GENEVA (AP) — The U.N. human rights chief said Friday that U.S. military strikes against boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean allegedly carrying illegal drugs from South America are “unacceptable” and must stop.

Related Articles

Senate report details dozens of cases of medical neglect in federal immigration detention centers

Minnesota’s federal workers plead for resolution of government shutdown

Ramen instead of Reese’s? Looming SNAP cuts change what’s on offer for Halloween trick-or-treaters

Maine network ends primary care after losing Medicaid due to Trump defunding Planned Parenthood

Trump hosts White House Halloween bash with superheroes and presidential lookalikes amid shutdown

The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk called for an investigation into the strikes, in what appeared to mark the first such condemnation of its kind from a United Nations organization.

Ravina Shamdasani, a spokeswoman for Türk’s office, relayed his message on Friday at a regular U.N. briefing: “These attacks and their mounting human cost are unacceptable. The U.S. must halt such attacks and take all measures necessary to prevent the extrajudicial killing of people aboard these boats.”

She said Türk believed “airstrikes by the United States of America on boats in the Caribbean and in the Pacific violate international human rights law.”

President Donald Trump has justified the attacks on the boats as a necessary escalation to stem the flow of drugs into the United States, but the campaign against drug cartels has been divisive among countries in the region.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday announced the latest U.S. military strike in the campaign, against a boat he said was carrying drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean. All four people aboard were killed. It was the 14th strike since the campaign began in early September, while the death toll has grown to at least 61.

Shamdasani noted the U.S. explanations of the efforts as an anti-drug and counter-terrorism campaign, but said countries have long agreed that the fight against illicit drug trafficking is a law-enforcement matter governed by “careful limits” placed on the use of lethal force.

Intentional use of lethal force is allowed only as a last resort against someone representing “an imminent threat to life,” she said. “Otherwise, it would amount to a violation of the right of life and constitute extrajudicial killings.”

The strikes are taking place “outside the context” of armed conflict or active hostilities, Shamdasani said.

In October, we featured nine cats, 15 dogs, two rabbits and two deer in our Morning Report newsletter.

Sign up for our free newsletter at twincities.com/newsletters.

For more pet photos, check out another pet slideshow from September.

Friday, Oct. 31

Luna dressed as Luna Lovegood from “Harry Potter.”

“This is Luna, a 9-year-old rescue,” Claire writes. “She was left at the shelter with little information, so we don’t know her story. She is the snuggliest, chattiest little cat. She’s named after Luna Lovegood from ‘Harry Potter,’ so it’s only fitting she dressed as her for Halloween.”

Thursday, Oct. 30

Missy

“Our 18-year-old kitty, Missy,” write Diane and Jim. “Yes, that is a cardboard scratching piece she is sitting on near the fireplace.”

Wednesday, Oct. 29

Carly

“This is Carly, she was a rescue in the middle of below-zero weather,” John and Candy write. “She was a consummate hunter who saved us from being knee deep in rodents at the lake. Here she is enjoying the crisp fall weather in a blanket of leaves.”

Tuesday, Oct. 28

Jack

“This is my ‘grand dog’ poodle, Jack, who lives in Colorado,” Pat writes. “Poor guy had some dental work done and had some top teeth removed … he is very self-conscious of his smile now. But we still think he is very handsome.”

Monday, Oct. 27

Misu tries to “help.”

“Good morning,” Jimmy writes. “My attempts to avoid cushion cat hair were thwarted by Misu! I was gone no longer than two minutes before he took over!”

Friday, Oct. 24

Lulu and Tommy.

“Here’s Lulu (gray) and Tommy (black) absolutely ‘thrilled’ to take their fall photos from the Romp and Spa hosted by Rabbit Rescue of MN,” Laura writes.

Thursday, Oct. 23

Mr. Juice

“Please find the image of my cat attached,” writes Siyu Qi. “The story behind this picture: Mr. Juice the orange cat proclaims his accession to the sofa throne.”

Wednesday, Oct. 22

Clover

“Hello again. This is Clover, the cat of Diane‘s nephew, showing off my fabulous tail.”

Tuesday, Oct. 21

Scooter after catching and releasing a mouse.

“My lovely rescue dog, Scooter, is a 4-year-old Terrier mix,” Jackie writes. “We were surprised when he caught a field mouse out in the yard and dropped it at the feet of his dog sitter, Emily. Mouse was disposed of and Scooter felt bad he scared Emily! All is good! We love him!!”

Monday, Oct. 20 (Memorial Monday)

Roman and Gordy.

“This is Roman and Gordy, our grandcats from Eagan,” Jeffrey writes. “Unfortunately, Roman (the elder) recently passed away, but he had a charmed life with his little cousin Gordy!”

Saturday, Oct. 18

Sookie in Seattle.

“Sookie, a rescue dog, going for a walk on the Seattle waterfront with her owner Karen for the American Cancer Society,” Geri writes.

Friday, Oct. 17

Angelo is available for adoption through pupmn.org.

Jeanne Weigum of Pooches United with People (PUP) wants Morning Report readers to know about Angelo, a special needs puppy available for adoption. Found in someone’s yard, not moving, his health issues were sorted out but his detached retinas mean his vision is impaired: “He will need a very special adopter to be his seeing eye person,” Jeanne says. Learn more at pupmn.org or via Petfinder.

Thursday, Oct. 16

Friends hang out in Lori’s backyard in Columbus, Minn.

“Since we can also share our wildlife   pictures, here is my Daily Deer photo!” writes Lori of Columbus, Minn. “Just hanging around enjoying the apples and salt block.”

Wednesday, Oct. 15

Happy Birthday, Lewis!

“Here’s a photo of Lewis, our Australian Labradoodle, who turned three on Sunday,” writes Les of Stillwater. “He is excelling at agility classes and trying out flyball (look it up on YouTube!). Maybe he’ll be a therapy dog someday. We live in hope. He is a quirky, intelligent guy, and we love him to pieces. Except he eats Kleenex whenever he can find them.”

Tuesday, Oct. 14

Penny and Sophie on the boat.

“Our dogs Penny (white/brown) and Sophie (black) are seen here enjoying the last bit of summer on one of Minnesota’s 10,000+ gorgeous lakes,” Lindsey writes. “Thank you for highlighting pets in your emails!”

Monday, Oct. 13 (Memorial Monday)

Koshka

“In honor of World Cat Day, gone 37 years but not forgotten, the world’s best cat, Koshka,” Jerry writes.

Friday, Oct. 10

EllieB, then and now.

“I had sent this picture of EllieB when she was a new member of our niece’s family late last summer,” writes MaryPav of Stillwater. “Here she is now at one year old! She is the family herder of a 4-, 7- and 11-year-olds. She runs with them and keeps them in the yard playing all sorts of sports! Her favorite toys are all and any sort of balls. She is smart, fun and totally lovable. Always fast and furious and super friendly in the neighborhood. Totally loved by all.”

Thursday, Oct. 9

Welcome to Minnesota, Nola!

“My wife and I lost our last dog in January 2020,” writes George of Minneapolis. “We agreed to wait several months to get our next dog. But by early March, my wife found Nola, a rescue hound/bulldog/terrier from Kentucky. Nola keeps us active with walks around and near Lake Harriet. She is a happy, fun girl. Here, she poses at Hawk Ridge in Duluth.”

Wednesday, Oct. 8

Virgil and Djangers at Bear Lake

“Here is last weekend’s photo of brothers, Virgil and Djangers, visiting the Bear Lake overlook near Silver Bay, ” Lisa writes. “Even though we got caught in an unexpected shower, the view was worth it!”

Tuesday, Oct. 7

Titan

“Swimming in October!” Gina wrote last week. “Titan enjoys the unseasonably warm Minnesota weather.”

Monday, Oct. 6 (Memorial Monday)

Sheba

“Dogs can feel grief just like their owners,” Matt wrote recently. “Our dog, Jazzmin, passed away in June and we felt a loss in our house. Then in August, my wife suffered a stroke and passed away last week. Our dog Sheba has felt the same kind of loss and now sits on my wife’s recliner as if to say, ‘Where did my mama go?’”

Friday, Oct. 3

Raven and Maeve rested with Aunt Peggy after hiking.

“Here are my dog nieces, Raven and Maeve, who love hiking with us!” Peggy writes. “Then I love when we get home and they crash in my lap. Raven is older and gets priority but Maeve makes sure she wiggles her way up, too.”

Thursday, Oct. 2

Jack and Betty.

“My Colorado grand dogs are very sad,” Pat writes. “Jack the Poodle and Betty the Labradoodle said, ‘Our family went on vacation … without us. We had to stay home with Grandma.’ They survived nicely.”

Wednesday, Oct. 1

Dennis the Menace

Dr. Kelly Lessard, a veterinary contact of the Morning Report, reached out to tell us about a young, rescued Pomeranian (or Pomeranian mix) called Dennis the Menace who received potentially life-saving surgery by Dr. Missy Carpentier of Minnesota Veterinary Neurology. Breaking news: Dennis the Menace has recovered nicely and Kelly tells us he is now available for adoption through Coco’s Heart Dog Rescue. More info at cocosheartdogrescue.org/teenagers#/dennis.

Related Articles

Wearable tech for your dog? Life360 releases a new pet tracker

Without leads, investigators call off search for missing 33-year-old Farmington horse

A wallflower blooms: After weeks in a shipping container, Chinese stowaway cat getting ready for adoption

No news or new sightings after reward offered for missing Farmington horse

19 cats, 10 dogs and 1 doe featured in the Morning Report in September

 

Union leaders told state senators on Thursday that Minnesota’s federal workers are now missing rent and are taking home boxes of food at the end of their shifts.

The sobering testimony on Thursday comes as the federal government shutdown nears a month. It was the latest meeting of the Minnesota Senate’s Subcommittee on Federal Impacts.

Mark Johnson, of Duluth, representing Transportation Security Administration agents with the American Federation of Government Employees, said roughly 1,000 of Minnesota’s 18,000 federal employees are TSA agents.

“I’ve got officers that have come to me that say my rent is due on Nov. 1. I don’t have the funds for that. My landlord is unwilling to work with me. And, ‘Oh, by the way, they told me there was going to be a $50-per-day late fee.’ How do people sustain that when you are … paycheck to paycheck?” Johnson said.

Johnson has been with AFGE for 18 years and said this isn’t his first rodeo. At day 30, with the longest shutdown on record at 35 days, he said he would “like to hope” another record isn’t set, but that he’s “just not sure.”

“It’s time for our leaders to start focusing on how to solve problems for the American people, rather than on who is going to get the blame for the shutdown,” he said. “There’s no partisanship in this. We need our elected officials to please, please get together and hammer this out.”

Neal Gosman, an AFGE leader and a TSA agent at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, said his employees took home donated food boxes after their shifts on Wednesday.

Members of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture who have partnerships with the U.S. Department of Agriculture also testified. Dr. Nicole Neeser, director of the Dairy and Meat Inspection Division, said their services in testing meat are considered essential since processing plants can’t sell products without inspectors.

Dr. Brian Hoefs, director of the state Board of Animal Health, who oversees animal disease, said Minnesota is already the state most affected by avian flu, with 208 confirmed cases. He said if a new disease emerges, he’s not sure how his staff would respond.

Hoefs said his communication with the USDA, which provides 20% of his staff’s budget, is “not where it used to be.”

“The USDA contingency plan for the federal shutdown has also been removed from the website … we don’t know why, but that’s kind of the … status of where we’re at with communications,” he said. “We don’t get a lot of direct communication like we used to. There’s … decisions being made that we aren’t always privy to, and we find out about them after the fact.”

Alex Fitzsimmons, with the Children’s Defense Fund, testified about her concerns with the federal nutrition program Women, Infants and Children. Minnesota receives roughly $9 million a month for WIC, and funds are expected to last through the third week of November, according to reports from Minnesota Management and Budget on Wednesday.

“Oftentimes, we’re concerned about being hyperbolic as advocates; in this situation, this isn’t hyperbole,” she said. “Losing access to WIC would result broadly in increased hunger, poorer health outcomes, and greater financial strain for thousands of pregnant women, infants and young children in Minnesota.”

Attorney General Keith Ellison testified before the subcommittee regarding a 25-state lawsuit against the USDA that argues the halt in food stamp benefits during the shutdown is illegal and that a $6 billion contingency fund should be tapped. Ellison reported that a federal judge was expected to make a ruling on the case soon.

“It’s intolerable that nearly one half-million Minnesotans could go hungry when the law clearly provides for funding to help it across previous federal government shutdowns,” Ellison said of the Trump administration’s decision to stop paying food stamps during the shutdown. “SNAP benefits have never been interrupted by a lapse on appropriations, until now.”

It’s unclear what state lawmakers could do to mitigate the effects of the federal shutdown.

Sen. Erin Maye Quade, DFL-Apple Valley, said she’s looking for legislative fixes that could “backfill” the loss in federal funds. The state’s budget for the next two years was already passed in the 2025 session, with the hopes of curbing a $6 billion projected deficit for 2028.

She mentioned Minnesota’s rainy day funds, but said she hasn’t “been around long enough to know what constitutes a rainy day.” DFL Gov. Tim Walz said Monday those funds are untouched and that the Legislature would have to come back to approve their use.

“This is not something that a state should be having to figure out. Like, this is why we pay federal taxes,” Maye Quade said. “This is why we have federal partners, having 50 different governors and, you know, D.C. and then Puerto Rico trying to figure out, how are we going to backfill and figure this out with 50 different solutions? That’s dire.”

Related Articles

Special elections to decide whether DFL, GOP control MN Senate

As salaries of St. Paul city leaders stagnate, concern grows over losing talent

Tim Walz orders audit of Medicaid billing as fraud prosecutions continue

Capitol security: Threats to MN officials increase in 2025

St. Paul Public Schools using taxpayer funds on special levy. But is it advocacy?