The lawsuit asks the court to declare the surge unconstitutional and unlawful, with officials claiming the crackdown has led to racial profiling and disruptions to everyday life.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe unlawful deployment of thousands of armed, masked, and poorly trained federal agents is hurting Minnesota<\/a>,\u201d said Ellison. \u201cPeople are being racially profiled, harassed, terrorized, and assaulted. Schools have gone into lockdown. Businesses have been forced to close. Minnesota police are spending countless hours dealing with the chaos ICE is causing.\u201d<\/p>\n The lawsuit comes just days after the death of Renee Nicole Good<\/a>, the woman shot to death by an Ice agent in Minneapolis, which has led to heated demonstrations in Minnesota.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n Show key events only<\/p>\n Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature<\/p>\n The New York Times<\/a> reports that the Pentagon carried out a lethal strike on a boat by using an aircraft that resembled a civilian plane, killing 11 people in September. Officials told the Times that the boat was suspected of smuggling drugs.<\/p>\n \u201cThe aircraft also carried its munitions inside the fuselage, rather than visibly under its wings\u201d, reads the report.<\/p>\n According to legal experts who spoke to the Times, the aircraft\u2019s civilian appearance is significant because the Trump administration<\/a> has argued the attacks are lawful acts of war.<\/p>\n But the move could imply perfidy, a war crime that prohibits deceptive acts based on the abuse of the good faith of an adversary, according to Oxford Public International Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n Officials familiar with surveillance footage of the strike told the Times that the aircraft descended low enough to be visible to those on the boat, and that the vessel appeared to turn back toward Venezuela<\/a> after the people aboard noticed it.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n A federal judge ordered the Trump administration<\/a> to reinstate nearly $12 million in funding to the American Academy of Pediatrics, including grants supporting rural health care and early screening for disabilities in young children.<\/p>\n The ruling comes after the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) terminated several multimillion-dollar grants to the association in December after it criticized secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr\u2019s public health policies.<\/p>\n US district judge Beryl Howell issued a preliminary injunction on Sunday, finding that the move to terminate the grants was likely motivated by retaliation.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not a case about whether AAP or HHS is right or even has the better position on vaccinations and gender-affirming care for children, or any other public health policy\u201d, Howell wrote in her decision. \u201cThis is a case about whether the federal government has exercised power in a manner designed to chill public health policy debate by retaliating against a leading and generally trusted pediatrician member professional organization focused on improving the health of children\u201d.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n The former deputy national security advisor to President Donald Trump, Dina Powell McCormick, was named as the president and vice chair of the tech giant Meta.<\/p>\n Trump congratulated Powell McCormick earlier today in a post on Truth Social.<\/p>\n \u201cShe is a fantastic, and very talented, person, who served the Trump Administration with strength and distinction!\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n Powell McCormick is the second former Trump administration<\/a> official Meta has brought on in recent weeks. Earlier this month, the company announced it hired Curtis Joseph Mahoney, who previously served as a deputy US trade representative during Trump\u2019s first term, as its new chief legal officer.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n President Donald Trump called New York City\u2019s congestion pricing program \u201ca disaster\u201d, claiming \u201cit\u2019s never worked before, and it will never work now\u201d. In a post on Truth Social, he said it should be ended \u201cimmediately\u201d.<\/p>\n However, data have shown that the policy, which began in January 2025, has reduced traffic, increased transit ridership, and decreased pollution over the course of a year.<\/p>\n After New York\u2019s congestion pricing was installed, most drivers were charged $9 during peak travel times to enter Manhattan below 60th Street.<\/p>\n The move led to about 73,000 fewer vehicles entering the central business district each day, according to a New York Times analysis<\/a>. That adds up to about 27 million fewer vehicles entering Manhattan south of 60th Street, resulting in an 11 percent reduction in traffic.<\/p>\n According to a Cornell University study<\/a>, the city\u2019s program led to a drop in pollution in parts of the city.<\/p>\n \u201cOur overall conclusion is that congestion pricing in New York City, like many other cities in the world that have implemented it, helped not only improve traffic, but also helped reduce air pollutant concentration, improve air quality and should be good for public health,\u201d said the study\u2019s senior author and director of Cornell\u2019s Center for Transportation, Environment and Community Health, Oliver Gao, in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n Share<\/a> Count Louisiana senator John Kennedy among the Republican skeptics of the justice department\u2019s criminal investigation of Federal Reserve<\/a> chair Jerome Powell.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t need this,\u201d the senator told reporters at the Capitol on Monday evening.<\/p>\n Kennedy serves on the Senate banking committee, where fellow Republican Thom Tillis has vowed to oppose any Fed nominees that come before the committee as long as the investigation remains open.<\/p>\n Kennedy declined to say if he would endorse a similar step.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n In a post on Truth Social, Donald Trump said any country doing business with Iran will face a 25% tariff \u201con any and all business being done with the United States of America\u201d.<\/p>\n That new tariff is \u201ceffective immediately\u201d. Further details remained unclear.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a017.46 EST<\/p>\n Minnesota sues Trump administration over surge of federal immigration agents<\/p>\n Minnesota and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration<\/a>, state attorney general Keith Ellison said on Monday, asking a federal court to halt the ramped-up immigration crackdown in the state.<\/p>\n The lawsuit asks the court to declare the surge unconstitutional and unlawful, with officials claiming the crackdown has led to racial profiling and disruptions to everyday life.<\/p>\n \u201cThe unlawful deployment of thousands of armed, masked, and poorly trained federal agents is hurting Minnesota<\/a>,\u201d said Ellison. \u201cPeople are being racially profiled, harassed, terrorized, and assaulted. Schools have gone into lockdown. Businesses have been forced to close. Minnesota police are spending countless hours dealing with the chaos ICE is causing.\u201d<\/p>\n The lawsuit comes just days after the death of Renee Nicole Good<\/a>, the woman shot to death by an Ice agent in Minneapolis, which has led to heated demonstrations in Minnesota.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n A US judge ruled that \u00d8rsted, a European offshore wind developer, can continue development of a windfarm project off the coast of Rhode Island after the Trump administration<\/a> had suspended work along with several other projects.<\/p>\n Last month, officials from the Department of the Interior halted the leases for five large offshore wind projects that are under construction in US waters over \u201cnational security risks\u201d, which were unclear. Earlier this month, \u00d8rsted announced it had filed a legal challenge against the administration\u2019s decision to suspend the lease for its Revolution Wind site.<\/p>\n Today\u2019s ruling marks the latest move in an ongoing clash between the renewable energy industry and Donald Trump, whose administration has sought to block offshore wind projects since he returned to office.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a016.47 EST<\/p>\n Illinois sues Trump administration over immigration crackdown<\/p>\n The state of Illinois sued the Trump administration\u2019s Department of Homeland Security, with officials alleging that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents used \u201cunlawful and dangerous tactics\u201d across the state.<\/p>\n The lawsuit, filed by Illinois attorney general Kwame Raoul and backed by governor JB Pritzker, argues that federal agents exceeded their authority under US law by making arrests without warrants or probable cause, indiscriminately deploying teargas, and carrying out other enforcement actions not authorized by Congress.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have watched in horror as unchecked federal agents have aggressively assaulted and terrorized our communities and neighborhoods in Illinois, undermining constitutional rights and threatening public safety,\u201d said Pritzker. \u201cIn the face of the Trump administration\u2019s cruelty and intimidation, Illinois is standing up against the attacks on our people.\u201d<\/p>\n More than 4,300 people were arrested in \u201cOperation Midway Blitz\u201d in 2025, according to the AP.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a016.30 EST<\/p>\n Senator Coons to lead congressional delegation to Copenhagen amid Trump threats to annex Greenland<\/p>\n Democratic senator Chris Coons will lead a congressional delegation of at least nine lawmakers to the Danish capital this week, according to a source familiar with the trip. Republican senator Thom Tillis, of North Carolina, will also be on the trip to Copenhagen, the source confirmed.<\/p>\n The delegation will meet with Danish officials, as Donald Trump<\/a> repeats his threats to seize Greenland, the semiautonomous territory of Denmark.<\/p>\n Chris Coons speaks during a Senate judiciary committee hearing, 20 April 2021. Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein\/AP<\/p>\n The White House has called the annexation of Greenland<\/a> a \u201cnational security priority\u201d, and the president has warned that if the US doesn\u2019t acquire the territory it will open the door for Russia and China to act first.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a016.00 EST<\/p>\n Senator Kelly sues defense secretary over attempts to reduce military rank and pension<\/p>\n Richard Luscombe<\/p>\n Democratic US senator Mark Kelly filed a lawsuit on Monday seeking to nullify the \u201cchilling\u201d attempt by the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, to reduce the military veteran\u2019s rank and pension as punishment for speaking out against the Trump administration<\/a>.<\/p>\n Hegseth had previously issued a formal censure to Kelly<\/a>, a decorated retired navy captain and Nasa astronaut, for alleged \u201cseditious statements\u201d he made urging service members to resist unlawful orders<\/a>. It began a process that could lead to Kelly, a senator for Arizona since 2021, being demoted and having his pension cut.<\/p>\n Mark Kelly walks to the Senate Chamber to vote in the U.S. Capitol, 7 January 2026. Photograph: Bonnie Cash\/UPI\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n The lawsuit, filed in Washington DC<\/a> federal court, argues that comments made by Kelly and five other Democratic lawmakers \u2013 all military or intelligence veterans \u2013 in a short video to service members in November were protected free speech.<\/p>\n The 46-page court filing<\/a> accuses Hegseth, the Department of Defense, the US navy, and John Phelan, the navy secretary, of \u201ctrampling\u201d on constitutional protections \u201cessential to legislative independence\u201d. The filing said the defense secretary was attempting to dismantle the \u201cbedrock principles of our democracy\u201d, freedom of speech and the separation of powers.<\/p>\n \u201cHis unconstitutional crusade against me sends a chilling message to every retired member of the military: if you speak out and say something that the president or secretary of defense doesn\u2019t like, you will be censured, threatened with demotion, or even prosecuted,\u201d Kelly said in a statement announcing the lawsuit.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Treasury secretary told Trump that Powell investigation ‘made a mess’ \u2013 report<\/p>\n Treasure secretary Scott Bessent told Donald Trump on Sunday that the criminal investigation into Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell \u201cmade a mess\u201d and could be bad for financial markets, according to a report from Axios<\/a>, citing two unnamed sources familiar with the call.<\/p>\n One of the sources said that Bessent \u201cisn\u2019t happy, and he let the president know\u201d.<\/p>\n A reminder that earlier today, Karoline Leavitt said that Trump did not instruct the justice department to launch an investigation into Powell, but \u201cthe president has every right to criticize the Fed chair\u201d.<\/p>\n Sources told Axios that the office of the US attorney for Washington DC, Jeanine Pirro, launched the investigation \u201cwithout giving a heads-up to treasury, top White House officials or the main justice department\u201d.<\/p>\n My colleagues report that economists also have warned that Trump\u2019s attempts to influence the Fed risk plunging the US into a period of 1970s-style inflation<\/a>, and triggering a global backlash in financial markets.<\/p>\n![\"Chris](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Chris_Stein.png\")
Chris Stein<\/p>\n