ReportWire

Tag: APP For Your Consideration

  • Super Bowl 60 is set and it’s a rematch from 11 years ago: Patriots vs. Seahawks

    [ad_1]

    NATIONWIDE (AP) — Drake Maye vs. Sam Darnold. Two stingy defenses. A second-year head coach vs. a veteran coach in his second act.

    Super Bowl 60 is set and it’s a rematch: The New England Patriots vs. the Seattle Seahawks.

    The Patriots will seek their NFL-record seventh Super Bowl victory when they face the Seahawks on Feb. 8 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.

    Led by Maye, coach Mike Vrabel and a stifling defense, the Patriots are back in the Super Bowl for the first time since Tom Brady and Bill Belichick won their sixth ring together seven years ago.

    The Patriots (17-3) beat the Denver Broncos 10-7 on Sunday in the AFC championship game to advance to their 12th Super Bowl.

    Darnold, Mike Macdonald and a suffocating defense have led the Seahawks to the big stage for the fourth time in franchise history. They’re seeking their second Lombardi.

    Darnold, a No. 3 overall pick in 2018 now with his fifth team, played one of his best games to lead the Seahawks to a 31-27 victory over the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC title game. He threw for 346 yards and three touchdowns with no turnovers.

    “That doesn’t matter to me,” Darnold said about the doubters he’s proven wrong. “I just come to work every single day with these guys. These guys in the locker room, that’s what it’s about to me, man. The way we’ve come to work ever since April in OTAs, training camp, one day at a time and we’re here. We did it.”

    It was a wacky finish when Brady and the Patriots beat Russell Wilson and Pete Carroll’s Seahawks 11 years ago.

    Brady threw four TD passes and rallied New England from a 10-point deficit to win the fourth of his seven rings when Malcolm Butler intercepted Wilson’s pass from the 1-yard line to secure a 28-24 victory on Feb. 1, 2015. Seattle fans still lament why Marshawn Lynch didn’t get the ball on a handoff at the 1.

    “We did not care,” Macdonald said about coming into the season as underdogs in the NFC West behind the Rams and 49ers. “It’s about us. It’s always been about us and what we do and now we’re going to the Super Bowl.”

    Maye scored on a 6-yard touchdown run in the second quarter in Denver after a critical turnover by Jarrett Stidham, who made his fifth career start filling in for injured Broncos quarterback Bo Nix.

    “The Pats are back, baby,” Maye said. “Now, gotta win one.”

    Playing through a snowstorm in the second half, Maye only threw for 86 yards and ran for 65. Stidham had 133 yards passing and one TD, one interception and one costly fumble.

    The 23-year-old Maye, a finalist for AP NFL MVP and Offensive Player of the Year, will become the second-youngest QB to start a Super Bowl behind Dan Marino. He’s the fourth second-year QB in the past seven years to lead his team to the NFL title game. Patrick Mahomes (2018) won it while Joe Burrow (2021) and Brock Purdy (2023) lost.

    Vrabel, who won three Super Bowls as a linebacker for the Patriots in the 2000s, turned the team around in his first season as coach. New England went from 4-13 last year under Jerod Mayo to 14-3.

    Vrabel is trying to become the first person to win a Super Bowl as a head coach and player for the same team. Tom Flores, Mike Ditka, Tony Dungy and Doug Pederson won Super Bowls playing for one team and coaching another.

    “I can’t tell you how proud I am to be associated with these guys and this organization,” said Vrabel, who is a finalist for AP NFL Coach of the Year. “I won’t win it. It’ll be the players that’ll win the game, I promise you. It won’t be me that’ll win it and I promise you I’ll do everything that I can and our staff to have them ready for the game.”

    No team has played in the Super Bowl more than the Patriots, who are 6-5. They’re tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers for the most wins.

    It’s been a long road back to the top for New England, which came off consecutive four-win seasons and only had one winning season after Brady’s departure in 2020.

    The Patriots have averaged just 18 points per game in the playoffs, the fewest by any team to make the Super Bowl since the 1979 Rams, who averaged 15. New England’s defense has allowed just 26 points in the three games, an average of just 8.7 per game. The only team to allow fewer points in three playoff games before a Super Bowl appearance was the 2000 Ravens, who gave up 16.

    [ad_2]

    Associated Press

    Source link

  • More than 11,400 flights canceled Sunday across the U.S.

    [ad_1]

    NASHVILLE — A massive winter storm made for a brutal travel day Sunday, with widespread cancellations and delays at some of the nation’s busiest airports.

    What You Need To Know

    • Widespread snow, sleet and freezing rain threatened nearly 180 million people — more than half the U.S. population — in a path stretching from the southern Rocky Mountains to New England, the National Weather Service said Saturday night

    • After sweeping through the South, the storm moved into the Northeast Sunday, and was expected to dump about 1 to 2 feet of snow from Washington through New York and Boston

    • Aviation analytics firm Cirium said that as of Sunday morning, the storm is the highest experienced cancellation event since the pandemic
    • New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport had 466 flights canceled, about 80% of flights, according to FlightAware

    Widespread snow, sleet and freezing rain threatened nearly 180 million people — more than half the U.S. population — in a path stretching from the southern Rocky Mountains to New England, the National Weather Service said Saturday night. After sweeping through the South, the storm moved into the Northeast Sunday, and was expected to dump about 1 to 2 feet of snow from Washington through New York and Boston.

    More than 11,400 flights were canceled on Sunday, according to flight-tracking site FlightAware. Aviation analytics firm Cirium said that as of Sunday morning, the storm is the highest experienced cancellation event since the pandemic.

    By Sunday afternoon, the majority of flights were canceled at busy airports in the Northeast and elsewhere. LaGuardia Airport in New York closed Sunday afternoon, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The agency said on its website the busy Queens airport grounded flights until 8 p.m.

    In Philadelphia, 94% of flights, 326 flights, were canceled. Ninety-one percent of flights, 436 flights, were canceled at LaGuardia Airport in New York. New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport had 466 flights canceled, about 80% of flights, according to FlightAware.

    Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport said on its website that all airlines had canceled departing flights for the day, about 421 flights.

    Significant disruptions also hit major airport hubs in Dallas-Fort Worth, Charlotte, Philadelphia and Atlanta, home to the nation’s busiest airport.

    Allan Lengel of Detroit planned to return Monday from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where the temperature has been in the 80s. But he’s staying until Wednesday after Delta suggested he change his reservation because of the weather impact on flights.

    “Can’t say I’m disappointed. Frankly, I had been thinking of returning later because of frigid weather,” Lengel, 71, said, referring to conditions in Michigan.

    American Airlines had canceled over 1,790 flights for Sunday, about 55% of its scheduled flights for Sunday, according to FlightAware. Delta Air Lines reported over 1,470 cancellations and Southwest Airlines reported over 1,340 cancellations for the day, while United Airlines had about 1,016. JetBlue had more than 590 canceled flights, accounting for roughly 72% of its schedule for the day.

    Vikrant Vaze, a Dartmouth professor specializing in commercial aviation logistics, said recovery from the storm cancellations and delays will take days if not longer. And even for travelers who aren’t in areas that were directly affected by weather, cascading delays could still affect their travel plans.

    “Because there are so many different airlines involved, I think it’s going to come down heavily to the individual airline’s network structure, the extent of hit that each of them has had, and just the intrinsic capacity of the airlines to handle these massive disruptions,” he said.

    My flight was canceled, now what?

    If you’re already at the airport, get in line to speak to a customer service representative. If you’re still at home or at your hotel, call or go online to connect to your airline’s reservations staff. Either way, it helps to also research alternate flights while you wait to talk to an agent.

    Most airlines will rebook you on a later flight for no additional charge, but it depends on the availability of open seats.

    Can I get booked on another airline?

    You can, but airlines aren’t required to put you on another carrier’s flight. Some airlines, including most of the biggest carriers, say they can put you on a partner airline, but even then, it can be a hit or miss.

    Am I owed a refund?

    If your flight was canceled and you no longer want to take the trip, or you’ve found another way to get to your destination, the airline is legally required to refund your money — even if you bought a non-refundable ticket. It doesn’t matter why the flight was canceled.

    The airline might offer you a travel credit, but you are entitled to a full refund. You are also entitled to a refund of any bag fees, seat upgrades or other extras that you didn’t get to use.

    [ad_2]

    Associated Press

    Source link

  • ‘Mercy’ unseats ‘Avatar: Fire & Ash’ atop the box office

    [ad_1]

    NEW YORK — With a winter storm blanketing a large swath of the country, Hollywood had its quietest weekend of the year at the box office. The Amazon MGM sci-fi thriller “Mercy” dethroned “Avatar: Fire and Ash” from the No. 1 spot with $11.2 million in North America, according to studio estimates Sunday.

    What You Need To Know

    • Some 250 theaters were forced to close, from Texas to Maine, according to data firm Comsore. More than 140 million Americans were under winter storm warnings, depressing moviegoing

    • “Mercy,” a $60 million thriller starring Chris Pratt as a man in a near-future standing trial before an AI judge, was the top new release

    • “Fire and Ash” has now cleared $1 billion internationally, but its domestic haul ($378.5 million) is well off the pace of the other two films

    •  The lead movies in Thursday’s nominations — “Sinners” and “One Battle After Another” — long ago completed their theatrical runs, but a handful of nominees saw strong business



    Some 250 theaters were forced to close, from Texas to Maine, according to data firm Comsore. More than 140 million Americans were under winter storm warnings, depressing moviegoing.

    But the weekend was never going to be a blockbuster one, anyway. “Mercy,” a $60 million thriller starring Chris Pratt as a man in a near-future standing trial before an AI judge, was the top new release. It arrived with withering reviews (20% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and an equally poor reception (a “B-” CinemaScore) from audiences.

    That was still enough to finally dislodge James Cameron’s third Pandora epic from its monthlong perch atop the box office. “Avatar: Fire and Ash” slid to second place with $7 million. While The Walt Disney Co. release is starting to peter out domestically, it remains a top draw overseas. It took in $28.1 million internationally in its sixth weekend.

    “Avatar: Fire and Ash” isn’t going to come close to the box-office heights of the previous two “Avatar” movies. The 2009 original grossed $2.9 billion and the 2022 sequel, “The Way of Water,” tapped out at $2.3 billion. “Fire and Ash” has now cleared $1 billion internationally, but its domestic haul ($378.5 million) is well off the pace of the other two films.

    The “Oscar bump” that films once saw following nomination is largely a thing of the past. The lead movies in Thursday’s nominations — “Sinners” and “One Battle After Another” — long ago completed their theatrical runs. But a handful of nominees saw strong business.

    Chloé Zhao’s “Hamnet,” nominated for eight Oscars including best picture, collected $2 million in its first weekend of wide release. The Shakespeare drama, starring Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal, has been in theaters for two months, steadily increasing its theatrical footprint. It’s up to $17.6 million domestically and $42.1 million worldwide.

    Josh Safdie’s “Marty Supreme,” nominated for nine Oscars, earned $3.5 million in its sixth weekend of release. The A24 title, starring Timothée Chalamet, this week cross $100 million globally. It’s made $86.2 million domestically thus far.

    But newer releases struggled. “Return to Silent Hill,” the third installment in a horror series kick-started with 2006’s “Silent Hill,” opened with $3.2 million. Though Sony released the 2006 film and Open Road distributed the 2012 follow up, the low-budget “Return to Silent Hill” was put out by Iconic Events.

    In its second week of release, “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple” dropped swiftly. The Sony release, directed by Nia DaCosta, opened last week to a disappointing $13.3 million in sales despite good reviews. But its second weekend was even worse, dropping 71% with $3.6 million.

    Other new releases flopped. Roadside Attractions’ “H Is For Hawk,” starring Claire Foy, took in just $150,000 from 472 theaters. Sony’s “Clika,” about a migrant worker with music aspirations, managed only $1.2 million in 522 locations.

    Top 10 movies by domestic box office

    With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:

    1. “Mercy,” $11.2 million.

    2. “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” $7 million.

    3. “Zootopia 2,” $5.7 million.

    4. “The Housemaid,” $4.2 million.

    5. “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple,” $3.6 million.

    6. “Marty Supreme,” $3.5 million.

    7. “Return to Silent Hill,” $2.7 million.

    8. “Hamnet,” $2 million.

    9. “Lord of the Rings,” $2 million.

    10. “Primate,” $1.7 million.

    [ad_2]

    Associated Press

    Source link

  • Videos of deadly Minneapolis shooting contradict government statements

    [ad_1]

    Videos quickly emerged showing the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis protester by a Border Patrol agent that has been widely denounced as a case of excessive force carried out by untrained federal officers. The Trump administration says it was a case of an armed man provoking violence.

    What You Need To Know

    • Videos quickly emerged showing the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis protester by a Border Patrol agent that has been widely denounced as a case of excessive force carried out by untrained federal officers

    • The administration says it was a case of an armed man provoking violence

    • The Associated Press reviewed multiple bystander videos that show a Border Patrol agent shooting and killing 37-year-old Alex Pretti after a roughly 30-second scuffle on Saturday morning

    • The videos appear to contradict statements by the Trump administration, which said the shots were fired “defensively” against Pretti as he “approached” them with a gun
    • In the videos, Pretti is seen with only a phone in his hand

    The Associated Press reviewed multiple bystander videos that show a Border Patrol agent shooting and killing 37-year-old Alex Pretti after a roughly 30-second scuffle around 9 a.m. Saturday. The videos appear to contradict statements by the Trump administration, which said the shots were fired “defensively” against Pretti as he “approached” them with a gun.

    In the videos, Pretti is seen with only a phone in his hand. During the scuffle, “gun, gun” is heard, and an officer appears to pull a handgun from Pretti’s waist area and begins moving away. As that happens, a first shot is fired by a Border Patrol officer. There’s a slight pause, and then the same officer fires several more times into Pretti’s back.

    Afterward, authorities said Pretti had a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun. He was licensed to carry a concealed weapon.

    Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who said he watched one of the videos, said he saw “more than six masked agents pummeling one of our constituents, shooting him to death.” Frey has said Minneapolis and St. Paul are being “invaded” by the administration’s largest immigration crackdown, dubbed Operation Metro Surge.

    Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Pretti attacked officers, and Customs and Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino said Pretti wanted to do “maximum damage and massacre law enforcement.” In posts on X, President Donald Trump’s deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, called Pretti “a would-be assassin.”

    It was the second fatal shooting in Minneapolis by federal immigration authorities this month. The first, on Jan. 7, involved Renee Good. It also was captured on videos and produced a similar schism among political leaders.

    The shooting occurred when officers were pursuing a man in the country illegally who was wanted for domestic assault, Bovino said. Protesters routinely try to disrupt such operations, and they sounded high-pitched whistles, honked horns and yelled at officers.

    Among them was Pretti. At one point, in a video obtained by AP, Pretti is standing in the street and holding up his phone. He is face-to-face with an officer in a tactical vest, who places his hand on Pretti and pushes him toward the sidewalk.

    Pretti is talking to the officer, though it is not clear what he is saying.

    The video shows protesters wandering in and out of the street as officers persist in trying to keep them at bay. One protester is put in handcuffs. Some officers are carrying pepper spray canisters.

    Pretti comes in again when the video shows an officer wearing tactical gear shoving a protester. The protester, who is wearing a skirt over black tights and holding a water bottle, reaches out for Pretti.

    The same officer shoves Pretti in his chest, leading Pretti and the other protester to stumble backward.

    A different video then shows Pretti moving toward another protester, who falls over after being shoved by the same officer. Pretti moves between the protester and the officer, reaching his arms out toward the officer.

    The officer deploys pepper spray, and Pretti raises his hand and turns his face. The officer grabs Pretti’s hand to bring it behind his back, deploys the pepper spray canister again and then pushes Pretti away.

    Seconds later, at least a half-dozen federal officers surround Pretti, who is wrestled to the ground and hit several times. Several agents try to bring Pretti’s arms behind his back, and he struggles.

    Videos show an officer, who is hovering over the scuffle with his right hand on Pretti’s back, backing away from the group with what appears to be a gun in his right hand just before the first shot.

    Someone shouts “gun, gun.” It is not clear if that’s a reference to the weapon authorities say Pretti had.

    Then the first shot is heard.

    Pretti slumps to the ground. Videos show the officers backing away, some with guns drawn. More shots are fired.

    The Department of Homeland Security said Pretti was shot after he “approached” Border Patrol officers with a gun. Officials did not say if Pretti brandished the weapon or kept it hidden.

    An agency statement said officers fired “defensive shots” after Pretti “violently resisted” officers tried to disarm him.

    Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz expressed dismay at the characterization.

    “I’ve seen the videos, from several angles, and it’s sickening,” he said.

    Trump weighed in on social media by lashing out Walz and Frey. Trump shared images of the gun that immigration officials said was recovered from Pretti and said “What is that all about? Where are the local Police? Why weren’t they allowed to protect ICE Officers?”

    [ad_2]

    Associated Press

    Source link

  • Man shot and killed during Minneapolis immigration crackdown

    [ad_1]

    A man fatally shot by a federal officer in Minnesota worked as an ICU nurse, his parents say

    By The Associated Press undefined

    A federal officer fatally shot a 37-year-old man in Minneapolis amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, according to a hospital record obtained by The Associated Press. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, said in a social media post that he had been in contact with the White House after the shooting. He called on President Donald Trump to end the crackdown in his state. The Minnesota National Guard, which had been activated earlier by Walz, was assisting local police amid growing protests.

     

    A federal immigration officer fatally shot a man in Minneapolis on Saturday, drawing hundreds of protesters onto the frigidly cold streets in a city already shaken by another fatal shooting weeks earlier.

    Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said a 37-year-old man was killed but declined to identify him. He added that information about what led up to the shooting was limited. The man was identified by his parents as Alex Jeffrey Pretti, an intensive care unit nurse. The officer who shot Pretti is an eight-year Border Patrol veteran, federal officials said.

    The Minnesota National Guard has been activated by Gov. Tim Walz and is assisting local police amid growing protests. Guard troops are going to both to the shooting site and to a federal building where officials have squared off with protesters daily.

    There have been daily protests in the Twin Cities since the Jan. 7 shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who fired into her vehicle. Pretti was killed just over a mile away from where Good was shot.

    The Latest:

    Family: ‘heartbroken but also very angry’

    Pretti’s family released a statement Saturday evening saying they are “heartbroken but also very angry” and calling him a kindhearted soul who wanted to make a difference in the world through his work as a nurse.

    “The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting. Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump’s murdering and cowardly ICE thugs. He has his phone in his right hand and his empty left hand is raised above his head while trying to protect the woman ICE just pushed down all while being pepper sprayed,” the statement said.

    “Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man. Thank you.”

    Gun rights group ‘deeply concerned’ about shooting

    While noting that “many critical facts remain unknown,” the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus said in a statement that “there has been no evidence produced indicating an intent to harm the officers” and called for an investigation by both state and federal authorities.

    “Every peaceable Minnesotan has the right to keep and bear arms — including while attending protests, acting as observers, or exercising their First Amendment rights,” the group said. “These rights do not disappear when someone is lawfully armed.”

    Federal officials have said Pretti was armed and officers fired defensively after he approached them during an operation and resisted attempts to disarm him. However bystander videos do not appear to show Pretti holding a weapon.

    The Minneapolis police chief said Pretti had a permit to carry a gun.

    Another evening rally at a park near the scene of Saturday’s shooting

    People chanted “say his name” in memory of Alex Pretti, who was fatally shot earlier in the day by a federal agent.

    One speaker called for sit-ins at congressional offices to urge a halt to funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Another participant said he believes the tide of public opinion is turning in the protesters’ favor.

    Some carried lit candles, and all were bundled up against the frigid nighttime cold.

    After about an hour they went to the scene of the shooting. There were chants of “Resisting ICE is not a crime” and “Observing ICE is not a crime.”

    There were also chants honoring Renee Good, another person who was fatally shot by a federal agent in Minneapolis this month.

    Republican chair of House Homeland Security Committee requests ICE, CBP, USCIS appear before Congress

    Rep. Andrew Garbarino, a New York Republican who chairs the committee that oversees the Department of Homeland Security, sent a letter to the department requesting three top officials appear for questioning before the committee.

    “As chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, my top priority remains keeping Americans safe and ensuring the Department of Homeland Security can accomplish its core mission,” Garbarino said in a statement. “Congress has an important responsibility to ensure the safety of law enforcement and the people they serve and protect.”

    Garbarino requested that Immigration and Customs Enforcement senior official Todd Lyons, Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph Edlow appear.

    The public hearing would take place sometime in the next two months. Garbarino previously requested that senior DHS officials appear before the committee in a Jan. 15 letter.

    Schumer: Democrats will block spending bill if it includes Homeland Security funding

    Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said Senate Democrats will not vote for a spending package that includes money for the Department of Homeland Security.

    Schumer’s statement increases the possibility that the government could partially shut down Jan. 30 when funding runs out. Several Democrats said Saturday that they will not vote for the bipartisan package of bills, which will need some Democratic votes to pass.

    Democrats say the legislation, which includes money for a broad swath of government agencies, does not include enough restrictions on ICE.

    Schumer said what is happening in Minnesota is “appalling.”

    “Democrats sought common sense reforms in the Department of Homeland Security spending bill, but because of Republicans’ refusal to stand up to President Trump, the DHS bill is woefully inadequate to rein in the abuses of ICE,” Schumer said. “I will vote no.”

    Justice Department official says Minnesota leaders ‘created this escalation’

    Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche called the shooting an “avoidable tragedy” that is the “result of the total failure of Minnesota’s city and state officials who have resisted federal law enforcement and created this escalation.”

    Blanche said in a statement that the Justice Department will “continue to hold those breaking federal law accountable, including those who harass and violently attack law enforcement in the name of protest.”

    The Department of Homeland Security is leading the investigation into the shooting with assistance from the FBI. The DOJ has not yet indicated whether it would open a civil rights investigation but declined to do so after the earlier shooting, of Renee Good.

    That was a sharp departure from past administrations, which have moved quickly to probe shootings of civilians by law enforcement officials for potential civil rights offenses.

    Dozens of people pay their respects to protester killed by federal agent

    They lit candles, placed flowers and stood in silence at the vigil Saturday evening. As dark fell, hundreds of people gathered somberly and quietly by the growing memorial at the shooting scene.

    Caleb Spike came from a nearby suburb to show his support and his frustration. “It feels like every day something crazier happens,” he said. “What’s happening in our community is wrong, it’s sickening, it’s disgusting.”

    A nearby doughnut shop and clothing store stayed open to offer a place for people to warm up, as well as water, coffee and snacks.

    Democratic senators come out against funding DHS, raising risk of another shutdown

    Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto said Saturday that she too would not vote for legislation in the Senate that would fund the Department of Homeland Security.

    In doing so, Cortez Masto joined fellow Nevada Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen. The two moderates broke with their party last year on a vote over the last government shutdown.

    Others like Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii have said in the wake of the shooting that they would oppose a DHS funding bill that is part of a spending package in the Senate that aims to avoid a partial government shutdown at the end of the month.

    Minnesota-born Defense Secretary Hegseth says ICE is greater than Minnesota

    Pete Hegseth posted on the social platform X to thank God for the “patriots” who work for ICE and said, “we have your back 100%.”

    The Pentagon chief added: “Shame on the leadership of Minnesota — and the lunatics in the street. ICE MN.”

    Hegseth was born and raised in Minnesota.

    Nevada Sen. Rosen says she will vote against any government funding package that funds ICE

    Sen. Jacky Rosen, a moderate Democrat from a political swing state, made the announcement Saturday after the fatal shooting in Minneapolis. Rosen was one of eight Democratic senators last year to break ranks with her party and vote with Republicans to move to reopen the government.

    “The abuses of power we are seeing from ICE in Minneapolis and across the country are un-American and cannot be normalized,” Rosen said via the social platform X.

    “Enough is enough. We need to rein in ICE’s out of control conduct,” Rosen said.

    A bill that funds the Department of Homeland Security is part of a package of spending bills that is moving through the Senate to avoid a partial government shutdown at the end of the month.

    Top Democrat on House Homeland Security Committee calls for Noem impeachment

    Congressman Bennie Thompson, the top Democrat on the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee, called for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to be impeached and denounced statements from the administration about the man DHS agents killed.

    “Apparently, the Trump administration and its secret police only support the First and Second Amendments when it’s convenient to them,” Thompson said in a statement.

    Thompson called on Democrats in the U.S. Senate to vote against a funding bill for DHS that passed the lower chamber last week. “This is un-American and has to stop,” Thompson said. “The House must immediately take steps to impeach Kristi Noem.”

    Walz excoriates immigration operations in Minnesota

    Walz issued a statement Saturday calling immigration enforcement “organized brutality.”

    “The federal occupation of Minnesota long ago stopped being a matter of immigration enforcement. It is a campaign of organized brutality against the people of our state. And today, that campaign claimed yet another life,” Walz said.

    He said the state, and not the federal government, will lead the investigation into the death of 37-year-old Alex Pretti.

    Pretti was shot and killed by federal officers amid an immigration operation.

    “Minnesotans and our local law enforcement have done everything we can to deescalate. The federal government must deescalate. I once again call on the President to remove the 3,000 agents from Minnesota who are sowing chaos and violence.”

    Congressional Democrats sharply criticize DHS chief Kristi Noem

    Congressional Democrats responded with immediate outrage to the killing of another person by federal agents in Minneapolis.

    Congressman Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, called for ICE to be “abolished” and for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to be impeached.

    “Trump has created a militarized police force accountable only to him and ready to murder people in our streets. These agents need to leave our cities NOW,” the California Democrat wrote on social media.

    Congressman Brad Schneider, chair of the moderate New Democratic Coalition in the U.S. House, called for an investigation into the shooting and for federal agents to leave Minnesota.

    “Every agent involved in this shooting must be suspended pending a full and independent investigation and ultimately held to account for their actions today,” Schneider said in a statement. “And, Kristi Noem has got to go. She needs to resign or be fired. If not, Congress must act,” the Illinois Democrat continued.

    Man identified who was shot and killed amid Minneapolis immigration operation

    The man who was shot and killed by a federal officer during an immigration operation has been identified as 37-year-old Alex Pretti. His parents told The Associated Press that Pretti was an intensive care unit nurse.

    Vance criticizes local authorities for refusing to cooperate with ICE agents

    Vice President JD Vance responded to the shooting in a post on X and said that when he visited Minneapolis this week, “what the ICE agents wanted more than anything was to work with local law enforcement so that situations on the ground didn’t get out of hand.”

    He accused local officials in Minnesota of ignoring requests from ICE agents to work with them.

    Notably, federal officials refused to cooperate with local officials on an investigation into the shooting death of Renee Good on Jan. 7.

    Store owner opens to help protesters amid freezing temperatures

    Allison Bross opened her fashion store, b. Resale, next to the shooting scene for the protesters to grab food, water, use the restroom, receive medical attention and get a warm break from the frigid temperatures outside.

    “We’re a community-based business, we don’t exist without the community,” she said. “So if we hear someone in our neighborhood is getting hurt, I’m going to be here immediately.”

    Meanwhile, a makeshift memorial at a bus stop next to the site of the shooting was taking shape. People left flowers and lit candles.

    Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office asks for National Guard help

    Sheriff Dawanna Witt has requested assistance from the Minnesota National Guard to support deputies at the Whipple Federal Building so that deputies can be assigned to other areas.

    The Minnesota National Guard’s role is to work in support of local law enforcement and emergency responders, providing additional resources, the sheriff’s office said.

    Their presence is meant to help create a secure environment where all Minnesotans can exercise their rights safely, including the right to peacefully protest.

    “We know this moment is challenging for our community. Remember that our local teams are also part of this community. We respect and protect everyone’s rights to voice concerns and stand up for what they believe in, but we urge all actions to remain peaceful and lawful. Our collective priority remains protecting our neighborhoods and keeping people safe,” a statement said.

    Trump weighs in on the shooting in Minneapolis

    Trump posted to his Truth Social account after a man was killed by federal officers during an immigration enforcement action in Minneapolis. Trump’s statement said:

    “This is the gunman’s gun, loaded (with two additional full magazines!), and ready to go — What is that all about? Where are the local Police? Why weren’t they allowed to protect ICE Officers? The Mayor and the Governor called them off? It is stated that many of these Police were not allowed to do their job, that ICE had to protect themselves — Not an easy thing to do! Why does Ilhan Omar have $34 Million Dollars in her account? And where are the Tens of Billions of Dollars that have been stolen from the once Great State of Minnesota? We are there because of massive Monetary Fraud, with Billions of Dollars missing, and Illegal Criminals that were allowed to infiltrate the State through the Democrats’ Open Border Policy. We want the money back, and we want it back, NOW. Those Fraudsters who stole the money are going to jail, where they belong! This is no different than a really big Bank Robbery. Much of what you’re witnessing is a COVER UP for this Theft and Fraud.

    “The Mayor and the Governor are inciting Insurrection, with their pompous, dangerous, and arrogant rhetoric! Instead, these sanctimonious political fools should be looking for the Billions of Dollars that has been stolen from the people of Minnesota, and the United States of America. LET OUR ICE PATRIOTS DO THEIR JOB! 12,000 Illegal Alien Criminals, many of them violent, have been arrested and taken out of Minnesota. If they were still there, you would see something far worse than you are witnessing today!”

    DHS says officers fired ‘defensive shots’

    Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that federal officers were conducting an operation as part of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

    She said officers fired “defensive shots” after a man with a handgun approached them and “violently resisted” when officers tried to disarm him. O’Hara said police believe the man was a “lawful gun owner with a permit to carry.”

    Police chief says man shot and killed was a ‘lawful gun owner’

    O’Hara said the man’s only previous interaction with law enforcement as far as he knew was for traffic tickets.

    “And we believe he is a lawful gun owner with a permit to carry,” he said.

    Police chief asks public, law enforcement to remain calm

    Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara appealed for calm, both from the public and from federal law enforcement, following the shooting of a man.

    “Our demand today is for those federal agencies that are operating in our city to do so with the same discipline, humanity and integrity that effective law enforcement in this country demands,” the chief said.

    “We urge everyone to remain peaceful. We recognize that there is a lot of anger and a lot of questions around what has happened, but we need people to remain peaceful in the area.”

    Police also clarified that the age of the man shot is 37.

    Angry crowd gathers after shooting of man in Minneapolis

    An angry crowd gathered after the shooting and screamed profanities at federal officers, calling them “cowards” and telling them to go home.

    One officer responded mockingly as he walked away, telling them: “Boo hoo.” Agents elsewhere shoved a yelling protester into a car.

    The intersection where the shooting has been blocked off, and Border Patrol agents are on the scene wielding batons.

    The shooting happened a day after thousands of demonstrators protesting the crackdown on immigrants crowded the city’s streets in frigid weather, calling for federal law enforcement to leave.

    Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar expresses outrage at shooting

    Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar has expressed outrage at the shooting of a man during an immigration operation.

    “Donald Trump and all your lieutenants who ordered this ICE surge: watch the horrific video of the killing today. The world is watching. Thousands of citizens stopped and harassed. Local police no longer able to do their work. Kids hiding. Schools closed. Get ICE out of Minnesota,” Klobuchar said in a message posted on X.

    Minnesota Democrats react to the shooting

    Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith issued a statement after the shooting of a man during an ICE operation. She said, “We are gathering more information, but ICE must leave now so MPD can secure the scene and do their jobs.”

    Rep. Angie Craig said in a statement that she has seen “my own eyes the video of another horrific killing by ICE agents this morning in Minneapolis. This is sickening.

    “The agency is beyond out of control. How much more evidence do my Republican colleagues in Minnesota need to speak out?”

    Minneapolis police chief calls for calm

    Police Chief Brian O’Hara called for protesters who amassed at the scene of a shooting to stay calm and leave the area. “Please do not destroy our own city,” he said at a news conference.

    Rep. Omar releases statement after Minnesota shooting

    Rep. Ilhan Omar issued a statement after the shooting of a man by federal officers in Minnesota.

    “I am absolutely heartbroken, horrified, and appalled that federal agents murdered another member of our community. It is beyond shameful these federal agents are targeting our residents instead of protecting them,” she said in a statement.

    “This isn’t isolated or accidental. The Trump administration is trying to beat us into submission rather than protect us. … This administration cannot continue violating constitutional rights under the guise of immigration enforcement.”

    [ad_2]

    Associated Press

    Source link

  • Trump extends FEMA Review Council charter

    [ad_1]

    WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has signed an executive order extending the FEMA Review Council’s charter 60 days, the White House announced Friday night.

    Saturday marks one year since Trump signed a different executive order creating the council to advise him on what to do with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, including whether to eliminate it.

    What You Need To Know

    • President Donald Trump has signed an executive order extending the FEMA Review Council’s charter 60 days, the White House announced Friday night
    • Saturday marks one year since President Donald Trump signed an executive order creating a council to advise him on what to do with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, including whether to eliminate it

    • The council’s charter called for the FEMA Review Council to end its operations after one year unless the president extended the deadline

    • That deadline had been Saturday — but the council’s report, containing its findings and recommendations, has not been publicly released

    • Trump said last year, “I think we’re going to recommend that FEMA go away, and we pay directly, we pay a percentage to the state, and the state should fix it”

    The council’s charter called for the FEMA Review Council to end its operations after one year. That deadline had been Saturday. The council’s report, containing its findings and recommendations, has not been publicly released.

    A spokesperson for Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, who serves on the council, told Spectrum News council members previously reviewed and unanimously supported their report.

    But the council’s scheduled meeting in December, when the report was expected to be released, was canceled.

    At the time a White House official told Spectrum News the meeting was canceled because “White House officials had not been fully briefed on the latest draft of the report, despite some officials at (the Department of Homeland Security) thinking they had been.”

    More than a month later, it’s unclear when or if the report will be issued.

    A spokesperson for Castor told Spectrum News the mayor hadn’t heard anything as of Friday regarding the council since the canceled meeting.

    The council’s charter states, “The Council shall terminate on January 24, 2026, unless extended by the President.”

    Trump created the council after ripping the agency during a trip to western North Carolina shortly after his inauguration last January. He traveled to the state to meet with officials as the area recovered from Tropical Storm Helene the previous September.

    “I think we’re going to recommend that FEMA go away, and we pay directly, we pay a percentage to the state, and the state should fix it,” he said.

    The council is chaired by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Members of the council include Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas, former Gov. Glen Youngkin of Virginia and former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley.

    Editor’s Note: This article was updated after the White House announced the council’s termination date was extended. (Jan. 24, 2026)

    [ad_2]

    Reuben Jones

    Source link

  • Family: Man killed by a U.S. Border Patrol officer in Minneapolis was ICU nurse

    [ad_1]

    MINNEAPOLIS — Family members say the man killed by a U.S. Border Patrol officer in Minneapolis on Saturday was an intensive care nurse at a VA hospital who cared deeply about people and was upset by President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in his city.

    What You Need To Know

    • Family members say the man who was killed by a federal officer in Minneapolis was an intensive care nurse at a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs hospital who cared deeply about people and was upset by President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in his city

    • Thirty-seven-year-old Alex Jeffrey Pretti was an avid outdoorsman who loved getting in adventures with his dog

    • He had participated in protests following the killing of Renee Good by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Law Enforcement officer earlier this month

    • Court records showed he had no criminal record

    Alex Jeffrey Pretti, 37, was an avid outdoorsman who enjoyed getting in adventures with Joule, his beloved Catahoula Leopard dog who also recently died. He worked for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and had participated in protests following the Jan. 7 killing of Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs officer .

    “He cared about people deeply and he was very upset with what was happening in Minneapolis and throughout the United States with ICE, as millions of other people are upset,” said Michael Pretti, Alex’s father. “He thought it was terrible, you know, kidnapping children, just grabbing people off the street. He cared about those people, and he knew it was wrong, so he did participate in protests.”

    Pretti was a U.S. citizen, born in Illinois. Like Good, court records showed he had no criminal record and his family said he had never had any interactions with law enforcement beyond a handful of traffic tickets.

    In a recent conversation with their son, his parents, who live in Colorado, told him to be careful when protesting.

    “We had this discussion with him two weeks ago or so, you know, that go ahead and protest, but do not engage, do not do anything stupid, basically,” Michael Pretti said. “And he said he knows that. He knew that.”

    The Department of Homeland Security said that the man was shot after he “approached” Border Patrol officers with a 9 mm semiautomatic handgun. Officials did not specify if Pretti brandished the gun. In bystander videos of the shooting that emerged soon after, Pretti is seen with a phone in his hand but none appears to show him with a visible weapon.

    Family members said Pretti owned a handgun and had a permit to carry a concealed handgun in Minnesota. They said they had never known him to carry it.

    Alex Pretti’s family struggles for information about what happened

    The family first learned of the shooting when they were called by an Associated Press reporter. They watched the video and said the man killed appeared to be their son. They then tried reaching out to officials in Minnesota.

    “I can’t get any information from anybody,” Michael Pretti said Saturday. “The police, they said call Border Patrol, Border Patrol’s closed, the hospitals won’t answer any questions.”

    Eventually, the family called the Hennepin County Medical Examiner, who they said confirmed had a body matching the name and description of their son.

    As of Saturday evening, the family said they had still not heard from anyone at a federal law enforcement agency about their son’s death.

    Alex Pretti grew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin, where he played football, baseball and ran track for Preble High School. He was a Boy Scout and sang in the Green Bay Boy Choir.

    After graduation, he went to the University of Minnesota, graduating in 2011 with a bachelor’s degree in biology, society and the environment, according to the family. He worked as a research scientist before returning to school to become a registered nurse.

    Alex Pretti had protested before

    Pretti’s ex-wife, Rachel N. Canoun, said she was not surprised he would have been involved in protesting Trump’s immigration crackdown. She said she had not spoken to him since they divorced more than two years ago and she moved to another state.

    She said he was a Democratic voter and that he had participated in the wave of street protests following the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020, not far from the couple’s neighborhood. She described him a someone who might shout at law enforcement officers at a protest, but she had never known him to be physically confrontational.

    “These kinds of things, you know, he felt the injustice to it,” Canoun said. “So it doesn’t surprise me that he would be involved.”

    Canoun said Pretti got a permit to carry a concealed firearm about three years ago and that he owned at least one semiautomatic handgun when they separated.

    “He didn’t carry it around me, because it made me uncomfortable,” she said.

    Pretti had ‘a great heart,’ neighbor says

    Pretti lived in a four-unit condominium building about 2 miles from where he was shot. Neighbors described him as quiet and warmhearted.

    “He’s a wonderful person,” said Sue Gitar, who lived downstairs from Pretti and said he moved into the building about three years ago. “He has a great heart.”

    If there was something suspicious going on in the neighborhood, or when they worried the building might have a gas leak, he would jump in to help.

    Pretti lived alone and worked long hours as a nurse, but he was not a loner, his neighbors said, and would sometimes have friends over.

    His neighbors knew he had guns — he’d occasionally take a rifle to shoot at a gun range — but were surprised at the idea that he might carry a pistol on the streets.

    “I never thought of him as a person who carried a gun,” said Gitar.

    Pretti was also passionate about the outdoors

    A competitive bicycle racer who lavished care on his new Audi, Pretti had also been deeply attached to his dog, who died about a year ago.

    His parents said their last conversation with their son was a couple days before his death. They talked about repairs he had done to the garage door of his home. The worker was a Latino man, and they said with all that was happening in Minneapolis he gave the man a $100 tip.

    Pretti’s mother said her son cared immensely about the direction the county was headed, especially the Trump administration’s rollback of environmental regulations.

    “He hated that, you know, people were just trashing the land,” Susan Pretti said. “He was an outdoorsman. He took his dog everywhere he went. You know, he loved this country, but he hated what people were doing to it.”

    [ad_2]

    Associated Press

    Source link

  • White House shares altered image showing arrest in Minnesota

    [ad_1]

    The Trump administration on Thursday misrepresented the arrest of a prominent civil rights attorney for her role in an anti-immigration enforcement protest that disrupted a service at a Minnesota church.

    What You Need To Know

    • The Trump administration is misrepresenting the arrest of civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong for her role in an anti-immigration enforcement protest that disrupted a service at a Minnesota church

    • The White House on Thursday shared an image that made it appear like she was crying

    • The original image, posted on X by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, shows Levy Armstrong with a neutral expression

    • An attorney for Levy Armstrong said any videos or photos that show her crying were manipulated

    On its official X page, the White House shared an image of Nekima Levy Armstrong that showed her in tears with, her arms behind her back, standing in front of someone wearing a badge around their neck.

    The problem? Levy Armstrong wasn’t actually crying. The image was manipulated to make the moment more dramatic than it actually was.

    Here’s a closer look at the facts.

    CLAIM: An image shows civil rights attorney Nekima Levy Armstrong crying while being arrested in Minnesota.

    THE FACTS: This is false. The original image, which shows Levy Armstrong with a neutral expression, was altered to make her appear emotional.

    Jordan Kushner, an attorney for Levy Armstrong, said he was present at his client’s arrest and said any videos and photos put out by the administration showing her crying were manipulated images.

    “It is just so outrageous that the White House would make up stories about someone to try and discredit them,” Kushner said. “She was completely calm and composed and rational. There was no one crying. So this is just outrageous defamation.”

    He added that video Levy Armstrong’s husband shot “dismantles what they claim” and that the video would be released soon.

    Amid growing questions about the image, White House Deputy Communications Director Kaelan Dorr wrote on X Thursday afternoon: “YET AGAIN to the people who feel the need to reflexively defend perpetrators of heinous crimes in our country I share with you this message: Enforcement of the law will continue. The memes will continue. Thank you for your attention to this matter.”

    Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Levy Armstrong’s arrest in an X post at 9:28 a.m. EST. Less than an hour later, at 10:21 a.m. EST, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted the original photo of Levy Armstrong, also on X. The White House then shared the manipulated image at 10:54 a.m. EST.

    Certain details in both images are the same, indicating they are not simply photos taken at different times. For example, the badge worn by the person behind Levy Armstrong is in the same position, as are the lights shining through the curtain to the left of Levy Armstrong’s head.

    Neither the White House nor Homeland Security immediately responded to requests for additional comment.

    [ad_2]

    Associated Press

    Source link

  • College Football Playoff to remain at 12 teams

    [ad_1]

    IRVING, Texas — The College Football Playoff will remain at 12 teams after the commissioners of the Southeastern Conference and Big Ten couldn’t come up with a compromise for expansion.

    What You Need To Know

    • The College Football Playoff will remain at 12 teams after the commissioners of the Southeastern Conference and Big Ten couldn’t come up with a compromise for expansion

    • The CFP Management Committee announced Friday the 12-team format would stay the same for the 2026-27 season

    • The decision provides additional time for evaluation and discussion on the current format and potential changes in the future

    • The CFP went from four teams to 12 teams for the 2024 season, and the two most powerful conferences favored further expansion but could not agree on a number

    The CFP Management Committee announced Friday the 12-team format would stay the same for the 2026-27 season. The decision provides additional time for evaluation and discussion on the current format and potential changes in the future.

    The CFP went from four teams to 12 teams for the 2024 season, and the two most powerful conferences favored further expansion but could not agree on a number.

    The SEC pushed for 16 teams, with an emphasis on at-large bids — a format favored by the Power Four leagues other than the Big Ten and most of the smaller conferences that are hoping for access into whatever comes next.

    The Big Ten has pushed for a bracket of up to 24 teams with multiple automatic qualifiers from each conference. It could do away with the need for conference title games and replace them with seeding games to determine, say, two or three of the automatic spots.

    “After ongoing discussion about the 12-team playoff format, the decision was made to continue with the current structure,” CFP executive director Rich Clark said. “This will give the Management Committee additional time to review the 12-team format, so they can better assess the need for potential change. While they all agree the current format has brought more excitement to college football and has given more schools a real shot in the postseason, another year of evaluation will be helpful.”

    The 2026-27 season’s format will feature 12 teams based on conference champions and final ranking by the CFP selection committee. First-round games will be played on campus sites, followed by quarterfinals and semifinals hosted by the CFP bowls, and the national championship game, which will take place at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Jan. 25, 2027.

    [ad_2]

    Associated Press

    Source link

  • Blue Origin launches New Shepard NS-38 manned mission

    [ad_1]

    TEXAS — After a couple of delays, including unauthorized people on the launch site, Blue Origin sent up six people on its New Shepard rocket.

    What You Need To Know

    • The six are part of the NS-38 mission

    The six are part of the NS-38 mission, Blue Origin’s crewed mission, which took off at 11:25 a.m. ET from Launch Site One in West Texas, stated the Washington-state company.

    All six climbed onboard the R.S.S. First Step spacecraft, and after the launch and stage separation happened, they experienced zero gravity for a couple of minutes before returning to Earth as three parachutes deployed.

    But before the launch, there was a hold while security was collecting people who were not authorized to be on the range. 

    “We are at a hold at just under 3 minutes until launch. We do have an update for you, and that is that there are unauthorized personnel on the range. Our security is currently working to clear that and then we will have NS-38 ready to go across the Karman line,” said Tabitha Lipkin, senior content producer at Blue Origin, during the livestream.

    They traveled beyond the Kármán line, the internationally established edge of space at 62 miles/100 kilometers above Earth’s surface.

    Just like SpaceX rockets, the New Shepard is designed to land autonomously, and the booster touched down on a landing pad.

    Before the stage separation, the rocket booster was going about 2,000 mph/3,218 kph.

    Meeting the crew

    The crew was made up of Tim Drexler, Linda Edwards, Alain Fernandez, Alberto Gutiérrez, Jim Hendren, and Dr. Laura Stiles, Blue Origin’s director of New Shepard Launch Operations.

    Andrew Yaffe was originally going to be part of the launch, but had to back out, according to Blue Origin.

    “Blue Origin today announced that one of our NS-38 crew members is no longer able to fly due to illness and will fly on a future mission,” Blue Origin stated on Tuesday.

    Once back on the ground, Stiles said through tears that it was an incredible experience to witness the Earth and moon from space.

    You can learn more about the crew right here.

    [ad_2]

    Anthony Leone

    Source link

  • Major winter storm could cripple the Southeast with snow and ice this weekend

    [ad_1]

    A major winter storm is set to bring heavy snowfall, dangerous ice and frigid cold from Texas to the East Coast this weekend.

    What You Need To Know

    • A major winter storm will impact the U.S. this weekend
    • Heavy snow, dangerous ice and frigid cold temperatures are expected
    • There is still uncertainty about specific totals and timing


    There is still a lot of uncertainty in the forecast location and timing, but it’s becoming increasing likely that a widespread winter storm will develop across the South on Friday, bringing heavy snow and ice to parts of Texas and Oklahoma, and move east toward the Carolinas and Mid-Atlantic into the Northeast this weekend.


    The National Weather Service has issued Winter Storm Watches across parts of the Mid-South for the possibility of heavy snow late this week. Advisories, watches and warnings will be issued and expanded eastward this week as we get closer to the weekend.


    There are still some differences in weather model forecasts, most notably on where the snow, ice and rain lines will be. With a storm like this, minor differences in the track of the low pressure system could lead to significant differences in the forecast.


    It’s still too far out to forecast any specific snow or ice totals, but it’s becoming increasingly likely that this will be an extremely disruptive storm across parts of the Southeast. The major impacts will begin Saturday and last through the end of the weekend, with lingering effects into early next week as frigid cold settles into the region.

    Even with the uncertainty in specific forecast details, it’s not too early to prepare for winter weather. If you live in the Southeast and could be affected by this winter storm, put together an emergency kit for your household and consider your entire household, including pets and check on your neighbors and family members.

    This forecast is very fluid, as are all southern snow events, so please stay with Spectrum News for any updates. Download the Spectrum News app to follow the event as it unfolds and tune in to your local Weather on the Ones forecast.

    Submit your weather photos here. 

    Our team of meteorologists dives deep into the science of weather and breaks down timely weather data and information. To view more weather and climate stories, check out our weather blogs section.

    [ad_2]

    Spectrum News Weather Staff

    Source link

  • Crew-11 avoids details of medical episode that cut mission short

    [ad_1]

    JOHSON SPACE CENTER — During a Wednesday afternoon press conference, the Crew-11 members talked about some of their experiments, but the focus was on the unnamed astronaut who had an unknown medical issue that cut the mission short by a month.

    What You Need To Know

    • Crew-11 and NASA would not identify the astronaut or what the medical issue was.

    “Just to start off, of course, we are back here a little earlier than we were expecting. And just to say up front, we are not going to be identifying the crew member or talking through the differential or any of the details of the medical situation. Thank you so much for respecting our privacy,” Cmdr. Zena Cardman said to the media at the start of the press conference.

    She and fellow NASA astronaut and pilot Michael Fincke, and mission specialists Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Kimiya Yui and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov spoke about some of the work they did.

    Almost a week ago, on Thursday, the quartet splashed down in the first medical evacuation in the International Space Station’s 25 years of full service.

    The health episode, which NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman called a “serious medical condition” last week, caused the U.S. space agency to cut the Crew-11 mission short.

    It was set to end in February. The astronauts spent five months on the space station after they were launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in August 2025.

    The medical episode happened the day before a scheduled six-hour spacewalk, where Fincke and Cardman were going to install a modification kit and cables for a future rollout of a solar array on Thursday, Jan. 08.

    Officials stated this was not an emergency de-orbit.

    During a question-and-answer session, Cardman called the shortened mission an “unexpected timeline.”

    “I hope to go back to the ISS for so many reasons. It’s just an incredible experience and I think even though we had an unexpected timeline, there’s so much that we are proud of and so much we did accomplish,” she told Spectrum News.

    But she said that their training served them well during the medical event.

    “As far as things we would do differently, I am very proud to say that we were as well prepared as we possibly could be, and that’s thanks to a lot of really excellent training that we get on the ground. And just being up there with really excellent operators and people who come together as a team really goes a long way. And that’s the crew on orbit as well as our ground support teams,” Cardman explained to Spectrum News.

    She highlighted the research that they conducted and how a lot of cargo came and went from the floating laboratory.

    In a question from another member of the press, Fincke revealed that the International Space Station’s ultrasound equipment was used during the medical episode.

    “And having a portable ultrasound machine helped us in this situation. … So, when we had this emergency, the ultrasound machine came in super handy. So, I’d recommend a portable ultrasound machine in the future for sure, for all space flights. It really helped,” he said.

    In a separate news article, Dr. Emmanuel Urquieta, vice chairman of the University of Central Florida’s Aerospace Medicine and associate professor of medicine, shared how each mission on the space station has an astronaut who is assigned as a crew medical officer.

    He went into detail about the type of training and medical equipment.

    Despite everything that has happened, Fincke said that even though Crew-11 will not be on the space station when Crew-12 arrives, they will still share greetings and advice on Earth.

    “Yeah, we wouldn’t want Crew-12 to hit the ground running or hit the space floating, something like that,” he said, adding, “I think my only advice to them, just as we did with  the change of command ceremony, was take time and stop for a group hug.”

    With Cardman chiming in, “Group hugs and selfies.”

    [ad_2]

    Anthony Leone

    Source link

  • ‘Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift’ arriving at Universal Studios Florida in 2027

    [ad_1]

    ORLANDO, Fla. — Universal Orlando officials announced on Tuesday a new roller coaster coming to its Universal Studios Florida park.

    “Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift” will join the lineup of Universal Studios Florida coasters in 2027. The ride replaces the “Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit” roller coaster, which closed in August 2025.

    Riders will get a “high-octane” experience of 360-degree drifting as they speed through different maneuvers, including a 170-foot vertical “spike” that will send riders nearly 17 stories in the air over the outskirts of Universal CityWalk, officials said.

    With the coming of the new attraction, “Fast & Furious – Supercharged” will permanently close in 2027.

    More information about Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift will be shared at a later date, officials said. 

     

    [ad_2]

    DeJanae Phillips

    Source link

  • Northern lights could be visible for parts of the country on Monday night

    [ad_1]

    The northern lights could be visible across parts of the country tonight. A coronal mass ejection (CME) will likely arrive at Earth tonight, leading to elevated geomagnetic activity.

    Geomagnetic storms are responsible for the visual display of the northern lights, or aurora borealis.

    What You Need To Know

    • A Geomagnetic Storm Watch is in effect

    • The northern lights may be visible for parts of the U.S.

    • The Aurora Borealis is typically linked to winter viewings but can actually be seen all year


    A CME is an eruption of solar material and magnetic fields. There is a Geomagnetic Storm Watch in effect tonight, with a G4 predicted. According to NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center, watches at this level are very rare.


    Aurora Borealis

    The sun is currently in an upswing of its 11-year solar cycle. Scientists notice more sunspots as they migrate toward the equator of the sun, and when their magnetic fields tangle, solar storms erupt.

    Earth’s magnetic field acts as a buffer to keep particles and energy ejected from the sun at bay. However, if the solar storm is strong enough, those particles can penetrate the Earth’s atmosphere, giving off light, creating the auroras we see.

    With such intense CMEs expected to arrive on Earth, the severe storm might make the northern lights visible in the northern U.S., with the best chance of viewing at higher latitudes. 

    Geomagnetic storms

    The energy from a solar storm is categorized by G levels. Tonight’s aurora forecast is a G4.

    (NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center)

    G1 would show a minor storm, G2 a moderate storm, G3 a strong storm, G4 a severe storm and G5 would mean an extreme storm.

    While these storms make the northern lights brighter and more visible in lower latitudes, the energy entering our atmosphere can cause disruptions to power grids, spacecraft operations and migratory animals.

    The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) uses a planetary k index, which goes from 0 to 9, to predict the visibility of the northern lights around the world. The higher the Kp values, the further south people can view the aurora.

    A Kp value of 8 is forecast for Monday night. 

    How to see and capture the auroras

    For the latest northern lights forecasts, check NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center website or an aurora forecasting app.

    Make your best effort to get away from city lights and find somewhere dark. Experts recommend skygazing from a local or national park. And check the weather forecast because clouds can cover up the spectacle entirely.

    Many areas in northern latitudes should be able to see the northern lights with the naked eye. If you’re farther south, your smartphone cameras may also reveal hints of the aurora that aren’t visible to the naked eye. Long-exposure is your best bet to reveal all the colors in the night sky.

    When taking the photo, turn on “night mode” and place your phone on a steady surface. The longer the exposure, the better the photo will turn out!

    If you’ve taken any pictures of the northern lights, you can share your photos here.

    Our team of meteorologists dives deep into the science of weather and breaks down timely weather data and information. To view more weather and climate stories, check out our weather blogs section.

    [ad_2]

    Spectrum News Weather Staff

    Source link

  • Chinese EVs are making inroads in North America. That worries industry experts

    [ad_1]

    DETROIT (AP) — Chinese automakers have been making inroads around the world with growing sales of their high-tech, stylish and affordable electric vehicles. That has had competitors concerned even before Canada this week agreed to cut its tariffs on Chinese EVs in exchange for concessions on Canadian farm products.

    What You Need To Know

    • China has made major inroads around the world with its stylish, affordable electric vehicles

    • The country could get a boost from Canada 

    • U.S. officials acknowledged that in remarks at an assembly plant for Jeep-maker Stellantis in Toledo, Ohio, on Friday

    • Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the Chinese Communist Party invests in its auto industry to “control this industry”

    Experts now say an easier path into Canada could be a big boost for Chinese carmakers looking to dominate the global market — particularly as their domestic market weakens. That poses a threat to other auto manufacturers, particularly American companies.

    U.S. officials acknowledged that in remarks at an assembly plant for Jeep-maker Stellantis in Toledo, Ohio, on Friday. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the Chinese Communist Party invests in its auto industry to “control this industry.”

    “Why? They want to take over the auto industry. They want to take away these jobs,” Duffy said. As far as the Canadian trade deal, he added: “They will live to regret the day they partner with China and bring in their vehicles.”

    Others say the shift is inevitable.

    “This is telling us that Chinese automakers continue to be really popular, and are doing better and better, and not just something that’s sold in global markets that are more marginal or less important to U.S. automakers,” said Ilaria Mazzocco, deputy director and senior fellow with the Trustee Chair in Chinese Business and Economics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

    What makes Chinese vehicles stand out?

    Chinese-made vehicles are high-quality, stylish and inexpensive, experts say.

    “It’s clear that the vehicles made by Chinese brands come at a very competitive cost, but are also technologically quite desirable,” Mazzocco said. “They tend to be connected vehicles, so they have a lot of additional software capabilities that consumers seem to like. But the price point and the competitiveness are really big selling points.”

    These vehicles can cost as little as $10,000 to $20,000; in the U.S., new vehicles are running close to $50,000 on average, and EVs even more so.

    Chinese companies also have unique advantages as far as auto manufacturing and production, efficiency and making vehicles lighter, which helps extend an electrified vehicle’s driving range.

    “They’ve found a way to make small and mid-sized cars — cars that people want — at a reasonable price,” said Sam Fiorani, vice president at AutoForecast Solutions. “These are the segments where GM and Ford and almost everybody else have abandoned.”

    Many automakers have discontinued smaller vehicles in favor of higher-margin, large sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks that are far more profitable.

    So why are Chinese EVs such a threat to U.S. automakers and others?

    Much of the global auto market is electrifying, an ideal opportunity for advanced Chinese automakers to capitalize on. China saw 17% growth in plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles in 2025, according to data released by Benchmark Mineral Intelligence this week, and Europe saw a 33% increase.

    Meanwhile, U.S. sales of electrified cars grew just 1% last year. As the rest of the world advances, U.S. automakers have weakened their once-ambitious, multibillion dollar electrification plans, instead opting for more efficient hybrid electric and gasoline vehicles amid the Trump administration’s shift away from EV-friendly policy.

    That shift threatens U.S. automakers’ competitive edge in the coming years. As is, Tesla lost its crown as the world’s bestselling electric vehicle maker last year, delivering only 1.64 million vehicles in 2025 to Chinese rival BYD’s 2.26 million.

    Trump administration policy slashing emissions rules at a time when Chinese companies are advancing quickly has experts worried for the future of American car manufacturers.

    Chinese automakers will have to meet standards required for the Canadian auto market for the latest trade arrangement to be successful — standards that are similar to those in the U.S. — which is likely to incentivize Chinese auto manufacturing investment in Canada.

    They’ll also have to establish which segment of the market they are targeting there: Higher-end vehicles, or less-expensive ones that sell at higher volumes.

    Regardless, “It brings it home to what is needed to compete globally,” said Mark Wakefield, global automotive market lead at AlixPartners. The firm predicts Chinese brands will account for 30% of the global market by 2030.

    “They’ve already started in Europe. They started in South America. Now Mexico and Canada,” Wakefield said. American carmakers “don’t want to end up as a Brazil with your ethanol-based cars that aren’t sellable anywhere else in the world and … like Britain or Australia that used to matter in the auto world, and no longer really matter.”

    Why have others sought to regulate Chinese EV-makers’ expansion?

    Countries have attempted to regulate Chinese EVs from entering their markets for several reasons.

    “China has become this overwhelming machine making inexpensive vehicles. And the fear is that if you give them an inch, they’re going to take a mile,” Fiorani said. “The other issue is technology. These vehicles are data centers… and the idea that a state-owned company in China could have access to where a high portion of drivers are going gives them leverage for all kinds of outlets.”

    The European Union hiked tariffs on Chinese EVs last year, though the two have been resolving that at the start of this year.

    In 2024, former President Joe Biden set a 100% tariff on Chinese electric cars. Canada matched that import tax on the vehicles until this week. And even with an annual import cap, Canada cutting its tariffs this week means those companies are another step closer to U.S. soil. The Mexican auto market has welcomed Chinese EVs, with massive growth last year.

    “The advance of Chinese manufacturers is inevitable. It will happen eventually. Everybody is negotiating to put up the roadblocks to figure out: What data is being processed, how much market share you’re going to allow Chinese manufacturers to have?” Fiorani added.

    “There are a lot of guardrails that have to be put up, but eventually they’re going to make their way into all Western markets.”

    [ad_2]

    Associated Press

    Source link

  • NASA rolls out SLS rocket for Artemis II moon mission

    [ad_1]

    KENNEDY SPACE CENTER —  More than 1,000 people came out to see NASA roll out its Artemis II Space Launch System (SLS) rocket as it made its slow march to the launch pad during the chilly early morning hours on Saturday.  

    What You Need To Know

    • The SLS is a super-heavy rocket that is 322 feet tall (98.27 meters)
    • The Artemis II mission will see four humans flying by the moon
    • It will begin its slow 4-mile ground journey from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center

    The SLS is a super-heavy rocket that is 322 feet tall (98.27 meters), making it 17 feet (5.18 meters) taller than the Statue of Liberty, according to NASA.

    To put it into perspective for space lovers:

    At 7 a.m. ET., the SLS rocket and Orion capsule took a ride on a crawler transporter as it began its slow 4-mile ground journey from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

    And yes, it was a slow trip, moving at 1 mile per hour or less. Between unscheduled stops and other factors, it could take between six and 12 hours before it arrives at the launch pad — its home until the planned February 2026 launch. 

    Once it arrives at its temporary home, it will have its wet dress rehearsal, which is scheduled to take place either at the end of January or the start of February.

    The purpose of the wet dress rehearsal is to test each phase of the launch countdown, from loading more than 700,000 gallons of super-cold fuel into the rocket to safely standing down from a liftoff attempt.  

    And that fuel isn’t something you can find at your local gas station.

    “The liquid oxygen tank and liquid hydrogen tank hold a combined 733,000 gallons of propellant super cooled to minus 423 degrees Fahrenheit to power the four RS-25 engines at the bottom of the rocket,” NASA explained.

    Sitting on top of the SLS rocket is the Orion capsule, which will carry its human crew to their 10-day mission to the moon.

    It will send NASA’s Cmdr. Gregory Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut mission specialist Jeremy Hansen to the moon, the first time humans visited the rocky satellite since 1972.

    Glover will be the first Black man and Koch will be the first woman to fly to the moon. 

    During a press conference on Saturday morning, the four shared a stage with NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman.

    Isaacman said that the Artemis II mission will fulfill more than one promise.

    “Why are we doing this? We are doing this to fulfill a promise, promise to the American people that we will return to the moon, a promise to all of the pioneers, the engineers, the scientists, the astronauts, the researchers from the 1960s, which the laid the foundation that we are that we are standing upon right now. We’ll do it inevitably to figure out the orbital and lunar economy for all of the science and discovery possibilities that are out there to inspire my kids, your kids, kids all around the world to want to grow up and contribute to this unbelievable endeavor that we’re on right now,” he said.

    Koch also echoed some of what Isaacman said, as well as adding some of the things the mission will focus on.

    “One of the reasons that these missions are so important is the discovery and the knowledge that we bring back to Earth, and that is the entire point. We have both lunar geology science, and we have human research on this mission. Human research is that we’re participating in everything from how we can top perform behavioral health, immune response in space, which is a fascinating physiological response that humans have to microgravity,” she said.

    During the press conference, Hansen said that America’s exploration of space has paved the way for other countries, such as Canada, to develop their own skills.

    “I’ve really applauded the American space leadership because they carved out space for Canada to hone some of our skills, to develop workforce in specific areas, and to bring that knowledge. And the future for Canada kind of looks like where the international collaboration wants to go. We aren’t leading that collaboration. NASA is leading that collaboration, inviting our participation. We have skill sets, and I know Canada will rise to the challenge, just like they did in the Artemis. When we were asked to join Artemis, we started to lean into developing new robotic systems for deep space,” he said.

    While discussing how close they have become, Wiseman also shared that they will have the easiest job on launch day.

    “While we’re up there on launch day, we’ve got the easiest job. We really have the easiest job. We’ve trained for this. We know exactly what to do and it will be good. It’s our families that we think about the most on launch day,” he said.

    This will be a flyby mission, as seen in this NASA graphic for Artemis II.

    NASA is aiming for a Feb. 6 launch, but it can be pushed back to April. The U.S. space agency explained why.

    “While the Artemis II launch window opens as early as Friday, Feb. 6, the mission management team will assess flight readiness after the wet dress rehearsal across the spacecraft, launch infrastructure, and the crew and operations teams before selecting a launch date,” NASA stated.

    As John Honeycutt, NASA’s Artemis II mission management team chair, said during a Friday afternoon press conference, “We will fly when we are ready.”

    The U.S. space agency has named the mission to return to Earth’s lunar neighbor Artemis, as a homage to the Apollo moon landing. In Greek mythology, Artemis is the twin sister of Apollo and the goddess of the moon.

    NASA plans to send humans (including the first woman and person of color) back to the moon in 2027, more than 50 years after the last time humans stepped on the lunar surface.

    The Artemis I launch took place in 2022 to test out the new systems and how they would handle going to the moon and back.

    Learn about the crew

    [ad_2]

    Anthony Leone

    Source link

  • DOJ investigating if Walz, Frey impeded immigration enforcement

    [ad_1]

    MINNEAPOLIS — The Justice Department is investigating whether Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey have impeded federal immigration enforcement through public statements they have made, two people familiar with the matter said Friday.

    What You Need To Know

    • The Justice Department is investigating whether Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey have impeded federal immigration enforcement through public statements they have made, according to two people familiar with the matter

    • The investigation focused on potential violation of a conspiracy statute, the people said

    • In response to reports of the investigation, Walz said in a statement: “Two days ago it was Elissa Slotkin. Last week it was Jerome Powell. Before that, Mark Kelly. Weaponizing the justice system and threatening political opponents is a dangerous, authoritarian tactic”
    • The investigation comes during a weekslong immigration crackdown in Minneapolis and St. Paul that the Department of Homeland Security has called its largest recent immigration enforcement operation

    The investigation, which both Walz and Frey said was a bullying tactic meant to threaten political opposition, focused on potential violation of a conspiracy statute, the people said.

    The people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss a pending investigation by name.

    CBS News first reported the investigation.

    The investigation comes during a weekslong immigration crackdown in Minneapolis and St. Paul that the Department of Homeland Security has called its largest recent immigration enforcement operation, resulting in more than 2,500 arrests.

    The operation has become more confrontational since the fatal shooting of Renee Good on Jan. 7, with agents pulling people from cars and homes and frequently being confronted by angry bystanders demanding they leave. State and local officials have repeatedly told protesters to remain peaceful.

    In response to reports of the investigation, Walz said in a statement: “Two days ago it was Elissa Slotkin. Last week it was Jerome Powell. Before that, Mark Kelly. Weaponizing the justice system and threatening political opponents is a dangerous, authoritarian tactic.”

    U.S. senators Kelly, from Arizona, and Slotkin, from Michigan, are under investigation from the President Donald Trump administration after appearing with other Democratic lawmakers in a video urging members of the military to resist “illegal orders.” The administration has also launched a criminal investigation of Powell, a first for a sitting federal reserve chair.

    Walz’s office said it has not received any notice of an investigation.

    Frey described the investigation as an attempt to intimidate him for “standing up for Minneapolis, our local law enforcement, and our residents against the chaos and danger this Administration has brought to our streets.”

    The U.S. attorney’s office in Minneapolis did not immediately comment.

    In a post on the social media platform X following reports of the investigation, Attorney General Pam Bondi said: “A reminder to all those in Minnesota: No one is above the law.” She did not specifically mention the investigation.

    State calls for peaceful protests

    With more protests expected in the Twin Cities this weekend, state authorities urged demonstrators to avoid confrontation.

    “While peaceful expression is protected, any actions that harm people, destroy property or jeopardize public safety will not be tolerated,” said Commissioner Bob Jacobson of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.

    His comments came after Trump backed off a bit from his threat a day earlier to invoke an 1807 law, the Insurrection Act, to send troops to suppress demonstrations.

    “I don’t think there’s any reason right now to use it, but if I needed it, I’d use it,” Trump told reporters outside the White House.

    A U.S. judge in Minnesota ruled on Friday that the federal officers working in the Minneapolis-area enforcement operation can’t detain or tear gas peaceful protesters who aren’t obstructing authorities, including when they’re observing agents.

    The case was filed before Good’s shooting on behalf of six Minnesota activists represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota.

    Government attorneys had argued that the officers have been acting within their legal authority to enforce immigration laws and protect themselves. But the ACLU has said government officers are violating the constitutional rights of Twin Cities residents.

    Detention whiplash

    A Liberian man who has been shuttled in and out of custody since immigration agents broke down his door with a battering ram was released again Friday, hours after a routine check-in with authorities led to his second arrest.

    The initial arrest of Garrison Gibson last weekend was captured on video. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Bryan ruled the arrest unlawful Thursday and freed him, but Gibson was detained again Friday when he appeared at an immigration office.

    A few hours later, Gibson was free again, attorney Marc Prokosch said.

    Gibson, 37, who fled the civil war in his West African home country as a child, had been ordered removed from the U.S., apparently because of a 2008 drug conviction that was later dismissed. He has remained in the country legally under what’s known as an order of supervision, Prokosch said, and complied with the requirement that he meet regularly with immigration authorities.

    In his Thursday order, the judge agreed that officials violated regulations by not giving Gibson enough notice that his supervision status had been revoked. Prokosch said he was told by ICE that they are “now going through their proper channels” to revoke the order.

    911 caller: Good was shot ‘point blank’

    Minneapolis authorities released police and fire dispatch logs and transcripts of 911 calls related to the fatal shooting of Good. Firefighters found what appeared to be two gunshot wounds in her right chest, one in her left forearm and a possible gunshot wound on the left side of her head, records show.

    “They shot her, like, cause she wouldn’t open her car door,” a caller said. “Point blank range in her car.”

    Good, 37, was at the wheel of her Honda Pilot, which was partially blocking a street. Video showed an officer approached the SUV, demanded that she open the door and grabbed the handle.

    Good began to pull forward and turned the vehicle’s wheel to the right. Another ICE officer, Jonathan Ross, pulled his gun and fired at close range, jumping back as the SUV moved past him. DHS claims the agent shot Good in self-defense.

    [ad_2]

    Associated Press

    Source link

  • Trump says he may put tariffs on countries opposed to U.S. controlling Greenland

    [ad_1]

    COPENHAGEN, Denmark — President Donald Trump suggested Friday that he may punish countries with tariffs if they don’t back the U.S. controlling Greenland, a message that came as a bipartisan congressional delegation sought to lower tensions in the Danish capital.

    What You Need To Know

    • President Donald Trump says he may punish countries with tariffs if they don’t back the U.S. controlling Greenland

    • Trump didn’t provide details Friday

    • Trump for months has insisted that the U.S. should control Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark, and said earlier this week that anything less than the Arctic island being in U.S. hands would be “unacceptable”

    • But the Republican president had not previously mentioned using tariffs to try to force the issue

    • Earlier this week, the foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland met in Washington this week with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio

    Trump for months has insisted that the U.S. should control Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark, and said earlier this week that anything less than the Arctic island being in U.S. hands would be “unacceptable.”

    During an unrelated event at the White House about rural health care, he recounted Friday how he had threatened European allies with tariffs on pharmaceuticals.

    “I may do that for Greenland too,” Trump said. “I may put a tariff on countries if they don’t go along with Greenland, because we need Greenland for national security. So I may do that,” he said.

    He had not previously mentioned using tariffs to try to force the issue.

    Earlier this week, the foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland met in Washington this week with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

    That encounter didn’t resolve the deep differences, but did produce an agreement to set up a working group — on whose purpose Denmark and the White House then offered sharply diverging public views.

    European leaders have insisted that is only for Denmark and Greenland to decide on matters concerning the territory, and Denmark said this week that it was increasing its military presence in Greenland in cooperation with allies.

    President Donald Trump speaks during an event to promote investment in rural health care in the East Room of the White House, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

    A relationship that ‘we need to nurture’

    In Copenhagen, a group of senators and members of the House of Representatives met Friday with Danish and Greenlandic lawmakers, and with leaders including Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.

    Delegation leader Sen. Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat, thanked the group’s hosts for “225 years of being a good and trusted ally and partner” and said that “we had a strong and robust dialog about how we extend that into the future.”

    Sen. Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican, said after meeting lawmakers that the visit reflected a strong relationship over decades and “it is one that we need to nurture.” She told reporters that “Greenland needs to be viewed as our ally, not as an asset, and I think that’s what you’re hearing with this delegation.”

    The tone contrasted with that emanating from the White House. Trump has sought to justify his calls for a U.S. takeover by repeatedly claiming that China and Russia have their own designs on Greenland, which holds vast untapped reserves of critical minerals. The White House hasn’t ruled out taking the territory by force.

    “We have heard so many lies, to be honest and so much exaggeration on the threats towards Greenland,” said Aaja Chemnitz, a Greenlandic politician and member of the Danish parliament who took part in Friday’s meetings. “And mostly, I would say the threats that we’re seeing right now is from the U.S. side.”

    Murkowski emphasized the role of Congress in spending and in conveying messages from constituents.

    “I think it is important to underscore that when you ask the American people whether or not they think it is a good idea for the United States to acquire Greenland, the vast majority, some 75%, will say, we do not think that that is a good idea,” she said.

    Along with Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat, Murkowski has introduced bipartisan legislation that would prohibit the use of U.S. Defense or State department funds to annex or take control of Greenland or the sovereign territory of any NATO member state without that ally’s consent or authorization from the North Atlantic Council.

    Inuit council criticizes White House statements

    The dispute is looming large in the lives of Greenlanders. Greenland’s prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said on Tuesday that “if we have to choose between the United States and Denmark here and now, we choose Denmark. We choose NATO. We choose the Kingdom of Denmark. We choose the EU.””

    The chair of the Nuuk, Greenland-based Inuit Circumpolar Council, which represents around 180,000 Inuit from Alaska, Canada, Greenland, and Russia’s Chukotka region on international issues, said persistent statements from the White House that the U.S. must own Greenland offer “a clear picture of how the US administration views the people of Greenland, how the U.S. administration views Indigenous peoples, and peoples that are few in numbers.”

    Sara Olsvig told The Associated Press in Nuuk that the issue is “how one of the biggest powers in the world views other peoples that are less powerful than them. And that really is concerning.”

    Indigenous Inuit in Greenland do not want to be colonized again, she said.

    [ad_2]

    Associated Press

    Source link

  • NASA to roll out SLS rocket Saturday for Artemis II moon mission

    [ad_1]

    KENNEDY SPACE CENTER — During the early morning hours of Saturday, NASA will begin the Artemis II’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket’s slow roll to the launch pad.

    What You Need To Know

    • The SLS is a super-heavy rocket that is 322 feet tall (98.27 meters)
    • The Artemis II mission will see four humans flying by the moon
    • It will begin its slow 4-mile ground journey from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center

    The SLS is a super-heavy rocket that is 322 feet tall (98.27 meters), making it 17 feet (5.18 meters) taller than the Statue of Liberty, according to NASA.

    To put it into perspective for space lovers:

    At 7 a.m. ET., the SLS rocket and Orion capsule will take a ride on a crawler transporter as it begins its slow 4-mile ground journey from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

    And yes, it will be a slow trip, moving at 1 mile per hour or less. Between unscheduled stops and other factors, it could take between six and 12 hours before it arrives at the launch pad — its home until the planned February 2026 launch. 

    Once it arrives at its temporary home, it will have its wet dress rehearsal, which is scheduled to take place at the end of January.

    The purpose of the wet dress rehearsal is to test each phase of the launch countdown, from loading more than 700,000 gallons of super-cold fuel into the rocket to safely standing down from a liftoff attempt.  

    And that fuel isn’t something you can find at your local gas station.

    “The liquid oxygen tank and liquid hydrogen tank hold a combined 733,000 gallons of propellant super cooled to minus 423 degrees Fahrenheit to power the four RS-25 engines at the bottom of the rocket,” NASA explained.

    Sitting on top of the SLS rocket is the Orion capsule, which will carry its human crew to their 10-day mission to the moon.

    It will send NASA’s Cmdr. Gregory Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut mission specialist Jeremy Hansen to the moon, the first time humans visited the rocky satellite since 1972.

    This will be a flyby mission, as seen in this NASA graphic for Artemis II.

     

    NASA is aiming for a Feb. 6 launch, but it can be pushed back to April. The U.S. space agency explained why.

    “While the Artemis II launch window opens as early as Friday, Feb. 6, the mission management team will assess flight readiness after the wet dress rehearsal across the spacecraft, launch infrastructure, and the crew and operations teams before selecting a launch date,” NASA stated.

    As John Honeycutt, NASA’s Artemis II mission management team chair, said during a Friday afternoon press conference, “We will fly when we are ready.”

    The U.S. space agency has named the mission to return to Earth’s lunar neighbor Artemis, as a homage to the Apollo moon landing. In Greek mythology, Artemis is the twin sister of Apollo and the goddess of the moon.

    NASA plans to send humans (including the first woman and person of color) back to the moon in 2027, more than 50 years after the last time humans stepped on the lunar surface.

    The Artemis I launch took place in 2022 to test out the new systems and how they would handle going to the moon and back.

    Learn about the crew

    [ad_2]

    Anthony Leone

    Source link

  • NASA says astronaut suffered ‘serious medical condition’ on ISS

    [ad_1]

    JOHNSTON SPACE CENTER — During an early morning press conference, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman revealed on Thursday that a Crew-11 astronaut suffered a “serious medical condition” while onboard the International Space Station last week.

    But he stressed that the unnamed astronaut is in stable condition and is currently getting medical care after a successful splashdown off the coast of San Diego on Thursday morning.

    What You Need To Know

    • The unnamed astronaut is in stable condition and in good spirits, stated NASA

    “I think without going … into specifics beyond what was already shared, obviously we took this action because it was a serious medical condition,” Isaacman said of the medical evacuation.

    He started the press conference off by recapping the splashdown and how all of the crew members were safe and in good spirits.

    NASA astronauts Cmdr. Zena Cardman, pilot Michael Fincke, and mission specialists Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Kimiya Yui and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov will be flown to a hospital in San Diego from the recovery ship Shannon, said Joel Montalbano, deputy associate administrator of NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate.

    Montalbano added that all four of the Crew-11 members will spend the night at the hospital and once given the all clear, will be flown to Houston to be reunited with their loved ones. They may be at the Johnson Space Center on Friday, he said.

    Last week, one of the four astronauts suffered an undisclosed medical episode, but was in stable condition.

    This was the first medical evacuation in the 25 years since the International Space Station has been in full service. The situation prompted NASA to cut the Crew-11 mission short, as it was supposed to end in February. 

    Officials stressed that this was not an emergency de-orbit.

    “If it’s a medical thing and you need to get home, you’d come home anywhere in the world and we’d use the U.S. military to get to them as quickly as we can. And then from that, we’d figure out what the next steps would be,” Montalbano explained if it had been an emergency situation.

    During a question-and-answer session, Isaacman told Spectrum News that it was premature to speculate on the astronaut’s future in space.

    “I would, I would think it’s incredibly premature to even, you know, consider that right now. The highest priority is, you know, the health and welfare of our crew members. They just executed, I mean, a near-perfect mission on orbit,” he said. “So, I said that during the initial press conference that I think regardless of the phase of flight we were in on the timeline on the expedition, we would arrive at the same conclusion. What Crew-11 did to make this so much easier is, is executing so well on all of their scientific, scientific objectives. So, in that case, the crew did a fantastic job. And I think that would reflect well on future crew selection criteria.”

    The Crew-11 members take a moment to strike a pose. Mission specialist Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, left, NASA pilot Michael Fincke, NASA Cmdr. Zena Cardman, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) mission specialist Kimiya Yui. (NASA pilot Michael Fincke)

    Because all four astronauts had extensive medical training, they were well equipped to care for the crewmember who suffered the medical episode, Isaacman said. He said the level of care the astronaut received would have been the same if a medical doctor was onboard the space station.

    He added that it is unknown what caused the medical episode and did not think it was preparing for a scheduled spacewalk.

    In what was supposed to be a six-hour spacewalk, Fincke and Cardman were going to install a modification kit and cables for a future rollout of a solar array on Thursday, Jan. 08.

    “I mean, this is something that could have happened on Earth, you know, completely outside the microgravity environment, at that point. I don’t think we know that versus just being in microgravity versus potentially interactions, experiments. We, I just think it would be very premature to draw any conclusions or close any doors at this point,” Isaacman said.

    He said that a medical professional may be on future missions like going to Mars.

    NASA will review what happened and whatever lessons are learned will be adopted to future missions, Montalbano said.

    [ad_2]

    Anthony Leone

    Source link