Ukrainian officials claimed Friday they used a barrage of drones to destroy at least six military aircraft and badly damage eight others at an airfield in Russia’s Rostov region. Russian defense officials, however, claimed they intercepted 44 Ukrainian drones and that only a power substation was damaged in the attack.

The Associated Press could not independently verify either side’s claims.

The assault appeared to be one of Kyiv’s biggest air attacks in the war, coming as its forces stepped up their assaults on Russian soil. Russia has also escalated attacks on civilian infrastructure, including Ukraine’s power plants, in recent weeks, signaling a new and potentially dangerous phase in the conflict as both sides struggle to achieve significant advances on the ground.

The overnight attack targeted a military airfield near Morozovsk in Russia and was conducted by Ukraine’s Security Service in cooperation with the army, Ukrainian intelligence officials told the AP.

They said around 20 members of the airfield’s personnel were killed or injured. Morozovsk airfield was used by Russian bombers that have been launching guided aerial bombs at Ukraine’s cities and frontline positions, the officials said.

They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the operation.

If true, the attack would be among Ukraine’s most successful cross-border strikes.

Trump seeks new judge in hush-money trial

Former President Donald Trump is demanding a new judge just days before his hush-money criminal trial is set to begin, rehashing longstanding grievances with the current judge in a long-shot, eleventh-hour bid to disrupt and delay the case.

Trump’s lawyers — echoing his recent social media complaints — urged Manhattan Judge Juan M. Merchan to step aside from the case, alleging bias and a conflict of interest because his daughter is a Democratic political consultant. The judge rejected a similar request last August.

In court papers made public Friday, Trump’s lawyers said it is improper for Merchan “to preside over these proceedings while Ms. Merchan benefits, financially and reputationally, from the manner in which this case is interfering” with Trump’s campaign as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

Court halts tuition-fraud relief in Texas

A Biden administration plan to provide student debt relief for people who say they were victims of misleading information by trade schools or colleges is “almost certainly unlawful” a federal appeals court said in a ruling blocking enforcement of the policy against a group of privately owned Texas institutions.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal ruling, dated Thursday, came in a court challenge filed by Career Colleges and Schools of Texas. The panel sent the case back to a lower court, saying the judge should issue an injunction against enforcement while the appeal continues.

At issue are rules that broadened existing policy, affecting students who borrowed money to attend colleges and universities that are determined to have misled them on matters such as whether their courses would actually prepare them for employment in their field or the likely salary they would earn upon obtaining a degree.

N.Y. mayor probe widens to flight upgrades

Federal authorities investigating New York Mayor Eric Adams’ campaign fundraising have been examining valuable flight upgrades they believe he received from Turkish Airlines that elevated him to its highest class of seats available on international trips, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The scrutiny is part of a broad corruption inquiry that has already led the FBI to search the homes of the former top New York-based executive of Turkish Airlines and aides to Adams.

The investigation burst into public view in November after FBI agents searched the homes of the former airline executive, Cenk Öcal; the mayor’s liaison to the Turkish community, Rana Abbasova; and his chief fundraiser, Brianna Suggs — and seized Adams’ electronic devices.

Iran vows to avenge deadly Israeli strike

Iran vowed Friday to avenge Israel’s killing of senior commanders and other officers of its elite Quds Force, at a public funeral held for the dead men, elevating fears of open war but leaving unsaid how it would retaliate or when.

“Our brave men will punish the Zionist regime,” Gen. Hossein Salami, the commander in chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, told the crowd attending the funeral in Tehran, Iran. “We warn that no act by any enemy against our holy system will go unanswered, and the art of the Iranian nation is to break the power of empires.”

On Monday, Israel conducted an airstrike on a building that is part of the Iranian Embassy complex in Damascus, Syria, killing three generals and four other officers of the Quds Force. The force, an arm of the Revolutionary Guard, conducts military and intelligence operations outside Iran, often working closely with allies that oppose Israel and the United States, including Syria, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas.

J&J makes $13B deal for heart care firm

Johnson & Johnson is pumping more money into heart care with a roughly $13 billion deal for Shockwave Medical, which specializes in technology that helps open clogged arteries.

The health care giant said Friday that it will spend $335 in cash for each share of Shockwave. The total deal value includes cash acquired.

The deal has already been approved by the boards of directors of both companies.

Founded in 2009, Shockwave focuses on intravascular lithotripsy technology that uses sonic pressure waves to crack calcium lesions in arteries and restore blood flow. It’s similar to a technique used to break up kidney stones.

Mercedes workers OK Alabama union vote

A majority of workers at a Mercedes-Benz plant near Tuscaloosa, Ala., are calling for a vote to join the United Auto Workers union, which is on a drive to sign up non-union plants nationwide.

According to a Friday announcement from the UAW, the Mercedes workers have filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board for the vote.

Their call for a union election arrives just weeks after workers at a Volkswagen factory in Chattanooga, Tenn., set a date to vote for UAW representation.

The Mercedes plant had a total of about 6,100 employees as of the end of 2023. More than 5,000 are calling for the union vote.

Trans youth bans fail in Nebraska Legislature

A bill that would bar transgender students from school bathrooms, locker rooms and sports teams that correspond with their gender identity failed Friday to get enough votes to advance in heavily conservative Nebraska.

Legislative Bill 575, dubbed the Sports and Spaces Act by its author Sen. Kathleen Kauth, would have restricted students to teams and facilities for the gender they were assigned at birth. An amended version would have gone a step further by barring students taking male hormones from girls’ teams, even if they were assigned female at birth, effectively excluding transgender males from all sports competition.

The bill needed 33 votes to end a filibuster and failed by a margin of 31 to 15, eliciting a cheer from protesters outside the chamber.

Suspect sought in fire at Sanders’ office

Police in Vermont are seeking a suspect who allegedly started a fire Friday outside the office of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders. The small blaze caused minor damages but no injuries.

Authorities say an unknown male suspect sprayed what they described as a possible accelerant on the office door, set it on fire and fled.

They said the suspect remained at large and no motive had been established.

— News service reports