By Daniel Wine, Jordan D. Brown, CNN

Welcome to 5 Things PM! Everyone watches “Miracle on 34th Street” and “Elf” over the holidays, but festive vibes come in unexpected forms. So what’s the ultimate non-traditional holiday movie? Fill out your bracket.

Here’s what else you might have missed during your busy day.

5 things

1⃣ VA cuts

Employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs are finding little to be merry about after the agency said it would eliminate tens of thousands of open jobs. The positions include doctors, nurses, mental health care providers and social workers.

2⃣ ‘Your life turns upside down’

Mahendra “Mick” Patel went to Walmart to pick up Tylenol. What he perceived as an innocent exchange between strangers turned into a kidnapping charge, and the retired engineer spent 47 days in jail before the case was thrown out.

3⃣ Avoiding the flu

Millions of Americans are hitting the road or taking to the skies for family gatherings during the holidays. Doctors offer advice on what you should do if you test positive for the flu.

4⃣ A true trailblazer

Betty Reid Soskin, the National Park Service’s oldest active ranger when she retired at age 100, has died. She played a key role in educating visitors on the work of Black Americans on the home front during World War II.

5⃣ Kitchen MVP

Chefs and casual cooks have different notions of kitchen essentials. Samin Nosrat, a best-selling author and host of a popular Netflix series, includes one item she used to dread but now adores.

Watch this

Dear Santa…: Tag along with CNN’s Richard Quest to the official address of Mr. Claus in Norway. Inside is a Christmas-themed post office that receives thousands of letters each year.

Top headlines

• Former Sen. Ben Sasse announces he has stage 4 pancreatic cancer and calls it a ‘death sentence’
• What we’ve learned so far from the latest batch of Epstein files
• Melodee Buzzard, a 9-year-old girl who vanished during a road trip with her mother, is found dead, source says

Check this out

Mystery foot fossil: Scientists say they solved the puzzle behind a set of 3.4 million-year-old bones found in Ethiopia in 2009. The fossils have now been linked to an unfamiliar species and could shake up the human family tree.

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By Gul Tuysuz, Mohammed Tawfeeq, CNN

(CNN) — Libya’s army chief was killed in a plane crash while returning home from an official visit to Turkey on Tuesday, the country’s prime minister said.

Lt. Gen. Mohamed Al-Haddad was killed along with four of his companions in a “tragic accident” while on flight home to Tripoli from an official visit to Ankara, Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah said in a statement.

“With great sadness and sorrow, we have received the news of the death” of Al-Haddad and four of his companions, al-Dbeibah added. The prime minister, who heads a UN-backed Government of National Unity, offered condolences to the families of the victims, calling the loss a tragedy for the nation and the military institution.

Al-Dbeibah identified the four others killed as: Chief of Staff of the Ground Forces Maj. Gen. Al-Fitouri Ghreibel; Director of the Military Manufacturing Authority Brig. Gen. Mahmoud Al-Qatioui; adviser to the Chief of Staff of the Libyan Army, Mohamed Al-Asawi Diab; and media office photographer Mohamed Omar Ahmed Mahjoub.

Turkish broadcaster CNNTurk reported that the plane had a crew of three, all of whom were French nationals.

Turkish authorities reported earlier that they had lost contact with a business jet carrying Al-Haddad and others shortly after it departed Ankara on Tuesday evening.

Turkey’s Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said airport authorities lost contact at 8:52 p.m. local time with a Falcon 50 business jet, tail number 9H-DFJ, which had taken off from Ankara Esenboga Airport at 8:10 p.m. en route to Tripoli.

“An emergency landing notification was received from the aircraft near Haymana; however, contact with the aircraft could not be re-established afterward,” Yerlikaya said. Haymana is located about 50 miles (81 kilometers) southwest of Ankara.

In a later statement, Yerlikaya said “the wreckage” of the aircraft has been reached by the Turkish army forces about 2 km south of the Kesikkavak Village in Haymana District.

CNNTurk reported that the jet had declared an electrical emergency and requested to return to the airport before communication was lost.

Turkish Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said an investigation has been launched into the crash, which will look into “all its aspects and with great care.”

Earlier on Tuesday, Turkey’s Armed Forces said Al-Haddad had been formally received in Ankara with a military ceremony as an official guest. He held bilateral talks with Turkish Chief of the General Staff Gen. Selcuk Bayraktaroglu following the ceremony.

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The post Libya’s army chief killed in plane crash in Turkey appeared first on News Channel 3-12.

Por John Liu, CNN

Los drones fabricados en China han dominado los cielos de Estados Unidos durante años, y propietarios privados, departamentos de policía y bomberos los han utilizado en todo el país. Pero una nueva norma de la Comisión Federal de Comunicaciones (FCC, por las siglas en inglés) impedirá a los consumidores estadounidenses comprar la próxima generación de estos drones.

La FCC prohibió la importación y venta de todos los nuevos modelos de drones y equipos críticos fabricados por compañías extranjeras, incluido el mayor fabricante de drones del mundo DJI, al incluirlos en la denominada “lista negra” de entidades que se considera que “suponen un riesgo inaceptable para la seguridad nacional de Estados Unidos”.

La decisión de la FCC, aunque excluye los modelos ya aprobados para la venta y los que se utilizan actualmente, marca la culminación de años de gestiones para frenar los drones chinos, como los fabricados por DJI y otro importante fabricante de drones, Autel Robotics.

DJI ha expresado su decepción por la medida, que también podría molestar a muchos usuarios de drones en el país. DJI controla alrededor del 70 % del mercado global, según datos de la empresa de estudios de mercado Research and Markets. Más allá del uso en el sector público, los drones chinos se han utilizado ampliamente en Estados Unidos para tareas como inspecciones de infraestructura y construcción, monitoreo de cultivos, así como por videógrafos profesionales y aficionados.

En junio, el presidente Donald Trump firmó una orden ejecutiva para acelerar la comercialización de las tecnologías de drones y ampliar la producción nacional de estos dispositivos “frente al control o la explotación extranjera”.

“El presidente Trump ha dejado claro que su administración actuará para garantizar la seguridad de nuestro espacio aéreo y liberar el dominio estadounidense de los drones”, declaró el presidente de la FCC Brendan Carr el lunes en X.

“Lo hacemos mediante una acción que no interrumpe el uso o la compra de drones previamente autorizados y con vías adecuadas para excluir los drones que no suponen un riesgo”, añadió.

La importación, venta o uso de modelos de dispositivos existentes previamente autorizados por el regulador de telecomunicaciones seguirá estando permitido y los consumidores podrán seguir utilizando cualquier dron adquirido legalmente con anterioridad, según ha informado la FCC.

El anuncio de esta semana se produce después de que la Ley de Autorización de Defensa Nacional de 2025, aprobada por el Congreso el año pasado, exigiera una revisión de seguridad de los equipos fabricados por DJI, Autel y otros fabricantes extranjeros de drones antes del 23 de diciembre de 2025.

Durante el último año, DJI ha enviado cartas a funcionarios estadounidenses, entre ellos el secretario de Defensa Pete Hegseth, en las que dio la bienvenida al escrutinio y a las evaluaciones necesarias de sus productos.

“Estamos listos para trabajar con ustedes, a ser abiertos y transparentes, y a proporcionar la información necesaria para completar una revisión exhaustiva”, escribió Adam Welsh, director de Política Global de DJI, en su última carta a principios de este mes.

Pero en lugar de las evaluaciones exhaustivas que esperaban la industria y DJI, la FCC afirmó que su decisión se basó en la determinación de un organismo interinstitucional del Poder Ejecutivo, convocado por la Casa Blanca, que concluy

By Pete Muntean, Dugald McConnell, CNN

(CNN) — An airplane has, for the first time, automatically landed itself after an in-flight emergency, according to the system’s manufacturer.

Two people emerged unscathed from the Beechcraft Super King Air 200 after it stopped on the runway at Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport near Denver, according to video posted by emergency responders.

The twin-engine turboprop landed under the control of Garmin’s Autoland system, which the company says is now installed on about 1,700 airplanes. “This was the first use of Autoland from start-to-finish in an actual emergency,” Garmin said in a statement.

The operator of the plane, charter company Buffalo River Aviation, says the Autoland system automatically engaged during a flight from Aspen with no passengers on board.

“The aircraft experienced a rapid, uncommanded loss of pressurization” and the pilots put on their oxygen masks, said charter company CEO Chris Townsley in a statement. Autoland “automatically engaged exactly as designed when the cabin altitude exceeded the prescribed safe levels” and the pilots “made the decision to leave the system engaged,” Townsley said.

In a demonstration of the system in a Cirrus Aircraft SR22 in April, CNN was able to test Autoland under controlled circumstances. Pushing a large red button activates the plane’s on-board autopilot, steering the airplane to a suitable airport and making announcements to air traffic controllers.

“Pilot incapacitation,” an automated voice can be heard saying on air traffic control audio of Saturday’s incident from LiveATC.net. It warns other pilots in the area: “Emergency auto-land in less than 1 minute on runway 3-0 right.”

Buffalo River Aviation’s CEO clarifies that “reports of pilot incapacitation are incorrect and result solely from the Garmin emergency system’s automated communication and reporting functions.”

“In this case, the crew consciously elected to preserve and use all available tools and minimize additional variables in an unpredictable, emergent situation, prioritizing life and a safe outcome over all other factors, as they are trained to do.”

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the incident.

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By Pete Muntean, Dugald McConnell, CNN

(CNN) — An airplane has, for the first time, automatically landed itself after an in-flight emergency, according to the system’s manufacturer.

Two people emerged unscathed from the Beechcraft Super King Air 200 after it stopped on the runway at Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport near Denver, according to video posted by emergency responders.

The twin-engine turboprop landed under the control of Garmin’s Autoland system, which the company says is now installed on about 1,700 airplanes. “This was the first use of Autoland from start-to-finish in an actual emergency,” Garmin said in a statement.

The operator of the plane, charter company Buffalo River Aviation, says the Autoland system automatically engaged during a flight from Aspen with no passengers on board.

“The aircraft experienced a rapid, uncommanded loss of pressurization” and the pilots put on their oxygen masks, said charter company CEO Chris Townsley in a statement. Autoland “automatically engaged exactly as designed when the cabin altitude exceeded the prescribed safe levels” and the pilots “made the decision to leave the system engaged,” Townsley said.

In a demonstration of the system in a Cirrus Aircraft SR22 in April, CNN was able to test Autoland under controlled circumstances. Pushing a large red button activates the plane’s on-board autopilot, steering the airplane to a suitable airport and making announcements to air traffic controllers.

“Pilot incapacitation,” an automated voice can be heard saying on air traffic control audio of Saturday’s incident from LiveATC.net. It warns other pilots in the area: “Emergency auto-land in less than 1 minute on runway 3-0 right.”

Buffalo River Aviation’s CEO clarifies that “reports of pilot incapacitation are incorrect and result solely from the Garmin emergency system’s automated communication and reporting functions.”

“In this case, the crew consciously elected to preserve and use all available tools and minimize additional variables in an unpredictable, emergent situation, prioritizing life and a safe outcome over all other factors, as they are trained to do.”

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the incident.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2025 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

The post Airplane lands itself after in-flight emergency, in a first for aviation automation appeared first on News Channel 3-12.