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

The indictment makes Comey the first former senior government official involved in one of Trump's chief grievances, the long-concluded investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, to face prosecution. Trump has for years derided that investigation as a “hoax” and a “witch hunt” despite multiple government reviews showing Moscow interfered on behalf of the Republican’s campaign, and has made clear his desire for retribution.

The criminal case is likely to deepen concerns that the Justice Department under Attorney General Pam Bondi is being weaponized in pursuit of investigations and now prosecutions of public figures the president regards as his political enemies. It was filed as the White House has taken steps to exert influence in unprecedented ways on the department, blurring the line between law and politics at an agency where independence in prosecutorial decision-making is a foundational principle.

Trump on Thursday hailed the indictment as “JUSTICE FOR AMERICA!” Bondi, a Trump loyalist, and FBI Director Kash Patel, a longtime vocal critic of the Russia investigation, issued similar statements. “No one is above the law,” Bondi said.

Comey, in a video he posted after his indictment, said: “My heart is broken for the Department of Justice but I have great confidence in the federal judicial system, and I'm innocent. So let's have a trial.”

Trump signs executive order supporting proposed deal to put TikTok under US ownership

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday that he says will allow TikTok to continue operating in the United States in a way that meets national security concerns.

Trump's order will enable an American-led of group of investors to buy the app from China's ByteDance, though the deal is not yet finalized and also requires China's approval.

Much is still unknown about the actual deal in the works, but Trump said at a White House signing ceremony Thursday that Chinese leader Xi Jinping has agreed to move forward with it.

Vice President JD Vance added that “there was some resistance on the Chinese side, but the fundamental thing that we wanted to accomplish is that we wanted to keep TikTok operating, but we also wanted to make sure that we protected Americans’ data privacy as required by law."

The Chinese embassy in Washington didn’t immediately respond to an Associated Press inquiry seeking confirmation of China’s approval.

Trump to put import taxes on pharmaceutical drugs, kitchen cabinets, furniture and heavy trucks

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Thursday that he will put import taxes of 100% on pharmaceutical drugs, 50% on kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities, 30% on upholstered furniture and 25% on heavy trucks starting on Oct. 1.

The posts on his social media site showed that Trump's devotion to tariffs did not end with the trade frameworks and import taxes that were launched in August, a reflection of the president's confidence that taxes will help to reduce the government's budget deficit while increasing domestic manufacturing.

While Trump did not provide a legal justification for the tariffs, he appeared to stretch the bounds of his role as commander-in-chief by stating on Truth Social that the taxes on imported kitchen cabinets and sofas were needed “for National Security and other reasons.”

Under the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, the administration launched a Section 232 investigation in April about the impacts on national security from pharmaceutical drug and truck imports. The Commerce Department launched a 232 investigation into timber and lumber in March, though it's unclear whether the furniture tariffs stem from that.

The tariffs are another dose of uncertainty for the U.S. economy with a solid stock market but a weakening outlook for jobs and elevated inflation. These new taxes on imports could pass through to consumers in the form of higher prices and dampen hiring, a process that economic data suggests is already underway.

Trump says he will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump vowed Thursday not to allow Israel to annex the occupied West Bank, offering strong assurances that he'd block a move that Arab leaders in the region have staunchly opposed.

Asked about Israel officials suggesting in recent weeks that their government could move to seize control of at least some parts of the West Bank, Trump was blunt.

“I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank,” he told reporters in the Oval Office while signing executive orders unrelated to foreign policy. “I will not allow it. It’s not going to happen.”

Possible annexation has been floated in Israel in response to a string of countries — including key U.S. allies like the United Kingdom and Canada — moving to recognize a Palestinian state. Trump said he'd spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but that he'd be firm in not allowing annexation, adding, “It's been enough. It's time to stop now.”

Trump prides himself on his full-throated support for Israel, but has also sought to broker an end to the fighting in Israel's ongoing war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. His comments constituted a rare instance of potential pushback against top Israeli officials — even as Trump has continued to demand the release of hostages seized by Hamas.

Man who fired on ICE facility hated US government, sought to kill federal agents, officials say

DALLAS (AP) — The gunman who opened fire on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Dallas hated the U.S. government and wanted to incite terror by killing federal agents, officials said Thursday, offering the first hint of a motive in the attack.

Citing handwritten notes found at his suburban home, authorities said 29-year-old Joshua Jahn set out to ambush the agency and then fatally shot himself following the assault.

The shooting at daybreak Wednesday targeted the ICE office building, including a van in a gated entryway that held detainees. One detainee was killed, and two others were critically wounded. No ICE personnel were hurt.

Jahn “specifically intended to kill ICE agents," firing at vehicles carrying ICE personnel, federal agents and detainees. "He also fired multiple shots in the windows of the office building where numerous ICE employees do their jobs every day,” said Joseph Rothrock, agent in charge of the FBI's Dallas field office.”

Jahn's notes indicated "that he did not expect to survive this event,” Rothrock said. “He wanted to cause terror.”

Hegseth abruptly summons top military commanders to a meeting in Virginia next week

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has summoned the military's top officers — hundreds of generals and admirals — to a base in northern Virginia for a sudden meeting next week, according to three people familiar with the matter.

The directive did not offer a reason for the gathering next Tuesday of senior commanders of the one-star rank or higher and their top advisers at the Marine Corps base in Quantico. The people, who described the move as unusual, were not authorized to publicly discuss the sensitive plans and spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity.

The Pentagon's top spokesman, Sean Parnell, confirmed that Hegseth "will be addressing his senior military leaders early next week.”

Across the military, there are 800 generals and admirals of all ranks. Many command thousands of service members and are stationed across the world in more than a dozen countries and time zones.

President Donald Trump didn’t seem to know about the meeting when he was asked about it by reporters during an Oval Office appearance later Thursday.

Amazon to pay $2.5 billion to settle FTC allegations it duped customers into enrolling in Prime

SEATTLE (AP) — Amazon has reached a historic $2.5 billion settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, which said the online retail giant tricked customers into signing up for its Prime memberships and made it difficult for them to cancel after doing so.

The Seattle company will pay $1 billion in civil penalties — the largest such fine in the agency’s history for a rule violation — and $1.5 billion will be paid back to consumers who were unintentionally enrolled in Prime, or were deterred from canceling their subscriptions, the agency said Thursday.

The surprise settlement comes just days after the trial began in U.S. District Court in Seattle this week. At the heart of the case is the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act, a 2010 law designed to ensure that people know what they’re being charged for online.

FTC officials said Amazon had its back against the wall and the consumer refund amount exceeded even the agency’s expert projections.

“I think it just took a few days for them to see that they were going to lose. And they came to us and they paid out,” said Chris Mufarrige, director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection, on the settlement negotiations.

Human remains in Washington state identified as Travis Decker, wanted for killing his daughters

WENATCHEE, Wash. (AP) — Forensic tests confirmed that human remains found on a remote mountain in Washington state this month were those of Travis Decker, a former soldier wanted for killing his three young daughters last spring, officials confirmed Thursday.

His remains were discovered on a steep, remote, wooded slope part way up Grindstone Mountain in central Washington, less than a mile (1.6 km) from the campsite where the bodies of 9-year-old Paityn Decker, 8-year-old Evelyn Decker and 5-year-old Olivia Decker were found on June 2, the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office said.

Law enforcement teams had been searching more than three months for Decker, 32, before the sheriff's office announced last week it had located human remains believed to be his. Sheriff Mike Morrison said Thursday that DNA tests on clothing found at the scene as well as from the remains matched Decker.

The sheriff said investigators wanted to honor the girls’ memory by solving the case, and he apologized to their mother, Whitney Decker, that it took so long.

“I hope you can rest easier at night knowing that Travis is accounted for,” Morrison said.

Greenspan, Bernanke and Yellen urge Supreme Court to let Lisa Cook keep her job as a Fed governor

WASHINGTON (AP) — Alan Greenspan, Ben Bernanke, Janet Yellen and other former top economic officials appointed by presidents of both parties urged the Supreme Court on Thursday to preserve the Federal Reserve's political independence and allow Lisa Cook to remain as a central bank governor for now.

The justices are weighing an emergency appeal from the administration to remove Cook while her lawsuit challenging her firing by Republican President Donald Trump proceeds through the courts.

The White House campaign to unseat Cook marks an unprecedented bid to reshape the Fed board, which was designed to be largely independent from day-to-day politics. No president has fired a sitting Fed governor in the agency’s 112-year history.

Earlier in September, a judge determined that Trump's move to fire Cook probably was illegal. An appeals court rejected an emergency plea to oust Cook before the Fed's meeting last week when Cook joined in a vote to cut a key interest rate by one-quarter of a percentage point.

A day after that meeting, the administration turned to the Supreme Court and again asked for her prompt removal.

Arizona jury convicts man in string of shootings that killed 8 in metro Phoenix

Phoenix (AP) — An Arizona man was convicted Thursday on eight murder charges for a string of fatal shootings that targeted random victims and his own mother and stepfather over a three-week span.

The crimes in late 2017 happened during a time of unease in metro Phoenix when people were scared to go out at night or drive on freeways because of two other serial shooting cases in the summer of 2015.

While details trickled out on those cases, the killings Cleophus Cooksey Jr. was accused of generated no publicity until his arrest in 2018 — a surprising development given that the public hadn’t been told about investigators trying to find a serial killer.

Cooksey, 43, is now facing the death penalty when he is sentenced Monday on murder convictions, as well as on kidnapping, sexual assault and armed robbery in a trial that has spanned months.

Cooksey's victims in Phoenix and nearby Glendale included two men found dead in a parked car, a security guard shot while walking to his girlfriend’s apartment and a woman who was kidnapped, her body found in an alley after she was sexually assaulted.