By MARCIA DUNN

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA began another practice launch countdown Tuesday for its first moonshot in decades with astronauts after making repairs to fix dangerous fuel leaks that already have bumped the flight into March.

Related Articles

To aficionados, fungi are freaky, mystical and overlooked. They’re helping scientists learn more

US Cancer Institute studying ivermectin’s ‘ability to kill cancer cells’

A California photographer is on a quest to photograph hundreds of native bees

Why Valentine’s roses wilt — and how scientists are trying to stop it

A ‘ring of fire’ solar eclipse will dazzle people and penguins in Antarctica

The first fueling test was halted two weeks ago by the same kind of liquid hydrogen leaks that disrupted the Artemis program’s first flight without anyone aboard three years ago.

Launch teams replaced a pair of seals and a clogged filter at the Kennedy Space Center pad where the giant moon rocket stands before starting the countdown clocks back up. The two-day test will culminate Thursday with the attempted fill-up of the rocket’s fuel tanks. The four Artemis II astronauts will monitor the crucial dress rehearsal from afar.

A successful, leak-free test is needed before NASA will set a launch date. The earliest the Space Launch System, or SLS, rocket could blast off is March 6. Officials had considered moving it up by three days, but said the extra time was needed to analyze the fueling test results.

The last time astronauts blasted off for the moon was in 1972 during NASA’s Apollo program.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

By JAKE OFFENHARTZ

NEW YORK (AP) — An immigration judge has blocked the Trump administration from deporting Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian graduate student who led protests at Columbia University against Israel and the war in Gaza.

Related Articles

Trump administration backs Kalshi, Polymarket as states move to ban prediction markets

Pennsylvania man cleared after 43 years in prison for murder denied bail during deportation fight

Trump is recruiting thousands of local officers to aid immigration effort. Some states are saying no

Trump family business files for trademark rights on any airports using the president’s name

New subpoenas issued in inquiry on response to 2016 Russian election interference, AP sources say

In a ruling made public Tuesday, the judge, Nina Froes, said she had terminated the case because of a procedural misstep by government attorneys, who failed to properly certify an official document they intended to use as evidence.

The Trump administration may appeal the decision. But the ruling marked the latest setback for the federal government’s sweeping effort to expel pro-Palestinian campus activists and others who expressed criticism of Israel.

Last month, a separate immigration blocked the government’s attempt to deport a Tufts University graduate student, Rümeysa Öztürk, over an op-ed criticizing the school’s response to the war in Gaza.

Mahdawi, a legal permanent resident of the U.S. for the last decade, was born in a refugee camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. He was arrested by immigration agents during a citizenship interview last April, but he was released two weeks later by a federal judge.

In the months since, the government has continued its effort to deport him, citing a memo from Secretary of State Marco Rubio arguing noncitizens can be expelled from the country if their presence may undermine U.S. foreign policy interests.

Government attorneys submitted a photocopy of the document to the immigration judge, but they failed to certify it as required under federal law, the judge wrote.

“I am grateful to the court for honoring the rule of law and holding the line against the government’s attempts to trample on due process,” Mahdawi said in a statement released by his attorneys. “This decision is an important step towards upholding what fear tried to destroy: the right to speak for peace and justice.”

Mahdawi has also mounted a separate case federal district court arguing that he was unlawfully detained. That case remains ongoing, his lawyers said.

Inquiries to the Department of Homeland Security were not immediately returned.

MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota and federal authorities are investigating the alleged beating of a Mexican citizen by immigration officers last month, seeking to identify what caused the eight skull fractures that landed the man in the intensive care unit of a Minneapolis hospital.

Investigators from the St. Paul Police Department and FBI last week canvassed the shopping center parking lot where Alberto Castañeda Mondragón says Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents wrested him from a vehicle, threw him to the ground and repeatedly struck him in the head with a steel baton.

ICE has blamed Castañeda Mondragón for his own injuries, saying he attempted to flee while handcuffed and “fell and hit his head against a concrete wall.”

But hospital staff who treated the man told The Associated Press such a fall could not plausibly account for the man’s brain hemorrhaging and fragmented memory. A CT scan showed fractures to the front, back and both sides of his skull — injuries a doctor told the AP were inconsistent with a fall.

Earlier this month, the AP published an interview with Castañeda Mondragón in which he said the arresting officers had been “racist” and “ started beating me right away when they arrested me.” His lawyers have contended ICE racially profiled him.

In separate visits to the shopping center last week, local and federal investigators requested surveillance footage from at least two businesses, whose employees told the AP their cameras either did not capture the Jan. 8 arrest or the images had been overwritten because more than a month passed before law enforcement asked for the video.

Johnny Ratana, who owns Teepwo Market, an Asian grocery store that faces the parking lot where the arrest occurred, said St. Paul police twice sent investigators to the business in recent days. The second time, he said, a data technician sought to recover images automatically overwritten after 30 days.

Ratana said he also was visited by FBI agents interested in the same footage.

The St. Paul Police Department did not respond to requests for comment. The FBI declined to comment.

The investigations come amid another federal probe into whether two ICE officers lied under oath about a shooting in Minneapolis. Federal prosecutors dropped charges against two Venezuelan men — who had been accused of attacking one of the officers with a snow shovel and broom handle — after video evidence contradicted the officers’ sworn testimony.

The FBI, meanwhile, notified Minnesota authorities last week it would not share any information or evidence it collected in the Jan. 24 fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by federal immigration officers. That killing is the subject of a Justice Department civil rights investigation.

For weeks, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security refused to discuss any aspect of Castañeda Mondragón’s injuries. It has not answered detailed questions from the AP, including whether its officers recorded body-worn camera footage of the arrest.

Agency insists man injured himself

But the agency last week doubled down on its claim that Castañeda Mondragón injured himself.

“On January 8, 2026, ICE conducted a targeted enforcement operation to arrest Alberto Castaneda Mondragon, a 31-year-old illegal alien from Mexico who overstayed his visa,” said Tricia McLaughlin, the department’s assistant secretary for public affairs “While in handcuffs, Castaneda attempted to escape custody and ran toward a main highway. While running, Castaneda fell and hit his head against a concrete wall.”

McLaughlin’s assertion that Castañeda Mondragón had been targeted for removal was contradicted by a Jan. 20 court filing in which ICE said officers only determined the man overstayed his work visa after he was in custody. McLaughlin did not respond to questions about which account was correct.

Castañeda Mondragón’s lawyers declined to comment on ICE’s statement.

Delay could affect investigations

The criminal investigations could be complicated by the amount of time it took law enforcement to look into the arrest, even as several elected officials called for answers.

St. Paul police told the AP on Feb. 5 that it was aware of “the serious allegations” surrounding the arrest but that it could not begin investigating Castañeda Mondragón’s injuries until he filed a police report — a step that was delayed weeks because of the man’s hospitalization and uncertainty over his immigration status. Police finally took his statement a week ago at the Mexican consulate.

By that point, at least one nearby business had overwritten its surveillance footage.

“It is my expectation that we will investigate past and future allegations of criminal conduct by federal agents to seek the truth and hold accountable anyone who has violated Minnesota law,” John Choi, the chief prosecutor of Ramsey County, said in a statement.

Castañeda Mondragón has been summoned to meet with ICE on Feb. 23 at its main detention facility in Minneapolis, raising the potential he could be taken back into custody and deported.

___ Biesecker reported from Washington and Brook from New Orleans. AP reporter Cedar Attanasio contributed from Seattle.

By Kyle Stock, Bloomberg News

Traffic may have dried up at EV dealerships after the end of federal purchase incentives, but sales of used electric cars and trucks have only accelerated.

Related Articles

Bayer agrees to $7.25 billion proposed settlement over thousands of Roundup cancer lawsuits

Elevate Prize winners gain more than $300K in funding. They learn to better tell their own stories

How the rich pass on their wealth. And how you can too

Thomas Pritzker steps down from Hyatt board saying he deeply regrets association with Epstein

US stocks edge higher after swinging through worries about AI and the economy

Almost 89,000 used EVs changed hands in the last three months of 2025, up 13.5% from a year earlier, according to Cox Automotive. What’s more, the inventory of used electric machines is turning over in about 50 days, slightly faster than for gas-powered cars. By contrast, sales of new EVs fell 36% in the fourth quarter of last year.

“The buzz word for the year is ‘affordability’ for a really good reason,” said Liz Najman, director of market insights at Recurrent, which provides range estimates and other EV-centric data to car dealers and shoppers. “You can get a two or three-year-old EV for 50% off and you’re talking about something with a lot of technology and a warranty on the battery.”

For a long time the used EV market in the U.S. was stagnant. There weren’t a lot of cars for sale and buyers worried about batteries in older models dying out. But EV batteries are proving to be more durable than expected and in the U.S. they’re generally covered under warranty for at least eight years or 100,000 miles.

New EVs still outsell used ones by a long shot, but analysts say a mature used market will help buttress demand for new battery-powered machines. When shopping for a new car, more than 90% of EV owners choose to go electric again.

The increase in used-EV sales follows simple economics: There are finally a lot of these cars for sale and at relatively low prices. In 2023 and 2024, Americans snapped up 2.5 million electric vehicles, the majority of them under lease. These vehicles are now hitting the used market for the first time. And depreciation rates for EVs have been steep, so those seeking a bargain are increasingly landing on a battery-powered machine.

While the average price of a used electric vehicle in the U.S. is still slightly higher than that of a pre-owned gas car, the spread has been narrowing. Almost 40% of used EVs in the recent quarter sold for less than $25,000. And of the 15 models that have seen resale values swoon the most over three years, more than half are electric vehicles, according to CarEdge.com, an AI-driven platform that helps car shoppers negotiate with dealerships.

“Used EVs are an answer to the affordability crisis in America,” said CarEdge.com analyst Justin Fischer. “You can score a really good deal for right under $20,000.”

Consider a Nissan Leaf, which travels about 150 miles on a charge and can power a house in a blackout. In the past three years, that vehicle has lost almost 70% of its value, and recently was selling for about $12,000. A Nissan Versa, a comparable gas-powered model, has retained more than 70% of its original price in the same period, selling for roughly $14,000.

While used EVs may still be slightly more expensive than gas options, they tend to be newer vehicles and in better shape. Recurrent found that when compared by list price, the electric options are, on average, one year newer and have 30,000 fewer miles than internal-combustion cars and trucks.

There’s also evidence that electric vehicles — without radiators, spark plugs or oil — may prove to be more reliable over time than gas-powered machines. A January study from the University of Michigan found the total cost of owning a used electric vehicle is drastically lower than that of any other type of car, largely because of relatively low bills for fuel and upkeep.

“That’s really the value story,” said Stephanie Valdez Streaty, director of industry insights at Cox. “You almost have price parity and then the cost to operate this vehicle is going to be less.”

She said the pace is likely to continue as bargain hunters are about to get a crack at recent EVs coming off lease for the first time, including the BMW i7, Cadillac Lyric and Tesla Cybertruck, all of which debuted three years ago.

©2026 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.