Help is finally on the way for the most critically eroded part of the Jersey Shore. North Wildwood and the state have been fighting in court for years over measures the town has taken on its own to try to hold off the encroaching seas while waiting — in vain — for the same sort of replenishment projects that virtually the entire rest of the Jersey Shore has received. Now the state and city have agreed on an emergency sand-replenishment project to protect the town until a full-blown beach reconstruction can take place in another year or two. Dunes in some spots of North Wildwood are only ankle high. The temporary sand pumping could be done by July 4.

Prosecutors say a British man accused of plotting to torch a London business with links to Ukraine has been charged with conducting hostile activity to benefit Russia. Prosecutors said Friday that Dylan Earl is connected to Russia’s Wagner mercenary group, which the U.K. government has declared a banned terrorist organization. Earl is accused of fraudulent activity, research and reconnaissance of targets, and attempting to recruit others to assist a foreign intelligence service carrying out activities in the U.K. Prosecutors say he allegedly planned and paid others to burn down two industrial properties in east London on March 20.

A Ukrainian court has ordered the detention of the country’s farm minister in the latest high-profile corruption investigation. The minister is suspected of unlawfully obtaining valuable land. Officials said he was released after paying bail. Ukraine is trying to root out corruption that has long dogged the country. And Kyiv security officials were assessing Friday how they can recover lost battlefield momentum in the war. Russia has been taking control of small settlements as part of its effort to drive deeper into eastern Ukraine despite sustaining high losses. Military analysts say it’s been slow going for the Kremlin’s troops in eastern Ukraine and is likely to stay that way. But the key hilltop town of Chasiv Yar is vulnerable to the Russian onslaught.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the U.S. has determined that an Israeli military unit committed gross human-rights abuses against Palestinians in the West Bank before the war in Gaza began six months ago. But he says the U.S. will hold off on any decision about aid to the battalion while it reviews new information provided by Israel. The news comes in a letter from Blinken to House Speaker Mike Johnson obtained by The Associated Press on Friday. At stake is what could be the first-ever U.S. block on aid to an Israeli military unit over its treatment of Palestinians. Israeli leaders had protested angrily this week in anticipation of a U.S. decision.

TikTok is banned in a handful of countries and not allowed on government-issued devices in a number of others. That's due to official worries that the popular video-sharing app poses privacy and cybersecurity concerns. Now it's in the crosshairs in the U.S., where new law threatens a ban unless its China-based parent ByteDance sells off TikTok. Places that have implemented total bans on TikTok include Afghanistan, India, Nepal and Somalia. Australia, Canada and many European countries like Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands have banned the app from work phones. In the U.S., TikTok is banned from official devices issued by the government agencies, many states, Congress and the military.