AP News in Brief at 6:04 p.m. EDT

Officers shot and killed the suspect at the synagogue in Manchester, police said, though authorities took some time to confirm he was dead because he was wearing a vest that made it appear as if he had explosives. Police later said he did not have a bomb.

The Metropolitan Police force in London, which leads the nation's counter-terrorism policing operations, declared the rampage a terrorist attack.

Authorities said the man believed responsible was a 35-year-old British citizen of Syrian descent named Jihad Al-Shamie, who entered the U.K. as a young child and became a citizen in 2006. An initial check of records showed he was not part of a U.K. counter-terror program that tries to identify people at risk for being radicalized.

Police also said three people were arrested on suspicion of acts of terrorism. They are two men in their 30s and a woman in her 60s.

Trump says US is in 'armed conflict' with drug cartels after ordering strikes in the Caribbean

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has declared drug cartels to be unlawful combatants and says the United States is now in an "armed conflict” with them, according to a Trump administration memo obtained by The Associated Press on Thursday, following recent U.S. strikes on boats in the Caribbean.

The memo appears to represent an extraordinary assertion of presidential war powers, with Trump effectively declaring that trafficking of drugs into the United States amounts to armed conflict requiring the use of military force — a new rationale for past and future actions.

“The President determined that the United States is in a non-international armed conflict with these designated terrorist organizations,” the memo says. Trump directed the Pentagon to “conduct operations against them pursuant to the law of armed conflict.”

“The United States has now reached a critical point where we must use force in self-defense and defense of others against the ongoing attacks by these designated terrorist organizations,” the memo says.

It signals a potential new moment not just in the administration’s willingness to reach beyond the norms of presidential authority to wage war, but in Trump's stated “America First” agenda that favors non-intervention overseas. It also raises stark questions about how far the White House intends to use its war powers and if Congress will exert its authority to approve — or ban — such military actions.

Trump uses government shutdown to dole out firings and political punishment

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has seized on the government shutdown as an opportunity to reshape the federal workforce and punish detractors, saying he planned to meet with budget director Russ Vought to talk through “temporary or permanent” spending cuts that could set up a lose-lose dynamic for Democratic lawmakers.

Trump announced the meeting on social media Thursday morning, saying he and Vought would determine "which of the many Democrat Agencies” would be cut — continuing their efforts to slash federal spending by threatening mass firings of workers and suggesting “irreversible” cuts to Democratic priorities. The White House declined to comment on the timing or details of the meeting, despite the importance placed on it by the president.

“I can’t believe the Radical Left Democrats gave me this unprecedented opportunity,” Trump wrote on his social media account. “They are not stupid people, so maybe this is their way of wanting to, quietly and quickly, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

Trump has been very direct about his intentions in saying that he believes the Democrats would get the blame if he chooses to fire people or cut spending as part of the shutdown.

“There could be firings and that’s their fault," the president said in an interview with One America News that was released on Thursday. "I mean, we could cut projects that they wanted, favorite projects, and they’d be permanently cut.”

Republicans are relishing a role reversal in the shutdown fight. Can Trump keep them united?

WASHINGTON (AP) — Gathered in the unusually quiet halls of the U.S. Capitol, Republican leaders faced the cameras for a second day and implored Democrats to reopen the government.

“We want to protect hardworking federal workers,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said Thursday morning, before criticizing his counterparts. “Democrats are the ones who have decided to inflict the pain.”

It’s a striking role reversal. Budget standoffs for years have been the bane of Republican congressional leaders who had to wrestle with conservatives on their side ready to shut down the government to get their policy demands. Democrats often stood as willing partners to keeping the government open, lending crucial votes to protect programs they had championed.

“Both parties have completely flip-flopped to the opposite side of the same issue that hasn’t changed,” said GOP Sen. Rand Paul. “Congress has truly entered the upside down world.”

The change is happening in large part because President Donald Trump exercises top-down control over a mostly unified GOP — and faces little internal resistance to his budget priorities. The shift is unfolding as the shutdown threatens government services, forces the furlough of federal workers and gives the Trump administration another opportunity to remake the federal government.

Israel intercepted a Gaza-bound flotilla carrying aid in international waters. Can it do that?

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli interception of a Gaza-bound flotilla carrying humanitarian aid and hundreds of activists raises questions about what any nation can legally do to enforce a blockade in international waters.

As dozens of boats sailed closer to Gaza on Wednesday afternoon, the Israeli navy warned them to turn back.

“You are entering an active war zone. If you continue and attempt to break the naval blockade, we will stop your vessel,” a member of the Israeli navy told the activists via radio. Then Israeli military personnel stormed the vessels and seized activists, including Greta Thunberg, Nelson Mandela’s grandson and several European lawmakers.

The Israeli action sparked condemnation from world leaders and human rights groups who say Israel violated international law.

The activists say their nonviolent, civilian mission is lawful. Though they carried only a symbolic amount of aid, including baby formula, food and medical supplies, their goal, they say, is to establish a humanitarian corridor to facilitate the flow of aid into famine-stricken Gaza.

Immigration judge denies Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s bid for asylum, but he has 30 days to appeal

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A U.S. immigration judge has denied a bid for asylum from Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whose case has become a proxy for the partisan power struggle over immigration policy.

The judge in Baltimore on Wednesday rejected an application to reopen Abrego Garcia's 2019 asylum case, but that is not the final word. Abrego Garcia has 30 days to appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals.

The Salvadoran national has an American wife and children and has lived in Maryland for years, but he immigrated to the United States illegally as a teenager. In 2019, he was arrested by immigration agents. He requested asylum but was not eligible because he had been in the U.S. for more than a year. But the judge ruled he could not be deported to El Salvador, where he faced danger from a gang that targeted his family.

He was mistakenly deported to El Salvador by President Donald Trump's administration in March and was held in a notorious prison, and his case soon became a rallying point for those who oppose the Republican president’s immigration crackdown. Facing a ruling from the Supreme Court, the administration returned him to the U.S. in June, only to immediately charge him with human smuggling.

Abrego Garcia faces criminal charges in Tennessee, based on a 2022 traffic stop. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is also seeking to deport him to a third country, proposing Uganda first and then Eswatini, a small country in southern Africa where the king still holds absolute power. His attorneys have denounced the criminal charges and the deportation efforts, saying they are an attempt to punish him for standing up to the administration.

Putin praises Trump but warns that supplies of US long-range missile to Ukraine will badly hurt ties

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the United States that supplies of long-range missiles to Ukraine will seriously damage relations between Moscow and Washington but will not change the situation on the battlefield where the Russian army is making slow but steady advances.

The potential supply of U.S. Tomahawk cruise missiles to Kyiv will signal a “qualitatively new stage of escalation, including in relations between Russia and the U.S.," Putin said at a forum of foreign policy experts in Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi.

The Russian leader noted that even though Tomahawk missiles will inflict damage on Russia if supplied to Ukraine, Russian air defenses will quickly adapt to the new threat. “It will certainly not change the balance of force on the battlefield,” he added, emphasizing that the Russian military is continuously making gains against Ukraine.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Putin’s remarks.

At the same time, Putin hailed U.S. President Donald Trump’s efforts to help negotiate peace in Ukraine and described their August summit in Alaska as productive.

Trump asks 9 colleges to commit to his political agenda and get favorable access to federal money

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is asking nine major universities to commit to President Donald Trump’s political priorities in exchange for more favorable access to federal money.

A document sent to the universities encourages them to adopt the White House’s vision for America’s campuses, with commitments to accept the government’s priorities on admissions, women’s sports, free speech, student discipline and college affordability, among other topics.

Signing on would give universities “multiple positive benefits,” including “substantial and meaningful federal grants” and “increased overhead payments where feasible,” according to a letter sent to universities alongside the compact. The letter calls it a proactive effort as the administration continues to investigate alleged civil rights violations at U.S. campuses.

Called the “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education,” it asks universities to accept the government’s definition of gender and apply it to campus bathrooms, locker rooms and women’s sports teams. It asks colleges to stop considering race, gender and a wide range of student demographics in the admissions process and to require undergraduate applicants to take the SAT or ACT.

The 10-page proposed agreement was sent Wednesday to some of the most selective public and private universities: Vanderbilt, the University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth College, the University of Southern California, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Texas, the University of Arizona, Brown University and the University of Virginia. It was not clear how these schools were selected or why.

FDA approves another generic abortion pill, prompting outrage from conservatives

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal officials have approved another generic version of the abortion pill mifepristone, a regulatory formality that quickly triggered pushback from anti-abortion groups and politicians aligned with the Trump administration.

Drugmaker Evita Solutions announced on its website that the Food and Drug Administration signed off on its low-cost form of the pill, which is approved to end pregnancies through 10 weeks.

Students for Life Action, which opposes abortion, in a statement Thursday called the approval “a stain on the Trump presidency and another sign that the deep state at the FDA must go.”

Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri also criticized the move in a post on X, stating: “I have lost confidence in the leadership at FDA.”

A spokesperson for the agency said the FDA “has very limited discretion in deciding whether to approve a generic drug," and added that FDA officials do not “endorse any product.”

What to know about the life and legacy of chimpanzee researcher and wildlife advocate Jane Goodall

Famed primatologist Jane Goodall was renowned for her groundbreaking work with chimpanzees but dedicated her life to helping all wild animals — a passion that lasted until her death this week while on a U.S. speaking tour.

She spent decades promoting humanitarian causes and the need to protect the natural world, and tried to balance the grim realities of the climate crisis with hope for the future, admirers said.

Those messages of hope “mobilized a global movement to protect the planet,” said former President Joe Biden, who awarded Goodall the Presidential Medal of Freedom just before he left office.

Here are some things to know about Goodall's life and legacy:

Despite Goodall’s enduring passion to observe wild animals in Africa, she didn’t have a college degree when she arrived there in 1957, starting as an assistant secretary at a natural history museum in Nairobi.