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

Survivors still being found as quake death toll tops 28,000

LATAKIA, Syria (AP) — Ibrahim Zakaria lost track of time drifting into and out of consciousness while trapped for nearly five days in the rubble of his home following the massive earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria this week.

The 23-year-old cellphone shop worker from the Syrian town of Jableh survived on dirty drips of water and eventually lost hope that he’d be saved.

“I said I am dead and it will be impossible for me to live again,” Zakaria, who was rescued Friday night, told The Associated Press on Saturday from his bed at a hospital in the coastal city of Latakia where his 60-year-old mother, Duha Nurallah, was also recovering.

Five days after two powerful earthquakes hours apart caused thousands of buildings to collapse, killing more than 28,000 people and leaving millions homeless, rescuers were still pulling unlikely survivors from the ruins — one of them just 7 months old.

Although each rescue elicited hugs and shouts of “Allahu akbar!” — “God is great!” — from the weary men and women working tirelessly in the freezing temperatures to save lives, they were the exception in a region blanketed by grief, desperation and mounting frustration.

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Trudeau: US fighter shot down object over northern Canada

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Saturday that on his order a U.S. fighter jet shot down an “unidentified object” that was flying high over the Yukon, acting a day after the U.S. took similar action over Alaska.

North American Aerospace Defense Command, the combined U.S.-Canada organization that provides shared defense of airspace over the two nations, detected the object flying at a high altitude Friday evening over Alaska, U.S. officials said. It crossed into Canadian airspace on Saturday.

Trudeau spoke with President Joe Biden, who also ordered the object to be shot down. Canadian and U.S. jets operating as part of NORAD were scrambled and it was a U.S. jet that shot down the object.

Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand told a news conference in Ottawa that the object, flying at around 40,000 feet, had been shot down at 3:41 p.m. EST, approximately 100 miles from the Canada-U.S. border in the central Yukon. A recovery operation was underway involving the Canadian Armed Forces and the RCMP.

Hours later, in the U.S., the Federal Aviation Administration said Saturday night it had closed some airspace in Montana to support Defense Department activities. NORAD later said the closure, which lasted a little more than an hour, came after it had detected “a radar anomaly” and sent fighter aircraft to investigate. The aircraft did not identify any object to correlate to the radar hits, NORAD said.

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Hilltop coal-mining town a tactical prize in Ukraine war

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — In a small coal-mining town on Ukraine’s eastern front line, a fight for strategic superiority is being waged in a battlefield steeped with symbolism as the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion nears.

The town of Vuhledar — meaning “gift of coal” — has emerged as a critical hot spot in the fight for Donetsk province that would give both sides, the Ukrainian forces who hold the urban center, and the Russians positioned in the suburbs, a tactical upper hand in the greater battle for the Donbas region.

Located on an elevated plane that is one of the few high-terrain spots in the area, its capture would be an important step for Russia to disrupt Ukrainian supply lines. Securing Vuhledar would give Ukraine a potential launching pad for future counter-offensives south.

Then there is the symbolic weight: Vuhledar is close to the administrative border of Donetsk province, and winning it would play into Russia’s greater aim of controlling the region as a whole.

“The center of gravity of the Russian military effort is in Donetsk, and Vuhledar is basically the southern flank of that,” said Gustav Gressel, a senior policy fellow with the European Council on Foreign Relation’s Berlin office.

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Wagner owner says war in Ukraine could drag on for years

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The owner of the Russian Wagner Group private military contractor actively involved in the fighting in Ukraine has predicted that the war could drag on for years.

Yevgeny Prigozhin said in a video interview released late Friday that it could take 18 months to two years for Russia to fully secure control of Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland of Donbas. He added that the war could go on for three years if Moscow decides to capture broader territories east of the Dnieper River.

The statement from Prigozhin, a millionaire who has close links to Russian President Vladimir Putin and was dubbed “Putin’s chef” for his lucrative Kremlin catering contracts, marked a recognition of the difficulties that the Kremlin has faced in the campaign, which it initially expected to wrap up within weeks when Russian troops invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.

Russia suffered a series of humiliating setbacks in the fall when the Ukrainian military launched successful counteroffensives to reclaim broad swaths of territory in the east and the south. The Kremlin has avoided making forecasts on how long the fighting could continue, saying that what it called the “special military operation” will continue until its goals are fulfilled.

The Russian forces have focused on Ukraine’s Luhansk and Donetsk provinces that make up the Donbas region where Moscow-backed separatists have been fighting Ukrainian forces since 2014.

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Bickering bogs down Capitol riot trial of Proud Boys leaders

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Capitol riot trial for Proud Boys leaders promised to be a historic showcase for some of the most compelling evidence of an alleged plot by far-right extremists to halt the transfer of presidential power after the 2020 election.

One month into the trial, there have been plenty of fireworks, but mostly when the jury wasn’t in the courtroom.

Lawyers representing the five Proud Boys charged with seditious conspiracy have repeatedly sparred with U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly during breaks in testimony. At least 10 times, those lawyers have argued in vain for him to declare a mistrial.

The judge regularly admonishes lawyers for interrupting him and has threatened to hold them in contempt if it continues. Two defense lawyers at one point floated the idea of withdrawing from the case if Kelly did not rule in their favor on evidentiary matters.

The barrage of bickering has bogged down the proceedings in the federal courthouse, where the Capitol can be seen in the distance from some windows. One recent day in court, defense lawyer Norm Pattis compared the trial to visiting “Gilligan’s Island,” the title and setting of the 1960s-era sitcom about a shipwrecked boat’s crew and passengers.

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Bolsonaro says he may return to Brazil in the coming weeks

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Former President Jair Bolsonaro said Saturday he intends to return to Brazil “in the following weeks.”

The comment during an event at an evangelical church in Florida was the first time that Bolsonaro has made a statement in public about returning home.

The far-right politician has been in the U.S. since arriving in Orlando, Florida, on Dec. 31, the eve of the inauguration of his leftist rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, as Brazil’s current president.

Saturday’s event was held entirely in Portuguese for a Brazilian crowd of Bolsonaro supporters living abroad and was organized by the right-wing organization Yes Brazil USA. Bolsonaro was cheered throughout the event.

There has been speculation during recent weeks on when Bolsonaro might return to Brazil, where is the subject of several investigations into possible wrongdoing.

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Schools become flashpoint for Republicans eyeing White House

NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump has called for parents to elect and fire school principals. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has banned instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade. And Nikki Haley, the former U.N. ambassador who is expected to announce her White House candidacy this coming week, is among the Republicans taking aim at critical race theory.

In the opening stages of the 2024 GOP presidential race, the “parents’ rights” movement and lessons for schoolchildren are emerging as flashpoints.

The focus on issues related to racism, sexuality and education is a way for potential White House hopefuls to distinguish themselves in a crowded field, suggesting new and deeper ways for government to shape what happens in local classrooms.

But the effort has prompted criticism from LGBTQ advocacy groups, teachers’ unions, some parents and student activists and those worried about efforts to avoid lessons about systemic racism. Democrats have cast the efforts as race-baiting and improperly injecting politics into schools.

“What we’re seeing now, at least in this period, is much more focus on so-called ‘culture war’ issues,” said Jeffrey Henig, a professor of political science and education at Columbia University’s Teachers’ College.

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Union: Fired EMTs didn’t get enough info in Nichols response

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — The head of a union representing most of the Memphis Fire Department said three employees who were fired after the death of Tyre Nichols weren’t given enough information as they responded to the call for medical help.

Thomas Malone, president of the Memphis Fire Fighters Association, also wrote in a letter to city councilmembers that information was withheld from those first responders by people on the scene.

Nichols, who is Black, was beaten by Memphis police after he was pulled over Jan. 7 for an alleged traffic violation. However, police Chief Cerelyn “CJ” Davis has said publicly released footage failed to show why Nichols was stopped at all.

The union leader came to the defense of the fire department as a whole, saying its more-than-1,600 employees “serve this city and its citizens with purpose and intent each and every day.”

The Daily Memphian reported on and published a copy of the letter, which says “there is no way any member could be truly prepared for a situation that occurred on January 7, 2023.”

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Brittney Griner attends WM Phoenix Open golf tournament

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — WNBA star Brittney Griner attended the WM Phoenix Open golf tournament Saturday in her second public appearance since her release from a Russian prison.

Griner was part of a crowd of about 200,000 fans at the tournament, watching the action from the stadium 16th hole.

Last month in her first appearance, the Griner was at the Martin Luther King Jr. march in downtown Phoenix.

Griner is skipping the USA Basketball training camp in Minnesota so she can be with her wife and recover from her time in jail in Russia. She was traded in a dramatic prisoner swap in December.

Griner has said she’ll play for the Phoenix Mercury again this season, although she’s still an unsigned free agent. She hasn’t talked about her international future and potentially playing in the Olympics next year in Paris.

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Chiefs-Eagles Super Bowl matchup could come down to trenches

PHOENIX (AP) — The all-star cast of players in the trenches should decide the Super Bowl champion.

Sure, Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts will make their share of plays. But Sunday’s game will come down to which team controls the line of scrimmage.

The Philadelphia Eagles (16-3) reached this point mainly because of a dominant offensive line that allowed Hurts to thrive. He developed into an AP NFL MVP and Offensive Player of the Year finalist playing behind a line that features All-Pro center Jason Kelce and All-Pro right tackle Lane Johnson.

Kelce, Johnson, left tackle Jordan Mailata, Pro Bowl left guard Landon Dickerson and right guard Isaac Seumalo have excelled in the playoffs, helping the Eagles rack up 416 yards rushing in two lopsided wins. The Eagles outscored the Giants and 49ers by a combined margin of 69-14.

A defensive line featuring four players with at least 10 sacks roughed up opposing quarterbacks throughout the season. Haason Reddick was a game-wrecker against San Francisco, knocking Brock Purdy out of the game.

The Associated Press