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9053 N Black Cyn Hwy, Phoenix, AZ 85021, USA

Time Submitted: 9:39 PM

Time Occurred: 12:37 PM

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Norm’s Wayside, Highway 55, Buffalo, MN, USA

Time Submitted: 9:35 PM

Time Occurred: 8:00 PM

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11751 W River Hills Dr, Burnsville, MN 55337, USA

Time Submitted: 9:26 PM

Time Occurred: 9:25 PM

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2317 Rock Elm Rd, Shakopee, MN 55379, USA

Time Submitted: 9:16 PM

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414 Canal Park Dr, Duluth, MN 55802, USA

Time Submitted: 9:11 PM

Time Occurred: 8:00 PM

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Building 53, Orlando, FL 32830, USA

Time Submitted: 8:46 PM

Time Occurred: 8:41 PM

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1600 N 6th St, Wausau, WI 54403, USA

Time Submitted: 8:44 PM

Time Occurred: 8:42 PM

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2730 N Scottsdale Rd, Tempe, AZ 85288, USA

Time Submitted: 8:36 PM

Time Occurred: 8:34 PM

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3000 W Oak Ridge Rd, Orlando, FL 32809, USA

Time Submitted: 8:35 PM

Time Occurred: 8:30 AM

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Miller Hill Mall, Miller Trunk Highway, Duluth, MN, USA

Time Submitted: 8:28 PM

Time Occurred: 7:45 PM

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Rapid City, SD, USA

Time Submitted: 8:27 PM

Time Occurred: 8:24 PM

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Jackson, Tennessee, USA

Time Submitted: 8:26 PM

Time Occurred: 8:25 PM

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8090 Eden Rd, Eden Prairie, MN 55344, USA

Time Submitted: 8:16 PM

Time Occurred: 7:53 PM

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LA Fitness near New Brighton, MN, USA

Time Submitted: 8:16 PM

Time Occurred: 8:01 PM

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50 W 98th St, Bloomington, MN 55420, USA

Time Submitted: 8:15 PM

Time Occurred: 8:00 PM

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Walmart Neighborhood Market, Limonite Avenue, Jurupa Valley, CA, USA

Time Submitted: 8:13 PM

Time Occurred: 8:00 PM

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5724 Major Blvd, Orlando, FL 32819, USA

Time Submitted: 8:09 PM

Time Occurred: 7:10 PM

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Pointe Orlando, International Drive, Orlando, FL, USA

Time Submitted: 8:08 PM

Time Occurred: 8:06 PM

Other

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Oak Ridge High School, West Oak Ridge Road, Orlando, FL, USA

Time Submitted: 8:01 PM

Time Occurred: 7:57 PM

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1400 E Lake St, Minneapolis, MN 55407, USA

Time Submitted: 8:01 PM

Time Occurred: 7:26 PM

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Woodland North, University Avenue Northwest, Minneapolis, MN, USA

Time Submitted: 7:56 PM

Time Occurred: 7:54 PM

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Malone’s Bar & Grill, Elm Creek Boulevard North, Maple Grove, MN, USA

Time Submitted: 7:56 PM

Time Occurred: 7:54 PM

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755 S Goldenrod Rd, Orlando, FL 32822, USA

Time Submitted: 7:52 PM

Time Occurred: 7:49 PM

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Cardinal Court, Normal, IL, USA

Time Submitted: 7:49 PM

Time Occurred: 7:47 PM

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6580 Farm-To-Market Rd 78, San Antonio, TX 78244, USA

Time Submitted: 7:42 PM

Time Occurred: 7:00 PM

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9996 Waterway Passage Dr, Winter Garden, FL 34787, USA

Time Submitted: 7:41 PM

Time Occurred: 7:38 PM

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Commander Dr, Orlando, FL, USA

Time Submitted: 7:33 PM

Time Occurred: 7:29 PM

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2725 Las Vegas Blvd N, North Las Vegas, NV 89030, USA

Time Submitted: 7:32 PM

Time Occurred: 5:00 PM

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Hampton Inn & Suites Rogers, Commerce Boulevard, Rogers, MN, USA

Time Submitted: 7:23 PM

Time Occurred: 7:20 PM

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Berglund Center, Williamson Road Northeast, Roanoke, VA, USA

Time Submitted: 7:23 PM

Time Occurred: 7:20 PM

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935 Alysheba Rd, Shakopee, MN 55379, USA

Time Submitted: 7:18 PM

Time Occurred: 1:30 PM

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Skyline Village Manufactured Home Community, Concord Boulevard East, Inver Grove Heights, MN, USA

Time Submitted: 7:18 PM

Time Occurred: 7:16 PM

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16201 W Valley Hwy, Tukwila, WA 98188, USA

Time Submitted: 7:16 PM

Time Occurred: 7:15 PM

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55 Kibby Ln, Cincinnati, OH 45233, USA

Time Submitted: 7:11 PM

Time Occurred: 11:30 AM

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12360 Singletree Ln, Eden Prairie, MN 55344, USA

Time Submitted: 7:07 PM

Time Occurred: 7:04 PM

Active

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4040 W Waters Ave #103, Tampa, FL 33614, USA

Time Submitted: 7:05 PM

Time Occurred: 7:03 PM

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Odessa, TX, USA

Time Submitted: 7:00 PM

Time Occurred: 6:30 PM

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Kwik Trip, Crest View Drive, Hudson, WI, USA

Time Submitted: 6:51 PM

Time Occurred: 6:41 PM

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8330 Fremont Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55420, USA

Time Submitted: 6:43 PM

Time Occurred: 6:00 PM

Observed

1/17/26

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Grand Ave & Dale St, St Paul, MN 55105, USA

Time Submitted: 6:27 PM

Time Occurred: 4:45 PM

my_locationaddSubmit Report

 Leaflet | © OpenStreetMap contributors

Legal–Terms

Officials to offer 50% subsidy up to $310,000 in effort to make one of world’s most expensive cities more affordable

Cecilia Nowell Thu 15 Jan 2026 (TheGuardian.com)

San Francisco will offer free childcare to families earning less than $230,000 a year, and a 50% subsidy to those earning up to $310,000, in an expansion of the city’s childcare offerings designed to make one of the world’s most expensive cities more affordable for residents.

San Francisco’s mayor, Daniel Lurie, announced the initiative as part of his “Family Opportunity Agenda” on Wednesday, alongside a package of housing, education, food, healthcare, transportation and other programs focused on affordability.

“Today marks the beginning of a powerful effort to reduce the cost of living for San Francisco families by tens of thousands of dollars each year,” Lurie said in a press release announcing the subsidies. “We’re committed to making San Francisco a place where families can stay, grow, and build their future.”

Democrats such as Lurie have seized on opportunities to respond to the affordability crisis across the United States in recent months, even as Donald Trump calls affordability “a hoax”. In his first week in office, New York’s new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, announced a program offering free childcare to all of the city’s two-year-olds, alongside a program led by Governor Kathy Hochul to invest in offering universal childcare to all children under age five in the state by August of 2028.

In November, New Mexico became the first state in the nation to offer free childcare to all its residents.

While many cities calculate eligibility for benefits based on national federal poverty guidelines, San Francisco generally uses area median income to calculate the cost of living. In 2025, the federal poverty level nationwide was $32,150 for a family of four, while the area median income for a family of four in San Francisco was $155,850.

San Francisco’s measure will make childcare free for a family of four making less than $230,000 a year, or 150% of the area median income, and offer a 50% subsidy to families earning less than $310,000 a year, or 200% of the area median income. Previously, free childcare was available to families earning less than 110% of the area median income.

The Children’s Council of San Francisco estimates that the average cost of childcare in the city is between $20,000 and $30,000 per child each year. And the Economic Policy Institute ranks California fourth out of 50 states and the District of Columbia for most expensive infant care. According to the Institute, infant care for one child would take up more than 18% of a median family’s income in California; and care for two children could take up close to 30% of a family’s income.

According to US Department of Health and Human Services guidelines, childcare is only considered “affordable” if it takes up less than 7% of a family’s income. Even for families earning six-figure salaries in the Bay Area, that goal is far out of reach. The mayor’s new childcare proposal brings that 7% just within reach, even for families earning what would be an extravagant salary elsewhere in the country.

San Francisco will use unspent tax dollars collected after voters approved Proposition C, or “Baby Prop C”, in 2018, which was delayed by an ultimately unsuccessful court challenge. The unspent funds amount to more than $550m. Families will be able to access free or reduced-cost childcare from more than 500 providers citywide.

“Affordable, high-quality childcare is essential for families to stay in San Francisco, but the cost can make it really challenging,” said Ingrid X Mezquita, the director of the city’s department of early childhood. “This is a big step toward making San Francisco a place where families can thrive.”

Asia / Pacific

South Korea’s former president Yoon Suk Yeol was on Friday sentenced to five years in prison in the first of eight trials related to charges over his decision to impose martial law at the end of 2024. In one of the trials, Yoon is accused of imposing the law to lead a rebellion. If he is convicted, he could be sentenced to death.

Issued on: 16/01/2026

By: FRANCE 24

A South Korean court sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to five years in prison Friday on some charges related to his imposition of martial law.

The verdict is the first against Yoon in the eight criminal trials over the decree he issued in late 2024 and other allegations.

Read more: Yoon’s martial law debacle a throwback to South Korea’s history of military rule

The most significant charge against him alleges that he led a rebellion in connection with his martial law enforcement and it carries a potential death penalty.

The Seoul Central District Court in the case decided Friday sentenced him for other charges like his defiance of authorities’ attempts to detain him.

Yoon has not yet publicly responded to the ruling. But when an independent counsel earlier demanded a 10-year prison term for Yoon over those charges, Yoon’s defence team accused them of being politically driven and lacking legal grounds to demand such “an excessive” sentence.

Yoon has been impeached, arrested and dismissed as president after his short-lived imposition of martial law in December 2024 triggered huge public protests calling for his ouster.

Yoon maintains he did not intend to place the country under military rule for an extended period, saying his decree was only meant to inform the people about the danger of the liberal-controlled parliament which obstructed his agenda. But investigators have viewed Yoon’s decree as an attempt to bolster and prolong his rule, charging him with rebellion, abuse of power and other criminal offenses.

(FRANCE 24 with AP)

A member of Patriotic Millionaires says the rich probably won’t flee a new wealth tax—but we might be better off if some of them did

By Tim Redmond

January 15, 2026 (48hills.org)

Gov. Gavin Newsom is in a panic. He’s terrified that a measure to tax the billionaires might qualify for the November ballot, and (gasp) some of those people (who might also support his campaign for president) might decide to leave the state. The Chron is all worked up. The Standard is keeping score of who is fleeing.

Peter Thiel and Larry Page, are already moving.

But the reality is that most rich people don’t abandon the place where they live because they have to pay taxes—and most of the billionaires in this state pay very little in the way of taxes right now.

Among those who argue that wealth taxes are a good idea: The Patriotic Millionaires, a group of very rich people who think that very rich people should pay more taxes. (One of them, a former HP exec, says that nobody needs more than $30 million.)

I caught up with an East Bay member of the group, Maureen Kennedy, this week, and she talked about why it wouldn’t be all that bad if some of the billionaires (who fund right-wing anti-labor causes) decided to take a hike.

A slightly condensed version or our interview follows.

48HILLS We have this billionaire tax that may be on the ballot, and as you know, the governor has said he will do everything he can to defeat it, that this will destroy California’s economy. It will be the end of startup culture. It will be the end of everything. All the billionaires will leave. Tell me how you respond to that.

MAUREEN KENNEDY First of all, I would say some of the billionaires have already left. They’ve already left because they want to minimize the possibility that they’re going to end up coming under this requirement. If we go forward with the initiative now, it’s not going to change that fact. I don’t think these guys are going to spend their days going back and forth to Texas depending on what California.

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There’s data out there. You’ve probably seen the stuff that suggests that at least millionaires tend to say in high-tax areas because they’re there for a bunch of reasons. For family reasons. For the amalgamation effect. Back from my days in economic development, I learned that a lot of people who are working on solar panels live in Indianapolis. Because there are benefits to having people who are doing similar things meeting with each other, at the cafe, and all that kind of stuff. So there are those reasons for people to stay.

It’s interesting to me to raise a question about what would be the impact on California if more of the billionaires moved away.

When you stop and think about some of the pieces of legislation that that have passed over the last several years, things around independent contractors versus employees, minimum wage legislation, and so forth, those billionaires have, in my mind been on the wrong side of all those arguments, and have been putting money into the wrong side.

So there’s an argument that, in terms of the broader equality agenda in California, it might not be a bad idea if some them got out of the picture.

Back to the governor’s perspective. When you look at what these billionaires are putting back into the economy, in terms of charitable donations and how much they pay in California taxes, these folks tend not to have income, and they tend not to have realized capital gains. They organize their finances specifically for that purpose.

What kind of tax are we getting from these folks? Is it a huge part of our state tax revenue? It appears not to be, at least not from a fair share perspective

48HILLS Talk about why a wealth tax is important.

MAUREEN KENNEDY The primary driver for this is the cost of health care. Costs have gone up twice as fast as wages have gone up. To the degree that the revenue from this would go to healthcare, that’s a gaping hole that we have in our state budget. We need some kind of revenue source for this, and then the question becomes, what tax, what are the options? And you look at who is paying right now, and who is not paying, and these folks have huge assets that are galloping ahead. Many of them are invested in AI, with firms that are not on the stock market, that you and I can’t invest in. These firms are worth so much money, and none of that is getting taxed. That’s why it makes sense.

These folks have figured out a way to make sure there are no realized capital gains, that would be taxable. Then let’s figure out a way to have them pay, a more innovative way.

We are incredibly lucky and should be very grateful to be living in California. The center of dynamic technological changes. They have been incredibly well compensated. A wealth tax is only fair.

48 Hills welcomes comments in the form of letters to the editor, which you can submit here. We also invite you to join the conversation on our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. 

Tim Redmond

Tim Redmond has been a political and investigative reporter in San Francisco for more than 30 years. He spent much of that time as executive editor of the Bay Guardian. He is the founder of 48hills.

Status Coup News and MeidasTouch Jan 16, 2026 MINNEAPOLIS Independent reporter Zach D Roberts was LIVE ON THE GROUND on January 15th, 2026 from ICE protests in Minneapolis outside the Whipple Federal Building. As ICE agents continued attacking unarmed protesters, Native Americans from the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council arrived looking in the ICE prison for three Minneapolis Oglala Sioux tribal members who were taken by ICE in the Little Earth community. Status Coup has reported ON THE GROUND THROUGHOUT 2025 and 2026 covering Trump’s ICE terror and protests against fascism in LA, NYC, Alligator Alcatraz, Chicago, Charlotte, and now Minneapolis. This on-scene reporting is VERY important, VERY expensive, and we are INDEPENDENTLY FUNDED. Support us for as as a paying member for as low as $5 bucks a month: https://statuscoup.com/join

• Google AI Overview

Yes, President Abraham Lincoln authorized the execution of 38 Dakota men, the largest mass execution in U.S. history, carried out on December 26, 1862, in Mankato, Minnesota, following the Dakota War of 1862, with Lincoln approving sentences for those convicted of rape or massacre, not just battle participation, showing a complex, though controversial, decision balancing justice and political pressure. 

Context of the Executions

• The U.S.-Dakota War (1862): A conflict erupted in southern Minnesota due to broken treaties, delayed food supplies, and encroaching settlers, leading to fighting between Dakota warriors and U.S. forces.
• Military Trials: A military commission tried 303 Dakota men, sentencing many to death.
• Lincoln’s Review: Lincoln reviewed the cases, focusing on evidence of rape or massacre, ultimately approving 38 of the 303 death sentences, a decision partly influenced by a desire to avoid being seen as cruel or encouraging more violence. 

The Execution

• Date & Location: December 26, 1862, in Mankato, Minnesota.
• Mass Execution: A scaffold was built for the simultaneous hanging of 38 men, with one reprieve granted at the last minute.
• Aftermath: The event remains a deeply painful memory for Dakota people, marked by annual commemorations like the Dakota 38+2 ceremonial run, honoring the lives lost and seeking healing from historical trauma. 

Lincoln’s Stance

• Lincoln’s decision to only hang those involved in massacres, rather than all convicted, showed a lawyer’s effort to apply a legal standard, even as he faced pressure for harsher punishment, famously stating he “could not afford to hang men for votes”. 

Federal immigration officers confront protesters outside Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 15, 2026. 

(Photo by Mostafa Bassim/Anadolu via Getty Images)

“Cruelty and humiliation were probably the point,” said one witness.

Brad Reed

Jan 16, 2026 (CommonDreams.org)

Several Democratic lawmakers on Friday convened a hearing in Minnesota to hear testimony from local officials and residents about the impact that the surge of federal immigration agents in the state has had on their lives.

The hearing, which was organized by Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), featured elected leaders such as Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, as well as testimony from US citizens who had been taken into custody by federal agents.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=bfVji76Mvkg%3Fsi%3DDGYlsV9bczKLloMN

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Patty O’Keefe, a 36-year-old US citizen, told lawmakers that her encounter with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents began when she and a friend had received a report that legal observers in her neighborhood were being pepper sprayed.

She said they found the agents and began following them in their car while honking their horn and blowing whistles to alert others in the area to their presence.

The ICE agents subsequently stopped their vehicle, surrounded the car, discharged pepper spray into it, then smashed the car’s windows and dragged out both O’Keefe and her friend.

O’Keefe said that after being detained by agents, they started taunting her, with one agent telling her, “You guys got to stop obstructing us, that’s why this lesbian bitch is dead,” an apparent reference to Minneapolis resident Renee Good, who was killed by an ICE agent last week.

O’Keefe said this comment left her feeling “rage and sadness,” while also asking why anyone would say something like that about the victim of a horrific killing.

“Then I remembered that cruelty and humiliation were probably the point,” she said.

O’Keefe was then taken to the BH Whipple Federal Building in St. Paul, where she was put into leg shackles and placed in a detention area that had been reserved for US citizens.

While in detention for eight hours at the building, she said she saw people being subjected to inhumane conditions.

“I saw holding cells with over a dozen people each, and a large holding cell of between 40 to 50 people,” she said. “Most of the people there were Hispanic and East African, both women and men. Some cells had no room for people to sit or lay down. Most people I saw were staring straight ahead, not talking, despondent and grief stricken. I know I’ll never forget their faces.”

Mubashir, a 20-year-old US citizen of Somali descent, recounted his detention by federal immigration agents in December, when officers tackled him and took him into custody even though he offered to show them his identification proving his citizenship.

“I repeated, ‘I’m a citizen, I have an ID,’ the agent kept saying, ‘That don’t matter,’” Mubashir explained.

Like O’Keefe, Mubashir was taken to the St. Paul ICE detention facility, where he was shackled. Unlike O’Keefe, however, he was told that he was going to be deported despite having proof of his legal status.

Eventually, Mubashir was able to show a photo of his passport card to an official at the facility who instructed officers to release him from custody.

“It is difficult to believe this happened to me,” he said. “I knew the president had made statements about Somali people and there would be additional ICE officers in the Twin Cities… But I did not think this would happen to me or someone in my family. We are all United States citizens, so we should not be at risk of being jailed or deported by ICE.”

Mubashir also emphasized that “my citizenship did not protect me from being physically detained and hurt by ICE agents.”

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.

Brad Reed

Brad Reed is a staff writer for Common Dreams.

Full Bio >

A Palestinian child wounded by an Israeli airstrike on the Nuseirat refugee camp receives treatment in Gaza City on January 15, 2026.

 (Photo by Hassan Jedi/Anadolu via Getty Images)

“Where is the ceasefire?” asked the father of a teenage girl killed in an Israeli strike on their family home.

Brett Wilkins

Jan 16, 2026 (CommonDreams.org)

Authorities in Gaza said Friday that Israeli forces killed or wounded dozens of Palestinians within the past 24 hours amid widespread skepticism over the Trump administration’s announcement that the second phase of what many in the coastal strip say is essentially a sham ceasefire has begun.

The newly formed Gaza Administration Committee met Friday for the first time in Cairo, where members discussed immediate humanitarian relief and reconstruction plans for the obliterated strip. The body is an integral part of Phase 2 of US President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan for Gaza, which US special envoy Steve Witkoff said began on Wednesday.

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Trump said Thursday that his so-called Board of Peace to oversee Gaza has also been formed. In a post on his Truth Social network, Trump touted the body as “the Greatest and Most Prestigious Board ever assembled at any time, any place.”

The Gaza Administration Committee is chaired by former Deputy Palestinian Planning Minister Ali Shaath, who said during a Friday press conference that “our goal is to give the Palestinian people hope that there is a future” and bring “smiles to the faces of Gaza’s children, women, and men.”

However, Israeli bombs and bullets continued to claim Palestinian lives across the strip, including women and children, in the latest of what Gaza officials say are more than 1,200 violations of the three-month ceasefire. At least 463 Palestinians have been killed and more than 1,250 others wounded since the tenuous truce took effect on October 10, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

“Where is the ceasefire?” asked the father of a teenage girl killed in an Israeli strike on their family’s home in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza. “We are civilians in our homes, and we are dying.”

Another Gaza resident, Jaber Mohammed, called the ceasefire process “all lies.”

“We’ve been suffering for two years and now starting the third,” Mohammed told Al Jazeera Friday. “We’re suffering from the lack of food and drink, and from high prices.”

Yet another Gazan, Fayeq al-Helou, said: “They haven’t even started the first phase yet. How can they start the second?”

“We don’t want it to be like every other time, just words on paper,” he added.

X post: https://x.com/AJEnglish/status/2012107083957629299?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2012107083957629299%7Ctwgr%5E505ffe5beb79e44876244b39fc77b10eee7f5e12%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2Fgaza-ceasefire-phase-2

In addition to ongoing air and ground strikes, Israel has continued to block humanitarian aid from entering Gaza, where widespread hunger and illness are rampant among the nearly 2 million forcibly displaced Palestinians, many of whom are living in tents and other makeshift shelters unfit for human habitation. Gaza’s Interior Ministry says that at least 31 people—some of them children and infants—have died in the strip due to exposure to cold, flooding, and shelter collapse amid winter storms.

Since the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack, Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has left more than 250,000 Palestinians dead, wounded, or missing.

Hamas, which has governed Gaza since 2007, said Thursday that it welcomes the new administration committee. Bassem Naim, a member of Hamas’ political bureau, said that “the ball is now in the court” of the United States.

Trump said Thursday that Hamas must “immediately” return the body of the final Israeli hostage abducted in October 2023 “and proceed without delay to full demilitarization.”

“They can do this the easy way, or the hard way,” the president added.

Hamas has committed to dissolving Gaza’s existing government and yield to the administration committee, although the group has been vague about how and when it would disarm, and maintains its “right to resist” Israel’s occupation.

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.

Brett Wilkins

Brett Wilkins is a staff writer for Common Dreams.

Full Bio >

A proposed ban on federal immigration agents from using county property and a coordinated response plan will be considered by the Board of Supervisors later this month.

by Roselyn RomeroJan. 16, 2026 (Berkeleyside.org)

While Alameda County considers itself a sanctuary for immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers, it does not currently have rules restricting federal immigration agents from using county-owned property for enforcement operations.

Now, an Alameda County Board of Supervisors committee is making moves to change that.

At Thursday’s meeting of the Alameda County Together for All ad hoc committee, Supervisors Nikki Fortunato Bas and Elisa Márquez approved proposals to carve out “ICE-free zones” at all county-owned facilities and to implement a county-wide coordinated response plan for when federal immigration enforcement officers conduct operations locally.

The proposals will be considered and voted on by the full Board of Supervisors on Jan. 27.

“Our goal here is simple: Make health care, courts, and other county services accessible to all,” Bas, who chairs the ad hoc committee, said during the meeting at the Alameda County Administration Building in Oakland.

County ICE-free zones would include signage, physical barriers where appropriate, and protocols for enforcement. Federal immigration agents would also be prohibited from using county-controlled parking lots, vacant lots, garages, and areas in county-owned buildings not open to the public. 

Bas and Márquez also directed the county administrator to create a response plan for immigration enforcement activity that would involve reporting incidents to the Alameda County Immigration Legal Education Partnership, training county staff, protecting hospitals and health care facilities, and more.

The committee heard from several county public safety leaders, including the district attorney, the public defender, the sheriff, and the probation chief.

“We are in a state of emergency,” Public Defender Brendon Woods told the committee. Since September, he said, at least six of his office’s clients have been arrested by ICE officers inside or near courthouses.

“These resolutions bring us closer to providing the basic protections that people are looking to us to provide,” added Woods, whose office houses an Immigration Unit representing immigrants facing deportation or at risk of deportation.

Sheriff Yesenia Sanchez said she has made it clear to federal immigration enforcement agencies that she will not accept civil detainers, requests to hold a person at Santa Rita Jail until they can be transferred to an immigration detention facility, and that her deputies will not cooperate with ICE on civil immigration matters.

With federal immigration agents often driving unmarked vehicles or wearing plainclothes as part of their controversial tactics, Sanchez said community members can call the police if they see someone in plainclothes making an arrest to verify whether it is a law enforcement officer.

“How federal officers are taking that position to not be clearly marked is beyond me,” Sanchez said.

Probation Chief Brian Ford said his department has a “zero-tolerance policy” on ICE cooperation, citing zero ICE detainers, holds, transfers, interviews, or youth-related inquiries since 2022.

The proposals come after other jurisdictions across the U.S. have passed policies barring federal agents from using public spaces for civil immigration enforcement activities. In October, Chicago declared city-owned properties “ICE-free zones.” And San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Jose, Santa Clara, and other cities and counties have proposed or approved similar ordinances.

Valarie Bachelor, vice president of the Oakland Unified School Board, spoke during public comment in support of both policies. “For many of our immigrant families, county buildings are not an option — they are a necessity,” she said. “They are there to support folks in finding housing, health care, food assistance services, and library books.”

Susan Buensuceso, an organizer for Filipino Advocates for Justice, an Oakland-based nonprofit, also supported the plans, saying her organization works with Filipino caregivers, many of whom are immigrants.

“Filipino caregivers have been providing a very crucial service to residents of Alameda County, and it is extremely sad that they have to hide sometimes,” Buensuceso said. “Some of them cannot go out of the care homes they work at for fear of ICE presence.”

Several speakers also urged the committee to consider barring the federal government from transforming the shuttered women’s prison in Dublin into an immigration detention facility. Kimberly Gasaway, director of the county’s General Services Agency, which manages all county-owned land and properties, told Bas and Márquez that the former FCI Dublin site is federally owned, meaning the county has no authority over how it is used.

Federal immigration agents have come to Oakland in recent years to question and detain families and individuals in targeted enforcement activities. And last October, the Trump administration planned a crackdown and deployed over 100 Customs and Border Protection agents to Coast Guard Island bordering Oakland. Although the operation was called off, this wasn’t before federal law enforcement shot protesters with chemical irritants, and one person, in a separate incident, was shot while backing a truck up in the direction of officers. A bystander was also wounded in that incident.

During the board’s committee meeting, residents and local public safety leaders expressed concern over the fatal shootings of unarmed civilians Renee Good and Keith Porter by ICE officers in Minneapolis and Los Angeles, respectively, and whether something like that could happen locally.

“I ask myself, who is going to be next? Is somebody here in this room going to be next? Am I going to be next?” said Diego Villegas Aguilar, an organizer with Trabajadores Unidos Workers United, during the public comment portion of the meeting.

Under the new federal budget, ICE will receive an additional $75 billion over four years, a more than 300% increase in enforcement and detention capacity, according to Bas. The budget makes ICE the most well-funded federal law enforcement agency in U.S. history.

Related stories

‘ICE-free zones’ among ideas Alameda County is considering to defend against Trump immigration crackdown

January 14, 2026

East Bay advocates reflect on immigration enforcement surge that wasn’t

November 4, 2025

Trump’s immigration crackdown has UC Berkeley international students on eggshells

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Immigration law enforcement agents reportedly followed employees out of the restaurant after they closed for the evening

Ariana Baio Friday 16 January 2026 (the-independent.com)

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Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers reportedly arrested three staff members from a Mexican restaurant outside of Minneapolis, Minnesota, Thursday evening, hours after the officers ate lunch at the establishment.

Around 3 p.m. local time, four ICE officers ate at a booth at El Tapatio, a family-owned restaurant in Willmar, Minnesota, located approximately 85 miles west of Minneapolis, witnesses told the Minnesota Star Tribune.

Witnesses, who took photos of the officers at the restaurant and videos of the arrest, said the staff appeared “frightened.”

Hours later, around 8:30 p.m., bystanders said they saw ICE officers arrest three staff members from the restaurant near Willmar Middle School and a Lutheran church. Witnesses claimed the officers followed the restaurant staff after they closed up for the evening.

Bystanders who witnessed the arrest blew whistles and shouted at the arresting officers, “Would your mama be proud of you right now?” according to the Minnesota Star Tribune.

It is unclear who the individuals arrested are or what the reason was for their arrests

The Independent has asked Immigration and Customs Enforcement and El Tapatio for comment.

Willmar is a city located in Kandiyohi County in central Minnesota. It has a population of around 21,000, according to the 2020 census. Of the population, around 40 percent are people of color, one-third identifying as Hispanic.

Thousands of federal law enforcement officers from the Department of Homeland Security have been sent to Minnesota to crack down on immigrant communities that the administration has accused of taking advantage of U.S. social services and has committed rampant fraud.

The immigration operation, known as “Operation Metro Surge,” has caused chaos in cities as the number of violent interactions between civilians and ICE officers increases. State-wide protests have been ongoing since an ICE officer fatally shot 37-year-old Renee Good in Minneapolis last week.

But even the heavy presence of federal law enforcement has rattled immigrants living in communities.

Immigration enforcement officers appear to be targeting locations where they believe undocumented immigrants may be working.

Earlier this week, CBS News reported that another Mexican restaurant called El Rodeo, located in the Twin Cities, was forced to close after ICE officers showed up. Although no arrests were made, the incident spooked some staff members enough that they’re reportedly too scared to come to work.

In another incident, an employee who legally worked at Pancho’s Taqueria and Mexican Cafe, located in Circle Pines, Minnesota, was detained after ICE showed up and waited in the parking lot, according to a GoFundMe. The restaurant later reportedly closed after the incident.

Some news media outlets mistakenly reported that Gunther Fehlinger-Jahn was a “NATO chief.”

Laerke Christensen

Published Jan. 16, 2026 (Snopes. com)

Image courtesy of X user @GunterFehlinger

Claim:

A video shared online in January 2026 authentically showed a NATO official saying that if the U.S. takes Greenland, “We take every single base of the Americans,” and, “If you take Greenland, you have to leave.”

Context

Social media users correctly attributed the quote to a man called Gunther Fehlinger-Jahn. However, both Fehlinger-Jahn and a NATO spokesperson confirmed that he did not have official relations with the intergovernmental organization, nor did he speak on behalf of the alliance.

In January 2026, a video (archived) spread online purportedly showing a man speaking to camera, saying that if the U.S. takes Greenland, Europe will “take every single base of the Americans,” and, “if [the U.S. takes] Greenland, you have to leave.”

The footage circulated as U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration repeatedly expressed its desire to acquire Greenland (archived, archived), an autonomous territory of Denmark, most of which lies in the Arctic Circle. As of this writing, the Trump administration had not ruled out using military force to take the Danish territory.

One X user who shared the clip called the speaker “Austria’s NATO enlargement committee chairman Fehlinger,” referring to Gunther Fehlinger-Jahn, an Austrian economist (archived).

In full, the X user wrote: “If the US annexes Greenland we must confiscate all US bases in Europe, says Austria’s NATO enlargement committee chairman Fehlinger. ‘If you take Greenland, you have to leave.'”

If the US annexes Greenland we must confiscate all US bases in Europe, says Austria's NATO enlargement committee chairman Fehlinger.

"If you take Greenland, you have to leave". pic.twitter.com/LJcwMVf5O2

— Mariska den Eelden 🇪🇺🇳🇱 (@eeldenden) January 6, 2026

The video and Fehlinger-Jahn’s alleged quote appeared in various iterations on Instagram, Threads (archived), Bluesky and Reddit (archived). One Facebook user specifically referred to Fehlinger-Jahn as “Austria’s NATO committee chair” (archived).

Some news media outlets also reported that Fehlinger-Jahn was a “NATO official” or even a “NATO chief” (archived, archived). Snopes readers contacted us asking about the veracity of the comments.

https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FStonekettle%2Fposts%2Fpfbid0eaLFGbnNK8ox6ArvY52dkcPnKkH8YJJXR3HorTTPCiyWi8bzhoX7dZ4uZbaHRUNAl&show_text=true&width=500

In short, the footage was authentic, meaning it was not generated using artificial intelligence tools, and social media users correctly attributed the remarks to Fehlinger-Jahn. However, the Austrian economist was not a NATO “official” or “chief” when he made the comments (and he held neither position at the time of publication). Therefore, we determined that some social media users and news outlets had, in part, miscaptioned the clip.

Who is Fehlinger-Jahn?

Fehlinger-Jahn is the self-described chair of the “Austrian Committee for NATO enlargement” (archived). Via email, he said he had “no official relations with NATO.”

Austria is not a NATO member.

The Austrian economist described the committee as an “officially registered” nongovernmental organization and confirmed that, as of this writing, the group does not have a website but intends to create one.

Fehlinger-Jahn also said he launched a public petition for joining NATO in 2022, which is his group’s main aim. Therefore, though the committee was not connected to NATO at the time of publication, its aim is to secure NATO membership for Austria. On his social media channels, Fehlinger-Jahn has repeatedly expressed his desire for Austria to join the alliance (archived, archived).

On his website, he described himself as the “Coordinator of the campaign for Austria’s NATO membership.” On Jan. 5, 2026, he posted a longer version of the video (archived) to X, during which he said the quotes in the social media posts. 

His resume (archived) contained no reference to official NATO employment. 

A NATO spokesperson also confirmed via email that Fehlinger-Jahn “does not speak on behalf of the Alliance.”

What Fehlinger-Jahn said

Addressing the U.S., Fehlinger-Jahn said of Greenland (at 1:32, emphasis ours): 

If you take it, we take every single base of the Americans, from Aviano to Ramstein, from Romania to all the other military bases, will be confiscated and you will lose it. And the whole position of American powers since World War II, for which so many Americans were dying and so many trillions were spent in order to have American Europe, and we love it, we say thank you for liberation for the Nazis and from the Soviets to keep us safe and for the liberation of Europe, that was all for America, thank you very much. But, if you take Greenland, you have to leave.

Fehlinger-Jahn described the alleged ability of NATO to remove American troops from European bases as “leverage” against the United States’ ambition to take Greenland. He added (at 2:26): 

We will simply run these bases ourselves and we run your boys home into Chicago and Ohio, and goodbye. If you want war we are ready, and that’s definitely something we will win. Europe is for eternal and we will also defeat the challenge of Putin and of Trump. But if you go extreme, we go extreme as well, Mrs. Miller. Be sure about it.

“Mrs. Miller” referred to Katie Miller, the wife of senior White House adviser Stephen Miller. On Jan. 3, 2026, days before Fehlinger-Jahn posted his video, she posted an image on X showing a map of Greenland overlaid with the American flag.

NATO is a political and military alliance of nations. One of its core commitments is that an attack against one of its members is considered an attack against all. The U.S. and Denmark are both NATO members. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen previously warned that a U.S. attack on Greenland would spell the end of the alliance.

For further reading, Snopes has reported extensively on Trump’s desire to acquire Greenland.

Sources

By Laerke Christensen

Laerke Christensen is a journalist based in London, England, with expertise in OSINT reporting.