President Donald Trump says he has ordered the government to declassify and release all records on missing aviator Amelia Earhart. He made the announcement Friday after returning to the White House from a trip to New York. The Republican president wrote on his social media site that Earhart’s fate is an “interesting story” and that people have been asking him about whether he'd consider declassifying and making public everything the government knows about her, including her final flight. Earhart's plane vanished during her attempt to fly around the world in 1937. Trump says her disappearance has “captivated millions.”

A veterinarian in Michigan has been convicted of theft for refusing to return a dog to a homeless man. Amanda Hergenreder discovered the 16-year-old dog tied to a truck last November. A jury in Grand Rapids returned a verdict Friday. Hergenreder took the dog to her clinic, where she performed various medical procedures and removed a rotten tooth. She named the pit bull mix Biggby. She declined to return the dog to Chris Hamilton because there were no assurances that the animal's living conditions would be investigated. Hamilton knew the dog as Vinny. The dog died in July.

Wisconsin business owner Bill Berrien has ended his Republican campaign for governor, days after it was reported that he followed numerous sexually explicit accounts online, including a nonbinary pornography performer. Berrien is a former Navy SEAL and one of three announced prominent Republican candidates. He issued a lengthy statement Friday saying, “I had no idea that running for political office could be almost as dangerous" as "hunting down war criminals in Bosnia.” Berrien said he concluded he could not win the Republican primary. Berrien’s departure leaves U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, who got into the race on Tuesday, and Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann as the only Republican candidates. There are numerous Democrats running.

A medical examiner has confirmed that Shane Tamura, who killed four people in a Manhattan office tower this summer, was suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Tamura, a Las Vegas casino worker, shot himself in the chest after the July 28 shooting in a building housing NFL headquarters. The victims included a police officer, a security guard and two office workers. He accused the NFL of hiding evidence of brain injuries. A note found in Tamura's wallet revealed his self-diagnosis and urged the study of his brain. Tamura played high school football in California a decade ago but never played in the NFL.

The United Nations has added 68 more companies to a blacklist of companies from 11 countries that it says are complicit in violating Palestinian human rights through their business ties to Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. The new list spotlights companies that do business that’s deemed supportive of the settlements, which are considered by many to be illegal under international law. The list, formally known as a “database of companies,” now contains 158 companies, the vast majority Israeli. The others are from Britain, Canada, China, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and the United States.

Assata Shakur, a Black liberation activist who was given political asylum in Cuba after her 1979 escape from a U.S. prison where she had been serving a life sentence for killing a police officer, has died. The Cuban government said Friday that Shakur died Thursday in Havana due to “health conditions and advanced age.” Shakur’s case had long been a thorny issue in the fraught relations between the U.S. and Cuba. Shakur was convicted in the 1973 death of Trooper Werner Foerster during a gunfight after a traffic stop on the New Jersey Turnpike. She was sentenced to life in prison but escaped and eventually fled to Cuba.

Minnesota is grappling with a political deadlock over gun control after a church shooting in August left two children dead and 21 injured. Gov. Tim Walz has vowed to call a special legislative session to address gun violence and school safety. However, a month later, discussions remain stalled. The state Legislature is very closely divided, making bipartisan support essential for any progress. Urban Democrats generally support gun restrictions, while rural Republicans oppose them. Walz has prioritized bans on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, but consensus remains elusive. Both parties continue to debate potential solutions without reaching an agreement.

This week, addressing the United Nations, President Donald Trump made several false claims about climate change, including that it didn’t actually exist. He called it “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world” and urged world leaders to “get away from the green scam.” It was a pointed and extraordinary takedown of the intensely researched issue, and he did it in front of scores of leaders — including some from nations whose very existence is threatened by the effects of global warming. Among his remarks were several claims that are false or misleading.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee says an influx of additional federal law enforcement agents will focus on crime in Memphis starting next week. The Republican said at a news conference Friday in Memphis alongside city and state officials that 13 federal agencies will arrive in phases. They include the National Guard, though Lee did not say specifically when troops would arrive. He said the National Guard members will not make arrests and will not be armed, unless local law enforcement officials request it. He says he will not declare a state of emergency.

Aaron Rodgers was dressed in black, appropriately, to field questions about Guinness. The Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback spoke to the international media at a resort hotel where the team is staying ahead of Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings. Can’t avoid the Guinness questions in Ireland, it seems. He says “I don’t really drink beer, but if I do, I drink Guinness.” It would certainly taste better with a victory at Croke Park on Sunday, when Ireland joins the NFL’s growing list of host countries. The league is staging seven international games this season.

The mountain “gateway” town of Old Fort, North Carolina, was well on its way to achieving a major goal: to become a hot spot for mountain biking and all things outdoors. Then nature, as one business owner put it, hit “the reset button.” A year ago, floodwaters from the remnants of Hurricane Helene inundated the town, washing out miles of multi-purpose trails and closing long stretches of the Blue Ridge Parkway, a tourist lifeline. Chad Schoenauer has reopened his Old Fort Bike Shop, but he’s doing more repairs than sales these days. Tourism spending last year was way off in the mountains, but many are hoping for a successful fall foliage season to hit the reset button again.

Ralphie VII, the new live mascot for the Colorado Buffaloes, has made her debut, thrilling fans at Folsom Field. The year-old bison, weighing 700 pounds, ran across the field last weekend, marking the return of one of college football's beloved live animal mascots. Ralphie VII had missed the first two home games as she got up to speed. Live mascots like Ralphie inspire fans and foster deep connections with their teams. Other famous live mascots include Georgia's Uga, Texas' Bevo, and LSU's Mike the Tiger, each with their own unique traditions and fan followings.

Bryson DeChambeau got this highly anticipated Ryder Cup off to a big start. The grandstands behind the first tee at Bethpage Black were filled in the Friday morning darkness. U.S. captain Keegan Bradley came out early to fire them up. But nothing did the trick quite like DeChambeau. He hit driver over the trees with a 344-shot just short of the green, and the Americans converted that into a birdie for an early lead. Europe led three of the four matches as foursomes reached the turn, subduing the American fans, many of whom also faced delays entering prompted by enhanced security.

The Federal Reserve’s favored inflation gauge accelerated slightly in August from a year earlier. The Commerce Department reported Friday that its personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index was up 2.7% in August from a year earlier, up from a 2.6% year-over-year increase in July and most since February. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core PCE inflation showed a 2.9% increase in prices from August 2024, same as in July.  The increases were what forecasters had expected.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune is rejecting Democratic demands on health care as unserious but says a government shutdown is still “avoidable.” Thune tells The Associated Press in an interview he’s “a big believer that there’s always a way out.” Thune says Democrats are going to have to “dial back” their demands to immediately extend health insurance subsidies and reverse the health care policies Republicans passed over the summer. Absent that, the South Dakota Republican says, “we’re probably plunging forward toward the shutdown.” Democrats have shown little evidence of pulling back on their threats.