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Mayor Jacob Frey and his War Against ICE Mayor Jacob Frey and his War Against ICE

Halenews Editorial Jacob Frey will forever be remembered as the mayor who stood up against ICE and stood with Renee Good. In that moment, when cameras rolled and microphones caught his voice cracking with fury, he did not mince words. “Get the f--- out of Minneapolis,” he said, staring down the federal agents who had killed Renee Good. And when reporters pressed him later, asking if he regretted the profanity, he shot back, “I dropped an f-bomb. They killed somebody. Which one of those is more inflammatory?” That was not just a mayor defending his city; it was a man defending the very idea of liberty. Frey’s rise to that moment was not accidental. He was born in Virginia, raised in a middle-…
5 year old girl swept into ocean off Laguna Beach is identified and mourned 5 year old girl swept into ocean off Laguna Beach is identified and mourned

The body of a 5-year-old girl who was swept into the ocean with her family in Laguna Beach before vanishing in dangerously high surf has been recovered. The girl’s body was spotted during an aerial coastline survey about 1:30 p.m. Thursday near Christmas Cove, about a quarter of a mile away from where she was initially lost at Treasure Island Beach, the city announced in a news release. The child was later identified as Amada Mia Brown of San Bernardino, said Sgt. Lizbeth Gwisdalla of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. Amada’s father, Aaron Brown, described his daughter as full of life and “a sweet little baby” in an interview with NBC. “She loved the beach and she wasn’t afraid of wate…
Pope Leo not afraid of Trump and we should not be either Pope Leo not afraid of Trump and we should not be either

This is read by an automated voice. Please report any issues or inconsistencies here. “I’m not afraid.” With these three words Sunday morning, Pope Leo XIV offered as powerful a rebuke of President Trump and everything he has wrought on the world as anyone ever has. Three words to inspire all good people to fight against Trump — because if a mild-mannered man of God such as Leo isn’t afraid, no one should be. Pope Leo’s words thrilled me as an American—becauseially as a Catholic. His quiet, confident witness since becoming pontiff in May had already reignited a spiritual light in me to adhere closer to the faith I was brought up in. Rather than cower before a despot who makes the Pharaoh in …
The World Cup plan is merely a proposal and not an obligation The World Cup plan is merely a proposal and not an obligation

FIFA President Gianni Infantino has called the plan to sell ownership in the World Cup a proposal but said it is "not an obligation," following a significant criticism from several football authorities. FIFA this week said it planned to create a $20 billion subsidiary to run the World Cup and other events, and would sell up to 20% of the subsidiary to outside investors. The proposal was heavily criticized by the sport’s regional confederations, which said they were surprised by FIFA’s plan to incorporate commercial investors in the sport. The commercial side of the game has to grow." "It is a natural growth of the game," Mr Infantino said. “It’s part of a democratic process—a consultation pr…
Daycare Worker Accused Of Assaulting Toddlers Sparks New Questions About Child Safety Daycare Worker Accused Of Assaulting Toddlers Sparks New Questions About Child Safety

WEST MELBOURNE, Florida — A Florida childcare employee is facing criminal charges after investigators say surveillance footage captured repeated acts of physical aggression against children as young as two years old inside a daycare facility. Authorities allege that multiple toddlers were struck with various objects, including a metal stapler, over a period of several days before a parent complaint triggered a closer review of classroom video recordings. According to law enforcement records, 41-year-old Latasha Mullings has been charged with 11 counts of battery and one count of assault following an investigation into incidents at Mustard Seed Kidz, a childcare center in West Melbourne. The …
Defending your life against ICE in Minnesota Defending your life against ICE in Minnesota

Editorial If a masked man points a gun at your chest on a Minnesota street, or anywhere, it doesn't matter if he has a badge hidden under his tactical vest or a ICI patch Velcroed to his sleeve—you have a God-given and legal right to defend your life with equal, deadly force. The moment a federal agent prioritizes escalation over identification, they cease to be a "peace officer" and become a common predator. We are living in an era where the "Metro Surge" has turned our neighborhoods into hunting grounds, and the murder of Alex Pretti is the final, bloody proof that if you don't fight back, you'll be the next name etched into a headstone while the Department of Justice mops up the brass. Th…
Project Hail Mary Breaks Box Office Gravity Project Hail Mary Breaks Box Office Gravity

There is a moment—quiet, almost easy to miss—when a theater stops behaving like a marketplace and starts breathing like a single organism. Not the usual roar, not the hollow thunder of spectacle, but something tighter, more intimate. A held breath. A calculation unfolding in real time behind hundreds of eyes. That is where Project Hail Mary found its audience. Not in noise. In attention. And attention, in today’s box office economy, is the rarest currency left. The numbers came in like a contradiction. Week after week, the film refused to taper off the way industry models insist it must. Not a spike and collapse, not a front-loaded surge engineered by hype, but something steadier, stranger—l…
Why Brad Pitt and Jude Law are not as cool as they think they are Why Brad Pitt and Jude Law are not as cool as they think they are

The two actors and Oasis man Noel Gallagher have far younger partners and bask in it, thinking that it’s somehow avant-garde. But it’s not, says Charlotte Cripps. It’s just what older men have been doing since the dawn of time In case you’ve been living under a rock, Brad Pitt, 62, has a Swiss jewellery executive girlfriend, who is half his age – Ines de Ramon, 33. The couple graced social media in early July after four years together – on her hairstylist’s Instagram page – looking glamorous in matching black outfits ahead of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s wedding ceremony at Madison Square Garden in NYC. They have since been spotted looking loved-up at the quarter-final World Cup match bet…
Oscars security tighter than ever with 1 mile police buffer amid Iran war Oscars security tighter than ever with 1 mile police buffer amid Iran war

It’s been more than two decades since the Oscars were celebrated as the United States was launching a war in the Middle East. In 2003, the Academy Awards ceremony at the Dolby Theatre occurred just days after U.S. troops invaded Iraq, elevating security concerns surrounding Hollywood’s biggest night so much that they tightened security like never before. This time around — with concerns heightened not only because of a war with Iran, but also a recent shooting at a university in Virginia and an attack on a synagogue in Michigan — security is going to be even more ironclad, authorities said. The dialed-up security, law enforcement and Oscars officials emphasize, is precautionary and there are…
China with its axis of authoritarians is only growing stronger under Trump China with its axis of authoritarians is only growing stronger under Trump

As Donald Trump prepares to depart for China to meet Xi Jinping, it is a moment for America’s traditional allies to reflect on a sobering fact: the balance of power is rapidly shifting against the United States. Since becoming president, Trump’s actions have fractured America’s alliance system just as Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin have consolidated theirs. As if to underscore this, the Russian president will likely arrive in Beijing days after Trump. His will be a red carpet welcome. Donald Trump’s will be far more exposing – and we all know why. Instead of a mighty demonstration of American firepower, his Iran war has exposed huge vulnerabilities. And less discussed but no less consequentia…
Did Donald Trump suffer a serious stroke Did Donald Trump suffer a serious stroke

Opinion | Editorial A sitting president allegedly suffered a stroke in 2025, and the White House kept it secret. The claim, reported by a doctor, is explosive not because it is unprecedented but because it fits a long tradition of concealment. American democracy has always struggled with the tension between transparency and control, between the public’s right to know and the state’s instinct to protect power. If Donald Trump did suffer a stroke, and if his administration hid it, then we are not simply talking about one man’s health. We are talking about the erosion of democratic accountability itself. The presidency is not just another job. It is the most powerful office in the world, and it…
Is A Human Journey To Mars Feasible Is A Human Journey To Mars Feasible

For more than half a century, Mars has functioned less as a destination than as a promise. It is the place we gesture toward when Earth feels politically exhausted, environmentally strained, or philosophically cramped. Mars is invoked when budgets swell, when rockets roar, when speeches reach for grandeur. It has become the cosmic equivalent of a clean slate, a second chapter written in rust-red dust. But promises are easy to make when they sit 225 million kilometers away. The idea of sending humans to Mars has migrated from science fiction to press release to business plan, and now to something like cultural assumption. The question is no longer “Should we?” but “When?” That shift alone sho…
Gulf strikes stoke concerns of new conflict with Iran Gulf strikes stoke concerns of new conflict with Iran

Uncertainty hung over the survival of a fragile ceasefire between the United States and Iran on Monday as a new wave of strikes on the United Arab Emirates and Oman and rumors of attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz undercut trust in the truce. The drone and missile attacks, the first since a truce ended combat earlier in April, came after the Trump administration started a wide-scale naval operation Monday to “guide” trapped maritime vessels out of the critical channel. However, concerns of a resumption of warfare have sparked yet another rise in the price of oil, which has shot up to above $114 a barrel, a level not seen since the truce over a month ago. The Gulf has trapped hundreds o…
US journalist Don Lemon arrested after covering anti-ICE protest at Minnesota church US journalist Don Lemon arrested after covering anti-ICE protest at Minnesota church

US journalist Don Lemon and three other people were arrested on Friday in connection with an anti-immigration crackdown protest that disrupted a service at a Minnesota church and increased tensions between residents and the Trump administration, officials said. Lemon was arrested by federal agents in Los Angeles, where he had been covering the Grammy Awards, his attorney Abbe Lowell said. It is unclear what charge or charges Lemon and the others are facing in the 18 January protest at the Cities Church in St. Paul. Lemon's arrest came after a magistrate judge last week rejected prosecutors' initial bid to charge him. Lemon, who was fired from CNN in 2023, has said he has no affiliation to th…
US Embassy in Baghdad attacked with missile that hits helipad US Embassy in Baghdad attacked with missile that hits helipad

The United States Embassy in the Iraqi capital Baghdad has been hit by a missile attack that caused smoke to rise from the building. An Iraqi security source told Al Jazeera on Saturday that the attack destroyed part of its air defence system, without giving further details. A missile struck a helipad inside the US Embassy in Baghdad, two security officials told The Associated Press news agency. The projectile landed within the embassy’s boundaries in the Green Zone, the heavily fortified district in central Baghdad that houses Iraqi government institutions and foreign embassies, added the security officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity as they are not authorised to speak with the pr…
AI Cameras Are Watching School Children AI Cameras Are Watching School Children

The camera in the corner of the classroom used to be a rumor, something whispered about after a substitute teacher mentioned “district policy” and nobody quite believed it. Now it’s not just real—it’s multiplying, quietly, efficiently, and with almost no resistance. Across the United States, school districts are installing AI-powered surveillance systems that track student behavior, monitor facial expressions, flag “suspicious” movement, and in some cases analyze tone of voice or written language. The stated goal is always the same: safety. Prevent violence. Identify threats early. Protect children. And here’s the uncomfortable truth: it sounds reasonable. That’s exactly why it’s dangerous. …
Renee Nicole Good and her murder Renee Nicole Good and her murder

Halenews Editorial The killing has already been diced into bureaucratic fragments: a federal agent, a Minnesota street, a woman dead, a government mumbling about procedure while another city absorbs yet another rupture. That sterile accounting matters, but it is not enough. The public keeps asking a question older than the press and more durable than outrage: who was she? And why must we only learn her name after the state has erased her? Renee Nicole Good did not seek to be a symbol. She did not audition for national relevance. She lived a life that should have remained private—work, children, grief, partnership, rebuilding. And yet here we are, forced to know her only through the instant o…
World faces food catastrophe if Strait of Hormuz disruption persists World faces food catastrophe if Strait of Hormuz disruption persists

A prolonged disruption in the Strait of Hormuz could result in a global food “catastrophe”, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has warned, as shipments of critical agricultural inputs remain blocked in the key waterway due to the US-Israel war on Iran. Food prices have not risen yet because existing stocks are absorbing the shock, the United Nations body’s chief economist, Maximo Torero, said in an interview on Monday, alongside David Laborde, director of FAO’s agrifood economics division. But if traffic through the strait does not resume, the shocks to energy and fertiliser markets will translate into higher commodity and retail prices later this year and into 2027, Laborde added. …
Winning peace in Lebanon is harder than winning war Winning peace in Lebanon is harder than winning war

But a symbolic meeting would not be enough to resolve the conflict in Lebanon, which has deep historical roots and a wide geopolitical reach. Despite the ceasefire, Israel continues to occupy parts of southern Lebanon. The aim of the ongoing operation, as declared by Defense Minister Israel Katz, is to establish a “security zone” over the entire area south of the Litani River – which represents 10 percent of Lebanon’s national territory. The civilian population has been barred from returning to their homes while Israeli forces have continued bombing and mass demolition. Netanyahu appears to be using the narrative of “destroying Hezbollah” to cover up what is really a campaign of mass destruc…
What Delay Looks Like When You are Absorbing the Cost What Delay Looks Like When You are Absorbing the Cost

Halenews Editorial Delay is often described as prudence. From a distance, waiting can look reasonable, even wise. But distance matters. When you live close to the edge, delay is not neutral time—it is pressure. For families already stretched thin, rising energy prices are not a debate about markets; they are a calculation about heat. Flooding is not an environmental statistic; it is a ruined home. Healthcare access is not a policy disagreement; it is a postponed diagnosis that becomes irreversible. Those most affected by delay rarely appear in policy discussions except as data points. Their lives are summarized, averaged, and footnoted. Meanwhile, decisions are postponed to avoid political r…