Quote:A European proposal meant to rival President Trump’s 28-point peace plan calls for Ukraine to keep its military forces and leaves the door open for the country to join NATO, according to leaked details.

The proposal, which was discussed on Sunday during a meeting between European and Ukrainian leaders, appeared to counter the one put forward by the Trump administration demanding major concessions from Kyiv while asking Moscow to give up very little.

In contrast to the US plan which calls on Ukraine to shrink its forces from about 900,000 soldiers to only 600,000, the European version states “no restriction” must be placed on Kyiv’s army, the Telegraph reported.

And unlike the US proposal, the European plan does not ban Ukraine from joining NATO, a key demand from Russia, which claims it invaded Ukraine as response to the western defense block’s alleged aggression.

Not only would Ukraine be eligible for NATO membership, but it would also be free to invite “friendly forces” to operate in its nation as a security measure, according to the leak.

The European plan also shifts back to Trump’s previous proposal to freeze the front lines — as opposed to his latest pitch to have Ukraine cede the entire Donbas region, which Russia has failed to conquer for more than a decade.

Kyiv maintains that the region has managed to fend off Russia’s assault for years, with the Donetsk fortress belt repeatedly keeping Moscow’s invasion force at bay.

Ukraine has argued that losing Donbas would only leave the nation exposed to a third Russian invasion — which would face little resistance without any proper security guarantees in the peace deal.

The current US plan only states that Kyiv will “receive reliable security guarantees” but falls far short of NATO’s Article 5, which treats any attack on a member state as an attack on the entire bloc. Russia has previously rejected such terms.

The European plan appears to suggest a stronger guarantee like an Article 5 trigger, insisting that there will be “robust, legally-binding security guarantees, including from the US, to prevent future aggression” by Russia, according to the Telegraph.

Like the US plan, the European deal gives a pathway for Russia to rejoin the global economy and see its heavy sanctions lifted, but the proposal holds a “snap back” mechanism which would re-isolate Moscow if the cease-fire is breached.

Both Europe and the US would be tasked with monitoring the cease-fire line, the plan adds.

The European proposal also states that Russia’s seized foreign assets, which amount to some $250 billion, would be used for Ukraine’s reconstruction.

Quote:Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday said the current US peace proposal that heavily favors Moscow could “form the basis for a final peace settlement” in Ukraine.

Putin spoke in favor of President Trump’s 28-point peace plan, which calls for Ukraine to give up the entire Donbas region, shrink its army by a third and abandon its NATO ambitions — all while asking very little of Russia in return.

Putin noted that the terms of the deal were in line with what he and Trump discussed in their summit in Alaska earlier this year, with Russia eager to discuss more at the negotiating table.

“Russia’s interest in a political and diplomatic resolution of the Ukrainian crisis was reaffirmed,” the Kremlin said in a statement on the peace plan

Russia’s positive take on the controversial plan stands in clear contrast with that of Ukraine and its allies, including US lawmakers who described it as a “wish list” for Moscow.

Critics and experts have warned that the current deal on the table effectively sets Ukraine up for a third Russian invasion, all while offering vague security guarantees that pose no real consequences to Moscow.

The US plan, which was leaked last week and caused chaos in the West, was the main topic as Ukraine’s negotiation team met with Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Geneva on Sunday.

Rubio, who defended the controversial 28-point peace plan, described the talks as “probably the most productive and meaningful meeting so far in this entire [peace] process.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has stressed that any deal cannot reward Russia for invading his country, said he will be receiving a “full report” on what his team discussed with the US.

“Based on these reports, we will determine the next steps and the timing,” Zelensky wrote on X.

Quote:WASHINGTON — A new version of a peace plan worked out between senior Washington and Kyiv delegations is proving more palatable to Ukrainians — and would remove several provisions that were previously described by US officials as “maximalist demands” by Moscow.

The new plan, said to include about 19 points, would nix one of the most controversial provisions of the 28-point plan reported last week — that Ukraine would have to give up territory in the Donbas that Russia has been unable to conquer in more than 11 years of war there, The Post can reveal.

Instead, the issue of territorial claims will be left to President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to hammer out at a later date, according to two people familiar with the discussions.

It would also get rid of another sticking point under which Ukraine would have had to promise never to join NATO — a goal Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has sought since before invading the country in 2022.

Still, Zelensky in a Monday afternoon post to X said the new plan is not yet finalized.

“Now the list of necessary steps to end the war can become doable,” he wrote. “As of now, after Geneva, there are fewer points — no longer 28 — and many of the right elements have been taken into account in this framework.

“There is still work for all of us to do together to finalize the document, and we must do everything with dignity.”

He further predicted that Russia would try to “derail this opportunity for an agreement and to prolong the war.”

“We can see which interests are intertwined, and who is trying to weaken our position — Ukraine’s position — spreading disinformation, intimidating our people,” he said. “We are countering every such attempt to derail the end of the war.”

The White House had previously pushed for signing a peace deal by Thanksgiving — though Trump on Saturday said it was not a “final offer” kind of agreement.

As of Monday afternoon, there was no plan for Zelensky to come to the White House before the holiday, though White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the administration feels “optimistic” about the updated version of the plan.

Asked Monday to confirm the details of the 19-point draft of the deal, the White House referred The Post to Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s comments on Sunday that the agreement was “a living, breathing document” that has “evolved.”

“None of it is insurmountable,” Rubio added at the time. “The items that remain open are not insurmountable, we just need more time.”

Quote:The original 28-point plan for peace in Ukraine was drafted by US special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner after “secret meetings” with a Kremlin insider in Miami – and Secretary of State Marco Rubio only learned the “full scope” of the proposal once it was leaked, according to a report.

The plan, which has since been revised to 19 points, initially demanded Ukraine make heavy concessions – including giving up territory in the east, capping the size of its military and agreeing to never join NATO – while asking Russia to barely give up anything.

Witkoff and Kushner started working on the document in October, after Trump tasked administration officials with hatching a plan to end the bloodiest fighting in Europe since World War II in the wake of brokering a peace deal in Gaza, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. 

The pair held “secret meetings” and dinners in Miami with Kirill Dmitriev, a financier and close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, while working out the details of the peace plan, according to the outlet.

“They brought him to Miami the weekend before Halloween for what would be three days of intensive discussions over dinner and extended conversation at Witkoff’s home,” US officials and people familiar with the matter told the Journal.

Dmitriev demanded the controversial points on NATO membership and Ukrainian territorial concessions be included.

He also pushed for the Ukrainian troop cap and economic agreements between Washington and Moscow.

The Wall Street Journal noted that Witkoff, Kushner and Dmitriev had “similar views” on what the plan should look like. 

The special envoy determined that the plan should be weighted more toward Moscow’s goals after concluding that Ukraine was in a weaker position than Russia, through discussions with US and foreign officials and reading intelligence reports.

The plan, with terms favorable for Moscow, shocked supporters of the Ukrainian war effort, including congressional lawmakers, when it leaked last week.

US officials, however, argued that it reflected “a good-faith attempt by Witkoff and Kushner to gain the support” of Putin without completely abandoning Ukraine.

Witkoff and Kushner held at least two phone calls with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as they drafted the document, officials said.

Ukraine’s national security adviser, Rustem Umerov, was also invited to Miami and “bluntly” told Witkoff and Kushner that the plan was better for Moscow than Kyiv.

The majority of the provision had been crafted prior to the meetings with the Ukrainian and Russian envoys, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Quote:Three people were killed and at least 16 injured in a major Ukrainian drone attack on southern Russia with residential buildings damaged in the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk and the cities of Rostov-on-Don and Krasnodar, Russian officials said.

The Russian Defence Ministry said that 249 Ukrainian drones were downed over Russian regions overnight, including 116 over the Black Sea, 92 over the southern regions of Krasnodar and Rostov.

Rostov Governor Yuri Slyusar said that a paint shop, a warehouse, four apartment buildings and 12 houses were damaged in the attack, which left at least three dead.

Unverified video footage on Telegram showed what sounded like a drone flying directly into a large residential apartment block in Novorossiysk – home to a major oil port – and exploding in a ball of flame.

“Overnight the Krasnodar region was subjected to one of the longest major attacks by the Kyiv regime,” Krasnodar Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said, adding that an apartment building at Tuapse, a town beside an oil export terminal, had been damaged.

He said that seven apartment buildings had been hit in Novorossiysk.

Russian forces attacked Kyiv early on Tuesday, triggering fires in at least two residential buildings and killing one person, a senior Ukrainian official said.

Quote:Russian forces attacked the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv early Tuesday, striking a residential building and killing at least four people, an official said, hours after U.S. President Donald Trump struck a cautiously optimistic tone on hopes for peace.

Newsweek contacted the Kremlin for comment.

Why It Matters

The latest Russian attack on Ukraine comes amid intense diplomatic efforts, led by the Trump administration, to work out a peace deal to end the war, nearly four years after Russian forces invaded Ukraine.

The White House has been ramping up pressure on Ukraine to accept a deal with Russia, with warnings that key military and intelligence support could be reduced if Kyiv fails to get on board.

In response, Ukraine and its European allies have drafted counterproposals after they objected to provisions in an initial 28-point draft that called for Ukraine to cede territory, reduce its military and rule out NATO membership.

What To Know

Russia launched a wave of attacks on Kyiv, bombing residential buildings and energy infrastructure, AP reported, citing video footage and authorities in the Ukrainian capital.

A residential building in the central Pechersk district and another in the eastern district of Dniprovskyi were badly damaged, Mayor Vitalii Kitschko was reported saying.

Video footage posted on social media showed a large fire spread through multiple floors of the nine-story building in Dniprovskyi. At least four people were killed, according to Tymor Tkachenko, head of Kyiv city administration, as reported by Reuters.

"The Russians are deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure and housing. Cynical terror," Tkachenko said on the Telegram social media app.

Ukraine’s energy ministry said that energy infrastructure had also been struck, without providing details on what type or the extent of the damage.

U.S. and Ukrainian representatives met in Geneva on Sunday and later said that “meaningful progress” was made and an “updated and refined peace framework” was drafted.

In a post to his Truth Social page on Monday, Trump said “big progress” may be underway in the peace talks. Though cautioning not to “believe it until you see it,” the president said "something good just may be happening."

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned of more Russian strikes, and said his forces were prepared to respond.

“We must be aware that Russia will not reduce its pressure on Ukraine, and in these days and weeks, we should treat air raid alerts and all similar threats of strikes with great caution,” Zelensky said in a post to X.

“We fully understand who we are dealing with, and all orders are in place in the Air Force and in all other components of Ukraine's Defense and Security Forces. We will respond.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that the U.S. peace proposal for Ukraine could “in principle” serve as the foundation for a final settlement, according to a Kremlin summary of his call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Quote:Payments for Russian troops fighting in Ukraine were suspended due to a lack of budget funds, it has been reported.

The finance minister from Yakutia said that troops from the republic in Russia’s far-eastern republic could not receive bonuses and one-time payments due to the shortfall.

Newsweek has contacted the Russian defense ministry for comment.

Why It Matters

Vladimir Putin has pledged record military spending to attract troops to fight in the war, but also as part of a long-term policy to beef up the Russian armed forces. 

Reports that troops have faced problems getting payments could be a warning sign of liquidity problems inside Russia’s war machine.

What To Know

Russia has offered huge financial incentives to attract recruits, which include large signing-on bonuses, salaries several times that of the national average and compensation packages for families in the event of injuries or death. 

These payments vary from region to region, but according to Yakutsk Online, the republic had previously allocated up to 2.6 million rubles (approximately $29,000) per contract soldier.

This is divided among federal (400,000 rubles—$4,500), regional (1.8 million rubles—$20,000), and municipal budgets (400,000 rubles—$4,500), according to United24 Media.

However, Russian media reported that Yakutia had suspended payments to troops due to a regional budget shortfall and an inability to forecast demand.

The republic’s finance minister, Ivan Alekseev, announced the pause in payments during a local television broadcast in which he explained how it was impossible to calculate in advance how many people would need payments.

He did not specify what kind of payments had been suspended, but did say that the problems would be fixed and that the amounts would be made soon.

As Russia reels from sanctions because of Putin’s aggression, the financial burden of incentivizing recruitment has forced regions to slash or suspend payments.

Since the beginning of October, four federal subjects—Tatarstan, Chuvashia, Mari El, and Samara—cut bonuses to recruits from more than two million rubles ($20,000) to 400,000 rubles ($4,000) with similar cuts in Belgorod oblast and the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District, according to Russian media sources cited by the Jamestown Foundation.

Yakutia was among Russian regions that had found it difficult to recruit contract soldiers due to heavy losses, low payments and the reluctance of local authorities to support mobilization efforts, Ukrainian military intelligence (DIU) said in October on Telegram.

It added that recruitment centers in Yakutia were failing to meet 40 percent of Moscow's established quotas and that similar recruitment problems were found in the country’s far-east, according to the DIU.

Quote:NATO member Romania scrambled fighter jets as two Russian drones crossed into the country's airspace from Ukraine, Bucharest's Defense Ministry said on Tuesday, after Moscow launched extensive missile and drone strikes on its neighbor.

Moldova, a non-NATO country bordering both Ukraine and Romania, separately said it had detected six drones in its airspace, including one uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) that then traveled toward Romania.

Why It Matters

Russian drones have frequently crossed into NATO territory since the Kremlin began its full-scale war in Ukraine in early 2022. Romania has found Russian drone fragments several times and often scrambles fighter jets when Moscow carries out intensive attacks on western regions of Ukraine.

Romania's Tulcea region sits directly across the border from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, which Russia has repeatedly targeted. The Danube River marks the border between the two countries, just north of Tulcea.

What To Know

Bucharest detected a target heading for its airspace close to Tulcea and scrambled two German Typhoon fighter jets from a base in the southeast of the country shortly before 6:30 a.m. local time, the ministry said. Germany has fighter jets stationed in Romania as part of NATO air policing.

The drone crossed into Romania close to the Ukrainian settlement of Vylkove, and an alert was sent to local residents in Tulcea just before 7 a.m., the government said.

Two Romanian F-16 jets were also scrambled from another air base, minutes before authorities said Romanian radars picked up a second drone breaching the country's airspace. Alerts were sent to residents of the Galați area, next door to Tulcea.

Galați sits close to Moldovan territory. Moldova's government said the first drone violating its airspace was picked up close to Vulcănești, a town bordering Ukraine, before heading to Colibași, north of Galați.

Five more drones were detected across the country, and one of the UAVs fell on the roof of a residential home in northern Moldova, Chișinău said.

At least six people were killed and another 14 injured in overnight strikes on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, according to Ukrainian authorities. Moscow also struck the central Dnipro and Cherkasy regions of Ukraine, the northern Chernihiv and Kharkiv regions, and Odesa, which borders Romania.

Russia struck ports and infrastructure in the Odesa region, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Six people, including two children, were injured in Odesa during a "massive attack by enemy drones" that damaged energy and port facilities, Odesa's regional governor, Oleh Kiper, said early on Tuesday.

Moscow launched more than 460 drones, many of which were Iranian-designed Shahed attack drones, and 22 missiles of different types overnight, Ukraine's air force said. Among the mix were four of Russia's hypersonic Kinzhal missiles, the military said.

Quote:Russia is set to reject the new 19-point cease-fire deal drafted by the US and Ukraine but may use disinformation tactics  to keep President Trump engaged in continued talks — suggesting the war will last at least through Christmas, sources told The Post on Tuesday.

The White House has said it is working to secure a deal after Special Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff developed a previous controversial 28-point version of the plan that heavily favored Moscow. That plan included input from Kyiv, the Trump administration has insisted.

The proposal, roundly criticized by both sides of the US political aisle and international community because it was so one-sided, was then narrowed down to a 19-point plan acceptable to Ukraine after talks between top Washington and Kyiv officials happened Sunday.

But sources told The Post that Russia won’t agree to the 19-point version, as they already weren’t completely satisfied with the broader previous plan.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov publicly went on the offensive Tuesday, reiterating that Moscow will not outright support any plan that deviates from Trump’s original 28-point proposal.

Lavrov sought to contrast the latest plan with discussions between Trump and Putin at the August summit in Anchorage — implying that the Kremlin came away from the meeting with the idea that Trump had agreed to side with Moscow.

“After Anchorage, when we thought these understandings had already been formalized, there was a long pause. And now the pause has been broken by the introduction of this document. . . A whole series of issues there, of course, require clarification,” Lavrov said.

The Kremlin had praised the original plan as a real pathway to peace, with Lavrov adding that any proposal that deviates from that will not have Moscow’s backing.

“If the spirit and letter of Anchorage are erased from the key understandings we have documented, then, of course, the situation will be fundamentally different,” Lavrov warned, according to the Financial Times.

Still, Moscow may want to appear as if it is not out-right rejecting all US efforts to bring peace to Ukraine for fear of further provoking Trump’s suspicion that the Kremlin is unwilling to play ball, sources said.

Russia may also being planning to use other disinformation tactics, such as issuing vague statements or even signing documents indicating support — without actually committing to end its war, they said.

“Rule of law in Russia is non-existent. Putin historically amends the constitution of Russia whenever it suits him,” said Institute for the Study of War Russia program leader George Barros to The Post. “So any sort of Russian agreement, be it verbal or even legal, must be treated with utmost skepticism.

“It means that whatever the US and Ukraine agree to here has to be absolutely bulletproof and not depend on Russian agreement, but the backing of our own resolve and concrete commitments.

Trump has been wide-eyed about Russia’s efforts to drag out the war, previously accusing Putin of “tapping him along.”

Myroslava Gogadze, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center, added on a call with reporters Tuesday, “From Ukrainian perspective, they don’t see this 19-point plan as something that Russia would accept.

“However, the point of this exercise was not exactly to make an agreement but to throw out that 28 point plan and put some Ukrainian interest in that possible negotiation and show that Ukraine is really willing and want to discuss and negotiate at peace in terms of situation on the ground, you have to look at what is going on.”

Quote:PARIS, Nov 25 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's peace plan needs improvement to make it acceptable for Ukraine and Europe, French President Emmanuel Macron told RTL radio on Tuesday.

A 28-point U.S. peace proposal made last week caught many in the U.S. government, Kyiv and Europe off-guard and prompted fresh concerns that the Trump administration might be willing to push Ukraine to sign a deal heavily tilted towards Moscow.

"It's an initiative that goes in the right direction: towards peace. However, there are aspects of that plan that deserve to be discussed, negotiated, improved," Macron said. "We want peace, but we don't want peace that is effectively a capitulation."

He added that only the Ukrainians could decide what territorial concessions they are ready to make.

"What was put on the table gives us an idea of what would be acceptable to the Russians. Does that mean that it is what must be accepted by the Ukrainians and the Europeans? The answer is no," Macron added.

Ukraine's first line of defence in case of peace with Russia would be regenerating its own army, and there can be no limit on it, Macron said. He also said frozen Russian assets are in Europe, and Europe alone can decide what to do with them.

The U.S. plan would impose a limit on the size of Ukraine's army and give Washington some control of frozen Russian assets.

A few hours before a video call of the so-called "coalition of the willing" countries offering to assist post-war Ukraine, Macron also gave details on what a reassurance force might look like "far away from the front line" once fighting stops.

"There are British, French, Turkish soldiers who, the day peace is signed, so not in a context of war, are there to conduct training and security operations, as we do in certain countries on NATO's eastern flank," he said.

"We have about 20 countries that have already said what they are prepared to do actively, either in the air, on land, or at sea."

Quote:President Trump has announced that special envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Russia and Army Secretary Dan Driscoll to travel to Ukraine as part of the final push toward a peace deal ending Moscow’s invasion of its neighbor.

“The original 28-Point Peace Plan, which was drafted by the United States, has been fine-tuned, with additional input from both sides, and there are only a few remaining points of disagreement,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “In the hopes of finalizing this Peace Plan, I have directed my Special Envoy Steve Witkoff to meet with President Putin in Moscow and, at the same time, Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll will be meeting with the Ukrainians.

“I will be briefed on all progress made, along with Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.

“I look forward to hopefully meeting with President Zelenskyy and President Putin soon, but ONLY when the deal to end this War is FINAL or, in its final stages. Thank you for your attention to this very important matter, and let’s all hope that PEACE can be accomplished AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!”

Quote:Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin have voiced support for Venezuelan ally President Nicolás Maduro amid escalating tensions with the United States.

Why It Matters

The backing of diplomatic heavyweights China and Russia comes as tensions continue to spiral, with the administration of Donald Trump appearing to weigh military action against the South American country.

Trump has accused Maduro’s government of supporting "narco-terrorism." Maduro has dismissed these claims, saying they are a pretext for regime change in the oil-rich nation, which has long been a vocal opponent of Washington's moves in the region.

Newsweek reached out to the White House and the Venezuelan Embassy in China via emailed requests for comment.

What To Know

During an episode of Maduro’s weekly television program, Con Maduro, interviewer Miguel Pérez Pirela presented the president with letters of solidarity on the occasion of his birthday Sunday.

According to Pirela, who presented the letters, Putin expressed "unwavering solidarity with the friendly people of Venezuela." Putin wrote, "I am certain that under his leadership, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela will overcome all trials with dignity and defend its legitimate interests in these turbulent times."

Xi’s letter was reportedly even more strongly worded. "China reiterates its categorical rejection of external forces interfering in Venezuela’s internal affairs under any pretext and will continue to firmly support, as always, Venezuela in safeguarding its sovereignty, national security, national dignity, and stability."

It is unclear whether Venezuela came up during a phone call between Trump and Xi Sunday. According to a readout from China’s Foreign Ministry, the two leaders praised recent improvements in bilateral ties after meeting in South Korea earlier this month.

Russia and China have maintained close ties with Maduro, whom opposition parties and international observers say stole the 2018 election. The United States and a number of other governments have recognized Maduro’s opponent as Venezuela’s legitimate leader.

President Donald Trump in recent months surged U.S. military power into the Caribbean, including nuclear-powered supercarrier the USS Gerald Ford. The administration has also drawn criticism for carrying out strikes against 21 separate boats in international waters, claiming—without providing evidence—their crews were engaging in drug trafficking.

Quote:A sanctioned Russian oil tanker has reportedly reached Venezuela following several route changes and attempts to evade U.S. naval interception in the Caribbean Sea. The ship anchored at Puerto La Cruz, a port city on the South American country's northeastern coast, according to global shipping news outlets.

Why It Matters

The tanker arrived despite a large U.S. naval presence in the Caribbean, part of ongoing counter-drug operations and increased pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s regime. Since 2019, the U.S. has targeted the regime with sanctions on its state-owned oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela, and by monitoring foreign companies and shadow fleets transporting oil to the country.

What To Know

The Seahorse, a tanker built in 2004 and sanctioned by the UK and the European Union, arrived in Venezuela on Sunday, the Maritime Executive reported. Earlier this month, the ship made a U‑turn off the coast of Venezuela after the USS  Stockdale destroyer intersected its course.

It has reportedly been in the Caribbean since October, but turned away several times due to U.S. interception, though there were no reports of a confrontation. Its presence has been located in the vicinity of Cuba and areas near Puerto Rico. The Seahorse followed a second sanctioned tanker that also reached Venezuela over the weekend, the Russian-flagged tanker Vasily Lanovoy, according to the Maritime Executive.

Russia, China, and Iran have relied on shadow fleets of tankers and cargo vessels to circumvent Western sanctions, operating through hidden networks and complex routing to maintain trade.

Washington's “maximum pressure” campaign against Venezuela drove Western firms out, benefiting adversaries: the country sold discounted crude to China, relied on Iran for substances added to oil to aid transportation, and leaned on Russian investors, the Atlantic Council noted in a January analysis.

Tensions with Venezuela escalated after the government rejected the U.S. designation of the alleged criminal network “Cartel de los Soles” as a terrorist organization, which took effect Monday.

Quote:Republican U.S. Representative Maria Salazar told Fox Business on Monday that Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro understands “that we’re about to go in.”

Salazar, who represents Florida's 27th District, said that U.S. involvement in Venezuelan regime change would be “very good news for the American economy,” given the South American nation holds the world's largest known oil reserves.

Newsweek contacted the Department of Defense for comment on the congresswoman's remarks.

Why It Matters

The U.S. has recently deployed the world's largest aircraft carrier to the Caribbean Sea, after sinking multiple boats in its nearly three-month campaign targeting what the administration of President Donald Trump says are drug-smuggling vessels. The intensive military buildup is seen as a means to pressure Maduro, whom the U.S. has accused of heading a drug cartel, which he denies.

According to Salazar, the White House designation of Maduro’s regime as a foreign terrorist organization “puts him right in the crosshairs. We can take him out, we can extradite him, or we can go in and try and finish his regime.”

“This is very good news for the American economy,” she said. “This is a number one goal for this administration from an economic standpoint.”

What To Know

Observers see the looming military presence coupled with economic pressures on Caracas as a U.S. attempt to oust Maduro. The U.S. doesn't recognize the authoritarian socialist leader as the winner of the country's 2024 elections.

When asked by Fox Business host David Asman on many Americans' reluctance to see the U.S. involved in regime change in Venezuela, Salazar said: “Maduro is not Fidel Castro. Maduro is not a brave boy. He understands that we are about to go in.”

Citing three economic, security and political reasons for U.S. involvement, the congresswomen said that “Venezuela for the American oil companies will be a field day because it will be more than a trillion dollars in economic activity.”

“American companies can go in and fix the oil rigs and everything that has to do with the Venezuelan petroleum companies, with oil and the derivatives.”

“The Venezuelans have the largest reserves of oil in the world, more than Saudi Arabia. This is going to be a windfall for us when it comes to fossil fuels.”

She then said Venezuela has been “the launching pad, the hub for our enemies, the Iranians, Hezbollah, Hamas, the Cubans, the Nicaraguans, people that hate the United States and want to do harm to us.”

Finally, she argued that “he [Maduro] is the head of the Suns Cartel [Cartel de los Soles], which is one of the transitional criminal organizations. He has been indicted by a federal grand jury for drug trafficking.”

The U.S. State Department has officially designated Venezuela-based Cartel de los Soles a foreign terrorist organization, claiming the cartel is "responsible for terrorist violence throughout our hemisphere as well as for trafficking drugs into the United States and Europe."

Probed by host Asman on her use of the phrase “we're about to go in,” Salazar said: “Eighty percent of Venezuelans, including the military, voted against the Maduro regime."

“This is going to be very similar to Panama,” she added, referring to the 1989 U.S. invasion to arrest former U.S. ally Manuel Noriega, who was wanted on racketeering and drug-trafficking charges.

“I was there, I was a news reporter and I remember when the Marines were walking in and the Panamanian girls were asking them to marry them. So, I think it’s very similar.”

Quote:Satellite imagery showed construction progress at Egypt’s first nuclear power plant, El-Dabaa, a Russian-built facility set to host four reactors.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el‑Sisi celebrated the installation of the first reactor pressure vessel at the plant, in a video-conference on Wednesday.

"This marks a pivotal step that further advances the completion of El Dabaa Nuclear Power Plant project," el-Sisi stated during the ceremony, highlighting strategic ties with Russia, "irrespective of regional or international challenges."

Why It Matters

Egypt says having a nuclear power plant is a long-awaited dream that dates back to the Nasser era and has since faced political setbacks and delays. The new power plant supports its Vision 2030 for sustainable energy sources and security.

Egypt and Russia signed the agreement for the country's first-ever nuclear energy project's construction in 2015. The El Dabaa deal marked the beginning of a broader Russian push into Africa’s civilian nuclear sector.

Similar nuclear energy ambitions are emerging across the Middle East, with Saudi Arabia recently inking a deal with the United States that paves the way for a civilian nuclear partnership.

What To Know

The plant is located on Egypt’s northern Mediterranean coast spanning roughly 12,000 feddans (approximately 12,400 acres). Egypt installed the Reactor Pressure Vessel (RPV) for El Dabaa’s first nuclear unit Wednesday. The plant is set to have four Russian-designed VVER-1200 Generation III+ pressurized water reactors.

The two sides also signed a nuclear fuel procurement order, in line with the 2015 agreement, under which Russia will supply the plant’s nuclear fuel. Rosatom is building the four reactors of the plant that will supply electricity to Egypt and will also construct a storage facility with casks for spent nuclear fuel.

Construction of the nuclear power plant began in 2022 and was estimated to be completed within 12 years at the cost of nearly $20 billion, with Russia providing a loan that would cover a large part of construction expenses, according to the Egyptian State Information Service.

In recent years, Egypt, which has a population of about 110 million people, has faced recurring power cuts amid surging electricity demand, declining natural gas production, and broader economic challenges.

Quote:Twenty states sued the Trump administration on Tuesday to block changes to a federal housing program that they say would illegally upend support for tens of thousands of Americans experiencing homelessness.

The lawsuit accuses the Department of Housing and Urban Development of altering its Continuum of Care grant program in violation of congressional intent by cutting funds for permanent housing and imposing new conditions on who can access the money. One of those conditions requires local authorities to recognize only two genders.

Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said the administration is “punching down by targeting the most vulnerable Americans,” warning the changes would worsen already dire conditions in his state. A HUD spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Quote:More than 300,000 Ohio residents could earn up to $3,000 after the state Supreme Court makes a decision on the state’s COVID-19 unemployment benefits.

Governor Mike DeWine previously ended the unemployment program early, causing Ohioans to not receive an additional $900 million in federal payments.

Why It Matters

The federal government approved eligible workers' unemployment benefits to be sent out by each state respectively.

While lower courts have ruled that DeWine broke state law by stopping the benefits early, a state Supreme Court reinforcement of these decisions could see thousands of dollars back in residents’ hands.

What To Know

An extra $900 million in federal COVID-19 unemployment benefits will be sent to qualifying Ohio residents if the state agrees with the lower court decisions.

DeWine stopped the payments early, but a Franklin County judge ordered the funds sent out in February, and another Tenth District Court of Appeals upheld that decision in June.

“Ohioans are seeking restitution after the state’s expanded unemployment benefits program was cut short by Governor DeWine,” Kevin Thompson, the CEO of 9i Capital Group and the host of the 9innings podcast, told Newsweek. “The case reached the state’s Supreme Court after lower courts ruled that the governor may have violated state law by refusing to distribute federal funds designated for those benefits.”

The governor initially ended the program 10 weeks before it was slated to stop due to concerns that the extra benefits were contributing to labor shortages. More than 300,000 state residents were originally scheduled to get benefits through September 2021.

According to plaintiffs, the law mandates that the governor had to distribute the federal benefits when available, no matter any other possible labor considerations.

“This isn't really about whether the money helped or hurt the economy back then,” Michael Ryan, a finance expert and the founder of MichaelRyanMoney.com, told Newsweek. “It's about whether a promise made is a promise kept. Governor DeWine argued the extra $300 weekly discouraged work and tightened labor markets. That's a policy call. But Ohio law from the 1930s doesn't give governors wiggle room on that. It mandates accepting federal unemployment dollars.”

Quote:Sen. Ron Johnson rejected President Trump’s proposal to shell out $2,000 “tariff dividend” checks to Americans before the 2026 midterm elections, arguing that money should be used to reduce the federal deficit.

Johnson (R-Wis.) praised the idea during an interview with Fox Business Network’s “Mornings With Maria” Monday, but insisted getting the country’s fiscal house back in order was more important.

“We’re $38 trillion in debt,” he said. “We’ve averaged $1.89 trillion deficits over the last five years. In the next 10 years, the projection’s about $26 trillion from accumulated deficits.”

“We have to address the deficit problem. We are on borrowed time here. So many people are whistling by the graveyard. If we’re bringing in revenue through the tariffs, that oughta be applied to reduce the deficit.”

Trump has repeatedly floated doling out duty refunds to the public. Earlier this month, he proposed a $2,000 check to Americans below a certain income threshold, which Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested would be $100,000 per year for families.

The payments would require approval from the Republican-controlled Congress, with Johnson and other GOPers indicating the proposal is dead on arrival.

“We can’t afford it,” Johnson reiterated Monday. “I wish we were in a position to return the American public their money, but we’re not. Again, we’ll have at least a $2 trillion deficit this year.

“That compares to prior to the pandemic, President Trump had deficits of $800 billion. [Barack] Obama, his last four years, $550 billion a year. Now, we’re $2 trillion? Completely unacceptable. We have to start focusing on that and doing something about it.”

The president’s tariff dividend suggestion came days after Democrats swept off-year election races in New Jersey and Virginia running on a message of affordability.

It also came on the heels of oral arguments before the Supreme Court over Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose sweeping “reciprocal” and “trafficking” duties on dozens of nations.

IEEPA tariffs are the cornerstone of Trump’s protectionist agenda, having taken in roughly $90 billion between their implementation and Sept. 23, according to data from US Customs and Border Protection.

Between Sept. 30, 2024, and Aug. 31, the US has taken in $195.9 billion in levy revenue.

Trump’s $2,000 dividend payments would cost $300 billion if they were limited to individuals earning under $100,000, according to an estimate from Erica York, the Tax Foundation’s vice president of federal tax policy.

Quote:A group of Democratic lawmakers who made a video encouraging service members to disobey orders they deem illegal will be interviewed with the assistance of the Capitol Police at the direction of the FBI and the Department of Justice, according to a Fox News report.

The group includes Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, Pennsylvania Representatives Chris Deluzio and Chrissy Houlahan, New Hampshire Representative Maggie Goodlander, and Colorado Representative Jason Crow.

The Democrats released a video last week saying in part, "Our laws are clear. You can refuse illegal orders."

President Donald Trump responded to the video by calling for the lawmakers' arrests and labeling their conduct "seditious."

"THE TRAITORS THAT TOLD THE MILITARY TO DISOBEY MY ORDERS SHOULD BE IN JAIL RIGHT NOW, NOT ROAMING THE FAKE NEWS NETWORKS TRYING TO EXPLAIN THAT WHAT THEY SAID WAS OK," Trump said in a post on Truth Social Saturday.

The U.S. Capitol Police deferred to the FBI, which declined to comment when Newsweek reached out on Tuesday morning. The DOJ has not yet commented.

Why It Matters

The investigations would spark an escalation in the Trump administration's retaliation against the group, after the president and top officials said their video was seditious in nature. The Democrats in question, all with military and intelligence backgrounds, have argued they were stating that those still serving in these fields were bound by the Constitution and U.S. law.

What To Know

According to Fox News, the FBI and DOJ contacted the U.S. Capitol Police to assist with scheduling interviews with the six lawmakers.

Investigations into lawmakers are not uncommon, but they are often prompted by allegations of corruption, such as misuse of campaign funds, rather than by something lawmakers have said publicly. Interviews are common, as part of wider inquiries, but there are rules and approval processes officials are supposed to follow.

The news followed an announcement by the Department of Defense on Monday that it was opening an investigation into Kelly, as he was the only one under the Pentagon's jurisdiction. The DOD said it was looking into whether Kelly had broken military law by urging military personnel not to follow certain orders.

Kelly, a former Navy fighter pilot who later became a NASA astronaut, retired as a captain. It is highly unusual for the Pentagon, long known for publicly avoiding partisan disputes before the second Trump administration, to signal possible legal action toward a sitting member of Congress.

In its statement, the DOD suggested Kelly’s remarks could have affected the “loyalty, morale, or good order and discipline of the armed forces,” citing a federal law that prohibits efforts to undermine those standards.

The other five lawmakers served the U.S. in some capacity before their time in Congress and have used this background to reach those still working under the Trump administration's DOD and DOJ. In doing so, they sparked anger from Trump and senior officials, who said the group was encouraging chaos among those who are meant to serve the commander-in-chief—i.e., Trump.

Five out of the six received bomb threats at the end of last week, but the group said they remained firm in what they had said.

Quote:Asked about the possibility of Turning Point USA supporting JD Vance in a potential presidential bid in an interview on The Megyn Kelly Show released on Monday, Charlie Kirk’s widow said: “It’s in the works. This was a thing my husband was very direct about. One of the last few conversations we had was how intentional he was for supporting JD in 2028.”

The conservative student advocacy group is credited with bolstering President Donald Trump's base and galvanizing younger voters ahead of the 2024 election. Group cofounder and CEO Charlie Kirk was assassinated at a “Prove Me Wrong” campus event in Utah in September.

Why It Matters

Erika Kirk spoke with Kelly about Turning Point USA’s plans during a live show recorded in Glendale, Arizona, over the weekend.

The current CEO of Turning Point, she acknowledged the support of the Vances after her husband’s death. The vice president and his wife Usha escorted Charlie Kirk's body aboard Air Force Two, with JD Vance helping carry Kirk’s casket on the tarmac in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Erika Kirk has said the vice president's support “has been a blessing" and that he and his wife have shown her "genuine love."

What To Know

Turning Point USA and the Kirks maintained very close public ties to Trump and his family, which helped solidify their position as a major force within the MAGA ecosystem.

Asked by Kelly about the president’s relationship with her husband, Kirk said that “Charlie and President Trump had a really special relationship. At times, it was like father and son. At other times, it was about building. What Charlie really appreciated about President Trump is that he was so mission-focused.”

Kelly also asked about the Kirks’ relationship with JD Vance. The vice president has spoken often about Charlie Kirk’s key role advocating for his selection as Trump's running mate. In the day’s after Kirk’s death, Vance hosted an episode of The Charlie Kirk Show, featuring members of the Trump administration sharing their memories of the late activist.

According to Vance, Kirk advocated "in public and private" to Trump for him to be the vice presidential nominee.

The Charlie Kirk Show regularly hosted Vance, giving him a large, friendly platform to reach the highly engaged, grassroots young conservative base. This gave Vance essential airtime to showcase his policy positions, loyalty to the "America First" agenda and cultural warrior persona.

Erica Kirk's relationship with JD Vance’s drew public attention after an emotional onstage embrace at a Turning Point USA event at the University of Mississippi last month.

Quote:A federal judge dismissed the Virginia criminal cases against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James on Monday, finding that interim US Attorney Lindsey Halligan was improperly appointed to her position and “had no lawful authority” to secure indictments of either of President Trump’s longtime adversaries.

The humiliating defeat for the administration came 11 days after attorneys for both Comey and James had argued that Halligan had to be confirmed by the Senate after Attorney General Pam Bondi used up her allotted 120-day interim appointment on Erik Siebert, who resigned Sept. 19 after Trump publicly criticized him for not bringing charges against the former head of the FBI.

After Siebert’s departure, Comey’s attorneys argued, the judges of the federal court district should have had exclusive say over who got to fill the vacancy. Instead, Trump nominated Halligan while publicly imploring Bondi in a social media post to take action against Comey, James and Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), saying in a Sept. 20 Truth Social post that “JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!”

Both indictments were dismissed without prejudice, which typically means that the cases can be brought again. Both defendants had asked that the cases be thrown out with prejudice, preventing them from being reopened.

However, the ruling by senior US District Judge Cameron Currie comes after the expiration of the five-year statute of limitations against Comey, likely meaning the case against him cannot be reopened.

Bondi vowed to appeal and praised Halligan as “an excellent US attorney.”

“We’ll be taking all available legal action, including an immediate appeal to hold Letitia James and James Comey accountable for their unlawful conduct,” Bondi said Monday at a press conference in Memphis.

The feds can try to argue on appeal that they qualify for a 6-month grace period to refile the indictment after dismissal. Though Currie addressed this in her decision, saying in a footnote that Comey’s case wouldn’t qualify for such a grace period, former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani told The Post.

Halligan’s office can seek a new indictment against James since the statute of limitations hasn’t run out in her case — rendering Monday’s ruling a “temporary procedural win” for the Empire State’s top lawyer, Rahmani said..

“I am heartened by today’s victory and grateful for the prayers and support I have received from around the country,” said James, who faced up to 60 years in prison on charges of bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution.

“I remain fearless in the face of these baseless charges as I continue fighting for New Yorkers every single day.”’

Comey’s lawyer Patrick Fitzgerald said the ex-FBI boss was “gratified” by the bombshell ruling.

“The decision recognizes that the case was brought by someone who had no authority whatsoever to be the United States Attorney,” Fitzgerald said. “The decision further indicates that because the indictment is void, the statute of limitations has run and there can be no further indictment.

Quote:One of Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s transition team picks to advise on community safety is an author who once penned a book titled “The End of Policing.”

Alex Vitale, a Brooklyn College sociology professor, was among those tapped on Monday to help staff Mamdani’s committee on community safety amid the mayoral turnover.

“I’m excited to announce that I have been asked to join the Mamdani Transition Team to work on community safety issues. A New Era for NYC,” Vitale posted on X touting the news.

The liberal professor is behind the 2017 anti-cop book — that decries “broken windows” and other proactive policies.

“The problem is not police training, police diversity, or police methods. The problem is the dramatic and unprecedented expansion and intensity of policing in the last 40 years, a fundamental shift in the role of police in society,” a description of the book reads.

“The problem is policing itself.”

Vitale has long argued against broken-windows policing — claiming the NYPD has disproportionately and unjustifiably targeted minority communities in the past.

In the wake of his appointment to Mamdani’s transition team, scores of critics suggested his anti-cop rhetoric would spell “disaster” for the Big Apple.

“RIP NYC,” one person posted on X.

“This is a guaranteed disaster,” one X user chimed in.

Another added, “Reading your bio, the last thing in the world I’d entrust you with is community safety.”

Quote:WASHINGTON — President Trump hosted the annual turkey pardon at the White House on Tuesday — joking that he was also re-pardoning last year’s birds that only got an “autopen” reprieve and saying he considered naming this year’s gobblers “Chuck and Nancy.”

Former President Joe Biden “used an autopen for last year’s turkey pardons,” the president joked, calling them “totally invalid,” a contention he’s made of the Democrat’s late-term grants so often that an autopen portrait took the place of Biden’s picture in the White House photo gallery.

“The turkeys known as Peach and Blossom last year have been located and they were on their way to be processed … but I have stopped that journey and I am officially pardoning them, and they will not be served as Thanksgiving dinner,” he joked.

Turkeys named Gobble and Waddle, said to be the plumpest birds presented at the annual event, received this year’s pardons.

“When I first saw their pictures … I was going to call them [Senate Minority Leader] Chuck [Schumer] and [former House Speaker] Nancy [Pelosi], but then I realized I wouldn’t be pardoning them. I would never pardon those two people,” Trump joked, noting, “I wouldn’t care what Melania told me.”

Gobble and Waddle, as well as Biden’s last two turkeys, would add four more feathers to Trump’s clemency cap. Trump had notched about 1,747 pardons since Jan. 20, according to a Post review of the orders, with about 1,600 for Jan. 6 defendants and others going to some high-profile figures, including former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Botox-loving former Rep. George Santos.

“My more enthusiastic staffers were already drafting the paperwork to ship Gobble and Waddle straight through the terrorist confinement center in El Salvador, and even those birds don’t want to be there,” Trump went on, referring to his own deportation of migrants.

Trump said his team drafted a joke about Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker but he was too angry to read it after reading about a woman burned on a Chicago train, as Pritzker refuses Trump’s request for partnership on a federal-led crime crackdown.

“The mayor is incompetent and the governor is a big fat slob,” Trump said instead.

Quote:HOUSTON — More than 100 homes have been damaged after a tornado touched down in a residential area outside Houston, authorities in Texas said Monday.

No injuries were reported.

Photos and drone video posted on Facebook by the Harris County Precinct 4 constable showed roofs with shingles ripped off.

Some debris blocked roads.

The damage affected the Memorial Northwest neighborhood, according to the office of Mark Herman, the constable.

The Houston Fire Department dispatched five members of its saw team to cut up and remove toppled trees, spokesperson Rustin Rawlings said.

The National Weather Service issued a tornado watch for southeastern Texas, including Houston, until 1 a.m. Tuesday.

It also issued a severe thunderstorm warning for parts of southeastern Texas.

Quote:President Donald Trump has stepped into an escalating dispute between China and Japan over self-ruled Taiwan, speaking to the leaders of Asia’s two biggest economies and telling China that he understands its position on Taiwan, Chinese state media reported.

Newsweek contacted the White House for comment via email outside business hours.

Why It Matters

The dispute between China and Japan, which has included economic disruption and threats of military conflict between the East Asian neighbors, could have global economic, diplomatic and security implications if it escalates.

Japan is the most important U.S. ally in Asia—it hosts about 54,000 U.S. troops and provides a base for the U.S. to project its military power across the region—while Trump has also been keen to establish good ties with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and to seek his help in areas including the smuggling of drugs to the U.S., trade and the war in Ukraine.

What To Know

Trump said on Monday in a post on Truth Social that he had a "very good telephone call with President Xi," which included discussion on Ukraine and Russia, the problem with fentanyl precursor chemicals smuggled to the U.S., and Chinese imports of U.S. soybeans and other farm produce.

Trump did not mention Taiwan, nor China’s dispute with Japan over the island in his post. The president has not publicly commented on the dispute between Japan and China. This erupted on November 7 when Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told legislators that a Chinese use of force against Taiwan would constitute an existential crisis for Japan, which could justify a response by its military, the Self-Defense Forces.

Beijing fiercely objects to what it sees as any outside interference in its dealings with and plans for the island and it responded to Takaichi’s comments with its own threat of military action against Japan.

China has subsequently ramped up economic pressure on Tokyo, telling its citizens to avoid travel to Japan and effectively banning Japanese seafood imports. The dispute shows no sign of easing.

Chinese state media, in its report on Trump's call, said Xi outlined China's position on Taiwan, "underscoring that Taiwan's return to China is an integral part of the post-war international order."

Trump stressed to Xi "that the United States understands how important the Taiwan question is to China," the Xinhua News Agency reported.

China has long claimed Taiwan as its territory and has threatened to achieve unification by force if necessary.

Although the U.S. does not officially recognize Taiwan, it has for decades been the island’s main ally and supplier of arms. Taiwan says the island’s people should decide their future.

Japanese media reported that Trump telephoned Takaichi after his call with Xi.

She said Trump had briefed her on his conversation with Xi but she declined to say if Trump had discussed Japan’s dispute with China.

"As it relates to diplomatic exchanges, I would like to refrain from disclosing details," she told reporters.

"I believe that I was able to confirm the close cooperation between Japan and the United States," she said.

Quote:The terror suspect accused of shooting two National Guard troops just blocks from the White House was taken down with a simple pocket knife by a heroic guardsman who rushed to the scene, according to reports.

Suspect Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan evacuee, allegedly drove across the country from his US home in Bellingham, Washington — a nearly 3,000-mile, 40-hour haul — to arrive in D.C. by Wednesday afternoon, officials confirmed after the attack.

It remains unclear when Lakanwal left home — where he reportedly has a wife and five children — and when he arrived in the nation’s capital.

However, he was laying in wait on a corner the Farragut West Metro entrance, just two blocks from the White House by about 2 p.m. — where two armed National Guard troops were standing patrol.

The attack happened at 17th and I streets NW — next to Farragut Square Park.

Lakanwal then allegedly pulled out a .357 Magnum-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver, trained its sights on the Guardsmen, and started firing, according to authorities.

Specialist Sarah Beckstrom — a 20-year-old with the West Virginia National Guard who had volunteered for the day’s service so others could be home for Thanksgiving — was quickly struck in the head and chest.

Her father told the New York Times that she is not expected to survive her wounds.

But Lakanwal reportedly only had four bullets in his gun, and allegedly picked up Beckstrom’s weapon and continued shooting at 24-year-old Guard Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, CBS News reported.

Wolfe is still in critical condition.

Nearby, a National Guard major was doing rounds to check in with troops posted nearby and heard the gunfire down the block.

Despite not having a weapon himself, he looked towards the chaos and saw that Lakanwal had spotted him.

The major ducked behind a car and pulled out the only defense he had: a pocket knife, according to sources who spoke to CBS.

When Lakanwal paused to reload, the major leapt from cover and turned the ambush back on the attacker — stabbing the alleged terrorist in the head multiple times and bringing him to the ground, conservative lawyer and strategist Mike Davis reported from law enforcement sources.

During the initial attack, the major allegedly heard Lakanwal yelling “Allahu akbar” — “God is great” — the Muslim phrase commonly yelled by Islamic extremists carrying out terror attacks.

Meanwhile, a fourth National Guardsman was nearby and had ran towards the fray with a pistol drawn, and shot Lakanwal in the buttocks and leg.

Both guardsmen held Lakanwal down until he was arrested.

Lakanwal survived the shooting and has been charged with possession of a firearm during a crime of violence and intent to kill while armed — and U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro vowed to bring the full weight of the law down if the guardsmen didn’t recover.

It remains unclear exactly what motivated Lakanwal to carry out the alleged attack, but the seeds may have been planted years ago in his Afghanistan home when he was part of local paramilitary operations installed by the US government to combat the Taliban.

Quote:Prosecutors will pursue the death penalty against the cowardly suspect who ambushed and critically wounded two West Virginia National Guard troops in Washington, DC Wednesday, Attorney General Pam Bondi revealed.

“I will tell you early, we will do everything in our power to seek the death penalty against that monster who should not have been in our country,” Bondi told Fox News’ “Fox & Friends.”

Suspect Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, whom the CIA confirmed worked with one of its elite counterterrorism units in Afghanistan, is facing at least three counts of assault with intent to kill and criminal possession of a weapon.

Those charges can result in up to 15 years behind bars.

US Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro noted that the charges against him could be elevated to murder if one of the two critically wounded troops succumbs to their injuries.

“If one of them is to pass, and God forbid that happens, this is a murder-one. Period, end of the story,” Pirro explained.

An enraged Bondi further blasted “progressive left idiots” for fueling hatred towards National Guard troops — as she vowed to probe whether they encouraged the Thanksgiving eve shooting ambush.

Bondi tore into the scores of liberal lawmakers and media commentators who have criticized President Trump’s decision to deploy federal troops to Washington, DC, suggesting the “disgusting” and “despicable” rhetoric is to blame for any ensuing violence.

“It’s actually sad what our country has come to with these progressive left idiots who are doing this and saying this about our heroes who are keeping them safe,” Bondi contended.

She added, too, that some liberals who have led the outrage against Trump’s push to protect the nation’s capital — including lawmakers — have security details to protect themselves.

“What these lawmakers are doing, what some of these news anchors on other networks are doing, what their guests are saying is disgusting, it’s despicable,” she said.

Quote:BELLINGHAM, Washington — The Afghan terrorist accused of shooting two National Guard troops had been living a seemingly quiet family life in a $2,000-a-month apartment in this idyllic Washington state town – where neighbors said the FBI busted into his home during a Wednesday raid.

Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, was often seen playing Call of Duty and FIFA inside the bare apartment, which he shared with his hijab-wearing wife and his five kids, stunned neighbors in Bellingham told The Post on Thursday.

Neighbors said the refugees — who arrived in 2021 after the chaotic US pullout from Afghanistan — had no beds, and there were only “some couch cushions they would sleep on” inside the sparse apartment.

They “never made a peep,” one neighbor said, adding that Lakanwal didn’t speak much English and his oldest child is 14.

“Bellingham is very liberal,” the neighbor said, noting the area, which housed Afghan evacuees following the botched withdrawal, was “Very welcoming. Very diverse. Very open.”

Lakanwal, who fought in Afghanistan and came into the US under the Biden-era Operation Allies Welcome program, allegedly opened fire and struck two National Guard troops just blocks away from the White House around 2:15 p.m. on Wednesday.

National Guard members Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Andrew Wolfe, 24, who had been patrolling at the time, were critically wounded in the attack.

A third guardsman rushed to the scene and took Lakanwal down. Lakanwal was also left with gunshot wounds in the melee.

Beckstrom’s father told the New York Times she has a “mortal wound,” after being shot in the head and chest with the .357 Magnum-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver.

Quote:The suspected Afghan terrorist accused of gunning down National Guard troops just blocks from the White House struggled for years with the violence he saw as a part of a notorious CIA-backed paramilitary group in his home country, according to a longtime friend.

“When he saw blood, bodies, and the wounded, he could not tolerate it,” said a childhood friend of 29-year-old terror suspect Rahmanullah Lakanwal.

“It put a lot of pressure on his mind,” the friend told the New York Times.

Lakanwal was part of an elite group of Afghan fighters known as the “Zero Units” — or alternatively, “death squads” — which battled the Taliban alongside US forces for over a decade.

The father of five settled in Bellingham, Washington, after he fled the Afghistan following the Biden Administration’s disastrous 2021 pullout.

Lakanwal’s role within the Zero Units remains unclear, but he reportedly joined as a security guard in 2012 when he would have been about 16 years old, one of his cousins told the Associated Press.

He remained in the group for nearly 10 years and was reportedly promoted to a team leader and a GPS specialist along the way, and only left the group in 2021 as US forces haphazardly pulled out of the country.

But whatever he did in that time reportedly exacted a heavy toll.

“He would tell me and our friends that their military operations were very tough, their job was very difficult, and they were under a lot of pressure,” Lakanwal’s childhood friend told the Times.

Those pressures led to spiraling mental health, the friend said, with Lakanwal apparently trying to cope by abusing substances like marijuana.

Lakanwal was in such a state towards the end of his time with his Zero Unit in 2021 that he got married to his second wife and divorced her within days, the friend said.

Though Zero Units were part of the Afghan government’s intelligence agency, they were trained, recruited, equipped – and even paid – by the CIA and US special operations forces, Rolling Stone magazine reported.

That meant they were fighting among the best of the best — and were trained to be deadly-effective in covert operations and high-stakes nighttime raids across Afghanistan’s remote countryside.

Quote:Sarah Beckstrom, one of the two National Guard members shot near the White House on Wednesday, has just died, President Donald Trump announced on Thursday evening.

“She’s just passed away. She’s no longer with us. She’s looking down at us right now,” Trump said, during his Thanksgiving address.

Why It Matters

West Virginia National Guard members Beckstrom, 20, and Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, were in Washington, D.C., since August as part of the federal surge in the nation's capital to tackle crime and immigration operations.

A suspect, identified as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, of Washington state, allegedly drove across the country before shooting Beckstrom and Wolfe in an "ambush-style" attack using a .357 Smith & Wesson revolver before he was wounded and apprehended by responding troops, according to U.S. Attorney General of the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro.

Pirro identified the victims on Thursday, when she confirmed both had surgery but remained in critical condition.

Lakanwal was in the U.S. since 2021 as part of Operation Allies Welcome, but only applied for asylum in 2024, which was granted by the Trump administration earlier this year.

What To Know

Beckstrom, 20, had been listed as being in critical condition after being shot in the chest and the head during the attack in Washington D.C.

Her father earlier in the day had said he was by his daughter's side and regretfully told The New York Times that she was not expected to survive, saying: "She has a mortal wound. It's not going to be a recovery."

Trump revealed that Beckstrom had passed away just moments before he started his Thanksgiving address, calling her a "magnificent person" who was "outstanding in every way."

"She's no longer with us," Trump said, adding that her parents were with her, and that she had died after being "savagely attacked."

The president then revealed that Wolfe was fighting for his life but "in bad shape."

Quote:The Department of Homeland Security has ordered a full review of all green cards issued to immigrants from high-risk countries following a shooting near the White House that left two National Guard members critically injured.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Joseph B. Edlow announced the move Thursday, citing national security concerns. “At the direction of @POTUS, I have directed a full scale, rigorous reexamination of every Green Card for every alien from every country of concern,” Edlow posted on X on Thursday.

“The protection of this country and of the American people remains paramount, and the American people will not bear the cost of the prior administration’s reckless resettlement policies,” Edlow said. “American safety is non negotiable.”

Why It Matters

The announcement follows Wednesday’s shooting of two members of the West Virginia National Guard, Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Air Force Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe, 24, while they were on patrol near a metro station in Washington, D.C.

The suspect, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, is an Afghan national who entered the U.S. in 2021 under humanitarian parole and was granted asylum in 2025 during the Trump administration. His green card application was still pending.

What To Know

The Trump administration argues that the Biden White House misused refugee and asylum pathways during a period of record migration, particularly along the southern border.

The refugee program is now under full review, and those found to have been admitted improperly may have their status revoked. The man accused of shooting two National Guard members in Washington is among roughly 76,000 Afghans brought to the United States in 2021 after the chaotic U.S. withdrawal as the Taliban seized control, authorities said.

When asked why Lakanwal was allowed to remain in the country, a senior DHS official pointed to the policies in place at the time. “This Afghan national was paroled in by the Biden administration,” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Newsweek on Thursday. “After that, Biden signed into law that parole program, and then entered into the 2023 Ahmed Court Settlement, which bound USCIS to adjudicate his asylum claim on an expedited basis.”

Following the attack, USCIS said it would indefinitely halt processing “relating to Afghan nationals” until further notice.

Quote:WASHINGTON — Alleged National Guard attack terrorist Rahmanullah Lakanwal betrayed the Americans who worked hard to save him and countless other Afghans from the Taliban and give them a new life in the US, the head of a group that has rescued numerous Afghans told The Post.

Shawn VanDiver, founder and president of #AfghanEvac, a US nonprofit run by American veterans helping to evacuate and resettle Afghan allies in the US said one man’s monstrous actions are now hurting all Afghans who risked their lives for the US in its 20-year war — and the shockwaves are hitting the Americans who helped them find safety.

“He betrayed everybody who helped him,” VanDiver said Thursday. “He betrayed his family. He betrayed every American that helped him get here. He betrayed the United States government. And he deserves to be held fully accountable.”

“But Afghan families did not do this,” he added, pushing back against attacks on other Afghans who have been resettled in the US.

Americans across the country stepped up beginning in August 2021, when Afghans fled the Taliban takeover. Volunteers provided rides to driving classes, helped navigate paperwork, found jobs, and in many cases opened their homes to families with nowhere to go, Van Diver said.

Now, Americans who helped settle Afghan allies in the US are the subject of some online rage for their efforts helping thousands of innocents resettle in America, VanDiver said.

“One deranged man taking insane action does not make a community,” he said.

He added that some political voices are rushing to use the tragedy to vilify Afghan evacuees broadly — an outcome he says plays directly into the attacker’s hands.

“People pushing this narrative are doing the shooter’s job for him,” he said. “If he had been born in Missouri, nobody would be punishing all of Missouri.”

The Afghan community and the volunteers who supported them are now terrified they’ll be blamed for something they had no part in, he said.

“They feel like they’re being targeted. They’re being marked for something they didn’t do,” the advocate said. “They gave so much out of their hearts to help wartime allies. Now they’re scared and grieving.”

Many volunteers fear the years they spent helping Afghan interpreters, drivers, and other wartime partners — people the US promised to protect — will now be erased by a single attacker’s actions.

“It’s like in the military, where one person screws up and the whole platoon gets punished,” the advocate said. “There’s no good reason to do this other than to go after people they didn’t want here in the first place.”

He argued that the existing vetting system worked — and that genuine security comes from law enforcement and intelligence work, not blanket suspicion.

Quote:A total of 407 U.S. lawmakers voted to provide more visas for Afghan nationals after the U.S. withdrew from the country in 2021 and the Taliban took control.

The measure, which was introduced by Democratic Representative Jason Crow of Colorado and passed on July 22, 2021, has attracted renewed scrutiny after it emerged that the suspect in the shooting of two National Guard soldiers in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday arrived in the U.S. from Afghanistan under a similar program.

The attack took place around 2:15 p.m. near the Farragut Square Metro Station. Officials said the 29-year-old suspect, identified by multiple media outlets as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, was shot during the incident and taken into custody.

Lakanwal, who lived in Washington state and had no criminal history, came to the U.S. in 2021 as part of Operation Allies Welcome, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said. In 2024, he applied for asylum, which the government granted in 2025, CNN reported, citing anonymous sources.

Why It Matters

The shooting of two West Virginia National Guard members deployed in Washington, D.C., has sparked concerns about security and the vetting of Afghan refugees. While the Trump administration has said the U.S. should now reexamine Afghans who entered the U.S. in recent years, some have raised concerns about stigmatizing Afghan nationals.

What To Know

In August 2021, then-President Joe Biden launched Operation Allies Welcome, which granted Afghans the right to remain in the U.S. for two years. More than 75,000 Afghan refugees were admitted to the United States.

Meanwhile, a congressional resolution created 8,000 new visas for Afghans who helped U.S. forces and other nongovernmental organizations as well as Afghans who may have faced persecution.

The 407 lawmakers who voted for the congressional measure included 215 Democrats and 192 Republicans. Three Republicans and four Democrats did not vote for the measure, while 16 Republicans voted against it.

A July 2021 statement from the Office of Management and Budget said the administration "must be able to do more" to get Afghans to safety, adding that it would "assist in our efforts to streamline the application process by removing or revising some statutory requirements" described as "unnecessary and burdensome." The statement said there would still be "appropriate security vetting."

The full list of members of the House of Representatives who voted for the measure can be found here.

A spokesperson for Representative Scott DesJarlais, a Tennessee Republican who voted against the measure, told Newsweek at the time: "Congressman DesJarlais supports bringing in interpreters and allies that assisted us in the war effort.

"However, there is concern about the broad net being cast by the Biden administration that will surely let potential terrorists slip through the cracks. Rep. DesJarlais would like to see a better vetting plan in place before the United States starts bringing 40,000 to 60,000 Afghans and their families to our country."

Representative Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, told Newsweek in July 2021: "The program to extend visas to those who helped our military already exists and I support that program. The vote on the new measure was to greatly expand the number of visas and to include categories of people who did not help us in the war, while simultaneously reducing the vetting of these immigrants."

Scrutiny about previous legislation comes as the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced on Wednesday that had stopped processing all immigration requests from Afghan nationals.

Quote:Among my growing list of improper uses of the English language is the response I get when telling a restaurant server or anyone else “thank you.”

The usual response has been for as long as I remember, “you’re welcome.”

For the young, especially, it has become “no problem.”

Why would thanking someone for a service or kindness performed be considered a problem? What does that even mean?

Thanksgiving, which mythically began when the Pilgrims and early settlers thanked God for His “many blessings,” despite their difficult circumstances, is now a small bump in the road on the way to the annual conspicuous consumption called Christmas.

The airlines are thankful because of heavy travel that leads to large profits.

Thanksgiving, as well as approaching Christmas, have lost their unique status — at least among secularist marketers — and have now been blended into “the holidays.”

That’s a problem.

There once was a time — and I still remember it — when most of the Christmas rush began after Thanksgiving. Now we have Black Friday beginning in some TV ads before Halloween.

Thanksgiving has taken a back seat to Christmas commercialism. It is now a one-day stuffing, not just of the turkey, but of ourselves, plus a couple of football games.

While the early settlers and Pilgrims were known for thanking God for His blessings, it wasn’t until 1863 that President Abraham Lincoln established Thanksgiving as a national holiday.

In his proclamation declaring the last Thursday in November a day of thanksgiving, Lincoln said this about the blessings Americans had received:

“To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature that they cannot fail to penetrate and even soften the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever-watchful providence of Almighty God.”

Quote:President Donald Trump’s 2025 Thanksgiving proclamation called for national unity, gratitude to God and reflection on American history, a formal message that differed in tone from the politically charged holiday post he shared in 2024.

“As we prepare to celebrate 250 glorious years of American independence, this Thanksgiving, we summon the faith, resolve, and unflinching fortitude of the giants of American history who came before us,” Trump wrote in the proclamation dated November 25 but released by the White House on Thursday. “Above all, we offer our endless gratitude to Almighty God for His love, grace, and infinite blessings."

Why It Matters

Thanksgiving proclamations are an enduring presidential tradition dating to 1789, when George Washington, America's first president, designated a national day for public thanksgiving and prayer. The practice was made an annual observance by Abraham Lincoln in 1863, amid the Civil War, as he called on Americans to unite and give thanks. Nearly every U.S. president since has issued a Thanksgiving proclamation each year.

What To Know

The proclamation cast Thanksgiving as a time to recognize recent national gains and to prepare for the future. Trump cited “strong leadership and commonsense policy” as driving forces behind what he called “a new era of peace” and “the American spirit … coming back greater and more powerful than ever before.”

He tied these developments to divine favor, writing, “God has bestowed abundant blessings all across our land and indeed the entire world.” The message urged Americans to see their current moment as a continuation of a long national story rooted in determination and belief. “We vow to build a future that echoes their sacrifice,” Trump said, referring to historical figures he credited with shaping the nation’s character.

Thanksgiving, he wrote, should be a day for Americans to “gather, in homes and places of worship, to offer a prayer of thanks to God for our many blessings.”

The tone of the 2025 Thanksgiving proclamation marked a departure from Trump’s fiery message the previous year. In his 2024 post on Truth Social, Trump addressed his political opponents directly and framed the holiday in terms of electoral victory. “Happy Thanksgiving to all,” he wrote, “including to the Radical Left Lunatics who have worked so hard to destroy our Country, but who have miserably failed.”

That post, shared just weeks after the 2024 election, continued: “The great people of our Nation just gave a landslide victory to those who want to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! Don’t worry, our Country will soon be respected, productive, fair, and strong.”

Quote:President Donald Trump announced a new Washington, D.C., National Mall project on Wednesday, saying the Department of the Interior is working to "fix" the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

The video shows workers working around the pool, set to the backdrop of Andrea Bocelli’s “Time to Say Goodbye.”

In a post to Truth Social accompanied by a video, the president posted, "This is the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool before Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum and I fix it. Study it hard because you won’t be seeing this Biden filth and incompetence much longer!"

When reached for comment, the Interior Department declined to provide any details about the project, while saying it is "committed to this effort."

Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool: What to Know

The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, one of the most recognizable landmarks on the National Mall, was completed in 1923 as part of architect Henry Bacon’s design for the memorial complex honoring President Abraham Lincoln. Stretching nearly 2,000 feet between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument, the long, shallow pool was intended to create a dramatic visual corridor that mirrored two of the capital’s most significant monuments. Over the decades, it has become a gathering place for major national events, including the 1963 March on Washington, where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech.

The pool has undergone multiple renovations, including a major reconstruction completed in 2012 to modernize its aging infrastructure. The project added a new filtration system and replaced the pool’s original dirt-and-concrete basin, which frequently leaked and had long struggled with water quality problems. Despite periodic closures for maintenance, the Reflecting Pool remains one of Washington’s most visited and photographed sites, symbolizing national reflection and serving as a backdrop for demonstrations, celebrations and public life on the Mall.

Trump's DC Cleanup Efforts

President Trump has made cleanup and restoration of the District a central focus since returning to office in January. In March, he signed an executive order directing Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to instruct the National Park Service to clear homeless encampments, remove graffiti and address deteriorating conditions on federal land across Washington.

The administration has paired those directives with expanded on-the-ground efforts, including National Guard units carrying out “beautification” work after Trump deployed them to the capital in August. Federal agencies say the operations are part of a broader push to restore key public spaces, though critics argue the moves raise questions about federal authority over the District.

Quote:Seven people in the Big Apple were shot in a bloody four-hour Thanksgiving Eve span across three boroughs, cops said.

The burst of violence began around 7:20 p.m. Wednesday, when two teens were shot at Fulton and Jay streets in downtown Brooklyn, police said.

An 18-year-old man was blasted in the left leg and grazed in the left elbow, while an 18-year-old woman took a bullet to the right leg, authorities said.

Both were taken to Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, where they were listed in stable condition, cops said.

The mayhem continued around 9:40 p.m., when two men, 22 and 23, were shot on Ryer Avenue near the Grand Concourse in the Fordham Heights section of the Bronx, police said.

The older man was hit in the left foot, while the younger victim was struck in the right thigh, authorities said.

Both were taken to St. Barnabas Hospital, where they were considered stable, cops said.

Then, around 11:15 p.m., a 24-year-old man was grazed in the head by two masked suspects in Queens, police said.

The victim was injured when at least one of the perps opened fire on 30th Drive near Vernon Boulevard in Astoria, police said.

He was taken by private means to Mount Sinai Queens, where he was listed in stable condition, cops said.

The disguised suspects took off in a black Jeep, authorities said.

A few minutes later, two more people were shot when gunfire erupted inside a Bronx deli, cops said.

A 22-year-old man was shot in the shoulder and a 25-year-old woman struck in the torso inside the Yaya Deli Grocery on Melrose Avenue near East 160th Street in Melrose around 11:20 p.m., police said.

Both victims were taken to Lincoln Medical Center, also in stable condition, cops said.

No arrests have been made in any of the shootings, and the motives remain under investigation.

Quote:A former World Trade Center worker who “narrowly escaped” the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks has been beaten to death by three teens — one of whom was just 12 at the time of the attack, according to officials.

Long Island native Roger Borkum, 64, was found “severely beaten” just before midnight on Oct. 19 in Downtown Jacksonville, FL., after three teens were seen “kicking and stomping” him, according to an arrest report from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.

He was found with blood “pooled” around his head — and a “blood trail extending down the sidewalk,” the arrest report said.

The attackers were seen “rummaging” through Borkum’s backpack — and then returned around 20 minutes later, kicking him “multiple” times, the report said. In total, the same suspects were seen “battering the victim three separate times,” the police docs said.

Borkum, a widower who was homeless at the time, died four days later of his injuries.

Three suspects — Justin Curry, 13, Marcavion Lacey, 19, and Robert Pope, 17 — were arrested within hours of the attack.

They were all indicted for murder on Nov. 20, according to a Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office press release.

Curry was just 12 at the time of the attack.

One of the suspects blamed the attack on Borkum — a stranger — having “dissed” their “dead homies,” the reports said, without elaborating.

“This case is a heartbreaking reminder of how young some offenders have become and how devastating the consequences are for victims, families, and the surrounding community,” the sheriff’s office said.

“Parents and guardians, get involved in your children’s lives….Take action before it’s too late.”

Quote:Thieves stole 20 phones during a single Brooklyn concert, The Post has learned — as one expert warns it’s part of a growing trend targeting crowded music venues tied to an international black market.

Cops were called to punk band Hot Mulligan’s performance at the Brooklyn Paramount on Nov. 7 when a slew of unsuspecting concertgoers were seemingly pickpocketed– with the thieves turning off the phones so they couldn’t be tracked, officials confirmed.

No arrests have been made to date, but the investigation is still ongoing, an NYPD rep said.

Attendee James Crowley, 31, said he saw multiple people scanning the floor at the Downtown Brooklyn venue, looking for phones that they thought they might have dropped.

“I’ve been going to shows since I was 14…I’ve never seen anything like that,” Crowley said.

One bystander finally said, “I think people are having their phones taken,” according to Crowley.

The incident is the latest in a growing series of mass phone thefts, with the stolen goods oftentimes winding up in China as part of a wildly-lucrative resale market, cybersecurity expert Robert Siciliano told The Post.

The surge in demand for secondhand phones in China began in 2022 as the world emerged from pandemic lockdowns, Siciliano said. Now, the average iPhone is worth between $300 to $500 to thieves — and Chinese resellers can generate up to $5,000 in profit for a single phone stolen from the US.

“The problem is that the devices themselves are getting much more expensive” with iPhone prices nearly doubling over the last decade, he said.

“US-based devices that are stolen can easily be used in countries like China, because their networks aren’t following the same blacklist protocols as we do,” he said.

Lackadaisical prosecution of petty thefts in “mostly blue states,” paired with limited police resources, has led to thieves “realizing that they were literally getting away with crime,” Siciliano said.

Ultimately, only about 5 to 10% of US phone theft cases are solved, Siciliano said, as lengthy investigations require cops to crack password-protected devices and go after the middlemen shipping devices overseas.

“They often don’t have the budgets for that,” he said.

Quote:Democratic attorneys general from 21 states and the District of Columbia sued the Trump administration on Wednesday to stop the federal government from cutting off Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) food benefits for certain lawful immigrants, including refugees and people granted asylum.

The states say the administration, including Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, is attempting to impose restrictions never approved by Congress and is putting vulnerable families at risk.

“It’s wild that we’re here the day before Thanksgiving,” Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield, who filed the suit, said in a press release. “We’re the wealthiest country in the world, and no one should go hungry. When this memo came out, we thought it must be a mistake. The law is clear, and this is not how you treat people.”

The USDA declines to comment when reached by Newsweek, deferring to the Department of Justice, which has yet to comment.

Why It Matters

The challenge is the latest in a series of disputes between states and the federal government over the administration’s handling of SNAP. Earlier this year, the administration sought to pause the program during the government shutdown, prompting concern from anti-hunger advocates and state agencies that depend on federal funding to distribute monthly food allowances.

What To Know

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Oregon, challenges guidance the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued to states on October 31 outlining how to implement provisions of the recent tax and spending law.

State officials contend the USDA’s instructions misrepresent what the law actually changed and go far beyond what Congress authorized. According to the complaint, the department’s guidance wrongly classifies “several groups of legal immigrants as ineligible for food assistance,” including lawful permanent residents who were admitted as refugees or granted asylum.

Attorneys general said they asked the USDA last week to revise or withdraw the guidance, but the agency did not respond. In the meantime, they said, state administrators were left scrambling to interpret instructions they believe are illegal, and that could strip food aid from thousands of eligible households.

The states also argue that the USDA failed to give them adequate time to adjust their systems. Under federal rules, states typically receive 120 days to implement new eligibility requirements without facing significant financial penalties. But according to the lawsuit, the USDA gave states only one day to comply, leaving agencies unable to update computer systems, notify recipients, or evaluate the consequences of the changes.

When the new policy was announced in July, Rollins said she was ensuring that illegal immigrants would not receive public benefits, despite instances of this being extremely rare, as most non-permanent residents are not eligible for SNAP benefits. She argued that tightening restrictions was a way the USDA was implementing Trump's "Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Open Borders" executive order.

State officials warn that the new penalties for providing benefits to groups the USDA now considers ineligible are so steep that states could be forced to halt their SNAP programs entirely if they fail to comply. That threat, they argue, underscores the urgency of blocking the guidance until a court can review it.

In addition to Oregon, the lawsuit was joined by California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai‘i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia.

Quote:The prosecutor who recently assumed responsibility for the Georgia election interference case involving President Donald Trump and others said in a court filing Wednesday that he will not pursue the case further.

Peter Skandalakis, executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, took over the case earlier this month after Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was removed over an “appearance of impropriety” stemming from her romantic relationship with the special prosecutor she had appointed.

After Skandalakis' filing, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee issued a one-paragraph order dismissing the case in its entirety.

Trump later reacted to the news, posting on Truth Social that law and justice had prevailed in Georgia.

"This Illegal, Unconstitutional, and unAmerican Hoax was perpetrated against our Nation by Fani and her Low I.Q. Lover, Nathan Wade, at the direction of Crooked Joe Biden and his ''Handlers,'" Trump said, in part. "This case should have never been brought in the first place.

"The Deranged Democrats did all they could to viciously attack me, my supporters, and our MAGA Movement, for telling the TRUTH — THE 2020 ELECTION WAS RIGGED AND STOLEN, and they committed Crime after Crime as they weaponized our Law Enforcement and Justice System against HONEST AND LOVING Americans but, we have fought back and won both in the Courts and Politically with our Historic, Country saving, Landslide Victory of November 5, 2024."

Why It Matters

Legal action against Trump was unlikely to proceed while he is president, but charges were still pending against 14 other defendants, including former New York Mayor and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani and former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.

What To Know

In his filing Wednesday, Skandalakis said the indictment against Trump and the others charged "alleges a compelling set of acts which, if proven beyond a reasonable doubt, as required by our Constitution, would establish a conspiracy undertaken by multiple individuals working toward a common objective: to overturn the results of the November 2020 Presidential Election in Georgia, and in other states across the country."

However, the prosecutor said that many of the reasons originally given in the indictment as evidence of such a plot, including arranging phone calls, posting social media messages, and other acts outside the state of Georgia, were not necessarily enough to sustain a RICO case.

Where there could have been a chance of successful prosecution, Skandalakis said, was in the federal case brought by special counsel Jack Smith, as much of the alleged offenses took place in Washington, D.C. The case was ultimately dropped by Smith after the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Trump in another case before the 2024 election.

"The federal government is the appropriate venue for this prosecution, not the State of Georgia," he wrote. "Indeed, if Special Counsel Jack Smith, with all the resources of the federal government at his disposal, after reviewing the evidence in this case and considering the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Trump v. United States, along with the years of litigation such a case would inevitably entail, concluded that prosecution would be fruitless, then I too find that, despite the available evidence, pursuing the prosecution of all those involved in State of Georgia v. Donald Trump, et al. on essentially federal grounds would be equally unproductive."

Quote:UPS’ fleet of MD-11 cargo aircraft will remain grounded for months, not weeks, according to an internal statement issued by UPS Airlines President Bill Moore and obtained by Newsweek and Clifford Law Offices.

The memo, circulated to employees following the fatal November 4 crash of Flight 2976 in Louisville, signals a prolonged operational disruption extending through the holiday shipping season.

Newsweek contacted UPS, FedEx and the Federal Aviation Administration via email on Thursday.

Why It Matters

The leaked internal memo from UPS Airlines President Bill Moore reveals that the company’s entire MD-11 cargo fleet will remain grounded for “several months instead of weeks” after the fatal November 4 Louisville crash, a significantly longer disruption than previously signaled.

Boeing has informed UPS that inspections and structural repairs are more extensive than initially expected, prompting what amounts to a fleet-wide teardown of aging aircraft components.

The disclosure has intensified scrutiny from Clifford Law Offices, whose aviation attorneys say the inspections should have occurred years earlier. “Absent those inspections and that maintenance… these planes will not be in the air,” partner Bradley Cosgrove said, warning that the situation echoes the 1979 American Airlines engine-separation disaster and now amounts to “graveyard engineering.”

The memo underscores that the issue is not a short-term operational setback but a deeper structural and safety problem with broad implications for UPS, FedEx, Boeing and federal regulators.

What To Know

The grounding affects both UPS and FedEx, which also operates MD-11s, although the memo pertains specifically to UPS.

The crash, which killed 14 people—including all three crew members—and injured at least 23 others, prompted a fleet-wide inspection after investigators found fatigue cracks in a structural component of the left wing of the downed aircraft.

In the memo, Moore told employees that Boeing’s ongoing assessments have revealed the required inspections and potential repairs will be far more extensive than earlier projections suggested.

“Boeing’s ongoing evaluation shows that inspections and potential repairs will be more extensive than initially expected,” Moore wrote, adding that the return to service “will take several months instead of weeks as originally anticipated.”

Moore emphasized that UPS’s approach would be methodical. “We will not rush, we will not speculate and most importantly – we will not compromise safety,” he said.

He also stated that UPS remained “fully committed to transparency and safety as the NTSB investigation moves forward,” and committed to sharing new information “promptly and transparently.”

Moore described the aftermath of the crash as “challenging” and thanked employees for their “professionalism and resilience during this difficult time.”

He added that affected flight crews would remain in a “pay protected status” during the grounding.

Quote:A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck near Susitna, Alaska, on Thursday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

Its epicenter was about 7 miles west-northwest of Susitna, roughly 67 miles northwest of Anchorage, officials said. There were no immediate reports of significant damage.

Thursday’s quake was the strongest to strike south-central Alaska since 2021, KTUU-TV reported.

Two smaller earthquakes also struck the region Thursday, according to preliminary USGS data. A magnitude 3.2 quake was recorded about 4 miles north of Susitna, while a magnitude 2.9 temblor hit roughly 12 miles northwest of the community. Both quakes were minor and there were no reports of damage, though they added to a day of heightened seismic activity in the area.

A tsunami was not expected, according to the U.S. Tsunami Warning System.

Alaska is the most earthquake-prone state in the country and one of the most seismically active regions in the world, the U.S. Geological Survey says. The state averages about one magnitude 7 earthquake every year.
...
Anchorage is home to roughly 300,000 residents, making it the largest city in Alaska and by far the most densely populated region near the quake’s epicenter. Because the magnitude-6.0 tremor struck nearby, a large portion of those residents likely felt the ground shake — increasing both the potential risk of structural damage and the need for public alerts and emergency assessments.

Even though no severe damage has been reported so far after Thursday's quake, the size and density of Anchorage’s population means authorities are treating the event with caution, closely monitoring aftershocks and possible impacts across the region.

Quote:Police in Trinidad and Tobago have arrested a suspect in the killing of an American man who may have been slain over a drug deal gone bad, authorities said.

Local Police Commissioner Allister Guevarro confirmed the arrest to the Associated Press (AP) on Thursday, saying that “a suspect is currently in custody.” Police did not immediately confirm if the victim, 43-year-old Christopher Brown, was a tourist or not.

The suspect is a 26-year-old from Scarborough on the island of Tobago, according to Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.

Why It Matters

Violence against tourists remains a chief concern in popular destinations around the world, with a particular focus on those closest to home, including Mexico and much of the Caribbean.

Trinidad and Tobago currently has a Level 3 travel advisory from the State Department, which was issued on April 13 and updated around a month later, on May 7.

The twin-island country remains a concern over violent crime, including murder, robbery, assault, sexual assault, home invasion and kidnapping.

Gang activity, such as narcotics trafficking, is common, and a significant portion of violent crime is gang-related, according to the advisory.

What To Know

Brown was out with friends in Castara on Wednesday night when he said he was going to buy marijuana, according to a police report. Brown is a builder originally from Silverthorne, Colorado.

Shortly after 10:30 p.m., Trinidad and Tobago police responded to a report of a man found unresponsive in the area, and they pronounced Brown dead at the scene.

Police believe he had been stabbed, citing several wounds on his body and a metal object found protruding from his back. A motive for the killing remains unknown.

Authorities did not say whether Brown was merely visiting the island or when he arrived, but Trinidad and Tobago Newsday reported that Brown was taking a one-week holiday with his girlfriend and was due to return home on November 27.

The killing is the first of its kind in the small fishing village of Castara, according to Tobago’s Division of Tourism, which stressed that the village is known for being safe and welcoming, but the nation has recorded over 330 homicides this year.

Authorities implemented a state of emergency in July and accused a criminal network in prisons across the country of plotting to kill key government officials and attack public institutions, according to the AP.

Quote:Raúl Rocha, president and part-owner of the Miss Universe Organization, is said to be facing serious criminal accusations in Mexico.

Prosecutors reportedly claimed that Rocha is suspected of participating in a criminal network involved in trafficking drugs, weapons and stolen fuel along the Guatemala–Mexico border, per a report from the Mexican newspaper Reforma published Wednesday.

The allegations are said to have stemmed from an investigation by Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office, which claimed Rocha held a leadership role in a group that smuggled fuel across the Usumacinta River and then transported it by truck into central Mexico, including the state of Querétaro.

Officials also alleged that the same network handled narcotics and firearms, as well.

Reforma reported that authorities carried out raids on several properties connected to Rocha and that, during those searches, investigators allegedly found financial records indicating he contributed money to the criminal organization.

One document reportedly showed Rocha had made a payment of roughly 2.1 million pesos. Based on those findings, prosecutors moved forward with a request for an arrest warrant back in August.

Prosecutors went on to claim the criminal group had purported ties to officials at various levels of government, giving it access, protection and influence that allowed illegal fuel and other contraband to move more freely throughout the region.

The case suggested the network stretched far beyond trafficking and into political connections.

Reforma additionally reported that Rocha approached prosecutors in October to seek a plea deal.

As part of that reported proposal, the Miss Universe owner would allegedly provide info in exchange for immunity from prosecution.

It is currently unclear if that plea offer was accepted or whether negotiations are ongoing, per the Mexican newspaper.

Rocha, meanwhile, has denied any wrongdoing.

“It is completely false that I have an arrest warrant,” he told the Spanish outlet El País when asked about the case this week.

The Post has reached out to the Miss Universe Organization for comment.

Quote:Key Jeffrey Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre died without a will, sparking a legal battle between her relatives over her mammoth settlements, including at least $12 million from disgraced then-Prince Andrew.

When Giuffre, 41, took her own life at her family’s Western Australia farm in April, she left behind a multi-million-dollar estate, including four properties and the separate settlements she received from Andrew as well as Epstein and his madam, Ghislaine Maxwell.

However, she died intestate, meaning without a formal will, according to the Telegraph.

That has left her relatives preparing to fight for it, with an interim administrator overseeing the estate ahead of a case management hearing scheduled Friday at the Supreme Court of Western Australia.

Under Australian law, her estranged husband, Robert Giuffre, could be entitled to up to a third of her estate — even though Virginia Giuffre emailed her lawyer to say she didn’t want her ex to get any of it, according to the report.

The pair were getting divorced at the time of her death.

Giuffre’s younger brother, Sky Roberts, and her half-brother, Danny Wilson, are challenging Robert’s right to her estate, while also battling for control of the charity she was launching, Speak Out, Act, Reclaim, according to the report.

Other relatives are fighting their claim.

“We don’t believe they have a right to it. The estate should go to her children only,” Giuffre’s aunt, Kimberly Roberts, told the Telegraph.

Quote:An Afghan national admitted to the United States under President Biden’s Operation Allies Welcome resettlement program was arrested this week after posting a TikTok video in which he appeared to be building a bomb and referenced Fort Worth as a target, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLauglin reported the arrest of Mohammad Dawood Alokozay, saying he allegedly posted a video on TikTok threatening to blow up a building in Fort Worth, Texas, area with a bomb. The Texas Department of Public Safety and the FBI Joint Terrorism Task force teamed up to make the arrest on charges of making terroristic threats.

Alokozay is an Afghan national who was pardoned into the U.S. by the Biden administration. His arrest came one day prior to the vicious attack on two West Virginia National Guard soldiers in Washington, D.C. by another Afghan national.

WFAA ABC6 in Dallas reported that Alokozy was booked into the Tarrant County Jail on November 25.

On November 28, President Donald Trump declared he was going to end all migration from Third World countries, Breitbart Texas reported. Trump’s action came in response to the assassination of West Virginia National Guardsman Sarah Beckstrom and the wounding of Guardsman Andrew Wolfe.

“This heinous assault was an act of evil, and an act of hatred, and an act of terror,” Trump said in a video on Thanksgiving night. “It was an act against our entire nation; it was a crime against humanity.”

“This attack underscores the single-greatest national security threat facing our nation,” the president continued. “We must now reexamine every single alien who has entered our country from Afghanistan under Biden, and we must take all necessary action to remove any alien from any country who does not belong here or add benefit to our country.”

“We’re not going to put up with these kinds of assaults on law and order by people who shouldn’t even be in our country,” Trump added.

In a Truth Social post on Thanksgiving, Trump stated that his administration will “remove anyone who is not a net asset to the United States, or is incapable of loving our Country, end all Federal benefits and subsidies to noncitizens of our Country, denaturalize migrants who undermine domestic tranquility, and deport any Foreign National who is a public charge, security risk, or non-compatible with Western Civilization.”

“These goals will be pursued with the aim of achieving a major reduction in illegal and disruptive populations, including those admitted through an unauthorized and illegal Autopen approval process. Only REVERSE MIGRATION can fully cure this situation,” he concluded.

Quote:The White House blasted Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) after the prominent Democrat tried to blame President Trump for the shooting of two National Guard members in DC this week — noting it was the policies of the previous administration which allowed the alleged shooter into the country.

Suspect Rahmanullah Lakanwal ambushed West Virginia National Guard members Sarah Beckstrom and Andrew Wolfe Wednesday, mortally wounding Beckstrom, 20, and leaving Wolfe, 24, critically injured, authorities said.

“This animal would’ve never been here if not for Joe Biden’s dangerous policies which allowed countless unvetted criminals to invade our country and harm the American people,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told The Post of suspect Rahmanullah Lakanwal.

“The Trump Administration is taking every measure possible – in the face of unrelenting Democrat opposition – to get these monsters out of our country and clean up the mess made by the Biden Administration. Instead of defending terrorists, the Democrats should join us in protecting the American people,” she fumed.

Lakanwal entered the United States as part of the Biden Administration’s Operation Allies Welcome, which brought tens of thousands of migrants from war-torn Afghanistan to the country after 2021.

Jackson’s blistering remarks came after Wasserman Schultz — a south Florida lawmaker who previously chaired the Democratic National Committee during Trump’s 2016 race against Hillary Clinton — slammed the president Friday during an appearance on CNN.

“The president looks everywhere excerpt inward to blame his own policies. We need to make sure that we don’t have our military deployed in our cities handling law enforcement responsibilities,” she said.

The shooting “begs the question, would an individual have flown across the country to target law enforcement officers in Washington, DC? And, I mean, the answer is likely no. So, why wasn‘t the president‘s first thought, ‘Wow, you know, maybe I should reconsider deploying military troops in the nation‘s capital or in any city?’” she told host Sara Sidner.

“Particularly not when they haven‘t coordinated closely with the leadership of these cities and when we have law enforcement that are quite capable of handling the criminal justice issues that are — that we need law enforcement to focus on, and not our military.”

Authorities have said Lakanwal drove to DC from Bellingham, Washington to carry out the shooting, but have revealed little about his motive. CIA Director John Ratcliffe said he fought alongside US forces in Afghanistan.

Quote:The brother of alleged DC gunman Rahmanullah Lakanwal was a platoon leader in the same elite CIA-backed “Zero Unit” as his sibling, an ex-official in that squad said Thursday.

Lakanwal, 29, and his brother both served in the southern province of Kandahar, said a resident of the eastern province of Khost who identified himself as a cousin of the accused shooter, according to The Associated Press.

While Lakanwal began as a security guard for the unit in 2012, he later ascended to a team leader and GPS specialist, said the cousin who did not want to be publicly identified.

The former official from the unit, who also did not want to be identified, said Lakanwal’s brother was a platoon leader, AP reported.

Sources familiar with the investigation told ABC News Lakanwal has a brother in the United States.

He has not been officially identified and has not been accused of wrongdoing.

Lakanwal came to the US with his wife and five kids during the hasty withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan in 2021.

Lakanwal, who relocated to Washington state, allegedly drove across the country to Washington, DC, where he opened fire on two West Virginia National Guard members, killing Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and critically wounding Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, according to authorities.

The suspect was shot and wounded when another National Guard member returned fire. He’s facing first-degree murder and related federal charges.

The Zero Unit that Lakanwal was in received backing from the CIA and was involved in clandestine operations during the war in Afghanistan.

While known for covert missions, the paramilitary units also faced allegations of human rights abuses and were dubbed by activists as “Death Squads.”

Quote:More than 5,000 Afghans brought to the US after American forces withdrew from the country got flagged for “national security” issues, Department of Homeland Security data obtained by The Post reveals.

In all, the feds uncovered “potential derogatory information” on a total of 6,868 people who came from Afghanistan as part of President Biden’s Operation Allies Welcome in 2021.

Of that number, 5,005 came up with a national security concern, while 956 people had “public safety” concerns and 876 were flagged for fraud, according to the data.

DHS provided the information to Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, after he posed a series of questions to the Homeland Security Department in May 2024.

While various US agencies were able to resolve many of the red flags, as of September there were still 885 people with potentially negative national security information – posing a possible threat.

Following Wednesday’s shocking ambush of two National Guards members in Washington DC, President Trump ordered a review of security and vetting protocols for migrants from 19 “high-risk” countries, along with all asylum cases approved by the prior administration.

The startling data comes to light just days after suspect Rahmanullah Lakanwal allegedly killed National Guardswoman Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and left Guardsman Andrew Wolfe, 24, hospitalized in critical condition.

For years, Grassley has been pressing the FBI and DHS about “glaring red flags” in the program that brought more than 70,000 Afghans to the US following the botched 2021 troop withdrawal.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem provided the information in a Sept. 9 letter to the lawmaker, three days after the agency’s Inspector General reported it found DHS “encountered obstacles to screen, vet and inspect all evacuees.”

“I spent years calling attention to the weak vetting standards in Operation Allies Welcome, despite considerable pushback from the Biden administration and many of my colleagues in Congress,” Grassley told The Post.

“Sadly, this past week’s tragedy in Washington only validates my concerns further. I appreciate the Trump administration’s efforts to respond to my oversight and restore order in the wake of the Biden administration’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan and the chaos that followed,” he said.

Another Department of Homeland Security IG report found the agency had a “fragmented process” for dealing with potential security risks in the program.

Quote:WASHINGTON — The Department of Homeland Security said Friday night that it is seeking to pause 2.2 million pending asylum cases in response to an Afghan asylee’s Thanksgiving eve attack on National Guard members near the White House.

The announcement follows the Trump administration launching a review of more than 720,000 current green-card holders from 19 “countries of concern” — after Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, fatally gunned down Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and critically injured Andrew Wolfe, 24, near the White House.

Lakanwal, evacuated from Afghanistan in 2001 after working with the CIA as part of a “Zero Unit,” was granted asylum in April — which would have made him eligible for a green card 12 months later.

The State Department on Friday also paused visa issuance for individuals traveling on Afghan passports “in the wake of a horrific terror attack against the National Guard.”

“The Trump administration has no higher priority than ensuring the safety of Americans and has launched a whole-of-government effort to defend America’s national security,” Tommy Pigott, principal deputy spokesperson, said.

US Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph Edlow said on X that his agency “has halted all asylum decisions until we can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible. The safety of the American people always comes first.”

It was not immediately clear how the pronouncement would impact people arriving at ports of entry claiming persecution in their homelands, or people with pending court dates before immigration judges, who make decisions on their claims.

Edlow previously announced Thursday that “[a]t the direction of [Trump], I have directed a full scale, rigorous reexamination of every Green Card for every alien from every country of concern.”

Trump, who did not immediately release his own statement on either development, wrote Friday that “Only REVERSE MIGRATION can fully cure this situation.”

A senior White House official told The Post that plans for the green-card review in particular are “being worked on,” with the “details under discussion.”

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment.

It’s unclear if a particular nation will be prioritized for scrutiny — or if the green-card holders will be asked to sit for interviews.

Quote:President Donald Trump spoke with Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro last week and discussed a possible meeting between them in the United States, the New York Times reported on Friday, citing multiple people with knowledge of the matter.

The newspaper added that there were no plans at the moment for such a meeting, which – if it occurred – would be the first-ever encounter between the authoritarian Venezuelan leader and a US president.

The revelation of the phone call comes as Trump continues to use bellicose rhetoric toward Venezuela, while also entertaining the possibility of diplomacy.
Trump had previously indicated he would be open to speaking with Maduro, though the Times report indicates that such a conversation has already happened.

The Trump administration has described Maduro as an illegitimate leader, who leads a drug trafficking organization known as Cartel de los Soles, an allegation Caracas denies.

Many independent experts say that while narco-corruption in the Venezuelan government is a major issue, there is little proof of an organized grouping of officials that could be traditionally called a cartel.

Since early September, the US government has been bombing alleged drug boats originating in Venezuela and other Latin American nations, a practice that Democrats, scholars and human rights experts have described as extrajudicial executions.

On Thursday, Trump repeated his previous threats to begin bombing land-based targets.

“The land is easier, but that’s going to start very soon,” Trump told reporters.

Neither the White House nor the Venezuelan communications ministry, which handles all press requests for the government, responded to requests for comments.

White House officials have said that Trump does not see pursuing military and diplomatic tracks as mutually exclusive in Venezuela.

A major military buildup in the Caribbean has been underway for months, and Trump has authorized covert CIA operations in the South American nation.

On Sunday, Reuters reported that the US was about to enter a new phase of Venezuela-related operations, which could include the deployment of covert options.

Quote:President Trump is shutting down Venezuelan airspace “in its entirety” amid a surge in drug trafficking from the South American nation, he announced Saturday morning.

“To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY. Trump wrote in a morning Truth Social post.

“Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

The measure comes just two days after the president said he would begin bombing land-based drug trafficking targets.

“The land is easier, but that’s going to start very soon,” Trump told reporters.

The US has been conducting a sea-focused campaign since September, bombing alleged drug boats originating in Venezuela and other Latin American nations.

Trump claims “poison” trafficking via sea has dropped by 85% since the bombings started, a practice Democrats, scholars and human rights experts have described as extrajudicial executions.

The administration has since carried out at least 21 fatal strikes on the boats.

In one such bombing, the US allegedly killed survivors after bombing a drug boat near Trinidad in a so-called “double tap” strike under orders from Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth to “kill everybody” — which the former Fox News contributor called “fake news.”

Trump spoke with Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro last week and discussed a possible meeting between them — which would mark the first-ever encounter between the authoritarian Venezuelan leader and a US president, the New York Times reported on Friday.

Quote:President Donald Trump said Friday that he will be pardoning former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who in 2024 was convicted for drug trafficking and weapons charges and sentenced to 45 years in prison.

The president explained his decision on social media by posting that “according to many people that I greatly respect,” Hernandez was “treated very harshly and unfairly.”

In March of last year, Hernandez was convicted in US court of conspiring to import cocaine into the US.

He had served two terms as the leader of the Central American nation of roughly 10 million people.

Hernandez has been appealing his conviction and serving time at the US Penitentiary, Hazelton in West Virginia.

Shortly after Trump’s announcement, Hernández’s wife and children gathered on the steps on their home in Tegucigalpa and kneeled in prayer, thanking God that Hernández would return to their family after almost four years apart.

It was the same home that Honduran authorities hauled him out of in 2022 just months after leaving office. He was extradited to the United States to stand trial.

García said they had just been able to speak with Hernández and tell him the news.

“He still didn’t know of this news and believe me, when we shared it his voice broke with emotion,” she said.

García thanked Trump, saying that Trump had corrected an injustice, maintaining that Hernández’s prosecution was a coordinated plot by drug traffickers and the “radical left” to seek revenge against the former president.

She said they had not been told exactly when Hernández would return, but said “we hope that in the coming days.”

A lawyer for Hernandez, Renato C. Stabile, expressed gratitude for Trump’s actions.

“A great injustice has been righted and we are so hopeful for the future partnership of the United States and Honduras,” Stabile said. “Thank you President Trump for making sure that justice was served. We look forward to President Hernandez’s triumphant return to Honduras.”

Quote:President Trump claimed Friday that he was repealing all documents signed by former President Joe Biden using an autopen — and threatened to have his predecessor “brought up on charges of perjury” if he asserts that staffers were acting on his orders when using the mechanical.

Trump, 79, has for months characterized Biden, 83, as AWOL during his four-year term and claimed that unelected aides were running the country without authorization.

“Any document signed by Sleepy Joe Biden with the Autopen, which was approximately 92% of them, is hereby terminated, and of no further force or effect. The Autopen is not allowed to be used if approval is not specifically given by the President of the United States,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“The Radical Left Lunatics circling Biden around the beautiful Resolute Desk in the Oval Office took the Presidency away from him. I am hereby cancelling all Executive Orders, and anything else that was not directly signed by Crooked Joe Biden, because the people who operated the Autopen did so illegally.”

Trump added: “Joe Biden was not involved in the Autopen process and, if he says he was, he will be brought up on charges of perjury. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

The president already has repealed many of Biden’s executive orders and suggested that many of his pardons are invalid, though Biden told the New York Times in an interview this year he authorized the use of his name for controversial last-minute pardons.

Auto-penned signatures carry full legal force so long as aides were operating under the directive of the president and have been used by chief executives for decades, including for everything from routine proclamations and constituent letters to — in rare cases — actual legislation.

A 2005 analysis by the George W. Bush administration’s Justice Department determined that “the President need not personally perform the physical act of affixing his signature to a bill he approves and decides to sign in order for the bill to become law.”

“Rather,” that Office of Legal Counsel assessment found, “the President may sign a bill within the meaning of Article I, Section 7 [of the Constitution] by directing a subordinate to affix the President’s signature to such a bill, for example by autopen.

A House Republican-led investigation this year of the autopen’s use under Biden produced no direct evidence that aides acted without presidential approval, but generated circumstantial evidence that he rarely interacted with many key West Wing officials.

Internal emails showed some record of documents being authorized for signature, but also concern among subordinates about how to implement orally communicated instructions on end-of-term clemency actions.

A Biden spokeswoman declined to comment.

Quote:During the 37th eruption of Kilauea in Hawaii, video captured a massive ‘volnado’ next to the lava fountain.

A volnado is a column of ash, dust and smoke that picks up during a volcanic eruption and swirls around.

In circumstances not involving volcanoes, spin-ups like this one would be called a dust devil.

‘Volnado’ is not a scientific term, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, but it’s a fun term that’s cool to say.

Lava fountains during this episode reached between 500 and 600 feet.

Video of the volnado showed it towering above the huge lava fountain.

“Look at the size of that tornado thing,” said Alyssa Lee, the recorder of the video. “That one’s as big as the eruption.”

In addition to being as tall as the eruption, the volnado was a similar width to the eruption.

The volnado spun on for as long as the video was recorded.

“I’m at least a mile away from the eruption; this is a zoomed-in video. Fascinating to see Mother Nature put on a show, and so safely,” Lee told Storyful.

Kilauea’s 37th eruption kicked off on Tuesday afternoon and stopped after nine hours, according to the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.

Quote:A powerful winter storm barreling through the Midwest sent Chicago’s airports into chaos Saturday, with more than 600 flights wiped out at O’Hare before the heaviest snow even arrived.

O’Hare logged 627 cancellations by 9:45 a.m., along with 331 delays, according to FlightAware.

The Chicago Department of Aviation said delays were averaging 37 minutes as fliers packed terminals trying to escape the mess.

The Federal Aviation Administration issued a ground delay at O’Hare that stretched to roughly five hours.

A brief ground stop earlier in the morning had been lifted by 9:45 a.m.

Midway fared better but still saw major disruptions.

The airport reported 76 cancellations by 9:50 a.m. and delays under 15 minutes.

That amounted to 29% of flights canceled at Midway and 46% at O’Hare.

The storm was expected to dump up to 10 inches of snow across the region, snarling Thanksgiving return travel on the roads as well.

Illinois State Police urged drivers to slow down, expect slick pavement and give extra space as conditions deteriorate.

The National Weather Service warned travel could become “very difficult to impossible,” with heavy snow and strong winds threatening scattered outages.

Quote:Airbus grounded over 6,000 of its widely used jets for an urgent software update after one suddenly lost altitude mid-flight — a decision that could throw the global holiday travel season into chaos.

The aerospace giant said Friday its A320 fleet will be kept off the runway after uncovering a software flaw that could leave pilots unable to steer during solar storms — and urged all worldwide airlines using the jet to immediately update their systems to guard against radiation interference.

About 3,000 A320s were airborne when the grounding was announced.

“Analysis of a recent event involving an A320 Family aircraft has revealed that intense solar radiation may corrupt data critical to the function of flight controls,” the company said in its bulletin.

“Airbus has consequently identified a significant number of A320 Family aircraft currently in-service which may be impacted. Airbus acknowledges these recommendations will lead to operational disruptions to passengers and customers.”

The dangerous glitch came to light after the Federal Aviation Administration investigated an Oct. 30 JetBlue flight from Cancun, Mexico, to Newark, New Jersey, that suddenly plunged in altitude, injuring 15 passengers and forcing an emergency landing in Florida.

The investigation found that intense solar radiation corrupted the plane’s flight control computers, causing it to lose positioning data and drop from 35,000 feet to 10,000 feet.

Airlines across the US, South America, Europe and India warned the emergency fixes could trigger widespread flight delays and cancellations.

American Airlines, the world’s largest A320 operator, said about 340 of its 480 aircraft will need the update, with each plane requiring roughly two hours and repairs are expected to be completed by Saturday.

Lufthansa, IndiGo and easyJet said they would briefly take planes out of service to perform the repairs.

Colombian carrier Avianca warned the recall will affect more than 70% of its fleet, prompting the airline to halt ticket sales for travel through Dec. 8.

Airbus’ latest recall marks the largest ever in the company’s 55-year history.

“Airbus has worked proactively with the aviation authorities to request immediate precautionary action from operators via an Alert Operators Transmission (AOT) in order to implement the available software and/or hardware protection, and ensure the fleet is safe to fly,” the company said.

Quote:Three people were wounded during a shooting inside a California mall on Black Friday as shoppers barricaded themselves inside stores and fled for safety during the “complete chaos.”

The shooting began outside a Macy’s store at the Westfield Valley Fair Mall in Santa Clara at around 5:40 p.m, according to KRON4.

The victims – a 16-year-old girl, a man, and a woman – were found at the scene and rushed to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, officials said.

The shooting was described as an “isolated incident,” and there was no active threat to the public, the San Jose Police Department said.

A motive behind the shooting was not revealed, but officials believe it happened during an argument between the suspected gunman and the male victim.
The two female victims were caught in the crossfire, KRON4 reported.

The gunman fled the scene and police have not revealed a description of the suspect.

Westfield Valley Fair sits between the cities of Santa Clara and San Jose, 50 miles south of San Francisco in the Bay Area.

Frightened shoppers recalled “complete chaos” while others posted photos and videos across social media as they hid inside stores when the gunfire erupted in the busy mall.

“The moment I see people running, the three of us just started sprinting,” one mall visitor named Daniel Chen told the outlet.

“There were crowds and swarms of people. I was terrified. We were freaking out. Everyone was just screaming. It was complete chaos — it was crazy. I was making sure that the three of us were together and that we weren’t leaving each other behind, and we were making sure that we’re not going where the shooter was. We were making sure we were following the crowd and making sure we could find an exit and get out.”

Police evacuated the mall an hour after the shooting. The mall was scheduled to close at 10 p.m. before the shooting.

“Officers are evacuating and clearing the mall to confirm there is no ongoing threat to public safety,” the police department shared.

Quote:WASHINGTON — New York Attorney General Letitia James was hit with a bar complaint from a right-leaning group on Friday, days after having her federal mortgage fraud charges tossed by a judge in a temporary procedural win.

The Center to Advance Security in America submitted a request with the Manhattan and Bronx-focused Attorney Grievance Committee for the state to investigate James’ potentially “illegal and dishonest conduct” leading to the criminal charges.

“Fraud, misrepresentation, honesty and trustworthiness are all factors that the Rules of Professional Conduct expressly factor when weighing whether to discipline an attorney,” wrote Curtis Schube, the group’s director of research and policy, in the four-page complaint.

“The Committee, therefore, should immediately investigate the allegations against James and, if by ‘preponderance of the evidence’ the allegations are substantiated, she should be disciplined accordingly.”

Senior US District Judge Cameron Currie on Monday dismissed the federal charges of bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution brought against James brought in the Eastern District of Virginia.

Currie ordered that Lindsey Halligan, who is serving as a special attorney in US attorney’s office for that district, “had no lawful authority” to secure the two-count indictment since she had not been confirmed by Congress or an appropriate judicial panel.

Former President Bill Clinton had appointed Currie to the federal bench in 1994 and she was confirmed the same year.

“I am heartened by today’s victory and grateful for the prayers and support I have received from around the country,” James said in a statement Monday, the day the charges were tossed. “I remain fearless in the face of these baseless charges as I continue fighting for New Yorkers every single day.”’

The indictment — along with two more charges brought by Halligan against former FBI Director James Comey — was dismissed without prejudice, allowing President Trump’s Department of Justice to appeal the ruling and refile charges against James.

The five-year statute of limitations in Comey’s case, meanwhile, has expired.

Quote:More than 150 anti-ICE protestors descended on a lower Manhattan government building Saturday and clashed with cops amid reports that federal agents are rounding up illegal migrants in the area this weekend.

Cops responded to the chaotic scene near the U.S. General Service Administration building on Centre Street after receiving a 911 call about protestors blocking access to a nearby garage that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents reportedly entered, the NYPD said.

Multiple protesters were arrested for obstructing government administration and disorderly conduct after ignoring multiple warnings by police to clear the area.

Some were spotted trying to climb the garage’s grated windows – only to be dragged off by cops – while others chanted “ICE out of New York! ICE out now!”

“There were people climbing up trying to see who ICE had inside,” recalled one protestor. “They were arresting people for no reason.”

Some overly agitated protestors lifted and threw planters and police barricades toward police, sources said.

Protestors also shouted expletives at authorities and screamed “you are corrupt!” — ignoring NYPD officers’ many pleas to “back up” behind the barricades they set up.

Protestors were also seen lifting and pushing the barriers toward cops.

A few stood along Centre Street trying to block traffic.

Some screamed “f—k you!” and gave the middle finger to a person in a van trying to drive along the strip. They ran away after being confronted by cops.
Still, some passersby blamed cops for not letting the protestors do what they wanted.

“It’s not right what they’re doing,” said Peter Suh of New Jersey, who was visiting NYC with his family. “People should be left alone to protest.”

Quote:A Chicago Public Schools (CPS) policy allows illegal immigrant students excused absences if they or their family members are afraid of federal immigration enforcement activities in the area.

A document called Chicago Public Schools’ Attendance Coding for Safety Concerns Related to Federal Representative Activity, obtained by education watchdog Defending Education, affirms that illegal immigrant students can be marked as “excused” if a parent conveys to the school that they fear federal immigration authorities.

Immigration enforcement actions are dubbed “federal representative-related procedures” in the school’s policy, which was reaffirmed by the school board in February.

“If a parent/guardian reports an absence and attributes it to fear of federal representative-related procedures, schools CAN excuse the absence under ‘concern for student health and safety,'” the policy says. “In the memo box, ‘concern for student health and safety’ should be written.”

No specific details about the absence are required — just that a student’s health and safety might be in jeopardy — and the policy explicitly states that “CPS policy does not provide a time limit” on how long fear of federal immigration enforcement can be used to obtain excused absences.

The reason for a student’s absence must be communicated via one of the district’s approved methods to be considered an “excused absence.”

Further, if a parent is “impacted by federal representative-related procedures,” he or she can designate a guardian to inform the school that the child needs an excused absence.

Another provision in the policy allows students an excused absence if they want to attend a “Civic Event,” defined as “an event sponsored by a non-profit organization or governmental entity that is open to the public” that “includes, but is not limited to, an artistic or cultural performance or educational gathering that supports the mission of the sponsoring non-profit organization.”

“Chicago Public Schools is effectively telling families that fear of federal law enforcement is a standing excuse to keep children out of class with no time limit and no paper trail,” said Kendall Tietz, an investigative reporter at Defending Education.

“CPS should not be turning attendance policy into a sanctuary immigration tool. Instead, public schools should be focused on getting kids to school and keeping accurate records, not quietly encouraging truancy and obstructing cooperation with federal authorities. This policy undermines both student learning and the rule of law.”

Quote:A Florida landscaper accused of murdering the mother of his young child had tried to persuade people she was missing because she was picked up by ICE, according to authorities.

Mexican native Saul Garcia Gonzalez, 40, came up with the ruse after he allegedly shot Nerida Martel, 37, in the head and dumped her body in a Miami canal last month, according to a police report obtained by WPLG.

Realizing her friends and family would be panicked about her whereabouts, he told them “that he believed the victim was possibly in the custody of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement,” the report said.

However, when Martel’s name did not show up in custody records, friends persuaded him to report her missing, which he did on Oct. 9, three days after he claimed to have last seen her dropping their 2-year-old daughter off at daycare.

Two days after he finally reported her missing, Martel’s body was found in a canal close to their home — with a gunshot to the head.

Investigators soon found inconsistencies with the boyfriend’s story — and were told the murdered mom “reached out to a friend seeking a place to stay for only her and her daughter,” the report stated, adding that relatives knew Gonzalez to be verbally abusive.
Phone records tracked Gonzalez to the canal around the time she disappeared, according to police.

Gonzalez, a Mexican-born landscaper, was arrested Wednesday and charged with second-degree murder.

He was booked at the  Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on Thursday where he’s being held without bond. It was not clear why he had suggested his murdered ex would be picked up by ICE or if she was in the US illegally.

Quote:The Trump administration announced a sweeping federal civil-rights agreement Friday with Northwestern University, requiring the school to pay $75 million and protect students and staff from any “race-based admissions practices” and a “hostile educational environment directed toward Jewish students.”

The Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Education (DOE) and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said in a statement the agreement was intended to safeguard Northwestern from “unlawful discrimination” and calls for the university to “maintain clear policies and procedures relating to demonstrations, protests, displays, and other expressive activities,” as well as the implementation of mandatory antisemitism training.

“Today’s settlement marks another victory in the Trump Administration’s fight to ensure that American educational institutions protect Jewish students and put merit first,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement. “Institutions that accept federal funds are obligated to follow civil rights law — we are grateful to Northwestern for negotiating this historic deal.”

Northwestern will pay its $75 million to the United States through 2028.

The new agreement comes after the Trump administration previously secured a $221 million settlement with Columbia University to resolve multiple federal civil rights investigations.

That deal includes a $200 million payment over three years for alleged discriminatory practices and $21 million to settle claims of antisemitic employment discrimination against Jewish faculty after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks in Israel.

DOE Secretary Linda McMahon called the Northwestern agreement “a huge win for current and future Northwestern students, alumni, faculty, and for the future of American higher education.”

“The deal cements policy changes that will protect students and other members of the campus from harassment and discrimination, and it recommits the school to merit-based hiring and admissions,” she said in a statement. “The reforms reflect bold leadership at Northwestern and they are a roadmap for institutional leaders around the country that will help rebuild public trust in our colleges and universities.”

Northwestern directed Fox News Digital to a statement made by university president Henry Bienen reacting to the agreement, saying it would restore hundreds of millions of dollars in critical research funding.

“This is not an agreement the University enters into lightly, but one that was made based on institutional values,” Bienen stated. “As an imperative to the negotiation of this agreement, we had several hard red lines we refused to cross: We would not relinquish any control over whom we hire, whom we admit as students, what our faculty teach or how our faculty teach. I would not have signed this agreement without provisions ensuring that is the case.”

Bienen added, “Northwestern runs Northwestern. Period.”

Quote:In the latest humiliation for Andrew Cuomo, an effort is gaining steam that would undo his decision to christen the reconstructed Tappan Zee Bridge after his late father.

A petition launched Nov. 23 — just weeks after Cuomo was soundly defeated in the New York City mayoral race — seeks to return the historic “Tappan Zee Bridge” moniker to the heavily-trafficked span, which runs 1,200 feet over the Hudson River, connecting Rockland and Westchester counties.

“For nearly six decades, New Yorkers knew this critical Hudson River crossing by its traditional name: Tappan Zee — a name that honored both the Indigenous Tappan people of the region and the Dutch heritage of early New York settlement (‘zee’ meaning sea),” reads the petition.

It claims then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s vain 2017 move to rename the span “bypassed longstanding naming norms and erased a meaningful part of the region’s cultural and linguistic history.”

Cuomo’s decision was met with vocal opposition by residents in Nyack and Tarrytown, with more than 100,000 people signing a petition at the time to keep the original name of the bridge, which first opened in 1955.

“The renaming was pushed through during a moment of concentrated political influence and has remained unpopular with residents ever since,” the petition adds. “Today, public sentiment has only grown clearer: New Yorkers want the original name back.”

The petition, with over 1,000 signatures, requests the state Senate and Assembly introduce new legislation to change the name. Gov. Hochul would have to sign off on the bill.

“Restoring the historic name is a nonpartisan correction, not a political statement,” the petition reads. “Bridges and place names form part of a community’s shared identity. Changing such a significant name for political reasons sets a poor precedent.”

The petition claims renaming the bridge would “cost the state virtually nothing” and “reflect the will of the residents who use the bridge daily” while restoring “an important Indigenous and regional name.”

Despite the 2017 renaming, people continue to refer to the span as the Tappan Zee Bridge.

Quote:Ukraine and Russia traded deadly blows Tuesday, firing hundreds of drones in overnight assaults that came just hours before Washington officials met with their Kyiv and Moscow counterparts to discuss a new proposal to end the war.

Moscow fired 460 drones and 22 missiles at Ukraine during the exchange, killing seven people and wounding 21 others in the second major attack on the Ukrainian capital this month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

“The main Russian attack overnight targeted the capital and the region, causing extensive damage to residential buildings and civilian infrastructure across the city,” Zelensky wrote on X.

The Russian assault knocked out water, electricity and heating services across Kyiv, with Ukrainian officials condemning Moscow’s repeated strikes against civilian energy facilities as winter approaches.

At least one major energy facility was hit in the overnight attack, which left six people wounded, including two children, according to Kyiv’s energy ministry.

The strikes ultimately disrupted electricity supplies to more than 102,000 people within five Ukrainian regions, according to the energy ministry.

Ukrainian officials also said port and energy facilities were damaged in the Black Sea port of Odessa, with the attack leaving six people injured.

The large-scale assault led NATO to scramble its jets when Russian drones reportedly entered Romanian airspace yet again, in what officials described as the furthest the UAVs have gone into the country since the incursions began earlier this year.

At least six drones also entered into neighboring Moldova, which is not a NATO member, according to local authorities.

Ukraine retaliated with its fourth-largest drone attack of the war so far, firing more than 249 UAVs overnight across the border, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense.

The assault killed at least three people in the city of Taganrog, leaving eight other injured, according to regional Gov. Yuri Slyusar.

The assault also struck an aviation repair plant, a drone production facility, an oil refinery and an oil terminal, all key targets for Ukraine to slow down Russia’s war machine.

Despite the large-scale fighting, President Trump has insisted that both sides are getting closer to agreeing to a cease-fire deal after meetings with American negotiations in the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday.

Quote:Russia on Wednesday shot down President Trump’s claim that the Kremlin had already agreed to some concessions on ending the war in Ukraine — as Moscow blasted innocent Ukrainians with fresh drone strikes overnight.

Multiple Russian officials insisted it was too premature to speak about accepting any peace plan and that Moscow wouldn’t agree to anything that didn’t fully meet its demands.

“There can be no talk of any concessions or surrender of our approaches to the key aspects of resolving the problems facing us, including in the context of the special operation [in Ukraine],” said Sergei Ryabkov, a Russian deputy foreign minister, according to the Times.

It comes after Trump on Tuesday said US negotiators had made progress in discussions with Russia and Ukraine — and that the Kremlin had agreed to some concessions.

Trump stopped short of detailing what those concessions were.

Asked if a peace deal was close, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday: “It’s premature to say that yet.”

Meanwhile, Russian forces staged a mass drone attack on the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia late Tuesday that left 19 people wounded.

The attack triggered fires and severely damaged scores of apartment buildings, setting fires, injuring 19 people and badly damaging buildings and vehicles, said the regional governor, Ivan Fedorov.

“A rescue operation is currently underway at 12 locations,” Fedorov said in a video posted online.

“The maximum number of units from the State Emergency Services, national police and our medical teams has been deployed.”

Images on social media showed firefighters battling blazes at high-rise apartment buildings and gutted vehicles on city streets.

Quote:A leaked phone call revealed a top aide of President Trump helped coach the Russians on how to win the commander in chief over with flattery while navigating negotiations on a Ukraine peace deal, according to a report.

The call between Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and Yuri Ushakov, the top foreign policy aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin, on Oct. 14, discussed the possibility of Putin and Trump hopping on a phone call to discuss a peace plan, according to the transcript of a recording obtained by Bloomberg.

On the five-minute call, Witkoff advised Ushakov to instruct Putin to congratulate Trump and open the conversation with some complimentary remarks.

“I would make the call and just reiterate that you congratulate the president on this achievement, that you supported it, supported it, that you respect that he is a man of peace, and you’re just, you’re really glad to have seen it happen,” Witkoff said.

“Hey Steve, I agree with you that he will congratulate, he will say that Mr. Trump is a real peace man, and so and so. That he will say,” Ushakov said, appearing to take the suggestion.

Witkoff also laid out how he believed the peace deal would be accomplished, maintaining he thought that land concessions were necessary.

“Now, me to you, I know what it’s going to take to get a peace deal done: Donetsk and maybe a land swap somewhere,” Witkoff told Ushakov.

“But I’m saying instead of talking like that, let’s talk more hopefully because I think we’re going to get to a deal here,” he continued.

Witkoff, who helped broker the 20-point Gaza peace plan, suggested to Ushakov that Moscow and Washington emulate that deal.

“We put a 20-point Trump plan together that was 20 points for peace, and I’m thinking maybe we do the same thing with you,” Witkoff said.

Quote:WASHINGTON — Russian dictator Vladimir Putin threatened President Trump not to send Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine in a phone call set in motion by White House special envoy Steve Witkoff ahead of a high-stakes meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

With Zelensky scheduled to visit the White House the next day, Putin made the Oct. 16 call just as Trump was giving serious consideration to arming Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk missiles to ramp up the pressure on Moscow to end its nearly four-year war on the country.

The critical Putin-Trump call came after Witkoff suggested to Yuri Ushakov, Russia’s top foreign policy aide, that Putin ingratiate himself with the US president by stroking his ego on achieving the Gaza cease-fire deal about a week before, according to a transcript published by Bloomberg of an Oct. 14 call between the US envoy and Kremlin chief foreign policy advisor.

“I would make the call and just reiterate that you congratulate the president on this achievement, that you supported it, you supported it, that you respect that he is a man of peace and you’re just, you’re really glad to have seen it happen. So I would say that,” Witkoff suggested to the Russian. “I think from that it’s going to be a really good call.”

Ushakov responded: “OK my friend. I think that very point our leaders could discuss. Hey Steve, I agree with you that he will congratulate, he will say that Mr. Trump is a real peace man and so and so. That he will say.”

A readout of the Oct. 16 call from Russia says Putin indeed congratulated Trump about his “successful efforts” in Gaza and said Trump’s “peace work has been duly appreciated … around the world.”

Putin then told Trump that arming Ukraine with Tomahawks would “inflict substantial damage to relations between our countries, to say nothing of the prospects for a peaceful settlement,” according to Russia’s account of the call.

Witkoff did not tell the Kremlin to threaten Trump — and made no mention of Tomahawks in the exchange, but said he believed Russia was ready to make a peace deal.

Putin was able to use the call to successfully talk Trump out of sending the long-range weapons — after Witkoff coached Ushakov on what Putin should tell the US president to convince him that Russia was ready to end its war on Ukraine, despite Moscow’s unwillingness to make any concessions.

“Maybe he says to President Trump: you know, Steve and Yuri discussed a very similar 20-point plan to peace and that could be something that we think might move the needle a little bit, we’re open to those sorts of things — to explore what it’s going to take to get a peace deal done,” Trump’s envoy said.

Witkoff then told Ushakov to ensure that Putin did not mention his intent to demand Ukraine give up land Russia has been unable to take in more than 11 years in the Donbas — which others in the Trump administration have dubbed a red-line “maximalist” demand — though he acknowledged that would be the long-term goal.

“Now, me to you, I know what it’s going to take to get a peace deal done: Donetsk and maybe a land swap somewhere,” he said, referring to the Donbas territory. “But I’m saying instead of talking like that, let’s talk more hopefully because I think we’re going to get to a deal here. And I think Yuri, the president will give me a lot of space and discretion to get to the deal.”

Quote:Russian dictator Vladimir Putin on Thursday repeated his demands that Ukraine pull out of the Donbas region in the east of the country, days ahead of a scheduled visit by a US delegation for peace talks to end the ruthless war.

“Ukrainian troops will withdraw from the territories they occupy, and then the fighting will cease,” the Russian leader told reporters.

“If they don’t withdraw, we’ll achieve this through military force,” he said, as reported by the Kyiv Independent.

Moscow has illegally occupied the eastern Ukrainian oblasts of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia since September 2022, when it held sham referenda in the territories.

The Donbas, or “Donets Coal Basin,” is a heavily industrialized region made up of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.

Putin also confirmed a US delegation led by special envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to travel to the Russian capital early next week.

Witkoff came under pressure after a leak reportedly caught him coaching a Russian official on how to win over President Trump with flattery during the peace talks.

On Thursday, Putin claimed that the culprits could face criminal charges for leaking the call between Witkoff and Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov, while also not ruling out that it could be a hoax.

He said those targeting Witkoff were trying to sabotage the talks and wanted “to fight until the last Ukrainian,” just like Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Putin stressed that recognition of Russian rule over Donbas and Crimea — a southern Ukrainian peninsula illegally occupied by Russia since 2014 — is a key point in the US talks.

He also ruled out signing any other documents with Ukraine, calling Zelensky’s government illegitimate due to the postponement of elections.

Under Ukraine’s martial law, declared at the start of the Russian invasion in 2022, holding elections is prohibited.

Putin said that after the talks, the peace plan had been divided into four parts, but did not elaborate.

He added that the US peace plan still needed further discussion.

The rhetoric follows President Trump’s unveiling of a 28-point peace plan for Ukraine last week.

Quote:WASHINGTON — President Trump dashed Kyiv’s hopes of a peace summit this week to end the nearly four-year war with Russia – in an instant.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief advisor, Andriy Yermak, was in the middle of an interview with Post on Tuesday when Trump posted on Truth Social that he was sending Army Sec. Dan Driscoll to meet Ukrainians and sending Special Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff to Moscow to continue talks for peace deal – effectively slowing down his previous goal of ending the killing by Thanksgiving.

Yermak had just spent the past half-hour telling The Post that he hoped the 19-point proposal to end the Russia-Ukraine war hammered out on Sunday would be adopted as a joint US-Ukraine plan, ideally with Trump and Zelensky signing the deal at Mar-a-Lago over the Thanksgiving holiday.

“I look forward to hopefully meeting with President Zelenskyy and President Putin soon, but ONLY when the deal to end this War is FINAL or, in its final stages,” Trump wrote, adding “let’s all hope that PEACE can be accomplished AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!””

Upon reading the full post, Yermak’s face dropped, apparently gutted by the news. Asked for his reaction, Yermak asked to speak again in 24 hours to assess the new reality.

“It’s necessary to wait and to understand with which position Driscoll will come, and to talk with Witkoff to understand which position he is going with to Moscow,” Yermak said. “What is good with President Trump is that he can change his position very quick.”

Kyiv had wanted Zelensky and Trump to meet soon — not for symbolism but because every day brings more Russian missile strikes and civilian deaths, he said.

“Every day it’s a risk to lose best people, children. We have no time,” Yermak said.

On the table is a 19-point proposal hammered out between Washington and Kyiv officials on Sunday that Yermak had hoped could be adopted by the US as a joint peace plan for Ukraine by the end of the week and push on the Kremlin.

Russia, however, had not committed — and was unlikely to do so after rejecting an earlier version deal more favorable to Moscow dubbed “the 28-point plan.”

Quote:Anti-corruption units have raided the home and office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, in an unwelcome distraction for Kyiv officials as they battle to defeat Russia’s invasion and persuade US officials to accommodate their concerns in peace proposals.

Two national agencies fighting entrenched corruption in Ukraine said they searched Yermak’s office. Yermak, a powerful figure in Ukraine and a key participant in talks with the United States, confirmed they also searched his apartment.

“The investigators are facing no obstacles,” Yermak wrote on the messaging app Telegram. He added that he was cooperating fully with them and his lawyers were present.

The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office are Ukrainian anti-corruption watchdogs. They are behind a major investigation into a $100 million energy sector corruption scandal involving top Ukrainian officials.

Two of Yermak’s former deputies — Oleh Tatarov and Rostyslav Shurma — left the government in 2024 after watchdogs investigated them for financial wrongdoing. A third deputy, Andrii Smyrnov, was investigated for bribes and other wrongdoing but still works for Yermak.

The scandal has heaped more problems on Zelensky as he seeks continued support from Western countries for Ukraine’s war effort and tries to ensure continued foreign funding. The European Union, which Ukraine wants to join, has told Zelensky he must crack down on graft.

Zelensky faced an unprecedented rebellion from his own lawmakers earlier this month after investigators published details of their energy sector investigation.

Although Yermak was not accused of any wrongdoing, several senior lawmakers in Zelensky’s party said Yermak should take responsibility for the debacle in order to restore public trust.

Some said that if Zelensky didn’t fire him, the party could split, threatening the president’s parliamentary majority. But Zelensky defied them.

Zelensky urged Ukrainians to unite and “stop the political games” in light of the US pressure to reach a settlement with Russia.

Yermak met Zelensky over 15 years ago when he was a lawyer venturing into the TV production business and Zelensky was a famous Ukrainian comedian and actor.

He oversaw foreign affairs as part of Zelensky’s first presidential team and was promoted to chief of staff in February 2020.

Quote:WASHINGTON — The former top adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday told The Post he is headed to the frontlines — hours after he submitted his resignation from the position in the wake of a raid on his home by Kyiv’s national anti-corruption bureau.

“I’m going to the front and am prepared for any reprisals,” Andriy Yermak told The Post in an impassioned text message Friday night. “I am an honest and decent person.”

He then apologized if he no longer answers calls. He did not say when or how he intended to go to the frontlines of the war against Russia.

“I served Ukraine and was in Kyiv on February 24, 2022,” he wrote, referencing the day Russia launched its full-scale war. “Maybe we’ll see each other again. Glory to Ukraine.”

Yermak did not give further details about how he would go to the frontlines and whether he would be joining the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

“I’ve been desecrated, and my dignity hasn’t been protected, despite having been in Kyiv since February 24, 202[2],” he said. “Therefore, I don’t want to create problems for Zelensky; I’m going to the front.

“I’m disgusted by the filth directed at me, and even more disgusted by the lack of support from those who know the truth,” he added.

The messages came after a day of upheaval for Yermak, who had led Ukraine’s delegation negotiating for Kyiv on Ukraine’s peace plan. The raid on his apartment and his resignation came just before he was scheduled to meet with the US team leading talks to end Russia’s war.

A Ukrainian delegation is still coming this weekend to the US to meet with Special Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner for continued peace plan talks.

Zelensky has already shuffled his negotiating team tasked with working on the peace plan with the US.

Remaining on the team is Ukrainian Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Rustem Umerov, who convinced Witkoff that Ukraine would capitulate to a heavily Russia-leaning 28-point peace plan that later proved unacceptable to Zelensky, senior US officials said.

Umerov, who has denied giving initial approval to the plan and swapping out the provision, spoke with FBI Director Kash Patel ahead of his meeting with Witkoff. It is unclear why that meeting took place, or whether he intends to do so again when he returns with the delegation this weekend.

The raid on Yermak came after Ukraine’s anti-graft watchdog spent 15 months digging into a brazen shakedown dubbed “Operation Midas,” uncovering a scheme that allegedly forced Energoatom contractors to cough up 10 to 15 percent kickbacks — or risk getting blacklisted.

Quote:Half of Kyiv was plunged into darkness Saturday, following an enormous Russian attack on Ukraine’s capital city that killed at least two people and wounded 37 others.

Explosions were heard throughout the night during the hours-long barrage that began shortly after 1 a.m. local time and continued for roughly 6 hours, as Russia launched 596 Shahed-type drones and 36 missiles, Ukraine’s Air Force said.

“While everyone is discussing points of peace plans, Russia continues to pursue its “war plan” of two points: to kill and destroy,” slammed Ukraine’s foreign minister Andrii Sybiha on X Saturday.

A 10-year-old boy was among the wounded in the strikes that burned down at least six high-rise apartment buildings.

He was taken to the hospital with burns, local officials said. Meanwhile, his 42-year-old father was pulled from rubble, but died.

A woman was killed in the strikes, regional police said.

“The Russians are demonstrating clearly directed terror on our residential areas,” said Kyiv Oblast Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko.

A total of 360 rescuers were dispatched to the capital, the State Emergency Service said, and the attacks sent many fleeing for underground shelters.

“When it started, it was obvious right away that this would be a serious attack,” Oleksandr, a Kyiv resident, told the Kyiv Independent.

“We’ve been spending nights in the subway almost since 2022 … but today it was very loud, and the station was packed with people.”

More than 600,000 households were left without power after strikes on the war-torn nation’s electric grid.

Quote:Two Russian “shadow fleet” oil tankers burst into flames and exploded in the Black Sea after being hit by Ukrainian underwater drones in devastating blasts.

The ships are part of the hundreds of vessels used by the Kremlin to export oil while evading Western sanctions — flying flags from other countries to avoid detection.

The pair of tankers, which were empty when they were struck, could have transported nearly $70 million worth of oil, a Ukrainian security service source told the Kyiv Independent.

“This will deal a significant blow to Russian oil transportation,” the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Saturday.

“After being hit, both tankers sustained critical damage and were effectively taken out of service.”

Footage shared by the security service shows a rapid explosion in the front of one of the tankers Friday, followed by a large bright orange ball of flames erupting from the water and thick billowing black smoke rising several feet into the air.

The fire and smoke continued to spread higher and wider, engulfing the tanker.

The ships, identified as the “Kairos” and “Virat” — trageted in a joint operation with Ukraine’s navy — have been heavily sanctioned by Western powers.

The 900-foot Kairos was returning to Russia after delivering crude oil to India, Bloomberg reported.

It was sailing under the flag of Gambia, after being sanctioned by the EU and UK.

“The shadow tanker fleet continues to provide multibillion-dollar revenues for the Kremlin bypassing sanctions, disguising its activities under the flags of third countries, using complex schemes to conceal owners,” the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine said about Kairos.

The explosion happened 28 nautical miles off the Turkish shore, and emergency staff were immediately dispatched to rescue the 25 crew members on board, Turkey’s Ministry of Transport said.

The second tanker, Virat, was also reportedly traveling toward the Russian port of Novorossiysk — a major oil terminal — for loading.

Quote:The Trump administration formally halted immigration applications from 19 countries deemed to be a high risk for producing terrorists and other national security threats — hours after a source told The Post that list could grow to 30 nations or more.

In a four-page memo issued late Tuesday, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) directed a hold on green card and citizenship applications from those nations, as well as requests for benefits, “pending a comprehensive review.”

The 19 countries affected by the order were previously singled out by President Trump for travel restrictions in a June 4 proclamation and include Afghanistan, Burma, Burundi, Chad, Cuba, the Republic of the Congo, Equitorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Turkmenistan, Venezuela, and Yemen.

USCIS also announced a hold on “all pending asylum applications, regardless of the alien’s country of nationality.”

“USCIS has determined that a comprehensive re-review, potential interview, and re-interview of all aliens from high-risk countries of concern who entered the United States on or after January 20, 2021 is necessary,” read the memo, later adding: “USCIS has considered that this direction may result in delay to the adjudication of some pending applications and has weighed that consequence against the urgent need for the agency to ensure that applicants are vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible.

“Ultimately, USCIS has determined that the burden of processing delays that will fall on some applicants is necessary and appropriate in this instance, when weighed against the agency’s obligation to protect and preserve national security.”

The memo cited last week’s broad-daylight shooting of two West Virginia National Guard troops in Washington, DC, by an Afghan national, a former member of a CIA-backed military unit that fought the Taliban.

The suspect, 29-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, entered the US legally in 2021 under the Biden administration’s Operation Allies Welcome program, which evacuated and resettled refugees after the botched US withdrawal from Afghanistan that August.

Lakanwal had been granted asylum in April, which made him eligible for a green card after 12 months.

The State Department also paused visa issuance for individuals traveling on Afghan passports in response to the Thanksgiving eve attack, which killed Guard member Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and critically injured Andrew Wolfe, 24, not far from the White House.

“Recently, the United States has seen what a lack of screening, vetting, and prioritizing expedient adjudications can do to the American people,” the USCIS memo read.

“USCIS remains committed to ensuring that all aliens from high-risk countries of concern that entered the United States do not present threats to national security or public safety.”

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem had announced on X that she had proposed expanding the number of countries on the restricted list during a meeting with Trump.

“Our forefathers built this nation on blood, sweat, and the unyielding love of freedom — not for foreign invaders to slaughter our heroes, suck dry our hard-earned tax dollars, or snatch the benefits owed to AMERICANS,” Noem wrote. “WE DON’T WANT THEM. NOT ONE.”

At a Tuesday cabinet meeting, Trump lashed out at immigrants from Somalia in response to an ongoing benefit fraud case out of Minnesota involving dozens of members of the East African diaspora.

“Somalians ripped off [Minnesota] for billions of dollars,” the president said, adding: “They contribute nothing. I don’t want them in our country.”

Trump issued the initial June proclamation following an antisemitic firebomb attack in Colorado, which was allegedly carried out by an Egyptian national in the US on an expired tourist visa.

That order fully restricted travel to the US from Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.

Partial restrictions were imposed on entering the US by citizens of Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone,

Quote:Republican Matt Van Epps held off Democrat Aftyn Behn in Tuesday’s hotly contested special election for Tennessee’s 7th District House seat, giving the GOP a much-needed electoral victory to close out a bumpy 2025.

With 99% of the expected vote in, Van Epps — a former Army helicopter pilot endorsed by President Trump — led Behn by 8.9 percentage points, well below the 22-point margin by which Trump carried the district in last year’s presidential election.

Behn, a 36-year-old state representative, had raised Democrats’ hopes for a stunning upset in the conservative stronghold after late polling showed her within striking distance of Van Epps and forced a last-minute surge of campaigning from the president and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.).

“Congratulations to Matt Van Epps on his BIG Congressional WIN in the Great State of Tennessee,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “The Radical Left Democrats threw everything at him, including Millions of Dollars.

“Another great night for the Republican Party!!! President DJT.”

“Politicians who run from the president or abandon the common-sense policies that the American people gave us a resounding mandate on do so at their own peril,” Van Epps said at his victory party. “No matter what the DC insiders or liberal media say, this is President Trump’s party. I’m proud to be a part of it and can’t wait to get to work.”

Behn defeated Van Epps by a margin of more than three-to-one in deep-blue Davidson County — where Nashville is located — but the Republican more than made up the difference in the rest of the district, which includes staunchly GOP counties across central Tennessee.

At her own campaign party, Behn — who was dogged by resurfaced comments from a 2020 podcast in which she said “I hate country music” — took the stage in a Western-style rhinestone suit while singing Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5.”

Quote:Hundreds of state workers at the Minnesota Department of Human Services publicly excoriated Gov. Tim Walz for allowing a “massive fraud” scandal to unfold under his watch and retaliating against their whistleblowers.

Over $1 billion in taxpayers’ money was fleeced by dozens of scammers in Minnesota’s Feeding Our Future fraud scandal, the largest known COVID-19 fraud case in the country.

“Tim Walz is 100% responsible for massive fraud in Minnesota. We let Tim Walz know of fraud early on, hoping for a partnership in stopping fraud but no, we got the opposite response,” the Minnesota DHS employees’ X account, which represents over 480 staffers, chided Saturday.

“Tim Walz systematically retaliated against whistleblowers using monitoring, threats, repression, and did his best to discredit fraud reports. Instead of partnership, we got the full weight of retaliation,” the account charged.

“It’s scary, isolating and left us wondering who we can turn to.”

Just last week, the Justice Department prosecuted the 78th defendant in what prosecutors have dubbed the Feeding Our Future fraud scheme. At least 59 people have been convicted so far.

During the past five years, fraudsters targeted Minnesota’s generous social safety net by setting up companies that billed the state for social services that prosecutors alleged were never actually provided.

Feeding Our Future, a nonprofit founded in 2016 that purported to help feed school children, had partnered with dozens of local businesses under the pretense of providing food aid.

The nonprofit, which dissolved in 2022, and its partners billed the state, claiming to have helped feed tens of thousands of needy children. In reality, most of that money was squandered on foreign real estate projects, luxury cars, and more.

Other organizations besides Feeding Our Future committed fraud with Minnesota’s social safety net as well.

The fraud largely revolved around dozens of people in the Somali diaspora. Minnesota is home to about 80,000 Somali Americans.

“As staff, we firsthand witnessed and observed fraud happening yet we were shutdown, reassigned and told to keep quiet,” the Minnesota DHS employees’ X account alleged.

Quote:The House Oversight Committee has opened a probe into Gov. Tim Walz's handling of a massive relief program in Minnesota that federal prosecutors say devolved into the largest COVID-19 fraud scheme in the country.

"Minnesota Governor Tim Walz was warned about massive fraud in a pandemic food-aid program for children, yet he failed to act," Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital.

"Instead, whistleblowers who raised concerns faced retaliation," Comer added. "Because of Governor Walz’s negligence, criminals — including Somali terrorists — stole nearly $1 billion from the program while children suffered. The House Oversight Committee will conduct a thorough investigation into Governor Walz’s failure to safeguard taxpayer dollars."

Comer's decision comes as the Treasury Department announced that it too is investigating the scandal and looking into whether Minnesota tax dollars were diverted to the terrorist organization al-Shabaab.

The Justice Department said approximately $300 million in taxpayer funds intended to feed low-income children during the pandemic was diverted through a nonprofit called Feeding Our Future in a sprawling case that has now grown to at least 78 defendants. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Minnesota said it was the largest pandemic-relief fraud scheme charged to date in the U.S.

Some of the organizations tied to the fraud were run by Somali Minnesotans, federal prosecutors say.

Minnesota education officials say Feeding Our Future and its partner organizations submitted more than $500 million in claims — and Comer has alleged the total losses may have approached $1 billion.

Walz has come under fire after nearly 500 employees of the Minnesota Department of Human Services accused his administration of failing to act on early warnings of widespread fraud and retaliating against internal whistleblowers.

As chairman of the GOP-led committee, Comer is empowered to subpoena records and witnesses and to refer potential wrongdoing to the Department of Justice.

A report by the Manhattan Institute’s City Journal, citing unnamed federal counterterrorism sources, alleged that some of the stolen funds were transferred overseas to Somalia and may have ended up with al-Shabaab — though none of the federal indictments include terrorism charges and the Justice Department has not confirmed any such link.

Employees of the Minnesota Department of Human Services wrote on X on Saturday that Walz is "100% responsible for massive fraud in Minnesota."

Quote:Attorney General Pam Bondi pushed back Tuesday after being sued by a former immigration judge who claims she was wrongfully fired — the first legal challenge to the Trump administration’s sweeping removal of more than 100 immigration judges this year.

The lawsuit, filed Monday by former Ohio immigration Judge Tania Nemer, accuses the Justice Department of discrimination based on sex, nationality and political affiliation. Its filing comes as the administration accelerates its effort to reshape the immigration courts amid record legal clashes over its border crackdown. 

Speaking at a White House Cabinet meeting with President Donald Trump, Bondi dismissed the discrimination allegations and highlighted the department’s recent push against violent crime and drug trafficking in the face of numerous lawsuits.

"Most recently, yesterday, I was sued by an immigration judge who we fired," Bondi said. "One of the reasons she said she was a woman."

"Last I checked, I was a woman as well," she quipped.

Nemer's lawsuit accuses the Justice Department of illegally violating her protections under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, as well as her First Amendment rights to engage in political activity.

She is not the only immigration judge to be removed from her position under the Trump administration. Since January, at least 100 immigration judges have been fired or "pushed out" from their roles, according to the American Immigration Lawyers Association, a union that represents many of the judges.

Eight immigration judges were fired in New York City on Monday, The New York Times reported this week, prompting fresh concerns about the reduction in staff and ability to handle the caseload.

"I think what's happening in the immigration court system is very troubling," Muzaffar Chishti, a senior fellow at the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute and director of the office at NYU's law school, told Fox News Digital in an interview.

"People have always had doubts about the independence of the [immigration] court system," Chishti said.

But the events of the last few months "have eroded trust completely in the Executive Office for Immigration Review," he added, saying the mass removals could have a chilling effect on judges who might apply to fill the vacant spots, and who might feel pressured to rule in a certain way.

Quote:Lt. Col. William “Skate” Parks, an Air Force F-16 commander who deliberately flew into one of the most heavily defended air-defense zones in the Middle East and dodged enemy missiles for 15 minutes while dangerously low on fuel, has been awarded the Silver Star, one of the nation’s highest honors for valor in combat.

Parks received the medal during a Pentagon ceremony Nov. 26. According to an official Air Force release, his actions during a high-risk mission in early 2025 not only crippled enemy ballistic missile production facilities, but saved the lives of his wingman and likely prevented the loss of two American aircraft.

At the time, Parks was the commander of the 480th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron and served as mission commander for a 21-aircraft strike package March 27.

Parks simultaneously led a four-ship of F-16 Fighting Falcons tasked with Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses, or SEAD, the mission responsible for drawing enemy fire and clearing a path for the rest of the force.

“Parks intentionally placed himself in threat range of a complex air defense zone protecting the enemy’s capital,” the Air Force said. His decision, the citation states, was key to “crippling enemy ballistic missile production facilities.”

It also placed his formation squarely in the crosshairs. Enemy forces fired a “barrage of precisely targeted” missiles and anti-aircraft fire at the F-16s, triggering a 15-minute sequence of violent high-G maneuvers and countermeasures.

“For 15 minutes, with enemy missiles detonating mere feet from his aircraft, Parks led his flight through a series of high-G maneuvers and countermeasure employment,” the citation states.

The danger didn’t end once the barrage stopped. Parks was still deep in enemy territory and below minimum fuel levels, according to the Air Force. He quickly coordinated an emergency rendezvous with two separate tankers to keep the jets airborne long enough to reach safety, a move the service said likely prevented the loss of two aircraft.

Quote:President Donald Trump threw himself in the middle of Honduras’ razor-thin presidential race on Monday, warning that there would be “hell to pay” if election officials altered the results. 

Writing on Truth Social, Trump, without offering evidence, accused Honduras of “trying to change the results.”

“If they do, there will be hell to pay! The people of Honduras voted in overwhelming numbers on November 30th,” Trump said.

The president’s remarks came hours after Ana Paola Hall, president of the National Electoral Council, wrote on X that the preliminary rapid reporting system that began providing results Sunday night had reached its conclusion with votes 57% tallied.

Their count showed a close race between two conservative candidates, Nasry Asfura of the National Party and Salvador Nasralla of the Liberal Party, with Asfura holding a narrow lead of only a few hundred votes.

Rixi Moncada, the democratic socialist LIBRE candidate, trailed roughly 20 percentage points behind.

“It is imperative that the Commission finish counting the Votes,” Trump wrote. “Hundreds of thousands of Hondurans must have their Votes counted. Democracy must prevail!”

Officials have said the count would continue but did not specify when updated totals would be released, and parts of the council’s online system appeared to have been taken down.

Just before the freeze, Trump had endorsed Asfura, calling him the “only Honduran candidate his administration would work with and saying he would fight “narco-communists” alongside the US.

Both leading candidates have pointed to the close tally as evidence that they are ahead – though both men have stopped short of declaring victory.

Trump’s announcement that he would pardon former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, who is now serving a 45-year US sentence – also loomed large over the race, underscoring how US politics can intrude in the country’s politics.

Quote:Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez was released from prison in the United States on Monday, where he was serving a 45-year prison sentence for drug trafficking and firearms charges, a Federal Bureau of Prisons registry showed.

Hernandez’s wife, Ana Garcia, said in a social media post that Hernandez was released after he was granted a pardon by President Trump.

“After nearly four years of pain, waiting, and difficult trials, my husband Juan Orlando Hernandez RETURNED to being a free man, thanks to the presidential pardon granted by President Donald Trump,” Garcia said.

The release came days after a presidential election in Honduras, in which Trump has backed presidential candidate Nasry Asfura of the conservative National Party, who is facing off with liberal Salvador Nasralla.

The latest vote count showed both candidates practically tied holding just under 40% of the vote.

Asfura’s party forged a close partnership with Washington under Hernandez, who governed from 2014 to 2022 and was arrested shortly after leaving office.

Hernandez was sentenced in June last year and called his conviction wrongful.

Quote:WASHINGTON — President Trump will convene his national security team in the Oval Office on Monday in part to discuss possible next steps for the US’ pressure campaign on Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro — as the White House says the commander-in-chief has not ruled on US boots on the ground.

“I will confirm that the president will be meeting with his national security team on this subject, and on many matters,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters in response to a question whether they team would discuss a “final decision” regarding US action on Venezuela.

“He meets with his national security team quite often,” she added, declining to further detail what they plan to discuss. “He’s the commander-in-chief; it’s part of his responsibility to ensure that peace is ongoing throughout the world.”

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, chief of staff Susie Wiles and deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller are expected to attend, CNN reported.

It comes as the Pentagon has stacked 11 warships — including an aircraft carrier — and 15,000 troops in the waters near Venezuela.

A Marine Expeditionary Unit capable of an amphibious land invasion has also been deployed.

“The military’s job is to defend the homeland,” Secretary of the Navy John Phelan told Fox News on Saturday night. “That’s exactly what we’re doing, and we’re using our best assets to defend the homeland.”

So far, the US has kept its war on Maduro’s narcoterrorist regime confined to the sea, picking off drug boats in the region in a series of strikes that has killed at least 83 Venezuelans trafficking illegal narcotics such as cocaine.

President Trump has previously said he has not ruled out striking Venezuela on land, and has already directed the CIA to conduct its own operations inside the country.

“There’s many options at the president’s disposal that are on the table, and I’ll let him speak to those,” Leavitt said Monday, responding to a question whether Trump was still considering sending US troops to the Latin American country.

Quote:The White House said the Pentagon authorized a second lethal military strike against an alleged Venezuelan drug boat — and insisted the double attack in September was legal.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Secretary of War Pete Hegseth authorized Adm. Frank Bradley to order the follow-up strike on the suspected drug-trafficking boat after two people survived the first attack.

“President Trump and Secretary Hegseth have made it clear that presidentially designated narcoterrorist groups are subject to lethal targeting in accordance with the laws of war,” Leavitt told reporters on Monday. “With respect to the strikes in question on Sept. 2, Secretary Hegseth authorized Adm. Bradley to conduct these kinetic strikes.”

Bradley, head of the US Special Operations Command, “worked well within his authority and the law directing the engagement to ensure the boat was destroyed and the threat to the United States of America was eliminated,” she added.

The comments come after the Washington Post reported Friday that a Joint Special Operations Command commander ordered a second airstrike on a speedboat carrying 11 suspected Tren de Aragua narco-terrorists Sept. 2, after the first strike left two people clinging to the wreckage. The double strike happened because of a verbal directive from Hegseth: “The order was to kill everybody,” the paper reported.

A second strike to finish off the pair in lieu of aid and arrests could be considered a war crime under international law — but the Trump administration is standing by claims that the second strike was warranted for “self-defense.”

“The strike conducted on Sept. 2 was conducted in self-defense to protect Americans and vital United States interests,” Leavitt said in a prepared statement. “The strike was conducted in international waters and in accordance with the law of armed conflict.”

Leavitt later added “one more point to remind the American public why these lethal strikes are taking place” — noting that Trump has designated Nicolás Maduro’s narcoterrorists such as Tren de Aragua as foreign terror organizations, giving the US military the legal authority to blast the drug boats out of the water.

“The president has a right to take them out if they are threatening the United States of America and if they are bringing illegal narcotics that are killing our citizens at a record rate, which is what they are doing,” she said.

Quote:WASHINGTON — President Trump yet again threatened Tuesday to order strikes on land-based Venezuelan drug traffickers — and added that Colombian operators also are at risk.

Trump has threatened to order land strikes for months in an expansion of his military campaign bombing alleged drug boats in international waters.

Asked by a journalist about potential land strikes, Trump said he would order action “if we think they’re building mills for whether it’s fentanyl or cocaine.”

The president quickly pivoted from talking about Venezuela to Colombia, whose left-wing president, Gustavo Petro, has clashed with Trump.

“I hear Colombia, the country of Colombia, is making cocaine. They have cocaine manufacturing plants, and then they sell us the cocaine,” he said.

“Anybody that’s doing that and selling it into our country is subject to attack. No, not just Venezuela.”

Trump said on Oct. 23 that he was preparing to inform Congress of his plan to pursue land attacks inside Venezuela, but has held back as he attempts to negotiate the resignation and exile of longtime strongman Nicolás Maduro.

An administration official told The Post that Trump may order strikes inside Venezuela’s territorial waters before hitting land targets.

Since Sept. 2, the US military has attacked at least 22 vessels allegedly carrying drugs in international waters off the coasts of Venezuela and Colombia, killing at least 83 people.

Quote:Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s inexperienced army is prepared to wage a prolonged guerrilla war and spread anarchy throughout the country if the US attempts a ground invasion to depose him, according to a new report.

As the US continues to build up its threats against Maduro’s regime, the Venezuelan dictator appears to be fully aware that his nation’s military is dwarfed by the might of the American army.

Rather than face an invading force head on, Venezuela plans to mount a guerrilla-style resistance and sow chaos to make it impossible for the US to quickly boot Maduro and replace him with a new leader, according to sources and documents obtained by Reuters.

The preparations come as the US has more than 10 US warships — including the country’s largest carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford — in the Caribbean amid escalating tensions between Trump and Maduro.

A Marine Expeditionary Unit capable of an amphibious land invasion has also been deployed as part of Trump’s plan to stem the flow of drugs into the US from the socialist country.

Venezuela’s army is small, inexperienced, and ill-equipped

While the National Bolivarian Armed Forces of Venezuela (FANB) boasts about 123,000 active personnel, the army’s primary combat experience has been confronting unarmed civilians during street protests.

Venezuela’s armed force is also regularly mired by lack of training, low wages, desertions, and deteriorating equipment, six sources familiar with Caracas’ military told Reuters.

Should Maduro activate the supposed 8-million strong civilian militia training in Venezuela, analysts expect only thousands of people loyal to his ruling party to show up for war.

The FANB’s aging army equipment is a big problem for the nation as it relies heavily on Soviet-era weapons and military tech that were acquired by Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chávez.

While Caracas has some 20 Sukhoi fighter jets that were acquired in the 2000s, they would do little against American B-2 jets.

Quote:Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was spotted dancing at a rally in Caracas — as he and President Trump agreed to resume deportation flights despite rising tensions between the two nations.

The defiant dictator joined crowds celebrating newly elected Venezuelan leaders on Monday as he danced to a song with the lyrics, “no war, yes peace,” which samples one of his speeches.

During the celebration, Maduro vowed to stand by the Venezuelan people in the face of American aggression.

“Just as I swore before the body of our commander [Hugo] Chávez, before saying farewell to him, absolute loyalty at the cost of my own life and peace, I now swear to you absolute loyalty beyond this life, through this beautiful and heroic story we are living,” Maduro declared.

“Be certain that I will never fail you — never, ever, never,” he added.

Maduro was joined at the celebration with his wife, Cilia Flores, who wore a red cap featuring the slogan, “Doubt is Betrayal.”

Maduro’s reaffirmation comes following reports of a short phone call he had with Trump last month, where the Venezuelan president said he was willing to abandon his country if he and his family were given full legal amnesty.

Trump rejected most of Maduro’s requests during the call, which lasted less than 15 minutes, with the deadline to leave expiring on Friday.

Since then, Trump has ramped up his threats on Maduro’s regime, suggesting a ground invasion is on the table as the US builds up its amphibious forces in the Caribbean.

Trump also declared that Venezuela’s airspace be considered closed over the weekend. While Trump has no authority to shut down the country’s airspace, the move saw air traffic dwindle over Venezuela.

The order also raised questions about the twice-a-week deportation flights from the US that have taken place this year following an agreement between Maduro and Trump.

Quote:Colombia rebuffed President Donald Trump late on Tuesday after he said military action in the South American country was possible under the pretext of combating drug trafficking.

"Any threat of external aggression that violates the dignity, integrity of the territory and sovereignty of the Colombian people is rejected," the Colombian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Earlier the same day, Trump had told reporters during a Cabinet meeting at the White House that any country producing and selling drugs into the U.S. could be "subject to attack"—specifically mentioning Colombia.

His remarks came amid mounting tensions between the United States and Venezuela, with the Trump administration contemplating military strikes there.

Why It Matters

Colombia and Venezuela have condemned U.S. military strikes in the Caribbean Sea and in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, in waters the Trump administration said were being used as drug trafficking routes. They have accused Washington of undermining regional sovereignty, with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro preparing for a potential U.S. attack that could target his regime.

Lawmakers have launched a review following reports that said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had verbally ordered a second strike on an alleged drug smuggling vessel to kill survivors back in September, an act critics say could amount to a war crime.

What To Know

President Gustavo Petro said on X in response to Trump's warning: "Come to Colombia, Mr. Trump, I invite you, so that you can participate in the destruction of the 9 laboratories we do daily to prevent cocaine from reaching the US."

Trump previously called the Colombian president an "illegal drug leader," threatening to end financial aid to the country. The Trump administration on October 23 imposed sweeping sanctions on Petro, his family and a top Cabinet member, accusing them of aiding the global drug trade.

Colombia is one of the world’s largest producers of cocaine, but the country has cooperated with the U.S. on counter-narcotics efforts. However, The U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime reported in October 2024 that Colombia’s coca cultivation rose 10 percent from the previous year, reaching its largest area in over two decades. In September, for the first time in nearly 30 years, Colombia was listed as a country failing to cooperate in U.S. anti-drug efforts.

Bogota has pushed back on the U.S.' framing of the boat strikes it says targets "narco-terrorists," and which the White House justified as lawful. Petro ceased intelligence cooperation with the U.S. in November and condemned attacks on suspected drug running boats in which Colombian nationals were killed.

The family of Colombian national Alejandro Carranza Medina, who was killed in a U.S. strike off Colombia’s coast on September 15, has filed a formal complaint with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, accusing the Trump administration of carrying out an extrajudicial killing, according to Politico.

The Washington, D.C.-based organization expressed concerns over U.S. boat strikes which killed more than 80 people since September, warning that the use of military force against alleged criminal groups and beyond national borders creates a serious risk of unlawful killings, weak accountability, due-process violations, and diminished civilian oversight.

Quote:An alleged Sinaloa cartel leader who was wanted by US authorities on suspicion of operating the “world’s largest known fentanyl production network” was killed by the Mexican military on Sunday.

Pedro Inzunza Coronel, better known under the alias “El Pichón,” allegedly attacked members of the Mexican Navy during a drug raid in the northwestern state of Sinaloa, Omar Garcia Harfuch, Mexico’s security secretary, wrote on X.

Harfuch wrote that Coronel “lost his life” during the raid, though the exact manner of his death is unclear.

In May, the US Department of Justice charged Coronel and his father, Pedro Inzunza Noriega, with narco-terrorism, drug trafficking and money laundering committed while the pair ran the Beltran Leyva Organization, a faction with the Sinaloa cartel that has since been shut down.

The father-son duo were accused of shipping tens of thousands of kilograms of fentanyl into the US. The Mexican government additionally seized more than 1.65 tons of fentanyl from the faction’s holdings.

It is, to date, the single largest seizure of fentanyl in the world, according to the DOJ.

The indictment was a “first in the nation to charge” that the DOJ said was only made possible through President Trump’s executive order that designated the Sinaloa cartel as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.

The DOJ released images of the fentanyl and cocaine shipments that had been seized and connected to the pair.

Quote:A Nazi doctor known for barbaric prisoner experiments and handpicking gas chamber victims led a carefree post-war life in Argentina – despite authorities knowing his true identity, declassified documents revealed..

Coldblooded SS Commander Josef Mengele aka “The Angel of Death” gleefully oversaw the horrific torture of Jews and other prisoners at Auschwitz concentration camp under the guise of medical research before he fled Germany for Argentina in 1949.

He escaped justice under an assumed name just as the Nuremburg trials exposed his crimes.

Bombshell intelligence files, recently declassified by Argentinian President Javier Milei, detail how Argentinian authorities tracked Mengele’s life across South America but never apprehended him, Fox News Digital’s Solly Boussidan reported.

At times, the press tipped Mengele off, or top-down decisions were simply made too late.

The then Argentinian government was known for harboring Nazis, and allowing an underground community to prosper, according to Reuters. Surveillance reports, immigration records, and intelligence briefs paint a picture of fractured law enforcement efforts, which the twisted Nazi doctor was able to evade.

Mengele entered Argentina to begin in 1949 with an Italian passport under the name Helmut Gregor. There, he began a new life.

By the mid 1950s, documents prove Argentinian authorities knew the ‘Angel of Death’ was among them, according to an-depth analysis of the Spanish language records by Fox.

Newspaper clippings in the file include a chilling undated interview with one of Mengele’s victims, José Furmanski.

“He gathered twins of all ages in the camp and subjected them to experiments that always ended in death. Between the children, the elderly, and women… what horrors,” Furmanski said in the interview.

In 1956, Mengele requested his original birth certificate from the West German Embassy in Buenos Aires and had shockingly begun using his real name, requesting identification cards be reprinted.

A memo written by officials a year later says Mengele “explained” why he originally entered Argentina under a fake name.

“He (Mengele) demonstrated being nervous, having stated that during the war he acted as a physician in the German S.S., in Czechoslovakia, where the Red Cross labeled him a ‘war criminal,’” read the memo.

Argentine agencies knew Mengele lived in Carapachy, a town on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, and that he had married his brother’s widow at the time, the documents showed. Authorities were even aware his father had visited, perhaps to invest in the twisted doctor’s new medical business, documents showed.

Quote:PARIS — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday at the Elysée presidential palace in Paris, part of a flurry of diplomatic activity aimed at brokering the terms for a potential ceasefire in the nearly four-year-old war in Ukraine.

Zelensky’s visit to Paris followed a meeting between Ukrainian and US officials in Florida on Sunday, which Secretary of State Marco Rubio described as productive. The two sides have worked to make revisions to a proposed US-authored plan that was developed in negotiations between Washington and Moscow but criticized as being too weighted toward Russian demands.

Those criticisms were perhaps most vehement from Ukraine’s European allies who, while welcoming US peace efforts, pushed back on key tenets of the plan. Ahead of his meeting with Zelensky on Monday, Macron’s office said the two leaders would discuss conditions for a “fair and lasting peace.”

President Trump has since downplayed the 28-point peace framework, which would have imposed limits on the size of Ukraine’s military, blocked the country from joining NATO and required Ukraine to give up territory, as a “concept” to be “fine-tuned.”

Last week, Macron — a key ally for Ukraine who has firmly backed Kyiv and sought to counterbalance elements of the US peace plan that are seen to favor Russia — urged Western allies to bring “rock-solid” guarantees to Ukraine in case a ceasefire or a peace deal was to be reached. He has endorsed deploying a “reassurance force” on land, at sea and in the air to help ensure the country’s security.

Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin would meet with US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff on Tuesday afternoon. Witkoff’s role in the peace efforts came under scrutiny last week following a report that he coached Putin’s foreign affairs adviser on how Russia’s leader should pitch Trump on the Ukraine peace plan. Both Moscow and Washington downplayed the significance of the revelations.

Russia condemns Ukrainian strikes on energy infrastructure

Peskov on Monday condemned Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil infrastructure over the weekend, including an attack on an oil terminal owned by the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, CPC, and another that targeted two tankers in Turkish waters.

A major oil terminal near the port of Novorossiysk halted operations Saturday after a strike by unmanned boats damaged one of its three mooring points, according to a statement from CPC, which owns the terminal. This came a day after Ukrainian naval drones struck two oil tankers in the Black Sea that were reported to be part of Russia’s “shadow fleet” that evade sanctions.

Quote:A former British soldier has been arrested for allegedly helping Russia assassinate Ukrainian politicians in exchange for money, intelligence officials said.

Ross David Cutmore was detained by Ukraine’s state security service in October after he was accused of importing and doling out weapons that were used in the slayings of three prominent Ukrainians, the Kyiv Independent reported.

Cutmore, who had experience from serving in the British Army and a stint in the Middle East, went to Ukraine last year to help train Ukrainian army personnel as a military instructor.

Months after he arrived, he allegedly quit the job and started acting as a spy for the Kremlin.

He later provided the weapons used to murder politician, Andriy Parubiy, as well as activists, Demian Hanul and Iryna Farion, officials alleged.

He is also accused of repeatedly passing on information about Ukraine’s military to Moscow.

Cutmore faces up to 12 years in prison if convicted.

Quote:Secretary of State Marco Rubio argued Tuesday that “progress” had been made towards ending the nearly four-year-long war in Ukraine – and suggested Russian President Vladimir Putin is the main obstacle that remains.

“What we’re trying to see is if it’s possible to end the war in a way that protects Ukraine’s future that both sides could agree to,” Rubio told Fox News host Sean Hannity, after the Kremlin rejected the Trump administration’s latest plan to end the bloodshed.

“I think we’ve made some progress, but we’re not there yet,” the secretary of state continued.

When asked how confident he was in the prospect of peace, Rubio deflected and put the onus on Putin.

“It’s hard to tell about confidence level on it, because ultimately the decisions have to be made, in the case of Russia, by Putin alone,” the top US diplomat said. “Not his advisors, Putin.

“Only Putin can end this war on the Russian side.”

President Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met with the Russian strongman in Moscow for more than five hours Tuesday and presented him with the 19-point peace plan US negotiators hammered out with Ukrainian officials last week.

The marathon meeting ended with no agreement.

“While a compromise [peace plan for Ukraine] has not yet been found, some American proposals [for a peace settlement] appear more or less acceptable, but they need to be discussed,” Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov told Russian media.

“Some of the formulations we were offered are unacceptable,” Ushakov added. “Therefore, the work will continue.”

Rubio described the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine as “the most illogical war,” arguing “no one’s really winning that war” – as the Russian side is losing some 7,000 soldiers a week in a battle for “about 30 to 50 kilometers of space in the 20% of the Donetsk region that remains.”

Quote:President Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner held a marathon round of Ukraine peace talks Tuesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin — though they ended with a statement from the Kremlin that parts of the proposal remain “unacceptable.”

The meeting began in Moscow around 7:30 p.m. local time, and lasted more than five hours — ending with no agreement.

“While a compromise [peace plan for Ukraine] has not yet been found, some American proposals [for a peace settlement] appear more or less acceptable, but they need to be discussed,” Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov told Russian media.

“Some of the formulations we were offered are unacceptable. Therefore, the work will continue.”

Just ahead of the talks, Putin delivered a chilling warning to Europe on Tuesday, accusing EU leaders of sabotaging peace talks with the US.

“We are not planning to go to war with Europe, but if Europe wants to and starts, we are ready right now,” Putin said.

The Moscow strongman has criticized the input as direct interference from Europe, stating that “European demands are not acceptable to Russia.”

Witkoff, 68, has been to the Kremlin for similar peace talks numerous times, but Tuesday it was the first time he was joined by Trump’s son-in-law — who helped the envoy cement the Gaza peace deal.

The pair also brought an American translator with them for the discussion, which took place two days after talks between American and Ukrainian delegations in South Florida.

Putin, 73, was accompanied at the evening talks by foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov and Kirill Dmitriev, the head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, who accompanied Witkoff and Kushner on a stroll through central Moscow after a pre-meeting dinner.

“Productive,” Dmitriev wrote in a post to X around 1 a.m. local time including photos taken of himself and the US negotiators before the talks began.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was notably missing from the meeting as he met elsewhere in the Kremlin with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi for a round of high-level “strategic security and military cooperation” talks, according to Russian and Chinese media.

Quote:Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Kyiv’s European allies Tuesday of sabotaging U.S.-led efforts to end the nearly 4-year-old war in Ukraine.

“They don’t have a peace agenda, they’re on the side of the war,” Putin said after speaking to an investment forum and before he met in the Kremlin with a U.S. delegation led by envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Putin’s accusations appeared to be his latest attempt to sow dissension between Trump and European countries and set the stage for exempting Moscow from blame for any lack of progress.

“They don’t have a peace agenda, they’re on the side of the war,” Putin said of the Europeans in comments to reporters.

He accused Europe of amending peace proposals with “demands that are absolutely unacceptable to Russia,” thus “blocking the entire peace process,” only to blame Russia for it.

“That’s their goal,” Putin said.

He reiterated his long-held position that Russia has no plans to attack Europe — a concern regularly voiced by some European countries.

“But if Europe suddenly wants to wage a war with us and starts it, we are ready right away. There can be no doubt about that,” Putin said.

Russia started the war in 2022 with its full-scale invasion of a sovereign European country, and European governments have since spent many many billions of dollars to support Ukraine financially and militarily, to wean themselves from energy dependence on Russia and to strengthen their own militaries to try to deter Moscow from seizing more territory by force.

They worry that if Russia gets what it wants in Ukraine, it will have free rein to threaten or disrupt other European countries, which already have faced incursions from Russian drones and fighter jets, and an alleged widespread Russian sabotage campaign.

Trump’s peace plan relies on Europe to provide the bulk of the financing and security guarantees for a post-war Ukraine, even though no Europeans appear to have been consulted on the original plan. That’s why European governments have pushed to ensure that peace efforts address European concerns, too.

Coinciding with Witkoff’s trip to Moscow, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy went to Ireland, continuing his visits to European countries that have helped sustain his country’s fight against Russia’s invasion.

High-stakes negotiations

In what could be a high-stakes day of negotiations, Zelenskyy said he was expecting swift reports later in the day from the U.S. envoys in Moscow on whether talks could move forward, after Trump’s initial 28-point plan was whittled down to 20 in Sunday’s talks between U.S. and Ukrainian officials in Florida.

“They want to report right after that meeting to us, specifically. The future and the next steps depend on these signals. Such steps will change throughout today, even hour by hour, I believe,” Zelenskyy said at a news conference in Dublin with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin.

“If the signals show fair play with our partners, we then might meet very soon, meet with the American delegation,” he said.

“There is a lot of dialogue, but we need results. Our people are dying every day,” Zelenskyy said. “I am ready … to meet with President Trump. It all depends on today’s talks.”

Quote:Russian President Vladimir Putin sees “no point in making any serious compromises” about ending the war in Ukraine — as Moscow launched a massive drone attack on Wednesday just hours after rejecting a US peace deal.

The arrogant dictator wasn’t prepared to make concessions and is said to still be “absolutely confident on the battlefield” even as the high-stake negotiations played out, Russian state media outlets reported.

It comes as five hours of talks between Putin and President Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and son-in-law Jared Kushner ended in a stalemate early Wednesday — with the Kremlin saying “compromises have not yet been found.”

Top Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, however, attempted to strike a more optimistic tone, claiming it had accepted some US proposals but defiantly rejected a slew of others.

“A direct exchange of views took place yesterday for the first time,” he told reporters.

“Some things were accepted, some things were marked as unacceptable – this is a normal working process of finding a compromise.”

He vowed, too, that Russia was ready to meet US negotiators as many times as it took to reach an agreement.

Meanwhile, Russian drones hit the town of Ternivka in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region on Wednesday, killing two people and injuring three more.

Overall, Russia fired 111 strike and decoy drones at Ukraine overnight, Ukraine’s air force said.

Quote:Emmanuel Macron arrived in China on Wednesday for a three-day state visit focusing on trade and diplomatic talks as the French president seeks to enlist Beijing in pressuring Russia toward a ceasefire with Ukraine.

Macron will advocate for an agenda of cooperation in economic and trade matters aimed at achieving a balance that ensures “sustainable, solid growth that benefits everyone,” his office said.

France is aiming to attract more investment from Chinese companies and facilitate market access for French exports.

During the visit, officials from both nations are expected to sign several agreements in the energy, food industry, and aviation sectors.

Macron is committed to defend “fair and reciprocal market access,” his office said.

He and his wife Brigitte wore open overcoats against the winter chill as they stepped off a plane after nightfall at an airport in Beijing and walked down a red-carpeted jetway. They were greeted by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who spoke with Macron before the French leader and his wife departed in a limousine.

They are expected to visit the 18th-century Qianlong Garden complex in the Forbidden City, the former palace of China’s emperors, on Wednesday evening. The garden, which dates from the Qing dynasty, recently reopened to the public after a major renovation.

France will host the Group of Seven summit in 2026 involving the world’s most advanced economies, while China will chair the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, which includes the United States, South Korea, Japan, Australia, and Russia.

The 27-nation bloc runs a massive trade deficit with China — over $348 billion last year. China alone represents 46% of France’s total trade deficit.

France and the European Union have described China as a partner, competitor and systemic rival.

Recent years have been marked by multiple trade disputes across a range of industries after the EU undertook a probe into Chinese electric vehicles subsidies. China responded with investigations into imports of European brandy, pork and dairy products.

In July, Macron welcomed exemptions for most cognac producers as a positive step. France is China’s first supplier of wine and spirits.

Quote:A British teen has gone missing during a solo hike near Dracula’s Castle — with his final call to emergency services saying that he was suffering from hypothermia and exhaustion.

George Smyth, 18, was last heard from on Nov. 23 while hiking through the dense forests of Romania’s Bucegi Mountains and heading toward the village of Bran, home to Bran Castle, widely associated with the Dracula legend, the Times reported.

While trekking alone, the University of Bristol student made a distress call to mountain rescue, frantically telling operators that he was exhausted, hypothermic, and unsure of his location.

Despite days of searching, rescuers were unable to locate him, only discovering his rucksack with supplies in the area where he’d phoned for help.

The teen’s mother, Jo Smyth, described her son as “a sporty and strong young man,” who is known to travel a lot with his family and friends, but said this trip was different.
“He left his university in the United Kingdom on Sunday, without telling us, to go hiking alone,” she told the Times.

“His phone last had signal in a remote mountain area. He made a distressing call to 112 [Romania’s emergency line] on Sunday evening,” the worried mother said.

“I flew to Romania immediately, and we are trying to support the search teams as best we can.”

Rescue teams believe the teen started his hike from the resort town of Poiana Brasov and ended up roughly 10 to 15 miles away in the Tiganesti Valley when he called for help — the same area where his belongings were discovered.

Poiana Brasov and Bran are connected by extensive forest trails that ascend sharply into alpine areas, which can become particularly hazardous when temperatures drop.

Quote:Illegal Chinese fishermen suspected of using cyanide in a highly destructive fishing method have been intercepted by Philippine Marines in dramatic scenes, marking the latest clash between the two countries in the increasingly contested waters claimed by the two countries.

Footage released by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) showed Marines aboard two small boats approaching a Chinese vessel, suspected of illegal fishing, in the dark at Second Thomas Shoal on October 24.

The incident took place near BRP Sierra Madre, a World War II-era Philippine Navy landing ship intentionally grounded in 1999 to hold the area against other claimants.

Navy personnel can be heard shouting “stop the boat!”, “Get out now!”, grappling with occupants of the small vessel as it attempts to speed away.
Several of the Chinese fishermen are seen wearing wetsuits.

The Marines eventually surrounded the boat and seized a number of items, including bottles allegedly containing cyanide.

Cyanide fishing, while illegal in most of South-East Asia where the practice originated, is still used by some fishermen to catch live fish for trade, but causes significant damage to reefs and marine ecosystems.

The AFP said in a press release after the latest clash between Manila and Beijing that its troops “upheld environmental protection” at the disputed reef.

“In adherence to established protocols, AFP personnel promptly escorted the unauthorised fishing boats out of the area and confiscated bottles containing suspected cyanide chemicals reportedly used for destructive fishing,” the statement said.

“The Armed Forces of the Philippines reiterates that its continuous presence and patrols in the West Philippine Sea are lawful and primarily focused on ensuring the safety of personnel, upholding territorial integrity, and advancing the protection and preservation of the marine environment within the country’s maritime domain.”

After seizing the items, the Marines pulled the Chinese vessel away from Philippine waters using grappling hooks and lines.

Philippine Navy spokesperson Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad told local media that “on a normal day, [the Chinese fishermen] could have been arrested”, but cited capacity concerns, per USNI News.

The Philippine Navy’s Maritime Command Operations Platform (MCOP) confirmed that several Chinese maritime militia vessels (CMMVs) and a China Coast Guard (CCG) ship were also detected in the area at the time, Palawan News reported.

Quote:Hong Kong authorities said on Monday they had arrested 13 people for suspected manslaughter in a probe into the city’s deadliest fire in decades, pointing to substandard renovation materials for fuelling a blaze that has claimed at least 151 lives.

Police continued to sweep the seven burnt-out towers engulfed in Wednesday’s disaster at the Wang Fuk Court estate, finding bodies of residents in stairwells and on rooftops, trapped as they tried to flee the flames.

More than 40 people are still missing.

“Some of the bodies have turned into ash, therefore we might not be able to locate all missing individuals,” police official Tsang Shuk-yin told reporters, choking up with emotion.

Tests on several samples of a green mesh that was wrapped around bamboo scaffolding on the buildings at the time of the blaze did not match fire-retardant standards, officials overseeing the investigations told a news conference.

Contractors working on the renovations used these substandard materials in hard-to-reach areas, effectively hiding them from inspectors, said Chief Secretary Eric Chan.

Foam insulation used by contractors also fanned the flames and fire alarms at the complex were not working properly, officials have said.

Thousands have turned out to pay tribute to the victims, who include at least nine domestic helpers from Indonesia and one from the Philippines, with lines of mourners stretching more than a half-mile along a canal next to the estate.

Vigils are also due to take place this week in Tokyo, London and Taipei, authorities said.

Amid pockets of public anger over missed fire risk warnings, Beijing has warned it would crack down on any “anti-China” protests.

At least one person involved in a petition calling for an independent probe and a review of construction oversight among other demands was detained for around two days, sources familiar with the matter said.

Police have declined to comment on the case.

Quote:Malaysia’s transport ministry said Wednesday that the deep-sea hunt for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 will resume Dec. 30, renewing hopes of finally locating the jet that vanished without a trace more than a decade ago.

The Boeing 777 plane disappeared from radar shortly after taking off on March 8, 2014, carrying 239 people, mostly Chinese nationals, on a flight from Malaysia’s capital, Kuala Lumpur, to Beijing.

Satellite data showed the plane turned from its flight path and headed south to the far-southern Indian Ocean, where it is believed to have crashed.

The transport ministry said in a statement that US-based marine robotics firm Ocean Infinity will search intermittently from Dec. 30 for a total of 55 days, in targeted areas believed to have the highest likelihood of finding the missing aircraft.

“The latest development underscores the government of Malaysia’s commitment to providing closure to the families affected by this tragedy,” it said.

Malaysia’s government gave the green light in March for a “no-find, no-fee” contract with Ocean Infinity to resume the seabed search operation at a new 5,800-square-mile site in the ocean.

Ocean Infinity will be paid $70 million only if the wreckage is discovered. The search was halted in April due to bad weather.

An expensive multinational search failed to turn up any clues to its location, although debris washed ashore on the east African coast and Indian Ocean islands.

A private search in 2018 by Ocean Infinity also found nothing.

Quote:Israel is considering expanded military operations inside Syria after an IDF raid targeting a terror suspect turned into a bloodbath.

Thirteen Syrians were killed in the clash in the southern part of Syria on Friday, when Israeli Defense Forces detained two members of the al-Jama’a al-Islamiyya terror organization from the village of Beit Jinn, roughly four miles from the Jewish state’s eastern border, according to state media.

At least two children were killed in the attack, according to Syrian state media.

Six IDF soldiers suffered injuries, with three considered to be in serious condition, after being fired upon by gunmen while executing the raid.

Israel’s Air Force responded to the incident with fighter jets, helicopters and drones conducting several strikes during the tussle, The Times of Israel reported.

The Israeli military is now considering an escalation of the attacks if it turns out that members of the Syrian military participated in the gunfight Friday, the outlet reported.

The IDF could transition to fewer terrorist arrest operations in favor of increased devastating airstrikes in the region, according to the report.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry condemned “the criminal attack carried out by an Israeli occupation army patrol in Beit Jinn. The occupation forces’ targeting of the town of Beit Jinn with brutal and deliberate shelling, following their failed incursion, constitutes a full-fledged war crime,” Al Jazeera reported.

Nine IDF posts were established inside Syria following the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in December 2024. Those posts are mostly in the UN-patrolled buffer zone that sits on the border of the two countries — though two outposts are on the Syrian side of Mount Hermon, according to The Times of Israel.

Quote:Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked the president to grant him a pardon during his long-running corruption trial that’s bitterly divided the country.

In a statement Sunday the prime minister’s office said that Netanyahu had submitted a request for a pardon to the legal department of the Office of the President.

The Office of the President called it an “extraordinary request,” carrying with it “significant implications.”

Netanyahu is the only sitting prime minister in Israeli history to stand trial, after being charged with fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate cases accusing him of exchanging favors with wealthy political supporters.

He has not yet been convicted of anything.

The request comes weeks after US President Donald Trump urged Israel to pardon Netanyahu.

In a videotaped statement, Netanyahu said the trial has divided the country and that a pardon would help restore national unity.

He also said the requirement that he appear in court three times a week is a distraction that makes it difficult for him to lead the country.

Netanyahu’s request consisted of two documents — a detailed letter signed by his lawyer and a letter signed by Netanyahu.

They’ll be sent to the justice ministry for opinions and will then be transferred to the Legal Advisor in the Office of the President, which will formulate additional opinions for the president.

Quote:A Hamas commander and three other terrorists equipped with a slain Israeli soldier’s rifle were killed trying to escape a Gaza tunnel housing dozens of trapped operatives, the IDF said Sunday.

The terrorists were spotted emerging from a tunnel under Israeli control in eastern Rafah early Sunday and taken out by nearby Israel Defense Force soldiers and the Israeli Air Force.

Israeli Col. Arik Moyal appeared on social media to announce the attack, which killed the commander of Hamas’ East Rafah Battalion, his deputy, a company commander and the son of senior Hamas official Ghazi Hamad.

Moyal is seen in the footage holding a Tavor assault rifle recovered from the slain terrorists, which he said belonged to Staff Sgt. Or Mizrahi, an IDF soldier killed during the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre, the Times of Israel reported.

“This is what happens to those who mess with us. Either they surrender, or we’ll kill them,” Moyal said in the video as he held the rifle in front of the Israeli flag.

The fate of an estimated 60 to 80 Hamas members still trapped underneath Rafah remained unclear Sunday.

The operatives have been hiding in the region’s complex tunnel network at least since the majority of the area fell under Israeli occupation when the cease-fire began last month. Israel has kept them trapped amid repeated attacks on IDF troops in Rafah — including one that killed two soldiers.

More than 30 terror operatives have been killed trying to flee from the tunnels, with another eight taken into custody, according to the IDF.

Hamas terrorists are believed to be trying to flee the tunnels also because they are running out of food and water, according to Israeli reports.

Hamas has claimed that its communication systems have broken down and that the gunmen in the underground aren’t aware of the temporary truce.

Quote:The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said on Wednesday morning that forensic examination had determined that the “findings” transferred from the Gaza Strip a day earlier do not belong to any of the hostages captured by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023.

“The families of the two fallen hostages have been informed,” the PMO stated. “The effort to bring them home will not stop until the completion of the mission—to lay them to rest with dignity in their homeland.”

The International Committee of the Red Cross on Tuesday handed over to Israel remains that it had received from Hamas terrorists, per the PMO.

The remains were transferred to the National Institute of Forensic Medicine at Abu Kabir in Tel Aviv for identification, it said on Tuesday.

The bodies of two captives remain in Gaza: Israel Police counter-terror officer Master Sgt. Ran Gvili and Thai national Sudthisak Rinthalak.

Israel’s Channel 14 News broadcaster on Tuesday night aired exclusive video footage of the gun battle in Kibbutz Alumim in which Gvili was mortally wounded.

The footage shows Gvili running over two terrorists while taking heavy fire.

The officer in Israel’s Yamam National Counter-Terrorism Unit was then shot in the leg, having already been wounded in the shoulder.

Despite his injuries, Gvili kept firing at the gunmen while warning fellow police officers of additional terrorists moving in.

After almost an hour of fighting, the terrorists reached him, killed him and abducted his body.

Under the ceasefire brokered by the Trump administration that went into effect on Oct. 10, the Palestinian terrorist group committed to returning on Oct. 13 all 28 bodies it was holding.

However, Hamas has slow-walked the return of the deceased hostages.

The most recent handover took place on Nov. 25, when the terrorist group transferred the remains of Dror Or.

He was buried on Sunday.

The PMO said last week that Hamas must fulfill its obligations, vowing that the Jewish state “will not compromise” until every captive is brought home.