“Gov. Tim Walz says he’s cautiously optimistic about the Trump administration announcing an end to the ICE [gang occupation of] Minnesota but is demanding the federal government take accountability for what happened during the surge, including ‘the incredible and immense costs.’ President Trump’s Border Czar, Tom Homan, announced Thursday morning that the surge would end. [Gang members] have already started leaving the state, but the drawdown will continue through next week. Homan cited several factors in ending the drawdown but primarily continued cooperation with local authorities. … Walz says the first thing he is focused on is economic recovery from the [occupation]. The topic of Thursday’s press conference was originally a budget proposal to help businesses impacted by the ICE [rioting]. Along with that proposal, Gov. Walz is pushing federal leaders to pay for ‘what they broke.'” (02/12/26)
“A highly classified whistleblower complaint against Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard stems from an intercepted conversation between two foreign nationals that referenced President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner and, in part, Iran, according to The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. The intercept, collected by a foreign intelligence service and shared with the United States, became a flashpoint inside the intelligence community after questions arose over how widely the report was distributed. The whistleblower alleged that Gabbard limited access to the intelligence and delayed broader dissemination within spy agencies and to Congress. … News of the complaint and its apparent stagnant status due to national security concerns raised further concerns that Gabbard had been blocking a thorough investigation into whatever claims were in the document.” (02/12/26)
“Sales of existing homes greatly declined in January despite mortgage rates coming down, a report from the National Association of Realtors released Thursday says. Existing home sales, sales of homes that were previously owned and occupied, fell 8.4% in January on a seasonally adjusted annual rate. Sales were 4.4% lower than January 2025. The median sales price of existing homes was $396,800 for all housing types, nearly a 1% increase over a year ago.” (02/12/26)
“Edward H. ‘Ed’ Crane III, co-founder and president emeritus of the libertarian Cato Institute and a former chair of the Libertarian National Committee, died Tuesday, February 10, 2026. He was 81. The Cato Institute announced Crane’s passing this week. Born in Los Angeles, California, on August 15, 1944, Crane played a significant role in both the institutional development of the modern libertarian movement and the growth of Cato into one of the country’s most prominent libertarian public policy think tanks. … As a member of the Libertarian Party, Crane was active from its earliest years.” (02/12/26)
“U.S. colleges received more than 5 billion dollars in reportable foreign gifts and contracts in 2025, according to a new website from the U.S. Education Department. The release is part of a push by the Trump administration to make foreign influence in colleges and universities more transparent. Among the biggest recipients, the data show, are Carnegie Mellon University, Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University. Qatar was the largest foreign source of funds to schools, making up more than 20% — or about 1.1 billion. Other sources include the United Kingdom, China, Switzerland and Japan.” (02/12/26)
“Scientists are testing an entirely new way to fight heart disease: a gene-editing treatment that might offer a one-time fix for high cholesterol. It’s very early stage research, tried in only a few dozen people so far. But gene-editing approaches being developed by two companies show hints that switching off certain genes could dramatically lower artery-clogging cholesterol, raising hopes of one day being able to prevent heart attacks without having to take pills. ‘People want a fix, not a bandage,’ said Dr. Luke Laffin, a preventive cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic. After co-authoring a promising study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, he said he was flooded with queries about how to participate in the next clinical trial.” (02/11/25)
“The CIA has released a new Mandarin-language recruitment video aimed at Chinese military officers, portraying a fictional, mid-level People’s Liberation Army officer grappling with corrupt leadership and ultimately choosing to contact the American intelligence agency. The video is the latest installment in a public-facing recruitment campaign targeting China, which CIA Director John Ratcliffe has described as the agency’s top intelligence priority amid what he has called a ‘generational competition’ with Beijing. In the short film, the central character watches as qualified officers are removed and replaced by political loyalists lacking military credentials. Troubled by what he sees as corruption, and concerned about the impact on his young family, the officer decides to reach out to the CIA.” (02/12/26)
“The Paris prosecutors office on Thursday said that nine people were being detained as part of an investigation into a suspected decade-long, 10 million euro ($11.8 million) ticket fraud scheme at the Louvre, the world’s most visited museum. The arrests took place on Tuesday as part of a judicial investigation opened after the Louvre filed a complaint in December 2024, the prosecutors’ office said. The loss for the museum over the past decade is estimated to exceed 10 million euros ($11.8 million), it said. Those detained include two Louvre employees, several tour guides and one person suspected of being the mastermind, according to the prosecutors’ office. The museum alerted investigators about the frequent presence of two Chinese tour guides suspected of bringing groups of Chinese tourists into the museum by fraudulently reusing the same tickets multiple times for different visitors. Other guides were later suspected of similar practices.” (02/12/25)
“The Trump administration announced an end to greenhouse gas emission standards for all vehicles made in model year 2012 or later Thursday. The administration revoked the 2009 Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding and all other emission standards related to greenhouse gases. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said in a press release that the move will save taxpayers $1.3 trillion. … The Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding set the legal basis for regulating pollution tied to climate change as part of the Clean Air Act, the primary federal air quality law enacted in 1963.” (02/12/26)
“Belgian police searched offices of the European Commission on Thursday as part of an investigation into the 2024 sale of several Commission buildings to the Belgian state. The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), an independent body responsible for investigating and prosecuting crimes affecting the EU’s financial interests, is leading the probe. EPPO confirmed to POLITICO it is conducting ‘evidence-collecting activities’ related to ‘an ongoing investigation.’ The office declined to provide further details, citing the need to protect the integrity of proceedings.” (02/12/26)
