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Priests say ICE contractor GEO rejected shareholder vote on human rights review

By Ross Kerber
February 9, 2026 7:34 PM UTC Updated 46 mins ago

A surveillance camera sits outside of Delaney Hall, a 1,000-person detention center operated by private prison company GEO Group for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), in the Ironbound neighborhood of Newark, New Jersey, U.S., May 10, 2025. REUTERS/Bing Guan/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

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Feb 9 (Reuters) – A set of Catholic investors said on Monday private-prison operator GEO Group has rejected a shareholder vote designed to shed light on alleged human rights violations in its operation of ICE detention facilities as part of U.S. President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

The government contractor has become one of the biggest benefactors in Trump’s expansion of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, including operating a fast-growing detention center in Southern California. Complaints of poor treatment, including dismal sleeping conditions and a lack of fresh air at facilities run by GEO, opens new tab and others,, opens new tab have sparked protests against the administration as it ramps up detentions and pushes for mass deportations.

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A group of social activist investors led by Jesuit priests said GEO (GEO.N), opens new tab rejected a proposed shareholder vote to review its human-rights conduct, ended talks on facility visits and reduced its reporting on human rights.

“The fact that the company isn’t transparent with us, that raises red flags. Does it have something to hide?” asked Bryan Pham, a Jesuit priest who leads the investors’ talks with GEO.

GEO said in an emailed statement that it “has had ongoing engagements with a broad group of shareholders for several decades. Our company’s disclosures are constantly evolving, informed by these long-standing broad shareholder engagements, and are developed in compliance with our legal obligations as a federal government contractor.”

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GEO, based in Boca Raton, Florida, is one of the largest operators of detention centers for ICE, which accounted for 41.5% of GEO’s 2024 revenue. Adam Sawyer, director of research for Relevant Research, which runs the ICE Detention Reports, opens new tab website, says GEO runs the fourth- and fifth-largest ICE facilities: one in South Texas housing about 1,790 and one in Adelanto, California, housing some 1,784 people, as of last month.

A year earlier, in January 2025, the South Texas facility held 1,664 people and the one in Adelanto held just 2 people, Sawyer said.

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The Catholic investors led by the USA East Province of the Society of Jesus hold as little as $53,000 of GEO’s shares, according to disclosures. But they’ve had an outsized influence over larger investors, winning 88% of shareholder support on a vote that pressed GEO to issue an annual human rights report in 2019, opens new tab.

In November, the priests submitted a shareholder proposal that would require GEO to disclose “whether its services contribute to violations of international human rights law and expose the company to material risks.”

The filers mentioned a University of Washington, opens new tab report that detainees have been sent from a GEO-run facility in Tacoma, Washington, to the controversial CECOT mega-prison in El Salvador. A GEO unit buses detainees to deportation flights, the report states.

In a December 30 letter seen by Reuters, a GEO attorney told regulators the proponents’ claims were “false and misleading” and that it would not allow shareholders to vote on the disclosure proposal from the priest group.

“The entire theme and premise of the Proposal is that the Company is engaging in enforced disappearances in violation of international human rights law” through its contracts, GEO attorney Esther Moreno of the Akerman law firm said in the letter. The services “are provided in compliance with U.S. federal immigration law,” Moreno said.

In the 2019 case, GEO asked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for permission to skip the shareholder vote, a common corporate practice. The agency, under Trump, put new policies in place in November, making it easier for companies to skip such votes without waiting for regulators’ blessing, enabling GEO to forgo the vote.

Pham said GEO’s claims don’t match the resolution’s language since it only seeks more information, and said GEO has cut back its human rights reporting, opens new tab.

GEO, he said, owes more explanation about its treatment of detainees like Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish graduate student arrested in Massachusetts in March over an editorial she co-wrote in the Tufts University student newspaper in 2024 supporting Palestinians in Israel’s war in Gaza. In a July Vanity Fair, opens new tab article, Ozturk described being held for 45 days at a GEO facility in Louisiana deprived of sleep and fresh air.

GEO did not directly address Pham’s concerns. A representative said GEO “plays no role” in granting ICE facility access and that it offers medical care and legal advice.

“We are proud of the role our company has played for 40 years to support the law enforcement mission of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement,” GEO said.

Reporting by Ross Kerber; Editing by Dawn Kopecki and Aurora Ellis

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41 U.S. states are getting warmer, each in its own way, report says

February 9, 2026 / 5:30 PM EST / CBS News

Researchers at two Spanish universities have found that 84% of the contiguous U.S. states have shown signs of warming over the last 70 or so years, which is more than previously suggested.

In a report published last week in the journal PLOS Climate, the researchers found that 41 U.S. states have gotten warmer since the middle of the last century. Alaska and Hawaii weren’t included in the study.

The states’ warming patterns weren’t uniform, Jesús Gonzalo, an economist and professor at the University of Charles III in Madrid, explained using a riddle. In Spain, the satirical statistics joke goes: “There are two hungry people vying over a single chicken. One eats the entire thing, leaving the other to starve. So, on average, each person has eaten half of a chicken.”

In that scenario, the average amount of food consumed per person failed to convey the important fact that 50% of the pair whose chicken intake was being calculated had nothing to eat at all.

“The average doesn’t say much, no?” Gonzalo said.

Its premise exemplified the main conclusion of the report that Gonzalo co-authored, which urged researchers and policymakers to look beyond mathematical averages when evaluating how temperature trends relate to climate change.

In the report, Gonzalo and his co-author, María Dolores Gadea Rivas of Spain’s University of Zaragoza, wrote that although “the climate system functions on a global scale, its effects are experienced locally, resulting in significant regional variability.”

To detect variations, they analyzed tens of thousands of daily temperature readings collected across the contiguous U.S., some of which dated back to 1950.

The data showed that the effects of climate change on temperature are existent and measurable in a larger swath of the U.S. than previously thought, since a fair amount of climate research quantifies those effects using averages. Also referred to as the arithmetic “mean,” an average is calculated by adding together a certain batch of values — temperatures recorded in the state of California, for instance — and dividing that by the number of values included in that sum.

Averages are meant to generally reflect the tendencies of values involved in their calculations. But they don’t always provide a complete picture, according to Gonzalo, who says relying on them can be misleading in some instances.

“The U.S. is maybe one of the countries with the most heterogeneous climate. And the main message is, if you want to measure heterogeneity, don’t use the average,” Gonzalo said. “If you pay attention to the average, you can make a mistake.”

Gonzalo’s new climate report argued that focusing exclusively on average temperatures, and how they have or haven’t increased over time, can have serious pitfalls for climate scientists and anyone involved in climate policy.

An aerial view of construction of new ski trails and a ski lift on February 8, 2026 in Park City, Utah. Mario Tama / Getty Images

The study found that average temperatures rose in 27 U.S. states between 1950 and 2021, corroborating earlier research. But they also increased significantly in 14 more, which, Gonzalo noted, is a huge difference that could potentially alter the country’s approach to addressing the issue.

“This is consequential when you try to design more efficient mitigation and adaptation policies,” he said.

Instead of averages, the report examined the full range of temperatures in a given state, from lowest to highest, and tracked them over time — the same way one might consider the full range of incomes in a particular place to accurately understand its wealth distribution and progress. The report brought to light what its authors described as “previously hidden patterns” of warming in every corner of the nation.

Western states, including California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming, saw the largest increases in their highest temperatures, while Central states, like Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska and the Dakotas saw relatively greater jumps in lower temperatures than higher ones over the years, the researchers found.

Northern states, across the upper Midwest, Northeast and Northwest, saw similar increases across the whole of their temperature ranges, meaning that cooler temperatures and warmer temperatures rose at comparable paces.

All of those trends appear to be accelerating, Gonzalo said, and tailoring public response strategies to realistically fit the scope of the situation at hand could be especially beneficial.

The anomalous “warming hole”

The only U.S. states that haven’t shown statistically significant signs of warming are Texas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Kansas and Arkansas, the report said.

That list of states in the central and southern U.S. is consistent with a known phenomenon called a “warming hole.” It describes a region that hasn’t experienced rising temperatures despite climate change. Scientists have long considered it an anomaly.

Research has suggested that counterintuitive cooling in that area could be induced by aerosols, changes in land use or the water cycle, which may have intensified in certain places as a response to greenhouse gas emissions, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The NOAA said in 2023 that additional studies should be done to answer some of those questions.

See the Olympic medal count for the 2026 Winter Games

February 9, 2026 / 5:39 PM EST / CBS News

The United States is fielding its biggest Winter Olympics team ever for the 2026 Games, with 232 athletes going for the gold. Skier Breezy Johnson won America’s first gold medal of the Games in women’s downhill, and U.S. figure skaters won gold in the team competition.

While Team USA brought home the most medals of any country at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Norway came out on top in the medal count at the last Winter Games and also holds the all-time record for winter medals.

Here is a look at where the medal count stands as the competition heats up in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, the two host cities for the 2026 Winter Olympics in northern Italy.

Overall medal count for the 2026 Winter Olympics

The first medal event of the Milano Cortina Winter Games was the men’s downhill competition on Saturday, Feb. 7, with Swiss skier Franjo von Allmen winning the gold.

The chart below is updated hourly with the latest medal count of the 2026 Games.

Spotlight on Team USA’s medal count for the 2026 Olympics

In the first two days after Friday’s opening ceremony, Team USA scooped up two medals, both of them gold.

Breezy Johnson won gold in the women’s downhill, and American figure skaters won gold in the team event, helped by a dominant performance from Ilia Malinin, who is known as the “Quad God” for executing the most difficult jumps.

Team USA poses with their gold medals after the figure skating team event at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, on Feb. 8, 2026. Ashley Landis / AP

Team USA is also guaranteed to come away with a medal, either silver or gold, in mixed doubles curling as it heads into the finals against Sweden on Tuesday.

What was the medal count for the 2022 Winter Olympics?

At the 2022 Winter Games, Norway took home the most medals, winning 37 in all, including 16 gold.

Next came the ROC, the Russian Olympic Committee team, with a total of 32, followed by Germany with 27 and Canada with 26.

Team USA ranked fifth with 25 medals — nine gold, nine silver and seven bronze.

Who has the most Olympic medals of all time?

While the International Olympic Committee does not compile rankings, the Olympic Foundation for Culture and Heritage does keep a medal tally. It counts one medal for placing first, second or third in an event regardless of how many athletes were on a team.

In the overall medal count from all previous Summer and Winter Games, the U.S. comes out on top with 3,103 medals.

The U.S. is followed in the medal count by the former Soviet Union, which earned 1,204 medals before its breakup in 1991. Germany comes third with 1,091 medals.

The U.S. has also won the most gold medals, with 1,220, according to the Olympic Foundation.

But when it comes to the history of the Winter Olympics alone, the U.S. dips to second place in the medal count behind Norway, a perennial winter sports powerhouse.

Athletes from Norway have taken home a total of 404 medals from past Winter Games. The U.S. has previously won 330, while Germany places third with 286.

Aliza Chasan contributed to this report.

More Argentina beef imports won’t do much to ease costs for consumers, according to experts

2026-02-09T16:08:00-0500 / CBS News

President Trump’s move to boost U.S. imports of beef from Argentina to help ease costs for consumers may have less impact than the White House is hoping for, experts said.

The executive order, which Mr. Trump signed on Friday amid a new trade deal between the two countries, allows Argentina to export an additional 80,000 metric tons of beef to the U.S. tariff-free this year, according to the Trump administration. The directive applies to imports of lean beef trimmings, which are used to produce ground beef.

“As President of the United States, I have a responsibility to ensure that hardworking Americans can afford to feed themselves and their families,” Mr. Trump said in the order.

But David Ortega, a food economist and professor at Michigan State University, told CBS News that 80,000 tons of beef represents only 0.6% of the overall U.S. beef supply — too little to move the needle on prices, he said.

“We’re talking about less than 1% of supply,” Ortega said. “And so I wouldn’t expect this to have much of an impact on these prices. Now, it doesn’t hurt, but we’re not talking about any major quantities that we are importing that would immediately suppress prices.”

The U.S. produced nearly 27 billion pounds of beef in 2024, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture shared on Statista.

What drove up beef prices

Average ground beef prices around the U.S. reached $6.69 a pound in December, up 19% from a year ago, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Five years ago, consumers could buy a pound of ground beef for $3.95.

The biggest factor behind the jump in beef prices: Extreme weather conditions that have shrunk the nation’s cattle supply. Droughts, including a recent bout of dry weather in 2022 that affected beef-producing states, have made it harder for farmers to grow crops needed for feedstock and forced many cattle ranchers to sell off their beef cows. Wildfires have also ravaged grasslands used to graze cattle, according to the White House.

By contrast, the cost of chicken and eggs, which spiked in 2022 amid an avian flu outbreak that required the destruction of millions of birds, has recently dipped, St. Louis Fed figures show.

“While prices for other proteins such as eggs, pork and chicken have declined in recent months, beef prices remain elevated,” a Department of Agriculture spokesperson said in an email. “This is due to the perfect storm of sustained increase in consumer demand for beef, coupled with a prolonged decrease in the supply of live cattle.”

The country’s beef cattle supply stood at 27.6 million on Jan. 1, down 1% from a year ago, according to USDA data. Overall, the total number of cattle in the U.S. is at a 75-year-low.

In a fact sheet last week, the White House acknowledged the supply challenges facing the U.S.

“President Trump is responding to market challenges and ensuring a plentiful ground beef supply for American families at affordable prices by taking action on multiple fronts.”

So what would lower costs?

Derrell Peel, a professor in the department of agricultural economics at Oklahoma State University, also expressed skepticism that the executive order will help ease costs for domestic consumers, saying there’s “nothing that the administration can do in the short run to make U.S. beef prices come down.”

That’s because the key to lowering prices will be to rebuild the cattle supply, a process that will likely take several years, Peel explained. Part of that effort will require saving female cows, known as heifers, for breeding, instead of killing them to meet consumer demand for beef, Peel noted.

“We have record-high cattle prices, and we’re going to continue to until we regrow,” he said.

Edited by Alain Sherter

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Palestinian woman hospitalized following seizure in US ICE detention

By Kanishka Singh
February 9, 2026 10:07 PM UTC Updated 36 mins ago

People march to take part in a protest at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, U.S., January 28, 2026. REUTERS/Antranik Tavitian//File Photo

WASHINGTON, Feb 9 (Reuters) – A Palestinian woman, who lost dozens of family members in the Gaza war, has been hospitalized following a seizure in U.S. immigration detention, the Department of Homeland Security said on Monday.

On February 6, 2026, at about 8:45 p.m., “medical staff at the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas, notified ICE that detainee Leqaa Kordia was admitted to Texas Health Huguley Hospital in Burleson, Texas, for further evaluation following a seizure,” a DHS spokesperson said.

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Kordia, a 33-year-old Muslim Palestinian woman living in the U.S. and whose mother is an American citizen, was detained by U.S. immigration authorities early last year.

She was detained during a meeting with immigration officials at the Newark Immigration and Customs Enforcement Field Office, where she was accompanied by her attorney. At the time of her detention last year, Kordia was in the process of securing legal residency.

In a weekend statement cited by media, her family and legal team said they have not received communication from U.S. authorities about her health. The family could not immediately be reached for comment. DHS says ICE will ensure she receives proper medical care.

Rights groups have long reported on detainee complaints about conditions in ICE detention facilities, calling the conditions inhumane. The federal government has denied treating detainees inhumanely.

Amnesty International says 175 members of Kordia’s family have been killed during Israel’s assault on Gaza since late 2023 following an attack by militant group Hamas.

The Homeland Security Department says Kordia, who was raised in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, was arrested for immigration violations related to overstaying her expired student visa. The DHS also says she was arrested by local authorities in 2024 during pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University that the department cast as being supportive of Hamas.

Kordia and other protesters, including some Jewish groups, say the government wrongly equates criticism of Israel’s assault on Gaza and its occupation of Palestinian territories with antisemitism, and advocacy for Palestinian rights with support for extremism.

Kordia has said she was targeted for pro-Palestinian activism and cast the conditions in her detention facility as “filthy, overcrowded and inhumane.”

President Donald Trump’s administration cracked down on pro-Palestinian protests by threatening to freeze federal funds for universities where protests occurred and by attempting to deport foreign protesters. It has faced legal obstacles while rights advocates say the crackdown hurts free speech and lacks due process.

Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Aurora Ellis

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Bipartisan Senate bill targets money laundering linked to drug trafficking, terrorism

February 9, 2026 3:05pm EST / Fox News

The act was introduced by GOP Sen Chuck Grassley and Democrat Sen Amy Klobuchar

By Brooke Singman
Fox News

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Sen. Amy Klobuchar introduced a bipartisan measure to crack down on money laundering by increasing penalties and ensuring laws apply to systems used by drug traffickers and terrorists.

Grassley, R-Iowa, and Klobuchar, D-Minn., introduced the “Combating Money Laundering, Terrorist Finance and Counterfeiting Act” Friday to enhance criminal money laundering statutes.

ALLEGED SINALOA CARTEL FENTANYL PRODUCER CHARGED IN NEWLY UNSEALED US FEDERAL INDICTMENT

The bill would update counterfeiting laws to prohibit state-of-the-art counterfeiting methods and increase penalties for bulk cash smuggling.

The bill would also ensure money laundering laws apply to informal value transfer systems that are often used by drug traffickers and terrorists.

The introduction of the bill comes as Trump administration officials warn that hostile actors, like cartels and terrorists, are funding operations through complex financial channels across the U.S. border.

Grassley and Klobuchar also said the bill would prohibit the cross-border shipment of blank checks for the purpose of evading reporting requirements.

“Criminal enterprises and terrorist organizations depend on ill-begotten cash to carry out their dark deeds. As money laundering methods have evolved over time, so must the government’s efforts to exact justice,” Grassley said, adding that their bill would ensure law enforcement “has the tools they need to track down dirty money, hold criminals accountable and prevent further crimes.”

Klobuchar added that as criminals and terrorist organizations “develop new methods to launder money, we must provide our law enforcement with the tools they need to keep American communities safe.”

FBI BUSTS ALLEGED MADURO-LINKED MONEY LAUNDERING NETWORK SPANNING MULTIPLE NATIONS

“This bipartisan legislation makes necessary updates to anti-money laundering statutes and counterfeiting laws, ensuring the law enforcement community can stay one step ahead of those working to undermine our nation’s safety and security,” she said.

The bill also would establish a new money laundering violation that would prohibit the transfer of funds into or out of the United States — funds specifically being transferred with the intent to violate U.S. income tax laws.

The bill would also prohibit conspiracies to create illegal money services businesses; grant wiretapping authority to investigate currency reporting, bulk cash smuggling, illegal money services businesses and counterfeiting offenses; and grant the U.S. Secret Service the explicit authority to investigate ransomware crimes and other uses of unlicensed money transmitting; and would ensure compliance with financial institutions.

The measure has wide support in the law enforcement community and has been endorsed by the Fraternal Order of Police, the National Association of Assistant U.S. Attorneys, the National Association of Police Organizations and the National District Attorneys Association.

“By clarifying the law in response to recent court decisions, strengthening penalties and expanding investigative authorities, this legislation will restore critical law enforcement tools and help disrupt transnational criminal organizations,” Patrick Yoes, president of the Fraternal Order of Police said, adding that the organization “strongly supports this bill, which would prevent criminals and terrorists from profiting from their crimes and protect public safety and national security.”

The National Association of Assistant U.S. Attorneys also endorsed the bill saying the “targeted reforms will strengthen investigations, improve prosecutorial clarity and better reflect how modern money-laundering schemes actually operate.”

Brooke Singman is a political correspondent and reporter for Fox News Digital, Fox News Channel and FOX Business.

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US Medicare agency proposes rules to reduce health insurance fraud

February 9, 2026 10:07 PM UTC / Reuters

U.S. dollar banknotes and medicines are seen in this illustration taken, June 27, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration [Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab]

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Feb 9 (Reuters) – The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on Monday proposed regulations to crack down on fraud and misleading practices by health insurance agents and brokers to lower healthcare costs.

The 2027 Payment Notice sets standards for health insurance issuers, brokers and agents who offer Affordable Care Act coverage.

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“This proposed rule lowers premiums, expands consumer choice, cracks down on fraud, and promotes innovative coverage that prioritizes prevention and long-term health,” said Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

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The proposed rule encourages new, consumer-focused plan designs that expand choice and support affordability, the agency said.

CMS has called for stronger eligibility and income verification, along with enhanced enforcement policies, to ensure premium subsidies are reserved for eligible individuals.

Reporting by Sneha S K in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona and Sriraj Kalluvila

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Election expert says Trump posts on false election conspiracies ‘appear like it’s more about 2026’ then 2020 | CNN Politics

By Dana Bash, CNN

Published 2:35 PM EST, Mon February 9, 2026

David Becker, the Executive Director & Founder of The Center for Election Innovation & Research joins Inside Politics to discuss the deluge of 2020 election conspiracies catching President Trump’s attention. Becker says he’s worried that Trump “is going to say our voting machines aren’t reliable even though we have paper everywhere and we can confirm them… then seek to use [that argument] to justify some extraordinary executive interference in the election.”

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Savannah Guthrie pleads for public’s help in search for missing mom Nancy: “An hour of desperation”

By Melissa Gaffney
Updated on: February 9, 2026 / 4:08 PM EST / CBS News

“Today” show co-host Savannah Guthrie issued a plea for the public’s help on Monday at what she called “an hour of desperation,” as the search for her missing mom, Nancy Guthrie, has entered its second week.

“We believe our mom is still out there,” she said in a video posted to her Instagram account. “We need your help.”

She started the video by saying she wanted to “come on and just share a few thoughts as we enter into another week of this nightmare.”

“I just want to say first of all, thank you so much for all of the prayers and the love that we have felt, my sister and brother and I, and that our mom has felt, because we believe that somehow, some way she is feeling these prayers and that God is lifting her even in this moment and in this darkest place,” Savannah Guthrie said.

“Law enforcement is working tirelessly around the clock trying to bring her home, trying to find her,” she continued. “She was taken and we don’t know where, and we need your help.”

Savannah Guthrie asked, “not just for your prayers, but no matter where you are, even if you’re far from Tucson, if you see anything, if you hear anything, if there’s anything at all that seems strange to you — that you report to law enforcement.”

“We are at an hour of desperation and we need your help,” she added.

The FBI says it is taking two emails seriously, including what appeared to be a ransom note with a second deadline set for Monday. The first deadline was 5 p.m. Thursday, authorities have said. Ransom payment was demanded in bitcoin, but authorities have released few details.

Authorities had not identified any suspects or persons of interest as of Monday.

Savannah Guthrie and her two siblings, Camron and Annie Guthrie, shared a third videotaped plea over the weekend to whoever may have taken their 84-year-old mother from her Tucson, Arizona, home in what the sheriff has called an overnight abduction. Nancy Guthrie was reported missing on Feb. 1.

Savannah Guthrie and mother, Nancy Guthrie, on June 15, 2023. Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images

“We received your message and we understand,” Savannah Guthrie said Saturday in a short video. “We beg you now to return our mother to us so that we can celebrate with her. This is the only way we will have peace. This is very valuable to us and we will pay.”

An FBI spokesman said Savannah Guthrie was referring to a message sent to CBS News’ Tucson affiliate, KOLD, on Friday, The Associated Press reported. The television station received a message earlier last week that included the demand for payment.

KOLD said it would not release details about the contents of Friday’s message, citing respect for the family and the investigation. It is still not known if the messages are credible.

Anyone with possible information on Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance is asked to call 520-882-7463.

Over the weekend, investigators searched what appeared to be a septic tank in Nancy Guthrie’s backyard. FBI agents on Friday had removed a camera from the roof of Nancy Guthrie’s home and towed a dark-colored SUV from her garage.

CBS News has learned that investigators also canvassed nearby gas stations in an effort to track down any vehicles captured on surveillance cameras around the time Nancy Guthrie went missing.

Jonathan Vigliotti and Sarah Lynch Baldwin contributed to this report.

Secretary of state urges China to grant humanitarian parole to 78-year-old Catholic publisher convicted under national security law

By Morgan Phillips
Fox News

Published February 9, 2026 3:27pm EST

The U.S. urged China to reverse what Secretary of State Marco Rubio called an “unjust and tragic” sentence against Hong Kong publisher and democracy activist Jimmy Lai, after Beijing-backed courts handed the 78-year-old a 20-year prison term under the national security law.

“The conviction shows the world that Beijing will go to extraordinary lengths to silence those who advocate fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong,” Rubio said in a statement. “The United States urges the authorities to grant Mr. Lai humanitarian parole.”

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) used Hong Kong’s courts to sentence Lai on Monday, cementing one of the most consequential national security cases since Beijing imposed a sweeping new law in the wake of months-long anti-CCP protests.

Lai, a billionaire media entrepreneur, founded the now-shuttered Apple Daily newspaper in 1995, once Hong Kong’s most outspoken pro-democracy publication. He is among the highest-profile figures arrested under the 2020 National Security Law Beijing imposed following the unrest.

The protests, sparked by fears Beijing was eroding Hong Kong’s promised autonomy, were followed by a sweeping security crackdown that criminalized dissent and reshaped the city’s legal system.

MARCO RUBIO VOICES CONCERN THAT AMERICANS MAY SOMEDAY BE ARRESTED FOR SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS WHEN VISITING EUROPE

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The sentence also puts renewed pressure on President Donald Trump, who has previously spoken out about Lai’s detention and is expected to travel to Beijing in April amid broader negotiations with China.

Human rights advocates and some lawmakers have urged Trump to raise Lai’s case directly with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, warning that silence would be read in Beijing as acquiescence.

Trump said in December 2025 that he had personally urged Xi to release Lai.

“I spoke to President Xi about it, and I asked to consider his release,” Trump said. “He’s not well, he’s an older man, and he’s not well, so I did put that request out. We’ll see what happens.”

Hong Kong authorities convicted Lai of two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces, a national security offense under the Beijing-imposed law. Prosecutors argued that Lai and his co-defendants used his media platform and international network to lobby for sanctions, blockades or other hostile actions by foreign governments against China and Hong Kong — actions the court said threatened national security.

Judges labeled Lai the “mastermind” of the alleged plots.

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Lai also was convicted of conspiracy to publish seditious materials under a separate provision of Hong Kong’s colonial-era Crimes Ordinance, applied in conjunction with the national security regime. Prosecutors cited hundreds of Apple Daily articles they said were designed to “incite public hatred or contempt” against authorities.

Lai and his defense team rejected that characterization as criminalizing expression.

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Sebastian Lai, the publisher’s son, said the sentence effectively amounts to a life term given his father’s age and deteriorating health.

“Twenty years, he’s 78 years old now. This is essentially a life sentence — or more like a death sentence, given the conditions he’s being kept in,” Sebastian Lai told Fox Monday.

He said his father has lost significant weight in detention and now suffers from heart issues and diabetes, adding, “We’re incredibly worried about his life.”

Sebastian Lai said his father, a Catholic, remains “a man of deep faith” despite years in detention, believing “no matter how hard the conditions he was under, that he still did the right thing.”

He also recalled that his father declined multiple opportunities to leave Hong Kong before his arrest, choosing instead to stay rather than abandon his principles or colleagues.

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The younger Lai said his father’s case should serve as a warning for Taiwan, arguing that Beijing’s promise of autonomy under a “one country, two systems” model in Hong Kong has revealed how tightly mainland China ultimately controls the territory.

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Lai already has spent more than five years in prison, serving a separate sentence for a fraud conviction and for organizing unauthorized assemblies during the protests.

His defense has argued the case criminalized political speech and journalism rather than genuine national security threats. They say Lai’s calls for international pressure on Beijing amounted to lawful advocacy and that meetings with U.S. officials and media appearances were routine for a prominent publisher and democracy advocate, not evidence of conspiracy.