News in :90 – Feb. 11, 2022

President Joe Biden signed an executive order Friday to create a pathway to split $7 billion in Afghan assets frozen in the U.S. to fund humanitarian relief in Afghanistan and to create a trust fund to compensate Sept. 11 victims.

Taliban political spokesman Mohammad Naeem criticized the Biden administration for not releasing all the funds to Afghanistan. In a tweet, Naeem called it “the lowest level of humanity.” The Biden administration pushed back against criticism saying that the 9/11 claimants under the U.S. legal system have a right to have their day in court.

The Biden administration is still working through details of setting up the trust fund, an effort the white house says will likely take months to sort out.

A fifteen-year-old Minneapolis student was shot Wednesday while walking to a bus stop. the victim, Deshaun Hill Junior, was an honor roll student and quarterback for the North High School football team. Police found Hill with a life-threatening gunshot wound Wednesday afternoon. He died on Thursday.

Minneapolis Public Schools Superintendent Ed Graff called it a “devastating loss” and denounced gun violence in the city.

No arrests have been made.

A 19-year-old Shoreview man has been charged with third-degree criminal sexual conduct for a Feb. 4 incident that occurred in a St. Thomas dormitory.

A Ramsey County criminal complaint alleges that Jacob Collier, 19, sexually assaulted a St. Thomas student around 4 a.m. The woman went to a hospital that morning and underwent a sexual assault examination before going to her parents’ house.

The university said they do not comment on active law enforcement investigations involving St. Thomas students.

“Our focus is on providing support and resources to the victim, and on continuing to fully cooperate with police investigators,”a spokesman for the university wrote in a statement.

If convicted, Collier faces up to 15 years in prison, a $30,000 fine, or both.

Ruth Moder can be reached at mode7519@stthomas.edu.