Trump declares drug cartels operating in Caribbean unlawful combatants

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has declared drug cartels to be unlawful combatants and says the United States is now in a “non-international armed conflict,” according to a Trump administration memo obtained Thursday by The Associated Press, after recent U.S. strikes on boats in the Caribbean.

A person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to comment publicly said the Congress was notified about the designation by Pentagon officials on Wednesday.

The move comes after the U.S. military last month carried out three deadly strikes against alleged drug smuggling boats in the Caribbean. At least two of those operations were carried out on vessels that originated from Venezuela.

Pentagon officials could not provide a list of the designated terrorist organizations at the center of the conflict, a matter that was a major source of frustration for some of the lawmakers who were briefed, according to the person.

Immigration judge denies Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s bid for asylum, but he has 30 days to appeal

A U.S. immigration judge on Wednesday denied a bid for asylum from Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whose case has become a proxy for the partisan power struggle over immigration policy.

The judge in the Baltimore immigration court denied an application to reopen Abrego Garcia's 2019 asylum case, but that is not the final word. Abrego Garcia has 30 days to appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals.

The Salvadoran national has an American wife and children and has lived in Maryland for years, but he originally immigrated to the U.S. illegally as a teenager. In 2019, he was arrested by immigration agents. He requested asylum but was not eligible because he had been in the country for more than a year. However, the judge ruled that he could not be deported to El Salvador, where he faced danger from a gang that targeted his family.

When he was mistakenly deported to El Salvador in March and kept in a notorious prison, his case became a rallying point for those who opposed President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. Facing a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court, Trump's Republican administration returned Abrego Garcia to the U.S. in June, only to immediately charge him with human smuggling.

Israeli navy intercepts boats attempting to break Gaza blockade and arrests activists

JERUSALEM (AP) — Hundreds of Israeli police officers were deployed Thursday to the southern port of Ashdod to process some 450 international activists detained by Israeli naval forces hours earlier in the Mediterranean Sea, Israeli authorities said.

The activists, including European lawmakers, were taking part of a flotilla attempting to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza when their vessels were intercepted, drawing widespread condemnation and sparking protests around the world.

The Global Sumud Flotilla was the largest yet to try to break the blockade, and it comes at a time of growing criticism of Israel's conduct in Gaza, where its offensive has laid waste to wide swaths of territory and killed tens of thousands of people.

Activists had said they hoped that the sheer number of boats would make it more difficult for Israeli authorities to intercept them all, but Israel’s Foreign Ministry declared the operation over on Thursday afternoon.

Trump administration puts on hold $18 billion in funding for New York City infrastructure projects

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's administration said Wednesday it was putting a hold on roughly $18 billion to fund a new rail tunnel beneath the Hudson River between New York City and New Jersey and the city's expanded Second Avenue subway project because of the government shutdown.

The White House budget director, Russ Vought, said on a post on X that the step was taken due to the Republican administration’s belief the money was based on unconstitutional diversity, equity and inclusion principles.

In a statement, the U.S. Transportation Department said that it had been reviewing whether any “unconstitutional practices” were occurring in the two massive infrastructure projects but that the government shutdown had forced it to furlough the staffers conducting the review.

"This is another unfortunate casualty of radical Democrats’ reckless decision to hold the federal government hostage to give illegal immigrants benefits," the statement reads.

Part of a New York City apartment building collapses, no injuries reported

NEW YORK (AP) — A massive brick chimney running 20 stories up the side of a New York City apartment building collapsed after an explosion Wednesday, sending tons of debris plummeting to the ground.

The falling bricks buried a sidewalk, landed on the public housing building’s playground and sent a cloud of dust billowing over the block in the Bronx, but amazingly did not injure anyone.

“We avoided a major disaster here,” said Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson at a news conference.

Mayor Eric Adams confirmed no injuries or deaths were reported in the collapse of the chimney, which rose up from the building’s boiler room. Officials were notified of the explosion just after 8 a.m. and were trying to determine if there was a gas leak.

Munich Oktoberfest fairgrounds closed after bomb threat and deadly explosion

MUNICH (AP) — Police closed the Oktoberfest fairgrounds Wednesday morning following a bomb threat from the suspected perpetrator of an explosion in northern Munich, city officials said.

At least one person's death was believed to be connected to the explosion at a residential building early Wednesday, which Munich police said was deliberately set on fire and part of a domestic dispute.

It was not immediately clear whether the deceased was the suspected perpetrator or someone else. Another person, who was not considered to be a danger to the public, remained missing.

Specialized teams were called to the scene to defuse booby traps in the building, police said. Photos from the area also showed a burned-out van.

The Taliban government in Afghanistan rejects reports of a nationwide internet ban

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The Taliban government on Wednesday rejected reports of a nationwide internet ban in Afghanistan, saying old fiber optic cables are worn out and are being replaced.

The announcement was the Taliban's first public statement on a communications blackout that has disrupted banking, commerce and aviation.

Several provinces last month confirmed an internet shutdown because of a decree from the Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada to combat immorality.

“There is nothing like the rumors being spread that we have imposed a ban on the internet," Taliban officials said in a three-line statement shared in a WhatsApp chat group with Pakistani journalists.

Rescuers in desperate search after a powerful earthquake hit the Philippines, killing at least 69

BOGO, Philippines (AP) — Rescuers used backhoes and sniffer dogs to look for survivors in collapsed houses and other damaged buildings in the central Philippines on Wednesday, a day after an earthquake killed at least 69 people and injured more than 200 others.

The death toll was expected to rise from the 6.9 magnitude quake that hit at about 10 p.m. on Tuesday and trapped an unspecified number of residents in the hard-hit city of Bogo and outlying rural towns in Cebu province.

Sporadic rain and damaged bridges and roads have hampered the race to save lives, officials said.

A dangerous quake

Government shutdown begins as nation faces new period of uncertainty

WASHINGTON (AP) — Plunged into a government shutdown, the U.S. is confronting a fresh cycle of uncertainty after President Donald Trump and Congress failed to strike an agreement to keep government programs and services running by Wednesday’s deadline.

Roughly 750,000 federal workers are expected to be furloughed, some potentially fired by the Trump administration. Many offices will be shuttered, perhaps permanently, as Trump vows to “do things that are irreversible, that are bad” as retribution. His deportation agenda is expected to run full speed ahead, while education, environmental and other services sputter. The economic fallout is expected to ripple nationwide.

“We don’t want it to shut down,” Trump said at the White House before the midnight deadline.

But the president, who met privately with congressional leadership this week, appeared unable to negotiate any deal between Democrats and Republicans to prevent that outcome.

Court disqualifies Trump-appointed US attorney in Nevada from overseeing multiple criminal cases

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A judge barred the Trump-appointed U.S. attorney in Nevada from overseeing several criminal cases Tuesday, ruling that she is “not validly serving” as the state’s top federal prosecutor.

U.S. District Judge David G. Campbell disqualified Sigal Chattah from supervising four criminal prosecutions, siding with defense lawyers who argued that her authority expired in July and she is serving unlawfully.

Campbell ordered government attorneys on the cases to tell the court within seven days that Chattah is not directing their work. He did not dismiss the indictments, however.

It was the second setback in recent weeks for the administration’s effort to extend handpicked acting U.S. attorneys beyond the 120-day limit set by federal law, something it also sought to do for California and New Jersey.

Trump pulls nomination of E.J. Antoni to lead Bureau of Labor Statistics, AP source says

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is withdrawing the nomination of E.J. Antoni to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics, an AP source says. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the White House action, which hasn’t been publicly announced.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Senate received paperwork formally withdrawing Antoni’s nomination on Tuesday, the person said.

Judge finds Trump administration unconstitutionally targeted noncitizens over Gaza war protests

BOSTON (AP) — A federal judge ruled Tuesday that the Trump administration ’s efforts to deport noncitizens for protesting the war in Gaza was unconstitutional.

U.S. District Judge William Young in Boston agreed with several university associations that the policy they described as ideological deportation violates the First Amendment. The ruling came after a trial.

An email to the Homeland Security department for comment was not immediately returned.

During the trial, lawyers for the associations presented witnesses who testified that the Trump administration had launched a coordinated effort to target students and scholars who had criticized Israel or showed sympathy for Palestinians.

Congo military court sentences former President Kabila to death for treason

A high military court in Congo convicted former President Joseph Kabila of treason and war crimes Tuesday on accusations of collaborating with anti-government rebels and sentenced him to death.

It was not immediately clear how the sentence could be carried out because the whereabouts of Kabila, who has been on trial in absentia since July, have been unknown since he last was seen in public in a rebel-held city earlier this year. Kabila's political party called the verdict politically motivated.

The court in Kinshasa ordered his immediate arrest.

The government said Kabila collaborated with Rwanda and the Rwanda-backed rebel group M23, which seized key cities in a lightning assault in January in Congo's mineral-rich east.