Category: Security

The U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling on Thursday requiring President Donald Trump’s administration to “facilitate” the return of a Salvadoran national who was mistakenly deported along with illegal immigrant gang members to El Salvador in March.

According to Fox News, 29-year-old Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national who was living in Maryland, was deported for allegedly being a member of the MS-13 gang. The outlet noted that U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ordered the Trump administration on Monday to coordinate the illegal immigrant’s return from El Salvador and described Garcia’s deportation as “wholly unlawful.”

“On March 15, 2025, the United States removed Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia from the United States to El Salvador, where he is currently detained in the Center for Terrorism Confinement (CECOT),” the Supreme Court said in Thursday’s ruling. “The United States acknowledges that Abrego Garcia was subject to a withholding order forbidding his removal to El Salvador, and that the removal to El Salvador was therefore illegal.” 

The Daily Wire reported that Thursday’s unanimous decision by the Supreme Court did not establish a deadline for Abrego Garcia’s return but requires the Trump administration to take “steps” to “facilitate” his return to the United States. However, the Supreme Court’s order distinguished between the terms “facilitate” and “effectuate” in its order.

READ MORE: Video: Supreme Court sides with Trump on Alien Enemies Act; deportations continue

“The intended scope of the term ‘effectuate’ in the District Court’s order is, however, unclear, and may exceed the District Court’s authority,” the Supreme Court stated. As a result, the Supreme Court called for the district court to “clarify its directive, with due regard for the deference owed to the Executive Branch in the conduct of foreign affairs.”

Following Thursday’s ruling, Trump’s Justice Department told Fox News, “As the Supreme Court correctly recognized, it is the exclusive prerogative of the President to conduct foreign affairs.” The Justice Department added, “By directly noting the deference owed to the Executive Branch, this ruling once again illustrates that activist judges do not have the jurisdiction to seize control of the President’s authority to conduct foreign policy.”

According to The Daily Wire, Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling will now require the lower court to issue a clarification regarding the requirements the Trump administration will have to meet as it facilitates the return of Abrego Garcia.

ABC News reported that Xinis outlined additional requirements for the Trump administration during a court hearing on Friday. Xinis told the Trump administration to provide her with information regarding Garcia’s current status and location, what steps the administration has taken to facilitate Garcia’s return, and what future steps the administration will take to return Garcia to Maryland.

“From now until compliance, [I am] going to require daily statuses, daily updates,” the judge said. “We’re going to make a record of what, if anything, the government is doing or not doing.”

President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that his administration is planning to impose a “major tariff” on pharmaceuticals.

During the National Republican Congressional Committee’s annual presidential dinner on Tuesday, Trump warned that the United States does not make its own “pharmaceuticals, drugs and other things to get better” but instead relies on other countries. The president also claimed that pharmaceutical products typically cost way more in the United States than they cost in other countries.

“The same package in our country compared to, like, London and other places is sometimes 10 times more, 10 times more,” Trump said. “Something that sells for $88 in London sells for $1,300 here, made in the same factory by the same company. And that’s over. I told them all that’s over.”

Trump explained that other countries are “smart” by warning pharmaceutical companies that they “can’t sell” their products if they charge more than a certain price on pharmaceutical products.

READ MORE: Video: 50+ countries want to negotiate amid Trump tariffs, officials say

“We’re going to tariff our pharmaceuticals. And once we do that, they’re going to come rushing back into our country because we’re the big market,” Trump said. “The advantage we have over everybody is that we’re the big market.”

“So we’re going to be announcing very shortly a major tariff on pharmaceuticals,” Trump added. “And when they hear that, they will leave China, they will leave other places, because … most of their product is sold here, and they’re going to be opening up their plants all over the place in our country.”

During his speech at the National Republican Congressional Committee dinner on Tuesday, Trump said his administration would be “announcing” the tariff on pharmaceutical companies in the future and described his tariff comments as “breaking news.”

Trump announces plans to impose high tariffs on pharmaceutical companies to bring costs down for Americans and to bring drug manufacturing to the US. pic.twitter.com/C9xupGIbwn

— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) April 9, 2025

According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the United States has decreased its domestic drug manufacturing over the past few decades, resulting in most pharmaceutical countries producing drugs in China and other countries.

In 2019, the FDA announced, “In recent decades, drug manufacturing has gradually moved out of the United States. This is particularly true for manufacturers of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), the actual drugs that are then formulated into tablets, capsules, injections, etc.”

The FDA added, “While there are many reasons for this shift, underlying factors that are often cited include the fact that most traditional drug production processes require a large factory site, often have environmental liabilities, and can utilize a low-cost labor force.”

This article was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission.

A Russian drone attack on the Ukrainian cities of Dnipro, Kharkiv, and Kramatorsk late on April 8 wounded more than two dozen people and damaged multiple residential buildings, local officials said.

Serhiy Lysak, governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, said that “Dnipro suffered the most” from the overnight Russian attack, which wounded at least 15 people, leaving almost all of them in serious condition.

“People have cuts, shrapnel wounds, bruises, and head injuries. Some needed help due to severe stress,” Lysak said.

Lysak added that the attack damaged 15 private houses and nearly two dozen cars. According to him, several business facilities, administrative buildings, and the city’s infrastructure were damaged.

Ukraine’s second largest city, Kharkiv, and the eastern city of Kramatorsk were also hit by the Russian drones.

Local authorities said more than 20 explosions were heard in Kharkiv, injuring at least two people.

Five others were injured in Kramatorsk, in the Donetsk region.

“An 11-year-old girl, her 34-year-old mother and a 55-year-old grandmother were wounded in the attack,” said the head of the Donetsk Regional Military Administration, Vadym Filashkin.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for support from Ukraine’s partners “to save as many people as possible.”

“War does not abate from talks and statements, and Moscow ignores any diplomacy because they believe they have the liberty to do so,” Zelenskyy said on X.

The Ukrainian Air Force said that it shot down 32 out of 55 drones launched by Russia overnight, with another eight “not reaching their targets.”

Ukraine Claims ‘Successful Actions’

Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a post on the Telegram that its air defense units destroyed 158 drones overnight, including 29 over the southern Rostov region.

Russia’s aviation authority, Rosaviatsia, said that several airports in Russia’s south were closed early on April 9 to ensure air safety.

Ukraine’s top military commander, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskiy, claimed that Kyiv had recently conducted “successful” strikes on Russian air bases.

“A few days ago, our successful actions destroyed a Tu-22M3 long-range bomber. It had just landed and our drone hit it,” he told Ukrainian media outlet LB.ua.

Syrskiy claimed that the cost of such a plane could be as high as $100 million.

On the ground, according to the latest report by the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Russian forces are currently pursuing three different objectives in their attempt to capture the crucial city of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region.

“The situation immediately south and southwest of Pokrovsk remains extremely dynamic amid intensified Russian offensive operations,” the report said.

With Russian forces spending the last 13 months trying to capture the city, the ISW further underlined that Ukrainian drone operations and localized counterattacks are continuing to complicate Moscow’s advances in the area.

Earlier, this month, a unit of Ukrainian drone pilots stationed in Pokrovsk told RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service that they have become a high-value target for Russian forces.

On March 26, Zelenskyy said that Russian President Vladimir Putin was “trying to buy time and prepare for a spring offensive.”

According to him, Russia was preparing a new offensive, particularly in the Sumy and Kharkiv regions.

Syrskiy said that offensive has already started.

“We are seeing an almost doubling of the number of enemy offensives in all major directions,” he told LB.ua.

The ISW report said Russian forces also recently advanced in Russia’s Kursk region, parts of which are controlled by Kyiv, and conducted a raid into Ukraine’s neighboring Sumy region, but “likely did not establish new positions.”

In the interview, however, Syrskiy again hailed Ukraine’s surprise incursion into Kursk last August, saying the operation was “critical” to the defense of the Kharkiv region.

Late on April 7, Zelenskyy acknowledged publicly for the first time that Ukrainian troops are now holding new positions inside Russia — this time in the Belgorod region.

“We continue active operations in the enemy’s border areas and this is absolutely justified… Our main objective remains the same: to protect our land and our communities in the Sumy and Kharkiv regions,” he said.

Archaeologists have uncovered an ancient Greek lecture hall within a gymnasium complex in Italy, making it one of the earliest known examples of a school-like facility in the ancient world, according to researchers.

Built in the second century B.C., the Agrigento facility is believed to be among the first to combine physical health and intellectual pursuit, according to an April 9 news release from the Free University of Berlin.

Agrigento is the largest Greek settlement in Sicily, founded around 580 B.C. and inhabited for more than 1,000 years, according to the release.

Researchers said it is the only known structure of its kind discovered in the Western Mediterranean and that when it was built, no other gymnasium in the ancient world contained a lecture hall, according to the release.

The closest example of a combined gymnasium and lecture hall was built at Pergamon in modern-day Turkey between 250 and 300 years after the Agrigento site, researchers said in the release.

The auditorium, uncovered during excavations in March, appears to have been a covered theater with eight semicircular rows of ascending seats and could hold about 200 people, researchers said.

The auditorium opened into a large hall with benches and was likely used for classes or performances, according to researchers.

The unique gymnasium portion of the site had previously been excavated and featured 650-foot-long tracks and a large swimming pool, according to researchers.

Gymnasiums were an important part of ancient Greek culture, particularly for young men, and an integral part of their cities’ infrastructure, according to researchers.

Archaeologists also uncovered two inscriptions at the site, one that mentions the name of the head of the gymnasium, and the other that appears to reference renovations funded by a citizen and donated to Hermes and Heracles, according to researchers.

Very few inscriptions have been discovered at Agrigento despite its long history, according to researchers.

The excavation was led by faculty from the Free University of Berlin in partnership with the Politecnico di Bari and the Parco Archeologico Valle dei Templi di Agrigento and funded by the German Research Foundation.

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© 2025 The Bradenton Herald

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Israel controls more of Gaza than at any point during the war, part of a plan that officials increasingly describe as leading to a full military occupation.

Israel calculates this new strategy would improve its chances of definitively uprooting Iranian-backed Hamas. But taking control of the Palestinian enclave for the first time in two decades would be a high-stakes gamble — it would risk increasing the death toll in Gaza, siphoning more reserve soldiers away from an economy stifled by war, and further isolating Israel.

It also raises the odds of protracting a war that has already lasted 18 months and shows no sign of ending soon.

Plans were drawn up last month by the new military chief Eyal Zamir and approved by Defense Minister Israel Katz, said senior officials familiar with the road map who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Full implementation hasn’t been approved by the Cabinet, but plans are advancing step by step with Israel ramping up pressure on Hamas to return hostages while limiting the likelihood of harming them in the process. According to accounts by four Israeli officials as well as former officials close to the government’s thinking, the direction appears increasingly clear.

“The only way to eradicate Hamas is to conquer Gaza,” said Amir Avivi, a retired brigadier general in close touch with military leaders and the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Asked about the army’s plan, a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces said it’s operating within international law on goals set by the government.

The return of Netanyahu’s long-time ally Donald Trump to the White House has added to the calculus.

“The former [Israeli] chief of staff and defense minister opposed this, as did the Biden administration,” Avivi said. “The current ones believe it’s the right thing to do, and we have the backing of the Trump administration now.”

On Monday at a White House press conference with Netanyahu, Trump said he couldn’t understand why Israel “gave up” Gaza in 2005 as part of a peace plan with the Palestinians.

Evidence of the plan is in plain sight. Returning to war last month after a nearly two-month truce, Israel expanded the buffer zone around the coastal enclave and officials including Netanyahu said troops are increasing their control of the strip and keeping it.

During the first 15 months of the war, Israeli troops took control of cities but mostly retreated. Now, there are no plans to leave.

“Large areas are being seized and added to Israel’s security zones, leaving Gaza smaller and more isolated,” Katz said Wednesday in a visit to the newly announced Morag Corridor, a strip of land running parallel to the Egyptian border that will cut off the southern city of Rafah. “All of Rafah will be evacuated and turned into a security area.”

Netanyahu and his closest aides say their model is the multi-year Allied occupations of Germany and Japan after World War II. Political systems there were dismantled under foreign control and democracies put in their place. The goal, they say, is to have unaffiliated Gazan technocrats alongside outside Arab help running civilian affairs while Israel controls the strip’s security, similar to what happens in the Palestinian West Bank.

Some experts in and outside Israel, however, say the new approach to Gaza is the result of a failure to eradicate Hamas so far. And they point to numerous foreign occupations — Israel’s in Lebanon, the U.S. in Vietnam and Afghanistan — as blood-stained calamities.

Yossi Kuperwasser, a retired brigadier general who now heads the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, says abating concerns along Israel’s northern borders are partly behind the shift.

After the attack of October 2023 — when thousands of militant operatives crossed into Israel, killing 1,200 people and abducting 250 — Israel was wary of committing too many forces to Gaza and leaving its northern front exposed to Iranian-sponsored militias, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, rallying in support of Hamas.

Last fall, Israel eliminated the leadership of Hezbollah — which like Hamas is designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. and many other countries — and weakened Iran’s offensive and defensive capabilities. The Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad, a key Iranian ally, has collapsed.

Hostages remain a big barrier to military intervention. A full-scale attack risks killing the two dozen thought to be alive in Gaza. A recent poll showed 70% of Israelis want the focus to be on hostages before any further fighting with Hamas. Talks for a new ceasefire allowing the exchange of more hostages for Palestinian prisoners continue via mediators Qatar, Egypt and the U.S.

Moreover, hundreds of days of reserve duty have taken a heavy toll on companies, careers and families.

Netanyahu and his closest aides, however, firmly believe that there can be only one result of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel: the disarming and elimination of Hamas from Gaza, even at the cost of a limited number of hostages.

Uprooting the militant group is no easy task. Hamas has long had military and financial backing from Iran and is deeply embedded in the native population as the governing body of Gaza for nearly two decades.

Trying to topple it will likely come at a heavy human cost. More than 50,000 Gazans have been killed already, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, and vast portions of the strip, where 2.2 million people live, have been damaged or destroyed.

Placing Israeli troops among the population will pose risks to both. As Ilan Goldenberg, who was a senior Mideast adviser in the Joe Biden White House wrote, “the local population will never trust the IDF, and so Hamas will be able to continue to recruit, hide amongst the population, and fight a prolonged and costly insurgency for Israel.”

Avivi, the former general, isn’t worried. He says when the ground is prepared and the IDF calls up tens of thousands for a full-scale attack on Gaza, “99% of reservists will come.”

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© 2025 Bloomberg L.P.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s decision to challenge Sen. John Cornyn sets up what’s likely to be a bitter and expensive Republican primary — and a battle for President Donald Trump’s endorsement – in the nation’s most populous red state.

Paxton is positioning himself as a disruptor, pledging in a social media post to “take a sledgehammer to the D.C. establishment” and dismissing Cornyn as a 24-year incumbent who’s no longer effective.

“It’s definitely time for a change in Texas,’’ Paxton said Tuesday night on Fox News as he formally announced his candidacy. “We have another great U.S. senator, Ted Cruz, and it’s time we have another great senator that will actually stand up and fight for Republican values, fight for the values of the people of Texas and also support Trump.”

Cornyn’s team wasted no time in striking back.

“Ken Paxton is a fraud,’’ his campaign said in a statement, before questioning his crime credentials, personal conduct and other matters. “He says his impeachment trial was a sham but he didn’t contest the facts in legal filings which will cost the state millions.”

Paxton, a former state legislator who is currently in his third term as Texas attorney general, has been embroiled in a series of political controversies and legal battles. He was impeached by the Republican-controlled Texas House in 2023 over misconduct, bribery and corruption charges. But he was later acquitted at his impeachment trial in the GOP-led state Senate. Paxton was also investigated by the Texas State Bar over his role in trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

The most serious of the legal cases he faced — a federal probe into allegations that he abused his office to help a political donor – was quietly dropped in the waning days of the Biden administration, The Associated Press reported last week.

The GOP primary field could grow more crowded: Rep. Wesley Hunt, who has held a Houston-area seat since 2022, has been cited by Republicans in the Lone Star State as another possible contender. He recently benefited from a seven-figure statewide ad buy by an outside group, The Texas Tribune reported.

On the Democratic side, former Rep. Colin Allred, who lost a Senate bid to Cruz last year, is “seriously considering” getting into the race, The Dallas Morning News reported. But Democrats haven’t won a Senate race in Texas since 1988, and Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales rates the contest Solid Republican.

Cornyn has been a mainstay in Texas politics for more than three decades. He served as a judge on the state Supreme Court before being elected Texas attorney general in 1998. He won election to the Senate in 2002, succeeding Republican Phil Gramm, and has been reelected three times.

A close ally of former Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell, he held the chamber’s No. 2 GOP leadership post for six years until he was term-limited in his role as majority whip in 2018. He sought to succeed McConnell as Republican leader last year but lost to South Dakota’s John Thune.

For most of his career, Cornyn has handily won his elections – his most recent reelection effort was a 10-point victory in 2020. But the 2026 contest is his first campaign following the passage of a bipartisan update to the nation’s gun laws, which Cornyn negotiated with Connecticut Democratic Sen. Christopher S. Murphy. The measure came together with the support of Senate leaders in the aftermath of several mass shootings in 2022, including one at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.

Trump will likely loom over the race, with both candidates pressing for his endorsement.

Paxton has repeatedly questioned Cornyn’s conservative credentials and support for the president.

“It’s hard to think of the things that he’s done good for Texas or for the country,’’ Paxton said on Fox News. “I can certainly point to many things like his gun restrictions, his lack of wanting to fund a border wall and disagreeing with President Trump on that, and even opposing President Trump’s election in 2016 and the most recent election.”

Cornyn’s campaign pushed back, pointing out that during Trump’s first term, Cornyn secured the votes for the president’s key accomplishments as Senate majority whip.

“Democrats are trying to destroy President Trump, and he and Texas need a battle-tested conservative who knows how to protect his agenda in the Senate and won’t be outsmarted by Chuck Schumer,’’ the campaign said.

Cornyn is not the only Republican senator up for reelection in 2026 facing a high-profile primary challenger in a red state. Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, who drew the ire of the president and his allies over his vote to convict Trump at his second impeachment trial, is being challenged by state Treasurer and former Rep. John Fleming.

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© 2025 CQ-Roll Call, Inc.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

President Donald Trump said that he plans to withhold all federal funding to sanctuary cities, a move that would pressure finances from New York to San Francisco.

“No more Sanctuary Cities! They protect the Criminals, not the Victims,” the president said in a post on Truth Social on Thursday. “They are disgracing our Country, and are being mocked all over the World.”

Trump — who has promised to execute the largest mass deportation of undocumented migrants in U.S. history — said he was “working on papers to withhold all Federal Funding for any City or State that allows these Death Traps to exist!!!”

Since he assumed office in January, Trump has used executive orders to force changes at elite universities and law firms. He’s leaned on the federal purse-strings to advance policy like blocking diversity, equity and inclusion practices in schools. The president has long criticized sanctuary cities, which refer to jurisdictions with certain policies like allowing people who entered the U.S. illegally to remain without fear of arrest because of their immigration status.

Those practices, in place in some of the largest U.S. cities, may mean restricting the flow of the information they share with federal officials and declining to require residents to provide their immigration status when accessing public services. The Center for Immigration Studies estimates that 13 states and more than 200 cities and counties have policies that limit compliance with federal immigration enforcement.

If Trump moves ahead with the action, it will likely be challenged in court. His first administration attempted a similar step, which was blocked by federal judges. A separate action moved to block sanctuary cities from accessing a Department of Justice program that funds local law enforcement agencies. That policy was also challenged, though the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed the case in 2021 after former President Joe Biden rescinded the action.

“There are many city attorneys and state AGs who are ready to mount legal challenges if the administration goes down this road again,” said Alan Berube, a nonresident senior fellow at Brookings Metro. Trump may be making a calculus that a change in the makeup of the courts could be more favorable this time around, he said.

Budgets Pinched

The federal government provides aid to local governments that help fund city services. A prolonged legal fight would damage the fiscal health of the targeted cities, Michael Pagano, dean emeritus of the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois Chicago, said in an email. “In the short term, the impact can be devastating — unless a temporary restraining order is imposed,” he said, noting that he thinks the courts will rebuff the administration again.

Democratic mayors of Boston, Chicago, Denver and New York City defended their policies before the House Oversight Committee in March after Republicans cast the jurisdictions as flouting federal laws.

New York City expects to receive $9.7 billion in federal aid in the current fiscal year accounting for roughly 8.3% of the city’s total $116 billion budget. Over 80% of the non emergency-related funding goes to five city agencies, including the Department of Education and the Department of Homeless Services. The money supports the Head Start programs and free school lunch and breakfast for children in the city’s poorest neighborhoods.

A spokesperson for New York Mayor Eric Adams said that while no resident should be afraid to utilize public resources, the city will work with the federal government and review an executive order “if and when” one is filed.

“These prohibitions are not going to break the budgets in the sanctuary cities and states, but they will pinch them,” said Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies. “It will be up to the local and state leaders to determine how to do without, and which services will be affected.”

Preparing for the ‘Worst’

Cities have been bracing for a potential disruption in federal aid as they set their spending plans for the upcoming fiscal year.

“We need to be preparing for the worst in every case,” Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said in an address outlining her $4.8 billion budget proposal Wednesday. The city receives more than $300 million each year from Washington. “Should we be entering into a more serious economic crisis triggered by this federal administration, it may very well get to the point where we will need to be considering layoffs and hiring freezes,” she said.

Chicago is counting on $2.72 billion in federal grant funding in 2025, making up a key part of the city’s roughly $17 billion budget. Mayor Brandon Johnson is already facing annual deficits of more than $1 billion over the coming two years.

On the West Coast, Seattle reported $207 million in federal fund expenditures in the 2023 fiscal year, according to a city representative. About $50 million of that spending came from one-time funds related to pandemic relief. The city has already joined a lawsuit against the Trump administration to limit the use of local law enforcement in federal immigration enforcement.

“Strong constitutional protections exist that limit the federal government’s ability to coerce cities by conditioning funds,” Callie Craighead, a spokesperson for the city, said Thursday.

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© 2025 Bloomberg L.P.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

In one of the deadliest tragedies in the Dominican Republic’s history, at least 113 people were killed when the roof of a popular Santo Domingo nightclub collapsed early Tuesday morning. Among the victims was legendary merengue singer Rubby Pérez, who was performing at the time of the collapse.

The incident occurred at Jet Set, one of the country’s renowned nightlife venues, known for its weekly “Lunes de Jet Set” events featuring top-tier local and international performers. Pérez, 69, was mid-performance, singing the merengue classic “De color de rosa,” when the ceiling gave way at 12:44 a.m. local time, plunging the venue into chaos and darkness.

Initial reports suggested Pérez had survived, but Center for Emergency Operations General Director Juan Manuel Méndez confirmed Wednesday morning that his body had been found during ongoing search efforts.

Officials are still working to determine how many people were inside the club at the time of the collapse. The venue has a seating capacity of 700 and can hold up to 1,000 standing. Local media report that 267 reservations had been made for the night, with many tables accommodating up to 10 guests.

Among the other victims were Nelsy Cruz, governor of Monte Cristi province, and former Major League Baseball players Octavio Dotel and Tony Blanco. Tributes have poured in from the global baseball community and merengue fans worldwide.

As of Wednesday morning, rescue teams have pulled approximately 145 people alive from the rubble while local press reported that more than 200 people were injured. More than 370 rescue workers — including teams from Puerto Rico and Israel — are involved in ongoing recovery efforts. Aerial images show a gaping hole where the roof once stood.

Dozens of families gathered outside the nightclub, nearby hospitals, and the city morgue, anxiously awaiting news of missing loved ones.

President Luis Abinader has declared three days of national mourning. During the period, the Dominican flag will fly at half-staff across all military and government institutions.

The tragedy follows other recent disasters in the Caribbean nation, including the 2023 explosion in San Cristóbal that killed 38, and the 2005 prison fire in Higüey that claimed 136 lives.

Rubby Pérez —born Roberto Antonio Pérez Herrera — was one of merengue’s best known singers. With a career spanning over four decades, he rose to fame with Wilfrido Vargas’s orchestra before launching a successful solo career in 1986. His hits include “Volveré,” “Sobreviviré,” and “Fui buscando tus besos.”

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© 2025 Miami Herald.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed on Wednesday that over 150 Chinese citizens are fighting for Russia in its war against Ukraine. Chinese officials have described the Ukrainian president’s allegations as “totally unfounded.”

In a Wednesday post on X, formerly Twitter, Zelensky wrote, “As of now, we have precise data on over 150 Chinese citizens who were involved in the war against Ukraine by Russia. We know that the actual number is higher.”

Zelensky added, “Ukraine believes that such blatant involvement of Chinese citizens in hostilities on the territory of Ukraine during the war of aggression is a deliberate step towards the expansion of the war, and is yet another indication that Moscow simply needs to drag out the fighting.”

The Ukrainian president claimed that Russia “doesn’t care who dies in this insane war” and that Russia wants the war to continue in Ukraine. Sharing a video of two Chinese citizens captured by Ukraine, Zelensky said, “We all need—all partners, all fair-minded participants in international relations—to deprive Russia of the ability to continue the war, including through the use of people like these.”

The first two captured Chinese citizens. Today, investigators from the Security Service of Ukraine spoke with them. We are working to establish all the facts regarding the involvement of these and other Chinese citizens being part of the Russian occupation army. Ukrainian… pic.twitter.com/PkBpBjI2Qm

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) April 9, 2025

On Tuesday, Zelensky shared a video of one of the Chinese citizens captured by Ukraine, tweeting, “Our military has captured two Chinese citizens who were fighting as part of the Russian army. This happened on Ukrainian territory—in the Donetsk region. Identification documents, bank cards, and personal data were found in their possession.”

READ MORE: Videos: China retaliates with major tariffs after Trump unveils ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs

Zelensky explained that he instructed Ukraine’s minister of Foreign Affairs to “immediately contact” Chinese officials in Beijing and “clarify how China intends to respond” to the report of Chinese citizens fighting on behalf of Russia in Ukraine. The Ukrainian president noted that the Chinese citizens captured by Ukraine remain in custody with the Security Service of Ukraine as officials conduct “relevant investigative and operational actions.”

Our military has captured two Chinese citizens who were fighting as part of the Russian army. This happened on Ukrainian territory—in the Donetsk region. Identification documents, bank cards, and personal data were found in their possession.

We have information suggesting that… pic.twitter.com/ekBr6hCkQL

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) April 8, 2025

On Tuesday, Tammy Bruce, a U.S. State Department spokesperson, described the reports of Chinese citizens fighting for Russia in Ukraine as “disturbing,” according to The Associated Press.

Bruce stated, “China is a major enabler of Russia in the war in Ukraine.” The State Department spokesperson added that China provides Russia with roughly 80% of the dual-use items the country requires to continue its war against Ukraine.

According to The Associated Press, Lin Jian, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, claimed on Wednesday that China has played a “constructive role in politically resolving the Ukraine crisis” and that “the Chinese government always asks Chinese citizens to stay away from conflict zones, avoid getting involved in any form of armed conflict, and especially refrain from participating in any party’s military operations.” The outlet added that Chinese officials have described Ukraine’s reports as “totally unfounded.”

The man charged with trying to kill President Trump, lying in wait with a gun as he enjoyed a round of golf in Florida, attempted to purchase a rocket launcher and other military-grade weapons before the thwarted assassination attempt, according to the Department of Justice.

Ryan Wesley Routh was arrested on Sept. 15 as he fled from his sniper’s perch at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach. He was spotted hiding in some brush near the sixth hole by Secret Service agents conducting a perimeter sweep, according to the indictment. They opened fire when they realized Routh was armed with a SKS-type 7.62×39 caliber rifle.

Routh, who did not manage to fire off any shots himself, was captured a short time later as he traveled northbound on I-95. He is facing five criminal counts including attempted assassination and a weapons charge related to the semiautomatic rifle investigators found in the golf course shrubbery where the alleged would-be assassin had been hiding.

He has since pleaded not guilty to all counts.

Prior to the attack, prosecutors said Routh attempted “to acquire anti-aircraft weapons,” according to documents filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. He specifically requested help from an unidentified contact in Ukraine during an exchange on an encrypted messaging platform, Newsweek reported.

“Send me an rpg [rocket-propelled grenade] or stinger and I will see what we can do,” he allegedly wrote. “… (Trump) is not good for Ukraine.”

Routh also sent an image of Trump’s plane, writing that the president “gets on and off daily.” He went on to ask about the potential costs of the weapons and whether they could be “shipped.” Routh allegedly noted that, because Ukraine was at war, such items are “lost and destroyed daily” and that “one missing would not be noticed.”

“Attempting to purchase a destructive device to blow up President Trump’s airplane lies squarely within the realm of an attempt on his life,” the Department of Justice filing reads, “and Routh’s statements about the purpose of the purchase — that he ‘need(s) equipment so that Trump cannot get elected’ — drives home his intent.”

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