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.

RELATED STORY | Slimmer odds and costlier tickets: What's driving the lottery's sky-high jackpot?

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.

RELATED STORY | Medicare Part D recipients to see lower prices on Ozempic, Wegovy and more

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.

RELATED STORY | White House announces more deals to bring down prescription drug prices

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.

RELATED STORY | 'Buck Rogers' star Gil Gerard dies at 82

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."

Bourbon maker Jim Beam is halting production at one of its distilleries in Kentucky for at least a year as the whiskey industry navigates tariffs from the Trump administration and slumping demand for a product that needs years of aging before it is ready.

Jim Beam said the decision to pause bourbon making at its Clermont location in 2026 will give the company time to invest in improvements at the distillery. The bottling and warehouse at the site will remain open, along with the James B. Beam Distilling Co. visitors center and restaurant.

The company's larger distillery in Boston, Kentucky, will continue to operate, the company said.

"We are always assessing production levels to best meet consumer demand," the company said in a statement that added they were talking with the distillery's union to determine whether there will be layoffs or other reductions.

Bourbon makers have to gamble well into the future. Jim Beam's flagship bourbon requires at least four years of aging in barrels before being bottled.

Whiskey makers are dealing with back-and-forth arguments over tariffs in Europe and in Canada, where a boycott started after the Trump administration suggested annexing the country into the U.S.

Overall exports of American spirits fell 9% in the second quarter of 2025 compared to a year ago, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States. The most dramatic decrease came in U.S. spirits exports to Canada, which fell 85% in the April-through-June quarter

Bourbon production has grown significantly in recent years. As of January, there were about 16 million barrels of bourbon aging in Kentucky warehouses more than triple the amount held 15 years ago, according to the Kentucky Distillers' Association.

But sales figures and polling show Americans are drinking less than they have in decades.

About 95% of all bourbon made in the U.S. comes from Kentucky. The trade group estimated the industry brings more than 23,000 jobs and $2.2 billion to the state.

From department stores to grocery stores, most retailers across the U.S. close early on Christmas Eve and shut their doors entirely on Christmas Day while others opt to cut back hours. But there's also a handful of businesses that will be open during the holiday.

Before you run out the door this Christmas whether it's to buy last-minute gifts or simply get out of the house it's wise to double-check operating hours, which can differ depending on their location. When in doubt, call ahead or look up more specific schedules online for stores in your neighborhood.

Here are some of the grocery, convenience and retail stores that are CLOSED on Christmas Day:

ALDI Costco Harris Teeter Home Depot IKEA Jewel-Osco Kroger Lowe's Macy's Meijer Publix Sam's Club Sprouts Farmer's Market Target Trader Joe's Walmart Whole Foods

Here are some of the grocery, convenience and retail stores that are OPEN on Christmas Day (or have select locations that are):

Albertsons: Select locations may remain open with adjusted hours CVS: Hours may vary based on location. Denny's: Most locations are open but check your local hours. Dunkin': Most locations are open but check your local hours. McDonald's: Many locations are open on holidays like Christmas, but hours vary by location. Ralph's: Some stores open with reduced hours. Safeway: Many stores are closed, but there will also be some locations open with adjusted hours. Sheetz: Stores are open with regular hours (24/7). Starbucks: Some locations are open. Hours may vary. 7-Eleven: Most stores are open 24/7 (including on Christmas), but some locations' hours can vary. Waffle House Walgreens: Stores will be open on Christmas Day but pharmacy hours may vary. Wawa: Most locations are open.

The leaders of Denmark and Greenland insisted Monday that the United States won't take over Greenland and demanded respect for their territorial integrity after President Donald Trump announced the appointment of a special envoy to the semi-autonomous territory.

Trump's announcement on Sunday that Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry would be the envoy prompted a new flare-up of tensions over Washington's interest in the vast territory of Denmark, a NATO ally. Denmark's foreign minister told Danish broadcasters that he would summon the U.S. ambassador to his ministry.

"We have said it before. Now, we say it again. National borders and the sovereignty of states are rooted in international law," Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and her Greenlandic counterpart, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said in a joint statement. "They are fundamental principles. You cannot annex another country. Not even with an argument about international security."

"Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders and the U.S. shall not take over Greenland," they added in the statement emailed by Frederiksen's office. "We expect respect for our joint territorial integrity."

ICYMI | Trump doesn't rule out military force to acquire Greenland for 'international security'

Trump called repeatedly during his presidential transition and the early months of his second term for U.S. jurisdiction over Greenland, and has not ruled out military force to take control of the mineral-rich, strategically located Arctic island. In March, Vice President JD Vance visited a remote U.S. military base in Greenland and accused Denmark of under-investing there.

The issue gradually drifted out of the headlines, but in August, Danish officials summoned the top U.S. diplomat in Copenhagen following a report that at least three people with connections to Trump had carried out covert influence operations in Greenland.

On Sunday, Trump announced Landry's appointment, saying on social media that "Jeff understands how essential Greenland is to our National Security, and will strongly advance our Country's Interests for the Safety, Security, and Survival of our Allies, and indeed, the World."

Landry wrote in a post on social media that "it's an honor to serve you in this volunteer position to make Greenland a part of the U.S."

Danish broadcasters TV2 and DR reported that in comments from the Faroe Islands Monday, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lkke Rasmussen said he summon the U.S. ambassador in Copenhagen, Kenneth Howery, to his ministry.

WATCH: Cold War Base in Greenland, Hot Again

Greenland's prime minister wrote in a separate statement that Greenland had again woken up to a new announcement from the U.S. president, and that "it may sound significant. But it changes nothing for us here at home."

Nielsen noted that Greenland has its own democracy and said that "we are happy to cooperate with other countries, including the United States, but this must always take place with respect for us and for our values and wishes."

Earlier this month, the Danish Defense Intelligence Service said in an annual report that the U.S. is using its economic power to "assert its will" and threaten military force against friend and foe alike.

Denmark is a member of the European Union as well as NATO.

Anouar El Anouni, a spokesperson for the EU's executive Commission, told reporters in Brussels on Monday that it wasn't for him to comment on U.S. decisions. But he underlined the bloc's position that "preserving the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark, its sovereignty and the inviolability of its borders is essential for the European Union."

Chris Rea, the singer and songwriter best known for the hit "Driving Home for Christmas," has died at 74, his family said Monday.

Rea died in the hospital following a short illness, according to a statement from his family to Britain's Press Association news agency.

Rea found fame in the 1980s in Britain with hits such as "Fool (If You Think It's Over)" and "Let's Dance."

Two of his studio albums, "The Road to Hell" in 1989 and "Auberge" in 1991, went to number one in the country.

"Driving Home for Christmas," did not become an overnight hit when it was first released in 1986, but the gentle track proved to be an enduring success over the decades and remains one of the U.K.'s most-loved festive songs. It featured in a TV advertisement for the retailer Marks and Spencer just this year.

The musician was born in 1951 in Middlesbrough, in northeast England, to an Italian father and Irish mother. He took various jobs after leaving school and helped out in his family's ice cream business.

He came late to the guitar, picking one up at 21, and played in bands before going solo.

He had suffered from health problems including pancreatic cancer, and in 2016 he suffered a stroke. In more recent years he turned away from pop and released several bluesy records.

Rea is survived by his wife and two daughters.

Instacart said Monday that its ending a program where some customers saw different prices for the same product ordered at the same time from the same store when using the delivery companys service.

The program was meant to help grocers and other retailers learn more about what kinds of prices customers would pay for items, similar to how stores offer different prices for the same products at different locations. But it raised alarms after a report from Consumer Reports and two progressive advocacy groups, Groundwork Collaborative and More Perfect Union, said Instacart offered nearly three out of every four grocery items to shoppers at multiple prices in an experiment.

RELATED STORY | Same groceries, same store: So why did you pay more than your neighbor?

At a time when families are working exceptionally hard to stretch every grocery dollar, those tests raised concerns, leaving some people questioning the prices they see on Instacart, the company said in a Monday blog post. Thats not okay especially for a company built on trust, transparency, and affordability.

Retailers will continue to set their own prices on the delivery website and they may still offer different prices at different brick-and-mortar locations, Instacart said, but from now on, Instacart will not support any item price testing services.

Instacart said these services were neither dynamic pricing, a system where the price for something can go up when demand is high, nor surveillance pricing, where prices can be set based on a user's income, shopping history or other personal information. Instead, the company said it was offered to customers at random.

Some customers would simply see a slightly higher price for an item, while others would see a slightly lower price. The experiment by Consumer Reports and the two progressive advocacy groups, for example, found that Instacart customers saw one of five different prices for the same dozen of Lucerne eggs from a Safeway store in Washington, D.C.: $3.99, $4.28, $4.59, $4.69, or $4.79.

Instacart had been offering the price-testing service to retailers since 2023. The company declined to say how many customers may have been affected, but it will end the service, effective immediately.

RELATED STORY | Why Instacart is expected to send $60 million in refunds to customers

Last week, in a separate case, Instacart agreed to pay $60 million in customer refunds to settle federal allegations of deceptive practices. The Federal Trade Commission had accused Instacart of falsely advertising free deliveries and not clearly disclosing service fees, which add as much as 15% to an order and must be paid for customers.

Instacart denied FTC allegations of wrongdoing and said it reached a settlement in order to move forward and focus on its business.

Trust is earned through clarity and consistency, Instacart said in its blog post Monday. Customers should never have to second-guess the prices theyre seeing.

The U.S. Coast Guard on Sunday was pursuing another sanctioned oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea as the Trump administration appeared to be intensifying its targeting of such vessels connected to Venezuelan government.

The pursuit of the tanker, which was confirmed by a U.S. official briefed on the operation, comes after the U.S. administration announced Saturday it had seized a tanker for the second time in less than two weeks.

The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly about the ongoing operation and spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Sunday's pursuit involved a sanctioned dark fleet vessel that is part of Venezuelas illegal sanctions evasion.

The official said the vessel was flying a false flag and under a judicial seizure order.

The Coast Guards pursuit of the tanker was first reported by Reuters.

RELATED STORY | What's really behind the tension between the US and Venezuela?

Saturdays predawn seizure of a Panama-flagged vessel called Centuries targeted what the White House described as a falsely flagged vessel operating as part of the Venezuelan shadow fleet to traffic stolen oil.

The Coast Guard, with assistance from the Navy, seized a sanctioned tanker called Skipper on Dec. 10, another part of the shadow fleet of tankers that the U.S. says operates on the fringes of the law to move sanctioned cargo. It was not even flying a nations flag when it was seized by the Coast Guard.

President Donald Trump, after that first seizure, said that the U.S. would carry out a blockade of Venezuela. It all comes as Trump has ratcheted up his rhetoric toward Venezuelan President Nicols Maduro.

This past week Trump demanded that Venezuela return assets that it seized from U.S. oil companies years ago, justifying anew his announcement of a blockade against oil tankers traveling to or from the South American country that face American sanctions.

Trump cited the lost U.S. investments in Venezuela when asked about his newest tactic in a pressure campaign against Maduro, suggesting the Republican administrations moves are at least somewhat motivated by disputes over oil investments, along with accusations of drug trafficking. Some sanctioned tankers already are diverting away from Venezuela.

U.S. oil companies dominated Venezuelas petroleum industry until the countrys leaders moved to nationalize the sector, first in the 1970s and again in the 21st century under Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chvez. Compensation offered by Venezuela was deemed insufficient, and in 2014, an international arbitration panel ordered the countrys socialist government to pay $1.6 billion to ExxonMobil.

Maduro said in a message Sunday on Telegram that Venezuela has spent months denouncing, challenging and defeating a campaign of aggression that goes from psychological terrorism to corsairs attacking oil tankers.

He added: We are ready to accelerate the pace of our deep revolution!

RELATED STORY | Trump announces blockade of Venezuelan oil tankers

The targeting of tankers comes as Trump has ordered the Defense Department to carry out a series of attacks on vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean that his administration alleges are smuggling fentanyl and other illegal drugs into the United States and beyond.

At least 104 people have been killed in 28 known strikes since early September. The strikes have faced scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers and human rights activists, who say the administration has offered scant evidence that its targets are indeed drug smugglers and that the fatal strikes amount to extrajudicial killings.

Trump has repeatedly said Maduro's days in power are numbered. White House chief of staff Susie Wiles said in an interview with Vanity Fair published last week that Trump wants to keep on blowing boats up until Maduro cries uncle.

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., told NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday that Trump's use of military to mount pressure on Maduro runs contrary to Trump's pledge to keep the United States out of unnecessary wars.

Democrats have been pressing Trump to seek congressional authorization for the military action in the Caribbean.

We should be using sanctions and other tools at our disposal to punish this dictator who is violating the human rights of his civilians and has run the Venezuelan economy into the ground, Kaine said. "But Ill tell you, we should not be waging war against Venezuela. We definitely should not be waging war without a vote of Congress.

WATCH | Congress questions Hegseth on drug boat deaths as Venezuela military operations expand

A Kremlin envoy said peace talks on a U.S.-proposed plan to end the nearly four-year war in Ukraine were pressing on constructively in Florida, while the Ukrainian president said they were moving quickly."

The talks are part of the Trump administrations monthslong push for peace that also included meetings with Ukrainian and European officials in Berlin earlier this week.

Florida talks press on

The discussions are proceeding constructively. They began earlier and will continue today, and will also continue tomorrow, Kirill Dmitriev told reporters in Miami on Saturday.

Dmitriev met with U.S. President Donald Trumps envoy Steve Witkoff and Trumps son-in-law Jared Kushner, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT | Russian missile strike on Odesa kills 8 as US hosts a Kremlin envoy for peace talks

Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram Sunday that diplomatic efforts were moving forward quite quickly, and our team in Florida has been working with the American side. This came after Ukraines chief negotiator said Friday his delegation had completed separate meetings in the United States with American and European partners.

Trump has unleashed an extensive diplomatic push to end the war, but his efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands by Moscow and Kyiv. Russian President Vladimir Putin has recently signaled he is digging in on his maximalist demands on Ukraine, as Moscows troops inch forward on the battlefield despite huge losses.

On Friday, Putin expressed confidence that the Kremlin would achieve its military goals if Kyiv didnt agree to Russias conditions in peace talks.

Possible French-Russian talks

The French presidency on Sunday welcomed Putins willingness to speak with President Emmanuel Macron, saying it would decide how to proceed in the coming days.

As soon as the prospect of a ceasefire and peace negotiations becomes clearer, it becomes useful again to speak with Putin, Macrons office said in a statement. It is welcome that the Kremlin publicly agrees to this approach.

The statement came after reports that Putin was open to holding talks with the French president if there was mutual political will.

Macrons office said any dialogue would aim to contribute to a solid and lasting peace for Ukraine and Europe, in full transparency with President Zelenskyy and our European partners.

RELATED STORY | In annual news conference, Putin says military goals will be achieved in Ukraine

European Union leaders agreed on Friday to provide $106 billion to Ukraine to meet its military and economic needs for the next two years, although they failed to bridge differences with Belgium that would have allowed them to use frozen Russian assets to raise the funds. Instead, they were borrowed from capital markets.

Ukrainian civilians moved to Russia

In Ukraine, the countrys human rights ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, accused Sunday Russian forces of forcibly removing about 50 Ukrainian civilians from the Ukrainian Sumy border region to Russian territory.

Writing on Telegram, he said that Russian forces illegally detained the residents in the village of Hrabovske on Thursday, before moving them to Russia on Saturday.

Lubinets said he contacted Russias human rights commissioner, requesting information on the civilians whereabouts and conditions, and demanding their immediate return to Ukraine.

WATCH | Sniper GoProd the War Then It Followed Him Home

Israels Cabinet approved a proposal for 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, the far-right finance minister said on Sunday.

The settlements include two that were previously evacuated during a 2005 disengagement plan, according to Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich, who has pushed a settlement expansion agenda in the West Bank.

It brings the total number of new settlements over the past two years to 69, Smotrich wrote on X.

The approval increases the number of settlements in the West Bank by nearly 50% during the current governments tenure, from 141 in 2022 to 210 after the current approval, according to Peace Now, an anti-settlement watchdog group. Settlements are widely considered illegal under international law.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT | Hamas confirms the death of a top commander in Gaza after Israeli strike

The approval comes as the U.S. is pushing Israel and Hamas to move ahead with the new phase of the Gaza ceasefire, which took effect Oct. 10. The U.S.-brokered plan calls for a possible pathway to a Palestinian state something the settlements are aimed at preventing.

The Cabinet decision included a retroactive legalization of some previously established settlement outposts or neighborhoods of existing settlements, and the creation of settlements on land where Palestinians were evacuated, Peace Now said.

Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza areas claimed by the Palestinians for a future state in the 1967 war. It has settled over 500,000 Jews in the West Bank, in addition to over 200,000 more in contested east Jerusalem.

Israels government is dominated by far-right proponents of the settler movement, including Smotrich and Cabinet Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who oversees the nations police force.

RELATED STORY | Trump expands travel ban and restrictions to include an additional 20 countries

Settler expansion has been compounded by a surge of attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank in recent months.

During Octobers olive harvest, settlers across the territory launched an average of eight attacks daily, according to the United Nations humanitarian office, the most since it began collecting data in 2006. The attacks continued in November, with the U.N. recording at least 136 more by Nov. 24.

Settlers burned cars, desecrated mosques, ransacked industrial plants and destroyed cropland. Israeli authorities have done little beyond issuing occasional condemnations of the violence.

WATCH | What we know about "NILI," a secret Israeli unit targeting Hamas terrorists