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11+ min ago (327+ words) By GEIR MOULSON, Associated Press Merz also pushed back against the notion that European democracy needs saving. Merz, the leader of the European Union's most populous nation and its biggest economy, said he wasn't surprised by the substance of the strategy as it was largely in line with a lecture U.S. Vice President JD Vance gave to European allies in Munich in February. Parts of the document are understandable, but "some of it is unacceptable for us from the European point of view," he told reporters in the western German city of Mainz. "That the Americans want to save democracy in Europe now, I don't see any need for that," Merz said. "If it needed to be saved, we would manage that alone." He added that the new U.S. document "confirms my assessment that we in Europe, and so also in Germany,…...

18+ min ago (291+ words) By VALERIE GONZALEZ, Associated Press In a court filing Wednesday evening, attorneys for detainees highlighted the government's own admissions to longer custody times for immigrant children, unsanitary conditions reported by families and monitors at federal facilities, and a renewed reliance on hotels for detention. The reports were filed as part of an ongoing civil lawsuit launched in 1985 that led to the creation of the 1990s cornerstone policy known as the Flores Settlement Agreement, which limits the time children can spend in federal custody and requires them to be kept in safe and sanitary conditions. The Trump administration is attempting to end the agreement. Legal advocates for the children contended those reasons do not prove lawful justifications for the delays in their release. They also cited examples that far exceeded the 20-day limit, including five children who were held for 168 days earlier…...

32+ min ago (338+ words) The Geminids peak this weekend and are visible through mid-December, according to the American Meteor Society. The meteors tend to be yellow in color and can be seen across the globe, but the best viewing happens in the Northern Hemisphere. Skygazers could see up to 120 meteors per hour under dark skies during the peak Saturday night into Sunday's predawn hours, according to NASA. Meteor showers appear when fast-moving space rocks hit Earth's atmosphere and burn up, leaving behind fiery tails " the end of a "shooting star." Stray meteors are visible from Earth on any given night, but more prominent showers happen annually when the planet passes through crowded streams of cosmic debris. How exciting a shower will look from Earth depends on many factors including the amount of debris and the brightness of the moon, which can overshadow the meteors…...

33+ min ago (34+ words) Dozens of Minnesota school districts are sending students home early Tuesday, as a strong and complicated winter storm remains on track to bring heavy snow, sleet, freezing rain and howling winds to the state....

33+ min ago (132+ words) December 9, 2025 / 11:19 AM CST / CBS Minnesota Brush off your best puns and defrost your pop culture references, because the Minnesota Department of Transportation's Name a Snowplow contest is back. Submissions for the 2025 contest are open through noon on Dec. 19. MnDOT staff will review and whittle down the submissions, then open the process to a public vote in January. Eight names will be chosen, one for each of MnDOT's districts. There are a few rules for submissions: one per person, no vulgarities, no political names and no past winners. They're also limited to 30 characters. Last year's winners are below. Other past winners include Blader Tot Hotdish, Beyonsleigh and Ctrl Salt Delete. This is the sixth year of the contest. MnDOT has about 800 snowplows across the state....

36+ min ago (537+ words) In September 2025, Malo said on Instagram that he was battling LMD, or leptomeningeal disease, a rare complication when cancer spreads to membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord. The diagnosis forced The Mavericks to cancel dates with Dwight Yoakam in the middle of a joint tour. Malo left home in Nashville, Tennessee, to seek treatment in Houston, keeping his fans updated along his health journey. "He was called to do another gig " this time in the sky " and he's flying high like an eagle," Betty Malo wrote. "No one embodied life and love, joy and passion, family, friends, music, and adventure the way our beloved Raul did. Now he will look down on us with all that heaven will allow, lighting the way and reminding us to savor every moment." Malo's band praised his deep commitment to the "preservation of…...

36+ min ago (230+ words) Twin Cities, brace for slop. The National Weather Service in Chanhassen has issued a winter weather advisory that runs from noon Tuesday through 6 a.m. Wednesday and calls for heavy winds and mixed precipitation, as in a rotating mix of snow and freezing rain well into the night. "When extreme winter conditions exist, it is always safest to stay where you are," reads a statement from Metro Mobility. The city of West St. Paul has called a pre-emptive snow emergency that will begin at 2 a.m. Wednesday. To avoid being towed, avoid parking after 2 a.m. on snow emergency routes such as Annapolis, Butler, Stryker, Thompson and Wentworth until they have been fully plowed. According to the National Weather Service, the heaviest snow is likely along and north of I-94, where "a narrow band of 4 to 7 inches of snow is possible." South of I-94, snowfall totals could be…...

56+ min ago (23+ words) Perfectly timed for the winter weather blowing in on Tuesday, the Minnesota Department of Transportation kicked off its annual Name a Snowplow contest....

59+ min ago (394+ words) It was long overdue and published discreetly, unaccompanied by the usual presidential speechifying so far. And yet America's new National Security Strategy " the document that in theory will guide foreign policy during the second administration of Donald Trump " speaks volumes about the president's worldview. The NSS is a sporadic document, required by law, that typically signals the gist of an administration's view on geopolitics. It also guides other papers, such as the National Defense Strategy (also overdue and forthcoming), which have far-reaching bureaucratic and budgeting consequences. The text produced in the first Trump administration was clear, verging on belligerent, in defining great-power competition with Russia and China (as opposed to the war against terrorism, say) as the guiding principle of US foreign policy. It was also almost certainly never read by the president, who introduced it with a speech that…...

1+ hour, 6+ min ago (629+ words) By DAVID A. LIEB, Associated Press Organizers of the petition drive said they turned in more than 300,000 signatures to the secretary of state's office " well more than the roughly 110,000 needed to suspend the new U.S. House districts from taking effect until a public vote can be held next year. State law automatically sets referendum votes for the November election, unless the General Assembly approves an earlier date during its regular session that begins in January. Redistricting typically happens once a decade, after each census. But the national political parties are engaged in an unusual mid-decade redistricting battle after Trump urged Republican-led states to reshape House voting districts to their advantage. The Republican president is trying to avert a historical tendency for the incumbent's party to lose seats in midterm elections. Each House seat could be crucial, because Democrats need a net gain…...