News briefs

Tribune News Service on Oct 12, 2026

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Ilhan Omar accuses Trump of weaponizing government against her in raid

Federal agents searched Rep. Ilhan Omar’s Washington, D.C., home Monday. Homeland Security Investigations agents conducted the search, according to The Associated Press and Fox News. The Department of Justice said in a statement that the raid was “part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation,” but provided no further details.

In her first comments after the raid, the Minnesota Democrat said, “Make no mistake: this is an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement.... I will not be silenced,” she added.

In response to a question about the law enforcement activity at Omar’s home, White House border czar Tom Homan told Fox Business Network that a search warrant was served, but he did not get into specifics. “I can confirm that a search warrant was executed this morning, signed by a judge,” he said, without naming Omar as the target. Fox News reported that the raid was connected to an investigation into the lawmaker’s immigration paperwork.

—Star Tribune

Mayor Mamdani skips NYC Columbus Day Parade

NEW YORK — Mayor Zohran Mamdani, bucking a tradition long observed by previous mayors, declined to march in the Columbus Day Parade on Monday.

The parade, and more broadly, the observance of Columbus Day, have come under controversy in recent years. Italian explorer Christopher Columbus’ hero status has been undermined by his own violent treatment of Native Americans as well as his ushering in an era of genocide of the native population in the Americas.

As a state assemblyman in 2020, Mamdani posted a photo on social media of him giving the middle finger to a Columbus statue with the caption, “Take it down.”

The mayor has attended and hosted various cultural events, including parades, over his 10 months in office. A strong supporter of the Palestinian cause, Mamdani also skipped May’s Israel Day Parade. In contrast, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul did march up Fifth Avenue in the Israel Day Parade.

—New York Daily News

Federal funding pullback chills HIV trials at UC San Diego

SAN DIEGO — The University of California, San Diego has paused at least five clinical trials designed to cure or control HIV after the National Institutes of Health issued guidance last week that new enrollments should be put on hold.

The nation’s foremost research funding agency told scientists “they should temporarily hold off on launching new studies that had not yet enrolled participants and that would not be complete by Nov. 30, 2027, when their current funding is set to expire,” according to The New York Times.

The NIH did not respond Friday to a request for a copy of the letter.

It is not the only delay involved in HIV research funding. The NIH has not yet renewed funding for four clinical trial networks that have long connected patients to investigational new drugs. Experts fear that if funding is not continued, a vital resource would be at risk because the networks have been used to test drugs and other treatments for many conditions — not just HIV.

—The San Diego Union-Tribune

Saudi Arabia fends off more attacks in critical moment for Mohammed bin Salman

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is facing one of his most serious challenges since rising to power almost a decade ago as the kingdom grapples with the fallout from fatal attacks by Houthi militants.

For years, the de-facto ruler of the Middle East’s largest economy has been on a mission to transform the country into a center for everything from tourism to finance — and sell Riyadh as a city that can compete with the likes of New York and London.

But now, after a barrage of Houthi drone and missile strikes that have forced the suspension of operations at Riyadh’s main airport, the kingdom is starting to feel the impact of regional unrest on those ambitions.

Saudi Arabia said it had detected and was responding to fresh hostile threats on Monday, while the capital’s King Khalid International Airport remains at a near stand-still. Two separate attacks on the transport hub over the weekend killed at least 14 people and wounded more than 300, many critically.

—Bloomberg News