AP News in Brief at 6:04 a.m. EST

Trump says one of the two West Virginia National Guard members shot by Afghan national has died

WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (AP) — President Donald Trump said that one of the two West Virginia National Guard members shot by an Afghan national near the White House had died, calling the suspect, who had worked with the CIA in his native country, a “savage monster.”

As part of a Thanksgiving call with U.S. troops, Trump announced that he had just learned that Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, had died, while Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, was “fighting for his life.”

“She’s just passed away,” Trump said. “She’s no longer with us. She’s looking down at us right now. Her parents are with her.”

The president called Beckstrom an “incredible person, outstanding in every single way.” The White House said he spoke to her parents after his remarks.

Trump used the announcement to say the shooting was a “terrorist attack” and criticized the Biden administration for enabling Afghans who worked with U.S. forces during the Afghanistan War to enter the U.S. The president has deployed National Guard members in part to assist in his administration’s mass deportation efforts.

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Trump criticizes the program that brought Afghan refugees to the US who fought the Taliban

The man accused of shooting two National Guard members in Washington is one of about 76,000 Afghans brought to the United States after the chaotic withdrawal of the U.S. from their country as the Taliban took over, authorities said.

The program, called Operation Allies Welcome, was created after the 2021 decision to leave Afghanistan following 20 years of American intervention and billions of dollars of aid.

Democratic President Joe Biden, who oversaw the withdrawal started by his predecessor — Republican President Donald Trump — said the U.S. owed it to the interpreters and translators, the fighters and drivers and others who opposed the Taliban to give them a safe place outside of Afghanistan.

But others — including Trump and many Republicans — said the refugees were not properly vetted in a resettlement process they said was as chaotic and poorly planned as leaving the country to the Taliban.

“This individual — and so many others — should have never been allowed to come here. Our citizens and servicemembers deserve far better than to endure the ongoing fallout from the Biden Administration’s catastrophic failures,” CIA Director John Ratcliffe said.

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Dozens more bodies recovered after Hong Kong blaze, raising death toll to 128

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong firefighters found dozens more bodies Friday during an intensive apartment-by-apartment search of a high-rise tower complex, after a massive fire engulfed seven of its eight buildings. The death toll in one of the city’s deadliest blazes is now at least 128.

Crews prioritized apartments from which they received more than two dozen calls for assistance during the blaze but were unable to reach, Derek Armstrong Chan, a deputy director of Hong Kong Fire Services, told reporters.

The toll was increased by 34 after more bodies were found in the blackened towers, and Secretary for Security Chris Tang told reporters at the scene that the search for victims was continuing and the numbers could still rise.

Eighty-nine of the recovered bodies have not yet been identified, Tang said. Some 200 people remain unaccounted for. Overall, he said he expected the investigation into the fire to last at least three to four weeks.

Andy Yeung, the director of Hong Kong Fire Services, said that first responders found that some fire alarms in the complex were not functioning and that there could be legal consequences.

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Anti-corruption raid targets Zelenskyy’s prominent chief of staff

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Anti-corruption units have raided the home and reportedly also the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, Andrii Yermak, in an unwelcome distraction for Kyiv officials as they battle to defeat Russia’s invasion and persuade U.S. officials to accommodate their concerns in peace proposals.

Two national agencies fighting entrenched corruption in Ukraine said their searches targeted Yermak.

Yermak, a powerful figure in Ukraine and a key participant in talks with the United States, confirmed they searched his apartment inside the presidential compound in downtown Kyiv, where checkpoints limit public access. Media reports said Yermak’s office was also searched, but investigators declined to comment on that.

It was not clear where Zelenskyy was at the time of the morning raid.

“The investigators are facing no obstacles,” Yermak wrote on the messaging app Telegram. He added that he was cooperating fully with them and his lawyers were present.

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Israeli forces kill at least 10 in southern Syria raid, officials and residents say

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Israeli forces in southern Syria raided a village and opened fire when they were confronted by residents on Friday, killing at least 10, Syrian officials said, as Israel fights on a number of fronts while the shaky ceasefire in Gaza moves forward.

Syria’s foreign ministry said in a statement Friday that the attack was “a horrific massacre” and said women and children were among those killed.

The Syrian state news agency SANA said Israeli forces entered the village of Beit Jin aiming to detain local men and opened heavy fire after protests by residents. Dozens of families fled the area.

Israel said Friday it conducted an operation following intelligence information to apprehend suspects from Jamaa Islamiya, or Islamic Group, operating in Beit Jin to attack Israeli civilians. During the raid, several militants fired at Israeli troops, injuring half a dozen soldiers who were evacuated to a hospital, the military said.

Israeli troops fired at the militants and also responded with aerial assistance, the military said. It said the operation had concluded, all of the suspects were apprehended and a number of militants were killed.

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Deposed Guinea-Bissau President Embaló arrives in neighboring Senegal as soldiers name junta leader

BISSAU, Guinea-Bissau (AP) — Soldiers in Guinea-Bissau on Thursday announced a new junta leader, cementing a forceful takeover of power that began after this week’s disputed presidential election and led to deposed President Umaro Sissoco Embaló departing for neighboring Senegal.

The military high command in the West African nation inaugurated Gen. Horta Inta-a as the head of the military government, which will oversee a one-year transition period, according to a declaration broadcast on state television.

Embaló, meanwhile, arrived in Senegal with a flight chartered by the Senegalese government which has been “in direct communication with all concerned Guinea-Bissau actors,” Senegal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement, as the country promised to work with partners to restore democracy in Guinea-Bissau.

Guinea-Bissau, one of the world’s poorest countries, has been dogged by coups and attempted coups since its independence from Portugal more than 50 years ago, including a coup attempt in October. The country of 2.2 million people is known as a hub for drug trafficking between Latin America and Europe, a trend that experts say has fueled its political crises.

Hours after the opposition called for protests against the coup and to demand the publication of election results earlier scheduled for Thursday, the military authorities issued a statement banning public protests and “all disturbing actions of peace and stability in the country.”

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Death toll from floods in Thailand reach 145 as receding water reveals widespread damage

BANGKOK (AP) — The death toll from flooding in southern Thailand has reached at least 145, officials said Friday, as receding waters started to reveal devastating damage across the region.

More than 1.2 million households and 3.6 million people have been affected by floods triggered by heavy rains in 12 southern provinces, the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation said Friday.

Government spokesperson Siripong Angkasakulkiat said in a news conference in Bangkok that flooding has killed 145 people in eight provinces, particularly in Songkhla province which recorded at least 110 deaths.

He said search and rescue efforts have become more successful as floodwaters started to recede further.

Songkhla province recorded a sharp increase in the death toll after flooding began to subside. News reports showed rescuers gained more access to residential areas that had previously been submerged under high water and recovered more bodies, particularly in Hat Yai, the largest city in the south.

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Fleet of UPS planes grounded after deadly crash expected to miss peak delivery season

A fleet of planes that UPS grounded after a deadly crash isn’t expected to be back in service during the peak holiday season due to inspections and possible repairs, the company said Wednesday in an internal memo.

The airline expects it will be several months before its McDonnell Douglas MD-11 fleet returns to service as it works to meet Federal Aviation Administration guidelines, said the memo from UPS Airlines president Bill Moore to employees. The process was originally estimated to take weeks but is now expected to take several months.

A fiery MD-11 plane crash on Nov. 4 in Louisville, Kentucky, killed 14 people and injured at least 23 when the left engine detached during takeoff. Cargo carriers grounded their McDonnell Douglas MD-11 fleets shortly after, ahead of a directive from the FAA.

“Regarding the MD-11 fleet, Boeing’s ongoing evaluation shows that inspections and potential repairs will be more extensive than initially expected,” Moore wrote in the memo.

A UPS spokesperson said in a statement that the company will rely on contingency plans to deliver for customers throughout the peak season, and it “will take the time needed to ensure that every aircraft is safe.”

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Hungary’s Viktor Orbán meets Russia’s Vladimir Putin in Moscow for energy talks

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán met Russian President Vladimir Putin for talks at the Kremlin on Friday, a rare step from a European leader as Russia’s almost four-year war rages in Ukraine.

The trip to Moscow is the second since last year for Orbán, who is widely considered Putin’s closest partner among all European Union leaders.

In comments to state media before departing for Moscow early Friday, Orbán said the focus of his talks with Putin would be Hungary’s continued access to “cheap Russian oil and gas,” resources that have come under sanctions by the U.S. government.

Hungary is one of only a few EU countries to continue importing large quantities of Russian fossil fuels, and has strongly opposed efforts by the bloc to wean its 27 member nations off Russian energy supplies. Earlier this month, Orbán traveled to Washington for a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump and succeeded in securing an exemption to sanctions the Trump administration placed on Russian energy companies Lukoil and Rosneft — an allowance Orbán said ensured Hungary’s continued energy security.

Orbán said Friday that following Hungary’s exemption from U.S. sanctions, “now all we need is oil and gas, which we can buy from the Russians. I am going there to ensure Hungary’s energy supply at an affordable price both this winter and next year.”

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Here’s what to know about the federal ban threatening the market for THC-infused drinks and snacks

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The production lines at Indeed Brewing moved quickly, the cans filling not with beer, but with THC-infused seltzer. The product, which features the compound that gets cannabis users high, has been a lifeline at Indeed and other craft breweries as alcohol sales have fallen in recent years.

But that boom looks set to come to a crashing halt. Buried in the bill that ended the federal government shutdown this month was a provision to ban those drinks, along with other impairing beverages and snacks made from hemp, which have proliferated across the country in recent years. Now the $24 billion hemp industry is scrambling to save itself before the provision takes effect in November 2026.

“It’s a big deal,” said Ryan Bandy, Indeed’s chief business officer. “It would be a mess for our breweries, for our industry, and obviously for a lot of people who like these things.”

Here’s what to know about the looming ban on impairing products derived from hemp.

Marijuana and hemp are the same species. Marijuana is cultivated for high levels of THC in its flowers. Low-THC hemp is grown for its sturdy fibers, food or wellness products. “Rope, not dope” was long the motto of farmers who supported legalizing hemp.