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Nov. 30 (UPI) — Top Ukrainian and American leaders are scheduled to meet late Sunday to renew talks about a plan to end the latest chapter in the decades-long battle between Russia and Ukraine.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and President Donald Trump‘s special envoy Steve Witkof are set to meet with a Ukrainian delegation to discuss details of the U.S. backed plan to bring the violence to an end.

Ukraine seeks international security guarantees as part of the agreement, as well as a ceasefire based on the existing frontlines, and has refused to cede any Ukrainian territory that is not already under Russian control.

Russian President Vladimir Putin does not appear set to offer any concessions, instead demanding that any military aggression will end “once Ukrainian troops withdraw from the territories they occupy,” according to CNN.

Rubio met with the Ukrainian delegation in Geneva last week to discuss a 28-point plan to end the war, which included demands by Putin that Russia regain its standing on the international stage and that Ukraine be forbidden from joining NATO, a group to which it has long sought membership.

Ukraine said then that the plan was highly favorable to Russia, and that it required “additional work.” The plan ultimately fell by the wayside, prompting the need for the Sunday meeting between the U.S. and Ukrainian delegations.

Russian officials have said they have received some details of the new plan, but have not disclosed them.

“This isn’t an official one, but we do have the document,” Putin aide Yuri Ushakov said. “We haven’t discussed it with anyone yet because the points in it require truly serious analysis and discussion.”

Trump suggested a Thanksgiving Day deadline for a deal to be signed, but later backed away from that, or any, timeline for the war to end.

“You know what the deadline is for me? When it’s over,” Trump said.

The negotiations are happening amidst Russian missile and drone attacks on key infrastructure in cities across Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed Sunday that over the last week, Russia has launched at least 1,400 drone attacks, 1,100 guided aerial bomb strikes and carried out 66 missile attacks on Ukraine.

Ukraine has responded by targeting Russian energy and military infrastructure outposts, striking them with long-range drones and missiles. It also launched drone attacks over the weekend on two tankers shipping oil to Russia in the Black Sea.

Nov. 30 (UPI) — The Afghan national accused of shooting a two National Guard troops while they were deployed in Washington, D.C., was part of an elite CIA unit in Afghanistan, members of which have struggled to adjust to life in the United States.

The alleged shooter, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, worked with the CIA in Afghanistan as part of a “zero unit,” or national strike unit, who worked with the American military to track down high value Taliban targets in Afghanistan.

Many members of these units, whom NBC News reports are among the most vetted Afghans who worked with the U.S. military, were evacuated in 2021 when the United States pulled out of Afghanistan because they were expected to targeted for retribution by the Taliban after it retook power.

“He was brought into the country by the Biden administration through Operation Allies Welcome. And then, maybe vetted after that, but not done well, based on what the guidelines were put forward by President Biden,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Sunday on ABC News’ “This Week.”

“And now, since he’s been here, we believe he could have been radicalized in his home community and in his home state,” Noem said.

Lakanwal arrived in the United States in 2021, after having been vetted regularly while he was working with U.S. forces in Afghanistan, and was granted asylum in April by the Trump administration after another round of vetting, officials have said.

In the aftermath of the shooting, the Trump administration ordered that visa holders from “every country of concern” would be required to undergo reviews to determine if they will be permitted to stay in the U.S.

The administration also said it would pause all applications for asylum, in addition to “permanently pausing migration from all third world countries.”

Members of the zero units took part in intense combat, which has left them with wartime trauma similar to the special operations forces they worked with, as well legal challenges related to their status in the U.S., and have suffered intense mental health challenges, experts have said.

“If you bring people here and you don’t let them feel like there is any hope, you’re leaving them in a very troubling situation,” a spokesperson for the 1208 Foundation, which helps Afghans who worked with the U.S. during the war, told ABC News, suggesting that treating these people like “pariahs” is going to make for a worse situation.

Although the Trump administration agreed to a deal bringing Afghans who worked with the zero units to the U.S., many have struggled to find work, let alone clarity on their asylum or visa status.

“Without your help, we are trapped,” Mohammad Shah, an Afghan in the U.S. who commanded a zero unit, wrote in a letter to members of Congress.

“Recently, there have been cases of suicide within our community driven by the overwhelming sentiment of helplessness we feel as our requests for immigration assistance go ignored by the U.S. government,” Shah wrote.

Nov. 29 (UPI) — Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials might be readying to deploy agents in New Orleans amid the enforcement of federal immigration laws.

At least 200 ICE agents are bound for New Orleans in December, but the deployment plans might change, ABC News, NBC News and Nola.com reported based on information allegedly provided by anonymous sources.

The deployment comes as ICE wraps up its deployment in Charlotte, N.C., where it made more than 250 arrests.

Customs and Border Protection Commander-at-Large Greg Bovino led the Charlotte action and is to lead the New Orleans deployment, according to ABC News.

The pending deployment has local officials and others in New Orleans and nearby preparing for it.

Many public school officials are messaging parents and others to reassure them that all students are safe while on respective school campuses, Nola.com reported.

New Orleans and adjacent Jefferson Parish have significant numbers of “immigrant communities” that likely would be among those impacted by ICE activities.

Many schools also are informing parents and students of their legal rights and advising them on how to communicate with federal agents as needed.

ICE agents generally avoid schools, but the Trump administration has provided federal law enforcement with guidance on how to operate on school campuses.

The guidance so far has not been needed, but many arrests and immigration law enforcement activities have occurred near schools.

Department of Homeland Security officials have said arrests only would be made on school campuses to protect the public.

Despite assurances from federal and local officials, many parents of students remain concerned, which spurred some schools to offer free rides for students while immigration law enforcement activities are underway.

Nov. 29 (UPI) — Rep. Troy Hehls, R-Texas, on Saturday announced he will not seek re-election in 2026 and will retire from Congress and focus on his family.

Nehls, 57, since 2021 has represented Texas’ 22nd Congressional District, which is situated southwest of Houston and includes parts of Sugar Land, Richmond and Rosenberg, among other Texas communities.

“I have made the decision, after conversations with my beautiful bride and my girls over the Thanksgiving holiday, to focus on my family and return home after this Congress,” he said Saturday in a post on X.

“Before making this decision, I called President Trump personally to let him know of my plans,” he continued.

“President Trump has always been a strong ally for our district and a true friend, and I wanted him to hear it from me first,” Nehls added.

“Serving this country in the military, serving our community in law enforcement and serving this district in Congress has been the honor of my life.”

Nehls enlisted in the Army Reserve in 1988 and earned two Bronze Stars while serving in Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan.

He joined the Richmond (Texas) Police Department in 1994 and was elected sheriff of Fort Bend County in 2012, before winning the 2020 House election.

His announced retirement is among several made recently by Republicans and Democrats in the House of Representatives, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb. and Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

Nehls’ twin brother, Trever Nehls, already announced his candidacy for the seat and has been endorsed by Troy.

Nov. 29 (UPI) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth denied ordering the U.S. military to “kill everybody” and said news reports claiming such are “fake news.”

Hegseth was responding to a report by the Washington Post on Friday that accused Hegseth of verbally ordering military personnel to kill all 11 crew members by carrying out a second strike on an alleged drug-smuggling vessel on Sept. 2.

That strike was the first of many targeting drug vessels in international waters, but the Washington Post only cited anonymous sources to back its claim, which the Defense Department has called fabricated and “fake news,” according to The Guardian.

“We told the Washington Post that this entire narrative was false yesterday,” Defense Department spokesman Sean Parnell said in a social media post on Friday.

“These people just fabricate anonymously sourced stories out of the whole cloth,” Parnell continued.

“Fake news is the enemy of the people,” he added.

Hegseth went further, calling the Washington Post report “fabricated, inflammatory and derogatory reporting to discredit our incredible warriors fighting to protect the homeland.”

The Washington Post said Hegseth’s alleged verbal order resulted in a second strike on the vessel as two surviving crew members clung to the wreckage, which killed them.

The report on Friday prompted Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and ranking member Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., to order inquiries into the matter to determine the facts.

Hegseth said every strike carried out against alleged drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean has been legal and only targeted members of designated foreign terrorist organizations.

A group of “former military attorneys” on Saturday released a report saying international law prohibits the targeting of attack survivors and requires the attacking force to “protect, rescue and, if applicable, treat them as prisoners of war,” the Washington Post reported.

The U.S. military has struck 21 vessels whose crews were alleged to be smuggling drugs to the United States and killed 83, according to USA Today.

Nov. 29 (UPI) — The federal government is ending its anti-Semitism investigation at Northwestern University in exchange for a $75 million fine in an agreement that restores $790 million in federal funding for research.

The Chicago-area private university must abide by federal anti-discrimination laws regarding admissions and hiring and initiate mandatory anti-Semitism training for students, staff and faculty as part of the deal, the Chicago Sun Times reported.

University officials also must enact and maintain policies that clearly regulate protests and other “expressive activities,” review its policies regarding international admissions and end its Deering Meadow agreement that enabled “peaceful” protests at the university’s 2-acre park.

“This is not an agreement the university enters into lightly, but one that was made based on institutional values,” interim President Henry Bienen said, as reported by the Chicago Tribune.

Attorney General Pam Bondi called the settlement a win for civil rights.

“Today’s settlement marks another victory for the Trump administration’s fight to ensure that American educational institutions protect Jewish students and put merit first,” Bondi said in a statement.

“Institutions that accept federal funds are obligated to follow civil rights law,” Bondi added. “We are grateful to Northwestern for negotiating this historic deal.”

Bienen said university officials had several “hard lines” that they refused to cross when negotiating the settlement.

“We would not relinquish any control over whom we hire, whom we admit as students, what our faculty would teach or how our faculty would teach,” he said.

University officials said they will review their international admissions criteria and develop training to better socialize international students so that they understand the campus norms regarding open debate and inquiry.

Northwestern’s board of trustees also will create a committee to ensure the university complies with the agreement with the federal government.

The university must pay its $75 million fine in increments over the next three years, which is the second-highest amount being paid by a college or university to settle accusations of discrimination and anti-Semitism amid pro-Palestinian campus protests.

Columbia University in New York City earlier agreed to pay a $200 million fine to settle claims made against it by federal investigators.

The $790 million in federal research funding that had been suspended should be restored by the end of December, according to Bienen.

Nov. 29 (UPI) — The nation’s consumers spent a record $11.8 billion on Black Friday, which exceeded the amount spent during in-store visits on the day after Thanksgiving.

Adobe Analytics data show a combined total of more than 1 trillion online visits to retailers’ websites, during which consumers spent the record amount that exceeded 2024’s Black Friday spending by 9.1%, Forbes reported.

Consumers also spent $6.4 billion online on Thanksgiving, according to Adobe Analytics.

The final numbers for Black Friday in-store spending were not available on Saturday, but analysts said it is less than the online total.

“Cyber Week is off to a strong start, with online spending on Thanksgiving and Black Friday both coming in above Adobe’s initial forecasts,” Adobe Digital Insights lead analyst Vivek Pandya said, as reported by Forbes.

“This was driven in large part by competitive deals across categories, like electronics, toys and apparel,” Pandya said.

“Discounts are set to remain elevated through Cyber Monday, which we expect will remain the biggest online shopping day of the season and year.”

Adobe Analytics had predicted an 8.3% rise for ecommerce retailers, but online buyers spent an average of $12.5 million per minute to break the 9% mark for online sales.

Mastercard SpendingPulse reported even more robust year-to-year increases in Black Friday sales, with 10.4% for online and 1.7% for in-store purchases.

Jewelry and apparel ranked among the leading product categories for online and traditional retailers, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse.

While the total spent in stores on Black Friday was up from 2024, foot traffic was down.

Black Friday foot traffic was down by 3.6% from 2024, according to RetailNext.

Shoppers are changing how they go about making holiday purchases and are spending less time inside stores than they did during prior holiday seasons.

Many online shoppers were aided by artificial intelligence to locate online deals, with Adobe Analytics reported an 805% increase in AI-driven traffic to retail sites in the United States when compared to 2024.

The Black Friday numbers help the National Retail Federation to assess the impact of the holiday season, which runs throughout November and December.

The NRF is scheduled to update its holiday spending outlook on Tuesday.

Nov. 28 (UPI) — The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services told staff Friday that it will pause all applications for asylum filed by migrants inside the United States in the wake of the shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, D.C.

On Thursday, the president announced he will “permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries.” Then Friday evening, all affirmative asylum applicants were paused.

Affirmative asylum applicants must apply for protection from USCIS asylum officers. Applications must be filed within a year of when migrants arrive in the United States. Defensive asylum applications are used when an applicant faces deportation.

U.S. Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, 20, was killed in the attack, and U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, 24, remains in critical condition. They were both members of the West Virginia National Guard.

The suspect, Rahmanulla Lakanwal, 29, is hospitalized after being shot by another guard member. He is an immigrant from Afghanistan and will face a first-degree murder charge.

Lakanwal came to the United States in 2021 and got asylum in April, The Times reported. But it was not clear if it was affirmative asylum.

“USCIS has halted all asylum decisions until we can ensure that every alien is vetted and screened to the maximum degree possible,” said Joseph Edlow, director of the agency, in a statement Friday. “The safety of the American people always comes first.”

Asylum officers at USCIS were told to not approve, deny or close asylum applications received by the agency, according to CBS News.

Officers were told the pause applied to all USCIS asylum cases, which includes those filed by Afghans who arrived under a Biden administration effort. In-person appointments for asylum applicants would be canceled, at least for Monday. The appointments were for applicants to find out what decisions have been made on their cases.

Nov. 28 (UPI) — Airplane manufacturer Airbus has announced a recall of its A320 planes for a software update to address an issue that contributed to a sudden drop in altitude of a JetBlue plane last month.

At least 15 passengers aboard the JetBlue flight were hospitalized after the plane suddenly dropped. It made an emergency landing in Tampa, Fla. It was headed to Newark, N.J.

Airbus said an analysis revealed intense solar radiation can corrupt data critical to the functioning of flight controls on the A320 family of aircraft. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency announced a requirement to address the issue.

The update may cause flight delays as airlines work to fix the issue, especially as Americans try to return home after the Thanksgiving holiday.

The setback appears to be one of the largest recalls affecting Airbus in its 55-year history. At the time Airbus issued its bulletin to the plane’s more than 350 operators, about 3,000 A320-family jets were in the air, The Guardian reported.

Fixing the issue mostly means reverting to earlier software, CNBC reported.

American Airlines, which is the world’s largest A320 operator, said about 340 of its 480 A320 planes need the fix. It said it expects these to be updated by Saturday, taking about two hours for each plane.

Colombian carrier Avianca said the recall affected more than 70% of its fleet, causing it to halt ticket sales for travel dates through Dec. 8.

Nov. 28 (UPI) — President Donald Trump posted that he plans to pardon former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, who was convicted in a U.S. court of trafficking drugs to the United States.

“I will be granting a Full and Complete Pardon to Former President Juan Orlando Hernandez who has been, according to many people that I greatly respect, treated very harshly and unfairly,” he posted on Truth Social Friday.

Trump also said in the post that he is supporting a conservative Honduran candidate as the Central American country prepares for election. He endorsed Tito Asfura, who is from the same party that Hernandez once led, the National Party.

In March 2024, Hernandez was convicted in a U.S. court of conspiring to import cocaine into the United States. He served as president of Honduras from 2014 to 2022. He was extradited to the United States in April 2022.

He was sentenced by a U.S. judge to 45 years in prison for running a “narco-state” that helped send South American cocaine to the United States.

U.S. prosecutors said he built his political career on millions of dollars in bribes from drug traffickers in Honduras and Mexico. They also said he helped move at least 400 tons of cocaine to the United States and protected traffickers from extradition and prosecution, the Washington Post reported.

The post by Trump said, “If Tito Asfura wins for President of Honduras, because the United States has so much confidence in him, his Policies, and what he will do for the Great People of Honduras, we will be very supportive. If he doesn’t win, the United States will not be throwing good money after bad, because a wrong Leader can only bring catastrophic results to a country, no matter which country it is. Tito will be a Great President, and the United States will work closely with him in order to ensure the success, with all of its potential, of Honduras! Additionally, I will be granting a Full and Complete Pardon to Former President Juan Orlando Hernandez who has been, according to many people that I greatly respect, treated very harshly and unfairly. This cannot be allowed to happen, especially now, after Tito Asfura wins the Election, when Honduras will be on its way to Great Political and Financial Success. VOTE FOR TITO ASFURA FOR PRESIDENT, AND CONGRATULATIONS TO JUAN ORLANDO HERNANDEZ ON YOUR UPCOMING PARDON. Thank you for your attention to this matter. MAKE HONDURAS GREAT AGAIN!”

On Wednesday, Trump endorsed Asfura, called the opposition in Honduras “Narcoterrorists,” and compared them to Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro.

“Tito and I can work together to fight the Narcocommunists, and bring needed aid to the people of Honduras,” Trump said.

Nov. 28 (UPI) — President Donald Trump has announced that all orders signed by former President Joe Biden via autopen are “null and void,” and that if Biden tried to argue that he was involved, he would be charged with perjury.

The president posted on his social media platform Truth Social on Friday: “Any document signed by Sleepy Joe Biden with the Autopen, which was approximately 92% of them, is hereby terminated, and of no further force or effect. The Autopen is not allowed to be used if approval is not specifically given by the President of the United States. The Radical Left Lunatics circling Biden around the beautiful Resolute Desk in the Oval Office took the Presidency away from him. I am hereby cancelling all Executive Orders, and anything else that was not directly signed by Crooked Joe Biden, because the people who operated the Autopen did so illegally. Joe Biden was not involved in the Autopen process and, if he says he was, he will be brought up on charges of perjury. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

The president seemed to be arguing that the autopen was used by his staff without the input of Biden. It’s not clear who will validate the orders or under what legal authority he will cancel Biden’s orders.

Using the autopen is legal, according to an investigation in 2005 by the Justice Department under former President George W. Bush, which found that “the President need not personally perform the physical act of affixing his signature to a bill to sign it within the meaning of Article I, Section 7.”

Trump has acknowledged using the autopen. He said in March that he has used it “only for very unimportant papers.”

In September, the White House unveiled a Presidential Walk of Fame, which posted portraits of past presidents. In Biden’s place, the White House showed a photo of an autopen signing his name.

Biden has denied that any decisions were made without him during his presidency.

“I made the decisions during my presidency,” Biden said in a statement. “I made the decisions about the pardons, executive orders, legislation and proclamations. Any suggestion that I didn’t is ridiculous and false.”

Nov. 27 (UPI) — A federal judge who oversaw the sex trafficking case against Jeffrey Epstein on Wednesday demanded prosecutors explain how they are protecting victims’ privacy after the release of unredacted documents.

New York-based Judge Richard Berman issued the order in response to a letter raising alarm about how the names of some of Epstein’s victims were included in a trove of documents released by Congress earlier this month.

The order comes amid a recent push for more transparency into the investigation of Epstein, a now-deceased financier who had ties to the wealthy and powerful.

However, Bradley Edwards and Brittany Henderson, attorneys representing the victims, wrote in a letter to Berman on Tuesday that transparency cannot “come at the expense of the privacy, safety and protection of sexual abuse and sex-trafficking victims.”

“These women are not political pawns,” the attorneys wrote. “They are mothers, wives and daughters. These are women who were abused by Jeffrey Epstein, and in some instances by others, and who have already had their rights violated in the past by the government.”

The House Oversight Committee has released dozens of documents from the Justice Department and Epstein’s estate that exposed victims’ identities, causing them “significant emotional distress,” they wrote. Victims have already been approached by the press after their names were released, the attorneys wrote.

The attorneys called the situation “absolutely unacceptable and a problem that must be rectified prior to the release of any additional documents.” One victim described being unable to sleep or function after the release.

The Department of Justice unsuccessfully asked Berman to unseal grand jury transcripts and exhibits in Epstein’s case. However, the victims’ attorneys wrote in their letter that the documents reveal little compared to the department’s investigative files.

Earlier this month, Congress passed and President Donald Trump signed a bill directing the DOJ to release files on its investigation into Epstein.

U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton wrote to a separate judge Wednesday that the department “intends to redact or withhold victim information to the fullest extent permitted” by the recently passed law.

Nov. 27 (UPI) — Foreign nationals from 19 nations of concern will undergo reviews of their visas following Wednesday’s attack on two National Guard members in Washington.

President Donald Trump has ordered U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services officials to review the visas held by individuals from those nations.

“At the direction of [the president], I have directed a full-scale, rigorous re-examination of every green card for every alien from every country of concern,” USCIS Director Joseph Edlow said on Thursday in a social media post.

“The protection of this country and of the American people remains paramount,” Edlow continued in another post.

“The American people will not bear the cost of the prior administration’s reckless resettlement policies,” he said. “American safety is non-negotiable.”

Edlow on Wednesday announced USCIS has stopped all processing of immigration requests from Afghan nationals after West Virginia National Guard members Sarah Beckstrom, 20, and Andrew Wolfe, 24, were shot about two blocks from the White House while patrolling the capital.

The suspect, Rahmanulla Lakanwal, 29, is an Afghan national who entered the United States in 2021 through the Biden administration’s Operation Allies Welcome that was intended to protect Afghans who assisted the U.S. military.

Trump and others in his administration have accused the Biden administration of improperly vetting visa applicants.

When asked which nations’ citizens will undergo additional scrutiny, USCIS officials directed NBC News to the president’s related executive order made in June.

The Trump administration identified a dozen nations as national security and public safety risks and potential sources of terrorism and suspended or limited visa approvals for their respective citizens.

They include Afghanistan, Burma, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Eritrea. They also include Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

The Trump administration also identified seven nations for partial suspension of visa approvals.

Those are Barundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Tofo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela.

Nov. 27 (UPI) — Post-holiday travel plans might be impacted by potentially dangerous weather sweeping through much of the northern United States through the weekend, while rainstorms soak southern states.

Storm systems in the Pacific Northwest and the Great Lakes region are making road travel more dangerous and could trigger flight delays and cancellations during what the Federal Aviation Administration said is the busiest Thanksgiving holiday travel since before the COVID-19 pandemic.

More than 6 million travelers are expected to fly during the holiday travel period that officially runs from Tuesday evening through Sunday, NPR reported. Airports are operating at full capacity following the extended government shutdown.

Those traveling by plane on Thanksgiving day will mostly have good weather, but delays are expected in Buffalo, Cleveland, Syracuse, N.Y., Chicago and Seattle, according to the National Weather Service.

A winter storm made many roads impassable in North Dakota Tuesday night and into Wednesday, but those roads have reopened, including Interstates 94 and 29.

The storm system that caused those travel disruptions is moving east into the Great Lakes area, where a larger storm system is active and also moving eastward.

Seattle and other parts of the Pacific Northwest are seeing a storm system moving out of the area, but another is coming on its heels and could disrupt air and road travel through the weekend.

The storm system that is exiting the Pacific Northwest is moving into the northern Great Plains, which could bring more winter weather capable of making travel dangerous while causing flight delays and cancellations.

The NWS said travelers should expect delays or slower traffic on Saturday and Sunday, especially in the central United States on Saturday and in the east on Sunday.

Weather could affect flights at the Dallas-Fort Worth and Kansas City airports late Friday, and lake-effect snow could impact travel across the Great Lakes region.

Wrap-around snow showers also might affect travel in northern New England.

Further west, the NWS said Winter Storm Bellamy will expand as it exits Montana and moves into the Northern Plains. which will affect Black Friday travels in the Dakotas and south across the Missouri Valley.

The storm system will move into the Midwest by Saturday, where it could disrupt air travel in Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Kansas City, St. Louis and as far south as Houston and the Dallas-Fort Worth area, where heavy rains and thunderstorms are anticipated.

The Chicago-O’Hare International Airport will be especially vulnerable to weather-caused flight disruptions, according to the NWS. Thunderstorms could cause localized flash flooding in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and Houston and the middle and lower Mississippi Valley.

On Sunday, the NWS said air travel might be affected in Atlanta, Boston, Denver, Detroit, New Orleans, New York City, Orlando, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and the nation’s capital.

Winter Storm Bellamy is expected to affect northeastern states and bring mostly rainfall to the I-95 corridor, which could affect air travel throughout the area.

Some snowfall and lake-effect snow are likely in the Great Lakes, while rain showers and thunderstorms could impact the Southeast, from Virginia and the Carolinas to the northern Gulf Coast.

The central and southern Rocky Mountains also might see significant amounts of snowfall that could move into the High Plains, moving from Colorado and western Kansas into northern New Mexico, as well as parts of the Texas Panhandle and western Oklahoma.

Rain showers also might affect travel in areas are far west as Arizona, the NWS said on Thursday.

Nov. 27 (UPI) — The federal government will not participate in this year’s World AIDS Day, a decades-old event to mourn people who’ve died from the disease and raise awareness.

The State Department has directed employees and grant recipients not to use federal funding to commemorate the day, The New York Times reported Wednesday. While employees can still highlight their work on AIDS and other diseases, they should “refrain from publicly promoting World AIDS Day” in public-facing messaging, the Times reported.

“An awareness day is not a strategy,” Tommy Pigott, a spokesman for the department, told the paper. “Under the leadership of President Trump, the State Department is working directly with foreign governments to save lives and increase their responsibility and burden sharing.”

However, the Trump White House has issued other proclamations for commemorative days intended to raise awareness about autism, organ donation, cancer and others.

World AIDS Day has been observed every Dec. 1 since 1988. President Bill Clinton became the first U.S. head of state in 1993 to issue a proclamation on the deadly immune-deficiency disease.

The Trump administration froze foreign aid spending earlier this year. With the approval of Congress, it later slashed about $7.9 billion in international humanitarian aid programs. However, the cuts left funding intact programs that combat HIV and AIDS, as well as other infectious diseases.

An estimated 40.8 million people were living with HIV, the precursor to AIDS, worldwide in 2024, according to the World Health Organization. An estimated 1.3 million people acquired HIV last year.

However, the United Nations’ program on AIDS warned on Tuesday of international funding cuts and a waning resolve to address the virus.

A report from the U.N. program noted that some funding has been restored for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, an initiative started under George W. Bush that is credited with saving more than 25 million lives. However, the report stated that “service disruptions associated with these and other funding cuts are having long-lasting effects on almost all areas of the HIV response.”

“The funding crisis has exposed the fragility of the progress we fought so hard to achieve,” Winnie Byanyima, executive director of UNAIDS, said in a statement. “Behind every data point in this report are people-babies and children missed for HIV screening or early HIV diagnosis, young women cut off from prevention support, and communities suddenly left without services and care. We cannot abandon them.”

Nov. 26 (UPI) — Federal authorities on Wednesday announced the arrest of a Virginia high school principal and his brother on charges of plotting to attack immigration agents.

John and Mark Bennett were arrested Nov. 19 — John Bennett in Virginia Beach, where he worked as an assistant principal at Kempsville High School, and Mark Bennett at Norfolk International Airport, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.

According to authorities, an investigation was launched into the brothers on Nov. 17 after an off-duty Norfolk police officer heard the pair allegedly discussing plans to kill police officers and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

“Mark Bennett was also overheard saying he was planning to meet with like-minded individuals in Las Vegas, Nev., to purchase firearms with explosive rounds to carry out the attacks,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.

Mark Bennett was arrested as he was to board a flight to Charlotte, N.C., from where authorities allege he planned to travel to Las Vegas.

DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin accused the brothers of discussing plans to secure a high-caliber rifle capable of piercing bullet-resistant vests.

“It’s chilling that a human being, much less a child educator, would plot to ambush and kill ICE law enforcement officers,” McLaughlin said.

The arrests come amid an increase in U.S. immigration enforcement operations in many Democratic-led cities as the Trump administration carries out a broader immigration crackdown, which has been met with protests, criticism and legal challenges.

According to Department of Homeland Security statistics, there have been 238 reported assaults on ICE agents so far this year, an increase of 19 from the same period last year.

The Trump administration has criticized Democrats for rhetoric it says is fueling the violence.

“Our law enforcement officers have had Molotov cocktails and rocks thrown at them, been shot at, had cars used as weapons against them and been physically assaulted,” McLaughlin said in a statement on Monday.

“Sanctuary politicians need to tone the rhetoric down before a law enforcement officer is killed.”

Nov. 27 (UPI) — President Donald Trump has withdrawn South Africa’s invitation to next year’s G20 summit in Miami, Fla., escalating a row with Johannesburg.

Trump made the announcement Wednesday on his Truth Social platform as this year’s summit of the wealthy nations, held in South Africa, came to an end without the United States participating.

“South Africa has demonstrated to the World they are not a country worthy of Membership anywhere, and we are going to stop all payments and subsidies to them, effective immediately,” the American leader said in the statement.

Trump has escalated his criticisms against South Africa since returning to the White House.

In February, he threatened to cut U.S. funding to the African nation over a new law allowing authorities to expropriate land in the public interest as part of efforts to redress racial inequalities rooted in apartheid.

Though the law states that property cannot be expropriated arbitrarily and allows expropriation without compensation only in limited cases, Trump accused South Africa of “confiscating land” in violation of the human rights of White South Africans.

Trump has since escalated his rhetoric, alleging that White South Africans face genocide — a claim rejected by South African officials and regional leaders and not supported by available evidence.

After Trump announced that the United States wouldn’t be attending the G20 summit in Johannesburg due to “Afrikaners … being killed and slaughtered and their land and farms … being illegally confiscated,” the African National Congress described Trump’s allegations as “part of a long and disgraceful pattern of imperial arrogance and disinformation.”

“These statements are not borne of ignorance, they are deliberate attempts to distort the reality of South Africa’s democracy and to mobilize racial fear for political gain in the United States,” the African National Congress, the ruling political party of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, said Nov. 8 in a statement.

“Donald Trump’s continued siding with racist and right-wing movements across the world is well-documented and consistent with his dangerous rhetoric. From defending White supremacists at Charlottesville to vilifying African nations as ‘expletive countries,’ his record speaks of a man driven by prejudice, not principle.”

Trump on Tuesday reiterated his allegations that Afrikaners were being killed and their land being stolen from them, while stating that at the conclusion of the G20 summit in Johannesburg, the South African delegation “refused” to hand over the G20 presidency to a senior U.S. Embassy official who attended the closing ceremony.

In response, the office of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said that since the United States did not participate in the summit, it handed over the instruments of the G20 presidency to a U.S. Embassy official at South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation.

The office added that it will continue to participate as a full, active and founding member of the G20.

“It is regrettable that despite the efforts and numerous attempts by President Ramaphosa and his administration to reset the diplomatic relationship with the U.S., President Trump continues to apply punitive measures against South Africa based on misinformation and distortions about our country,” his office said in a statement.

Nov. 26 (UPI) — A three-judge panel on Wednesday permitted North Carolina to adopt a redrawn congressional map that is expected to favor the Republican Party.

The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina unanimously ruled against the plaintiffs’ request for an injunction against legislation approved in October by the state’s General Assembly that critics say threaten one federal congressional district, specifically Congressional District 1, which represented by Democrat Don Davis.

In their 57-page ruling on Wednesday, the three Republican-appointed judges said the plaintiffs failed to prove that the state’s General Assembly enacted the legislation, Senate Bill 249, with the intent to “minimize or cancel out the voting potential” of Black North Carolinians as they had claimed.

The ruling comes in protracted litigation that began in 2023, when the Republican-led state sought to redraw some of the districts for electing representatives to the state Senate and federal Congress.

The plaintiffs, who include the North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP, sued that December. In October, amid litigation on the maps, the state’s General Assembly passed legislation to swap counties between Congressional District 1 and Congressional District 3.

The plaintiffs again sued the state, alleging the legislation was unconstitutional and asking the court to enjoin S.B. 249.

Earlier this month, the same three-judge panel issued a ruling approving the changes to the map put forward in 2023.

A hearing on S.B. 249 was held Nov. 19, during which the plaintiffs argued that the speed with which the General Assembly passed the 2025 plan was evidence of discriminatory intent.

But the panel of judges disagreed, stating “they have offered no reason to believe that the speed of the 2025 process indicates an intent to discriminate on the basis of race. Nor do they explain what weight we are supposed to assign to what they call ‘the near uniform outcry among North Carolina voters against the map and the process.'”

The ruling comes amid something of a gerrymandering race in the United States that began in earnest when Texas this summer — under pressure of President Donald Trump — sought a mid-decade redraw of its maps to make them more favorable to the Republican Party.

California is in the process of redrawing its maps in retaliation and other states under control of both parties have followed with similar plans.

Nov. 26 (UPI) — Two West Virginia National Guardsmen have been hospitalized in critical condition and a suspect is hospitalized after a targeted shooting near the White House on Wednesday afternoon.

The Guardsmen and the shooter were taken to nearby hospitals after the shooting occurred about two blocks northwest of the White House at 2:15 p.m. EST on Wednesday, WTTG reported.

West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey earlier said the two Guardsmen were killed, but he later backtracked and affirmed they are in critical condition.

The suspect has been identified as Rahmanullah Lakanwal, who is a citizen of Afghanistan, the New York Post, NBC News and Newsweek reported.

The FBI said it is investigating the attack as a possible act of terrorism.

Lakanwal is a lone gunman who ambushed the two National Guardsmen when he came from around a corner and started shooting, said Jeffrey Carroll, MPD executive assistant chief, who addressed media during a news conference.

The National Guard members were on “high-visibility patrol … when a suspect came around a corner, raised his arm with a firearm and discharged at the National Guard members,” Carroll said.

Other National Guardsmen were nearby and intervened.

Carroll said there was “some back and forth” between the suspect and National Guard members, who were able to subdue him until local police arrived moments later.

At a news conference afterward, FBI Director Kash Patel called the targeting shooting “an attack on a federal law enforcement officer” and said it will be treated as such at the federal level.

He said the FBI, Secret Service, other federal agencies and local police will work together to investigate the shooting, which he called a “matter of national security.”

Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said local officials will “join with the FBI director in ensuring that the MPD investigates and the U.S. attorney prosecutes this case to the fullest extent of the law.”

There are no other suspects in the shooting, authorities said.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said President Donald Trump was briefed on the matter, and White House staff are monitoring the situation.

The president afterward expressed his support for the two wounded Guardsmen.

“The animal that shot the two National Guardsmen, with both being critically wounded, and now in two separate hospitals, is also severely wounded,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.

He said the suspect “will pay a very steep price” for the shooting that so far lacks a known motive.

“God bless our great National Guard and all of our military and law enforcement,” the president said. “These are truly great people.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the president has ordered him to deploy 500 more National Guard members to the capital, The New York Times reported.

About 2,100 National Guard members already are deployed in the capital.

The shooting occurred at the intersection of 17th Street and H Street Northwest.

Nov. 26 (UPI) — The annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade gets underway at 8:30 a.m. EST on Thursday, marking the event’s 99th celebration of the national holiday.

This year’s holiday event includes 34 balloons, 28 floats and several live performances.

Live performers who are scheduled to appear include BustaRhymes, Lainey Wilson, HUNTR/X from KPop Demons Hunters, Ciara, Cynthia Enrivo and others, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Four new balloons are scheduled to participate, including Mario by Nintendo, Pac-Man by Bandai Namco Entertainment America, Buzz Lightyear by Pixar Animation Studios and Shrek’s Onion Carriage by DreamWorks Animation.

Among new floats will be The Land of Ice & Wonder by HollandAmerica Line, Brick-tastic Winter Mountain by the Lego Group and Master Chocolatier Ballroom by Lindt.

Also new for the parade are the floats Upside Down Invasion: Stranger Things by Netflix, Friends-giving in Pop City by Pop Mart and Serta’s Counting Sheep’s Dream.

Santa’s sleigh brings up the rear and marks the end of the parade when it passes by spectators.

Balloon preparations began at 1 p.m. EST on Wednesday and continued until 6, with each balloon taking about 90 minutes to fill with helium, Macy’s spokesperson Orlanda Veras told CBS News.

The colorful parade starts at 77th Street and Central Park West and will follow a 2.5-mile route running from the Upper West Side of Midtown Manhattan, down 8th Avenue to Columbus Circle, where it turns left onto 59th Street and then right onto 6th Avenue.

Once on 6th Avenue, the parade continues to 34th Street, where it turns right and ends at Macy’s flagship store on Herald Square.

Macy’s says the best viewing locations for those planning to attend are on Central Park West, at the intersection of 7th Avenue and 59th Street, and at the intersection of 6th Avenue and 42nd Street.

Others can watch the parade live on local NBC channels or by livestreaming it on Peacock.

The live broadcast starts at 8:30 a.m. EST and ends at noon, but NBC will air it again starting at 2 p.m.

Viewers also can watch the parade on Telemundo.