies identify 4% of their budgets to hold back amid federal budget uncertainty.

While the trims affect the current budget year, they come as Illinois ...Read more

Hector Amezcua/The Sacramento Bee/TNS

State doesn't have enough money for affordable housing fund, lawmakers say

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California lawmakers halted a legislative proposal to pump funding into combating homelessness and housing insecurity on Thursday, as the Assembly Appropriations Committee confronted a state budget deficit that may not let them address one of California’s most troubling issues with funding at the scale they would like.

...Read more

Alex Kormann/Star Tribune/TNS

After 15 days, county medical examiner classifies Renee Good's death as homicide

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More than two weeks after she was shot and killed by a federal immigration agent, the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the death of Renee Good a homicide.

The office released the information on Jan. 22 in a form that was posted to its public data portal. The disclosure indicated she was shot multiple times, but offered no ...Read more

Jesse Ward/New York Daily News/TNS

Colombo crime family heir apparent promised to steer clear, but feds say he's running the family

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He’s now the boss of the Colombo crime family, the feds say — and his decision to hold court at a family Christmas party in Brooklyn could land him back in the can.

Theodore “Skinny Teddy” Persico Jr., the nephew of notorious Colombo boss Carmine “The Snake” Persico,” has officially taken the title once held by his late uncle, ...Read more

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images North America/TNS

Trump says Board of Peace withdrawing invite to Canada's Carney

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WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said that his new Board of Peace was withdrawing Canada’s invitation to join, days after Prime Minister Mark Carney issued a withering speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos warning against coercive tactics by the world’s great powers.

“Dear Prime Minister Carney: Please let this Letter serve to ...Read more

Richard Tsong-Taatarii/Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS

Washington bill would ban ICE agents from law enforcement jobs in the state

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As ICE agents ramp up activity around the country, Democratic state lawmakers in their second week of the legislative session continue to introduce legislation to push back against the agency's actions.

On Wednesday, Rep. Tarra Simmons, D-Bremerton, introduced the ICE Out Act of 2026, a proposal aimed at barring ICE agents from later becoming ...Read more

Los Angeles Police Department/Los Angeles Police Department/TNS

Transnational jewelry theft ring busted after monthlong investigation, LAPD says

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LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Police Department announced Thursday it busted an organized crime group that targeted jewelry and retail businesses in the U.S. and abroad, including a theft in Los Angeles last month.

A monthlong investigation led to the arrests of two people and the identification of six others sought in connection with a ...Read more

Can San Francisco Bay Area liberals connect with conservative Texans? What a viral phone booth proved

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A rather peculiar red phone booth appeared outside a San Francisco tattoo parlor this week urging residents in one of America's most liberal cities to "call a Republican."

Its counterpart, a blue phone booth, sits outside a bookshop in the staunchly conservative town of Abilene, Texas, where it encourages locals to "call a Democrat."

Together ...Read more

Rebecca Noble/Getty Images North America/TNS

Western governors called to Washington as Colorado River impasse drags on

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With western states deadlocked in negotiations over how to cut water use along the Colorado River, the Trump administration has called in the governors of seven states to Washington to try to hash out a consensus.

The governors of at least four — Utah, Arizona, Nevada and Wyoming — say they’ll attend the meeting next week led by Interior ...Read more

CJ Gunther/Boston Herald/TNS

Massachusetts Republicans react to Gov. Maura Healey's State of the Commonwealth address

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BOSTON — Republican state Rep. Ken Sweezey hammered Gov. Maura Healey for placing blame on President Trump for the Bay State’s woes.

Soaring energy costs, illegal immigration bills, and quality of life issues plaguing Massachusetts are not D.C.’s fault, he said in a rebuttal to the governor’s State of the Commonwealth address.

Sweezey,...Read more

MANDEL NGAN/Getty Images North America/TNS

Gov. Tate Reeves issues 'state of emergency' as winter storm nears Mississippi

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Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves issued a “state of emergency” on Thursday in advance of a winter storm expected to cripple the Deep South with freezing rain and snow.

The announcement Thursday afternoon means state leaders can more quickly help counties affected by the storm.

“Please continue to monitor the forecast,” Reeves said in a ...Read more

Carlos Gonzalez/Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS

Detainment of 5-year-old boy draws international attention and support for his family

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The 5-year-old boy from Columbia Heights who was detained with his father this week is drawing international attention as both remain in a San Antonio, Texas, family detention facility.

The preschooler, Liam Conejo Ramos, and his father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, were detained in their driveway after arriving home from school on Jan. 20.

...Read more

Alexander Kazakov/Pool/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Putin discusses Ukraine deal with US envoys Witkoff and Kushner

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Russian President Vladimir Putin held more than three hours of talks with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in the Kremlin on the latest peace plan aimed at ending his war in Ukraine.

“It’s so good to see you,” Witkoff said at the start of the meeting as Putin shook hands with the envoys in a video posted on the Kremlin’s ...Read more

Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

'Utter disgust' over Miami Beach nightclub playing 'Heil Hitler' song for influencers

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MIAMI — The owners of Vendome have scheduled a sit-down with Jewish community leaders after officials and members of the public expressed outrage over a series of viral videos that appear to show controversial influencers partying to Kanye West’s song “Heil Hitler” inside the Miami Beach nightclub.

Miami Beach Commissioner Joseph ...Read more

Katharine Wilson/Baltimore Sun/TNS

2 bills aimed to rein in ICE heard by Maryland senate committee

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Maryland Democrats are pushing legislation that would bar local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement and prohibit law enforcement officers from wearing face coverings, drawing objections from sheriffs who warned the measures could undermine their work and Republicans who downplayed concerns about ICE in the state.

Both bills, which ...Read more

CJ Gunther/Boston Herald/TNS

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey blasts Trump team, vows to lower bills

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BOSTON — Gov. Maura Healey delivered the State of the Commonwealth address to a packed chamber, diving right into the political hurdle of affordability before pivoting into an attack on President Donald Trump just days after kicking off her reelection bid.

The governor went right to the two main themes of her address: touting what she calls ...Read more

Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times/TNS

CSU faculty settle with university on disclosure of personal data to federal investigators

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California State University has settled a lawsuit with its faculty union that restricts the university from divulging personal information to federal agencies investigating antisemitism on campus without the employee's knowledge, union leaders said.

The settlement requires CSU to notify employees "as soon as reasonably practicable" before ...Read more

Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Arctic blast brings warnings, closures and cancellations

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CHICAGO — With frigid temperatures sweeping into the region, Chicagoans are being asked to take precautions and make alternate plans as the brutal cold closes area schools and sinks plans for a weekend polar plunge.

The National Weather Service has issued an extreme cold warning from 3 a.m. Friday until noon for central Cook County, including...Read more

Mara H. Gottfried/Pioneer Press/TNS

Minnesota prisons chief accuses Homeland Security of peddling 'misinformation' on ICE surge

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MINNEAPOLIS — The head of Minnesota’s prison system accused U.S. Department of Homeland Security, or DHS, officials of spreading “misinformation” by falsely saying the state releases “criminal illegal aliens” to the public rather than turning them over to immigration officials.

At a news conference Thursday, Corrections Commissioner...Read more