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A strengthening bomb cyclone barreled across the northern U.S. on Monday, unleashing severe winter weather in the Midwest as it took aim at the East Coast.

The storm brought blizzard conditions, treacherous travel, and widespread power outages to parts of the Plains and Great Lakes on Monday as sharply colder air, strong winds, and a mix of snow, ice, and rain swept through.

Forecasters said the storm intensified quickly enough to meet the criteria of a bomb cyclone, a system that rapidly strengthens as surface pressure drops. The sharp cold front left parts of the central U.S. waking up Monday to temperatures as much as 50 degrees Fahrenheit colder than the day before.

The driving wind and snow created “a pretty significant system for even this part of the country,” said Cody Snell, a meteorologist with the Weather Prediction Center. Forecasters expect the storm to intensify as it moves east, fueled by a sharp clash between frigid Canadian air and lingering warmth across the southern United States.

The plunging temperatures, combined with strong winds, created dangerous wind chills as low as minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit across parts of North Dakota and Minnesota. The National Weather Service warned of whiteout conditions beginning Sunday that could make travel impossible in some places.

In Iowa, blizzard conditions eased but high winds were still blowing fallen snow across roadways, keeping more than 200 miles of Interstate 35 closed Monday morning. State troopers reported dozens of crashes during the storm, including one that killed a person.

The strong area of low pressure tracking from the Great Lakes into southeast Canada brought heavy snow to parts of Michigan on Monday, with powerful winds and intense lake-effect snow expected across the Great Lakes into New York.

In Detroit, three semitrailers and roughly 20 other vehicles crashed on Interstate 75, injuring one person, said Michigan Department of Transportation spokesperson Diane Cross, as strong winds whipped newly fallen snow into sudden squalls.

Nationwide, about 400,000 customers were without power Monday morning, nearly a third of them in Michigan, according to Poweroutage.us. U.S. airports reported around 5,000 flight delays and around 700 cancellations.

Snow piled up quickly in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, where as much as 2 feet fell in some areas, according to the National Weather Service. Meteorologist Ryan Metzger said additional snow was expected in the coming days, although totals would be far lighter than what fell overnight.

Rain and a wintry mix fell farther east across parts of the Northeast. Freezing rain was reported in parts of northern New York, with the threat extending into Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. Forecasters warned the ice could strain power lines and trees. State police in Vermont said they responded to 92 crashes overnight, three of which resulted in injuries.

On the West Coast, the National Weather Service warned that moderate to strong Santa Ana winds were expected in parts of Southern California through Tuesday, raising concerns about downed trees in areas where soils have been saturated by recent storms. Two more storms were forecast later this week, with rain on New Year’s Day potentially soaking the Rose Parade in Pasadena for the first time in about two decades.

A weekend snowstorm hit Alaska’s northern panhandle with 15 to 40 inches, according to the National Weather Service, keeping the region under a winter storm warning Monday as Juneau braced for up to 9 more inches and possible freezing rain. City facilities were closed and road crews piled snow into towering berms, while communities farther south faced flood watches from snowmelt and heavy rain.

And in central Illinois, an EF1 tornado with peak winds of 98 mph damaged buildings and snapped power poles on Sunday.

A Utah judge on Monday ordered the release of a transcript from a closed-door hearing in October over whether the man charged with killing Charlie Kirk must be shackled during court proceedings.

State District Judge Tony Graf said the transcript must be posted on the court docket by the end of the day. Attorneys for media outlets including the Associated Press had argued for details of the closed hearing to be made public.

Prosecutors have charged Tyler Robinson with aggravated murder in the Sept. 10 shooting of the conservative activist on the Utah Valley University campus in Orem, just a few miles north of the Provo courthouse. They plan to seek the death penalty.

Defense attorneys for Robinson in early October requested that he be allowed to appear in court in civilian clothes and without restraints, to prevent any bias against him among potential jurors.

Days after an Oct. 24 closed-door hearing on the matter, Graf ruled that Robinson could appear in civilian clothes but must wear restraints. Utah court rules require defendants who are in custody to be restrained unless otherwise ordered.

Graf wrote in an Oct. 27 order that restraints for Robinson would protect the safety of court staff and the defendant, by allowing him to be quickly secured if court proceedings were disrupted.

But the judge said Monday that public transparency was “foundational” to the judicial system before ordering details of the closed hearing to be released. The judge ordered limited redactions to remove discussions of security protocols in the closely watched case.

Graf also ordered the release of an audio recording of the hearing, again with redactions.

Lawyers for the media wrote in recent filings that an open court “safeguards the integrity of the fact-finding process” while fostering public confidence in judicial proceedings. Criminal cases in the U.S. have long been open to the public, which the attorneys argued is proof that trials can be conducted fairly without restricting reporters.

Graf has said in a separate order that Robinson’s restraints could not be shown by media outlets that publish or broadcast photographs of court proceedings.

Graf briefly stopped a media livestream of a hearing earlier this month and ordered the camera be moved after Robinson’s attorneys said the stream showed the defendant’s shackles.

In a separate ruling Monday, Graf denied a request from attorneys for the media who sought to intervene in the case. The judge said members of the press do not need to be formal parties in the proceedings to access court records.

Robinson was not present in court Monday but appeared via audio link from the Utah County Jail.

A preliminary hearing, where prosecutors will lay out their case against him, is scheduled for the week of May 18.

HONG KONG — China’s military on Monday dispatched air, navy, and missile units to conduct joint live-fire drills around the island of Taiwan, which Beijing called a “stern warning” against separatist and “external interference” forces. Taiwan said it was placing forces on alert and called the Chinese government “the biggest destroyer of peace.”

Taiwan’s aviation authority said more than 100,000 international air travelers would be affected by flight cancellations or diversions.

The drills came after Beijing expressed anger at what could be the largest-ever U.S. arms sale to the self-ruled territory, and at a statement by Japan’s prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, saying its military could get involved if China takes action against Taiwan. China says Taiwan must come under its rule.

China’s military did not mention the United States and Japan in its statement on Monday, but Beijing’s foreign ministry accused Taiwan’s ruling party of trying to seek independence through requesting U.S. support.

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said rapid response exercises were underway, with forces on high alert. “The Chinese Communist Party’s targeted military exercises further confirm its nature as an aggressor and the biggest destroyer of peace,” it said.

Beijing sends warplanes and navy vessels toward the island on a near-daily basis, and in recent years it has stepped up the scope and scale of the exercises.

Senior Col. Shi Yi, spokesperson of China’s People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command, said the drills would be conducted in the Taiwan Strait and areas to the north, southwest, southeast, and east of the island.

Shi said activities would focus on sea-air combat readiness patrol, “joint seizure of comprehensive superiority” and blockades on key ports. It was the first large-scale military drill where the command publicly mentioned one goal was “all-dimensional deterrence outside the island chain.”

“It is a stern warning against ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces and external interference forces, and it is a legitimate and necessary action to safeguard China’s sovereignty and national unity,” Shi said.

China and Taiwan have been governed separately since 1949, when a civil war brought the Communist Party to power in Beijing. Defeated Nationalist Party forces fled to Taiwan. The island has operated since then with its own government, though the mainland’s government claims it as sovereign territory.

Drills will continue

China’s command on Monday deployed destroyers, frigates, fighters, bombers, and unmanned aerial vehicles, alongside long-range rockets, to the north and southwest of the Taiwan Strait. It carried out live-fire exercises against targets in the waters. Among other training, drills to test the capabilities of sea-air coordination and precise target hunting were conducted in the waters and airspace to the east of the strait.

Hsieh Jih-sheng, deputy chief of the general staff for intelligence of the Taiwanese Defense Ministry, said that as of 3 p.m. Monday, 89 aircraft and drones were operating around the strait, with 67 of them entering the “response zone” — airspace under the force’s monitoring and response. The ministry detected 14 navy ships around the strait and four other warships in the Western Pacific, in addition to 14 coast guard vessels.

“Conducting live-fire exercises around the Taiwan Strait … does not only mean military pressure on us. It may bring more complex impact and challenges to the international community and neighboring countries,” Hsieh told reporters.

Military drills are set to continue Tuesday. Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration said Chinese authorities had issued a notice saying seven temporary dangerous zones would be set up around the strait to carry out rocket-firing exercises from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., barring aircraft from entering them.

The Taiwanese aviation authority said more than 850 international flights were initially scheduled during that period and the drills would affect over 100,000 travelers. Over 80 domestic flights, involving around 6,000 passengers, were also canceled, it added.

Commercial airlines began to announce dozens of cancellations and delays for domestic routes across Taiwan, particularly ones along islands near China.

The Chinese command released themed posters about the drills online accompanied by provocative wording. One depicted two shields with the Great Wall alongside three military aircraft and two ships. Its social media post said the drills were about the “Shield of Justice, Smashing Illusion,” adding that any foreign interlopers or separatists touching the shields would be eliminated.

Last week, Beijing imposed sanctions against 20 U.S. defense-related companies and 10 executives, a week after Washington announced large-scale arms sales to Taiwan valued at more than $10 billion. It still requires approval by the U.S. Congress.

Under U.S. federal law in place for many years, Washington is obligated to assist Taipei with its defense, a point that has become increasingly contentious with China. The U.S. and Taiwan had formal diplomatic relations until 1979, when President Jimmy Carter’s administration recognized and established relations with Beijing.

Asked about the drills, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party has attempted “to seek independence by soliciting U.S. support and even risk turning Taiwan into a powder keg and ammunition depot.”

“External forces’ attempts to use Taiwan to contain China and to arm Taiwan will only embolden the Taiwan independence forces and push the Taiwan Strait toward a dangerous situation of military confrontation and war,” he said.

There was no immediate U.S. statement on the drills.

Taiwanese army on high alert

Karen Kuo, spokesperson for the Taiwanese president’s office, said the drills were undermining the stability and security of the Taiwan Strait and Indo-Pacific region and openly challenging international law and order.

“Our country strongly condemns the Chinese authorities for disregarding international norms and using military intimidation to threaten neighboring countries.” she said.

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry released a video that featured its weapons and forces in a show of resilience. Multiple French Mirage-2000 aircraft conducted landings at an air force base.

In October, the Taiwanese government said it would accelerate the building of a “Taiwan Shield” or “T-Dome” air defense system in the face of the military threat from China.

The military tensions came a day after Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an said he hoped the Taiwan Strait would be associated with peace and prosperity, instead of “crashing waves and howling winds,” during a trip to Shanghai.

GENEVA — The United States on Monday announced a $2 billion pledge for U.N. humanitarian aid as President Donald Trump’s administration slashes U.S. foreign assistance and warns United Nations agencies to “adapt, shrink or die” in a time of new financial realities.

The money is a small fraction of what the U.S. has contributed in the past but reflects what the administration believes is still a generous amount that will maintain America’s status as the world’s largest humanitarian donor.

“This new model will better share the burden of U.N. humanitarian work with other developed countries and will require the U.N. to cut bloat, remove duplication, and commit to powerful new impact, accountability and oversight mechanisms,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on social media.

The pledge creates an umbrella fund from which money will be doled out to agencies and priorities, a key part of U.S. demands for drastic changes across the U.N. that have alarmed many humanitarian workers and led to severe reductions in programs and services.

The $2 billion is only a sliver of traditional U.S. humanitarian funding for U.N.-coordinated programs, which has run as high as $17 billion annually in recent years, according to U.N. data. U.S. officials say only $8 billion to $10 billion of that has been in voluntary contributions. The United States also pays billions in annual dues related to its U.N. membership.

“The piggy bank is not open to organizations that just want to return to the old system,” Jeremy Lewin, the State Department official in charge of foreign assistance, said at a press conference Monday in Geneva. ”President Trump has made clear that the system is dead.”

The State Department said “individual U.N. agencies will need to adapt, shrink, or die.” Critics say the Western aid cutbacks have been shortsighted, driven millions toward hunger, displacement, or disease, and harmed U.S. soft power around the world.

A year of crisis in aid

The move caps a crisis year for many U.N. organizations, including its refugee, migration, and food aid agencies. The Trump administration has already cut billions in U.S. foreign aid, prompting the agencies to slash spending, aid projects, and thousands of jobs. Other traditional Western donors have reduced outlays, too.

The U.S. pledge for aid programs of the United Nations — the world’s top provider of humanitarian assistance and biggest recipient of U.S. humanitarian aid money — takes shape in a preliminary deal with the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA, run by Tom Fletcher, a former British diplomat and government official.

Fletcher, who has spent the past year lobbying U.S. officials not to abandon U.N. funding altogether, appeared optimistic at the deal’s signing in Geneva.

“It’s a very, very significant landmark contribution. And a month ago, I would have anticipated the number would have been zero,” he told reporters. “And so I think, before worrying about what we haven’t got, I’d like to look at the millions of people whose lives will be saved, whose lives will be better because of this contribution, and start there.”

Even as the U.S. pulls back its aid contributions, needs have ballooned worldwide: Famine has been recorded this year in parts of conflict-ridden Sudan and Gaza, and floods, drought, and natural disasters that many scientists attribute to climate change have taken many lives or driven thousands from their homes.

The cuts will have major implications for U.N. affiliates like the International Organization for Migration, the World Food Program, and refugee agency UNHCR. They have already received billions less from the U.S. this year than under annual allocations from the Biden administration — or even during Trump’s first term.

Now, the idea is that Fletcher’s office — which has aimed to improve efficiency — will become a funnel for U.S. and other aid money that can be redirected to those agencies, rather than scattered U.S. contributions to a variety of individual appeals for aid.

Asked by reporters if the U.S. language of “adapt or die” worried him, Fletcher said, “If the choices are adapt or die, I choose adapt.”

U.S. seeks aid consolidation

U.S. officials say the $2 billion is just a first outlay to help fund OCHA’s annual appeal for money. Fletcher, noting the upended aid landscape, already slashed the request this year. Other traditional U.N. donors like Britain, France, Germany, and Japan have reduced aid allocations and sought reforms this year.

“This humanitarian reset at the United Nations should deliver more aid with fewer tax dollars — providing more focused, results-driven assistance aligned with U.S foreign policy,” U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz said.

At its core, the change will help establish pools of funding that can be directed either to specific crises or countries in need. A total of 17 countries will be initially targeted, including Bangladesh, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Syria, and Ukraine.

Two of the world’s most desperate countries, Afghanistan and Yemen, are not included, with U.S. officials citing aid diversion to the Taliban and Houthi rebels as concerns over restarting contributions.

Also not mentioned on the list are the Palestinian territories, which officials say will be covered by money stemming from Trump’s as-yet-incomplete Gaza peace plan.

The U.N. project, months in the making, stems from Trump’s longtime view that the world body has great promise but has failed to live up to it and has — in his eyes — drifted too far from its original mandate to save lives while undermining American interests, promoting radical ideologies, and encouraging wasteful, unaccountable spending.

“No one wants to be an aid recipient. No one wants to be living in a UNHCR camp because they’ve been displaced by conflict,” Lewin said. “So the best thing that we can do to decrease costs, and President Trump recognizes this and that’s why he’s the president of peace, is by ending armed conflict and allowing communities to get back to peace and prosperity.”

President Donald Trump said Monday that unspecified U.S. forces were responsible for an explosion at a marine loading facility in Venezuela, escalating the confrontation with the South American country over alleged drug smuggling.

“There was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs,” Trump told reporters outside his Mar-a-Lago Club on Monday while greeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “And that is no longer around.”

Trump has been raising pressure on Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, by building up naval forces in the region, seizing oil tankers and destroying 29 boats that U.S. officials said carried drugs.

The military said Monday that it had conducted another strike against a boat accused of smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing two people.

The strike, which was announced by U.S. Southern Command on social media, has brought the total number of known boat strikes to 30 and the number of people killed to at least 107 since early September.

The shoreline attack would be the first on land, which Trump has been previewing for months.

Trump declined to say if the military or the CIA carried out the strike. He previously authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations.

“I know exactly who it was, but I don’t want to say who it was,” he said.

The Pentagon declined to address questions about the U.S. military’s involvement in the attack. The CIA declined to comment.

The president has declared a “non-international armed conflict” on drug cartels, with officials likening traffickers to al-Qaeda or Islamic State terrorists. Judges and lawmakers from both parties have questioned the administration’s legal authority for the strikes and for fast-tracked deportation of alleged gang members.

Trump first referenced the shoreline attack on Friday in a radio interview with Republican donor John Catsimatidis, saying the strike occurred two nights earlier.

“We just knocked out — I don’t know if you read or you saw — they have a big plant or big facility where they send the, you know, where the ships come from,” Trump said in the interview. “Two nights ago, we knocked that out. So we hit them very hard.”

In October, Trump signed a document known as a “finding” that gave the CIA authority to undertake aggressive covert action against the Venezuelan government and associated drug traffickers, according to two people familiar with the document. The document does not explicitly order the CIA to overthrow Maduro, but it authorizes steps that could lead to that outcome, according to the people familiar with it.

Trump’s precise instructions to the CIA are highly classified. The CIA has moved to beef up its presence in the region, surging personnel to the Caribbean and surrounding area to collect human and electronic intelligence, the people familiar with the matter said.

KYIV, Ukraine — The United States is offering Ukraine security guarantees for a period of 15 years as part of a proposed peace plan, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday, though he said he would prefer an American commitment of up to 50 years to deter Russia from further attempts to seize its neighbor’s land by force.

U.S. President Donald Trump hosted Zelensky at his Florida resort on Sunday and insisted that Ukraine and Russia are “closer than ever before” to a peace settlement.

Negotiators are still searching for a breakthrough on key issues, however, including whose forces withdraw from where in Ukraine and the fate of Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, one of the 10 biggest in the world. Trump noted that the monthslong U.S.-led negotiations could still collapse.

“Without security guarantees, realistically, this war will not end,” Zelensky told reporters in voice messages responding to questions sent via a WhatsApp chat.

Ukraine has been fighting Russia since 2014, when it illegally annexed Crimea and Moscow-backed separatists took up arms in the Donbas, a vital industrial region in eastern Ukraine.

Details of the security guarantees have not become public but Zelensky said Monday they include how a peace deal would be monitored as well as the “presence” of partners. He didn’t elaborate, but Russia has said it won’t accept the deployment in Ukraine of troops from NATO countries.

Trump, Putin discuss peace efforts by phone

Trump on Monday had “a positive call” with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the war, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a post on X. The two leaders had also spoken ahead of Trump’s talks with Zelensky on Sunday as the American president tries to steer the countries toward a settlement.

Putin’s foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov said that Trump is pushing Ukraine to seek a comprehensive peace agreement and not demand a temporary respite for its military through a ceasefire. Putin has also insisted on a full settlement before any truce.

In Monday’s call, Putin told Trump that Ukraine attempted to attack the Russian leader’s residence in northwestern Russia with long-range drones almost immediately after Trump’s Sunday talks with Zelensky.

The attack “certainly will not be left without a serious response,” Ushakov said, adding that Moscow will now review its negotiating position.

Zelensky denied the Russian claim of an attack, describing it as an attempt to manipulate the peace process. He said it was “another lie” and came about because Moscow is unnerved by progress in peace efforts.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Ukraine launched an attack on Putin’s residence in the northwestern Novgorod region overnight from Sunday to Monday using 91 long-range drones.

Russia claims its forces are advancing

As indications suggest negotiations could come to a head in January, before the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-blown invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, Putin on Monday claimed that Russian troops are advancing in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine and are also pressing their offensive in the southern Zaporizhzhia region.

Putin has sought to portray himself as negotiating from a position of strength as Ukrainian forces strain to keep back the bigger Russian army.

He also emphasized at a meeting with senior military officers the need to create military buffer zones along the Russian border. “This is a very important task as it ensures the security of Russia’s border regions,” Putin said.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Kyiv’s allies will meet in Paris in early January to “finalize each country’s concrete contributions” to the security guarantees.

Trump said he would consider extending U.S. security guarantees for Ukraine beyond 15 years, according to Zelensky. The guarantees would be approved by the U.S. Congress as well as by parliaments in other countries involved in overseeing any settlement, he said.

Zelensky said he wants the 20-point peace plan under discussion to be approved by Ukrainians in a national referendum.

However, holding a ballot requires a ceasefire of at least 60 days, and Moscow has shown no willingness for a truce without a full settlement.

Ukrainians doubt Putin’s sincerity

On the snowy streets of Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, people were skeptical about the chances of peace.

One military veteran who uses the call sign Sensei, in keeping with the rules of the Ukrainian military, said Putin’s record in power shows he can’t be trusted. Sensei joined the military in 2022 and was wounded that year during the battle for the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. Now, he said, almost nobody from his company is still alive.

“But all these sacrifices, they are not in vain, because we need to prove … that we exist, that we are, that we have the right to our existence, to our territory, to our culture, to our language,” the 65-year-old told the Associated Press.

Denys Shpylovyi, a 20-year-old student who was home for the holidays, said Trump’s willingness to accept Putin’s arguments has put Zelensky in a difficult situation.

“But I’m thankful for some progress. They are speaking, and maybe someday there will be hope,” he said.

Oleh Saakian, a Ukrainian political scientist, said it was a good sign that Zelensky is managing to build a relationship with Trump, although he noted that “nothing has been adopted yet, nothing has been signed yet.”

“I don’t see these negotiations bringing us closer to real peace, because they are based on equality between the aggressor and the victim, they are based on complete disregard for international law, and … disregard for European security,” he said.