BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The first person to spot it was a shovel operator working the overnight shift, eyeing a glint of white as he scooped up a giant mound of dirt and dropped it into a dump truck. Later, after the truck driver dumped the load, a dozer driver was ready to flatten the dirt but stopped for a closer look when he, too, spotted that bit of white.

A new online application designed to make applying for federal student aid easier went live this week, but not everyone has been able to access it.

Residents across the eastern U.S., particularly in New England, are gassing up snow blowers, dusting off shovels and gearing up for a wintry mix of precipitation as a potent storm system bringing snow, freezing rain and ice bears down on the region.

An Iowa principal critically injured in a school shooting put himself in harm's way so students could try to escape from a teenage shooter who opened fire in a cafeteria as students were gathering for breakfast before class, authorities said Friday.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — China and India scored moon landings, while Russia, Japan and Israel ended up in the lunar trash heap. Now two private companies are hustling to get the U.S. back in the game, more than five decades after the Apollo program ended.

PERRY, Iowa (AP) — A sixth grader was killed and five other people were wounded by a 17-year-old suspect in a shooting Thursday at a small-town Iowa high school, authorities in Perry, Iowa, said. The suspect died of what investigators believe is a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and at least one of the victims is a school administrator, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press.

NEW YORK (AP) — A winter weather system moving through the U.S. is expected to wallop the East Coast this weekend with a mix of snow and freezing rain from the southern Appalachians to the Northeast — although it's too early to say exactly which areas will get what kind of precipitation and how much.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A pilot accused of threatening to shoot a commercial airline captain who wanted to divert a flight to get medical attention for a passenger was set to make his first federal court appearance Thursday.

NEW YORK (AP) — It's small in stature, big on activity and known for a “smile,” and it's ready to compete with 200 other dog breeds. Say hello to the Lancashire heeler, the latest breed recognized by the American Kennel Club. The organization announced Wednesday that the rare herding breed is now eligible for thousands of U.S. dog shows, including the prominent Westminster Kennel Club show.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — Harvard University President Claudine Gay resigned Tuesday amid plagiarism accusations and criticism over testimony at a congressional hearing where she was unable to say unequivocally that calls on campus for the genocide of Jews would violate the school’s conduct policy.

A Colorado mother suspected of killing two of her young children and injuring a third was arrested Saturday in the United Kingdom, according to the Colorado Springs Police Department.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Chief Justice John Roberts on Sunday turned his focus to the promise, and shortcomings, of artificial intelligence in the federal courts in an annual report.

The U.S. military's X-37B space plane blasted off Thursday on another secretive mission that’s expected to last at least a couple of years.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. on Wednesday announced what officials say could be the final package of military aid to Ukraine unless Congress approves supplemental funding legislation that is stalled on Capitol Hill.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A top U.S. delegation met with Mexico's president Wednesday in what many saw as an attempt to have Mexico do more to limit a surge of migrants reaching the U.S. southwestern border. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has said he is willing to help, but he wants to see progress in U.S. relations with Cuba and Venezuela, two of the top sources of migrants, along with more development aid for the region.

PORTAGE, Ind. (AP) — A man who had been trapped for days in his crashed pickup truck was rescued Tuesday after two fishermen spotted the wreckage, Indiana State Police said. Two men were scouting fishing locations when they found the man in his badly damaged vehicle, Sgt. Glen Fifield told local news outlets.

NEW YORK (AP) — Experts are warning that the spread of misinformation could get worse in the coming presidential election contest with artificial intelligence tools making it far cheaper and easier to potentially influence elections. “I expect a tsunami of misinformation,” said Oren Etzioni, an artificial intelligence expert and professor emeritus at the University of Washington. “I hope to be proven wrong. But the ingredients are there, and I am completely terrified.”

LAS VEGAS (AP) — For better or for worse, a wave of couples saying “I do” in Las Vegas on New Year's Eve could set a record for the city's busiest wedding day ever. That's because 12/31/23 is known in the massive Las Vegas wedding industry as a “specialty date,” thanks to the repeating 1-2-3 1-2-3 pattern, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.

A new program that allows groups of U.S. citizens to name the specific refugees they would like to sponsor to come to America is giving a family in Texas hope of a reunification. Several years ago, …

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden ordered the U.S. military to carry out retaliatory strikes against Iranian-backed militia groups after three U.S. servicemembers were injured in a drone attack in northern Iraq.

The world said goodbye to former U.S. first lady Rosalynn Carter, who died Nov. 19. She was the closest adviser to her husband, former President Jimmy Carter, during his one term in the White House and then across four decades of global humanitarian work. What follows is a long list of notable people who died over the past year.

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — While reindeer are famous for pulling Santa’s sleigh, it’s their vision that really sets them apart, says Nathaniel Dominy, a Dartmouth anthropology professor and co-author of a recent study published in the journal i-Perception.

OCALA, Fla. (AP) — A man died in a shooting Saturday at a shopping mall in central Florida in which the victim was apparently “targeted” for the attack, police said.

Hundreds of people in the U.S. and Canada have been sickened and at least 10 people have died in a growing outbreak of salmonella poisoning linked to contaminated whole and pre-cut cantaloupe.

For most Americans dreaming of a white Christmas, this year's prospects aren't good. Although parts of the Rockies and Midwest already have snow or could get a fresh dusting by Monday, other parts of the country that are normally coated in white this time of year are still sporting their drab late-fall look.