Elections matter! Fighting back gets results! This week had several rays of sunshine amidst the bleak political and economic landscape of the US.

GOOD NEWS

ICE agents can’t make warrantless arrests in Oregon unless there’s a risk of escape, US judge rules: U.S. District Judge Mustafa Kasubhai issued a preliminary injunction in a proposed class-action lawsuit targeting the Department of Homeland Security’s practice of arresting immigrants they happen to come across while conducting ramped-up enforcement operations — which critics have described as “arrest first, justify later.” AP

Liam Conejo Ramos, 5, and father arrive in Minneapolis after release from detention center: Five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, asylum seekers who were detained by federal agents last week and sent to a Texas detention facility, arrived back in Minneapolis on Sunday after a judge ordered the government to release them. The Trump administration is trying to deport them again. ABC

Texas stunner: Democrat Taylor Rehmet flips Republican state Senate district Trump won by 17 points: Democrat Taylor Rehmet flipped a reliably Republican state Senate district in Texas in Saturday’s special election, continuing a string of surprise victories for Democrats across the U.S. in the year since Donald Trump returned to the White House. The president immediately distanced himself from the loss in a district he’d won by 17 points in 2024. AP

Democrat Christian Menefee wins election for US House from Texas, narrowing GOP’s slim majority: Democrat Christian Menefee won a Texas U.S. House seat in a special election Saturday that will narrow Republicans’ already-slim majority, telling President Donald Trump that the Democratic district “topples corrupt presidencies.” AP

The Supreme Court lets California use its new, Democratic-friendly congressional map: The Supreme Court is allowing California to use its new congressional map for this year's midterm election, clearing the way for the state's gerrymandered districts as Democrats and Republicans continue their fight for control of the U.S. House of Representatives. NPR

NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL

Layoffs in January were the highest to start a year since 2009: U.S. employers announced 108,435 layoffs for the month, up 118% from the same period a year ago and 205% from December 2025. The total marked the highest for any January since 2009. CNBC

Trump says he will not apologize for posting a racist video of the Obamas, adding, ‘I didn’t make a mistake’: A racist post on Trump’s social media account depicting former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama, as primates in a jungle was taken down earlier Friday after the White House initially defended the Republican president’s Thursday night post. AP

Epstein files rife with uncensored nudes and victims’ names, despite redaction efforts: A review by The Associated Press and other news organizations has found countless examples of sloppy, inconsistent or nonexistent redactions that have revealed sensitive private information. A photo of one girl who was underage when she was hired to give sexualized massages to Epstein in Florida appeared in a chart of his alleged victims. Police reports with the names of several of his victims, including some who have never stepped forward to identify themselves publicly, were released with no redactions at all. KSAT

IMMIGRATION  

ICE detainees from Maine being held under ‘inhumane’ conditions in Mass. facility: Attorneys throughout Maine and Massachusetts told the Sun Journal they’ve heard stories of as many as 50 people to a cell — men and women in some cases — with no windows and limited airflow, a single camera-monitored toilet, aluminum blankets, no showers and poor quality food. SUN JOURNAL

Prosecutors stunned as ICE lets suspect in $100m jewelry heist leave US: Federal immigration authorities allowed a suspect in a $100m jewelry heist believed to be the largest in US history to deport himself to South America in December, a move that stunned and upset prosecutors who were planning to try the case and send him to prison. GUARDIAN

DESI NEWS

Indian takeover of US city: Right-wing turns Frisco council meet into H-1B showdown: A packed city council meeting in Frisco in the American state of Texas turned into a verbal showdown between right-wing individuals and Indian-origin people. Dozens of individuals wearing right-wing symbols alleged widespread H-1B visa fraud and an "Indian Takeover" clashed with Indian-origin citizens, who argued that their presence was in fact beneficial for the US city. INDIA TODAY

India–US Interim Trade Pact Brings Tariff Relief but Locks India into Deeper Market and Strategic Concessions:  India and the United States on Friday announced a framework for an interim trade agreement that delivers immediate tariff relief for Indian exporters but commits New Delhi to sweeping concessions on market access, regulation, digital trade and economic security—prompting analysts to warn that the balance of gains tilts decisively toward Washington. SOUTH ASIAN HERALD

SBA bars green card holders from business loan ownership starting March 1: A new Small Business Administration policy taking effect March 1 will bar businesses with any legal permanent resident ownership from receiving SBA-backed loans, reversing longstanding eligibility rules and moving in a direction that lenders say will disproportionately affect immigrant-founded businesses. BUSINESS JOURNAL

CORRUPTION ALERT  

Trump’s family is embroiled in a $500m UAE scandal. We’ve hardly noticed: Days before Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025, an investment firm controlled by a senior member of the United Arab Emirates royal family secretly signed a deal to pay $500m to buy almost half of a cryptocurrency startup founded by the Trump family. GUARDIAN

SCIENCE, HEALTH, AND SAFETY

FAA Warns Airlines About Safety Risks From Rocket Launches, Urges “Extreme Caution”: The Federal Aviation Administration has issued a sharp warning that rocket launches could “significantly reduce safety” for airplanes, urging pilots to prepare for the possibility that “catastrophic failures” could create dangerous debris fields. PRO PUBLICA

For the first time in decades, the U.S. and Russia have no limits on nuclear weapons: At midnight on Thursday, a 15-year-old treaty called New START expired, and with it, caps on the number of weapons the two sides could deploy on missiles, bombers and submarines. "There are no more guardrails on the sizes of the United States and Russian strategic nuclear arsenals," said Christine Wormuth, president of the Nuclear Threat Initiative. NPR

Moderna chief: Company won’t invest in new late-stage vaccine trials: Moderna chief executive officer Stephane Bancel said the company does not plan to invest in new late-stage vaccine trials because of growing opposition to immunizations from health officials in the United States. CIDRAP

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