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By Kevin Liptak, CNN

(CNN) — American officials on Monday described significant progress in talks to bring Russia’s war in Ukraine to an end, suggesting beefed-up security guarantees for Kyiv had advanced the peace talks — but that the US offer would not be on the table forever.

The assessment came after two days of discussions in Berlin between officials from Europe, Ukraine and the United States. President Donald Trump was represented at the talks by his foreign envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner.

The president plans to phone into a dinner of European leaders later Monday, one US official said, to discuss the developing agreement. He spoke twice with Witkoff and Kushner over the course of Monday’s discussions.

“I would assess that he’s really pleased with where we are today,” one of the officials said.

Roughly 90% of the issues between Russia and Ukraine have been solved, one of the officials said, describing the issue of territorial concessions as a remaining sticking point. The US side offered “thought-provoking” ideas on how to resolve the impasse, the official said, including the development of an “economic free zone.”

A set of “Article 5”-like security guarantees was hammered out in more precise detail during the talks, the officials said, and would allow for deterrence from further Russian aggression, deconfliction mechanisms and monitoring of an eventual peace deal. But officials declined to delve into specifics, including the US role, beyond saying it would not include US boots on the ground.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday that Kyiv compromised on security guarantees instead of NATO membership. (NATO’s Article 5 calls on allies to assist any member that comes under attack.)

The package of guarantees would also spell out the consequences for Russia if it violates the agreement.

“This is the most robust set of security protocols they have ever seen. It is a very, very strong package,” the first official said.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Monday said that “what the US has offered here in terms of material and legal guarantees is really significant.”

Trump is willing to bring the US-backed security guarantees before Congress, the second official said, describing the package as the “platinum standard” for what Washington can offer Ukraine.

Trump believes he can get Moscow to accept the guarantees, and the US officials said Russia had indicated openness to Ukraine joining the European Union as part of any peace agreement.

But the officials said Trump’s offers would not last forever.

“The Europeans expressed a lot of appreciation for President Trump’s willingness to lean into this issue and to offer such guarantees,” one of the officials said. “Those guarantees will not be on the table forever. Those guarantees are on the table right now.”

Also discussed this week were plans for Ukraine’s reconstruction, with a team at investment company Blackrock holding discussions with Ukrainian officials about financial support; and about the fate of the Zaporizhzhia power plant, which remains unresolved.

The US officials did not describe imminent plans to present the latest version of the deal to Russian President Vladimir Putin but said resolving the final issues — including questions of territory — would have to be done by Moscow and Kyiv.

“It will really be up to the parties to wor

By Casey Gannon, CNN

(CNN) — The Justice Department on Monday said it has arrested four people in the Los Angeles area for allegedly working together on a bomb plot that was set to take place around the city on New Year’s Eve.

The four people arrested – Audrey Ilene Carroll, Dante Garfield, Zachary Aaron Page, and Tina Lai – were identified as members of the Turtle Island Liberation Front, which according to the Justice Department and FBI, has an anti-government ideology.

A federal court complaint alleges that three members would plant “backpacks with ieds at different points along their assigned buildings,” adding that the “ieds” would be “complex pipe bombs.”

The plan also had outlined all of the security precautions the members should take while executing the plan, including using burner phones, de-clothing locations, and setting up long movies to stream at home to serve as an alibi, DOJ said. The documents also allegedly included a step-by-step process for crafting a pipe bomb.

“The subjects self-identified as members of a radical offshoot of the Turtle Island Liberation Front (TILF), an extremist group motivated by pro-Palestinian, anti-law-enforcement, and anti-government ideology. They were allegedly planning coordinated IED bombing attacks on New Year’s Eve, targeting five separate locations across Los Angeles,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement on X.

The members planning to carry out the attack were using the encrypted messaging platform, Signal, the FBI alleges in the complaint. Carroll, the document says, “provided a list that identified components, chemicals, and tools along with prices which would be required to create the pipe bombs needed to go through with the planned attack.”

The Signal group chat was titled “Order of the Black Lotus,” according to the Justice Department.

On December 12, the group allegedly went to the Mojave Desert to construct and test the explosive devices.

“Based on an FBI Bomb Technician’s review of the materials found at the co-conspirators’ campsite, the FBI Bomb Technician determined that the components could likely be used to build both (1) improvised explosive devices and (2) Molotov cocktail devices, and that the components were readily assemblable,” the complaint says.

First Assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli tied the arrests to a push by the Trump administration “to extinguishing the far-left-terror threats,” in the US.

“This case is another reminder about the dangers that radicalized Antifa-like groups pose to people public safety and the rule of law,” Essayli said during a press conference. The complaint against the group does not name Antifa specifically.

Essayli said that the group was targeting “US companies” with their bombs, but he did not elaborate on the companies they were targeting. The bombs were set to blow up at the same time on New Year’s Eve.

The complaint also alleges that the four involved in the plot were not attempting to kill people, and if they saw anyone in the area of their bombs, they would try and warn them.

The four defendants are expected to make their initial appearance in federal court Monday afternoon in Los Angeles.

This story has been updated with additional details.

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Por Cheri Mossburg, Holly Yan, Sandra Gonzalez, TuAnh Dam, Danya Gainor y Andy Rose, CNN

Nick Reiner, hijo de Rob y Michele Reiner, ha sido arrestado como sospechoso por el homicidio de sus padres, confirmó el jefe del Departamento de Policía de Los Ángeles este lunes por la mañana.

“Nuestra división de robos y homicidios está a cargo de la investigación. Trabajaron durante toda la noche y lograron detener a Nick Reiner, sospechoso en este caso”, dijo el jefe de Policía de Los Ángeles, Jim McDonnell.

“Posteriormente fue fichado y se le fijó una fianza de US$ 4 millones”, agregó McDonnell.

McDonnell se negó a dar más detalles sobre la investigación.

El Departamento de Bomberos de Los Ángeles respondió el domingo a las 3:38 p.m. a una emergencia médica en una vivienda ubicada en la cuadra 200 de la avenida South Chadbourne, donde encontró a un hombre, de 78 años, y a una mujer, de 68 años, muertos, de acuerdo con un portavoz.

Posteriormente, detectives del Departamento de Policía de Los Ángeles (LAPD, por sus siglas en inglés) acudieron al lugar e iniciaron una investigación. La División de Robos y Homicidios de LAPD está a cargo del caso, según confirmó un portavoz policial a CNN.

Robert Reiner, el célebre actor, director y productor, fue encontrado muerto junto a su esposa Michele en su casa de Los Ángeles, el domingo, según informó un portavoz de la familia Reiner. El cineasta tenía 78 años.

“Era brillante y amable, un hombre que hizo películas de todos los géneros para desafiarse a sí mismo como artista”, declaró Kathy Bates a través de un representante.

Reiner saltó al estrellato interpretando al yerno de Archie y Edith Bunker en la exitosa serie de los años setenta “All in the Family”, antes de crear una obra diversa y de gran éxito, que incluye clásicos como “This Is Spinal Tap”, “Stand By Me” y “The Princess Bride”. Consolidó su prestigio como director principal con “When Harry Met Sally…”, “Misery” y “A Few Good Men”, que recibió cuatro nominaciones al Oscar.

Nació en 1947, en el Bronx, Nueva York, hijo de Estelle y Carl Reiner, guionista, actor, director y productor, cuyos créditos incluyen “The Dick Van Dyke Show” y “The 2000 Year Old Man”.

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