AP Top News at 5:47 a.m. EST

Trump chooses loyalist Pam Bondi for attorney general pick after Matt Gaetz withdraws

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump said Thursday he will nominate former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to lead the Justice Department, turning to a longtime ally after his first choice, Matt Gaetz, withdrew his name from consideration amid scrutiny over sex trafficking allegations. Bondi has been an outspoken defender of Trump. She was one of his lawyers during his first impeachment trial, when he was accused — but not convicted — of abusing his power as he tried to condition U.S. military assistance to Ukraine on that country investigating then-former Vice President Joe Biden. And she was among a group of Republicans who showed up to support Trump at his New York hush money criminal trial that ended in May with a conviction on 34 felony counts.

Gaetz’s withdrawal highlights how incoming presidents often lose Cabinet nominees

MARTIN, Tenn. (AP) — Losing a Cabinet nominee to the confirmation process isn’t unheard of for incoming presidents — including for Donald Trump when he was elected the first time. Matt Gaetz’s decision to pull his name Thursday from consideration for attorney general — amid continued fallout over a federal sex trafficking investigation — represents the first indication of resistance that the president-elect could face from his own party, including picks facing allegations of sexual misconduct or other questions. Here’s a look at some recent difficulties with presidential Cabinet picks and some of the criticism for Trump’s current slate: After Gaetz was chosen last week, Sen.

Top war-crimes court issues arrest warrants for Netanyahu and others in Israel-Hamas fighting

THE HAGUE (AP) — The world’s top war-crimes court issued arrest warrants Thursday for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister and Hamas’ military chief, accusing them of crimes against humanity in connection with the 13-month war in Gaza. The warrants said there was reason to believe Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant have used “starvation as a method of warfare” by restricting humanitarian aid and have intentionally targeted civilians in Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza — charges Israeli officials deny. The action by the International Criminal Court came as the death toll from Israel’s campaign in Gaza passed 44,000 people, according to local health authorities, who say more than half of those killed were women and children.

Many in Gaza are eating just once a day, as hunger spreads amid aid issues

DEIR AL-BALAH, The Gaza Strip (AP) — Yasmin Eid coughs and covers her face, cooking a small pot of lentils over a fire fed with twigs and scrap paper in the tent she shares with her husband and four young daughters in the Gaza Strip. It was their only meal Wednesday — it was all they could afford. “My girls suck on their thumbs because of how hungry they are, and I pat their backs until they sleep,” she said. After being displaced five times, the Eids reside in central Gaza, where aid groups have relatively more access than in the north, which has been largely isolated and heavily destroyed since Israel began waging a renewed offensive against the militant group Hamas in early October.

Putin touts Russia’s new missile and delivers a menacing warning to NATO

The new ballistic missile fired by Russia struck a military-industrial facility in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro, but its real mission was delivering a deadly new message to NATO. Hours after Thursday’s strike touched off a debate over whether the Ukrainian plant was hit by an intercontinental ballistic missile, President Vladimir Putin made a rare and surprise appearance on Russian television to clear up the mystery. He described it as a new, intermediate-range ballistic missile that raced to its target at 10 times the speed of sound. “Modern air defense systems that exist in the world and anti-missile defenses created by the Americans in Europe can’t intercept such missiles,” Putin declared in an icy and menacing tone.

South Korea says Russia supplied air defense missiles to North Korea in return for its troops

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Russia has supplied air defense missile systems to North Korea in exchange for sending its troops to support Russia’s war efforts against Ukraine, a top South Korean official said Friday. The U.S., South Korea and Ukraine say North Korea sent more than 10,000 troops to Russia in October, some of whom have recently begun engaging in combat on the front lines. North Korea’s troop deployment threatens to escalate the war, and what Russia could give to the North in return has been a source of rampant international speculation. The most alarming development for South Korea and the U.S.

Second Australian teen dies in tainted alcohol case in Laos that has killed 6 tourists

VANG VIENG, Laos (AP) — A second Australian teenager who fell critically ill after drinking tainted alcohol in Laos has died in a hospital in Bangkok, her family said Friday, bringing the death toll in the mass poisoning of foreign tourists to six. Holly Bowles, 19, had been in critical condition on life support following the poisoning in Laos more than a week ago. “We are so sad to say that our beautiful girl Holly is now at peace,” her family said in a statement sent to Australian Network 10 and other Australian media. “We find comfort and solace in knowing that Holly brought so much joy and happiness to so many people.” An officer at Vang Vieng’s Tourism Police office, who refused to give his name, told The Associated Press on Friday that a “number of people” had been detained in the case but that no charges have yet been filed.

Brazilian police indict Bolsonaro for alleged attempted coup, threatening his political career

SAO PAULO (AP) — Police indicted Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro and 36 others for allegedly attempting a coup to keep the right-wing leader in office after his defeat in the 2022 election. Already barred from running again in 2026 for a different case, he could now land in jail and see his influence further diminished. Brazil’s federal police said the sealed findings in Thursday’s indictment were being delivered to Brazil’s Supreme Court, which will refer them to Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet, who will decide whether to formally charge Bolsonaro and put him on trial, or toss the investigation. Gonet is already under pressure from his legal peers to move forward with the various investigations related to the ex-president, local media have reported.

Storm dumps record rain and heavy snow on Northern California. Many in Seattle still without power

FORESTVILLE, Calif. (AP) — A major storm moving through Northern California on Thursday dropped heavy snow and record rain, flooding some areas, after killing two people and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands in the Pacific Northwest. Forecasters warned the risk of flash flooding and rockslides would continue, and scores of flights were canceled at San Francisco’s airport. In Washington, more than 204,000 people — mostly in the Seattle area — remained without power as crews worked to clear streets of electrical lines, fallen branches and debris. Utility officials said the outages, which began Tuesday, could last into Saturday. Meanwhile on the East Coast, where rare wildfires have raged, New York and New Jersey welcomed much-needed rain that could ease the fire danger for the rest of the year.

Countries at UN climate summit under pressure with no finance deal entering final day

BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — Countries at the United Nations climate summit amped up the pressure on themselves Friday by entering the last scheduled day of talks with no visible progress on their chief goals. From the start, COP29 has been about climate finance — money that wealthy nations are obligated to pay to developing countries to cover damages resulting from extreme weather and to help those nations adapt to a warming planet. Experts put the figure at $1 trillion or more, but draft texts that emerged Thursday after nearly two weeks of talks angered the developing world by essentially leaving blank the financial commitment.