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Thursday, January 15, 2026

Driver charged with assault after allegedly ramming ICE vehicles in December stop

January 15, 2026
Evidence photo from the indictment against Jerron Lopez-Sanchez.  (Eastern District Court of Texas)

Federal officials announced assault charges Thursday against a man they accuse of using a truck to ram into federal agents' vehicles during an immigration stop in Dallas last month.

Jerson Lopez-Sanchez, 28, was charged with three counts of assaulting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, according to a grand jury indictment filed in the Eastern District of Texas. He is not currently in custody and has yet to turn himself in, the indictment said.

Jay Combs, the interim U.S. attorney for the district, told reporters that the ICE agents were clearly identified as law enforcement at the time of the incident.

"When someone runs down an ICE officer — or any federal or local law enforcement officer — those deadly weapons act as battering rams," Combs said. "It is a violent attack and it will not be tolerated."

Lopez-Sanchez did not have any known criminal background or active warrants known to officials as of Thursday, Combs said.

The charges stem from a Dec. 1 incident in which ICE agents on patrol were asked do a "routine check" on a Chevrolet Silverado, the indictment said. Officials said five people were in the truck, but Lopez-Sanchez was the owner and driver of the Silverado.

Agents realized through a check of ICE's "internal systems" that Lopez-Sanchez was a foreign national with no legal entries or applications for lawful status, the indictment continued.

The indictment describes a traffic stop in which three ICE vehicles surround the Silverado, with a Jeep at the rear and a Chrysler van in front of the truck. The indictment alleges Lopez-Sanchez reversed the Silverado and rammed into the Jeep to make room to flee.

The indictment says agents pursued Lopez-Sanchez after he rammed the Jeep, including agents in the Chrysler van who attempted to position their vehicle to block Lopez-Sanchez.

Prosecutors allege the Silverado accelerated into the agents' van and "crossed over opposite lanes of traffic," causing "significant damage" to the van documented in photographs included in the indictment. The photos show a van with its front smashed in and apparent smoke coming from the engine block.

"The ramming was so violent that it deployed all the air bags in the vehicle," Combs said. "911 was called to assist the passenger in that vehicle, an ICE agent."

Officials declined to detail the injuries to agents in the incident, though the indictment describes the passenger as having injuries to his back and neck.

Combs said a third ICE vehicle followed the Silverado for about 10 minutes before Lopez-Sanchez stopped his truck on a median. Three of the people inside the Silverado were detained but Lopez-Sanchez and one other fled on foot, Combs said.

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New Czech government of populist leader Andrej Babiš wins a mandatory confidence vote

January 15, 2026
New Czech government of populist leader Andrej Babiš wins a mandatory confidence vote

PRAGUE (AP) — The Czech Republic's new government led by populist Prime MinisterAndrej Babišwon a mandatory confidence vote in the lower house of Parliament on Thursday over its agenda aimed at steering the country away from supporting Ukraine and rejecting some key European Union policies.

Lawmakers voted 108-91 in favor of the coalition in the ballot that every new administration must win to govern.

Babiš, previously prime minister in two governments from 2017-2021, and his ANO, or YES, movement,won big in the country's October electionand formed a majority coalition with two small political groups, the Freedom and Direct Democracy anti-migrant party and the right-wing Motorists for Themselves.

The parties, which share admiration for U.S. PresidentDonald Trump, created a 16-member Cabinet.

The political comeback by Babiš and his new alliance with two small government newcomers are expected to significantly redefine the nation's foreign and domestic policies.

Unlike the previous pro-Western government, Babiš has rejected any financial aid for Ukraine and guarantees for EU loans to the country fightingthe Russian invasion,joining the ranks ofViktor Orbánof Hungary andRobert Ficoof Slovakia.

But his government would not abandon a Czech initiative that managed to acquire some 1.8 million much-needed artillery shells for Ukraine only last year on markets outside the EU on condition the Czechs would only administer it but would not contribute money.

The Freedom party sees no future for the Czechs in the EU and NATO, and wants to expel most of 380,000 Ukrainian refugees in the country.

The Motorists, who are in charge of the environment and foreign ministries, rejected the EUGreen Dealand proposed the revival of the coal industry.

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US, Taiwan reach trade deal focused on semiconductors, US Commerce Department says

January 15, 2026
US, Taiwan reach trade deal focused on semiconductors, US Commerce Department says

WASHINGTON, Jan 15 (Reuters) - The U.S. and Taiwan clinched a trade deal on Thursday that cuts ​tariffs on many of the semiconductor powerhouse's ‌exports, directs new investments in the U.S. technology industry and risks ‌infuriating China.

The deal deepens the Trump administration's ties with Taipei at a critical time as China ratchets up pressure on the island and Washington has worked to avoid ⁠an all-out trade ‌war with Beijing.

Under the long-negotiated deal, Taiwanese chipmakers like TSMC that expand U.S. production ‍will get a lower tax rate for semiconductors they import into the U.S.

And a set of broad tariffs that apply ​to most other Taiwanese exports to the U.S. ‌will be lowered, from 20% to 15%. Generic pharmaceuticals, aircraft components and "unavailable natural resources" will face a 0% tariff, the Commerce Department said.

In exchange, Taiwanese technology companies, such as TSMC, are expected to make investments totaling ⁠at least $250 billion to increase ​production of semiconductors, energy and ​artificial intelligencein the United States. That includes $100 billion already committed by TSMC in 2025, with ‍more to come, ⁠according to U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

Taiwan will also guarantee another $250 billion in credit to make ⁠additional investments possible, the Trump administration said.

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt, David ‌Lawder, Stephen Nellis, Ismail Shakil and Christian ‌Martinez; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

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