Russia attacked Ukraine's capital with missiles and drones on Saturday, killing at least one person and wounding 27, a day before talks between Ukraine and the U.S., authorities said.

Explosions boomed across Kyiv as ballistic missiles and drones hit the city. The attack began in the early morning and continued for hours.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy prepared to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida on Sunday for further talks on ending the nearly four-year war. Zelenskyy told reporters he was on a plane en route to the United States on Saturday afternoon, and would make a stopover in Canada to meet with Prime Minister Mark Carney.

Zelenskyy said that he and Trump plan to discuss several issues, including security guarantees and territorial issues in the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions.

Tit-for-tat strikes

The Russian Defense Ministry said Saturday that it carried out a massive strike overnight, using long-range precision-guided weapons from land, air and sea, including Kinzhal hypersonic aeroballistic missiles and drones. It said it targeted energy infrastructure facilities used by Ukraine's forces and military-industrial enterprises.

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But several residential buildings were struck in Moscow's attack.

The ministry said that the strike came in response to Ukraines attacks on civilian objects in Russia.

Earlier on Saturday, the ministry said that its air defenses shot down seven Ukrainian drones over the Russian regions of Krasnodar and Adygeya overnight. On Saturday afternoon, the ministry reported that 147 more drones were shot down over a number of Russian regions.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that air defenses intercepted more than 20 drones flying towards the Russian capital on Saturday. He didn't report any damage or casualties. It wasn't immediately clear whether those were included in the Defense Ministry's count.

Poland on alert

Poland scrambled fighter jets and closed airports in Lublin and Rzeszow near the border with Ukraine for several hours during the Russian attacks, the countrys armed forces command said on X. There was no violation of Polish airspace, it said.

Civil aviation authority Pansa said the two airports had since resumed operations. It was unclear what caused the alert in Poland when the Russian attacks were focused on Kyiv, which is far from the border.

Russia targeted Ukraine with 519 drones and 40 missiles, Ukraine's air force said. The main target was energy and civilian infrastructure in Kyiv, Zelenskyy said. In some districts of the region there is no electricity or heating because of the attacks, he said.

Today Russia demonstrated how it responds to peace talks between Ukraine and the United States on ending Russias war against Ukraine. They carried out massive attacks on Ukraine precisely as we move toward peace negotiations, Zelenskyy told reporters by audio note while traveling. That is Russias response.

Screams as man burns to death

More than 10 residential buildings were damaged, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said in a post on Telegram. People were being evacuated from under the rubble of collapsed buildings.

Olena Karpenko, 52, heard a man as he burned to death in the attack. His scream is still in my ears. I cant believe it, she said, weeping.

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Karpenko said they heard a sudden explosion at the nearby thermal power plant, followed by a stronger blast that shook the windows of her home. Then came the strike on her building.

I saw how the apartment was burning, there was a fire and we heard a mans screams, begging for help," she said.

Two children were among those wounded in the attack, which hit seven locations across the capital, the head of the Kyiv Military Administration, Tymur Tkachenko, in a statement on Telegram. A body was found under the rubble of one damaged building, he said.

In fact, the entire center of Kyiv was under attack by drones," he said, adding that Russia was sending a message that it is raising the stakes in this war.

It wasnt immediately clear if the person found under the rubble was the man who burned to death.

A fire broke out in an 18-story residential building in the Dnipro district of the city, and emergency crews rushed to the scene to contain the flames. A 24-story residential building in the Darnytsia district was also hit, Tkachenko said, and more fires broke out in the Obolonskyi and Holosiivsky districts.

In the wider Kyiv region, the strikes hit industrial and residential buildings, according to Ukraine's Emergency Service. In the Vyshhorod area, emergency crews rescued one person found under the rubble of a destroyed house.

Security guarantees prioritized

Zelenskyy told reporters he would aim to ensure there were as few unresolved issues as possible in talks with Trump while respecting Ukraine's red lines.

I am confident there are compromise proposals we know the Americans and, obviously, our enemy also always has its own goals, which we know well, he said, speaking by audio note in a WhatsApp chat with journalists.

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Zelenskyy said he would prioritize discussing security guarantees for Ukraine. He has said that in the draft peace plan, the U.S. has committed to providing guarantees that mirror the NATO alliance's Article 5, which means an attack on Ukraine would trigger a collective military response from the U.S. and its allies. But key details must be worked out in a bilateral agreement.

Territorial concessions are the most sensitive of issues the two leaders will discuss, including the Donetsk region and the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. Zelenskyy reiterated that Ukraine would never recognize any territory as Russian under any circumstances."

But the most important issue I want to stress today is security guarantees. Beyond territorial issues and the ZNPP (nuclear plant), security guarantees are critically important for us, he said.

Zelenskyy also will speak to European leaders online to brief them on the discussions.

The president of the Kennedy Center on Friday fiercely criticized a musician's sudden decision to cancel a Christmas Eve performance at the venue days after the White House announced that President Donald Trump's name would be added to the facility.

Your decision to withdraw at the last moment explicitly in response to the Center's recent renaming, which honors President Trump's extraordinary efforts to save this national treasure is classic intolerance and very costly to a non-profit Arts institution, the venue's president, Richard Grenell, wrote in a letter to musician Chuck Redd that was shared with The Associated Press.

RELATED STORY | Kennedy Center renamed to include Trumps name after board vote

In the letter, Grenell said he would seek $1 million in damages for this political stunt.

Redd did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A drummer and vibraphone player, Redd has presided over holiday Jazz Jams at the Kennedy Center since 2006, succeeding bassist William Keter Betts. In an email Wednesday to The Associated Press, Redd said he pulled out of the concert in the wake of the renaming.

When I saw the name change on the Kennedy Center website and then hours later on the building, I chose to cancel our concert, Redd said. He added Wednesday that the event has been a very popular holiday tradition and that he often featured at least one student musician.

One of the many reasons that it was very sad to have had to cancel, he told the AP.

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President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, and Congress passed a law the following year naming the center as a living memorial to him.

Grenell is a Trump ally whom the president chose to head the Kennedy Center after he forced out the previous leadership. According to the White House, Trump's handpicked board approved the renaming, which scholars have said violates the law. Kennedy's niece Kerry Kennedy has vowed to remove Trumps name from the building once he leaves office, and former House historian Ray Smock is among those who say any changes would have to be approved by Congress.

The law explicitly prohibits the board of trustees from making the center into a memorial to anyone else, and from putting another persons name on the buildings exterior.

A man was arrested after stabbing eight people and injuring seven others with what was believed to be bleach at a tire factory in central Japan on Friday, officials said. There was no immediate explanation of his motive.

Eight people were taken to hospitals after being stabbed by the man with a knife at a factory of the tiremaker Yokohama Rubber Co. in the city of Mishima, in the Shizuoka prefecture, west of Tokyo, according to the Fujisan Nanto Fire Department.

The fire department told The Associated Press that five of the people who were stabbed were in serious condition but other details were not available. All were conscious while they were being transported to hospitals, media reports said.

Shizuoka prefectural police said the attacker, a 38-year-old man, was arrested for alleged attempted murder at the factory, but did not give further details.

The attacker is believed to be a former employee at the factory, Kyodo news agency said, quoting investigative sources.

The suspect was carrying a survival knife and wearing what appeared to be a gas mask, the major Japanese newspaper Asahi reported, citing investigators.

Seven others were also injured by the bleach thrown at them during the attack, and taken to hospitals for treatment, the fire department said.

Japan has strict gun control laws and is known for violent crimes being rare, but there have been a number of high-profile knife attacks in recent years.

A Palestinian attacker rammed his car into a man and then stabbed a young woman in northern Israel on Friday afternoon, killing both, police said. The Israeli military swiftly launched an operation in the assailant's hometown in the occupied West Bank.

The attack started in the northern city of Beit Shean when the Palestinian man rammed his vehicle into people, killing one man and injuring a teenage boy. He then drove off onto a highway, where he fatally stabbed the woman, and injured another person near the entrance to the city of Afula.

Authorities say the attacker was shot and injured in Afula. He was then taken to hospital; his condition was not immediately known.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu identified the victims as Aviv Maor, a teenager, and Shimshon Mordechai, 68. Paramedics pronounced both dead at the scene.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said that he was shocked by the horrific killing spree. He said that Israel was committed to reinforcing and strengthening this challenging border and, of course, to bolstering the security response in the area for the full safety of the residents.

The military enters attacker's hometown

Israel's military soon began amassing troops near the Palestinian town of Qabatiya, where Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that the assailant was from. Later Friday, the military said that it conducted a precise operational search at the residence of the attacker, together with intelligence forces, and was preparing to demolish the residence.

The operation was ongoing in the area, the military said later in the evening.

Israeli forces blocked several roads around the town, where they entered several houses and positioned themselves around the attackers home, said the mayor, Ahmad Zakarneh. He added that residents had stocked up on supplies from bakeries and supermarkets after they were notified of the impending military operation.

Katz said that hed ordered troops to act forcefully and immediately against what he called terrorist infrastructure" in the town.

Anyone who aids or sponsors terrorism will pay the full price," he said.

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A history of raids

It's common practice for Israel to launch raids in the West Bank towns that attackers come from or demolish homes belonging to the assailants families. Israel says that it helps to locate militant infrastructure and prevents future attacks. Rights watchdogs describe such actions as collective punishment.

Raids have been conducted in the area of Qabatiya, which is in the northern West Bank near the major city of Jenin, over the last few weeks.

On Dec. 20, Israel's military said that they killed a person in Qabatiya who hurled a block toward the soldiers. It later said that the killing was under review, after Palestinian media aired brief security footage in which the youth appears to emerge from an alley and is shot by troops as he approaches them without throwing anything.

The Israel-Hamas war, which began with the Hamas-led attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 that killed about 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage, has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza. It has also sparked a surge of violence in Israel and the West Bank, with a rise in attacks by Palestinian militants as well as Israeli settler violence against Palestinians.

In September, Palestinian attackers opened fire at a bus stop during the morning rush hour in Jerusalem, killing six people and wounding another 12, according to Israeli officials.

A man injured in last month's fiery UPS cargo plane crash in Kentucky died on Christmas Day, raising the death toll from the crash to 15, officials announced late Thursday.

Alain Rodriguez Colina worked at a scrapyard that was devastated when the departing cargo plane, fully loaded with fuel for a flight to Hawaii, plowed into businesses just outside Louisville's airport on Nov. 4. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg confirmed his death via social media.

"Alain is the 15th victim of the UPS Flight 2976 accident," Greenberg said. "He suffered severe injuries at the time of the crash and passed earlier this Christmas Day. May Alain's memory be a blessing."

RELATED STORY | Investigators say UPS plane that crashed in Kentucky had cracks in engine mount

Grade A Auto Parts & Recycling owner and CEO Sean Garber confirmed to WAVE-TV that Colina was one of the company's employees. Workers at the scrapyard have described the scramble to help survivors of the crash's massive explosion, which killed three other employees as well as customers. Dramatic video captured the aircraft crashing into businesses and erupting in a fireball.

Three pilots and multiple people on the ground were killed outside Muhammad Ali International Airport, where UPS has its largest package delivery hub, after the plane's left engine detached. Cracks were later found where the engine connected to the wing, the National Transportation Safety Board said.

Earlier this month, a lawyer filed two wrongful death lawsuits that allege that the company kept flying older aircrafts without increasing maintenance beyond what's regularly scheduled. The lawsuit also names General Electric, which made the plane's engine. Both UPS and GE have said they don't comment on pending lawsuits but safety remains their top priority as they assist the federal investigation.

The Federal Aviation Administration has grounded all MD-11s, which had exclusively been used for hauling cargo for more than a decade.

When the ball drops on New Year's Eve in New York City, it will sparkle in red, white and blue, ushering in 2026 and kicking off months of celebrations for the nation's upcoming 250th birthday.

The patriotic touches at this year's Times Square gathering, including a second confetti drop, will offer an early glimpse of what's ahead: hundreds of events and programs, big and small, planned nationwide to mark the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

"I'm telling you right now, whatever you're imagining, it's going to be much more than that," said America250 Chair Rosie Rios, who oversees the bipartisan commission created by Congress in 2016 to organize the semiquincentennial anniversary. "It's going to be one for the ages, the most inspirational celebration this country and maybe the world has ever seen."

Rios and her group worked with the Times Square Alliance business district and One Times Square, the building from where the ball is dropped, to make the changes to this year's ceremonies. They're also planning a second ball drop July 3, the eve of the nation's birthday, "in the same beautiful style that Times Square knows how to do it," Rios said.

It will mark the first time in 120 years there will be ball drop in Times Square that doesn't occur on New Year's Eve, she said.

A New Year's Eve ball was first dropped in Times Square in 1907. Built by a young immigrant metalworker named Jacob Starr, the 700-pound, 5-foot-diameter ball was made of iron and wood and featured 100 25-watt light bulbs. Last year, the Constellation Ball, the ninth and largest version, was unveiled. It measured about 12 feet (3.7 meters) in diameter and weighs nearly 12,000 pounds.

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The only years no ball drop occurred were 1942 and 1943, when the city instituted a nightly "dimout" during World War II to protect itself from attacks. Crowds instead celebrated the new year with a moment of silence followed by chimes rung from the base of One Times Square.

This year, the stroke of midnight will also mark the official launch of America Gives, a national service initiative created by America250. Organizers hope to make 2026 the largest year of volunteer hours ever aggregated in the country.

On the following day, America250 will participate in the New Years Day Rose Parade in Pasadena, California, with a float themed "Soaring Onward Together for 250 Years." It will feature three larger-than-life bald eagles representing the country's past, present and future.

"We want to ring in this new year from sea to shining sea. What better way to think about it than going from New York to California," Rios said. "This has to be community-driven, this has be grassroots. We're going from Guam to Alaska, from Fairbanks to Philadelphia, and everything in between."

President Donald Trump has also announced the "Freedom 250" initiative to coordinate additional events for the 250th anniversary.

Rios said she sees the wide range of celebrations and programs planned for the coming months, from large fireworks displays and statewide potluck suppers to student contests and citizen oral histories, as an opportunity to unite a politically divided nation.

"If we can find something for everyone ... having those menus of options that people can pick and choose how they want to participate," she said. "That's how we're going to get to engaging 350 million Americans."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that he will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida over the weekend.

Zelenskyy told journalists that the two leaders will discuss security guarantees for Ukraine during Sunday's talks, and that the 20-point plan under discussion is about 90% ready.

An economic agreement also will be discussed, Zelenskyy said, but that he was unable to confirm whether anything will be finalized by the end.

RELATED STORY | Zelenskyy says consensus reached on many points after peace talks with US

The Ukrainian side will also raise "territorial issues", he said.

Zelenskyy said that Ukraine would like the Europeans to be involved," but doubted whether it would be possible at short notice.

We must, without doubt, find some format in the near future in which not only Ukraine and the U.S. are present, but Europe is represented as well, he said.

The announced meeting is the latest development in an extensive U.S.-led diplomatic push to end the nearly four-year Russia-Ukraine war, but efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands by Moscow and Kyiv.

Zelenskyy's comments came after he said Thursday that he had a good conversation with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trumps son-in-law.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday that the Kremlin had already been in contact with U.S. representatives since Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev recently met with U.S. envoys in Florida.

It was agreed upon to continue the dialogue," he said.

Trump is engaged in a diplomatic push to end Russia's all-out war, which began on Feb. 24, 2022, but his efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands by Moscow and Kyiv.

Zelenskyy said Tuesday that he would be willing to withdraw troops from Ukraine's eastern industrial heartland as part of a plan to end the war, if Russia also pulls back and the area becomes a demilitarized zone monitored by international forces.

Though Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday that there had been slow but steady progress in the peace talks, Russia has given no indication that it will agree to any kind of withdrawal from land it has seized.

In fact, Moscow has insisted that Ukraine relinquish the remaining territory it still holds in the Donbas an ultimatum that Ukraine has rejected. Russia has captured most of Luhansk and about 70% of Donetsk the two areas that make up the Donbas.

RELATED STORY | Zelenskyy and US envoys meet in Berlin to discuss Ukraine peace deal

On the ground, one person was killed and three others were wounded when a guided aerial bomb hit a house in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region, while six people were wounded in a missile strike on the city of Uman, local officials said Friday.

Russian drone attacks on the city of Mykolaiv and its suburbs overnight into Friday left part of the city without power. Energy and port infrastructure were damaged by drones in the city of Odesa on the Black Sea.

Meanwhile, Ukraine said that it struck a major Russian oil refinery on Thursday using U.K.-supplied Storm Shadow missiles.

Ukraines General Staff said that its forces hit the Novoshakhtinsk refinery in Russias Rostov region.

Multiple explosions were recorded. The target was hit, it wrote on Telegram.

Rostov regional Gov. Yuri Slyusar said that a firefighter was wounded when extinguishing the fire.

Ukraines long-range drone strikes on Russian refineries aim to deprive Moscow of the oil export revenue it needs to pursue its full-scale invasion. Russia wants to cripple Ukraine's power grid, seeking to deny civilians access to heat, light and running water in what Ukrainian officials say is an attempt to weaponize winter.

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 Sheriffs 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 (7.6 meters) Friday.

Statewide, more than 70,000 people were without power Thursday afternoon, according to PowerOutage.us.

RELATED STORY | Powerful holiday storm lashes Southern California with flash floods, mudslides

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

A major storm system moving toward the Midwest and Northeast was expected to interfere with travel, according to the National Weather Service.

A mix of freezing rain and sleet could create icy conditions in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Maryland. Forecasters warned heavy ice could cause outages. Snow was expected to blanket the Northeast early Friday.

Roads in the 5,000-resident California town of Wrightwood were covered in rocks, debris and thick mud on Thursday. With power out, a gas station and coffee shop running on generators were serving as hubs for residents and visitors.

Its really a crazy Christmas, said Jill Jenkins, who was spending the holiday with her 13-year-old grandson, Hunter Lopiccolo.

Lopiccolo said the family almost evacuated the previous day, when water washed away a chunk of their backyard. But they decided to stay and still celebrated the holiday. Lopiccolo got a new snowboard and e-bike.

We just played card games all night with candles and flashlights, he said.

RELATED STORY | Flash flooding in northern California leads to soaked roads, water rescues and 1 death

Davey Schneider hiked a mile and a half (1.6 kilometers) through rain and floodwater up to his shins from his Wrightwood residence Wednesday to rescue cats from his grandfather's house.

I wanted to help them out because I wasn't confident that they were going to live, Schneider said Thursday. Fortunately, they all lived. They're all okay just a little bit scared.

Arlene Corte said roads in town turned into rivers, but her house was not damaged.

It could be a whole lot worse, she said. Were here talking.

With more rain on the way, more than 150 firefighters were stationed in the area, said San Bernardino County Fire spokesman Shawn Millerick.

Were ready, he said. Its all hands on deck at this point.

A falling tree killed a San Diego man Wednesday, news outlets reported. Farther north, a Sacramento sheriffs deputy died in what appeared to be a weather-related crash.

Areas along the coast, including Malibu, were under a flood watch until Friday afternoon, and wind and flood advisories were issued for much of the Sacramento Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area.

The storms were the result of atmospheric rivers carrying massive plumes of moisture from the tropics during one of the busiest travel weeks of the year.

Southern California typically gets half an inch to 1 inch (1.3 to 2.5 centimeters) of rain this time of year, but this week many areas could see between 4 and 8 inches (10 to 20 centimeters), with even more in the mountains, National Weather Service meteorologist Mike Wofford said.

More heavy snow was expected in the Sierra Nevada, where gusts created near white-out conditions and made mountain pass travel treacherous. Officials said there was a high avalanche risk around Lake Tahoe and a winter storm warning was in effect through Friday.

Ski resorts around Lake Tahoe recorded about 1 to 3 feet (30 to 91 centimeters) of snow overnight, said Tyler Salas, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Reno. Forecasters expect to see up to another 3 feet (91 centimeters) of snow through Friday, Salas said. The area could see 45-mph (72-kph) gusts in low elevation areas and 100-mph (161-kph) winds along mountain ridges.

Gov. Gavin Newsom declared emergencies in six counties to allow state assistance.

The state deployed resources and first responders to several coastal and Southern California counties, and the California National Guard was on standby.

A powerful winter storm swept across California on Wednesday, with heavy rains and gusty winds bringing mudslides and debris flows that has led to some water rescues and evacuation orders.

Forecasters said Southern California could see its wettest Christmas in years and warned about flash flooding and mudslides. Areas scorched by Januarys wildfires were under evacuation warnings, and Los Angeles County officials said the previous day that they delivered about 380 evacuation orders to especially vulnerable homes.

San Bernardino County firefighters said they rescued people trapped in their cars when mud and debris rushed down a road leading into Wrightwood, a mountain resort town in the San Gabriel Mountains about 80 miles (130 kilometers) northeast of Los Angeles. It was not immediately clear how many were rescued.

Firefighters also went door to door to check on residents, and the area was under a shelter-in-place order, officials said. Lytle Creek, also in the San Gabriel Mountains, was under evacuation orders in the afternoon as rains continued to pummel the area.

Debris and mud were seen cascading down a road in Wrightwood in a video posted by county fire officials. Another video showed fast-moving water rushing through the front porch of several homes.

The storm stranded Dillan Brown with his wife and 14-month-old daughter at a rented cabin in Wrightwood with almost no food and only enough diapers for about another day. By the morning, roads leading off the mountain and to a grocery store were blocked by rocks and debris, Brown said.

I came across (a road) where there was a car sucked away by the water and realized we were trapped here, he said.

A resident learned of his situation and posted a call for help in a Facebook group, and in less than an hour, neighbors showed up with more than enough supplies to ride out the storm, including bread, vegetables, milk, diapers and wipes.

I think were a little sad and upset that were not going to be home with our families, Brown said, but the kindness shown is definitely an overwhelming feeling.

Janice Quick, president of the Wrightwood Chamber of Commerce and a resident of the mountain town for 45 years, said a wildfire in 2024 left much of the terrain without tree coverage and all this rain is bringing down a lot of debris and a lot of mud from the mountain area.

Residents around the burn scar zones from the Airport Fire in Orange County were also ordered to evacuate.

Areas along the coast including Malibu were under flood warnings until the evening, and much of the Sacramento Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area were also under wind and flood advisories.

Heavy rain douses Southern California

Several roadways including a part of Interstate 5 near the Burbank Airport were closed due to flooding.

Conditions could worsen with multiple atmospheric rivers during one of the busiest travel weeks of the year.

The rain began tapering off in the evening in Los Angeles, but another storm system was on the horizon with showers and possible thunderstorms Christmas Day.

James Dangerfield, an 84-year-old resident of Altadena, said his family and neighbor helped place sandbags in his backyard earlier this week. A flash flood warning was issued for the neighborhood, but he wasn't too worried because his house is on a hill.

He and his wife, Stephanie, planned to remain there and spend Christmas Eve with their two adult daughters and grandchildren.

Were just going to stay put, and everybody will have to come to us, Dangerfield said. Were not going to go anywhere.

Mike Burdick, who takes care of his parents in Altadena near burn scars from the Eaton Fire, ran out to buy more sandbags in the morning when he saw that the pool was overflowing.

I literally woke up to just downpour, he said.

The family was prepared to evacuate with a weeks worth of essentials including for their dog and cat.

Southern California typically gets half an inch to 1 inch (1.3 to 2.5 centimeters) of rain this time of year, but this week many areas could see between 4 and 8 inches (10 to 20 centimeters) with even more in the mountains, National Weather Service meteorologist Mike Wofford said.

EARLIER | Flash flooding in northern California leads to soaked roads, water rescues and 1 death

Much of California under weather warnings

Forecasters said heavy snow and gusts were expected to create near white-out conditions in parts of the Sierra Nevada and make travel nearly impossible through mountain passes. There was also a considerable avalanche risk around Lake Tahoe, according to the Sierra Avalanche Center.

The National Weather Service said a winter storm warning would be in effect for the greater Tahoe region until Friday morning.

Power was knocked out to more than 125,000 due to a damaged power pole, according to the Pacific Gas and Electric Co. utility.

The California Highway Patrol was investigating a seemingly weather-related crash south of Sacramento in which Sacramento Sheriff Deputy James Caravallo died. Caravallo was apparently traveling at an unsafe speed, lost control on a wet road and crashed into a power pole, CHP Officer Michael Harper said via email.

Caravallo was with the sheriffs office for 19 years, the agency said in a post on social media.

Our hearts are with Deputy Caravallos family, and we ask the public to keep Deputy Caravallos loved ones and our Sheriffs Office family in their thoughts and prayers, it said.

A flash flood warning was issued for portions of Sacramento in the evening as more severe weather developed offshore and began moving inland.

Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in six counties to allow state assistance in storm response.

The state deployed emergency resources and first responders to several coastal and Southern California counties, and the California National Guard was on standby.

Atmospheric rivers transport moisture from the tropics to northern latitudes in long, narrow bands of water vapor that form over an ocean.

Construction crews worked to clear the collapsed walls and roof from a Pennsylvania nursing home Wednesday to help investigators find the cause of an explosion that killed a resident and employee, and set off a dramatic evacuation amid falling debris and shooting flames.

The Tuesday afternoon blast sent 20 others to hospitals, including one person in critical condition. The rest of the employees and 120 residents were accounted for after hours of searching the wreckage, said Police Chief Charles Winik of Bristol Township.

Survivors were transferred to nearby nursing home properties, the police chief and health officials said.

The Bucks County coroner's office said the employee who died was 52-year-old Muthoni Nduthu. Authorities didn't immediately identify the resident who died. Both victims were women.

Officials said they didn't yet know the cause of the blast at the Bristol Health & Rehab Center, even though a utility crew had been on site investigating a reported gas leak when the blast occurred. It was so powerful that it shook nearby houses for blocks in Bristol, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northeast of Philadelphia.

A wing of the facility that housed the kitchen and cafeteria was almost entirely destroyed, with the roof caved in, sections of walls completely missing and windows on adjoining walls blown out. Debris littered the grounds.

Winik said the scale of the casualties could have been much worse. Police and firefighters flooded in from the region, as staff from a hospital next door and neighbors rushed to help evacuate the injured. One person was resuscitated at a hospital, officials said.

Firefighters braved a heavy gas odor, flames, collapsing walls and even a second explosion to rescue people trapped in stairways and elevator shafts and under rubble, authorities said.

"I've never seen such heroism," Winik told reporters Wednesday. "They were running into a building that I could from 50 feet away could still smell gas, and walls that looked like they were going to fall down."

Some residents couldn't walk or speak, and some were in wheelchairs, the police chief said.

Nineteen people were still hospitalized Wednesday, Winik said. Federal agencies were set to assist in the investigation as crews removed the wreckage.

"Until we excavate the area and remove the walls and roof that collapsed, we won't have any idea of what may have occurred in there," Winik said.

The blast at the 174-bed nursing home happened shortly after a utility crew responded to reports of a gas odor at the facility, authorities have said. The local gas utility, PECO, said the crew shut off natural gas and electric service to the facility, but didn't know if utility equipment or gas was involved in the explosion.

Willie Tye, who lives about a block away, said he was watching a basketball game when he heard a loud boom.

"I thought an airplane or something came and fell on my house," he said. When he went outside, he saw "fire everywhere" and people fleeing the building.

State records show the facility was cited for multiple violations during its most recent inspection in October by the Pennsylvania Department of Health, including failing to provide accurate floor plans, properly maintain stairways and fire extinguishers on one level. Inspectors also cited the facility for lacking required smoke barrier partitions designed to contain smoke across floors.

Medicare's overall rating of the facility is listed as "much below average," with poor ratings for health inspections in particular.

Musuline Watson, who said she was a certified nursing assistant at the facility, told WPVI-TV that staff smelled gas over the weekend, but did not initially suspect a serious problem because there was no heat in that room.

The nursing home recently became affiliated with Ohio-based Saber Healthcare Group, which called the explosion "devastating" and said in a statement that facility personnel promptly reported the gas odor to the local gas utility before the blast.

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A coalition of 19 states and the District of Columbia on Tuesday sued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, its secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and its inspector general over a declaration that could complicate access to gender-affirming care for young people.

The declaration issued last Thursday called treatments like puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgeries unsafe and ineffective for children and adolescents experiencing gender dysphoria, or the distress when someones gender expression doesnt match their sex assigned at birth. It also warned doctors that they could be excluded from federal health programs like Medicare and Medicaid if they provide those types of care.

The declaration came as HHS also announced proposed rules meant to further curtail gender-affirming care for young people, although the lawsuit doesn't address those as they are not final.

Tuesdays lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Eugene, Oregon, alleges that the declaration is inaccurate and unlawful and asks the court to block its enforcement. It's the latest in a series of clashes between an administration that's cracking down on transgender health care for children, arguing it can be harmful to them, and advocates who say the care is medically necessary and shouldn't be inhibited.

Secretary Kennedy cannot unilaterally change medical standards by posting a document online, and no one should lose access to medically necessary health care because their federal government tried to interfere in decisions that belong in doctors offices, New York Attorney General Letitia James, who led the lawsuit, said in a statement Tuesday.

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The lawsuit alleges that HHSs declaration seeks to coerce providers to stop providing gender-affirming care and circumvent legal requirements for policy changes. It says federal law requires the public to be given notice and an opportunity to comment before substantively changing health policy neither of which, the suit says, was done before the declaration was issued.

A spokesperson for HHS declined to comment.

HHS's declaration based its conclusions on a peer-reviewed report that the department conducted earlier this year that urged greater reliance on behavioral therapy rather than broad gender-affirming care for youths with gender dysphoria.

The report questioned standards for the treatment of transgender youth issued by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health and raised concerns that adolescents may be too young to give consent to life-changing treatments that could result in future infertility.

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Major medical groups and those who treat transgender young people have sharply criticized the report as inaccurate, and most major U.S. medical organizations, including the American Medical Association, continue to oppose restrictions on transgender care and services for young people.

The declaration was announced as part of a multifaceted effort to limit gender-affirming health care for children and teenagers and built on other Trump administration efforts to target the rights of transgender people nationwide.

HHS on Thursday also unveiled two proposed federal rules one to cut off federal Medicaid and Medicare funding from hospitals that provide gender-affirming care to children, and another to prohibit federal Medicaid dollars from being used for such procedures.

The proposals are not yet final or legally binding and must go through a lengthy rulemaking process and public comment before becoming permanent. But they will nonetheless likely further discourage health care providers from offering gender-affirming care to children.

Several major medical providers already have pulled back on gender-affirming care for young patients since Trump returned to office even in states where the care is legal and protected by state law.

Medicaid programs in slightly less than half of states currently cover gender-affirming care. At least 27 states have adopted laws restricting or banning the care. The Supreme Courts recent decision upholding Tennessees ban means most other state laws are likely to remain in place.

Joining James in Tuesday's lawsuit were Democratic attorneys general from California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin, Washington and the District of Columbia. Pennsylvania's Democratic governor also joined.

A California woman has been charged with murder after the remains of her missing 9-year-old daughter were found in Utah, authorities said Tuesday.

Ashlee Buzzard, 40, was arrested Tuesday after bullet cartridges found near her daughter's body were linked to a used cartridge case found in her home, said Santa Barbara County's Sheriff-Coroner Bill Brown. Authorities found 9-year-old Melodee Buzzard's body Dec. 6 in a rural area of Utah after a man and woman taking photos off of State Route 24 reported they had discovered remains.

Officers could not immediately identify her but concluded she died from gunshot wounds to the head, Brown said. The FBI's DNA analysis of the body found a familial DNA match to Buzzard.

Detectives also found similar ammunition in a car Buzzard had rented, authorities said.

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Buzzard is being held without bail at the Northern Branch Jail in Santa Barbara, Brown said.

Online jail records did not list a court date or attorney who could speak on Buzzard's behalf. The public defender's office represented her in another case in November but did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A school administrator reported Melodee Buzzard's prolonged absence Oct. 14. Deputies went to the family's residence in Lompoc, but Buzzard would not say where her daughter was.

Buzzard left California with her daughter on Oct. 7, driving a rented white 2024 Chevrolet Malibu, according to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office. They traveled as far as Nebraska with stops in Nevada, Arizona and Utah, and a return route included Kansas. Melodee Buzzard was last seen Oct. 9 on video surveillance near the Colorado-Utah line.

Detectives learned the mother and daughter changed their appearance during travel. Video from the rental car office in Lompoc shows the child wearing a hooded sweatshirt and a wig that was darker and straighter than her natural hair, police said. The video shows her mother wearing a long, curly haired wig.

Buzzard swapped wigs throughout the trip and changed the license plate of the rental car to avoid detection, police said. Buzzard returned home on Oct. 10 but her daughter was not with her, the sheriff's office said.

Brown said the crime was "calculated, cold-blooded" and premeditated, though a motive has not been determined.

"Today, we stand together in grief, but also with resolve," Brown said. "Melodee deserved a far better life than she had."

Officials said the weapon has not been found, and the case remains under investigation.

Lilly Denes told the Los Angeles Times that her granddaughter was loveable, always smiling and well-behaved. Denes' son, the child's father, died when she was 6 months old. A detective told Denes on the phone Tuesday that authorities had "found the baby and the baby is with her dad," Denes said.

"I knew he was telling me that the baby is dead," Denes said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters that he would be willing to withdraw troops from the countrys eastern industrial heartland if Russia also pulls back and the area becomes a demilitarized, free economic zone monitored by international forces. The proposal, which would address one of the major obstacles to ending Russia's war, must also be put to a referendum.

A similar arrangement could be possible for the area around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is currently under Russian control, Zelenskyy said.

Zelenskyy spoke to reporters Tuesday to describe a 20-point overarching plan that negotiators from Ukraine and the U.S. hammered out in Florida in recent days, though he said that many details are still being worked out.

American negotiators have engaged in a series of talks with Ukraine and Russia separately since U.S. President Donald Trump presented a plan to end the war last month a proposal widely see as favoring Moscow, which invaded its neighbor nearly four years ago. Since then, Ukraine and its allies in Europe have worked to pull the plan closer to Kyiv's position.

Deciding what will happen to Ukraines Donbas region, the vast majority of which Russia has seized, and how Europes largest nuclear plant will be managed are some of the most difficult points in the negotiations.

Asked about the plan, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that Moscow would set out its position based on information received by Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev, who met with U.S. envoys in Florida over the weekend. Peskov declined to share further details.

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Russia has given no indication that it will agree to any kind of withdrawal of its troops from land it has seized. In fact, Moscow has insisted that Ukraine relinquish the remaining territory it still holds in the Donbas an ultimatum that Ukraine has rejected. Russia has captured most of Luhansk and about 70% of Donetsk the two areas that make up the Donbas.

Zelenskyy acknowledged that figuring out control of the region is the most difficult point. He said these matters should be discussed at the leaders level.

In addition to saying the plan must be put to a referendum, Zelenskyy said an international force would have to be deployed to the region.

Meanwhile, on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the U.S. has proposed a consortium with Ukraine and Russia, in which each party would have an equal stake. Zelenskyy countered with a proposal for joint venture between the U.S. and Ukraine, in which the Americans would be able to decide how to distribute their share, including giving some of it to Russia.

Zelenskyy acknowledged that the U.S. has not yet accepted Ukraine's counterproposals.

We did not reach a consensus with the American side on the territory of the Donetsk region and on the ZNPP, Zelenskyy said, using an acronym for the power plant in Zaporizhzhia. But we have significantly brought most of the positions closer together. In principle, all other consensus in this agreement has been found between us and them.

A free economic zone compromise

Creating a free economic zone in the Donbas would require difficult discussions on how far troops would be required to move back and where international forces would be stationed, Zelenskyy said.

Zelenskyy said that a referendum is necessary. Because people could then choose: does this ending suit us, or does it not?

Such a vote would require 60 days, he added, during which time hostilities should stop.

The working U.S.-Ukraine draft also proposes that Russian forces withdraw from the Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, Sumy, Kharkiv regions. Zelenskyy envisions that international forces could be located along certain points of the contact line within the free economic zone to monitor the implementation of the agreement.

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Since there is no faith in the Russians, and they have repeatedly broken their promises, todays contact line is turning into a line of a de facto free economic zone, and international forces should be there to guarantee that no one will enter there under any guise neither little green men nor Russian military disguised as civilians, Zelenskyy said.

Managing the Zaporizhzhia power plant

Ukraine is also proposing that the occupied city of Enerhodar, which is the closest city to the Zaporizhzhia power plant, be a demilitarized free economic zone, Zelenskyy said.

This point required 15 hours of discussions with the U.S., he said, and no agreement was reached.

For now, the U.S. proposes that the plant be jointly operated by Ukraine, the U.S. and Russia, with each side controlling a 33% stake in the enterprise a plan Zelenskyy called not entirely realistic."

"How can you have joint commerce with the Russians after everything? he asked.

Ukraine instead suggested that the plant be operated by a joint venture with the U.S. in which the Americans can determine independently how to distribute the energy from their 50% share.

Zelenskyy said billions in investments are needed to make the plant run again, including restoring the adjacent dam.

A separate annex for security guarantees

The working draft ensures that Ukraine will receive strong security guarantees, which would require Ukraines partners to act in the event of renewed Russian aggression. That would mirror NATOs Article 5, which says an armed attack on one member of the alliance is an attack on all.

Zelenskyy said that a separate document with the U.S. will outline these guarantees concretely. It will detail the conditions under which security will be provided, particularly in the event of a renewed Russian assault, and will establish a mechanism to monitor any ceasefire. The document will be signed concurrently with the main agreement to end the war, Zelenskyy said.

The mood of the United States of America is that this is an unprecedented step towards Ukraine on their part. They believe that they are giving strong security guarantees, he said.

The draft contains other elements including keeping Ukraines army at 800,000 during peace time and that Ukraine become a member of the European Union by a specific date. Limiting the size of Ukraines military is a key Russian demand.

Elections and boosting the economy

The document proposes accelerating a free trade agreement between Ukraine and the U.S. The U.S. wants the same deal with Russia, said Zelenskyy.

Ukraine would like to receive short-term privileged access to the European market and a robust global development package that would include the creation of a development fund to invest in industries including technology, data centers and artificial intelligence, as well as gas.

Other points include the provision of funds for the reconstruction of territories destroyed in the war through various means including grants, loans and investment funds.

Ukraine will have the opportunity to determine the priorities for distributing its share of funds in the territories under the control of Ukraine, Zelenskyy said.

The goal will be to attract $800 billion through equity, grants, loans and private sector contributions.

The draft proposal also requires Ukraine to hold elections after the signing of the agreement. Zelenskyys five-year term was scheduled to end in May 2024, but elections were put off due to Russias invasion. Russian President Vladimir Putin has seized on that even those the postponement was legal and it has become a source of tension with Trump, who has criticized the delay.

Ukraine is also asking that all prisoners taken since 2014 be released at once, and that civilian detainees, political prisoners and children be returned to Ukraine. Russia illegally seized Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and Ukrainian troops and Moscow-backed forces have been fighting in the Donbas since that year as well.

A Christmas Eve Powerball drawing could add new meaning to holiday cheer as millions of players hope to cash in on the $1.7 billion prize, which comes after months without a jackpot winner.

The United States' 4th-largest jackpot on record comes after 46 consecutive draws without someone claiming to have all six numbers. The last contest with a jackpot winner was on Sept. 6. The games long odds have people decking the halls and doling out $2 and sometimes more for tickets ahead of Wednesday night's live drawing at 10:59 p.m. EST.

It's a sign the game is operating as intended. Lottery officials made the odds tougher in 2015 as a mechanism for snowballing jackpots, all the while making it easier to win smaller prizes.

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The Christmas holiday is not expected to impact the drawing process should there be a winning ticket, a Powerball spokesperson said.

Here is what to know about Wednesdays drawing:

Christmas Eve cha-ching

That ticket placed in a stocking or under the tree could be worth a billion bucks but with some caveats.

Powerball is played in 45 states, along with Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Most of those areas require players to be 18 or older, though some states have steeper requirements. In Nebraska, players have to be at least 19 years old, and in Louisiana and Arizona, people can't buy tickets until they are 21.

Winning tickets also must be cashed in the states where they were bought. And players can't buy tickets in Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada or Utah.

Other than that, lottery officials argue there is a chance a lucky Powerball ticket could be a gift that keeps on giving.

Charlie McIntyre, the New Hampshire Lottery's executive director, said Tuesday: Just think of the stories you can tell for generations to come about the year you woke up a billionaire on Christmas.

A range of prizes can be presents

Wednesday's $1.7 billion jackpot has a cash value of $781.3 million.

A winner can choose to be paid the whole amount through an annuity, with an immediate payment and then annual payments over 29 years that increase by 5% each time. Most winners, however, usually choose the cash value for a lump sum.

The odds are high for the top prize, but there are smaller prizes players can reap.

At the last drawing, players in Florida, Georgia, Illinois, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Wisconsin each won $1 million. There are also prizes outside the jackpot, ranging from a few dollars to $2 million.

One woman told Powerball officials that she already made plans for her $1 million win: Were going to pay off our cars and credit cards and get a bigger house!

And Thomas Anderson of Burlington, North Carolina, said he intended to use his $100,000 Powerball win from earlier this month to go back to school, according to Powerball.

Long odds for the billion-dollar jackpots

Lottery officials set the odds at 1 in 292.2 million in hopes that jackpots will roll over with each of the three weekly drawings until the pool balloons so much that more people take notice and play.

The odds used to be notably better, at 1 in 175 million. But the game was made tougher in 2015 to create the out-of-this-world bounties. The tougher odds partly helped set the stage for back-to-back record-breaking sweepstakes this year.

The last time someone won the Powerball pot was on Sept. 6, when players in Missouri and Texas won $1.787 billion, which was the second-highest top prize in U.S. history.

The U.S. has seen more than a dozen lottery jackpot prizes exceed $1 billion since 2016. The biggest U.S. jackpot ever was $2.04 billion back in 2022.

More about those unfavorable odds

Its hard to explain what odds of 1 in 292.2 million mean. Even if halved, they remain difficult to digest.

In the past, one math professor described the odds of flipping a coin and getting heads 28 straight times.

Tim Chartier, a Davidson College math professor in North Carolina, on Monday compared the odds of a winning lottery ticket to selecting one marked dollar bill from a stack 19 miles (31 kilometers) high.

Its true that if you buy 100 tickets, you are 100 times more likely to win. But in this case, 100 times more likely barely moves the probability needle, Chartier said. Using the time analogy, buying 100 tickets is like getting 100 guesses to name that one chosen second over nine years. Possible but wildly improbable.

A thunderous explosion Tuesday at a nursing home just outside Philadelphia killed at least two people, collapsed part of the building, sent fire shooting out and left people trapped inside, authorities said.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said in a news conference several hours after the explosion that at least two had been killed after emergency responders braved the flames, a heavy odor of gas and a second explosion to evacuate residents and employees.

Fire officials said they were in rescue mode five hours later, with responders still digging by hand and using search dogs, earth-moving equipment and sonar to locate potential victims.

The explosion happened at Bristol Health & Rehab Center in Bristol Township, just as a utility crew had been on site looking for a gas leak.

A plume of black smoke rose from the nursing home, as emergency responders, fire trucks and ambulances from across the region rushed there, joined by earthmoving equipment.

Authorities did not identify those who died and did not know the total number of those injured after residents and employees were evacuated to a number of different hospitals.

Shapiro asked his fellow Pennsylvanians to take a moment to pray for this community, for those who are still missing, for those who are injured, and for those families who are about to celebrate Christmas with an empty chair at their table.

The town's fire chief, Kevin Dippolito, said at the Tuesday evening news conference that there were five people still unaccounted for, but he cautioned that some may have left the scene with family members.

Dippolito described a chaotic rescue where firefighters found people stuck in stairwells and elevator shafts, and pulled residents out of the fiery building through windows and doors. Two people were rescued from a collapsed section of building, he said.

Firefighters handed off patients to waiting police officers outside, including one who literally threw two people over his shoulders, Dippolito said. It was nothing short of extraordinary. A second explosion erupted during the rescue, he said.

Bucks County emergency management officials said they received the report of an explosion at approximately 2:17 p.m. and said a portion of the building was reported to have collapsed.

Willie Tye, who lives about a block away, said he was sitting at home watching a basketball game on TV when he heard a loud kaboom.

I thought an airplane or something came and fell on my house, Tye said.

He got up to go look and saw fire everywhere and people escaping the building. Just got to keep praying for them, Tye said.

Shapiro said a finding that the gas leak caused the explosion was preliminary.

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The local gas utility, PECO, said while its crews were responding to reports of a gas odor at the nursing home, an explosion happened. "PECO crews shut off natural gas and electric service to the facility to ensure the safety of first responders and local residents, the utility said in a statement.

Investigators from the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission's went to the scene. Finding that the explosion was caused by a gas leak wont be confirmed until the agency can examine the scene, a utility commission spokesperson said.

Musuline Watson, who said she was a certified nursing assistant at the facility, told WPVI-TV/ABC 6 that, over the weekend, she and others there smelled gas, but there was no heat in the room, so we didnt take it to be anything.

The 174-bed nursing home is about 20 miles northeast of Philadelphia. It is newly affiliated with Saber Healthcare Group and had been known until recently as Silver Lake Healthcare Center.

In a statement, Saber called the explosion devastating. It said facility personnel had promptly reported a gas smell to PECO before the explosion and that it was working with authorities to ensure the safety and well-being of staff, residents and the community.

The latest state inspection report for the facility was in October and the Pennsylvania Department of Health found that it was not in compliance with several state regulations.

The inspection report said the facility failed to provide an accurate set of floor plans and to properly maintain several stairways, including storing multiple paint buckets and a bed frame under landings.

It also said the facility failed to maintain portable fire extinguishers on one of the three levels and failed to provide the required smoke barrier partitions, which are designed to contain smoke on two floors. It also said it didnt properly store oxygen cylinders on two of three floors.

According to Medicare.gov, the facility underwent a standard fire safety inspection in September 2024, during which no citations were issued. But Medicares overall rating of the facility is listed as much below average, with poor ratings for health inspections in particular.

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.

Four of the people aboard were Navy officers and four were civilians, including a child, Mexicos Navy said in a statement to The Associated Press. Two of the passengers were from a nonprofit that provides aid to Mexican children with severe burns, including transports to a Galveston hospital.

U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Luke Baker said at least five aboard had died but did not identify which passengers.

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The cause of the crash is under investigation.

Mexicos Marines said in a statement that it is sending its deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in this tragic accident.

The crash took place Monday afternoon in Galveston Bay near the base of the causeway that connects Galveston Island to the mainland. Emergency responders and search teams rushed to the scene near the popular beach destination along the Texas coast that is about 50 miles (80.5 kilometers) southeast of Houston.

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Sky Decker, a professional yacht captain who lives about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from the crash site, said he jumped in his boat to see if he could help. He said he picked up two police officers who directed him through thick fog to a nearly completely submerged plane. Decker jumped in the water and found a badly injured woman trapped beneath chairs and other debris.

I couldnt believe. She had maybe 3 inches of air gap to breathe in," he said. "And there was jet fuel in there mixed with the water, fumes real bad. She was really fighting for her life.

He said he also pulled out a man sitting in front of her who had already died. He described both of them as dressed in civilian clothes.

Mexico's Navy said the plane was helping with a medical mission in coordination with the Michou and Mau Foundation, which provides emergency transports to children with life-threatening burns to Shriners Children's hospital in Galveston, according to the nonprofit's website.

The foundation said in a post on social media, We express our deepest solidarity with the families in light of these events. We share their grief with respect and compassion, honoring their memory and reaffirming our commitment to providing humane, sensitive, and dignified care to children with burns.

The statement from Mexicos Navy said the plane had an accident during its approach to Galveston but did not elaborate.

Teams from the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board have arrived at the scene of the crash, the Texas Department of Public Safety said on the social platform X.

A spokesperson from NTSB said they are aware of this accident and are gathering information about it. The Galveston County Sheriffs Office said officials from its dive team, crime scene unit, drone unit and patrol were responding to the crash.

Its not immediately clear if weather was a factor. The area has been experiencing foggy conditions over the past few days, according to Cameron Batiste, a National Weather Service meteorologist. He said that at about 2:30 p.m. Monday a fog came in that had about a half-mile visibility.

The Powerball jackpot has jumped to an eye-popping $1.7 billion, after the 46th drawing passed without a big winner.

The numbers drawn Monday night were 3, 18, 36, 41, 54 and the Powerball 7.

Since Sept. 6, there have been 46 straight drawings without a big winner.

The next drawing will be on Christmas Eve, with the prize expected to be the 4th-largest in U.S. lottery history.

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Powerballs odds of 1 in 292.2 million are designed to generate big jackpots, with prizes growing as they roll over when no one wins. Lottery officials note that the odds are far better for the games many smaller prizes. There are three drawings each week.

The estimated $1.6 billion jackpot goes to a winner who opts to receive 30 payments over 29 years through an annuity. Winners almost always choose the games cash option, which for Monday nights drawing would be an estimated $735.3 million.

Powerball tickets cost $2, and the game is offered in 45 states plus Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

U.S. regulators on Monday gave the green light to a pill version of the blockbuster weight-loss drug Wegovy, the first daily oral medication to treat obesity.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administrations approval handed drugmaker Novo Nordisk an edge over rival Eli Lilly in the race to market an obesity pill. Lillys oral drug, orforglipron, is still under review.

Both pills are GLP-1 drugs that work like widely used injectables to mimic a natural hormone that controls appetite and feelings of fullness.

In recent years, Novo Nordisks injectable Wegovy and Lillys Zepbound have revolutionized obesity treatment globally and in the U.S., where 100 million people have the chronic disease.

The Wegovy pills are expected to be available within weeks, company officials said. Availability of oral pills to treat obesity could expand the booming market for obesity treatments by broadening access and reducing costs, experts said.

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About 1 in 8 Americans have used injectable GLP-1 drugs, according to a survey from KFF, a nonprofit health policy research group. But many more have trouble affording the costly shots.

Theres an entire demographic that can benefit from the pills, said Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford, a Massachusetts General Hospital obesity expert. For me, its not just about who gets it across the finish line first. Its about having these options available to patients.

The Novo Nordisk obesity pill contains 25 milligrams of semaglutide. That's the same ingredient in injectables Wegovy and Ozempic and in Rybelsus, a lower-dose pill approved to treat diabetes in 2019.

In a clinical trial, participants who took oral Wegovy lost 13.6% of their total body weight on average over about 15 months, compared with a 2.2% loss if they took a placebo, or dummy pill. Thats nearly the same as injectable Wegovy, with an average weight loss of about 15%.

Chris Mertens, 35, a pediatric lung doctor in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, joined the Novo Nordisk trial in 2022 and lost about 40 pounds using the Wegovy pill. The daily medication worked to decrease his appetite and invasive thoughts of food, he said.

If there were days where I missed a meal, I almost didnt realize it, Mertens said.

Participants in a clinical trial who took the highest dose of Lillys orforglipron lost 11.2% of their total body weight on average over nearly 17 months, compared with a 2.1% loss in those who took a placebo.

Both pills resulted in less weight loss than the average achieved with Lillys Zepbound, or tirzepatide, which targets two gut hormones, GLP-1 and GIP, and led to a 21% average weight loss.

All the GLP-1 drugs, oral or injectable, have similar side effects, including nausea and diarrhea.

Both daily pills promise convenience, but the Wegovy pill must be taken with a sip of water in the morning on an empty stomach, with a 30-minute break before eating or drinking.

Thats because Novo Nordisk had to design the pill in a way that prevented the drug from being broken down in the stomach before it could be absorbed by the bloodstream. The drugmaker added an ingredient that protects the medication for about 30 minutes in the gut and makes it easier to take effect.

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By contrast, Lillys orforglipron has no dosing restrictions. That drug is being considered under the FDAs new priority voucher program aimed at cutting drug approval times. A decision is expected by spring.

Producing pills is generally cheaper than making drugs delivered via injections, so the cost for the new oral medications could be lower. The Trump administration earlier this year said officials had worked with drugmakers to negotiate lower prices for the GLP-1 drugs, which can cost upwards of $1,000 a month.

The company said the starting dose would be available for $149 per month from some providers. Additional information on cost will be available in January.

Its not clear whether daily pills or weekly injections will be preferred by patients. Although some patients dislike needles, others don't seem to mind the weekly injections, obesity experts said. Mertens turned to injectable Zepbound when he regained weight after the end of the Wegovy pill clinical trial.

He said he liked the discipline of the daily pill.

It was a little bit of an intentional routine and a reminder of today Im taking this so that I know my choices are going to be affected for the day, he said.

Dr. Angela Fitch, an obesity expert and chief medical officer of knownwell, a health care company, said whatever the format, the biggest benefit will be in making weight-loss medications more widely accessible and affordable.

Its all about the price, she said. Just give me a drug at $100 a month that is relatively effective.

Vince Zampella, one of the creators behind such best-selling video games as Call of Duty, has died. He was 55.

Video game company Electronic Arts said Zampella died Sunday. The company did not disclose a cause of death.

In 2010, Zampella founded Respawn Entertainment, a subsidiary of EA, and he also was the former chief executive of video game developer Infinity Ward, the studio behind the successful Call of Duty franchise.

A spokesperson for Electronic Arts said in a statement on Monday that Zampella's influence on the video game industry was profound and far-reaching."

A friend, colleague, leader and visionary creator, his work helped shape modern interactive entertainment and inspired millions of players and developers around the world. His legacy will continue to shape how games are made and how players connect for generations to come, a company spokesperson wrote.

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One of Zampella's crowning achievements was the creation of the "Call of Duty" franchise, which has sold more than half a billion games worldwide,

The first person shooter game debuted in 2003 as a World War II simulation and has sold over 500 million copies globally. Subsequent versions have delved into modern warfare and there is a live-action movie based on the game in production with Paramount Pictures.

In recent years, Zampella has been at the helm of the creation of the action adventure video games "Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order" and "Star Wars Jedi: Survivor."