A 76-year-old man was arraigned Tuesday morning on multiple charges in connection with the non-fatal shootings of a woman and man in West Bloomfield last Saturday.

At arraignment before 48th District Judge Diane D’Agostini, bond was set at $3 million for Fawzi George Kased of West Bloomfield, charged with two counts of assault with intent to murder, discharging a firearm in or at a building, possession of a firearm by a prohibited person and four counts of felony firearms.

Assault with intent to murder carries the highest penalty, up to life in prison.

The victims are reportedly recovering from their injuries. The shootings were targeted and not random, according to West Bloomfield Police Chief Dale Young.

Police spotted the suspect — later identified as Kased — while he was driving. He was pulled over and exited the car while holding a rifle, but dropped it when ordered to by officers, police said.

As previously reported, the case unfolded shortly before 9 a.m. when a resident of the Thornberry Apartments — near Maple and Farmington roads — contacted police and said another resident of the apartment complex tried unsuccessfully to force their way in the apartment with an object that looked like a stick. A few minutes later as officers began searching the area for the suspect, police received another call from someone who identified themselves as a family member of an employee at the Maple View liquor store on Maple Road just east of Farmington Road, reporting that the employee had been shot and was driving himself to the hospital. While officers were enroute to the hospital, additional calls came in from residents of the Thornberry Apartment complex, reporting gunshots in the area.

Kased’s next court appearance is scheduled for March 5 for a probable cause conference. A preliminary exam is scheduled for a week later, both to be held before Judge Marc Barron.

The Oakland Press has reached out to police for additional information, including the possible connection between the victims and Kased, and what may have prompted the shootings. Continued coverage of the case is planned.

A new report examining fraud risk in Minnesota government programs describes longstanding vulnerabilities dating back to the 1970s and repeated inaction by state leaders despite nearly a half-century of warnings.

Gov. Tim Walz’s director of Program Integrity, Tim O’Malley, on Monday released what he described as a “roadmap” to address those vulnerabilities, which he said were driven in large part by a culture in state agencies “more based on compassion than compliance.”

“That’s misplaced. If state workers want to provide services, want to directly help people in need, then they should go work for a provider. They should deliver the wheelchairs. They should do the bed baths. They should take people to medical appointments,” he said at a news conference announcing the report’s findings. “The state has a responsibility to make sure those things happen by protecting state (taxpayer) money.”

Every governor and Legislature had been made aware of problems in programs for the last 50 years, according to the review, but plans to strengthen protections against fraud in state welfare programs were never executed effectively.

The review can be read at https://tinyurl.com/4z3ufffv.

‘Inadequate accountability’ in agencies

O’Malley’s report comes after allegations of hundreds of millions of dollars of fraud at the Department of Human Services and Department of Education, and speculation that the fraud could reach the billions. Overall, he found that “inadequate accountability” in agencies was largely to blame.

“Recent events have revealed longstanding vulnerabilities in multiple facets of state administration and leadership and priority setting to specific elements such as enrollment, oversight, data sharing and investigative capacity,” the report said. “These weaknesses have been exploited repeatedly over decades by organized networks of providers, intermediaries and recipients, resulting in significant financial losses, erosion of public trust and inadequate delivery of essential services to vulnerable Minnesotans.”

Questions remain about who exactly has been held responsible for fraud in state agencies — if anyone. Past reports from the nonpartisan Office of the Legislative Auditor have pointed to issues with “inadequate oversight” and “pervasive noncompliance” in how the state handles payments and grants.

In December, Walz said there were state employees who should have “done more” and that they were “no longer working in the state.”

Former Human Services Commissioner Jodi Harpstead resigned in January this year, before federal prosecutors brought charges in connection with significant fraud in children’s autism programs and housing stabilization services supported by the agency.

In late 2022, Education Commissioner Heather Mueller announced she would not seek reappointment in Walz’s second term, months after the first charges in the $250 million Feeding Our Future case.

And days before federal prosecutors announced charges tied to housing stabilization in September, it emerged that the assistant commissioner with the program was no longer working with the agency.

Neither DHS nor Walz has said whether Eric Grumdahl, assistant commissioner of Homelessness and Housing Supports, lost his job due to fraud in the program, which was expected to cost $2.6 million a year when it launched but ballooned to over $105 million in 2024.

Fraud czar

Walz, a Democrat, appointed O’Malley in December as scrutiny mounted on his administration’s handling of widespread fraud in state government programs. As program integrity director, O’Malley was tasked with creating fraud prevention measures across agencies and working with the outside financial audit firm WayPoint.

O’Malley was superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension under Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty. He’s a former FBI agent and interim chief judge for the state Court of Administrative hearings, and for a decade handled allegations of sexual misconduct by clergy in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

When Walz announced his appointment of O’Malley as state fraud czar on Dec. 12, federal investigators estimated Minnesota had lost hundreds of millions of dollars to fraud in recent years, with former assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson speculating total theft could top more than $1 billion.

That estimate ballooned to at least $9 billion just a week later when Thompson announced another round of criminal charges in Medicaid fraud cases. Thompson told reporters he believed more than half of the $18 billion in federal money the state distributed through “high-risk” Medicaid programs since 2018 could have been lost to fraud.

Officials with the Minnesota Department of Human Services have disputed that estimate. Walz, who suspended his campaign for a third term in office just weeks after Thompson’s remarks, described the $9 billion figure as speculative and defamatory.

The report recommends changing agency culture, boosting accountability measures, modernizing technology and oversight.

It also recommends that state lawmakers, who returned to the state Capitol last Tuesday for the 2026 legislative session, pass several bills to support a “modern fraud‑prevention infrastructure.”

They include ending direct appropriations — which present a high risk of fraud — as well as ending grants without dedicated fraud prevention funding and requiring bills that create or modify programs to have a fraud prevention component.

O’Malley told reporters Monday that he had “independence and autonomy” to go where the facts took him and that the governor had not tried to influence his work.

Senate GOP leader calls report ‘lip service’

Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks, called the report an example of Walz “lip service” on fraud, saying it was little more than a compendium of existing public issues in state programs.

“They don’t have to wait for the Legislature. They have the tools to really get started if they need help,” he said. “We’re happy to figure out a bipartisan way forward. But the response has been so lackluster. We need to get going on this.”

O’Malley’s hiring was the latest in a series of moves Walz has made to address fraud allegations in state agencies.

In January 2025, the governor directed the creation of a fraud investigation unit at the BCA. The Department of Human Services moved to shut down a Medicaid-funded housing stabilization program beset by fraud after news emerged in July of a federal investigation into several providers.

Earlier this month, a Walz-ordered third-party audit assessing the 14 Minnesota Medicaid programs at high risk for fraud found the state could safeguard $1 billion in the next four years by changing its policies on payment reviews.

State officials described the report as the “first phase” of developing a payment review process for the high-risk programs.

Gandhi permanent appointment

Before O’Malley shared the findings of his report on Monday, Walz announced the permanent appointment of Shireen Gandhi as commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Human Services, which has been the subject of significant fraud allegations recently.

The post had been vacant for more than a year. Gandhi had served as interim commissioner since the resignation of former Human Services Commissioner Jodi Harpstead in January 2025, before federal prosecutors brought charges in connection with significant fraud in children’s autism programs and housing stabilization services supported by the agency.

Walz praised Gandhi for her leadership during troubled times at the agency.

“Over the past year, she has demonstrated steady, decisive leadership at the Minnesota Department of Human Services, strengthening program integrity, rooting out fraud, and ensuring taxpayer dollars reach the Minnesotans who rely on these services,” he said in a news release.

Gandhi will serve in the remaining months of the Walz administration. The governor, who is no longer seeking a third term, leaves office next January.

Republicans welcomed the appointment, calling it “long overdue,” though they expressed skepticism about the governor’s choice.

“Commissioner Gandhi has worked at DHS for years, including in compliance and oversight, while billions of taxpayer dollars were lost to fraud. For the past 13 months, she has served as interim commissioner as Minnesota’s fraud epidemic has made international news,” House Republican Floor Leader Harry Niska, R-Ramsey, said in a statement. “That’s not accountability. That’s failure rewarded.”

 

A popular annual event at Greenfield Village has been canceled due to mechanical issues.

The Henry Ford posted on Tuesday that the annual "Day Out With Thomas" event has been canceled because of unforeseen mechanical complications with the steam-powered Thomas the Tank Engine.

According to The Henry Ford, while there is another model at Day Out With Thomas events across the country, that model is incompatible with the historic train operations in Greenfield Village.

"The Henry Ford has been a proud host of this program for 25 years and we thank Mattel, Inc. for their incredible partnership. We also thank the thousands of members and guests who have experienced this event and joined us for a memorable Day Out With Thomas," the post reads.

In a response to a comment on social media, The Henry Ford also said the decision was not an easy one and every alternative was explored, but none were viable.

Michigan lawmakers from both parties expressed alarm Tuesday over growing allegations of toxic mold, medical neglect, drug trafficking, sexual abuse, and systemic failures at Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility. 

The post Bipartisan outrage erupts at House hearing on conditions inside Michigan’s only women’s prison appeared first on Detroit Metro Times.

A 76-year-old West Bloomfield man is facing several charges after allegedly shooting two people during a violent rampage at an apartment and business over the weekend.

Fawzi Kased was arraigned on two counts of assault with intent to murder and six other charges Tuesday in 48th District Court. He was given a $3 million bond with no 10%.

Watch below: Past coverage on West Bloomfield targeted rampage

West Bloomfield man on life support after workplace shooting by suspected former employee

According to police, Kased went on the rampage on Saturday morning at the Thornberry Apartment Complex and the Mapleview Liquor Store. Police said it started when officers were dispatched to the apartments on a report that Kased was trying to force his way into an apartment.

About seven minutes later, they received a report of a shooting at Mapleview Liquor Store, about 1/2 mile from the apartment complex. Two minutes after that, there was a report from the apartment complex that someone was firing into one of the apartments and someone had been hit.

During the course of the investigation, police determined that Kased was a former employee at the liquor store. Police said surveillance video shows Kased sitting in a nearby parking lot until the worker came to the store, then walking inside, going behind the counter and shooting the employee.

He was taken to the hospital by a family member and was originally on life support, but is not in serious but stable condition.

Police also said that Kased fired three or four times inside the apartment, hitting a woman in the abdomen. She was taken to the hospital and later released.

Officers saw Kased driving through the apartment complex and approached the vehicle. He exited the car with a rifle in his hand, but dropped it after officers ordered him to drop it.

He was taken into custody, but then taken to the hospital for a possible seizure, and he's still currently hospitalized, police said. He was in a hospital bed during the arraignment.

Jordyn Denham, who lives at the Thornberry Apartments, said the scene was chaotic Saturday morning with more than 10 police cars, ambulances, and a helicopter overhead.

"I feel a little disturbed cause it happened next to my aunt's house, right across my window, couldn't go to work had to tell my job what happened," Denham said.

Denham has lived in the West Bloomfield neighborhood for four years and said Saturday's violence was unprecedented for the area.

NASAs planned mission to return humans to the moon will be delayed again after engineers discovered an interrupted flow of helium to the Artemis II Space Launch System rockets interim cryogenic propulsion stage.

This is the second time the astronauts two-week quarantine has been interrupted because of a mechanical issue. NASA announced last week that the launch could occur as soon as March 6.

The agency now targets an April launch.

RELATED STORY | Potential Artemis II liftoff date set as astronauts prepare for moon flyby

NASA plans to roll Artemis II and its Orion spacecraft off the launch pad Wednesday. The four-mile move to the Vehicle Assembly Building is expected to take about 12 hours.

Teams are reviewing potential causes of the issue, including the interface between ground and rocket lines used to route helium, a valve in the upper stage, and a filter between the ground and rocket, NASA said in a statement. They also are reviewing data from Artemis I, in which teams had to troubleshoot helium-related pressurization of the upper stage before launch.

The mission was previously postponed about four weeks after the agency found a problem with Orions liquid hydrogen tank during a rehearsal. The tank leaked excessive liquid hydrogen into the rockets core stage. Liquid hydrogen is used as a propellant.

Artemis I, launched in 2022, was the first mission in NASAs Artemis program, which aims to pave the way for deep space exploration beyond the moon. While Artemis I was uncrewed, Artemis II will send four astronauts on a lunar flyby. Artemis III is expected to include a crewed mission to the moons surface.

RELATED STORY | NASAs countdown to the moon hits pause over hydrogen tank leak

The last time NASA sent astronauts to the moon was in 1972 during the Apollo 17 mission.

Stoney Creek dismissed girls basketball head coach Columbus Williams, who was in his third season with the program, on Monday.

The move, effectively immediately, also sees the majority of his staff let go, with the exception of freshman coach Joey Tocco, son of Dakota boys hoops head coach Paul Tocco.

From a distance, it’s an out-of-the-blue firing considering the Cougars are 16-4 overall and in most scenarios would be favored to win a district title this season were they not looking at a final against Utica Eisenhower, one of just 14 teams above them in Division 1 MPR. But sources told The Oakland Press that even though it wasn’t the only incident that may have led to his dismissal, the Cougars’ most recent game, a 48-29 loss at Rochester last Friday, Feb. 20, was likely a tipping point.

By the end of the weekend, a number of area coaches said they had viewed or shared footage of that game, which was (and remains) available to stream on the NFHS Network. At least a handful of technical fouls were assessed to the Cougars in the defeat — some to players or the bench, and others to coaches, including Williams, who was eventually ejected.

Stoney was at the free-throw line trailing just 34-27 with 3:53 remaining in that game when officials appear to issue a technical, and video shows one Rochester High administrator escorting out what looks to be a Cougars’ parent or fan. In a sequence that followed less than 10 game seconds later, the same administrator is seen giving Williams a similar directive after some degree of confrontation.

Players were notified of Williams’ dismissal on Monday afternoon in a meeting where they were able to ask questions and voice any concerns, and families of those in the program were also sent a statement later in the day. Part of that statement read, “At Stoney Creek, educational athletics are an integral extension of the classroom. Our mission is to maintain a student-centered, caring community with high expectations for conduct and sportsmanship.

“Following the incident at this past Friday’s Varsity game, we have determined that a change in leadership is necessary to uphold these standards.”

All of the Cougars’ previous losses this season have been to teams that range from very good to elite (Goodrich, South Lyon East, Clarkston), but emotions were probably high because of the repercussions of losing to Rochester. If Stoney Creek had won, it would have split a share of the OAA Red title no matter the result of Tuesday’s final league game at West Bloomfield.

Instead, if defending champion Clarkston wins at Rochester on Tuesday, the Wolves will also be 8-2 in the league and share the crown with whoever wins between the Lakers and Cougars. Stoney had been in the driver’s seat after it’d split its meetings with Clarkston, including a win in Rochester Hills, and also beat the Lakers at home back on Jan. 29.

Stoney Creek athletic director Todd Negoshian, a longtime boys hoops head coach at North Farmington before stepping down and taking his new post this year in Rochester Hills, will assume the interim role of head coach for the Cougars for the remainder of their season, at which point the vacant job will be posted.

Williams, who was in his first varsity head coaching role after most recently serving as an assistant at Utica Ford, compiled an overall 52-18 record with the Cougars. In his first year with the Cougars, he guided them to a 20-6 record that included a district title and the program’s first regional championship.

By MARK KENNEDY

NEW YORK (AP) — Early in the first episode of the “Scrubs” revival, Dr. John Dorian jumps onto Dr. Christopher Turk for a piggyback ride down the corridor of Sacred Heart Hospital like nothing’s changed in over a decade. But a lot has.

For one, Turk, now a father of four, suffers from sciatica, cutting the tomfoolery short as they tumble to the ground. And, two, Dorian needs reading glasses. Turns out plenty has changed in the 17 years since “Scrubs” last ended its run.

“They’re still 12 years old every time they’re together, but they’re also still both leading very big, responsible adult lives,” says Bill Lawrence, the show’s creator who has returned for the revival. “It just felt like it was time to revisit the old gang.”

“Scrubs” — whose first two episodes premiere back-to-back Wednesday on ABC and stream next day on Hulu — picks up with the same characters all these years later, but this time, in addition to some physical wear and tear, the onetime interns are the teachers to a group of rookie doctors.

“We were new and we were scared as interns and scared in this new element of medicine and insecure and unsure of what we were doing,” says Sarah Chalke, who plays Dr. Elliot Reid. “So to get to come back, we really have grown and really become great leaders and great teachers.”

Back to reality for ‘Scrubs’

The revival retains Lawrence’s voice for “Scrubs” — pop culture-hyper-aware and surreal but always with sentiment. The cast admits the show became a little too cartoonish in later seasons, with an ostrich wearing a Kangol hat and J.D. stuffed into a backpack to sneak into a movie theater.

“Bill Lawrence would be the first to say that what he really wanted to do was sort of ground it again and start back with the based-in-reality thing that we had in the first couple years of the show,” says Zach Braff, who plays Dr. Dorian. “We still have a mix of drama and comedy, but reset to based completely in reality.”

One thing that had to change was Dr. Perry Cox, the head of medicine played by John C. McGinley with stone-faced rage and fiery contempt. Back in the old days, he could humiliate and berate his interns.

That won’t fly in 2026: “I can’t work them crazy hours or even abuse them anymore,” Cox complains in the revival, calling the new interns “fragile little Christmas ornaments.” One of the new interns says to him: “You’re giving mean football coach vibes.”

Lawrence in anticipation of the relaunch consulted medical residents to find out how hospitals and medicine had changed over the years and was told that administrators would have no patience with a brutal Cox in 2026.

“All the residents we talked about told us that Dr. Cox would be fired immediately nowadays,” says Lawrence. He also added Vanessa Bayer to the cast, playing an HR officer quick to suggest sensitivity training.

The second stage of life

The first seven seasons of “Scrubs” originally aired on NBC, but after Season 7 — which was shortened due to a writers strike — the series moved to ABC for Season 8. A ninth season with J.D., Turk, and Cox was called “Scrubs: Med School.”

Braff and Faison — real friends offscreen — kept the show in fans’ minds with a string of T-Mobile commercials and a podcast that explored the episodes, “Fake Doctors, Real Friends.”

The end of Season 8 — the following season is not considered “Scrubs” canon — had J.D. having all his fantasies come true — marrying Elliot, having children and keeping up his friendship with Turk, who is married to head nurse Carla. That neat bow had to be jettisoned for 2026.

“We knew from the start that we couldn’t live in a world that all of his fantasies had come true,” says Lawrence. “Life throws you some blows and throws you to some victories. You drift from people you care about. Sometimes your world gets smaller. Sometimes things get harder and there still have to be mountains to overcome. So we really wanted to thematically show that journey of what the second stage of life looks like.”

The central bromance of ‘Scrubs’

Central to the success of “Scrubs” is the bromance between J.D. and Turk, which doesn’t end when the cameras are turned off. The revival arrives as the topic of male loneliness and friendship is being debated.

“It’s a half hour comedy, but it takes head on the idea of the joy that you can still find in being silly and having love in your life that isn’t just your romantic love — the joy and love you have with your friends as a man in 2026,” says Braff.

Faison adds: “I value my friendship. I don’t have many of them, but he’s the one friendship that I do have that I know I can count on, at least right now. Maybe in 10 years, he might change his mind on how he feels about me.”

“We’ll see how you behave,” Braff jokes.

Lawrence says he often writes about male friendships because he grew up in a family that wasn’t very demonstrative emotionally. His other current titles include “Shrinking” and “Ted Lasso,” which also explore bonding and mentoring.

“I started very young writing about friendships and, maybe on some level, the wish fulfillment of how personal I truly hoped they could be,” he says. “I crave those friendships and I craved that mentorship so I maybe write about them too much.”

A Troy woman is facing a charge of first-degree child abuse after a 13-month old child suffered serious brain damage, allegedly while in her care, officials said.

An arraignment is pending for Swapna Hari, 44. The complaint was filed on Feb. 24 in 52-4 District Court for the alleged Sept. 3, 2025 incident.

The crime is punishable by up to life in prison.

According to the prosecutor’s office, Hari claimed the infant fell backward while eating and started choking. The infant was hospitalized with severe head trauma and brain damage.

The prosecutor’s office said the injuries suffered are inconsistent with a backward fall or choking.

“In a single moment, this healthy and happy 13-month-old child suffered a life-changing injury, allegedly at the hands of this defendant,” Prosecutor Karen McDonald stated in a news release.  “Our office sees too many cases of childhood brain injuries caused by abusers. These are physical injuries that often never heal completely. It’s heartbreaking and horrifying to learn a caregiver would harm a child instead of protecting them.”

The Oakland Press will report further on this case as additional information becomes available.

Sheriff: Sex customer reports being robbed; 2 now facing charges of human trafficking, prostitution at Southfield hotel

By JOHN HANNA and JUAN LOZANO

HOUSTON (AP) — U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas faced growing calls Tuesday from fellow congressional Republicans to resign over a report of an alleged affair with a former staffer who later died after she set herself on fire.

Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky joined Reps. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Anna Paulina Luna of Florida and Nancy Mace of South Carolina in demanding that Gonzales step down immediately. Mace also announced that she has introduced a resolution to force the House Ethics Commission to publicly release its reports and records of allegations of sexual harassment against members of Congress.

House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters that he would talk to Gonzales on Tuesday.

Johnson said Monday that the accusations against Gonzales “must be taken seriously,” but he added, “in every case like this, you have to allow the investigation to play out and all the facts to come out.”

“If the accusation of something is going to be the litmus for someone being able to continue to serve in the House, a lot of people would have to resign or be removed or expelled from Congress,” Johnson said.

Gonzales’ office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday. He said in a social media post last week that he was being blackmailed and then suggested in another post Sunday that he is the target of “coordinated political attacks.”

“During my six years in Congress not a single formal complaint has been levied against my office,” Gonzales said in the Sunday post on X. “IT WONT WORK.”

Gonzales is in a tough race in Texas’ Republican primary on March 3, with early voting underway for more than a week. His main opponent is Brandon Herrera, a gun manufacturer and gun rights influencer who calls himself “the AK Guy” on YouTube, where his channel has nearly 4.2 million subscribers. Gonzales narrowly defeated Herrera by fewer than 400 votes in a runoff in 2024.

President Donald Trump had endorsed Gonzales for reelection in December.

The San Antonio Express-News reported last week that it had obtained text messages in which the former staffer, Regina Ann Santos-Aviles, wrote to a colleague that she had an affair with the lawmaker.

The Associated Press has not independently obtained copies of the messages. An attorney for Adrian Aviles, Santos-Aviles’ husband, has said the husband found out about the affair before his wife’s death.

Regina Ann Santos-Aviles, 35, died in September 2025 after setting herself on fire in the backyard of her Uvalde home. The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office later ruled her death as a suicide by self-immolation.

“Where are the other men in the GOP?” Massie asked Tuesday in a post on X in calling for Gonzales to resign, adding that Trump should revoke his endorsement.

Gonzales, whose district stretches from San Antonio to El Paso and runs along the U.S.-Mexico border, has six children with his wife.

His allegation of blackmail is based on an email from the attorney for the staffer’s husband, Robert Barrera, discussing a possible lawsuit against the lawmaker and a potential settlement with a nondisclosure agreement. The email says that the maximum recoverable amount is $300,000.

Barrera has said he was not trying to blackmail Gonzales and called the accusation an attempt by the congressman to look like a political victim.

Hanna reported from Topeka, Kansas. Also contributing was Associated Press journalist Kevin Freking in Washington.

By STEVEN SLOAN and STEVE PEOPLES

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says he has a lot to talk about tonight.

He’s returning to Congress to deliver a State of the Union address at a consequential moment in his presidency, with his approval ratings near an all-time low and restive supporters waiting for him to deliver more tangibly on their struggles with the cost of living.

On top of that, the Supreme Court just declared illegal the tariffs that have been central to his second term. And the foreign policy challenges he promised to fix easily now don’t look so simple with another potential military strike against Iran looming.

The narrow Republican majority in Congress that has done little to counter Trump’s expansive vision of power is at risk of falling away after this year’s midterm elections, when their respective self interests may collide.

Here are some questions we’re thinking about heading into the speech.

How awkward will things get with the Supreme Court?

Trump did little to hide his rage last week when the Supreme Court struck down his far-reaching tariff policy. He didn’t just say that the justices who voted against one of his signature issues — including two who he appointed — were wrong in their legal reasoning. He said they were an “embarrassment to their families.”

Now many of those justices are likely to be seated at the front of the House chamber as Trump delivers his address.

Will Trump criticize the justices to their faces? Will he somehow show restraint in keeping his criticism limited to the decision itself?

Trump would not be the first president to use a State of the Union address as a chance to criticize the court. During his 2010 address, President Barack Obama said the Court’s Citizens United decision — which opened the way for millions of dollars in undisclosed political spending — would “open the floodgates for special interests,” prompting Justice Samuel Alito to shake his head and mouth “not true.”

Since then, attendance by Supreme Court justices has become more sporadic. Alito began skipping them after the 2010 speech, joining fellow conservative Justice Clarence Thomas, who has long argued the speeches are too partisan. By last year, when Trump delivered a special address to Congress, just four members of the Court — Chief Justice John Roberts along with Justices Elena Kagan, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett — were in the House chamber.

At the time, Trump greeted the justices warmly, even telling Roberts “thank you again, I won’t forget it.” The comment was interpreted as Trump showing appreciation for the Court’s decision granting broad-based immunity to the presidency. But Trump said on social media he was merely thanking the chief justice for swearing him in.

Regardless, justices who don’t want a televised bashing from the president may decide to steer clear on Tuesday.

How will Democrats respond?

Democrats were still adjusting to Trump’s return to power when he last addressed Congress — and it showed.

During his 2025 joint address, Democrats entered the chamber with signs containing messages ranging from “Save Medicaid” and “Musk Steals” to simply “False.” Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, heckled Trump at one point, prompting his ejection from the chamber.

The signs were widely criticized as contrived and Green’s protest was something of a distraction. For voters who were outraged by Trump’s aggressive use of power during his opening months in office, the scene didn’t offer much confidence that Democrats were in a position to serve as an effective check on the White House.

Democrats are aiming to avoid a repeat of last year’s tumult. Expect fewer signs and possibly fewer Democrats in the chamber at all. Dozens of lawmakers have said they won’t attend the speech, with some planning to attend rival events in Washington.

That may help avoid some of last years theatrics. But it might do little to encourage frustrated voters that Democrats have a coherent, effective message a decade into Trump’s political rise.

And after Democratic governors boycotted a White House dinner with Trump over the weekend, skipping the State of the Union may only reinforce the sense that America’s two main political parties are charting fundamentally different courses.

Abigail Spanberger, Virginia’s newly inaugurated governor, will give the Democrats’ official response to Trump.

How will Trump address affordability and immigration?

Trump will deliver his speech at the outset of a challenging election year for his fellow Republicans, who are holding on to a tenuous grip of Congress. Much of the GOP’s challenge has centered on a sense among voters that the party hasn’t done enough to bring down prices.

The White House insists it is aware of the economic anxiety among voters and is working to address it. But Trump consistently has trouble staying on message. During a trip to Georgia last week that was intended to focus on the economy, the president instead highlighted debunked claims of election fraud and pushed his proposal for voter identification requirements. When he addressed affordability, he said it was a problem created by Democrats that he has now “solved.”

Trump’s tone on immigration could also be notable. Republicans found themselves on defense after two U.S. citizens were killed in Minneapolis last month by federal agents who were conducting an aggressive immigration enforcement operation. While Trump has kept up his hardline rhetoric on undocumented immigrants, his administration has begun to draw down agents in Minneapolis. The president told New York Gov. Kathy Hochul last week that he would direct future immigration enforcement surges where they were wanted.

What does he say about foreign policy?

Trump promised a quick and easy end to conflicts across the globe when he was elected. A year later, Russia’s war in Ukraine continues to rage, there’s a fragile ceasefire in war-torn Gaza and Trump is threatening a major military strike against Iran just eight months after he claimed the U.S. had “obliterated” the nation’s nuclear facilities.

And let’s not forget about his military action in Venezuela less than two months ago in which U.S. forces snatched leader Nicolas Maduro. Trump has said repeatedly that he’s going to run the country.

Trump supporters may cheer his America First rhetoric, but the Republican president is showing far more globalist tendencies one year into his second term.

And the prospect of war with Iran is real. Trump has already built up the largest U.S. military presence in the Middle East in decades. Last week he warned the Iranian regime that “bad things will happen” soon if a nuclear deal is not reached.

How long will he go?

Trump is rarely one to self edit. His speech last year — technically a joint address and not the State of the Union — clocked nearly one hour and 40 minutes. That was the longest speech to a joint session of Congress — and Trump may want to notch another record.

“It’s going to be a long speech because we have so much to talk about,” he said on Monday.

The economy is set to be a major theme in President Donald Trumps State of the Union address.

Trump returned to the White House in January 2025 after making bold promises to turn around the economy. But 13 months into his second term, he has delivered mixed results.

"If I had to summarize the economy in one word, it would be uncertainty," said Abby Hall, associate professor of economics at the University of Tampa.

Inflation has eased, but Americans are still paying more for most goods than they were a year ago, especially many grocery items.

One thing that has gotten cheaper is the price of a gallon of gas, which is near its lowest point in years.

RELATED STORY | Businesses stare down more tariff uncertainty as Trump doubles down after Supreme Court ruling

Tariffs have been the presidents signature economic tool. They have helped generate more than $200 billion for the United States but have also contributed to supply chain uncertainty and inflation.

Nearly 90% of the economic burden of tariffs fell on U.S. businesses and consumers, according to a recent analysis by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

"There's no question that higher goods prices that are driving inflation right now are a direct result of tariffs," said Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate. "The big question yet to be answered is whether we've seen the bulk of that impact and whether we'll see less of that in the current year."

The answer to that is now unclear after the Supreme Court struck down President Trumps tariff authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

RELATED STORY | Scripps News/Talker Research poll: High interest in State Of The Union amid economic worries

On the jobs front, the labor market has softened.

The U.S. economy added just 181,000 jobs in 2025, far below the 1.5 million jobs the country has averaged annually over the past decade.

The most recent government data suggested improvements in hiring could begin in 2026.

"The overall picture from the job market is still one that really suggests that things are really sluggish," said Hall.

The stock markets performance over the past year may be the economic indicator President Trump has highlighted most prominently.

The S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq are each up more than 10% since Trump returned to the White House, and all have hit new record highs over the past year.

"The reality is that Wall Street is not Main Street and so Wall Street might be very well," said Hamrick. "There's a broader question about how Main Street is fairing and small businesses are particularly challenged right now and tariffs are part of that."

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — The Trump administration is suing New Jersey over a state order that prohibits federal immigration agents from making arrests in nonpublic areas of state property, such as correctional facilities and courthouses.

The Justice Department lawsuit, filed Monday in federal court in Trenton, challenges Gov. Mikie Sherrill ’s Feb. 11 executive order, which also bars the use of state property as a staging or processing area for immigration enforcement.

Sherrill, a Democrat who took office Jan. 20, “insists on harboring criminal offenders from federal law enforcement,” the lawsuit said, accusing her of attempting to obstruct federal law enforcement and thwart President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

Sherrill’s executive order “poses an intolerable obstacle” to immigration enforcement and “directly regulates and discriminates” against the federal government, said the lawsuit, which misspelled her name as “Sherill.”

Asked about the lawsuit Tuesday, Sherrill said: “What I think the federal government needs to be focused on right now, instead of attacking states like New Jersey working to keep people safe, is actually training their ICE agents.”

The state’s acting attorney general, Jennifer Davenport, said the Trump administration was “wasting its resources on a pointless legal challenge.” New Jersey will fight the lawsuit and “continue to ensure the safety of our state’s immigrant communities,” she said.

The lawsuit is the latest in the Trump administration’s fight against state and local level restrictions on immigration enforcement.

Last year, the Justice Department sued Minnesota and Colorado, as well as cities including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Denver over so-called sanctuary laws, which are aimed at prohibiting police from cooperating with immigration agents.

Last May, the Trump administration sued four New Jersey cities — Newark, Jersey City, Paterson and Hoboken — over such policies. That case is pending.

By JOEY CAPPELLETTI

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats are betting that Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s affordability-focused message, which helped her flip a Republican-held office last November, will resonate with the country when she delivers their party’s response to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday night.

The rebuttal gives Democrats a prime opportunity to make their case against Trump and his policies ahead of the midterm elections. Spanberger’s double-digit victory in Virginia last November was viewed by party leaders as validation of a disciplined message centered on lowering costs — one they now want to elevate in campaigns nationwide.

“Virginians and Americans across the country are contending with rising costs, chaos in their communities, and a real fear of what each day might bring,” Spanberger said in a statement. “I look forward to laying out what these Americans expect and deserve — leaders who are working hard to deliver for them.”

Spanberger will deliver the speech from Colonial Williamsburg, a living history museum with restored 18th-century buildings, drawing on the site’s role at the heart of Virginia’s early opposition to British rule and connecting that legacy to the current political moment, according to her team.

She will have will have far less time than the Republican president to deliver her rebuttal. Trump’s speech before Congress last year stretched to an hour and 40 minutes, while Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin’s Democratic response lasted just over 10 minutes. Spanberger’s speech will be the fifth consecutive response to a president’s address to Congress delivered by a female senator or governor.

Trump on Monday told reporters that his State of the Union is “going to be a long speech, because we have so much to talk about.”

As viewership tends to drop the later the speech runs, the response has become one of the more perilous assignments in politics. Now–Secretary of State Marco Rubio was widely mocked for reaching for a water bottle during the GOP response in 2013. Other rebuttals have quickly faded from memory.

Even with the time disadvantage, Democrats argue the political winds are shifting in their favor. Spanberger’s win in Virginia was followed by other high-profile Democratic victories, including a special election earlier this month in Texas, where a Democrat flipped a reliably Republican state Senate district that Trump carried by 17 percentage points in 2024.

Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla of California will deliver the party’s Spanish language response. Padilla, who in June was forcefully removed from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s news conference in Los Angeles as he tried to speak up about immigration raids, said in a statement that there is a better path than the one Trump has offered: “one that lowers costs, safeguards our democracy, and reins in rogue federal agencies.”

Some Democrats are choosing to make their point by skipping Trump’s address. Counterprogramming events are planned, including a “State of the Swamp” featuring Democratic lawmakers alongside state and local leaders and celebrities.

By ILLIA NOVIKOV The Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared Tuesday that Russia has not “broken Ukrainians” nor triumphed in its war, four years after an invasion that has severely tested the resolve of Kyiv and its allies and fueled European fears about the scale of Moscow’s ambitions.

In a show of support, more than a dozen senior European officials headed to the Ukrainian capital to mark the grim anniversary of the conflict, which has killed tens of thousands of people, upended life for millions of Ukrainians, and created instability far beyond its borders.

Zelenskyy said his country has withstood the onslaught by Russia’s bigger and better equipped army, which over the past year of fighting captured just 0.79% of Ukraine’s territory, according to the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank. Russia now holds nearly 20% of Ukraine.

“Looking back at the beginning of the invasion and reflecting on today, we have every right to say: We have defended our independence, we have not lost our statehood,” Zelenskyy said on social media, adding that Russian President Vladimir Putin has “not achieved his goals.”

“He has not broken Ukrainians; he has not won this war,” Zelenskyy said.

Despite the show of defiance, Ukraine has struggled to hold off Russia’s onslaught, and the war has brought widespread hardship for Ukrainian civilians. Russia’s aerial attacks have devastated families and denied civilians power and running water.

As the war of attrition enters its fifth year, a U.S.-led diplomatic push to end the largest conflict on the continent since World War II appears no closer to finding compromises that might make a peace deal possible.

Negotiations are stuck on what happens to the Donbas, eastern Ukraine’s industrial heartland that Russian forces mostly occupy but have failed to seize completely, and the terms of a postwar security arrangement that Kyiv is demanding to deter any future Russian invasion.

Zelenskyy urges Trump to visit

At a makeshift memorial in Kyiv’s central square, where thousands of small flags and portraits show photos of fallen soldiers, Zelenskyy said he would like U.S. President Donald Trump to visit and witness for himself Ukrainian suffering.

“Only then can one truly understand what this war is really about,” Zelenskyy said.

Trump, who once vowed to end the war in a day, has repeatedly changed his tone toward Putin and Zelenskyy over the past year: sometimes criticizing the Ukrainian leader’s negotiating position while reaching out to the Russian leader and at others lashing out at Putin for heavy barrages and appearing more sympathetic to the Ukrainian predicament.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that the invasion would continue in pursuit of Moscow’s goals. They include a demand that Ukraine renounce its bid to join NATO, sharply cut its army, and cede vast swaths of territory.

Zelenskyy said he expected a fresh round of U.S.-brokered talks with Russia within the next 10 days.

A ‘nightmare’ for Ukrainians

The number of soldiers killed, injured or missing on both sides could reach 2 million by spring, with Russia sustaining the largest number of troop deaths for any major power in any conflict since World War II, a report last month from the Center for Strategic and International Studies estimated.

European leaders see their countries’ own security at stake in Ukraine amid concerns that Putin may target them next.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz wrote on X that “for four years, every day and every night has been a nightmare for the Ukrainians — and not just for them, but for us all. Because war is back in Europe.”

“We will only end it by being strong together, because the fate of Ukraine is our fate,” he added.

Putin’s dangerous gamble

Putin believes that time is on the side of his bigger army, Western officials and analysts say — and that Western support will trail off and that Ukraine’s military resistance will eventually crumble. Already Trump has ended new military aid to Ukraine — though other NATO countries now buy American weapons and give them to Kyiv.

But French President Emmanuel Macron described the war was “a triple failure for Russia: military, economic, and strategic.”

The war “has strengthened NATO — the very expansion Russia sought to prevent — galvanized Europeans it hoped to weaken, and laid bare the fragility of an imperialism from another age,” Macron said on X.

The European Union has also sent financial aid, but has sometimes met with reluctance from members Hungary and Slovakia.

While NATO countries have come to Ukraine’s aid, Russia has been helped by North Korea, which has sent thousands of troops and artillery shells; Iran, which has provided drone technology; and China, which the United States and analysts say has provided machine tools and chips.

A defining conflict

Among the European officials visiting Kyiv on Tuesday were the president of the European Council, Antonio Costa, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and Finnish President Alexander Stubb, as well as seven prime ministers and four foreign ministers.

The only American listed among the official guests in Kyiv ceremonies was Lt. Gen. Curtis Buzzard, a U.S. officer who represents NATO in Ukraine.

British Armed Forces Minister Al Carns said Russia’s war on Ukraine was “the most defining conflict” in decades.

The war has brought a “revolution in military affairs,” especially through the rapid development of drone technology by both sides, according to Carns. Drones now cause the vast majority of battlefield casualties, he said.

Both sides face challenges in finding enough troops and are increasingly turning to uncrewed aerial drones that take the killing to areas far from the front lines, the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies said in its annual report on the global military situation.

“Given both sides’ reliance on external support for materiel, decisions taken in foreign capitals will play an important role in shaping the war’s trajectory,” the think tank added.

The United Kingdom on Tuesday announced a new package of military and humanitarian support for Ukraine, including sending teams of British military medics to instruct their Ukrainian counterparts.

The cost of rebuilding war-battered Ukraine would amount to almost $588 billion over the next decade, according to World Bank, the European Commission, the United Nations and the Ukrainian government.

That is nearly three times the estimated nominal GDP of Ukraine for last year, they said in a report Monday.

___

Associated Press reporters across Europe contributed to this story.

___

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

One issue President Donald Trump is expected to address during his State of the Union speech Tuesday is voting integrity. Trump has been pushing for Congress to approve the Save America Act, which would require voters to provide proof of citizenship when registering.

The bill also calls for states to take steps to ensure only U.S. citizens are registered.

The measure passed the House but could face challenges in the Senate. The League of Women Voters has opposed the legislation, saying it would create another barrier to voting.

RELATED STORY | Heres when and where to watch Trump's 2026 State of the Union address

Trump has also suggested he would sign an executive order requiring election officials to review a persons identification before allowing them to vote. Although some officials have expressed concern over this provision, 83% of Americans said in 2025 that they support requiring photo identification at polls, according to the Pew Research Center.

Trump has said these provisions are needed to ensure elections are conducted fairly.

David Becker, executive director and founder of the nonpartisan Center for Election Innovation & Research, said some of the information the White House has provided on voter integrity has not been accurate.

RELATED STORY | US womens hockey team declines Trump's invitation to State of the Union

Our election system is secure. It is transparent. It is verifiable. It is better than its ever been before, Becker said.

The Trump administration itself reviewed 50 million voter records and found that 99.98% of them had documented citizenship attached, he added.

Becker said the Save America Act could make it more difficult for states to prepare for the upcoming midterm elections if approved by Congress.

We need to continue to speak the truth about our elections and support our public servants who run those elections in the face of this continued disinformation and, frankly, grift, Becker said.

After nearly 40 years supporters across the globe remain committed to advocating for Temujin Kensu’s release. While maintaining hope that he will eventually see freedom, some of Kensu’s staunchest defenders say they face an uphill climb to overcome Michigan politics and obstacles not related to the facts of his innocence, to help Kensu receive justice. “There is an abundance of corruption in Michigan politics… that keeps Kensu in jail,” says Debbie O’Sullivan of Australia. After learning about Kensu through an […]

The post Supporters believe Temujin Kensu is a ‘political prisoner’ appeared first on Detroit Metro Times.

This is the ninth installment in “Exploring Integrity: Reviewing Wrongful Conviction Remedies,” a series examining the impact of conviction integrity units on the American judicial system’s rate of wrongful conviction. Presented by the O’Brien Fellowship in Public Service Journalism, the investigation is supported by Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Over his four decades in a Michigan prison, […]

The post For nearly 40 years, Temujin Kensu said he is innocent. Will he ever be free? appeared first on Detroit Metro Times.

Being gay in Morocco is illegal and punishable by up to three years in prison. But it was the violence from her family that forced Farah, a 21-year-old gay woman, to flee the country.

After a long journey to the United States and a third-country deportation by the Trump administration, however, Farah said she is now back in Morocco and in hiding.

It is hard to live and work with the fear of being tracked once again by my family, she told The Associated Press, in a rare testimony from a person deported via a third country despite having protection orders from a U.S. immigration judge. But there is nothing I can do. I have to work.

She asked to be identified by her first name only for fear of persecution. The AP saw her protection order and lawyers verified parts of her account.

Farah said that before she fled, she was beaten by her family and the family of her partner when they found out about their relationship. She was kicked out of the family home and fled with her partner to another city. She said her family found her and tried to kill her.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT | Trump administration completes another third-country deportation to Africa

Through a friend, she and her partner heard about the opportunity to get visas for Brazil and fly there with the aim of reaching the United States, where they had friends. From Brazil, she trekked through six countries for weeks to reach the U.S. border, where they asked for asylum.

You get put in situations that are truly horrible," she recalled. "When we arrived (at the U.S. border), it felt like it was worth the trouble and that we got to our goal."

They arrived in early 2025. But instead of finding the freedom to be herself, Farah said she was detained for almost a year, first in Arizona, then in Louisiana.

It was very cold, she said of detention. And we only had very thin blankets. Medical care was inadequate, she said.

She was denied asylum, but in August she received a protection order from an U.S. immigration judge, who ruled she cannot be deported to Morocco because that would endanger her life. Her partner, denied asylum and a protection order, was deported.

Farah said she was three days from a hearing on her release when she was handcuffed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and put on a plane to an African country she had never visited, and one where homosexuality is illegal: Cameroon. She was put in a detention facility.

They asked me if I wanted to stay in Cameroon, and I told them that I cant stay in Cameroon and risk my life in a place where I would still be endangered, she said. She was flown to Morocco.

Most deportees had protection orders

She is one of dozens of people confirmed to be deported from the U.S. by the Trump administration to third countries despite having legal protection from U.S. immigration judges. The real number is unknown.

The administration has used third-country deportations to pressure migrants who are in the U.S. illegally to leave on their own, saying they could end up in any number of third countries."

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT | US deportations to African nations escalate amid concerns over due process

The detention facility in Cameroon's capital of Yaounde, where Farah was held, currently has 15 deportees from various African countries who arrived on two flights, and none is Cameroonian, according to lawyer Joseph Awah Fru, who represents them.

Eight of the deportees on the first flight in January, including Farah, had received a judge's protection orders, said Alma David, an immigration lawyer with the U.S.-based Novo Legal Group who has helped deportees and verified Farahs case. The AP spoke to a woman from Ghana and a woman from Congo, who both said they had protection orders, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.

Another flight on Monday brought eight more people. Three freelance journalists reporting on the deportations to Cameroon for the AP were briefly detained there.

Deporting people to a third country where they could be sent home was effectively a legal loophole, said David.

By deporting them to Cameroon, and giving them no opportunity to contest being sent to a country whose government hoped to quietly send them back to the very countries where they face grave danger, the U.S. not only violated their due process rights but our own immigration laws, our obligations under international treaties and even DHS own procedures," David said.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security earlier confirmed there were deportations to Cameroon in January.

We are applying the law as written. If a judge finds an illegal alien has no right to be in this country, we are going to remove them. Period, it said, and asserted that the third-country agreements ensure due process under the U.S. Constitution.

Asked about the deportations to Cameroon, the U.S. State Department on Friday told the AP it had no comment on the details of our diplomatic communications with other governments." It did not reply to further questions.

Cameroons Foreign Ministry didnt respond to a request for comment.

Impossible choices

Farah was one of two women from the first group of deportees to return to Morocco.

They were given two impossible choices, David said, and asserted that claiming asylum was not clearly presented as one of them. This was before the lawyer had access to them."

She said International Organization for Migration staff in the facility did not give them any indication that there was a viable option other than going back to their home countries.

Fru said he has not been granted access to the deportees. He said the assistant to the country director for the IOM, a U.N.-affiliated organization, told him he must apply to speak to them. Fru plans to do that Monday.

The IOM told the AP it was aware of the removal of migrants from the United States of America to some African countries and added that it works with people facing difficult decisions about whether to return to their country of origin." It said its role is providing accurate information about options and ensuring that "anyone who chooses to return does so voluntarily.

The IOM said the facility in Yaounde was managed by the authorities in Cameroon. It did not respond to further questions.

African nations are paid millions

Cameroon is one of at least seven African nations to receive deported third-country nationals in a deal with the U.S. Others include South Sudan, Rwanda, Uganda, Eswatini, Ghana and Equatorial Guinea.

Some have received millions of dollars in return, according to documents released by the State Department. Details of other agreements, including the one with Cameroon, have not been released.

The Trump administration has spent at least $40 million to deport about 300 migrants to countries other than their own, according to a report released last week by the Democratic staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

According to internal administration documents reviewed by the AP, 47 third-country agreements are in various stages of negotiation.

In Morocco, Farah said it was hard to hear U.S. officials refer to people like her as a threat.

The USA is built on immigration and by immigrant labor, so were clearly not all threats, she said. What was done to me was unfair. A normal deportation would have been fair, but to go through so much and lose so much, only to be deported in such a way, is cruel.