A federal judge has blocked the release of a Tennessee man who authorities say carried flexible plastic handcuffs during the riot at the U.S. Capitol earlier this month. The judge in Washington, D.C., on Sunday set aside a lower court's order concerning the release of Eric Munchel of Nashville pending a review. The lower court judge determined Friday that Munchel wasn’t a flight risk and didn’t pose harm to the public. Munchel is charged with violent entry and disorderly conduct on the Capitol grounds, conspiracy and civil disorder. He faces up to 20 years if convicted.

Wildlife biologists say a 34-year-old grizzly bear captured in southwestern Wyoming has been confirmed as the oldest on record in the Yellowstone region. Grizzly bear 168 was captured last summer after it preyed on cattle. The Jackson Hole Hole News & Guide reports the male had just a few teeth left and weighed 170 pounds. When he was 5 years old, he weighed 450 pounds. Wildlife officials euthanized the old bear in July 2020 because of his poor health and because he would likely continue to prey on calves.

Chicago teachers have voted to defy the school district’s order to return to their classrooms for the resumption of in-person instruction despite not being vaccinated against the coronavirus. The Chicago Teachers Union vote was announced Saturday. The nation’s third-largest district wants roughly 10,000 K-8 teachers and other staffers to return to school Monday for the resumption of in-person instruction on Feb. 1. The union opposes the district’s plan out of concern for its members’ health and called on members to continue teaching from home on Monday, as they have since last March.

An 85-year-old Green Bay Packers fan who has never missed a playoff game at Lambeau Field thought her streak was coming to an end this week until two charitable brothers heard her story. Fritzie Neitzel went to her first Packers game with her father in October 1945, when she was 10. As longtime season ticket holders, her family unsuccessfully tried buying seats for the NFC championship game once they went on sale. That's when the Spirit of Wisconsin Booster Club, a charity led by Steve and Neal Ewing, heard Neitzel's story and gifted her tickets to the game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Because of COVID-19 restrictions, the Packers said all tickets on cellphones are nontransferable. So Steve Ewing drove from Milwaukee to Green Bay to hand off the phone with the tickets.

A former CIA software engineer charged with leaking government secrets to WikiLeaks says he's held in solitary confinement in an area of a jail where inmates are treated like “caged animals.” Joshua Schulte asked a Manhattan federal judge Tuesday to find that the conditions imposed on him for the last two years at the Metropolitan Correctional Center are unconstitutional. Schulte is held under rules often used against terrorism defendants to prevent them from communicating with others. He says he's confined to a freezing cell where bright lights are on 24 hours a day. A message seeking comment was sent to the federal Bureau of Prisons and the Department of Justice.

Republican lawmakers in several more states want to loosen gun restrictions by allowing people to carry concealed firearms without having to get a permit, continuing a trend that gun control advocates call dangerous. Fifteen states already allow concealed carry without a permit, and lawmakers in nine others have proposed allowing or expanding the practice. Most states require people to do things like get weapons training and undergo a background check to get a permit to carry a gun hidden by a jacket or inside a purse. Groups like the National Rifle Association and state lawmakers who support gun rights argue those requirements are ineffective and undermine Second Amendment protections.

Palestinian election officials have invited the European Union to send observers to monitor upcoming elections planned for the Palestinian legislature and presidency. The elections are seen as an important step toward ending a rift that has left the Palestinians divided between rival governments since the Islamic militant group Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip from the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority in 2007. Past attempts at reconciliation have repeatedly failed. But Sunday’s invitation to the European Union was a sign that the Palestinians are serious about holding what will be their first elections in over 15 years. An EU official confirmed the bloc's readiness to “provide everything possible for the success of the electoral process.”

As a student in college and seminary, then as a pastor in Texas, Dwight McKissic has been affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention for more than 45 years. Now he’s pondering whether he and his congregation should break away — following in the footsteps of several other Black pastors who exited in dismay over race-related actions of some white SBC leaders. A crucial moment could come in June at the SBC’s national meeting in Nashville, Tennessee. McKissic says he’s ready to leave the white-dominated denomination if delegates rebuff views shared by many Black SBC pastors related to systemic racism in the U.S. 

U.S. hospital intensive care units in many parts of the country are straining under record numbers of COVID-19 patients. These hospital units take care of the sickest of the sick. Some are running out of space and supplies, while scrambling to pay the soaring rates of temporary traveling nurses. Hundreds of ICUs are struggling at the same time, with many clustered in the South and West. An Associated Press analysis shows that since November, the share of U.S. hospitals nearing the breaking point has doubled. More than 40% of Americans live in areas running out of ICU beds. Experts say sustained surges can jeopardize the quality of care in ICUs.

Natalie Abbas and Jim Carpenter are local ambassadors for a program to bridge the nation’s political divide. The gulf between them is wide. Carpenter cheers President Joe Biden as the rightful winner. Abbas is convinced that the election was stolen. Together, they ponder the greatest challenge facing American society: how can they find common ground if they no longer exist in the same reality? They don’t agree on facts. They use the same words _ truth, proof, patriotism _ but they don’t mean the same thing. They have become friends. They wonder: could that be enough?

Six months after his death, the late civil rights leader and longtime Georgia congressman John Lewis will retain a palpable influence in Congress. The state's two new Democratic U.S. senators are both personal friends and admirers of Lewis. And both have promised to carry on his legacy. The Rev. Raphael Warnock was Lewis’ pastor and stood at his bedside before Lewis died. The 33-year-old Ossoff served as an intern in Lewis’ Washington office years ago. Together, their election victories swung control of the Senate to Democrats. Warnock and Ossoff were sworn into office on Wednesday. 

The Tacoma News-Tribune reports that at least one person was injured after a police car plowed through a crowd of pedestrians Saturday night who were watching a downtown street race. Police say the incident happened just before 7 p.m. when a crowd of about 100 people watched several cars spinning in circles in a downtown street. A witness says the police car arrived at the scene and then it was driven through the crowd after people tried to block the vehicle. Video posted on social media show that the police car hits something or somebody. Another video from the same scene and posted to Twitter appears to show the vehicle driving over a person on the ground.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — New Zealand has reported its first coronavirus case outside of a quarantine facility in more than two months, although there was no immediate evidence the virus was spreading in the community.

Today in History

The Los Angeles County sheriff’s department says three teens, who are Black, were wrongly detained at a Target store during a grand theft investigation last week. The Ventura County Star reported that the 17-year-old and two 16-year-olds were walking home after attending church with friends when they decided to stop at Target to buy snacks. The teens said they were the victims of racial profiling by Target staff and county deputies. Target issued a statement saying the company has apologized and fired one of the security team members. A mother of one of the boys has since retained an attorney to file a lawsuit alleging a violation of her son’s civil rights.

Sheriff’s deputies and firefighters have recovered the body of an Oregon woman whose vehicle was swept away in a deep mudslide during a winter storm last week. Jennifer Camus Moore, a registered nurse from Warrendale, Oregon, was driving in the Columbia River Gorge early Wednesday when her SUV was buried under about 15 feet of mud, rock and trees. Crews used front loaders, dump trucks and other heavy equipment to clear the edges of the debris field as they tried to find her in the wet, unstable mud. A private contractor helped verify the location of her vehicle on Saturday morning by using a high-powered metal detector.

The FBI and local police are investigating an explosion at a Los Angeles-area church that had been the target of protests for its anti-LGTBQ message. Police say officers responding around 4:30 a.m. Saturday initially thought vandals had broken the windows of First Works Baptist Church in El Monte. Officers then noticed smoke coming from inside and realized they had been blown out by a blast. No injuries are reported. Protestors have repeatedly targeted the church headed by Pastor Bruce Mejia, who has condemned same-sex relationships. A statement on the church website calls homosexuality “an abomination.” Calls to the church went unanswered Saturday. 

The singer who recorded the hits “Honeycomb,” “Kisses Sweet Than Wine” and many other popular songs during the 1950s and 60s has died. A publicist says Jimmie Rodgers died Monday from kidney disease in Palm Desert, California at age 87. He had also tested positive for COVID-19. Rodgers appeared on a talent show and subsequently got an audition and contract with Roulette Records. His musical style ranged from folk and pop to country and traditional ballads. Rodgers' career in music and movies was disrupted by a severe injury he suffered on a Los Angeles freeway in 1967. He said an off-duty police officer had attacked him, but police said Rodgers had fallen. 

Arizona Republicans on Saturday reelected Kelli Ward as party chair, giving a second term to one of Donald Trump’s most unflinching supporters even after the GOP lost ground in the state last year. Ward’s combative style delights Trump’s strongest supporters but worries longtime GOP insiders who have watched the party turn off crucial voters in the suburbs. She was a prolific promoter of baseless theories of election fraud and filed several lawsuits that were tossed by judges for lack of evidence. A party spokesman says Ward secured a narrow majority on the second ballot. 

Screenwriter Walter Bernstein has died. He was 101. Bernstein was one of the last victims of Hollywood’s anti-Communist blacklist and for years could only find work by hiring “fronts,” people willing to let him use their names for his scripts. In the 1970s, he would draw upon his experiences and receive an Oscar nomination for writing “The Front,” starring Woody Allen. His other writing credits included the Burt Reynolds football comedy “Semi-Tough” and films by such old friends as Martin Ritt and Sidney Lumet. He was also a longtime adviser to Robert Redford’s Sundance Institute.

The Dupont and Chemours companies have agreed to resolve legal disputes over liabilities for pollution from man-made chemicals associated with cancer. The binding agreement announced Friday comes after Delaware’s Supreme Court last month upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit alleging that DuPont massively downplayed the cost of environmental liabilities imposed on Chemours when DuPont spun off its former performance chemicals unit in 2015. The chemicals at issue have been used in the production of Teflon, firefighting foam, water-repellent clothing and other items. They sometimes are referred to as “forever chemicals” because of their longevity in the environment.

A Wisconsin judge has modified bail conditions for an 18-year-old Illinois teen charged with fatally shooting two people during a protest in southeastern Wisconsin. Kyle Rittenhouse was 17 at the time of the Aug. 25 shooting in Kenosha. He faces multiple counts and is free on $2 million bail. A judge ruled Friday that Rittenhouse can't associate with known white supremacists. He is also barred from possessing and consuming alcohol and from having firearms. Prosecutors made the request after Rittenhouse was seen at a Wisconsin bar. Prosecutors say he and others displayed a hand gesture known to be used by white supremacists. 

An Arizona sheriff’s office is investigating a tour bus crash that officials say killed one person and injured dozens of others, including five seriously. The Las Vegas-based bus crashed Friday and rolled over in northwestern Arizona while headed to a Grand Canyon viewpoint on the Hualapai Reservation. A Mohave County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman said cause of the crash was not immediately determined and that no information was available about the vehicle’s speed before the crash and other circumstances that might be related. 

A Pennsylvania legislator has issued a general apology after he shared an image on Facebook mocking the appearance of Pennsylvania’s recently departed health secretary. Dr. Rachel Levine is a transgender woman newly nominated to serve in the Biden administration. State Rep. Jeff Pyle is a Republican from western Pennsylvania. He posted an apology Saturday on Facebook addressed “to all affected” but not directly to Levine. Levine has not commented. She is poised to become the first openly transgender federal official to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate after being nominated by President Joe Biden to serve as assistant health secretary.

The Trump administration granted final approval for a proposed Nevada lithium mine in its last days, adding it to a list of energy and mining projects fast-tracked before President Joe Biden took office. The Democrat has already revoked permits for projects like the Keystone XL pipeline, but like the outgoing administration, he supports lithium mining. The mineral is a key component in rechargeable batteries, and boosting domestic production could lower the price tag on his climate plan, which includes rebates for electric vehicles. But while technologists see lithium as a replacement for carbon-based fuels, conservationists worry about mining's impact on the surrounding environment.

Right-wing extremism has previously mostly played out in isolated pockets of America or in smaller cities. In contrast, the deadly attack by rioters on the U.S. Capitol targeted the very heart of government. It brought together members of disparate groups, creating the opportunity for extremists to establish links with each other. Experts say that potentially sets the stage for more violent actions. But Donald Trump is no longer president and has faded as a presence for extremists to coalesce around. And some are angry that Trump disassociated himself from the Capitol attack he stoked.

People following a movement that promotes violence and a second U.S. civil war have been showing up at protests across the nation armed and wearing tactical gear. But the anti-government “boogaloo” movement has adopted an unlikely public and online symbol: Hawaiian print shirts. The brightly colored, often floral pattern of the so-called Hawaiian shirt, known in Hawaii as an aloha shirt, is synonymous with a laid back lifestyle. In Hawaii, it has an association with spirit of aloha, the Native Hawaiian sentiment of love, compassion and mercy. But now, the militant followers of the boogaloo philosophy are wearing the shirts at demonstrations about coronavirus lockdowns, racial injustice and the presidential election. 

The U.S. Census Bureau is suspending efforts to create neighborhood-level statistics on the citizenship and age of residents, using 2020 census data. Friday's announcement is the latest rollback of Trump administration census-related initiatives that critics feared would be used to favor Republicans and whites during the drawing of state and local districts. Among his first acts as president, Biden on Wednesday revoked two Trump directives related to the 2020 census. The first attempted to discern the citizenship status of every U.S. resident through administrative records, and the second sought to exclude people in the U.S. illegally from the numbers used for apportioning congressional seats among the states.

Democrats are planning to move quickly on one of the first bills of the new Congress, which would set federal election standards that would mandate early voting, same-day registration and other voting rights reforms. House and Senate Democrats say national rules are needed to shore up American democracy after a tumultuous post=election period and deadly riot at the capital. Republicans say the bill represents federal overreach. Along with setting the federal voting standards, the For the People Act would put the job of drawing congressional districts in the hands of independent commissions and obligate presidents to disclose their tax returns. 

Anti-abortion leaders who were elated a year ago when Donald Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to appear in person at the annual March for Life are feeling less buoyant now. A staunch supporter of abortion rights has replaced Trump in the White House., and President Joe Biden's fellow Democrats also now control both chambers of Congress. Organizers of this year’s March for Life have asked their far-flung supporters to stay home on January 29 due to political tensions in Washington and the coronavirus pandemic. Tempering their disappointment over Trump's defeat is the hope that his legacy of judicial appointments and Republican-led state legislatures will lead to future court victories limiting abortion rights.  

The commercial fishery for herring has suffered in recent years due to new restrictions, but those same rules could benefit puffins. Atlantic puffins are known for their colorful beaks and waddling walks. They were once nearly gone from Maine. It is the only U.S. state where they nest. Decades of conservation work have brought Maine’s population of the birds to about 1,300 pairs that nest on small islands off the coast. They are dependent on small fish to survive. The herring fishery is facing new restrictions to try to protect the fish's population.

Food is a growing focus for insurers as they look to improve the health of the people they cover and cut costs.  More plans are paying for temporary meal deliveries and some are branching beyond that to teach people how to cook and eat healthier foods. Benefits experts say insurers and policymakers are growing used to treating food as a form of medicine that can help reduce blood sugar or blood pressure levels and keep patients out of expensive hospitals.  This push is still relatively small and happening mostly with government-funded programs like Medicaid or Medicare Advantage. 

A cubical satellite small enough to sit on the palm of your hand is zipping around the world and sending data about radiation to the Louisiana students who designed and built it. It carries a chip created by students at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette — and a Geiger counter so they can tell whether the chip is accurate. The satellite is less than 4 inches on a side. It was among 10 launched Jan. 17 as part of a NASA program. Students began receiving radio signals from the satellite early Monday.

PARIS — French doctors have new advice to slow the spread of the virus: stop talking on public transport.

The results of the 2021 Hall of Fame vote will be announced Tuesday, and some voters are finding the task particularly agonizing this time around. Voters have had to consider how much a player’s off-field behavior should affect his Hall of Fame chances with Curt Schilling’s candidacy now front and center and Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens still on the ballot as well. Suspicions of performance-enhancing drug use have played a significant role in the voting for years. Now, some writers are reassessing other concerns about some of the game’s biggest stars — from Schilling’s incendiary social media presence to domestic violence allegations against Bonds and others.

A look at the 10 largest U.S. jackpots that have been won and the states where the winning tickets were sold.

ATLANTA (AP) — Lottery: 1 winning ticket for $1 billion Mega Millions jackpot sold in Michigan.

A $1 billion Mega Millions jackpot is up for grabs, offering a shot at the third-largest lottery prize in U.S. history. The winning numbers in the Mega Millions drawing Friday night were: 4, 26, 42, 50, 60 and a Mega Ball of 24. The Mega Millions top prize has been growing since Sept. 15, when a winning ticket was sold in Wisconsin. Friday night’s drawing comes two days after a ticket sold in Maryland matched all six numbers drawn and won a $731.1 million Powerball jackpot.

Prosecutors have secured a conviction in a false-imprisonment case against a former Transportation Security Administration agent who was accused of tricking a traveler into showing her breasts as she went through security at Los Angeles International Airport. The California attorney general's office says Johnathon Lomeli entered the plea Friday and was sentenced to 60 days in jail and ordered to take classes on sexual compulsion. Prosecutors say in 2019, he convinced a woman to show him her breasts, claiming security reasons, while in an elevator that supposedly was heading to a private screening room. 

A federal judge in Washington says a right-wing conspiracy theorist from Iowa seen prominently in videos taunting a U.S. Capitol police officer during the Jan. 6 riot must remain in custody.  U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly on Friday halted the release of Douglas Jensen that had been ordered by a federal magistrate judge in Iowa on Thursday. Kelly ordered Jensen be transported to Washington to face charges. The Iowa judge had allowed Jensen's release to home confinement in Des Moines but gave federal prosecutors time to appeal. Kelly issued another order requiring U.S. Marshals to bring Jensen to Washington from Iowa “forthwith."

A Federal Aviation Administration employee and QAnon follower from California who had been on the FBI’s radar is facing federal charges after authorities say he confessed to taking part in the siege of the U.S. Capitol. The FBI says 44-year-old Kevin Strong of Beaumont surrendered to authorities on Friday and appeared in a federal court in Riverside, where he was ordered held on $50,000 bond. He is charged with violent entry into the Capitol building on Jan. 6. Messages to his attorney seeking comment weren't immediately returned. An FBI affidavit says the agency began investigating Strong a week before the rioting, and he was spotted in news broadcasts inside the Capitol and admitted to being there.

A marijuana industry activist who was temporarily living in Minnesota has been charged with threatening a member of Congress. Federal prosecutors say 32-year-old Jason Robert Karimi is charged with one count of interstate communication of a threat. According to the charges, Karimi called a U.S. representative, who is not named in court documents, and left a voicemail, saying he wanted the person to be as “scared as possible" and that “we're coming for ya.” The voicemail threatened violence. Authorities traced the number to Karimi, who told an FBI agent that he intended only “political pain." The call was made five days after the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. 

Authorities say a Las Vegas-based tour bus headed to the Grand Canyon has rolled over in northwestern Arizona. One person was killed Friday and two others were critically injured. A spokeswoman for the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office says the cause of the rollover isn't yet known. In all, there were 48 people on the bus, including the driver. Of the 42 people brought to hospital, authorities say two were critically injured, seven had less serious injuries and 33 suffered minor injuries.

A federal judge has ordered an Arkansas man accused of beating a police officer with a flagpole during the riot at the U.S. Capitol to remain in jail as he awaits trial. U.S. Magistrate J. Thomas Ray on Friday ordered the detention of Peter Stager, who was arrested last week in Arkansas on a charge of interfering with law enforcement officers during a civil disorder. Stager was arrested after he was identified as a man repeatedly beating a police officer repeatedly with the pole after rioters dragged the officer down the Capitol's west stairs. 

Prosecutors say no criminal charges will be filed against four Indianapolis police officers in the fatal shooting of a Black man. Nineteen-year-old McHale Rose was fatally shot May 7 after he called 911 to falsely report a burglary on the city’s north side. The Marion County Prosecutor’s Office said Friday in a 10-page report on the matter that Rose was armed with an AK-47-style semiautomatic rifle at the time. The office said the actions of the four officers do not meet Indiana’s legal standard to support criminal charges. Hours after Rose's death, a fifth Indianapolis officer shot and killed another Black man during a police pursuit.  

U.S. immigration authorities have released the last of nine detained women who were taken to see a rural Georgia gynecologist accused of performing unnecessary hysterectomies or other medical procedures. Lawyers say the last woman was released on Friday. Dozens of women have accused Dr. Mahendra Amin of conducting procedures without their consent that were medically unnecessary and potentially endangered their ability to have children, allegations that sparked wide outrage. Through his lawyer, Amin has denied any wrongdoing.

Like his predecessor, President Joe Biden is invoking a 1950 law to boost production of supplies needed to confront the coronavirus pandemic. The Defense Production Act was signed by President Harry S. Truman during the Korean War. It gives the president broad authority to mobilize the resources and production of private companies to meet the needs of the national defense. That could be especially important for the U.S. government as it tries to increase the pace of getting Americans inoculated. The law has been invoked multiple times by presidents of both political parties during emergencies, including blackouts, war and hurricanes.

A judge has ordered the federal government to come up with a plan to release more endangered red wolves from breeding programs to bolster the dwindling wild population. U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle signed an order Thursday directing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to draft a plan by March 1 for releasing captive-bred wolves into the wolves’ designated habitat in North Carolina. The preliminary ruling comes in a lawsuit filed late last year by red wolf conservation groups in a federal court in North Carolina, the only place in the world where the wolf roams wild outside of zoos or wildlife refuges. 

The son of a couple killed in a Pittsburgh synagogue attack that killed 11 worshippers is suing the National Rifle Association, saying the group’s inflammatory rhetoric led to the violence. Marc Simon is the son of Sylvan and Bernice Simon. He filed the wrongful death lawsuit Thursday in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court against the NRA, the gun maker Colt’s Manufacturing Co. and the accused synagogue shooter, Robert Bowers. Colt manufactured the AR-15 semi-automatic rifle allegedly used by Bowers. Bowers is charged with killing 11 congregants at the Tree of Life synagogue in October 2018 in the deadliest attack on Jews in U.S. history. He has pleaded not guilty. 

Officials say a naked Florida man has been arrested after stealing what news footage showed to be a marked police vehicle and crashing it. The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office says 22-year-old Joshua Shenker was arrested after Thursday's crash and charged with theft of a motor vehicle, aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer and other counts. Officers responded to reports of a naked man running along Interstate 10 in western Jacksonville shortly before noon Thursday. Authorities said only in a redacted report that a vehicle belonging to the City of Jacksonville was stolen. According to the police report, about $10,000 worth of damage was done to the vehicle.