Guard solider dead, another critical in DC ambush; Hong Kong fire toll climbs
One of the National Guard members ambushed in that attack near the White House has died. The second soldier remains in critical condition Friday morning as investigators dig into the suspect’s background.
Plus, the death toll from Hong Kong’s high-rise fire is rising quickly. Hundreds remain missing, and investigators say renovation materials probably fueled the flames as they spread through the towers.
And President Donald Trump says a U.S. land attack against cartels in Venezuela is coming “very soon.” It’s his strongest signal yet of a major escalation.
These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Friday, November 28, 2025.
National Guard member dies following shooting, second still in critical condition
One of the two West Virginia National Guard members shot in an attack near the White House on Wednesday has died.
In a Thanksgiving call with troops, President Donald Trump announced that 20-year-old Specialist Sarah Beckstrom died from her injuries
Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe, 24, remains in critical condition.
The president called the suspect, who has been identified as 25-year-old Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an Afghan national and a “monster,” labeling the attack an act ot terrorism.
He also blamed the Biden administration for bringing Lakanwal into the country.
“DHS has confirmed the suspect is an Afghan national flown here by the previous administration, who was such a bad administration,” Trump said. “And I have a picture of a plane. This is what it looked like when they came in. Do you remember? It was total bedlam. Remember that period of time? Total bedlam. People crammed onto the plane. And the toughest, meanest, most capable physically got on the plane, not the people that we were looking for.”
The president added, “This heinous atrocity reminds us that we have no greater national security priority than ensuring that we have full control over the people that enter and remain in our country.”
Lakanwal served in a CIA-backed Afghan army unit before coming to the U.S. in 2021 as part of the mass Afghan evacuation.
He applied for asylum in 2024, and it was approved this year under the Trump administration.
And while Trump and FBI Director Kash Patel say Lakanwal was not properly vetted, a senior U.S. official tells ABC News he was vetted by the National Counterterrorism Center and, “he was clean on all checks.”
US green card holders from 19 nations face new security review
In the wake of two National Guard members being shot in D.C., the White House is ordering a wide-ranging reexamination of U.S. immigration records.
And that move begins with green cards.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services says it will review every green card issued to immigrants from 19 so-called “countries of concern.”
Those countries include Afghanistan, Iran, Somalia, Venezuela, Haiti and more.
The director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Joe Edlow, said he’s acting at the president’s direction.
“I have directed a full-scale, rigorous reexamination of every green card for every alien from every country of concern,” Edlow wrote on X.
In a statement to CNN, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said: “Effective immediately, processing of all immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals is stopped indefinitely pending further review of security and vetting protocols.”
In a video address Wednesday night, the president said the shooting “underscores” the need to recheck anyone who entered through the program the suspect came through.
There’s no timeline for how long this reexamination could take or how many people could be affected.
Hong Kong high-rise fire death toll climbs to 128 with 200 still missing
A horrific scene is still unfolding in Hong Kong, where a high-rise fire has now become the city’s deadliest in more than half a century.
The death toll has surged to 128, with officials warning it’s likely to rise.
About 200 people are still unaccounted for as crews spend a third day picking through charred remains of an eight-tower apartment complex in the Tai Po district.
Firefighters, some still doused in ash, are going unit by unit, flashlights in hand, as parts of the building continue to smolder.
The fire department confirmed one of their own died after collapsing at the scene.
Investigators say the blaze started in bamboo scaffolding and flammable construction netting, then raced up the outside of the building.
Officials say fire alarms in all eight buildings were “not functional.”
Three men from the construction company overseeing the renovation have been arrested, accused of gross negligence and manslaughter.
Officials are now launching a citywide inspection of all buildings under renovation and say they may finally move away from bamboo scaffolding, a practice used there for generations.
The fire is now Hong Kong’s deadliest since 1948.
Trump signals land action, says move against Venezuela ‘very soon’
In the strongest signal yet that the U.S. may soon launch a ground operation inside Venezuela, Trump told American troops that “land action” against the Maduro regime is coming very soon.
The president made the comment during his Thanksgiving call with U.S. troops, praising the Air Force’s 7th Bomb Wing for destroying suspected drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean.
The military has targeted nearly 22 vessels since September, resulting in the deaths of over 80 people accused of collaborating with cartels.
Trump said maritime trafficking is now 85% stopped and claimed a ground operation would be “easier.”
The U.S. has already moved the U.S.S. Gerald Ford into the region as part of a broader military build-up.
Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro denies any ties to drug cartels and claims the U.S. is fabricating a war against him.
UPS, FedEx planes grounded; Repairs to last ‘months,”‘ leaked memo says
A fleet of UPS cargo planes — grounded following this month’s fatal crash in Louisville, Kentucky — will now remain parked longer than anyone anticipated.
And it could impact holiday deliveries.
A leaked internal memo on Wednesday states that the company’s entire McDonnell Douglas MD-11 fleet will be out of service for months, not weeks. These aircraft comprise 9% of UPS’s fleet and 11% of FedEx’s — a small percentage on paper, but they handle hundreds of flights and thousands of packages every day.
Boeing, which now owns McDonnell Douglas, reportedly informed UPS that the inspections and structural repairs required are much more extensive than initially thought. They said every aircraft will need to be dismantled to identify and remove aging parts.
The remaining 109 MD-11s for UPS are, on average, over 30 years old.
Crystal Fabergé masterpiece set for auction
Introducing the Winter Egg, a rare Fabergé masterpiece adorned with crystal and diamond — one of just seven in private collections — and scheduled for auction in London next week.
The tiny four-inch egg is carved from rock crystal, wrapped in platinum snowflakes and encrusted with over 4,500 diamonds.
Inside: a small basket of jeweled quartz flowers, reflecting how even the Romanovs appreciated a surprise.
Christie’s refers to it as the “Mona Lisa of decorative arts.”
Commissioned in 1913 by Czar Nicholas II as an Easter gift for his mother, the egg vanished for several decades. It reemerged in the ’90s, set two price records and is now anticipated to sell for more than $26 million.
Bidding begins Tuesday.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
