Federal authorities have opened a criminal probe into whether two immigration officers lied under oath about a shooting in Minneapolis last month, as all charges were dropped against two Venezuelan men. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Todd Lyons said Friday that his agency had opened a joint probe with the Justice Department after video evidence revealed “sworn testimony provided by two separate officers appears to have made untruthful statements” about the shooting of one of the Venezuelan men. The officers, whose names were not disclosed, are on administrative leave pending the completion of an internal investigation. Lyons added that the U.S. attorney’s office is actively investigating.

Former CNN host Don Lemon has pleaded not guilty to federal civil rights charges in Minnesota. The veteran journalist is among several people accused in a Jan. 18 protest at Cities Church in St. Paul where an Immigration and Customs Enforcement official serves as a pastor. Four other people pleaded not guilty in the case Friday, including civil rights attorney and prominent local activist Nekima Levy Armstrong. Lemon says he was chronicling the protest as an independent journalist. Prosecutors have accused him of joining a “mob.” Lemon says he will fight to defend his First Amendment rights. Nine people have been indicted in the case.

Another shutdown for parts of the federal government is expected this weekend. Funding for the Department of Homeland Security is set to expire Saturday as lawmakers debate new restrictions on President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement agenda. The White House has been negotiating with the Democrats, but the two sides failed to reach a deal by the deadline. Unlike the record 43-day shutdown last fall, the closures will be narrowly confined, as only agencies that are part of Homeland Security will be affected. Still some federal workers could begin to miss paychecks and services like airport screening could be affected if the shutdown drags on for weeks.

President Trump used a Fort Bragg appearance on Friday to praise U.S. Special Forces for last month's raid that removed Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro. But his visit also felt at times more like a political rally than an official trip to fete the military. Trump said he planned to award the Medal of Honor to one of the raid's participants. But he also called Michael Whatley, a Republican Senate candidate in North Carolina, to the stage. Trump told troops and their families that the operation against Maduro shows America’s military might. The president mentioned sending a second aircraft carrier group to the Middle East amid tensions with Iran and said that the U.S. is “feared” by potential enemies.

More than 4,000 calls came into an Arizona sheriff's department within 24 hours after the release of videos of a masked person on Nancy Guthrie’s porch. Many will be worthless. Others could have merit. Experts say one thing’s certain: The tips can’t be ignored. Images of a mysterious person have been the most significant clues shared with the public during Guthrie’s disappearance in the Tucson area. She is the mother of NBC “Today” co-anchor Savannah Guthrie. Roberto Villaseñor, a former Tucson police chief, says processing tips is a tremendous amount of work. The FBI says it has collected more than 13,000 tips since Feb. 1, and the sheriff's office says it's received at least 18,000.

New England Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs has pleaded not guilty to a felony strangulation charge and a misdemeanor assault and battery charge stemming from an alleged dispute with his former private chef. According to a police report, the woman told officers Diggs struck her and attempted to choke her during an argument about unpaid wages in early December. Diggs’ attorney has denied the allegations, calling them unsubstantiated and tied to a financial dispute. The Patriots have said they support Diggs. Friday's arraignment comes days after the team’s 29-13 loss to Seattle in Super Bowl LX.

The replacements for the astronauts involved in NASA's first medical evacuation are on their way to the International Space Station. SpaceX launched the fresh crew on Friday from Florida. The four astronauts are representing the U.S., France and Russia and should reach the orbiting lab Saturday. They'll fill the vacancies left by their evacuated colleagues. NASA had to put spacewalks on hold and defer other duties after an unidentified astronaut experienced a serious medical issue in January. The entire crew returned to Earth more than a month early, leaving three astronauts in orbit.

The fallout from the Jeffrey Epstein case is spreading around the world. Politicians, diplomats, business leaders and royals have seen reputations tarnished, investigations launched and jobs lost. It comes after a trove of more than 3 million pages of Epstein-related documents revealed their ties to the U.S. financier and convicted sex offender who died behind bars in 2019. In some of the most recent developments, one of the world's largest logistics companies replaced its chairman, and the top lawyer for Goldman Sachs said she will resign.

The world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, has been ordered to sail from the Caribbean Sea to the Middle East. That's according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity. It puts more American firepower behind President Donald Trump’s efforts to coerce Iran into a deal over its nuclear program. The move, first reported by The New York Times, will put two carriers and their accompanying warships in the region. Trump warned Iran this week that failure to reach a deal with his administration would be “very traumatic.”

A key measure of inflation fell to nearly a five-year low last month as apartment rental price growth slowed and gas prices fell, offering some relief to Americans still grappling with the sharp increase in costs of the past five years. Friday’s report suggests inflation could be cooling, but it comes after the cost of food, gas, and apartment rents have soared since the pandemic, with consumer prices about 25% higher than they were five years ago. The increase in such a broad range of costs has become a high-profile political issue under the rubric of “affordability.”