AP News in Brief at 11:04 p.m. EST

The light burned bright for hours, Madabo said: “It was almost like daytime."

He did not learn until later that he had witnessed a U.S attack on an alleged camp of the militant Islamic State group.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced late Thursday that the United States had launched a “powerful and deadly strike” against IS militants in Nigeria. The Nigerian government has since confirmed that it cooperated with the U.S government in its strike.

Nigerian government spokesperson Mohammed Idris said Friday that the strikes were launched from the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean shortly after midnight and involved “16 GPS-guided precision" missiles and also MQ-9 Reaper drones.

What to know about the militants targeted by US airstrikes in northwest Nigeria

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — The United States airstrikes that targeted Islamic State group militants in northwestern Nigeria on Thursday marked a major escalation in an offensive that the West African's overstretched military has struggled with for years.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on social media that the “powerful and deadly” strikes in the state of Sokoto were carried out against IS gunmen who were “targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians.” Residents and security analysts have said Nigeria’s security crisis affects both Christians, predominant in the south, and Muslims, who are the majority in the north.

In an interview Friday with Politico, Trump said he decided on the timing of the strikes. “They were going to do it earlier,” he said. “And I said, ‘Nope, let’s give a Christmas present.’"

Nigeria, which is battling multiple armed groups, said the U.S. strikes were part of an exchange of intelligence and strategic coordination between the two countries.

The Associated Press could not confirm the extent of the strikes' impact. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, in a post on X about the airstrikes, said, “More to come...”

Winter storm snarls holiday travel across US Northeast, Great Lakes

BOSTON (AP) — More than a thousand flights were canceled or delayed across the Northeast and Great Lakes regions due to snow as thousands took to roads and airports during the busy travel period between Christmas and New Year’s.

New York City received about 4 inches (10.2 centimeters) of snow Friday night into early Saturday — slightly under what some forecasts had predicted. At least 1,500 flights were canceled from Friday night, according to flight-tracking service FlightAware. But by the morning, both the roads and the skies were clearing.

“The storm is definitely winding down, a little bit of flurries across the Northeast this morning,” said Bob Oravec, a Maryland-based forecaster at the National Weather Service.

Oravec said the storm was moving from the northwest toward the Southeast, with the largest snowfall in the New York City area reaching over 6 inches (15 centimeters) in central eastern Long Island. Farther north in the Catskills, communities saw as much as 10 inches (25 centimeters).

Newark Liberty International, John F. Kennedy International and LaGuardia airports posted snow warnings on the social media platform X on Friday cautioning that weather conditions could cause flight disruptions.

Thailand and Cambodia sign a new ceasefire agreement to end border fighting

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand and Cambodia signed a ceasefire agreement on Saturday to end weeks of fighting along their border over competing territorial claims.

The agreement took effect at noon and calls for a halt in military movements and airspace violation for military purposes.

Only Thailand has carried out airstrikes, hitting sites in Cambodia as recently as Saturday morning, according to the Cambodian Defense Ministry.

The deal also calls for Thailand, after the ceasefire has held for 72 hours, to repatriate 18 Cambodian soldiers it has held as prisoners since earlier fighting in July. Their release has been a major demand of the Cambodian side.

Within hours of the signing, Thailand's Foreign Ministry protested to Cambodia that a Thai soldier sustained a permanent disability when he stepped on an anti-personnel land mine it charged had been laid by Cambodian forces.

Russia strikes Ukraine's capital and kills at least 1 person a day before Zelenskyy-Trump meeting

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia attacked Ukraine's capital with ballistic missiles and drones on Saturday, killing at least one person and wounding 27, a day before talks between the leaders of Ukraine and the United States, authorities said.

Explosions boomed across Kyiv as the attack began in early morning and continued for hours.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy prepared to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida on Sunday for further talks on ending the nearly four-year war. Zelenskyy told reporters that he and Trump plan to discuss several matters including security guarantees and territorial issues in the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions.

“This attack is Russia’s answer on our peace efforts. It really shows that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin doesn’t want peace,” Zelenskyy said after stopping in Canada to meet with Prime Minister Mark Carney in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Carney announced $1.8 billion worth of economic assistance to Ukraine that helps unlock financing from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank for reconstruction and development.

“The barbarism that we saw overnight, the attack of Kyiv, shows just how important that we stand with Ukraine during this difficult time," Carney said.

Hundreds mourn in Syria's Homs after deadly mosque bombing

HOMS, Syria (AP) — Hundreds of mourners gathered Saturday in the rain and cold outside of a mosque in the Syrian city of Homs for the funeral of eight people killed in a bombing, as an imam warned that the attack could spark more sectarian violence.

The crowd assembled next to the Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib Mosque, the target of Friday's attack that also wounded 18 others. The population of the Wadi al-Dhahab neighborhood, where the mosque is located, is predominantly from the Alawite minority. They later drove in convoys to bury the victims.

Officials have said the preliminary investigations indicate explosive devices were planted inside the mosque but have not yet publicly identified a suspect.

A little-known group calling itself Saraya Ansar al-Sunna claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted on its Telegram channel, in which it indicated that the attack intended to target members of the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam whom hard-line Islamists consider to be apostates.

The same group had previously claimed a suicide attack in June in which a gunman opened fire and then detonated an explosive vest inside a Greek Orthodox church in Dweil’a, on the outskirts of Damascus, killing 25 people as worshippers prayed on a Sunday.

Millions of Afghans face hunger as aid cuts deepen a humanitarian crisis

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — For 10 hours a day, Rahimullah sells socks from his cart in eastern Kabul, earning about $4.5 to $6 per day. It's a pittance, but it’s all he has to feed his family of five.

Rahimullah, who like many Afghans goes by only one name, is one of millions of Afghans who rely on humanitarian aid, both from the Afghan authorities and from international charity organizations, for survival. An estimated 22.9 million people — nearly half the population — required aid in 2025, the International Committee for the Red Cross said in an article on its website Monday.

But severe cuts in international aid — including the halting of U.S. aid to programs such as food distribution run by the United Nations’ World Food Program — have severed this lifeline.

More than 17 million people in Afghanistan now face crisis levels of hunger in the winter, the World Food Program warned last week, 3 million more than were at risk more than a year ago.

The slashing in aid has come as Afghanistan is battered by a struggling economy, recurrent droughts, two deadly earthquakes and the mass influx of Afghan refugees expelled from countries such as Iran and Pakistan. The resulting multiple shocks have severely pressured resources, including of housing and food.

Cypriot fishermen battle invasive lionfish and turn them into a tavern delicacy

LARNACA, Cyprus (AP) — Photis Gaitanos’ rough fingers adroitly untangle the venomous spikes of a lionfish from a net, throwing the exotic-looking creature into an ice-filled rubber bin along with other fish from the day’s catch.

Unlike a few years ago when he would have mostly caught local staples as sea bream, red mullet or bass, the veteran fisherman now hunts for the invasive species that made its way from the Red Sea to the warming waters of the Mediterranean,

Lionfish, with their red and orange-hued stripes and antennae-like barbs that menacingly ward off enemies, threaten to decimate indigenous fish stocks, wreaking havoc on the livelihoods of the roughly 150 professional fishermen in Cyprus.

The prickly fish has even made its way as far north as the Ionian Sea, where Italian authorities have asked the public to photograph and report sightings.

The East Mediterranean has also seen another invasive Red Sea fish in the last decade: the silver-cheeked toadfish. Known as an eating machine whose powerful jaws cut through fishing nets, decimating fishermen’s catch, it has no natural predators off Cyprus, allowing its population to explode.

Texans clinch third consecutive playoff berth with 20-16 win over Chargers

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — The Houston Texans are riding a wave of momentum as the playoffs near. They're still alive in the race for the AFC South, a division they've won multiple times, and bolstered by the NFL's best defense, they're taking aim at earning their first berth in the AFC Championship Game.

C.J. Stroud threw for two long touchdowns on Houston's first two drives of the game, and the Texans went on to beat the Los Angeles Chargers 20-16 on Saturday to clinch a third consecutive playoff berth for the first time in franchise history.

“It’s what you fight for during the season, for an opportunity to be in the playoffs and go win it all,” Houston coach DeMeco Ryans said. “We earned that. It wasn’t given to us. Our guys went out and earned it.”

The Texans (11-5) won their eighth in a row, their longest such streak since winning nine straight in 2018.

“To do something like that in this league is not easy,” rookie wide receiver Jaylin Noel said. “Any time you can stack wins like this is special and we just want to keep it going. The coaches are pushing us to get better and everybody in the locker room is pushing to get better.”

Brazilian judge puts coup plot convicts under house arrest after former police commander flees

SAO PAULO (AP) — A Brazilian judge on Saturday issued house arrest orders for 10 people who have been convicted and sentenced for participating in a plot to keep former President Jair Bolsonaro in power after he lost the 2022 election.

The decision by Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes came just hours after authorities in neighboring Paraguay arrested a former police commander, who also had been convicted in the plot and returned him to Brazil.

Silvinei Vasques, the former director of Brazil’s Federal Highway Police, was extradited to Brazil on Friday night, after he had secretly entered Paraguay and attempted to board a flight to El Salvador using Paraguayan documents. According to Brazilian police, Vasques tore off his ankle monitor on Thursday and drove to Paraguay in a rental car.

The 10 people subjected to house arrest orders Saturday had been facing cautionary measures, like the use of ankle monitors, or had been ordered to stay at the same location every night.

They include Filipe Martins, a former adviser to Bolsonaro. Martins’ lawyer, Jeffrey Chiquini, said on X that they will file an appeal.