Hunterdon Central High School dismisses students early after 'serious spike' in COVID

Associated Press
Belarus election is poised to extend the 30-year rule of 'Europe's last dictator'
The last time Belarus staged a presidential election in 2020, authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko was declared the winner with 80% of the vote. Not wanting to risk such unrest again by those opposing his three decades of iron-fisted rule, Lukashenko advanced the timing of the 2025 election — from the warmth of August to frigid January, when demonstrators are less likely to fill the streets. With many of his political opponents either jailed or exiled abroad, the 70-year-old Lukashenko is back on the ballot, and when the election concludes on Sunday, he is all but certain to add a seventh term as the only leader most people in post-Soviet Belarus have ever known.
NBC News
What we know about the victims killed in the California wildfires
At least two of the people killed in the Southern California wildfires tried to protect the homes where they raised families and lived for decades, while another stayed behind with his son who had cerebral palsy and could not evacuate.
Associated Press
Trump targets California water policy as he prepares to tour LA fire damage
As President Donald Trump prepares to tour wildfire damage in California, he's zeroing in on one of his frequent targets for criticism: State water policy. Since the fires broke out Jan. 7, Trump has used social media and interviews to accuse the state of sending too much water to the Pacific Ocean instead of south toward Los Angeles and highlighted how some hydrants ran dry in the early hours of the firefight in Pacific Palisades. In the first hours of his second term, Trump called on federal officials to draft plans to route more water to the crop-rich Central Valley and densely populated cities in the southern part of the state.
Associated Press
After 80 years, not many Auschwitz survivors are left. One man makes telling the stories his mission
Naftali Fürst will never forget his first view of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, on Nov. 3, 1944. Fürst, now 92, is one of a dwindling number of Holocaust survivors able to share first-person accounts of the horrors they endured, as the world marks the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazis’ most notorious death camp. Fürst is returning to Auschwitz for the annual occasion, his fourth trip to the camp.
Associated Press
Ohio pastor convicted in dispute over sheltering homeless vows to continue his mission
For more than a year, a pastor who opened his church around the clock to shelter and give hope to homeless people has been at odds with an Ohio city over the building housing his ministry. On Tuesday, a city judge found Pastor Chris Avell guilty of violating zoning and fire codes in a criminal case. The church, called Dad's Place, remains open to temporarily shelter people while it also appeals a separate civil case allowing the city of Bryan to enforce its zoning and fire codes on the building. Why did the city take on the church?
Associated Press
Trump to visit disaster zones in North Carolina and California on first trip of second term
President Donald Trump is heading to hurricane-battered western North Carolina and wildfire-ravaged Los Angeles on Friday, using the first trip of his second administration to tour areas where politics has clouded the response to deadly disasters. The Republican president has criticized former President Joe Biden for his administration's response in North Carolina, and he's showered disdain on California leaders for water policies that he falsely claimed worsened the recent blazes. Trump is also considering overhauling the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Associated Press
Asylum-seekers pushed to new extremes in Mexico after Trump's border crackdown begins
When Dayana Castro heard that the U.S. asylum appointment she waited over a year for was canceled in an instant, she had no doubt: She was heading north any way she could. The 25-year-old migrant, her husband and their 4- and 7-year-old children had nothing left at home in Venezuela. Castro was one of tens of thousands of migrants across Mexico with appointments to apply for U.S. asylum at the border scheduled out through February until President Donald Trump took office and issued a series of executive orders to beef up border security and slash migration.
NBC News
Trump pardons two D.C. officers convicted in fatal chase and cover-up
President Donald Trump issued full and unconditional pardons Wednesday to two Washington, D.C., police officers who were convicted for their roles in a deadly chase of a young man on a moped in 2020 and subsequent cover-up, a case that led to protests in the nation’s capital.
Associated Press
Democrats' Minnesota House boycott echoes earlier walkouts in other states
Democrats in the Minnesota House who have boycotted daily sessions are using tactics that lawmakers around the country have tried at least two dozen times before to thwart their opponents. Minnesota Democrats are trying to prevent Republicans from taking advantage of a temporary one-seat majority caused by a vacancy in a Democratic-leaning seat and have even asked the state Supreme Court to intervene. After a special election, the House likely will be tied at 67.
Associated Press
March for Life returns to Washington: What to look for when anti-abortion activists gather
Thousands of anti-abortion activists are coming to Washington Friday for the annual March for Life, seeking to build momentum after a string of victories and maintain pressure on legislators. After decades of fighting to overturn Roe v. Wade, organizers are seeking to focus on the multiple state-by-state battles taking place over abortion rights. Here's what to know about the 52nd March for Life: What's the expected turnout?
Associated Press
What is the Laken Riley Act? A look at the first bill Trump will sign
President Donald Trump is poised to sign the first bill of his new administration, and it is named after a slain Georgia nursing student whose name became a rallying cry during his White House campaign. If signed into law, the Laken Riley Act would require the detention of unauthorized immigrants accused of theft and violent crimes. The bill won bipartisan support in both the House and Senate.
Associated Press
Who's the guy handing Trump those binders of executive orders? Meet Will Scharf
Those binders full of executive orders that President Donald Trump has been signing with a flourish and a wide-tipped Sharpie during his first week in office don't just magically appear before him. White House staff secretary Will Scharf has been a prominent part of the tableau, standing at Trump's side and teeing up the leather-bound folders, one by one, for the president. With the cameras rolling, Scharf provides running narration on what Trump is signing, at times leaning into a nearby microphone at the president's direction.
CBS News
Newark business "raided" by ICE agents, mayor says, multiple people detained
Immigration agents "raided" a business in Newark on Thursday, according to the city's mayor.
Reuters
LG Energy Solution flags slowing EV demand, posts first quarterly loss in 3 years
SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korean battery firm LG Energy Solution (LGES) said it expected electric vehicle demand growth to slow in the near-term, as it posted on Friday a quarterly loss for the first time in three years. LG Energy Solution said it plans to cut capital expenditure by up to 30% this year, also warning of slowing growth because of changing environmental policies in some major markets. The company, which makes batteries for Tesla, General Motors and Hyundai Motor, reported an operating loss of 226 billion won ($158 million) for the October-December period.
AFP
Bank of Japan hikes interest rate to 17-year high, signals more
The Bank of Japan hiked interest rates on Friday to their highest level in 17 years and signalled more were in the pipeline despite fears of turmoil under US President Donald Trump.The news, and expectations for more hikes in the future, saw the yen strengthen to 155.20 per dollar -- from 156.3 earlier -- having weakened in recent months following Trump's election and bets the Federal Reserve will slow down its interest rate cut campaign this year.
AFP
Bangkok air pollution forces 352 schools to close
Air pollution in the Thai capital forced the closure of more than 350 schools on Friday, city authorities said, as Bangkok was ranked the world's seventh-most polluted major city by air quality monitor IQAir.Neighbouring Vietnam and Cambodia's biggest cities also ranked in IQAir's top 10 most-polluted major cities globally on Friday, with Ho Chi Minh City reaching second and Phnom Penh fifth.
Reuters
Rivian says other automakers 'knocking on door' about tech from VW joint venture
A joint venture between U.S. electric pickup and SUV maker Rivian and Volkswagen is in talks with other automakers about supplying their software and electrical architecture, a senior Rivian executive said on Thursday. The German automaker agreed in November to invest $5.8 billion in the joint venture, which will integrate advanced electrical infrastructure and Rivian's software technology for both companies' future electric vehicles.
Associated Press
Stock market today: Asian shares gain after S&P 500 climbs to a record and Bank of Japan raises rate
Asian shares advanced Friday after U.S. stocks rose to a record and the Bank of Japan raised its key lending rate. U.S. futures edged lower and oil prices fell after U.S. President Donald Trump called on oil-producing countries to reduce the price of crude, which would ease worries about inflation. Markets showed little obvious reaction to Trump's most recent comments about imposing higher tariffs on products from China and other countries.
NBC News
Hughes Fire containment grows after thousands are forced to flee
Firefighters gained more ground Thursday on a fast-moving brushfire that erupted north of Los Angeles the day before and within hours exploded to thousands of acres amid high winds, officials said.
AFP
Asian markets build on Trump rally, yen climbs after BoJ cut
Asian markets rose Friday after a record day on Wall Street in response to Donald Trump's tax-cut pledge, while the yen strengthened after a widely expected interest rate hike by the Bank of Japan.Given this reality, we question if Trump's tariff posturing may now be aimed more at pressuring China and other foreign countries into negotiating favourable trade terms for the US." - Japan hikes rates - The Bank of Japan on Friday lifted borrowing costs to their highest level since 2008 in a well-tel

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