Three people, including two police officers, were killed in an explosion in Moscow on Wednesday, Russian investigators said, just days after a car bomb killed a high-ranking general not far away. Three people, including two police officers, were killed in an explosion in Moscow on Wednesday, Russian investigators said, just days after a car bomb killed a high-ranking general not far away. This undated photo, distributed by official telegram channel of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, shows official portraits of Russian police officers Lt. lya Klimanov and Lt. Maxim Gorbunov, who were killed in an explosion in Moscow, on Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025. An explosion in Moscow on Wednesday killed three people, including two police officers, Russian investigators said, days after a car bomb killed a high-ranking general not far away. An official from Ukraine's military intelligence, known as GUR, told The Associated Press that the attack had been carried out as part of an agency operation. Another official from the agency said the police officers had taken part in Russia's war in Ukraine, without providing details. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. Russian authorities did not comment on who may be behind the attack. Since Moscow invaded nearly four years ago, Russian authorities have blamed Kyiv for several assassinations of military officers and public figures in Russia. Ukraine has claimed responsibility for some of them. On Wednesday, two traffic police officers were approaching a suspicious individual when a device detonated, Russia's Investigative Committee spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko said in a statement. The officers and another person standing nearby died from their injuries. Investigators have said they are looking into whether Ukraine was behind that attack, which was the third such killing of a senior military officer in just over a year. Ukraine — which is outnumbered by Russia's larger, better equipped military — has frequently tried to change the course of the war by attacking in unexpected ways. In August last year, Ukrainian forces staged a surprise incursion into Russia's Kursk region even as they struggled to stem Russian offensives elsewhere. Moscow's troops eventually drove them out, but the incursion diverted Russian military resources and raised Ukrainian morale. In June, swarms of drones launched from trucks targeted bomber bases across Russia. Moscow has also blamed assassinations on Ukraine. Just over a year ago, Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, the chief of the military's nuclear, biological and chemical protection forces, was killed by a bomb hidden on an electric scooter outside his apartment building. Ukraine's security service claimed responsibility for the attack. In April, Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik, a deputy head of the main operational department in the General Staff, was killed by an explosive device placed in his car parked near his apartment building just outside Moscow.. Days after Moskalik's killing, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he received a report from the head of Ukraine's foreign intelligence agency on the “liquidation” of top Russian military figures, adding that “justice inevitably comes” although he didn't mention Moskalik's name. Meanwhile, Western officials have accused Russia of staging a campaign of disruption and sabotage across Europe as part of an effort to sap support for Ukraine. Associated Press writer Volodymyr Yurchuk contributed to this report from Kyiv, Ukraine.

Day 24 of the 2025 Space Telescope Advent Calendar Day 24 of the 2025 Space Telescope Advent Calendar: A Gravitational Lens. Galaxies in this James Webb Space Telescope image appear to be stretched into arcs and lines, their appearance warped and magnified by powerful gravitational lensing in Galaxy Cluster Abell S1063, which bends the light of more distant galaxies as it passes through on its way to Earth. See the full advent calendar here, where a new image will be revealed each day until December 25. TheAtlantic.com © 2025 The Atlantic Monthly Group. All Rights Reserved. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply

A makeshift memorial of flags, flowers and other items is seen Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, outside of Farragut West Station, near the site where two National Guard members were shot in Washington. A picture of National Guard member Specialist Sarah Beckstrom, one of two National Guard members who were shot in Washington on Wednesday, is honored with blue bows in Webster Springs, W.Va., Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. WASHINGTON (AP) — A man accused of shooting two National Guard troops near the White House has been charged in a complaint with federal firearms charges in connection with the ambush on November 26 that fatally wounded one of the West Virginia National Guard members and seriously injured the second. Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, has been charged with transporting a firearm in interstate commerce with the intent to commit an offense punishable for more than one year. He has also been charged federally with transporting a stolen firearm in interstate commerce. “The transfer of this case from Superior Court to District Court ensures that we can undertake the serious, deliberate, and weighty analysis required to determine if the death penalty is appropriate here,” said U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro. “Sarah Beckstrom was just 20 years old when she was killed and her parents are now forced to endure the holiday season without their daughter. Andrew Wolfe, by the grace of God, survived but has a long road ahead in his recovery.” Lakanwal remains charged with first-degree murder, assault with intent to kill and illegal possession of a firearm in the shooting that killed Beckstrom, 20, and wounded Wolfe, 24, in violation of D.C. code. There is no death penalty in D.C. Superior Court. Beckstrom and Wolfe were deployed with the West Virginia National Guard for President Donald Trump's law-enforcement surge in the nation's capital, which has flooded the city with federal agents and troops since August. Lakanwal is accused of driving from Bellingham, Washington to Washington, D.C. while in possession of a stolen firearm and ambushing the two Guard members outside a subway station three blocks from the White House. An Afghan national, Laknawal worked with the American government, including the CIA, “as a member of a partner force” in Kandahar, Afghanistan, CIA Director John Ratcliffe said. Lakanwal, 29, entered the United States in 2021 through Operation Allies Welcome, officials said.

A small Mexican Navy plane transporting a young medical patient and seven others crashed Monday near Galveston, killing at least five people and setting off a search in the waters off the Texas coast, officials said. A small Mexican Navy plane transporting a young medical patient and seven others crashed Monday near Galveston, killing at least five people and setting off a search in waters along the Texas coast, officials said. Relatives of Lt. Luis Enrique Castillo, a victim of a Mexican Navy plane crash off the Texas coast, learn about his death, at the family house in El Pantano, Veracruz state, Mexico, Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025. Eduardo Castillo shows a portrait of his son Lt. Luis Enrique Castillo, a victim of a Mexican Navy plane crash off the Texas coast, at the family house in El Pantano, Veracruz state, Mexico, Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025. In this image provided by Sky Decker Jr., authorities and volunteers respond to a Mexican Navy plane crash near Galveston, Texas, Monday, Dec. 22, 2025. Eduardo Castillo, the father of Lt. Luis Enrique Castillo, a victim of a Mexican Navy plane crash off the Texas coast, gathers with family at their home in El Pantano, Veracruz state, Mexico, Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025. Air traffic controllers lost communication for about 10 minutes with a small Mexican Navy plane carrying a young medical patient and seven others before it crashed off the Texas coast in thick fog, killing at least six people, Mexico's government said Tuesday. The plane was working with a nonprofit group transporting Mexican children with severe burns to a hospital in Galveston, near Houston, when the plane crashed Monday afternoon. Authorities believed the plane had landed, but the flight had lost contact with air controllers, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Tuesday in her morning briefing. In this image provided by Sky Decker Jr., authorities and volunteers respond to a Mexican Navy plane crash near Galveston, Texas, Monday, Dec. 22, 2025. Teams found the dead bodies of five people and pulled two survivors from the plane's wreckage, then set off on a daylong search in the waters near Galveston for 29-year-old Navy Lieutenant Luis Enrique Castillo. “What happened is very tragic,” Sheinbaum said in her morning press briefing, noting that sailors were among the dead. As the twin turboprop Beech King Air 350i approached Sholes International Airport in Galveston, radar shows it was far too low, said Jeff Guzzetti, a former NTSB and Federal Aviation Administration crash investigator. A navigation system for the runway where the plane was supposed to land had been out of service for about a week, Guzzetti said. The fog was so thick that meteorologists estimated only about a half-mile of visibility. In this image provided by Sky Decker Jr., authorities and volunteers respond to a Mexican Navy plane crash near Galveston, Texas, Monday, Dec. 22, 2025. The pilot should have aborted the landing if the runway wasn't visible at an altitude of 205 feet (62.5 meters), climbing back up before trying again or looking for another airport entirely, Guzzetti said. “Maybe there was some sort of mechanical malfunction,” he said. “But just looking at the recorded flight track and comparing it with the weather and the airport equipment outage, seems to me that this landing approach should never have occurred.” The popular beach destination is about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southeast of Houston. Sky Decker, a professional yacht captain who lives near the crash site, said he jumped in his boat to see if he could help. He picked up two police officers who guided him through the thick fog to the nearly submerged plane. “She had maybe 3 inches (7.6 centimeters) of air gap to breathe in,” he said. Eduardo Castillo gathered with the rest of his family and friends Tuesday afternoon in their small community of El Pantano in the sweltering southern Mexican state of Veracruz. The father, who worked long hours as a carpenter to give his son the opportunities he never had, was desperately refreshing his phone every few minutes, looking for any news of their missing son. Mexico's Marines, he noted, had provided few other details than a call saying their son was missing. He and his wife were expecting a baby due in three months. On Tuesday night, Castillo heard his phone ring and answered, hearing the words he had dreaded. “Now he's never going to meet his unborn child,” Eduard Castillo said as his family hugged and sobbed around him. A spokesperson for the NTSB said in an email that investigators will review maintenance records, weather forecasts and air traffic control communications. “There have been previous accidents in the air medical community where pilots try to push their luck in order to save the patient,” he said. He said it's the latest version of a series that has been in use since the 1960s and would have been outfitted with all the modern electronics, avionics and equipment. Mexico's Navy said the plane was helping with a medical mission in coordination with the Michou and Mau Foundation. One child died, while another survived after receiving treatment at Shriners Children's Texas in Galveston. Over 23 years, the foundation has helped transfer more than 2,000 patients to that hospital and other medical facilities with burn expertise, according to the charity's website. Shriners Children's Texas said in a statement that it learned of the crash with “profound sadness” but wasn't able to provide any information about the child's condition. This latest crash comes amid a year of intense scrutiny on aviation safety after a string of high-profile crashes and the flight disruptions during the government shutdown driven by the shortage of air traffic controllers. The January midair collision between an Army helicopter and an airliner near Washington, D.C., was followed by the crash of a medical transport plane in Philadelphia. This fall's fiery UPS plane crash only added to the concerns. Still, the total number of crashes in 2025 was actually down a bit from last year, and experts say flying remains safe overall.

But if they had the chance to tell Washington something, a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS finds, they'd say plenty, much of it about the economy. That was the most common response when Americans were asked to share in their own words what they'd tell President Donald Trump to make life in the US better. Among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, 40% mentioned economic or cost-of-living concerns. “My message to him right now would be, ‘Please take care of the economy because it's awful,'” said Betty Glazebrook, a 78-year-old Trump voter from Massachusetts who spoke to CNN after taking the survey. And I just don't know what's gonna happen.” Nearly 4 in 10 Americans say that neither the president nor Democratic leadership is listening to people like them. Glazebrook said she feels like Trump cares more about himself than people like her, but she's also unconvinced that Democrats have her best interests in mind. “I'm starting to feel like nobody does, honestly,” she said. While Trump has often downplayed affordability as a concern, the issue remains top of mind for many voters and likely to dominate next year's midterms. Just 5% of Americans said their advice to Trump would touch on immigration with fewer still mentioning foreign policy. Many simply want a chance to make their feelings about Trump known; 16% say they'd call on him to resign or leave office, while 8% say they'd pay him a compliment. Around 15% say Trump could most help Americans by changing something about his personal conduct, with 6% wanting him to modulate his tone or to be more respectful, thoughtful or presidential. A few say they would refuse to speak with him at all. Many Americans also have advice for Democrats on how they should deal with Trump. The sentiment among the Democratic base is more clear-cut: 19% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents say they'd tell their party's leadership to take more of a stand compared with just 2% who say they'd advocate for greater compromise. “Stop being gentle and palatable to the opposing side,” one Democratic-leaning independent from New Jersey in their 20s wrote in response to the survey. We should have an equal reaction to balance out the scales of power.” That desire for increased forcefulness from their party doesn't map as neatly onto a preferred set of political views. Few Democratic-aligned adults said that they'd share a message about the party's ideological direction, and those who did were about equally as likely to suggest that the party should move to the left as they were to say it should become more moderate. “Take a step outside and look in your own neighborhood, your own backyard and see that who's really struggling and who's actually needing the help,” said Kayley Jensen, a 30-year-old single mother from the Bay Area who responded to the survey. The CNN poll was conducted by SSRS online and by phone from December 4 to 7 among a random national sample of 1,032 adults drawn from a probability-based panel. CNN's Jennifer Agiesta and Edward Wu contributed to this report.

The Supreme Court's decision Tuesday blocking President Donald Trump from sending the National Guard into American cities is likely to raise a politically fraught debate about the president's willingness to invoke a 19th-century law to deploy the regular military on American soil instead. In its order Tuesday, the Supreme Court focused on another federal law Trump tried to use to federalize hundreds of members of the Illinois National Guard. But the decision on the court's emergency docket did not deal directly with other authorities Trump could attempt to use. In major loss for Trump, Supreme Court blocks National Guard deployment to Chicago That is a possibility that has lurked in the case at the Supreme Court for months as the administration has attempted to send National Guard troops into Democratic-run cities to help protect Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and facilities. “But we have an Insurrection Act for a reason.” The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a statement after the court's order Tuesday, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said that nothing in the Supreme Court's decision detracts from the administration's “core agenda” of ensuring that “rioters did not destroy federal buildings and property.” That order followed the Supreme Court's historic decision three years earlier in Brown v. Board of Education that declared segregated schools unconstitutional. William Banks, a Syracuse University law professor and expert on the Insurrection Act, told CNN that such a move would almost certainly be more politically dicey. “Instead of part-time National Guard personnel, the president could send in the 82nd Airborne in heavy armor and gear and gin up some heavy martial images for our screens,” Banks said. The administration appeared to acknowledge that concern in briefing earlier this fall, telling the Supreme Court that it made sense to rely on the National Guard in Chicago because its members are “civilians temporarily called up to serve with deep experience in deescalating domestic disturbances among their fellow citizens.” That, the administration suggested, might be preferable to relying on the standing army, “whose primary function is to win wars by deploying lethal force” against enemies overseas. But now that the Supreme Court has ruled against Trump on his first approach, there is the question of whether the administration will continue to pursue some other legal authority with which to justify a military presence in US cities. “There's only a little bit of daylight between no law and the Posse Comitatus prohibition and the Insurrection Act,” Banks said. “There's no other space for them to work.” “Trump can't use 12406(3) to deploy the National Guard at this time,” Goitein said. “I think there are also potential ramifications for whether or how he could use the Insurrection Act.” The administration told a federal court in a different case weeks ago that “increased coordination” with local police had “reduced the need for federal officers” to engage with protesters at the building in suburban Broadview. And defense officials announced in November that they were “rightsizing” planned deployments to Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland, Oregon. The officials said at that time that only about 300 National Guard units from Illinois would remain ready to deploy. Lower court orders have blocked their ability to conduct operations with the Department of Homeland Security. “If all those questions were not fraught enough, an even graver one lurks here too: When, if ever, may the federal government deploy the professional military for domestic law enforcement purposes consistent with the Constitution?” Gorsuch wrote. Those are questions, he said, he would prefer to leave “for another case where they are properly preserved and can receive the full airing they so clearly deserve.”

China has ample reason to oppose the ramp-up of American military pressure on Venezuela and the recent US interceptions of tankers tied to its oil. Beijing has slammed those interceptions as “seriously violating international law” and assured Caracas of its opposition to “all forms of unilateralism and bullying” in a call between the countries' top diplomats last week. But it's also clear that Beijing is primed to use the US aggression to its advantage: playing it as another reason on its list of why the US should not be the world's leading superpower, and a window into how Trump is rolling out his revival of the Monroe Doctrine. The White House's national security strategy released earlier this month includes a revamp of that centuries-old policy, updating what historically was a warning to European colonial powers not to interfere in the Western hemisphere to a Trump-era vision for a “stable” region “free of hostile foreign incursion or ownership of key assets.” The strategy has sparked a deluge of analysis in China's policy circles, where analysts are debating whether the US is therefore signaling a withdrawal from its role as a global-spanning power to focus on its own backyard – leaving more space for Beijing to expand its own influence in Asia and the world. An analysis in domestic Chinese state media was more blunt, with a research fellow at government-backed think tank suggesting that if the US advanced its maritime operations to a large-scale invasion, it could trigger a “‘second Vietnam War. Earlier this month, after the US had already been amassing its military might in the Caribbean and carrying out strikes on alleged drug-smuggling vessels in the region, China bolstered its own message: publishing its first new policy paper on Latin America and the Caribbean in nearly a decade. Dropping roughly a week after the White House National Security Strategy, China's agenda laid out dozens of areas in which it proposed boosting collaboration with the region, from aerospace to law enforcement. Whether timed alongside Washington's moves or not, the paper reiterated Beijing's core message as it vies to become an alternative leader to the US and reshape a world it sees as unfairly dominated by the West. “As a developing country and a member of the Global South, China has always stood in solidarity through thick and thin with the Global South, including Latin America and the Caribbean,” it said, using a term to refer to typically emerging economies in the globe's geographic south. It also signaled that Beijing has no intention of backing away from a region where it's spent recent decades ramping up its diplomacy and unleashing billions in loans for infrastructure and other projects – with Venezuela a major beneficiary. In his military pressure on Venezuela, Trump has said he's taking aim at the regime of Nicolás Maduro, which he alleges uses oil money to finance “drug terrorism, human trafficking, murder, and kidnapping.” He's suggested that he wants to open up US access to Venezuelan land, oil and assets that he says were “stolen” when the country nationalized its oil fields in the 1970s. But Trump is also targeting a country with close ties to the countries he appears to see as great powers: China and Russia. Those two countries have both been staunch diplomatic backers of the Maduro regime, even as Venezuela spiralled into deep economic crisis, and as rights groups and other governments decried political repression, including around the disputed 2024 election that extended Maduro's rule. Representatives from Moscow and Beijing condemned the US pressure campaign against Venezuela at a meeting on the UN Security Council on Tuesday, with Chinese representative Sun Lei saying China “supports all countries in defending their sovereignty and national dignity” and calling on the US to avoid further escalation. Last month, crude oil from Venezuela accounted for 5% of its total imports, according to data analytics firm Kpler shared with CNN. But China is unlikely to move past rhetoric and flex its military might to back Venezuela or to shore up engagement in Latin America in the face of the US show of force. International observers have wondered whether China could draw lessons from the American moves for its own region, where it's widely seen as looking to be the dominant power and achieve its goal of taking control of Taiwan –– the self-governing democratic island it claims. Some have argued that it shows a re-prioritization of US interests or even Trump's vision for a world divided into “spheres of influence” led by great powers – namely the US and its allies, Russia and China. That means, the US “is unlikely to interfere excessively in East Asian affairs such as the Taiwan issue and Sino-Japanese relations and instead acknowledges China's dominance in this region of influence,” one such scholar, Mei Yang, associate dean of The Chinese University of Hong Kong in Shenzhen, wrote in a recent analysis. But Mei and other Chinese policy thinkers suggest that this is a “temporary strategic retrenchment” by the US, that will not see it give up on looking to ensure military dominance or on its competition with China. So even if Beijing sees an upside to a US focused on its own backyard, it doesn't change the urgency felt by Chinese officials to gain control of the global narrative. That means, so far, Trump's actions against Venezuela and his evocation of a 19th century policy appear to have given Beijing one more way to defend its own record and frame the US as a power of a bygone era.

When the news broke about welfare fraud in Minnesota's Somali community, it was largely confined to abuse surrounding the Agriculture Department's Federal Child Nutrition Program and a Medicaid-funded autism program. However, investigators now believe that over $9 billion was stolen by more than 90 people through 14 Medicaid-funded programs. It is possible that this wave of criminal fraud is isolated to Minnesota, but it is not likely, especially since the waivers at the heart of the scandal have been granted to dozens of other blue states nationwide. The guilty are not doctors who bill for more expensive services than those actually delivered, then kick money back to patients. No doctors are even involved because Medicaid is being used to pay for nonmedical services. But with federal taxpayers picking up 90% of new spending, the incentive for states to find new ways to spend other people's money was larger than ever before. Proponents of SDOH claim to believe that health outcomes are primarily driven by social and economic conditions, meaning adequate provision of housing, food, education, and even income must be considered part of “healthcare.” With the Affordable Care Act Medicaid expansion money flowing in, many states began using Section 1115 waivers to use federal Medicaid dollars to fund and expand existing welfare programs or create new ones, all channeled through nongovernmental organizations stocked with Democratic Party community organizers and other activists. In 2023, the Biden administration released its “Playbook to Address Social Determinants of Health,” embracing the SDOH approach and making it easier for states to use their Medicaid dollars for “nonstandard benefits,” such as housing, utilities, food, and even home remodeling. Even through a government shutdown, the SDOH money spigot to Democratic nonprofit groups and their fraudulent allies keeps flowing. This is how Minnesota's “14 Medicaid programs” that have become such a magnet for fraud came into being. Importantly, none of these involve a doctor or nurse with medical training. They don't require any training at all, which is part of what makes them so ripe for fraud. Blue states have been abusing federal Medicaid dollars to finance non-healthcare social welfare spending for years. The never-ending spiral of blue state Medicaid spending suggests otherwise.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Minnesota House of Representative Krista Knudsen honored her cousin, Border Patrol Agent David "Chris" Maland, after he was killed in a deadly shooting on the Northern Border. U.S. District Judge Anne M. Nardacci found that the Justice Department — which sued New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and state Attorney General Letitia James in February — had failed to prove its claims that the state law sought to invalidate federal law or that the measure unlawfully regulates or unlawfully discriminates against the federal government. "As I said from the start, our laws protect the rights of all New Yorkers and keep our communities safe," James said in a statement. "I will always stand up for New Yorkers and the rule of law." U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi alleged when announcing the lawsuit that Hochul and James were prioritizing "illegal aliens over American citizens," as the controversial state law blocks federal agents trying to enforce immigration laws from seeing illegal immigrants' criminal driving records during traffic stops. Kathy Hochul and state Attorney General Letitia James in February. The administration has "failed to state such a claim," Nardacci wrote. The Green Light Law, also known as the Driver's License Access and Privacy Act, was adopted, in part, to improve road safety, as people sometimes drove without a license or without having passed a driving test. Under the measure, it is easier for these license holders to receive auto insurance. The law states that people who do not have a valid Social Security number can submit alternative forms of ID, including valid passports and driver's licenses issued in other countries. The legislation does not apply to commercial driver's licenses (CDLs). The lawsuit further claimed that it could be easier to enforce the Trump administration's immigration agenda if federal authorities had unrestricted access to New York's driver information. The Green Light Law took effect in 2019, but came under renewed scrutiny following a fatal shootout in Vermont in January that left a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent dead near the northern border with Canada after a traffic stop involving a German national. "Any information that can help law enforcement stay safe as they conduct their duties has pretty much been taken away with this Green Light Law," Hector Garza, vice president of the National Border Patrol Council, told Fox News Digital at the time. "What [the Green Light Law] does, is that it prevents law enforcement agents from getting any type of information in regards to any registrations that the state has," Garza added. "For example, before we engage in traffic stops, typically law enforcement will always conduct a vehicle registration check to see if there's any warrants to see if that person is considered armed and dangerous." But Nardacci, echoing an appeals court ruling in a county clerk's earlier challenge to the law, wrote that the information "remains available to federal immigration authorities" through a lawful court order or judicial warrant. New York is one of a dozen states that allows illegals to drive. Fox News Digital's Michael Ruiz and The Associated Press contributed to this report. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.

He had been wearing his leather patch – depicting a horned skull engulfed in red flames, and the gang's name “Head Hunters” spelled in giant gothic lettering – at a private party at the group's clubhouse in late October. “It meant a lot to me,” said Morris. His was one of 192 patches seized by police in the first 12 months of the law being in effect. A year on, more than 850 charges have been laid for breaches of the prohibition order, and the government is touting the law change as a roaring success – claiming a decrease in serious violent crime. According to gang members, the banishment of the patches is just optics – they're recruiting new members just as fast as before. Between October 2024, just before the insignia ban came into effect, and August this year, the number of victims of violent offending dropped by 23%, figures from a regular justice ministry crime survey showed. The government and police both chalked that up as a win for the patch ban and associated anti-gang measures that were introduced, but the data doesn't actually spell out what offending is gang-related. Parnell did admit it was hard to “draw the nexus” between the seizing of a patch and any change in drug crime or other serious offending like child abuse and sexual assault. Ask a gang member if anything has changed and they will likely just laugh. “Serious crime has never been done with a patch on,” said Bronson Edwards, 34, a chapter captain of the Mongrel Mob – one of New Zealand's most storied gangs, whose mostly indigenous Māori members often seek to shock and provoke by bearing Nazi swastikas, and shouting the rallying cry “Sieg Heil.” “It's so special and sacred to us,” said Edwards. Patches, bandanas and even just specific colors are used by gangs globally to state their presence, protect territory and, when conflict erupts, identify who is who. But patches have an elevated status because they're usually earned by new recruits – known as “prospects” – for doing certain, often nefarious, tasks. The law covers insignia in broad terms – defining them as any sign, symbol or representation commonly associated with a gang – and it applies to anything it is displayed on, be that clothing, cars, or even rings. The punishment for breaching the ban is up to six months in prison, or a maximum fine of $5,000 New Zealand dollars ($2,870). At a time when indigenous Māori were being uprooted from their ancestral homes as part of an urbanization push, and amid an immigration crackdown on Polynesian people who had moved to New Zealand from the Pacific Islands in search of work and education, gangs – offering fraternity, status and protection – became a draw card for marginalized people. Drive down the motorway in Auckland, and there's a chance your vehicle will be swarmed and overtaken by dozens of bikies out on a weekend ride. Roughly 10 years ago, new gangs began to set up shop – some founded by serious criminals booted out of Australia under a controversial Canberra policy that deported visa holders who failed a “character” test, even if they had lived most of their lives in Australia. The newly established gangs quickly began to grow and muscle in on the drug trade –– building connections with notorious overseas organized crime syndicates, like Mexico's Sinaloa cartel, co-founded by notorious narco Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán. Turf wars and renewed rivalries led to gun violence that played out in public, with gang members shot dead in the streets, and the homes of innocent families left riddled with bullet holes after being shot at in the night by gang members who got the wrong address. Public frustration built and, in 2023, the funeral of a high-profile gang leader became a political flashpoint when two small North Island towns were brought to a standstill, and a state highway closed, as hundreds of patched bikies rolled in to pay their respects. Assistant commissioner Parnell said reports of communities “feeling overwhelmed by the presence of patched gang members” were not uncommon. But he said the insignia ban had drawn a line and people were now able to “go about their business and actually feel safe… without being impeded by en masse patched gang members.” The Mongrel Mob and Black Power have a strong presence. The local mayor Craig Little said there has been “a real big turnaround” since the insignia law took effect. “You're not seeing gang members walking down your main street or anywhere really.” “People aren't missing them, that's for sure.” Edwards, captain of the town's Mongrel Mob chapter, agreed the law has made no real difference to crime. “We're still out there, out on the street, just less visible –– which, you know, (with) the things that I want to do, that works out quite fine,” he said. Gang membership in New Zealand is more than just about being part of a club. “I've grown up around bikes my whole life. All my uncles are Head Hunters, so it's just one of those things,” said Morris. And it's the depth of those family ties – which span generations – that make gang membership in New Zealand distinct; it's not a phase people just grow out of, but more of a lifetime commitment, often from birth. “What a lot of people don't realize is we've created our own culture, our own whanau (family), and that aspect is heavy here in the Hawke's Bay,” said Edwards, who is also part of a multi-generational gang family. “We're all family and the last thing we want is for our families to be doing life (in prison),” Edwards said. But blood relatives often end up in rival gangs too. That is “a real sad thing,” said Little, Wairoa's mayor. “Most of the gang members are related in some way or form, so it seems ridiculous that they are fighting each other.” Very few gang members get caught up in real crime, he said. “We've got 300 members and, like, only 5% is in jail for dumb s**t. You know, the majority of us are business owners.” Morris himself has a prior conviction for unlawful gun possession, but claims he is not involved in the organized crime side of gang life. State agencies in New Zealand keep a national list of patched gang members and prospects, which experts say is easy to get on, but hard to get off. In early November 2025, there were 10,242 people on the list. That is a large number for a country of just 5.3 million people, and is proportionally higher than previously reported estimates of gang members in Australia and Britain. The tally has been weaponized by political figures, including Mitchell while he was in opposition, to stoke fear that the country's number of gang members might overtake the number of sworn police officers. “Numbers have grown,” said Edwards, speaking about his Mongrel Mob chapter. Morris, the Head Hunter, said his gang had recruited more people too. Yeah, you can take my patch off me, but it just doesn't change anything,” he said. Edwards was accused of wearing his Mongrel Mob patch in public at a tangi – a Māori funeral – earlier this year. He claims that when police came to his home to seize his patch they showed him “paparazzi-type photos” taken from “over in the bushes” on the day of the tangi. “Those are the lengths that they're going to,” he said. When asked if this was usual practice, police said they use both “overt and covert techniques” to gather evidence. Rather than confronting gang members on the spot, they will opt to take videos and photographs in situations when police know they're outnumbered, at events that might become emotionally charged –– like funerals –– or if there is a risk to public safety. Police now have specialist organized crime teams in most regions, whose officers act like envoys to gangs and hold talks with senior figures, particularly around managing upcoming gang events, like funerals or sports days, that risk becoming a public nuisance. “We will engage a number of weeks out and set out: these are the rules of engagement,” said Parnell. Gang members can wear their insignia on private land, but risk arrest as soon as they set foot on public property –– like roads, footpaths or local sports fields. Some gang members have been arrested for being spotted wearing insignia in public on security camera footage from shops and other videos posted to social media. With so many members' patches now being seized, gangs are having to rethink the hardline policy of punishing members who lose them. “You don't even have a chance to fight for it because you're not home,” said Edwards, explaining that they're often seized from the homes of gang members after they have been arrested. Even so, the patches and affiliated gang emblems remain “like a code of honor,” said Morris. And new recruits still want to earn them. “I earned it, like I earned my colors,” said Morris, who likened it to having a customary tattoo. Insignia tattoos are a growing trend among gang members, because the new law doesn't stretch that far. “I could go walk up and down the street with no shirt on. It's the same as a patch,” said Morris.

The shooter was shot and killed by law enforcement after police responded to the active shooter situation around 2 p.m. Tuesday. The deceased trooper's name will not be released until his family has been adequately notified. Officials thanked the state trooper, along with others, for saving lives up until his death. “What happened today was an act of pure evil,” Gov. We are deeply grateful to the state and law enforcement officers whose quick action and professionalism helped prevent further harm.” A second trooper and two women were also injured. The surviving trooper sustained a minor, non-gunshot-related injury. A 40-year-old woman also sustained minor, non-gunshot-related injuries, and a 35-year-old woman was evaluated for shortness of breath following the shooting. Meyer also thanked first responders, medical professionals, and DMV employees for their efforts in helping to save lives as the tragedy unfolded. “Please remember tonight that there are Delawareans who are alive because of heroic actions of the deceased trooper and others,” the governor added, “and I ask that all Delawareans join me in keeping the entire Delaware State Police family in their prayers tonight and into the new year.” “We are absolutely horrified and heartbroken by the reports coming out of Wilmington this afternoon,” Minor-Brown said on behalf of the Delaware House Democratic Caucus.

President Donald Trump will deploy 350 National Guard troops to New Orleans by New Year's Eve, Gov. The newly announced deployment to Louisiana's most populous city will last through February 2026. Landry said his state “desperately” needed the action, which fulfills a request he made of the president earlier this year. “We know how to make cities safe, and the National Guard complements cities that are having high crime problems,” he said on Fox News, citing Washington as an example. 🚨BREAKING: Today I am announcing 350 National Guard troops will be deployed to New Orleans. We owe them all a debt of gratitude for their commitment to our State and Nation. Louisiana was one of the first Republican-led states to send National Guard units to assist the Trump administration's crime crackdown in Washington this year. The latest National Guard deployment is “going to help us further crack down on the violence here in the city of New Orleans and elsewhere around Louisiana,” Landry said. The announcement comes two days after Trump appointed Landry as special envoy to Greenland. Landry, who enjoys a close relationship with the president, welcomed the opportunity and clarified that it “in no way affects” his position as Louisiana governor.

McIver's public appearance outside the detention center comes nearly two weeks after an illegal Haitian immigrant died at Delaney Hall. ICE said the detainee, identified as 41-year-old Jean Wilson Brutus, died of “suspected natural causes” on Dec. 12. Democratic lawmakers suspect ICE may have played a role in events leading to Brutus's death. “Delaney Hall must be closed immediately and a full, independent, investigation needs to take place.” Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) made a similar statement, calling out the “inhumane conditions” and “mismanagement” at the ICE facility, which, like Mike McIver, called for its closure. Rob Menendez (D-NJ) and Yvette Clarke (D-NY) joined McIver on Tuesday's oversight visit. Clarke called attention to reports of four deaths in ICE facilities over a four-day period this month, casting blame on the Trump administration. She said it's an “insult” if anyone argues the recent deaths are “isolated.” “All detainees are provided with meals certified by dietitians and comprehensive medical care — often the best healthcare that many aliens have received in their entire lives,” she noted. McIver has pleaded not guilty to the assault charges, which she alleges were politically motivated. A federal judge denied the defendant's bid to dismiss her case last month.

Venezuela's ruling party-controlled National Assembly on Tuesday approved a law criminalising actions that threaten freedom of navigation and maritime trade amid tensions with Washington following the seizure of oil tankers by the US in Caribbean waters. Evana, an oil tanker, is docked at El Palito port in Puerto Cabello, Venezuela, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025. Lawmaker Giuseppe Alessandrello gives a speech during an extraordinary session at the National Assembly in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, Dec. 22, 2025. CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela's parliament on Tuesday approved a measure that criminalizes a broad range of activities that can hinder navigation and commerce in the South American country, such as the seizure of oil tankers. The bill — introduced, debated and approved within two days in the National Assembly — follows this month's seizures by U.S. forces of two tankers carrying Venezuelan oil in international waters. But as read on the floor, the bill calls for fines and prison sentences of up to 20 years for anyone who promotes, requests, supports, finances or participates in “acts of piracy, blockades or other international illegal acts” against commercial entities operating with the South American country. Venezuela's political opposition, including Nobel Peace laureate María Corina Machado, has expressed support for Trump's Venezuela policy, including the seizure of tankers. Machado and Trump have both repeatedly said that Maduro's days in power are numbered. The bill, which now awaits Maduro's signature, also instructs the executive branch to come up with “incentives and mechanisms for economic, commercial and other protections” for national or foreign entities doing business with Venezuela in the event of piracy activities, a maritime blockade or other unlawful acts. The U.S. Coast Guard on Saturday seized a Panama-flagged vessel called Centuries that officials said was part of the fleet moving sanctioned cargo. With assistance from the U.S. Navy, it seized a rogue tanker called Skipper on Dec. 10. Trump, after that first seizure, said the U.S. would carry out a “blockade” of Venezuela. He later demanded that Venezuela return assets that it seized from U.S. oil companies years ago, justifying anew his announcement of the blockade against sanctioned oil tankers traveling to or from the South American country. At an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council called by Venezuela, U.S. Ambassador Mike Waltz on Tuesday stressed that sanctioned oil tankers “operate as the primary economic lifeline for Maduro and his illegitimate regime.” But the entity is not a cartel per se. Venezuelans began using the term Cartel de los Soles in the 1990s to refer to high-ranking military officers who had grown rich from drug-running. Ambassador Samuel Moncada accused the U.S. of acting “outside international law” and its own domestic laws, by demanding that Venezuelans vacate the country and hand it over to the Trump administration, including all its oil fields. “This alleged naval blockade is essentially a military act aimed at laying siege to the Venezuelan nation, degrading its economic and military apparatus, weakening its social and political cohesion, and causing internal chaos to facilitate aggression by external forces.” Many countries expressed concern about violations of international maritime law and adhering to the United Nations Charter, which requires all 193 member nations to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of every other country. The United States' actions were supported by a few countries, including Panama and Argentina. Associated Press writer Edith Lederer in New York contributed to this report.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Fox News senior national correspondent William La Jeunesse reports on the latest developments in the FBI's investigation into a planned New Year's Eve terror attack in Los Angeles on ‘The Story.' Four individuals have been federally indicted in connection with a foiled New Year's Eve bombing terror plot in Southern California, according to the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Court documents state that the group planned attacks on multiple businesses and also initiated plans to target Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents following the holiday season. Prosecutors allege that the individuals are associated with the anti-government extremist group Turtle Island Liberation Front (TILF), whose members glorified terrorism and aimed to do "as much damage as possible." Authorities identified the defendants as Audrey Illeene Carroll, Zachary Aaron Page, Dante James Anthony-Gaffield and Tina Lai in the alleged bombing plot, referred to by the group as "Operation Midnight Sun." Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna, center, and LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell, right, outline new developments in a terrorism investigation on Dec. 15, 2025, in Los Angeles. Court documents said the four individuals were planning on detonating pipe bombs targeting at least five locations, including technology and logistics businesses, across Southern California. Throughout early December 2025, the defendants allegedly took steps to procure bomb-making materials and used encrypted messaging platforms to coordinate the construction and testing of explosive devices. Images of suspects in an alleged terror plot are presented on a screen during a Los Angeles press conference on Dec. 15, 2025. Authorities reported that Carroll, through encrypted messaging, made alarming statements including "I identify as a terrorist," "I am a Hamas fangirl" and had goals of "completely pulverizing" buildings. She allegedly denounced peaceful protests while discussing fantasies of ambushing law enforcement agents. Officials said that despite the defendants' efforts to avoid detection — such as wrapping phones in tinfoil to create "makeshift Faraday bags" and using apps that automatically delete encrypted messages — law enforcement was able to intercept their plans with the help of informants and undercover agents. Authorities stated that defendant Carroll had unknowingly shared the group's bombing plans with law enforcement assets. Through this, the FBI reportedly obtained copies of handwritten bombing plans, lists of required bomb-making materials, and information about the group's extremist messaging network. Defendants Carroll and Page also allegedly discussed plans they intended to carry out after the New Year's Eve bombings, including targeting ICE agents and vehicles in order to intimidate and harm law enforcement, according to court documents. All four defendants are expected to make their initial appearances in federal court in the Central District of California. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Attorney Donna Rotunno weighs in on the latest developments in the investigation into the death of Florida teen Anna Kepner, who was found dead in her room on a Carnival cruise ship. Newly released court records shed additional light on how a family responded after the death of 18-year-old Anna Kepner, who was found dead aboard a Carnival cruise ship last month. According to documents obtained by FOX 35 Orlando, text messages exchanged after Anna's death show the family's concern about limiting information shared publicly and keeping their 16-year-old son's name out of the media. The messages were submitted as exhibits in an ongoing family court case and include exchanges that began within roughly a day of Anna's body being discovered. Anna Kepner was found dead Nov. 7 in her cabin aboard the Carnival Horizon, which returned to Port Miami two days later. Federal authorities boarded the ship upon its return and began collecting evidence. No suspect has been publicly named in the case. Text exchanges between Anna's stepmother, Shauntel Kepner, and her ex-husband show conversations that began the evening of Nov. 8, about a day after Anna's body was discovered. Court records indicate the discussions focused largely on managing information, limiting social media exposure and addressing concerns involving the teen, who is a minor, rather than on the circumstances of Anna's death. Court documents indicate the teen is being investigated in connection with Anna's death but note he has not been charged. In one message sent around 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 8, Shauntel asked her ex-husband to call her immediately, describing the situation as an emergency. When he later suggested picking up their daughter, Shauntel declined, explaining the girl had only been told that her brother was struggling emotionally and was being evaluated at a hospital. She stated he repeatedly said he could not remember anything and that a nurse allowed the short call so she could reassure him that his parents loved him. The messages also show efforts to prevent information from spreading on social media, including concerns about posts circulating online and the desire to shield the teen from negative attention. Shauntel emphasized that he is a minor and that the family did not want his name released. During a Dec. 5 court appearance, Shauntel's attorney said the teen's father agreed to have him live with a relative after his release from the hospital once the ship docked. Shauntel also testified that the teen takes medication for ADHD and insomnia and had not taken his insomnia medication for two nights during the cruise, including the night before Anna's body was found. Court documents state Anna's body was discovered under a bed in a cabin she was sharing with two siblings, including her 16-year-old stepbrother. The trio are headed to an emergency custody hearing in an ongoing dispute between Shauntel and her ex-husband, Thomas Hudson. While the FBI has not publicly identified anyone as a suspect and no criminal charges have been filed, records from an ongoing family court dispute between Anna's father and stepmother, Christopher Kepner and Shauntel Kepner, and Shauntel Kepner's ex-husband, Thomas Hudson, indicate the teen is being investigated in Anna's death. A former sheriff's detective, Jamie Copenhaver, reviewed the messages and told FOX 35 Orlando they raised concerns for him. He said the exchanges appeared focused on controlling public perception rather than addressing the loss of an 18-year-old family member. Anna Kepner, her father, stepmother and several siblings in a family photo. Messages included in the court records also show both parents expressing emotional support for their son, emphasizing that he was not alone and that his family stood by him. In one exchange, Hudson told Shauntel that he wanted their son to know "he isn't just dead to everyone," adding that "regardless of everything at the moment, he needs his parents," and that he wanted an opportunity to speak with him as soon as possible. She was preparing to graduate in the spring of 2026 and hoped to enlist in the U.S. Navy, her family said. The investigation remains ongoing, and more than six weeks later, no individual has been publicly identified as a suspect. Fox News Digital's Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report. Stepheny Price is a Writer at Fox News with a focus on West Coast and Midwest news, missing persons, national and international crime stories, homicide cases, and border security. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. 'The Big Weekend Show' co-hosts break down the latest legal clashes over President Donald Trump's deportations of illegal immigrants. El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele responded to allegations by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton about the conditions at the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), the country's maximum-security prison that has received migrants deported from the United States. Bukele was responding to a post on X by Clinton that was accompanied by an 11-minute video of the PBS Frontline documentary titled: "Surviving CECOT." "Hear Juan, Andry, and Wilmer share firsthand how the Trump administration branded them as gang members without evidence and deported them to the brutal El Salvadoran prison." The short documentary tells the story of three Venezuelan men — Juan José Ramos Ramos, Andry Blanco Bonilla and Wilmer Vega Sandia — who were deported by the Trump administration to CECOT, a description of the short film states. All three men were branded by the U.S. government as Tren de Aragua gang members, which they deny. In response, Bukele said his country was ready to cooperate if Clinton thinks people have been tortured in the notorious prison that houses many of the country's gang members and migrants deported from the U.S. "We are willing to release our entire prison population (including all gang leaders and all those described as "political prisoners") to any country willing to receive them," he wrote. "The only condition is straightforward: it must be everyone." Hillary Clinton criticized the conditions at El Salvador's CECOT prison, prompting a response from the country's President, Nayib Bukele. "This would also greatly assist journalists and your favorite NGOs, who would then have thousands of former inmates available for interviews, making it far easier to find additional voices critical of the Salvadoran government (or willing to confirm whatever conclusions are already expected)," added Bukele. "Surely, if these testimonies reflect a systemic reality, a much larger pool of sources should only reinforce the claim, and many governments should be eager to offer protection." Until then, he continued, El Salvador will continue prioritizing the human rights of the millions of Salvadorans who today live free from gang rule," Bukele said. Bukele solidified his relationship with President Donald Trump by offering to house certain migrants deported from the U.S. at CECOT. A federal judge on Monday ordered the Trump administration to provide due process to a class of Venezuelan migrants deported to El Salvador in March, and gave it two weeks to detail how it will do so – setting up another high-stakes clash between the White House and the federal courts. Louis Casiano is a reporter for Fox News Digital. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.