The Navy has released investigative reports into four mishaps that all involve the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman while it was dispatched to counterattacks on shipping by Yemen’s Houthi rebels. The four reports cover a friendly fire incident in December 2024 that saw the cruiser USS Gettysburg shoot at two fighter jets from the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman, downing one, as well as the Truman’s collision with a merchant vessel and the loss of two more multimillion-dollar jets aboard the carrier to mishaps earlier this year.

The playing surfaces at every NFL stadium will have to meet new enhanced standards set through lab and field testing by the start of the 2028 season. NFL field director Nick Pappas detailed the plans for the program on Thursday that will provide each team “a library of approved and accredited NFL fields” before the start of next season. Any new field will immediately have to meet those standards and all teams will have two years to achieve it, whether they are grass, synthetic or a hybrid. The fields undergo extensive testing, approved by a joint committee with the NFLPA. The goal is to ensure consistent playability and reduce injury risk. Despite player preferences for grass, the NFL has no plans to mandate it, citing no significant injury differences between surface types.

RoboCop has found a permanent home in Detroit — all 11 feet and 3,500 pounds of him. A statue of the crime-fighting movie character has been welcomed by fans since it began standing guard over Detroit Wednesday afternoon in the Motor City's Eastern Market area. Jim Toscano says streams of people have driven by his FREE AGE film production company where the bronze mold-cast statue is bolted into concrete. “RoboCop” developed a cult following after it hit theaters in 1987. It was set in a crime-ridden near-future Detroit. The city's homicide numbers have now dropped below mid-1960s levels, and the statue was erected without objection from city officials.

Trump administration officials overseeing the latest immigration crackdown are aiming to arrest 5,000 immigrants in New Orleans and across Louisiana. They say they are targeting immigrants with violent criminal pasts. But some local leaders in New Orleans say that’s an unrealistic goal. That many arrests would surpass the number tallied during a two-month enforcement blitz this fall around Chicago, a region with a much bigger immigrant population. The president of the City Council in New Orleans says he can’t see any way how a sweep of New Orleans would result in the arrests of 5,000 criminals.

The Trump administration has instructed U.S. embassies and consulates around the world to prioritize visa applications from foreigners wishing to visit the United States to either invest in America or attend the 2026 World Cup, 2028 Olympics and other major sporting events. The administration also has added new criteria for highly skilled foreign workers seeking a particular visa. The new rules would deny entry to applicants deemed to have directed or participated in the censorship of American citizens on social media through content moderation initiatives that have sprung up throughout Europe and elsewhere to combat extremist speech. The steps were outlined in cables sent this week to all U.S. diplomatic missions and obtained by The Associated Press.

Spain and the Netherlands have announced they are pulling out of next year’s Eurovision Song Contest. This decision follows the organizers' choice to allow Israel to compete, despite concerns over its conduct in the Gaza war. Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS stated that Israel's participation no longer aligns with their responsibilities. The European Broadcasting Union, which runs Eurovision, voted to adopt tougher voting rules after allegations of Israel manipulating votes. The contest has faced challenges due to the war in Gaza, with some countries threatening to boycott if Israel participates. The situation has sparked political tensions within the Eurovision community.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth put U.S. troops at risk by sharing sensitive military plans on his personal phone. That's according to the Pentagon's watchdog in a report made public Thursday. It says Hegseth had the authority to declassify the material he shared about a planned strike on Houthi militants in Yemen. But the watchdog said that release violated internal Pentagon rules about handling sensitive information that could put service members or their missions in danger. Hegseth has called the investigation political and that he had the right to share the information. Hegseth's use of Signal came to light after a journalist was inadvertently added to the group chat.

U.S. President Donald Trump will host the Congolese and Rwandan presidents for a deal-signing aimed at securing peace in eastern Congo. The White House has lauded the Thursday peace signing as “historic” and credited the Republican president for it. The peace signing will also open up access to eastern Congo's critical minerals for the U.S. government and American companies. The Central African nation of Congo has been battered by a decades-long conflict with more than 100 armed groups. The most potent of them is the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels. Congolese residents have expressed little hope Thursday's signing will quickly end the fighting that has continued in eastern Congo.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is visiting India to strengthen economic and bilateral ties. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed him in New Delhi. On Friday, they will discuss economic cooperation, focusing on defense, energy, and skilled labor mobility. This visit comes amid global tensions and efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war. Critics say it could affect India's relations with the U.S. and the EU. Russia remains India's main military supplier, and defense cooperation will be a key topic. The U.S. has criticized India's Russian oil imports, but India defends them as essential.

An Israeli police officer killed during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the country's war with Hamas is the last hostage whose remains are still in Gaza. Ran Gvili was 24 when he was one of 251 people in Israel abducted by Hamas militants. After a series of ceasefire-mandated exchanges of hostages for Palestinians held by Israel, Gvili’s body still has not been recovered. On Thursday, Israel mourned Gvili as a hero who died fighting. “The first to go, last to leave,” his mother, Talik Gvili, wrote on Facebook. “We won’t stop until you come back.”

President Donald Trump plans to visit Pennsylvania next week to highlight his efforts to reduce inflation.  Last month's elections showed a shift away from Republicans as affordability concerns persist. Trump argues that affordability worries are a Democratic “hoax" and that people need to hear his perspective to change their minds. It shows the dilemma faced by Trump as he tries to take credit for rewiring the U.S. economy with his large tariff hikes and extension of income tax cuts while blaming Biden for the increase nationwide in inflation rates under Trump’s watch.  Inflation is currently tracking at 3% annually, up from 2.3% in April when he rolled out his tariffs.

The New York Times is suing to try to stop the Pentagon from imposing new rules on journalists who cover the military. Most mainstream news outlets refused to agree to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's policy this fall. As a result, they lost credentials to work in the Pentagon. The Times says in the suit filed Thursday that the rules violate the Constitution's freedom of speech and due process provisions because the rules give Hegseth the power to determine on his own whether a reporter should be banned. There's no immediate comment from the Pentagon on the lawsuit.

A federal vaccine advisory committee is meeting in Atlanta to discuss whether newborns should still get the hepatitis B vaccine on the day they’re born. For decades, the government has advised that all babies be vaccinated against the liver infection right after birth. The shots are widely considered to be a public health success for preventing thousands of illnesses. But the committee formed by U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaccine activist before he became the nation's top health official, is considering whether to recommend the birth dose only for babies whose mothers test positive, which would mark a return to a public health strategy that was abandoned more than three decades ago.

Northwest Arkansas has emerged as a hot spot in the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration. That's because of one county’s partnership with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and aggressive traffic enforcement by police. The region offers a window into what the future may hold in places where law enforcement authorities cooperate broadly with ICE. The Associated Press reviewed ICE data and interviewed local residents and found that Benton County stands out for its aggressive approach. More than 450 people were arrested by ICE at the Benton County Jail in Bentonville in the first seven months of this year.

A corner of Arkansas best known as home to Walmart headquarters has emerged as a little-known hot spot in the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement crackdown. That's according to an Associated Press review of arrest data, jail records, police reports and interviews with residents, immigration lawyers and watchdogs. Benton County offers a window into what the future may hold in places where local and state authorities cooperate broadly with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Records show the partnership has caught some violent criminals but also repeatedly turned misdemeanor arrests into the first steps toward deportations. The arrests have split apart families and spread fear through the immigrant community.