AP News in Brief at 12:04 a.m. EST

Trump says US may have discussions with Maduro as aircraft carrier arrives in Caribbean

WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (AP) — President Donald Trump said Sunday the U.S. “may be having some discussions” with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, a potential diplomatic avenue as the U.S. further builds up its military presence near the South American country with the arrival of its most advanced aircraft carrier.

Trump didn’t offer details about the possible discussions with Maduro, but he said “Venezuela would like to talk.”

The U.S. military has been carrying out a series of strikes against vessels suspected of transporting drugs. The arrival of the USS Gerald R. Ford and other warships, announced by the Navy in a statement, marks a major moment in what the administration insists is a counterdrug operation but has been seen as an escalating pressure tactic against Maduro.

When asked Sunday what he meant when he said Maduro wants to talk, Trump simply said: “What does it mean? You tell me, I don’t know.”

“I’ll talk to anybody,” he added a few moments later. “We’ll see what happens.”

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FAA lifts order slashing flights, allowing commercial airlines to resume their regular schedules

The Federal Aviation Administration said Sunday it is lifting all restrictions on commercial flights that were imposed at 40 major airports during the country’s longest government shutdown.

Airlines can resume their regular flight schedules beginning Monday at 6 a.m. EST, the agency said.

The announcement was made in a joint statement by Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy and FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford.

Citing safety concerns as staffing shortages grew at air traffic control facilities during the shutdown, the FAA issued an unprecedented order to limit traffic in the skies. It had been in place since Nov. 7, affecting thousands of flights across the country.

Impacted airports included large hubs in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Atlanta.

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Border Patrol official says dozens arrested in North Carolina immigration enforcement surge

A top Border Patrol commander touted dozens of arrests in North Carolina’s largest city on Sunday as Charlotte residents reported encounters with federal immigration agents near churches, apartment complexes and stores.

The Trump administration has made the Democratic city of about 950,000 people its latest target for an immigration enforcement surge it says will combat crime, despite fierce objections from local leaders and downtrending crime rates.

Gregory Bovino, who led hundreds of U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents in a similar effort in Chicago, took to X to document a few of the more than 80 arrests he said agents had made. He also posted a highly-edited video of uniformed CBP officers handcuffing people.

“From border towns to the Queen City, our agents go where the mission calls,” he posted on X, referring to Charlotte.

The effort was dubbed “Operation Charlotte’s Web” as a play on the title of a famous children’s book that isn’t about North Carolina.

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Chile’s presidential race heads to a runoff between a communist and a pro-Trump conservative

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Chile is headed to a tense presidential runoff after a closely fought first-round vote Sunday set up a showdown between a member of the Communist Party and an ultraconservative veteran politician, sharply polarizing the country between the political left and right.

Jeannette Jara, 51, the communist former labor minister and candidate of Chile’s center-left governing coalition, won 26.8% of valid ballots with almost 100% of the vote counted, failing to pass the 50% threshold to secure victory in the first round.

José Antonio Kast, 59, a hard-right former lawmaker and devout Catholic opposed to same-sex marriage and abortion, captured almost 24% of the vote, underscoring the appeal of his law-and-order platform as a surge in organized crime rattles one of Latin America’s safest nations and foments anti-migrant sentiment among Chileans.

After learning he would advance to the next round, Kast urged the country’s fractured right to unite behind him, framing the runoff as an existential struggle for Chile’s future.

“It will be the most important election of our generation, a true referendum between two models of society — the current one that has led Chile to destruction, stagnation, violence and hatred,” he told fans, interrupted by cheers every few seconds. “And our model, which promotes freedom, hope and progress.”

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In reversal, Trump says House Republicans should vote to release Epstein files

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said House Republicans should vote to release the files in the Jeffrey Epstein case, a startling reversal after previously fighting the proposal as a growing number of those in his own party supported it.

“We have nothing to hide, and it’s time to move on from this Democrat Hoax perpetrated by Radical Left Lunatics in order to deflect from the Great Success of the Republican Party,” Trump wrote on social media late Sunday after landing at Joint Base Andrews following a weekend in Florida.

Trump’s statement followed a fierce fight within the GOP over the files, including an increasingly nasty split with Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who had long been one of his fiercest supporters.

The president’s shift is an implicit acknowledgement that supporters of the measure have enough votes to pass it the House, although it has an unclear future in the Senate.

It is a rare example of Trump backtracking because of opposition within the GOP. In his return to office and in his second term as president, Trump has largely consolidated power in the Republican Party.

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Lingering thunderstorms bring flooding risk after atmospheric river drenches much of California

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A powerful atmospheric river had mostly moved through California after causing at least six deaths and dousing much of the state, but lingering thunderstorms brought the risk of mudslides in areas of Los Angeles County that were recently ravaged by wildfire.

Flood advisories remained in place through Sunday afternoon for LA, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, where localized showers were still possible after heavy downpours on Friday and Saturday.

“Due to the abundant rainfall the past couple of days, it will not take as much rainfall to cause additional flooding/rockslide conditions,” the National Weather Service said in a Sunday update.

Authorities on Sunday were still searching for a 5-year-old girl who was swept into the ocean by 15-foot (4.6-meter) waves at a state beach in Monterey County on Friday. The girl’s father, 39-year-old Yuji Hu, of Calgary, Alberta, was killed while trying to save his daughter, sheriff’s officials said.

In Sutter County north of Sacramento, a 71-year-old man died Friday after his vehicle was swept off a flooded bridge, according to the California Highway Patrol.

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Trump’s Republican Party insists there’s no affordability crisis and dismisses election losses

NEW YORK (AP) — Almost two weeks after Republicans lost badly in elections in Georgia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia, many GOP leaders insist there is no problem with the party’s policies, its message or President Donald Trump’s leadership.

Trump says Democrats and the media are misleading voters who are concerned about high costs and the economy. Republican officials aiming to avoid another defeat in next fall’s midterms are encouraging candidates to embrace the president fully and talk more about his accomplishments.

Those are the major takeaways from a series of private conversations, briefings and official talking points involving major Republican decision-makers across Washington, including inside the White House, after their party’s losses Nov. 4. Their assessment highlights the extent to which the fate of the Republican Party is tied to Trump, a term-limited president who insists the economy under his watch has never been stronger.

That’s even as an increasing number of voters report a different reality in their lives.

But with few exceptions, the Trump lieutenants who lead the GOP’s political strategy have no desire to challenge his wishes or beliefs.

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Israeli leader insists there can be no Palestinian state, ahead of UN vote leaving that door open

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Sunday to oppose any attempt to establish a Palestinian state, a day before the U.N. Security Council planned to vote on a U.S.-drafted resolution on Gaza that leaves the door open to Palestinian independence.

Netanyahu has long asserted that creating a Palestinian state would reward Hamas and eventually lead to an even larger Hamas-run state on Israel’s borders. But as the U.S. attempts to push forward with its Gaza ceasefire proposal, he faces heavy international pressure to show flexibility.

The Security Council is expected to vote on a U.S. proposal for a U.N. mandate that would establish an international stabilization force in Gaza despite opposition from Russia, China and some Arab countries.

Hamas and Palestinian factions warned Sunday against the U.S. proposal, calling it an attempt to impose an international mandate on Gaza that is biased toward Israel and deprives Palestinians of the right to manage their own affairs. In a statement, the groups said the force must not involve Israel and must be under direct U.N. supervision.

The statement also rejected any reference in the U.S. proposal to disarming Gaza. Netanyahu on Sunday noted the proposal calls for Gaza to be demilitarized and Hamas to be disarmed, telling his Cabinet: “Either this will happen the easy way, or it will happen the hard way.”

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Immigration crackdown inspires uniquely Chicago pushback that’s now a model for other cities

CHICAGO (AP) — Baltazar Enriquez starts most mornings with street patrols, leaving his home in Chicago’s Little Village on foot or by car to find immigration agents that have repeatedly targeted his largely Mexican neighborhood.

Wearing an orange whistle around his neck, the activist broadcasts his plans on Facebook.

“We don’t know if they’re going to come back. All we know is we’ve got to get ready,” he tells thousands of followers. “Give us any tips if you see any suspicious cars.”

Moments later, his phone buzzes.

As an unprecedented immigration crackdown enters a third month, a growing number of Chicago residents are fighting back against what they deem a racist and aggressive overreach of the federal government. The Democratic stronghold’s response has tapped established activists and everyday residents from wealthy suburbs to working class neighborhoods.

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Georgia up to No. 4 in AP poll, Sooners back in top 10 and Mean Green ranked for 1st time since 1959

Georgia moved up one spot to No. 4 in The Associated Press poll Sunday, Oklahoma returned to the top 10 and North Texas, ranked for the first time since 1959, is among three Group of Five teams in the Top 25.

Ohio State, Indiana and Texas A&M were the top three teams for the fifth straight week. Georgia earned its highest ranking since the first week of September and Mississippi was back in the top five after spending three weeks there at midseason.

Oregon and Texas Tech were tied for No. 6, and Oklahoma rose three spots to No. 8 following its win at Alabama. The Sooners were last in the top 10, at No. 6, the second week of October.

Notre Dame remained No. 9 after a 22-point win at Pittsburgh and Alabama dropped six spots to No. 10 after the Sooners ended its eight-game win streak.

Ohio State, which rolled past UCLA to improve to 10-0 for the fourth time in seven seasons, received 57 of 66 first-place votes. Indiana, which beat Wisconsin to go 11-0 for the first time, got eight first-place votes. Texas A&M, whose comeback from a 27-point deficit to beat South Carolina was its largest ever, got one first-place vote, three less than last week.