AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Maine would become the 27th state to ban paramilitary training, under a bill the House narrowly passed Wednesday. The proposal, designed to block groups hoping to create civil unrest, passed 66-60. It was sponsored by Democratic Rep. Laurie Osher of Orono. The measure comes in the wake of a rise in public demonstrations by white nationalist …

The AP Top 25 men’s college basketball poll is back every week throughout the season! Get the poll delivered straight to your inbox with AP Top 25 Poll Alerts. Sign up here. Washington State Cougars (20-6, 11-4 Pac-12) at Arizona Wildcats (20-5, 11-3 Pac-12) Tucson, Arizona; Thursday, 11 p.m. EST BOTTOM LINE: No. 4 Arizona hosts the No. 21 Washington …

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Kateryna Dmytryk had been waiting for this moment for almost two years — nearly all of her young son’s life. Side by side, they ran, 2-year-old Timur leading the way as snow crunched beneath their feet. A slender, pale man made his way to the pair from the military hospital. Artem Dmytryk hadn’t seen his family …

LONDON (AP) — Miami Open tournament director and former Top 10 player James Blake was fined $56,250 for violating tennis’s rules about betting sponsorship, the International Tennis Integrity Agency announced Wednesday. The London-based ITIA said the violation was unintentional and Blake “co-operated fully with the investigation and did not contest the charge.” If Blake breaks the rules again during an …

MILAN (AP) — An anti-fur protester crashed the Fendi runway show Wednesday during the first day of Milan Fashion Week of mostly womenswear previews for Fall-Winter 2024-25. The PETA activist jumped into the models’ finale holding up a sign that read “Animals are not clothing,” before being whisked away by security. The animal rights group is pressuring Fendi to join …

The Biden administration is wading into a contentious debate about whether the most powerful artificial intelligence systems should be “open-source” or closed. The White House said Wednesday it is seeking public comment on the risks and benefits of having an AI system’s key components publicly available for anyone to use and modify. The inquiry is one piece of the broader …

WHEELING, W.Va. (AP) — A private West Virginia university that has struggled financially said it has suspended its president with pay. The Wheeling University Board of Trustees announced in an email Tuesday that President Ginny Favede was relieved of all duties, news outlets reported. The statement gave no reason for the suspension and a school spokesperson told The Intelligencer Wheeling …

White House weighing executive actions on the border — with immigration powers used by Trump WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is considering using provisions of federal immigration law repeatedly tapped by former President Donald Trump to unilaterally enact a sweeping crackdown at the southern border, according to three people familiar with the deliberations. The administration, stymied by Republican lawmakers …

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve officials acknowledged at their most recent meeting in January that there had been “significant progress” in reducing U.S. inflation. But some of the policymakers expressed concern that strong growth in spending and hiring could disrupt that progress. In minutes from the Jan. 30-31 meeting released Wednesday, most Fed officials also said they were worried about …

CHICAGO (AP) — United Airlines says it plans to resume flights to Israel next month, reviving a route that was suspended in October at the start of the Israel-Hamas war. The airline said Wednesday that it will start flights from Newark, New Jersey, to Tel Aviv with a stop in Munich on March 2 and March 4. United said it …