By STEVE KARNOWSKI and MARC LEVY, Associated Press

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota regulators voted unanimously Friday to approve an investment group’s takeover of a power company over the objections of the state attorney general, big industrial electricity buyers and consumer advocates.

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In voting for the takeover of Duluth-based Minnesota, the five members of the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission said they believe the conditions imposed on the deal will protect the public interest and shield customers from rate increases. Opponents warned that the private equity group is only interested in squeezing bigger profits from regular ratepayers.

The approval came as electricity bills are rising fast across the U.S., and growing evidence suggests the bills of some residential customers are increasing to subsidize the rapid build-out of power plants and power lines to supply the gargantuan energy needs of Big Tech’s data centers and the boom in artificial intelligence.

Raising the stakes is the potential that Google could build a data center in Minnesota Power’s territory in the northern part of the state, a lucrative prospect for the utility’s owner.

Opponents also expressed fear that the sale would encourage more such deals across the U.S.

Under the planned buyout, a BlackRock subsidiary and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board will take over the publicly traded company Allete, parent of Minnesota Power, which provides power to 150,000 customers and owns a variety of power sources, including coal, gas, wind and solar.

The buyout price is $6.2 billion, including $67 a share for stockholders at a 19% premium, and assuming $2.3 billion in debt. In its petition, Allete told regulators that Minnesota Power’s operations, strategy and values wouldn’t change under BlackRock and that the deal’s cost wouldn’t affect electric rates.

Building trades unions and the administration of Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, who appointed or reappointed all five of the utility commissioners, sided with Allete and BlackRock.

The state Department of Commerce, Minnesota Power and the investors negotiated a package of modifications this summer that included additional financial and regulatory safeguards. The department’s attorney, Richard Dornfeld, told the commission the changes will protect the public interest.

The commission’s chair, Katie Sieben, agreed.

“Because of the collective work of partners, stakeholders, labor, environmental groups and others, we’ve made the overall package better for Minnesota Power customers,” Sieben said.

Opposing the deal were the state attorney general’s office and industrial interests that buy two-thirds of Minnesota Power’s electricity, including U.S. Steel and other iron mine owners, Enbridge-run oil pipelines, and pulp and paper mills.

Allete argued that BlackRock will have an easier time raising the money that Minnesota Power needs to comply with a state law requiring utilities to get 100% of their electricity from carbon-free sources by 2040.

Previously, an administrative law judge recommended that the commission reject the deal, saying that the evidence revealed the buyout group’s “intent to do what private equity is expected to do — pursue profit in excess of public markets through company control.”

Commissioner Audrey Partridge said she started with “a high degree of skepticism and I would say even cynicism,” and “assumed the absolute worst in these investors.” But she said the added safeguards, and the over $100 million that the investors will provide for relief for ratepayers and investments in clean energy, will protect the public interest.

Opponents said they were dismayed by the approval.

“Private equity ownership of Minnesota Power will likely mean higher bills, less accountability, and more risk for Minnesotans,” Alissa Jean Schafer, climate and energy director at the Private Equity Stakeholder Project, said in a statement. The national nonprofit says it seeks to bring transparency and accountability to the private equity industry.

Levy reported from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

By SOPHIKO MEGRELIDZE and DASHA LITVINOVA

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Almost every day for nearly a year, Gota Chanturia has joined rallies at Georgia’s parliament against the government and its increasingly repressive policies. He’s done this despite mass arrests and police violence against demonstrators.

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And the civics teacher keeps marching even though he’s racked up an astonishing $102,000 in fines from the protests. That’s about 10 times what the average Georgian earns in a year.

“We’ve said that we will be here until the end, and we’re still here,” Chanturia told The Associated Press as he participated in yet another demonstration this week in the capital of Tbilisi.

The protests began when the government halted talks about joining the European Union. That move came after the longtime ruling party Georgian Dream won an election that the opposition alleged was rigged.

The rallies, big and small, continue despite a multipronged crackdown by the government through laws that target demonstrators, rights groups, nongovernmental organizations and independent media.

More protests are planned for this weekend to coincide with local elections.

The repression in the South Caucasus nation of 3.7 million has drawn comparisons to Georgia’s powerful neighbor and former imperial ruler Russia, where President Vladimir Putin has stifled dissent. Georgian Dream has been accused of steering the country into Moscow’s orbit of influence.

Human Rights Watch says Georgia is suffering a “rights crisis.” The clampdown is unprecedented in the country’s independent history and is escalating steadily, said Giorgi Gogia, the group’s Europe and Central Asia associate director.

But Georgia’s vibrant civil society is pushing back, and it has become a question of “who would blink first,” Gogia said. If it’s the public and civil society, they could wake up in an authoritarian country, “which would be a huge transformation from what Georgia used to be up until now,” he added.

Fines, beatings and prison

Ketuna Kerashvili joined a rally in rainy Tbilisi on Wednesday despite the fact that her 30-year-old brother Irakli was arrested in December, convicted of disrupting public order, and sentenced to two years in prison. He had rejected the charges as unfounded.

Kerashvili told AP her brother’s trial was “tough to watch.”

Ketuna Kerashvili attends a protest in Tbilisi, Georgia, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025, to denounce the government’s anti-European Union stance and call for the release of those detained as part of a crackdown on political opponents ahead of municipal elections. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)

“All of those boys and girls who are in prison now were trying to protect our country from pro-Russian forces and a pro-Russian government,” she said.

The violent crackdown escalated after largely peaceful protests in late November 2024, with over 400 people detained within two weeks; at least 300 reported severe beatings and other ill-treatment, according to Amnesty International. The group alleged much of the brutality occurs out of sight in detention.

Between April 2024 and August 2025, at least 76 people have faced criminal prosecution in the protests, with more than 60 imprisoned, according to Transparency International Georgia, an anti-corruption organization. The number of prosecutions is likely higher now, and scores more people have been slapped with steep fines.

Chanturia said he was fined 56 times for allegedly blocking a road –- a common charge levied against protesters. He said he hasn’t paid them and doesn’t intend to. Under new regulations, failing to do so could land him in jail.

Gota Chanturia, a member of the Movement for Social Democracy, shouts as he attends an anti-government protest near the parliament building in Tbilisi, Georgia, on May 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)

HRW’s Gogia says it’s hard to estimate how many people have been fined, but he estimates it could be thousands. The penalties are issued via automation, like highway tolls and traffic fines, with authorities using surveillance cameras with facial recognition.

Sometimes those penalized weren’t protesting but just happened to be at the rally. Mariam Nikuradze, a prominent journalist and co-founder of the independent news site OC Media, has accrued 20,000 lari (about $7,300) in fines, after being cited four times for allegedly blocking a road. She said she was merely covering the demonstrations.

Javid Ahmedov, a journalism student from Azerbaijan, told AP he was filming at a July protest when the cameras spotted him. He learned he had been fined 10,000 lari (about $3,700) upon returning to Georgia last month to complete his studies at the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs.

He eventually was denied entry, risking the completion of his degree and his U.S. scholarship.

“I have to be in Georgia,” he told AP from Germany, where he is now an exchange student. “But it’s a big question.”

Opposition parties, media and NGOs targeted

Authorities also have targeted key opposition politicians and parties, along with rights activists and media.

In the summer, eight opposition leaders were jailed on charges of refusing to cooperate with a parliamentary inquiry, and two more were arrested later on different charges. The opposition said these arrests were politically motivated.

FILE – A demonstrator gestures trying to stop riot police during a protest near the parliament building in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Tuesday, April 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze, File)

In August, authorities froze the bank accounts of seven rights groups. The Prosecutor’s Office alleged they were supplying demonstrators with gear like masks, pepper spray and protective glasses that were used in clashes with police. The organizations said the gear was for journalists covering the rallies.

The government is trying to create a narrative that there are attempts to overthrow the government, violate the constitution and engage in sabotage and violence, said Guram Imnadze of the Social Justice Center, a group whose funds were frozen.

Another goal is to “stop all the independent actors in the country, to limit or shrink democratic free spaces in the country, (and) make independent actors such as NGOs, media outlets or individual activists unable to support democracy,” he said.

Georgian Dream has filed lawsuits against several independent TV channels and revealed plans to petition the Constitutional Court to declare the main opposition party, United National Movement, and others to be unconstitutional.

Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said last month the lawsuit will target everyone considered to be under the umbrella of the United National Movement, under the radical opposition and under foreign influence — “against all of them. Against everyone, everyone.”

He alleged the protests are orchestrated and funded from abroad.

“No foreign agent will be able to destabilize the situations in the country,” he added, referring to legislation that allows labeling NGOs, media and individuals as “foreign agents.”

FILE – Demonstrators stand under the spray from a water cannon outside the parliament building in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Dec. 2, 2024, to protest the government’s decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze, File)

The targeted groups remain defiant. The seven groups with frozen funds vowed to “fight against authoritarian rule and Russian-style laws, using every legal mechanism available, to ensure that the opponents of the democratic and European path enshrined in our constitution cannot achieve their goals.”

Seeking EU pressure on the government

Gogia says the crisis represents Georgia’s “stark departure” from “trying to be a modern, independent, pro-human rights country with a very, very vibrant civil society and human rights community.”

HRW and other international rights organizations last month urged the EU and its member states to “use all diplomatic and legal tools at their disposal to exert pressure on Georgian officials and members of the judiciary, prosecution and law enforcement, involved in human rights abuses, and prosecutions of human rights defenders and civil society activists.”

Despite suspending talks to join the EU, Georgian authorities still “care what the EU does or says,” Gogia said, adding the public overwhelmingly supports membership and the government knows that.

Kobakhidze said this week the goal of EU membership by 2030 is “realistic and achievable.”

But a European Commission official told AP that “the repressive actions taken by the Georgian authorities are far from anything expected from a candidate country.”

“The EU is ready to consider the return of Georgia to the EU accession path if the authorities take credible steps to reverse democratic backsliding,” said the official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and thus spoke on condition of anonymity.

Litvinova reported from Tallinn, Estonia. Associated Press journalist Sam McNeil in Brussels contributed to this report.

As his 18th season of playing defense in the NHL begins, Minnesota Wild defenseman Zach Bogosian knows well that amid all of the wins and money, and even the Stanley Cup he earned in 2020 with the Tampa Bay Lightning, there’s a price you pay, physically and mentally.

To successfully play on the blue line, in the corners and in front of your own net at hockey’s highest level, your body is going to take a beating.

“It’s tough. It’s a physical game,” said Bogosian, who turned 35 over the summer. “But you do end up doing a lot of things that don’t show up on a score sheet or people might not notice. It’s a pretty painful position.”

In addition, NHL arenas are bright and loud and the playing surface is literally ice cold. So, it’s not surprising that away from the rink, Bogosian seeks out a place that is dimly-lit, quiet and blazing hot for his body and mind to recover.

Nearly every day, either at the Wild’s team facilities, a team hotel on the road or at his home in the Twin Cities suburbs, Bogosian carves out between 12 and 20 minutes of sauna time.

“Generally late at night, when the kids go down and I can kind of have my peace out there and do something kind of to myself,” Bogosian said. “My wife (Bianca) does it a lot with me, too. So, it’s fun to do with her. Kind of a decompression zone thing.”

With Minnesota’s strong Scandinavian culture, saunas have been a part of life here since Europeans first arrived two centuries ago. But evidence of the use of a hot room like a sauna to relax and heal the mind and body dates back more than 4,000 years, to cultures from Scotland to Finland to Japan. Bogosian discovered them not long after he was the third overall pick by the Atlanta Thrashers in the 2008 NHL Draft, when he was still just 17.

“I’ve been doing it forever. I think from my rookie year, probably, just being at the rink,” he said. “There’s always one in every rink. So, I kind of got into it when I was young. I’ve really been doing it for 17, 18 years.”

Today, Bogosian is a part of what he called the “sauna crew” in the Wild’s locker room, a group of 10 to 12 players who make the sauna a part of their daily routine, at home and on the road. Last season, those get-togethers included one of the more unique sauna experiences available in the world.

During an off day last March, with the team staying in Vancouver, then-Wild forward Freddy Gaudreau organized a sauna boat excursion for the team members who like it hot. They spent several hours of a sunny spring day on the waters of Deep Cove, north of the city, on what looked like a houseboat, but with a wood-fired sauna and big windows for views of the city and the surrounding mountains.

The boats were powered by an outboard motor and piloted by a guide familiar with the region’s many waterways.

“You jump in the water after,” Bogosian said. “You’re looking around, beautiful landscape. It was definitely the coolest sauna that I’ve ever done. We had a big group of guys, on a day off in Vancouver and yeah, it was a ton of fun. The water was freezing cold, but it’s so nice when you jump in.”

As he approaches the 1,000-game milestone, which he could hit this season, Bogosian feels that his sauna time has definitely helped with longevity in a game that can be physically taxing.

“I just feel great when I do it, so I’ve definitely noticed the health benefits of it; the body feels better,” he said. “I’m getting older, and I’ve played a long time and my body, honestly, hasn’t felt as good in a really long time. So, the last few years I’ve been probably more religious with it. And would say that has been a big, big part of it.”

“I just think it’s good to sweat every day,” he added.

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By MATTHIAS SCHRADER

MUNICH (AP) — Authorities temporarily shut down Munich Airport overnight after several drones were seen in the area, in the latest mysterious drone overflights in the airspace of European Union member countries.

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Germany’s air traffic control restricted flights at the airport shortly after 10 p.m. (2000 GMT) on Thursday and then halted them altogether, the airport said in a statement. Seventeen flights were unable to take off, affecting almost 3,000 passengers, while 15 arriving flights were diverted to three other airports in Germany and one in Vienna, Austria.

Flights in and out of the airport resumed at 5 a.m. (0300 GMT), said Stefan Bayer, a spokesperson for Germany’s federal police at Munich airport.

Authorities were not immediately able to provide any information about who was responsible for the overflights.

The latest in a series of drone incidents in Europe

The incident was the latest in a series of incidents of mysterious drone sightings over airports as well as other critical infrastructure sites in several European Union member countries. Drones also were spotted overnight in Belgium above a military base.

A drone incident in Oslo, the capital of Norway, which is a NATO member but not part of the EU, also affected flights there late last month.

It wasn’t immediately clear who has been behind the flyovers. European authorities have expressed concerns that they’re being carried out by Russia, though some experts have noted that anybody with drones could be behind them. Russian authorities have rejected claims of involvement, including in recent drone incidents in Denmark.

Passengers stranded in Munich

The Munich Airport said in a statement early Friday that there had been “several drone sightings,” without elaborating. Bayer, the police spokesman, said it wasn’t immediately clear how many drones might have been involved. He said police, airline employees and “regular people around the airport” were among witnesses who reported the drone sightings.

Police and fire department are on duty after drone sightings and flight cancellations at Munich Airport, Friday, Oct.3, 2025. (Jason Tschepljakow/dpa via AP)

After the closure of the runways, federal police deployed helicopters and other means to try to track down the drones, but no signs of them could be found, Bayer said.

Hundreds of stranded passengers spent the night in cots set up in terminals or were taken to hotels, and blankets, drinks and snacks were distributed to them, the German news agency dpa reported.

Alexander Dobrindt, Germany’s interior minister said he and some European counterparts would discuss the drone incursions, and a “drone detection and defense plan” at a meeting this weekend in Munich.

“We are in a race between drone threat and drone defense. We want to and must win this race,” he said in the western city of Saarbrücken, where he joined German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron at a ceremony to mark the 35th anniversary of Germany’s reunification.

Drones were spotted overnight in Belgium

In Belgium, several drones were spotted overnight above a military base near the German border, Defense Minister Theo Francken told Le Soir newspaper.

The minister did not confirm how many drones were flying in the vicinity of the Elsenborn military base — which serves mainly as an army training facility with a firing range – just after midnight. Belgian public broadcaster VRT said that 15 drones were spotted near the base, which is roughly about 375 miles from Munich.

Francken underlined that the nature of the flights was “suspicious and unknown,” Le Soir said. A defense ministry investigation is ongoing.

‘Anybody’ could be behind the flyovers

Hans-Christian Mathiesen, vice president of defense programs at Sky-Watch, a Danish maker of a fixed-wing combat drone that is being used in Ukraine, said “it could be anybody” who could carry out a drone flyover like the one at Munich airport.

“If you have a drone, you can always fly it into restricted airspace and disrupt activity. So everything from boys not thinking about what they’re doing — just fooling around — to someone that is doing it with a purpose: Criminal organizations, state actors, you name it,” said Mathiesen, whose company is involved in the fast-evolving drone ecosystem.

A state actor could disrupt activities and examine responses “with a minimal level of effort,” he said.

Officials in Russia and close ally Belarus acknowledged last month that some drones used as part of Russia’s war in Ukraine had entered the territory of EU and NATO member Poland, prompting a scramble by Polish and NATO allies in which fighter jets were deployed to shoot them down.

This photo shows Munich Airport, Germany Friday, Oct. 3, 2025. (Ehsan Monajati/dpa via AP)

The drone overflights were a major focus of a summit of EU and European leaders in Copenhagen, Denmark, this week. Authorities have vowed to step up measures to minimize and thwart the threat posed by drones.

A Russian tanker is back at sea

Separately, a Russia-linked oil tanker that authorities in France detained — which had been suspected of involvement in the drone incursions over Denmark — was back at sea on Friday. The ship-tracking website Marine Traffic showed the ship leaving the French Atlantic coast where it was detained and apparently bound for the Suez Canal.

A thorough search by French Navy commandos that boarded the ship found no drones, no drone-launching equipment and no evidence that drones had taken off from the vessel, according to an official with knowledge of the investigation who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss it publicly.

The tanker’s name has changed several times and it’s now known as “Pushpa” or “Boracay.” Its route from a Russian oil terminal into the Atlantic took it past the coast of Denmark.

Associated Press writers Lorne Cook in Brussels and John Leicester in Le Pecq, France, contributed to this report.