Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz won’t seek Minnesota’s open U.S. Senate seat next year and is instead considering a run for a third term as governor, the Democrat’s spokesman announced Wednesday.

“He loves his job as governor,” Walz’s spokesman Teddy Tschann said in a written statement.

The news comes nearly two weeks after U.S. Sen. Tina Smith, a Democrat from Minnesota, announced she would not seek reelection in 2026. Walz was among a flurry of those from both major political parties said to be considering runs to fill the seat.

Other Democrats considered contenders for the seat include Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar and Secretary of State Steve Simon.

Walz rose to national prominence last year when he was tapped as Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris’ running mate.

Walz’s office indicated he does not plan to endorse any candidate in a primary race.

Several Republicans have also expressed interest. No Republican has won statewide office in Minnesota since 2006, but the traditionally Democratic state has become increasingly competitive in recent years.

Republican Royce White, who lost to U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar in 2024, had already said he would challenge Smith in 2026. Other potential Republican candidates circulated following Smith’s announcement included state Rep. Kristin Robbins, state Sens. Karin Housley and Julia Coleman, former state auditor candidate Ryan Wilson and attorney Chris Madel.

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By MARIAM FAM, Associated Press

CAIRO (AP) — Observant Muslims the world over will soon be united in a ritual of daily fasting from dawn to sunset as the Islamic holy month of Ramadan starts. For Muslims, it’s a time of increased worship, religious reflection, charity and good deeds. Socially, it often brings families and friends together in festive gatherings around meals to break their fast.

Ramadan is followed by the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Fitr.

Ramadan’s religious rituals and spiritual essence unite diverse Muslim communities around the world. The plights of some fellow Muslims and some issues that have resonance beyond borders — including conflicts and political turmoil — can become part of the focus of the month’s prayers, giving or advocacy for many.

This year, Ramadan is approaching as the fragile ceasefire deal, which has paused over 15 months of war between Israel and Hamas, nears the end of its first phase.

Israel’s military offensive has killed over 48,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, and destroyed vast areas of Gaza. The war was sparked by an Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attack on Israel in which Hamas killed some 1,200 people and took about 250 hostages.

For some Muslims, Ramadan also comes amid changes in their countries. In the Middle East, for instance, this will be the first Ramadan for Syrians since the Syrian government fell in a stunning end to decades of the Assad family rule.

WHEN IS RAMADAN?

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar; the month cycles through the seasons.

FILE – Worshippers attend Friday prayers during the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, at Al-Azhar mosque, the Sunni Muslim world’s premier Islamic institution, in Cairo, Egypt, Friday, April 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil, File)

The start of the month traditionally depends on the sighting of the crescent moon. This year, the first day is expected to be on or around March 1.

The actual start date may vary among Muslim communities due to declarations by multiple Islamic authorities around the globe on whether the crescent has been sighted or different methodologies used to determine the start of the month.

WHY AND HOW DO MUSLIMS FAST?

Fasting is one of the Five Pillars of Islam, along with the profession of faith, prayer, almsgiving, and pilgrimage.

Muslims see various meanings and lessons in observing the fast.

It’s regarded as an act of worship to attain God-conscious piety and one of submission to God. The devout see benefits including practicing self-restraint, growing closer to God, cultivating gratitude and empathizing with people who are poor and hungry.

The daily fast in Ramadan includes abstaining from all food and drink – not even a sip of water is allowed – from dawn to sunset before breaking the fast in a meal known as “iftar” in Arabic. Those fasting are expected to also refrain from bad deeds, such as gossiping, and to increase good deeds.

Muslims typically stream into mosques for congregational prayers and dedicate more time for religious contemplation and the reading of the Quran, the Muslim holy book.

Charity is a hallmark of Ramadan. Among other ways of giving, many seek to provide iftar for those in need, distributing Ramadan boxes filled with pantry staples, handing out warm meals alongside such things as dates and juice or helping hold free communal meals.

Muslims eat a pre-dawn meal, called “suhoor,” to hydrate and nurture their bodies ahead of the daily fast.

ARE THERE EXEMPTIONS FROM FASTING?

Yes. There are certain exemptions from fasting, such as for those who are unable to because of illness or travel. Those unable to fast due to being temporarily ill or traveling need to make up for the missed days of fasting later.

WHAT ARE SOME CULTURAL AND SOCIAL TRADITIONS ASSOCIATED WITH RAMADAN?

Muslims are ethnically and racially diverse and not all Ramadan traditions are rooted in religion. Some customs may transcend borders, while others can differ across cultures.

Many social rituals center on gathering and socializing after the daily fast. Some Muslims decorate their homes, put out Ramadan-themed tableware and centerpieces or throng to markets and Ramadan bazaars.

In Egypt, the Arab world’s most populous country, Ramadan is typically a festive time.

Colorful lanterns, in different shapes and sizes, dangle from children’s hands and adorn homes or the entrances of buildings and stores. Ramadan songs may be played to welcome the month.

Ramadan’s soundscape in Egypt has traditionally included the pre-dawn banging on drums by a “mesaharati” who roams neighborhoods, calling out to the faithful, sometimes by name, to awake them for the suhoor meal.

NEW TV SHOWS, COMMUNAL MEALS

A line-up of new television series is another fixture of the month in some countries, and advertisers compete for the attention of viewers.

In various regions, some Muslims worry that the month is being commercialized, and that an emphasis on decorations, TV shows, outings or lavish iftar banquets, especially in the social media era, can detract from Ramadan’s religious essence. Others feel that a balance can be struck and that, done in moderation, such rituals are part of the month’s festive spirit.

In Indonesia, some Ramadan rituals vary across regions, reflecting the diversity of local cultures.

People in Indonesia’s deeply conservative Aceh province slaughter animals during Meugang festivities. The meat is cooked and shared in a communal feast with family, friends, poor people and orphans.

Hundreds of residents in Tangerang, a city just outside the capital of Jakarta, flock to the Cisadane River to wash their hair with rice straw shampoo and welcome the fasting month with a symbolic spiritual cleansing.

Across Sumatra island, after evening prayers, many boys and girls parade through the streets, carrying torches and playing Islamic songs.

In India, where the country’s Muslim minority encompasses more than 200 million people, stalls lining many streets sell such things as dates, sweets and freshly cooked food. At night, some New Delhi neighborhoods become lively as Muslims head to mosques to attend prayers.

Some Indian Muslims also visit Sufi shrines decorated with lights and colorful flowers.

In the United States, where Muslims make up a diverse minority, gathering at mosques and Islamic centers when possible for iftar meals and prayers provides many Muslim families with a sense of community. Some Muslims also organize or attend interfaith iftar meals.

Some big U.S. retailers have started catering to Ramadan shoppers, selling such things as Ramadan-themed decor.

Associated Press writers Niniek Karmini in Jakarta, Indonesia, and Sheikh Saaliq in New Delhi contributed.

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.

LONDON (AP) — Apple is fixing a bug within the dictation feature on some iPhones that briefly suggests the word “Trump” when a word with an R consonant is spoken, including “racist.”

The company is responding to the controversy after some iPhone owners posted videos on social media this week to detail how the glitch works.

When users activated the dictation feature and said the word “racist,” the word “Trump” appears in the text window before quickly being replaced by the correct word, according to various videos posted online.

“We are aware of an issue with the speech recognition model that powers Dictation and we are rolling out a fix today,” Apple said in a statement sent to The Associated Press on Wednesday.

The company said that the speech recognition models that power the voice-to-text feature might show words with some phonetic overlap.

It also said that other words that have an “r” consonant were also erroneously triggering the bug. The Associated Press could not duplicate the problem on Wednesday, a day after it emerged.

This week the company announced a plan to invest more than $500 billion and hire 20,000 people in the United States over the next four years as well as build a new factory in Texas, amid Trump’s threats to impose tariffs on imports. Separately, Apple shareholders rebuffed an attempt to pressure the company into joining Trump’s push to scrub corporate programs designed to diversify its workforce.

VIENNA (AP) — Iran has accelerated its production of near weapons-grade uranium as tensions between Tehran and Washington rise after the election of U.S. President Donald Trump, a report by the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog seen by The Associated Press on Wednesday showed.

The report by the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency said that as of Feb. 8, Iran has 274.8 kilograms (605.8 pounds) of uranium enriched up to 60%. That’s an increase of 92.5 kilograms (203.9 pounds) since the IAEA’s last report in November.

That material is a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%.

A report in November 2024 put the stockpile at 401.9 pounds. It had 363.1 pounds last August.

“The significantly increased production and accumulation of high enriched uranium by Iran, the only non-nuclear weapon State to produce such nuclear material, is of serious concern,” the confidential report stated. According to the IAEA, approximately 42 kilograms of 60% enriched uranium is theoretically enough to produce one atomic bomb, if enriched further to 90%.

FILE – A worker rides a bicycle in front of the reactor building of the Bushehr nuclear power plant, just outside the southern city of Bushehr, Iran, Oct. 26, 2010. (Majid Asgaripour/Mehr News Agency via AP, File)

The IAEA also estimated in its quarterly report that as of Feb. 8, Iran’s overall stockpile of enriched uranium stands at 8,294.4 kilograms (18,286 pounds), which represents an increase of 1,690.0 kilograms (3725.8 pounds) since the last report in November.

During his first presidential term, Trump unilaterally withdrew the U.S. from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers and reimposed sanctions on Iran. He also ordered the 2020 killing of Qassem Soleimani, who led the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force.

Iran signals it could pursue nuclear weapons

Iran has maintained its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only, but the IAEA chief, Rafael Mariano Grossi, has previously warned that Tehran has enough uranium enriched to near-weapons-grade levels to make “several” nuclear bombs if it chose to do so.

Iranian officials have increasingly suggested Tehran could pursue an atomic bomb. U.S. intelligence agencies assess that Iran has yet to begin a weapons program, but has “undertaken activities that better position it to produce a nuclear device, if it chooses to do so.”

Iran’s accelerated production of near weapons-grade uranium puts more pressure on Trump as he’s repeatedly said he’s open to negotiations with the Islamic Republic while also increasingly targeting Iran’s oil sales with sanctions as part of his reimposed “maximum pressure” policy.

Even Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has final say on all state matters, in a speech in August opened the door to talks with the U.S., saying there is “no harm” in engaging with the “enemy.”

More recently, he tempered that, saying that negotiations with America “are not intelligent, wise or honorable” after Trump floated nuclear talks with Tehran.

Iran refuses to reconsider ban on IAEA inspectors

The IAEA already warned last December that Iran was poised to “quite dramatically” increase its stockpile of near weapons-grade uranium as it has started operating cascades of advanced centrifuges.

That move came as a response to the Board of Governors at the IAEA passing a resolution condemning Iran for failing to cooperate fully with the agency. In the past, Iran has repeatedly responded to resolutions by the IAEA Board of Governors by further enhancing its nuclear program.

Wednesday’s report also said that Iran has also not reconsidered its September 2023 decision to ban some of the agency’s most experienced inspectors from monitoring its nuclear program.

“The Director General deeply regrets that Iran, despite having indicated a willingness to consider accepting the designation of four additional experienced Agency inspectors, did not accept their designations,” the report said.