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

What Trump’s decision to wade into spending fight tells us about the next 4 years

WASHINGTON (AP) — After days of threats and demands, Donald Trump had little to show for it once lawmakers passed a budget deal in the early hours of Saturday, narrowly averting a pre-Christmas government shutdown.

The president-elect successfully pushed House Republicans to jettison some spending, but he failed to achieve his central goal of raising the debt limit. It demonstrated that despite his decisive election victory and frequent promises of retribution, many members of his party are still willing to openly defy him.

Trump’s decision to inject himself into the budget debate a month before his inauguration also showed that he remains more adept at blowing up deals than making them, and it foreshadowed that his second term will likely be marked by the same infighting, chaos and brinksmanship that characterized his first.

“Stay tuned. Buckle up. Strap in,” said Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark., a senior appropriator.

A glance at Trump’s agenda shows a cascade of opportunities for similar showdowns in the years to come. He wants to extend tax cuts that he signed into law seven years ago, slash the size of government, increase tariffs on imports and crack down on illegal immigrants. Many of those efforts will need congressional buy-in.

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Shutdown saga exposes new fault lines for Speaker Johnson and tests his grip on the gavel

WASHINGTON (AP) — One of the most turbulent sessions of Congress in the modern era is about to make way for the next one.

Midnight passage of the government shutdown package put in sharp focus the political fault lines emerging in Washington, as President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., fights for his job and Republicans sweep into control of the House and Senate in the new year.

It took bipartisan votes, Republicans and Democrats, to keep government running for a few more months and provide some $100 billion for disaster aid. Working together, the parties showed the House and Senate can still function, at times, to accomplish the basics of governing.

“After a chaotic few days in the House, it’s good news that the bipartisan approach in the end prevailed,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat. “It’s a good lesson for next year. Both sides have to work together.”

But next year, with big GOP promises to cut taxes and slash spending, while also pumping in new money to fund Trump’s border security and deportation operations, Republicans intend to go it alone.

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Germans mourn the 5 killed and 200 injured in the apparent attack on a Christmas market

MAGDEBURG, Germany (AP) — Germans on Saturday mourned the victims of an apparent attack in which authorities say a doctor drove into a busy outdoor Christmas market, killing five people, injuring 200 others and shaking the public’s sense of security at what would otherwise be a time of joy.

The alleged attack Friday evening in Magdeburg, about 130 kilometers (80 miles) west of Berlin, killed a 9-year-old and four adults and injured 41 people badly enough that authorities warned the death toll could rise.

Magdeburg marked the tragedy Saturday with the tolling church bells at 7:04 p.m., the exact time of the attack in the city of roughly 240,000 people.

The driver, a 50-year-old doctor who immigrated from Saudi Arabia in 2006, surrendered to police at the scene. He’s being investigated for five counts of suspected murder and 205 counts of suspected attempted murder, prosecutor Horst Walter Nopens said at a news conference.

Among other things, investigators are looking into whether the attack could have been motivated by the suspect’s dissatisfaction with the way Germany treats Saudi refugees, Nopens said.

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38 people are dead and over 100 missing in Congo after a ferry capsizes on the Busira River

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — A ferry overloaded with people returning home for Christmas capsized on the Busira River in northeastern Congo, leaving 38 people confirmed dead and over 100 others missing, officials and eyewitnesses said Saturday. Twenty people have been rescued so far.

The sinking of the ferry late Friday came less than four days after another boat capsized in the country’s northeast, killing 25 people.

The ferry was traveling as part of a convoy of other vessels and the passengers were primarily merchants returning home for Christmas, said Joseph Joseph Kangolingoli, the mayor of Ingende, the last town on the river before the site of the accident.

According to Ingende resident Ndolo Kaddy, the ferry contained “more than 400 people because it made two ports, Ingende and Loolo, on the way to Boende, so there is reason to believe there were more deaths.”

Congolese officials have often warned against overloading boats and vowed to punish those violating safety measures on rivers. However, in remote areas many people cannot afford public transportation on the few available roads.

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38 people die in a crash between a passenger bus and a truck in Brazil

SAO PAULO (AP) — A crash between a passenger bus and a truck early Saturday killed 38 people on a highway in Minas Gerais, a state in southeastern Brazil, officials said.

The Minas Gerais fire department, which responded to the scene, said 13 others were taken to hospitals near the city of Teofilo Otoni. The bus had reportedly departed from Sao Paulo and was carrying 45 passengers.

Authorities said Saturday afternoon that all victims had been removed from the site and an investigation would determine the cause of the accident. Witnesses told rescue teams that the bus blew a tire, causing the driver to lose control and collide with a truck. Others said that a granite block hit the bus, the fire department added.

A car with three passengers also collided with the bus, but all three survived.

Gov. Romeu Zema wrote on X that he ordered “full mobilization” of the Minas Gerais government to assist the victims.

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Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson, baseball’s stolen base king, has died at 65

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson, the brash speedster who shattered stolen base records and redefined baseball’s leadoff position, has died. He was 65.

Henderson died on Friday. The Athletics said Saturday they were “shocked and heartbroken by his passing,” but did not specify a cause of death.

Known as baseball’s “Man of Steal,” Henderson had a lengthy list of accolades and accomplishments over his nomadic 25-year career — an MVP, 10 All-Star selections, two World Series titles and a Gold Glove award.

“Rickey was simply the best player I ever played with. He could change the outcome of a game in so many ways,” said Don Mattingly, Henderson’s teammate with the Yankees from 1985-89. “It puts a smile on my face just thinking about him. I will miss my friend.”

It was stealing bases where Henderson made his name and dominated the sport like no other.

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A rocket from Yemen strikes Tel Aviv, injuring 16, and Palestinians mourn a dozen children in Gaza

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rocket fired from Yemen hit an area of Tel Aviv overnight, leaving 16 people injured by shattered glass, the Israeli military said Saturday, days after Israeli airstrikes hit Houthi rebels who have been launching missiles in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

Another 14 people had minor injuries as they rushed to shelters when air raid sirens sounded before dawn, the military said.

The Houthis in a statement on Telegram said they had aimed a hypersonic ballistic missile at a military target that they did not identify. Israel’s military said it was investigating, adding that “we emphasize that aerial defense is not hermetic.”

“A flash of light, a blow and we fell to the ground. Big mess, broken glasses all over the place,” said Bar Katz, a resident of a damaged building.

The Houthis’ media office later reported airstrikes on Yemen’s Houthi-held capital, Sanaa. U.S. forces conducted airstrikes against a missile storage facility and a command facility operated by the Houthis, the U.S. Central Command said in a statement on X.

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France’s Mayotte struggles to recover as cyclone overwhelms hospitals

MAMOUDZOU, Mayotte (AP) — One week after its worst cyclone in nearly a century, and a day after a testy presidential visit, France’s impoverished Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte is still grappling with counting the dead, restoring essential services and aiding a beleaguered population.

Cyclone Chido wreaked devastation across the archipelago. Already stretched thin, hospitals are overwhelmed with patients suffering not only from cyclone-related injuries but also from dehydration, malnutrition and disease.

At Mayotte’s main hospital in the capital, Mamoudzou, doctors faced a cascade of crises.

“We lost 40% of patient rooms, about 50 to 60 beds,” said Dr. Roger Serhal, chief of the obstetrics and gynecology department. “There are so many patients coming to the hospital, and we don’t have space to admit them.”

As Chido battered the archipelago last weekend with 220 kph (136 mph) winds, Serhal and his team delivered three babies, including by cesarean section.

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Albania to close TikTok for a year blaming it for promoting violence among children

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albania’s prime minister said Saturday the government will shut down the video service TikTok for one year, blaming it for inciting violence and bullying, especially among children.

Albanian authorities held 1,300 meetings with teachers and parents following the stabbing death of a teenager in mid-November by another teen after a quarrel that started on TikTok.

Prime Minister Edi Rama, speaking at a meeting with teachers and parents, said TikTok “would be fully closed for all. … There will be no TikTok in the Republic of Albania.” Rama said the shutdown would begin sometime next year.

It was not immediately clear if TikTok has a contact in Albania.

TikTok in an email response Saturday to a request for comment asked for “urgent clarity from the Albanian government” on the case of the stabbed teenager. The company said it had “found no evidence that the perpetrator or victim had TikTok accounts, and multiple reports have in fact confirmed videos leading up to this incident were being posted on another platform, not TikTok.”

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In a calendar rarity, Hanukkah starts this year on Christmas Day

Hanukkah, Judaism’s eight-day Festival of Lights, begins this year on Christmas Day, which has only happened four times since 1900.

For some rabbis, the intersection of the two religious holidays provides an auspicious occasion for interfaith engagement.

“This can be a profound opportunity for learning and collaboration and togetherness,” said Rabbi Josh Stanton, a vice president of the Jewish Federations of North America. He oversees interfaith initiatives involving the 146 local and regional Jewish federations that his organization represents.

“The goal is not proselytizing; it’s learning deeply from each other,” he said. “It’s others seeing you as you see yourself.”

One example of togetherness: a Chicanukah party hosted Thursday evening by several Jewish organizations in Houston, bringing together members of the city’s Latino and Jewish communities for a “cross cultural holiday celebration.” The venue: Houston’s Holocaust museum.

The Associated Press