Efforts were underway Thursday to recover the submerged vehicle of four U.S. Army soldiers from the depths of a peat bog in Lithuania as crews continued to search for the missing service members.

The M88 Hercules was found more than 16 feet underwater Wednesday, the Army said in a statement. It is the same vehicle that was operated by a group of soldiers who disappeared during a drill at the General Silvestras Zukauskas training ground in Pabrade, a town located about 6 miles from the border with Belarus.

Attempts to raise the vehicle to ground level, however, have proved slow-going. The conditions of the swamp, including its “thick mud” and “soft ground,” have forced engineers to craft berms — barriers made of dirt and sand — on site. They will “create a contained area from which water can be pumped and mud dredged, providing emergency personnel on site access” the M88 Hercules.

“Lithuanian and U.S. Army engineers are currently pumping water and excavating mud from the site and making improvements to the surrounding area to support the heavy equipment needed for recovery,” Maj. Robin Bruce, 1st Armored Division Engineer, added. “The team is exploring every available option to speed up this process.”

The ongoing recovery work has also involved “specialized equipment to drain water from the side and stabilize the ground,” the Army said.

The missing soldiers are all from the 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, based at Fort Stewart in Georgia. They have not been heard from since the early hours of Tuesday morning, and efforts to locate them are ongoing.

“People (are) working round the clock,” the Lithuanian defense minister, Dovile Sakaliene, said on X. “Everybody remains on standby, ready to provide emergency medical support.”

The Lithuanian army has also said there was “no evidence or information confirming the death of the troops.”

Montana restricts trans bathroom use

Transgender people in Montana can no longer use bathrooms in public buildings that do not align with their sex assigned at birth after Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte signed new restrictions into law Thursday.

The law, which takes effect with its approval, requires public buildings including the state Capitol, schools, jails, prisons, libraries and state-funded domestic violence shelters to provide separate spaces for men and women.

It defines the sexes in state law based on a person’s chromosomes and reproductive biology, even as a district court ruling earlier this year declared the definitions unconstitutional.

Under the law, transgender people cannot use public restrooms, changing rooms and sleeping areas that align with their gender identity. The law does not explain how people in charge of public facilities should verify someone’s sex.

Rep. Kerri Seekins-Crowe, the Republican sponsor, said it was not meant to be exclusionary but to preserve safe spaces for women.

Judge denies detained student’s challenge

A Cornell University student facing deportation was denied relief Thursday by the federal judge hearing his legal challenge against the Trump administration.

Judge Elizabeth Coombe rejected requests from Momodou Taal to temporarily halt his removal proceedings and the enforcement of two executive orders from President Donald Trump.

The 31-year-old citizen of the United Kingdom and Gambia had his student visa revoked this month and was asked to surrender to Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities for removal proceedings.

Taal and two co-plaintiffs filed a lawsuit March 15 seeking to block enforcement of executive orders he believed could lead to his deportation, arguing they violate free speech rights.

Taal’s lawyer, Eric Lee, said at a hearing Tuesday that his client was being targeted for exercising free speech.

Coombe wrote that Taal did not meet the high burden for the temporary restraining orders.

Ex-Panama president told to leave country

Ex-Panama President Ricardo Martinelli will be allowed to leave the Nicaraguan embassy where he’s been holed up for more than a year to travel to Nicaragua for humanitarian reasons, Panama Foreign Affairs Minister Javier Martínez-Acha Vásquez said Thursday.

Martinelli has been inside Nicaragua’s embassy in Panama since Panama moved to arrest him after his appeals ran out on his money laundering conviction. The 73-year-old former leader maintains that his prosecution has been politically motivated as he sought to run for a second term in office.

Martinelli has until midnight on March 31 to leave Panama.

Mixed verdict in Philly police perjury trial

The trial of three long-retired Philadelphia detectives accused of lying about evidence in a homicide case that later ended with an exoneration wrapped up with a mixed verdict Thursday.

Martin Devlin was acquitted on all charges, while Frank Jastrzembski was acquitted on all but one count and Manuel Santiago was acquitted of two charges but convicted on two others.

The trial was a highly unusual prosecution since few public officials are ever charged with crimes over their work in innocence cases.

The detectives were all retired when a 1991 homicide case was retried in 2016. They were called back to testify, restarting the five-year clock to file perjury charges.

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner had charged the three in 2021, days before the statute of limitations would have expired.

Assassination suspect allowed laptop in jail

A judge cleared the way Thursday for Luigi Mangione to get a laptop behind bars — if his jailers agree — so he can examine documents and other material in the UnitedHealthcare CEO murder case.

New York state Judge Gregory Carro wrote that he had “no objection” to Mangione’s request for the device, which would be configured to allow him only to review case materials. But Carro noted that it’s ultimately up to federal authorities who oversee the lockup where Mangione is awaiting trial in the December shooting death of Brian Thompson, of Maple Grove, the 50-year-old head of the biggest U.S. health insurer. Thompson was ambushed while walking to a Manhattan hotel where the company was holding an investor conference.

Mangione has pleaded not guilty to New York charges that include murder as an act of terrorism.

— From news services