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

In a shock offensive, insurgents breach Syria’s largest city for the first time since 2016

BEIRUT (AP) — Insurgents breached Syria’s largest city Friday and clashed with government forces for the first time since 2016, according to a war monitor and fighters, in a surprise attack that sent residents fleeing and added fresh uncertainty to a region reeling from multiple wars.

The advance on Aleppo followed a shock offensive launched by insurgents Wednesday, as thousands of fighters swept through villages and towns in Syria’s northwestern countryside. Residents fled neighborhoods on the city’s edge because of missiles and gunfire, according to witnesses in Aleppo. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the country’s unresolved civil war, said dozens of fighters from both sides were killed.

The attack injected new violence into a region experiencing dual wars in Gaza and Lebanon involving Israel, and other conflicts, including the Syrian civil war that began in 2011.

Aleppo has not been attacked by opposition forces since they were ousted from eastern neighborhoods in 2016 following a grueling military campaign in which Syrian government forces were backed by Russia, Iran and its allied groups.

But this time, there was no sign of a significant pushback from government forces or their allies. Instead, reports emerged of government forces melting away in the face of advances, and insurgents posted messages on social media calling on troops to surrender.

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Battered by war and divisions, Lebanon faces a long list of challenges after ceasefire deal

BEIRUT (AP) — Hours after a U.S.-brokered ceasefire to end the war between Israel and Hezbollah went into effect, Lebanon woke up to the sound of celebratory gunfire instead of Israeli airstrikes and drones buzzing overhead.

It was a rare moment of respite for Lebanon, as bombs stopped falling after a year of war. Thousands of displaced people joyfully drove back to their towns and villages in southern and eastern Lebanon.

But the realization of what lies ahead quickly sank in. Town after town in the south and east as well as parts of Beirut have been destroyed, entire border villages leveled to the ground, and thousands of buildings damaged. The World Bank estimates losses amounting to some $8.5 billion.

For the tiny and broken Mediterranean country, which has dealt with compounded calamities for over half a decade, the ceasefire deal has brought more questions than answers.

Among them, who will foot the bill for rebuilding? Will Hezbollah fully remove its fighters and arsenals from the south, relocating north of the Litani River — and how will the Lebanese army ensure that it does so? And will Israel ultimately accept the militants being pushed back, battered but not destroyed?

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Middle East latest: 2 children and a woman crushed to death outside Gaza bakery amid food shortage

Two children and a woman were crushed to death Friday as a crowd of Palestinians pushed to get bread at a bakery in the Gaza Strip amid a worsening food crisis in the war-ravaged territory, medical officials said.

The bodies of two girls aged 13 and 17 and the 50-year-old woman were taken to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, where a doctor confirmed that they died from suffocation due to crowding at the al-Banna bakery. Video from The Associated Press showed their bodies placed next to each other on the floor inside the hospital’s morgue.

The flow of food allowed into Gaza by Israel has fallen to nearly its lowest level of almost 14-month-old war for the past two months, according to Israeli official figures. U.N. and aid officials say hunger and desperation are growing among Gaza’s population, almost all of which relies on humanitarian aid to survive.

Osama Abu Laban, the father of one of the girls, wailed over the loss of her life outside the hospital.

“My wife fell when she heard that she (our daughter) was suffocating. She did not yet know that she was dead,” he told the AP.

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Donald Trump’s call for ‘energy dominance’ is likely to run into real-world limits

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump is set to create a National Energy Council that he says will establish American “energy dominance” around the world as he seeks to boost U.S. oil and gas drilling and move away from President Joe Biden’s focus on climate change.

The energy council — to be led by North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Trump’s choice to head the Interior Department — will be key in Trump’s pledge to “drill, drill, drill” and sell more oil and other energy sources to allies in Europe and around the globe.

The new council will be granted sweeping authority over federal agencies involved in energy permitting, production, generation, distribution, regulation and transportation, with a mandate to cut bureaucratic red tape, enhance private sector investments and focus on innovation instead of “totally unnecessary regulation,” Trump said.

But Trump’s energy wishes are likely to run into real-world limits. For one, U.S. oil production under Biden is already at record levels. The federal government cannot force companies to drill for more oil, and production increases could lower prices and reduce profits.

A call for energy dominance — a term Trump also used in his first term as president — “is an opportunity, not a requirement,” for the oil industry to move forward on drilling projects under terms that are likely to be more favorable to industry than those offered by Biden, said energy analyst Kevin Book.

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Retailers coax Black Friday shoppers into stores with big discounts and giveaways

NEW YORK (AP) — Retailers used giveaways and big discounts to reward U.S. shoppers who ventured out for Black Friday even as earlier offers, the prospect of better bargains in the days ahead and the ease of e-commerce drained much of the excitement from the holiday shopping season’s much-hyped kickoff.

Frequent deals throughout the month and more awaiting on Cyber Monday gave consumers less of a reason to squabble over store shelves while trying to get their hands on TVs or toys. But shopping malls and merchants big and small used the day after Thanksgiving to entice customers into physical stores at a time when many prefer to browse and buy online.

Some Target shoppers lined up as early as 11:30 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day to get their hands on an exclusive book devoted to Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour and a bonus edition of her “The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology” album. Although both will be available purchase online starting Saturday, many locations sold out their supply of the products, the discount retailer said.

At a Target in Southfield, Michigan, a few miles north of Detroit, Marge Evans, 32, used her cellphone to take and send photos of shirts, sweaters and other apparel with Black Friday markdowns. Her shopping cart was full, but she was shopping for an upcoming cruise with her fiance, not Christmas.

“I’ll see what things are looking like the first week in January,”the 32-year-old massage therapist said. “Really, after the holidays are over is when the real deals come through. They get rid of everything.”

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Desertion threatens to starve Ukraine’s forces at a crucial time in its war with Russia

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Desertion is starving the Ukrainian army of desperately needed manpower and crippling its battle plans at a crucial time in its war with Russia, which could put Kyiv at a clear disadvantage in future ceasefire talks.

Facing every imaginable shortage, tens of thousands of Ukrainian troops, tired and bereft, have walked away from combat and front-line positions to slide into anonymity, according to soldiers, lawyers and Ukrainian officials. Entire units have abandoned their posts, leaving defensive lines vulnerable and accelerating territorial losses, according to military commanders and soldiers.

Some take medical leave and never return, haunted by the traumas of war and demoralized by bleak prospects for victory. Others clash with commanders and refuse to carry out orders, sometimes in the middle of firefights.

“This problem is critical,” said Oleksandr Kovalenko, a Kyiv-based military analyst. “This is the third year of war, and this problem will only grow.”

Although Moscow has also been dealing with desertions, Ukrainians going AWOL have laid bare deeply rooted problems bedeviling their military and how Kyiv is managing the war, from the flawed mobilization drive to the overstretching and hollowing out of front-line units. It comes as the U.S. urges Ukraine to draft more troops, and allow for the conscription of those as young as 18.

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Nigeria confirms that at least 27 people died and more than 100 are missing after boat capsized

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — At least 27 people died and more than 100, mostly women, were missing on Friday, after a boat transporting them to a food market capsized along the River Niger in northern Nigeria, authorities said.

About 200 passengers were on the boat that was going from the state of Kogi to neighboring state of Niger when it capsized, the Niger State Emergency Management Agency spokesman Ibrahim Audu told The Associated Press.

Rescues managed to pull 27 bodies from the river by Friday evening while local divers were still searching for others, according to Sandra Musa, spokeswoman for the Kogi state emergency services.

No survivor was found about 12 hours after the incident occurred, she added.

Authorities have not confirmed what caused the sinking but local media suggested the boat may have been overloaded. Overcrowding on boats is common in remote parts of Nigeria where the lack of good roads leaves many with no alternative routes.

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Bill to legalize assisted dying in England and Wales faces heated parliamentary debate

LONDON (AP) — British lawmakers are expected to vote Friday on a law proposed to help terminally ill adults end their lives.

The contentious bill would allow adults expected to have fewer than six months to live to request and be provided with help to end their life, subject to safeguards and protections.

Members of Parliament (MPs), who have been holding emotional meetings with constituents and searching their souls, are due to debate the issue that crosses political lines.

Supporters say the law would provide dignity to the dying and prevent unnecessary suffering. Opponents say it would put vulnerable people at risk, fearing that some would be coerced to end their lives and that some elderly or disabled people may opt for death so they don’t become a burden.

A vote in favor of the bill would send it to another round of hearings. A vote against it would kill it.

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Notre Dame Cathedral unveils its new interior 5 years after devastating fire

PARIS (AP) — After more than five years of frenetic, but sometimes interrupted, reconstruction work, Notre Dame Cathedral showed itself anew to the world Friday, with rebuilt soaring ceilings and creamy good-as-new stonework erasing somber memories of its devastating fire in 2019.

Images broadcast live of a site visit by French President Emmanuel Macron showed the inside of the iconic cathedral as worshippers might have experienced it in previous centuries, its wide, open spaces filled with bright light on a crisp and sunny winter’s day that lit up the vibrant colors of the stained glass windows.

Outside, the monument is still a construction site, with scaffolding and cranes. But the renovated interior — shown in its full glory Friday for the first time before the public is allowed back in on Dec. 8 — proved to be breathtaking.

Gone are the gaping holes that the blaze tore into the vaulted ceilings, leaving charred piles of debris. New stonework has been carefully pieced together to repair and fill the wounds that had left the cathedral’s insides exposed to the elements. Delicate golden angels look on from the centerpiece of one of the rebuilt ceilings, seeming to fly again above the transept.

The cathedral’s bright, cream-colored limestone walls look brand new, cleaned not only of dust from the fire but also of grime that had accumulated for centuries.

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Santa’s annual train visit delivers hope and magic to one corner of coal country

ON BOARD THE SANTA TRAIN (AP) — Since 1943, the people of Appalachian Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee have looked forward to Santa’s arrival. Not in a sleigh on their rooftops, but on a train.

The Santa Train marks its 82nd running this year, bringing presents and joy to small towns along a 110-mile portion of the CSX rail line tucked into remote coal-country river valleys. Many of the children who line the tracks and wait for Santa on the Saturday before Thanksgiving are the third, fourth or fifth generation to do so.

“I look for it every year. I count the days down,” said Sandra Owens, of Haysi, Virginia, who held a pink pillowcase with a message in black ink, “Thank you CSX and volunteers for the Santa Train. 82.”

Owens moved to Kentucky from Delaware 55 years ago when she got married and experienced her first Santa Train a few years later, when her son turned 3. He is 46 now, and these days she brings her grandchildren. In a few more years, she hopes to bring great-grandchildren.

“The faces of the kids, that’s what makes me happy,” she said. “You can’t see anything better.”

The Associated Press