AP News in Brief at 6:04 p.m. EST

The developments unfolded as Vice President JD Vance arrived in the state. Speaking in Minneapolis, he urged state and local law enforcement to collaborate with federal officials and said protesters must stop getting in their way.

Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the arrest of Nekima Levy Armstrong in a post on X. On Sunday, protesters entered the Cities Church in St. Paul, where a local official with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement serves as a pastor. Bondi later posted on X that a second person had been arrested, followed by a third arrest announced by FBI Director Kash Patel.

The Justice Department quickly opened a civil rights investigation after the group interrupted services by chanting “ICE out” and “Justice for Renee Good," referring to the 37-year-old mother of three who was fatally shot by an ICE officer in Minneapolis earlier this month.

“Listen loud and clear: WE DO NOT TOLERATE ATTACKS ON PLACES OF WORSHIP," the attorney general wrote on X.

Federal officers detain a 5-year-old boy who a school official says was used as 'bait'

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A 5-year-old boy arriving home from preschool in Minnesota was taken by federal agents along with his father to a detention facility in Texas, school officials and the family's lawyer said, making him the fourth student from his Minneapolis suburb to be detained by immigration officers in recent weeks.

Federal agents took Liam Conejo Ramos from a running car while it was in the family's driveway on Tuesday afternoon, Columbia Heights Public Schools Superintendent Zena Stenvik said during a news conference Wednesday. The officers then told him to knock on the door to his home to see if other people were inside, “essentially using a 5-year-old as bait," she said.

Stenvik said the family, who came to the U.S. in 2024, has an active asylum case and had not been ordered to leave the country.

“Why detain a 5-year-old?” she asked. "You cannot tell me that this child is going to be classified as a violent criminal.”

Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that “ICE did NOT target a child.”

Smith defends his Trump investigations at a House hearing. 'No one should be above the law,' he says

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith defended his investigations of President Donald Trump at a congressional hearing Thursday in which he insisted that he had acted without regard to politics and had no second thoughts about the criminal charges he brought.

“No one should be above the law in our country, and the law required that he be held to account. So that is what I did,” Smith said of Trump.

Smith testified behind closed doors last month but returned to the House Judiciary Committee for a public hearing that provided the prosecutor with a forum to address Congress and the country more generally about the breadth of evidence he collected during investigations that shadowed Trump during the 2024 presidential campaign and resulted in indictments. The hourslong hearing immediately split along partisan lines as Republican lawmakers sought to undermine the former Justice Department official while Democrats tried to elicit damaging testimony about Trump's conduct and accused their GOP counterparts of attempting to rewrite history.

“It was always about politics,” said Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, the committee's Republican chairman.

“Maybe for them,” retorted Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin, referring to Republicans. “But, for us, it’s all about the rule of law.”

Huge US winter storm to bring crippling snow, sleet and ice from Texas to Boston

ATLANTA (AP) — Bread was flying off the shelves, salt was being loaded into trucks and utility workers were nervously watching forecasts Thursday as a huge winter storm that could bring catastrophic damage, widespread power outages and bitterly cold weather barreled toward the eastern two-thirds of the U.S.

The massive storm system is expected to bring a crippling ice storm from Texas through parts of the South, potentially around a foot (30 centimeters) of snow from Oklahoma through Washington, D.C., New York and Boston, and then a final punch of bitterly cold air that could drop wind chills to minus-50 degrees Fahrenheit (minus-46 Celsius) in parts of Minnesota and North Dakota.

Forecasters are warning the damage, especially in areas that get a large amount of ice, could rival a hurricane. About 160 million people were under winter storm or cold weather watches or warnings — and in many places both.

The storm was expected to begin Friday in New Mexico and Texas, with the worst of the weather moving east into the Deep South before heading up the coast and thumping New England with snow.

Cold air streaming down from Canada caused Chicago Public Schools and Des Moines Public Schools in Iowa to cancel classes Friday. Wind chills predicted to be as low as minus-35 degrees Fahrenheit (minus-37 Celsius) could cause frostbite within 10 minutes, making it too dangerous to walk to school or wait for the bus.

Trump rolls out his Board of Peace at the Davos forum, but many top US allies aren't participating

DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday inaugurated his Board of Peace to lead efforts at maintaining a ceasefire in Israel's war with Hamas, insisting that “everyone wants to be a part” of the body he said could eventually rival the United Nations — despite many U.S. allies opting not to participate.

In a speech at the World Economic Forum, Trump sought to create momentum for a project to map out a future of the war-torn Gaza Strip that has been overshadowed this week, first by his threats to seize Greenland, then by a dramatic retreat from that push.

“This isn’t the United States, this is for the world,” he said, adding, “I think we can spread it out to other things as we succeed in Gaza.”

The event featured Ali Shaath, the head of a new, future technocratic government in Gaza, announcing that the Rafah border crossing will open in both directions next week. But there was no confirmation of that from Israel, which said only that it would consider the matter next week.

The Gaza side of the crossing, which runs between Gaza and Egypt, is currently under Israeli military control. Shaath, an engineer and former Palestinian Authority official from Gaza, is overseeing the Palestinian committee set to govern the territory under U.S. supervision.

Trump administration tells agencies to compile data on money sent to Democratic states

President Donald Trump's budget office this week ordered most government agencies to compile data on the federal money that is sent to 14 mostly Democratic-controlled states and the District of Columbia in what it describes as a tool to “reduce the improper and fraudulent use of those funds.”

The order comes a week after Trump said he intended to cut off federal funding that goes to states that are home to “sanctuary cities” that resist his immigration policies. He said that would start Feb. 1 but hasn't unveiled further details.

A memo to federal departments and agencies did not explain why those states were targeted. All but one — Virginia — were either included last year on the administration's list of sanctuary places or were home to at least one jurisdiction that was. In Virginia, one of Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s first acts after taking office Saturday was to rescind a directive by Republican former Gov. Glenn Youngkin that required law enforcement cooperation with immigration officials.

There is no strict definition for sanctuary policies or sanctuary cities, but the terms generally describe limited cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The memo, while unusual, stops far short of suspending money.

Trump sues JPMorgan for $5 billion, alleges the bank closed his accounts for political reasons

NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump sued banking giant JPMorgan Chase and its CEO Jamie Dimon for $5 billion on Thursday over allegations that JPMorgan stopped providing banking services to him and his businesses for political reasons after he left office in January 2021.

The lawsuit, filed in Miami-Dade County court in Florida, alleges that JPMorgan abruptly closed multiple accounts in February 2021 with just 60 days notice and no explanation. By doing so, Trump claims JPMorgan and Dimon cut the president and his businesses off from millions of dollars, disrupted their operations and forced Trump and the businesses to urgently open bank accounts elsewhere.

“JPMC debanked (Trump and his businesses) because it believed that the political tide at the moment favored doing so,” the lawsuit alleges.

In the lawsuit, Trump alleges he tried to raise the issue personally with Dimon after the bank started to close his accounts, and that Dimon assured Trump he would figure out what was happening. The lawsuit alleges Dimon failed to follow up with Trump. Further, Trump’s lawyers allege that JPMorgan placed the president and his companies on a reputational “blacklist” that both JPMorgan and other banks use to keep clients from opening accounts with them in the future.

In a statement, JPMorgan said it believes the suit has no merit.

Ukraine's Zelenskyy says his repeated warnings to Europe feel like 'Groundhog Day'

DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy blasted his European allies Thursday for what he portrayed as the continent’s slow, fragmented and inadequate response to Russia’s invasion nearly four years ago and its continued international aggression.

Addressing the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Zelenskyy listed a litany of grievances and criticisms of Europe that he said have left Ukraine at the mercy of Russian President Vladimir Putin amid an ongoing U.S. push for a peace settlement.

“Europe looks lost,” Zelenskyy said in his speech, urging the continent to become a global force. He contrasted Europe’s response with Washington’s bold steps in Venezuela and Iran.

The former comic actor referred to the movie “Groundhog Day,” in which the main character must relive the same day over and over again.

“Just last year, here in Davos, I ended my speech with the words: Europe needs to know how to defend itself. A year has passed. And nothing has changed. We are still in a situation where I must say the same words again,” Zelenskyy said.

Trump administration halts use of human fetal tissue in NIH-funded research

The Trump administration announced Thursday that human fetal tissue derived from abortions can no longer be used in research funded by the National Institutes of Health.

The policy, long urged by anti-abortion groups, expands restrictions issued during President Donald Trump’s first term.

The government has funded research involving fetal tissue for decades, under both Republican and Democratic administrations. The tissue, which otherwise would be thrown away, has been critical for certain research, including ways to fight HIV and cancer. Opponents of fetal tissue use say there are now alternatives, although many scientists say there aren’t always adequate substitutes.

In a statement Thursday, NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya acknowledged the agency “has long maintained policies governing the responsible and limited use of human fetal tissue in biomedical research.”

Its use has declined since 2019. The $47 billion agency counted just 77 projects funded in 2024 that included fetal tissue.

DiCaprio to  AP on Oscar nomination: 'It’s about trying to be in films that are memorable'

Leonardo DiCaprio picked up his sixth lead actor Oscar nomination Thursday morning for carrying the American masterpiece “One Battle After Another” as the overwhelmed single dad and flustered revolutionary Bob Ferguson.

Ten years after he won best actor for “The Revenant,” it’s a statistic that puts him in a rarefied group that includes Daniel Day-Lewis. Including his supporting nomination for “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape,” he’s now among a group of only eight actors, male or female, to have achieved that milestone. Overall, he has eight nominations to his name, including a best picture credit for “The Wolf of Wall Street.”

But for DiCaprio, a consummate director’s actor who spoke to The Associated Press by phone Thursday morning, the most important thing isn’t even necessarily the accolades but being part of a film that’s as timeless as “One Battle After Another.”

“I love what I do,” DiCaprio said in a phone interview. “At the end of the day it’s about trying to be in films that are memorable. This is a great addition to have your peers sort of recognize it.”

In Bob Ferguson, DiCaprio got one of his greatest roles in an already illustrious career. It’s a performance that’s not easy to define but that spotlighted his grasp on his craft to maximum effect, allowing him to be funny, emotional, intimate and utterly authentic, whether he’s yelling about not remembering a passcode, reading his daughter’s friend the riot act or even just wordlessly looking at Sean Penn’s antagonist Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw with all the fear in the world for his daughter in his eyes.