Today is Friday, Jan. 9, the ninth day of 2026. There are 356 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Jan. 9, 1945, during World War II, American forces began landing on the shores of Lingayen Gulf in the Philippines as the Battle of Luzon got underway, resulting in an Allied victory over Imperial Japanese forces.

Also on this date:

In 1861, Mississippi became the second state to secede from the Union, the same day the Star of the West, a merchant vessel bringing reinforcements and supplies to Federal troops at Fort Sumter, South Carolina, retreated because of artillery fire.

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In 1916, the World War I Battle of Gallipoli ended with an Ottoman Empire victory as Allied forces withdrew.

In 2005, Mahmoud Abbas was elected president of the Palestinian Authority following the death of Yasser Arafat the previous November.

In 2007, Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone at the Macworld conference in San Francisco.

In 2018, downpours sent mud and boulders roaring down Southern California hillsides that had been stripped of vegetation by a wildfire; more than 20 people died and hundreds of homes were damaged or destroyed.

In 2022, 17 people, including eight children, died after a fire sparked by a malfunctioning space heater filled a high-rise apartment building with smoke in the New York City borough of the Bronx; it was the city’s deadliest blaze in three decades.

Today’s birthdays:

Musician-activist Joan Baez is 85.
Rock musician Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin) is 82.
Singer Crystal Gayle is 75.
Actor J.K. Simmons is 71.
Actor Imelda Staunton is 70.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Rigoberta Menchú is 67.
Actor Joely Richardson is 61.
Musician Dave Matthews is 59.
Rapper and singer Sean Paul is 53.
Actor Angela Bettis is 53.
Singer AJ McLean (Backstreet Boys) is 48.
Golfer Sergio Garcia is 46.
Catherine, Princess of Wales, is 44.
World champion bull rider J.B. Mauney is 39.
Actor Nina Dobrev is 37.

To cap a road trip that seemed like it would never end, the Minnesota Wild found a sudden and spectacular way to finish.

Mats Zuccarello’s overtime goal, after a set-up pass from Kirill Kaprizov, lifted the Wild to a 3-2 win over the Kraken in Seattle on Thursday night.

With the victory, they finished their seven-game road trip with a 4-1-2 mark, getting at least a point in all but one game.

Ryan Hartman and Brock Faber had first period goals for the Wild, who got 26 saves from Jesper Wallstedt to cool off the red-hot Kraken.

Seattle is now 8-0-2 in its last 10. The Wild out-shot Seattle 4-0 in overtime to win for the seventh time in a row when visiting the Kraken. With two assists in the game, Kaprizov now has reached the 50-point mark for the sixth time in his career.

Minnesota was held scoreless on its first power play, and was out-shot in the opening 20 minutes, but still emerged with a two-goal lead via two shots through traffic that found their mark.

Hartman got it going five minutes into the game when Kaprizov carried the puck into the zone, only to have it knocked off his stick. But the Kraken were slow to pounce on the takeaway, giving Hartman time to send a shot from distance past the Seattle goalie. It was the second consecutive game with a goal for Hartman.

Late in the first, Faber doubled the lead, completing a crisp passing play among the Wild’s other two Team USA Olympians. Passes from Matt Boldy and Quinn Hughes set up Faber for a long shot into the net’s top left corner. It was the 10th goal of the season for Faber, tying his career high.

Late in the first, Hartman clipped former Gophers captain Ben Meyers in the Seattle offensive zone, and was whistled for tripping. But Minnesota’s penalty killers, ranked atop the NHL when playing on the road, held the Kraken harmless.

The second period was all Minnesota early, with the Wild out-shooting Seattle 7-1 at one point, and coming perilously close to a three-goal lead. The the Kraken turned the tables in the final few minutes of the middle frame, forcing Wallstedt into the fight where he stopped everything thrown his way.

The third period began without second-line center Joel Eriksson Ek on the visitors bench, and the Wild juggled lines to account for his absence. With Minnesota looking disjointed in its own zone, the Kraken took advantage and cut the lead in half when Adam Larsson zipped a low shot from the top of the right circle.

Then the Wild ran into penalty trouble, with back-to-back trips to the penalty box. They killed the first one, but could not kill both, and the Kraken forged a tie near the midway point of the third.

Phillip Grubauer had 31 saves for Seattle. The Kraken will complete their season series with the Wild on April 7 with Seattle’s lone visit to St. Paul.

After completing their longest road trip of the season, and longest in franchise history in terms of most consecutive days away from home, the Wild are flying east to enjoy the comforts of home. They will play their next three at Grand Casino Arena, starting Saturday evening with a 7 p.m. opening faceoff versus the New York Islanders.

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The Timberwolves were beaten decisively both times they met Cleveland last season, as Minnesota had no answers for the Cavaliers’ dynamic offense.

The tables were turned Thursday at Target Center.

Minnesota delivered one of its most complete offensive performances of the season.

The Wolves shot 57% from the field while making 20 triples on a night when all five starters scored in double figures, with four of them recording 22-plus points.

Anthony Edwards finished with 25 points, a season-high nine assists and seven rebounds. Julius Randle had 28 points, 11 rebounds and eight dimes. Donte DiVincenzo scored 22 points, while Jaden McDaniels had 26 points on a hyper-efficient 11 for 14 shooting performance.

Thirty-three of Minnesota’s 51 buckets were assisted.

“It’s fun when we play like this, so connected,” Randle said in his postgame, on-court interview.

The Timberwolves (25-13) have now won four straight.

“I just think we’re focused as a group,” Randle said. “We’re starting to realize how good we can be, and it’s up to us to come out and prove it every night.”

The performance was highlighted by a volcanic third quarter in which the Wolves scored 43 points while shooting 70% from the field, including 7 for 9 from distance as they turned a four-point halftime deficit into a 17-point lead through three quarters.

Cleveland (pushed back in the fourth to make it interesting, getting to within four at multiple points in the closing minutes as Cavaliers guard Sam Merrill poured in a barrage of triples.

But the Wolves closed the door with good ball movement that resulted in a couple good looks for McDaniels, who put the game on ice.

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By MORIAH BALINGIT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorneys general in five Democratic-led states filed a lawsuit Thursday against President Donald Trump’s administration after it said it would freeze money for several public benefit programs, citing concerns about fraud in the programs designed to help low-income families.

The states — California, Colorado, Minnesota, Illinois and New York — called the move an unconstitutional abuse of power. The Trump administration announced earlier this week it was withholding their social safety net funding. The funding went toward three federal programs, two of which focus on lifting families with children out of poverty.

New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is leading the lawsuit, said the Trump administration is overstepping its authority by freezing billions of dollars in funds that were already approved for the states by Congress.

The lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York asks the courts to order the administration to halt the freeze and release the funds.

“Once again, the most vulnerable families in our communities are bearing the brunt of this administration’s campaign of chaos and retribution,” James said.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services this week told the five states it was freezing their money for the Child Care and Development Fund, which subsidizes child care for children from low-income families; the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, which provides cash assistance and job training; and the Social Services Block Grant.

HHS officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.

About half of the $10 billion in funding targeted by the Trump administration supported California programs, said the state’s attorney general, Rob Bonta.

In letters to the states, Alex J. Adams, assistant secretary for the Administration for Children and Families, wrote that HHS had “reason to believe” the states were providing benefits to people who were in the U.S. illegally, offering no further details about the allegations. They requested reams of data, including the names and Social Security numbers of everyone that had received some of the benefits.

“The letters requested that California turn over essentially every document ever associated with the state’s implementation of these federal programs and do so within 14 days, by Jan. 20, including personally identifiable information about program participants,” Bonta said. “That is deeply concerning and also deeply frustrating.”

The government intensified its focus on the child care subsidy program after a conservative YouTuber released a video claiming day care centers in Minneapolis had committed up to $100 million in fraud. The child care centers were run by members of the city’s Somali community, which has been frequently maligned by Trump and targeted by immigration authorities.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, has defended his state’s response and said his state is taking aggressive action to prevent further fraud.