By MARK SHERMAN

WASHINGTON (AP) — A divided federal appeals court on Friday threw out an agreement that would have allowed accused Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to plead guilty in a deal sparing him the risk of execution for al-Qaida’s 2001 attacks.

The decision by a panel of the federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., undoes an attempt to wrap up more than two decades of military prosecution beset by legal and logistical troubles. It signals there will be no quick end to the long struggle by the U.S. military and successive administrations to bring to justice the man charged with planning one of the deadliest attacks ever on the United States.

The deal, negotiated over two years and approved by military prosecutors and the Pentagon’s senior official for Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a year ago, stipulated life sentences without parole for Mohammed and two co-defendants.

Mohammed is accused of developing and directing the plot to crash hijacked airliners into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Another of the hijacked planes flew into a field in Pennsylvania.

The men also would have been obligated to answer any lingering questions that families of the victims have about the attacks.

But then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin repudiated the deal, saying a decision on the death penalty in an attack as grave as Sept. 11 should only be made by the defense secretary.

Attorneys for the defendants had argued that the agreement was already legally in effect and that Austin, who served under President Joe Biden, acted too late to try to throw it out. A military judge at Guantanamo and a military appeals panel agreed with the defense lawyers.

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But, by a 2-1 vote, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit found Austin acted within his authority and faulted the military judge’s ruling.

The panel had previously put the agreement on hold while it considered the appeal, first filed by the Biden administration and then continued under President Donald Trump.

“Having properly assumed the convening authority, the Secretary determined that the ‘families and the American public deserve the opportunity to see military commission trials carried out.’ The Secretary acted within the bounds of his legal authority, and we decline to second-guess his judgment,” Judges Patricia Millett and Neomi Rao wrote.

Millett was an appointee of President Barack Obama while Rao was appointed by Trump.

In a dissent, Judge Robert Wilkins, an Obama appointee, wrote, “The government has not come within a country mile of proving clearly and indisputably that the Military Judge erred.”

By DAVID A. LIEB

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Eight months after voters approved it, Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe signed the repeal of a law Thursday that had guaranteed paid sick leave to workers and inflationary adjustments to the minimum wage.

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The move marked a major victory for the state’s largest business group and a frustrating defeat for workers’ rights advocates, who had spent years — and millions of dollars — building support for the successful ballot measure. The repeal will take effect Aug. 28.

Kehoe, who also signed a package of tax breaks Thursday, described the paid sick leave law as an onerous mandate that imposed burdensome record-keeping.

“Today, we are protecting the people who make Missouri work — families, job creators, and small business owners — by cutting taxes, rolling back overreach, and eliminating costly mandates,” Kehoe, a Republican, said in a statement released after a private bill-signing ceremony.

The new tax law excludes capital gains from individual state income taxes, expands tax breaks for seniors and disabled residents and exempts diapers and feminine hygiene products from sales taxes.

Richard von Glahn, who sponsored the worker benefit ballot initiative, said many parents felt forced to go to work, instead of staying home to care for a sick child, in order to pay for their rent or utilities.

“The governor signing this bill is an absolute betrayal to those families, and it hurts my heart,” said von Glahn, policy director for Missouri Jobs With Justice.

About one-third of states mandate paid sick leave, but many businesses voluntarily provide it. Nationwide, 79% of private-sector employees received paid sick leave last year, though part-time workers were significantly less likely to receive the benefit than full-time employees, according to Department of Labor data.

Voters in Alaska, Missouri and Nebraska all approved paid sick leave measures last November. Only Alaska’s, which kicked in on July 1, has remained unchanged by state lawmakers.

Before Nebraska’s measure could take effect Oct. 1, Republican Gov. Jim Pillen signed a measure last month exempting businesses with 10 or fewer employees from the paid sick leave requirements. The revision also lets businesses withhold paid sick leave from seasonal agricultural workers and 14- and 15-year-olds.

Missouri’s law allowed employees to earn one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked, starting May 1. By the time it’s repealed, 17 weeks will have elapsed. That means someone working 40 hours a week could have earned 22 hours of paid sick leave.

If workers don’t use their paid sick leave before Aug. 28, there’s no legal guarantee they can do so afterward.

The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry had made repealing the law its top legislative priority.

The “paid leave and minimum wage policies were a job killer,” chamber President and CEO Kara Corches said.

But Missouri voters could get a second chance at mandating paid sick leave.

Von Glahn has submitted a proposed ballot initiative to the secretary of state that would reinstate the repealed provisions. Because the new measure is a constitutional amendment, the Legislature would be unable to revise or repeal it without another vote of the people. Supporters haven’t decided whether to launch a petition drive to try to qualify the measure for the 2026 ballot.

By JON GAMBRELL

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An Iranian attack on an air base in Qatar that’s key to the U.S. military likely hit a geodesic dome housing equipment used by the Americans for secure communications, satellite images analyzed Friday by The Associated Press show.

The U.S. military and Qatar didn’t respond to requests for comment over the damage, which so far hasn’t been publicly acknowledged.

The Iranian attack on Al Udeid Air Base outside of Doha, Qatar’s capital, on June 23 came as a response to the American bombing of three nuclear sites in Iran — and provided the Islamic Republic a way to retaliate that quickly led to a ceasefire brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump ending the 12-day Iran-Israel war.

The Iranian attack otherwise did little damage — likely because of the fact that the U.S. evacuated its aircraft from the base, which is home to the forward headquarters of the U.S. military’s Central Command, before the attack.

Trump also has said that Iran signaled when and how it would retaliate, allowing American and Qatari air defense to be ready for the attack, which briefly disrupted air travel in the Middle East, but otherwise didn’t tip over into the regional war long feared by analysts.

Images show burn marks, dome gone after attack

Satellite images from Planet Labs PBC show the geodesic dome visible at the Al Udeid Air Base on the morning of June 23, just hours before the attack.

The U.S. Air Force’s 379th Air Expeditionary Wing, which operates out of the base, announced in 2016 the installation of the $15 million piece of equipment, known as a modernized enterprise terminal. Photos show a satellite dish inside of the dome, known as a radome.

Images taken June 25 and every day subsequently show the dome is gone, with some damage visible on a nearby building. The rest of the base appears largely untouched in the images.

It’s possible a fragment or something else struck the dome, but given the destruction of the dome, it was likely an Iranian attack, possibly with a bomb-carrying drone given the limited visible damage to surrounding structures.

The London-based satellite news channel Iran International first reported on the damage, citing satellite photos taken by a different provider.

Trump downplayed attack while Iran boasted about it

In the U.S., Trump described the Iranian attack as a “very weak response.” He had said that Tehran fired 14 missiles, with 13 intercepted and one being “set free” as it was going in a “nonthreatening” direction.

“I want to thank Iran for giving us early notice, which made it possible for no lives to be lost, and nobody to be injured,” he wrote on his website Truth Social.

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After the attack, Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard insisted that the air base had been the “target of a destructive and powerful missile attack.” Iran’s Supreme National Security Council also said that the base had been “smashed,” without offering any specific damage assessments.

Potentially signaling that he knew the dome had been hit, an adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei separately said that the base’s communications had been disconnected by the attack.

“All equipment of the base was completely destroyed and now the U.S. command stream and connection from Al Udeid base to its other military bases have been completely cut,” said Ahmad Alamolhoda, a hard-line cleric.

Nasser Karimi contributed to this report from Tehran, Iran.

Each Friday, City Limits rounds up the latest news on housing, land use and homelessness. Catch up on what you might have missed here.

The City Council scored a legal win this week in its lawsuit over the mayor’s refusal to implement its rental voucher expansion laws. (Gerardo Romo / NYC Council Media Unit)

Welcome to “What Happened This Week in NYC Housing?” where we compile the latest local news about housing, land use and homelessness.

Know of a story we should include in next Friday’s roundup? Email us.

ICYMI, from City Limits:

An appeals court ruled Thursday that Mayor Eric Adams’ administration must implement a package of laws passed by the City Council to expand eligibility for the city’s rental subsidy program, CityFHEPS. The laws raise the income threshold for applicants and expand eligibility to those at risk of eviction.

Here what New York City’s next mayor has the power to do when it comes to housing, and what they might need the City Council or Albany’s help with.

Should the city speed up its public review process for new housing projects? How much say should City Council members have when it comes to approving developments? These are a few of the questions voters might be asked to answer this fall, as the Charter Revision Commission finalizes a set of ballot proposals.

Last year, the City Council passed two bills requiring city agencies to survey migrants and asylum seekers in the shelter system about their work and health needs. The surveys were supposed to be distributed last November, but still aren’t finished yet.

ICYMI, from other local newsrooms:

So far, the city’s new broker fees law hasn’t lead to a significant rent spike, as some critics feared, according to Gothamist.

NYCHA wants to lease its parking lots for electric vehicle charging, Crain’s reports (subscription required).

A primer on the plans to bring three new casinos to New York City, via THE CITY.

NYCHA finished $1.2 billion worth of state-funded infrastructure upgrades across its developments, according to the Norwood News.

New York Times’ columnist Ginia Bellafante on the Brooklyn Marine Terminal redevelopment plans.

The post What Happened This Week in NYC Housing? July 11, 2025 appeared first on City Limits.