News briefs

Tribune News Service on Jan 23, 2026

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Texas family begs ICE to release man so he can be with his dying son

FORT WORTH, Texas — The family of an Arlington man arrested by immigration authorities is demanding his release so he can be with his disabled son during his son’s final hours.

The man, Maher Tarabishi, was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Oct. 28. Before his arrest, Maher Tarabishi was the primary caretaker for his son Wael Tarabishi, who has a rare disease that has left him unable to move or breathe on his own. Wael, 30, has Pompe disease, which causes muscle deterioration and weakness. Wael was hospitalized on Dec. 24, and his condition has steadily worsened since he was admitted.

Wael’s family made the decision to sign a “do not resuscitate” order Friday, and are now begging ICE for Maher’s release so he can be with his son during what his family expects will be his final hours.

Wael was originally admitted to the ICU at Methodist Mansfield Medical Center for a stomach infection that caused his feeding tube to leak, according to his family. Wael has been unconscious since doctors performed surgery on him eight days ago, his family said.

—Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Michigan AG sues big oil companies, alleges cartel-like plot to control market

LANSING, Mich. — Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel on Friday filed a federal antitrust suit against the nation's largest oil companies, arguing the businesses had acted as a "cartel" to restrain trade and slow renewable energy competition and growth.

The result, the attorney general argued in a statement, has been "artificially high home and transportation energy costs." The state is "facing an energy affordability crisis" because of that restrained competition, Nessel said.

“These out-of-control costs are not the result of natural economic inflation, but due to the greed of these corporations who prioritized their own profit and marketplace dominance over competition and consumer savings," the attorney general said.

The companies, the department said, have been aware of the negative effects fossil fuel dominance would have on consumers and the natural environment and have hidden that.

—The Detroit News

Viral ‘Call a Republican’ California-to-Texas phone booth sparks cross-party conversations

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 the phones booths form a social experiment: When someone picks up the line in San Francisco, it rings in Texas, and vice versa, cultivating a unique opportunity for passersby to chat with a stranger who holds a vastly different outlook on politics and life.

The initiative, dubbed the Party Line project, is the brainchild of Matter Neuroscience, a mental health startup focused on researching the science behind happiness and creating tools to battle major depressive disorders.

—Los Angeles Times

Trump says US Navy carrier strike group heading to Mideast, renewing Iran threat

WASHINGTON — A U.S. Navy carrier strike group is moving toward the Middle East as President Donald Trump revives his threats to use military force against Iran’s senior leadership amid a violent crackdown on nationwide protests.

“We have a big flotilla going in that direction and we’ll see what happens,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One late Thursday as he returned from Davos, Switzerland. “I’d rather not see anything happen, but we’re watching them very closely.”

The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and its associated strike group transited the Strait of Malacca between Malaysia and Indonesia two days ago and are now in the Indian Ocean, according to two U.S. officials, who declined to specify their precise destination.

The Lincoln is accompanied by three Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers — USS Spruance, USS Michael Murphy and the USS Frank E. Petersen Jr. — which can carry Tomahawk missiles. The carrier’s air wing includes F-35C fighter jets.

—Bloomberg News