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By Sallee Ann Harrison

December 01, 2025

By Sallee Ann Harrison

December 01, 2025

 
 

Good afternoon and welcome to your afternoon news update from AP. Today, President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer is disqualified from serving as New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor; what it means to be in a “K-shaped” economy; and neighbors turn to each other when formal systems fail.

 

UP FIRST

Alina Habba speaks with reporters outside the White House in March. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Alina Habba speaks with reporters outside the White House in March. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Former Trump lawyer Alina Habba is disqualified as top New Jersey prosecutor, US appeals court rules

President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer Alina Habba is disqualified from serving as New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor despite his administration’s maneuvers to keep her in the role, an appeals court said Monday. Read more.

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TOP STORIES

Here’s why everyone’s talking about a ‘K-shaped’ economy

A big reason references to the “K-shaped economy” are popping up so often is that it helps explain an unusually muddy and convoluted period for the U.S. economy. Growth appears solid, yet hiring is sluggish and the unemployment rate has ticked up. Overall consumer spending is still rising, but Americans are less confident. Read more.

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When formal systems stop working, neighbors turn to each other in what many call 'mutual aid' 

Organizers say that interest in local, grassroots initiatives to meet community needs has been growing. Often called “mutual aid,” these volunteer-run projects distribute food or organize free exchanges of clothes or household items. Most of the time, they are not incorporated as formal nonprofits. Interest in mutual aid organizing often spikes in response to crises, like the COVID-19 pandemic and now, economic and political uncertainty under the second Trump administration. Read more.

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IN OTHER NEWS

A Nativity scene containing characters with cloth faces is displayed in Brussels on Monday. (AP Photo/Sylvain Plazy)

A Nativity scene containing characters with cloth faces is displayed in Brussels on Monday. (AP Photo/Sylvain Plazy)

Faceless characters: A controversial infant Jesus is stolen from a Belgian Nativity scene

Citizen service initiative: Swiss voters reject mandatory national service for women and new inheritance tax

Chicago snow record: Heavy snow predicted for Northeast as Midwest still struggles with Thanksgiving weather snarls

UnitedHealthcare CEO death: Luigi Mangione fights to exclude evidence from his trial

Preserving vision: New FDA-approved glasses can slow nearsightedness in kids

Word of the year: 'Rage bait’ named Oxford University Press word of year as outrage fuels social media traffic in 2025

WATCH: Could your favorite bodega cat become legal now? 

 

TRENDING

Christmas stockings created by members of the King's Foundation Sewing Bee group at Dumfries House in Scotland on Tuesday. (Andrew Milligan/PA via AP)

Christmas stockings created by members of the King's Foundation Sewing Bee group at Dumfries House in Scotland on Tuesday. (Andrew Milligan/PA via AP)

King Charles III’s charity auctions stockings made from Sandringham’s curtains

Searching for a gift for that special royal watcher in your life? How about a Christmas stocking made from the drapes of King Charles III’s Sandringham estate and hand-stitched by a sewing circle at Dumfries House in Scotland? Deftly tugging their needles through the royal fabric, members of the Dumfries House Sewing Bee recently put the finishing touches on the festive decorations, which will