Union leaders and members celebrate the defeat of a measure to overturn the hotel and airport $30 per hour minimum wage at Los Angeles City Hall in downtown, Sept. 9, 2025 in Los Angeles, CA. Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — Nearly 20 U.S. states are set to raise their minimum wage in 2026, boosting pay for millions of workers spanning from Arizona to New Jersey.
A mix of Republican- and Democrat-controlled states will raise their wage floors on Jan. 1 in keeping with inflation-adjusted increases or as part of scheduled hikes that take effect at the beginning of each calendar year.
The pay increases will affect about 8.3 million workers, who will gain a combined $5 billion over the course of 2026, according to the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, or EPI.
Beginning next year, the number of workers living in a state that guarantees a $15 minimum wage will exceed the number living in a state that offers the federal wage floor of $7.25 per hour, the EPI found.
After the wave of wage hikes, Washington will become the state with the highest minimum wage, offering workers $17.13 per hour.
Workers in New York will enjoy the second-highest wage floor, as the state implements a minimum hourly wage of $17 for workers in New York City, Long Island and Westchester. Outside those areas, workers in New York will receive at least $16 per hour.
Overall, the 19 states set to raise their minimum wage on Thursday include: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.
The nation’s highest wage floors will take effect in some of the nearly 50 cities and other localities that will impose minimum pay hikes.
Twenty-nine localities in California will see pay hikes, including a $20.25 an hour wage floor that will take effect in West Hollywood. Eight localities in Washington will increase their minimum wage, among them the country’s highest wage floor: $21.65 an hour in Tukwila.
The latest round of pay increases, however, will not affect 20 states concentrated in the South that lack a minimum wage or offer a minimum wage that does not exceed the federal minimum.
The last federal minimum wage hike took place in 2009, when Congress raised the pay floor to its current level. Since then, the federal minimum wage has lost more than 30% of its value due to inflation, EPI found.
U.S. President Donald Trump takes questions during a statement to the media at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate on December 22, 2025 in Palm Beach, Florida. Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump said that the United States “knocked out” a “big facility” in Venezuela last week, in what appears to be a reference to a strike on a drug trafficking site in the country.
Trump, in a radio interview with on WABC’s “Cats and Cosby” on Friday, was discussing his administration’s effort to stop drug trafficking from the region, including strikes against alleged drug boats, when he made the comment.
“And we just knocked out, I don’t know if you read or you saw, they have a big plant or a big facility where they send the, you know, where the ships come from. Two nights ago we knocked that out, so we hit them very hard,” Trump said in the interview.
The New York Times reported that American officials said that Trump was referring to a drug facility in Venezuela and that it was eliminated, but gave no further details.
If Trump’s comments are accurate, then it would mark the first known attack on land in Venezuela since the Trump administration began its campaign against the country.
ABC News has reached out to the Pentagon and the White House for comment; the Pentagon referred ABC News to the White House for comment. The CIA declined to comment on the matter.
Trump has teased land action in Venezuela for weeks, confirming in October that he authorized the CIA to operate inside the South American nation.
The U.S. has also built up its military presence in the region, with 15,000 U.S. troops and several warships standing ready in the Caribbean. Earlier this month, Trump ordered what he called a “complete blockade” of all sanctioned oil tankers going into and out of Venezuela, targeting the government’s main source of revenue.
“He can do whatever he wants, it’s alright, whatever he wants to do. If he wants to do something, if he plays tough, it’ll be the last time he’s ever able to play tough,” Trump said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Authorities and investigators work the scene where police are securing wreckage following an inflight collision involving an Enstrom 280C helicopter and an Enstrom F-28A helicopter in Hammonton, New Jersey, United States on Sunday, December 28, 2025. Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu via Getty Images
(HAMMONTON, N.J.) — The second pilot has died after two helicopters collided midair and crashed in New Jersey on Sunday, authorities announced.
The pilot of the model 280C helicopter, identified as 71-year-old Michael Greenberg, of Sewell, New Jersey, died at the scene, according to the Hammonton Police Department.
The pilot of the model F-28A helicopter, 65-year-old Kenneth L. Kirsch of Carney’s Point, New Jersey, was rushed to a hospital where he died from his injuries, police said.
The crash occurred around 12:25 p.m. Sunday in Hammonton, about 35 miles southeast of Philadelphia, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
The FAA said an Enstrom F-28A helicopter and an Enstrom 280C helicopter “collided in midair” near the Hammonton Municipal Airport.
After colliding, both helicopters plummeted to the ground, landing near the 100 block of Basin Road, according to police. One of the helicopters became “engulfed in flames,” according to the Hammonton Police Department.
Police officers and EMS workers extinguished the flames, authorities said.
Witness Brian Sherr said he was outside of a nearby store when he heard a woman nearby “screaming, ‘Oh my God, oh my God.'”
“I did hear a metal clank, but there’s a lot of vehicles around, so I didn’t really pay much attention,” Sherr told ABC News.
He said that as he looked up to the sky, he saw one of the helicopters “slowly descending in a rotating motion, almost as if the rudder and the tail had lost control.”
“I thought that was the only one at first, and then I see a second one come down with the same issue behind it,” Sherr said, adding he saw smoke rise after the second helicopter impacted the ground, prompting him to call 911.
Police said the helicopters were seen flying close together before the crash.
An ABC News graphic shows the weather forecast for Monday, Dec. 29, 2025. (ABC News)
(NEW YORK) — A new winter storm is moving east on Monday, bringing dangerous wind, snow and ice to millions.
Wind gusts up to 45 mph are possible in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland.
Gusts up to 65 mph are possible in Cleveland, Ohio, Michigan and parts of Pennsylvania, where high wind warnings are in effect.
A blizzard warning is in effect across parts of Iowa, Wisconsin and the upper peninsula of Michigan. Heavy snow and wind gusts up to 50 mph are creating whiteout conditions. Minneapolis was under a winter weather advisory Monday morning due to the blowing snow.
Marquette, Michigan, has reported a foot of snowfall, and parts of Minnesota already reported 6 inches as the snow continues to fall Monday morning.
In Northeast, the main danger Monday morning is ice.
An ice storm warning is in effect from New York through much of Vermont, where 4 to 7 tenths of an inch of ice is possible. This amount of ice makes travel extremely dangerous and can down trees and powerlines.
By noon on Monday, the snow will be moving east, impacting Michigan, Ohio, western Pennsylvania and western New York.
Rain will be impacting Boston to Maine on Monday afternoon as the icing continues in upstate New York and Vermont.
By 6 p.m. Monday, the rain will be ending in Boston and the lake effect snow will kick off across northeast Ohio, northeast Pennsylvania and upstate New York.
That lake effect snow machine will continue through much of this week.
Places like Orchard Park, New York, outside of Buffalo, could see 1 to 3 feet of snow this week, and wind gusts up to 65 mph could create whiteout conditions at times.
A large flash is seen in Tel Aviv, Israel, June 13, 2025. (ABC News)
(LONDON) — Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said that Tehran is in a “full-scale” war with the U.S., Israel and Europe, describing the country’s diplomatic situation as “complicated and difficult.”
“In my opinion, we are in a full-scale war with America, Israel, and Europe; they do not want our country to stand on its feet,” Pezeshkian said in a lengthy interview posted to the official website of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday.
“This war is worse than the war in Iraq with us; if one understands well, this war is much more complicated and difficult,” Pezeshkian added, referring to the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war.
Pezeshkian said that despite sanctions and foreign pressure, Iran remains steadfast and capable of defending its national interests.
The interview was published ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the U.S., where he will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump at the latter’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. Iran is among the topics expected to be under discussion.
The meeting is expected to be on advancing the Gaza peace plan, disarming Hamas, demilitarizing Gaza and the fate of the last hostage still remaining in the Strip, a spokesperson for the Israeli foreign ministry said before the Israeli delegation departed on Sunday for the U.S. The spokesperson added that Netanyahu’s agenda is expected to include the “danger Iran poses” to both the Middle East and United States.
The U.S. and Israel combined to attack Iran in June during a 12-day conflict that killed some 1,100 Iranians and saw strikes against Iran’s key nuclear facilities, its air defense network and prominent military and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) sites around the country.
Senior military, IRGC and nuclear research personnel were among those killed. Retaliatory missile attacks by Iran killed 28 people in Israel.
In the lead up to and during the June conflict, Netanyahu repeatedly hinted that Israel may pursue a regime change strategy in Iran, seeking to topple the Khamenei-led theocracy there. “This is your opportunity to stand up,” Netanyahu said in an address to Iranians during the war.
Trump even raised the prospect of killing Khamenei in the days before the U.S. joined Israel’s campaign. “We know exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding,” Trump wrote on social media. “He is an easy target, but is safe there — We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now.”
The months since the conflict have seen little progress on a new deal to constrain Iran’s nuclear program or cap its ballistic missile arsenal — two goals long expressed by Trump.
Earlier this month, Trump said that Iran “can try” to rebuild its ballistic missile program, but “it’s going to take them a long time to come back.”
“But if they do want to come back without a deal, then we’re going to obliterate that one, too,” Trump said. “You know, we can knock out their missiles very quickly, we have great power.”
Netanyahu will meet with Trump on Monday shortly after Iran conducted a major military exercise involving ballistic missiles. Referring to recent Iranian activity, Netanyahu warned last week that “any action against Israel will be met with a very severe response.”
At home, the Iranian regime faces serious economic challenges as the country’s currency — the rial — edged lower over recent weeks, causing widespread dissatisfaction and protests.
Over the weekend, groups of shop-owners closed their businesses in two large malls in downtown Tehran protesting the rapid drop in the value of the rial.
Pezeshkian was elected to replace late President Ebrahim Raisi — who died in a helicopter crash in 2024 — with the lowest turnout in the Islamic Republic’s presidential election history. He was widely seen as a moderate alternative to hardliners aligned with the IRGC.
U.S. President Donald Trump (R) welcomes President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy (L) at his Mar-a-Lago residence for a meeting and closed-door lunch afterwards in Florida, United States on December 28, 2025. (Photo by Ukranian Presidency / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)
(LONDON) — Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev praised U.S. President Donald Trump’s “peace efforts” after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled to the White House on Sunday to discuss a possible peace deal to end Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country.
“The whole world appreciates President Trump and his team’s peace efforts,” Dmitriev, who also serves as the CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund and has been closely involved in negotiations with U.S. representatives, said in a post to X.
Dmitriev also posted criticism of what he called “UK/EU warmongers” for their continued backing of Ukraine, echoing the established Kremlin narrative that seeks to frame U.S. diplomatic efforts as being undermined by NATO and European allies.
Trump and Zelenskyy met at the president’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday.
Before the meeting, Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone, according to Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov. The call was “organized at the initiative of Trump,” Ushakov said, as quoted by Russia’s state-run Tass news agency.
After his meeting with Zelenskyy, Trump told reporters that the negotiating teams are “getting a lot closer, maybe very close” to achieving a peace deal to end Russia’s full-scale invasion, which Moscow launched in February 2022.
“We had a terrific meeting. We discussed a lot of things. As you know, I had an excellent phone call with President Putin that lasted for over two hours. We discussed a lot of points, and I do think we’re getting a lot closer,” Trump said.
The president said the two leaders covered “95%” of the issues needed to end the war. Trump then detailed a call with European leaders after his bilateral meeting with Zelenskyy, indicating that it went well.
The thorniest negotiating issues still appeared unsettled following the White House meeting. Both Trump and Zelenskyy said the question of Ukrainian territorial concessions — specifically regarding the eastern Donbas region — was yet to be agreed upon.
Russia wants Ukrainian forces to withdraw from the entirety of the Donbas — which is formed of Donetsk and Luhansk regions — in exchange for a peace deal. Zelenskyy has instead proposed a “demilitarized zone” covering the area.
Trump also again dismissed the idea of an immediate ceasefire to facilitate subsequent peace negotiations, which Ukraine has repeatedly proposed. Instead, Trump indicated sympathy with Putin’s demand for a full peace deal before any halt to the fighting.
“He feels that look, you know, they’re fighting and to stop and then, if they have to start again, which is a possibility, he doesn’t want to be in that position,” Trump said of Putin. “I understand that position.”
Zelenskyy nonetheless gave a positive readout of his White House visit in subsequent posts to social media.
“Thank you to President Trump and his team for the negotiations,” he wrote on Telegram. “Thank you to the United States for their support. Together, we have and can implement our vision of a series of steps towards peace.”
Zelenskyy described the talks as “a wonderful meeting,” which included “a meaningful discussion on all issues and highly appreciate the progress made by the Ukrainian and American teams over the past few weeks.”
Zelenskyy also thanked presidential envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who have been fronting the White House’s recent shuttle diplomacy.
“We discussed all aspects of the peace framework and achieved significant results. We also discussed the sequence of further actions,” Zelenskyy said.
“We agree that security guarantees are key to achieving lasting peace, and our teams will continue to work on all aspects. We agreed that our teams will meet next week to finalize all discussed issues,” he added.
Trump, Zelenskyy said, agreed to host Ukrainian and European leaders in Washington, D.C., in January for further talks. “Ukraine is ready for peace,” Zelenskyy said.
Trump said if things go “really well,” a peace settlement could be reached in “a few weeks.” It’s also possible that a breakthrough never comes.
“But you know, in a few weeks we will know one way or the other,” Trump said, adding, “It’s been a very difficult negotiation.”
On Monday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Putin and Trump will speak over the phone again “in the very near future.” Peskov said the Kremlin did not yet know the outcome of the Sunday talks in Florida, but said Moscow agrees with Trump’s statement that peace is “significantly closer.”
As to a possible call between Putin and Zelenskyy, Peskov said, “There is no talk of such a conversation at this time.”
Responding to questions from journalists while traveling back from Florida on Monday, Zelenskyy gave more details on the ongoing peace talks.
Asked by ABC News whether Ukraine has a plan B, Zelenskyy said, “Ukraine has always had plan A, which is peace.”
“We never wanted war. And in Russia plan A was the war. Therefore, in my opinion, Russia should already think about plan B, about ending the war,” he continued.
Zelenskyy also said he was open to a phone call with Putin, as well as “any options” that can help end the war.
Talks are ongoing as to U.S. security guarantees for Ukraine, Zelenskyy said. The current term of the proposed guarantee is 15 years with the possibility of extension, he added. Kyiv is pushing to extend that term to 30 to 40 years, Zelenskyy said.
Kyiv and Moscow continued their exchange of nightly long-range strikes overnight into Monday, though their scale was somewhat muted compared with major attacks in recent days.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 25 drones into the country overnight, of which 21 were shot down or suppressed. Four drones impacted at two locations, the air force said.
Sunday night’s attack was the smallest since the one launched on the night of June 27 to 28, according to air force data analyzed by ABC News.
Russia’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said it downed at least 112 Ukrainian drones overnight.
Flight restrictions were introduced at airports in Krasnodar, Kaluga and Pskov during the overnight attacks, said Russia’s federal air transport agency, Rosaviatsiya.
ABC News’ Natalya Kushnir, Nataliia Popova, Yulia Drozd and Somayeh Malekian contributed to this report.
Waters of Monterey Bay, Monterey, California, August 5, 2025. (Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)
(MONTEREY, Calif) — A body has been discovered near where a swimmer who may have been attacked by a shark went missing last week, officials in California said in an update on Sunday.
The woman’s body was recovered from the ocean south of Davenport Beach, according to the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office.
Due to the close proximity to the recent shark attack victim in Monterey County, the agency said it is working closely with the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office and the Pacific Grove Police Department regarding the recovery.
The swimmer — who was identified by officials as 55-year-old Erica Fox — was reported missing just after noon on Dec. 21 at Lovers Point in Pacific Grove in Monterey Bay, according to a joint statement from the Coast Guard and the cities of Pacific Grove and Monterey.
Fox’s father confirmed to ABC’s Santa Cruz affiliate KSBW on Sunday that family members identified the body as Fox, based on the clothing she was wearing.
Fox was wearing a shark deterrent anklet when she disappeared, family members said, according to KSBW.
After her disappearance, two witnesses said the swimmer “may have encountered a shark,” the statement said. One person reported seeing a shark with a body in its mouth before it submerged, a Coast Guard official said.
A decision to suspend the search last week was made following a total of more than 15 hours of search operations covering an area of more than 84 square nautical miles, according to officials.
Lovers Point Beach in Pacific Grove and McAbee Beach and San Carlos Beach in Monterey were closed through Tuesday, the officials said.
ABC News’ Tristan Maglunog and Amanda Morris contributed to this report.
(SAN ANTONIO) — A Texas teen who has been missing since early Wednesday was last seen leaving her home that morning, officials in Bexar County said.
An unidentified person believed to be Camila Mendoza Olmos, 19, was seen around 7:00 a.m. searching her vehicle for an unidentified item, video footage from Wednesday shows, according to a statement from the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office.
Investigators said they believe Olmos left the residence on foot since her vehicle remained there and that the only items she took with her were her car keys and possibly her driver’s license.
Her last known location was the 11000 block of Caspian Spring in northwest Bexar County, the sheriff’s office said.
She was last seen wearing a baby blue and black hoodie, baby blue pajama bottoms and white shoes.
“Camila’s mother stated that Camila normally goes for a morning walk; however, she became concerned when Camila did not return within a reasonable period of time,” according to the sheriff’s office.
Anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to call the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office at (210)335-6000 or the BCSO Missing Persons Unit via missingpersons@bexar.org.
A private residential building in the Darnytskyi district lies partially destroyed by a Russian drone strike on December 27, 2025 in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Andrii Khodkov/Apostrophe/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
(KYIV and LONDON) — Russia has carried out one of the biggest attacks on Kyiv in months, using an estimated 500 drones and 40 missiles, including powerful Kinzhal missiles, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The strikes began early Saturday morning and appeared to target power stations and residential area buildings in Kyiv as officials said at least 22 people have been injured, including two children, with 12 being taken to hospital.
In the wider Kyiv oblast, at least one woman has been killed and several apartment buildings were hit as fires broke out and rescue workers looked for people believed to be trapped under the rubble amid the destruction.
More than 2,600 apartment buildings and many schools have lost heating and an estimated 320,000 homes in the region had no electricity.
There were hits on Kyiv’s TPP-5 power plant and on the Bila Tserkva plant, according to officials, in another sign that Russia is attempting to break Ukraine’s energy infrastructure during the winter months.
The Ukrainian president said the attack was Russia’s “answer” to peace efforts, calling on Western countries to send more air defense systems.
Zelenskyy told journalists in a WhatsApp chat on Saturday –while already on the plane to the United States for his planned meeting with President Donald Trump — that Ukraine can only move toward peace if there are strong, legal security guarantees from the U.S. and Europe. He said Ukraine has agreed to “many different compromises,” but stressed they only make sense if the country is fully protected the day after a ceasefire.
Zelenskyy said everything depends on keeping allies together. “If the whole world – Europe and America – is on our side, together we will stop Putin,” he said.
Earlier this week, at least seven people were killed and 39 injured in Ukraine after Russia and Ukraine exchanged hundreds of long-range drone strikes Wednesday night into Thursday morning, according to Ukrainian officials.
“Unfortunately, even on Christmas Eve and during Christmas night, the Russian army did not stop its brutal strikes against Ukraine, targeting our energy system and our people. There are brownouts in many of our cities and villages,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a post on X.
“Russian troops are once again striking the cities of our east, and in Chernihiv, aid was being provided at the very moment of our conversation with the Patriarch to people wounded by a Russian drone that struck an ordinary residential building,” Zelenskyy added.
People walk through snow in Manhattan on December 26, 2025 in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Heavy snow fell from southern Connecticut through the Hudson Valley and into parts of upstate New York on Friday as most of Long Island saw anywhere from 2 to 6 inches of snow.
Meanwhile, the New York City area accumulated just short of 3 inches of snow as difficult travel conditions are expected through Saturday morning while crews work to clean up this wintry mess.
The winter storm is beginning to wrap up, but some lingering light snow and wintry mix will stick around through Saturday along the I-95 corridor as an additional inch of snow and a light glaze of ice will be possible across the region.
Meanwhile, low temperatures across the Northeast from Washington, D.C. and Pittsburgh to the North and East will be near or below freezing on Saturday night, allowing for refreezing of any slush or snow that’s still on the ground.
Another system will move through the region late Sunday into Monday but will be mostly rain, though some wintry mix will be possible into higher elevations.
This weekend, a storm system will move from across the country and bring more snow to the inner mountain West on Saturday and eventually rain to the east on Sunday.
On Saturday, the Rocky Mountains will get snow from Idaho and Montana through Wyoming and Colorado. On Sunday, some snow may linger in the Colorado Rockies and into northern New Mexico.
Most of these mountain areas will see up to a foot of snow, but some areas could see up to 18 inches.
On Sunday, rain will pick up across the Midwest from Kansas and Missouri through Ohio and Pennsylvania while scattered thunderstorms are possible from Arkansas up to Ohio, with some possibly strong enough to bring gusty winds and maybe an isolated tornado.
This system is expected to continue to move through the East late Sunday through Monday, bringing rain for most and freezing rain for some in northern New England.
Next week is expected to start off wet for the East on Monday and will bring mostly rain to the East Coast, with some snow and wintry mix possible for the Great Lakes.
Most of the country should see dry and quiet weather leading up to New Year’s Eve, with the West seasonably warm and the East seasonably cooler.
After New Year’s, a new weather pattern will stick around for the start of 2026 as warmer temperatures should stick around for most of the West and reach down into parts of the South.
Meanwhile, the Upper Midwest and Northeast will be on the cooler side with an active pattern of quick-moving systems possible.
