In a letter sent Thursday to Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, President Donald Trump said he would not be spending $4.9 billion in congressionally approved foreign aid – effectively cutting the budget without going through the legislative branch. The letter was posted Friday morning on the X account of the White House Office of Management and Budget.

Gaza City is now a dangerous combat zone, Israel says, adding that it is in the “initial stages” of a planned offensive that has drawn international condemnation. Israel also said it had recovered the body of a hostage and the remains of another, and vowed its military offensive would return more.

Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad:

BANGKOK (AP) – Thailand’s Constitutional Court on Friday dismissed Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, ruling that she violated ethics rules in a phone call with a high-ranking Cambodian official. The decision ends the term of the nation’s youngest prime minister and delivers the latest blow to the powerful Shinawatra political dynasty that has dominated Thai politics for more than two decades.

WASHINGTON (AP) – Secretary of State Marco Rubio has revoked the visas of a number of Palestinian Authority and Palestine Liberation Organization officials ahead of next month’s annual high-level meeting of the U.N. General Assembly, where the groups previously have been represented.

MEXICO CITY (AP) – More than 14,000 mainly Venezuelan migrants who hoped to reach the United States have reversed course and turned south since U.S. President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown began, according to a report published Friday by the governments of Colombia, Panama and Costa Rica.

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) – A visit by a pair of U.S. senators to Taiwan has drawn criticism from China, which claims the island as its own and objects to any contact between officials of the two sides. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, a Mississippi Republican, and Nebraska Republican Deb Fischer arrived in Taipei on Friday.

NEW YORK (AP) – New York City mayoral hopeful Zohran Mamdani seemed at ease as he made his way from a high-rise apartment building to a street festival in the historic Black neighborhood of Harlem on a recent Sunday.