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By Amy Langfield

February 09, 2026

By Amy Langfield

February 09, 2026

 
 

Good afternoon and welcome to your afternoon news update from AP. Today, masks emerge as a symbol of President Trump’s ICE crackdown and a flashpoint in Congress ahead of Friday’s midnight funding deadline; Ghislaine Maxwell appeals for clemency from President Trump in the Epstein case; and the problem with black carbon in the Arctic.

 

UP FIRST

AP Morning Wire

Federal agents conduct immigration enforcement operations Thursday, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)

Masks emerge as symbol of Trump’s ICE crackdown and a flashpoint in Congress

Beyond the car windows being smashed, people tackled on city streets — or even a little child with a floppy bunny ears snowcap detained — the images of masked federal officers has become a flashpoint in the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement operations. Whether to ban the masks has emerged as a central question in the debate in Congress over funding Homeland Security ahead of Friday’s midnight deadline, when it faces a partial agency shutdown. Read more.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

  • Trump’s immigration crackdown is straining federal courts. Judges are raising the alarm
  • Migrants languish in US detention centers amid dire conditions and prolonged waits
  • Nicaraguan government blocks key pathway used by Cuban migrants to reach United States
  • Cuba says airlines can no longer refuel on the island as US blockade deepens energy crisis
  • US military boards sanctioned oil tanker in the Indian Ocean after pursuit from the Caribbean
  • Officials deny seeking quick end to asylum claims for the Minneapolis family of 5-year-old
  • Feds can’t withhold social service funds from 5 Democratic states amid fraud claims, judge rules
  • Judge strikes down old Arizona abortion restrictions that clash with voter-backed guarantees
  • Judge rejects Democrats’ plea for early voting sites at 3 North Carolina universities
  • Trump ends Obama-era restrictions on commercial fishing in protected area off New England
  • FEMA will resume staff reductions that were paused during winter storm, managers say
  • Vance is in Armenia, a country no sitting US president or vice president has visited before
  • Ohio man charged with threatening to kill Vice President JD Vance and possessing child abuse files
 

TOP STORIES

Ghislaine Maxwell appeals for clemency from Trump as she declines to answer questions from lawmakers

Ghislaine Maxwell, the former girlfriend of Jeffrey Epstein, declined to answer questions from House lawmakers in a deposition Monday, but indicated that if President Donald Trump ended her prison sentence, she was willing to testify that neither he nor former President Bill Clinton had done anything wrong in their relationships with Epstein. Read more.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

  • Justice Department will allow lawmakers to see unredacted versions of released Epstein files
  • Palace says King Charles III will support police assessing former Prince Andrew’s Epstein links
  • Live updates: Lawmakers rally in support of British PM Starmer amid calls to resign

In the Arctic, the major climate threat of black carbon is overshadowed by geopolitical tensions

As rising global temperatures speed up the melting of sea ice in the Arctic Ocean, it’s set off a boom of ships taking routes that previously were frozen and not traversable. The increase in marine Arctic traffic, which received increased attention as President Donald Trump pushed for the United States to take over Greenland, has come with a heavy environmental cost: black carbon, or soot, that spews from ships and makes the ice melt even faster. Read more.

RELATED COVERAGE ➤

  • Canada and France open consulates in Greenland following tensions over US push for control
  • Apps to boycott US goods gained traction in crisis over Greenland
  • As global warming melts glaciers, a novel sanctuary in Antarctica is opening to preserve ice samples
 

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France's Maxence Muzaton speeds down the course of an alpine ski men's downhill portion of a team combined race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Bormio, Italy, Monday. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)

Milan Cortina Winter Games: Olympic photo highlights from Day 3
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Japan: Prime Minister Takaichi looks to translate her election gains into a new conservative shift

Thailand: Ruling Bhumjaithai party tops election that marks a conservative comeback

Portugal: Moderate candidate wins emphatically over a populist in Portugal’s presidential runoff

Cooler throwing death: New York City police officer convicted of manslaughter

First walkout in nearly 50 years: San Francisco public schoolteachers strike over wages and health benefits

New York City: