NPR News: 01-22-2026 8PM EST
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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Ryland Barton. Federal agents have detained a five-year-old boy and his father in Minnesota and sent them to a detention facility in Texas. School officials accuse federal officials of using the boy, quote, as bait to apprehend his father, who's seeking asylum in the U.S. The Department of Homeland Security says the operation targeted the father, not the child. Minnesota Public Radio's Matt Sepik has more.
The suburban Columbia Heights School District says agents detained Liam Conejo Ramos, who was five years old. School officials say masked agents apprehended Liam in his driveway as he returned home from school with his dad. They say one agent took the child out of the car, led him to the door, and directed him to knock to see if anybody else was home. ICE soon took the father and child away. DHS says they are being detained in Texas. OK. On social media, the Department of Homeland Security says ICE has never, quote, used a child as bait.
Minnesota Public Radio's Matt Sepik reporting. Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota has taken a step toward running for governor. Minnesota Public Radio's Brian Baxt says she filed the paperwork to build out a campaign today.
Minnesota's top office was put up for grabs this month when Democratic Governor Tim Walz abruptly ended his reelection campaign. He met with Senator Amy Klobuchar ahead of that announcement, which some saw as a nod to a possible successor. Now, Klobuchar has filed the paperwork needed to build out and raise money to campaign for governor. A formal entry is expected soon. She does not have to give up her Senate seat while running for governor. No other prominent Democrats in the state have gotten into the race out of deference to Klobuchar, whose four Senate wins have come with big electoral margins. More than a dozen Republicans are seeking the office, but Democrats have won every statewide race in Minnesota since 2008.
For NPR News, I'm Brian Baxt in St. Paul.
President Trump has tapped a career diplomat to lead a sort of embassy in waiting for Venezuela. NPR's Michelle Kellerman reports he will be based for now in neighboring Colombia.
The State Department is putting Laura Dogu in charge of the Venezuela Affairs Unit in Bogota, Colombia. She's a two-time ambassador to Honduras and Nicaragua and is a high-ranking career member of the U.S. Foreign Service. A State Department official describes this appointment of a charge d'affaires as part of a three-phase plan for Venezuela in the wake of the U.S. ouster of Nicolas Maduro. The statement says that Ambassador Dogu is well-positioned to lead the U.S. team during what it calls a transition period in Venezuela. There's still no word on when the U.S. might reopen its embassy in Caracas. Michelle Kellerman, NPR News, the State Department.
A report issued by the Council on Criminal Justice shows a 21 percent decrease in the homicide rate from 2024 to 2025 in 35 American cities. Experts caution it's too early to understand why the declines are happening. and how long they will last. This is NPR News from Washington. Rwanda will use AI in health clinics as part of a new initiative by the Gates Foundation. Officials say the technology will strengthen rather than replace clinical judgment. Rwanda now has one healthcare worker for each thousand patients, about a quarter of the globally recommended ratio. Bill Gates says the initiative will help close the health inequality gap. President Trump's White House Ballroom Project got another hearing, this time before the Commission of Fine Arts.
As NPR's Tamara Keith reports, there's still a lot of details missing.
The Ballroom Project will need approval from the Commission of Fine Arts, which was recently reconstituted with Trump appointees. Ballroom architect Shalom Baranis presented design drawings to the commission, but said many details are still being filled in.
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