National Guard set to patrol Memphis but blocked in Illinois for 2 weeks

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By CHRISTINE FERNANDO and SUDHIN THANAWALA, Associated Press

National Guard troops were expected Friday to begin patrolling in Memphis, a day after a federal judge in Illinois blocked the deployment of troops in the Chicago area for at least two weeks.

The on-again, off-again deployments are the result of a political and legal battle over President Donald Trump’s push to send the National Guard to several U.S. cities. His administration claims crime is rampant in those cities, despite statistics not always backing that up.

Military personnel in uniform, with the Texas National Guard patch on, are seen at the U.S. Army Reserve Center, Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025, in Elwood, Ill., a suburb of Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

If a president invokes the Insurrection Act, they can dispatch active duty military in states that fail to put down an insurrection or defy federal law, but the judge in Chicago said Thursday she found no substantial evidence that a “danger of rebellion” is brewing in Illinois during Trump’s immigration crackdown.

The ruling offered a victory for Democratic officials who lead the state and city.

“The court confirmed what we all know: There is no credible evidence of a rebellion in the state of Illinois. And no place for the National Guard in the streets of American cities like Chicago,” Gov. JB Pritzker said.

In Tennessee, where Republican Gov. Bill Lee supports the deployment, the troops are expected to serve as “additional eyes and ears” across Memphis, supporting local, state and federal agencies, according to a city website.

The order in Illinois is set to expire Oct. 23 at 11:59 p.m. U.S. District Judge April Perry set an Oct. 22 hearing to determine if it should be extended for another 14 days.

In her ruling, she said the administration violated the 10th Amendment, which grants certain powers to states, and the 14th Amendment, which assures due process and equal protection.

It wasn’t clear what the 500 Guard members from Texas and Illinois would do next. They were mostly stationed at a U.S. Army Reserve Center in Elwood, southwest of Chicago. A small number on Thursday were outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Broadview, which for weeks has been home to occasional clashes between protesters and federal agents.

Officials at U.S. Northern Command directed questions to the Department of Defense, which cited its policy of not commenting on ongoing litigation. The troops are under the U.S. Northern Command and had been activated for 60 days.

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U.S. Justice Department lawyer Eric Hamilton had said Thursday that the Guard’s mission would be to protect federal properties and government law enforcers in the field, not “solving all of crime in Chicago.”

The city and state have called the deployments unnecessary and illegal.

Also Thursday, a federal appeals court heard arguments over whether Trump had the authority to take control of 200 Oregon National Guard troops. The president had planned to deploy them in Portland, where there have been mostly small nightly protests outside an ICE building.

A judge on Sunday granted a temporary restraining order blocking the move. Trump had mobilized California troops for Portland just hours after the judge first blocked him from using Oregon’s Guard.

Two dozen other states with a Democratic attorney general or governor signed a court filing in support of the legal challenge by California and Oregon. Twenty others, led by Iowa, backed the Trump administration.

Chicago’s federal court issued other decisions this week related to immigration enforcement. In one, a judge said immigration agents have repeatedly violated a 2022 consent decree outlining how ICE can make so-called warrantless arrests. That decree requires ICE to show documentation for each arrest it makes for people besides those being targeted.

The president previously sent troops to Los Angeles and Washington.

In a California case, a judge in September said the deployment was illegal. By that point, just 300 of the thousands of troops sent there remained and the judge did not order them to leave.

Associated Press writers Ed White in Detroit, Geoff Mulvihill in Philadelphia, Adrian Sainz in Memphis, Tennessee, and Konstantin Toropin in Washington contributed to this report.

Burkina Faso rejects proposal to accept deportees from the US

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By MARK BANCHEREAU, Associated Press

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Burkina Faso says it has refused a proposal from the Trump administration to accept deportees from the United States.

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The West African country was asked whether it would accept non-citizens expelled by the U.S., in addition to its own nationals, Foreign Minister Karamoko Jean-Marie Traoré said Thursday on national television.

“Naturally, this proposal, which we deemed indecent at the time, is totally contrary to the value of dignity which is part of the very essence of the vision of Capt. Ibrahim Traoré,” he said, referring to the country’s military ruler.

The remark came only a few hours after the U.S. Embassy in the capital Ouagadougou suspended most visa services for Burkina Faso residents, redirecting applications to its embassy in neighboring Togo. The embassy did not give a reason for the move.

Citing a U.S. diplomatic note accusing Burkinabe nationals of not complying with visa usage rules, Karamoko Jean-Marie Traoré called the move a possible “pressure tactic” and said, “Burkina Faso is a land of dignity, not deportation.”

The U.S. Embassy in Ouagadougou and Department of Homeland Security didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

More than 40 deportees have been sent to Africa since July after the Trump administration struck largely secretive agreements with at least five African nations to take migrants under a new third-country deportation program. Rights groups and others have protested the program.

The U.S. has sent deportees to the small African nation of Eswatini, South Sudan, Rwanda and Ghana. It also has an agreement with Uganda, though no deportations there have been announced.

Six deportees are still detained in an unspecified facility in South Sudan, while Rwanda hasn’t said where it is holding seven deportees. Eleven of the 14 deportees sent to Ghana last month sued the government there for holding them in what they described as terrible conditions at a military camp on the outskirts of the capital, Accra.

Human Rights Watch said last month the Trump administration offered financial incentives to some African countries to accept deportees. The rights group said it reviewed written agreements showing Eswatini will receive $5.1 million in U.S. funding for migration and border management while Rwanda will receive $7.5 million.

President Donald Trump is headed to Walter Reed for a ‘semiannual physical’

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By SEUNG MIN KIM, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is undergoing what he has described as a “semiannual physical” at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Friday.

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The visit, which the White House announced earlier this week, comes as Trump is preparing to travel to the Middle East on the heels of a ceasefire deal in the Israel-Hamas war. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt described it as a “routine yearly checkup,” although Trump had his annual physical in April.

The White House declined to explain why Trump was getting a yearly checkup six months after his annual exam. But in an exchange with reporters Thursday, the Republican president said it was a “semiannual physical.”

“I’m meeting with the troops, and I’m also going to do a, sort of, semiannual physical, which I do,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “I think I’m in great shape, but I’ll let you know.”

The president is scheduled to return to the White House after his visit to Walter Reed, which is located in Bethesda, Maryland.

Trump’s April physical found that he was “fully fit” to serve as commander in chief. The three-page summary of the exam done by his doctor, Navy Capt. Sean Barbabella, said he had lost 20 pounds (9 kilograms) since a medical exam in June 2020 and said he has an “active lifestyle” that “continues to contribute significantly” to the well-being of the president, who’s 79.

In July, the White House announced that Trump recently had had a medical checkup after noticing “mild swelling” in his lower legs and was found to have a condition common in older adults that causes blood to pool in his veins. Tests by the White House medical unit showed that Trump has chronic venous insufficiency, which occurs when little valves inside the veins that normally help move blood against gravity gradually lose the ability to work properly.

At the April physical, Trump also passed a short screening test to assess different brain functions.

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado wins the Nobel Peace Prize

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By KOSTYA MANENKOV, REGINA GARCIA CANO and GEIR MOULSON, Associated Press

OSLO, Norway (AP) — Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, winning recognition as a woman “who keeps the flame of democracy burning amid a growing darkness.”

FILE – Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado holds up tally sheets during a protest against the reelection of President Nicolás Maduro one month after the disputed presidential vote which she says the opposition won by a landslide, in Caracas, Venezuela, Aug. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)

The former opposition presidential candidate was lauded for being a “key, unifying figure” in the once deeply divided opposition to President Nicolás Maduro’s government, said Jørgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel committee.

“In the past year, Ms. Machado has been forced to live in hiding,” Watne Frydnes said. Despite serious threats against her life, she has remained in the country, a choice that has inspired millions. When authoritarians seize power, it is crucial to recognize courageous defenders of freedom who rise and resist.”

He told the AP that the committee was able to reach Machado just before the announcement and “it came as a surprise.”

Exiled opposition candidate celebrates

Machado’s ally, Edmundo González, who lives in exile in Spain, posted a short video of himself speaking by phone with Machado.

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“I am in shock,” she said, adding, “I cannot believe it.”

González celebrated Machado’s Nobel win in a post on X, calling it a “very well-deserved recognition for the long fight of a woman and of a whole people for our freedom and democracy.”

Maduro’s government has routinely targeted its real or perceived opponents.

Machado, who turned 58 this week, was set to run against Maduro, but the government disqualified her. González, who had never run for office before, took her place. The lead-up to the election saw widespread repression, including disqualifications, arrests and human rights violations.

Crackdown on dissent

The crackdown on dissent only increased after the country’s National Electoral Council, which is stacked with Maduro loyalists, declared him the winner despite credible evidence to the contrary.

The election results announced by the Electoral Council sparked protests across the country to which the government responded with force that ended with more than 20 people dead. They also prompted an end to diplomatic relations between Venezuela and various foreign countries, including Argentina.

Machado went into hiding and has not been seen in public since January. A Venezuelan court issued an arrest warrant for González over the publication of election results. He went into exile in Spain and was granted asylum.

Before dawn in Caracas, with few vehicles out yet on the Venezuelan capital’s usually crowded streets, some people heading to work expressed disbelief at the news of Machado’s win.

“I don’t know what can be done to improve the situation, but she deserves it,” said Sandra Martínez, 32, as she waited at a bus stop. “She’s a great woman.”

Support for Machado and the opposition in general has decreased since the July 2024 election — particularly since January, when Maduro was sworn in for a third six-year term and disappointment set in.

Last year, Machado and González were awarded the European Union’s top human rights honor, the Sakharov Prize.

Machado becomes the 20th woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, of the 112 individuals who have been honored.

Speculation about Trump’s Nobel chances

There had been persistent speculation ahead of the announcement about the possibility of the prize going to U.S. President Donald Trump, fueled in part by the president himself and amplified by this week’s approval of his plan for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

Asked about lobbying for and by Trump, Watne Frydnes said: “I think this committee has seen any type of campaign, media attention. We receive thousands and thousands of letters every year of people wanting to say what for them leads to peace.

“This committee sits in a room filled with the portraits of all laureates, and that room is filled with both courage and integrity. So we base only our decision on the work and the will of Alfred Nobel.”

White House spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a post on X Friday morning that “President Trump will continue making peace deals around the world, ending wars, and saving lives.” He added that “the Nobel Committee proved they place politics over peace.”

Last year’s award went to Nihon Hidankyo, a grassroots movement of Japanese atomic bombing survivors who have worked for decades to maintain a taboo around the use of nuclear weapons.

The peace prize is the only one of the annual Nobel prizes to be awarded in Oslo, Norway.

Four of the other prizes have already been awarded in the Swedish capital, Stockholm this week — in medicine on Monday, physics on Tuesday, chemistry on Wednesday and literature on Thursday. The winner of the prize in economics will be announced on Monday.

Garcia Cano reported from Mexico City and Moulson from Berlin. Jorge Rueda contributed from Caracas, Venezuela and Mike Corder from The Hague, Netherlands.