Trump again appeals to Supreme Court on mail-voting restrictions with midterm elections looming

BOSTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to reject an order by a federal judge that halts it from implementing a new rule regulating mail ballots, hours after being unable to tell that judge whether the computer system that would govern the entire project was operational yet.

The administration filed its appeal the afternoon before mail ballots were scheduled to be sent out by North Carolina, which on Friday kicks off a wave of states shipping ballots out for the rapidly approaching midterm election. Its appeal was part of a flurry of last-minute litigation as the federal government struggles to implement President Donald Trump's restrictions on mail ballots before the midterm elections in November, and came even as legal wrangling over President Donald Trump’s executive order continued in lower courts.

The high court's conservative majority previously allowed the president’s plan to move ahead, but they have not decided whether it is legal.

Under Trump’s executive order, the U.S. Postal Service could refuse to deliver ballots from states that do not follow a uniform envelope style and submit lists of eligible voters to an online portal that was apparently still inactive Thursday.

During a hearing in Boston, U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani repeatedly questioned Department of Justice attorney Michael Velchik about whether the Postal Service could actually implement Trump's plan from an executive order he issued last spring. The key piece is the online portal, which would track tens of millions of mail ballots. States would be required to upload their list of mail voters to the portal to have ballots delivered, and if the data there didn't match what was on the envelopes, the ballots would not be sent.

Lindsay Clancy trial ends without a verdict for a sixth day after drama in the courtroom

PLYMOUTH, Mass. (AP) — The deadlocked jury in the Lindsay Clancy trial went home without a verdict Thursday in a dramatic sixth day of deliberations, after the jury’s foreperson sent the judge a note saying a single juror won’t follow the court’s instructions about reasonable doubt.

Details of the jury room conflict weren’t revealed by the judge and only briefly discussed in open court, but they raised the possibility that a single holdout was standing in the way of a verdict on whether the Massachusetts mother is criminally responsible for killing her three children.

The jury will return Friday to see if it can reach a decision. Before sending the jury home, the judge refused the defense’s request to remove one of the jurors following heated discussions among the parties.

Clancy, a 36-year-old former labor and delivery nurse, doesn’t deny strangling her children in the basement of their home in 2023 before trying to take her own life. Her attorney argues that postpartum psychosis led to her actions, while prosecutors say she knew what she was doing when she killed Cora, Dawson and Callan Clancy, ages 5, 3 and 8 months.

Clancy’s livestreamed trial has generated intense interest, with reporters and spectators packing the courtroom. The case has also sparked deep public divisions over her culpability and the issues around maternal mental health after childbirth.

Gloria Steinem, defining symbol of women’s movement and eloquent advocate for equality, dies at 92

NEW YORK (AP) — Gloria Steinem, the celebrated author and activist who became the most visible symbol of the U.S. women’s movement and remained a fierce and eloquent advocate for equality for six decades, has died. She was 92.

With her trademark streaked hair parted down the middle and large aviator glasses, Steinem, a co-founder of Ms. Magazine, was a hugely recognizable presence wherever she went. And she went everywhere: Much of her life as an advocate was spent on the road, speaking at college campuses and community centers, at rallies and marches.

“You can’t do it on the phone or on the web,” she told The Associated Press in a 2015 interview. “You have to be there with all five senses. It should be obvious that people can’t empathize with each other unless we’re in the same room.”

Steinem, who had been in declining health, died Wednesday at her home in New York City, according to a post on her social media page. She had recently completed a memoir, to be released this fall.

“Gloria’s greatest gift was her ability to listen to others, to make others feel seen and heard,” the post said. “Her words, actions, and example gave people permission to be their truest selves.”

Gloria Steinem in her own words on women's rights, abortion politics and being called the B-word

Author and feminist icon Gloria Steinem was famously quotable, balancing blunt talk with a wit that could be cutting and disarmingly self-effacing.

In interviews and emails with Associated Press reporters over the decades, Steinem insisted that sexism “is not inevitable,” declared “there is no democracy” without abortion rights and concluded that the correct way to respond when called the B-word was to say: “Thank you.”

It's no surprise that Steinem titled a 2019 compilation of some of her most famous quotes: “The Truth Will Set You Free, But First It Will Piss You Off!”

She also refused credit for things others said first. While the quip “a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle” has often been attributed to Steinem, she wrote to Time magazine in 2000 to point out that it originated with Australian writer and activist Irina Dunn.

Here are examples of Steinem, who died Wednesday at age 92, in her own words.

Missouri court blocks Trump-backed US House map and orders it to be put to a vote

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Missouri Supreme Court has unanimously blocked new congressional districts backed by President Donald Trump from being used in the November election and ordered a statewide vote on whether to uphold or reject the new map.

The decision Thursday marks a rare setback for Republicans in a national redistricting battle. Republicans had hoped Missouri’s new congressional boundaries could help them win an additional seat and hold onto their slim House majority in the midterms. The ruling still could be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Missouri’s new districts were used in the August primaries. But the state Supreme Court said they cannot be used in the November general election — or ever again, unless voters first uphold the new districts passed by the Republican-led Legislature.

The court placed the new districts on hold because citizens submitted petition signatures seeking a referendum.

“The referendum petition was legal, sufficient, and timely, and the secretary incorrectly concluded otherwise,” the court said in its ruling. The legislation containing the new districts “did not go into effect and will not go into effect unless and until approved by the voters.” As as result, the congressional map adopted after the 2020 census “remains in full force and effect for the November 2026 general election.”

ICE officer charged with lying to investigators in the shooting of Venezuelan man, AP source says

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal prosecutors have charged a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer with lying to investigators about the events leading up to the shooting of a Venezuelan man during the Minneapolis immigration crackdown earlier this year, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.

Christian Castro, the officer who authorities say shot Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in the leg in January, has been charged with making false statements to federal investigators, according to the person, who was not authorized to publicly discuss the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The federal charges, which remain under seal, follow Castro's release from jail last week after Texas’ governor refused to immediately sign an extradition warrant to hand him over to Minnesota authorities, who have charged him separately with assault and false reporting of a crime related to the same shooting.

Federal authorities had initially accused Sosa-Celis and another man of beating an officer with a broom handle and a snow shovel during the confrontation. But federal prosecutors dropped charges against the men after video evidence showed the officers may have lied about the encounter, and officials opened an investigation.

Castro is the first federal immigration officer to be prosecuted by the Trump administration related to actions taken during the massive Operation Metro Surge in the Twin Cities that began in January 2026. No attorney is listed for Castro in the case brought by Minnesota and it was not immediately clear if he had a lawyer to speak on his behalf.

Man who carried out deadly Minneapolis apartment shooting was investigated for handgun in June

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The man who carried out a deadly shooting in a Minneapolis apartment building had been investigated in June after displaying a handgun, but wasn’t charged, the county prosecutor said Thursday.

Carlton Johnson was killed by police who raced to the building after the first reports of gunfire, said Drew Evans, superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the state investigate agency.

Court documents say Johnson was facing eviction and had threatened a fellow resident with a gun in the months leading up to the shooting, which left two people dead, along with Johnson, and five others injured.

But the shooting began just outside the building's entrance during an arranged custody handoff, when Johnson shot and wounded a woman believed to be the mother of his child, Evans said. The child was not injured.

He then shot two building employees before taking an elevator to the 9th floor where he killed two building residents and then was killed in an exchange of fire with police. Evans said it was unclear if Johnson was targeting the residents or had simply encountered them in the hallway.

Trump administration pushes to remove tax exemption for private colleges with DEI policies

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is proposing a new rule that would strip private schools and colleges of their tax-exempt status if they provide targeted help to students based on their race, a significant escalation in the White House's campaign to eradicate diversity programs directed at Black, Hispanic and other minority students.

The Treasury Department proposed the change Thursday in a new regulation that, if made final, would kick in after May 2027. The rule is broadly aimed at ending any policies or programs that help students because of their race, and it specifically says such benefits in admissions, scholarships and facilities “would be incompatible” with the rule.

It’s the latest attempt by the Trump administration to pressure schools and colleges to weed out diversity, equity and inclusion policies that had become common before President Donald Trump returned to the White House with a promise to end them. Trump officials have used Civil Rights-era laws to unwind the policies, saying they discriminate against white and Asian American students.

Higher education leaders criticized the proposal.

“The administration’s latest rules changes are its most blatant attack to keep working class Americans and people of color from accessing higher education and a better life,” Mike Gavin, Alliance for Higher Education president and CEO, said in a statement. “By claiming that efforts to increase fair opportunity for all students are discriminatory, the administration is trying to gaslight the American people into believing that up is down and black is white.”

SEC sues LSU as athletes plead in court to regain eligibility with college sports season underway

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Athlete after athlete took the stand in a state courtroom near LSU on Thursday to explain why they should be allowed to return to play college sports after turning pro while the commissioner of the powerful Southeastern Conference argued against them and the league doubled down by filing a lawsuit against the school in federal court.

The extraordinary confrontation came just two days before the 11th-ranked Tigers open the football season at home against Clemson a few miles from the courthouse. East Baton Rouge Parish Judge William Jorden scheduled the hearing over his temporary injunction preventing the NCAA from barring former pros or fifth-year college athletes, a stance also taken by the SEC and other Power Four conferences with rules adopted last week.

Former New Orleans Saints defensive lineman Zxavian Harris and former Cleveland Browns tight end Dae’Quan Wright, two players who hope to suit up for LSU, sat next to each other in the gallery as the hearing began and both took the stand.

Wright testified that he would not have tried to turn pro had he known about the possibility of getting another year in college. He said he was paid a $25,000 signing bonus by Philadelphia and would gladly pay that back for the chance to play for LSU, adding that he made around $1 million during four years in college.

Two LSU soccer players, Jazmin Ferguson and Jocelyn Ollivierre, won court earlier court orders and have already played this season. Ferguson testified that she was paid $4,500 by a USL team, but ended her contract and paid the money back in hopes of clearing the way to play for the Tigers again.

Maria Bartiromo out at Fox News after more than a decade; no reason specified

Fox News Media has parted ways with politically influential financial journalist Maria Bartiromo after more than a decade, the company announced Thursday hours after Fox Business Network aired the final episode of the show that bears her name. The company did not specify the reasons for her separation.

“We thank Maria for her work over the last 12½ years,” a Fox statement read, “and wish her all the best on her next chapter.”

There was no immediate reaction from Bartiromo. Her X account still showed a banner photo Thursday afternoon encouraging people to “grab yourself a cup of coffee, and join us every morning for Mornings With Maria.”

Other high-profile, on-air personalities that have left Fox News Media in recent years include Tucker Carlson and Bill O’Reilly. Former Fox personality Pete Hegseth left the network in 2024 after being nominated as President Donald Trump's secretary of defense.

Bartiromo hosted “Mornings with Maria” on Fox Business Network, the last episode of which aired Thursday morning, as well as “Maria Bartiromo's Wall Street.”