WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s top immigration officials appeared before Congress Tuesday for the first time since the shooting deaths of two American citizens in Minneapolis, seeking to defend their officers’ actions as their agencies face intensifying scrutiny over nationwide immigration enforcement operations.

Todd Lyons, who is the acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, came in for some of the sharpest questioning during a more than 3-hour-long hearing in front of the House Homeland Security Committee. He appeared alongside Rodney Scott, who heads Customs and Border Protection, and Joseph Edlow, who leads U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Lawmakers asked them about issues that have dominated the public discourse since Trump launched his mass deportations agenda at the start of his second term. Here are some of their answers.

Defending officers after 2 Americans were killed in Minneapolis

Lyons and Scott faced scrutiny over the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti but they repeatedly declined to answer questions, citing active investigations.

Lyons was asked if he would apologize for the way some Trump administration officials characterized Good as an agitator, which he declined to do.

“I welcome the opportunity to speak to the family in private. But I’m not going to comment on any active investigation,” Lyons said.

Lyons said he had seen the video that captured Pretti’s shooting but said he could not comment because of the ongoing investigation.

Masks worn by immigration officers

Democrats painted masked officers as lawless and unaccountable. Republicans said masks are needed to protect officers from doxing.

Asked if he would commit to making his officers take off their masks and requiring them to wear “standard uniforms with identifiable badges,” Lyons answered with one word: “No.”

Lyons has said repeatedly that he supports officers who feel that they need to wear masks to protect their identities and their families.

Body cameras being deployed to officers

Lyons and Scott said thousands of federal immigration officers are already outfitted with body cameras, with more to come.

Lyons said the body camera footage caught in Minneapolis would be released to the public.

“That’s one thing that I’m committed to is full transparency. And I fully welcome body cameras all across the spectrum in all of our law enforcement activities,” Lyons said.

Lyons denies 5-year-old boy was used as bait

The case of Liam Conejo Ramos, who was wearing a bunny hat and Spider-Man backpack while he was surrounded by immigration officers, has sparked controversy over the administration’s crackdown in Minnesota.

The boy and his father, Adrian Conejo Arias, who originally is from Ecuador, were detained in a Minneapolis suburb on Jan. 20.

Asked about the case, Lyons denied that the boy was used as bait to get one of the parents out of the house, as neighbors and school officials have alleged.

“He was obviously upset. We comforted him. The officers actually placed him in one of our vehicles, played his favorite song, favorite music. Then they took him to McDonald’s,” Lyons said.

A DHS funding lapse will threaten the country’s security, officials said

The congressional hearing took place in the shadow of a looming government shutdown that would only affect the Department of Homeland Security.

Democrats are threatening to block funding for the department when it expires unless there are more restraints for ICE and other law enforcement agencies carrying out Trump’s federal immigration agenda.

Republican Rep. Michael Guest of Mississippi blamed Democrats for a possible shutdown and asked the agency heads whether such a shutdown would make the country less safe. They all answered that it would.

“It will have a great impact,” said Lyons. He said a shutdown would particularly harm the department’s task forces on transnational crimes and terrorism.

ICE at the World Cup

Lyons was asked if he would agree to pausing ICE operations during this year’s FIFA World Cup.

A Democratic lawmaker said visitors were concerned by ICE’s tactics. But Lyons declined to commit to a pause.

“ICE is dedicated to ensuring that everyone that visits the facilities will have a safe and secure event,” Lyons said.

Questions over guarding voting precincts

With Trump’s call for the federal government to “take over” elections, the ranking member of the committee, Democrat Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, asked the officials to answer if they are involved in any efforts to guard voting precincts, with the midterms set for later this year.

“You’ve not been asked to start deploying people for areas anywhere?” Thompson asked.

Lyon and Scott each replied, “No, sir.”

WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT Schlosser used a knife to cut off both of her 11-month-old daughter’s arms before attempting to kill herself, in an incident that shocked police and the wider public

When the police operator picked up Dena Schlosser’s call, they would never have expected from her relaxed demeanour and calm tone that something utterly tragic had happened.

When asked if there was an emergency, she showed no panic or hysteria, and was in fact so quiet that the sound of a hymn playing softly in the background could be heard during the 2004 call.

When asked by the 911 operator why she was calling and what had happened to her baby, Schlosser’s answered simply: “Yes.” I cut her arms off.”

Police rushed to an apartment in Plano, Texas, where they found a scene so disturbing it would stay with investigators for years. Schlosser sat quietly in the living room, covered head to toe in blood.

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Nearby, her baby daughter lay in a crib, catastrophically injured. The child was rushed to hospital but sadly died shortly afterwards from her injuries.

Schlosser had used a knife to cut off both of her 11-month-old daughter’s arms before attempting to kill herself. Somehow, she had survived a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

As officers secured the apartment, Christian music continued to play. Those at the scene would later say Schlosser appeared eerily peaceful, even humming hymns as she was taken into custody.

What made the case even harder to comprehend was how normal everything had seemed before it happened.

Neighbours described Schlosser as seeming attentive and even affectionate. She pushed her baby around the neighbourhood most afternoons, she took her children swimming, even stopping to engage in cheery conversations with those she bumped into.

“There were never any red flags,” one neighbour said. “She looked like a great mum.”

But behind closed doors, things had been unraveling.

Earlier that year, Schlosser had suffered a severe psychotic episode following childbirth and was diagnosed with postpartum mental illness.

Child protection services had investigated the family after she was hospitalised, but the case was later closed when she appeared stable and compliant with treatment.

On the day of the killing, something in Schlosser’s brain clearly went very, very wrong.

Psychologists later testified Schlosser believed she was receiving direct instructions from God, becoming convinced her baby was part of a divine plan connected to the apocalypse, and that she was being commanded to mutilate herself and her child.

Hours after her arrest, officers reported hearing her whisper prayers, repeatedly thanking Jesus.

She was initally charged with murder, before medical experts concluded Schlosser was suffering from a profound psychotic break and was incapable of understanding the reality or consequences of her actions.

She was found not guilty by reason of insanity and committed to a state psychiatric hospital. The remainder of her children were removed from the home and she was permanently barred from ever seeing them again.

North Sea Conservation have proposed to extend and re-develop the watchtower at Whitby Fish Market – with the long-term plan to move it into public view along Pier Road.

The plans also include essential works and the creation of a new, two-storey glazed entrance, making the market attractive to residents and thousands of visitors of the town each year.

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Still well used by the fishing industry, the 80-metre-long building added a lobster hatchery and marine discovery centre in 2023.

The juvenile lobsters are used by the site to educate the public and raise additional income.

Plans have been submitted to introduce a two-storey, glazed entrance to the Fish Market (Image: Supplied)

Above this area lies a two-storey watchtower which accommodates the Harbour Master Watchkeep in the watchtower.

The area above the Watchkeep, developers say, has been left underused.

Plans include a new and higher roof to transform the “tired looking” watchtower, which will be moved from its existing location to a more prominent street position for tourists and residents alike.  

Drawings of the proposal along Pier Road (Image: Supplied)

The developer argued: “The fishing industry has been within the thriving heart of Whitby for generations.

“However, it is clear that recent decades have seen a steady decline of the inshore fishing industry along the north-east coast, and within the town.

“Despite the cultural importance has been made in the industry locally to attract a new generation of fishermen.

“It is hoped that the investment in the existing Fish Market building by the proposed development, will help to inspire young people and demonstrate that a positive future and livelihood can be found working in the fishing industry in Whitby.”

Essential repairs include the replacement of the building’s existing roof coverings, windows and doors, with a paint refresh and steel foundation repairs.

Developers are inviting members of the community to visit the Marine Discovery Centre to learn about the proposals and pose questions to the project team.

This will be held from 3pm till 7pm on Thursday (February 12).

For more information, please visit https://whitbylobsterhatchery.co.uk/.

The vagus nerve has become the internet’s favourite body part.

On social media, it is everywhere. People hum into their phones, gargle with theatrical enthusiasm, dunk their faces into bowls of ice water and poke at their ears in the hope of “activating” it. Influencers describe it as a hidden master switch for calm, digestion and emotional balance. Some claim that learning to control it can transform everything from anxiety to inflammation.

All of which makes it sound faintly mystical. In reality, the vagus nerve is not a wellness trend. It is a real, physical nerve. And a surprisingly important one.

In the fourth episode of the Strange Health podcast, we turn our attention to the body’s longest cranial nerve and ask a simple question: what does the vagus nerve actually do, and can we really hack it?

To find out, we spoke to Arshad Majid, a professor of cerebrovascular neurology at the University of Sheffield and an expert in vagus nerve stimulation. As he explains, the vagus nerve is one of 12 cranial nerves that emerge directly from the brain. Its name comes from the Latin for “wanderer”, which is fitting. It begins in the brainstem and travels down through the neck into the chest and abdomen, connecting to the heart, lungs, gut and even the liver.

It is less a single-purpose wire and more a busy two-way information highway. Most of its activity involves carrying signals from the body back to the brain, keeping it updated on what is happening internally. It is also part of the autonomic nervous system, which regulates the processes we do not consciously control, such as heart rate, breathing and digestion.

Within that system, the vagus nerve plays a key role in the parasympathetic response, sometimes known as “rest and digest”. When this system dominates, heart rate slows, blood pressure drops and the body shifts into a calmer, more restorative state. That much is well established. What is less clear is how easily we can influence it ourselves.

Despite the explosion of vagus nerve content online, Majid is cautious about claims that it can be switched on like a light. Slow breathing, singing, humming or splashing cold water on the face may indirectly influence vagus nerve activity, but it is not an on-off button and the effects vary widely between people. In some cases attempting to stimulate the vagus nerve can trigger headaches and even depression.

Vagus nerve stimulation is more firmly grounded in medicine. Implanted devices that stimulate the nerve directly have been used for years to treat conditions such as treatment-resistant epilepsy and depression. More recently, researchers have begun exploring non-invasive approaches. Some medical devices stimulate a small branch of the vagus nerve in the ear using gentle electrical pulses.

Majid and colleagues are currently running a major clinical trial investigating whether this kind of non-invasive stimulation can improve arm function in people recovering from stroke by encouraging the brain to rewire itself. If successful, it could transform rehabilitation for many patients.

Despite the online hype, then, scientists are only beginning to understand what this wandering nerve can do and how it might be used therapeutically.

Listen to Strange Health to find out why the vagus nerve has captured so much attention, what the science actually says, and why the next few years of research could reshape how we treat conditions from stroke to depression.

Just maybe hold off on aggressively poking your ear in the meantime.

Strange Health is hosted by Katie Edwards and Dan Baumgardt. The executive producer is Gemma Ware, with video and sound editing for this episode by Anouk Millet. Artwork by Alice Mason.

In this episode, Dan and Katie talk about social media clips via TikTok from drjoedamiani, ayuswellness and prettyspatricia.

Listen to Strange Health via any of the apps listed above, download it directly via our RSS feed or find out how else to listen here. A transcript is available via the Apple Podcasts or Spotify apps.

The NHS also said you may have to call 111 or 999 in more serious cases

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The NHS has said that anyone who feels “thirsty” may need to “call 111”. Taking to social media, the health service said if ignored, it could be “fatal.”

In its post, it took to X, formerly Twitter, and said: “Do you know the signs of type 1 diabetes? They can happen at any age, and if left undiagnosed, it can be fatal.”

With this in mind, it urged people to learn the four T’s. “The most common symptoms are the 4 Ts: Toilet, Thirsty, Tired, Thinner”, it explained.

What is Type 1 diabetes?

Type 1 diabetes is a condition in which your body cannot make the hormone insulin. This causes the level of glucose (sugar) in your blood to get too high.

The NHS adds: “If you have type 1 diabetes, you’ll need to take insulin every day to manage your blood glucose levels. There’s currently no cure for type 1 diabetes, but it can be managed by checking your blood glucose regularly, tracking what you eat and drink, and adjusting how much insulin you take.”

Four T’s

According to the NHS there are four Ts to remember. These are:

• Toilet – “going for a wee more often, especially at night”
• Thirsty – “being constantly thirsty and drinking more than usual”
• Tired – “being very tired and having less energy.”
• Thinner – “losing weight without trying to or looking thinner than usual”

Call 111

After sharing these common signs, the NHS warned: “Ask for an urgent GP appointment or call NHS 111 if you think you or your child has type 1 diabetes.”

According to the NHS website, other signs of type 1 diabetes include:

1. blurred vision
2. breath that smells sweet or fruity (like nail polish remover or pear drop sweets)
3. cuts and wounds taking longer to heal
4. getting frequent infections or infections that do not get better, such as thrush or nappy rash

The NHS warns: “The symptoms develop quickly, over a few days or weeks.”

Call 999

The NHS adds that if you should call 999 if you or your child has been peeing more, feeling very thirsty and tired, and:

• your symptoms are getting worse quickly
• you have stomach pain, diarrhoea, or you’re feeling or being sick
• you’re feeling sleepy or confused
• you’re breathing faster and more deeply than usual

“These could be signs of diabetic ketoacidosis, which can be life-threatening if not treated quickly”, it cautions.

Diabetes UK has a free helpline that’s open from 9am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. You can call 0345 123 2399 or email helpline@diabetes.org.uk for support and advice.

VANCOUVER, Canada (AP) — A shooting at a school in British Columbia left eight dead including the suspect, with two more people found dead at a home believed to be connected to the incident, Canadian authorities said Tuesday.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said more than 25 people are injured, including two with life-threatening injuries, after the shooting at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School.

School shootings are rare in Canada.

The town of Tumbler Ridge, which has a population of about 2,400 people, is more than 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) north of Vancouver, near the border with Alberta. The provincial government website lists Tumbler Ridge Secondary School as having 175 students from Grades 7 to 12.

RCMP Superintendent Ken Floyd told reporters that investigators had identified the shooter but would not release a name, but that the suspect’s motive remained unclear.

“We are not in a place to understand why or what may have motivated this tragedy,” Floyd said.

He added that police are still investigating how the victims are connected to the shooter.

“As part of the initial response to the active shooting, police entered the school to locate the threat. During the search, officers located multiple victims. An individual believed to be the shooter was also found deceased with what appears to be a self‑inflicted injury,” RCMP said in a statement.

“Six additional individuals, not including the suspect, have been located deceased inside the school. Two victims have been airlifted to hospital with serious or life‑threatening injuries. A third victim died while being transported to hospital.”

The Peace River South School District said earlier Tuesday that there was a “lockdown and secure and hold” at both the secondary school and the Tumbler Ridge Elementary school.

Larry Neufeld, the member of the legislature for Peace River South, told reporters at the legislature that an “excess” of resources, including RCMP and ambulance support, have been sent to the community.

He said he didn’t want to release any more information over concerns that it might jeopardize the safety of the ongoing operation.

___

Gillies reported from Toronto.

Two men have been arrested by police

Nine cannabis factories containing drugs worth around £600,000 were discovered by police in a Cambridgeshire village. Cambridgeshire Police worked with the Ministry of Defence to carry out a series of warrants at a site in Middle Drove and Ugg Mere Court Road, Ramsey Heights, on Monday (February 9).

As part of the operation, officers discovered nine cannabis factories at these addresses. As a result, a 54-year-old man from Ramsey was arrested on suspicion of burglary and possession of an offensive weapon. He has since been bailed until May 8.

A 26-year-old man from Ramsey was also arrested on suspicion of production of cannabis and possession with intent to supply drugs and a 73-year-old man from Ramsey was arrested on suspicion of handling stolen goods, concealing criminal property, possession with intent to supply drugs and possession of firearms. Both remain in custody while investigations continue.

While carrying out the warrants, officers also found suspected stolen property. These include: a suspected stolen Audi and BMW; a JCB believed to have been used in criminal activity; stolen firearm and ammunition; a large quantity of suspected stolen tools and plant machinery; car key cloning device, a stolen skip and cable cutting equipment.

Police also found copper cabling and stripped outer casing, multiple stolen number plates and two suspected stolen metal stags. This was a part of the force’s ongoing work to target organised criminal activity linked to cannabis production and recent metal thefts across Huntingdonshire.

Neighbourhood Inspector Colin Norden said: “This operation is another clear example of our commitment to disrupting drug networks, tackling organised criminal activity and safeguarding the wider community. We will continue to act on intelligence and strike at any moment to protect our communities.

“We want to make Huntingdonshire a safer place for everyone, and the public play a vital role in helping us do that. If you see anything suspicious, no matter how small it may seem, please report it to us.”

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