News Wrap: Most of Puerto Rico in blackout could take 2 days to repair

Nick Schifrin:

Turning to the day's other headlines, we start in Puerto Rico, which is spending New Year's Eve almost completely without power. A blackout began at dawn, and officials say it could take two days to get power fully restored.

Puerto Ricans who could afford generators powered them up, as others stocked up on supplies. The private company that runs most of the electricity on the island says as many as 1.4 million of its customers have been affected. LUMA Energy says the failure of an underground power line is likely to blame.

Puerto Rico struggles with chronic power outages due to crumbling infrastructure, though widespread blackouts like this one are rare.

A military appeals court ruled against Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's attempts to throw out plea deals for three 9/11 defendants being held at Guantanamo Bay. The ruling would once again allow Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two others to plead guilty for their roles in the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people. In exchange, they'd be spared the possibility of the death penalty.

Secretary Austin had tried to nullify that deal, but the judge hearing the case decided he lacked standing to intervene. Separately, the Pentagon repatriated a Tunisian man held at Guantanamo since 2002 without being formally charged. Ridah Bin Saleh al-Yazidi's departure leaves 26 men at the facility, down from a peak of about 700.

In Ukraine, Russia struck targets across the country overnight with a barrage of missiles and drones. In the capital, Kyiv, air raid sirens rang out and residents reported multiple explosions. Local officials say missile debris struck Kyiv's Darnyts'kyi district. There have been no reports of casualties so far.

Elsewhere, authorities in the northeastern Sumy region reported strikes near the city of Shostka. The mayor there says 12 residential buildings had been damaged, as well as two educational facilities.

Turning to the Middle East, the U.S. military announced it had struck Houthi rebel targets in Yemen yesterday and today. U.S. Central Command says it used aircraft and Navy ships to target a Houthi command-and-control center, weapons production and storage facilities. Smoke rose in the capital, Sanaa, following the attacks.

The U.S. says the Houthis have used the facilities to strike warships and merchant vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. The group says it targets shipping in those areas because of the war in Gaza.

Chinese President Xi Jinping used his New Year's Eve speech to vow, no one can prevent reunification with Taiwan. China considers Taiwan its own territory, but Taiwan has never been governed by the Chinese Communist Party and has its own democratically elected government. Xi's comments are just the latest warning to what Beijing considers pro-independence forces both inside Taiwan and abroad.

XI JINPING, Chinese President (through translator):

The people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are one family. No one can sever our family bonds and no one can stop the historical trend of national reunification.

NICK SCHIFRIN:

China has been carrying out near-daily military exercises in the waters and airspace around Taiwan, home to some 23 million people. Taiwanese officials say that's an effort to — quote — "normalize" Chinese military presence around the island.

Police in New York announced the identity today of the woman who was burned to death on a New York subway car earlier this month. Authorities say the victim was a 57-year-old from New Jersey named Debrina Kawam. New York's mayor says that she spent a brief period in the city's homeless shelter system.

The man accused of lighting her on fire has been indicted on murder and arson charges. Federal officials say the 33-year-old is from Guatemala and entered the United States illegally.

In Los Angeles, federal aviation officials are investigating a near-miss at LAX involving the Gonzaga men's basketball team. A livestream of the incident captured air traffic controllers ordering the team's jet to stop just as it was crossing a runway on Friday as a Delta flight was taking off. The plane came up short of the runway edge. No one was injured.

According to the FAA, there were more than 1,100 near-miss incidents in the 12 months that ended in may of this year, some more dangerous than the others.

One of the longest running power couple dramas in the history of Hollywood appears to be over. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have reached a divorce settlement. The pair filed a court document on Monday saying they have reached a written agreement on their marital and property rights, though few details have been made public.

Jolie had filed for divorce in 2016, claiming Pitt had been abusive to her and their children during a private flight. A judge declared each of them single in 2019, but they still had to split assets and child custody. An attorney for Jolie says today she is exhausted, but relieved at the outcome.

And Wall Street ended 2024 with a bit of a whimper after roaring through much of the year. The Dow Jones industrial average was virtually flat, losing nearly 30 points. The Nasdaq dropped 175 points on the day. The S&P 500 also ended in negative territory.

But it was a banner year for stocks. The S&P 500 posted back-to-back annual gains of more than 20 percent for the first time since the late 1990s. And analysts expect stocks to continue rising in the new year.