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.

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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.

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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

At least 16 files disappeared from the Justice Departments public webpage for documents related to Jeffrey Epstein including a photograph showing President Donald Trump less than a day after they were posted, with no explanation from the government and no notice to the public.

The missing files, which were available Friday and no longer accessible by Saturday, included images of paintings depicting nude women, and one showing a series of photographs along a credenza and in drawers. In that image, inside a drawer among other photos, was a photograph of Trump, alongside Epstein, Melania Trump and Epstein's longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell.

The Justice Department did not say why the files were removed or whether their disappearance was intentional. A spokesperson for the department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Online, the unexplained missing files fueled speculation about what was taken down and why the public was not notified, compounding long-standing intrigue about Epstein and the powerful figures who surrounded him. Democrats on the House Oversight Committee pointed to the missing image featuring a Trump photo in a post on X, writing: What else is being covered up? We need transparency for the American public.

RELATED STORY | Minimal mention of Trump in Justice Departments initial Epstein file release

The episode deepened concerns that had already emerged from the Justice Departments much-anticipated document release. The tens of thousands of pages made public offered little new insight into Epsteins crimes or the prosecutorial decisions that allowed him to avoid serious federal charges for years, while omitting some of the most closely watched materials, including FBI interviews with victims and internal Justice Department memos on charging decisions.

Scant new insight in the initial disclosures

Some of the most consequential records expected about Epstein are nowhere to be found in the Justice Department's initial disclosures, which span tens of thousands of pages.

Missing are FBI interviews with survivors and internal Justice Department memos examining charging decisions records that could have helped explain how investigators viewed the case and why Epstein was allowed in 2008 to plead guilty to a relatively minor state-level prostitution charge.

The gaps go further.

The records, required to be released under a recent law passed by Congress, hardly reference several powerful figures long associated with Epstein, including Britains former Prince Andrew, renewing questions about who was scrutinized, who was not, and how much the disclosures truly advance public accountability

Among the fresh nuggets: insight into the Justice Departments decision to abandon an investigation into Epstein in the 2000s, which enabled him to plead guilty to that state-level charge, and a previously unseen 1996 complaint accusing Epstein of stealing photographs of children.

The releases so far have been heavy on images of Epsteins homes in New York City and the U.S. Virgin Islands, with some photos of celebrities and politicians.

There was a series of never-before-seen photos of former President Bill Clinton but fleetingly few of Trump. Both have been associated with Epstein, but both have since disowned those friendships. Neither has been accused of any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein and there was no indication the photos played a role in the criminal cases brought against him.

Despite a Friday deadline set by Congress to make everything public, the Justice Department said it plans to release records on a rolling basis. It blamed the delay on the time-consuming process of obscuring survivors' names and other identifying information. The department has not given any notice when more records might arrive.

RELATED STORY | Attorney of Epstein victim speaks out after DOJ files released

That approach angered some Epstein accusers and members of Congress who fought to pass the law forced the department to act. Instead of marking the end of a yearslong battle for transparency, the document release Friday was merely the beginning of an indefinite wait for a complete picture of Epsteins crimes and the steps taken to investigate them.

I feel like again the DOJ, the justice system is failing us, said Marina Lacerda, who alleges Epstein started sexually abusing her at his New York City mansion when she was 14.

Many of the long-anticipated records were redacted or lacked context

Federal prosecutors in New York brought sex trafficking charges against Epstein in 2019, but he killed himself in jail after his arrest.

The documents just made public were a sliver of potentially millions of pages records in the departments possession. In one example, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said Manhattan federal prosecutors had more than 3.6 million records from sex trafficking investigations into Epstein and Maxwell, though many duplicated material already turned over by the FBI.

Many of the records released so far had been made public in court filings, congressional releases or freedom of information requests, though, for the first time, they were all in one place and available for the public to search for free.

RELATED STORY | Congressmen behind Epstein files law draft articles of impeachment for AG Bondi

Ones that were new were often lacking necessary context or heavily blacked out. A 119-page document marked Grand Jury-NY," likely from one of the federal sex trafficking investigations that led to the charges against Epstein in 2019 or Maxwell in 2021, was entirely blacked out.

Trumps Republican allies seized on the Clinton images, including photos of the Democrat with singers Michael Jackson and Diana Ross. There were also photos of Epstein with actors Chris Tucker and Kevin Spacey, and even Epstein with TV newscaster Walter Cronkite. But none of the photos had captions and was no explanation given for why any of them were together.

The meatiest records released so far showed that federal prosecutors had what appeared to be a strong case against Epstein in 2007 yet never charged him.

Transcripts of grand jury proceedings, released publicly for the first time, included testimony from FBI agents who described interviews they had with several girls and young women who described being paid to perform sex acts for Epstein. The youngest was 14 and in ninth grade.

One had told investigators about being sexually assaulted by Epstein when she initially resisted his advances during a massage.

Another, then 21, testified before the grand jury about how Epstein had hired her when she was 16 to perform a sexual massage and how she had gone on to recruit other girls to do the same.

For every girl that I brought to the table he would give me $200, she said. They were mostly people she knew from high school, she said. I also told them that if they are under age, just lie about it and tell him that you are 18.

The documents also contain a transcript of an interview Justice Department lawyers did more than a decade later with the U.S. attorney who oversaw the case, Alexander Acosta, about his ultimate decision not to bring federal charges.

Acosta, who was labor secretary during Trumps first term, cited concerns about whether a jury would believe Epsteins accusers.

He also said the Justice Department might have been more reluctant to make a federal prosecution out of a case that straddled the legal border between sex trafficking and soliciting prostitution, something more commonly handled by state prosecutors.

Im not saying it was the right view, Acosta added. He also said that the public today would likely view the survivors differently.

Theres been a lot of changes in victim shaming, Acosta said.

U.S. forces on Saturday stopped a vessel off the coast of Venezuela for the second time in less than two weeks as President Donald Trump continues to ramp up pressure on Venezuelan President Nicols Maduro.

The move, which was confirmed by two U.S. officials familiar with matter, comes days after Trump announced a blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers coming in and out of the South American country and follows the Dec. 10 seizure by American forces of an oil tanker off Venezuelas coast.

The officials were not authorized to discuss publicly the ongoing military operation and spoke on condition of anonymity. One official described the action as a consented boarding, with the tanker stopping voluntarily and allowing U.S. forces to board it.

Pentagon and White House officials did not immediately respond to a requests for comment.

RELATED STORY | Trump announces blockade of Venezuelan oil tankers

Trump, following the first tanker seizure this mont,h vowed that the U.S. would carry out a blockade of Venezuela. It all comes as Trump has ratcheted up his rhetoric toward Maduro and warned that the longtime Venezuelan leaders days in power are numbered.

Trump this week 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.

"Were not going to be letting anybody going through who shouldnt be going through, Trump told reporters earlier this week. You remember they took all of our energy rights. They took all of our oil not that long ago. And we want it back. They took it they illegally took it.

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.

RELATED STORY | Full video of Venezuela drug boat strikes will not be made public, Hegseth says

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.

The Coast Guard, sometimes with help from the Navy, had typically interdicted boats suspected of smuggling drugs in the Caribbean Sea, searched for illicit cargo, and arrested the people aboard for prosecution.

The administration has justified the strikes as necessary, asserting it is in armed conflict with drug cartels aimed at halting the flow of narcotics into the United States. Maduro faces federal charges of narcoterrorism in the U.S.

The U.S. in recent months has sent a fleet of warships to the region, the largest buildup of forces in generations, and Trump has stated repeatedly that land attacks are coming soon.

Maduro has insisted the real purpose of the U.S. military operations is to force him from power.

White House chief of staff Susie Wiles said in an interview with Vanity Fair published this week that Trump wants to keep on blowing boats up until Maduro cries uncle.

Anthony Joshua knocked out Jake Paul in the sixth round of their heavyweight fight on Friday night.

The two-time heavyweight champion displayed why he is one of the sports elite punchers when he dropped the fading Paul twice in the fifth round.

Sensing the YouTuber was finished, Joshua rocked him with a right uppercut early in the sixth. The native of England then floored Paul with a combination to the head.

Although Paul (12-2) reached his feet again, Joshua (29-4, 26 KOs) finally crushed Pauls upset dream when he dropped him a fourth time with a right to the head. Referee Christopher Young counted Paul out at 1:31 of the round in front of a capacity crowd of 19,600 at the Kaseya Center.

It took a little bit longer than expected but the right hand finally found its destination," Joshua said. "Jake Pauls done really well tonight. Im going to give him his props. He got up time and time again. I give Jake the respect for trying and trying. He came up against a real fighter tonight.

Paul later reported that his jaw was broken in two spots.

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With the victory, Joshua now can now angle to reclaim the heavyweight title he lost against Oleksandr Usyk. Joshua also has talked about a long discussed match with countryman and former champion, Tyson Fury. However, Fury is currently retired following consecutive losses to Usyk in 2024.

It was Joshuas first bout since Daniel Dubois knocked him out in five rounds in Sept. 2024.

Joshua methodically established pace against Paul from the opening round as neither fighter engaged early. Midway through the round, Paul threw an overhand right that Joshua blocked with his glove. In the closing seconds, Joshua scored with a right to the head near the ropes.

In the second, Joshua began utilizing his 6-inch reach advantage by leading with a left jab.

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Paul scored with a short right to the head early in the fourth. Later in the round, Paul twice fell to the canvas awkwardly as he again attempted to cut distance during close exchanges

I gave it my all," Paul said. "Anthony is a great fighter and I got my (rear end) kicked but that what this sport is all about. But Im going to come back and keep winning.

Paul weighed 216 pounds and Joshua weighed 243 for the bout.

The 28-year-old Paul, who began his career in Jan. 2020, originally had targeted an exhibition in Miami with lightweight champion Gervonta Davis last month. But Davis encountered legal problems that scrapped the event. Paul quickly pivoted and landed the bout against Joshua in the same venue.

Celebrities in the crowd included golf champion Rory McIlroy, New York Mets slugger Juan Soto, Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy and retired NFL receivers Michael Irvin and Brandon Marshall.

In an undercard bout between retired UFC champions, 50-year-old Anderson Silva scored a second-round TKO against Tyron Woodley.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday announced the start of a military operation in Syria to eliminate ISIS fighters, infrastructure, and weapons sites following the deaths of three U.S. citizens in an ambush attack almost a week ago.

A U.S. official described it as a large-scale strike that targeted multiple locations and concentrated areas across central Syria that had Islamic State group infrastructure and weapons. Another U.S. official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive operations, said more strikes should be expected.

RELATED STORY | Attacker who killed US troops in Syria was a recent recruit to security forces, official says

The attack was conducted using F-15 Eagle jets, A-10 Thunderbolt ground attack aircraft and AH-64 Apache helicopters, the officials said. F-16 fighter jets from Jordan and HIMARS rocket artillery also were used, one official said.

This is not the beginning of a war it is a declaration of vengeance. The United States of America, under President Trumps leadership, will never hesitate and never relent to defend our people, Hegseth said on social media.

President Donald Trump had pledged very serious retaliation after the shooting in the Syrian desert last Saturday that killed two Iowa National Guard members and a U.S. civilian interpreter. He blamed IS for their deaths. The troops were among hundreds of U.S. troops deployed in eastern Syria as part of a coalition fighting IS.

The attack was a major test for the warming ties between the United States and Syria since the ouster of autocratic leader Bashar Assad a year ago. Trump has stressed that Syria was fighting alongside U.S. troops and said Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa was extremely angry and disturbed by this attack, which came as the U.S. military is expanding its cooperation with Syrian security forces.

Syrian state television reported that strikes hit targets in rural areas of Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa provinces and in the Jabal al-Amour area near Palmyra. It said they targeted weapons storage sites and headquarters used by ISIS as launching points for its operations in the region.

White House officials noted that Trump had made clear that retaliation was coming.

President Trump told the world that the United States would retaliate for the killing of our heroes by ISIS in Syria, and he is delivering on that promise, White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly said in a statement.

Trump this week met privately with the families of the slain Americans at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware before he joined top military officials and other dignitaries on the tarmac for the dignified transfer, a solemn and largely silent ritual honoring U.S. service members killed in action.

RELATED STORY | Trump vows retaliation after 2 U.S. troops, 1 civilian killed in ISIS ambush

The guardsmen killed in Syria on Saturday were Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, 25, of Des Moines, and Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, 29, of Marshalltown, according to the U.S. Army. Ayad Mansoor Sakat, of Macomb, Michigan, a U.S. civilian working as an interpreter, was also killed.

The shooting nearly a week ago near the historic city of Palmyra also wounded three other U.S. troops as well as members of Syrias security forces, and the gunman was killed. The assailant had joined Syrias internal security forces as a base security guard two months ago and recently was reassigned because of suspicions that he might be affiliated with IS, Interior Ministry spokesperson Nour al-Din al-Baba has said.

The man stormed a meeting between U.S. and Syrian security officials who were having lunch together and opened fire after clashing with Syrian guards.

When asked for further information, the Pentagon referred AP to Hegseths social media post.

A jury found a Wisconsin judge accused of helping a Mexican immigrant dodge federal authorities guilty of obstruction Thursday, marking a victory for President Donald Trump as he continues his sweeping immigration crackdown across the country.

Federal prosecutors charged Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan with obstruction, a felony, and concealing an individual to prevent arrest, a misdemeanor, in April. The jury acquitted her on the concealment count, but she still faces up to five years in prison on the obstruction count.

The jury returned the verdicts after deliberating for six hours.

Dugan and her attorneys left the courtroom, ducked into a side conference room and closed the door without speaking to reporters.

According to a court filings that include an FBI affidavit and a federal grand jury indictment, immigration authorities traveled to the Milwaukee County courthouse on April 18 after learning 31-year-old Eduardo Flores-Ruiz had reentered the country illegally and was scheduled to appear before Dugan for a hearing in a state battery case.

Dugan learned that agents were in the corridor outside her courtroom waiting for Flores-Ruiz. She left the courtroom to confront them, falsely telling them their administrative warrant for Flores-Ruiz wasnt sufficient grounds to arrest him and directing them to go to the chief judges office.

While the agents were gone, she addressed Flores-Ruizs case off the record, told his attorney that he could attend his next hearing via Zoom and led Flores-Ruiz and the attorney out a private jury door. Agents spotted Flores-Ruiz in the corridor, followed him outside and arrested him after a foot chase. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced in November he had been deported.

CASE BACKGROUND | Wisconsin high court suspends Milwaukee judge accused of helping man evade immigration authorities

The case inflamed tensions over Trumps immigration crackdown, with his administration branding Dugan an activist judge and Democrats countering that the administration was trying to make an example of Dugan to blunt judicial opposition to the operation.

Prosecutors worked during Dugans trial to show that she directed agents to the chief judges office to create an opening for Flores-Ruiz to escape.

An FBI agent who led the investigation testified that after agents left the corridor, she immediately moved Flores-Ruizs case to the top of her docket, told him that he could appear for his next hearing via Zoom and led him out the private door.

Prosecutors also played audio recordings from her courtroom in which she can be heard telling her court reporter that shed take the heat for leading Flores-Ruiz out the back.

Her attorneys countered that she was trying to follow courthouse protocols that called for court employees to report any immigration agents to their supervisors and she didnt intentionally try to obstruct the arrest team.

TikTok has signed a deal to sell its U.S. business to three American investors Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX ensuring the popular social video platform can continue operating in the United States.

The deal is expected to close on Jan. 22, according to an internal memo seen by The Associated Press. CEO Shou Zi Chew told employees in the memo that ByteDance and TikTok have signed binding agreements with the three investors.

Half of the new TikTok U.S. joint venture will be owned by a consortium of investors among them Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX will each hold a 15% share. Another 30.1% will be held by affiliates of existing ByteDance investors and 19.9% will be retained by the China-based ByteDance, according to the memo.

RELATED STORY | 1 in 5 Americans get their news from social media influencers, study says

The U.S. venture will have a new, seven-member majority-American board of directors, the memo said. It will also be subject to terms that protect Americans data and U.S. national security.

U.S. user data will be stored locally in a system run by Oracle.

TikToks algorithm the secret sauce that powers its addictive video feed will be retrained on U.S. user data to ensure the content feed is free from outside manipulation, the memo said. The U.S. venture will also oversee content moderation and policies within the country.

The deal marks the end of years of uncertainty about the fate of the popular video-sharing platform in the United States. After wide bipartisan majorities in Congress passed and President Joe Biden signed a law that would ban TikTok in the U.S. if it did not find a new owner in the place of Chinas ByteDance, the platform was set to go dark on the laws January 2025 deadline. For a several hours, it did. But on his first day in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to keep it running while his administration tries to reach an agreement for the sale of the company.

FROM THE ARCHIVES | TikTok was aware of risks kids and teens face on its platform, legal document alleges

Three more executive orders followed, as Trump, without a clear legal basis, continued to extend the deadline for a TikTok deal. The second was in April, when White House officials believed they were nearing a deal to spin off TikTok into a new company with U.S. ownership that fell apart after China backed out following Trumps tariff announcement. The third came in June, then another in September, which Trump said would allow TikTok to continue operating in the United States in a way that meets national security concerns.

WATCH | TikTok Has Been Hiring Former CIA, FBI And NSA Officers

A former manager of the Harvard Medical School morgue in Boston was sentenced to eight years in prison for stealing and selling body parts "as if they were baubles."

Authorities said Cedric Lodge was at the center of a ghoulish scheme in which he shipped brains, skin, hands and faces to buyers in Pennsylvania and elsewhere after cadavers donated to Harvard were no longer needed for research.

His wife, Denise Lodge, was sentenced to just over a year in prison for assisting him. They appeared Tuesday in federal court in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

In one example, Cedric Lodge provided skin to a buyer so it could be tanned into leather and bound into a book, a "deeply horrifying reality," Assistant U.S. Attorney Alisan Martin said in a court filing.

RELATED STORY | 4 people indicted in scheme to sell body parts stolen from Harvard

"In another, Cedric and Denise Lodge sold a man's face perhaps to be kept on a shelf, perhaps to be used for something even more disturbing," Martin said.

She said Lodge 58, of Goffstown, New Hampshire, treated the parts of "beloved human beings as if they were baubles to be sold for profit" and collected thousands of dollars from 2018 through March 2020.

After Harvard finishes using a donated body for research or teaching, the body is typically returned to family or cremated. Lodge acknowledged removing body parts before cremation.

RELATED STORY | Judge dismisses families' lawsuits in Harvard body parts theft case

Lodge, who was a morgue manager for 28 years, expressed regret in court. Defense attorney Patrick Casey said his acts were "egregious."

"Mr. Lodge acknowledges the seriousness of his conduct and the harm his actions have inflicted on both the deceased persons whose bodies he callously degraded and their grieving families," Casey said in a court filing.

Harvard suspended the donation of bodies for five months in 2023 when charges were filed.

Prosecutors said at least six other people, including an employee at an Arkansas crematorium, have pleaded guilty in the investigation of body parts trafficking.

The Senate gave final passage to an annual military policy bill Wednesday that will authorize $901 billion in defense programs while pressuring Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to provide lawmakers with video of strikes on alleged drug boats in international water near Venezuela.

The annual National Defense Authorization Act, which raises troop pay by 3.8%, gained bipartisan backing as it moved through Congress, and the White House has indicated that it is in line with President Donald Trump's national security priorities. However, the legislation, which ran over 3,000 pages, revealed some points of friction between Congress and the Pentagon as the Trump administration reorients its focus away from security in Europe and towards Central and South America.

The bill pushes back on recent moves by the Pentagon. It demands more information on boat strikes in the Caribbean, requires that the U.S. keep its troop levels in Europe at current levels and sends some military aid to Ukraine.

But overall, the bill represents a compromise between the parties. It implements many of Trump's executive orders and proposals on eliminating diversity and inclusion efforts in the military and grants emergency military powers at the U.S. border with Mexico. It also enhances congressional oversight of the Department of Defense, repeals several years-old war authorizations and seeks to overhaul how the Pentagon purchases weapons as the U.S. tries to outpace China in developing the next generation of military technology.

We're about to pass, and the president will enthusiastically sign, the most sweeping upgrades to DOD's business practices in 60 years, said Sen. Roger Wicker, the Republican chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

RELATED STORY | Full video of Venezuela drug boat strikes will not be made public, Hegseth says

Still, the sprawling bill faced objections from both Democratic and Republican leadership on the Senate Commerce Committee. That's because the legislation allows military aircraft to obtain a waiver to operate without broadcasting their precise location, as an Army helicopter had done before a midair collision with an airliner in Washington, D.C. in January that killed 67 people.

"The special carve-out was exactly what caused the January 29th crash that claimed 67 lives, Sen. Ted Cruz, the Republican chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, said at a news conference this week.

Cruz said he was seeking a vote on bipartisan legislation in the next month that would require military aircraft to use a precise location sharing tool and improve coordination between commercial and military aircraft in busy areas.

Boat strike videos

Republicans and Democrats agreed to language in the defense bill that threatens to withhold a quarter of Hegseths travel budget until he provides unedited video of the strikes with the House and Senate Committees on Armed Services, as well as the orders authorizing them.

Hegseth was on Capitol Hill Tuesday ahead of the bill's passage to brief lawmakers on the U.S. military campaign in international water near Venezuela. The briefing elicited contrasting responses from many lawmakers, with Republicans largely backing the campaign and Democrats expressing concern about it and saying they had not received enough information.

The committees are investigating a Sept. 2 strike the first of the campaign that killed two people who had survived an initial attack on their boat. The Navy admiral who ordered the double-tap strike, Adm. Frank Mitch Bradley, also appeared before the committees shortly before the vote Wednesday in a classified briefing that also included video of the strike in question.

Congressional oversight

Lawmakers have been caught by surprise by the Trump administration several times in the last year, including by a move to pause intelligence sharing with Ukraine and a decision to reduce U.S. troop presence in NATO countries in eastern Europe. The defense legislation requires that Congress be kept in the loop on decisions like that going forward, as well as when top military brass are removed.

The Pentagon is also required, under the legislation, to keep at least 76,000 troops and major equipment stationed in Europe unless NATO allies are consulted and there is a determination that such a withdrawal is in U.S. interests. Around 80,000 to 100,000 U.S. troops are usually present on European soil. A similar requirement also keeps the number of U.S. troops stationed in South Korea at 28,500.

Lawmakers are also pushing back on some Pentagon decisions by authorizing $400 million for each of the next two years to manufacture weapons to be sent to Ukraine.

Cuts to diversity and climate initiatives

Trump and Hegseth have made it a priority to purge the military of material and programs that address diversity, anti-racism or gender issues, and the defense bill would codify many of those changes. It will repeal diversity, equity and inclusion offices and trainings, including the position of chief diversity officer. Those cuts would save the Pentagon about $40 million, according to the Republican-controlled House Armed Services Committee.

RELATED STORY | Heres whats in the $900B US defense bill headed for a Senate vote

The U.S. military has long found that climate change is a threat to how it provides national security because weather-related disasters can destroy military bases and equipment. But the bill makes $1.6 billion in cuts by eliminating climate-change related programs at the Pentagon.

Repeal of war authorizations and Syria sanctions

Congress is writing a closing chapter to the war in Iraq by repealing the authorization for the 2003 invasion. Now that Iraq is a strategic partner of the U.S., lawmakers in support of the provision say the repeal is crucial to prevent future abuses. The bill also repeals the 1991 authorization that sanctioned the U.S.-led Gulf War.

The rare, bipartisan moves to repeal the legal justifications for the conflicts signaled a potential appetite among lawmakers to reclaim some of Congress's war powers.

Congress will also permanently lift U.S. sanctions on Syria as part of the legislation, following up on the Trump administration's decision to temporarily lift many penalties. The nation is rebuilding after its former leader Bashar Assad was deposed, and supporters of the new government say that permanently lifting the sanctions will spur the country's economic reconstruction and encourage the establishment of democracy.

In a seismic shift for one of television's marquee events, the Academy Awards will depart ABC and begin streaming on YouTube beginning in 2029, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Wednesday.

ABC will continue to broadcast the annual ceremony through 2028. That year will mark the 100th Oscars.

But starting in 2029, YouTube will retain global rights to stream the Oscars through 2033. YouTube will effectively be the home to all things Oscars, including red-carpet coverage, the Governors Awards and the Oscar nominations announcement.

"We are thrilled to enter into a multifaceted global partnership with YouTube to be the future home of the Oscars and our year-round Academy programming," said Academy Chief Executive Bill Kramer and Academy President Lynette Howell Taylor. "The Academy is an international organization, and this partnership will allow us to expand access to the work of the Academy to the largest worldwide audience possible which will be beneficial for our Academy members and the film community."

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While major award shows have added streaming partnerships, the YouTube deal marks the first of the big four the Oscars, Grammys, Emmys and Tonys to completely jettison broadcast. It puts one of the most-watched non-NFL broadcasts in the hands of Google. YouTube boasts some 2 billion viewers.

The Academy Awards will stream for free on YouTube, in addition to YouTube TV subscribers. It will be available with audio tracks in many languages, in addition to closed captioning.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

"The Oscars are one of our essential cultural institutions, honoring excellence in storytelling and artistry," said Neal Mohan, chief executive of YouTube. "Partnering with the academy to bring this celebration of art and entertainment to viewers all over the world will inspire a new generation of creativity and film lovers while staying true to the Oscars' storied legacy."

Representatives of The Walt Disney Co.-owned ABC didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. The network has been the broadcast home to the Oscars for almost its entire history. NBC first televised the Oscars in 1953, but ABC picked up the rights in 1961. Aside from a period between 1971 and 1975, when NBC again aired the show, the Oscars have been on ABC.

The 2025 Academy Awards were watched by 19.7 million viewers on ABC, a slight increase from the year before.

Rob Reiners son Nick Reiner made his first court appearance Wednesday on two counts of first-degree murder in the killing of his parents.

The 32-year-old did not enter a plea as he appeared from behind the glass wall of a custody area. He was in shackles and wearing a jail suicide prevention smock.

Reiner's arraignment was postponed until Jan. 7 at his lawyers request. He spoke only to say yes, your honor to agree to the date.

Reiner was charged Tuesday with killing the 78-year-old actor and director Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced at a news conference with LA Police Chief Jim McDonnell.

Their loss is beyond tragic and we will commit ourselves to bringing their murderer to justice," Hochman said.

WATCH | Rob Reiner remembered as son is arrested in double homicide case

Along with the two counts of first-degree murder, prosecutors added special circumstances of multiple murders and a special allegation that the defendant used a dangerous weapon, a knife. The additions could mean a greater sentence.

Hochman said his office has not yet decided whether to seek the death penalty in the case.

This case is heartbreaking and deeply personal, not only for the Reiner family and their loved ones but for our entire city, McDonnell said.

The announcement came two days after the couple was found dead from apparent stab wounds in their home in the upscale Brentwood neighborhood on the west side of Los Angeles. Nick Reiner did not resist when he was arrested hours later in the Exposition Park area near the University of Southern California, about 14 miles (22.5 kilometers) from the crime scene, police said.

Rob Reiner was the Emmy-winning star of the sitcom All in the Family who went on to direct films including When Harry Met Sally... and The Princess Bride. He was an outspoken liberal activist for decades. Michele Singer Reiner was a photographer, movie producer and advocate for LGBTQ+ rights. They had been married for 36 years.

Several of those closest to them, including actors Billy Crystal, Albert Brooks, Martin Short and Larry David, released a statement mourning and celebrating the couple on Tuesday night.

They were a special force together dynamic, unselfish and inspiring, the statement said. We were their friends, and we will miss them forever.

Nick Reiner had been scheduled to make an initial court appearance earlier Tuesday, but his attorney Alan Jackson said he was not brought from the jail to the courthouse for medical reasons and the appearance was postponed.

At Wednesday's hearing, Reiner may enter a plea, a judge may schedule an arraignment for later or the same issue that prevented him from coming to court Tuesday could cause further postponement. He is being held without bail.

Jackson is a high-profile defense attorney and former LA County prosecutor who represented Harvey Weinstein at his Los Angeles trial and Karen Read at her intensely followed trials in Massachusetts. He was a central figure in the HBO documentary on the Read case.

On the other side will be Deputy District Attorney Habib Balian, whose recent cases included the Menendez brothers' attempt at resentencing and the trial of Robert Durst.

Authorities havent said anything about a motive for the killings and would give few details when asked at the news conference.

Gil Gerard, who played television's hunky sci-fi hero William Buck Rogers soon after the Star Wars franchise took hold in the late 1970s, has died. He was 82.

Gerard died Tuesday in hospice as a result of a rare, aggressive form of cancer, said his manager, Tina Presley Borek. His wife, Janet Gerard, posted a posthumous Facebook message he left behind for fans that read in part:

Dont waste your time on anything that doesnt thrill you or bring you love. See you out somewhere in the cosmos.

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Gerard starred in NBC's campy Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, which ran for two seasons from 1979 to 1981. A theatrical film based on the series also delighted youngsters and their parents alike. It was Rogers' second turn on TV after a show in the 1950s, a radio series and a 1939 film serial.

The story was based on Philip Francis Nowlan's serialized 1928 pulp novella Armageddon 2419 A.D. Nowlan's character was named Anthony Rogers. The name was changed when the story began running in newspapers as a comic strip.

My life has been an amazing journey, Gerard wrote in his social media post. The opportunities Ive had, the people Ive met and the love I have given and received have made my 82 years on the planet deeply satisfying.

As the TV story goes, Rogers was a 20th century NASA pilot who was placed in frozen animation when his ship was hit by a meteor storm. He pops awake 500 years later in the year 2491. He gazes upon a futuristic, domed Earth with all its threats, including aliens, space pilots and the evil Draconians.

He had helpers: The robot sidekick Twiki and a beautiful space pilot Wilma Deering, played by Erin Gray.

A native of Little Rock, Arkansas, Gerard worked steadily in TV commercials. He was featured in a number of other TV shows and movies, including starring roles in the 1982 TV movie Hear No Evil as Dragon and the short-lived Sidekicks in 1986.

In 1992, he hosted the reality series Code 3, following firefighters responding to emergency calls around the U.S. There were many guest appearances in the 1990s, including on Days of Our Lives.

Gerard and Gray were together again in 2007 for the TV film Nuclear Hurricane. They also returned to the Buck Rogers universe as Rogers' parents in the pilot episode of James Cawley's Buck Rogers Begins internet video series in 2009.

Gerard spoke openly about addictions to drugs, alcohol and compulsive overeating. He was the subject of a one-hour documentary, Action Hero Makeover, in 2007 after his weight ballooned to 350 pounds.

Done by Adrienne Crow, then a longtime companion, for the Discovery Health Channel, the film documented his progress after gastric bypass surgery.

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Gerard was married and divorced four times before Janet. He had a son, actor Gilbert Vincent Gerard, with model and actor Connie Sellecca. Their divorce included a bitter custody battle for Gib, who was born in 1981. Sellecca was granted main custody.

My journey has taken me from Arkansas to New York to Los Angeles, and finally, to my home in North Georgia with my amazing wife, Janet, of 18 years, Gerard wrote in the post put on Facebook after his death.

Its been a great ride, but inevitably one that comes to a close as mine has.

Maryland will create a commission to study potential reparations for slavery after lawmakers voted Tuesday to override a veto by Gov. Wes Moore currently the nation's only Black governor that disappointed many fellow Democrats.

Moore said in his veto letter in May that it was a difficult decision to veto the bill, which was a priority of the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland. But he wrote there has been enough study of the legacy of slavery, and it was now time to "focus on the work itself" to address it.

But Democrats who control both chambers of the Maryland General Assembly decided the commission was needed to better examine how to do that.

"This topic isn't easy, but, again, without formal study, reparations risk being dismissed as symbolic or unconstitutional, regardless of moral merit," said Sen. Charles Sydnor, a Democrat.

After his veto was overridden, Moore said that while he disagrees with the legislature's decision, "I am eager to move forward in partnership on the work of repair that we all agree is an urgent and pressing need."

"I believe the time for action is now - and we must continue moving forward with the work of repair immediately," Moore said in a statement. "That mission is especially vital given the immediate and ongoing effects of this federal administration on our constituents, including communities that have been historically left behind."

Potential reparations outlined in the bill include official statements of apology, monetary compensation, property tax rebates, social service assistance, as well as licensing and permit fee waivers and reimbursement. Reparations also could include assistance with making a down payment on a home, business incentives, childcare, debt forgiveness and tuition payment waivers for higher education.

Maryland's Black population is about 30%, the highest percentage of any state outside of the Deep South.

Support for reparations gained momentum in the wake of the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020. However, the issue has been a difficult one, particularly for high-profile Democrats, and comes amid a broader conservative backlash over how race, history and inequality are handled in public institutions.

"At a time of growing attacks on diversity and equity, today's action reaffirms our shared commitment to truth-telling, accountability, and meaningful progress for Black Marylanders," the state's Legislative Black Caucus said in a statement.

ICYMI | California to apologize for state's legacy of racism against Black Americans under new law

In October, California Gov. Gavin Newsom delivered a mixed bag for proponents of bills aimed at addressing racist and discriminatory policies against African Americans. He signed a law authorizing $6 million for California State University to study how to confirm an individual's status as a descendant of an enslaved person. But he vetoed other bills the California Legislative Black Caucus championed as tools to atone for the state's history.

Newsom, who is considering running for president in 2028, signed a law last year to formally apologize for slavery and its lingering effects on Black Californians.

Moore has said he is not planning to run for president in 2028, but he has continued to cultivate a national profile that has drawn pundits' attention as a potential White House contender.

New York City lawmakers approved legislation last year to study the city's significant role in slavery and consider reparations to descendants of enslaved people.

In 2021, Evanston, Illinois, a Chicago suburb, became the first U.S. city to create a reparations plan for its Black residents, using tax revenue from the sale of recreational marijuana.

As recently as a few years ago, Americans viewed the prospect of reparations mostly negatively. A Pew Research Center survey conducted in 2021 found that only about 3 in 10 U.S. adults said descendants of people enslaved in the U.S. should be repaid in some way, such as given land or money. About 7 in 10 said these descendants should not be repaid.

Maryland lawmakers did not take up congressional redistricting in their one-day special session. Moore has expressed interest in pursuing a new map, which could come up when lawmakers convene in January for their annual 90-day session. However, the state Senate president has said he doesn't support moving forward with a new map. Democrats hold a 7-1 advantage over Republicans in the state's eight congressional districts.

Warner Bros. is telling shareholders to reject a takeover bid from Paramount Skydance, saying that a rival bid from Netflix will be better for customers.

We strongly believe that Netflix and Warner Bros. joining forces will offer consumers more choice and value, allow the creative community to reach even more audiences with our combined distribution, and fuel our long-term growth, Warner Bros. said Wednesday. We made this deal because their deep portfolio of iconic franchises, expansive library, and strong studio capabilities will complementnot duplicateour existing business.

Paramount went hostile with its bid last week, asking shareholders to reject the deal with Netflix favored by the board of Warner Bros.

Paramount is offering $30 per Warner share to Netflixs $27.75.

Paramounts bid isnt off the table altogether. While Wednesdays letter to shareholders means Paramounts is not the offer favored by the board at Warner Bros., shareholders can still decide to tender their shares in favor of Paramounts offer for the entire company including cable stalwarts CNN and Discovery.

Unlike Paramounts bid, the offer from Netflix does not include buying the cable operations of Warner Bros. An acquisition by Netflix, if approved by regulators and shareholders, will close only after Warner completes its previously announced separation of its cable operations.

RELATED STORY | Streaming shake-up: Netflix to absorb Warner Bros. and HBO in $82.7 billion deal

Paramount has claimed it made six different bids that Warner leadership rejected before announcing its deal with Netflix on Dec. 5. Only after that did it take its offer directly to Warners shareholders.

Beyond a greenlight from shareholders, both takeover bids face tremendous regulatory scrutiny. A change in ownership at Warner would drastically reshape the entertainment and media industry impacting movie making, consumer streaming platforms and, in Paramounts case, the news landscape.

Critics of Netflixs deal say that combining the massive streaming company with Warners HBO Max would give it overwhelming market dominance, whereas the Paramount+ streaming service is far smaller.

This is something that weve heard for a long timeincluding when we started the streaming business, Warner Bros. said in a securities filing Wednesday. Our stance then and now is the samewe see this as a win for the entertainment industry, not the end of it.

Bids from both Netflix and Paramount have raised alarm for what they could mean for film and TV production. While Netflix has agreed to uphold Paramounts contractual obligations for theatrical releases, critics have pointed to its past business model and reliance on online releases. Yet Paramount and Warner Bros. are two of the big five legacy studios left in Hollywood today.

RELATED STORY | Netflix to raise the price of most subscriptions after record-setting streaming year

Paramounts attempt to buy Warners cable networks and news business would also bring CBS and CNN under the same roof. In addition to further accelerating media consolidation, that could raise questions about shifts in editorial control as seen at CBS News both leading up to and following Skydances $8 billion purchase of Paramount, which it completed in August.

U.S. President Donald Trump has already been vocal about his future involvement in the deal, indicating that politics will play a role in regulatory approval.

Trump previously said that Netflixs deal could be a problem because of the potential for an outsized control of the market. The Republican president also has a close relationship with Oracles billionaire founder Larry Ellison the father of Paramounts CEO, whose family trust is also heavily backing the companys bid to buy Warner.

Affinity Partners, an investment firm run by Trumps son-in-law Jared Kushner, previously said it would investing in the Paramount deal, too. But on Tuesday, the firm announced that it would be dropping out of the bid.

Still, Trump also has a tendency to make decisions based on gut and his personal mood. He has continued to publicly lash out at Paramount over editorial decisions at CBS 60 Minutes.

For those people that think I am close with the new owners of CBS, please understand that 60 Minutes has treated me far worse since the so-called takeover, than they have ever treated me before, Trump wrote on his platform Truth Social on Tuesday. If they are friends, Id hate to see my enemies!

An accused gunman in Sydneys Bondi Beach massacre was charged with 59 offenses including 15 charges of murder on Wednesday, as hundreds of mourners gathered in Sydney to begin funerals for the victims.

Two shooters slaughtered 15 people on Sunday in an antisemitic mass shooting targeting Jews celebrating Hanukkah at Bondi Beach, and more than 20 other people are still being treated in hospitals. All of those killed by the gunmen who have been identified so far were Jewish.

RELATED STORY | Australian police say Bondi Hanukkah massacre was ISISinspired terror attack

As investigations unfold, Australia faces a social and political reckoning about antisemitism, gun control and whether police protections for Jews at events such as Sundays were sufficient for the threats they faced.

Accused shooter charged in hospital

Naveed Akram, the 24-year-old alleged shooter, was charged on Wednesday after waking from a coma in a Sydney hospital, where he has been since police shot him and his father at Bondi. His father Sajid Akram, 50, died at the scene.

The charges include one count of murder for each fatality and one count of committing a terrorist act, police said.

Akram was also charged with 40 counts of causing harm with intent to murder in relation to the wounded and with placing an explosive near a building with intent to cause harm.

Police said the Akrams' car, which was found at the crime scene, contained improvised explosive devices.

Akram's lawyer did not enter pleas and did not request his client's release on bail during a video court appearance from his hospital bed, a court statement said.

Akram is being represented by Legal Aid NSW, which has a policy of refusing media comment on behalf of clients. He is expected to remain under police guard in hospital until he is well enough to be transferred to a prison.

A father of 5 who ministered in prisons is buried

Families from Sydney's close-knit Jewish community gathered, one after another, to begin to bury their dead. The victims of the attack ranged in age from a 10-year-old girl to an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor.

Jews are usually buried within 24 hours from their deaths, but funerals have been delayed by coroners investigations.

The first farewelled was Eli Schlanger, 41, a husband and father of five who served as the assistant rabbi at Chabad-Lubavitch of Bondi and organized Sunday's Chanukah by the Sea event where the attack unfolded. The London-born Schlanger also served as chaplain in prisons across New South Wales state and in a Sydney hospital.

After what happened, my biggest regret was apart from, obviously, the obvious I could have done more to tell Eli more often how much we love him, how much I love him, how much we appreciate everything that he does and how proud we are of him, said Schlanger's father-in-law, Rabbi Yehoram Ulman, who sometimes spoke through tears.

I hope he knew that. Im sure he knew it, Ulman said. "But I think it should've been said more often.

One mourner, Dmitry Chlafma, said as he left the service that Schlanger was his longtime rabbi.

You can tell by the amount of people that are here how much he meant to the community, Chlafma said. He was warm, happy, generous, one of a kind.

Outside the funeral, not far from the site of the attack, the mood was hushed and grim, with a heavy police presence.

Authorities are probing a suspected connection to the Islamic State group

Authorities believe that the shooting was a terrorist attack inspired by Islamic State, Australia's federal police commissioner Krissy Barrett said Wednesday.

The Islamic State group is a scattered and considerably weaker group since a 2019 U.S.-led military intervention drove it out of territory it had seized in Iraq and Syria, but its cells remain active and it has inspired a number of independent attacks including in western countries.

RELATED STORY | Father and son kill at least 15 people in attack on Hanukkah event in Australia

Authorties are also examining a trip the suspects made to the Philippines in November.

Groups of Muslim separatist militants, including Abu Sayyaf in the southern Philippines, once expressed support for IS and have hosted small numbers of foreign militants from Asia, the Middle East and Europe in the past. Philippine military and police officials say there has been no recent indication of any foreign militants in the countrys south.

Leader pledges action on guns and antisemitism

The news that the suspects were apparently inspired by the Islamic State group provoked more questions about whether Australia's government had done enough to stem hate-fueled crimes, especially directed at Jews. In Sydney and Melbourne, where 85% of Australia's Jewish population lives, a wave of antisemitic attacks has been recorded in the past year.

After Jewish leaders and survivors of Sunday's attack lambasted the government for not heeding their warnings of violence, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese vowed Wednesday to take whatever government action was needed to stamp out antisemitism.

Albanese and the leaders of some Australian states have pledged to tighten the countrys already strict gun laws in what would be the most sweeping reforms since a shooter killed 35 people in Port Arthur, Tasmania, in 1996. Mass shootings in Australia have since been rare.

Albanese has announced plans to further restrict access to guns, in part because it emerged the older suspect had amassed six weapons legally. Proposed measures include restricting gun ownership to Australian citizens and limiting the number of weapons a person can hold.

Australians come together to grieve

Meanwhile, Australians seeking ways to make sense of the horror settled on practical acts. Hours-long lines were reported at blood donation sites and at dawn on Wednesday, hundreds of swimmers formed a circle on the sand, where they held a minute's silence. Then they ran into the sea.

Not far away, part of the beach remained behind police tape as the investigation into the massacre continued, shoes and towels abandoned as people fled still strewn across the sand.

One event that would return to Bondi was the Hanukkah celebration the gunmen targeted, which has run for 31 years, Ulman said. It would be in defiance of the attackers' wish to make people feel like it was dangerous to live as Jews, he added.

Eli lived and breathed this idea that we can never ever allow them not only to succeed, but anytime that they try something we become greater and stronger, he said.

Were going to show the world that the Jewish people are unbeatable."

The Trump administration announced Tuesday it was expanding travel restrictions to an additional 20 countries and the Palestinian Authority, doubling the number of nations affected by sweeping limits announced earlier this year on who can travel and emigrate to the U.S.

The Trump administration included five more countries as well as people traveling on documents issued by the Palestinian Authority to the list of countries facing a full ban on travel to the U.S. and imposed new limits on 15 other countries.

The move is part of ongoing efforts by the administration to tighten U.S. entry standards for travel and immigration, in what critics say unfairly prevents travel for people from a broad range of countries. The administration suggested it would expand the restrictions after the arrest of an Afghan national suspect in the shooting of two National Guard troops over Thanksgiving weekend.

People who already have visas, are lawful permanent residents of the U.S. or have certain visa categories such as diplomats or athletes, or whose entry into the country is believed to serve the U.S. interest, are all exempt from the restrictions. The proclamation said the changes go into effect on Jan. 1.

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In June, President Donald Trump announced that citizens of 12 countries would be banned from coming to the United States and those from seven others would face restrictions. The decision resurrected a hallmark policy of his first term.

At the time the ban included Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen and heightened restrictions on visitors from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.

On Tuesday, the Republican administration announced it was expanding the list of countries whose citizens are banned from entering the U.S. to Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan and Syria. The administration also fully restricted travel on people with Palestinian Authority-issued travel documents, the latest U.S. travel restriction against Palestinians. South Sudan was also facing significant travel restrictions already.

An additional 15 countries are also being added to the list of countries facing partial restrictions: Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Ivory Coast, Dominica, Gabon, Gambia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Tonga, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The restrictions apply to both people seeking to travel to the U.S. as visitors or to emigrate there.

The Trump administration said in its announcement that many of the countries from which it was restricting travel had widespread corruption, fraudulent or unreliable civil documents and criminal records that made it difficult to vet their citizens for travel to the U.S.

It also said some countries had high rates of people overstaying their visas, refused to take back their citizens whom the U.S. wished to deport or had a general lack of stability and government control, which made vetting difficult. It also cited immigration enforcement, foreign policy and national security concerns for the move.

The Afghan man accused of shooting the two National Guard troops near the White House has pleaded not guilty to murder and assault charges. In the aftermath of that incident, the administration announced a flurry of immigration restrictions, including further restrictions on people from those initial 19 countries who were already in the U.S.

MORE ON IMMIGRATION | Afghanistan, Iran among nations facing new Trump immigration pause

The news of the expanding travel ban is likely to face fierce opposition from critics who have argued that the administration is using national security concerns to collectively keep out people from a wide range of countries.

This expanded ban is not about national security but instead is another shameful attempt to demonize people simply for where they are from," said Laurie Ball Cooper, vice president of U.S. Legal Programs at the International Refugee Assistance Project.

Advocates for Afghans who supported the United States' two-decade long war in Afghanistan also raised alarms Tuesday, saying the updated travel ban no longer contains an exception for Afghans who qualify for the Special Immigrant Visa. Thats a visa category specifically for Afghans who closely assisted the U.S. war effort at great risk to themselves.

No One Left Behind, a longtime agency advocating for the Special Immigrant Visa program, said it was deeply concerned about the change. The organization said it appreciated the president's commitment to national security but allowing Afghans who'd served the U.S. to enter the U.S. after extensive vetting also contributes to the country's security.

Though intended to allow for review of inconsistent vetting processes, this policy change inadvertently restricts those who are among the most rigorously vetted in our history: the wartime allies targeted by the terrorists this proclamation seeks to address, the organization said in a statement.

Countries that were newly placed on the list of banned or restricted countries said late Tuesday that they were evaluating the news. The government of the island nation of Dominica in the Caribbean Sea said it was treating the issue with the utmost seriousness and urgency and was reaching out to U.S. officials to clarify what the restrictions mean and address any problems.

Antigua and Barbudas ambassador to the United States, Ronald Saunders, said the matter is quite serious" and he'll be seeking more information from U.S. officials regarding the new restrictions.

The Trump administration also upgraded restrictions on some countries Laos and Sierra Leone that previously were on the partially restricted list and in one case Turkmenistan said the country had improved enough to warrant easing some restrictions on travelers from that country. Everything else from the previous travel restrictions announced in June remains in place, the administration said.

The new restrictions on Palestinians come months after the administration imposed limits that make it nearly impossible for anyone holding a Palestinian Authority passport from receiving travel documents to visit the U.S. for business, work, pleasure or educational purposes. The announcement Tuesday goes further, banning people with Palestinian Authority passports from emigrating to the U.S.

In justifying its decision Tuesday, the administration said several U.S.-designated terrorist groups operate actively in the West Bank or Gaza Strip and have murdered American citizens. The administration also said the recent war in those areas had likely resulted in compromised vetting and screening abilities."

Fernando Mendoza, the mercurial quarterback of No. 1 Indiana, won the Heisman Trophy on Saturday night, becoming the first Hoosier to win college footballs most prestigious award since its inception in 1935.

Mendoza claimed 2,362 first place votes. He beat Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia (1,435 votes), Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love (719 votes) and Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin (432 votes).

Mendoza guided the Hoosiers to their first No. 1 ranking and the top seed in the 12-team College Football bracket, throwing for 2,980 yards and a national-best 33 touchdown passes while also running for six scores. Indiana, the last unbeaten team in major college football, will play a College Football Playoff quarterfinal game in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1.

Mendoza, the Hoosiers first-year starter after transferring from California, is the triggerman for an offense that surpassed program records for touchdowns and points set during last seasons surprise run to the CFP.

A redshirt junior, the once lightly recruited Miami native is the second Heisman finalist in school history, joining 1989 runner-up Anthony Thompson. Mendoza is the seventh Indiana player to earn a top-10 finish in Heisman balloting and it marks another first in program history having back-to-back players in the top 10. Hoosiers quarterback Kurtis Rourke was ninth last year.

Quarterbacks have won the Heisman four of the last five years, with two-way player Travis Hunter of Colorado ending the run last season.

The Heisman Trophy presentation came after a number of accolades were already awarded. Mendoza was named The Associated Press player of the year earlier this week and picked up the Maxwell and Davey OBrien awards Friday night while Love won the Doak Walker Award.