“A group of Minnesota school districts and educators has asked a judge to order federal officers to stay away from schools, alleging that the nation’s largest immigration operation has spilled onto campuses, affecting attendance statewide, according to a lawsuit filed against the Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday morning. The lawsuit rebukes the agency’s aggressive immigration crackdown in Minneapolis and St. Paul — its largest operation so far in a campaign to arrest and deport undocumented immigrants. The public school districts in Fridley and Duluth, along with Education Minnesota, an 89,000-member teachers union, accuse federal officers of breaking a promise to stay away from schools.” (02/04/26)
“Armed men have killed at least 35 people and burned homes and shops in Woro, a remote village in Nigeria’s north-central Kwara State, authorities said. … It was the deadliest assault this year in the district bordering Niger State, which armed gangs have attacked increasingly. Villagers fled into the surrounding bushland as the armed men attacked Woro, [lawmaker Sa’idu Baba] Ahmed told the Reuters news agency by phone. Several people were still missing, he said.” (02/04/26)
“The U.K. government agreed Wednesday to release documents casting light on the decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the United States, despite his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, as it tries to stem mounting anger over the revelations. Prime Minister Keir Starmer faced the wrath of opposition lawmakers, and his own Labour Party backbenchers, after acknowledging that he had known at the time of the 2024 appointment about Mandelson’s friendship with the convicted sex offender. Starmer said that he was unaware of the depth of the relationship, and that Mandelson ‘had lied repeatedly’ about his ties to Epstein. A trove of documents about Epstein released last week by the U.S. Justice Department has finished off Mandelson’s long political career — and left Starmer facing angry questions about his judgment in making him Britain’s envoy to the Trump administration, the country’s most important ambassadorial post.” (02/04/25)
“A Serbian government minister and three others went on trial on Wednesday on charges of abuse of office and falsifying of documents to help pave the way for a real estate project that was to be financed by a company of Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law. Kushner has since withdrawn from the planned multi-million investment that envisaged building a high-rise hotel, a luxury apartment complex, office spaces and shops to replace a sprawling bombed-out military complex in central Belgrade. … Culture Minister Nikola Selakovic, who is a close ally of [Serbian president Aleksandar] Vucic, and three other officials are accused of illegally lifting the protection status in 2024 for the site by forging documentation. If convicted they could face up to three years in prison. They pleaded not guilty as the trial opened.” (02/04/26)
“Envoys from Russia and Ukraine met in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday for another round of U.S.-brokered talks on ending the almost four-year war, a Ukrainian negotiator said. The delegations from Moscow and Kyiv were joined in the United Arab Emirates by U.S. officials, Rustem Umerov, Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council chief, who was present at the meeting, said on social media. Umerov said the planned two-day negotiations started with all three delegations present, after which negotiators were to break into groups according to topics and then meet as a full group again at the end.” (02/04/26)
“President Trump’s budget office is instructing the Department of Transportation and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to claw back more than $1.5 billion from blue states on grounds the money was being mishandled, officials told The Post. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) told the DOT Wednesday to cancel more than $943 million, while the CDC was ordered to nix at least $602 million meant for New York, California, Colorado, Illinois and Minnesota. An OMB spokesperson said that the states were being targeted for ‘waste and mismanagement’ of taxpayer funds. Illinois was slated to receive the largest of the transportation-related grants, with $100 million provided to the state’s Environmental Protection Agency to build electric vehicle (EV) charging stations.” (02/04/25)
“Pink noise, a staticky sound that’s supposed to help people fall asleep, may actually worsen your rest, a new study found. … University of Pennsylvania researchers conducted a seven-night sleep lab study involving 25 healthy adults, mostly younger women, to determine the effects of environmental noise, pink noise and earplugs on sleep quality. … The study, published Monday in the journal Sleep, found environmental noise mainly disrupted Stage 3 sleep, reducing it by 23.4 minutes on average. Stage 3 is the deepest sleep state and is important for cognitive function and memory. The study also found that pink noise reduced the time spent in REM sleep by 18.6 minutes, a crucial sleep stage for mood regulation and mental focus.” (02/04/25)
“The Libertarian National Committee has formally condemned Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other law enforcement agencies over reports of repeated Fourth Amendment violations, accusing authorities of excessive force and constitutional overreach that undermine limits on government power. In a February 1 statement, the LNC pointed reports detailing a growing pattern of overreach by ICE and other federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. The national committee’s response follows an earlier resolution addressing the same concerns, which informed the statement. The measure, which required a three-fourths vote for adoption, passed 13–0 with one abstention. Prior to that, LNC Chair Steven Nekhaila also separately called for the abolition of ICE following the shooting of Alex Pretti, criticizing the agency for shifting away from administrative civil processes toward what he regards as confrontational, ‘occupation-style policing.'” (02/03/26)
“Officials in Georgia’s Fulton County said Wednesday they have asked a federal court to order the FBI to return ballots and other documents from the 2020 election that it seized last week, escalating a voting battle as President Donald Trump says he wants to ‘take over’ elections from Democratic-run areas with the November midterms on the horizon. The FBI had searched a warehouse near Atlanta where those records were stored, a move taken after Trump’s persistent demands for retribution over claims, without evidence, that fraud cost him victory in Georgia. Trump’s election comment came in an interview Monday with a conservative podcaster and the Republican president reaffirmed his position in Oval Office remarks the next day, citing fraud allegations that numerous audits, investigations and courts have debunked.” (02/04/25)
“Federal prosecutors are set to ask that a man convicted of trying to assassinate President Donald Trump on a Florida golf course in 2024 be sentenced to life in prison at a hearing on Wednesday. Ryan Routh is scheduled to appear before U. S. District Judge Aileen Cannon in Fort Pierce. Her courtroom erupted into chaos in September shortly after jurors found Routh guilty on all counts, including attempting to kill a presidential candidate and several firearm-related charges. Routh tried to stab himself in the neck with a pen, and officers quickly dragged him out. Routh’s sentencing had initially been scheduled for December, but Cannon agreed to move the date back after Routh decided to use an attorney during the sentencing phase instead of representing himself as he did for most of the trial.” (02/04/26)
