A new weapons screening requirement at the state Capitol will help keep prohibited weapons like knives out of the building when it goes into effect next week, but visitors will still be able to carry handguns if they have the proper permit.

Starting Tuesday, members of the public visiting the Capitol will need to pass through a metal detector and send their bags through an x-ray machine so security officers or State Patrol troopers can screen for banned items.

Banned items will include knives, explosives, and blunt-force objects like batons, as well as event or protest items like balloons, spray paint, chalk, or candles. But anyone with a permit to carry may continue bringing a pistol into the Capitol under state law.

If carrying a pistol, visitors will need to inform staff that they have a weapon and have a State Patrol trooper verify their permit and a government-issued identification. People carrying without a permit could face arrest.

Executive order

Gov. Tim Walz issued an executive order directing weapons screening last month based on the recommendations of an independent security assessment commissioned by state leaders in the wake of last summer’s violence against Minnesota lawmakers.

Minnesota was among a minority of states without security measures like x-ray scanners or metal detectors at its entrances. The June 2025 assassination of former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, and the shootings of state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, pushed the state to implement a long-debated security boost.

In July, a nude intruder broke into the Capitol and was discovered sitting in the Senate president’s chair by security officers — after state public safety leaders told news media that they had already boosted security measures. In response public safety leaders reduced the number of unlocked doors, installed new door alarms and boosted security presence at remaining open doors.

The state Capitol was wired to support metal detectors during major renovations completed in 2017, but the new capabilities sat unused for nearly a decade. Now, four entrances have both metal detectors and x-ray scanners. All visitors and staff will have to pass through screening, though state lawmakers, statewide elected officials, members of the state Supreme Court are exempt.

“No single measure eliminates all risk, but this one meaningfully reduces preventable risks and violence in a shared civic space where the public, elected officials and staff gather on a regular basis,” said Minnesota Department of Public Safety Commissioner Bob Jacobson at a Friday news conference.

Security checkpoints

The primary entrance for visitors is on the ground level under the south steps of the state Capitol, according to the Minnesota State Patrol. The other three security checkpoints are at tunnels connecting the Capitol to the Minnesota Senate Building, Minnesota Judicial Center and State Office Building.

Public safety officials did not have an exact estimate of how much the measures will cost the state, though the machinery at the four checkpoints cost around $200,000, a State Patrol spokesperson said. The state also had to bring additional officers to the Capitol, which will add to costs. Security expenses will be covered by the State Patrol’s budget, according to public safety officials.

The Capitol will remain accessible to the public between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on weekdays. Security will offer expanded hours during extended floor debates during the legislative session, which sometimes extend late into the evening or early morning.

Not a ‘weapons ban’

Col. Christina Bogojevic, chief of the Minnesota State Patrol, said the new weapons screening policy is not a “weapons ban” and does not change existing state law. It doesn’t change the rules on items allowed in the Capitol, but gives security more control over what makes it into the building, she said.

“In the past, we wouldn’t know if someone was carrying an illegal or a prohibited item if they hid it under a jacket,” Bogojevic said. “We wouldn’t know that unless it was used, and so again, this is a layer of security to allow us to see those prohibited items before they make it into the Capitol.”

The state Senate also is boosting security.

Starting on Feb. 17, the Senate will require members of the public to pass through a full-body scanner before entering the Senate Gallery, the observation area above the floor where members gather to vote. It’s also banning members of the public from carrying firearms in the Senate Gallery.

The 2026 Minnesota Legislature starts on Tuesday.

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By FARNOUSH AMIRI, EDITH M. LEDERER and MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The Trump administration is urging other nations to press a tiny Pacific island country to withdraw a United Nations draft resolution supporting strong action to prevent climate change, including reparations for damage caused by any nation that fails to take action.

In guidance issued this week to all U.S. embassies and consulates abroad, the State Department said it “strongly objects” to the proposal being discussed by the U.N. General Assembly and that its adoption “could pose a major threat to U.S. industry.”

“President Trump has delivered a very clear message: that the U.N. and many nations of the world have gone wildly off track, exaggerating climate change into the world’s greatest threat,” according to the cable sent Tuesday and obtained by The Associated Press.

It is the latest move by the Trump administration to distance the U.S. from climate change efforts at home and around the world. A day ago, the government revoked a scientific finding that long has been the central basis for U.S. action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. The U.S. last month also announced plans to withdraw from the U.N. treaty that establishes international climate negotiations.

The draft resolution sponsored by Vanuatu, which like many island nations fears for its survival because of climate change, is being circulated among the 193-member General Assembly and stems from a landmark advisory opinion by the U.N.’s top court last July.

The International Court of Justice said countries could be in violation of international law if they fail to take measures to protect the planet from climate change, and nations harmed by its effects could be entitled to reparations.

All U.N. member states, including major greenhouse gas emitters like the U.S. and China, are parties to the court. The opinion is not legally binding but was hailed as a turning point in international climate law.

The draft resolution expresses determination to translate the ICJ’s findings in to “concrete multinational action” and calls on all nations and regional organizations to comply with their obligations under international law related to climate change.

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The proposal says that includes adopting a national climate action plan to limit global temperature rise to below 1.5 degrees Celsius; phasing out subsidies for fossil fuel exploration, production and exploitation; and urging those in violation to “provide full and prompt reparation for damage.” It would establish an International Register of Damage to record evidence and claims.

Vanuatu’s U.N. Ambassador Odo Tevi, who said his island country wants a vote on the resolution by the end of March, has stressed that it would ensure that the clarity in the ICJ ruling “strengthens global climate action and multilateral cooperation.”

Louis Charbonneau, U.N. director of Human Rights Watch, urged support for the draft resolution Friday and said “governments should live up to their obligation” to protect human rights around the world by protecting the environment.

“Responsible governments shouldn’t allow themselves to be bullied by those that reject the global scientific consensus and continue to support reliance on harmful fossil fuels,” he said.

While General Assembly resolutions also are not legally binding, the ICJ said taking action to deal with the climate crisis is an international obligation.

“The resolution attempts to turn the ICJ’s interpretation of key legal standards into a practical roadmap for state accountability, which is likely to trigger political pushback from higher income high emitting countries wary of their historical responsibility and financial liability,” Candy Ofime, climate justice researcher and legal adviser at Amnesty International, said in a statement Friday.

The State Department cable outlined plans to tell other countries to urge Vanuatu to withdraw its draft — which the U.S. says is “even more problematic” than the court opinion — from consideration by Friday, when informal consultations began.

It asserted that other Group of 7 economic powers as well as China, Saudi Arabia and Russia have all indicated to the U.S. Mission to the U.N. that they share Americans’ concerns with “aspects” of the draft.

“This UNGA resolution is another example of U.N. overreach, part of a broader pattern of trying to use speculative climate models to fabricate purported legal obligations that seek to assign blame and encourage baseless claims, and to infer human rights obligations to which states have not agreed,” according to the cable, which tells U.S. diplomats to use it as a talking point with representatives of other countries.

Many mainstream scientists have continuously warned that climate change is behind increasing instances of deadly and costly extreme weather, including flooding, droughts, wildfires, intense rainfall events and dangerous heat.

Amiri reported from New York, and Lee from Munich, Germany.

By Miriam Fauzia, The Dallas Morning News

DALLAS — While Valentine’s Day is a time to celebrate love, for the 250 million roses and other floral bouquets produced for the holiday, it means a slow death.

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That countdown is driven in part by ethylene, a natural plant hormone that speeds up aging in cut flowers. Researchers at the University of Texas at Arlington are testing new ways to blunt ethylene’s effects, with the goal of helping bouquets and fresh produce last longer. Here’s what to know.

What is ethylene?

Plants produce ethylene — an odorless, colorless gas — as they age, when damaged and in response to shifts in temperature, sunlight and other environmental stressors.

“Ethylene plays a vital role in nature, from fruit ripening to leaf drop to seed germination,” Rasika Dias, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry at UT Arlington leading the research, said in a news release. “For instance, fruits such as bananas, avocados and pears ripen because of ethylene. This ripening process transforms starch into sugars, which explains why ripe fruit tastes sweet.”

Because ethylene can drift through the air, it can affect nearby plants, which is why a ripe banana can speed the ripening of other fruit. Depending on how much ethylene is circulating, the gas can visibly age a plant, triggering the yellowing and dropping of leaves, and shortening how long a bouquet can last, according to the American Floral Endowment.

Shipping and storage can amplify those aging effects. Stress and mechanical damage can spur plants to release more ethylene, hastening deterioration unless growers and distributors intervene with anti-ethylene treatments.

Switching off ethylene

To slow ethylene’s effects, floral and produce industries often use 1-methylcyclopropene, or 1-MCP, a chemical discovered in the mid-1990s. It works like an ethylene decoy, attaching to the same places in plant cells that ethylene normally would. But unlike the gas, 1-MCP doesn’t trigger ripening or aging. Instead, it blocks ethylene’s signal from getting through, slowing a plant’s wilting or a fruit’s ripening.

But using 1-MCP has drawbacks. The chemical is highly reactive, can be tricky to handle and typically must be applied in sealed or enclosed spaces to work effectively, according to the American Floral Endowment. And because its effects can last for an extended period, 1-MCP may prevent some fruits from ripening.

With support from the American Floral Endowment and the United States Department of Agriculture, Dias and his lab at UT Arlington are testing alternatives to 1-MCP that aren’t volatile. Some of the most promising candidates include compounds built around metals such as copper. To see whether they slow the wilting process, the researchers take about 30 freshly cut flowers and divide them into three groups: untreated, treated with existing commercial products and treated with the new compounds.

“You monitor how long each group lasts — how fast petals drop, how quickly they wilt,” Dias said in the news release. “If the treated flowers last significantly longer than the untreated ones, that compound shows promise.”

In addition to helping with flowers, Dias hopes the research will reduce food waste. In 2019, 66.2 million tons of wasted food were generated in the food retail, food service and residential sectors, with about 60% ending up in landfills; another 40.1 million tons came from food and beverage manufacturing and processing, according to a 2019 report by the Environmental Protection Agency.

“Fruits and vegetables are thrown away when they over-ripen — bananas turn brown, tomatoes become too soft and people won’t buy them,” Dias said. “This is a major issue during shipping, since most food travels long distances. Without treatment, much of it deteriorates before reaching stores. That’s a huge economic and food-security problem.”

Miriam Fauzia is a science reporting fellow at The Dallas Morning News. Her fellowship is supported by the University of Texas at Dallas. The News makes all editorial decisions.

©2026 The Dallas Morning News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

By FARAI MUTSAKA

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Liquidity as affection and trash as a symbol of enduring love. From bouquets fashioned from dollar bills to heart-shaped gifts forged from recycled scrap metal, romance in Zimbabwe is taking strikingly inventive forms, reflecting life in an economy where cash reigns supreme and sustainability gains new social value.

You can’t buy love, the saying goes. But from florists in traditional markets to social media sellers angling for attention on TikTok, dollar bills rolled and pinned together to resemble a floral bouquet are increasingly rivaling fresh flowers as Valentine Day’s most coveted tokens of appreciation in the southern African country.

“Please God, make my lover see this,” commented one TikTok user under a video advertising glittering cash-and-flower arrangements. “May this bouquet locate me in Jesus name, amen,” wrote another.

Cash as courtship

At a decades-old flower market in the capital, Harare, Tongai Mufandaedza, a florist, patiently assembled one such “money bouquet.” Using adhesive and bamboo sticks, he folded crisp $50 notes into decorative cone shapes, weaving them with stems of white roses.

As Valentine’s Day approaches, he expects business to surge.

“The market has improved because of the money bouquets,” said Mufandaedza, who has worked at the country’s biggest flower market for three decades.

“On Valentine’s Day, we are going to have more, more, more customers, because this is something which is trending. Everyone wants to impress,” he said, then patched the arrangement in bright red wrapping and ribbons.

Among those browsing the market was Kimberleigh Kawadza. Her preference was clear.

“The person who came up with the trend, I just need to give them a hands up. They did a good job,” said the 23-year-old. “It’s a way of appreciating my partner, it’s a 100 for me, it’s a 100.”

Practical romance

While Generation Z is driving the craze, Mufandaedza said demand is spreading across generations. Some parents, he added, are even buying money bouquets for their daughters “so that they don’t fall into peer pressure and get tempted to go for sugar daddies who can lure them with such gifts.”

Prices vary widely. Smaller bouquets may contain as little as $10, while larger arrangements can run into the thousands. In some cases, they are even cheaper than traditional floral gifts.

A bouquet of dollar notes with a value of $10 costs $25, while a bouquet of 10 good-grade red roses costs between $35 and $40, he said. Many ask “where is the money?” if Mufandaedza delivers a bouquet of flowers without a cash design, he said.

Unlike traditional floral gifts, the appeal of money bouquets is as practical as it is romantic for Zimbabwe’s economic realities, where liquidity often carries more immediate value than luxury.

“People still love flowers, but when they see the notes on top, the love feels hotter and the gesture even more meaningful. Survival matters more in these difficult times and money plays a bigger role,” he said.

The U.S. dollar has dominated transactions since hyperinflation forced authorities to abandon the local currency in 2009. Although Zimbabwe has since reintroduced its own currency, the dollar remains legal and dominant.

With crisp notes scarce, worn and tattered U.S. bills, sometimes jokingly referred to as “war veterans,” are hardly suitable for decorative bouquets, spawning spin-off businesses of enterprising traders who supply clean replacement notes at a commission.

Zimbabwe isn’t alone in flirting with the fusion of cash and courtship. Money bouquets have also surged in popularity elsewhere in Africa, including Kenya, one of the world’s largest flower exporters.

Before Valentine’s Day, Kenya’s central bank warned of stiff penalties of up to seven years in prison for folding, stapling or gluing banknotes into bouquets, arguing that damaged currency disrupts cash-handling systems and violates laws against defacing money. The directive sparked lively debate online, with critics accusing regulators of overreach.

Stephanie Charlton, the owner of a gift shop that retails in recycled aluminium gifts, holds “love” signs in Harare, Zimbabwe, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Aaron Ufumeli)

Love from scrap

Back in Zimbabwe, no such restrictions exist. But for some, love is finding expression not just through cash, but through trash recycled into keepsakes.

At an upscale shopping center in Harare, aluminium heart-shaped key rings, necklaces, platters and wine holders crafted from reclaimed scrap were lined up next to chocolates and gift boxes in Simpli Simbi, a decor and gift shop. “Simbi” means metal in the local Shona language.

“We are taking something that was unloved before, polishing it up and making it beautiful again towards a gift to someone that they can treasure forever,” said Stephanie Charlton, founder of the shop.

Charlton said that her customer base, once dominated by tourists and diaspora Zimbabweans, is increasingly local because of rising environmental awareness.

In an industrial area nearby, her foundry was stacked with discarded car radiators, rims and scrap metal collected from roadsides and landfills, before being melted in an open furnace and transformed into handmade gifts.

“Women love chocolates and flowers, but they are here today, gone tomorrow,” said Charlton, a former horticulture exporter who now employs 20 people.

“This is something that we have collected that would be filling up a landfill. But we have made it into something beautiful that you can give to (your valentine), show them that you treasure them. There is a meaning behind it, there is a story to be told with each piece.”

Associated Press writer Evelyne Musambi contributed to this report from Nairobi, Kenya.

For more on Africa and development: https://apnews.com/hub/africa-pulse

The Associated Press receives financial support for global health and development coverage in Africa from the Gates Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.