Minn. Gov. Tim Walz puts National Guard on notice in event of unrest

MINNEAPOLIS — Gov. Tim Walz has put the Minnesota National Guard on notice in the event of unrest following the fatal shooting of a 37-year-old woman in Minneapolis by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer.

Walz says he’s issued a warning order to prepare the Minnesota National Guard in the event of civil unrest. It’s a first step that alerts 13,000 guard members that they may need to be called upon in the event of an emergency.

Addressing reporters on the situation during a Wednesday briefing, Walz said he supported the rights of demonstrators but urged them to engage in peaceful protest.

“What we’re seeing is the consequences of governance designed to generate fear, headlines and conflict,” Walz said. “It’s governing by reality TV, and today, that recklessness cost someone their life.”

—Pioneer Press

Cuban spies’ failures in Venezuela led to Maduro’s capture by US forces, experts say

Hours before he was snatched by U.S. Delta Force commandos and taken to New York City to face trial on charges of narco-terrorism, Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro told journalists he had “a foolproof bunker.”

Despite a U.S. armada off the coast of Venezuela, he wasn’t overly concerned about his security, which he had entrusted for years to Cuban security and intelligence services.

His sense of protection, it turns out, proved entirely illusory: Cuba spectacularly failed to deliver the one thing it was richly paid for in oil.

Cuban authorities revealed Tuesday the names of 32 Interior Ministry and armed forces members, including high-ranking officers, who they said died protecting Maduro during the U.S. raid early Saturday.

—Miami Herald

Trump administration declares 'war on sugar' in overhaul of food guidelines

The Trump administration announced a major overhaul of American nutrition guidelines Wednesday, replacing the old, carbohydrate-heavy food pyramid with one that prioritizes protein, healthy fats and whole grains.

"Our government declares war on added sugar," Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in a White House press conference announcing the changes. "We are ending the war on saturated fats."

"If a foreign adversary sought to destroy the health of our children, to cripple our economy, to weaken our national security, there would be no better strategy than to addict us to ultra-processed foods," Kennedy said.

Improving U.S. eating habits and the availability of nutritious foods is an issue with broad bipartisan support, and has been a long-standing goal of Kennedy's Make America Healthy Again movement.

—Los Angeles Times

Cardinals gather in Rome for consultations with Pope Leo XIV

ROME — Pope Leo XIV is welcoming cardinals from around the world to the Vatican for the first time for a special summit meeting to discuss the future of the Catholic Church.

On Wednesday and concluding on Thursday, the pontiff is holding his first extraordinary consistory – a gathering of all the cardinals of the universal Church — since his election last May.

Such a gathering is extremely rare. Unlike ordinary consistories, which can take place several times a year, an extraordinary consistory convenes not only the cardinals residing in Rome, but all 245 cardinals. The consistory is considered the Pope's most important advisory body.

The Vatican has not officially announced what Leo intends to discuss with the cardinals at the consistory. The announcement of the meeting merely stated that the joint sessions are intended to offer the head of the Catholic Church "support and advice in the exercise of his high and responsible task in the leadership of the universal Church." However, according to the Vatican News portal, the agenda includes discussion of two key reform documents by Leo's predecessor, Francis.

—dpa