Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
I'm Mary Louise Kelly. World news is changing by the hour. On Sources and Methods, NPR's national security podcast, we zoom out to explain shifting alliances, global flashpoints, and what's really happening in places like Iran, Venezuela, Greenland. Our reporters on the ground connect the dots to help you understand a world order changing beneath our feet.
Listen to Sources and Methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
Live from NPR News, I'm Giles Snyder. The Justice Department alleges in new charges that 16 protesters in Minnesota assaulted or impeded federal immigration officers during the Trump administration's operations there. Matt Sepik of Minnesota Public Radio reports that defense attorneys say the evidence is thin.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi posted the names and photos of the protesters to social media before the cases were unsealed, drawing a sharp rebuke from a federal judge. The 16 are charged by complaint with obstructing or impeding federal officers, but defense attorney Kevin Rich says a grand jury must still approve the charges.
It's not that difficult to make a case past the grand jury, but the DOJ has a history of bringing bogus prosecutions, as we have seen in recent months, and the grand jury is a good bulwark. One defendant, a Somali-American U.S. citizen, alleges agents injured her and called her a racial slur while arresting her and questioning her citizenship. For NPR News, I'm Matt Sepik in Minneapolis.
Now to the weather. Another winter storm is headed for the eastern United States, and NPR's Debbie Elliott reports that frigid temperatures persist in the south as the region digs out of last weekend's snow and ice storm.
The National Weather Service says the next blast of Arctic air coming Friday could result in the longest duration of bitter cold in several decades. A freeze warning will dip down into Florida. Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves says that complicates recovery efforts.
It's going to be brutally cold again. in the state of Mississippi. And so that creates a large number of other challenges, particularly for those who have not yet gotten power back, particularly for those whose water systems are not back operating and functioning exactly the way they need to.
The University of Mississippi says its campus in Oxford will remain closed for a second week. Debbie Elliott, NPR News.
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Chapter 2: What are the latest allegations against protesters in Minnesota?
Tesla profits fell 46 percent last year as the electric automaker saw sales decline year over year. The company also announced its ending production of the Model S and Model X. As CEO Elon Musk focuses on a future that's more about self-driving taxis and robots, here's NPR's Camila Dominovsky.
Last year, Tesla lost its crown as the world's top EV maker. The Chinese company BYD sold more all-electric vehicles, and it wasn't even close. But Tesla has long maintained its pivoting toward fully autonomous vehicles with no pedals or steering wheel and robots. That's why the company is discontinuing its higher-end vehicles. Here's CEO Elon Musk.
We're going to take the Model S and X production space in our Fremont factory and convert that into an Optimus factory.
Optimus is Tesla's humanoid robot, which Musk says will enter production this year, although Tesla's timelines are often optimistic. Camilla Dominovsky, NPR News.
This is NPR. A Fulton County, Georgia spokesperson has confirmed that the search warrant served by the FBI Wednesday for records tied to the 2020 election. An FBI spokesperson also confirmed the search but declined to provide additional information outside a statement that called it a court-authorized law enforcement activity.
The Justice Department last month announced a lawsuit for the election records. President Trump has repeatedly pushed false claims about how the election was conducted in Georgia. A new study finds nearly two million soldiers have been killed, wounded, or are missing during the four years of Russia's full-scale war on Ukraine. The study uses British and U.S.
sources because Ukraine and Russia do not officially disclose casualty figures, as NPR's Joanna Kakissis reports.
The report is by the Center for International and Strategic Studies in Washington. It puts Russian casualties at 1.2 million and Ukrainian ones at up to 600,000. Of those casualties, the dead are estimated at up to 325,000 Russians and up to 140,000 Ukrainians. The Russian army is three times larger than the Ukrainian one, so Ukraine is losing a bigger share of its smaller army.
But the study's authors did note Russia has suffered more losses than any major power in any war since World War II. Joanna Kekisis, NPR News.
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