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

Over 8,000 flights canceled as major winter storm bears down across much of the US

DALLAS (AP) — More than 8,000 flights across the U.S. set to take off over the weekend have been canceled as a major storm expected to wreak havoc across much of the country bears down, threatening to knock out power for days and snarl major roadways.

Roughly 140 million people were under a winter storm warning from New Mexico to New England. The National Weather Service forecast warns of widespread heavy snow and a band of catastrophic ice stretching from east Texas to North Carolina.

Forecasters say damage, especially in areas pounded by ice, could rival that of a hurricane.

By Friday night, the edge of the storm was sending freezing rain and sleet into parts of Texas while snow and sleet were falling in Oklahoma. After sweeping through the South, the storm was expected to move into the Northeast, dumping about a foot (30 centimeters) of snow from Washington through New York and Boston, the weather service predicted.

Governors in more than a dozen states sounded the alarm about the turbulent weather ahead, declaring emergencies or urging people to stay home.

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Russian attacks on Ukraine kill 1 and wound 31 people ahead of second day of peace talks

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian attacks on Ukraine killed at least one person and wounded 31 overnight into Saturday as negotiators from Ukraine, Russia and the United States were to meet in the United Arab Emirates for a second day of talks to end Russia’s nearly four-year full-scale invasion.

One person was killed and four were wounded in Russian drone attacks on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, according to Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko.

In Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, drone attacks wounded 27 people, Kharkiv regional head Oleh Syniehubov said Saturday.

The attacks came as envoys were expected to meet in Abu Dhabi, the UAE capital, for a second day of talks on Saturday. The talks are the first known instance that officials from the Trump administration have sat down with both countries as part of Washington’s push for progress to end Moscow’s nearly 4-year-old invasion.

The UAE’s foreign ministry said the talks are part of efforts “to promote dialogue and identify political solutions to the crisis.” The White House described Friday’s first day as productive.

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Iran’s Revolutionary Guard commander warns the US, says his force has its ‘finger on the trigger’

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, a force which was key in putting down recent nationwide protests in a crackdown that left thousands dead, is “more ready than ever, finger on the trigger,” its commander said Saturday, as U.S. warships headed toward the Middle East.

Nournews, a news outlet close to Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, reported on its Telegram channel that the commander, Gen. Mohammad Pakpour, warned the United States and Israel “to avoid any miscalculation.”

“The Islamic Revolutionary Guards and dear Iran stand more ready than ever, finger on the trigger, to execute the orders and directives of the Commander-in-Chief,” Nournews quoted Pakpour as saying.

Tension remains high between Iran and the U.S. in the wake of a bloody crackdown on protests that began on Dec. 28, triggered by the collapse of Iran’s currency, the rial, and swept the country for about two weeks.

U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly warned Tehran, setting two red lines for the use of military force: the killing of peaceful demonstrators and the mass execution of people arrested in the protests.

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A suicide bomber strikes a wedding in northwestern Pakistan and kills 7 people

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (AP) — A suicide bomber detonated an explosive vest among guests at a wedding ceremony in northwestern Pakistan on Friday, killing at least seven people and wounding 25, police said.

The attack took place at the home of Noor Alam Mehsud, a pro-government community leader in Dera Ismail Khan, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said local police chief Adnan Khan. He said officers transported the victims to a hospital, where some of the wounded were listed in critical condition.

The ceremony was underway, with guests dancing to the beat of drums, when the bomber struck.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. However, suspicion is likely to fall on the Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, who have carried out numerous attacks in the country in recent years. The group is separate from but allied with the Afghan Taliban.

TTP has been emboldened since the Afghan Taliban retuned to power in neighboring Afghanistan in 2021 when U.S. and NATO troops left the country after 20 years of war. Many TTP leaders and fighters have found sanctuaries in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover there.

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Court records raise doubts that ICE is detaining the ‘worst of the worst’ in Maine

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Immigration and Customs Enforcement has highlighted the detention of people whom it called some of Maine’s most dangerous criminals during operations this past week, but court records paint a more complicated picture.

Federal officials say more than 100 people have been detained statewide in what ICE dubbed “Operation Catch of the Day,” a reference to the fishing industry. ICE said in a statement that it was arresting the “worst of the worst,” including “child abusers and hostage takers.”

Court records show some were violent felons. But they also show other detainees with unresolved immigration proceedings or who were arrested but never convicted of a crime.

Immigration attorneys and local officials say similar concerns have surfaced in other cities where ICE has conducted enforcement surges and many of those targeted lacked criminal records.

One case highlighted by ICE that involves serious felony offenses and criminal convictions is that of Sudan native Dominic Ali. ICE said Ali was convicted of false imprisonment, aggravated assault, assault, obstructing justice and violating a protective order.

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What Trump officials and immigration lawyers say about ICE detaining a 5-year-old

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The detention of a 5-year-old Ecuadorian boy with his father outside their home in Minnesota has become the latest lightning rod for America’s divisions on immigration under the Trump administration. Versions offered by government officials and the family’s attorney and neighbors offer contradictory versions of whether the parents were given adequate opportunity to leave the child with someone else.

Neighbors and school officials say that federal immigration officers used the preschooler as “bait” by telling him to knock on the door to his house so that his mother would answer.

The Department of Homeland Security calls that description of events an “abject lie.” It says the father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, fled on foot and left the boy, Liam Conejo Ramos, in a running vehicle in their driveway.

The dueling narratives come just two weeks after the deadly shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer that witnesses also viewed as a blatant abuse of power — and that the government defended as a legitimate act of self-defense.

The father and son are now at family detention facility in Dilley, Texas, near San Antonio.

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After accepting US deportees, South Sudan wanted sanctions relief for top official, documents show

JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — After agreeing to accept deportees from the United States last year, South Sudan sent a list of requests to Washington that included American support for the prosecution of an opposition leader and sanctions relief for a senior official accused of diverting over a billion dollars in public funds.

The requests, contained in a pair of diplomatic communications made public by the State Department this month, offer a glimpse into the kind of benefits that some governments may have sought as they negotiated with the U.S. over the matter of receiving deportees.

In the documents, the U.S. expresses “appreciation” to South Sudan for accepting the deportees and details the names, nationalities and crimes for which each individual was convicted.

In July, South Sudan became the first African country to receive third-country deportees from the U.S. Rwanda, Eswatini, Ghana and Equatorial Guinea have since received deportees.

The eight deportees to South Sudan included nationals of Mexico, Cuba, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and South Sudan itself.

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Trump administration’s defense strategy tells allies to handle their own security

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon released a priority-shifting National Defense Strategy late Friday that chastised U.S. allies to take control of their own security and reasserted the Trump administration’s focus on dominance in the Western Hemisphere above a longtime goal of countering China.

The 34-page document, the first since 2022, was highly political for a military blueprint, criticizing partners from Europe to Asia for relying on previous U.S. administrations to subsidize their defense. It called for “a sharp shift — in approach, focus, and tone.” That translated to a blunt assessment that allies would take on more of the burden countering nations from Russia to North Korea.

“For too long, the U.S. Government neglected — even rejected — putting Americans and their concrete interests first,” read the opening sentence.

It capped off a week of animosity between President Donald Trump’s administration and traditional allies like Europe, with Trump threatening to impose tariffs on some European partners to press a bid to acquire Greenland before announcing a deal that lowered the temperature.

As allies confront what some see as a hostile attitude from the U.S., they will almost certainly be unhappy to see that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s department will provide “credible options to guarantee U.S. military and commercial access to key terrain,” especially Greenland and the Panama Canal.

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Scale of Iran’s nationwide protests and bloody crackdown come into focus even as internet is out

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The bloodiest crackdown on dissent since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution is slowly coming into focus, despite authorities cutting off the Islamic Republic from the internet and much of the wider world.

Cities and towns smell of smoke as fire-damaged mosques and government offices line streets. Banks have been torched, their ATMs smashed. Officials estimate the damage to be at least $125 million, according to an Associated Press tally of reports by the state-run IRNA news agency from over 20 cities.

The number of dead demonstrators reported by activists continues to swell. Activists warn it shows Iran engaging in the same tactics it has used for decades, but at an unprecedented scale — firing from rooftops on demonstrators, shooting birdshot into crowds and sending motorcycle-riding paramilitary Revolutionary Guard volunteers in to beat and detain those who can’t escape.

“The vast majority of protesters were peaceful. The video footage shows crowds of people — including children and families — chanting, dancing around bonfires, marching on their streets,” said Raha Bahreini, of Amnesty International. “The authorities have opened fire unlawfully.”

The killing of peaceful protesters — as well as the threat of mass executions — have been a red line for military action for U.S. President Donald Trump. An American aircraft carrier and warships are approaching the Mideast, possibly allowing Trump to launch another attack on Iran after bombing its nuclear enrichment sites last year. That risks igniting a new Mideast war.

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Stranded by winter weather? Here’s what airlines owe you

Winter weather can upend even the best-laid travel plans, but one less thing to worry about is losing money if your flight is canceled: U.S. airlines are required to provide refunds.

A major, dayslong winter storm is threatening to bring snow, sleet, ice and extensive power outages to about half the U.S. population. Thousands of weekend flights already have been canceled, and forecasters warn that catastrophic damage, especially in areas pounded by ice, could rival that of a hurricane.

Here’s a guide for travelers as flight disruptions start stacking up:

When airlines expect bad weather to create problems for flights, they often give travelers a chance to postpone their trips by a few days without having to pay a fee. Search online for your airline’s name and “travel alerts” or similar phrases to look for possible rescheduling offers.

American Airlines, for example, said it is waiving change fees for passengers impacted by the storm, which brought freezing rain to parts of Texas on Friday. The Texas-based airline has canceled more than 1,200 flights scheduled to depart Saturday, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.