Judge bars Trump from immediately cutting funding to the University of California

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By SUDHIN THANAWALA

The Trump administration cannot immediately cut federal funding to the University of California or issue fines against the school system over claims it allows antisemitism and other forms of discrimination, a federal judge ruled Friday.

U.S. District Judge Rita Lin in San Francisco granted a preliminary injunction sought by labor unions and other groups representing UC faculty, students and employees.

Messages sent to the White House and the U.S. Department of Justice were not immediately returned.

The unions argue in a lawsuit that the administration is using funding cuts, and the threat of cuts, to silence opposing viewpoints at UC in violation of the Constitution and federal law. President Donald Trump has decried elite colleges as overrun by liberalism and antisemitism.

His administration has launched investigations of dozens of universities, claiming they have failed to end the use of racial preferences in violation of civil rights law. The Republican administration says diversity, equity and inclusion efforts discriminate against white and Asian American students.

Over the summer. it fined the University of California, Los Angeles $1.2 billion and froze research funding after accusing the school of allowing antisemitism on campus. UCLA was the first public university to be targeted by the administration over allegations of civil rights violations.

It has also frozen or paused federal funding over similar claims against private colleges, including Columbia University.

University of California President James B. Milliken has said the size of the UCLA fine would devastate the UC system, whose campuses are viewed as some of the top public colleges in the nation.

UC is in settlement talks with the administration and is not a party to the lawsuit before Lin, who was nominated to the bench by President Joe Biden, a Democrat.

The administration has demanded UCLA comply with its views on gender identity and establish a process to make sure foreign students are not admitted if they are likely to engage in anti-American, anti-Western or antisemitic “disruptions or harassment,” among other requirements outlined in a settlement proposal made public in October.

The administration has previously struck deals with Brown University for $50 million and Columbia University for $221 million.

Bible described as the ‘Mona Lisa of illuminated manuscripts’ goes on display in Rome

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By NICOLE WINFIELD and PAOLO SANTALUCIA

ROME (AP) — A 15th-century Bible which is considered one of the most spectacular examples of Renaissance illuminated manuscripts went on display in Rome on Thursday as part of the Vatican’s Holy Year celebrations.

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The two-volume Borso D’Este Bible, which is known for its opulent miniature paintings in gold and Afghan lapis lazuli, was unveiled in the Italian Senate, where it will remain on display until Jan. 16.

The Bible is usually kept in a safe at a library in Modena and is rarely seen in public. It was transported to Rome under heavy security and its arrival in the Senate was televised, as workers hauled two big red crates from an unmarked van and then extracted the volumes, which were covered in bubble wrap.

The Bible, commissioned by Duke Borso D’Este, was created between 1455 and 1461 by calligrapher Pietro Paolo Marone and illustrators Taddeo Crivelli and Franco dei Russi. The Italian Culture Ministry considers it one of the highest expressions of miniature art “that unites sacred value, historic relevance, precious materials and refined aesthetics.”

From right, Monsignor Rino Fisichella, Rome’s Mayor Roberto Gualtieri and Italian government undersecretary Alfredo Mantovano look at the 15th century Borso D’Este Bible, comprising two illuminated manuscripts, after its unveiling at the Italian Senate as part of the Vatican’s Holy Year celebrations in Rome, Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

It will remain behind humidity-controlled plate glass during its Roman sojourn, but visitors can “read” it digitally via touch screen displays featuring ultra-high-resolution images.

Alessandra Necci, director of Gallerie Estense in Modena, where the Bible is usually kept, describes it as the “Mona Lisa of illuminated manuscripts” because of its exquisite artistry and religious inspiration.

Archbishop Rino Fisichella, who is in charge of the Vatican’s Jubilee celebrations, told the presentation Thursday he hoped visitors would be inspired to go home and read their own Bibles after seeing the beauty of the Borso D’Este version.

He said the splendor of the text was a “provocation” that forces contemplation not just of its beauty but of the word of God contained in the text.

The Bible was commissioned by Borso D’Este as part of his celebration of faith and his own prominence, and was kept in the Este family until the last duke, Francesco V of Austria-Este, took it with him when he fled to Vienna in 1859, according to a history of the Bible on the Italian Senate’s website.

Necci said Borso D’Este spent what was then an exorbitant amount of money to create the most expensive book of the time. By demonstrating such opulence, the duke “wanted to celebrate not only the sacred book par excellence but also the elevated idea he had of himself and his dynasty,” she said.

It remained in the possession of the Habsburgs even after the Austro-Hungarian Empire dissolved after World War I. In 1922, after Archduke Charles I died, his widow Zita of Bourbon-Parma decided to sell it to a Parisian antiquarian.

Giovanni Treccani, an Italian entrepreneur and arts patron, learned of the sale and travelled to Paris to buy it in 1923, paying 3,300,000 French francs. Treccani, whose name is famous today as the publisher of top Italian encyclopaedias, then donated it to the Italian state.

The Bible is being kept in a specially regulated display case that employs a conditioning system that maintains constant humidity to protect the parchment pages, which are particularly sensitive to changes in temperature and humidity, officials said.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

With one touch, they vanish. Meet the delicate, icy wonders called frost flowers

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By HALLIE GOLDEN

The first major blast of wintry weather in the U.S. this week brought snow, frigid temperatures and in some places something a little more magical: Frost flowers.

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Made of thin ribbons of ice that extend out in intricate patterns when frozen water breaks through the slits of certain types of plant stems, the icy blooms can disintegrate with a single touch and only appear for hours at a time.

They are found most often in the Eastern half of the U.S., especially in the upper half where hard freezes are more common, and resemble clouds of cotton candy or spun glass.

For some, it’s become a well-known phenomenon, indicating the nearness of winter and ushering people out of bed to get a glimpse before the day’s sun melts them away.

On Monday and Tuesday, people in Indiana, Missouri, Tennessee and elsewhere posted photos on social media showing undisturbed fields and backyards littered with the distinct pieces of natural art in the early hours after the hard freeze.

“You have to be at the right time, at the right place,” said Alan Templeton, professor emeritus at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, who does a lot of conservation genetics. “You see them and you know they’re going to be gone in an hour or two. So it’s this very ephemeral, but highly variable beauty, and it’s that combination that makes me so fascinated by them.”

While the intricate ice patterns are found near the base of a few common plants, including white and yellow wingstem plants, Templeton explained that the conditions need to be just right for them to appear. And once they do, they won’t be back for another year.

The ground must be warm and wet enough for water to travel up from the plant’s roots into the stem, while the air needs to be cold enough to freeze the liquid so that it breaks through the stem, creating the flower-like appearance.

They’re only found on a few different types of plants because the phenomenon can only occur if the stem is able to hold water in the fall or early winter and is weak enough to break against the pressure from the ice, he said. The plants also need to have an especially active root system later in the year.

Templeton said he first came across frost flowers decades ago while scoping out an area in the Missouri Ozarks for field work.

“They’re really beautiful,” he said. “And also each one is unique. There’s no two frost flowers that are the same.”

On Monday, after noticing that the weather conditions would be ripe for the phenomenon, he set out for a conservation area in St. Louis County where he’d found hundreds in past years. This time, there were only about two dozen, which he said was likely due to them appearing earlier than usual and the temperatures not dipping quite low enough.

Crystal Legens has lived in Tennessee for most of her life but said she only discovered frost flowers three years ago when her family moved into a more rural part of the state.

After seeing them along a small unmaintained tract of land while driving to work in McKenzie, some 47 miles northeast of Jackson, she said she initially thought they were spider webs or silkworms. When she got out of her car and picked them up, she said they broke apart in her hands.

“People live here their whole life and they never even know that exist because they just never see them or they’re not in the right place at the right time,” she said.

Reaching 67 points is creating a ‘6-7’ frenzy at college basketball games across the country

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NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Oklahoma coach Jennie Baranczyk hears the popular catchphrase “6-7” all the time at home, possibly more often than please and thank you.

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Getting an earful of it at a women’s basketball game, well, that was new for the mother of three.

Baranczyk and the sixth-ranked Sooners became the latest college team to send fans into a frenzy when they hit 67 points in an 89-61 victory against North Alabama on Friday.

Hundreds of students on a field trip screamed their approval along with the ubiquitous phrase and juggled their hands up and down to mimic a video that went viral earlier this year.

Sports viewers might have seen the motion before, perhaps in six or seven NFL games.

“I did not do it because I was like, ‘Yep,’” said Baranczyk, who has a son and two daughters. “I knew it. But I’m like, ‘Gotta give the people what they want sometimes.’”

Raegan Beers, who finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds in the victory, raved about the OU bench reaction. Teammates, assistant coaches and staffers celebrated simultaneously in similar fashion.

Beers said teammates Payton Verhulst, who made a 3-pointer to give Oklahoma a 66-33 lead, and Zya Vann were trying to draw fouls, presumably so they could shoot free throws.

“We got so excited to do that,” Beers said. “We knew the kids were going to get excited about that. That’s the joy of this game. That’s why I love this game. Just to have that energy in the building and lean into what is trending at the moment, which is 6-7, whatever that means. It was so much fun to have that moment and let the kids enjoy it.”

Dictionary.com made the viral term “6-7” its word of the year, and it isn’t even really a word. It’s a phrase kids and teenagers can’t stop repeating and laughing about while parents and teachers can’t make any sense of it.

The word — if you can call it that — exploded in popularity over the summer. It’s more of an inside joke with an unclear meaning, driven by social media.

Dictionary.com says its annual selection is a linguistic time capsule reflecting social trends and events. But the site admitted it too is a bit confused by “6-7.”

“Don’t worry, because we’re all still trying to figure out exactly what it means,” the site said in its announcement last month.

How did “6-7” become a thing?

It all seems to trace back to rapper Skrilla’s song from 2024 called “Doot Doot (6-7).”

That song started appearing in TikTok videos with basketball players, including the NBA’s LaMelo Ball who stands 6-foot-7.

Then a boy, now known as “The 6-7 Kid,” shouted the ubiquitous phrase while another kid next to him juggled his hands in a video that went viral this year.

That’s all it took.

This Dictionary.com page shows the newest word of the year “6-7” on a computer screen, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)

So what does “6-7” mean? The real answer is no one knows, but it’s widely regarded as harmless. Unlike some other trends that have come and gone, there’s not believed to be an inappropriate backstory to the craze.

According to Dictionary.com, the phrase could mean “so-so,” or “maybe this, maybe that” when combined with the juggling hands gesture.

Merriam-Webster calls it a “a nonsensical expression used especially by teens and tweens.”

Regardless, it’s trending at basketball games when a team nears 67 points, and in football games when it’s time for a dance.

It happened at the Prairie View-Oklahoma State women’s game earlier this week and at an Air Force-South Dakota women’s game.

Associated Press freelance writer Tim Willert contributed to this report.

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball