Trump at South Florida rally revives the idea of military intervention in Cuba after Iran
FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday told a rally for candidates in South Florida that U.S. warships returning from the Middle East could stop over in Cuba on their way back from the Iran war, his latest suggestion of taking an interventionist approach to the nearby country.
Trump first floated this idea earlier this year, but has not mentioned it in recent months. But he revived it in response to a shouted question from the crowd about the island nation. He was campaigning just days ahead of midterm elections in which voters have expressed concern about the impact the U.S. war on Iran has had on prices of goods from gas to groceries.
“We’ll do a little stopover,” Trump said. “Actually, what we’re going to do with Cuba is, we’re going to come back from Iran. Those beautiful ships will pass Cuba. We’ll have one of them stop about 50 yards off the coast. They’ll raise up their hands. And then we’re going to send (Secretary of State) Marco Rubio in to finish up the deal.”
Both Rubio and Trump have been bullish on action in Cuba, with Trump previously suggesting the country would "be next” in terms of intervention abroad, following the winding down of the Iran war he has long forecast but which has not yet happened.
In May, he and Rubio raised the specter of U.S. military intervention in Cuba, a renewed threat that took on greater weight after the administration announced criminal charges against the island’s former leader, Raúl Castro. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that previous U.S. presidents had considered intervening in Cuba for decades but that “it looks like I’ll be the one that does it.”
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Trump says he ordered the Justice Department's lawsuit over Alaska's US Senate race
President Donald Trump on Friday said he told his administration to file its lawsuit to block certification of the U.S. Senate race in Alaska if Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan loses, kicking off what many fear could become a lengthy battle between the government and states over certifying an election where the president's party is struggling.
“I'm the one that said do it,” Trump told reporters as he landed for a campaign rally in Florida.
The lawsuit, filed late Thursday, centers on one of the president's longstanding complaints in the Senate race — the presence of a second candidate named Dan Sullivan, who Republicans fear could siphon away votes from the incumbent in what's likely to be a photo-finish contest with Democrat Mary Peltola, the state's former congresswoman.
The second Sullivan, who is Daniel J. Sullivan from the tiny fishing community of Petersburg, has said he decided to run on his own, but Republicans have contended he is a Democratic plant to siphon votes away from their candidate.
The lawsuit by the Republican president's Department of Justice in federal court in Alaska demands that the state be blocked from certifying a Peltola win if Daniel J. Sullivan remains on the ballot. “The United States accordingly brings this lawsuit to protect the integrity of the 2026 Senate election in Alaska,” the lawsuit says.
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2 ex-FBI officials charged with lying about involvement in investigation into Hunter Biden's laptop
WASHINGTON (AP) — Two former FBI officials were charged Friday with lying to Congress about their involvement in investigating Hunter Biden’s laptop in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election, the latest in a series of splashy and politically charged actions the Justice Department has undertaken ahead of next month's midterm contests.
Nikki Floris and Bradley Benavides, former leaders of a since-disbanded task force set up to counter foreign election interference, appeared in federal court in Washington, where their lawyers pressed for a speedy hearing to contest allegations their clients lied to lawmakers by saying that they did not participate in FBI investigations of Biden.
The prosecution, a rare Department of Justice criminal case against a former employee, revisits a tangled and peculiar saga that roiled the final weeks of the 2020 race. It also comes amid a broader, backward-looking effort by FBI Director Kash Patel, who before taking over the nation’s premier law enforcement agency was a harsh critic of it, to scrutinize high-profile episodes from the bureau’s recent past that for years have animated President Donald Trump’s conservative base.
Floris’ attorneys called her “a patriot” and said she has “served our nation as a dedicated FBI intelligence officer for nearly 20 years.”
“Yet today, the DOJ has accused her falsely of a crime on the say-so of politicians, not on the facts,” her attorneys said in a statement. “It’s no coincidence the government is filing these nonsense charges now, years later, on the eve of an election.”
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Melania Trump brokers a ceasefire deal in Russian-occupied Ukrainian city to get relief aid in
WASHINGTON (AP) — First lady Melania Trump has brokered a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine in the ravaged, Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Oleshky so that humanitarian aid can be delivered and civilians can be evacuated from a place she said is “on the brink of disaster.”
The localized ceasefire is set to begin next week.
Ukrainian, Russian and U.S. negotiators reached a deal Friday to provide humanitarian relief to the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky in the war-divided region of Kherson in southern Ukraine.
Melania Trump, who worked with officials from both countries on a separate matter, initiated talks about Oleshky after learning about the situation at one of her events during the U.N. General Assembly session in September, the White House said in announcing her involvement.
She and a representative worked directly with Russian and Ukrainian leadership to define the terms of the ceasefire, the White House said.
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Attack in the West Bank kills 2 Israeli soldiers, and other Mideast news
Israel said it prevented a “terror attack” on Israeli civilians Friday when the military killed two gunmen who had fatally shot two Israeli soldiers. The shooting came days before Tuesday’s election, when Israeli voters will decide whether to give Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu another term.
In Jordan, gunmen opened fire inside a church, killing seven people and wounding 40.
Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Friday. Read our full coverage here.
Israel’s military said that, in response to the killing of two soldiers and wounding of others in the West Bank earlier that day, its forces had begun “conducting precise, targeted and thorough searches” in the area of Hebron from which the two gunmen had operated.
It added in a statement late Friday that this operation was expected to continue for several days, and all residents living in the area will only be able to leave through three designated exit points following “questioning and security screening.”
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Gunmen open fire at a church during a funeral in Jordan, killing 7 and wounding 40
JERUSALEM (AP) — Gunmen opened fire during a funeral at a church in Jordan on Friday, killing seven people and wounding 40 others, authorities said.
The shooting took place at a Greek Orthodox church in Karak, about 180 kilometers (110 miles) south of the capital, Amman.
Footage broadcast on Jordanian state television showed two gunmen who appear to be holding pistols approaching the church and firing shots. A third man who appears to be holding a semiautomatic rifle then approaches and opens fire, and all three then run toward the church.
Video footage taken by witnesses shows broken glass and pools of blood on the floor of the church.
Dorgham Halasa, who was among the mourners inside the church, said intense gunfire erupted 15 minutes after the funeral had started, and then people started running. “It was a weird situation, and heavy gunfire,” Halasa said.
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Louvre and other museums closing for Saturday protests as French authorities deploy 70,000 officers
PARIS (AP) — Some 70,000 law enforcement officers will be deployed across France on Saturday while the Louvre and several other major Paris museums will be closed as authorities seek to prevent renewed violence during planned protests.
Protests last week devolved into mayhem, with people setting fires, storming public buildings, smashing shop windows, looting and clashing with police. It was France's most violent unrest in years.
Demonstrators plan to take to the streets again Saturday to denounce the high cost of living. Students, members of the CGT labor union and activists from the “ yellow vest ” movement, whose demonstrations against social injustice shook France in 2018 and 2019, are all set to join.
While some protests have been banned for security reasons in several cities, including Lyon, Nice and Montpellier, marches are expected in many other places including in Paris and Marseille.
French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said some 70,000 police officers and gendarmes would be deployed, along with helicopters, armored vehicles and water cannons. In addition, elite police units will help secure public buildings like city halls in a “highly mobile” security operation, he said.
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Many feared trapped as a tall building collapses in Kenya
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Many people were feared trapped as a tall building collapsed Friday in Kenya’s capital, leaving a huge mound of concrete and more than a dozen floors stacked like pancakes, with little space between them.
The building was under construction when it collapsed at about 1 p.m. along a busy commercial street in Nairobi's Eastleigh area, which is often crowded with thousands of traders and residents.
Nairobi police chief Issa Mohamud said the building had more than 10 upper floors under construction. Rescue operations were complicated, with police firing tear gas at people who had begun looting neighboring shops, as officers sought to clear the area and provide access to emergency response teams.
Joseph Kaula made it out just in time. A plasterer working on the fifth floor, he said he heard screams and spotted other workers rushing outside, shouting that the building was collapsing.
“I was the last person to walk out before it collapsed and the whole area was filled with dust,” Kaula said.
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Defense attorneys in Charlie Kirk's killing want to have a trial in 2029
Defense attorneys for the Utah man accused of assassinating conservative activist Charlie Kirk said they need several years to prepare their case and suggested a 2029 trial date.
An attorney for Kirk's widow, Erika Kirk, called the proposal “absurd” and accused defendant Tyler Robinson of trying to delay.
Utah District Court Judge Tony Graf had been expected to set the trial date during a Friday hearing. However, no date was set and Graf scheduled the next hearing for Nov. 9.
Robinson has pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder in last year’s killing of Kirk as the 31-year-old activist spoke to several thousand people at Utah Valley University. The defendant turned himself in a day after the shooting, and his lawyers have not offered alternative theories for Kirk’s death.
He could be eligible for the death penalty if convicted.
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Brewers withstand Rays' comeback attempt to win 3-2 in Game 1 of World Series
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Trevor Megill struck out Jonny DeLuca with runners on second and third to wiggle out of a ninth-inning jam as the Milwaukee Brewers escaped with a 3-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 1 of the World Series on Friday night.
DeLuca's strikeout came after Tampa Bay's Liam Hicks had grounded into an apparent game-ending double play that was overturned after a video review. Replays determined that Brewers shortstop Cooper Pratt's right foot was slightly off the bag when he reached to catch a high throw from second baseman Brice Turang.
Jacob Misiorowski allowed one run over five innings to earn the win.
Christian Yelich hit an RBI triple to spark a two-run rally in the first inning that put the Brewers ahead for good and delighted a sellout crowd reveling in Milwaukee’s first World Series game since 1982. Jackson Chourio and William Contreras provided two hits each, and Contreras also threw out two potential base stealers.
This marks the first World Series featuring two potential first-time champions since 1980, when the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Kansas City Royals in six games. The only other major league teams without a World Series title are the Colorado Rockies, San Diego Padres and Seattle Mariners.
