Wild roughed up by Devils

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ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Jesper Bratt and Ondrej Palat each scored twice and the New Jersey Devils beat the Minnesota Wild 5-2 on Monday night to snap a four-game skid.

ST PAUL, MINNESOTA – JANUARY 12: Matt Boldy #12 of the Minnesota Wild shoots against the Jacob Markstrom #25 of the New Jersey Devils in the first period at Grand Casino Arena on January 12, 2026 in St Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Brad Rempel/Getty Images)

Dawson Mercer had a goal and an assist for New Jersey, and Nico Hischier and Dougie Hamilton each had two assists. Jacob Markstrom finished with 20 saves.

Ryan Hartman and Marcus Foligno scored for the Wild, and Jesper Wallstedt had 24 saves. Minnesota lost in regulation for just the second time in 10 games (4-2-4) and third in the last 18 (11-3-4).

Bratt scored his two goals 21 seconds apart to push the Devils’ lead to 4-1 at 7:49 of the third period. On the first, he got a nice feed from Hamilton in front and beat Wallstedt for a two-goal lead. Then, he redirected Hamlton’s point shot past the goalie for his 11th of the season.

Palat, who had two goals coming into the game, then got his second of the night at 9:39 after Mercer tapped a centering pass over in front for a four-goal lead.

Foligno scored a power-play goal with 19 seconds remaining for the final margin.

This was the third time Wild defenseman Quinn Hughes faced his two younger brothers, Devils center Jack Hughes and defenseman Luke Hughes, in an NHL game. The previous two times were when Quinn Hughes played for Vancouver.

Mercer gave the Devils a 1-0 lead midway through the first period on their first shot on goal of the game, a one-timer from the inside edge of the right circle off a pass from Nico Hischier from behind the goal line.

Hartman tied the score 1-1 with 6:19 remaining in the second period as he deflected Brock Faber’s long point shot through traffic for his 12th.

Palat put the Devils back ahead with 8 seconds to go in the middle period off a pass from Hischier.

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Inver Grove Heights teacher at special education school held by ICE for nearly 12 hours

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A 25-year-old teacher at a special education school in Inver Grove Heights was taken into ICE custody early Monday morning in the school parking lot and was held for nearly 12 hours at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility at Fort Snelling, her mother told the Pioneer Press.

After an apparent collision with a federal vehicle, Christina Rank was taken into custody in the parking lot of the Concord Education Center while it was still dark, according to her mother, Sarah Hunkele.

Nearly 12 hours later, close to 7 p.m., Christina Rank was released for 10 days pending an investigation, Hunkele said.

Little contact

Hunkele said the lack of information and waiting to hear about her daughter had been “terrible.”

“You don’t know where she is going, where she is at, what is happening. There is no communication.”

U.S. Rep. Angie Craig’s office was working to learn more information and called the detention “shocking.”

“I’m incredibly concerned about today’s incident in Inver Grove Heights and will be pushing for answers,” Craig said in a Monday night statement. “Schools should be safe places for our teachers to teach and students to learn. That’s why I’ve introduced legislation in Congress to keep ICE out of sensitive locations, like schools, daycares and churches.”

During a morning phone call after her detention, Rank told her mother that she didn’t know why she was being held, Hunkele said. Rank told her mother that she would be able to call her again once ICE officials decided whether to press charges against her. But then Rank was unexpectedly released shortly before 7 p.m.

Events unclear

Hunkele said she is working with attorneys and others to obtain surveillance video from around the school area to determine what took place.

Videos posted on Facebook by an apparent coworker appear to show an ICE official claiming that Rank rammed his car, while bystanders say they saw him ram Rank’s car. The video was taken after the incident, as agents searched Rank’s car in the parking lot of the Concord Education Center at 9015 Broderick Blvd.

While ICE agents claim Rank hit their vehicle with her own, Hunklele said based on the damage to her daughter’s car, it seemed unlikely.

“There was no damage to her front bumper. The only damage was to the passenger side door and the back window where they had broken it.”

Hunkele questioned why the ICE agents were at the school, which offers alternative learning services for nine south metro public school districts.

“With it being a Level 4 school, I don’t understand why they were there,” she said. “It’s special education in a highly heated environment. The staff is there not only to teach but to protect. For federal agents to show up with guns?”

She believes her daughter would never interfere, impede or attack officials.

The school

Rank has been a paraprofessional at the school for the past seven years, working one-on-one with students with disabilities.

“She’s young,” her mother said. “She’s very passionate about her work. She’s very caring. She would never do anything with ill intent. There was a lot of unnecessary force used in a situation that could have been defused in many other ways.”

Amber Cherrier, who has worked as a special education teacher in the past, said a Level 4 school is one where the students cannot be around their non-disabled peers and have very limited vocal skills.

“These children will likely not understand the demands shouted by police or ICE,” Cherrier wrote in an email Monday night. “They will likely not be able to comply and are extremely vulnerable around police and ICE, especially if the person does not have extensive training and understanding of neurodivergence and how to de-escalate a situation. They also will have a much harder time processing trauma that they witness or happens to them.

“In general, the teachers, paraprofessionals, and other staff working in a level 4 school are very compassionate people with patience and genuinely care deeply for their students. They do everything they can to protect the children in the building.”

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WNBA, players’ union agree to moratorium, halting initial stages of free agency

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NEW YORK (AP) — The WNBA and its players’ union agreed to a moratorium for league business Monday.

The moratorium, which was confirmed by the league, was necessary because the sides failed to reach a deal on a new collective bargaining agreement or an extension of the current one by Friday night’s deadline.

The sides are continuing to negotiate in good faith on a new CBA and are far apart on salaries and revenue sharing.

The moratorium will halt the initial stages of free agency in which teams would seek to deliver qualifying offers and franchise tag designations to players.

Minnesota Lynx guard Kayla McBride (21) steals the ball from Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas during the first half of Game 3 of a WNBA basketball playoff semifinals series game Friday, Sept. 26, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Before the moratorium, the WNBA, under U.S. labor law, had a status-quo obligation to allow teams to send out qualifying offers under the expired CBA agreement. Sunday was the first day that teams would have sent out offers to players.

While the moratorium makes sense for both sides, they are still far apart on key issues.

The league’s most recent offer last month would guarantee a maximum base salary of $1 million in 2026 that could reach $1.3 million through revenue sharing. That’s up from the current $249,000 and could grow to nearly $2 million over the life of the agreement, a person familiar with the negotiations told the AP earlier this month. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the negotiations.

Under the league’s proposal, players would receive in excess of 70% of net revenue — though that would be their take of the profits after expenses are paid. Those expenses would include upgraded facilities, charter flights, five-star hotels, medical services, security and arenas.

The average salary in 2026 would be more than $530,000, up from its current $120,000, and grow to more than $770,000 over the life of the agreement. The minimum salary would grow from its current $67,000 to approximately $250,000 in the first year, the person told the AP.

The proposal would also financially pay star young players like Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers, who are all still on their rookie contracts, nearly double the league minimum.

Revenue sharing is one of the major sticking points in the negotiations.

The union’s counter proposal to the league would give players around 30% of the gross revenue. The player’s percentage would be from money generated before expenses for the first year and teams would have a $10.5 million salary cap to sign players. Under the union’s proposal, the revenue sharing percent would go up slightly each year.

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US accuses Russia of ‘dangerous and inexplicable escalation’ of war in Ukraine as Trump seeks peace

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By EDITH M. LEDERER

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United States accused Russia on Monday of a “dangerous and inexplicable escalation” of its nearly four-year war in Ukraine at a time when the Trump administration is trying to advance negotiations toward peace.

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U.S. deputy ambassador to the United Nations Tammy Bruce singled out Russia’s launch of a nuclear-capable Oreshnik ballistic missile last week close to Ukraine’s border with Poland, a NATO ally.

She told an emergency meeting of the Security Council that the United States deplores “the staggering number of casualties” in the conflict and condemns Russia’s intensifying attacks on energy and other infrastructure.

Ukraine called for the meeting after last Thursday’s overnight Russian bombardment with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles, including the powerful, new hypersonic Oreshnik missile, which Moscow used for only the second time in what was a clear warning to Kyiv’s NATO allies.

The large-scale attack came days after Ukraine and its allies reported major progress toward agreeing on how to defend the country from further Moscow aggression if a U.S.-led peace deal is struck.

The attack also coincided with a new chill in relations between Moscow and Washington after Russia condemned the U.S. seizure of an oil tanker in the North Atlantic. And it came as U.S. President Donald Trump signaled he is on board with a hard-hitting sanctions package meant to economically cripple Russia.

Moscow has given no public signal it is willing to budge from its maximalist demands on Ukraine. And Russia’s U.N. ambassador on Monday blamed the diplomatic impasse on Ukraine.

Europe’s leaders condemned the attack using the Oreshnik as “escalatory and unacceptable,” and U.S. envoy Bruce was equally tough on Monday.

“At a moment of tremendous potential, due only to President Trump’s unparalleled commitment to peace around the world, both sides should be seeking ways to de-escalate,” she said. “Yet Russia’s action risks expanding and intensifying the war.”

A residential building is seen damaged after a Russian strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Bruce reminded Russia that nearly a year ago it voted in favor of a Security Council resolution calling for an end to the conflict in Ukraine.

“It would be nice if Russia matched their words with deeds,” she said. “In the spirit of that resolution, Russia, Ukraine and Europe must pursue peace seriously and bring this nightmare to an end.”

But Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told the Security Council that until Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “comes to his senses and agrees to realistic conditions for negotiations, we will continue solving the problem by military means.”

“He was warned long ago, with each passing day, each day which he squanders, the conditions for negotiations will only get worse for him,” Nebenzia said. “Similarly, each vile attack on Russian civilians will elicit a stiff response.”

Ukraine’s U.N. Ambassador Andriy Melnyk countered that Russia is more vulnerable now than at any time since the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022. Its economy is slowing and oil revenue is down.

“Russia wants to sell to this council and the whole U.N. family the impression that it is invincible, but this is another illusion,” he told the council. “The carefully staged image of strength is nothing but smoke and mirrors, completely detached from reality.”