AP News in Brief at 11:04 p.m. EDT

Israel attacks Iran’s nuclear and missile sites with explosions heard across Tehran

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel attacked Iran’s capital early Friday in strikes that targeted the country’s nuclear program and raised the potential for an all-out war between the two bitter Middle East adversaries. It appeared to be the most significant attack Iran has faced since its 1980s war with Iraq, with multiple sites around the country hit.

The leader of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard was killed, Iranian state television reported, in a major body blow to Tehran’s governing theocracy and an immediate escalation of the nations’ long-simmering conflict. An anchor read a statement saying: “The news of assassination and martyrdom of Gen. Hossein Salami was confirmed,” but did not elaborate. Another top Guard official, as well as two nuclear scientists, were also feared dead.

Israeli leaders said the attack was necessary to head off what they described as an imminent threat that Iran would build nuclear bombs, and they warned of a reprisal that could target civilians in Israel.

In Washington, the Trump administration, which earlier cautioned Israel against an attack amid continuing negotiations, said that it had not been involved in the attack and warned Iran against retaliations against U.S. interests or personnel.

Multiple sites in the capital were hit in the attack, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said targeted both nuclear and military sites. Also targeted were officials leading Iran’s nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal.

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Judge says Trump illegally deployed National Guard to help with LA protests, must return control

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — President Donald Trump must return to California’s governor control over National Guard troops his administration deployed to Los Angeles to assist in immigration enforcement and controlling unrest, a federal judge said in a temporary restraining order Thursday.

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer said Trump overstepped his bounds in ordering the deployment of roughly 4,000 National Guard members to LA after protests erupted over the immigration crackdown. The order, which takes effect at noon Friday, applies only to the National Guard troops and not Marines who were also deployed to the city.

“Today was really about a test of democracy, and today we passed the test,” Gov. Gavin Newsom, who had asked the judge for an emergency stop to troops helping carry out immigration raids, said in a news conference after the decision.

The deployment of the Guard was illegal and both violated the Tenth Amendment and exceeded Trump’s statutory authority, Breyer said.

The White House had no immediate comment on the ruling, but the federal government immediately filed an appeal with the Ninth Circuit court. The Trump administration called the lawsuit a “crass political stunt endangering American lives” in its official response Wednesday.

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DHS’ Noem vows to continue Trump’s immigration crackdown, as judge says Guard deployment was illegal

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem pledged Thursday to carry on with the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown despite waves of unrest across the U.S. Hours later a judge issued a temporary restraining order directing President Donald Trump to return control to California over National Guard troops he deployed after protests erupted over the immigration crackdown.

The federal judge’s order, which takes effect at noon Friday, said the Guard deployment was illegal and both violated the Tenth Amendment and exceeded Trump’s statutory authority. The order applies only to the National Guard troops and not Marines who were also deployed to the LA protests. The judge said he would not rule on the Marines because they are not out on the streets yet.

“Today was really about a test of democracy, and today we passed the test,” Gov. Gavin Newsom, who had asked the judge for an emergency stop to troops helping carry out immigration raids, said in a news conference after the decision.

The White House had no immediate comment, but the federal government immediately filed an appeal with the Ninth Circuit court. On Wednesday the Trump administration called Newsom’s lawsuit a “crass political stunt endangering American lives.”

It was not immediately clear how the decision would change the situation on the ground. But Newsom said the Guard troops will be redeployed to “what they were doing before Donald Trump commandeered them.”

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Fiery Air India crash kills 241 people aboard, leaving 1 survivor, airline says

AHMEDABAD, India (AP) — An Air India plane bound for London crashed in a residential area of Ahmedabad shortly after takeoff Thursday, killing 241 people on board, the airline said. One passenger who was thrown from the plane survived.

At least five medical students in a college hostel were killed when the plane hit the building and burst into flames, according to a medical association officer.

“Most of the bodies have been charred beyond recognition,” said Vidhi Chaudhary, a top state police officer in the city in northwestern India.

Indian Home Minister Amit Shah confirmed that he met the sole survivor at the hospital. A doctor said he had examined the survivor, whom he identified as Vishwashkumar Ramesh.

“He was disoriented with multiple injuries all over his body,” Dr. Dhaval Gameti told The Associated Press. “But he seems to be out of danger.”

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Gov. Abbott deploys over 5,000 Texas National Guard troops ahead of planned ‘No Kings’ protests

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Thursday he has ordered the deployment of more than 5,000 Texas National Guard troops, along with more than 2,000 state police, to help local law enforcement manage protests against President Donald Trump and the ongoing federal immigration raids.

Abbott’s announcement did not detail where the troops were sent, but some were seen at a protest Wednesday night in downtown San Antonio near the Alamo. That protest drew hundreds of demonstrators but did not erupt into violence.

More protests are planned on Saturday in San Antonio and across Texas in cities such as Houston, Austin and Dallas as part of the national “No Kings” movement.

Protests earlier this week in Austin and Dallas led to brief clashes with police who used chemical irritants to disperse the crowds. About a dozen were arrested.

“Peaceful protests are part of the fabric of our nation, but Texas will not tolerate the lawlessness we have seen in Los Angeles in response to President Donald Trump’s enforcement of immigration law,” Abbott said. “Anyone engaging in acts of violence or damaging property will be arrested and held accountable to the full extent of the law.”

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House approves Trump’s request to cut funding for NPR, PBS and foreign aid

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House narrowly voted Thursday to cut about $9.4 billion in spending already approved by Congress as President Donald Trump’s administration looks to follow through on work done by the Department of Government Efficiency when it was overseen by Elon Musk.

The package targets foreign aid programs and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which provides money for National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service as well as thousands of public radio and television stations around the country. The vote was 214-212.

Republicans are characterizing the spending as wasteful and unnecessary, but Democrats say the rescissions are hurting the United States’ standing in the world and will lead to needless deaths.

“Cruelty is the point,” Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said of the proposed spending cuts.

The Trump administration is employing a tool rarely used in recent years that allows the president to transmit a request to Congress to cancel previously appropriated funds. That triggers a 45-day clock in which the funds are frozen pending congressional action. If Congress fails to act within that period, then the spending stands.

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The Latest: Israel attacks Iran

Israel attacked Iran’s capital early Friday, in strikes that targeted the country’s nuclear program and raised the potential for a larger war between the two bitter adversaries.

An Israeli military official said that the Israeli Air Force targeted Iranian nuclea r and military sites, without identifying them. The official spoke to journalists on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing operation.

Air-raid sirens preventatively rang out in Israel.

The attack comes as tensions have reached new heights over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program. The Board of Governors at the International Atomic Energy Agency for the first time in 20 years on Thursday censured Iran over it not working with its inspectors. Iran immediately announced it would establish a third enrichment site in the country and swap out some centrifuges for more advanced ones.

Israel for years has warned it will not allow Iran to build a nuclear weapon, something Tehran insists it doesn’t want — though officials there have repeatedly warned it could.

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Weinstein case judge declares mistrial on remaining rape charge as jury foreperson won’t deliberate

NEW YORK (AP) — Harvey Weinstein ’s sex crimes retrial came to a disjointed end Thursday as the jury foreperson declined to deliberate and the judge declared a mistrial on a remaining rape charge, a day after a split verdict on other charges in the landmark #MeToo-era case.

The outcome positions the ex-studio boss for a third New York trial — prosecutors said they’re ready to retry the rape count — even as he faces a new sentencing on his sexual assault conviction.

Weinstein, 73, denies all the charges. The Oscar-winning movie producer had a blank, drained expression as court officers escorted him out Thursday in his wheelchair.

His lawyer said he plans to appeal.

“What happened in that jury room was absolutely improper,” attorney Arthur Aidala said outside court.

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Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ lawyer complains about trial secrecy as a famous rapper’s name goes unmentioned

NEW YORK (AP) — A lawyer for Sean “Diddy” Combs protested the rising tide of secrecy at the hip-hop icon’s federal sex trafficking and racketeering trial on Thursday after Combs and the public were excluded from arguments over whether another famous rapper’s name could be disclosed.

Defense attorney Marc Agnifilo complained to Judge Arun Subramanian after Combs was excluded from a meeting outside the courtroom between lawyers and the judge.

That meeting delayed the final day of weeklong testimony from a woman identified in court only by the pseudonym “Jane,” who dated Combs from 2001 until his September arrest.

When her emotional testimony ended, she hugged a prosecutor, Maureen Comey, in front of the jury, which would have drawn an outcry from the defense except she hugged defense attorney Teny Geragos too.

Her testimony likely helped both sides. She admitted still loving Combs, but she said she now resents that she felt forced to have sex with strangers to satisfy his sexual fantasies.

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At least 5 dead and 2 missing in San Antonio after heavy rains flood parts of Texas

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Heavy rains in San Antonio rapidly flooded roads, swept away submerged cars and sent some people scrambling up trees to escape fast-rising waters Thursday while firefighters made dozens of rescues across the nation’s seventh-largest city. At least five people died and two were still missing, authorities said.

The deaths all occurred in the northeast part of the city, where authorities found over a dozen vehicles in the water. More than a dozen smashed and overturned vehicles littered a creek after being tossed and carried by floodwaters.

Some of the people rescued in that area said they were swept off an interstate access road by “sudden fast rising water,” San Antonio Fire Department spokesperson Joe Arrington said in an email. He said floodwaters swept vehicles into a creek and carried them downstream.

Crews brought in search dogs Thursday afternoon to help find missing people, Arrington said.

By afternoon, crews could be seen pulling heavily damaged vehicles out of the creek.