Associated Press

Associated Press

Minnesotans welcome the immigration surge drawdown but remain vigilant

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Trump administration’s drawdown of its immigration enforcement surge in the Twin Cities area has been met with relief, but state officials and residents say its effects on Minnesota’s economy and immigrant communities will linger. Thousands of officers were sent to the Minneapolis and St. Paul area for Operation Metro Surge, which […]
7 months ago

A US shipment of medicines and medical supplies to Venezuela signals a new era of cooperation

MAIQUETIA, Venezuela (AP) — A shipment from the United States of medicines and medical supplies arrived in Venezuela on Friday, reflecting the new spirit of cooperation between the two countries following the stunning capture last month of then-President Nicolás Maduro. Laura Dogu, the U.S. top diplomat in the South American country, and Venezuelan diplomat Félix […]
7 months ago

Justice Department sues Harvard for data as it investigates how race factors into admissions

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is suing Harvard University, saying it has refused to provide admissions records that the Justice Department demanded to ensure the Ivy League school stopped using affirmative action in admissions. In a lawsuit filed Friday in federal court in Massachusetts, the Justice Department said Harvard has “thwarted” efforts to investigate […]
7 months ago

The return of millions of Afghans from Pakistan and Iran pushes Afghanistan to the brink, UN warns

GENEVA (AP) — The return of millions of Afghans from neighboring Pakistan and Iran is pushing Afghanistan to the brink, the U.N. refugee agency said on Friday, describing an unprecedented scale of returns. A total of 5.4 million people have returned to Afghanistan since October 2023, mostly from the two neighboring countries, UNHCR’s Afghanistan representative […]
7 months ago

San Francisco teachers, district reach deal after first strike in decades

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — San Francisco teachers who have been on strike over wages and family health benefits have reached a tentative agreement with the school district. The San Francisco Unified School District says schools will reopen to staff Friday and to students Wednesday after two holidays. The strike by about 6,000 public schoolteachers started […]
7 months ago

Judge sentences teen to life without parole for fatally shooting 5 in North Carolina

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A judge sentenced an 18-year-old who acknowledged killing five people in a North Carolina mass shooting to life in prison without parole Friday, rejecting arguments that he deserved the chance for release decades from now. Austin David Thompson was 15 during the Oct. 13, 2022, attack that began at his Raleigh […]
7 months ago

Falling cocoa prices won’t necessarily mean cheaper Valentine’s Day chocolates

Cocoa prices have fallen nearly 70% since last Valentine’s Day, but that won’t make heart-shaped boxes of chocolate or even chocolate Easter bunnies more affordable this year. Chocolate prices at U.S. retail stores rose 14% between Jan. 1 and the first week of February compared to the same period last year, according to market research […]
7 months ago

What to know about the Homeland Security shutdown starting this weekend

Another shutdown for parts of the federal government is expected this weekend as lawmakers debate new restrictions on President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement agenda. Funding for the Department of Homeland Security is set to expire Saturday. Democrats say they won’t help approve more funding until new restrictions are placed on federal immigration operations after the […]
7 months ago

Patriots’ Stefon Diggs to be arraigned and denies assault allegation

BOSTON (AP) — New England Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs is scheduled to be arraigned Friday in Massachusetts on felony strangulation and other criminal charges stemming from an alleged dispute with his personal chef. The arraignment at Dedham District Court was postponed until after Super Bowl LX so Diggs could play in the NFL championship […]
7 months ago

US spent $40 million on roughly 300 deportations to third nations, Democratic report finds

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration spent at least $40 million to deport roughly 300 migrants to countries other than their own as immigration officials expanded the practice over the last year to carry out President Donald Trump’s goals of quickly removing immigrants from the U.S., according to a report compiled by the Democratic staff […]
7 months ago

Trump’s push for Greenland reveals a political weak spot, new AP-NORC poll finds

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans may be willing to stick with President Donald Trump through almost anything, but his recent push to seize control of Greenland has turned off many in his own party, according to a new AP-NORC poll. The survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that about 7 in […]
7 months ago

Norway’s Klaebo makes history on skis, ties all-time Winter Olympics gold record

TESERO, Italy (AP) — Friday the 13th will be remembered as a lucky day for Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo Norway’s cross-country skiing star won an eighth gold medal at the Milan Cortina Olympics Friday, tying an all‑time Winter Games record. The 29‑year‑old claimed victory in the men’s 10 kilometer interval‑start race, for his third gold at […]
7 months ago

Heraskevych loses appeal, but already knew his chance of racing in Olympics is over

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych lost an appeal of his disqualification from the Milan Cortina Olympics on Friday, yet already knew there was no pathway for him to compete in the race. The Court of Arbitration for Sport denied the appeal, agreeing with the International Olympic Committee and the sliding […]
7 months ago

What can toughen Louisiana coast against worsening storms? 4 years and 30,000 trees

MERAUX, La. (AP) — Across the calm waters behind a pumping station near Lake Borgne, hundreds of saplings stand out in the mist, wrapped in white plastic cylinders. To get there and to other sites like it, organizers have ferried dozens of volunteers week after week in airboats. They have a trailer equipped with supplies. […]
7 months ago

Prosecutors move to dismiss charges against men accused of hitting ICE officer with broom and shovel

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Federal prosecutors in Minneapolis have moved to drop felony assault charges against two Venezuelan men, including one shot in the leg by a immigration officer, after new evidence emerged undercutting the government’s version of events. In a filing Thursday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota said “newly discovered evidence” […]
7 months ago

Shooting at South Carolina State University residence complex kills 2 and wounds 1

ORANGEBURG, S.C. (AP) — Two people are dead and one person wounded after a shooting at a South Carolina State University residential complex, the university said Thursday. University officials have not confirmed the victims’ identities or the condition of the person wounded, the school said in a news release. The school put the campus in […]
7 months ago

Trump heads to Fort Bragg to cheer special forces members who ousted Venezuela’s Maduro

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is heading to North Carolina on Friday to celebrate members of the special forces who stormed into Venezuela on the third day of the New Year and whisked away that country’s leader, Nicolás Maduro, to face U.S. smuggling charges. First lady Melania Trump will also be making the trip […]
7 months ago

Journalist Don Lemon set to be arraigned in Minnesota church protest case

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Former CNN host turned independent journalist Don Lemon is set to be arraigned in federal court in Minnesota on Friday along with four other defendants who were indicted for their alleged roles in disrupting a service at church where an Immigration and Customs Enforcement official was a pastor. Also scheduled […]
7 months ago

Sex workers at Nevada brothel fight for the first-ever unionization

PAHRUMP, Nev. (AP) — Nevada is the only state where people can legally purchase sex, and now sex workers at one of the state’s oldest brothels are fighting to become the nation’s first to be unionized. “We want the same things that any other worker wants. We want a safe and respectful workplace,” said a […]
7 months ago

Trump boasts of over $1.5B in political funds. How he chooses to spend it could rock the midterms

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has bragged about building a political war chest exceeding $1.5 billion — a staggering sum that he can wield at his whim to shape November’s midterms and the 2028 race to succeed him. Trump’s stockpile — which dwarfs any amounts raised by his predecessors in their second terms — […]
7 months ago

Experts say screening tips in Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance is ‘tremendous’ and critical work

An Arizona sheriff’s department got more than 4,000 calls within 24 hours after the release of videos of a masked person on Nancy Guthrie’s porch. Many tips will be worthless. Others could have merit. Experts say one thing’s certain: They can’t be ignored. Tips can solve crimes — big or small — and eerie images […]
7 months ago

Actress Rose Byrne honored as Harvard’s Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year with parade and roast

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — Rose Byrne, fresh off her Golden Globe Award win and Oscar nomination for the leading role in “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,” will be honored Friday as the 2026 Woman of the Year by Harvard University’s Hasty Pudding Theatricals. Byrne, who also has starred in “Bridesmaids,” “Neighbors,” “Insidious” and […]
7 months ago

As electricity costs rise, everyone wants data centers to pick up their tab. But how?

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — As outrage spreads over energy-hungry data centers, politicians from President Donald Trump to local lawmakers have found rare bipartisan agreement over insisting that tech companies — and not regular people — must foot the bill for the exorbitant amount of electricity required for artificial intelligence. But that might be where the […]
7 months ago

Professors in the Epstein files say they hoped friendship would lead to research funding

WASHINGTON (AP) — There were Nobel laureates and acclaimed authors. Pioneers of science and medicine. At least one was a college president. High-profile academics spun in Jeffrey Epstein’s orbit for years, even after he was convicted of sex crimes. Now, facing backlash, many say they were driven by a single factor: Epstein’s wealth. A new […]
7 months ago