AP Top News at 5:27 a.m. EDT

His country trained him to fight. Then he turned against it. More like him are doing the same

MOUNT OLIVE, N.C. (AP) — The U.S. military trained him in explosives and battlefield tactics. Now the Iraq War veteran and enlisted National Guard member was calling for taking up arms against police and government officials in his own country. Standing in the North Carolina woods, Chris Arthur warned about a coming civil war. Videos he posted publicly on YouTube bore titles such as "The End of America or the Next Revolutionary War." In his telling, the U.S. was falling into chaos and there would be only one way to survive: kill or be killed. Arthur was posting during a surge of far-right extremism in the years leading up to the Jan.

Harris and Trump say America tanks if they lose. So why the exuberance at their rallies?

Shortly after taking the stage 91 minutes late for his Atlanta rally this week, Donald Trump did what he can't help doing — go off on a tangent. This was clearly going to be a night at the improv. He marveled at length about how Elon Musk's SpaceX rocket booster was snatched from the skies by mechanical arms on its return. All that fire and smoke. "Coolest thing I've seen in a long time," he told his crowd. "Was that crazy?" Talk about a rocket's red glare. A day earlier in Erie, Pennsylvania, Kamala Harris was buzzing with energy and blinding smiles on stage, and so were the thousands there to see her.

With time running out, Harris keeps focus on 'blue wall' states

MILWAUKEE (AP) — With three weeks left in the presidential campaign, Democrat Kamala Harris is spending most of her days trying to shore up support in the "blue wall" states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin as she tries to avoid a repeat of Hillary Clinton's collapse there eight years ago. The vice president campaigned at a hockey rink on Monday in Erie, Pennsylvania, where she denounced Republican candidate Donald Trump as "unhinged." She visited an art gallery in Detroit with actors Don Cheadle, Delroy Lindo and Cornelius Smith. Jr. on Tuesday, then recorded a radio town hall with Charlamagne tha God.

US long-range B-2 stealth bombers target underground bunkers of Yemen's Houthi rebels

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. long-range B-2 stealth bombers launched airstrikes early Thursday morning targeting underground bunkers used by Yemen's Houthi rebels, officials said. It wasn't immediately clear what damage was done in the strikes. However, there are no previous reports of the B-2 Spirit being used in the strikes targeting the Houthis, who have been attacking ships for months in the Red Sea corridor over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. The Houthis' al-Masirah satellite news channel reported airstrikes around Yemen's capital, Sanaa, which the group has held since 2014. They also reported strikes around the Houthi stronghold of Saada.

Middle East latest: An Israeli strike wounds 2 civilians, Syrian military says

Ukrainian president Zelenskyy heads to EU, NATO to seek backing for his 'victory plan'

BRUSSELS (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will seek support from European Union leaders on Thursday for what he is calling his " victory plan " to end the devastating war with Russia. Zelenskyy will address EU leaders at their summit in Brussels before shuttling across town to meet with NATO defense ministers. The EU is a key supporter of Ukraine — a candidate member of the 27-nation bloc — as it fights Russia's invasion that began more than 2 1/2 years ago. Zelenskyy outlined the five-point plan to Ukraine's parliament on Wednesday without disclosing confidential elements that have been presented in private to key allies, including the United States.

Death of ex-One Direction member Liam Payne at 31 sends shockwaves around the world

BUENOS AIRES, Argentine (AP) — Shockwaves spread around the world Thursday at the death of Liam Payne, who shot to stardom as a member of British boy band One Direction and had to deal with intense global fame while still in his teens. Fans, music-industry figures and fellow musicians paid tribute to Payne, 31, who died after falling from a hotel balcony in Argentina. Buenos Aires police said Payne fell from the third floor of the Casa Sur Hotel in the trendy Palermo neighborhood of Argentina's capital on Wednesday, resulting in "extremely serious injuries." Medics confirmed his death on the spot, the police said in a statement.

The Biden administration has now canceled loans for more than 1 million public workers

WASHINGTON (AP) — A student loan cancellation program for public workers has granted relief to more than 1 million Americans — up from just 7,000 who were approved before it was updated by the Biden administration two years ago. President Joe Biden announced the milestone on Thursday, saying his administration restored a promise to America's teachers, firefighters, nurses and other public servants. He celebrated it even as his broader student loan plans remain halted by courts following legal challenges by Republican-led states. "For too long, the government failed to live up to its commitments," Biden said in a statement. "We vowed to fix that, and because of actions from our administration, now over 1 million public service workers have gotten the relief they are entitled to under the law." The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program was created in 2007, promising college graduates that the remainder of their federal student loans would be zeroed out after 10 years working in government or nonprofit jobs.

A historically Black community grapples with lasting impacts after Baltimore bridge collapse

TURNER STATION, Md. (AP) — As the dust settled after the deadly collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge, as the initial shock wore off and the breaking news coverage subsided, residents of this tiny peninsula found themselves facing an uncertain future. Many had spent decades living in the shadow of the Key Bridge, an iconic landmark that placed the community of Turner Station firmly on the map. For their working-class, historically Black neighborhood, it was a lifeline to the outside world, a source of both pride and convenience. Within seconds, it was gone. Six construction workers died after a massive container ship lost power and veered off course, striking one of the bridge's support piers in the overnight darkness of March 26.

McConnell called Trump 'stupid,' 'despicable' in private after 2020 election, according to new book

WASHINGTON (AP) — Mitch McConnell said after the 2020 election that then-President Donald Trump was "stupid as well as being ill-tempered," a "despicable human being" and a "narcissist," according to excerpts from a new biography of the Senate Republican leader that will be released this month. McConnell made the remarks in private as part of a series of personal oral histories that he made available to Michael Tackett, deputy Washington bureau chief of The Associated Press. Tackett's book, "The Price of Power," draws from almost three decades of McConnell's recorded diaries and from years of interviews with the normally reticent Republican.