AP News in Brief at 12:04 a.m. EST

Huge snowstorm in the Northeast forces millions to stay home, disrupts flights and closes schools

NEW YORK (AP) — A massive snowstorm pummeled the northeastern United States from Maryland to Maine on Monday, forcing millions of people to stay home amid strong wind and blizzard warnings, transportation shutdowns, and school and business closures.

Meteorologists said the storm is the strongest in a decade, dumping more than 2 feet (60 centimeters) of snow in parts of the metropolitan Northeast, shattering accumulation records in places, immobilizing transit and even leading the United Nations to postpone a Security Council meeting. Officials declared emergencies, schools closed, including in New York City, which had its first “old-school” snow day in six years, and people grappled with power failures.

Even as the snow moved northward and tapered off in other areas, the National Weather Service said it is tracking another storm that could bring more snow to the region later this week.

The weather service referred to Monday’s storm as a “classic bomb cyclone/nor’easter off the Northeast coast.” A bomb cyclone happens when a storm’s pressure falls by a certain amount within a 24-hour period, occurring mainly in the fall and winter when frigid Arctic air can reach the south and clash with warmer temperatures.

While it was paralyzing and potentially dangerous for millions along the Eastern Seaboard, meteorologists found themselves rhapsodizing over the combination of power and beauty.

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US weather, Mexico security concerns and halt of Global Entry take a toll on air travel

NEW YORK (AP) — Severe winter weather across the northeastern United States, a partial government shutdown and security concerns in parts of western Mexico converged to make Monday a challenging time for air travel.

Thousands of U.S. flights were canceled or delayed on the East Coast as a powerful snowstorm upended daily routines in Boston, New York, Philadelphia and other major cities. Airlines also suspended or adjusted service to destinations in and around Mexico’s Jalisco state as violence erupted in the aftermath of a senior cartel leader’s killing.

Travelers with Global Entry memberships faced potentially longer wait times upon arriving in the U.S. as well, after the Department of Homeland Security, which shut down on Feb. 14 because Congress did not reach an agreement on its continued funding, temporarily halted the program that gives pre-approved individuals an expedited way to clear immigration and customs.

The overlapping disruptions created cascading delays across interconnected airline networks, stranding some travelers and complicating airport operations, especially on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border.

The winter storm that pounded the Northeast brought heavy snow, strong winds and blizzard warnings that slowed or halted transportation networks across the region.

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Soldiers keep up clash with cartel gunmen a day after Mexico’s military killed top drug lord

TAPALPA, Mexico (AP) — A day after the Mexican army killed the country’s most powerful drug lord, the picturesque town where it happened was a study in contrasts.

Children whose classes had been suspended by the outbreak of violence played in cobblestone streets and tourist shops were open on Tapalpa’s main plaza Monday. But gunshots also rang out, and just outside the town a dead man lay on the road next to a Jeep sprayed with bullets.

Meanwhile, heavily armed Mexican security forces kept up their battle with cartel gunmen following the killing that sparked a surge in violence and put the country on edge. Cartel fighters continued to block roads as smoke rose on the outskirts of the town in the state of Jalisco.

More than 70 people died in the attempt to capture Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes and the aftermath, authorities said Monday. Known as “El Mencho,” he was the notorious leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, one of the most powerful criminal organizations in Mexico.

The body count taken by security officials included security forces, suspected cartel members and others. Officials did not offer details, and the circumstances of most of the deaths were unclear.

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Former UK ambassador Mandelson released on bail after arrest in Epstein probe

LONDON (AP) — Police in Britain said Peter Mandelson, the former U.K. ambassador to the United States, has been released on bail after he was arrested in a misconduct probe stemming from his ties to the late Jeffrey Epstein. It came days after a friendship with Epstein landed the former Prince Andrew in police custody.

A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said in a statement issued just after 2 a.m. Tuesday: “A 72-year-old man arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office has been released on bail pending further investigation.

The man was not named, in keeping with British police practice, but the suspect in the case previously was identified as the former diplomat, who is 72. Mandelson was filmed being led from his London home to a car by plainclothes officers on Monday afternoon.

Both Mandelson and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the former Prince Andrew, are suspected of improperly passing U.K. government information to the disgraced U.S. financier, and the high-profile British arrests are some of the most dramatic fallout from the trove of more than 3 million pages of Epstein-related documents released last month by the U.S. Justice Department.

Police are investigating Mandelson over claims he passed sensitive government information to Epstein a decade and a half ago. He does not face allegations of sexual misconduct.

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An attacker detonates an explosive device in Moscow, killing a police officer and himself

MOSCOW (AP) — An unidentified assailant detonated an explosive device next to a patrol vehicle in Moscow early Tuesday, killing himself and a police officer, and leaving two other officers injured, officials said.

The attack happened minutes after midnight near the Savyolovsky Train Station in the Russian capital’s downtown, according to Moscow’s branch of the Interior Ministry.

It said the assailant approached a traffic police vehicle and detonated an explosive device, killing an officer on the spot and injuring two others, who were hospitalized.

Russia’s Investigative Committee said it has launched a probe into the attack. It didn’t name the assailant or give any information about his possible motives or any further details.

The attack came on the day marking the fourth anniversary of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to send troops into Ukraine.

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ICE officer training is ‘deficient’ and ‘broken,’ former agency lawyer tells congressional forum

WASHINGTON (AP) — A former U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement lawyer who was responsible for training new deportation officers warned Monday that the agency’s training program for new recruits is “deficient, defective and broken.”

Ryan Schwank’s comments during a forum held by congressional Democrats come at a time of intense scrutiny of the officers tasked with carrying out President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda. Critics, including rights groups and Democratic politicians, have accused deportation officers of using excessive force when arresting immigrants, attacking bystanders who record their conduct and failing to follow constitutional protections of people’s rights.

The Department of Homeland Security is rapidly scaling up the number of deportation officers, raising concerns that it will sacrifice proper screening and training of applicants in a rush to get them into the field. The department denied it was cutting corners, saying new officers get trained on firearms, use-of-force policies and how to safely arrest people.

Schwank testified during a hearing hosted by Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Rep. Robert Garcia of California. Blumenthal’s office said Schwank resigned from the agency on Feb. 13.

“I am here because I am duty-bound to report the legally required training program at the ICE academy is deficient, defective and broken,” Schwank said.

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Volunteers scour the desert for Nancy Guthrie despite authorities urging them to stop

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — The disappearance of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie’s mother three weeks ago has inspired a small number of volunteers to launch their own searches in the dense desert near her home in hopes of cracking the case.

The Pima County Sheriff’s Department said while it appreciates the concern for Nancy Guthrie, it asked people inquiring about volunteering to give investigators space to do their jobs.

“We all want to find Nancy, but this work is best left to professionals,” the agency said in a statement over the weekend.

Nancy Guthrie, 84, was last seen at her home just outside Tucson on Jan. 31 and was reported missing the following day. Authorities believe she was kidnapped, abducted or otherwise taken against her will. Drops of her blood were found on the front porch, but authorities haven’t publicly revealed much evidence.

Despite the sheriff’s request for people not to search on their own, volunteers have continued to look. A small group reported finding a black backpack on Sunday, but it wasn’t the same brand as one identified in video surveillance that the FBI released of a masked person at Guthrie’s home the night she disappeared.

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Rob Reiner’s son pleads not guilty to murder in the killing of his parents

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nick Reiner, the 32-year-old son of Hollywood luminary Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner, pleaded not guilty Monday to two counts of first-degree murder more than two months after their deaths, denying for the first time that he fatally stabbed his parents.

Reiner’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender Kimberly Greene, entered the plea on his behalf as he stood behind glass in an enclosed custody area of the packed Los Angeles courtroom.

The third of Rob Reiner’s four children, Nick Reiner has been held without bail since his arrest hours after beloved actor-director Reiner and photographer and producer Singer were found dead on Dec. 14 at their home in the upscale Brentwood section of Los Angeles.

Reiner appeared in court with a shaved head and light facial hair, wearing brown jail clothes. He talked to his lawyer briefly through the glass before the judge began the hearing. At one point a low door in the enclosure was opened and they crouched down and spoke face-to-face. During the hearing, he spoke only to answer yes when the judge asked if he waived his right for next steps of the case to proceed speedily.

Reiner was not wearing the suicide prevention smock he wore in his first court appearance in December days after his parent’s killings. It was the third time he had been set to enter a plea, but issues surrounding the high-stakes, closely watched case, including a surprising change in defense lawyers, kept it from happening until Monday.

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Armed man shot and killed at Mar-a-Lago was never interested in politics or guns, cousin says

CAMERON, N.C. (AP) — The 21-year-old North Carolina man who entered a gate at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort with a shotgun before he was shot and killed worked as a golf course groundskeeper and liked to sketch.

Austin Tucker Martin rarely, if ever, talked about politics, seemed afraid of guns, and came from a family of Trump supporters, according to Braeden Fields, a cousin who said the two grew up together.

“I wouldn’t believe he would do something like this. It’s mind-blowing,” Fields said. “He wouldn’t even hurt an ant. He doesn’t even know how to use a gun.”

Martin walked up to the secure perimeter at Mar-a-Lago early Sunday and went through a gate when it opened for employees to leave, a U.S. Secret Service spokesperson said Monday. Martin dropped a gas can and raised a shotgun at two Secret Service agents and a Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputy who then opened fire “to neutralize the threat,” said Sheriff Ric Bradshaw.

Trump, who often spends weekends at the Palm Beach, Florida, resort, was at the White House at the time.

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FDA proposes new system for approving customized drugs and therapies for rare diseases

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal health officials on Monday laid out a proposal to spur development of customized treatments for patients with hard-to-treat diseases, including for rare genetic conditions that the pharmaceutical industry has long considered unprofitable.

The preliminary Food and Drug Administration guidelines, if implemented, would create a new pathway for bespoke therapies that have only been tested in a handful of patients due to the challenges of conducting larger studies. The FDA announcement specifically mentions gene editing, although agency officials said the new approach could also be used by other drugs and therapies.

It’s a shift long sought by patients, advocates and researchers focused on rare diseases, which often do not fit within the pharmaceutical industry’s business model or the FDA’s traditional drug-approval system.

“It is our priority to remove barriers and exercise regulatory flexibility to encourage scientific advances and deliver more cures and meaningful treatments for patients suffering from rare diseases,” FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said in a release.

The announcement comes a week after Makary said the FDA would drop its decades-old standard of requiring two clinical trials for standard drug reviews. That was the latest in a series of changes to FDA norms and standards, many which have not gone through federal procedures traditionally used to update agency rules.