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

Northeast gets last brunt of winter storm that brought ice, snow, cold to much of the US

The U.S. work week opened with yet more snow dumping on the Northeast under the tail end of a colossal winter storm that brought ice and power outages, impassable roads, canceled flights and frigid cold to much of the southern and eastern United States.

Deep snow — over a foot (30 centimeters) extending in a 1,300-mile (2,100-kilometer) swath from Arkansas to New England — halted traffic, canceled flights and triggered wide school cancellations Monday.

Up to two feet (60 centimeters) were forecast in some of the harder-hit places.

In Falmouth, Massachusetts, about an hour’s drive south of Boston, snow was coming down in sheets and closing down the town.

Local minister Nell Fields had to shovel out just to be able to let her dog outside. Seven inches (18 centimeters) had fallen, with up to that much more still on the way.

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More than 11,400 flights canceled Sunday as massive winter storm sweeps across US

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A massive winter storm made for a brutal travel day Sunday, with widespread cancellations and delays at some of the nation’s busiest airports.

Widespread snow, sleet and freezing rain threatened nearly 180 million people — more than half the U.S. population — in a path stretching from the southern Rocky Mountains to New England, the National Weather Service said Saturday night. After sweeping through the South, the storm moved into the Northeast Sunday, and was expected to dump about 1 to 2 feet (30 to 60 centimeters) of snow from Washington through New York and Boston.

More than 11,400 flights were canceled on Sunday, according to flight-tracking site FlightAware. Aviation analytics firm Cirium said that as of Sunday morning, the storm is the highest experienced cancellation event since the pandemic.

By Sunday afternoon, the majority of flights were canceled at busy airports in the Northeast and elsewhere. LaGuardia Airport in New York closed Sunday afternoon, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The agency said on its website the busy Queens airport grounded flights until 8 p.m.

In Philadelphia, 94% of flights, 326 flights, were canceled. Ninety-one percent of flights, 436 flights, were canceled at LaGuardia Airport in New York. New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport had 466 flights canceled, about 80% of flights, according to FlightAware.

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Trump, unbowed by backlash to Minneapolis shooting, blames Democrats for ‘chaos’

WASHINGTON (AP) — The fatal shooting of a Minneapolis protester by a federal immigration officer touched off a fierce national debate and prompted some fellow Republicans to question President Donald Trump’s hard-line immigration crackdown, but the president on Sunday night continued to blame Democratic officials.

After remaining relatively quiet on Sunday, the Republican president in two lengthy social media posts said that Democrats had encouraged people to obstruct law enforcement operations. He also called on officials in Minnesota to work with immigration officers and “turn over” people who were in the U.S. illegally.

“Tragically, two American Citizens have lost their lives as a result of this Democrat ensued chaos,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social media network.

Trump’s refusal to back away from his pledge to carry out the largest deportation program in history and the surge of immigration officers to heavily Democratic cities came as more Republicans began calling for a deeper investigation and expressing unease with some of the administration’s tactics.

Trump also told The Wall Street Journal in an interview Sunday that his administration was “reviewing everything,” but he refused to say whether the officer who shot 37-year-old Alex Pretti acted appropriately.

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Judge set to hear arguments on Minnesota’s immigration crackdown after fatal shootings

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A federal judge will hear arguments Monday on whether she should at least temporarily halt the immigration crackdown in Minnesota that has led to the fatal shootings of two people by government officers.

The state of Minnesota and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul sued the Department of Homeland Security earlier this month, five days after Renee Good was shot by an Immigration and Customs officer. Saturday’s shooting by a Border Patrol officer of Alex Pretti has only added urgency to the case.

Since the original filing, the state and cities have substantially added to their original request. They’re trying to restore the state of affairs that existed before the Trump administration launched Operation Metro Surge on Dec. 1.

The hearing is set for Monday morning in federal court in Minneapolis. Democratic Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said he plans to personally attend.

They’re asking that U.S. District Judge Kathleen Menendez order federal law enforcement agencies to reduce the numbers of officers and agents in Minnesota to levels before the surge, while allowing them to continue to enforce immigration laws within a long list of proposed limits.

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Hundreds rescued from deadly ferry disaster in Philippines

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A ferry with more than 350 people on board sank early Monday near an island in the southern Philippines. Rescuers have saved at least 316 passengers and retrieved 15 bodies, officials said.

The M/V Trisha Kerstin 3, an inter-island cargo and passenger ferry, was sailing from the port city of Zamboanga to southern Jolo island in Sulu province with 332 passengers and 27 crew members when it apparently encountered technical problems and sank after midnight, coast guard officials said.

The ferry sank in good weather about a nautical mile (nearly 2 kilometers) from the island village of Baluk-baluk in Basilan province, said coast guard Commander Romel Dua.

“There was a coast guard safety officer on board and he was the first to call and alert us to deploy rescue vessels,” Dua said, adding that the safety officer survived.

One of the rescued passengers, Mohamad Khan, said that the ferry abruptly tilted to one side and took on water, hurling people including him and his wife, who was holding their 6-month-old baby, into the sea in the darkness. He and his wife were rescued, but their baby drowned.

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Private jet with 8 aboard crashes on takeoff in Maine, FAA says

BANGOR, Maine (AP) — A private aircraft carrying eight people crashed on takeoff Sunday night at Maine’s Bangor International Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

The Bombardier Challenger 600 crashed around 7:45 p.m., and there was no immediate word on the conditions of those aboard. The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.

The crash occurred as New England and much of the country grappled with a massive winter storm. Bangor had undergone steady snowfall Sunday along with many other parts of the country.

The airport issued a statement that emergency crews were on the scene at the airport, which was closed after what it described as an incident involving a single aircraft departing the airport.

Bangor International Airport offers direct flights to cities like Orlando, Florida, Washington, D.C., and Charlotte, North Carolina, and is located about 200 miles (320 kilometers) north of Boston.

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Gunmen open fire at soccer field in central Mexico, killing 11 and wounding 12

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Gunmen opened fire at a soccer field in central Mexico on Sunday, killing at least 11 people and wounding 12, authorities said.

Salamanca Mayor Cesar Prieto said in a statement posted to social platforms that the gunmen arrived at the end of a soccer match.

Ten people died at the scene and one died later at a hospital. The mayor said a woman and a minor were among the wounded.

Prieto said the attack was part of a “crime wave” in the city and appealed to President Claudia Sheinbaum for help to control the violence.

The Guanajuato state prosecutor’s office said it was investigating and coordinating with federal authorities to reinforce security in the area.

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How a purge of China’s military leadership could impact the army and the future of Taiwan

BEIJING (AP) — China made a major announcement over the weekend, saying it was investigating the army’s top general for suspected serious violations of discipline and law.

Gen. Zhang Youxia was the highest military member just below President Xi Jinping.

The Defense Ministry said Saturday that authorities were investigating Zhang, the senior of the two vice chairs of the powerful Central Military Commission, China’s top military body, and Gen. Liu Zhenli, a lower member of the commission who was in charge of the military’s Joint Staff Department.

The move shakes up virtually the entire commission, chaired by Xi, leaving only one of its six members intact.

“Xi Jinping has completed one of the biggest purges of China’s military leadership in the history of the People’s Republic,” said Neil Thomas, a fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis.

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ICC judges find former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte fit to stand trial

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Judges at the International Criminal Court ruled on Monday that former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is fit to stand trial, after postponing an earlier hearing over concerns about the octogenarian’s health.

Duterte is facing charges of crimes against humanity for his alleged involvement in dozens of killings as part of his so-called war on drugs when in office, first as the mayor of a southern city and later as president.

Lawyers for the 80-year old had argued Duterte was in frail health and his condition was deteriorating in the court’s detention unit.

Duterte was arrested in March and was set to appear in court in The Hague in September. That hearing was delayed after a pretrial panel of judges granted “limited postponement” to give the court time to determine “whether Mr Duterte is fit to follow and participate” in the proceedings.

Following an assessment by a panel of medical experts, judges found that Duterte “is able effectively to exercise his procedural rights and is therefore fit to take part in the pre-trial proceedings.”

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Yemen rebels threaten new Red Sea attack as US aircraft carrier heads toward Iran

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels threatened new attacks on ships traveling through the Red Sea corridor, likely trying to back Iran as it worried Monday about an approaching U.S. aircraft carrier after President Donald Trump threatened military action over its crackdown on nationwide protests.

A short video by the Houthis included previously published images of a ship on fire, with the caption: “Soon.” The rebels did not elaborate, but their campaign in the Red Sea saw over 100 ships attacked as part of a campaign the Houthis said pressured Israel over its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The Houthis halted their fire after a ceasefire in the conflict, though they’ve repeatedly warned they could resume fire if needed.

The Houthi threat come as the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and other guided missile destroyers with it move toward the region. Trump has said the ships are being moved “just in case” he decides to take action against Iran. Trump already has laid out two red lines for attack — the killing of peaceful protesters and Tehran conducting mass executions of those it has arrested in a massive crackdown over the demonstrations.

Iranian Defense Ministry spokesperson Gen. Reza Talaei-Nik renewed warnings Monday to both Israel and the U.S. over any possible attack, saying it would “be met with a response that is more painful and more decisive than in the past.” Iranian state television quoted Talaei-Nik as adding that threats from the two countries required Iran “to maintain full and comprehensive preparedness.”

Iran over the weekend unveiled a new banner in Enghelab Square threatening the Lincoln, showing an aircraft carrier strewn with bodies and streaked with blood with the warning: “If you sow the wind, you will reap the whirlwind.” However, Iran is still reeling from a 12-day war launched by Israel in June that saw its air defense systems broadly destroyed and top military leaders killed, as well as its nuclear enrichment sites bombed by the U.S.