“Elon Musk, leader of the Trump administration’s now-disbanded Department of Government Efficiency, must sit for depositions along with senior State Department officials over their role in dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development, a federal judge ruled Tuesday. Pointing to findings that Musk had made the decision to break up USAID – one of the world’s largest humanitarian programs – despite lacking formal authority or official approval – District Judge Theodore Chuang wrote that there was ‘no alternative’ than for Musk and other officials to provide testimony regarding their decision-making process. The ruling represents a win for a group of anonymous former USAID employees who are suing Musk, DOGE and State Department officials over the closure.” (02/05/26)
“Democrats are threatening to block funding for the Homeland Security Department when it expires in two weeks unless there are ‘dramatic changes’ and ‘real accountability’ for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other law enforcement agencies who are carrying out President Donald Trump’s campaign of federal immigration enforcement in Minnesota and across the country. It’s unclear if the president or enough congressional Republicans will agree to any of the Democrats’ larger demands that the officers unmask and identify themselves, obtain judicial warrants in certain cases and work with local authorities, among other asks. Republicans have already pushed back. House GOP lawmakers are demanding that some of their own priorities be added to the Homeland Security spending bill, including legislation that would require proof of citizenship before Americans register to vote and restrictions on sanctuary cities.” (02/05/25)
“France’s navy seized over four tons of cocaine from a ship in the south Pacific and also intercepted a boat trafficking cocaine in the Caribbean Sea, the country’s armed forces minister said on Thursday. Catherine Vautrin wrote on X that 4.24 tons of cocaine was seized in the Pacific and a boat carrying 678 kilograms of cocaine was intercepted in the Caribbean and handed over to the Barbadian authorities.” (02/05/26)
“A Moscow court sentenced Russian stand-up comedian Artemy Ostanin to five years and nine months in prison and a $4,000 fine after finding him guilty of telling jokes that incited hatred of Ukraine war veterans with life-changing injuries and insulted Christians’ faith. Ostanin was sentenced on Wednesday for on-stage routines alleged to have included gags featuring a ‘legless skateboarder’ in connection with the war in Ukraine and an imagined conversation with Jesus Christ in which Jesus relates a story that effectively states he was crucified for exposing the truth. The prosecution alleged the slurs, which were allegedly made during two shows in early 2025, were part of a systematic effort and that Ostanin had formed an “organized criminal group” for the express purpose of writing and performing the material.” (02/05/26)
“Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan is refusing to voluntarily comply with a Justice Department investigation into a video she organized urging U.S. military members to resist ‘illegal orders’ — escalating a dispute that President Donald Trump has publicly pushed. In letters first obtained by The Associated Press, Slotkin’s lawyer informed U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro that the senator would not agree to a voluntary interview about the video. Slotkin’s legal team also requested that Pirro preserve all documents related to the matter for ‘anticipated litigation.’ Slotkin’s lawyer separately wrote to Attorney General Pam Bondi, declining to sit for an FBI interview about the video and urging her to immediately terminate any inquiry.” (02/05/25)
“A federal judge ruled Wednesday that a former San Diego County sheriff’s deputy who fatally shot a fleeing detainee in 2020 must stand trial later this month, denying a defense request that sought to delay the civil rights trial because of the ‘current political climate’ following two recent fatal shootings by federal agents in Minneapolis. Aaron Richard Russell is scheduled to go on trial beginning Feb. 17 in U.S. District Court in San Diego on charges related to the May 2020 shooting death of Nicholas Bils, who had escaped from custody, was unarmed and was running away from law enforcement outside the downtown Central Jail when Russell shot him at least four times.” (02/05/26)
“An Israeli court on Thursday indicted a brother of the chief of Israel’s security service for smuggling tens of thousands of dollars worth of cigarettes into war-ravaged Gaza Strip at a time when getting aid into the territory was difficult and many Palestinians were going hungry. The indictment of Bezalel Zini is the latest in a burgeoning scandal implicating more than a dozen people, many of them Israeli reserve soldiers, of personally profiting from the Israel-Hamas war and delivering goods into Gaza that could potentially benefit the militant group. His brother, Shin Bet chief David Zini, has not been implicated in the scandal.” (02/05/26)
“A federal judge in Missouri on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit by the Republican-led state accusing Starbucks of using its commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion as a pretext to systematically discriminate based on race, gender and sexual orientation. U.S. District Judge John Ross in St. Louis said the state’s case failed to prove that Starbucks actually discriminated against ‘even a single Missouri resident’ who worked at Starbucks or applied for a job there. Ross was appointed by then-President Barack Obama, a Democrat. The office of Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway, a Republican, alleged that Starbucks had unlawfully tied executive pay to the company’s achieving racial and gender-based hiring quotas. The lawsuit was filed by Hanaway’s predecessor, Andrew Bailey, before he joined the Trump administration as co-deputy director of the FBI.” (02/05/26)
“Brandon Scott, the Democratic mayor of Baltimore, is facing questions about the taxpayer funds he uses for his transportation as well as social media pushback over a press conference where he suggested racism was a factor. Scott, a progressive who has served as mayor since 2020, is facing pressure over a Fox Baltimore report showing his primary vehicle, a 2025 Jeep Grand Wagoneer, is the most expensive government-issued vehicle operated by any mayor, governor, county executive or county commissioner in the state, costing taxpayers $163,495. Scott has responded to the report, which claims his SUV costs nearly twice as much as the next most expensive taxpayer vehicle in the state, by pointing to the cost of President Donald Trump’s ‘Beast’ vehicle, arguing that inflation is not being factored in and suggesting politics are at play.” (02/05/25)
“The Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi has begun a hunger strike in an Iranian prison in protest of what she said was her unlawful detention, according to a statement from her family released on Wednesday. Ms. Mohammadi, a prominent Iranian rights and democracy activist, has been arrested and imprisoned repeatedly on charges of threatening national security. She was on a hunger strike most recently in 2023, when her family said she was being denied medical care while in detention. Ms. Mohammadi, 53, was allowed to temporarily leave prison for treatment in 2024 but was arrested again last December.” (02/05/26)
