There are many crowdfunding campaigns online tied to Renee Good’s killing, but are any legit?

MINNEAPOLIS — There is an increasing number of campaigns being hosted by one of the nation’s leading crowdfunding platforms claiming to be collecting money on behalf of the family of Renee Good, the woman killed by an ICE agent this week in Minneapolis.

As of Jan. 9, one effort among the 30 or so leads the way with a tally topping $1.5 million and is the only one so far that GoFundMe has verified as legitimate.

“We are here brokenhearted and in awe of your generosity,” wrote Becka Tilsen, one of the organizers of the fast-growing fundraising effort. “My family met Renee and Becca after they moved to town and become fast friends.

“We will be adding Becca, Renee’s partner, as a beneficiary as soon as possible. They will have direct access to all of these funds. Thank you again for your compassion. They feel this tidal wave of care, and it really matters.”

—The Minnesota Star Tribune

Wealthy New Yorkers and celebs, potential Mayor Zohran Mamdani tax targets, helped fund his transition

NEW YORK — Wealthy celebrities and investors — including many who could be targeted by Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s proposed tax hikes on millionaires — pumped tens of thousands of dollars into his transition coffers last month, new filings reviewed by the Daily News show.

The December donors include members of the super-wealthy Pritzker and Soros dynasties as well as Hollywood stars like Mark Ruffalo, Lupita Nyong’O, Bill Camp and Morgan Spector.

In total, the mayor raked in $1.2 million from over 6,000 donors for his transition fund last month — with half of that haul coming from just 200 individuals who gave Mamdani the maximum donation of $3,700, the new filings released late Thursday show.

That came on top of the $2.6 million he pulled in over the course of November, making his transition committee one of the most well-funded in modern New York City memory.

—New York Daily News

Iran's supreme leader vows to crack down on protesters, blames Trump

BEIRUT — Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivered a defiant speech on Friday, excoriating protesters as "saboteurs" and insisting the Islamic Republic would "not back down," even as the country remains in the throes of a full communications blackout amid growing antigovernment demonstrations.

Speaking before a crowd that periodically broke into chants of "Death to America," Khamenei accused protesters of working on President Donald Trump's behalf, saying they were acting "as mercenaries for foreigners."

"Last night in Tehran, a bunch of vandals came and destroyed buildings that belonged to them to please the U.S. president," he said, adding that Trump's hands were "stained with the blood of thousands of Iranians."

In recent days, Trump has vowed to strike Iran's leadership if government personnel kill protesters, a threat he repeated once again in an interview with Fox News late Thursday.

—Los Angeles Times

Russia’s attack with Oreshnik missile meant to intimidate

The Russian Oreshnik ballistic missile that hit the Ukrainian city of Lviv carried no explosives and hit nothing of military value, implying it was meant to coerce rather than inflict major damage.

The missile struck residential areas in Lviv late Thursday, Ukrainian officials said. There were no casualties, though critical infrastructure was damaged, Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said in a video address.

When Russia hit Ukraine with another Oreshnik in 2024, it first notified the U.S. — which has satellites that can spot missile launches anywhere on Earth — to prevent the attack from being misidentified as a nuclear strike. It wasn’t clear whether Russia also followed that protocol Thursday.

The empty warheads, the fact that the missile was launched from the Kapustin Yar test range in Russia, and that it didn’t hit a military target implies it is being used as a weapon of terror or pressure, said Mick Ryan, a retired Australian Army general and a senior fellow at the Lowy Institute.

—Bloomberg News