Israel's defense minister says Gaza City could be destroyed

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel’s defense minister warned on Friday that Gaza City could be destroyed unless Hamas accepts Israel’s terms, as the country prepares for an expanded offensive in the area. A day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would authorize the military to seize Gaza City, Defense Minister Israel Katz warned that the enclave’s largest city could “turn into Rafah and Beit Hanoun,” areas reduced to rubble earlier in the war. “The gates of hell will soon open on the heads of Hamas’ murderers and rapists in Gaza — until they agree to Israel’s conditions for ending the war,” Katz wrote in a post on X.

Inside the facility where ICE is training recruits to take on Trump's deportation goals

BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) — The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency is ramping up its hiring efforts to support President Donald Trump's mass deportation goals. The Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Georgia is training new recruits. Concerns about training standards have been raised, but ICE officials insist they are maintaining quality. Training includes firearms, driving techniques, de-escalation and immigration law, with a focus on the Fourth Amendment and immigration law. The agency is receiving $76.5 billion from Congress, with $30 billion earmarked for new staff. ICE aims to hire 10,000 new deportation officers by the end of the year.

Trump embraces tough-on-crime mantra amid DC takeover as he and Democrats claim political wins

NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump is proudly promoting the work of roughly 2,000 National Guard troops in Washington to confront what the Republican president describes as an out-of-control crime wave in the Democratic-run city. Trump and his allies are confident that his decision to dispatch soldiers to a key American city with no clear crisis is a big political winner. Democrats say this is a fight they’re eager to have. One Democratic strategist says it's “an opportunity for the party to go on offense on an issue that has plagued us for a long time.” Trump’s power grab could be a factor for both sides in elections in Virginia and New Jersey this fall — and next year’s midterms.

Appeals court throws out massive civil fraud penalty against President Donald Trump

NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump is declaring victory after an appeals court threw out the massive civil fraud penalty against him. But the court has upheld other punishments, such as banning Trump and his two eldest sons from serving in corporate leadership for a few years. A five-judge panel ruled Thursday in New York state’s lawsuit accusing the businessman-turned-politician of exaggerating his wealth. The decision in the mid-level Appellate Division altered a verdict that stood to cost Trump more than $515 million and rock his real estate empire. The Republican president says the case and the verdict were political moves by Democrats. New York's Democratic attorney general says the court affirmed the finding Trump was liable for fraud.

Netanyahu says he will push ahead with Gaza City takeover and renewed ceasefire talks

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he will give final approval for the takeover of Gaza City while also restarting negotiations with Hamas aimed at returning all the remaining hostages and ending the war on Israel’s terms. The wide-scale operation in Gaza City could start within days after Netanyahu grants final approval at a meeting with senior security officials later Thursday. Hamas said earlier this week that it had agreed to a ceasefire proposal from Arab mediators, which — if accepted by Israel — could forestall the offensive. The military has begun warning health officials and international oranizations to evacuate the northern Gaza Strip.

California Gov. Newsom signs legislation calling special election on redrawn congressional map

SACRAMENTO, Calif (AP) — California voters will decide in a November special election whether to approve a redrawn congressional map designed to help Democrats win five more U.S. House seats next year. Lawmakers voted mostly along party lines Thursday to approve legislation calling for the special election. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom then signed it. Republicans have sued and called for a federal investigation into the plan. California currently relies on an independent commission that is supposed to be nonpartisan to draw maps. Voters’ permission is needed to implement the new one. The special election is a response by Democrats to Texas Republicans’ push to redraw their state’s congressional map at President Donald Trump’s urging.

Illegal immigration hit a record-high of 14 million in the US in 2023, Pew report finds

A closely watched report says the number of people in the United States illegally surged to an all-time high of 14 million in 2023. That represents a major increase but still falls well short of estimates from President Donald Trump and some allies. The Pew Research Center said Thursday that the 14-million mark rose from 11.8 million a year earlier and surpassed the previous high of 12.2 million in 2007. The increase was driven by some 6 million who were in the country with some form of legal protection under President Joe Biden.

Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra says he has been acquitted of royal defamation

BANGKOK (AP) — Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra says he has been acquitted of royal defamation by a court. His lawyer also confirmed the verdict Friday, but the Bangkok Criminal Court did not immediately issue a statement. The law on defaming the monarchy, an offense known as lese majeste, is punishable by three to 15 years in prison. It is among the harshest such laws globally and increasingly has been used in Thailand to punish government critics.

6 people are found dead at a Colorado dairy. Authorities suspect an accident involving gas exposure

Authorities say an apparent accident involving exposure to gas at a dairy in Colorado has killed six people. First responders found the bodies in a confined space at Prospect Valley Dairy on Wednesday. The Weld County coroner said Thursday that authorities are investigating what kind of gases might have played a role in the deaths. The coroner’s office says the identities of the six victims are being withheld until the families are notified. The dairy is located along a rural road near Keenesburg, about 35 miles northeast of Denver. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating.

Funeral home owner who stashed nearly 200 decaying bodies set to be sentenced for corpse abuse

DENVER (AP) — Two years after piles of decaying bodies were found in a rural Colorado building, a funeral home owner is set to be sentenced for 191 counts of corpse abuse. Jon Hallford, who owned Return to Nature Funeral Home, ran a fraudulent scheme with his wife from their business in Colorado Springs. Instead of cremating bodies as families requested, he dumped them in a bug-infested building. Hallford gave families dry concrete resembling ashes and pocketed the cremation fees. He and his wife acknowledged defrauded the government out of nearly $900,000 in COVID-19 aid for small businesses.