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This undated photo released by New Castle County Police, Del., on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026, shows William Stevenson. (New Castle County Police via AP) 2026-02-03T18:56:18Z WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — The first husband of former first lady Jill Biden has been charged with killing his wife at their Delaware home in late December, authorities announced in a news release Tuesday. William Stevenson, 77, of Wilmington was married to Jill Biden from 1970 to 1975. Caroline Harrison, the Delaware Attorney General’s spokesperson, confirmed in a phone call that Stevenson is the former husband of Jill Biden. Stevenson remains in jail after failing to post $500,000 bail after his arrest Monday on first-degree murder charges. He is charged with killing Linda Stevenson, 64, on Dec. 28. Police were called to the home for a reported domestic dispute after 11 p.m. and found a woman unresponsive in the living room, according to a prior news release. Life-saving measures were unsuccessful. She ran a bookkeeping business and was described as a family-oriented mother and grandmother and a Philadelphia Eagles fan, according to her obituary, which does not mention her husband. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Stevenson was charged in a grand jury indictment after a weekslong investigation by detectives in the Delaware Department of Justice. It was not immediately clear if Stevenson has a lawyer. He founded a popular music venue in Newark called the Stone Balloon in the early 1970s. Jill Biden married U.S. Sen. Joe Biden in 1977. He served as U.S. president from January 2021 to January 2025.

Activists are approached by a federal agent brandishing a firearm, for following agent vehicles, on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy) 2026-02-03T18:16:33Z MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Immigration officers with guns drawn arrested some activists who were trailing their vehicles on Tuesday in Minneapolis, a sign that tensions have not eased since the departure last week of a high-profile commander . At least one person who had an anti-ICE message on clothing was handcuffed while face-down on the ground. An Associated Press photographer witnessed the arrests. An activist is detained by federal agents on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy) An activist is detained by federal agents on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy) --> Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. --> Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Federal agents lately have been conducting more targeted immigration arrests at homes and neighborhoods, rather than staging in parking lots. The convoys have been harder to find and less aggressive. Alerts in activist group chats have been more about sightings than immigration-related detainments. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Several cars followed officers through south Minneapolis after there were reports of them knocking at homes. Officers stopped their vehicles and ordered activists to come out of a car at gunpoint. Agents told reporters at the scene to stay back and threatened to use pepper spray. Activists are approached by federal agents for following agent vehicles, on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy) Activists are approached by federal agents for following agent vehicles, on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy) --> Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. --> Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More There was no immediate response to a request for comment from the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. A federal judge last month put limits on how officers treat motorists who are following them but not obstructing their operations. Safely following agents “at an appropriate distance does not, by itself, create reasonable suspicion to justify a vehicle stop,” the judge said. An appeals court, however, set the order aside. US--Immigration Enforcement-Minnesota-Noem At a news conference, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem says she is grateful for the judges order not halting the immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota as a lawsuit proceeds. Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino, who was leading an immigration crackdown in Minneapolis and other big U.S. cities, left town last week, shortly after the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, the second local killing of a U.S. citizen in January. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Trump administration border czar Tom Homan was dispatched to Minnesota instead. He warned that protesters could face consequences if they interfere with officers. An activist is detained by federal agents on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy) An activist is detained by federal agents on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy) --> Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. --> Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Meanwhile, a man charged with squirting apple cider vinegar on Democratic U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar will remain in jail. U.S. Magistrate Judge David Schultz granted a federal prosecutor’s request to deny bond to Anthony Kazmierczak. “We simply cannot have protesters and people — whatever side of the aisle they’re on — running up to representatives who are conducting official business, and holding town halls, and assaulting them,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Bejar said Tuesday. Defense attorney John Fossum said the vinegar posed a low risk to Omar. He said Kazmierczak’s health problems weren’t being properly addressed in jail and that his release would be appropriate. An activist is detained by federal agents on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy) An activist is detained by federal agents on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy) --> Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. --> Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More ___ Raza reported from Sioux Falls, South Dakota. AP reporter Ed White in Detroit contributed. SARAH RAZA Raza covers South Dakota for The Associated Press. She is based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. twitter mailto STEVE KARNOWSKI Karnowski covers politics and government from Minnesota for The Associated Press. He also covers the ongoing fallout from the murder of George Floyd, courts and the environment, among other topics. twitter mailto

Former President Bill Clinton, left, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton listen as Vice President Kamala Harris delivers a eulogy for U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, Aug. 1, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File) 2026-02-03T17:52:33Z WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton finalized an agreement with House Republicans Tuesday to testify in a House investigation into Jeffrey Epstein this month, bowing to the threat of a contempt of Congress vote against them. Hillary Clinton will testify before the House Oversight Committee on Feb. 26 and Bill Clinton will appear on Feb. 27. It will mark the first time that lawmakers have compelled a former president to testify. The arrangement comes after months of negotiating between the two sides as Republicans sought to make the Clintons a focal point in a House committee’s investigation into Epstein, a convicted sex offender who killed himself in a New York jail cell in 2019, and Ghislaine Maxwell, his former girlfriend. “We look forward to now questioning the Clintons as part of our investigation into the horrific crimes of Epstein and Maxwell, to deliver transparency and accountability for the American people and for survivors,” Rep. James Comer, the chair of the House Oversight Committee, said in a statement. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); For months, the Clintons resisted subpoenas from the committee, but House Republicans — with support from a few Democrats — had advanced criminal contempt of Congress charges to a potential vote this week. It threatened the Clintons with the potential for substantial fines and even prison time if they had been convicted. Even as the Clintons bowed to that pressure, the negotiating between GOP lawmakers and attorneys for the Clintons was marked by distrust as they wrangled over the details of the deposition. They agreed to have the closed-door depositions transcribed and recorded on video, Comer said. But the belligerence is likely to only grow as Republicans relish the opportunity to grill longtime political foes under oath. Clinton, like a number of other high-powered men , had a well-documented relationship with Epstein in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He has not been accused of wrongdoing in his interactions with the late financier. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Both Clintons have said they had no knowledge that Epstein was sexually abusing underage girls. The Clintons initially argued the subpoenas for their testimony were invalid and offered to submit sworn declarations on their limited knowledge of Epstein’s crimes. But as Comer threatened to proceed with contempt of Congress charges, they began looking for an off-ramp. Both Clintons have remained highly critical of how Comer has handled the Epstein investigation and argue that he is more focused on bringing them in for testimony rather than holding the Trump administration accountable for how it has handled the release of its files on Epstein. Still, the threat of a vote on contempt charges raised the potential for Congress to use one of its most severe punishments against a former president for the first time. Historically, Congress has shown deference to former presidents. None has ever been forced to testify before lawmakers, although a few have voluntarily done so. STEPHEN GROVES Groves covers Congress for The Associated Press. twitter mailto

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen, left, walks outside the courtroom during a short break in her appeals trial in Paris, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Michel Euler) 2026-02-03T13:29:45Z PARIS (AP) — French prosecutors Tuesday requested a five-year ban on holding elected office against far-right leader Marine Le Pen in a crucial appeal trial in Paris , an outcome that may prevent her from running in the 2027 presidential election. Le Pen, 57, is seeking to overturn a March 2025 ruling that found her guilty of misusing European Parliament funds in the hiring of aides from 2004 to 2016. Prosecutors accused Le Pen of being at the head of a “system” meant to “siphon off” EU public funds to the benefit of her party. In addition, they requested one year of house arrest with an electronic bracelet and a 100,000 euro fine ($118,000) against Le Pen. The appeals court’s verdict is expected at a later date, possibly before summer. During the trial that started last month, Le Pen acknowledged some people performed work for her party, then known as the National Front, while being paid as EU parliamentary aides, calling it “a mistake.” freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); One of the prosecutors, Thierry Ramonatxo, said Tuesday the alleged misappropriation of public funds represents “a very serious breach of probity” that gave the party “a concrete advantage in the form of substantial savings made at the expense of the European Parliament.” Stéphane Madoz-Blanchet, another prosecutor, denounced “a system” led by Le Pen. “The acts of misappropriation of public funds were deliberately and carefully concealed,” he said. The appeal trial, involving Le Pen, 10 other defendants and the National Rally party as a legal entity, is scheduled to last until next week. Prosecutors noted the “seriousness of the facts” and asked the appeals court, composed of a panel of three judges, to find party officials guilty, with a ban on elected office. Speaking to journalists in the courtroom Tuesday, Le Pen said: “I never expect a pleasant surprise when I set foot in a courtroom.” “I’m not the one who decides. I don’t hold the cards,” she added. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Le Pen was seen as the potential front-runner to succeed President Emmanuel Macron in the 2027 election until last year’s ruling, which sent shock waves through French politics. Several scenarios are possible, from acquittal to another conviction that may bar Le Pen from running in 2027. She also could face an even tougher punishment if convicted anew — up to 10 years in prison and a fine of 1 million euros ($1.17 million). If she becomes ineligible, she has designated her 30-year-old protégé, Jordan Bardella, as her successor in the presidential bid. SYLVIE CORBET Corbet is an Associated Press reporter based in Paris. She covers French politics, diplomacy and defense as well as gender issues and breaking news. twitter

The Pentagon, the headquarters for the U.S. Department of Defense, is seen from the air, Sept. 20, 2025, in Arlington, Va. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, FIle) 2026-02-03T17:45:24Z WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. Navy fighter jet shot down an Iranian drone that was approaching the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea, U.S. Central Command said Tuesday, threatening to ramp up tensions as the Trump administration warns of possible military action to get Iran to the negotiating table . The drone “aggressively approached” the aircraft carrier with “unclear intent” and “continued to fly toward the ship despite de-escalatory measures taken by U.S. forces operating in international waters,” Central Command spokesman Capt. Tim Hawkins said in a statement Tuesday. The shootdown occurred within hours of Iranian forces harassing a U.S.-flagged and U.S.-crewed merchant vessel that was sailing in the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. military said. The Shahed-139 drone was shot down by an F-35C fighter jet from the Lincoln, which, according to Hawkins, was sailing about 500 miles (800 kilometers) from Iran’s southern coast. The military’s statement noted that no American troops were harmed and no U.S. equipment was damaged. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Then, hours later, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces harassed the merchant vessel Stena Imperative, the military said. According to Hawkins’ statement, two boats and an Iranian Mohajer drone approached the ship “at high speeds and threatened to board and seize the tanker.” The destroyer USS McFaul responded to the scene and escorted the Stena Imperative “with defensive air support from the U.S. Air Force,” the statement said, adding that the merchant vessel was now sailing safely. The actions come as tensions are high between the longtime adversaries. They began to rise again as Iran’s government spent weeks quelling protests that began in late December against growing economic instability before broadening into a challenge to the Islamic Republic. President Donald Trump had promised in early January to “rescue” Iranians from their government’s bloody crackdown on protesters, which later morphed into a pressure campaign to get Tehran to make a deal over its nuclear program. That is even as the Republican president insists Iranian nuclear sites were “obliterated” in U.S. strikes in June . freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); “We have talks going on with Iran. We’ll see how it all works out,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday. Asked what his threshold was for military action against Iran, he declined to elaborate. “I’d like to see a deal negotiated,” Trump said. “Right now, we’re talking to them, we’re talking to Iran, and if we could work something out, that’d be great. And if we can’t, probably bad things would happen.” The U.S. shot down the drone hours after Iran’s president said Tuesday that he instructed the country’s foreign minister to “pursue fair and equitable negotiations” with the U.S., marking one of the first clear signs from Tehran it wants to try to negotiate with Washington despite a breakdown of talks last summer. Turkey had been working behind the scenes to make the talks happen there later this week as U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff is traveling in the region. A Turkish official later said that the location of talks was uncertain but that Turkey was ready to support the process. ___ Amiri reported from New York. FARNOUSH AMIRI Amiri covers foreign policy and the United Nations as a correspondent for The Associated Press, based in New York. twitter mailto 获取更多RSS： https://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Palestinian patients ride a bus in Khan Younis as they travel to the Rafah crossing to leave the Gaza Strip for medical treatment abroad, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi) 2026-02-03T10:57:42Z KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Palestinians gathered Tuesday on both sides of Gaza’s border with Egypt, hoping to get through the Rafah crossing after its reopening the previous day was marred by delays and uncertainty over who would be allowed to cross. On the Egyptian side were Palestinians who had fled to Egypt earlier in the Israel-Hamas war and undergone medical treatment there, according to Egypt’s state-run Al-Qahera News television. On the Gaza side, Palestinians in need of treatment unavailable in Gaza were brought in buses by the Palestinian Red Crescent from the agency’s headquarters in the territory, hoping for word that they would be allowed to cross the other way. Though hailed as a step forward for the fragile ceasefire struck in October, on the first day Rafah reopened, it took more than 10 hours for only about a dozen returnees and a small group of medical evacuees to cross in each direction. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); The numbers fell short of the 50 people that officials had said would be allowed each way and barely began to address the need: tens of thousands of Palestinians are hoping to be evacuated for treatment or to return home. The import of humanitarian aid or goods through Rafah remains prohibited. Pressure to address needs Evacuation efforts on Tuesday morning converged around a Red Crescent hospital in Khan Younis, where a World Health Organization team arrived and a vehicle carrying patients and their relatives rolled in from another hospital. Then the group of WHO vehicles and Palestinian ambulances headed toward Rafah to await crossing. As the sick, wounded and displaced waited to cross in both directions, health officials said the small number allowed to exit paled beside Gaza’s tremendous needs. Two years of fighting destroyed much of its medical infrastructure and left hospitals struggling to treat trauma injuries, amputations and chronic conditions like cancer. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); In Gaza City, Shifa Hospital director Mohamed Abu Selmiya called the pace “crisis management, not a solution to the crisis,” imploring Israel to permit the importing of medical supplies and equipment. Until then, he wrote on Facebook, “Denying the evacuation of patients and preventing the entry of medicines is a death sentence for them.” Palestinian Red Crescent spokesperson Raed al-Nims told The Associated Press that only 16 patients with chronic conditions or war wounds, accompanied by 40 relatives, were brought from Khan Younis to the Gaza side of Rafah on Tuesday — far less than the 45 patients and wounded the Red Crescent was told would be allowed. After days of anticipation over the reopening, hope lingered that it might mark a meaningful first step. In Khan Younis, Iman Rashwan waited for hours until her mother and sister returned from Egypt, hoping others would soon see their loved ones again. “God willing, the crossing will open for everyone, for all the sick and for all the wounded,” she said. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Waiting on both sides Officials say the number of crossings could gradually increase if the system works, with Israel and Egypt vetting those allowed in and out. But security concerns and bureaucratic snags quickly tempered expectations raised by officials who for weeks had cast reopening as a major step in the ceasefire deal. On Monday, things got bogged down in disagreements over luggage allowances. Returnees were carrying more than anticipated with them, requiring additional negotiations, a person familiar with the situation told the AP, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the diplomatic matter. “They didn’t let us cross with anything,” Rotana Al-Regeb said as she returned around midnight Monday to Khan Younis. “They emptied everything before letting us through. We were only allowed to take the clothes on our backs and one bag per person.” The initial number of Palestinians allowed to cross is mostly symbolic. Israeli and Egyptian officials have said that 50 medical evacuees would depart — along with two caretaker escorts — and 50 Palestinians who left during the war would return. At that pace, long waits are facing most of the roughly 20,000 sick and wounded people who Gaza’s Health Ministry has said need treatment abroad. About 150 hospitals across Egypt are ready to receive patients, authorities said. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Who and what would be allowed through Rafah was a central concern for both Israel and Egypt. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that anyone who wants to leave will eventually be permitted to do so, but Egypt has repeatedly said the Rafah crossing must open in both directions, fearing Israel could use it to push Palestinians out of Gaza. A 19-year-old killed in southern Gaza Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis said Ahmed Abdel-Al, 19, was shot and killed by Israeli troops on Tuesday morning in a part of the southern Gaza city, some distance away from the area under the Israeli military’s control. Israel’s military said it wasn’t immediately aware of any shootings in the area. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Abdel-Al was the latest of the 529 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire since the Oct. 10 start of the ceasefire, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. They are among more than 71,800 Palestinians killed since the start of the war, according to the ministry, which does not distinguish between fighters and civilians. The ministry, part of Gaza’s Hamas-led government, keeps detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts. ___ Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writers Josef Federman and Sam Metz in Jerusalem contributed to this report. ___ Find more of AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war SAMY MAGDY Magdy is a Middle East reporter for The Associated Press, based in Cairo. He focuses on conflict, migration and human rights abuses. twitter facebook mailto SAM METZ Metz covers Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and points beyond for The Associated Press. mailto 获取更多RSS： https://feedx.net https://feedx.site

People take photos near a John Harvard statue, left, on the Harvard University campus, Jan. 2, 2024, in Cambridge, Mass. r. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File) 2026-02-03T16:36:29Z WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is demanding a $1 billion payment from Harvard University to end his prolonged standoff with the Ivy League campus, doubling the amount he sought previously as both sides appear to move further from reaching a deal. The president raised the stakes on social media Monday night, saying Harvard has been “behaving very badly.” He said the university must pay the government directly as part of any deal — something Harvard has opposed — and that his administration wants “nothing further to do” with Harvard in the future. Trump’s comments on Truth Social came in response to a New York Times report saying the president had dropped his demand for a financial payment, lowering the bar for a deal. Trump denied he was backing down. Harvard officials did not immediately comment. Trump’s outburst appears to leave both sides firmly entrenched in a conflict that Trump previously said was nearing an end. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Last June, Trump said a deal was just days away and that Harvard had acted “extremely appropriately” during negotiations. He later said an agreement was being finalized that would require Harvard to put $500 million toward the creation of a “series of trade schools” rather than a payment to the government. That deal appears to have fallen apart entirely. In his social media post, Trump said the trade school proposal had been turned down because it was “convoluted” and “wholly inadequate.” Harvard has long been Trump’s top target in his administration’s campaign to bring the nation’s most prestigious universities to heel. His officials have cut billions of dollars in Harvard’s federal research funding and attempted to block it from enrolling foreign students after the campus rebuffed a series of government demands last April. The White House has said it’s punishing Harvard for tolerating anti-Jewish bias on campus. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); In a pair of lawsuits, Harvard said it’s being unfairly penalized for refusing to adopt the administration’s views. A federal judge agreed in December, reversing the funding cuts and calling the antisemitism argument a “smokescreen.” Trump’s latest escalation comes as other parts of his higher education campaign are teetering. Last fall, the White House invited nine universities to join a “compact” that offered funding priority in exchange for adopting Trump’s agenda. None of the schools accepted. In January, the administration abandoned its legal defense of an Education Department document threatening to cut schools’ funding over diversity, equity and inclusion policies. When he took office for his second term, Trump made it a priority to go after elite universities that he said had been overrun by liberal thinking and anti-Jewish bias. His officials have frozen huge sums of research funding, which colleges have come to rely on for scientific and medical research. Several universities have reached agreements with the White House to restore funding. Some deals have included direct payments to the government, including $200 million from Columbia University. Brown University agreed to pay $50 million toward state workforce development groups. ___ The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org. COLLIN BINKLEY Binkley covers the U.S. Education Department and federal education policy for The Associated Press, along with a wide range of issues from K-12 through higher education. twitter mailto

British Ambassador to the United States, Peter Mandelson speaks during the rededication ceremony of the George Washington Statue in the National Gallery in London, Wednesday, June 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) 2026-02-03T10:40:09Z LONDON (AP) — British politician Peter Mandelson is quitting the House of Lords as he faces new questions, and a potential police investigation, over his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. The Speaker of the House of Lords, Michael Forsyth, said Mandelson has announced he will retire from Parliament’s upper chamber effective Wednesday. The announcement came as the British government prepared legislation to eject Mandelson from the Lords and remove the noble title, Lord Mandelson, that came with his lifetime membership in Parliament’s upper chamber. The government also said it had sent a file of material to police who are looking into allegations that Mandelson passed sensitive government information to the late sex offender. Prime Minister Keir Starmer told his Cabinet on Tuesday that he was “appalled” by the revelations in newly released Epstein files, and was concerned there are more details still to emerge. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); A trove of more than 3 million pages of Epstein-related documents released by the U.S. Justice Department has brought excruciating revelations about 72-year-old Mandelson, who served in senior government roles under previous Labour governments and was U.K. ambassador to Washington until Starmer fired him in September over his ties to Epstein. The newly released files contain details about Mandelson’s contacts with the disgraced financier, including emails passing on nuggets of political information, some of which critics say may have broken the law. Police say they are reviewing reports of misconduct “to determine if they meet the criminal threshold for investigation.” Starmer spokesman Tom Wells said that the government had sent police its assessment that the Mandelson-Epstein documents contained “likely market-sensitive information” about the 2008 global financial crisis and its aftermath that shouldn’t have been shared outside of government. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Among the revelations in the files: — In 2003-2004, bank documents suggest Epstein sent three payments totaling $75,000 to accounts linked to Mandelson or his partner Reinaldo Avila da Silva. Mandelson has said that he doesn’t remember receiving the money and will investigate whether the documents are authentic. But he resigned from the governing Labour Party on Sunday, saying he didn’t want to cause the party “further embarrassment.” — In 2008, Epstein avoided federal prosecution by pleading guilty to state charges in Florida of soliciting and procuring a minor for prostitution. He was sentenced to 18 months in jail. Emails and text messages show that Mandelson’s friendship with Epstein continued after the financier’s sentence. — In 2009, Epstein sent da Silva 10,000 pounds (about $13,650 at today’s rates) to pay for an osteopathy course. Mandelson told The Times of London that “in retrospect, it was clearly a lapse in our collective judgment for Reinaldo to accept this offer.” Also in 2009, Mandelson, then business secretary in the U.K. government, appears to have told Epstein he would lobby other members of the government to reduce a tax on bankers’ bonuses. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); The same year, Mandelson sent Epstein an internal government report discussing ways the U.K. could raise money after the 2008 global financial crisis, including by selling off government assets. Mandelson wrote: “Interesting note that’s gone to the PM.” — In May 2010, Mandelson messaged Epstein that “sources tell me 500 b euro bailout” is almost complete. The message was dated hours before day European governments announced a 500 billion euro deal to shore up the single currency. Starmer has ordered the civil service to conduct an “urgent” review of all of Mandelson’s contacts with Epstein while he was in government. Health Secretary Wes Streeting said that Mandelson’s friendship with Epstein was “a betrayal on so many levels.” “It is a betrayal of the victims of Jeffrey Epstein that he continued that association and that friendship for so long after his conviction,” Streeting told the BBC. “It is a betrayal of not just one but two prime ministers” — Gordon Brown, the U.K. leader between 2007 and 2010, and Starmer. Epstein died by suicide in a jail cell in 2019, while awaiting trial on U.S. federal charges accusing him of sexually abusing dozens of girls. An email requesting comment on the documents was sent to Mandelson through the House of Lords. JILL LAWLESS Lawless is based in London, covering British politics, diplomacy and culture and top stories from the UK and beyond. She has reported for the AP from two dozen countries on four continents. twitter mailto

United States' Lindsey Vonn at the finish line after crashing, during an alpine ski, women's World Cup downhill, in Crans Montana , Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta) 2026-02-03T15:07:39Z CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — Lindsey Vonn is “confident” she can compete at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics beginning this week despite the left knee injury she sustained in a crash four days ago. Vonn said on Tuesday she “completed ruptured” her ACL, has bone bruising “plus meniscal damage.” But after three days of physical therapy and consultations with doctors, Vonn went skiing on Tuesday with a brace on her knee. “It feels stable, it feels strong,” she said, adding she was “confident” to race. “I will do everything in my power to be in the starting gate.” Vonn crashed in a downhill in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, on Friday and ended up in the safety nets. After skiing down to the bottom of the course, she was airlifted away for medical attention. Vonn, a 41-year-old American, was expected to be one of the biggest stars of the Winter Games, which start Friday with the opening ceremony. Her first race comes two days later in the women’s downhill on Sunday. Then Vonn was also planning on competing in super-G and the new team combined event. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); The opening women’s downhill training session is scheduled for Thursday. Vonn made a stunning comeback last season at age 40 after nearly six years away from ski racing. Skiing with a partial titanium implant in her right knee, she has been the circuit’s leading downhiller this season with two victories and three other podium finishes in five races. Including super-G, Vonn completed eight World Cup races and finished on the podium in seven of them. Her worst finish was fourth. Women’s skiing during the Games will be in Cortina, where Vonn holds the World Cup record with 12 wins. Vonn has won three Olympic medals: Gold in downhill and bronze in super-G in 2010 and bronze in downhill in 2018. ___ AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics ANDREW DAMPF Dampf has been a Rome-based sports writer at The AP for over 20 years, covering soccer, tennis, Alpine skiing and many other events in Italy and beyond, including five soccer World Cups. The Milan-Cortina Games will mark the 10th Olympics that he has reported from. twitter

Savannah Guthrie attends the third annual World Mental Health Day Gala, hosted by Project Healthy Minds, at Spring Studios on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, file) 2026-02-03T13:20:15Z TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie is asking for prayers to help bring home her 84-year-old mother, whom authorities in Arizona believe was kidnapped, abducted or otherwise taken against her will . “thank you for lifting your prayers with ours for our beloved mom, our dearest Nancy, a woman of deep conviction, a good and faithful servant. raise your prayers with us and believe with us that she will be lifted by them in this very moment,” Savannah Guthrie wrote in a social media post late Monday. “Bring her home.” It’s imperative that Nancy Guthrie be found soon because she could die without her medication, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said, urging whoever has her to free her. “If she’s alive right now her meds are vital. I can’t stress that enough. It’s been better than 24 hours, and the family tells us if she doesn’t have those meds, it can become fatal,” Nanos said. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); For a second day Tuesday, “Today” opened with Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance, but Savannah Guthrie was not at the anchor’s desk. Nanos said during a news conference Monday that Savannah Guthrie is in Arizona. Savannah Guthrie grew up in Tucson, graduated from the University of Arizona and previously worked as a reporter and anchor at KVOA-TV in Tucson. Nancy Guthrie was last seen Saturday night at her home in the Tucson area, where she lived alone and was reported missing Sunday. Someone at church called a family member saying Guthrie wasn’t there, leading family to search her home and then call 911, Nanos said. The sheriff’s department is investigating the possibility she was taken overnight, spokesperson Angelica Carrillo said. Nancy Guthrie has limited mobility and officials don’t believe she left on her own. Nanos said she is of sound mind. Searchers used drones and search dogs and were supported by volunteers and Border Patrol. The homicide team was also involved, Nanos said Sunday. The FBI has offered to help, Carrillo said. On Monday morning, Nanos said search crews worked hard but have since been pulled back. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); “We don’t see this as a search mission so much as it is a crime scene,” the sheriff said. Even so, a sheriff’s helicopter flew over the desert Monday afternoon near Nancy Guthrie’s home in the affluent Catalina Foothills area on the northern edge of Tucson. Her brick home has a gravel driveway and a yard covered in Prickly Pear and Saguaro cactus. ___ Billeaud reported from Phoenix. JACQUES BILLEAUD Billeaud is an Associated Press reporter who covers courts and law enforcement in Arizona. He previously covered immigration and the Arizona Legislature. SEJAL GOVINDARAO Govindarao covers Arizona government and politics for The Associated Press, with a focus on women in state government. She is based in Phoenix. twitter mailto 获取更多RSS： https://feedx.net https://feedx.site

The opening page of X is displayed on a computer and phone, Oct. 16, 2023, in Sydney. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft, File) 2026-02-03T10:50:45Z PARIS (AP) — French prosecutors raided the offices of Elon Musk’s social media platform X on Tuesday as part of a preliminary investigation into a range of alleged offences, including spreading child sexual abuse images and deepfakes. The investigation was opened in January last year by the prosecutors’ cybercrime unit, the Paris prosecutors’ office said in a statement. It’s looking into alleged “complicity” in possessing and spreading pornographic images of minors, sexually explicit deepfakes, denial of crimes against humanity and manipulation of an automated data processing system as part of an organized group, among other charges. Prosecutors also asked Elon Musk and former CEO Linda Yaccarino to attend “voluntary interviews” on April 20. Employees of X have also been summoned that same week to be heard as witnesses, the statement said. Yaccarino was CEO from May 2023 until July 2025. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); A spokesperson for X did not respond to a request for comment. In a message posted on X, the Paris prosecutors’ office announced the ongoing searches at the company’s offices in France and said it was leaving the platform while calling on followers to join it on other social media. “At this stage, the conduct of the investigation is based on a constructive approach, with the aim of ultimately ensuring that the X platform complies with French law, as it operates on the national territory,” the prosecutors’ statement said. European Union police agency Europol ’’is supporting the French authorities in this,″ Europol spokesperson Jan Op Gen Oorth told The Associated Press, without elaborating. The investigation was first opened following reports by a French lawmaker alleging that biased algorithms on X were likely to have distorted the functioning of an automated data processing system. It was later expanded after Musk’s artificial intelligence chatbot Grok generated posts that allegedly denied the Holocaust and spread sexually explicit deepfakes, the statement said. Holocaust denial is a crime in France. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Grok wrote in a widely shared post in French that gas chambers at the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp were designed for “disinfection with Zyklon B against typhus” rather than for mass murder — language long associated with Holocaust denial. Musk’s artificial intelligence company built xAI and it is integrated into his X platform. In later posts on its X account, the chatbot acknowledged that its earlier reply was wrong, said it had been deleted and pointed to historical evidence that Zyklon B in Auschwitz gas chambers was used to kill more than 1 million people. Grok has a history of making antisemitic comments. Musk’s company took down posts from the chatbot that appeared to praise Adolf Hitler after complaints . X is also under pressure from the EU. The 27-nation bloc’s executive arm opened an investigation last month after Grok spewed nonconsensual sexualized deepfake images on the platform. Brussels has already hit X with a 120-million euro (then-$140 million) fine for shortcomings under the bloc’s sweeping digital regulations, including blue checkmarks that broke the rules on “deceptive design practices” that risked exposing users to scams and manipulation. SYLVIE CORBET Corbet is an Associated Press reporter based in Paris. She covers French politics, diplomacy and defense as well as gender issues and breaking news. twitter 获取更多RSS： https://feedx.net https://feedx.site

President Donald Trump speaks during an event in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) 2026-02-03T10:58:53Z WASHINGTON (AP) — Bullied and buffeted by President Donald Trump’s tariffs for the past year, America’s longstanding allies are desperately seeking ways to shield themselves from the president’s impulsive wrath. U.S. trade partners are cutting deals among themselves —- sometimes discarding old differences to do so — in a push to diversify their economies away from a newly protectionist United States. Central banks and global investors are dumping dollars and buying gold . Together, their actions could diminish U.S. influence and mean higher interest rates and prices for Americans already angry about the high cost of living . Last summer and fall, Trump used the threat of punishing taxes on imports to strong-arm the European Union, Japan, South Korea and other trading partners into accepting lopsided trade deals and promising to make massive investments in the United States. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); But a deal with Trump, they’ve discovered, is no deal at all. The mercurial president repeatedly finds reasons to conjure new tariffs to impose on trading partners that thought they had already made enough concessions to satisfy him. Just months after reaching his agreement with the EU, Trump threatened new tariffs on eight European countries for opposing his attempts to seize control of Greenland from Denmark – though he quickly backed down . And last month, he said he’d slap 100% tariffs on Canada for breaking with the United States by agreeing to reduce Canadian tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles . “Our trading partners are discovering that the largely one-sided deals they concluded with the U.S. provide little protection,’’ said former U.S. trade negotiator Wendy Cutler, senior vice president at the Asia Society Policy Institute. “As a result, trade diversification efforts by our partners are on turbo charge, looking to reduce dependence on the U.S.’’ Trump supporters such as Paul Winfree, who was deputy director of the White House Domestic Policy Council during Trump’s first term, are wary of the relative decline in U.S. Treasury note holdings by foreign central banks and view the national debt as a vulnerability rivals would like to exploit. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Winfree, CEO of the Economic Policy Innovation Institute, a think tank, said that some of Trump’s advisers do not feel America has fully benefited from the dollar’s status as the world’s dominant currency. “But the fact remains that every other country is jealous of our status, and many of our adversaries would love to challenge the U.S. dollar and Treasuries,” he said. White House spokesman Kush Desai insists America’s standing on the global stage has not been diminished. “President Trump remains committed to the strength and power of the U.S. Dollar as the world’s reserve currency,” he said. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); India and the EU clinch a long-awaited deal The most eye-opening deal so far has been the pact announced last week between the 27-country EU and India, the world’s fastest growing major economy. Negotiators had been at it for nearly two decades before they closed the agreement. Likewise, an EU trade deal announced two weeks ago with the Mercosur nations of South America took a quarter century of negotiation. It will create a free-trade market of more than 700 million people. “Some of these deals have been in the works for quite some time,’’ said Maurice Obstfeld, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund. “The pressure from Trump made them more eager to accelerate the process and reach agreement.’’ EU exporters were jubilant over the India deal. VDMA, a group of European machinery and plant engineering companies, welcomed lower Indian tariffs on machinery. “The free trade agreement between India and the EU brings much needed oxygen to a world increasingly dominated by trade conflicts,” VDMA’s executive director, Thilo Brodtmann, said in a statement. “With this agreement, Europe is sending a clear signal in favor of rules-based trade and against the law of the jungle.” freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); ‘We have all the cards’ On Monday, Trump went on social media to announce his own deal with India. The U.S., he posted, would reduce tariffs on Indian imports after India agreed to stop buying oil from Russia, which has used the sales to fund its four year war in Ukraine. The president said that India would reduce its tariffs on American products to zero and buy $500 billion worth of American products. Trade lawyer Ryan Majerus, a partner at the King & Spalding and a trade official in the Biden administration and during Trump’s first term, said that businesses and legal analysts were awaiting official White House documents spelling out details of the deal. Trump is banking on there being limits to other countries’ ability to pull away from the United States. America has the world’s biggest economy and consumer market. “We have all the cards,’’ Trump told Fox Business this month. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Countries like South Korea, dependent on America’s market and military protection, can’t afford to ignore Trump’s threats. On Monday, for example, the president said he was increasing tariffs on South Korea goods because the country’s legislature has been slow to approve the trade framework announced last year. On Tuesday, the country’s Finance Ministry responded by saying its chief, Koo Yun-cheol, would push lawmakers to quickly approve a bill to invest $350 billion as promised in the agreement. “The U.S was trying to identify a counterpart that would find it difficult to refuse U.S. demands outright, given the depth of its economic and security ties,” said Cha Du Hyeogn, an analyst at South Korea’s Asan Institute for Policy Studies. Or consider Canada, which sends 75% of its exports to its southern neighbor. “Canada and U.S. will always be tightly linked through international trade,” said Obstfeld, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley. “We’re talking about adjustments more or less on the margin.’’ But the world’s growing rejection of Trump’s policies is already having an impact, driving down the value of the dollar, long the currency of choice for global commerce, to its lowest level since 2022 last week versus several competing currencies. Syracuse University political scientist Daniel McDowell, author of the book “Bucking the Buck: U.S. Financial Sanctions and the International Backlash against the Dollar,” sees a vibe shift under Trump: Foreign countries and investors want to reduce their exposure to the United States, which has moved from a source of security and stability to a driver of instability and unpredictability under Trump. “Trump has shown that he is willing to use foreign countries’ economic dependence on the U.S. as leverage against them in negotiations,” McDowell said. “As global perceptions of the US are changing, it is only natural that investors — public and private alike — are reconsidering their relationship with the dollar.” ____ Kurtenbach reported from Bangkok. Associated Press videographer Yong Jun Chang in Seoul contributed to this report. JOSH BOAK Boak covers the White House and economic policy for The Associated Press. He joined the AP in 2013. twitter mailto ELAINE KURTENBACH Based in Bangkok, Kurtenbach is the AP’s business editor for Asia, helping to improve and expand our coverage of regional economies, climate change and the transition toward carbon-free energy. She has been covering economic, social, environmental and political trends in China, Japan and Southeast Asia throughout her career. twitter mailto

Colombian President Gustavo Petro arrives at the presidential palace in Panama City, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix, File) 2026-02-03T05:08:11Z WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is set to welcome Colombian President Gustavo Petro to the White House on Tuesday for talks only weeks after threatening military action against the South American country and accusing the leader of pumping cocaine into the United States. U.S. administration officials say the meeting will focus on regional security cooperation and counternarcotics efforts. And Trump on Monday suggested that Petro — who has continued to criticize Trump and the U.S. operation to capture Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro — seems more willing to work with his administration to stem the flow of illegal drugs from Colombia. “Somehow after the Venezuelan raid, he became very nice,” Trump told reporters. “He changed his attitude very much.” Yet, bad blood between the leaders overshadows the sit-down , even as Trump sought to downplay any friction on the eve of the visit. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); The conservative Trump and leftist Petro are ideologically far apart, but both leaders share a tendency for verbal bombast and unpredictability. That sets the stage for a White House visit with an anything-could-happen vibe. In recent days, Petro has continued poking at the U.S. president, calling Trump an “accomplice to genocide” in the Gaza Strip, while asserting that the capture of Maduro was a kidnapping. And ahead of his departure for Washington, Petro called on Colombians to take to the streets of Bogotá during the White House meeting. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); There’s been a shift in US-Colombia relations Historically, Colombia has been a U.S. ally. For the past 30 years, the U.S. has worked closely with Colombia, the world’s largest producer of cocaine , to arrest drug traffickers , fend off rebel groups and boost economic development in rural areas. But relations between the leaders have been strained by Trump’s massing U.S. forces in the region for unprecedented deadly military strikes targeting suspected drug smuggling boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific. At least 126 people have been killed in 36 known strikes. In October, the Trump administration announced it was imposing sanctions on Petro , his family and a member of his government over accusations of involvement in the global drug trade. The Treasury Department leveled the penalties against Petro; his wife, Veronica del Socorro Alcocer Garcia; his son, Nicolas Fernando Petro Burgos; and Colombian Interior Minister Armando Alberto Benedetti. The sanctions, which had to be waived to allow Petro to travel to Washington this week, came after the U.S. administration in September announced it was adding Colombia to a list of nations failing to cooperate in the drug war for the first time in three decades. Then came the audacious military operation last month to capture Maduro and his wife to face federal drug conspiracy charges, a move that Petro has forcefully denounced. Following Maduro’s ouster, Trump put Colombia on notice, and ominously warned Petro he could be next. Colombia is “run by a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States,” Trump said of Petro last month. “And he’s not gonna be doing it very long, let me tell you.” freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); But a few days later, tensions eased somewhat after a call between the leaders. Trump said Petro in their hourlong conversation explained “the drug situation and other disagreements.” And Trump extended an invitation to Petro for the White House visit. Trump on a couple of occasions has used the typically scripted leaders’ meetings to deliver stern rebukes to counterparts in front of the press. Trump and Vice President JD Vance lashed out at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in February for showing insufficient gratitude for U.S. support of Ukraine. Trump also used a White House meeting in May to forcefully confront South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, accusing the country, with reporters present, of failing to address Trump’s baseless claim of the systematic killing of white farmers. It was not clear that the meeting between Trump and Petro would include a portion in front of cameras. AAMER MADHANI Madhani covers the White House for The Associated Press. He is based in Washington. twitter mailto 获取更多RSS： https://feedx.net https://feedx.site

People take shelter in a metro station, being used as a bomb shelter, during a Russian drones attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Alex Babenko) 2026-02-03T09:09:54Z KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia fired around 450 long-range drones and 70 missiles of various types at Ukraine in a major attack overnight, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday. The barrage came a day before the two countries were due to attend U.S.-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on ending the all-out war , which Russia launched nearly four years ago. The bombardment of at least five regions of Ukraine specifically took aim at the power grid, Zelenskyy said, as part of Moscow’s ongoing campaign to deny civilians light, heating and running water amid the coldest winter in years. At least 10 people were wounded, officials said. “Taking advantage of the coldest days of winter to terrorize people is more important to Russia than diplomacy,” Zelenskyy said. Temperatures in Kyiv fell to minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus 4 Fahrenheit) during the night and stood at minus 16 C (minus 3 F) on Tuesday. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); He urged allies to send more air defense supplies and bring “maximum pressure” to bear on Russia to end its full-scale invasion, which began on Feb. 24, 2022. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte was on an official visit to Kyiv on Tuesday to back Ukraine’s war effort. Officials have described recent talks between Moscow and Kyiv delegations as constructive. But after a year of efforts , the Trump administration is still searching for a breakthrough on key issues such as who keeps the Ukrainian land that Russia’s army has occupied, and a comprehensive settlement appears distant. The Abu Dhabi talks were scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday. A Kremlin official said last week that Russia had agreed to halt strikes on Kyiv for a week until Feb. 1 because of the frigid temperatures, following a personal request from U.S. President Donald Trump to Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, the bitter cold is continuing and so are Russia’s aerial attacks. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Russia has tried to wear down Ukrainians’ appetite for the fight by creating hardship for the civilian population living in dark, freezing homes . It has tried to wreck Ukraine’s electricity network, targeting substations, transformers, turbines and generators at power plants. Ukraine’s largest private power company, DTEK, said that the overnight attack hit its thermal power plants in the ninth major assault since October. In Kyiv, officials said that five people were wounded in the strikes that damaged and set fire to residential buildings, a kindergarten and a gas station in various parts of the capital, according to the State Emergency Service. By early morning, 1,170 apartment buildings in the capital were without heating, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. That set back desperate repair operations that had restored power to all but 80 apartment buildings, he said. Russia also struck Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, where injuries were reported, and the southern Odesa region. The attack also damaged the Hall of Fame at the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War, at the foot of the Motherland Monument in Kyiv, Ukrainian Culture Minister Tetiana Berezhna said. “It is symbolic and cynical at the same time: the aggressor state strikes a place of memory about the fight against aggression in the 20th century, repeating crimes in the 21st,” Berezhna said. ___ Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Norway's Marius Borg Hoiby and Crown Princess Mette-Marit in Oslo, June 16, 2022. (Lise Aserud/NTB via AP, File) 2026-02-03T06:07:37Z OSLO, Norway (AP) — The son of Norway’s crown princess pleaded not guilty to rape charges as he went on trial Tuesday for multiple alleged offenses, opening weeks of proceedings in a case that has cast a shadow on the royal family’s image. Marius Borg Høiby, 29, is the eldest son of Crown Princess Mette-Marit from a previous relationship and the stepson of the heir to the throne, Crown Prince Haakon. Høiby has no royal title or official duties. Høiby stood for 24 minutes while prosecutor Sturla Henriksbø read out the 38 counts against him at the Oslo district court, asking him if he pleaded guilty. He replied “no” to each of the most serious charges, including the four counts of rape. The charges also include abuse in a close relationship against one former partner, acts of violence against another and transporting 3.5 kilograms (7.7 pounds) of marijuana. Others include making death threats and traffic violations. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Høiby pleaded guilty to several driving offenses, to an aggravated drugs offense and breaking a restraining order, and “partly” to threats and aggravated assault. Wearing glasses, a brown sweater and beige trousers, he spoke quietly and conferred regularly with his lawyer. A court official moved the microphone to better pick up his answers. Prosecutors have said that Høiby could face up to 10 years in prison, if convicted in the trial, which is scheduled to last until March 19. Seven alleged victims are expected to testify. “There is equality before the law,” Henriksbø told the court. “The defendant is the son of the crown princess. He is part of the royal family. He shall nevertheless be treated in the same way as any other person who is charged with the same offenses.” freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); International interest Reflecting international interest in the trial, Judge Jon Sverdrup Efjestad addressed the court in English, warning that it was prohibited to record or take photographs in the courtroom and advising that some witness testimony would be heard behind closed doors. The investigation began in 2024 . Police were first called to an apartment in Oslo’s upscale Frogner neighborhood in early August that year following reports of a violent incident. Høiby was arrested and later released, but the case expanded as additional women came forward with allegations against him. The indictment that prosecutors filed last year centers on four alleged rapes between 2018 and November 2024; alleged violence and threats against a former partner between the summer of 2022 and the fall of 2023; and two alleged acts of violence against a subsequent partner, along with violations of a restraining order. It was expanded in January, when Høiby was charged with six new offenses, including possession and delivery of large quantities of marijuana and further restraining order violations. He was free pending trial until Sunday, when police said that he was arrested over new allegations of assault, threats with a knife and violation of a restraining order. The Oslo court on Monday granted their request to keep him in detention for up to four weeks on the grounds of a risk of reoffending. Defense lawyer Petar Sekulic said that the arrest followed an alleged “incident” involving another person on Sunday. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); He declined to give details, but said that Høiby contests his detention and his legal team was considering an appeal as soon as he and the other person can provide statements to police. Haakon said last week that he and Mette-Marit don’t plan to attend the trial and that the royal house doesn’t intend to comment during the proceedings. Royal problems King Harald, 88, and the royals are generally popular in Norway, but the Høiby case has been a problem for the family’s image. The trial opened at a particularly sensitive moment for the royal family. Mette-Marit faces renewed scrutiny over her past contacts with Jeffrey Epstein , who killed himself in 2019 in a New York jail cell as he faced sex trafficking charges, following the release on Friday of a new batch of documents from the Epstein files . They contained several hundred mentions of the crown princess, who already said in 2019 that she regretted having had contact with Epstein, Norwegian media reported. The documents, which include email exchanges, showed that Mette-Marit borrowed an Epstein-owned property in Palm Beach, Florida, for several days in 2013. Norwegian broadcaster NRK reported that the stay was arranged through a mutual friend, which was later confirmed by the royal household. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Mette-Marit said in a statement that she “must take responsibility for not having investigated Epstein’s background more thoroughly, and for not realizing sooner what kind of person he was.” She added: “I showed poor judgment and regret having had any contact with Epstein at all. It is simply embarrassing.” ___ Mark Lewis reported from Stavanger. Geir Moulson contributed to this report from Berlin.

A person walks in front of an electronic stock board at a securities firm in Tokyo Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (Masanori Kumagai/Kyodo News via AP) 2026-02-03T04:01:03Z TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares surged on Tuesday, led by a nearly 7% jump in South Korea’s benchmark and a 3.9% rally in Tokyo that took the Nikkei 225 to a record as investors bought tech-related shares. Markets are awaiting earnings reports from major companies to gauge the impact of various trends including U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs and possible curbs on rare earths exports from China. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 climbed 3.9% to finish at 54,720.66, its highest close ever. Shares in equipment maker Disco Corp. jumped 7.1% while those in testing equipment maker Advantest gained 7%. Share prices have been boosted by expectations that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic Party will regain a significant majority in the parliament in a Feb. 8 election, ushering in more market-friendly policies. In South Korea, the Kospi gained 6.7% to 5,280.92, also a record. Investors appeared to regain confidence after the latest scare over a possible bubble in artificial intelligence as shares in Samsung Electronics Co. soared 11.2% while those in chip maker SK Hynix rocketed up 9.2%. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.3% to 26,844.51, while the Shanghai Composite added 1.3% to 4,066.48. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.9% to 8,857.10. Australia’s central bank raised its benchmark policy rate for the first time in two years, citing higher inflation than anticipated before it last cut rates. On Monday, U.S. share prices rose while gold and silver prices sank further following their latest wild moves. The S&P 500 added 0.5% to 6,976.44, snapping a three-day losing streak . The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.1% to 49,407.66, and the Nasdaq composite gained 0.6% to 23,592.11. Sandisk leaped 15.4% to lead the S&P 500. The data-storage company added to its 6.9% gain from Friday, after it reported stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It credited demand created by the artificial-intelligence boom, among other things. That helped offset a 2.9% drop for Nvidia, whose chips are powering much of the world’s move into AI technology. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); The Walt Disney Co. fell 7.4% even though the entertainment giant reported a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It warned of challenges, such as international visitors declining at its U.S. theme parks. Shares in software company Palantir Technologies soared 7% in after-hours trading after it reported its revenue in the last quarter climbed 70%. The center of action in financial markets was again precious metals , where prices have yoyoed after stellar gains. Gold’s price have roughly doubled in just 12 months. Gold gained 5.4% on Tuesday, while silver’s price rebounded by 10.2%. Gold and silver prices have surged as investors search for safer things to own at a time of uncertainty over the status of the Federal Reserve, which may be set to become less independent, a U.S. stock market that critics say is expensive, threats of tariffs and heavy debt loads for governments worldwide. Their prices cratered on Friday, including a 31.4% plunge for silver. Some on Wall Street saw it as a result of President Donald Trump’s nomination of Kevin Warsh as the next chair of the Fed . freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); The Fed’s chair has a big influence on the economy and markets worldwide by helping to dictate where the U.S. central bank moves interest rates. That affects prices for all kinds of investments, as the Fed tries to keep the U.S. job market humming without letting inflation get out of control. In other dealings early Tuesday, benchmark U.S. crude fell 34 cents to $61.80 a barrel. Brent crude shed 34 cents to $65.96 a barrel. The U.S. dollar declined to 155.45 Japanese yen from 155.61 yen. The euro cost $1.1816, up from $1.1791. ___ Yuri Kageyama is on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@yurikageyama YURI KAGEYAMA Kageyama covers Japan news for The Associated Press. Her topics include social issues, the environment, businesses, entertainment and technology. twitter instagram facebook mailto

In this photo provided by Ukraine's 93rd Kholodnyi Yar Separate Mechanized Brigade press service, a serviceman poses for a photographer in Donetsk region, Ukraine, Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026. (Iryna Rybakova/Ukraine's 93rd Mechanized Brigade via AP) 2026-02-02T11:52:47Z KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A new round of U.S.-brokered talks on ending Russia’s war on Ukraine is set to go ahead this week after a brief postponement, a senior Kremlin official said Monday, with negotiations taking place against a backdrop of continued front-line fighting and deadly long-range attacks on rear areas. The trilateral talks will take place on Wednesday and Thursday in Abu Dhabi, where a previous meeting was held last month, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday that he would be sending a delegation to the meeting, which initially was to be held at the weekend but was delayed by what Peskov said were scheduling conflicts. The Trump administration has over the past year pushed the two sides to find compromises. But breaking the deadlock on key issues appears no closer as the fourth anniversary of Russia’s all-out invasion of its neighbor approaches later this month. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Peskov described the talks as “very complex.” “On some issues, we have certainly come closer because there have been discussions, conversations, and on some issues it is easier to find common ground,” he told reporters. “There are issues where it’s more difficult to find common ground.” Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev was in Miami, Florida, at the weekend for talks with American officials, but Peskov refused to provide any details of the meeting. A key sticking point is whether Russia gets to keep the Ukrainian territory its army has occupied, especially in Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland . Moscow is also demanding possession of other Ukrainian land there that it hasn’t been able to capture. Russian drones and missiles have continued to bombard civilian areas , killing 12 miners in a bus on Sunday in the most recent mass aerial attack. The barrages have also wrecked the Ukrainian power grid, leaving people without heating, light and running water in bitter winter cold. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said Monday that authorities are taking steps to prevent Russia using Starlink satellite services to steer its drones toward their targets. Fedorov asked Elon Musk’s SpaceX to help deny Russia use of the service in Ukraine. Starlink is a global internet network that relies on around 10,000 satellites orbiting Earth. Ukraine is requiring civilian and military Starlink users to register their terminals on a database, allowing approved devices to function while unregistered terminals would be disabled inside Ukraine, Fedorov said. “Looks like the steps we took to stop the unauthorized use of Starlink by Russia have worked,” Musk said Sunday on X. “Let us know if more needs to be done.” ___ Litvinova contributed from Tallinn, Estonia. ___ Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine ILLIA NOVIKOV Novikov is an Associated Press reporter covering news in Ukraine since 2022. He is based in Kyiv. instagram mailto DASHA LITVINOVA Litvinova is an Associated Press correspondent covering Russia, Belarus, Central Asia and the Caucasus. She is part of the team that covers the Russia-Ukraine war. She has covered Russia and the region for over a decade. twitter mailto

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, left, and FBI Deputy Director Andrew Bailey, enter a command vehicle as the FBI takes Fulton County 2020 Election ballots, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026, in Union City, Ga., near Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart) 2026-02-03T02:52:21Z WASHINGTON (AP) — Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard told lawmakers in a letter Monday that she attended an FBI search of the elections hub in Fulton County, Georgia, last week because President Donald Trump asked for her to be there. She also acknowledged that she “facilitated” what she described as a brief phone call between Trump and FBI agents who carried out the search but insisted that neither she nor the president had issued any directives. The letter to top Democrats on the House and Senate intelligence committees marked Gabbard’s first detailed explanation for her unusual presence at an FBI search during which agents armed with a warrant seized hundreds of boxes containing ballots and other documents related to the 2020 election in Georgia’s most populous county. Fulton County, which votes overwhelmingly Democratic, has been a frequent target of the president’s ire. He has long insisted without evidence that widespread voter fraud in the county cost him victory in Georgia in his 2020 loss to Democrat Joe Biden. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Gabbard’s arrival in Georgia raised immediate questions among Democratic officials because the FBI search of the election center was a law enforcement, not intelligence, activity and because the position of national intelligence director is typically focused on foreign threats rather than domestic concerns. In her letter, Gabbard said her presence was specifically requested by Trump and she accompanied senior FBI officials “under my broad statutory authority to coordinate, integrate, and analyze intelligence related to election security.” Gabbard has been central to Trump administration efforts to cast doubt on intelligence community conclusions of Russian interference on Trump’s behalf during his successful 2016 campaign, and her presence in Georgia has been feared by Democrats as laying the groundwork for the federal government to assert that the 2020 race he lost was somehow tainted by foreign meddling or to cast doubt on the integrity of future elections. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Gabbard in her letter suggested that election systems are at risk of foreign interference, citing what she said was intelligence showing that electronic voting systems “have been vulnerable to exploitation” that could result in the manipulation of votes. She said that in order to “preserve the integrity of our elections, we must understand whether there has been foreign or other malign interference in our elections, and whether vulnerabilities exist in our election infrastructure that could be exploited in future elections.” She did not explain why Fulton County was singled out for scrutiny, saying she had not seen the warrant that investigators submitted to a judge for approval. Audits, state officials, courts and Trump’s own former attorney general have rejected the idea that there was widespread fraud in the 2020 election that could have altered the outcome. The 2024 election that Trump won was also seen as relatively trouble-free at the polls. Gabbard also appeared to confirm a report earlier Monday from The New York Times that she had helped arrange a call between Trump and FBI agents. It is rare for a president to communicate directly with rank-and-file FBI personnel about specific investigations. “While visiting the FBI Field Office in Atlanta, I thanked the FBI agents for their professionalism and great work, and facilitated a brief phone call for the President to thank the agents personally for their work. He did not ask any questions, nor did he or I issue any directives,” she wrote. ERIC TUCKER Tucker covers national security in Washington for The Associated Press, with a focus on the FBI and Justice Department. twitter mailto

A H-10 Poseidon drone is seen at a military camp in Mosfiloti village in Nicosia district, Cyprus, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias) 2026-02-03T05:22:14Z NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — There’s a chance the dreaded buzz of propellers heard on Ukrainian battlefields is coming from drones built in a country with a population of just over a million on Europe’s southeastern fringe: Cyprus. Manufacturer Swarmly says there are more than 200 of its H-10 Poseidon drones helping Ukrainian artillery batteries pinpoint enemy targets on the ground in all kinds of weather, racking up more than 100,000 hours in the air over the last three years. Its 5,000-square-meter (54,000-square-foot) factory, where the whir of grinders shaping composite plastics reverberates off the walls, has become a major source of uncrewed vehicles shipped to countries such as Indonesia, Benin, Nigeria, India and Saudi Arabia, according to company officials. Most of the factory floor is reserved for uncrewed aerial vehicle manufacture. But tucked in a secure storage area is a selection of Swarmly’s super-fast marine drones replete with high-definition cameras and .50-caliber machine guns. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has driven even the smallest European Union member countries to develop their home-grown, high-tech defense industries, just as necessity has made Kyiv a world leader in cutting-edge UAV technology. Many EU countries have partnered with Kyiv to develop that technology, and Ukraine’s front lines are usually their testing grounds. Like Cyprus, the Baltic countries and Denmark have revved up their domestic drone and counter-drone technology. In Greece, drones are part of a 25-billion euro ($29-billion) overhaul of its armed forces. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); “The example of Swarmy, as well as other important companies based in small EU countries, is a testament to the serious effort made by the private sector in Europe to innovate and build mass production capacity of defense items, including uncrewed systems,” said Federico Borsari, an expert with the Washington-based Center for European Policy Analysis. An employee works on an under-construction drone at a manufacturing factory in Limassol, Cyprus, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias) An employee works on an under-construction drone at a manufacturing factory in Limassol, Cyprus, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias) --> Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. --> Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Force Multipliers UAVs are reshaping warfare by offering less militarily capable countries some leverage over superior adversaries. Drones aren’t going to completely replace big-ticket weaponry like tanks, artillery and warplanes, said Borsari. But they offer flexibility and bang for the buck, making them a formidable force multiplier. Take Swarmly’s explosives-packed, satellite-guided Hydra marine drone. Each one costs 80,000 euros ($94,500), which means deploying a group of them to neutralize a billion-euro warship can be a bargain, said company director Gary Rafalovsky. This sort of naval weapon taking out a much larger warship is already evidenced by Houthi attacks from Yemen, according to Fabian Hinz, a research fellow for missile technologies and UAVs at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Europe. Barriers to entry for undercapitalized companies are low, he added, because UAVs are often designed and assembled from components cheaply and readily available on the global market. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); “And that, of course, means that basically you don’t have to have a great industrial investment at first that you need with other military capabilities. You don’t need decades of experience in certain material sciences or these kinds of things,” Hinz said. Employees work on a drone at a drone manufacturing factory in Limassol, Cyprus, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias) Employees work on a drone at a drone manufacturing factory in Limassol, Cyprus, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias) --> Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. --> Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Getting in the game In Denmark, a pair of companies focusing on anti-drone devices have reported a surge in new clients, and some of the devices were to be shipped to Ukraine to assist in jamming Russian technology on the battlefield. Ukraine in September said it was partnering with Danish companies to build missile and drone components at a factory in Denmark. In the Baltic country of Lithuania, scientists and business partners have joined forces under the name VILNIUS TECH to develop UAVs, automated mine detection and other military technologies. The state-run ammunition factory Giraite says it has increased production capacity by 50% since 2022. Greece for the first time showcased its homemade drones and counter-drone technology during a full tactical exercise in November as NATO urged Europe’s defense sector to pick up the pace. “We need capabilities, equipment, real firepower and the most advanced technology,” NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte warned during a visit to Romania earlier that month. “Bring your ideas, test your ingenuity and use NATO as your test bed.” freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Even as drone development accelerates, Borsari cautioned that the advantages of UAVs are often tempered by numerous variables like the harsh conditions in which they sometimes fly, operators’ training and skill levels, as well as the depth of logistical support to keep them functional. An employee works on an under-construction drone at a manufacturing factory in Limassol, Cyprus, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias) An employee works on an under-construction drone at a manufacturing factory in Limassol, Cyprus, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias) --> Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. --> Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Europe goes into defense mode Russia’s war in Ukraine and the Trump administration’s mixed messages that have strained relations with NATO allies have forced European leaders to reckon with the need to become more self-reliant on defense. So the EU has made billions of euros available to encourage investment and bolster its collective deterrent capability. That’s been a boost to nations like Cyprus, which assumed the six-month EU presidency on Jan. 1. Last week, the EU’s executive arm approved financial assistance for eight members including Spain, Croatia, Portugal, Bulgaria, Belgium, Romania and Cyprus. Cyprus is set to receive final approval from EU leaders for some 1.2 billion euros ($1.4 billion) in low-cost, long-term loans under the EU’s 150-billion-euro joint ($177-billion) procurement program called Security Action for Europe (SAFE). Its nascent defense industry is already made up of around 30 companies and research centers that produce technology for both civilian and military sectors, including robotics, communications networks, anti-drone systems and even satellite communications and surveillance, said Panayiotis Hadjipavlis, chief of the armaments and defense capabilities development directorate within Cyprus’ Defense Ministry. “We have niche capabilities on very high-tech products and this has to be taken seriously into account,” Hadjipavlis told The Associated Press in his office, where the helmet from his fighter pilot days hung on a nearby coat rack. Major defense industry players, he added, are among those who should take note. Employees, in the background, work beside an under-construction drone at a manufacturing factory in Limassol, Cyprus, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias) Employees, in the background, work beside an under-construction drone at a manufacturing factory in Limassol, Cyprus, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias) --> Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. --> Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More ____ Associated Press writer Liudas Dapkus in Vilnius, Lithuania contributed. MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS Hadjicostis covers a challenging and ever-evolving region where the interests of Europe and the Middle East, West and East intersect with consequences that reverberate globally. He is based in Cyprus. twitter instagram mailto

Former President Bill Clinton, left, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton listen as Vice President Kamala Harris delivers a eulogy for U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, Aug. 1, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File) 2026-02-02T18:27:29Z WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton agreed late Monday to testify in a House investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, but the Republican leading the probe said an agreement had not yet been finalized. Rep. James Comer, the chair of the House Oversight Committee, continued to press for criminal contempt of Congress charges against both Clintons Monday evening for defying a congressional subpoena when attorneys for the Clintons emailed staff for the Oversight panel, saying the pair would accept Comer’s demands and “will appear for depositions on mutually agreeable dates.” The attorneys requested that Comer, a Kentucky Republican, agree not to move forward with the contempt proceedings. Comer, however, said he was not immediately dropping the charges, which would carry the threat of a substantial fine and even incarceration if passed by the House and successfully prosecuted by the Department of Justice. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); “We don’t have anything in writing,” Comer told reporters, adding that he was open to accepting the Clintons’ offer but “it depends on what they say.” The last-minute negotiating came as Republican leaders were advancing the contempt resolution through the House Rules Committee — a final hurdle before it headed to the House floor for a vote. It was potentially a grave moment for Congress, the first time it could hold a former president in contempt and advance the threat of prison time. As Comer and the Clintons negotiated over the terms of the depositions, the House Rules Committee postponed advancing the contempt of Congress resolutions. Comer earlier Monday rejected an offer from attorneys for the Clintons to have Bill Clinton conduct a transcribed interview and Hillary Clinton submit a sworn declaration. He insisted that both Clintons sit for sworn depositions before the committee in order to fulfill the panel’s subpoenas. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); A letter from the committee to attorneys for the Clintons indicated that they had offered for Bill Clinton to conduct a 4-hour transcribed interview on “matters related to the investigations and prosecutions of Jeffrey Epstein” and for Hillary Clinton to submit a sworn declaration. “The Clintons do not get to dictate the terms of lawful subpoenas,” Comer said. The former president and secretary of state had resisted the subpoenas for months after the Oversight panel issued subpoenas for their testimony in August as it opened an investigation into Epstein and his associates. Their attorneys had tried to argue against the validity of the subpoena. However, as Comer threatened to begin contempt of Congress proceedings, the Clintons started negotiating towards a compromise. The Republican-controlled Oversight committee advanced criminal contempt of Congress charges last month. Nine of the committee’s 21 Democrats joined Republicans in support of the charges against Bill Clinton as they argued for full transparency in the Epstein investigation. Three Democrats also supported advancing the charges against Hillary Clinton. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Republicans push Bill Clinton’s involvement Bill Clinton’s relationship with Epstein has reemerged as a focal point for Republicans amid the push for a reckoning over Epstein, who killed himself in 2019 in a New York jail cell as he faced sex trafficking charges. Clinton, like a bevy of other high-powered men , had a well-documented relationship with Epstein in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He has not been accused of wrongdoing in his interactions with the late financier. The Clintons have remained highly critical of Comer’s decision, saying he was bringing politics into the investigation while failing to hold the Trump administration accountable for delays in producing the Department of Justice’s case files on Epstein. “They negotiated in good faith. You did not,” a spokesperson for the Clintons, Angel Ureña, said in response to Comer’s threats on Monday. “They told you under oath what they know, but you don’t care.” Still, the prospect of a vote raised the potential for Congress to use one of its most severe punishments against a former president for the first time. Historically, Congress has given deference to former presidents. None has ever been forced to testify before lawmakers, although a few have voluntarily done so. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said earlier Monday that his caucus would have a discussion on the contempt resolutions later in the week but remained noncommittal on whipping votes against them. Jeffries said he was a “hard no” on contempt and accused Comer of focusing on political retribution rather than investigating the delayed release of case files. Democrats also say the Justice Department has not yet released all the material it has on the late financier. “They don’t want a serious interview, they want a charade,” Jeffries said. STEPHEN GROVES Groves covers Congress for The Associated Press. twitter mailto 获取更多RSS： https://feedx.net https://feedx.site

A man takes photos of a warehouse as federal officials tour the facility to consider repurposing it as an ICE detention facility Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Belton, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) 2026-02-03T04:58:10Z With tensions high over federal immigration enforcement, some state and local officials are pushing back against attempts by President Donald Trump’s administration to house thousands of detained immigrants in their communities in converted warehouses, privately run facilities and county jails. Federal officials have been scouting cities and counties across the U.S. for places to hold immigrants as they roll out a massive $45 billion expansion of detention facilities financed by Trump’s recent tax-cutting law. The fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti during immigration enforcement actions in Minnesota have amplified an already intense spotlight on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, increasing scrutiny of its plans for new detention sites. A proposed ICE facility just north of Richmond, Virginia, drew hundreds of people last week to a tense public hearing of the Hanover County Board of Supervisors. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); “You want what’s happening in Minnesota to go down in our own backyard? Build that detention center here, and that’s exactly what will happen,” resident Kimberly Matthews told county officials. As a prospective ICE detention site became public, elected officials in Kansas City, Missouri, scrambled to pass an ordinance aimed at blocking it. And mayors in Oklahoma City and Salt Lake City — after raising concerns about building permits — announced last week that property owners won’t be selling or leasing their facilities for immigration detention. Meanwhile, legislatures in several Democratic-led states pressed forward with bills aimed at blocking or discouraging ICE facilities. A New Mexico measure targets local government agreements to detain immigrants for ICE. A novel California proposal seeks to nudge companies running ICE facilities out of the state by imposing a 50% tax on their proceeds. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); The number of ICE detention sites has doubled More than 70,000 immigrants were being detained by ICE as of late December, up from 40,000 when Trump took office, according to federal data. In a little over a year, the number of detention facilities used by ICE nearly doubled to 212 sites spread across 47 states and territories. Most of that growth came through existing contracts with the U.S. Marshals Service or deals to use empty beds at county jails. Trump’s administration now is taking steps to open more large-scale facilities. In January, ICE paid $102 million for a warehouse in Washington County, Maryland, $84 million for one in Berks County, Pennsylvania, and more than $70 million for one in Surprise, Arizona. It also solicited public comment on a proposed warehouse purchase in a flood plain in Chester, New York. Federal immigration officials have toured large warehouses elsewhere, without releasing many details about the efforts. “They will be very well structured detention facilities meeting our regular detention standards,” ICE said in a statement, adding: “It should not come as news that ICE will be making arrests in states across the U.S. and is actively working to expand detention space.” freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Detention site foes face legal limitations State and local governments can decline to lease detention space to ICE, but they generally cannot prohibit businesses and private landowners from using their property for federal immigrant detention centers, said Danielle Jefferis, an associate law professor at the University of Nebraska who focuses on immigration and civil litigation. In 2023, a federal court invalidated a California law barring private immigrant detention facilities for infringing on federal powers. A federal appeals court panel cited similar grounds in July while striking down a New Jersey law that forbade agreements to operate immigrant detention facilities. After ICE officials recently toured a warehouse in Orlando, Florida, as a prospective site, local officials looked into ways to regulate or prevent it. But City Attorney Mayanne Downs advised them in a letter that “ICE is immune from any local regulation that interferes in any way with its federal mandate.” Officials in Hanover County also asked their attorney to evaluate legal options after the Department of Homeland Security sent a letter confirming its intent to purchase a private property for use as an ICE processing facility. The building sits near retail businesses, hotels, restaurants and several neighborhoods. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Although some residents voiced concerns that an ICE facility could strain the county’s resources, there’s little the county can do to oppose it, said Board of Supervisors Chair Sean Davis. “The federal government is generally exempt from our zoning regulations,” Davis said. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Kansas City tries to block new ICE detention site Despite court rulings elsewhere, the City Council in Kansas City voted in January to impose a five-year moratorium on non-city-run detention facilities. The vote came on the same day ICE officials toured a nearly 1-million-square-foot (92,903-square-meter) warehouse as a prospective site. Manny Abarca, a county lawmaker, said he initially was threatened with trespassing when he showed up but was eventually allowed inside the facility, where a deputy ICE field office director told him they were scouting for a 7,500-bed site. Abarca is trying to fortify Kansas City’s resistance by proposing a countywide moratorium on permits, zoning changes and development plans for detention facilities not run by the county or a city. “When federal power is putting communities on edge, local government has a responsibility to act where we have authority,” he said. Kansas City is looking to follow a similar path as Leavenworth, Kansas , which has argued that private prison firm CoreCivic must have an operating permit to reopen a shuttered prison as an ICE detention facility. As other ICE proposals have surfaced, officials in Social Circle, Georgia, El Paso, Texas, and Roxbury Township, New Jersey, all have raised concerns about a lack of water and sewer capacity to transform warehouses into detention sites. Nationally, it remains to be seen whether local governments can effectively deter ICE facilities through building permits and regulations. “We’re currently in a moment where it is being tested,” Jefferis said. “So there is no clear answer as to how the courts are going to come down.” New Mexico targets existing ICE facilities The Democratic-led New Mexico House on Friday passed legislation banning state and local government contracts for ICE detention facilities, sending it to the Senate. Similar bills are pending in Hawaii, Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island. The Otero County Processing Center, 25 miles (40 kilometers) from downtown El Paso, Texas, is one of three privately run ICE facilities that could be affected by the New Mexico legislation. The facility includes four immigration courtrooms and space for more than 1,000 detainees. The county financed its construction in 2007 with the intent to use it as a revenue source, and plans to pay off the remaining $16.5 million debt by 2028. Otero County Attorney Roy Nichols said the county is prepared to sue the Legislature under a state law that prevents impairment of outstanding revenue bonds. Republicans warned of job losses and economic fallout if the legislation forces immigrant detention centers to close. But Democratic state Rep. Sarah Silva, who voted for the ban, and said her constituents in a heavily Hispanic area view the ICE facility as a burden. “Our state can’t be complicit in the violations that ICE has been doing in places like Minneapolis,” Silva said. “To me that was beyond the tipping point.” DAVID A. LIEB Lieb covers issues and trends in state governments across the U.S. He’s reported about government and politics for The Associated Press for 30 years. twitter mailto HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH Hollingsworth has worked for The AP for 25 years, covering stories of interest in the Midwest and beyond. She is based in Kansas City, Missouri. twitter mailto

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., walks through the House Rules Committee hearing room to meet with Republicans on the panel as they try to advance a federal funding package and prevent a prolonged partial government shutdown, at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) 2026-02-03T05:12:18Z WASHINGTON (AP) — Speaker Mike Johnson’s ability to carry out President Donald Trump’s “play call” for funding the government will be put to the test Tuesday as the House holds a procedural vote on a bill to end the partial shutdown . Johnson will need near-unanimous support from his Republican conference to proceed. He can afford to lose only one Republican on party-line votes with perfect attendance, but some lawmakers are threatening to tank the effort if their priorities are not included. Trump weighed in with a social media post, telling them “There can be NO CHANGES at this time.” “We will work together in good faith to address the issues that have been raised, but we cannot have another long, pointless, and destructive Shutdown that will hurt our Country so badly — One that will not benefit Republicans or Democrats. I hope everyone will vote, YES!,” Trump wrote on his social media site. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); The measure would end the partial government shutdown that began Saturday, funding most of the federal government through Sept. 30 and the Department of Homeland Security for two weeks as lawmakers negotiate potential changes for the agency that enforces the nation’s immigration laws — United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE . Running Trump’s ‘play call’ Johnson said on “Fox News Sunday” it was Trump’s “play call to do it this way. He had already conceded he wants to turn down the volume, so to speak.” But GOP leaders sounded like they still had work to do in convincing the rank-and-file to join them as House lawmakers returned to the Capitol Monday after a week back in their congressional districts. “We always work till the midnight hour to get the votes,” said House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La. “You never start the process with everybody on board. You work through it, and you could say that about every major bill we’ve passed.” The funding package passed the Senate on Friday. Trump says he’ll sign it immediately if it passes the House. Some Democrats are expected to vote for the final bill, but not for the initial procedural measure setting the terms for the House debate, making it the tougher test for Johnson and the White House. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries has made clear that Democrats wouldn’t help Republicans out of their procedural jam, even though Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer helped negotiate the funding bill. Jeffries noted that the procedural vote covers a variety of issues that most Democrats oppose, including resolutions to hold former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in contempt of Congress over the Jeffrey Epstein investigation . “If they have some massive mandate,” Jeffries said of Republicans, “then go pass your rule, which includes toxic bills that we don’t support.” freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Key differences from the last shutdown The path to the current partial shutdown differs from the fall impasse, which affected more agencies and lasted a record 43 days . Then, the debate was over extending temporary, COVID-era subsidies for those who get health coverage through the Affordable Care Act. Democrats were unsuccessful in getting those subsidies included as part of a package to end the shutdown. Congress has made important progress since then, passing six of the 12 annual appropriations bills that fund federal agencies and programs. That includes important programs such as nutrition assistance and fully operating national parks and historic sites. They are funded through Sept. 30. But the remaining unpassed bills represent roughly three-quarters of federal spending, including the Department of Defense. Service members and federal workers could miss paychecks depending upon the length of the current funding lapse. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Voting bill becomes last-minute obstacle Some House Republicans have demanded that the funding package include legislation requiring voters to show proof of citizenship before they are eligible to participate in elections. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., had said the legislation, known as the SAVE Act , must be included in the appropriations package. But Luna appeared to drop her objections late Monday, writing on social media that she had spoken with Trump about a “pathway forward” for the voting bill in the Senate that would keep the government open. The Brennan Center for Justice, a think tank focused on democracy and voting rights issues, said the voting bill’s passage would mean that Americans would need to produce a passport or birth certificate to register to vote, and that at least 21 million votes lack ready access to those papers. “If House Republicans add the SAVE Act to the bipartisan appropriations package it will lead to another prolonged Trump government shutdown,” Schumer said. “Let’s be clear, the SAVE Act is not about securing our elections. It is about suppressing voters.” Johnson has operated with a thin majority throughout his tenure as speaker. But with Saturday’s special election in Texas, the Republican majority stands at a threadbare 218-214, shrinking the GOP’s ability to withstand defections. ___ Associated Press video journalist Nathan Ellgren contributed to this report.

Women, one flashing a victory hand gesture, cross a street under a huge banner showing hands firmly holding Iranian national flags as a sign of patriotism, in Tehran, Iran, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File) 2026-02-03T05:20:10Z DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran’s president said Tuesday that he instructed the country’s foreign minister to “pursue fair and equitable negotiations” with the United States, the first clear sign from Tehran it wants to try to negotiate as tensions remain high with Washington after the Mideast country’s bloody crackdown on nationwide protests last month. The announcement marked a major turn for reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian , who broadly had warned Iranians for weeks that the turmoil in his country had gone beyond his control. It also signals that the president received support from Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for talks that the 86-year-old cleric previously had dismissed . Turkey had been working behind the scenes to make the talks happen there later this week as U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff is traveling in the region. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); But whether Iran and the U.S. can reach an agreement remains to be seen, particularly as President Donald Trump now has included Iran’s nuclear program in a list of demands from Tehran in any talks. Trump ordered the bombing of three Iranian nuclear sites during the 12-day war Israel launched against Iran in June. Iran’s president signals talks are possible Writing on X, Pezeshkian said in English and Farsi that the decision came after “requests from friendly governments in the region to respond to the proposal by the President of the United States for negotiations.” “I have instructed my Minister of Foreign Affairs, provided that a suitable environment exists — one free from threats and unreasonable expectations — to pursue fair and equitable negotiations, guided by the principles of dignity, prudence, and expediency,” he said. The U.S. has yet to acknowledge the talks will take place. A semiofficial news agency in Iran on Monday reported — then later deleted without explanation — that Pezeshkian had issued such an order to Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who held multiple rounds of talks with Witkoff before the 12-day war. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Khamenei adviser speaks on the nuclear issue Late Monday, the pan-Arab satellite channel Al Mayadeen, which is politically allied with the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, aired an interview with Ali Shamkhani, a top Khamenei adviser on security. Shamkhani, who now sits on the country’s Supreme National Security Council and who in the 1980s led Iran’s navy, wore a naval uniform as he spoke. He suggested if the talks happened, they would be indirect at the beginning, then moving to direct talks if a deal appeared to be attainable. Direct talks with the U.S. long have been a highly charged political issue within Iran’s theocracy, with reformists like Pezeshkian pushing for them and hard-liners dismissing them. The talks would solely focus on nuclear issues, he added. Asked about whether Russia could take Iran’s enriched uranium like it did in Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, Shamkhani dismissed the idea, saying there was “no reason” to do so. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Monday said Russia had “long offered these services as a possible option that would alleviate certain irritants for a number of countries.” freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); “Iran does not seek nuclear weapons, will not seek a nuclear weapon and will never stockpile nuclear weapons, but the other side must pay a price in return for this,” he said. Iran had been enriching uranium up to 60% purity, a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels. The International Atomic Energy Agency had said Iran was the only country in the world to enrich to that level that wasn’t armed with the bomb. Iran has been refusing requests by the IAEA to inspect the sites bombed in the June war. “The quantity of enriched uranium remains unknown, because part of the stockpile is under rubble, and there is no initiative yet to extract it, as it is extremely dangerous,” Shamkhani said. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Witkoff traveling to Israel Witkoff is expected to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli security officials on Tuesday, according to a White House official who was not authorized to comment publicly about the talks and spoke on condition of anonymity. He will travel to Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, later in the week for Russia-Ukraine talks, the official said. “We have talks going on with Iran, we’ll see how it all works out,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday. Asked what his threshold was for military action against Iran, he declined to elaborate. “I’d like to see a deal negotiated,” Trump said. “Right now, we’re talking to them, we’re talking to Iran, and if we could work something out, that’d be great. And if we can’t, probably bad things would happen.” ___ Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani, Matthew Lee and Konstantin Toropin in Washington contributed to this report. JON GAMBRELL Gambrell is the news director for the Gulf and Iran for The Associated Press. He has reported from each of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Iran and other locations across the world since joining the AP in 2006. twitter instagram mailto

Bad Bunny arrives at the 68th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP) 2026-02-03T05:04:04Z WASHINGTON (AP) — Don’t tune into the Super Bowl hoping for a break from the tumultuous politics gripping the U.S. The NFL is facing pressure ahead of Sunday’s game between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots to take a more explicit stance against the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement. More than 184,000 people have signed a petition calling on the league to denounce the potential presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Super Bowl, which is being held at Levi’s Stadium in the San Francisco Bay Area. The liberal group MoveOn plans to deliver the petition to the NFL’s New York City headquarters on Tuesday. Meanwhile, anticipation is building around how Bad Bunny , the halftime show’s Spanish-speaking headliner, will address the moment. He has criticized President Donald Trump on everything from his hurricane response in his native Puerto Rico to his treatment of immigrants. On Sunday night, he blasted ICE while accepting an award at the Grammys. His latest tour skipped the continental U.S. because of fears that his fans could be targeted by immigration agents. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Trump has said he doesn’t plan to attend this year’s game, unlike last year, and he has derided Bad Bunny as a “terrible choice.” A Republican senator is calling it “the woke bowl.” And a prominent conservative group plans to hold an alternative show that it hopes will steal attention from the main event. The Super Bowl is one of the few remaining cultural touchstones viewed by millions of people in real time and the halftime show is no stranger to controversy, perhaps most notably Janet Jackson’s 2004 performance in which her breast was briefly exposed. But there are few parallels to this year’s game, which has the potential to become an unusual mix of sports, entertainment, politics and protest. And it will unfold at a tinderbox moment for the U.S., just two weeks after Alex Pretti’s killing by federal agents in Minneapolis reignited a national debate over the Trump administration’s hard-line law enforcement tactics. “The Super Bowl is supposed to be an escape, right? We’re supposed to go there to not have to talk about the serious things of this country,” said Tiki Barber, a former player for the New York Giants who played in the Super Bowl in 2001 and has since attended several as a commentator. “I hope it doesn’t devolve, because if it does, then I think we’re really losing touch with what’s important in our society.” freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Bad Bunny has leaned into the controversy The 31-year-old Bad Bunny, born in Puerto Rico as Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, has elevated Latino music into the mainstream and gained global fame with songs almost entirely in Spanish — something that irks many of his conservative detractors. He has leaned into the controversy, referring to the halftime show when he hosted “Saturday Night Live” in October by joking “everybody is happy about it — even Fox News.” He segued into a few sentences in Spanish, expressing Latino pride in the achievement, and finished by saying in English, “If you didn’t understand what I just said, you have four months to learn!” Those who follow him closely doubt that he’ll back down now. “He has made it very clear what he stands for,” said Vanessa Díaz, a professor at Loyola Marymount University and co-author of “P FKN R: How Bad Bunny Became the Global Voice of Puerto Rican Resistance.” “So I can’t imagine that this would all go away with the Super Bowl.” The halftime show is a collaboration between the NFL, Roc Nation and Apple Music. Roc Nation curates the performers and Apple Music distributes the performance while the NFL ultimately controls the stage, broadcast and branding. The NFL, which is working to expand its appeal across the world, including into Latin America, said it never considered removing Bad Bunny from the halftime show even after criticism from Trump and some of his supporters. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on Monday described the singer as “one of the great artists in the world,” as well as someone who understands the power of the Super Bowl performance “to unite people and to be able to bring people together.” freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); “I think artists in the past have done that. I think Bad Bunny understands that. And I think you’ll have a great performance,” Goodell told reporters during his annual Super Bowl press conference. About half of Americans approved of Bad Bunny as the halftime performer, according to an October poll from Quinnipiac University. But there were substantial gaps with about three-quarters of Democrats backing the pick compared to just 16% of Republicans. About 60% of Black and Hispanic adults approved of the selection compared to 41% of whites. Republicans are eager to maintain Latino support in their bid to keep control of Congress. But as the Super Bowl draws near, many in the GOP have kept up their Bad Bunny critiques. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, the former head football coach at Auburn University who is now running for governor, derided the “Woke Bowl” on Newsmax last week and said he’ll watch an alternative event hosted by Turning Point USA. The group founded by the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk said Monday that Kid Rock , a vocal Trump supporter, would be among the performers at its event. DHS won’t say whether immigration agents will be at Super Bowl In recent days, Department of Homeland Security official Jeff Brannigan hosted a series of private calls with local officials and the NFL in which he indicated that ICE does not plan to conduct any law enforcement actions the week of the Super Bowl or at the game, according to two NFL officials with direct knowledge of the conversations. ICE is not expected to be among more than a dozen DHS-related agencies providing security at the game, the officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations. While that is the plan, some worry that Trump and his MAGA allies who lead DHS can change their minds ahead of Sunday’s game given their recent statements. DHS official Corey Lewandowski, a key adviser to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, said in October that ICE agents would be conducting immigration enforcement at the game. “There is nowhere that you can provide safe haven to people who are in the country illegally, not the Super Bowl, not anywhere else,” he said at the time. Asked to clarify ICE’s role this week, DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin refused to say whether federal immigration agents will be present for the Super Bowl. “Those who are here legally and not breaking other laws have nothing to fear,” she said. “We will not disclose future operations or discuss personnel. Super Bowl security will entail a whole-of-government response conducted in line with the U.S. Constitution.” The progressive group MoveOn will host a Tuesday rally outside the NFL headquarters in New York to present a petition telling the league, “No ICE at the Super Bowl.” “This year’s Super Bowl should be remembered for big plays and Bad Bunny, not masked and armed ICE agents running around the stadium inflicting chaos, violence, and trauma on fans and stadium workers,” MoveOn spokesperson Britt Jacovich said. “The NFL can’t stay on the sidelines, the league has a responsibility to act like adults, protect Super Bowl fans and stadium workers, and keep ICE out of the game.” In an interview, San Francisco mayor Daniel Lurie was optimistic that the event would be a success even in a politically tense climate. “We are going to keep everybody safe — our residents, our visitors,” he said. “Obviously with everything going on, we’re staying on top of it, monitoring everything. But I expect everything to be safe and fun.” ___ Peoples reported from New York.

Bad Bunny arrives at the 68th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP) 2026-02-03T05:04:04Z WASHINGTON (AP) — Don’t tune into the Super Bowl hoping for a break from the tumultuous politics gripping the U.S. The NFL is facing pressure ahead of Sunday’s game between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots to take a more explicit stance against the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement. More than 184,000 people have signed a petition calling on the league to denounce the potential presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Super Bowl, which is being held at Levi’s Stadium in the San Francisco Bay Area. The liberal group MoveOn plans to deliver the petition to the NFL’s New York City headquarters on Tuesday. Meanwhile, anticipation is building around how Bad Bunny , the halftime show’s Spanish-speaking headliner, will address the moment. He has criticized President Donald Trump on everything from his hurricane response in his native Puerto Rico to his treatment of immigrants. On Sunday night, he blasted ICE while accepting an award at the Grammys. His latest tour skipped the continental U.S. because of fears that his fans could be targeted by immigration agents. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Trump has said he doesn’t plan to attend this year’s game, unlike last year, and he has derided Bad Bunny as a “terrible choice.” A Republican senator is calling it “the woke bowl.” And a prominent conservative group plans to hold an alternative show that it hopes will steal attention from the main event. The Super Bowl is one of the few remaining cultural touchstones viewed by millions of people in real time and the halftime show is no stranger to controversy, perhaps most notably Janet Jackson’s 2004 performance in which her breast was briefly exposed. But there are few parallels to this year’s game, which has the potential to become an unusual mix of sports, entertainment, politics and protest. And it will unfold at a tinderbox moment for the U.S., just two weeks after Alex Pretti’s killing by federal agents in Minneapolis reignited a national debate over the Trump administration’s hard-line law enforcement tactics. “The Super Bowl is supposed to be an escape, right? We’re supposed to go there to not have to talk about the serious things of this country,” said Tiki Barber, a former player for the New York Giants who played in the Super Bowl in 2001 and has since attended several as a commentator. “I hope it doesn’t devolve, because if it does, then I think we’re really losing touch with what’s important in our society.” freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Bad Bunny has leaned into the controversy The 31-year-old Bad Bunny, born in Puerto Rico as Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, has elevated Latino music into the mainstream and gained global fame with songs almost entirely in Spanish — something that irks many of his conservative detractors. He has leaned into the controversy, referring to the halftime show when he hosted “Saturday Night Live” in October by joking “everybody is happy about it — even Fox News.” He segued into a few sentences in Spanish, expressing Latino pride in the achievement, and finished by saying in English, “If you didn’t understand what I just said, you have four months to learn!” Those who follow him closely doubt that he’ll back down now. “He has made it very clear what he stands for,” said Vanessa Díaz, a professor at Loyola Marymount University and co-author of “P FKN R: How Bad Bunny Became the Global Voice of Puerto Rican Resistance.” “So I can’t imagine that this would all go away with the Super Bowl.” The halftime show is a collaboration between the NFL, Roc Nation and Apple Music. Roc Nation curates the performers and Apple Music distributes the performance while the NFL ultimately controls the stage, broadcast and branding. The NFL, which is working to expand its appeal across the world, including into Latin America, said it never considered removing Bad Bunny from the halftime show even after criticism from Trump and some of his supporters. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on Monday described the singer as “one of the great artists in the world,” as well as someone who understands the power of the Super Bowl performance “to unite people and to be able to bring people together.” freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); “I think artists in the past have done that. I think Bad Bunny understands that. And I think you’ll have a great performance,” Goodell told reporters during his annual Super Bowl press conference. About half of Americans approved of Bad Bunny as the halftime performer, according to an October poll from Quinnipiac University. But there were substantial gaps with about three-quarters of Democrats backing the pick compared to just 16% of Republicans. About 60% of Black and Hispanic adults approved of the selection compared to 41% of whites. Republicans are eager to maintain Latino support in their bid to keep control of Congress. But as the Super Bowl draws near, many in the GOP have kept up their Bad Bunny critiques. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, the former head football coach at Auburn University who is now running for governor, derided the “Woke Bowl” on Newsmax last week and said he’ll watch an alternative event hosted by Turning Point USA. The group founded by the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk said Monday that Kid Rock , a vocal Trump supporter, would be among the performers at its event. DHS won’t say whether immigration agents will be at Super Bowl In recent days, Department of Homeland Security official Jeff Brannigan hosted a series of private calls with local officials and the NFL in which he indicated that ICE does not plan to conduct any law enforcement actions the week of the Super Bowl or at the game, according to two NFL officials with direct knowledge of the conversations. ICE is not expected to be among more than a dozen DHS-related agencies providing security at the game, the officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations. While that is the plan, some worry that Trump and his MAGA allies who lead DHS can change their minds ahead of Sunday’s game given their recent statements. DHS official Corey Lewandowski, a key adviser to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, said in October that ICE agents would be conducting immigration enforcement at the game. “There is nowhere that you can provide safe haven to people who are in the country illegally, not the Super Bowl, not anywhere else,” he said at the time. Asked to clarify ICE’s role this week, DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin refused to say whether federal immigration agents will be present for the Super Bowl. “Those who are here legally and not breaking other laws have nothing to fear,” she said. “We will not disclose future operations or discuss personnel. Super Bowl security will entail a whole-of-government response conducted in line with the U.S. Constitution.” The progressive group MoveOn will host a Tuesday rally outside the NFL headquarters in New York to present a petition telling the league, “No ICE at the Super Bowl.” “This year’s Super Bowl should be remembered for big plays and Bad Bunny, not masked and armed ICE agents running around the stadium inflicting chaos, violence, and trauma on fans and stadium workers,” MoveOn spokesperson Britt Jacovich said. “The NFL can’t stay on the sidelines, the league has a responsibility to act like adults, protect Super Bowl fans and stadium workers, and keep ICE out of the game.” In an interview, San Francisco mayor Daniel Lurie was optimistic that the event would be a success even in a politically tense climate. “We are going to keep everybody safe — our residents, our visitors,” he said. “Obviously with everything going on, we’re staying on top of it, monitoring everything. But I expect everything to be safe and fun.” ___ Peoples reported from New York.

James Heaps appears in the Los Angeles Superior Court, June 26, 2019. (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times via AP, Pool, File) 2026-02-03T00:14:14Z LOS ANGELES (AP) — A California appeals court on Monday overturned the conviction of a former campus gynecologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, on sex abuse charges. James Heaps was sentenced in 2023 to 11 years in prison for sexually abusing female patients. The ruling ordered the case to be sent back for retrial. A three-justice panel from California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal ruled Heaps was denied a fair trial because his defense counsel was not made aware of a note pointing out concerns that one juror lacked sufficient English to carry out their duties. Heaps was accused of sexually assaulting hundreds of patients during his 35-year career and UCLA made nearly $700 million in payouts over lawsuits connected to the allegations. He pleaded not guilty to 21 felony counts in the sexual assaults of seven women between 2009 and 2018. He was convicted in October 2022 of three counts of sexual battery by fraud and two counts of sexual penetration of two patients. The jury found him not guilty of seven of the 21 counts and was deadlocked on the remaining charges. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); After his conviction and sentencing, a judge ruled that he could be retried on the deadlocked charges. In the 31-page ruling, the appellate court panel noted that within about one hour of Juror No. 15’s substitution as a juror, concerns were raised about whether the person was qualified to be a juror. They also said the foreman wrote a note indicating that Juror No. 15 did not speak English well enough to participate in the deliberations. “We recognize the burden on the trial court and regrettably, on the witnesses, in requiring retrial of a case involving multiple victims and delving into the conduct of intimate medical examinations,” the panel stated in its ruling. “The importance of the constitutional right to counsel at critical junctures in a criminal trial gives us no other choice.” 获取更多RSS： https://feedx.net https://feedx.site

A document that was included in the U.S. Department of Justice release of the Jeffrey Epstein files is photographed Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, shows the report when Epstein was taken into custody on July 6, 2019. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick) 2026-02-02T18:25:19Z NEW YORK (AP) — The Justice Department said Monday that it had withdrawn several thousand documents and “media” related to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein after lawyers complained to a New York judge that the lives of nearly 100 victims had been “turned upside down” by sloppy redactions in the government’s latest release of records. The exposed materials include nude photos showing the faces of potential victims as well as names, email addresses and other identifying information that was either unredacted or not fully obscured. The department blamed it on “technical or human error.” In a letter to the New York judges overseeing the sex trafficking cases brought against Epstein and confidant Ghislaine Maxwell , U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton wrote that the department had taken down nearly all materials identified by victims or their lawyers, along with a “substantial number” of documents identified independently by the government. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Clayton said the department has “revised its protocols for addressing flagging documents” after victims and their lawyers requested changes. Documents are promptly pulled down when flagged by victims, then evaluated before a redacted version of the document can be reposted, “ideally within 24 to 36 hours.” Two lawyers for Epstein victims wrote the court Sunday seeking “immediate judicial intervention” because of what they described as thousands of instances when the government had failed to redact names and other personally identifying information. Eight women who identify as Epstein victims added comments to the letter to Judge Richard M. Berman. One wrote that the records’ release was “life threatening.” Another said she’d gotten death threats after 51 entries included her private banking information, forcing her to try to shut down her credit cards and accounts. “There is no conceivable degree of institutional incompetence sufficient to explain the scale, consistency, and persistence of the failures that occurred — particularly where the sole task ordered by the Court and repeatedly emphasized by DOJ was simple: redact known victim names before publication,” the lawyers, Brittany Henderson and Brad Edwards, wrote. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Berman, who presided over Epstein’s sex trafficking case, scheduled a conference for Wednesday. Also Monday, a section of the Justice Department’s Epstein files website that had contained public court records from Epstein and Maxwell’s criminal cases and civil lawsuits was no longer functioning. A message seeking comment on the website issue was left for the Justice Department. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Uncensored photos Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said in an interview Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” that there have been sporadic errors in redacting, or blacking out, sensitive information but that the Justice Department has tried to work quickly to address them. “Every time we hear from a victim or their lawyer that they believe that their name was not properly redacted, we immediately rectified that. And the numbers we’re talking about, just so the American people understand, we’re talking about .001 percent of all the materials,” Blanche said. Dozens of Associated Press reporters analyzing the files have so far found multiple occasions where a name was redacted in one document, only to be left exposed in another version of the same file. In other places, names and email addresses are crossed out but not fully blackened out, so they’re still visible. Other text redactions can be easily overridden by simply double clicking on them to reveal the hidden text underneath. The Justice Department has said all nude or pornographic images were redacted from the 2,000-some videos and 180,000 images in the release, even if they were commercially produced, as the agency considered all women depicted in the images as potential victims. But reporters with The New York Times still found dozens of uncensored photos of naked young people with their faces unredacted. The newspaper said the images have since been largely removed or redacted after it notified the Justice Department. It said some of the images appeared to have been taken on the beach at Epstein’s private Caribbean island while others are in a bedroom setting. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); In another instance, the AP found a set of more than 100 images of a young, unidentified female lounging on a bed, standing on a beach and at other summertime locations while wearing a short top. The images are almost fully blacked out so only the person’s arms and legs are clearly visible, save for the very last image, a profile photo that is completely unredacted and reveals her face. Elsewhere in the files, the face of one of Epstein’s alleged underage victims was clearly shown on an organizational chart created by federal investigators. The poor redactions didn’t just involve victim information. One email showed Epstein’s entire credit card number, expiration date and security code. An interview transcript from the investigation into Epstein’s suicide included a jail worker’s full Social Security number and date of birth. Some email addresses were visible under thin cross-outs. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Practical consequences in an unrelated court case At an unrelated sex trafficking trial in New York on Monday, lawyers for two high-end real estate brokers and their brother asked for a mistrial because their names had appeared in some of the Epstein documents. Deanna Paul, a defense lawyer at the trial of Tal, Oren and Alon Alexander, said prosecutors had “destroyed the possibility of a fair trial” by letting documents get out that falsely suggested an association with Epstein. The brothers have pleaded not guilty to drugging and raping multiple girls and women from 2008 to 2021. They aren’t accused of having anything to do with Epstein’s abuse of underage girls. Judge Valerie E. Caproni rejected the mistrial request after she individually questioned jurors, all of whom said they hadn’t seen any news about the brothers. Still, she confronted a prosecutor about the matter, asking, “Government, really?” “Yes, I understand where the court’s coming from,” replied Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Espinosa. She said the documents had been withdrawn from public circulation. __ The AP is reviewing the documents released by the Justice Department in collaboration with journalists from CBS, NBC, MS NOW and CNBC. Journalists from each newsroom are working together to examine the files and share information about what is in them. Each outlet is responsible for its own independent news coverage of the documents. MICHAEL R. SISAK Sisak is an Associated Press reporter covering law enforcement, courts and prisons. He is based in New York. twitter mailto PHILIP MARCELO Marcelo is a general assignment reporter in the NYC bureau. He previously wrote for AP Fact Check and before that was based in Boston, where he focused on race and immigration. twitter mailto 获取更多RSS： https://feedx.net https://feedx.site

A document that was included in the U.S. Department of Justice release of the Jeffrey Epstein files is photographed Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, shows the report when Epstein was taken into custody on July 6, 2019. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick) 2026-02-02T23:52:17Z Multiple AI-generated photos falsely claiming to show New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani as a child and his mother, filmmaker Mira Nair, with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein and his confidant Ghislaine Maxwell, along with other high-profile public figures, were shared widely on social media Monday. The images originated on an X account labeled as parody after a huge tranche of new Epstein files was released by the Justice Department on Friday. They are clearly watermarked as AI and other elements they contain do not add up. Here’s a closer look at the facts. CLAIM: Images show Mamdani as a child and his mother with Jeffrey Epstein and other public figures linked to the disgraced financier. THE FACTS: The images were created with artificial intelligence. They all contain a digital watermark identifying them as such and first appeared on a parody X account that says it creates “high quality AI videos and memes.” freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); In one of the images, Mamdani and Nair appear in the front of a group photo with Maxwell, Epstein, former President Bill Clinton, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Microsoft founder Bill Gates. They seem to be posing at night on a crowded city street. Mamdani looks to be a preteen or young teenager. Another supposedly shows the same group of people, minus Nair, in what appears to be a tropical setting. Epstein is pictured holding Clinton sitting in his arms, while Maxwell has her arm around Mamdani, who appears slightly younger. Other AI-generated images circulating online depict Mamdani as a baby being held by Nair while she poses with Epstein, Clinton, Maxwell and Bezos. None of Epstein’s victims have publicly accused Clinton, Gates or Bezos of being involved in his crimes. Google’s Gemini app detected SynthID , a digital watermarking tool for identifying content that has been generated or altered with AI, in all the images described above. This means they were created or edited, either entirely or in part, by Google’s AI models. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); The X account that first posted the images describes itself as “an AI-powered meme engine” that uses “AI to create memes, songs, stories, and visuals that call things exactly how they are — fast, loud, and impossible to ignore.” An inquiry sent to the account went unanswered. However, a post by the account seems to acknowledge that it created the images. “Damn you guys failed,” it reads . “I purposely made him a baby which would technically make this pic 34 years old. Yikes.” The photos began circulating after an email emerged in which a publicist, Peggy Siegal, wrote to Epstein about seeing a variety of luminaries, including Clinton, Bezos and Nair, an award-winning Indian filmmaker, at 2009 afterparty for a film held at Maxwell’s townhouse. While Mamdani appears as a baby or young child in all of the images, he was 18 in 2009, when Nair is said to have attended the party. The images have led to related falsehoods that have spread online in their wake. For example, one claims that Epstein is Mamdani’s father. This is not true — Mamdani’s father is Mahmood Mamdani, an anthropology professor at Columbia University. The NYC Mayor’s Office did not respond to a request for comment. ___ Find AP Fact Checks here: https://apnews.com/APFactCheck . MELISSA GOLDIN Goldin debunks, analyzes and tracks misinformation for The Associated Press. She is based in New York. twitter mailto

Elon Musk attends a memorial for conservative activist Charlie Kirk, Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File) 2026-02-02T22:47:04Z NEW YORK (AP) — Elon Musk is joining his space exploration and artificial intelligence ventures into a single company before a massive planned initial public offering for the business later this year. His rocket venture, SpaceX, announced on Monday that it had bought xAI in an effort to help the world’s richest man dominate the rocket and artificial intelligence businesses. The deal will combine several of his offerings, including his AI chatbot Grok, his satellite communications company Starlink, and his social media company X. Musk has talked repeatedly about the need to speed development of technology that will allow data centers to operate in space to solve the problem of overcoming the huge costs in electricity and other resources in building and running AI systems on Earth. It’s a goal that Musk said in his announcement of the deal could become much easier to reach with a combined company. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); “In the long term, space-based AI is obviously the only way to scale,” Musk wrote on SpaceX’s website Monday, then added in reference to solar power, “It’s always sunny in space!” Musk said in SpaceX’s announcement he estimates “that within 2 to 3 years, the lowest cost way to generate AI compute will be in space.” It’s not a prediction shared by other many companies building data centers, including Microsoft. “I’ll be surprised if people move from land to low-Earth-orbit,” Microsoft’s president, Brad Smith, told The Associated Press last month, when asked about the alternatives to building data centers in the U.S. amid rising community opposition. SpaceX won’t be the first to explore the idea of putting AI data centers in space. Google last year revealed a new research project called Project Suncatcher that would equip solar-powered satellites with AI computer chips. Mississippi officials last month announced that xAI is set to spend $20 billion to build a data center near the state’s border with Tennessee. The data center, called MACROHARDRR, a likely pun on Microsoft’s name, will be its third data center in the greater Memphis area. BERNARD CONDON Condon is an Associated Press investigative reporter covering breaking news. He has written about the Maui fire, the Afghanistan withdrawal, gun laws, Chinese loans in Africa and Trump’s business. twitter facebook mailto MATT O’BRIEN O’Brien covers the business of technology and artificial intelligence for The Associated Press. mailto 获取更多RSS： https://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a news conference at Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson) 2026-02-02T21:52:27Z WASHINGTON (AP) — Every Homeland Security officer on the ground in Minneapolis, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, will be immediately issued body-worn cameras, Secretary Kristi Noem said Monday, in the latest fallout after the shooting deaths of two U.S. citizens at the hands of federal officers sparked widespread outrage. Noem made the announcement on the social media platform X. She said the body-worn camera program is being expanded nationwide as funding becomes available. “We will rapidly acquire and deploy body cameras to DHS law enforcement across the country,” Noem said in the social media post. The news of the body cameras comes as Minneapolis has been the site of intense scrutiny over the conduct of immigration enforcement officers after two U.S. citizens protesting immigration enforcement activities in the city were shot and killed. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); There have been increased calls by critics of Homeland Security to require all of the department’s officers who are responsible for immigration enforcement to wear body cameras. President Joe Biden ordered in 2022 that federal law enforcement officers wear body cameras as part of an executive order that included other policing reform measures. President Donald Trump had rescinded that directive after starting his second term. Noem’s move comes after Trump over the weekend endorsed the idea of body cameras for immigration officers. Trump was asked by a reporter as he flew to Florida if he thought it was a good thing having lots of cameras capturing incidents with law enforcement. “I think it would help law enforcement but I’d have to talk to them,” Trump said. REBECCA SANTANA Santana covers the Department of Homeland Security for The Associated Press. She has extensive experience reporting in such places as Russia, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. twitter mailto

A show dog named Valli gets groomed at the 150th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis) 2026-02-02T21:50:04Z NEW YORK (AP) — Must love dogs. Really, really love dogs. The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show spotlights the bond between people and dogs. But reaching the United States’ premier canine event also can be about another kind of love. “For me, it would be very hard to do this without somebody who was as vested in it as I am,” said two-time Westminster-winning handler Bill McFadden, who’s half of a dogdom power couple. His wife, Taffe McFadden, handled the second-place winner in 2019 , and she and Bono the Havanese are among past finalists set to appear Monday evening in a special tribute to Westminster’s 150th annual show . Yes, the McFaddens — who met at a dog show in the late 1970s and married in 1985 — have faced and sometimes beaten each other at various shows. And no, there are no hard feelings. “I think some of my best memories are watching Taffe win best in show,” Bill said Saturday while the couple readied for Westminster. “If one of us takes the big ribbon home, it’s awesome. Doesn’t matter which one.” Breed competition gets underway After starting with agility and other sports on Saturday, the storied show got down to its traditional business Monday. Dogs ranging from teeny Chihuahuas to towering Irish wolfhounds started competing in the multi-round, breed-by-breed competition that leads to the best in show award Tuesday night. Among first-round winners advancing to semifinals later Monday were a Lhasa apso named JJ and an American foxhound called George. They were winner and runner-up, respectively, at the massive AKC National Championship show in December. JJ is “a show dog all the time,” said breeder, handler and co-owner Susan Giles of Manakin Sabot, Virginia, who has had Lhasas for 53 years. JJ is everything the breed is supposed to be, though he departs from the somewhat aloof norm in one way: “He’ll talk to everybody,” she said. George is a strapping, playful representative of one of the United States’ oldest but now rarest breeds. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); “They’re such cool dogs — more people should know about them and have them,” said handler Tristen Miller of Mechanicsville, Maryland. Like a number of professional handlers, she’s married to another dogdom devotee. Husband John Miller’s family business helps manage dog shows. Juggling dog shows with full-time jobs Such pairings make sense for people who might, like the McFaddens, travel the country to 150 to 200 dog shows a year and share their home with a varying cast of canines that need feeding, walks, grooming and training. “I can’t even imagine trying to date and explain to somebody, ‘Now, I’m going to be gone five days a week, and I’m going to have like 20 dogs with me,’” said Bill McFadden, who largely credits his wife “for any semblance of order that we have” at their home on five acres (two hectares) in Acampo, California. The key is “being with someone you can actually coexist with — constantly,” said Bill McFadden (who’s aware of the 2005 romcom “Must Love Dogs” but doesn’t recall seeing it). Like many top handlers, they also have assistants, he notes. Then there are couples such as Randy and Andrea Huelsemann, who juggle breeding and showing their own French bulldogs with their full-time jobs. He’s a 911 dispatcher, and she’s a dental hygienist. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); “We do it for just the love of it, for something to do together,” Randy said while waiting to bring their dog Ollie into the ring Monday. (The Huelsemanns, of Prairie Du Sac, Wisconsin, alternate handling their various dogs.) “It’s a great hobby for the two of us,” allowing for travel together, Andrea added. Show dogs with show-business ties Not handling but no less enthusiastic were Lydia Hearst and Chris Hardwick, who cheered and whooped for their otterhound, Zoltar. He didn’t win his breed, but he probably got the most decibels. “I die a lot in horror movies, so I can scream for a long time,” Hearst said with a laugh. She and her husband, who hosted AMC’s “Talking Dead,” are both actors and grew up with dogs — pets in his case, and show dogs in hers. Her mother, newspaper heir and longtime Frenchie owner Patricia Hearst Shaw , was on hand to see both Zoltar and her dog Sassy in Monday’s competition. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Wilbur the beagle had his own Hollywood connections. The dog, who appears in the new Netflix police drama “The Rip,” starring Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, was squired Monday by Charlotte Jones, 13, in a competition for junior handlers. It was difficult to bring one of the family’s dogs to New York from Charlotte’s home near Honolulu, so her family connected through beagle circles with Wilbur’s owner, Mary Cummings, who has long trained dogs for both the show ring and show business . Which does Wilbur prefer? “Everything,” said Cummings, of Binghamton, New York. “He likes anything that involves food and getting attention.”

Faith leaders from across the United States sing together as a sign of support for Haitian migrants fearing the end of their Temporary Protected Status in the U.S., at an event held at St. John Missionary Baptist Church in Springfield, Ohio, on Monday, Feb. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Luis Andres Henao) 2026-02-02T19:13:13Z SPRINGFIELD, Ohio (AP) — In a church crowded to overcapacity, two-dozen faith leaders and their audience of hundreds sang and prayed together in unity Monday as a sign of support for Haitian migrants, some of whom fear their protected status in the United States may be ended this week. Religious leaders representing congregations from across the United States attended the event at Springfield’s St. John Missionary Baptist Church, demanding an extension of the Temporary Protection Status that has allowed thousands of Haitian migrants to legally arrive in Springfield in recent years fleeing unrest and gang violence in their homeland. The TPS designation for Haiti is set to expire Tuesday, and those gathered were hoping that a federal judge might intervene and issue a pause. “We believe in the legal system of this country of ours, we still believe. We believe that through the legal ways, the judge hopefully will rule in favor of current TPS holders today that will allow them to stay while we continue to fight,” Guerline Jozef, executive director of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, told the packed church. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); “We have been called for such a time as this to protect those who have nowhere else to go. They cannot go back to Haiti,” she said. So many people turned up for the church event that a fire marshal had to ask 150 to leave because the building had exceeded its 700-person capacity. Hundreds joined a choir clapping and singing: “You got to put one foot in front of the other and lead with love.” They also observed a moment of silence for people who have died in federal immigration detention and for Alex Pretti and Renee Good , who were shot and killed by federal officers in Minneapolis. Some of the speakers evoked biblical passages while appealing for empathic treatment of migrants. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Federal immigration crackdown and TPS The Department of Homeland Security announced last June that it would terminate TPS for about 500,000 Haitians who were already in the U.S., including some who had lived in the country for more than a decade. DHS said conditions in the island nation had improved enough to allow their safe return. “It was never intended to be a de facto asylum program, yet that’s how previous administrations have used it for decades. The Trump administration is restoring integrity to our immigration system to keep our homeland and its people safe,” DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement, noting there were no new enforcement operations to announce. A federal judge in Washington is expected to rule any day on a request to pause the TPS termination for Haitians while a lawsuit challenging it proceeds. TPS allows people already in the U.S. to stay and work legally if their homelands are deemed unsafe. Immigrants from 17 countries, including Haiti, Afghanistan, Sudan and Lebanon, had the protective status before President Donald Trump’s second term started. The uncertainty over TPS has deepened worries for an already embattled Haitian community in Springfield. Trump denigrated the community while campaigning in 2024 for a second term, falsely accusing its members of eating their neighbor’s cats and dogs as he pitched voters on his plans for an immigration crackdown. The false claims exacerbated fears about division and anti-immigrant sentiment in the mostly white, working class city of about 59,000 people. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); In the weeks after his comments, schools, government buildings and the homes of elected officials received bomb threats . Since then, the Springfield’s Haitians have lived in constant fear that has only been exacerbated by the federal immigration crackdowns happening in Minneapolis and other cities, said Viles Dorsainvil, leader of Springfield’s Haitian Community Help and Support Center. “As we are getting close to the end of the TPS, it has intensified the fear, the anxiety, the panic,” Dorsainvil said. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Sunday church service Some of Springfield’s estimated 15,000 Haitians also sought comfort and divine intervention in their churches on Sunday. At the First Haitian Evangelical Church of Springfield, its pastor estimated that half of the congregants who regularly attend Sunday service stayed home. “They don’t know the future; they are very scared,” said the Rev. Reginald Silencieux. Flanked by the flags of Haiti and the United States, he advised his congregation to stay home as much as possible in case of immigration raids. He also offered a prayer for Trump and the Haitian community and reminded congregants to keep their faith in God. “The president is our president. He can take decisions. But he is limited,” he said. “God is unlimited.” After the service, Jerome Bazard, a member of the church, said ending TPS for Haitians would wreak havoc on his community. “They can’t go to Haiti because it’s not safe. Without the TPS, they can’t work. And if they can’t work, they can eat, they can’t pay bills. You’re killing the people,” he said. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Many of the children in the Springfield Haitian community are U.S. citizens who have parents in the country illegally. If they are detained, Dorsainvil said some parents have signed caregiver affidavits that designate a legal guardian in hopes of keeping their kids out of foster care. “They’re not sending their kids to school,” he said. Volunteers from nearby towns and from out of state have been calling the Haitian community center offering to deliver food for those afraid to leave home, Dorsainvil said. Others have been stockpiling groceries in case immigration officers do flood the community. Some, he said, have been receiving desperate calls from family members abroad asking them to leave. “They keep telling them that Springfield is not a safe place now for them to stay.” ___ Associated Press reporter Julie Carr Smyth in Columbus, Ohio, contributed to this report. ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. LUIS ANDRES HENAO Henao is a multimedia reporter on the AP’s Global Religion team. He focuses on features and has reported for the AP from Alaska, Antarctica and the Amazon. twitter instagram mailto

Savannah Guthrie attends the third annual World Mental Health Day Gala, hosted by Project Healthy Minds, at Spring Studios on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, file) 2026-02-02T13:41:44Z TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — An Arizona sheriff said Monday that “we do in fact have a crime scene” as authorities search for the 84-year-old mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie, who was reported missing over the weekend. Speaking during a news conference, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said there are signs at the home indicating Nancy Guthrie did not leave on her own. “I need this community to step up and start giving us some calls,” Nanos said. Asked to explain why investigators believe it’s a crime scene, Nanos said Nancy Guthrie has limited mobility and said there were other things indicated she did not leave on her own, but declined to further elaborate. AP AUDIO: Sheriff says ‘we do in fact have a crime scene’ in search for ‘Today’ host Savannah Guthrie’s mom AP correspondent Julie Walker reports Arizona authorities search for ‘Today’ show host Savannah Guthrie’s missing 84-year-old mom. The sheriff said Nancy Guthrie, who lived alone, was of sound mind. “This is not dementia related. She’s as sharp as a tack. The family wants everyone to know that this isn’t someone who just wandered off,” Nanos said. He said she needs her daily medication. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Nanos said at a news conference Sunday night that Nancy Guthrie was last seen around 9:30 p.m. Saturday at her home in the Tucson area. Her family reported her missing around noon Sunday. Nanos said a family member received a call from someone at church saying Nancy Guthrie wasn’t there, leading family to search for her at her home and then calling 911. Searchers were using drones and search dogs to look for Nancy Guthrie, Nanos said. Search and rescue teams were supported by volunteers and Border Patrol and the homicide team was also involved, he said. It is not standard for the homicide team to get involved in such cases, Nanos said. “This one stood out because of what was described to us at the scene and what we located just looking at the scene,” Nanos said Sunday. He was not ruling out foul play. On Monday morning, Nanos said search crews worked hard but have since been pulled back. “We don’t see this as a search mission so much as it is a crime scene,” the sheriff said. Savannah Guthrie issued a statement on Monday, NBC’s “Today” show reported . freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); “On behalf of our family, I want to thank everyone for the thoughts, prayers and messages of support,” she said. “Right now, our focus remains on the safe return of our dear Nancy.” “Today” opened Monday’s show with the disappearance of the co-anchor’s mother, but Savannah Guthrie was not at the anchor’s desk. Nanos said during the Monday news conference that Savannah Guthrie is in Arizona. Savannah Guthrie grew up in Tucson and graduated from the University of Arizona. 获取更多RSS： https://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Arizona forward Ivan Kharchenkov (8) drives on Arizona State forward Santiago Trouet during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026, in Tempe, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri) 2026-02-02T18:02:47Z Arizona remained the unanimous No. 1 in the AP Top 25 men’s college basketball poll Monday while Michigan jumped over UConn and into second place following wins over previously unbeaten Nebraska and rival Michigan State. The Wildcats, who are off to a school-record 22-0 start , earned all 59 votes from a national media panel to stay atop the poll for the eighth consecutive week. UConn and Michigan were followed by Duke and Illinois in rounding out the top five. “We value steadiness,” said Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd, whose team visits Oklahoma State on Saturday before a four-game grinder against Kansas, Texas Tech, BYU and Houston. “A lot of of people talk about momentum, momentum, momentum. I understand what momentum is, but I think there’s way more value in being steady and consistent.” If the Wildcats beat the Cowboys, they would set a school record with their 23rd consecutive win. This bunch is currently tied with Arizona teams from 1914-17 that won 22 in a row under its arena namesake, Pop McKale, over a three-year span. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Gonzaga remained at No. 6 while Iowa State and Houston climbed one spot apiece. The Huskers fell four spots to No. 9 after losses to Michigan and the Illini , while the Spartans fell three spots to No. 10 after beating Rutgers and their own loss to the Wolverines. The losses by Nebraska left only Arizona and No. 23 Miami (Ohio) unbeaten in Division I men’s college basketball. “Obviously, back-to-back losses, we just have to look at the film and learn from it,” Huskers forward Pryce Sandfort said. “Keep our heads high and flush it as we get ready for Rutgers this week.” Kansas climbed three spots to No. 11 following its win over BYU on Saturday, while Purdue remained at No. 12 and Texas Tech — which played the Jayhawks on Monday night — was at No. 13. North Carolina and Vanderbilt rounded out the first 15. BYU, Florida, Virginia, Saint Louis and Clemson were next. The Billikens, who have won 15 consecutive games , have reached their best ranking since March 10, 2014, when they were at No. 18 the year they won the Atlantic 10 championship. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Arkansas, St. John’s, Miami (Ohio), Louisville and Tennessee held down the final five spots in the Top 25. The RedHawks bumped up one from last week and are at their highest point since they were No. 22 on Nov. 30, 1998. “The further you go,” RedHawks coach Travis Steele said following a win over Northern Illinois on Saturday, “the harder it gets.” Rising and falling Kansas, Vanderbilt and St. John’s made up the most ground this week, climbing three spots apiece, while the Volunteers — who were ranked as high as No. 13 this season — climbed back into the poll at No. 25 after two weeks out of it. Tennessee returned at the expense of Alabama. The Crimson Tide had the fifth-longest active poll streak snapped at 42. Update on the NET The latest NET rankings released Sunday , which the NCAA uses to help select its tournament field, installed Duke at No. 1 with the Wildcats second and Michigan third. The rest of the rankings largely mirrored the AP poll with one notable exception: The RedHawks were at No. 53 in the NET rankings by virtue of a soft schedule that has produced no Quad 1 win. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Conference watch The Big 12 led with six teams in the Top 25, while the Big Ten and ACC had five apiece — though the Big Ten had four of its five in the top 10. The SEC had four ranked teams, the Big East had two and the West Coast, A-10 and MAC had one apiece. ___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 all season. Sign up here . AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball DAVE SKRETTA Skretta is a Kansas City-based sports writer for The Associated Press. He covers the Royals, the Chiefs and college sports along with auto racing, the Olympics and other sports.

In this photo released by U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-TX, Adrian Conejo Arias and his son, five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos are seen in San Antonio, Texas, Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026, after being released from Dilley detention center. (Joaquin Castro via AP) 2026-02-02T17:54:15Z The father of a 5-year-old boy who was detained by immigration officers and held at an federal facility in Texas denied government accounts Monday that he abandoned his son as the pair returned to Minnesota . Adrian Conejo Arias, who is originally from Ecudador, told ABC News that he loves his son, Liam, and would never abandon him, disputing statements from the Department of Homeland Security , which alleged that Arias had left his child in a vehicle. He also said his son got sick while in federal custody but was denied medicine. Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that Arias fled on foot before he was arrested, “abandoning his child.” She said Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers stayed with the boy. “The facts in this case have NOT changed: The father who was illegally in the country chose to take his child with him to a detention center,” she said. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); McLaughlin did not address Arias’ statement that his son was denied medication while in custody. Arias also said he was arrested unjustly and contended he was in the country legally, with a pending court hearing for asylum. The comments come after a federal judge ordered over the weekend that the pair be freed. They were released Sunday and returned to Minnesota, according to Rep. Joaquin Castro of Texas. The family’s arrest and release unfolded during President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigration, which has led to daily protests that included the shooting deaths of two American citizens by federal officers. The president last week ordered his top border adviser to oversee the crackdown days after the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Alex Pretti, an intensive care nurse at a Veterans Affairs hospital. Border czar Tom Homan suggested that mistakes have been made, but he said agents would continue to enforce federal law and called on local and state officials to cooperate with federal officers. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); The boy’s detention drew outrage as images of immigration officers surrounding the young boy in a blue bunny hat and Spider-Man backpack began to surface. McLaughlin said ICE did not target or arrest the boy, and she repeated assertions that his mother refused to take him after his father’s apprehension. His father told officers he wanted Liam to be with him, she said. McLaughlin also said last month that the child was abandoned and that officers tried to get the mother to take custody of the child. “Officers even assured her she would NOT be taken into custody.” Neighbors and school officials said federal officers used the child as “bait,” telling him to knock on his house’s door so his mother would come out. DHS disputed that description. Marcos Charles, acting executive associate director of ICE enforcement and removal operations, faulted the father for “abandoning his child in the middle of winter in a vehicle.” He told reporters one officer stayed with the child while others arrested the father. The government said the boy’s father entered the U.S. illegally from Ecuador in December 2024. The family’s lawyer said he has a pending asylum claim that allows him to stay in the U.S. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); The vast majority of asylum-seekers are released in the United States, with adults having eligibility for work permits, while their cases wind through a backlogged court system. Ecuadorians, who left in droves in recent years as their country spiraled into violence, have fared poorly in immigration court, with judges granting asylum in 12.5% of decisions in the 12-month period through September, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a data gathering and research organization based at Syracuse University. In ordering the release of Liam and his father, U.S. District Judge Fred Biery blasted the administration, writing that the case had “its genesis in the ill-conceived and incompetently-implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas, apparently even if it requires traumatizing children.” The Justice Department’s Executive Office for Immigration Review’s online court docket shows no future hearings for Liam’s father. MIKE CATALINI Catalini covers government, elections and news primarily in New Jersey for The Associated Press. He focuses on accountability and how policy affects people. twitter 获取更多RSS： https://feedx.net https://feedx.site

A full moon is seen shining over NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) and Orion spacecraft, atop the mobile launcher in the early hours of Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. (Sam Lott/NASA via AP) 2026-02-02T17:41:01Z CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA fueled its new moon rocket in one final make-or-break test Monday, with hopes of sending astronauts on a lunar fly-around as soon as this coming weekend. The launch team began loading the 322-foot (98-meter) rocket with super-cold hydrogen and oxygen at Kennedy Space Center late at midday. More than 700,000 gallons (2.6 million liters) had to flow into the tanks and remain on board for several hours, mimicking the final stages of an actual countdown. The only thing missing from the critical dress rehearsal was the crew. The three Americans and one Canadian monitored the action from nearly 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) away in Houston, home to Johnson Space Center. They have been in quarantine for the past 1½ weeks, awaiting the practice countdown’s outcome. The all-day operation will determine when they can blast off on the first lunar voyage by a crew in more than half a century. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Running two days behind because of a bitter cold snap, NASA set its countdown clocks to stop a half-minute before reaching zero, just before engine ignition. The clocks began ticking Saturday night, giving launch controllers the chance to go through all the motions and deal with any lingering problems with the Space Launch System rocket. Hydrogen leaks kept the first SLS rocket on the pad for months in 2022. Launch managers said they’re confident the issues are behind them. If the fueling demo goes well, NASA could launch commander Reid Wiseman and his crew to the moon as soon as Sunday. The rocket must be flying by Feb. 11 or the mission will be called off until March. The space agency only has a few days in any given month to launch the rocket, and the extreme cold already has shortened February’s launch window by two days. The nearly 10-day mission will send the astronauts past the moon, around the mysterious far side and then straight back to Earth, with the goal of testing the capsule’s life support and other vital systems. The crew will not go into lunar orbit or attempt to land. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); NASA last sent astronauts to the moon during the 1960s and 1970s Apollo program. The new Artemis program aims for a more sustained lunar presence, with Wiseman’s crew setting the stage for future moon landings by other astronauts. ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. 获取更多RSS： https://feedx.net https://feedx.site

President Donald Trump walks on the South Lawn upon his arrival to the White House, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) 2026-02-02T17:27:03Z WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Monday that he plans to lower tariffs on goods from India to 18%, from 25%, after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed to stop buying Russian oil. The move comes after months after Trump pressing India to cut its reliance on cheap Russian crude. India has taken advantage of slacked Russian oil prices as much of the world has sought to isolate Moscow for its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Trump said that India would also start to reduce its import taxes on U.S. goods to zero and buy $500 billion worth of American products. “This will help END THE WAR in Ukraine, which is taking place right now, with thousands of people dying each and every week!” Trump said in a Truth Social post announcing the tariff reduction on India. Modi posted on X that he was “delighted” by the announced tariff reduction and that Trump’s “leadership is vital for global peace, stability, and prosperity.” freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); “I look forward to working closely with him to take our partnership to unprecedented heights,” Modi said. Trump has long had a warm relationship with Modi, only to find it complicated recently by Russia’s war in Ukraine and trade disputes. In June, he announced the United States would impose a 25% tariff on goods from India after his administration felt the country had done too little to narrow its trade surplus with the U.S. and open up its markets to American goods. In August, Trump imposed additional import taxes of 25% on Indian products because of its purchases of Russian oil, putting the combined rate increase at 50%. Historically, India’s relationship with Russia revolves more around defense than energy. Russia provides only a small fraction of India’s oil but the majority of its military hardware. But India, in the aftermath of the Russian invasion, used the moment to buy discounted Russian oil, allowing it to increase its energy supplies while Russia looked to cut deals to boost its beleaguered economy and keep paying for its brutal war. JOSH BOAK Boak covers the White House and economic policy for The Associated Press. He joined the AP in 2013. twitter mailto AAMER MADHANI Madhani covers the White House for The Associated Press. He is based in Washington. twitter mailto

In this undated photo, Baby Blaise attends her 9-month Foundcog scan with her mother Mary at Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience in Dublin, Ireland. (Cusack Lab via AP) 2026-02-02T16:03:11Z A new study suggests that babies are able to distinguish between the different objects they see around them at 2 months old, which is earlier than scientists previously thought. The findings, published Monday in Nature Neuroscience, may help doctors and researchers better understand cognitive development in infancy. “It really tells us that infants are interacting with the world in a lot more complex of a way than we might imagine,” said lead author Cliona O’Doherty. “Looking at a 2-month-old, we maybe wouldn’t think that they’re understanding the world to that level.” The study looked at data from 130 2-month-olds who underwent brain scans while awake. The babies viewed images from a dozen categories commonly seen in the first year of life, such as trees and animals. When babies looked at an image like a cat, their brains might “fire” a certain way that researchers could record, O’Doherty said. If they looked at an inanimate object, their brains would fire differently. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); The technique — known as functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI — allowed scientists to examine visual function more precisely than in the past. Many previous studies relied on how long an infant looked at an object, which can be difficult to assess at younger ages. Some of those past studies suggested that infants as young as 3 to 4 months could distinguish between categories such as animals and furniture. “What we’re showing is that they really already have this ability to group together categories at two months,” O’Doherty said. “So it’s something much more complex than we would’ve thought before.” In the new study, many of the babies returned at 9 months, and researchers successfully collected data from 66 of them. In the 9-month-olds, the brain was able to distinguish living things from inanimate objects much more strongly than in the 2-month-olds, O’Doherty said. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Someday, researchers said, scientists may be able to connect such brain imaging to cognitive outcomes later in life. Liuba Papeo, a neuroscientist at the National Center for Scientific Research in France, said the number of babies in the study is one thing that makes the work “impressive and unique.” Brain imaging with very young infants presents challenges. “One — perhaps the most obvious — is that the infant needs to (lie) comfortably in the fMRI scanner while awake without moving,” she said in an email. O’Doherty, who did the work at Trinity College Dublin in Ireland, said the key was making the experience as comfortable as possible for the babies. Inside the scanner, they reclined on a bean bag so they were snug. The images “appear really big above them while they’re lying down,” she said. “It’s like IMAX for babies.” ___ AP video journalist Havovi Todd contributed to this story from London. ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. LAURA UNGAR Ungar covers medicine and science on the AP’s Global Health and Science team. She has been a health journalist for more than two decades. twitter mailto

Louisville head coach Jeff Walz puts the ball back into play during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Miami, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in Coral Gables, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) 2026-02-02T17:00:14Z Louisville moved up to sixth for its best ranking in four years in The Associated Press women’s Top 25 basketball poll released Monday. UConn remained the unanimous No. 1 from the 31-member national media panel. The Huskies are the lone undefeated team in women’s college basketball and kept that streak going Sunday with a 96-66 rout of then-No. 15 Tennessee. UConn has won 39 consecutive games dating to last season. UCLA, South Carolina and Texas remained behind the Huskies in an unchanged top four. The Bruins had an impressive win over then-No. 8 Iowa on Sunday. The Hawkeyes dropped to 10th. The Longhorns topped then-No. 10 Oklahoma on Sunday as well. The Sooners fell to 11th. The rest of the top 10 shuffled. LSU moved back up to fifth, and Louisville climbed to its highest ranking since 2022 after wins at Stanford and Cal. Vanderbilt dropped two spots to seventh after a loss to Ole Miss. Michigan and Ohio State were next. It’s the Buckeyes first appearance in the top 10 in a year. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Falling Tigers Princeton fell four spots to No. 23 after ending a 15-game winning streak Friday in a loss to rival Columbia. The Tigers rebounded with a victory over Cornell the next day. Princeton was having its best year since going undefeated during the regular season in 2014-15. Conference supremacy The SEC has a record 10 teams in the poll for the second consecutive week. The Big Ten is next with seven. The Big 12 has four teams, the Atlantic Coast Conference has two, and the Big East and Ivy League each have one. Games of the week No. 17 Duke at No. 6 Louisville, Thursday. First place in the ACC will be on the line. The Blue Devils have a 13-game winning streak and the Cardinals have won 14 straight. No. 2 UCLA at No. 8 Michigan, Sunday. The top two teams in the Big Ten will face off when the Bruins visit the Wolverines. UCLA hasn’t lost a conference game this season, while Michigan has just one loss. ___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, right, talks with Britain's ambassador to the United States Peter Mandelson during a welcome reception at the ambassador's residence on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025 in Washington. (Carl Court/Pool Photo via AP, file) 2026-02-02T13:35:10Z LONDON (AP) — A year ago, Peter Mandelson was Britain’s ambassador to Washington, the latest high-profile post in a rocky but consequential political career. Friendship with Jeffrey Epstein cost him that job. Now, after new revelations, Mandelson — like other powerful men including King Charles III’s brother Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor — is facing demands he come clean about his relationship with the late sex offender. Mandelson resigned from the governing Labour Party on Sunday following new claims he received payments from Epstein two decades ago. Mandelson said he was stepping aside to avoid causing “further embarrassment,” even as he denied the allegations stemming from a trove of more than 3 million pages of documents relating to Epstein released by the U.S. Department of Justice. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who fired Mandelson from his ambassadorial job over earlier revelations about his Epstein ties, now faces pressure to get Mandelson to testify in the U.S. about what he knew of the financier’s activities. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); On Monday, Starmer urged Mandelson to resign from the House of Lords — Parliament’s unelected upper chamber of politicians, donors and assorted notables — to which he was appointed for life in 2008. That would also mean relinquishing the noble title, Lord Mandelson, that he received at the time. If he refuses, ejecting him would be a lengthy process requiring Parliament to pass legislation — a process last undertaken more than a century ago to remove the titles of aristocrats who sided with Germany in World War I. “The prime minister believes that Peter Mandelson should not be a member of the House of Lords or use the title,” said Starmer spokesman Tom Wells. “However, the prime minister does not have the power to remove it.” Mandelson — like Mountbatten-Windsor, the former Prince Andrew — is also facing calls to testify about Epstein in the U.S. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Cabinet minister Steve Reed said Monday that both men have a “moral obligation” to help Epstein’s victims. “If anybody has information or evidence that they can share that might help to understand what’s gone on and bring justice for those victims, then they should share it, whether that is Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, whether it’s Lord Mandelson, or whether it’s anybody else,” he told Sky News. Epstein died by suicide in a jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on U.S. federal charges accusing him of sexually abusing dozens of girls. Years before he had avoided federal prosecution by pleading guilty to state charges in Florida of solicitation of prostitution involving a minor and another charge. New allegations about ties to Epstein The latest release of Epstein files includes hundreds of text and email messages exchanged between Mandelson and the financier, revealing the British politician’s warm relationship with the man he called “my best pal” in 2003. Several documents appear to refer to payments from Epstein to Mandelson or his partner, Reinaldo Avila da Silva. The Financial Times and the BBC reported that what appear to be bank statements from 2003 and 2004 suggest an Epstein account sent three payments totaling $75,000 to accounts connected to Mandelson. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Mandelson has questioned the authenticity of the bank statements. In a letter to Labour resigning from the party, Mandelson said he had no recollection of receiving that money and would investigate. “While doing this I do not wish to cause further embarrassment to the Labour Party and I am therefore stepping down from membership of the party,” he wrote. Mandelson added that he wanted to “repeat my apology to the women and girls whose voices should have been heard long before now.” The documents also include an email exchange from 2009 in which, Mandelson, then a U.K. government minister, appeared to tell Epstein he would lobby other members of the government to reduce a tax on bankers’ bonuses. Also among the files is a photo of Mandelson in a shirt and underwear, standing near an unidentified woman in a bathrobe. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); The end of a turbulent career Mandelson, 72, has been a major, if contentious, figure in the center-left Labour Party for decades. He is a skilled — critics say ruthless — political operator whose mastery of political intrigue earned him the nickname “Prince of Darkness.” The grandson of former Labour Cabinet minister Herbert Morrison, he was an architect of the party’s return to power in 1997 as centrist, modernizing “New Labour” under Prime Minister Tony Blair. Mandelson served in senior government posts under Blair between 1997 and 2001, and under Prime Minister Gordon Brown from 2008 to 2010. In between, he was the European Union’s trade commissioner. Mandelson twice had to resign from government during the Blair administration over allegations of financial or ethical impropriety, acknowledging mistakes but denying wrongdoing. He later returned to government, and was back on the political front line when Starmer named him to the key post of ambassador to Washington at the start of U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term. Mandelson’s trade expertise and comfort around the ultra-rich were considered major assets with the administration. He helped secure a trade deal in May that spared Britain some of the tariffs Trump has imposed on countries around the world. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); But Starmer fired him in September after emails were published showing Mandelson’s friendship with Epstein continued even after the financier’s 2008 guilty plea. Now he has also left Labour, and Starmer and others are calling for him to be ejected from the House of Lords. ___ This story has been updated to correct that the Justice Department says the release contains more then 3 million pages of documents, not more than 3 million documents. JILL LAWLESS Lawless is based in London, covering British politics, diplomacy and culture and top stories from the UK and beyond. She has reported for the AP from two dozen countries on four continents. twitter mailto

Rose, left, and Bruno Mars perfom "APT." during the 68th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello) 2026-02-02T08:01:13Z He was the only one sitting when it was over, rubbing his eyes in disbelief. Bad Bunny had made history by winning album of the year for “Debí Tirar Más Fotos,” the first time a Spanish-language album took home the Recording Academy’s top prize. Next stop: Super Bowl. While that emotional win for the Puerto Rican superstar is hard to top, there were some other great moments from the 3 1/2-hour telecast, like when Cher nearly forgot to announce the winner of record of the year. Justin Bieber stripped his set down, while Lady Gaga added some manic energy and Ozzy Osbourne was honored with a heavy metal classic complete with exploding fire. Here are some of the night’s notable moments: freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Bruno and Rosé kicked it off, Lady Gaga kept it up A pair of high energy performances by Bruno Mars and Rosé to start the show and one by Lady Gaga halfway through kept hearts pumping. Mars and Rosé — from the K-pop group Blackpink — performed “APT.,” one the biggest hits of the year, a song inspired by a South Korean drinking game. She wore a white tank top, black slacks and a tie, while he matched the color scheme in a dark suit, tie and with his guitar slung with a checkerboard strap. There was plenty of jumping, shredding and smoke — a raucous opening. Rose, left, and Bruno Mars perfom "APT." during the 68th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello) Rose, left, and Bruno Mars perfom "APT." during the 68th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello) --> Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. --> Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Lady Gaga performs "Abracadabra" during the 68th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello) Lady Gaga performs "Abracadabra" during the 68th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello) --> Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. --> Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Lady Gaga later took it to the weird, singing “Abracadabra” in a feather-festooned costume from inside a basket-like headpiece. She used a gnarly cane, played some synths, twitched and nailed a more rock-funk version of her song. Lady Gaga would take home the trophy for best pop vocal album. Mars would return to the stage for his latest single, “I Just Might.” Sabrina Carpenter nails her Grammys moment Sabrina Carpenter turned the Grammys into a busy airport during her performance of “Manchild” — and it soared. Playing her sexpot, tongue-in-cheek best, the singer-songwriter wore white hot pants, a white neckerchief and a white captain’s hat emblazoned with SCA — presumably for Sabrina Carpenter Airlines — as she strutted across a stage filled with baggage carousels and dancers, even singing into an intercom at one point and using a pair of traffic wands used on runways. Sabrina Carpenter performs “Manchild” during the 68th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello) Sabrina Carpenter performs “Manchild” during the 68th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello) --> Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. --> Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Olivia Dean performs “Man I Need” during the 68th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello) Olivia Dean performs “Man I Need” during the 68th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello) --> Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. --> Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More “Hey Grammys, how ya doing? It’s your captain Sabrina speaking,” she said. The dancers included an astronaut, a UPS worker, a firefighter and an ER doctor. Carpenter ended her overflowing set on a baggage cart and then went into a plane fuselage holding a live dove. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Among those shown grooving along was best new artist nominee Olivia Dean. It was the second straight Grammy appearance by Carpenter, a nominee for best new artist last year. New artist block Taking note of what worked last year, the Grammys once again leaned on the best new artist category to spark the crowd. They were clumped into a block and despite their various styles, it showed the future of music is in good hands. The Los Angeles-based band the Marías started with some shimmery, bilingual dream-pop of “No One Noticed Me” before influencer-turned-pop-artist Addison Rae was shown on the back of a moving truck entering the Crypto.com Arena, jumping off to deliver a sweaty, sultry “Fame Is a Gun.” MORE ON 2026 GRAMMYS See photos of the Grammy Awards’ biggest moments and fashion standouts That led to the six-piece girl group Katseye with their high-energy “Gnarly” as they danced into the arena with gymnastics and booty-shaking. They gave way to Leon Thomas’ guitar-driven “Mutt” and then Alex Warren took a microphone from a popcorn vendor and walked through the aisles for his “Ordinary,” shrugging off what seemed like earpiece difficulties, before being hoisted into the air on a platform. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); The British powerhouse Lola Young took the baton, seated at a piano to sing “Messy,” before Olivia Dean, the old-soul British singer-songwriter, gave an exuberant version of her “Man I Need.” The moody pop star sombr ended the block by being lowered onto the stage in a spangly jumpsuit to sing “12 to 12.” Chappell Roan, last year’s category winner, then anointed her successor — Dean. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); The Bieb strips it down Justin Bieber alone on the Grammy stage in just a pair of shimmering gray boxers shorts and gray socks gave a mesmerizing, somber performance of his “Yukon.” A guitar slung across his back, the shirtless Bieber programed his song first and then sang along, eyes often closed, opposite a full-size mirror. It was a nod to the way Ed Sheeran has shown audiences how to make a hit song with just looped instruments and a voice. “One wrong move, and we would have had to put the show on OnlyFans,” Noah later joked. Justin Bieber performs “Yukon” during the 68th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello) Justin Bieber performs “Yukon” during the 68th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello) --> Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. --> Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Bieber’s darkly, moody set didn’t feature any background graphics, musicians or stage decor, and he ended it simply by walking off the stage. It was a performance in stark contrast to the night’s highly produced sets, like the one Tyler, the Creator offered, performing with a sports car, gushing water and explosions. Hailey Bieber, his wife, liked it, swaying and snapping her fingers. Her husband, a one-time child star who was discovered on YouTube at the age of 12, returned to the Grammys this year at age 31 after a four-year absence as a new father. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); A memorable in memoriam Usually, in memoriam sections are staid affairs, with a harp and a sad song. Not this year. Post Malone, Chad Smith, Duff McKagan, Slash and Andrew Watt belted a rocking version of Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” in honor of Ozzy Osbourne, compete with fire bursts and plenty of leather. Osbourne’s wife, Sharon, and kids Kelly and Jack, seemed deeply moved. Ms. Lauryn Hill led the tributes to D’Angelo with versions of “Nothing Even Matters,” “Brown Sugar,” “Lady,” “Devils Pie,” “Untitled (How Does It Feel)” and ”Africa” with such singers as Raphael Saadiq, Jon Batiste and Anthony Hamilton. Andrew Watt, from left, Chad Smith, and Post Malone perrform "War Pigs" during the in memoriam tribute for the 68th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello) Andrew Watt, from left, Chad Smith, and Post Malone perrform "War Pigs" during the in memoriam tribute for the 68th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello) --> Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. --> Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Lauryn Hill, left, and Lucky Daye perform an in memoriam tribute during the 68th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello) Lauryn Hill, left, and Lucky Daye perform an in memoriam tribute during the 68th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello) --> Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. --> Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Hill then pivoted to a tribute to Roberta Flack, with “First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” “Compared to What,” “Closer I Get To You,” “Where Is the Love,” “Feel Like Makin’ Love” and “Killing Me Softly with His Song” featuring John Legend, Chaka Khan, Leon Bridges and Wyclef Jean. Add to that list a performance of “Trailblazer” by Reba McEntire, Brandy Clark and Lukas Nelson — as well as pre-recorded tributes to Brian Wilson from Bruce Springsteen and one to Bob Weir from John Mayer — and it was a stacked, rollicking goodbye to some musical giants. ___ For more coverage of this year’s Grammy Awards, visit: www.apnews.com/GrammyAwards MARK KENNEDY Kennedy is a theater, TV, music, food and obit writer and editor for The Associated Press, as well as a critic for theater, movies and music. He is based in New York City. twitter mailto

A government supporter holds an image of President Nicolas Maduro during a women's march to demand his return in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, three days after U.S. forces captured him and his wife. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix) 2026-02-02T05:08:11Z CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Time in Venezuela feels like it’s moving both too fast and too slow. The pillars of the country’s self-proclaimed socialist government are falling at a dizzying pace or not quickly enough. Economic relief is finally on the horizon or already too late. Thirty days after the U.S. raid and capture of then-President Nicolás Maduro upended Venezuela, adults and children alike are still unsure of what exactly is happening around them. And as the initial shock gives way to a mix of uncertainty, hope and disappointment, a pervasive fear of another attack or more government repression continues to hang over them. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); In the capital, Caracas , where government-sponsored billboards and graffiti demand that the U.S. free Maduro, many residents wonder whether his successor, acting President Delcy Rodríguez has any autonomy or is capitulating to White House demands; whether she is Maduro by another name, and — crucial to their immediate needs — whether to believe, as indicated by her, that a long-sought wage increase is on the horizon. Meanwhile, long-silent opposition leaders have finally emerged to speak publicly. Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodriguez, center, smiles flanked by Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, right, and National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez after making a statement to the press at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos) Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodriguez, center, smiles flanked by Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, right, and National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez after making a statement to the press at Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos) --> Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. --> Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More “It’s an important change, certainly, but everything is the same, everything,” retiree Julio Castillo, 74, said of the removal of Maduro from office. “I feel as if nothing much has happened.” ‘We are acting under coercion’ Venezuela’s government and its supporters consider the capture of Maduro and first lady Cilia Flores a kidnapping. Rodríguez and senior officials have pledged to fight for the couple’s freedom since U.S. President Donald Trump first announced their seizure in the early hours of Jan. 3. The ruling party has organized demonstrations to show their loyalty to Maduro, whom the fiery Hugo Chávez anointed as his self-proclaimed socialist revolution’s torchbearer before dying in 2013. It has also adjusted its messaging from threatening a Vietnam-like war with the U.S. to admitting being militarily outmatched and needing to transform the relationship with Goliath. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Supporters — a minority compared to the crowds during Chávez’s presidency — see Rodríguez as lacking free will but trust that she can carry Chavismo, their political movement, through the next diplomatic battle. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); “The Venezuelan state, and Venezuelans, are accepting this new situation in which we are acting under coercion,” José Vivens, a Maduro loyalist, said of Rodríguez’s decision to allow the Trump administration to control Venezuela’s oil money , the country’s engine. “They kidnapped our commander. And we have to give in because we have to live for another battle.” Pro-government armed civilians patrol in La Guaira, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that President Nicolás Maduro had been captured and flown out of the country. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix) Pro-government armed civilians patrol in La Guaira, Venezuela, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that President Nicolás Maduro had been captured and flown out of the country. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix) --> Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. --> Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Vivens, a justice of the peace, was in his apartment’s parking lot in Caracas when he heard a loud whistle, then a deafening explosion the night of the attack . He ducked behind his car, and when he looked up, helicopters were flying unnervingly close to his building. “They’ve invaded us,” was Vivens’ immediate thought. Not exactly, but he would learn a few hours later that the U.S. military’s elite had captured Maduro at a nearby compound and loaded him onto a helicopter. Abandoning a pillar of Chavismo Rodríguez has used public events and gatherings with Venezuela’s private sector to assure anyone listening that she, not the Trump administration, is governing the South American country, even if she later acknowledges having a mutual agenda with the U.S., which was unthinkable weeks earlier. “The people of Venezuela do not accept orders from any external factor,” she said during a meeting with oil executives to discuss an overhaul of the country’s energy law. “The people of Venezuela have a government, and this government obeys the people.” freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Her proposed overhaul, which lawmakers swiftly approved and she signed into law Thursday, opens the nation’s oil sector to privatization, abandoning a pillar of Chavismo. A woman who lives near the Cardon refinery hangs clothes to dry in Punto Fijo, Venezuela, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix) A woman who lives near the Cardon refinery hangs clothes to dry in Punto Fijo, Venezuela, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix) --> Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. --> Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More She introduced it following Trump’s assertion that his administration would take control of Venezuela’s oil exports and revitalize the ailing industry by luring foreign investment . Testing the waters Many within the opposition had long expected that Maduro’s ouster, especially if led by Trump, would immediately result in one of their own taking the reins of the country. Trump’s decision to work with Rodríguez, instead of opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado , continues to leave them baffled. But as Machado’s supporters keep looking for signs that the White House will incorporate her meaningfully into its plans for their country, Venezuelans have begun testing Rodríguez’s commitment to what she has called “a new political moment” for Venezuela. For days, dozens of people have kept vigil outside prisons demanding the release of loved ones they believe were detained for political reasons, including journalists, human rights advocates and members of the military. A handful of opposition leaders who had not been seen in public in Venezuela or made any statements for more than a year have spoken out. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); “I believe that Venezuela’s destiny cannot be an oil agreement and a dictatorship headed by Delcy Rodríguez, because we could simply define that as a continuation of the dictatorship,” opposition leader Andrés Velásquez told reporters, reemerging after more than a year in hiding. Relatives of people they consider to be detained for political reasons kneel in front of police guarding the Zona 7 Bolivarian National Police detention center in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos) Relatives of people they consider to be detained for political reasons kneel in front of police guarding the Zona 7 Bolivarian National Police detention center in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos) --> Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. --> Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More A privately owned television channel with national reach on Wednesday even aired a clip of Machado addressing reporters in Washington. Neither public nor private media outlets had shown a similar segment in years. Still, many Venezuelans continue to self-censor as they remain deeply fearful of government repression . Their social media posts make no mention of politics. Written or audio messages on WhatsApp do not criticize the government. Some video calls involve writing and erasing information on whiteboards as an extra layer of protection. There have been no large demonstrations calling for a new government or a presidential election. Nor has anyone dared to publicly celebrate Maduro’s capture — even if many had long hoped to see him handcuffed. Many opposition leaders remain in exile. Wanted posters of Edmundo González , the opposition’s candidate during the 2024 presidential election, are still on display at airports and government offices. Balancing hope and fear Margaret García’s son could not sleep for days after Jan.3. He also did not want to go back to school fearful of not knowing what to do if another attack happened. “We thought we were going to die,” she said of the moment her family heard a helicopter open fire near their 15-story apartment building near where Maduro was captured. Her son’s fear was far from unique. Some Venezuelans still fear a second attack if Rodríguez’s government does not meet U.S. expectations — even as Washington has indicated it has no plans for further escalation. “I can tell you right now with full certainty, we are not postured to nor do we intend or expect to have to take any military action in Venezuela at any time,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told a U.S. Senate committee on Wednesday. García, a teacher, said she could not understand how anyone could find satisfaction in the U.S. operation that killed dozens . Still, she said she believes that under Rodríguez’s watch, the country could see the lasting economic improvements that workers have hoped for more than a decade. Like García, many public sector workers survive on roughly $160 per month , while the average private sector employee earned about $237 a month last year. Venezuela’s monthly minimum wage of 130 bolivars, or $0.35, has not increased since 2022, putting it well below the United Nations’ measure of extreme poverty of $2.15 a day. “We see that a negative moment has brought us positive things,” she said of the potential changes that Rodríguez has signaled will come with an envisioned oil boom. ___ Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america ___ This story is part of an ongoing collaboration between The Associated Press and FRONTLINE (PBS) that includes an upcoming documentary.

Toni Massey, of Bismack, N.D., right, celebrates while waiting for Punxsutawney Phil, the weather prognosticating groundhog, to come out and make his prediction during the 140th celebration of Groundhog Day on Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawney, Pa., Monday, Feb. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Barry Reeger) 2026-02-02T05:16:34Z PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. (AP) — It’s already been a long, cold winter across much of the United States, and on Monday, Punxsutawney Phil’s handlers will announce whether the weather-predicting groundhog says there’s more of the same to come. When Phil is said to have seen his shadow upon emergence from a tree stump in rural Pennsylvania, that’s considered a forecast for six more weeks of winter. If he doesn’t see his shadow, an early spring is said to be on the way. Tens of thousands of people will be on hand at Gobbler’s Knob for the annual ritual that goes back more than a century, with ties to ancient farming traditions in Europe. Punxsutawney’s festivities have grown considerably since the 1993 movie “Groundhog Day,” starring Bill Murray. Last year’s announcement was six more weeks of winter, by far Phil’s more common assessment and not much of a surprise during the first week of February. His top-hatted handlers in the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club insist Phil’s “groundhogese” of winks, purrs, chatters and nods are being interpreted when they relate the meteorological marmot’s muses about the days ahead. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Phil isn’t the only animal being consulted for long-term weather forecasts Monday. There are formal and informal Groundhog Day events in many places in the U.S., Canada and beyond. Groundhog Day falls on Feb. 2, the midpoint between the shortest, darkest day of the year on the winter solstice and the spring equinox. It’s a time of year that also figures in the Celtic calendar and the Christian holiday of Candlemas . ___ Scolforo reported from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. MARK SCOLFORO Scolforo is an Associated Press reporter in the Pennsylvania Capitol in Harrisburg. twitter mailto TASSANEE VEJPONGSA Vejpongsa is a video journalist for The Associated Press in Philadelphia. She was previously based in Taipei and Bangkok. twitter 获取更多RSS： https://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Norway's Marius Borg Hoiby and Crown Princess Mette-Marit in Oslo, June 16, 2022. (Lise Aserud/NTB via AP, File) 2026-02-02T06:02:54Z OSLO, Norway (AP) — The eldest son of Norway’s Crown Princess Mette-Marit will go on trial Tuesday on multiple charges including rape in a high-profile case that has been an embarrassment to the royal family, just as his mother said that she showed “poor judgment” in having contact with Jeffrey Epstein in the past. Marius Borg Høiby is facing the Oslo district court after being indicted in August following a lengthy investigation. The indictment includes 38 counts, including rape, abuse in a close relationship against one former partner, acts of violence against another and transporting 3.5 kilos (7.7 pounds) of marijuana. Other charges include making death threats and traffic violations. Prosecutors have said Høiby, 29, could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted at the trial, which is expected to last until mid-March. Høiby is the son of Mette-Marit from a previous relationship and stepson of the heir to the throne, Crown Prince Haakon. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); He has no royal title or official duties. He has been under scrutiny since he was repeatedly arrested in 2024 on various allegations of wrongdoing. He has remained free pending trial. The indictment centers on four alleged rapes between 2018 and November 2024; alleged violence and threats against a former partner between the summer of 2022 and the fall of 2023; and two alleged acts of violence against a subsequent partner, along with violations of a restraining order. Defense attorney Petar Sekulic said when Høiby was indicted that “our client denies all charges of sexual abuse, as well as the majority of the charges regarding violence.” He added that Høiby “will present a detailed account of his version of events before the court.” In a rare statement, Haakon said Wednesday that he and Mette-Marit do not plan to attend court and that the royal house does not intend to comment during the proceedings. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); He emphasized that Høiby is not part of the royal house and that, as a citizen of Norway, he has the same responsibilities and rights as all others. He said he is confident that all concerned will make the trial as orderly, proper and fair as possible. While the royals are generally popular in Norway, the Høiby case has cast a shadow on their image. Ahead of the trial, Friday’s release of the latest batch of documents from the Epstein files shone an unflattering spotlight on Mette-Marit. They contained several hundred mentions of the crown princess, who already said in 2019 that she regretted having had contact with Epstein, Norwegian media reported. The newly released documents, which include email exchanges with Epstein, showed that Mette-Marit borrowed a property of Epstein’s in Palm Beach, Florida, for several days in early 2013 and the royal house confirmed that she did so through a mutual friend, broadcaster NRK reported. In a statement emailed by the royal house, Mette-Marit said that she “must take responsibility for not having investigated Epstein’s background more thoroughly, and for not realizing sooner what kind of person he was.” freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); “I deeply regret this, and it is a responsibility I must bear. I showed poor judgment and regret having had any contact with Epstein at all,” she added. “It is simply embarrassing.” She expressed her “deep sympathy and solidarity” with the victims of Epstein’s abuse. Mette-Marit’s contacts with Epstein and the Høiby trial are not the only source of negative publicity for Norway’s royals. The business ventures of Haakon’s sister, Princess Märtha Louise, have drawn repeated criticism. In 2024, around the same time Høiby’s case was making news, she married an American self-professed shaman, Durek Verrett.

A currency trader talks on the phone near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), top center, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, top center left, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) 2026-02-02T03:46:02Z U.S. futures and world shares skidded on Monday as worries over President Donald Trump’s nominee to be the next Federal Reserve chair amplified jitters over a possible bubble in the artificial intelligence boom. South Korea’s exchange, which is heavily influenced by tech-related developments, briefly suspended trading as its benchmark Kospi bounced, closing 5.3% lower at 4,949.67. Samsung Electronics gave up 6.3%, while chip maker SK Hynix sank 8.7%. The Kospi has been forging records for weeks as big tech companies piggybacked on the AI craze with deals with major players like chip maker Nvidia and OpenAI. In early European trading, Germany’s DAX edged less than 0.1% lower to 24,528.57. The CAC 40 in Paris shed 0.2% to 8,108.56, while Britain’s FTSE 100 declined 0.3% to 10,195.88. The future for the S&P 500 sank 0.7%, while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.4%. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Markets took a hit as investors considered how Kevin Warsh , Trump’s nominee to lead the Federal Reserve after Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s term ends in May might handle interest rates. Warsh’s nomination requires Senate approval. But financial markets fear the Fed may lose some of its independence because of Trump, who has pushed hard for more and faster rate cuts. That fear has helped catapult skyward the price of gold and weaken the U.S. dollar’s value over the last year. “People do not get handed the keys to the most powerful central bank on earth because they plan to drive in the opposite direction of the people who gave them the keys,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary. Early Monday, the price of gold fell 1.9%, while silver bounced back slightly, gaining 0.2%. Both plunged Friday as record runs in precious metals markets ground to a halt. On Friday, the price of gold dropped 11.4%, suddenly losing momentum after a tremendous rally where it roughly doubled over 12 months. It topped $5,000 for the first time on Jan. 26 and was around $5,600 at one point on Thursday. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Silver, which had been on a similar, jaw-dropping tear, plunged 31.4%. U.S. benchmark crude oil lost $3.46 to $61.75 per barrel, while Brent crude, the international standard, fell $3.47 to $65.85 per barrel. Speaking to reporters during the weekend, Trump said Iran should negotiate a “satisfactory” deal to prevent the Middle Eastern country from getting any nuclear weapons. “I don’t know that they will. But they are talking to us. Seriously talking to us,” he said. That comment apparently assuaged some worries over potential disruptions to oil supplies that had pushed prices higher, analysts said. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 gave up early gains, sinking 1.3% to 52,655.18. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 2.2% to 26,775.57, while the Shanghai Composite index sank 2.5% to 4,015.75. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 1% to 8,778.60. Taiwan’s Taiex lost 1.4%. On Friday, the S&P 500 dropped 0.4% and the Dow lost 0.4%. The Nasdaq composite lost 0.9%. The Fed chair has a big influence on the economy and markets worldwide by helping to dictate where the U.S. central bank moves interest rates. That affects prices for all kinds of investments, as the Fed tries to keep the U.S. job market humming without letting inflation get out of control. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); A report released Friday showed U.S. inflation at the wholesale level was hotter last month than economists expected. That could put pressure on the Fed to keep interest rates steady for a while instead of cutting them, as it did late last year. The longtime assumption has been that the Fed should operate separately from the rest of Washington so that it can make moves that are painful in the short term but necessary for the long term. To get inflation down to the Fed’s goal of 2%, for example, may require the unpopular choice to keep interest rates high and grind down on the economy for a while. In other action early Monday, the dollar fell to 154.88 Japanese yen from 154.94 yen. The euro was unchanged at $1.1853. ELAINE KURTENBACH Based in Bangkok, Kurtenbach is the AP’s business editor for Asia, helping to improve and expand our coverage of regional economies, climate change and the transition toward carbon-free energy. She has been covering economic, social, environmental and political trends in China, Japan and Southeast Asia throughout her career. twitter mailto

Women, one flashing a victory hand gesture, cross a street under a huge banner showing hands firmly holding Iranian national flags as a sign of patriotism, in Tehran, Iran, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File) 2026-02-02T07:42:43Z DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran said Monday it had summoned all of the European Union ambassadors in the Islamic Republic to protest the bloc’s listing of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard as a terror group. The move comes as Iran faces the threat of U.S. military action in response to the killing of peaceful demonstrators and over possible mass executions. The American military has moved the USS Abraham Lincoln and several guided-missile destroyers into the Mideast. It remains unclear whether President Donald Trump will decide to use force, though regional countries have engaged in diplomacy in an effort to halt a new Mideast war breaking out. The EU listed the Guard as a terror group last week over its part in the bloody crackdown on nationwide protests in January that killed thousands and saw tens of thousands detained. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Other countries, including the U.S. and Canada, have previously designated the Guard as a terrorist organization. While the move is largely symbolic, it does add to the economic pressure squeezing Iran, particularly has the Guard has a major influence on the country’s economy. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei told journalists that the ambassadors had begun to be summoned on Sunday and that process went into Monday as well. “A series of actions were reviewed, various options are being prepared and were sent to the related decision-making bodies,” Baghaei said. “We think that in coming days, a decision will be made about a reciprocal action by the Islamic Republic of Iran toward the illegal, unreasonable and very wrong move by the EU.” Also Sunday, Iran’s parliament speaker said that the Islamic Republic now considers all European Union militaries to be terrorist groups, citing a 2019 law. The Guard emerged from Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution as a force meant to protect the Shiite cleric-overseen government and was later enshrined in its constitution. Operating in parallel with the country’s regular armed forces, it grew in prominence and power during a long and ruinous war with Iraq in the 1980s. Though it faced possible disbandment after the war, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei granted it powers to expand into private enterprise, allowing it to thrive. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); The Guard’s Basij force likely was key in putting down the demonstrations, starting in earnest from Jan. 8, when authorities cut off the internet and international telephone calls for the nation of 85 million people. Videos that have come out of Iran via Starlink satellite dishes and other means show men likely belonging to its forces shooting and beating protesters. Meanwhile, Baghaei also said a drill by the Guard in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all oil traded passes, was “ongoing based on its timetable.” Iran had warned ships last week that a drill would be carried out on Sunday and Monday, but has not acknowledged it taking place. The U.S. military’s Central Command issued a strong warning to Iran not to harass its warships and aircraft, or impede commercial vessels moving through the strait. JON GAMBRELL Gambrell is the news director for the Gulf and Iran for The Associated Press. He has reported from each of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Iran and other locations across the world since joining the AP in 2006. twitter instagram mailto

Ambulances line up to enter the Egyptian gate of the Rafah crossing on the way to the Gaza Strip, in Rafah, Egypt, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohamed Arafat) 2026-02-02T07:36:14Z CAIRO (AP) — Gaza’s Rafah border crossing with Egypt reopened on Monday for limited traffic, a key step as the Israeli-Hamas ceasefire moves ahead, according to Egyptian and Israeli security officials. An Egyptian official said 50 Palestinians would cross in each direction in the first day of the crossing’s operation. The official, involved in talks related the implementation of the ceasefire deal, spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss the issue. State-run Egyptian media and an Israeli security official also confirmed the reopening, which for now at least, is largely symbolic. Few people will be allowed to travel in either direction, and no goods will be allowed to enter. About 20,000 Palestinian children and adults needing medical care hope to leave devastated Gaza via the crossing , according to Gaza health officials. Thousands of other Palestinians outside the territory hope to enter and return home. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also said that Israel will allow 50 patients a day to leave. An official involved in the discussions, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the diplomatic talks, said each patient would be allowed to travel with two relatives, while some 50 people who left Gaza during the war would be allowed to return each day. The Egyptian health ministry said in a statement on Monday that 150 hospitals across the country have been prepared to receive Palestinian patients and wounded who will be evacuated from Gaza through the Rafah crossing. Israel has said it and Egypt will vet people for exit and entry through the crossing, which will be supervised by European Union border patrol agents with a small Palestinian presence. The numbers of travelers are expected to increase over time, if the system is successful. Israeli troops seized the Rafah crossing in May 2024, calling it part of efforts to combat arms-smuggling for the militant Hamas group. The crossing was briefly opened for the evacuation of medical patients during a ceasefire in early 2025. Israel had resisted reopening the Rafah crossing, but the recovery of the remains of the last hostage in Gaza last week cleared the way to move forward. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); The reopening is a key step as last year’s U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement that took effect on Oct. 10 moves into its second phase. Before the war, Rafah was the main crossing for people moving in and out of Gaza. The territory’s handful of other crossings are all shared with Israel. Under the ceasefire terms, Israel’s military controls the area between the Rafah crossing and the zone where most Palestinians live. Fearing that Israel could use the crossing to push Palestinians out of the enclave, Egypt has repeatedly said it must be open for them to enter and exit Gaza. Historically, Israel and Egypt have vetted Palestinians applying to cross. The current ceasefire halted more than two years of war between Israel and Hamas that began with the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. The truce’s first phase called for the exchange of all hostages held in Gaza for hundreds of Palestinians held by Israel, an increase in badly needed humanitarian aid and a partial pullback of Israeli troops. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); The second phase of the ceasefire deal is more complicated. It calls for installing the new Palestinian committee to govern Gaza, deploying an international security force, disarming Hamas and taking steps to begin rebuilding. ___ Federman reported from Jerusalem. ___ Find more of AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war SAMY MAGDY Magdy is a Middle East reporter for The Associated Press, based in Cairo. He focuses on conflict, migration and human rights abuses. twitter facebook mailto JOSEF FEDERMAN Federman manages coverage of Israel, the Palestinian territories and Jordan and has covered the Middle East for The AP for two decades.. twitter mailto 获取更多RSS： https://feedx.net https://feedx.site

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks to members of the media at the U.S. Capitol, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert) 2026-02-02T05:01:58Z WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Mike Johnson faces tough days ahead trying to muscle a federal funding package to passage and prevent a prolonged partial government shutdown as debate intensifies over the Trump administration’s sweeping immigration enforcement operations . Johnson signaled he is relying on help from President Donald Trump to ensure passage. Trump struck a deal with senators to separate funding for the Department of Homeland Security from a broader package after public outrage over two shooting deaths during protests in Minneapolis against Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Under the plan approved by the Senate, DHS would be funded temporarily to Feb. 13, setting up a deadline for Congress to try to find consensus on new restrictions on ICE operations. “The president is leading this,” Johnson, R-La., told “Fox News Sunday.” freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); “It’s his play call to do it this way,” the speaker said, adding that the Republican president has “already conceded that he wants to turn down the volume” on federal immigration sweeps and raids. A first test will come Monday afternoon during a committee meeting when Johnson will need his own GOP majority to advance the package after Democrats refused to provide the votes for speedy consideration. Johnson said he is hopeful work can wrap up for a full House vote, at least by Tuesday. Democrats dig in on ICE changes Democrats are demanding restraints on ICE that go beyond $20 million for body cameras that already is in the bill and want to require that federal immigration agents unmask and identify themselves and are pressing for an end to roving patrols, amid other changes. “What is clear is that the Department of Homeland Security needs to be dramatically reformed,” said House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York on ABC’s “This Week.” Jeffries said the administration needs to begin negotiations now, not over the next two weeks, on changes to immigration enforcement operations . “Masks should come off,” he said. “Judicial warrants should absolutely be required consistent with the Constitution, in our view, before DHS agents or ICE agents are breaking into the homes of the American people or ripping people out of their cars.” freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Republicans make their own demands At the same time, House Republicans, with some allies in the Senate, are making their own demands, as they work to support Trump’s clamp down on immigrants in the U.S. The House Freedom Caucus has insisted on fuller funding for Homeland Security while certain Republicans are pushing to include other measures, including the SAVE Act , a longshot Trump priority that would require proof of citizenship before Americans are eligible to participate in elections and vote. Johnson said he would be talking to lawmakers over the day ahead to see what it will take to win over support. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Partial government shutdown drags on Meanwhile, a number of federal agencies are snared in the funding standoff as the government went into a partial shutdown over the weekend. Defense, health, transportation and housing are among those that were given shutdown guidance by the administration, though many operations are deemed essential and services are not necessarily interrupted. Workers could go without pay if the impasse drags on. Some could be furloughed. Lawmakers from both parties are increasingly concerned the closure will disrupt the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which they rely on to help constituents in the states after storms and other disasters. This is the second time in a matter of months that federal government operations have been disrupted as Congress is using the annual funding process as leverage to extract policy changes. Last fall, Democrats sparked what became the longest federal shutdown in history, 43 days, as they protested the expiration of health insurance tax breaks. That shutdown ended with a promise to vote on proposals to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits. But with GOP opposition, Democrats were unable to achieve their goal of keeping the subsidies in place. Insurance premiums spiked in the new year for millions of people. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Trump wants quick end to shutdown This time, the administration has signaled its interest in more quickly resolving the shutdown. Johnson said he was in the Oval Office last week when Trump, along with border czar Tom Homan, spoke with Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York to work out a deal on immigration enforcement changes. “I think we’re on the path to get agreement,” Johnson said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Body cameras, which are already provided for in the package, and an end to the roving patrols by immigration agents are areas of potential agreement, Johnson said. But he said taking the masks off and putting names on agents’ uniforms could lead to problems for law enforcement officers as they are being targeted by the protesters and their personal information is posted online. “I don’t think the president would approve it — and he shouldn’t,” Johnson said on Fox. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Democrats, however, said the immigration operations are out of control, and must end in Minneapolis and other cities. Growing numbers of lawmakers are calling for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to be fired or impeached . “What is happening in Minnesota right now is a dystopia,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who led efforts to hold the line for more changes. “ICE is making this country less safe, not more safe today,” Murphy said on “Fox News Sunday.” “Our focus over the next two weeks has to be reining in a lawless and immoral immigration agency.”

The Amazon logo is displayed at a news conference in New York on Sept. 28, 2011. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File) 2026-02-02T06:00:06Z The one thing N. Lee Plumb knows for sure about being laid off from Amazon last week is that it wasn’t a failure to get on board with the company’s artificial intelligence plans. Plumb, his team’s head of “AI enablement,” says he was so prolific in his use of Amazon’s new AI coding tool that the company flagged him as one of its top users. Many assumed Amazon’s 16,000 corporate layoffs announced last week reflected CEO Andy Jassy’s push to “reduce our total corporate workforce as we get efficiency gains from using AI extensively across the company.” But like other companies that have tied workforce changes to AI — including Expedia, Pinterest and Dow last week — it can be hard for economists, or individual employees like Plumb, to know if AI is the real reason behind the layoffs or if it’s the message a company wants to tell Wall Street. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); “AI has to drive a return on investment,” said Plumb, who worked at Amazon for eight years. “When you reduce head count, you’ve demonstrated efficiency, you attract more capital, the share price goes up.” “So you could potentially have just been bloated in the first place, reduce head count, attribute it to AI, and now you’ve got a value story,” he said. Plumb is atypical for an Amazon worker in that he’s also running what he describes as a “long shot” bid for Congress in Texas, on a platform focused on stopping the tech industry’s reliance on work visas to “replace American workers with cheaper foreign labor.” But whatever it was that cost Plumb his job, his skepticism about AI-driven job replacement is one shared by many economists. “We just don’t know,” said Karan Girotra, a professor of management at Cornell University’s business school. “Not because AI isn’t great, but because it requires a lot of adjustment and most of the gains accrue to individual employees rather than to the organization. People save time and they get their work done earlier.” freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); If an employer works faster because of AI, Girotra said it takes time to adjust a company’s management structure in a way that would enable a smaller workforce. He’s not convinced that’s happening at Amazon, which he said is still scaling back from a glut of hiring during the COVID-19 pandemic. A report by Goldman Sachs said AI’s overall impact on the labor market remains limited, though some effects might be felt in “specific occupations like marketing, graphic design, customer service, and especially tech.” Those are fields involving tasks that correlate with the strengths of the current crop of generative AI chatbots that can write emails and marketing pitches, produce synthetic images, answer questions and help write code . But the bank’s economic research division said in its most recent monthly AI adoption tracker that, since December, “very few employees were affected by corporate layoffs attributed to AI,” though the report was published Jan. 16, before Amazon, Dow and Pinterest announced their layoffs. San Francisco-based Pinterest was the most explicit in asserting that AI drove it to cut up to 15% of its workforce. The social media company said it was “making organizational changes to further deliver on our AI-forward strategy, which includes hiring AI-proficient talent. As a result, we’ve made the difficult decision to say goodbye to some of our team members.” freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); Pinterest echoed that message in a regulatory disclosure that said the company was “reallocating resources to AI-focused roles and teams that drive AI adoption and execution.” Expedia has voiced a similar message but the 162 tech workers the travel website cut from its Seattle headquarters last week included several AI-specific roles, such as machine-learning scientists. Dow’s regulatory disclosures tied its 4,500 layoffs to a new plan “utilizing AI and automation” to increase productivity and improve shareholder returns. Amazon’s 16,000 corporate job cuts were part of a broader reduction of employees at the ecommerce giant. At the same time as those cuts, all believed to be office jobs, Amazon said it would cut about 5,000 retail workers, according to notices it sent to state workforce agencies in California, Maryland and Washington, resulting from its decision to close almost all of its Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh stores. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); That’s on top of a round of 14,000 job cuts in October, bringing the total to well over 30,000 since Jassy first signaled a push for AI-driven organizational changes. Like many companies, in technology and otherwise, but particularly those that make and sell AI tools and services, Amazon has been pushing its workforce to find more efficiencies with AI. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said last week that 2026 will be when “AI starts to dramatically change the way that we work.” “We’re investing in AI-native tooling so individuals at Meta can get more done, we’re elevating individual contributors, and flattening teams,” he said on an earnings call. “We’re starting to see projects that used to require big teams now be accomplished by a single very talented person.” freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); So far, Meta’s layoffs this year have focused on cutting jobs from its virtual reality and metaverse divisions. Also driving job impacts is the industry shifting resources to AI development, which requires huge spending on computer chips, energy-hungry data centers and talent. Jassy told Amazon employees last June to be “curious about AI, educate yourself, attend workshops and take trainings, use and experiment with AI whenever you can, participate in your team’s brainstorms to figure out how to invent for our customers more quickly and expansively, and how to get more done with scrappier teams.” Plumb was fully on board with that and said he demonstrated his proficiency in using Amazon’s AI coding tool, Kiro, to “solve massive problems” in the company’s compensation system. “If you weren’t using them, your manager would get a report and they would talk to you about using it,” he said. “There were only five people in the entire company that were a higher user of Kiro than I was, or had achieved more milestones.” Now he’s shifting gears to his candidacy among a field of Republicans in the Houston area looking to unseat U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw in the March primary. Cornell’s Girotra said it’s possible that increasing AI productivity is leading companies to cut middle management, but he said the reality is that those making layoff decisions “just need to cut costs and make it happen. That’s it. I don’t think they care what the reason for that is.” Not all companies are signaling AI as a reason for cuts. Home Depot confirmed on Thursday that it was eliminating 800 roles tied to its corporate headquarters in Atlanta, though most of the affected employees worked remotely. Home Depot’s spokesman George Lane said that Home Depot’s cuts were not driven by AI or automation but “truly about speed, agility” and serving the needs of its customers and front-line workers. And exercise equipment maker Peloton confirmed on Friday that it is reducing its workforce by 11% as part of a broader cost-cutting move under its CEO Peter Stern to pare down operating expenses. —— AP Retail Writer Anne D’Innocenzio contributed to this report. MATT O’BRIEN O’Brien covers the business of technology and artificial intelligence for The Associated Press. mailto

President Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, at Joint Base Andrews, Md., after returning from a trip to Florida. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein) 2026-02-01T23:47:50Z WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says he will move to close Washington’s Kennedy Center performing arts venue for two years starting in July for construction. Trump’s announcement on social media Sunday night follows a wave of cancellations since Trump ousted the previous leadership and added his name to the building. Trump announced his plan days after the premier of “Melania” a documentary of the first lady was shown at the storied venue. The proposal, he said, is subject to approval by the board of the Kennedy Center, which has been stocked with his hand-picked allies. Leading performing arts groups have pulled out of appearances, most recently, composer Philip Glass, who announced his decision to withdraw his Symphony No. 15 “Lincoln” because he said the values of the center today are in “direct conflict” with the message of the piece. freestar.queue.push(function () { window.fsAdCount = window.fsAdCount + 1 || 0; let customChannel = '/dynamic_' + fsAdCount; let adList = document.querySelectorAll(".fs-feed-ad") let thisAd = adList[fsAdCount]; let randId = Math.random().toString(36).slice(2); thisAd.id = randId; let thisPlacement = fsAdCount == 0 ? "apnews_story_feed" : "apnews_story_feed_dynamic"; freestar.newAdSlots({ placementName: thisPlacement, slotId: randId }, customChannel); }); “This important decision, based on input from many Highly Respected Experts, will take a tired, broken, and dilapidated Center, one that has been in bad condition, both financially and structurally for many years, and turn it into a World Class Bastion of Arts, Music, and Entertainment,” Trump wrote in his post. 获取更多RSS： https://feedx.net https://feedx.site