Nation and world at a glance

North Korea tests its new long-range missile system

SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea said it fired long-range strategic cruise missiles into the sea to test the country's nuclear deterrence.

The official Korean Central News Agency reported today that the missile launches occurred off the country's west coast on Sunday in the presence of leader Kim Jong Un.

The launches were North Korea's latest weapons display. Last week, North Korea test-launched new anti-air missiles off its east coast and unveiled apparent progress in the construction of its first nuclear-powered submarine.

13 killed, 98 are injured

in train crash in Mexico

MEXICO CITY, Mexico -- Thirteen people died and 98 others were injured when a train derailed on a rail line connecting the Pacific Ocean with the Gulf of Mexico.

The Interoceanic Train linking the states of Oaxaca and Veracruz went off the rails Sunday as it passed a curve near the town of Nizanda.

The accident halted traffic along the line. Officials have said that 241 passengers and nine crew members were on the train when the accident occurred. The Interoceanic Train was inaugurated in 2023 by then President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

Rain floods Gaza camps;

Netanyahu to meet Trump

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip -- Winter rain has lashed the Gaza Strip and flooded camps with ankle-deep puddles as Palestinians displaced by war try to stay dry in fraying tents. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled for an expected meeting today with U.S. President Donald Trump about the second phase of the ceasefire.

The first phase that took effect on Oct. 10 was meant to bring a surge in humanitarian aid for Gaza including shelter. The ceasefire agreement's progress has slowed but the deal has mostly held. Its second phase is expected to be even more challenging with issues including Gaza's security and governance.

Thailand, Cambodia sign

new ceasefire agreement

BANGKOK (AP) -- Thailand and Cambodia have signed a ceasefire agreement to end weeks of fighting over border disputes. The agreement, effective Saturday at noon, halts military movements and airspace violations. Thailand had conducted airstrikes in Cambodia as recently as Saturday morning.

The deal includes the repatriation of 18 Cambodian soldiers held by Thailand after 72 hours of ceasefire. Both countries have suffered civilian and military casualties.

The ceasefire aims to allow displaced civilians to return home. The agreement also addresses land mine concerns and calls for joint demining operations. Malaysia's Prime Minister praised the agreement, emphasizing restraint for civilian safety.

Myanmar has first election

since military seized power

YANGON, Myanmar -- Voters in Myanmar have voted in the first phase of the country's general election.

The polls are being held under military rule amid a civil war. Final results will not be known until after two more rounds of voting are completed in January.

The first phase was held on Sunday. It's widely expected that Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing will assume the presidency.

The general led the ouster of the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021. Critics argue the election is a facade to legitimize military control under the pretense of civilian rule. The military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party is the heavy favorite to take power.

China begins military drills

as warning against threats

HONG KONG -- The Chinese military says it's dispatching air, navy and rocket troops to conduct joint military drills around Taiwan to warn against what it called separatist and "external interference" forces. The drills came after Beijing expressed anger at U.S. arms sales to the territory and a statement by Japan's prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, that its military could get involved if China were to take action against Taiwan, the self-governing island that the world's second-biggest economy says must come under its rule. But the Chinese military did not mention Japan in its statement.

The Associated Press

Nation and world at a glance

Public release of Epstein records

puts Maxwell under fresh scrutiny

NEW YORK -- Days after Ghislaine Maxwell asked a judge to immediately free her from a 20-year prison sentence, the public release of grand jury transcripts from her sex trafficking case returned the spotlight to victims whose allegations helped land her behind bars.

The disclosure of the transcripts as part of the Justice Department's ongoing release of its investigative files on Maxwell and the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein exposed how an FBI agent told grand jurors about Maxwell's critical role in Epstein's decades-long sexual abuse of girls and young women.

Maxwell, a British socialite and publishing heir, was convicted of sex trafficking in December 2021 after four women told a federal jury in New York City about how she and Epstein abused them in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Epstein never went to trial. He was arrested in July 2019 on sex trafficking charges and killed himself a month later in his cell at a Manhattan federal jail.

Two weeks ago, as the Justice Department prepared to begin releasing what are commonly known as the Epstein files, Maxwell filed a habeas petition, asking a federal judge to free her on grounds that "substantial new evidence" has emerged proving that constitutional violations spoiled her trial.

Maxwell claimed exonerating information was withheld and that witnesses lied in their testimony. She filed the petition on her own, without the assistance of a lawyer.

New storm hitting waterlogged

S. California could bring mudslides

WRIGHTWOOD, Calif. -- California, soaked from days of relentless rain and recovering from mudslides in mountain towns, was hit with another powerful storm Christmas Day that led to evacuation warnings and high surf advisories.

The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department in Southern California issued an evacuation warning for Wrightwood, a mountain town about 80 miles (130 kilometers) northeast of Los Angeles, a day after rescuing people trapped in cars during a mud slide.

The National Weather Service said waves near the San Francisco Bay Area could reach up to 25 feet today. Statewide, more than 70,000 people were without power Thursday afternoon, according to PowerOutage.us.

A day ago, heavy rain and fierce winds were blamed for at least two deaths.

Turkey detains 100 ISIS suspects

planning attacks on Christmas

ISTANBUL -- Istanbul police launched scores of simultaneous raids on Thursday, detaining over a hundred suspected members of the militant Islamic State group who were allegedly planning attacks against Christmas and New Year's celebrations, authorities said.

A statement from the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office said police were tipped off that the extremist group had called for action -- particularly against non-Muslims -- during the celebrations.

The office had issued warrants for 137 suspects, of whom 115 were detained. Officers also seized many firearms, cartridges and documents during the raids. It said 124 locations were raided.

The arrests come days after the Trump administration launched widespread military strikes in neighboring Syria to "eliminate" Islamic State fighters and weapons' sites in retaliation for an ambush blamed on the group that killed two U.S. troops and an American civilian interpreter.

Trump-backed candidate Asfura

wins Honduras' presidential vote

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras -- Donald Trump-backed candidate Nasry Asfura won Honduras' presidential election, electoral authorities said Wednesday afternoon, ending a weeks-long count that has whittled away at the credibility of the Central American nation's fragile electoral system.

The election is continuing Latin America's swing to the right, coming just a week after Chile chose the far-right politician José Antonio Kast as its next president.

Asfura, of the conservative National Party, received 40.27% of the vote in the Nov. 30 vote, edging out four-time candidate Salvador Nasralla of the conservative Liberal Party, who finished with 39.53% of the vote.

The former mayor of Honduras' capital Tegucigalpa, won in his second bid for the presidency, after he and Nasralla were neck-and-neck during a weeks-long vote count that fueled international concern.

Russian court sentences pro-war

activist and Putin critic to 6 years

A court in Russia on Thursday convicted a pro-war activist and critic of President Vladimir Putin of justifying terrorism and sentenced him to six years in prison.

Sergei Udaltsov, the leader of the Left Front movement that opposes Putin and is affiliated with the Communist Party, was arrested last year.

According to Russian independent news site Mediazona, the charges against him stem from an article Udaltsov posted online in support of another group of Russian activists accused of forming a terrorist organization. Those activists were convicted earlier this month and handed sentences ranging from 16 to 22 years in prison.

Udaltsov has rejected the charges against him as fabricated. On Thursday, he denounced the verdict as "shameful" and said he was going on a hunger strike, Mediazona reported.

According to the court ruling, the activist will be serving his sentence in a maximum security penal colony.

The Associated Press

Nation and world at a glance

Kilmar Abrego Garcia gets freed

from federal immigration detention

PHILIPSBURG, Pa. -- Kilmar Abrego Garcia has been released from an immigration detention center in Pennsylvania following an order from a federal judge issued Thursday, according to his attorney's office.

Abrego Garcia's attorney's office confirmed he was released just before 5 p.m.

His attorney earlier told The Associated Press he plans to return to Maryland, where he has an American wife and child and where he has lived for years after originally immigrating to the U.S. illegally as a teenager.

Attorney Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg said he's not sure what comes next, but he's prepared to defend his client against further deportation efforts.

Indiana Republicans defy Trump,

reject his House redistricting push

INDIANAPOLIS -- In a resounding rejection of a pressure campaign from the White House, Indiana Republican Senators voted down a new congressional map created to give the GOP an advantage in the upcoming 2026 election.

Twenty-one senators from the Republican supermajority and the chamber's 10 Democrats voted against the map Thursday, which would have split the city of Indianapolis into four districts.

While other Republican states have moved quickly to redistrict, Indiana lawmakers have been far more hesitant.

The GOP senators who voted against the map are likely to face primary challengers backed by Republicans on the side of President Donald Trump, who wants to give his party an easier path to keeping the U.S. House.

Noem links the seizure of oil tanker

off Venezuela to US antidrug efforts

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has linked the seizure of an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela to the Trump administration's counterdrug efforts. During testimony Thursday to the House Homeland Security Committee, Noem lauded the U.S. forces' unusual move to take control of a merchant ship.

Noem describes it as a successful move that's part of President Donald Trump's efforts to combat drug trafficking. The Republican president told reporters Wednesday the tanker was seized "for a very good reason." Venezuela's government has called the seizure an act of international piracy.

Justice Department again fails

to re-indict New York AG James

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- A grand jury has declined for a second time in a week to re-indict New York Attorney General Letitia James.

A grand jury rejection is an unusual circumstance in any case, and the repeated failures amount to a stunning rebuke of prosecutors' bid to resurrect a criminal case President Donald Trump pressured them to bring.

The failure to secure an indictment was confirmed by two people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to publicly discuss the case and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

James was initially charged with bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution in connection with a home purchase in 2020.

Zelenskyy says US-led peace talks

deal with demands for Ukraine land

KYIV, Ukraine -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says negotiators are tackling territorial issues in U.S.-led peace talks with Russia.

Discussions include the possession of Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region and the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.

Ukraine has submitted a 20-point plan to the U.S., but Zelenskyy noted uncertainties about the final documents.

American negotiators suggest a "free economic zone" in Donbas, while Russia proposes a "demilitarized zone." Zelenskyy held talks Thursday with leaders from 30 allied countries.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the U.S. could send a representative to the talks this weekend, but only if "there's a chance of signing a peace agreement." She expressed frustration at a lack of progress so far.

MyPillow founder Mike Lindell

to run for Minn. governor in 2026

SHAKOPEE, Minn. -- Mike Lindell, the fervent supporter of President Donald Trump known to TV viewers as the "MyPillow Guy," says he's running for Minnesota governor in 2026.

Lindell became close to Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign.

He went on to become a leading amplifier of Trump's false claims that the 2020 election was stolen.

That led to a string of legal and financial setbacks for Lindell and his MyPillow company, which he founded in Minnesota.

But he says he's overcome them and is eager to take on Democratic Gov. Tim Walz. Walz became nationally known last year as the running mate of Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.

The Associated Press

Nation and world at a glance

State, US officials monitor

critics of immigration raids

NEW ORLEANS -- State and federal authorities are monitoring online criticism and protests against the immigration crackdown in New Orleans.

Records reviewed by The Associated Press show the state's fusion center is tracking message boards for threats to agents and compiling updates on public sentiment. Officials have released few details about the arrests made as part of the operation called the "Catahoula Crunch."

Local leaders are calling for transparency, saying they've been kept in the dark. Immigration authorities claim the sweeps target "criminal illegal aliens," but records show less than a third of those arrested had criminal records.

Senator supports release of

video of 2nd strike on ship

The Republican who leads the Senate Intelligence Committee says a video of a U.S. military strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean that killed two survivors of the initial attack shows "nothing remarkable."

Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton says he would not oppose its public release if the Pentagon were to declassify it.

Cotton is partially aligning himself with President Donald Trump and top Democrats in favor of releasing the video of the Sept. 2 attack. But he is splitting with Democrats over whether military personnel acted lawfully in carrying out a second strike to kill the two survivors. Cotton spoke Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press."

Democratic governors urge focus on pocketbook issues

PHOENIX -- Democratic governors who met over the weekend in Arizona say the party must focus on affordability in next year's midterm elections. They aim to build on wins last month in governor's races in New Jersey and Virginia by addressing everyday concerns such as housing prices, rent and grocery costs. The strategy seeks to unite Democrats across the ideological spectrum while confronting President Donald Trump's policies. Yet there are risks if economic conditions change for the better or if Democrats fail to deliver on their promises. Governor's offices will be up for election in 36 states next year.

Trump: Zelenskyy not ready to accept US plan to end war

KYIV, Ukraine -- President Donald Trump is claiming Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy "isn't ready" to sign off on a U.S-authored peace proposal aimed at ending the Russia-Ukraine war.

Trump was critical of Zelenskyy after U.S. and Ukrainian negotiators completed three days of talks aimed at trying to narrow differences on the U.S. administration's proposal.

But in an exchange with reporters on Sunday, Trump suggested the Ukrainian leader is holding up the talks from moving forward.

The president told reporters: "Russia is, I believe, fine with it, but I'm not sure that Zelenskyy's fine with it. His people love it it. But he isn't ready."

Judge deals setback for

effort to indict Comey anew

WASHINGTON -- A federal judge has dealt a setback to Justice Department efforts to seek a new indictment against former FBI Director James Comey.

U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly has temporarily barred prosecutors from using evidence they'd relied on when they initially secured criminal charges.

The ruling doesn't preclude the government from trying again soon to indict Comey. But it does suggest prosecutors may have to do that without citing communications between Comey and a close friend and associate, Columbia University law professor Daniel Richman. A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment Sunday.

African leader condemns

foiled coup attempt in Benin

COTONOU, Benin -- Benin President Patrice Talon has condemned an attempted coup that was foiled by the African country's army in his first public comments since sporadic gunfire was heard in parts of the administrative capital, Cotonou.

A group of soldiers appeared on Benin's state TV Sunday to announce the dissolution of the government in an apparent coup. Later, Interior Minister Alassane Seidou announced in a video on Facebook that the attempted coup had been "foiled," but Talon, whose location was unclear, had not commented.

The Associated Press