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

Russia has hammered Ukraine’s electricity network, aiming to deny civilians power and weaken their appetite for the fight, while fighting continues along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line snaking along eastern and southern parts of Ukraine.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy revealed that 55,000 Ukrainian troops have died since Russia's invasion almost four years ago. “And there is a large number of people whom Ukraine considers missing,” he added in an interview broadcast by French TV channel France 2 late Wednesday.

The last time Zelenskyy gave a figure for battlefield deaths, in early 2025, he said 46,000 Ukrainian troops had been killed.

The delegations from Moscow and Kyiv were joined Thursday in the capital of the United Arab Emirates by U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, according to Rustem Umerov, Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council chief, who was present at the meeting.

ICE agents can't make warrantless arrests in Oregon unless there's a risk of escape, US judge rules

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — U.S. immigration agents in Oregon must stop arresting people without warrants unless there's a likelihood of escape, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.

U.S. District Judge Mustafa Kasubhai issued a preliminary injunction in a proposed class-action lawsuit targeting the Department of Homeland Security's practice of arresting immigrants they happen to come across while conducting ramped-up enforcement operations — which critics have described as “arrest first, justify later.”

The department, which is named as a defendant in the suit, did not immediately comment in response to a request from The Associated Press.

Similar actions, including immigration agents entering private property without a warrant issued by a court, have drawn concern from civil rights groups across the country amid President Donald Trump's mass deportation efforts.

Courts in Colorado and Washington, D.C., have issued rulings like Kasubhai’s, and the government has appealed them.

The Gaza ceasefire began months ago. Here’s why the fighting persists

JERUSALEM (AP) — As the bodies of two dozen Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes arrived at hospitals in Gaza on Wednesday, the director of one asked a question that has echoed across the war-ravaged territory for months.

“Where is the ceasefire? Where are the mediators?” Shifa Hospital's Mohamed Abu Selmiya wrote on Facebook.

At least 556 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes since a U.S.-brokered truce came into effect in October, including 24 on Wednesday and 30 on Saturday, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Four Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza in the same period, with more injured, including a soldier whom the military said was severely wounded when militants opened fire near the ceasefire line in northern Gaza overnight.

Other aspects of the agreement have stalled, including the deployment of an international security force, Hamas' disarmament and the start of Gaza's reconstruction. The opening of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt raised hope of further progress, but fewer than 50 people were allowed to cross on Monday.

In October, after months of stalled negotiations, Israel and Hamas accepted a 20-point plan proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump aimed at ending the war unleashed by Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack into Israel.

Bitcoin plunges up to 8% and South Korea's Kospi sinks nearly 4% in the latest tech-led sell-off

World shares retreated Thursday in Asia on heavy selling of technology stocks, while the price of bitcoin fell as much as 8%.

The latest round of jitters over high prices for tech shares sent South Korea’s Kospi down nearly 4%. Oil prices sank more than $1 a barrel.

Bitcoin was trading near $71,000 early Thursday, down 7.3% after crashing to about $69,000 earlier in the day, according to CoinDesk. That's its lowest level since November 2024.

Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin have dropped after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, said in answer to questions in the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday that he did not have the authority to order banks to buy such assets.

In share trading, Germany's DAX slipped 0.2% to 24,568.67 and the CAC 40 in Paris edged 0.2% higher to 8,278.99. Britain's FTSE 100 gave up 0.3% to 10,371.83.

Epstein files rife with uncensored nudes and victims' names, despite redaction efforts

NEW YORK (AP) — Nude photos. The names and faces of sexual abuse victims. Bank account and Social Security numbers in full view.

All of these things appeared in the mountain of documents released Friday by the U.S. Justice Department as part of its effort to comply with a law requiring it to open its investigative files on Jeffrey Epstein.

That law was intended to preserve important privacy protections for Epstein's victims. Their names were supposed to have been blacked out in documents. Their faces and bodies were supposed to be obscured in photos.

Mistakes, though, have been rampant. A review by The Associated Press and other news organizations has found countless examples of sloppy, inconsistent or nonexistent redactions that have revealed sensitive private information.

A photo of one girl who was underage when she was hired to give sexualized massages to Epstein in Florida appeared in a chart of his alleged victims. Police reports with the names of several of his victims, including some who have never stepped forward to identify themselves publicly, were released with no redactions at all.

What to know about the attacks in Nigeria that killed over 160 people

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Gunmen killed scores of people during an attack on two villages in Western Nigeria in one of the deadliest assaults in the West African country in recent months.

The attack on Tuesday evening targeted the neighboring villages of Woro and Nuku, in Kwara state. A lawmaker who represents the area said that at least 162 people were killed, while Amnesty International said the gunmen killed over 170 people, razed homes and looted shops. The rights group deplored “a stunning security failure.”

There has been a surge of deadly attacks and kidnappings by Islamic militants and armed gangs in Nigeria in recent months, as the country's overstretched military has struggled to contain an array of security challenges.

Here’s what to know about the deadly attacks.

Nigeria is in the grip of a complex security crisis, including an insurgency by Islamic militants and a surge in kidnappings for ransom by criminal gangs.

Savannah Guthrie posts message to her mother's kidnapper asking to provide proof she is alive

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — NBC “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie sent a public message to her 84-year-old mother’s kidnapper on Wednesday saying that her family is ready to talk but wants proof that she is alive.

Guthrie said in a recorded video posted on social media that her family has heard media reports about a ransom letter for Nancy Guthrie, who authorities believe was taken from her home in Arizona against her will.

“We are ready to talk. However, we live in a world where voices and images are easily manipulated,” Savannah Guthrie said while reading from a prepared statement. “We need to know without a doubt that she is alive and that you have her. We want to hear from you and we are ready to listen. Please reach out to us.”

She was last seen around 9:45 p.m. Saturday, when she was dropped off at home by family after having dinner with them, the sheriff’s department said. She was reported missing midday Sunday after she didn’t appear at a church.

The family posted the message after police conducted a search in and around Nancy Guthrie’s home for several hours Wednesday.

Taiwan-US ties are ‘rock solid,’ the island’s president says after Trump-Xi call

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan’s ties with the United States are “rock solid,” the island’s president said Thursday, hours after President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping spoke on the phone about topics that included the self-ruled island’s future.

“The Taiwan-U.S. relationship is rock solid, and all cooperation projects will continue uninterrupted,” Taiwan President Lai Ching-te told reporters during a visit to textile merchants in western Taiwan.

The comments came after Xi, in his first call with Trump since November, warned the U.S. president to be “prudent” about supplying arms to the self-ruled island, according to a readout of their call provided by China’s Foreign Ministry.

Taiwan is a self-ruled democracy that China claims as its own territory, to be annexed by force if necessary. Beijing prohibits all countries it has diplomatic relations with — including the U.S. — from having formal ties with Taipei.

Still, while the U.S. doesn’t officially recognize Taiwan as a country, it is the island’s strongest informal backer and arms supplier.

The last US-Russia nuclear pact expires, prompting fears of a new arms race

MOSCOW (AP) — The last remaining nuclear arms pact between Russia and the United States expires Thursday, removing any caps on the two largest atomic arsenals for the first time in more than a half-century.

The termination of the New START Treaty could set the stage for what many fear could be an unconstrained nuclear arms race.

Russian President Vladimir Putin last year declared readiness to stick to the treaty’s limits for another year if Washington follows suit, but U.S. President Donald Trump has been noncommittal about extending it. He has indicated that he wants China to be a part of it — a push Beijing has rebuffed.

Putin discussed the pact’s expiration with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Wednesday, Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov said, noting Washington hasn’t responded to his proposed extension.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday that Moscow views the expiration of the treaty “negatively” and regrets its.

On Capitol Hill, Treasury Secretary Bessent’s testimony descends into insults and shouting matches

WASHINGTON (AP) — A hearing about oversight of the U.S. financial system devolved into insults several times Wednesday as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent clashed with Democratic lawmakers over fiscal policy, the business dealings of the Trump family and other issues.

Appearances by treasury secretaries on Capitol Hill are more typically known for staid exchanges over economic policy than for political theater, but Wednesday's hearing of the House Financial Services Committee hearing featured several fiery exchanges between the Republican Cabinet member and Democrats, with Bessent even lobbing insults back to the lawmakers.

Bessent called Rep. Sylvia Garcia “confused” when she questioned how undocumented immigrants could affect housing affordability across the country, prompting the Texas Democrat to snap back, “Don’t be demeaning to me, alright?"

Bessent later mocked a question from Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., about shuttered investigations into cryptocurrency firms. Lynch expressed frustration with Bessent's interruptions, saying, "Mister Chairman, the answers have to be responsive if we are going to have a serious hearing.”

Bessent replied, “Well, the questions have to be serious.”