Prepared for the Office of Public Affairs (OPA)
U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Editorial Note: The DHS Daily Briefing is a collection of news articles related to Department’s mission. The inclusion of particular stories is not intended to reflect their importance, nor is it intended to endorse the political viewpoints or affiliations included in news coverage.

The Washington Post [2/1/2025 1:15 PM, Peter Jamison and Samantha Schmidt, 40736K, Neutral] reports the government of Nicolás Maduro will accept Venezuelans deported by the United States, President Donald Trump said Saturday, clearing the way for hundreds of thousands of immigrants who currently enjoy protected status in the United States to be sent back to the authoritarian socialist regime that many have fled. The details of the arrangement, including the logistics of Venezuela’s offer of transportation, were not immediately disclosed. Human rights advocates and Venezuelan opposition politicians have warned against repatriating the citizens of a country that under Maduro has been an economically failing, politically repressive pariah state. Trump’s announcement came a day after his special missions envoy met with Maduro in Caracas. Richard Grenell returned from the visit with six Americans who had been detained in the aftermath of Venezuela’s July presidential election. Politico [2/1/2025 2:07 PM, Giselle Ruhiyyih Ewing, Neutral] reports President Donald Trump said on Saturday that Venezuela would take back "all" of the country’s migrants his administration wants to deport, an announcement that came on the heels of the release of six American hostages from the South American country late Friday night. The back-to-back announcements came in the wake of envoy for special missions Richard Grenell’s talks with Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in Caracas Friday. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is also set to visit Latin America this weekend, part of the Trump administration’s efforts to get some of its southern neighbors to accept migrant flights from the U.S. Bloomberg [2/1/2025 4:22 PM, Staff, 57114K, Neutral] reports an envoy of President Donald Trump undid years of Biden administration diplomacy in Venezuela and started fresh with its President Nicolás Maduro, a shift that could have repercussions from migration to the oil market. Richard Grenell, Trump’s envoy for special situations, flew to Caracas Friday, shook Maduro’s hand, and returned with six American prisoners and a promise that Venezuela would accept its deported migrants for the first time in almost a year, including members of the feared Tren de Aragua criminal gang. “It’s like US-Venezuela relations went from zero to a hundred miles an hour overnight,” said Geoff Ramsey, a senior fellow at Washington’s Atlantic Council. Maduro, whose international legitimacy was deeply damaged after the US, the European Union, and most countries in the region refused to recognize his reelection, went to great lengths to publicize the meeting with Trump’s envoy. State-controlled media published photos and videos of the meeting at the Miraflores national palace, in which a smiling Maduro showed Grenell the sword of Venezuelan liberator Simon Bolivar, placed right between the Venezuela and US flags. It was a stark contrast to a 2022 high-level meeting in Caracas with Biden’s National Security Council senior director for the Western Hemisphere, Juan Gonzalez. The government provided no photos back then. This time, Maduro’s government even redistributed an image originally published by an opposition local media, showing the head of the Venezuelan Parliament, Jorge Rodríguez, and Foreign Affairs Minister Yván Gil receiving Grenell and the rest of the US delegation as they landed in the capital. Grenell’s visit delivered a clear win for Trump, who said Maduro even agreed to supply the transportation back home for the deportees. “It is so good to have the Venezuela Hostages back home,” he added in a Truth Social post Saturday morning. “We are in the process of removing record numbers of illegal aliens from all Countries.” The Miami Herald [2/1/2025 6:35 PM, Verónica Egui Brito and Milena Malaver, 6595K, Neutral] reports Venezuelans in South Florida and across the country expressed outrage, fear and uncertainty Saturday after President Donald Trump announced Venezuela will take back its nationals deported from the United States. "It’s heartbreaking that after seven years of hard work, studying for my degree, I’m still being targeted," said Grecia Pacheco, 27, who moved to the U.S. from Venezuela in 2017 and lives in North Miami. "I’d rather seek refuge in another country than go back to Venezuela.” Trump said Saturday on the social media site Truth Social that the Nicolás Maduro regime has agreed to accept the return of undocumented Venezuelan immigrants, including members of the infamous Tren de Aragua criminal gang, sparking heightened fears about the safety and future of hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans living in the U.S. There are as many as a million Venezuelans in the U.S. who fled the leftist regime in Caracas. Pacheco said the Trump administration is "playing with the lives of fellow Venezuelans who fled." Pacheco has been a beneficiary since 2021 of the federal policy known as Temporary Protected Status, which shields over half a million Venezuelans from deportation.

Reported similarly:
Reuters [2/1/2025 3:37 PM, Jasper Ward, 48128K, Negative]
The Hill [2/1/2025 11:34 AM, Filip Timotija, Neutral]
FOX News [2/1/2025 1:12 PM, Rachel Wolf, 49889K, Neutral]
Miami Herald [2/1/2025 4:19 PM, Syra Ortiz Blanes, Antonio Maria Delgado, Verónica Egui Brito and Milena Malaver, 6595K, Neutral]

The Washington Post [2/1/2025 5:14 PM, David J. Lynch, Mary Beth Sheridan and Amanda Coletta, 40736K, Negative] reports President Donald Trump on Saturday imposed tariffs on imports from Canada, Mexico and China, the nation’s three largest trading partners, invoking emergency economic powers in a high-stakes bid to compel them to crack down on illegal immigration and drugs reaching the United States. The president signed three executive orders establishing the measures, the first official actions of his second-term trade war, according to a White House official who briefed reporters. They drew immediate opposition from business and labor groups, who warned of profound upheaval throughout the economy. Effective Tuesday at 12:01 a.m. Eastern time, American importers will pay a new 25-percent tax on goods from Canada and Mexico and a 10-percent levy on products from China, the president said. Most products from Canada and Mexico currently face no tariffs, under a trade deal Trump signed during his first term, while many Chinese goods incur taxes of up to 25 percent. The new tariffs are in addition to those fees. Energy products, including crude oil from Canada, will suffer a 10 percent charge. If any of the three countries retaliate with their own tariffs on U.S. goods — as is likely — the president threatened to increase the applicable tariff rate in response “A Nation without borders is not a nation at all. I will not stand by and allow our sovereignty to be eroded, our laws to be trampled, our citizens to be endangered, or our borders to be disrespected anymore,” the president wrote. The president complained that Chinese fentanyl shipments are making their way to the United States via Mexico and Canada. He criticized the Chinese government for failing to fulfill its promises to reduce fentanyl output. And in remarkably blunt and almost hostile terms, he assailed two of the closest U.S. allies for their role in facilitating the drug trade. Bloomberg [2/1/2025 5:50 PM, Rachel Aiello, 1450K, Neutral] reports Trudeau vowed yesterday that Canada would hit back Day 1 and not relent until Trump’s tariffs were removed, the prime minister will be announcing Canada’s initial retaliation around 8:30 p.m. EST in Ottawa, alongside Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and Minister of Finance Dominic LeBlanc. According to a senior government source, counter tariffs ranging from $10 billion to $85 billion were discussed as a response during the cabinet meeting, though the amount keeps fluctuating. One source in cabinet said they would not be surprised if Trump doubled his tariffs if and when Canada counters. Federal and provincial governments have been co-ordinating for several weeks on a retaliation plan, and have been engaging with and leveraging stakeholders as part of a broader “Team Canada” approach. Sources had previously indicated Canada was readying a three-round retaliation that would start with the singling out of a small list of American-made consumer products such as Kentucky bourbon and Florida orange juice that the prime minister would be imploring Canadians to buy Canadian alternatives to. The government would then hit billions of dollars in U.S. goods with counter-tariffs, the sources said, noting energy export countermeasures remained on the table. The New York Times [2/2/2025 12:06 AM, Matina Stevis-Gridneff, 153395K, Neutral] reports Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada laid out more than $100 billion in retaliatory tariffs against the United States late Saturday, in a forceful response to President Trump’s decision to impose levies on a range of Canadian goods. But he made clear that Canada was doing so reluctantly. “We don’t want to be here,” Mr. Trudeau said in a somber televised address from Ottawa that evoked the deep bonds between the two neighbors and close trading partners. “We didn’t ask for this.” Mr. Trudeau spoke hours after President Trump hit Canada and Mexico with tariffs of 25 percent on all goods, with a partial carve out for Canadian energy and oil exports. Mr. Trudeau said that Canada would swiftly impose its own “far-reaching” retaliatory tariffs of 25 percent on 155 billion Canadian dollars ($106 billion) worth of U.S. goods. Initial tariffs worth 30 billion Canadian dollars will start on Tuesday, when the U.S. tariffs go into effect, Mr. Trudeau said. That will be followed by tariffs on 125 billion Canadian dollars worth of goods in the next three weeks, a delay he said would allow Canadian businesses to prepare.

Reported similarly:
AP [2/1/2025 7:08 PM, Josh Boak, 12036K, Neutral]
Newsweek [2/1/2025 6:12 PM, Adeola Adeosun, 56005K, Neutral]
The Hill [2/1/2025 5:18 PM, Brett Samuels, 16346K, Neutral]
FOX News [2/1/2025 7:06 PM, Andrea Margolis , Patrick Ward, 49889K, Neutral]
CNN [2/1/2025 7:21 PM, Samantha Waldenberg, Kevin Liptak, Alayna Treene and David Goldman, 22417K, Neutral]
Washington Examiner [2/1/2025 5:41 PM, Mabinty Quarshie, 2365K, Neutral]
Wall Street Journal [2/2/2025 12:43 AM, Gavin Blade, Anthony DeBarros, Vipal Monga, and Santiago Pérez, 646K, Neutral]
CNN [2/1/2025 11:18 PM, Samantha Waldenberg, Kevin Liptak, Alayna Treene and David Goldman, 24052K, Neutral]
FOX Business [2/2/2025 12:57 AM, Landon Mion, 57114K, Negative]
Bloomberg [2/1/2025 11:08 PM, Thomas Seal, Laura Dhillon Kane, Brian Platt, and Randy Thanthong-Knight, 27782K, Neutral]
Bloomberg [2/2/2025 1:49 AM, Josh Wingrove, Skylar Woodhouse, and Jennifer A Dlouhy, 27782K, Neutral]
CNBC [2/2/2025 5:58 AM, Katrina Bishop, 36472K, Neutral]
Reuters [2/2/2025 3:22, Kevin Krolicki and Qiaoyi Li, 37270K, Negative]
New York Times [2/1/2025 9:15 AM, Ana Swanson, Alan Rappeport and David E. Sanger, 153395K, Neutral]
Reuters [2/1/2025 11:52 PM, David Lawder, 37270K, Neutral]
Univision [2/1/2025 11:41 PM, Staff, 7281K, Negative]
Newsweek [2/2/2025 6:36 AM, Jordan King, 56005K, Neutral]

Newsweek [2/1/2025 3:59 PM, Natalie Venegas, 6595K, Neutral] reports Secretary of State Marco Rubio is heading to Central America on his first overseas trip this weekend as he aims to tackle illegal immigration and reinforcing the Trump administration’s push to reclaim U.S. control over the Panama Canal. Newsweek has reached out to the U.S. Department of State via online email form for comment. Rubio’s decision to prioritize Latin America over the traditional first stops in Europe or Asia signals the White House’s intent to refocus foreign policy, homing in on the region as immigration remains on the forefront of President Donald Trump’s agenda. Trump has made immigration a central theme of his presidential campaign and Americans largely support his mass deportation plans. A New York Times/Ipsos poll, carried out from January 2 to 10, found 55 percent of voters strongly or somewhat supported such plans. Eighty-eight percent supported "Deporting immigrants who are here illegally and have criminal records." Large majorities of both Democrats and Republicans agreed that the immigration system is broken. Rubio’s arrival in the region follows recent tensions on immigration specifically with Colombia as a dispute between the two countries erupted, when the U.S. threatened to level tariffs against Bogotá after the country turned back U.S. military aircraft carrying deported citizens. While Rubio’s itinerary also includes visits to El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and the Dominican Republic, the visit is expected to focus on mass migration, drug cartels, and policies from Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela as ongoing threats to stability, Rubio said in an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal on Friday. "It’s no accident that my first trip abroad as secretary of state will keep me in the hemisphere," Rubio wrote in his op-ed. In addition, Rubio said he aims to warn against China, which he accused of leveraging diplomatic and economic influence in Latin America, particularly through its investments in the Panama Canal. "All the while, the Chinese Communist Party uses diplomatic and economic leverage - such as at the Panama Canal-to oppose the U.S. and turn sovereign nations into vassal states," the secretary of state wrote.

Reported similarly:
New York Times [2/1/2025 5:13 PM, Michael Crowley, 161405K, Neutral]
AP [2/1/2025 10:20 PM, Matthew Lee, 2600K, Neutral]

AP [2/1/2025 7:46 PM, Claudia Lauer, 12036K, Neutral] reports Preliminary data from the deadliest U.S. aviation accident in nearly 25 years showed conflicting readings about the altitudes of an airliner and Army helicopter when they collided near Reagan National Airport in Washington, killing everyone aboard both aircraft, investigators said Saturday. Data from the jet’s flight recorder showed its altitude as 325 feet (99 meters), plus or minus 25 feet (7.6 meters), when the crash happened Wednesday night, National Transportation Safety Board officials told reporters. Data in the control tower, though, showed the Black Hawk helicopter at 200 feet (61 meters) at the time. The roughly 100-foot (30-meter) discrepancy has yet to be explained. Investigators hope to reconcile the altitude differences with data from the helicopter’s black box, which is taking more time to retrieve because it was waterlogged. They also said they plan to refine the tower data, which can be less reliable. “That’s what our job is, to figure that out,” said NTSB member Todd Inman, who grew increasingly agitated with reporters’ questions seeking more information and clarity about the readings during a Saturday evening news conference. He acknowledged that there was dissension within the investigative team about whether to release the information or wait until they had more data. No one survived the collision, which occurred as an American Airlines flight from Wichita, Kansas, carrying 64 passengers was preparing to land at Ronald Reagan National Airport, just across the Potomac River from the nation’s capital, and hit an Army Black Hawk helicopter that apparently flew into the jet’s path. The helicopter had three soldiers on board. “This is a complex investigation,” said Brice Banning, NTSB investigator in charge. “There are a lot of pieces here. Our team is working hard to gather this data.” The remains of 42 people had been pulled from the river by Saturday afternoon, including 38 that had been positively identified, Washington emergency officials said. They expect to recover all of the remains, though the wreckage of the plane’s fuselage will probably have to be pulled from the water to get all the bodies.

Wall Street Journal [2/1/2025 7:44 PM, Andrew Tangel, 646K, Negative] reports the Federal Aviation Administration closed two shorter runways at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, further restricting air traffic to the site of this week’s deadly airplane-helicopter crash. The temporary closures include the runway an American Airlines regional jet was trying to land on when it crashed into a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter, according to a notice to pilots issued by the FAA. “The runways are temporarily closed due to ongoing search and recovery efforts,” an FAA spokeswoman said. Later on Saturday afternoon, she said the closures would end Feb. 10. A total of 67 passengers and crew perished in the Jan. 29 crash, which is under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board and the Pentagon. The crash was the deadliest air disaster in the U.S. in more than two decades, and has added urgency to debates over how to safely manage increasingly congested airspaces around the nation’s airports and on runways. The airport’s longest and busiest runway will remain open. On Friday, Transportation Department officials announced restrictions on helicopter flights around the airport. The new restrictions bar helicopter flights in areas over the Potomac River and over the top of the airport. There are exceptions for lifesaving medical support, active law enforcement, active air defense, or presidential transport helicopter missions that must operate in the restricted area. The NTSB said Friday that accident investigators have recovered black boxes from both the American jet and the helicopter involved in Wednesday’s crash. The safety board said it was confident the investigators would be able to extract data from the boxes.

CBS News [2/1/2025 5:13 PM, James LaPorta, Faris Tanyos, 52225K, Neutral] reports one of three soldiers aboard a Black Hawk helicopter that was involved in the deadly midair collision with an American Airlines flight Wednesday near Reagan National Airport outside Washington, D.C., was identified Saturday by the Army as 28-year-old Capt. Rebecca Lobach. The Army said Lobach had served as an aviation officer in the Army since July 2019. She had been awarded the Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal and Army Service Ribbon. Her family in a statement released through the Army described her as a "bright star in all our lives. She was kind, generous, brilliant, funny, ambitious and strong." Lobach was a native of Durham, North Carolina, and enlisted in the North Carolina Army National Guard while in college in December 2018, a friend, 1st Lt. Samantha Brown, told CBS News. She attended Sewanee: The University of the South, where she played basketball, and then later the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she completed a degree in biology in 2019 as a distinguished military graduate, according to Brown. When she enlisted in the National Guard, she did so as a Simultaneous Membership Program cadet, a program which allows cadets to take part in both the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps and the National Guard at the same time. Lobach also served as a White House social aide during the Biden administration, Brown said. Just last month, she escorted Ralph Lauren through the White House when he was among those awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by former President Joe Biden. The other two soldiers aboard the Black Hawk helicopter have been identified as Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Eaves, 39, of Great Mills, Maryland, and Staff. Sgt. Ryan Austin O’Hara, 28, of Lilburn, Georgia, who was the chopper’s crew chief. The bodies of two of the three soldiers have so far been recovered from the wreckage of the Blackhawk helicopter, a law enforcement source familiar with the recovery efforts confirmed to CBS News Saturday. The source said the bodies – a man and a woman – were recovered sometime Friday. CNN [2/1/2025 10:57 PM, Alaa Elassar, Samantha Waldenberg, Taylor Galgano, David Williams, Amanda Jackson, Jessica Coacci and Haley Britzky, 24052K, Neutral] reports all 67 people on board the American Airlines regional jet and US Army Black Hawk helicopter that collided midair Wednesday night are presumed dead – a grim tragedy that has left a heartbreaking trail of mourning families in its wake. The somber day will be remembered as the deadliest aviation disaster in the US since 2001. As details of the disturbing catastrophe emerge and additional bodies are identified, the full weight and impact of the lives lost grows heavier. Here are some of the victims of the tragedy identified so far. The female Black Hawk pilot who was co-piloting the aircraft when it collided with the passenger plane this week was a “driven and hardworking” officer who “was made for” Army aviation, those who knew her recalled to CNN on Saturday. The Army officially identified the pilot as Capt. Rebecca Lobach, 28, one of the three-person crew inside the UH-60 Black Hawk. While the Army released the names of the other two soldiers on board the Black Hawk on Friday, Lobach’s name had been withheld at her family’s request. CNN previously reported Lobach was co-piloting the Black Hawk at the time of the collision on Wednesday evening. The US Army earlier released the names of two of the two other soldiers onboard the Black Hawk military helicopter. Ryan O’Hara, 28, from Lilburn, Georgia, and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves, 39, from Great Mills, Maryland, died in the crash. Eaves was the instructor pilot on board and had about 1,000 flight hours, according to Army official Jonathan Koziol.

Reported similarly:
Wall Street Journal [2/1/2025 7:57 PM, Gordon Lubold, 646K, Negative]

CNN [2/1/2025 8:31 PM, Kaanita Iyer and Zoe Sottile, 24052K, Neutral] reports the American Airlines flight involved in the deadly collision with a Black Hawk helicopter over Washington, DC, seemed to increase its pitch just before the impact, preliminary data from a data recorder recovered from the plane shows. “At one point very close to the impact, there was a slight change in pitch, an increase in pitch,” National Transportation Safety Board member Todd Inman said at a Saturday evening news conference. “That is something that we will get you more detail on.” The finding is one of the first pieces of information that have emerged as the NTSB works to investigate the disaster in which 67 people are thought to have been killed. The Black Hawk helicopter was training to evacuate government officials in the event of a catastrophe when the collision with the passenger jet occurred. The agency is still working to transcribe the entirety of the audio from voice recorders, Brice Banning, the NTSB investigator-in-charge, said. Preliminary data announced at the news conference indicate that the helicopter may have been flying above the altitude allowed in the corridor. Initial data shows the American Airlines regional plane was flying at around 325 feet, plus or minus 25 feet, at the time of the impact, according to Inman. But the data available to the air traffic controllers showed the helicopter was at 200 feet near the time of the accident, Inman said, an unexplained discrepancy they will need to investigate further.

Yahoo! News [2/1/2025 9:43 PM, Jenny Gable, 57114K, Positive] reports the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) released a timeline Saturday for removing the American Airlines plane and Army Black Hawk helicopter from the Potomac River after the two collided near Reagan National Airport on Jan. 29. With assistance from the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Navy’s Supervisor of Salvage and Diving, on Friday, Jan. 31, crews began preparing for salvage operations with the arrival of a crane barge, dive boats, deck barges with spuds and two surface-supplied dive systems. Along with surveying the wreckage, crews have also been working to recover the bodies of those who were on board the aircraft. Sixty-seven people died as a result of the mid-air collision. As of Saturday afternoon, D.C. authorities said 42 bodies have been recovered. According to the announcement from the USACE on Saturday, on Monday, Feb. 3, crews are expected to begin removing the jet, pending the results of surveys that will determine the range of the debris field and allow for a plan to remove it effectively. The USACE said that removing the jet’s remnants is expected to take three days.

Newsweek [2/1/2025 6:40 PM, Rachel Dobkin, 56005K, Neutral] reports a body was found in the Potomac River in Washington, D.C.—the crash site of where an American Airlines flight and Sikorsky H-60 Black Hawk military helicopter collided on Wednesday night—with local law enforcement saying there’s no connection between the two. American Airlines Flight 5342 originating from Wichita, Kansas, collided with the Black Hawk helicopter while landing at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport near Washington, D.C., on Wednesday night. The plane and helicopter plummeted into the Potomac River, leading to an extensive search-and-rescue operation. D.C. Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly said authorities "don’t believe there are any survivors" and that efforts underway at the scene of the crash have changed from a rescue operation to a recovery operation. There were 64 people onboard the American Airlines flight and three military members onboard the helicopter. As crews continued to comb through the wreckage in the Potomac River on Saturday, the body of an adult male was found in the area of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, D.C. police said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. Authorities said the death is not related to the collision. When Newsweek reached out to the D.C. police for comment on Saturday afternoon, they said they had no further information at this time. The investigation into the adult male’s death remains ongoing. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

The Wall Street Journal [2/1/2025 6:07 PM, Ginger Adams Otis, 646K, Negative] reports seven people died when a medical transport jet crashed in a fiery explosion Friday near a mall in northeast Philadelphia. There were no survivors among the people on the aircraft, which carried four crew members and a pediatric patient flying with her mother. The seventh victim was inside a vehicle on the ground, Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker said Saturday. Nineteen people were injured when the air ambulance came down near a busy intersection. The aircraft was destroyed by the high impact crash, National Transportation Safety Board officials said at a Saturday media briefing. It arrived in Philadelphia from Florida that afternoon, and departed again just after 6 p.m.—and stayed in the air less than a minute. Investigators have recovered the aircraft’s engine, but haven’t found the cockpit voice recorder that could provide more information about its dive from an altitude of roughly 1,500 feet. Debris was scattered over a wide area, said Jennifer Homendy, NTSB chair. Residents were urged to contact authorities if they found pieces of wreckage or had video of the jet’s brief flight path. The aircraft, a Learjet 55, was en route to Springfield-Branson National Airport in Missouri, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, a medical transport company, confirmed its Learjet crashed just after takeoff from Philadelphia. Shriners Children’s, a hospital that specializes in pediatric treatment, said the child on board had received care in Philadelphia and was on her way home to Mexico with her mother. “The Jet Rescue Air Ambulance family extends its heartfelt condolences and deepest sympathy to the family of the patient, families of our team members, and anyone who was hurt on the ground,” a company statement said. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said all six people on the flight were from Mexico. The Miami Herald [2/1/2025 11:59 PM, Dylan Purcell, Ryan W. Briggs and Harold Brubaker, 6595K, Neutral] reports something catastrophic had to happen for the pilots of a Learjet 55 to lose control so soon after takeoff from Northeast Philadelphia Airport on Friday night, turning an air ambulance into a fuel-laden rocket that nose-dived into the ground near the Roosevelt Mall, aviation experts say. Whatever went wrong, it was likely beyond human control. “This happened so fast. These guys, I’m sure, were totally surprised by it,” Arthur Alan Wolk, a Philadelphia-based aviation attorney, said of the pilots. Wolk flies an aircraft of similar size and speed out of Northeast Airport. Several aviation experts consulted by The Inquirer cautioned that it will take a full investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board to pinpoint the cause of the crash that killed all six people aboard and one person on the ground. But the near-45-degree angle of descent as the jet barreled toward Cottman Avenue at 235 mph indicates the two pilots aboard were powerless to maneuver the hurtling aircraft. “It looks like a rocket that comes straight down,” said David Evans, an airline transport pilot and flight instructor. “Even a Lear has some sort of glide capability. It just looks so highly unusual.” The Miami Herald [2/1/2025 8:45 PM, Diane Mastrull, Frank Kummer and Harold Brubaker, 6595K, Neutral] reports a medical transport jet with six people on board plummeted to the ground near the Roosevelt Mall in Northeast Philadelphia Friday night, bursting into flames that spread to homes and cars in a heavily trafficked area and killing everyone on board the plane and at least one person on the ground. The Learjet 55 went down shortly after 6 p.m. near Cottman Avenue and Roosevelt Boulevard just after taking off from Northeast Philadelphia Airport, creating a chaotic and horrific scene of death and destruction. The person on the ground who was killed was in a car, according to Mayor Cherelle L. Parker. As of Saturday morning, a minimum of 19 people on the ground had been reported injured, she said. A shelter has been established for those who could not get to their homes or whose homes were damaged in the crash and resulting fire. Officials from the National Transportation Safety Board were at the scene Saturday and said investigators are still searching for the plane’s cockpit voice recorder, or "black box."

Telemundo [2/1/2025 6:35 PM, Staff, 283K, Negative] reports Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez reacted on his official page of the social network X saying: "Cuba strongly rejects new decisions of the US government that demonstrate the corrupt nature with which it operates, specifically to suffocate us economically, cause harm to our people and pretend that we renounce our sovereignty and independence". The Cuban Foreign Ministry issued an official statement in which the Cuban government takes a position on the new policy implemented by the Trump administration announced by the Secretary of State, Cuban-American Marco Rubio, hours before starting a tour of several Latin American countries. "These are not unexpected actions. They are steps that were missing to undo the late decisions, although positive, made known by President Joseph Biden, last January 14," the statement says, while warning: "This announcement is possibly also the prelude to other measures that the team in charge of the Cuba issue in this government has designed since 2017 in order to further harden, gratuitously and irresponsibly, the siege against Cuba in search of new and avoidable scenarios of deterioration and bilateral confrontation." As is customary in Cuban government discourse, the communiqué blamed the U.S. restrictive measures for the island’s economic disaster and the shortages of Cubans, saying: "The objective of the measures is to intimidate foreign investors and prevent them from contributing to Cuba’s economic development and the well-being of Cubans, through the express threat of being sued in U.S. courts". The publication also describes the consequences for Cuba of these measures: "to close all sources of external income to the Cuban economy as a whole; to criminally sabotage the capacity of all economic actors, public and private, to provide goods and services; and to further deteriorate the living standards of the population affected by the blockade and the additional measures imposed during Trump’s first term, to create social irritation and destabilization, and to try to achieve the often dreamed of and never achieved purpose of overthrowing the Revolution for the purposes of domination and chastisement."

Bloomberg [2/1/2025 12:00 PM, Michael D. McDonald, 21617K, Neutral] reports young charter airline at the center of a backlash over mechanical issues is a key player in Donald Trump’s plan to deport millions of migrants. Global Crossing Airlines Group Inc., known as Global X Air, is among the handful of contractors used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement to deport foreign migrants. Its fleet of 18 Airbus planes, including the A319 and 320, have been spotted unloading deportees in Guatemala and Honduras — but it was a flight to Brazil on Jan. 24 that sparked a regional debate over the conditions migrants are transported in. Brazilian officials complained of “degrading treatment” and “disrespect for human rights.” The foreign ministry said the government and the US embassy in Brazil agreed to monitor future flights in real time going forward.

Yahoo! News [2/2/2025 5:07 AM, John Tures, 57114K, Negative] reports when Hurricane Milton slammed into Florida, lots of damage was done. It was fortunate that the Sunshine State didn’t get hit even worse. Now imagine if a major population center was destroyed in the storm, and federal lawmakers said Florida wouldn’t get a dime of aid unless Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida legislature did what they told them to do. Floridians would be outraged and rightly so. In the latest example of a new cruel streak in modern politics, several politicians are openly calling for blocking aid to California in the wake of the deadly wildfires. Here’s why it’s wrong. First, Californians contributed to that aid and are among the biggest givers in Federal income taxes. Second, this is being suggested by politicians in states which contribute, on average, a far lower share of income taxes. Third, those suggesting stopping or dangling aid will demand unconditional assistance when they need help, if history is any guide. Finally, it’s hard to find this to be any part of our American or Christian heritage. According to Merideth Lee Hill of Politico, “[House Speaker] Johnson said he supported putting "conditions" on California wildfire aid. Another Congressman, from Ohio, said as much about California aid according to Amber Baker with WTRF-TV: “If they want the money, then there should be consequences, requiring them to change their policies.” An Alabama politician concurred.

FOX News [2/1/2025 11:18 AM, Michael Dorgan, Negative] reports Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has arrested more than 7,400 people in nine days across several states amid its aggressive crackdown on illegal immigration since the new Trump administration came into office. ICE officers have been seen carrying out raids of homes, work sites, and other establishments, while deportations have also ramped up, with the Trump administration also vowing to send the most violent migrants to Guantánamo Bay. According to a compilation of daily totals of arrests, as of Jan. 31, ICE has so far arrested 7,412 people who the agency says are in the country illegally. The agency says that nearly 6,000 ICE detainers have been placed on individuals. Border czar Tom Homan has said the administration is currently only targeting violent illegal aliens while Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who oversees ICE, says federal immigration authorities are arresting the "worst of the worst" in raids. She says the streets are now safer as a result. Many of the ICE raids have been carried out alongside other federal agencies such as the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Reported similarly:
CBS Austin [2/1/2025 4:43 PM, Staff, 581K, Negative]

Wall Street Journal [2/1/2025 8:00 AM, Joe Berrett and Elizabeth Findell, 646K, Negative] reports President Trump’s aggressive deportation agenda descended upon Chicago’s “Mexico of the Midwest” precisely one week after his inauguration. But Little Village—a predominantly Hispanic enclave of around 70,000 on the city’s southwest side—stood ready to thwart the government. When U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities in dark SUVs arrived on the streets that day, another operation began. The community launched its own counteraction: an urgent system of text chains, social-media groups and calls between local leaders. The response was nearly instantaneous. “Videos are coming in, text messages, people are hitting the street following them throughout the neighborhood until they left,” said Alderman Michael Rodriguez. In the end, the officers made no arrests, Rodriguez said. The Trump administration has ramped up arrests of immigrants living in the U.S. unlawfully, but federal officials say they are also dealing with a challenge in some places: a robust outreach effort by activists to methodically track ICE’s movements and educate migrants on what to do when immigration officials come to town. That includes not answering questions or letting anyone inside without a proper warrant. “Sanctuary cities are making it very difficult to arrest the criminals. For instance, in Chicago, very well educated,” said Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, in an interview on CNN. “They call it ‘Know your rights.’ I call it ‘How to escape arrest.’ If we’ve got to play that cat-and-mouse game, that’s what we’re going to do until every one of them is gone.”

Reuters [2/1/2025 5:38 PM, Ted Hesson, 48128K, Negative] reports the Trump administration aims to lower its existing detention standards to encourage more U.S. sheriffs to provide jail space to detain immigrants in the U.S. illegally, Trump’s border czar Tom Homan said on Saturday. Homan said at an annual meeting of the National Sheriffs’ Association in Washington, D.C., that the administration was working to allow U.S. sheriffs to detain migrants in their jails using their state-level standards instead of more rigorous U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) guidelines and to reduce the number of federal inspections. "Your detention standards, your state detention standards, is what we’re looking at," Homan said. "If that’s good enough for a U.S. citizen in your county, it’s good enough for an illegal immigrant detained for us," Homan said. President Donald Trump launched a wide-ranging crackdown on illegal immigration after taking office on Jan. 20, redirecting military resources to support border security and deportations while empowering ICE officers to arrest more non-criminals. ICE arrests nationwide have increased in the past week with about 900-1,200 people picked up per day, according to the agency, compared with a daily average of 311 in fiscal year 2024. The enforcement actions included arrests in so-called "sanctuary" cities that limit cooperation with ICE, including New York and Chicago. ICE is funded to detain a daily average of 41,500 immigrants in fiscal year 2024 but the agency currently has about 40,000 detainees, according to the most recent statistics. The Trump administration said this week that it would add 30,000 detention beds at a migrant camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and more at a military base in Aurora, Colorado. Homan rallied sheriffs to provide jail space and called on them to join a program known as 287(g) that allows state and local law enforcement to increase collaboration with ICE. "The sheriffs in the room, we need your bed space. We need your 287(g) agreements," he said. "We need that force multiplier."

Bloomberg [2/1/2025 4:51 PM, Lily Meier and Josh Eidelson, 21617K, Neutral] reports Dollar General Corp. is instructing store managers to let immigration enforcement agents who visit their locations speak with staff and customers, showing how companies are preparing to cooperate on the Trump administration’s priorities. If law enforcement agencies such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement show up seeking to talk to a worker, “Please allow the agent to speak with the employee,” the retailer instructed store managers in a confidential memo Thursday. “Ask the Agent to meet with the employee outside the store and away from customers and other employees if possible.” “If Agent seeks to speak with customers, please ask Agent to be discrete and as least disruptive as possible to store operations and to conduct the interview outside the store,” the memo seen by Bloomberg News said. The memo also instructed managers to immediately inform higher-ups if federal agents visit the premises, take note of agents’ credentials and inquire how they can help them. It says agents should not be allowed into non-public parts of the store without a warrant and should not be provided employee information without direction from the company. Dollar General said the guidance to employees is meant to help them understand how to respond if federal officials visit their store. The Goodlettsville, Tennessee-based company added that it “intends to comply with its legal obligations in connection with such visits.” Dollar General has more than 19,000 US locations, the most of any retailer. President Donald Trump campaigned on a promise of mass deportations and has declared an emergency at the southern border in his first week in office, accompanied by a series of high-profile raids, which border czar Tom Homan has said are targeting violent criminals.

Portland Press Herald [2/1/2025 12:35 PM, Katie Langley, Neutral] reports a teenage asylum applicant who lives in Massachusetts has been released from the Cumberland County Jail, where she was held earlier this week at the request of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Cumberland County Sheriff Kevin Joyce confirmed Saturday morning. Zeneyda Barrera Hernandez, an 18-year-old resident of Lynn, Massachusetts, was being held by federal authorities without bail, according to the jail’s booking records. She was booked Monday in Massachusetts by immigration officers and transferred out of state, despite being in the country legally, said Patrick Callahan, who briefly served as her attorney.

Politico [2/1/2025 2:00 PM, Andrew Atterbury, Neutral] reports Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida’s GOP-controlled Legislature disagree over key pieces of newly passed immigration legislation. But they appear to align on teachers and campus police officers being part of the state’s "all-hands-on-deck" plan to aid federal immigration enforcement. While the exact role, if any, that school employees will play in that enforcement remains unclear – as does whether the bill will even become law – the measures proposed in Florida would ensure that campus doors are open to immigration authorities under a Trump administration that wants the option on the table. The passed legislation would require scores of government employees across the state to cooperate with Trump’s immigration enforcement efforts to the "fullest extent possible," a charge that includes local teachers, school social workers and campus safety officers. DeSantis plans to veto the legislation thanks to a conflict with state lawmakers over the bill’s scope, but he has been supportive of the concept of immigration enforcement possibly taking place in schools.

Yahoo! News [2/1/2025 2:55 PM, Christian Olivier, 57114K, Negative] reports a New Orleans man was sentenced on Tuesday, Jan. 28, following a child porn case from 2023. According to the United States Department of Justice, the investigation into 57-year-old Joy Joseph Banerjee for online child sexual abuse material was started by the Bossier Parish Sheriff’s Office. Homeland Security Investigations then reportedly took over the investigation and searched Banjeree’s New Orleans home in April of 2023. The investigation determined that he had knowingly possessed images and videos showing the sexual exploitation of prepubescent minors. Banjeree was sentenced to 60 months in prison, eight years of supervised release and a $5,100 special assessment fee.

Politico [2/1/2025 2:00 PM, Michael Gerstein, Negative] reports for Chicago — particularly for its sizable immigrant community — this has been a month of fear and uncertainty. ICE officials said the targets of "Operation Safeguard" would be convicted criminals, but Homan acknowledged there may be "collateral arrests" of non-criminals in sanctuary cities like Chicago — which only exacerbated locals’ worst fears. The anxiety grew as Trump released a flurry of executive orders cracking down on immigration in his first week in office. Then the ICE raids began last Sunday, and that anxiety turned into outright panic. Chicago police estimate that 100 people were arrested over the past week; they expect many more in the coming weeks. In comparison, 39 were arrested in New York.

Chicago Tribune [2/2/2025 6:00 AM, Nell Salzman, 4917K, Neutral] reports the TikTok video went viral early Monday: A brief recording appeared to show a half-dozen federal agents, one with the acronym for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement emblazoned on his back, walking past a street of brick bungalows in a western suburb of Chicago. The group included one young woman wearing civilian clothing and a white puffer coat, a sharp contrast to the men in black surrounding her. “ICE in Berwyn bright and early. Right during school drop offs,” said a caption to the clip, which had been circulated more than 10,000 times. “Some had the ice logo covered. This breaks my heart.” Another social media post alerted viewers that immigration officials were believed to have been spotted near a high school in Cicero. The message also mentioned that a young woman in a white winter coat was seen among the uniformed agents. “(Be) safe my people, and if ya’ll see a girl in a white puffy jacket knocking at your door, do not open,” the post read. “She is with them and I don’t know her part in this but I feel like they’re using her to knock on people’s doors so they open up for her, and then the agents come out.” As President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown grips the Chicago area in fear, a burgeoning resistance movement has also emerged here to challenge — as well as evade — immigration enforcement. From statements of defiance by local leaders to an unofficial network of tips and alerts on various social media sites, Chicagoland has become an epicenter of opposition to the president’s immigration agenda.

San Diego Union Tribune [2/1/2025 3:25 PM, Alex Riggins, 2212K, Negative] reports when businesses around the world agreed to take loans from La Jolla-based Ethos Asset Management, the deals seemed safe enough — after all, the company’s CEO sent one potential borrower a bank statement showing Ethos had more than $100 million in a Citibank account and another potential customer a financial statement listing more than $2.2 billion in assets. But it turned out that both financial documents were falsified and that the Ethos CEO had forged the signature of an auditor from a San Diego accounting firm to lend legitimacy to the asset statement. Ultimately, Ethos took up-front fees from the borrowers duped by the falsified claims and failed to disburse the promised loan payments. On Thursday, Ethos founder and CEO Carlos Manuel da Silva Santos, a 30-year-old Portuguese national, pleaded guilty in San Diego federal court to charges of wire fraud conspiracy and aggravated identity theft for a scheme that allegedly cost dozens of companies losses totaling more than $100 million. Santos admitted in his plea agreement that he bilked more than $17 million from three U.S. companies, but in a September filing prosecutors alleged that Santos owes 53 identified victim companies in the U.S. and around the world more than $100.8 million in restitution. The investigation of Ethos was led by Homeland Security Investigations, a component of the Department of Homeland Security. Court documents indicate the yearslong investigation also uncovered related fraud by a second San Diego-based financial firm.

CNN [2/1/2025 9:04 AM, Priscilla Alvarez, Negative] reports the Trump administration is preparing to revoke legal status for many migrants who entered the United States under a Biden-era program, according to a source familiar with the planning, expanding the pool of people who could be deported. The move is expected to affect migrants from Nicaragua, Cuba, Venezuela, and Haiti who arrived during President Joe Biden’s term under a humanitarian parole program and were allowed to temporarily live and work in the US. More than 530,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans arrived to the US under the program. Some are eligible for other programs that could protect them from deportation. But if they have not pursued other legal avenues to remain in the US, they may be eligible for removal, according to the source.

AP [2/1/2025 1:44 PM, Elliot Spagat, 47097K, Negative] reports dozens of Marines unfurled coils of concertina wire - one on the ground and one slightly above - making it more difficult to climb a border wall separating Tijuana from San Diego. They worked with speed and efficiency amid a weekend rush of cars nearby at the busiest border crossing between the U.S. and Mexico. Fortifying barriers has long been a military task on border missions that date back to the administration of George W. Bush. But President Donald Trump has hinted strongly at the unprecedented use of the armed forces to repel what he calls a "disastrous invasion." Until now, the military has limited itself to a supporting role at the border - surveilling for illegal crossings by ground and air, repairing vehicles, building barriers - adhering to the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 to keep the armed forces away from civilian law enforcement. Trump’s declaration of a national emergency at the southern border indicates he may redirect money, as he did during his first term, to get billions of dollars for border wall construction. He gave Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem 90 days to deliver recommendations.

San Diego Union Tribune [2/1/2025 7:10 PM, Alexandra Mendoza, 6595K, Neutral] reports construction to replace the last section of the U.S.-Mexico border fence east of the binational Friendship Park resumed last week - and now plans are underway to close additional gaps along the San Diego border area following President Donald Trump’s executive orders on border security, officials said. On Friday, construction crews were seen on the U.S. side putting up sections of the new and taller border fence to close off the remaining 100-foot gap of the project, which was halted in March 2024 following a court order as it was nearing completion. Work picked up again after Trump’s inauguration. The court case, filed in the Southern District of Texas, claimed that the Biden administration failed to use previously allocated funds to build new border walls and instead used them for repair projects or existing barriers, among other things. Trump’s national emergency declaration also "directs the Department of Homeland Security to take all appropriate action to deploy and construct temporary and permanent physical barriers to ensure complete operational control of the southern border of the United States," the spokesperson said. "CBP is working to close numerous gaps in the existing border barrier in the U.S. Border Patrol’s San Diego Sector," the spokesperson added. "These projects are in various stages of planning and construction is anticipated to start as early as March 2025."

El Paso Times [2/1/2025 1:49 PM, Jeff Abbott, Negative] reports the fourth C-17 military transport deportation flight, which departed Thursday from Fort Bliss, landed in Guatemala City. On board were 80 Guatemalan nationals rapidly removed by the Trump administration. President Trump has stated that his administration is only deporting criminals. But those onboard denied that they were violent criminals and had been in the U.S. only a short time. Guatemalan immigration authorities told reporters that 56 men, 20 women and four minors accompanied by a family member were on the flight. All those who were removed under Title 8. At least seven military deportation flights on C-17 cargo planes have left El Paso, Texas and Tucson, Arizona, since Trump announced the use of military planes on Jan. 24 as part of his national emergency declaration on immigration. So far, four flights carrying 304 people have arrived in Guatemala, and one flight carrying 80 people to Ecuador as of Friday morning, Jan. 31. Two other military flights were turned back after Colombia refused to permit them to land on Jan. 26, causing a diplomatic spat between Trump and Colombian President Gustavo Petro. Concern over alleged abuses and human rights violations on the removal flights have been raised for years. But the concerns over the treatment and conditions of immigrants on the deportation flights have grown following Trump’s increased use of military planes.

CBS News [2/2/2025 6:00 AM, Jack Fink and Nathalie Palacios 52225K, Negative] reports the State of Texas took a number of steps this week to help the Trump administration secure the southern border. Governor Greg Abbott deployed more than 400 additional Texas National Guard troops to the Rio Grande Valley along with C-130 aircraft and Chinook helicopters to join the thousands of Guard members already there. The Governor also directed the Texas Department of Public Safety to deploy tactical strike teams to work with U.S. Homeland Security operations to track down and arrest more than five thousand criminals with active warrants across the state who are in the U.S. illegally. ICE said it made at least 84 arrests in North Texas last week. Abbott issued a total of five executive orders involving the border. They include: Directing state agencies to help the feds deploy additional border barriers. Share intelligence with the feds about foreign terrorist organizations, such as Mexican cartels and the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. Identify all Texas land and facilities that could be used by the feds to detain and deport migrants. The state’s actions come days after the Pentagon sent 15 hundred U.S. troops to El Paso and San Diego to help the Border Patrol. The military is also deporting migrants on military aircraft. In El Paso, a flight carrying 80 people, including children, left Biggs Field at Fort Bliss heading to Guatemala City.

Yahoo! News [2/2/2025 1:02 AM, Staff, 57114K, Neutral] reports Former South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem will visit Del Rio, Texas, on Saturday. This marks her first visit to the southern border since her confirmation as secretary of Homeland Security. NewsNation correspondent Ali Bradley has the latest.

WSPA [2/1/2025 3:45 PM, Dustin George, Neutral] reports firefighters caught a bit of good luck on Friday and made gains to contain and extinguish a wildfire burning in McDowell County. According to McDowell County Emergency Management and the U.S. Forest Service, the North Fork fire nearly double in size on Friday to 644 acres. Much of the increase in fire size was due controlled firefighting operations within established containment lines. The fire is burning in areas of heavy damage from Hurricane Helene near the Woodlawn Community in McDowell County. Fire officials said portions of the fire are sheltered in areas of extreme hurricane damage. These large piles of trees burned with high intensity, are now holding residual heat. No structures are at risk at this time.

Yahoo! News [2/1/2025 6:17 PM, Dave Burge, 57114K, Negative] reports the Community Foundation of Lincoln County, through its Shelter Fund, has been at the forefront of helping Ruidoso residents get back on their feet after two devasting wildfires in summer 2024 and subsequent flash flooding. The Community Foundation said it distributed more than $3.5 million to more than 1,100 households. The Shelter Fund has been operating for more than 18 years. It was created by an anonymous donoer after the Little Bear Fire of 2012. The fund, for instance, helped Ruidoso residents after the McBride Fire in 2022. That served as a “dress rehearsal,” the Community Foundation said, for the summer of 2024.

Newsweek [2/1/2025 4:50 PM, Adeola Adeosun, 6595K, Neutral] reports the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) has declared the Palisades and Eaton fires fully contained after nearly three and a half weeks of destruction across Southern California. The fires, which began on January 7, claimed 29 lives - 17 in the Eaton fire and 12 in the Palisades fire, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner. Multiple wildfires ignited in Southern California in January amid unnaturally dry conditions, including the two largest blazes in Los Angeles County, the Palisades and Eaton fires. The National Weather Service (NWS) had issued a rare "particularly dangerous situation" warning on January 6, prompting Governor Gavin Newsom to preemptively deploy state fire resources to Southern California. As of Saturday, the fires have been 100 percent fully contained and are no longer listed as active incidents on Cal Fire’s website. The Palisades fire began as a brush fire in Pacific Palisades before exploding in size, ultimately consuming 23,448 acres and destroying 6,837 structures, with an additional 1,017 damaged. This inferno killed at least 12 people, both civilians and firefighters. More than 1,000 structures were damaged, and 6,837 structures were destroyed, including residential and commercial buildings. So far, there are four confirmed injuries. The Eaton fire, which started later that evening in Los Angeles County, burned through 14,021 acres, with about 4,000 acres affecting urban and residential areas. This blaze killed at least 17 people, both citizens and fire personnel, Cal Fire said. There were nine confirmed injuries. More than 1,070 structures were damaged, and 9,418 structures were destroyed, including residential and commercial buildings. The fires have also destroyed historic properties such as the Andrew McNally House and Zane Grey Estate. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Reported similarly:
The Hill [2/1/2025 8:50 AM, Filip Timotija, Negative]

New York Times [2/1/2025 5:46 PM, Amy Graff, 161405K, Negative] reports rain fell across Northern California on Saturday and could continue for days with an atmospheric river hanging over the region like a sopping wet towel. With multiple pushes of moisture expected, parts of the region could see continuous soggy weather into next week, potentially through Friday, and a heightened risk for flooding that could increase as the ground becomes increasingly saturated. Through Friday, the coastal mountains are expected to record six to 15 inches of rain, and the northern Sierra Nevada could see multiple feet of snow, according to the Weather Prediction Center. Snow fell in the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Ranges on Saturday, but only at the highest elevations as the system that is pulling in moisture from the subtropics near Hawaii is warm. This kind of atmospheric river is often referred to as a pineapple express. With the arrival of the atmospheric river, the storm door has opened in Northern California. “It’s a steady stream of moisture that’s being channeled from the Pacific Ocean into California and as it moves inland, it’s fueling periods of moderate to heavy precipitation,” said Frank Pereira, a meteorologist with the Weather Prediction Center. Forecasters had originally said two separate atmospheric rivers would hit the West Coast, but by Saturday, it was difficult to tell one from the other. “I think more important than identifying a second storm is really the continuous atmospheric river conditions,” said Julie Kalansky, deputy director at the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego. The Pacific Northwest is also picking up some precipitation and off-and-on rain and snow. Showery weather is forecast for the region through the weekend and into the week but Northern California is in the bull’s-eye for the wet weather. The heaviest rain is expected in the San Francisco Bay Area, north into Mendocino and Humboldt Counties, across the northern valleys and into the northern Sierra Nevada, especially the foothills.

Yahoo! News [2/1/2025 6:06 PM, Isabella Cheng, 57114K, Negative] reports authorities dismantled a major drug trafficking organization on Friday, involving alleged racketeering, attempted murder, and several other charges leading to 15 suspects’ arrests. In May 2024, Louisiana State Police Bossier Field Office Narcotics, in collaboration with the Claiborne Parish Sheriff’s Office, began investigating drug trafficking activity in Claiborne Parish. As the investigation progressed, detectives learned of an active drug trafficking organization and identified numerous suspects and residences associated with it. On January 31, 2025, several police departments conducted search warrants at numerous residences associated with illegal activity. As part of the investigation, detectives confiscated seven firearms, approximately $5,000, over 20 grams of crack cocaine, over eight pounds of marijuana, and over a pound of methamphetamine.

Yahoo! News [2/1/2025 7:01 PM, Jordan Fouts, 57114K, Negative] reports an Elkhart man was sentenced in federal court to 19 years in prison after pleading guilty to distributing methamphetamine and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking offense. Adam Motheral, 51, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Damon R. Leichty to 228 months in prison followed by four years of supervised release, according to Acting U.S. Attorney Tina L. Nommay. Motheral was arrested after a multi-jurisdictional investigation beginning in October 2023 determined that he sold four firearms and over 400 grams of high-purity methamphetamine to buyers in Elkhart. The investigation involved the Elkhart County Intelligence and Covert Enforcement unit, the LaGrange, Illinois, Police Department, Homeland Security Investigations and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The ATF made six controlled purchases of methamphetamine and firearms from Motheral over a six-month period with the involvement of a confidential source and an undercover officer, according to the criminal complaint filed in court in March.

AP [2/1/2025 1:52 PM, Claudia Lauer, Negative] reports recovery crews and divers searched the Potomac River for remains and cleared wreckage Saturday from the midair collision of a passenger jet and Army helicopter that killed 67 people. A Coast Guard cutter outfitted with a crane waited by the wreckage as occasional recovery team members slipped into the water amid a group of smaller emergency boats. No one survived the Wednesday night collision. The remains of 41 people had been pulled from the river as of Friday afternoon, including 28 that had been positively identified, investigators said. They expect to recover all of the remains, though the wreckage of the plane’s fuselage will probably have to be pulled from the water to get all the bodies, Washington, D.C., Fire Chief John Donnelly Sr. told reporters. The National Transportation Safety Board is scheduled to update reporters on Saturday evening.

The News Tribune [2/1/2025 8:00 AM, Julia Park, Neutral] reports Pierce County Fire Marshal Ken Rice told The News Tribune Jan. 30 that they’ve identified a piece of heating equipment — a heater/boiler unit, not an electric space heater — on one of the damaged boats that seems connected to the fire, but they won’t know for sure until the insurance companies bring in private fire investigators to do more forensic analysis of the site and whatever they want to examine in a laboratory. U.S. Coast Guard Chief Ayla Hudson also told The News Tribune that the Coast Guard believes the fire was connected to a heater.

Honolulu Star-Advertiser [2/1/2025 12:02 PM, Kevin Knodell, Neutral] reports under Donald Trump’s second presidency, U.S. Coast Guard crews in Hawaii and the Pacific are set to be busy. But it’s not entirely clear what that will actually look like amid major shake-ups across the federal government. On his first day in office, Trump fired Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Linda Fagan during his inauguration ball. In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said she was fired because of an "excessive focus on diversity, equity and inclusion, " as well as a "failure to address border security threats " and the Coast Guard’s long-standing recruitment struggles. Trump also signed several executive orders calling for beefing up border security to crack down on migrants, asylum seekers and drug smuggling. Adm. Kevin Lunday, the Coast Guard’s acting commandant, said in a statement that "per the President’s Executive Orders, I have directed my operational commanders to immediately surge assets—cutters, aircraft, boats and deployable specialized forces—to increase Coast Guard presence and focus." Lunday said this would take immediate effect in several areas, including the U.S. border approaching Florida "to deter and prevent a maritime mass migration from Haiti and /or Cuba " and "the maritime border around Alaska, Hawaii, the U.S. territories of Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands."

Chicago Tribune [2/1/2025 6:01 PM, Staff, 57114K, Negative] reports as childhood friends Monterio Williams, 17, and Robert Boston, 16, left a downtown high school at dismissal time in late January 2024, three masked gunmen pulled up in a stolen SUV and shot and killed the boys in broad daylight, prosecutors said in court Saturday. One of the alleged gunmen, Tommie Coleman, was ordered detained Saturday during a hearing at the Leighton Criminal Court Building. The 22-year-old Pullman man, who faces first-degree murder and attempted-murder charges, was identified by witnesses and through Instagram posts, according to prosecutors. “It doesn’t get much more violent than that,” Judge William Fahy said when ordering Coleman detained. There was a history of disputes between the gunmen and the victims, prosecutors said. One of the gunmen, who hasn’t been charged, attended Innovations High School with the victims, and another died in June.

Yahoo! News [2/1/2025 9:29 PM, Anna Ashcraft, 57114K, Negative] reports the court says he shot at seven people in less than two hours, killing one and injuring three people in January 2023. Two years later, he has been sentenced after a jury found him guilty. San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan announced Friday a court has sentenced Jaime Gonzalez, III, 24, of Lemon Grove, to 86 years to life in prison for shooting at seven people in a time span of 90 minutes at three different locations across San Diego in January 2023. According to the courts, Gonzalez is accused of opening fire on seven people in Spring Valley, at an Encanto trolley station and in Bay Terraces on the night of Jan. 27, 2023, leaving Raul Valdez dead and three people injured. When Gonzalez was arrested, investigators found a ghost gun in his car and ammunition in the center console. A knife that reportedly had the victim’s blood on it was also found on Gonzalez’s waistband.

The New York Times [2/1/2025 3:53 PM, Eric Schmitt, 161405K, Negative] reports President Trump ordered airstrikes on Saturday against the Islamic State in northern Somalia, the first major U.S. military operation overseas since he took office. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a statement that the military’s initial assessment was that “multiple operatives” in the remote Golis Mountains in the country’s north were killed in the strikes, and that no civilians were harmed. The strikes were conducted by Navy and Air Force warplanes, including F/A-18 fighter jets from the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman operating in the Red Sea, three Defense Department officials said. “This action further degrades ISIS’s ability to plot and conduct terrorist attacks threatening U.S. citizens, our partners and innocent civilians,” Mr. Hegseth said. The strikes were more symbolic than substantive, several U.S. military and defense officials said, meant more to burnish Mr. Trump’s image as a commander in chief protecting the country from terrorists in the early days of his administration than to neutralize a serious threat. On Thursday, the military’s Central Command said a U.S. airstrike in northwest Syria had killed a senior operative in Hurras al-Din, an Al Qaeda affiliate. The strikes in Somalia on Saturday were a much larger operation, military officials said, and the fact that Mr. Trump had to approve it meant that at least one of the operatives was probably a senior leader of the Islamic State in the African country. Mr. Trump said in a message on social media that the strikes had killed a “Senior ISIS Attack Planner and other terrorists he recruited” who were “hiding in caves.” Somalia, though, is better known as a harbor for Al Shabab, the terrorist group linked to Al Qaeda, than for the Islamic State. U.S. intelligence officials estimate that Al Shabab in Somalia has roughly 7,000 to 12,000 members and an annual income — including from taxing or extorting civilians — of about $120 million, making it the largest and wealthiest Qaeda affiliate in the world. VOA News [2/1/2025 5:52 PM, Harun Maruf, Mohamed Olad, Jeff Seldin, 2717K, Negative] reports separate statement from U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the strikes targeted an area in Somalia’s Golis mountains, and "further degrades ISIS’s ability to plot and conduct terrorist attacks threatening US citizens, our partners, and innocent civilians." Neither Trump nor Hegseth named the IS planner, though U.S. officials said the strikes were carried out in coordination with the Federal Government of Somalia. General Adan Abdi Hashi, commander of the Puntland Devish Forces said the airstrikes targeted at least 10 locations of the Islamic State militants in the Cal-Miskaad area, which is part of the Golis mountains. "The strikes targeted about 10 locations in the Cal-Miskaad areas, most of them caves, and we believe that many of the militants were killed," said the general. Residents in Qandala, a small town in Bari region of Puntland told VOA on the condition of anonymity because they feared for their lives, that they could see from the distance plumes of smoke and flames, and that they could hear at least seven huge explosions. Officials from Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland region thanked the U.S. on social media, calling the operation a success. "The latest airstrike, carried out today, resulted in the elimination of several high-ranking #ISIS members," according to the statement. U.S. Africa Command, which oversees U.S, military efforts on the continent, said it, too, assessed multiple terror operatives had been killed. The Islamic State, also known as IS or Daesh, has increasingly played a key role in the terror group’s operations in Africa and beyond.

Reported similarly:
Washington Post [2/1/2025 6:05 PM, Angie Orellana Hernandez, 40736K, Negative]

New York Times [2/1/2025 5:30 PM, Paulina Villegas, 161405K, Neutral] reports President Trump on Saturday ordered 25 percent tariffs on all Mexican exports to the United States and a similar levy on all Canadian goods, except for a 10 percent tariff on Canadian energy. His move sent shock waves through both nations, whose leaders have warned that the tariffs will harm all three countries and disrupt their deeply interwoven economies. On his first day in office, Mr. Trump had vowed to impose punitive tariffs on Mexican and Canadian exports on Feb. 1, to force the two countries to better secure their borders against the flow of undocumented migrants and drugs. The tariffs target the United States’ closest neighbors and key trading partners. Mexico became the United States’ largest trading partner last year, exporting a variety of goods, including automobiles and avocados, while Canada is the largest foreign supplier of crude oil to the United States. Mexican officials have criticized the tariffs, arguing that they will not only harm Mexico’s economy, but will also hurt U.S. companies that have production plants in Mexico, including General Motors and Ford. American consumers are also likely to see higher prices for fruits, vegetables and other products. President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico said on Friday that the country was “prepared for any scenario.” She has suggested that Mexico could retaliate with tariffs of its own. Mr. Trump placed Mexico and the U.S. southern border at the center of his presidential campaign, railing against record levels of undocumented immigrants entering the United States, as well as the movement of fentanyl into the country. (Border crossings are currently at significantly lower than the record levels in 2023.) Mr. Trump accused Mexico of allowing a “mass migration invasion” into the United States, claiming that this had brought “crime, and drugs,” crushed wages and overwhelmed school systems. It is not the first time Mr. Trump has used tariffs as a strategy to achieve policy objectives involving immigration. During his first term, he threatened to impose taxes on Mexican products to pressure the country’s president at the time, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, into cracking down on migration. As a result, Mexico deployed National Guard officers across the country to take on illegal immigration and agreed to the expansion of a program that allowed migrants seeking asylum in the United States to remain in Mexico while their legal cases proceeded.

Newsweek [2/2/2025 6:16 AM, Ellie Cook, 56005K, Neutral] reports Russia’s beleaguered Black Sea Fleet has developed a "new method" of fending off persistent Ukrainian naval drone attacks, according to a new analysis. While most of its global naval forces remain unscathed, nearly three years of full-scale war with Ukraine has put huge dents in Moscow’s Black Sea Fleet. Kyiv has homed in on the Crimean Peninsula, which the Kremlin has controlled for more than a decade, but Ukraine has vowed to reclaim. The peninsula served as a main hub for the Black Sea Fleet, but dogged Ukrainian strikes have forced Russia to relocate high-value assets like warships and submarines further east in the Black Sea over the course of the war. Russia’s Defense Ministry said early on Saturday that its fleet in the region had "destroyed one uncrewed boat" in the northwestern part of the Black Sea, heading for Crimea. Kyiv has successfully challenged Russia’s grip on the Black Sea, close to the southern coastline of mainland Ukraine. In a later post to messaging app Telegram, Moscow shared footage it said showed Moscow’s defenses taking out a Ukrainian naval drone. The uncrewed surface vessel (USV) was "smashed to pieces," the Russian government said. Russia’s influential community of military bloggers suggested that Moscow had used a Kronshtadt Orion missile-capable drone against the naval drone, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a U.S. think tank following the conflict, said on Saturday.

Wall Street Journal [2/1/2025 8:42 AM, Ian Lovett, Nikita Nikolaienko, and Jane Lytvynenko, 646K, Neutral reports North Korean troops appear to have been pulled back from the front lines in Russia’s Kursk region after suffering heavy casualties during barely a month of combat, Ukrainian officials said. The North Koreans hadn’t been spotted along the front for more than two weeks, officials said. The troops have been withdrawn “due to significant losses,” one Ukrainian security official said, adding, “We expect them to come back.” Around 12,000 North Korean troops arrived in Russia late last year and were soon deployed to the Kursk region, where they joined Russian forces fighting to oust Ukrainian troops, who have occupied part of the region since August. The arrival of North Koreans on the battlefield signaled deepening ties between Moscow and Pyongyang, and sparked concern in Western capitals about the war growing into a global conflict. The North Koreans were initially kept off the front lines to dig trenches and assist with logistical support. As they entered combat, they took significant casualties, Ukrainian officials said. Used in infantry attacks and largely unsupported by armored vehicles or artillery, the North Koreans have appeared in videos taken from Ukrainian drones. They were often cut down as they trekked across barren fields. “Almost half of the North Koreans deployed to Russia have since been wounded or killed,” Gen. Oleksandr Syrskiy, Ukraine’s top military commander, told a Ukrainian television station last month. Russia and North Korea haven’t publicly acknowledged the deployment, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky suggested more may arrive soon.

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