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

Following one of the most tumultuous days in the modern history of Britain's royal family, the former Prince Andrew is back at his new home on the Sandringham estate, King Charles III 's private retreat, which is around 115 miles (185 kilometers) north of London.

Police have concluded their search there but are still searching Royal Lodge, his 30-room former home in the grounds of Windsor Castle, just west of the capital.

Mountbatten-Windsor, who was pictured slouched in the back of his chauffeur-driven car following his release Thursday evening, remains under investigation, which means he has neither been charged nor exonerated by Thames Valley Police, the force responsible for areas west of London.

His arrest follows years of allegations over his links with Epstein, who took his own life in a New York prison in 2019. The accusation at the heart of his arrest is that Mountbatten-Windsor — who was known as Prince Andrew until October when his brother stripped him of his titles and honors — shared confidential trade information with the disgraced financier when he was a trade envoy for the U.K.

Russian-run areas of Ukraine face water, heat and housing woes

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Nearly four years into its full-scale invasion, Russia controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory. Many of the estimated 3 million to 5 million people who remain in regions under Moscow's control face housing, water, power, heat and health care woes.

Even President Vladimir Putin has acknowledged “many truly pressing, urgent problems” in the regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, which were illegally annexed by Moscow months after the all-out war began on Feb. 24, 2022.

Russian citizenship, language and culture is forced upon residents, including in school lesson plans and textbooks.

Some residents live in fear of being accused of sympathizing with Kyiv, according to Ukrainians who have left. Many have been imprisoned, beaten and killed, according to human rights activists.

Russia established a “vast network of secret and official detention centers where tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilians” are held indefinitely without charge, said Oleksandra Matviichuk, head of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Center for Civil Liberties.

Life is harsh and dangerous in Russian-run parts of Ukraine, activists and former residents say

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Even now, safely in her new home of Estonia, Inna Vnukova says she can’t purge the terrifying memory of living under Russian occupation in eastern Ukraine early in the war and her family’s harrowing escape.

They hid in a damp basement for days in their village of Kudriashivka after Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. In the streets, soldiers waving machine guns bullied residents, set up checkpoints and looted homes. There was constant shelling.

“Everyone was very scared and afraid to go outside,” Vnukova told The Associated Press, with troops seeking out Ukrainian sympathizers and civil servants like her and her husband, Oleksii Vnukov.

In mid-March, she decided that she and her 16-year-old son, Zhenya, would flee the village with her brother's family, even though it meant leaving her husband behind temporarily. They took a risky trip by car to nearby Starobilsk, waving a white sheet amid mortar fire.

“We had already said our goodbyes to life, cursing this Russian world,” said Vnukova, 42. “I’ve been trying to forget this nightmare for four years, but I can’t.”

Ex-South Korean president remains defiant following life sentence for rebellion

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Ousted South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday remained defiant in his first reaction to a life sentence for rebellion handed down by a Seoul court the previous day.

In a statement released by his lawyers, Yoon maintained that his abrupt and short-lived declaration of martial law in December 2024 was done “solely for the sake of the nation and our people,” and dismissed the Seoul Central District Court as biased against him.

Yoon, who was removed from office amid a political crisis set off by his unsuccessful power grab, has long rejected the eight criminal cases brought against him for what prosecutors described as a coup attempt and other allegations.

He barricaded himself in the presidential residence for weeks, stonewalled investigators following his arrest, and skipped court dates, while clashing with witnesses when he did appear.

In handing down his verdict on rebellion charges on Thursday, Judge Jee Kui-youn of the Seoul court said that Yoon has shown “no sign of apology for the staggering social costs incurred by the emergency martial law” and that he “refused to appear in court without any justifiable reason” several times.

Saudi Arabia may have uranium enrichment under proposed deal with US, arms control experts warn

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi Arabia could have some form of uranium enrichment within the kingdom under a proposed nuclear deal with the United States, congressional documents and an arms control group suggest, raising proliferation concerns as an atomic standoff between Iran and America continues.

U.S. Presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden both tried to reach a nuclear deal with the kingdom to share American technology. Nonproliferation experts warn any spinning centrifuges within Saudi Arabia could open the door to a possible weapons program for the kingdom, something its assertive crown prince has suggested he could pursue if Tehran obtains an atomic bomb.

Already, Saudi Arabia and nuclear-armed Pakistan signed a mutual defense pact last year after Israel launched an attack on Qatar targeting Hamas officials. Pakistan’s defense minister then said his nation’s nuclear program “will be made available” to Saudi Arabia if needed, something seen as a warning for Israel, long believed to be the Middle East's only nuclear-armed state.

“Nuclear cooperation can be a positive mechanism for upholding nonproliferation norms and increasing transparency, but the devil is in the details,” wrote Kelsey Davenport, the director for nonproliferation policy at the Washington-based Arms Control Association.

The documents raise “concerns that the Trump administration has not carefully considered the proliferation risks posed by its proposed nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia or the precedent this agreement may set.”

Israeli settlers kill 19-year-old Palestinian American, officials and witnesses say

MUKHMAS, West Bank (AP) — Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank shot and killed a Palestinian American man during an attack on a village, the Palestinian Health Ministry and a witness said Thursday.

Raed Abu Ali, a resident of Mukhmas, said a group of settlers came to the village Wednesday afternoon where they attacked a farmer, prompting clashes after residents intervened. Israeli forces later arrived, and during the violence armed settlers killed 19-year-old Nasrallah Abu Siyam and injured several others.

Abu Ali said that the army shot tear gas, sound grenades and live ammunition. Israel's military acknowledged using what it called “riot dispersal methods” after receiving reports of Palestinians throwing rocks but denied that its forces fired during the clashes.

“When the settlers saw the army, they were encouraged and started shooting live bullets,” Abu Ali said. He added that they clubbed those injured with sticks after they had fallen to the ground.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health confirmed Abu Siyam's death from critical wounds sustained Wednesday afternoon near the village east of Ramallah.

Trump's refusal to invite all governors to a White House meeting prompts group to back out

WASHINGTON (AP) — The National Governors Association is pulling out of an annual meeting at the White House after President Donald Trump declined to invite two Democratic governors, undercutting one of Washington's few remaining bipartisan gatherings.

Trump is still expected to meet with governors at the White House on Friday but the event will not be facilitated by an organization founded more than a century ago to help state leaders from both parties advocate for their interests in Washington. The Republican president had refused to include Democratic Govs. Jared Polis of Colorado and Wes Moore of Maryland and recently blasted them on social media as "not worthy of being there.”

In a brief interview Thursday, Polis said he does not have “any ability to get in (Trump's) head.” Polis said he was nonetheless meeting with governors from both parties while he is in the nation's capital.

“I’ve spent quality time with my colleagues this morning and really learning from one another and taking best practices that Republican or Democratic governors have launched in their state,” he said. “It’s really what these meetings are about.”

The episode underscores the confrontational approach Trump has taken during his second term toward state leaders he does not like. He has at times threatened to withhold federal money or send in troops over the objections of local leaders. Now, even a ceremonial White House dinner has become a flashpoint and fellow Republicans openly acknowledge that Trump's aim as president is not to unify the country.

Crews hope to resume recovery of 8 bodies from California avalanche after days of dangerous weather

SODA SPRINGS, Calif. (AP) — Crews hope to resume efforts Friday to recover the bodies of eight people killed and one still missing in an avalanche in California's Sierra Nevada after days of dangerous weather that has hampered safe access to the area.

Six of the people who died were part of a close-knit group of friends who were experienced backcountry skiers and knew how to navigate the alpine wilderness, their families said Thursday. The three others who are dead or presumed dead were guides.

“We are devastated beyond words,” the families said in a statement released through a spokesperson. The women were mothers, wives and friends who “connected through the love of the outdoors,” they said, and were carrying avalanche safety equipment and prepared for backcountry travel.

The six were identified as Carrie Atkin, Liz Clabaugh, Danielle Keatley, Kate Morse, Caroline Sekar and Kate Vitt, and they lived in the San Francisco Bay Area, in Idaho and in the Lake Tahoe area. The families asked for privacy while they grieve.

The names of the other victims have not been released.

Deadly California avalanche highlights inherent risks in the backcountry

The recovery of skiers killed in the deadliest U.S. avalanche in almost 45 years is dragging out because of what experts say is a prime rule for rescuers: Don't make yourself a victim.

A storm that continued lashing California’s remote Sierra Nevada wilderness Thursday meant more avalanches were possible in the backcountry area where authorities said eight people died and one was still missing two days after their group was caught in the deadly slide. Six people survived.

Rescuers faced the same potential perils that killed the backcountry skiers and professional guides, as they pursued a sport with inherent risks that were compounded by several feet of new snow. Recovery efforts were set to resume Friday.

Backcountry winter travelers from skiers and snowboarders to snowmobilers and mountaineers lean on avalanche forecasts to help them gauge the danger. Yet conditions quickly shift because of turbulent mountain weather.

To supplement forecasts or if none is available, experienced skiers and guides will dig a pit in the snow to test how stable it is. They can also search out less-hazardous terrain, such as slopes that are not as steep or that are sheltered from known avalanche routes.

Kim lauds North Korea's economy and regional standing as major party meeting opens

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un lauded his nation’s improving economy and regional standing as he opened the country’s most important political event, where he is expected to set his domestic and foreign policy agenda for the next five years and further entrench his family’s authoritarian rule.

The Workers’ Party congress, which will likely run for days in Pyongyang, comes as Kim carves out a more forceful regional presence, leveraging an advancing nuclear arsenal and a growing alignment with Moscow that have deepened his standoffs with Washington and Seoul.

The meeting will likely provide the stage for Kim to unveil his key political and military objectives and further consolidate his authoritarian grip before thousands of ruling party delegates. Some analysts say Kim could also use the congress to position his teenage daughter — believed to be named Kim Ju Ae and about 13 — as a potential successor, formalizing the regime’s fourth-generation succession.

North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency reported Friday the meeting began the previous day. It did not immediately report any direct comments from Kim on his standoffs with the United States and South Korea or his nuclear weapons program.

Entering his 15th year in power, Kim is in a much stronger position than when he last convened the congress in 2021, when North Korea was experiencing a crippled economy worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic and the wreckage of his failed diplomacy with U.S. President Donald Trump.