ADVERTISEMENT

AP Afternoon Wire

Advancing the Power of Facts

Policy changes, but facts endure. AP delivers accurate, fact-based journalism to keep the world informed in every administration. Support independent reporting today. Donate today.

Good afternoon and welcome to your afternoon news update from AP. Today, a federal appeals court has blocked a California law requiring federal agents to wear identification; President Donald Trump’s Cuba threats revive exile hopes and fears over property claims; and Boston-area environmental organizations want sewage releases into waterways to end.

UP FIRST

Law enforcement responds to protesters after federal immigration authorities conducted operations in Paramount, Calif., in June 2025. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Federal appeals court blocks California law requiring federal agents to wear identification

An appeals court has blocked a California law passed in 2025 requiring federal immigration agents to wear a badge or some form of identification. The Trump administration filed a lawsuit in November challenging the law, arguing that it would threaten the safety of officers who are facing harassment, doxing, and violence and that it violated the constitution because the state is directly regulating the federal government. Read more.

TOP STORIES

Cuban exiles have renewed hope and fears over claims on property seized long ago

President Donald Trump's threat of military intervention in Cuba is raising hopes of regime change among Cuban Americans. Many exiles are seeking compensation for homes and businesses taken after Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution. They remain hopeful about the prospects of regime change but are concerned that any agreement arising from ongoing negotiations will not address property losses or demands for democratic change. Read more.

Massachusetts is dumping sewage into waterways. Grassroots organizations are fighting back

Environmental organizations in Massachusetts are urging water officials to keep sewage out of waterways in several Boston-area communities by committing to a more modern sewer system with separate pipes for waste and storm runoff. Approximately 700 communities in the U.S. that use combined sewer systems face similar public health concerns as untreated wastewater flows into their water bodies. This is being exacerbated by climate change, which causes more frequent and intense storms and threatens access to freshwater resources. Read more.

ADVERTISEMENT

IN OTHER NEWS

The highly contaminated control room for Reactor No. 4 is seen inside the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, in 2000. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Witnessing disaster: AP photographer chronicles Chernobyl’s painful legacy of silence, sacrifice and danger

Pope’s visit: Some who fled abuses in Equatorial Guinea fear pope’s visit might legitimize longtime ruler

West Virginia plant: Chemical leak kills 2 people and sends 19 more to hospital, officials say

Car theft ring: 6 people are charged in a plot to steal and resell dozens of cars from the DC area

Georgia shootings: Navy veteran charged in series of Atlanta-area shootings dies in jail 

Kansas City: Royals to build a $1.9B ballpark as part of a $3B downtown redevelopment project

WATCH: A robot is beating human pros at table tennis. Its maker calls it a milestone for machines

TRENDING

David Douches, a Michigan State University professor who leads the school's Potato Breeding and Genetics Program, holds a potato chip in his hand during a taste testing in March. (AP Photo/Mike Householder)

Researchers have spent decades breeding better potatoes for chips, and their work isn’t done

There’s a surprising amount of science in a bag of potato chips.