Majority of Americans: ICE Agent Shooting of Renee Good Unjustified, Polls Show

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Lead Two independent national polls conducted in early January 2026 show a clear majority of Americans view the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in Minneapolis on Jan. 7, 2026, as unjustified or an inappropriate use of force. The Quinnipiac University survey of registered voters and a … Read more

The landscape beneath Antarctica’s icy surface revealed in unprecedented detail

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Lead: Researchers have produced the most detailed map yet of Antarctica’s bed beneath its ice sheet, combining satellite observations and ice‑flow physics to infer hidden topography. Published in Science, the study exposes tens of thousands of previously unmapped hills and ridges and a near‑400 km channel in the Maud Subglacial Basin. The work synthesizes surface … Read more

Seahawks list Sam Darnold as questionable, but QB expects to play

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Lead Two days before Saturday’s NFC divisional playoff at Lumen Field in Renton, the Seattle Seahawks listed starting quarterback Sam Darnold as questionable with an oblique issue after he left Thursday’s practice early. Darnold told reporters he felt something on the left side during on-field work, received treatment and expects to play against the San … Read more

Swarms of tiny earthquakes uncover secrets of California’s big faults

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Lead: On Dec. 5, 2024 a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck offshore near the Mendocino Triple Junction, prompting a broad tsunami warning and renewed scrutiny of northern California’s offshore faults. Scientists who tracked persistent swarms of very small quakes—many near magnitude 0—used those signals to map previously hidden structures beneath the junction. Their new study, published … Read more

Star Wars Shake-Up: Kathleen Kennedy Steps Down as George Lucas Protégé Dave Filoni, Exec Lynwen Brennan Take Over Lucasfilm – The Hollywood Reporter

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Lead After 14 years steering the modern Star Wars era, Kathleen Kennedy is stepping down as president of Lucasfilm, an exit reported to be effective this week. Her departure has been anticipated inside the industry but still represents a major leadership change for one of Hollywood’s most valuable franchises. Dave Filoni, long viewed as George … Read more

Judge Allows Empire Wind Construction to Resume, Blocking Federal Halt

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Lead: On Jan. 15, 2026, a federal judge in Washington ruled that construction on the $5 billion Empire Wind offshore wind project off Long Island may resume after the Interior Department ordered work paused. Judge Carl J. Nichols found that further delay would cause “irreparable harm” to the developer, Equinor, and that the government likely … Read more

Anger in Iceland over incoming US ambassador’s ‘52nd state’ joke

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On Wednesday, thousands of Icelanders reacted after reports that Donald Trump’s nominee for US ambassador to Iceland, former congressman Billy Long, joked that Iceland should become the “52nd state” and that he would be its governor. The remark was reported hours before senior officials from Greenland and Denmark were due to meet US counterparts over … Read more

Drug ring’s ‘monkey’ technique used young swimmers to stash cocaine on ships, Spanish police say

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Lead On Jan. 15, 2026, Spanish police announced they dismantled a maritime drug-smuggling network that used swimmers to transfer Colombian cocaine onto Europe-bound container ships and to hijack vessels at sea. Authorities said the group employed a so-called “monkey” technique, enlisting young, skilled swimmers from low-income backgrounds to load packages onto ships on the high … Read more

Nick Reiner Was in a Mental Health Conservatorship in 2020 – The New York Times

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Nick Reiner, 32, who has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the Dec. 14 killings of his parents, Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner, was placed under a yearlong mental-health conservatorship in 2020, two people with knowledge of the arrangement told reporters. A clerk at the Los Angeles Superior Court confirmed the … Read more

Netanyahu calls phase-two ceasefire a ‘declarative move’ as Gaza strikes kill nine

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Israeli strikes in Gaza on Thursday killed nine people, including three women, even as U.S. officials announced the ceasefire would move into a second phase. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the U.S.-brokered shift as largely symbolic, questioning the practical steps needed to implement its tougher elements. The announcement included a proposed apolitical Palestinian governing committee … Read more

Netflix and Sony Seal $7B+ Exclusive Global Pay-1 Film Deal

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Lead Netflix and Sony Pictures announced on Thursday a landmark, industry-first Pay-1 licensing agreement valued at more than $7 billion that will give Netflix exclusive worldwide streaming rights to Sony’s theatrical releases after their full theatrical and home-entertainment windows. The pact consolidates Sony’s previously fragmented offshore Pay-1 rights into a single global streamer relationship and … Read more

Trump, 79, Suggests Skipping November Midterms, Citing ‘Psychological’ Rationale

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In a roughly 30-minute Oval Office sit-down with Reuters, President Donald Trump, 79, said he believes the nation might not need the November midterm elections, offering a psychological explanation while acknowledging Republicans face steep losses. He repeated an earlier public suggestion that midterms could be canceled and pointed to his record since returning to the … Read more

Gulf states and Turkey warn Trump Iran strikes could spark wider Middle East war

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Senior Gulf governments and Turkey urged President Donald Trump on Wednesday, 14 January 2026, to refrain from airstrikes against Iran, warning that an attack would risk a broad and intractable regional conflict. Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and Oman mounted a last-minute diplomatic push that appears to have contributed to Mr Trump pausing planned strikes late … Read more

Trump unveils ‘Great Healthcare Plan’ to cut costs, seeks Congress’ approval

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Lead On Thursday, the Trump administration unveiled a package called ‘The Great Healthcare Plan’ aimed at lowering US health care costs as Affordable Care Act open enrollment closed in most states. The proposal emphasizes direct payments to patients, lower prescription prices and expanded price transparency, but offers few implementation details and would require congressional action. … Read more