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The U.S. is on the verge of losing its measles elimination status. Here's why that matters

Congress releases massive funding bill ahead of shutdown deadline as ICE clash looms
Congressional negotiators in both parties released a massive bill Tuesday aimed at fully funding the government ahead of a shutdown deadline on Jan. 30. The 1,059-page bipartisan bill includes money for the Pentagon and the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Homeland Security, and reduces the chances of another funding lapse after the longest shutdown in U.S. history last fall. But the DHS measure is sure to be a point of contention for Democrats in the House and Senate, many of whom insisted they would reject any funding bill without policies to restrain ICE after an agent fatally shot a woman in Minneapolis this month. “There should absolutely be reforms to ICE. And if there aren’t reforms, I’m going to be a hard no on that bill, the DHS bill,” Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., the No. 4 House Democrat, told NBC News last week ahead of the release of the bill. The bill “leaves in place an additional $18 billion a year for ICE, tripling the budget,” Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat and top progressive in Congress, said Tuesday. “It is a surrender to Trump’s lawlessness. I will be a strong no and help lead the opposition to it.” The package would keep ICE funding essentially flat at $10 billion for the remainder of the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30, even as the agency received $75 billion of additional money for detention and enforcement from Trump’s “big beautiful bill.” Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., the top Democratic appropriator, acknowledged that the package did not include broad reforms to rein in ICE in a statement from her office announcing the bill. But she endorsed the package, saying it would prevent a partial shutdown and argued it did include some Democratic priorities. The bipartisan deal allocates $20 million for the “procurement, deployment, and operations of body worn cameras” for ICE agents. And the bill “encourages” DHS to develop and implement a new uniform policy “to ensure that law enforcement officers are clearly identifiable as Federal law enforcement,” according to DeLauro’s office. DeLauro said the bill also cuts funding for ICE enforcement and removal operations by $115 million and reduces the number of ICE detention beds by 5,500. The House is expected to vote on the package later this week. DeLauro said that GOP leaders have promised to hold a separate vote on just the Homeland Security portion of the package, which would give Democrats an opportunity to oppose it, without moving Washington toward another shutdown. “I understand that many of my Democratic colleagues may be dissatisfied with any bill that funds ICE,” DeLauro said in her statement. “I share their frustration with the out-of-control agency. I encourage my colleagues to review the bill and determine what is best for their constituents and communities.” Democrats had sought policies such as requiring ICE agents to wear identification and barring masks during enforcement operations, as well as measures to prevent the detention and deportation of American citizens. “The Homeland Security funding bill is more than just ICE. If we allow a lapse in funding, TSA agents will be forced to work without pay, FEMA assistance could be delayed, and the U.S. Coast Guard will be adversely affected,” DeLauro added. So far, the House has passed eight of the 12 required full-year funding bills. Finishing this package would complete the appropriations work for the chamber, four months after the new fiscal year began. The Senate, which returns to Washington next week, just days before the deadline, has passed half of the 12 funding bills. It will require 60 votes to avoid a partial government shutdown affecting the remaining agencies beginning on Jan. 31. Republicans have 53 senators. The bipartisan deal released Tuesday also includes a package of health care changes that are largely backed by both parties, including more oversight of pharmacy benefit managers…

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‘A miracle': 6-year-old girl is the sole survivor of a family that perished in Spanish train wreck
The roar was deafening inside the train car as it hurtled off the tracks, then slid down a steep slope, ripping open its frame. And then, amid the twisted metal of the wreckage, the cries of the injured and the silence of the dead. Surrounded by bodies after the train accident in southern Spain, one little girl somehow emerged virtually unscathed. Newspaper La Vanguardia reported that a Civil Guard officer found her barefoot on the tracks after she escaped through a broken window. Relative Juan Barroso told reporters the 6-year-old is in good health after receiving three stitches in her head at a hospital. The mayor of her family’s village, located near the ill-fated rail line, said he was finding a measure of solace in the fact this girl was out of harm’s way. “There are many people who are very sad for the victims of this terrible accident, but there were also many who survived, like the miracle of the girl who is safe,” Punta Umbria’s Mayor José Carlos Hernández told reporters Tuesday after leading a minute of silence for the victims. Among them were the girl’s parents, brother and a cousin. At least 41 people were killed in the brutal accident that has shaken the nation and left the 6-year-old child an orphan. Her family’s last names are Zamorano Álvarez, officials said. But The Associated Press is not disclosing her first name. Punta Umbria has declared three days of mourning for victims including the Zamorano Álvarez family. They were seated in the front carriages that bore the brunt of the impact when a train coming the opposite direction suddenly jumped its track for reasons still unknown. Mayor Hernández said that the girl is now with her grandparents in a hotel in Cordoba, the nearest city to the crash. “She has a tremendous family who will do what it takes for her to have a happy life,” the mayor said.

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Trump's ICE force is sweeping America. Billions in his tax and spending cuts bill are paying for it
A ballooning Immigration and Customs Enforcement budget. Hiring bonuses of $50,000. Swelling ranks of ICE officers, to 22,000, in an expanding national force bigger than most police departments in America. President Donald Trump promised the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history, but achieving his goal wouldn’t have been possible without funding from the big tax and spending cuts bill passed by Republicans in Congress, and it’s fueling unprecedented immigration enforcement actions in cities like Minneapolis and beyond. The GOP’s big bill is “supercharging ICE,” one budget expert said, in ways that Americans may not fully realize — and that have only just begun. “I just don’t think people have a sense of the scale,” said Bobby Kogan, senior director of federal budget policy at the Center for American Progress and a former adviser to the Biden administration’s Office of Management and Budget. “We’re looking at ICE in a way we’ve never seen before,” he said. US & World Minnesota 9 hours ago U.S. citizen says ICE took him from his Minnesota home in his underwear after warrantless search religion 24 hours ago Christian leaders urge the protection of worshippers' rights after protesters interrupt service Minnesota Jan 19 Pentagon orders troops to prepare for possible Minnesota deployment Trump’s big bill creates massive law enforcement force As the Republican president marks the first year of his second term, the immigration enforcement and removal operation that has been a cornerstone of his domestic and foreign policy agenda is rapidly transforming into something else — a national law enforcement presence with billions upon billions of dollars in new spending from U.S. taxpayers. The shooting death of Renee Good in Minneapolis showed the alarming reach of the new federalized force, sparking unrelenting protests against the military-styled officers seen going door to door to find and detain immigrants. Amid the outpouring of opposition, Trump revived threats to invoke the Insurrection Act to quell the demonstrations and the U.S. Army has 1,500 soldiers ready to deploy. But Trump’s own public approval rating on immigration, one of his signature issues, has slipped since he took office, according to an AP-NORC poll. “Public sentiment is everything,” said Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez, D-N.Y., at a press conference at the Capitol with lawmakers supporting legislation to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Americans, she said, are upset at what they are seeing. “They didn’t sign on for this,” she said. Border crossings down, but Americans confront new ICE enforcements To be sure, illegal crossings into the U.S. at the Mexico border have fallen to historic lows under Trump, a remarkable shift from just a few years ago when President Joe Biden’s Democratic administration allowed millions of people to temporarily enter the U.S. as they adjudicated their claims to stay. Yet as enforcement moves away from the border, the newly hired army of immigration officers swarming city streets with aggressive tactics — in Los Angeles, Chicago and elsewhere — is something not normally seen in the U.S. Armed and masked law enforcement officers are being witnessed smashing car windows, yanking people from vehicles and chasing and wrestling others to the ground and hauling them away — images playing out in endless loops on TVs and other screens. And it’s not just ICE. A long list of supporting agencies, including federal, state and local police and sheriff’s offices, are entering into contract partnerships with Homeland Security to conduct immigration enforcement operations in communities around the nation. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has warned Democrats that this is “no time to be playing games” by stirring up the opposition to immigration enforcement officers in Minneapolis and other places. “They need to get out of the way and allow federal law enforcement to do its…

Trump speaks at White House press briefing to mark one year in office
President Donald Trump spoke for over an hour at Tuesday’s White House press briefing to mark the one-year anniversary of the start of his second term. Trump took to the podium holding a book of what he said are his administration’s accomplishments over his first 365 days in office. But what was billed as a celebration of his achievements quickly pivoted to immigration enforcement in Minnesota. The president spent most of his opening remarks showing off mugshots of undocumented immigrants his administration has arrested while denigrating immigrants from Somalia. “Somalia is not even a country,” he said. “They don’t have anything that resembles a country. And if it is a country, it’s considered just about the worst in the world.” Trump claimed that the individuals were all “criminal illegal aliens that, in many cases, they’re murderers, they’re drug lords, drug dealers.” But an analysis of immigration arrests by The Associated Press shows the vast majority have no criminal records or only low-level offenses. While speaking about ICE operations in Minnesota Trump said that people who work for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement are “going to make mistakes sometimes.” “They’re going to make mistakes sometimes,” Trump said. “ICE is going to be too rough with somebody, or, you know, they’re dealing with rough people, they’re going to make a mistake. Sometimes it can happen. We feel terribly,” he said. Trump said he “felt horribly” when he heard about the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an ICE officer two weeks ago in Minneapolis. “It’s a tragedy. It’s a horrible thing. Everybody would say ICE would say the same thing.” He said he learned her parents, her father in particular, “was a tremendous Trump fan,” adding, “He was all for Trump, loved Trump, and you know, it’s terrible. I was told that by a lot of people. They said, ‘Oh, he loves you.’ … I hope he still feels that way.” Trump administration 3 hours ago Trump's ICE force is sweeping America. Billions in his tax and spending cuts bill are paying for it Trump administration Jan 19 Trump links Greenland threats to Nobel snub as Europe eyes tariff retaliation The rare briefing room appearance comes as the president has faced extraordinary pushback from America’s European allies over his planned tariffs over Greenland, tensions he’ll face in person this week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has described Trump’s planned new tariffs over Greenland as “a mistake especially between long-standing allies” and called into question Trump’s trustworthiness, saying that he had agreed last year not to impose more tariffs on members of the bloc. Trump has announced that starting February, a 10% import tax will be imposed on goods from eight European nations that have rallied around Denmark in the wake of his stepped up calls for the U.S. to take over the semi-autonomous Danish territory of Greenland. Asked at today’s White House press briefing how far he’ll go to acquire Greenland, Trump told reporters: “You’ll find out.” He did not elaborate. The president will give a key address in Davos on Wednesday, and he told reporters at the briefing he plans to use the speech to highlight his administration’s accomplishments. “I think more than anything else, what I’m going to be speaking about is the tremendous success that we’ve had in one year,” he said. “I didn’t think we could do it this fast.” The White House had previously said the remarks, in a room likely to be occupied with global elites and billionaires, would focus on Trump’s affordability agenda, particularly on housing. Since returning to the White House in January 2025, Trump has overturned decades of U.S. trade policy — building a wall of tariffs around what used to be a…

Testimony ends in Uvalde officer's trial over response to 2022 school shooting
Closing arguments will be held on Wednesday in the trial of a former Uvalde ISD police officer who prosecutors say failed in his duty to stop a gunman in the critical first minutes of the 2022 Robb Elementary School attack. Defense lawyers for Adrian Gonzales rested their case after calling just two witnesses, including a police tactics expert to bolster their claim that Gonzales did the best he could after driving onto campus amid a chaotic scene. Gonzales has pleaded not guilty to 29 counts of child abandonment or endangerment. He faces up to two years in prison if convicted. Gonzales did not take the stand in his own defense. Closing arguments are scheduled on Wednesday before the jury begins deliberations. The prosecution called a state investigator as their final witness in the case against Gonzales, who has pleaded not guilty to 29 counts of child abandonment or endangerment. He faces up to two years in prison if convicted. It was unclear if Gonzales would take the stand in his own defense before the case went to the jury. His attorneys began their defense by calling to the stand a woman who worked across the street from the school, who told jurors she saw the shooter ducking between cars and trying to stay out of view — testimony that could reinforce Gonzales’ claims that he never saw the gunman. During nine days of testimony, jurors have heard at times gripping and emotional testimony from teachers who recounted the terrifying moments when the 18-year-old gunman entered the school and killed 19 students and two teachers. Prosecutors have presented graphic photos from inside the classrooms and brought to the witness stand officers who described the chaos of the response. At one point early in the trial, the sister of one of the teachers killed that day was removed from the courtroom after an angry outburst after one of the officers testified. The prosecution’s case has tugged at the raw emotion and shock of the carnage of May 24, 2022, as they attempt to show what could have been avoided had Gonzales intercepted the gunman in the early seconds of the attack. Prosecutors allege the 52-year-old Gonzales, a 10-year police veteran who had led an active shooter response training course two months before the shooting, abandoned his training and did not try to stop gunman Salvador Ramos before he entered the school. “Every second counts in an active shooter situation,” special prosecutor Bill Turner said Tuesday, drilling down on 3 minutes between when Gonzales first arrived and when he went into the building. “Every second, more victims can die if a police officer is standing and waiting.” Gonzales, however, has insisted he didn’t freeze in the chaotic early moments and never saw the gunman. His lawyers insist three officers on the other side of the school saw the gunman still outside and didn’t fire a shot. Body camera footage shows Gonzales being among the first group of officers to enter a shadowy and smoky hallway, trying to reach the killer in a classroom. The trial in Corpus Christi, Texas, is a rare case of a police officer charged with failing to stop a criminal act to protect lives. Uvalde School Shooting Uvalde School Shooting 7 hours ago Uvalde school shooting trial resumes Tuesday Uvalde School Shooting Jan 16 Uvalde officer trial shows second-by-second breakdown of Gonzales' movements Uvalde School Shooting Jan 16 Testimony to resume in Uvalde school shooting trial Jury heard powerful and emotional testimony from teachers and parents The trial has included some graphic and violent evidence. In addition to the classroom photos, jurors have heard recordings of the jarring gunshots and listened to a medical examiner describe the fatal wounds to the children. They also heard brief, yet anguished testimony from several parents of children were killed or wounded that day. Teacher Arnulfo Reyes described seeing a “black shadow with a gun” enter the room before he was shot and all 11…

