DOJ drops charges against 2 people accused of ramming vehicles of federal agents conducting Chicago immigration sweeps
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents conduct operations in the Little Village neighborhood, a predominantly Mexican American community in Chicago, United States on November 08, 2025. Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images
(CHICAGO) — The Department of Justice has abruptly moved to dismiss the indictment against two people accused last month of “ambushing” federal agents conducting an immigration sweep in Chicago, including a woman who was shot five times in the incident.
The government filed a motion on Thursday asking a federal judge to “dismiss the indictment and exonerate” Marimar Martinez and Anthony Ruiz, who were involved in a collision with U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents in Chicago on Oct. 4.
The incident set off street protests on Chicago’s Southwest Side.
Martinez’s attorney, Christopher Parente, told ABC News on Thursday that he and his clients are relieved by the government’s decision.
“We appreciate the U.S. attorney being thoughtful in agreeing to dismiss this,” Parente said.
The case is scheduled for a status hearing at 5 p.m. ET on Thursday, during which the government’s motion to dismiss will be heard.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — The 2026 FIFA World Cup draw on Friday marked the beginning of the journey for teams across the globe hoping to hoist the coveted golden trophy — and giving the U.S. a grouping that could make victory easier next summer.
At the drawing, the U.S. was placed into Group D with Australia, Paraguay, and the winner of playoff games between Kosovo, Romania, Turkey and Slovakia. American fans could expect the U.S. to have a good chance at coming out on top in this group.
The rest of the groups and the full match schedule are available on FIFA’s website.
The event was held at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., where FIFA President Gianni Infantino decided by lottery which countries would play each other in the initial rounds of the tournament.
What is the FIFA World Cup draw and how does it work? Infantino pulled balls representing individual nations out of four pots holding 12 balls each to form the round robin groups that countries will compete within the first leg of the competition. The top two teams from each group will advance to the final elimination tournament.
The tournament is being jointly hosted next summer by the U.S., Mexico and Canada in a major first. U.S. President Donald Trump, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney were all in attendance at the drawing Friday as the leaders of the three host nations.
Sports stars including Tom Brady, Wayne Gretzky, Aaron Judge and Shaquille O’Neal also participated in the drawing.
What to know about the 2026 World Cup The tournament next year will see four new countries compete, including Cabo Verde, Curacao, Jordan and Uzbekistan, as the cup expands from 32 teams to 48.
With nearly 2 million tickets already sold, the United States is preparing to co-host the international sporting event next summer. The tournament will be played from June 11 to July 19 at 16 sites across North America.
At a press conference Thursday, Sean Duffy, the U.S. secretary of transportation, said the government is working to bolster transportation systems in advance of the event.
“One of the biggest parts of what we do, though, is transit,” Duffy said. “We actually bring in additional assets to make sure we can move people seamlessly from the hotels in which they’re staying, getting them to the games, getting them there on time, safely.”
The first World Cup game will be played at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on Friday, June 12, with Team USA taking the pitch. Group stage will continue through the first two weeks across all three countries.
Elimination rounds start with the round of 32. The semifinals will take place in Dallas and Atlanta. The final will be at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, on Sunday, July 19.
How to get 2026 World Cup Tickets Some companies have touted early ticket offers for customers, like Verizon’s partnership with soccer legend David Beckham that provides golden tickets to customers for pitch-side access. Other options for purchase will roll out among various vendors now that the draw is set.
“I’m so excited for the World Cup next year and know that all the spotlight of the greatest players in the world coming to play in the US, Mexico and Canada, will establish even more US based fans of the sport,” Beckham told ABC News. “My ambition has always been to make soccer in the U.S. as accessible as possible, for as many people as possible, and I hope the legacy of the World Cup will continue this.”
Bank of America announced a new offer with Visa on Friday giving an opportunity to clients who open a new Cash Rewards Visa credit card to purchase up to two tickets to select FIFA World Cup 2026 matches, while supplies last.
Applicants who apply before Jan. 5, 2026 are eligible for the tickets starting Feb. 10, 2026, when they will receive an email to the FIFA ticket portal.
A lottery for FIFA tickets will open at 11 a.m. ET on Dec. 11 that fans can enter online.
The William Barton Rogers Building on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US, on Wednesday, June 4, 2025. Photographer: Cassandra Klos/Bloomberg via Getty Images
(CAMBRIDGE, Mass.) — A professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has been shot and killed at his home, authorities said.
Nuno F.G. Loureiro, 47, was found Monday night at his house in the upscale Boston suburb of Brookline. He was taken to the hospital with gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead on Tuesday, the Norfolk District Attorney’s office said.
The DA’s office said the homicide investigation is ongoing.
Authorities have investigated whether his death could be connected to this weekend’s Brown University shooting and, at this point, a senior law enforcement official briefed on both cases told ABC News there is nothing to suggest they’re connected.
The university said Loureiro was a “faculty member in the departments of Nuclear Science & Engineering and Physics, as well as the Director of MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center.”
“Our deepest sympathies are with his family, students, colleagues, and all those who are grieving,” MIT said in a statement. “Focused outreach and conversations are taking place within our community to offer care and support for those who knew Prof. Loureiro, and a message will be shared with our wider community.”
Loureiro was a native of Portugal, according to an MIT profile.
U.S. Ambassador to Portugal John J. Arrigo said in a statement, “I extend my deepest condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of Nuno Loureiro, who led MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center. We honor his life, his leadership in science, and his enduring contributions.”
(NEW YORK) — The South is about to be walloped with more winter weather, less than a week after an ice storm ripped through the region, closing highways and taking down power lines and trees.
The National Weather Service has issued cold weather alerts from Texas to Tennessee and Florida, warning that prolonged exposure to the bitter cold could lead to hypothermia if proper precautions are not taken.
Several dozen people have died in multiple states as a result of the winter storm that stretched across the South and eastern U.S. last week, according to The Associated Press. The Tennessee Department of Health confirmed 21 weather-related fatalities on Saturday morning, Mississippi reported at least 16 and Louisiana confirmed nine, according to state officials.
In addition to hypothermia, the fatalities occurred as a result of suspected carbon monoxide poisoning and accidents involving cars, sleds and snowplows.
States are still working to restore power and clear the roadways of snow and ice that remained in the wake of the storm.
As of Saturday morning, more than 1,500 flights have been cancelled..
Not surprising, the airports seeing some of the most impacts are located in the Winter storm zone and where states have declared a state of emergency: ATL, Charlotte, Raleigh and Charleston.
Here is what to expect in the next round of inclement weather.
Southern states bracing for cold blast while thousands still without power Temperatures are expected to plunge across the South again as a new arctic blast moves into the region, bringing dangerously cold conditions while tens of thousands in multiple states remain without power.
On Friday night, temperatures are expected to fall into the teens across much of Tennessee and northern Mississippi, with lows in the 20s from southern Mississippi into Louisiana.
Gusty winds will make the bitter cold feel even colder for anyone outdoors, with wind chills near or a few degrees below zero from central Tennessee to northern Mississippi by Saturday morning.
Temperatures on Saturday afternoon will only reach a high of 21 degrees in Nashville and 26 degrees in Oxford, Mississippi. Thousands of people in both states have been without electricity for nearly a week, exacerbating the danger presented from the frigid temperatures.
States like Tennessee and Mississippi don’t necessarily design their infrastructure to withstand ice storms — they are instead engineered to handle hurricanes and extreme heat, more common regional threats, said Sara Eftekharnejad, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science in Syracuse University’s College of Engineering and Computer Science.
Restoration after an ice storm is often more challenging, because when trees fall, they tend to take down multiple power lines at one, Eftekharnejad said in a statement.
“An equal concern is the frigid Arctic blast and the blustery winds,” Marshall Shepherd, director of the Atmospheric Sciences Program at the University of Georgia and former president of the American Meteorological Society, told ABC News.
Heavy snow and blizzard conditions are also possible for the Southeast this weekend.
Snow will become widespread Friday night across much of eastern Tennessee, southern Virginia, nearly all of North Carolina, northern South Carolina and northeastern Georgia,
Residents in Georgia are “excited about the snow,” Shepherd said, but emphasized the overall concern for vulnerable populations such as the elderly and homeless.
The bitter cold is expected to ease by early next week with highs in the 40s and 50s from Texas to Tennessee on Monday.
It will be even milder by Tuesday, with afternoon temperatures in the 50s and 60s in many areas. Tuesday’s highs will be near 50 degrees in Nashville and reach the mid-50s in Oxford, Mississippi.
However, it will still be cold at night for those that still have to cope with no electricity. Both Tennessee and Mississippi experienced widespread power outages as a result of the storm.
Freezing temperatures heading toward Florida The Sunshine State will not be spared from the winter weather this time around, the forecast shows.
Temperatures remained mild in Florida last weekend while the massive ice storm inundated its neighboring states to the north.
The state will face a brief but potent blast of extreme cold, bringing the coldest temperatures in more than 15 years to parts of Florida.
Actual air temperatures are forecast to dip into the 20s across much of the state by Sunday morning, including Tallahassee, Jacksonville and Orlando, potentially challenging daily record lows in all three cities.
“Freeze conditions will likely kill crops, other sensitive vegetation and possibly damage unprotected outdoor plumbing,” the National Weather Service said.
On Sunday, a low temperature around freezing is possible in Tampa, with temperatures dipping into the mid-30s across southern Florida, including Miami. Miami could also challenge a daily record low on Sunday.
If the low temperature in Miami on Sunday morning dips into the upper 30s, that would be the coldest temperature the city has experienced since December 2010. On Dec. 28, 2010, the low temperature in Miami was 39 degrees. The current forecast has lows at 36 degrees.
The coldest recorded temperature ever recorded in Miami occurred on Feb. 3, 1917, when the temperature dropped to 27 degrees. Records go back to 1895.
In Orlando, the current low temperature forecast is 24 on Sunday morning. This could be the coldest temperature that the city has experienced since Dec. 29, 2010, when the low temperature in Orlando was 24 degrees.
The coldest recorded temperature in Orlando occurred on Dec. 28, 1894, when the temperature dropped to 18 degrees. Records go back to 1892.
How Florida farms, groves are preparing Florida’s agricultural industry is preparing for the freezing temperatures. The state exports crops such as leafy greens, strawberries, tomatoes, bell peppers and blueberries to the rest of the country during the winter, according to ATTRA, a sustainable agriculture information source.
However, the wind chills will be even lower. It will potentially feel like the single digits in North Florida on Sunday morning, the teens in the central peninsula and in the 20s in South Florida.
Farmers have already been reporting frost damage in crops such as snap beans, sweet corn, squash and bell peppers. Cold exposure in southern counties has caused leaf burn and flower drop, which, depending on the crop stage or duration of exposure, can cause reduced yields or complete field losses.
Florida citrus growers have activated established frost protection practices to protect root systems and help moderate air temperatures around trees in anticipation of cold and potential freeze conditions, Shannon Shepp, executive director of the Florida Department of Citrus, told ABC News.
Leaders in Florida’s citrus industry hope that years of deployed treatments, therapies and replanting efforts to strengthen tree health will allow the groves to withstand the cold and freezing temperatures coming their way, Matt Joyner, executive vice president and CEO of Florida Citrus Mutual told ABC News.
“As is typical in these situations, it remains too early to estimate potential impacts, as effects will vary based on location, duration, and severity of cold temperatures,” Shepp said.
Florida growers are “experienced” in managing weather-related challenges and have navigated freeze events “many times before,” Shepp added.
The National Weather Service warned that strong, gusty winds accompanying the cold front on Saturday could create additional hazards and potentially disrupt final preparations to protect sensitive vegetation and pipes.
The NWS advised people to ensure that any tarps, blankets or coverings around sensitive plants or pipes are properly secured. Preparations should be completed by Saturday morning at the latest to avoid the strongest winds.
Reptiles could be ‘cold-stunned’ Reptiles in the state will likely become cold-stunned as a result of the temperatures. In the past, iguanas have been seen falling out of trees, and alligators appeared motionless in frozen waterways.
At ZooMiami, keepers are most concerned about its reptile residents, Ron Magill, ZooMiami’s communications director, told ABC News.
All of the zoo’s giant land tortoises and lizards that have access to the outdoors will be secured indoors in a heated structure, while the crocodilians will have access to constantly flowing water, Magill said. Smaller, more sensitive mammals, like sloths, porcupines will be brought indoors and kept in a heated structure as well.
The primates, like the chimpanzees our orangutans, are given blankets that they wrap themselves up in, Magill said.
The animals are also given more food, since it takes more calories to fight the cold, Magill said.
At Jungle Island, an eco-adventure park on Miami’s Watson Island, most of the animals come from tropical or sub-tropical climates, and therefore are brought inside as well, Jon Joyce, the animal care curator at Jungle Island, said in a statement.
Some animals, like the tigers, bask in the below-normal temperatures, and become more active and playful, Magill said.
