What to know about efforts to block National Guard deployments in Chicago, Portland, other US cities

CHICAGO (AP) — President Donald Trump’s attempts to deploy the military in Democratic-led cities — over the objections of mayors and governors — has brought a head-spinning array of court challenges and overlapping rulings.

As the U.S. Supreme Court ponders whether to clear the way for the National Guard in Chicago, a federal appeals court is hearing arguments in California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s challenge to the deployment of troops in Los Angeles. Guard troops could also soon be on the ground in Portland, Oregon, pending legal developments there.

Here are some things to know about legal efforts to block, or deploy, National Guard troops in various cities.

A federal judge in Chicago already blocked deployment of National Guard troops to the Chicago area for two weeks. On Wednesday, she'll hold a hearing to consider whether to extend that order — but anything she does could be moot if the U.S. Supreme Court rules in the meantime.

Attorneys representing the Trump administration said in court filings Tuesday that they would agree to possibly extend the block on deployment of troops for 30 days. However, they are also continuing to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene. The Trump administration is pressing for an emergency order from the U.S. Supreme Court that would allow Guard troops to be deployed.

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A major Russian drone and missile attack on Ukraine kills at least 6 people, officials say

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A large-scale Russian drone and missile attack across Ukraine killed at least six people, including a woman and her two young daughters, officials said Wednesday, as U.S.-led efforts to end the war floundered and Ukraine’s president appealed for more military help.

Repeated waves of missiles and drones throughout the night shook at least eight Ukrainian cities, including a village in the Kyiv region where a strike set fire to a house in which the mother and her 6-month and 12-year-old daughters were staying, regional head Mykola Kalashnyk said.

At least 18 people were injured in Kyiv alone, authorities said.

The barrage, which began at night and extended into Wednesday morning, also targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and caused rolling blackouts, officials said. Russia has been trying to cripple the country's power grid before the bitter winter sets in.

U.S. President Donald Trump's efforts to end the war that started with Russia's all-out invasion of its neighbor more than three years ago have failed to gain traction. Trump has repeatedly expressed frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin's refusal to budge from his conditions for a settlement after Ukraine offered a ceasefire and direct peace talks.

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Israel identifies two more hostages' bodies as Vance meets Netanyahu

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel has completed the identification of the bodies of two more hostages, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Wednesday, as U.S. Vice President JD Vance held high-level meetings in Israel to nudge forward Gaza’s fragile ceasefire.

Authorities identified the deceased hostages as Arie Zalmanovich and Tamir Adar. Their bodies were transported in coffins by the Red Cross and handed over to the Israeli military in the Gaza Strip.

The two were killed in Kibbutz Nir Oz during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas militants, which triggered the two-year war.

Since the ceasefire began on Oct. 10, the remains of 15 hostages have been returned to Israel. Another 13 still need to be recovered in Gaza and handed over, a key element to the ceasefire agreement.

Meanwhile, the burial of 54 Palestinians is set for Wednesday at a cemetery in Deir al Balah, Gaza. The bodies were displayed outside Nasser hospital in Khan Younis ahead of burial.

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Trump hosts Senate Republicans at renovated White House as the shutdown drags into fourth week

WASHINGTON (AP) — Head Start programs for preschoolers are scrambling for federal funds. The federal agency tasked with overseeing the U.S. nuclear stockpile has begun furloughing its 1,400 employees. Thousands more federal workers are going without paychecks.

But as President Donald Trump welcomed Republican senators for lunch in the newly renovated Rose Garden Club — with the boom-boom of construction underway on the new White House ballroom — he portrayed a different vision of America, as a unified GOP refuses to yield to Democratic demands for health care funds, and the government shutdown drags on.

“We have the hottest country anywhere in the world, which tells you about leadership,” Trump said in opening remarks, extolling the renovations underway as senators took their seats in the newly paved over garden-turned-patio.

It was a festive atmosphere under crisp, but sunny autumn skies as senators settled in for cheeseburgers, fries and chocolates, and Trump’s favored songs — “YMCA” and “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” — played over the new sound system.

And while Trump said the shutdown must come to an end — and suggested maybe Smithsonian museums could reopen — he signaled no quick compromise with Democrats over the expiring health care funds.

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Trump pick to lead federal watchdog agency withdraws after offensive text messages were revealed

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump ’s pick to lead a federal watchdog agency withdrew from consideration Tuesday evening, after his offensive text messages were made public and GOP senators revolted.

Paul Ingrassia, who was nominated to lead the Office of Special Counsel, had been scheduled to have his confirmation hearing this week.

On Monday, however, Politico reported on a text chat that showed him saying the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday should be “tossed into the seventh circle of hell.” Ingrassia also described himself in the chat as having “a Nazi streak” at times.

After the texts came to light, several Republican senators said they would not support his nomination. They included some of the most conservative and stalwart Trump allies in the Senate.

“I will be withdrawing myself from Thursday’s HSGAC hearing to lead the Office of Special Counsel because unfortunately I do not have enough Republican votes at this time,” Ingrassia posted in an online message. “I appreciate the overwhelming support that I have received throughout the process and will continue to serve President Trump and the administration to Make America Great Again!” HSGAC is the Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs.

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Warner Bros. Discovery confirms it has received buyout interest and is considering its options

NEW YORK (AP) — Warner Bros. Discovery — the home of HBO, CNN and DC Studios — has signaled that it may be open to selling all or parts of its business, just months after announcing plans to split into two companies.

In an announcement Tuesday, the entertainment and media giant said it had initiated a review of “strategic alternatives” in light of “unsolicited interest” it had received from multiple parties, for both the entire company and Warner Bros. specifically.

Warner Bros. Discovery did not specify where that interest was coming from, and a spokesperson said the company couldn't share additional information when reached by The Associated Press. But its review arrives after growing reports of a potential bidding war — including from Skydance-owned Paramount, which closed its own $8 billion merger in early August.

Citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter, The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Paramount approached Warner Bros. Discovery about a majority-cash offer in late September — but that Warner Chief Executive David Zaslav had rebuffed those first overtures. According to the outlet, Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison later considered taking a more aggressive approach, such as going directly to shareholders.

CNBC has also reported that Netflix and Comcast are among other interested parties, citing unnamed sources. Comcast declined to comment Tuesday. Paramount and Netflix did not immediately respond to the AP's requests for statements.

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The Louvre reopens 3 days after thieves took French crown jewels in daylight heist

PARIS (AP) — The Louvre reopened Wednesday morning to crowds under its glass pyramid — even as France reeled from one of the highest-profile museum thefts in living memory just days earlier at the famed museum.

The Sunday morning smash-and-grab unfolded just 250 meters (270 yards) from the Mona Lisa and has prompted a national reckoning, with some officials comparing the shock to the 2019 burning of Notre-Dame cathedral.

Hundreds queued outside as barriers came down, a visible coda to three days of forensic work, inspections and staff briefings. Tuesday’s closure was routine; the museum is normally shut that day.

However, the scene of the heist — the jewel-lined Apollo Room — stayed shuttered.

Authorities say the gang spent less than four minutes inside the Louvre. Using a freight lift wheeled to the Seine-facing façade, the thieves forced a window, smashed two display cases and fled on motorbikes into central Paris.

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Finding the jewels and the brazen thieves in the Louvre heist is now a race against time

PARIS (AP) — The glittering sapphires, emeralds, and diamonds that once adorned France's royals could well be gone forever, experts say after a brazen, four-minute heist in broad daylight left the nation stunned and the government struggling to explain a new debacle at the Louvre.

Each stolen piece — an emerald necklace and earrings, two crowns, two brooches, a sapphire necklace and a single earring — represents the pinnacle of 19th century “haute joaillerie,” or fine jewelry. For the royals, they were more than decoration. The pieces were political statements of France's wealth, power and cultural import. They are so significant that they were among treasures saved from the government's 1887 auction of most royal jewels.

The Louvre reopened Wednesday for the first time since the heist Sunday morning, although the Apollo Gallery where the theft occurred remained closed.

Laure Beccuau, the Paris prosecutor whose office is leading the investigation, said Tuesday that in monetary terms, the stolen jewelry is worth an estimated $102 million (88 million euros) — a valuation that doesn’t include historical worth. About 100 investigators are involved in the police hunt for the suspects and the gems, she said.

The theft of the crown jewels left the French government scrambling — again — to explain the latest embarrassment at the Louvre, which is plagued by overcrowding and outdated facilities. Activists in 2024 threw a can of soup at the Mona Lisa. And in June, the museum was brought to a halt by its own striking staff, who complained about mass tourism. President Emmanuel Macron has announced that the Mona Lisa, stolen by a former museum worker in 1911 and recovered two years later, will get its own room under a major renovation.

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More than 40 people killed in a crash of buses and other vehicles in western Uganda

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Two buses and two other vehicles crashed early Wednesday on a highway in western Uganda, killing at least 46 people, police said, in one of the worst motor accidents in the East African country in recent years.

Police initially gave the death toll as 63 in a statement sent to reporters, but later revised it to 46, saying in another statement that some people found unconscious at the crash scene were actually still alive. “At the time of the crash, several victims were found unconscious, and some may have been mistakenly included in the initial fatality count,” the statement said.

Several others were injured in the crash that happened after midnight local time on the highway to Gulu, a major city in northern Uganda.

Two bus drivers going in opposite directions attempted to overtake other vehicles and collided near the town of Kiryandongo, according to police.

“In the process, both buses met head-on during the overtaking maneuvers,” the police statement said.

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Trump says he'd have final say on money he seeks over past federal investigations into his conduct

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the federal government owes him "a lot of money” for prior Justice Department investigations into his actions and insisted he would have the ultimate say on any payout because any decision will “have to go across my desk.”

Trump's comments to reporters at the White House came in response to questions about a New York Times story that said he had filed administrative claims before being reelected seeking roughly $230 million in damages related to the FBI's 2022 search of his Mar-a-Lago property for classified documents and for a separate investigation into potential ties between Russia and his 2016 presidential campaign.

Trump said Tuesday he did not know the dollar figures involved and suggested he had not spoken to officials about it. But, he added, “All I know is that, they would owe me a lot of money.”

Though the Justice Department has a protocol for reviewing such claims, Trump asserted, “It’s interesting, 'cause I’m the one that makes the decision, right?”

“That decision would have to go across my desk,” he added.

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