Protests in Minneapolis; Venezuela; Trump Health Care: NPR

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Today’s best stories

President Trump threatened to invoke the insurrection law in Minnesota to stop protests in Minneapolis. Immigration officers shot an immigrant in the leg on Wednesday, sparking unrest in the north of the city. There are as many as 3,000 federal immigration agents on the ground or expected to arrive soon in the Twin Cities, NPR’s Meg Anderson said. First.

• 🎧 Fierce resistance to ICE presence continues loudlyas community members follow immigration officers in their vehicles. Anderson notes that observers filming and making noise are constitutionally protected acts of peaceful resistance. However, ICE has responded aggressively over the past five days with tear gas, flash bangs and pepper balls to disperse crowds. Some people in the community are afraid to leave their homes, including one asylum seeker who asked to be identified only by her first initial, A. She feels like she sees no future for herself or her family.

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado came to Washington to meet with Trump. for the first time and awarded him his Nobel Peace Prize. She is pushing for Venezuela to remain part of the future after the American military operation which resulted in the capture of Nicolas Maduro. Trump has sidelined Machado and supports Venezuela’s interim president.

• 🎧 After Maduro’s capture, Trump shockingly declared that he did not support Machado for president. because she had no support or respect in her country. Bloomberg And The economistRecent polls show she enjoys substantial support, and people widely believe her party won the contested 2024 presidential election by a landslide. NPR’s Carrie Kahn said the timing of Machado’s meeting was extraordinary, as interim President Delcy Rodríguez delivered a planned state of the nation address. Venezuela was attacked by the world’s most powerful army, but it must resume diplomatic relations with the United States, she said.

Yesterday, Trump announced the outlines of new health care legislation.which he nicknamed the “Great Health Plan”. The White House released a fact sheet outlining a framework the administration is asking Congress to develop, with four pillars: drug pricing reforms, health insurance reforms, health care cost price transparency, and fraud protections and safeguards.

• 🎧 One thing that struck NPR’s Selena Simmons-Duffin about the fact sheet is that the policies aren’t new.but as a compilation of the greatest successes of Republican ideas in health policy. The proposal doesn’t mention repealing Obamacare, but given the few details it provided, it appears to want to allow people to use federal dollars to buy plans that don’t provide comprehensive coverage. The president’s plan could potentially weaken Healthcare.gov because his plans can be expensive but provide essential benefits and do not discriminate against people with preexisting conditions.

Life advice

People who are afraid of not being able to sleep face a phenomenon called “sleep anxiety” which, if left untreated, can make it difficult for people to get any shut-eye. One of the most effective ways to overcome this form of anxiety is through cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I). But you don’t need the official program to benefit from CBT-I. Whether you’re dealing with some sleep-related stress or just struggling with a night’s rest every now and then, these CBT-I practices can help:

• 💤 Wake up at the same time every day, which can help your body know when it’s time to go to sleep.
• 💤 Choose a time to switch from daytime activities to nighttime activities to focus on going to bed earlier.
• 💤 If stress occurs before bedtime, put dedicated “worry time” on your calendar during the day. You can use this time to write down what’s bothering you so you can relax later.

For more tips on how to overcome insomnia anxiety, listen to this episode of NPR Life kit. Subscribe to THE Life kit newsletter for expert advice on love, money, relationships and more.

Weekend Picks

Find out what NPR watch, read and listen this weekend:

🍿 Movies: Kristen Stewart makes her directorial debut with The water timelinebased on Lidia Yuknavitch’s memoir about growing up with an abusive father and confronting her personal memories. Listen to what Stewart said Morning edition host Steve Inskeep about the film.

📺 Television: NPR’s Eric Deggans finds out Star Trek: Starfleet Academy be promising, paving the way for future achievements, but not quite ready to prove one’s worth in the face of Hiking legends of the series like Captain Kirk or Mr. Spock.

📚 Books: The new year brings promising titles from George Saunders, Julian Barnes, Jennette McCurdy, Karl Ove Knausgaard and many others. Find out what’s released this month.

🎵 Music: Dry cleaning Secret love to Jenny on vacation Heart of quicksandcheck out the new music released today. And a music playlist to start your weekend off right.

❓Quizzes: I got a solid seven out of 10. Think you can beat that? Put your knowledge to the test!

3 things to know before you leave

1. When Tom Sinclair was 6 years old, he wandered away from his family’s campsite on Lake Superior and got lost. At dawn, he heard the voice of his unsung hero, a stranger who was part of a vast search to find him. Today, at 66, Sinclair still keeps the newspaper clipping about his rescue and believes the man saved his life.
2. A new national database tracks how state and local governments spend their share of settlement funds. This includes the District of Columbia, which will receive more than $80 million in opioid settlement money over the next few years. (via UMOA)
3. Jodie Foster has spoken French since childhood, but only now is she taking on a lead role scripted almost entirely in the language of Molière, for A private life. And she hopes to participate in more French films.

This newsletter was published by Yvonne Denis.