AP News in Brief at 12:04 a.m. EST

The court’s conservative majority suggested it would overturn a unanimous 90-year-old decision that has limited when presidents can fire agencies’ board members — in part to try to ensure decision making free of political influence — or leave it with only its shell intact.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh said the crux of the issue is that the officials who direct the agencies “are exercising massive power over individual liberty and billion-dollar industries” without being accountable to anyone.

Liberal justices warned that a ruling sought by the administration to overturn the decision known as Humphrey's Executor would give the president, as Justice Elena Kagan said, “massive unchecked, uncontrolled power.”

Agencies that have been in place for a century or more also would be robbed of their expertise, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said.

What to know about Paramount's hostile bid for Warner Bros. Discovery

NEW YORK (AP) — Warner Bros. Discovery's friendly agreement to sell itself to Netflix just got upended by a hostile actor -- Paramount, which made Warner shareholders a higher offer and touched off what is likely to be a lengthy fight in the latest episode of media industry consolidation.

The bid comes after Warner last week agreed to be bought by Netflix for $72 billion.

The competing offers set the stage for combining some of the most beloved entertainment properties. Netflix’s vast library includes “Stranger Things” and “Squid Game," while the much smaller Paramount owns its Hollywood studio and major TV networks like CBS and MTV. Both covet Warner, which owns Warner Bros. Pictures, HBO and the Harry Potter franchise.

"Whichever media company, if any, ultimately secures (Warner), controls the calculus of the streaming wars and so much more,” said Mike Proulx, vice president and research director at research firm Forrester.

Both offers will face regulatory scrutiny, an issue President Donald Trump has already weighed in on.

Trump is giving farmers $12B in aid. They've been hit hard by his trade war with China

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump announced a $12 billion farm aid package Monday — a boost to farmers who have struggled to sell their crops while getting hit by rising costs after the president raised tariffs on China as part of a broader trade war.

He unveiled the plan Monday afternoon at a White House roundtable with Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, lawmakers from farm states, and farmers who thanked him for the help.

“With this bridge payment, we’ll be able to farm another year,” Iowa farmer Cordt Holub told Trump during the event.

Rollins put the immediate value of the program at $11 billion — money that the White House said will offer one-time payments to row-crop farmers. Another $1 billion will be put aside for specialty crops as the administration works to better understand the circumstances for those farmers, Rollins said. The aid will move by the end of February, she said.

“We looked at how they were hurt, to what extent they were hurt,” Trump said, explaining how the administration came up with the size of the package. Trump said the money for the program will come from tariff revenue.

Trump's former lawyer Alina Habba resigns as top federal prosecutor in New Jersey

President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney, Alina Habba, resigned Monday as the top federal prosecutor for New Jersey, leaving the job after an appeals court said she had been serving in the post unlawfully.

In a statement posted on social media, Habba assailed the court's ruling as political, but said she was resigning “to protect the stability and integrity” of her office.

“But do not mistake compliance for surrender,” she said, adding that the administration would continue its appeal of the court rulings ousting her from the position. “This decision will not weaken the Justice Department and it will not weaken me.”

Habba is one of several acting U.S. attorneys around the country to have their appointments by the Trump administration challenged on the basis that they stayed in the temporary jobs longer than the law allows.

She said she would remain with the Justice Department as a senior adviser to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi. Her former duties will, for now, be split between three Justice Department lawyers.

Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett announces US Senate bid in Texas, tells Trump 'I'm coming for you'

Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett launched a campaign Monday for the U.S. Senate in Texas, telling President Donald Trump, “I'm coming for you," and bringing a national profile to what could be a critical race for Democrats’ long-shot hopes of reclaiming a Senate majority in next year’s midterm elections.

Crockett, one of Congress’ most outspoken Democrats, a frequent target of GOP attacks and a Trump target, jumped into the race on the final day of qualifying in Texas. She is seeking the Senate seat held by Republican John Cornyn, who is running for reelection in the GOP-dominated state.

“As a candidate who is constantly attacked and seen as a threat, it's because I am,” Crockett told supporters in Dallas. “I'm the only one who has gone toe to toe with Donald Trump, and there's a reason he's always got my name in his mouth.”

Democrats need a net gain of four Senate seats to wrest control from Republicans next November, when most of the seats up for reelection are in states like Texas that President Donald Trump won last year. Democrats have long hoped to make Texas more competitive after decades of Republican dominance. Cornyn, first elected to the Senate since 2002, is facing the toughest GOP primary of his career against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt.

Crockett’s announcement came hours after former Rep. Colin Allred ended his own campaign for the Democratic nomination in favor of attempting a House comeback bid. She faces a March 3 primary against Democratic state Rep. James Talarico, a former teacher with a rising national profile fueled by viral social media posts challenging Republican policies such as private school vouchers and requiring the Ten Commandments in classrooms.

Zelenskyy meets in London with European allies on the US peace plan and Ukrainian security

LONDON (AP) — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met British, French and German leaders in London on Monday in a show of European support for Ukraine at what they called a “critical moment” in the U.S.-led effort to end Russia's war in Ukraine.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer held talks with Zelenskyy, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the British leader’s 10 Downing St. residence to try to strengthen Ukraine’s hand amid mounting impatience from U.S. President Donald Trump.

After the meeting, Starmer, Zelenskyy and the other leaders called Kyiv's European allies, urging them to keep up the pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“The leaders all agreed that now is a critical moment and that we must continue to ramp up support to Ukraine and economic pressure on Putin to bring an end to this barbaric war,” Starmer's office said in a statement.

“This is the furthest we’ve got in four years, and we welcome the fact that these talks are continuing at every level,” said Starmer's spokesman, Tom Wells. He added that “intensive work” will continue in the days ahead, although “there are still outstanding issues.”

UN Palestinian aid agency says Israeli police 'forcibly entered' its Jerusalem compound

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli police forcibly entered the compound of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees in east Jerusalem early Monday, escalating a campaign against the organization that has been banned from operating on Israeli territory.

The U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees, or UNRWA, said in a statement that “sizable numbers” of Israeli forces, including police on motorcycles, trucks and forklifts, entered the compound in the Palestinian neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah.

“The unauthorized and forceful entry by Israeli security forces is an unacceptable violation of UNRWA’s privileges and immunities as a U.N. agency,” the statement said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 's office said that he will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump on Dec. 29, although Israel did not confirm the location of the meeting. On Monday, Netanyahu met with U.S. officials in Jerusalem about collaboration on the U.S.-brokered plan on the future of Gaza.

The raid was the latest in Israel's campaign against the agency, which provides aid and services to some 2.5 million Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, as well as 3 million more refugees in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon.

Bullets in Luigi Mangione’s bag convinced police that he was UnitedHealthcare CEO killing suspect

NEW YORK (AP) — Moments after Luigi Mangione was handcuffed at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s, a police officer searching his backpack found a loaded gun magazine wrapped in a pair of underwear.

The discovery, recounted in court Monday as Mangione fights to keep evidence out of his New York murder case, convinced police in Altoona, Pennsylvania, that he was the man wanted in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Manhattan five days earlier.

“It's him, dude. It's him, 100%,” an officer was heard saying on body-worn camera video from Mangione’s Dec. 9, 2024 arrest, punctuating the remark with expletives as the officer combing the bag, Christy Wasser, held up the magazine.

Wasser, a 19-year Altoona police veteran, testified on the fourth day of a pretrial hearing as Mangione sought to bar prosecutors from using the magazine and other evidence against him, including a 9 mm handgun and a notebook found during a subsequent bag search.

The testimony shed light on the critical minutes after Mangione was spotted at the McDonald’s and the sometimes unusual steps police officers took in collecting evidence critical to tying him to the crime.

'One Battle After Another' leads Golden Globe nominations, while 'Wicked: For Good' falters

Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” scored a leading nine nominations to the 83rd Golden Globe Awards on Monday, adding to the Oscar favorite’s momentum and handing Warner Bros. a victory amid Netflix's acquisition deal.

In nominations announced from Beverly Hills, California, “One Battle After Another” landed nods for its cast — Leonardo DiCaprio, Teyana Taylor, Sean Penn and Chase Infiniti — and for Anderson’s screenplay and direction. It’s competing in the Globes’ category for comedy and musicals.

Close on its heels was Joachim Trier’s “Sentimental Value,” a Norwegian family drama about a filmmaking family. The Neon release’s eight nominations included nods for four of its actors: Stellan Skarsgård, Renate Reinsve, Elle Fanning and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas.

The Globe nominations, a tattered but persistent rite in Hollywood, are coming on the heels of the a potentially seismic shift in entertainment. On Friday, Netflix struck a deal to buy Warner Bros. Discovery for $72 billion. If approved, the deal would reshape Hollywood and put one of its most storied movie studios in the hands of the streaming giant.

Both companies are prominent in this year's awards season. Along with “One Battle After Another,” Warner Bros. has “Sinners,” Ryan Coogler's acclaimed vampire hit. It was nominated for seven awards by the Globes, including box office achievement, best actor for Michael B. Jordan and Coogler for best director.

Arizona takes No. 1 in AP Top 25 men's basketball poll, Iowa State up to No. 4, Gonzaga into top 10

Arizona took over the top spot in the AP Top 25 men's college basketball poll on Monday, a reward for a perfect start to the season that includes a quartet of wins against ranked foes, including a lopsided victory over Auburn last weekend.

Purdue, which had spent the past three weeks at No. 1, slid to sixth following its 81-58 home loss to Iowa State and the entire poll got a shakeup as only two teams remained in the same spots from last week.

The Wildcats received 33 of 60 first-place votes from a national media panel to claim No. 1 for the first time since Dec. 11, 2023, and only the third time since the 2013-14 season. They edged No. 2 Michigan, which earned 19 first-place votes, thanks in part to wins over Florida, UConn and UCLA, along with their 97-68 romp over the then-No. 20 Tigers on Saturday night.

“Obviously it's nothing you shy away from," Wildcats coach Tommy Lloyd said of being No. 1. "You know, you're at Arizona. The big stage. It's part of being at a program like this. But we have bigger things on our mind."

The Wolverines also moved up one spot for their best ranking since March 2021. Duke claimed six first-place votes and moved up to No. 3. And the Cyclones parlayed their big win in West Lafayette, Indiana, into a six-spot climb to No. 4 and a first-place vote. Iowa State has never been ranked No. 1 in the AP poll era, which began with the 1948-49 season.