The Department of Justice has released some of its records related to its investigations of Jeffrey Epstein. The convicted sex offender and wealthy financier was known for his connections to some of the world’s most powerful people, including President Donald Trump, who long sought to keep the files sealed. The department faced a Friday deadline to release the files. Among the thousands of records released are photos, call logs, grand jury testimony and interview transcripts. Trump plans a Friday evening speech on the economy in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.

The top Catholic leader in the Holy Land has visited the Gaza Strip’s only Catholic church, sharing a message of Christmas hope and support as conditions in the war-torn territory slowly improve while the Israel-Hamas ceasefire holds into its third month. Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa was greeted on Friday by children in Santa hats and keffiyehs — the headscarf that's a global symbol of Palestinian nationalism. The children sang and danced in the courtyard of the church compound, which was gaily decorated with twinkling lights and Christmas ornaments. Pizzaballa said that in the children, he sees a “little light of hope.”

The world’s leading authority on food crises says the spread of famine’s been averted in the Gaza Strip. But they say the situation remains critical with the entire Palestinian territory facing starvation. The new report was issued on Friday by The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC. The report comes months after the IPC said that famine was occurring in Gaza City and was likely to spread across the territory. The report notes improvements in food security and nutrition following an October ceasefire and no famine has been detected. It warns the situation remains fragile. The IPC says all of Gaza will be classified an emergency with nearly 2,000 people facing catastrophic levels of hunger through April.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — The Halawa family’s building still rises two stories above the rubble in Gaza City, a small miracle after two yea…

President Donald Trump’s “blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers off Venezuela’s coast is raising new concerns about the legality of his military campaign in Latin America. It's also fueling fears that the U.S. could be edging closer to war. The Trump administration says its blockade is narrowly tailored and not targeting civilians, which would be an illegal act of war. But some experts say seizing sanctioned oil tied to authoritarian leader Nicolás Maduro could provoke a military response from Venezuela. Trump says the South American country is using oil to fund drug trafficking and other crimes. Venezuela says the move would violate international law.

Pope Leo XIV says peace is not only possible but necessary. In his first peace message issued Thursday, Leo blasted the “irrationality” of nuclear deterrence and the weaponization of faith in modern political discourse. In the message released Thursday, Leo urged the faithful to not surrender to the idea that fear and darkness are normal, but to see peace as possible and realistic. In addition to the normal eight languages of Vatican texts, the message was also translated in Russian and Ukrainian

Israel has carried out airstrikes on southern and northeastern Lebanon. Thursday's strikes come as the deadline to disarm Hezbollah looms. The attacks happened a day before a meeting of a committee monitoring a U.S.-brokered ceasefire. The ceasefire ended the latest war between Israel and Hezbollah a year ago. The Israeli military said that it targeted Hezbollah infrastructure and military sites. Lebanon's National News Agency reported that the strikes stretched from Mount Rihan to the northeastern Hermel region. The U.S. has increased pressure on Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah in recent weeks.

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Peter Arnett, who traveled the world covering wars from Vietnam to Iraq, has died. His son says Arnett died in Newport Beach and was surrounded by friends and family. He had entered hospice on Saturday while suffering from prostate cancer. He was 91. Arnett’s reporting on the Vietnam War for The Associated Press won the Pulitzer Prize for international reporting in 1966. He is likely best remembered, however, for his gripping live reports of the 1991 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq that launched the first Gulf War. As bombs fell, Arnett calmly reported from his hotel window.