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

The decision to keep the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division out of the investigation into the fatal shooting of Renee Good marks a sharp departure from past administrations, which have moved quickly to probe shootings of civilians by law enforcement officials for potential civil rights offenses.

While an FBI probe is ongoing, lawyers in the Civil Rights Division were informed last week that they would not play a role in the investigation at this time, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal department deliberations.

And on Tuesday, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement that “there is currently no basis for a criminal civil rights investigation.” The statement, first reported by CNN, did not elaborate on how the department had reached a conclusion that no investigation was warranted.

Federal officials have said that the officer acted in self-defense and that the driver of the Honda was engaging in “an act of domestic terrorism” when she pulled forward toward him.

Minnesota protesters, agents repeatedly square off while prosecutors quit after Renee Good's death

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Federal officers dropped tear gas and sprayed eye irritant at activists Tuesday during another day of confrontations in Minneapolis, while students miles away walked out of a suburban school to protest the Trump administration's bold immigration sweeps.

Meanwhile, the fallout from the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis woman by an immigration agent reached the local U.S. Attorney's Office: At least five prosecutors have resigned amid controversy over how the U.S. Justice Department is handling the investigation, according to people familiar with the matter.

Separately, a Justice Department official said Wednesday there's no basis for a criminal civil rights investigation. An FBI probe of Renee Good's death is ongoing.

Strife between federal agents and the public continues to boil, six days since Good was shot in the head while driving off in her Honda Pilot. At one scene, gas clouds filled a Minneapolis street near where she died. A man scrubbed his eyes with snow and screamed for help after agents in a Jeep sprayed an orange irritant and drove off.

It’s common for people to boo, taunt and blow orange whistles when they spot heavily armed immigration agents passing through in unmarked vehicles or walking the streets, all part of a grassroots effort to warn the neighborhood and remind the government that they’re watching.

Trump calls on Tehran to show protesters humanity amid reports of rising death toll in crackdown

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump was consulting with his national security team Tuesday about next steps with Iran as he looked to get a better understanding of the number of Iranian citizens who have been killed and arrested in more than two weeks of unrest throughout the country.

Trump said he believes that the killing is “significant” and that his administration would “act accordingly.” He added that he believed the Iranian government was “badly misbehaving.”

But the president said he has yet to receive a confirmed number of Iranians killed in the protests that began late last month, saying he has heard “five different sets of numbers” about the death toll.

Since the protests began Dec. 28, 16,700 people have been arrested and more than 2,500 have been killed, the vast majority protesters, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency. The organization relies on a network of activists inside Iran that confirms all reported fatalities.

“The message is they’ve got to show humanity,” Trump said of the Iranian government. “They’ve got a big problem. And I hope they’re not going to be killing people.”

Supreme Court seems likely to uphold state bans on transgender athletes in girls and women's sports

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday appeared ready to deal another setback to transgender people and uphold state laws barring transgender girls and women from playing on school athletic teams.

The court's conservative majority, which has repeatedly ruled against transgender Americans in the past year, signaled during more than three hours of arguments it would rule the state bans don't violate either the Constitution or the federal law known as Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination in education.

More than two dozen Republican-led states have adopted bans on female transgender athletes. Lower courts had ruled for the transgender athletes who challenged laws in Idaho and West Virginia.

The legal fight is playing out against the backdrop of a broad effort by President Donald Trump to target transgender Americans, beginning on the first day of his second term and including the ouster of transgender people from the military and declaring that gender is immutable and determined at birth.

The justices are evaluating claims of sex discrimination lodged by transgender people versus the need for fair competition for women and girls, the main argument made by the states.

Clintons refuse to testify in House Epstein probe as Republicans threaten contempt proceedings

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Tuesday that they will refuse to comply with a congressional subpoena to testify in a House committee's investigation of Jeffrey Epstein even as Republican lawmakers prepare contempt of Congress proceedings against them.

The Clintons, in a letter released on social media, slammed the House Oversight probe as “legally invalid” and wrote that the chair of the House Oversight Committee, Republican Rep. James Comer, is on the cusp of a process “literally designed to result in our imprisonment.”

“We will forcefully defend ourselves,” wrote the Clintons, who are Democrats. They accused Comer of allowing other former officials to provide written statements about Epstein to the committee, while selectively enforcing subpoenas against them.

The intensifying clash adds another dimension to the fight over Epstein, raising new questions about the limits of congressional power to compel testimony. It also comes when Republicans are grappling with the Justice Department’s delayed release of the Epstein files after a bipartisan push for their release.

Comer said he’ll begin contempt of Congress proceedings next week. It potentially starts a complicated and politically messy process that Congress has rarely reached for and could result in prosecution from the Justice Department.

Denmark, Greenland leaders stand united against Trump's Greenland takeover call ahead of key meeting

NUUK, Greenland (AP) — The leaders of Denmark and the country's territory of Greenland on Tuesday offered a united front against President Donald Trump's calls for the United States to take over the strategic Arctic island on the eve of critical meetings in Washington on the matter.

In perhaps their sharpest pushback to date, Denmark and Greenland's prime ministers underscored that the territory is part of Denmark, and thus covered by the umbrella of the NATO military alliance. A U.S. attempt to take over or force the secession of the massive island would tear apart the transatlantic alliance, which has been a linchpin of post-World War II security.

But Trump brushed off the concern, telling reporters in Washington, “That's their problem.”

The leaders, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen, sought to underscore their solidarity as their foreign ministers, Denmark's Lars Løkke Rasmussen and Greenland's Vivian Motzfeldt, prepared for talks at the White House on Wednesday with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

“Dear Greenlanders, you should know that we stand together today, we will do so tomorrow, and we will continue to do so," Frederiksen said during a joint press conference in Copenhagen.

Top central bankers express 'full solidarity' with Fed Chair Powell in clash with Trump

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Central bankers from around the world said Tuesday they “stand in full solidarity” with U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, after President Donald Trump dramatically escalated his confrontation with the Fed with the Justice Department investigating and threatening criminal charges.

Powell “has served with integrity, focused on his mandate and an unwavering commitment to the public interest," read the statement signed by nine national central bank heads including European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey.

They added that “the independence of central banks is a cornerstone of price, financial and economic stability in the interest of the citizens that we serve. It is therefore critical to preserve that independence, with full respect for the rule of law and democratic accountability."

The dispute is ostensibly about Powell’s testimony to Congress in June over the cost of a massive renovation of Fed buildings. But in a statement Sunday, Powell, abandoning his previous attempt to ignore Trump’s relentless criticism, called the administration’s threat of criminal charges “pretexts’’ in the president’s campaign to seize control of U.S. interest rate policy from the Fed’s technocrats.

Trump has repeatedly criticized Powell and the Fed for not moving faster to cut rates. Economists warn that a politicized Fed that caves in to the president’s demands will damage its credibility as an inflation fighter and likely lead investors to demand higher rates before investing in U.S. Treasurys.

Inflation cooled slightly in December though it remains above Fed's target

WASHINGTON (AP) — Inflation cooled a bit last month as prices for gas and used cars fell, a sign that stubbornly elevated cost pressures are slowly easing.

Consumer prices rose 0.3% in December from the prior month, the Labor Department said Tuesday, the same as in November. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core prices rose 0.2%, also matching November's figure. Increases at that pace, over time, would bring inflation closer to the Federal Reserve's target of 2%.

Many economists had expected inflation to jump last month as the government resumed normal data collection after the six-week shutdown last fall, so the modest increases that matched the November figures came as a relief. The price of manufactured goods was flat in December, a sign that the impact of tariffs may be starting to fade.

“Distortions caused by the government shutdown have made the inflation data harder to interpret, but the recent run of figures suggests inflation has peaked,” Michael Pearce, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics, wrote in a note to clients.

Signs that inflation is cooling could make it more likely that the Federal Reserve will reduce its key interest rate later this year, which could translate into lower borrowing costs for mortgages, auto loans, and credit cards.

'West Wing' actor Timothy Busfield turns himself in to face child sex abuse charges in New Mexico

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Emmy Award-winning actor Timothy Busfield turned himself in to authorities Tuesday and vowed to fight charges of child sex abuse stemming from allegations that he inappropriately touched a minor on the set of a TV series he was directing in New Mexico.

His apprehension comes after authorities in Albuquerque issued a warrant for his arrest on Friday on two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor and one count of child abuse. A criminal complaint alleges the acts occurred on the set of the series “The Cleaning Lady,” which was filmed in Albuquerque.

Busfield, who is married to actor Melissa Gilbert, is known for appearances in “The West Wing,” “Field of Dreams” and “Thirtysomething,” the latter of which won him an Emmy for outstanding supporting actor in a drama series in 1991.

“Tim voluntarily appeared before New Mexico authorities after traveling across the country to confront these false and deeply troubling allegations,” said Stanton Stein, an attorney for Busfield. “He is innocent and is determined to clear his name.”

Busfield was booked by Albuquerque police on the charges, said Gilbert Gallegos, spokesperson for the city police department. A first appearance in court was scheduled for Wednesday.

Mike Tomlin steps down after 19 seasons as coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Mike Tomlin was an unknown when the Pittsburgh Steelers plucked him from obscurity in 2007 and handed the young and charismatic Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator one of the most stable jobs in sports.

Over the next 19 seasons, Tomlin wrote his own chapter with one of the NFL's marquee franchises, winning a Super Bowl and going to another while becoming one of the most respected voices — if idiosyncratic — voices in the game.

Asked repeatedly what separated Tomlin from his peers, his players pointed to his consistency. Tomlin was the same coach day after day, season after season.

That consistency, far too often of late, also bled into the results. And after yet another quick playoff exit, Tomlin used his voice one last time to tell team president Art Rooney II that it was time to try something else.

The longest-tenured head coach in major American professional sports stepped down from his job leading the Steelers on Tuesday, a seismic shift that will have ripple effects throughout the league.