By SEUNG MIN KIM, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump will convene a peace summit at the White House on Friday with the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan that is meant to end decades of conflict and reopen key transportation routes in the region.

The two countries in the South Caucasus region will sign an agreement that will create a major transit corridor that will be named the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, the White House said. That route will connect mainland Azerbaijan and its autonomous Nakhchivan region, a demand of the capital, Baku, that had held up peace talks between the two nations.

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“The roadmap they are agreeing to will build a cooperative future that benefits both countries, their region of the South Caucasus and beyond,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said Friday. She added that the new transit corridor will “allow unimpeded connectivity between the two countries while respecting Armenia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and its people.”

Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan are separated by a 20-mile patch of Armenia’s territory.

Separate from the joint agreement, both Armenia and Azerbaijan will sign deals with the United States meant to bolster cooperation in energy, technology and the economy, the White House said.

Trump previewed much of Friday’s plan in a social media post Thursday evening, saying the two leaders would participate in a peace ceremony and sign economic agreements with the U.S. that would “fully unlock the potential of the South Caucasus Region.”

“Many Leaders have tried to end the War, with no success, until now, thanks to ‘TRUMP,’” Trump said on his Truth Social site.

The Republican president will first meet with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and then will host Azerbaijan’s president, Ilham Aliyev. Finally, all three leaders will participate in a joint signing ceremony in the State Dining Room.

The two nations have been locked in conflict for nearly four decades as they fought for control of the Karabakh region, known internationally as Nagorno-Karabakh.

The area was largely populated by Armenians during the Soviet era but is located within Azerbaijan. The two nations battled for control of the region through multiple violent clashes that left tens of thousands of people dead over the decades, all while international mediation efforts failed.

Most recently, Azerbaijan reclaimed all of Karabakh in 2023 and had been in talks with Armenia to normalize ties.

The signing of a deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan also marks a geopolitical blow to their former imperial master, Russia. Throughout the nearly four-decade conflict, Moscow played mediator to expand its clout in the strategic South Caucasus region, but its influence waned quickly after it launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Moscow stood back when Azerbaijan reclaimed control of the Karabakh region in a blitz offensive in September 2023, angering Armenia, which has moved to shed Russian influence and turn westward. Azerbaijan, emboldened by its victory in Karabakh, also has become increasingly defiant in relations with Moscow.

By MICHELLE CHAPMAN, Associated Press Business Writer

Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan says he’s “always operated within the highest legal and ethical standards” after President Donald Trump said he should resign.

On Thursday Trump said on Truth Social platform that, “The CEO of Intel is highly CONFLICTED and must resign, immediately. There is no other solution to this problem. Thank you for your attention to this problem!”

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Trump’s post landed after Sen. Tom Cotton sent a letter to Intel Chairman Frank Yeary expressing concern over Tan’s investments and ties to semiconductor firms that are reportedly linked to the Chinese Communist Party and the People’s Liberation Army, and asked the board whether Tan had divested his interests in these companies to eliminate any conflicts of interest.

It was not immediately clear on Thursday if Tan, who took over as Intel’s CEO in March, had divested his interests in the companies.

The economic and political rivalry between the U.S. and China are increasingly focused on computer chips, AI and other digital technologies that are expected to shape future economies and military conflicts.

Intel said in a statement that it’s “deeply committed to advancing U.S. national and economic security interests and are making significant investments aligned with the President’s America First agenda.”

Tan also addressed the situation, saying in a message to employees that there was misinformation circulating about his past roles at Walden International and Cadence Design Systems and that he’s always followed proper standards.

Tan also said Intel was in contact with the Trump administration.

“We are engaging with the Administration to address the matters that have been raised and ensure they have the facts,” Tan said. “I fully share the President’s commitment to advancing U.S. national and economic security, I appreciate his leadership to advance these priorities, and I’m proud to lead a company that is so central to these goals.”.

The company’s stock rose slightly in premarket trading on Friday.

By JAIMIE DING, Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A fast-growing brush fire has forced thousands of people to evacuate in a mountainous area north of Los Angeles.

The Canyon Fire ignited Thursday afternoon and grew to more than 7.6 square miles by 11 p.m., according to the Ventura County Fire Department. At least 400 personnel were battling the blaze along with several planes and helicopters. It remained uncontained late Thursday and was spreading east into Los Angeles County, officials said.

The fire is burning just south of Lake Piru, a reservoir located in the Los Padres National Forest. It’s close by Lake Castaic, a popular recreation area burned by the Hughes Fire in January. That fire burned about 15 square miles in six hours and put 50,000 people under evacuation orders or warnings.

Sunny, hot and dry conditions were expected in the area where the Canyon Fire was burning on Friday, with the daytime high near 100 degrees Fahrenheit  and minimum humidity in the mid-teens, according to the National Weather Service. Winds were expected to be light in the morning and grow from the south to southwest in the afternoon.

In LA County, around 2,700 residents evacuated with 700 structures under an evacuation order, officials said late Thursday. Another 14,000 residents and 5,000 structures were covered by an evacuation warning. Areas within the Val Verde zone had been reduced from an order to a warning.

The evacuation zones in nearby Ventura County were relatively unpopulated, Ventura County Fire Department spokesperson Andrew Dowd said Thursday. Fifty-six people were evacuated from the Lake Piru recreation area.

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Dowd called the blaze a “very dynamic situation” caused by hot, dry weather, steep and rugged terrain and dry fuel.

LA County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who represents the district, urged residents to evacuate.

“Extreme heat and low humidity in our north county have created dangerous conditions where flames can spread with alarming speed,” Barger said in a statement. “If first responders tell you to leave, go—without hesitation.”

The new blaze comes as a massive wildfire in Central California became the state’s largest blaze of the year, threatening hundreds of homes and burning out of control in the Los Padres National Forest.

The Gifford Fire had spread to 155 square miles by Thursday night with 15% containment. It grew out of at least four smaller fires that erupted Aug. 1 along State Route 166, forcing closures in both directions east of Santa Maria, a city of about 110,000 people. It has injured at least four people. The causes of the fires are under investigation.

Wildfire risk will be elevated through the weekend across much of inland California as a heat wave gripping the area intensifies. August and September are typically the most dangerous months for wildfires in the state.

By VALERIE GONZALEZ, Associated Press

McALLEN, Texas (AP) — A federal judge on Friday will hear a Trump administration request to end a nearly three-decade-old policy on ensuring safe conditions for immigrant children held in federal custody.

U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee in Los Angeles will hold a hearing to consider dissolving a policy that limits how long Customs and Border Protection can hold immigrant children and that requires them to be kept in safe and sanitary conditions. The policy also allows third-party inspections of CBP facilities that hold immigrant children to ensure compliance.

Advocates for immigrant children have asked the judge to keep the protections and oversight in place and have submitted firsthand accounts from immigrants in family detention who described adults fighting children for clean water, despondent toddlers and a child with swollen feet who was denied a medical exam.

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In its motion, President Donald Trump’s administration said the government has made substantial changes since the Flores agreement was formalized in 1997. The government said it has created standards and policies governing the custody of immigrant children that conform to legislation and the agreement.

Conditions for immigrant children who enter the U.S. without a parent “have substantially improved from those that precipitated this suit four decades ago,” the government wrote in its motion.

The agreement, named for a teenage plaintiff, governs the conditions for all immigrant children in U.S. custody, including those traveling alone or with their parents. It also limits how long CBP can detain child immigrants to 72 hours. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services then takes custody of the children.

The Biden administration successfully pushed to partially end the agreement last year. Gee ruled that special court supervision may end when HHS takes custody, but she carved out exceptions for certain types of facilities for children with more acute needs.

Advocates for the children say the government is holding children beyond the time limits set out in the agreement. In March and April, CPB reported that it had 213 children in custody for more than 72 hours and that 14 children, including toddlers, were held for over 20 days in April. As part of their court filings, they included testimony from several families who were held in family detention centers in Texas.

If the judge terminates the settlement, the detention centers would be closed to third-party inspections.

The federal government is looking to expand its immigration detention space, including by building more centers like one in Florida dubbed “Alligator Alcatraz,” where a lawsuit alleges detainees’ constitutional rights are being violated.