Crews race to restore power, open roads as the US South braces for another blast of dangerous cold

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — About 500 of National Guard troops have been mobilized to clear blocked roads in Mississippi and nearly 1,000 linemen are working to restore lingering outages in Nashville, Tennessee, as the Southern states brace for another blast of dangerous cold weather. The National Weather Service says arctic air moving into the Southeast will cause temperatures to plunge into the teens Friday night in cities like Nashville, where more than 90,000 homes and businesses still had no electricity five days after a massive storm dumped snow and ice across the eastern U.S. People stuck at home without power are growing increasingly desperate in the South, a region that’s not used to prolonged cold.

US life expectancy hit an all-time high in 2024, CDC says

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. life expectancy has hit the highest mark in American history. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday reported that life expectancy rose to 79 years in 2024. It’s the result of the dissipation of the COVID-19 pandemic — and also waning death rates from all of the nation’s top killers, including heart disease, cancer and drug overdoses. Preliminary statistics suggest a continued improvement in 2025. Life expectancy is an estimate of the average number of years a baby born in a given year might expect to live, given death rates at that time. It’s a fundamental measure of a population’s health.

Trump says Venezuelan airspace will reopen to commercial travel

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says he’s informed Venezuela’s acting president that he’ll open up all commercial airspace over Venezuela. And he says Americans will soon be able to visit. Trump said Thursday he instructed his transportation secretary and U.S. military leaders to open the airspace by the end of the day. Venezuela’s government hasn’t commented on Trump’s announcement. American Airlines says it intends to reinstate nonstop service from the U.S. in the coming months. Earlier this week, Trump’s Republican administration notified Congress it was taking steps to possibly reopen the shuttered U.S. Embassy in Venezuela as it explores restoring relations following the U.S. military raid that ousted then-President Nicolás Maduro.

Authorities: A man impersonating an FBI agent tried to get Luigi Mangione out of jail

NEW YORK (AP) — Authorities say a man claiming to be an FBI agent showed up to a federal jail in New York City and told officers he had a court order to release Luigi Mangione. The man was arrested and charged with impersonating an FBI agent in a foiled bid to free Mangione from the Metropolitan Detention Center, where he is held while awaiting state and federal murder trials in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. A criminal complaint filed against Mark Anderson did not did not identify the person attempted to free but a law enforcement official confirmed it was Mangione.