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  • Columbia taps University of Wisconsin chancellor to lead school after 2 years of turmoil

    Columbia taps University of Wisconsin chancellor to lead school after 2 years of turmoil

    NEW YORK — Columbia University has named Jennifer Mnookin, the chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, as its next president as it tries to move forward from two years of turmoil that included campus protests over the Israel-Hamas war and President Donald Trump’s subsequent campaign to squelch student activism and force changes at the Ivy League school.

    Mnookin’s appointment was announced Sunday night. She will assume her new post on July 1, becoming Columbia’s fifth leader in the past four years.

    The Trump administration took aim at Columbia shortly after he took office last year, making it his first target in what became a broader campaign to influence how elite U.S. universities dealt with protests, which students they admitted, and what they taught in classrooms.

    Immigration enforcement agents imprisoned some Columbia students who had participated in pro-Palestinian protests in 2024. The administration canceled $400 million in research grants at the school and its affiliated hospital system in the name of combating antisemitism on campus, and threatened to withhold billions of dollars more in government support.

    Ultimately, Columbia reached a deal with the administration to pay more than $220 million to restore the research funds. It also agreed to overhaul the university’s student disciplinary process and apply a contentious, federally endorsed definition of antisemitism not only to teaching but to a disciplinary committee that has been investigating students critical of Israel.

    Mnookin’s predecessor, Nemat Shafik, resigned in August 2024 following scrutiny of her handling of the protests and campus divisions. The university named Katrina Armstrong, the chief executive of its medical school, but she resigned last March, days after Columba agreed to the settlement. The board of trustees then appointed their co-chair, Claire Shipman, as acting president while they searched for a permanent leader.

    Mnookin, 58, previously served as the dean of the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law before being named to her current post at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in August 2022. She received her bachelor’s degree from Harvard University, her law degree from Yale Law School, and her doctorate in history and social study of science and technology from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

  • Investigators will detail causes of midair collision over Washington, D.C., and recommend changes

    Investigators will detail causes of midair collision over Washington, D.C., and recommend changes

    So many things went wrong last Jan. 29 to contribute to the deadliest plane crash on American soil since 2001 that the National Transportation Safety Board isn’t likely to identify a single cause of the collision between an airliner and an Army helicopter near Washington, D.C., that killed 67 people at its hearing Tuesday.

    Instead, their investigators will detail what they found that played a role in the crash, and the board will recommend changes to help prevent a similar tragedy. Last week, the Federal Aviation Administration already took the temporary restrictions it imposed after the crash and made them permanent to ensure planes and helicopters won’t share the same airspace again around Reagan National Airport.

    Family members of victims hope those suggestions won’t be ignored the same way many past NTSB recommendations have been. Tim Lilley, whose son Sam was the first officer on the American Airlines plane, said he hopes officials in Congress and the administration will make changes now instead of waiting until another disaster.

    “Instead of writing aviation regulation in blood, let’s start writing it in data,” said Lilley, who is a pilot himself and earlier in his career flew Black Hawk helicopters in the Washington area. “Because all the data was there to show this accident was going to happen. This accident was completely preventable.”

    Over the past year, the NTSB has already highlighted a number of the factors that contributed to the crash including a poorly designed helicopter route past Reagan Airport, the fact that the Black Hawk was flying 78 feet higher than it should have been, the warnings that the FAA ignored in the years beforehand, and the Army’s move to turn off a key system that would have broadcast the helicopter’s location more clearly.

    The D.C. plane crash was the first in a number of high-profile crashes and close calls throughout 2025 that alarmed the public, but the total number of crashes last year was actually the lowest since the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020 with 1,405 crashes nationwide.

    Experts say flying remains the safest way to travel because of all the overlapping layers of precautions built into the system, but too many of those safety measures failed at the same time last Jan. 29.

    Here is some of what we have learned about the crash:

    Helicopter route didn’t ensure enough separation

    The route along the Potomac River the Black Hawk was following that night allowed for helicopters and planes to come within 75 feet of each other when a plane was landing on the airport’s secondary runway that typically handles less than 5% of the flights landing at Reagan. And that distance was only ensured when the helicopter stuck to flying along the bank of the river, but the official route didn’t require that.

    Normally, air traffic controllers work to keep aircraft at least 500 feet apart to keep them safe, so the scant separation on Route 4 posed what NTSB chairperson Jennifer Homendy called “an intolerable risk to flight safety.”

    The controllers at Reagan also had been in the habit of asking pilots to watch out for other aircraft themselves and maintain visual separation as they tried to squeeze in more planes to land on what the Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority has called the busiest runway in the country. The FAA halted that practice after the crash.

    That night a controller twice asked the helicopter pilots whether they had the jet in sight, and the pilots said they did and asked for visual separation approval so they could use their own eyes to maintain distance. But at the investigative hearings last summer, board members questioned how well the crew could spot the plane while wearing night vision goggles and whether the pilots were even looking in the right spot.

    The Black Hawk was flying too high

    The American Airlines plane flying from Wichita, Kan., collided with the helicopter 278 feet above the river, but the Black Hawk was never supposed to fly above 200 feet as it passed by the airport, according to the official route.

    Before investigators revealed how high the helicopter was flying, Tim Lilley was asking tough questions about it at some of the first meetings NTSB officials had with the families. His background as a pilot gave him detailed knowledge of the issues.

    “We had a moral mandate because we had such an in-depth insight into what happened. We didn’t want to become advocates, but we could not shirk the responsibility,” said Lilley, who started meeting with top lawmakers in Congress, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, and Army officials not long after the crash to push for changes.

    The NTSB has said the Black Hawk pilots may not have realized how high the helicopter was because the barometric altimeter they were relying on was reading 80 to 100 feet lower than the altitude registered by the flight data recorder.

    Investigators tested out the altimeters of three other Black Hawks of the same model from the same Army unit and found similar discrepancies.

    Past warnings and alarming data were ignored

    FAA controllers were warning about the risks all the helicopter traffic around Reagan airport created at least since 2022.

    And the NTSB found there had been 85 near misses between planes and helicopters around the airport in the three years before the crash along with more than 15,000 close proximity events. Pilots reported collision alarms going off in their cockpits at least once a month.

    Officials refused to add a warning to helicopter charts urging pilots to the crash that killed her cousin Peter Livingston and his wife, Donna, and two young daughters, Everly and Alydia, who were both promising figure skaters.

    “It became very quickly clear that this crash should never have happened,” Feres said. “And as someone who is not particularly familiar with aviation and how our aviation system works, we were just hearing things over and over again that I think really, really shocked people, really surprised people.”

  • NATO chief wishes ‘good luck’ to those who think Europe can defend itself without U.S. help

    NATO chief wishes ‘good luck’ to those who think Europe can defend itself without U.S. help

    BRUSSELS — NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte insisted on Monday that Europe is incapable of defending itself without U.S. military support and would have to more than double current military spending targets to be able to do so.

    “If anyone thinks here … that the European Union or Europe as a whole can defend itself without the U.S., keep on dreaming. You can’t,” Rutte told EU lawmakers in Brussels. Europe and the United States “need each other,” he said.

    Tensions are festering within NATO over U.S. President Donald Trump’s renewed threats in recent weeks to annex Greenland, which is a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark.

    Trump also said that he was slapping new tariffs on Greenland’s European backers, but later dropped his threats after a “framework” for a deal over the mineral-rich island was reached, with Rutte’s help. Few details of the agreement have emerged.

    The 32-nation military organization is bound together by a mutual defense clause, Article 5 of NATO’s founding Washington treaty, which commits every country to come to the defense of an ally whose territory is under threat.

    At NATO’s summit in The Hague in July, European allies — with the exception of Spain — plus Canada agreed to Trump’s demand that they invest the same percentage of their economic output on defense as the United States within a decade.

    They pledged to spend 3.5% of gross domestic product on core defense, and a further 1.5% on security-related infrastructure — a total of 5% of GDP — by 2035.

    “If you really want to go it alone,” Rutte said, “forget that you can ever get there with 5%. It will be 10%. You have to build up your own nuclear capability. That costs billions and billions of euros.”

    France has led calls for Europe to build its “strategic autonomy,” and support for its stance has grown since the Trump administration warned last year that its security priorities lie elsewhere and that the Europeans would have to fend for themselves.

    Rutte told the lawmakers that without the United States, Europe “would lose the ultimate guarantor of our freedom, which is the U.S. nuclear umbrella. So, hey, good luck!”

  • European Union opens investigation into Musk’s AI chatbot Grok over sexual deepfakes

    European Union opens investigation into Musk’s AI chatbot Grok over sexual deepfakes

    LONDON — The European Union opened a formal investigation into Elon Musk’s social media platform X on Monday after his artificial intelligence chatbot Grok spewed nonconsensual sexualized deepfake images on the platform.

    European regulators also widened a separate, ongoing investigation into X’s recommendation systems after the platform said it would switch to Grok’s AI system to choose which posts users see.

    The scrutiny from Brussels comes after Grok sparked a global backlash by allowing users through its AI image generation and editing capabilities to undress people, putting females in transparent bikinis or revealing clothing. Researchers said some images appeared to include children. Some governments banned the service or issued warnings.

    The 27-nation EU’s executive said it was looking into whether X has done enough as required by the bloc’s digital regulations to contain the risks of spreading illegal content such as “manipulated sexually explicit images.”

    That includes content that “may amount to child sexual abuse material,” the European Commission said. These risks have now “materialized,” the commission said, exposing the bloc’s citizens to “serious harm.”

    Regulators will examine whether Grok is living up to its obligations under the Digital Services Act, the bloc’s wide-ranging rule book for keeping internet users safe from harmful content and products.

    In response to a request for comment, an X spokesperson directed the Associated Press to an earlier statement that the company remains “committed to making X a safe platform for everyone” and that it has “zero tolerance” for child sexual exploitation, nonconsensual nudity, and unwanted sexual content.

    The X statement from Jan. 14 also said it would stop allowing users to depict people in “bikinis, underwear or other revealing attire,” but only in places where it has been deemed illegal.

    “Non-consensual sexual deepfakes of women and children are a violent, unacceptable form of degradation,” Henna Virkkunen, an executive vice president at the commission, said in a statement.

    “With this investigation, we will determine whether X has met its legal obligations under the DSA, or whether it treated rights of European citizens — including those of women and children — as collateral damage of its service,” said Virkkunen, who oversees tech sovereignty, security, and democracy.

    Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI launched Grok’s image tool last summer. But the problem began snowballing only late last month when Grok seemingly granted a large number of user requests to modify images posted by others. The problem was amplified both because Musk pitches his chatbot as an edgier alternative with fewer safeguards than rivals, and because Grok’s responses on X are publicly visible, and can therefore be easily spread.

    The EU investigation covers only Grok’s service on X, and not Grok’s website and standalone app. That’s because the DSA applies only to the biggest online platforms.

    There’s no deadline for the bloc to resolve the case, which could end in either X pledging to change its behavior or a hefty fine.

    In December Brussels issued X with a 120-million euro (then-$140 million) fine as part of the earlier ongoing DSA investigation, for shortcomings including blue checkmarks that broke the rules on “deceptive design practices” that risked exposing users to scams and manipulation.

    The bloc has also been scrutinizing X over allegations that Grok generated antisemitic material and has asked the site for more information.

    Malaysia and Indonesia blocked access to Grok earlier this month in response to the controversy, becoming the first countries to do so.

    On Friday, Malaysian authorities said they lifted the temporary restriction after the company implemented additional security and preventive measures, without giving further details. Malaysian regulators said they met last week with X’s representatives and would continue to monitor the situation.

  • Federal Aviation Administration says 6 killed in jet crash in snow in Bangor, Maine

    Federal Aviation Administration says 6 killed in jet crash in snow in Bangor, Maine

    PORTLAND, Maine — Six people died when a business jet crashed during takeoff as a snowstorm moved in and visibility diminished in Maine Sunday night.

    The Bombardier Challenger 600 flipped over and burned on takeoff at Bangor International Airport around 7:45 p.m. Sunday night as the nation’s massive winter storm was beginning to reach the area.

    An audio recording of air traffic controllers posted by www.LiveATC.net includes someone saying “Aircraft upside down. We have a passenger aircraft upside down,” about 45 seconds after a plane was cleared for takeoff. First responders arrived less than a minute later, airport director Jose Saavedra said.

    Experts say the weather and questions about whether ice accumulating on the wings kept the plane from getting airborne — as has happened at least twice before on that plane model — will likely be an initial focus by the National Transportation Safety Board. However, the agency will consider all possible factors.

    “You can count on the fact that NTSB is going to look very closely at this,” said John Cox, who is CEO of Safety Operating Systems.

    The airport said Monday afternoon that there were six people aboard, according to the flight manifest, and all of them died. Earlier in the day, the Federal Aviation Administration said seven people died and one member of the crew survived, but a spokesperson said those numbers were preliminary and subject to change. The airport said no one was taken to a hospital.

    Snowfall was heavy elsewhere at the time of the crash, but accumulation had just started in Bangor. Other planes had been taking off safely. But about half an hour before the crash, the pilot of a Florida-bound Allegiant plane radioed the tower to abort his takeoff.

    “One, our deice fluid has failed and two, I don’t think the visibility is good enough for us to go, so we’re going to have to taxi back to the gate here,” the Allegiant pilot radioed. The controller responded by saying he was just getting ready to warn the pilot that visibility had dropped to about three-quarters of a mile.

    At about the same time, the pilot of the Bombardier had taxied over to the deicing pad and was radioing in a request to get his plane’s wings and tail treated, according to audio posted by www.LiveATC.net. The plane remained at the deicing pad for about 20 minutes before taxiing to the runway.

    The Bombardier Challenger 600 model “has a history of problems with icing on takeoff” that caused previous deadly crashes in Birmingham, England; and Montrose, Colo., more than 20 years ago, aviation safety consultant Jeff Guzzetti said. Even a little bit of ice on the wings can cause serious problems, so careful inspections and de-icing are a crucial step before takeoff, the former federal crash investigator said. And there is a time limit on how long de-icing remains effective. It could last only about 20 minutes.

    The identities of those onboard won’t be released publicly until they can be confirmed, officials said.

    The jet was registered to a corporation that shares the same address in Houston as the personal injury law firm Arnold and Itkin Trial Lawyers, and one of the law firm’s founding partners is listed as the registered agent for the company that owns the plane.

    The international airport in Bangor, about 200 miles north of Boston, is one of the closest in the U.S. to Europe and is often used to refuel private jets flying overseas. The Bombardier was headed for France when it crashed.

    The airport shut down after the crash and will remain closed at least until Wednesday so the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board investigators can examine and remove the wreckage.

    A preliminary report outlining the facts of the crash should be released in about a month, but the final version likely won’t be published for more than a year.

  • Israel says the remains of the final hostage in Gaza have been recovered, a key step for the ceasefire’s next phase

    Israel says the remains of the final hostage in Gaza have been recovered, a key step for the ceasefire’s next phase

    JERUSALEM — The remains of the final hostage in Gaza have been recovered, Israel’s military said Monday, clearing the way for the next phase of the ceasefire that paused the Israel-Hamas war.

    The announcement that the remains of Ran Gvili had been found and identified came a day after Israel’s government said the military was conducting a “large-scale operation” in a cemetery in northern Gaza to locate them.

    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it “an incredible achievement” for Israel and its soldiers, telling Israeli media that “I promised we would bring everyone home and we have brought everyone home.” He said Gvili, who was killed during the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, that sparked the war, was among the first to be taken into Gaza.

    The return of all remaining hostages, living or dead, has been a key part of the Gaza ceasefire’s first phase, and Gvili’s family had urged Israel’s government not to enter the second phase until his remains were recovered and returned.

    Palestinian children receive donated food at a community kitchen in Nuseirat, in central Gaza Strip, on Saturday, Jan. 24.

    Netanyahu’s office said Sunday that Israel would open the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, which Palestinians see as their lifeline to the world, once the search for Gvili was finished. It has been largely shut since May 2024, except for a small period in early 2025.

    Israel and Hamas had been under pressure from ceasefire mediators including Washington to move into the second phase of the U.S.-brokered truce, which took effect on Oct. 10.

    Israel had repeatedly accused Hamas of dragging its feet in the recovery of the final hostage. Hamas said it had provided all the information it had about Gvili’s remains, and accused Israel of obstructing efforts to search for them in areas of Gaza under Israeli military control.

    Israel’s military had said the large-scale operation to locate Gvili’s remains was “in the area of the Yellow Line” that divides the territory.

    The Oct. 7, 2023 attack killed about 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage. Gvili, a 24-year-old police officer known affectionately as “Rani,” was killed while fighting Hamas militants.

    Palestinians receive donated food at a community kitchen in Nuseirat, in central Gaza Strip, on Saturday, Jan. 24.

    Before Gvili’s remains were recovered, 20 living hostages and the remains of 27 others had been returned to Israel since the ceasefire, most recently in early December. Israel in exchange has released the bodies of hundreds Palestinians to Gaza.

    The next phase of the 20-point ceasefire plan has called for creating an international stabilization force, forming a technocratic Palestinian government and disarming Hamas.

    Palestinians killed in Gaza

    Israeli forces on Monday fatally shot a man in Gaza City’s Tuffah neighborhood, according to Shifa Hospital, which received the body. The man was close to an area where the military has launched the search operation for Gvili, the hospital said.

    Another man was killed in the eastern side of Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital, which received his body. The circumstances of his death were not immediately clear.

    More than 480 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire since Oct. 10, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government, maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts.

    Israel’s top court considers petition to open Gaza for international journalists

    The Foreign Press Association on Monday asked Israel’s Supreme Court to allow journalists to enter Gaza freely and independently.

    The FPA, which represents dozens of global news organizations, has been fighting for more than two years for independent media access to Gaza. Israel has barred reporters from entering Gaza independently since the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas, which triggered the war, saying entry could put both journalists and soldiers at risk.

    The army has offered journalists brief, occasional visits under strict military supervision.

    FPA lawyers told the three judge panel that the restrictions are not justified and that with aid workers moving in and out of Gaza, journalists should be allowed in as well. They also said the tightly controlled embeds with the military are no substitute for independent access. The judges are expected to rule in the coming days.

  • Trump softens tone as some federal agents expected to leave Minneapolis

    Trump softens tone as some federal agents expected to leave Minneapolis

    MINNEAPOLIS — President Donald Trump softened his tone Monday on the immigration crackdown in Minnesota, touting productive conversations with the governor and Minneapolis mayor as he sent the border czar to take charge of much of the enforcement effort. Some federal agents were expected to leave as soon as today.

    Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said he spoke by phone with Trump, who praised the discussion and declared that “lots of progress is being made.” Frey said he asked Trump in a phone call to end the immigration enforcement surge and that Trump agreed the present situation cannot continue.

    The mayor said some agents would soon leave and that he would keep pushing for others involved in Operation Metro Surge to go.

    Among those who are expected to depart was senior Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino, a person familiar with the matter told the Associated Press. The person was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the operation and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.

    Bovino has been at the center of the administration’s aggressive enforcement surge in cities nationwide. His departure marks a significant public shift in federal law enforcement posture amid mounting outrage over the fatal shooting of 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti by Border Patrol agents.

    Bovino’s leadership of highly visible federal crackdowns, including operations that sparked mass demonstrations in Los Angeles, Chicago, Charlotte, and Minneapolis, has drawn fierce criticism from local officials, civil rights advocates, and congressional Democrats.

    Criticism has increased around Bovino in the last few days after his public defense of the Pretti shooting and disputed claims about the confrontation that led to his death.

    The border czar, Tom Homan, will take charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in Minnesota.

    Judge hears arguments on crackdown

    A federal judge heard arguments Monday over Minnesota’s challenge to the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement crackdown, posing skeptical questions to both sides about the effort that has led to two fatal shootings by federal officers.

    U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez is considering whether to grant requests by the state and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul to temporarily halt the immigration operation. She said the case was a priority, though she issued no immediate ruling.

    Menendez questioned the government’s motivation behind the crackdown and expressed skepticism about a letter recently sent by Attorney General Pam Bondi to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. The letter asked the state to give the federal government access to voter rolls, to turn over state Medicaid and food assistance records, and to repeal sanctuary policies.

    “I mean, is there no limit to what the executive can do under the guise of enforcing immigration law?” Menendez asked. She noted that the federal requests are the subject of litigation.

    Lawyers for the state and the Twin Cities argued that the situation on the street is so dire as to require the court to halt the federal government’s enforcement actions.

    “If this is not stopped right here, right now, I don’t think anybody who is seriously looking at this problem can have much faith in how our republic is going to go in the future,” Minnesota Assistant Attorney General Brian Carter said.

    Brantley Mayers, counsel to the Justice Department’s assistant attorney general, said the government’s goal is to enforce federal law. Mayers said one lawful action should not be used to discredit another lawful action.

    “I don’t see how the fact that we’re also doing additional things that we are allowed to do, that the Constitution has vested us with doing, would in any way negate another piece of the same operation, the same surge,” Mayers said.

    Menendez questioned where the line was between violating the Constitution and the executive’s power to enforce the law. She also asked whether she was being asked to decide between state and federal policies.

    “That begins to feel very much like I am deciding which policy approach is best,” she said.

    At one point, while discussing the prospect of federal officers entering residences without a warrant, the judge expressed reluctance to decide issues not yet raised in a lawsuit before her.

    “I can’t be the global keeper of all things here. Like, presumably that will be litigated,” she said to the state’s attorney.

    The state of Minnesota and the cities sued the Department of Homeland Security earlier this month, five days after Renee Good was shot by an Immigration and Customs officer. The shooting of Alex Pretti by a Border Patrol officer on Saturday added urgency to the case.

    Border czar to Minnesota

    In other developments, Trump said he had a “very good” call with Gov. Tim Walz about the latest shooting and that they are now on a “similar wavelength.” It was an abrupt shift from Trump, who frequently derides Walz for his actions on immigration issues in Minnesota.

    Trump also said he would send border czar Tom Homan to Minnesota. The president’s statement comes after Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Bovino, who has become the public face of the crackdown, answered questions at news conferences over the weekend about Pretti’s shooting. Trump posted on social media that Homan will report directly to him.

    Since the original court filing, the state and cities have substantially added to their request in an effort to restore the conditions that existed before the administration launched Operation Metro Surge on Dec. 1.

    The lawsuit asks the judge to order a reduction in the number of federal law enforcement officers and agents in Minnesota back to the level before the surge and to limit the scope of the enforcement operation.

    Justice Department attorneys have called the lawsuit “legally frivolous” and said Minnesota “wants a veto over federal law enforcement.” They asked the judge to reject the request or to at least stay her order pending an anticipated appeal.

    Democratic Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said Sunday that the lawsuit is needed because of “the unprecedented nature of this surge. It is a novel abuse of the Constitution that we’re looking at right now. No one can remember a time when we’ve seen something like this.”

    During a briefing on Monday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that a trio of “active investigations” and internal probes of the shooting were underway by federal agencies.

    Leavitt said that the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI were investigating the shooting and that U.S. Customs and Border Protection was “conducting their own internal review.”

    Leavitt said at the briefing that she has not heard Trump commit to release body camera footage from federal immigration officers involved in the shooting and killing of Alex Pretti.

    Leavitt later said that the administration is talking with members of Congress about requirements to have federal immigration officers wear body cameras.

    Leavitt said the shooting and killing of Pretti by a federal immigration officer “occurred as a result of a deliberate and hostile resistance by Democrat leaders in Minnesota.”

    Walz, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, and other elected Democrats “were spreading lies about federal law enforcement officers,” Leavitt said at the White House briefing.

    Other state implications

    The case has implications for other states that have been or could become targets of ramped-up federal immigration enforcement operations. Attorneys general from 19 states plus the District of Columbia, led by California, filed a friend-of-the-court brief supporting Minnesota.

    “If left unchecked, the federal government will no doubt be emboldened to continue its unlawful conduct in Minnesota and to repeat it elsewhere,” the attorneys general wrote.

    Menendez ruled in a separate case on Jan. 16 that federal officers in Minnesota cannot detain or tear gas peaceful protesters who are not obstructing authorities, including people who follow and observe agents.

    An appeals court temporarily suspended that ruling three days before Saturday’s shooting. But the plaintiffs in that case, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota, asked the appeals court late Saturday for an emergency order lifting the stay in light of Pretti’s killing.

    The Justice Department argued in a reply filed Sunday that the stay should remain in place, calling the injunction unworkable and overly broad.

    In yet another case, a different federal judge, Eric Tostrud, issued an order late Saturday blocking the Trump administration from “destroying or altering evidence” related to Saturday’s shooting. Ellison and Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty asked for the order to try to preserve evidence collected by federal officials that state authorities have not yet been able to inspect.

    A hearing in that case was scheduled for Monday afternoon in federal court in St. Paul.

    “The fact that anyone would ever think that an agent of the federal government might even think about doing such a thing was completely unforeseeable only a few weeks ago,” Ellison told reporters. “But now, this is what we have to do.”

  • Stranded by winter weather? Here’s what airlines owe you.

    Stranded by winter weather? Here’s what airlines owe you.

    Winter weather can upend even the best-laid travel plans, but one less thing to worry about is losing money if your flight is canceled: U.S. airlines are required to provide refunds.

    A monster storm started to wreak havoc across parts of the country over the weekend, with 12,200 weekend flights and counting canceled. Forecasters warned that catastrophic damage, especially in areas pounded by ice, could rival that of a hurricane.

    Philly’s biggest snow in 10 years has an icy finish, and it isn’t going anywhere soon

    Here’s a guide for winter travelers as flight disruptions pile up:

    Keep an eye on weather forecasts

    When airlines expect bad weather to create problems for flights, they often give travelers a chance to postpone their trips by a few days without having to pay a fee. Search online for your airline’s name and “travel alerts” or similar phrases to look for possible rescheduling offers.

    American Airlines, for example, said it is waiving change fees for passengers impacted by the storm and adding extra flights around the country in an effort to help passengers reach their destination after the storm passes.

    How much snow and ice has fallen in the Philly region?

    Check before going to the airport

    Use the airline’s app to make sure your flight is still on before heading to the airport.

    Cancellations can happen hours — or even days — before departure time. Consider American and Delta Air Lines: By midday Saturday, each carrier had canceled more than 1,000 of its scheduled Sunday flights, according to flight tracking site FlightAware.

    Oklahoma’s largest airport suspended all flights Saturday, while Dallas–Fort Worth International Airport, a major hub, saw more than 700 departing flights canceled and nearly as many arriving flights called off. Flight disruptions also were stacking up at airports in Chicago; Atlanta; Nashville; and Charlotte, N.C.

    Disruptions continued to intensify on Sunday.

    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.

    Snow is plowed in the East Falls section of Philadelphia on Monday.

    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.

    When will I get my refund?

    If you paid with a credit card, a refund is due within seven business days after you decline an offer from the airline for another flight or a voucher, and within 20 calendar days if you paid for the ticket with a check or cash, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

    What else will my airline cover?

    U.S. airlines aren’t required by the Transportation Department to compensate passengers for meals or lodging when an airline cancels or significantly delays a flight during an “uncontrollable” event like bad weather.

    Each airline, however, does have its own policies for assisting passengers who are stranded by a so-called “controllable” flight cancellation or long delay. These include disruptions caused by maintenance issues, crew shortages, or computer outages that halt operations. The Transportation Department can hold airlines accountable for these commitments and maintains a website that lets travelers see what each airline promises if a major disruption is their fault.

    Other tips

    If the weather forecast is troubling, Kyle Potter, executive editor of Thrifty Traveler, suggests looking into booking a backup flight. Some airlines stand out as potential backups, Potter says, because they let customers get a full refund as long as they cancel within 24 hours of booking.

    The customer service phone lines will be slammed if flight cancellations and delays start stacking up during a bad storm. If you’re traveling with someone who has a higher frequent-flyer status, call the airline using their priority number. Another trick: Look up the airline’s international support number. Those agents can often rebook you just the same.

  • Sam Darnold and Seahawks advance to Super Bowl with thrilling 31-27 win over Rams in NFC title game

    Sam Darnold and Seahawks advance to Super Bowl with thrilling 31-27 win over Rams in NFC title game

    SEATTLE — Sam Darnold threw for three touchdowns, the Seahawks’ “Dark Side” defense came up with a critical fourth-down stop, and Seattle advanced to the Super Bowl, beating the Los Angeles Rams 31-27 in an electrifying NFC championship game on Sunday.

    Led by second-year coach Mike Macdonald and Darnold — an eight-year veteran playing for his fifth team — the Seahawks (16-3) reached the fourth Super Bowl in franchise history and first in 11 years. Seattle lost that most recent appearance to New England, its opponent in two weeks at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.

    With Los Angeles (14-6) facing fourth-and-4 at the Seattle 6, coach Sean McVay elected to go for it and Matthew Stafford’s pass was broken up in the end zone by Devon Witherspoon. The Rams didn’t get the ball back until there were 25 seconds left, and Puka Nacua was tackled inbounds near midfield on the final play.

    Stafford threw for 374 yards and three touchdowns, but the Rams were undone by critical errors, including a muffed punt by Xavier Smith in the third quarter. On the next play, Darnold connected with Jake Bobo for a 17-yard touchdown.

    Darnold, who flopped in his playoff debut last season with the Minnesota Vikings, played through an oblique injury and completed 25 of 36 passes for 346 yards with no turnovers. Jaxon Smith-Njigba had 153 yards receiving and a touchdown on 10 catches.

  • Patriots punch ticket to 12th Super Bowl with gritty 10-7 win over Broncos in snowy Denver

    Patriots punch ticket to 12th Super Bowl with gritty 10-7 win over Broncos in snowy Denver

    DENVER — Drake Maye ran for 68 yards and threw for 86 in sloppy, snowy conditions and scored New England’s only touchdown on a 6-yard keeper, propelling the Patriots to their 12th Super Bowl with a 10-7 win over the Denver Broncos on Sunday.

    Christian Gonzalez intercepted Jarrett Stidham, starting in place of an injured Bo Nix, at New England’s 36 with 2:11 remaining and the Patriots (17-3) iced their first playoff win in Denver when Maye ran for 7 yards on third-and-5 from his 41.

    New England became the third team in the Super Bowl era to win a conference championship with 10 points or less. Buffalo beat Denver 10-7 in the 1991 AFC title game, and the Los Angeles beat Tampa Bay 9-0 in the 1979 NFC championship game.

    The Broncos (15-4) finished one step shy of fulfilling Sean Payton’s preseason prediction of a trip to Super Bowl 60.

    Both kickers missed two field goals in the frigid conditions with Denver’s Wil Lutz and New England’s Andy Borregales wide on long tries just before the snow came in at halftime.

    The Patriots fell behind 7-0, but had a key fourth-down stop near their own end zone to spark the comeback. Their victory was their 40th in the playoffs, breaking a tie with the San Francisco 49ers for the most in NFL history.

    It was sunny at kickoff with a temperature of 26 degrees, but by halftime the snowflakes began falling and grounds crews had to use snowblowers to mark the hashmarks and yard lines by the fourth quarter, when it was 16 degrees.

    After gaining just 72 yards in the first half, the Patriots opened the second half in swirling snow with a 16-play, 64-yard drive that ate up 9 1/2 minutes and ended with a 23-yard field goal by Borregales that gave New England its first lead at 10-7.

    The Patriots managed just four first downs and 72 yards in the first half, punting five times and missing a field goal. But they capitalized on a short field when New England’s defense set up Maye at the Denver 12 with a takeaway and Maye took it in from 6 yards out to tie it at 7 at halftime.

    Stepping in for the injured Nix (ankle surgery), Stidham’s first completion since the 2023 regular-season finale was a 52-yard dart to Marvin Mims Jr. to the New England 7 that set up Courtland Sutton’s 6-yard touchdown catch that started the scoring.