GREENBELT, Md. (AP) — A federal judge on Monday will hear arguments about whether Kilmar Abrego Garcia should be returned to immigration custody after being free for just over a week.

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Abrego Garcia, whose mistaken deportation to El Salvador has become a lightning rod for both sides of the immigration debate, had been in immigration detention since August. In that time, the government has said it planned to deport him to Uganda, Eswatini, Ghana and, most recently, Liberia. However, officials have made no effort to deport him to the one country he has agreed to go to — Costa Rica. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, in Maryland, has even accused the government of misleading her by falsely claiming that Costa Rica was unwilling to take him.

The government’s “persistent refusal to acknowledge Costa Rica as a viable removal option, their threats to send Abrego Garcia to African countries that never agreed to take him, and their misrepresentation to the Court that Liberia is now the only country available to Abrego Garcia, all reflect that whatever purpose was behind his detention, it was not for the ‘basic purpose’ of timely third-country removal,” she wrote.

Xinis’ Dec. 11 order that Abrego Garcia be released from immigration custody also concluded that the immigration judge who heard his case in 2019 had failed to issue an order of removal from the U.S., and he cannot be deported anywhere without a removal order.

Abrego Garcia has an American wife and child and has lived in Maryland for years, but he immigrated to the U.S. illegally from El Salvador as a teenager. In 2019, an immigration judge granted him protection from being deported back to his home country, finding he faced danger there from a gang that had targeted his family. In March, he was mistakenly deported there anyway. U.S. officials resisted calls to bring him back until the Supreme Court weighed in. However, officials have said he cannot stay in the U.S. and have vowed to deport him to a third country.

In filings last week, government attorneys argued that, with or without a final order of removal, they are still working to deport Abrego Garcia, so they can legally detain him during the process.

“If there is no final order of removal, immigration proceedings are ongoing, and Petitioner is subject to pre-final order detention,” they wrote.

Meanwhile, Abrego Garcia’s attorneys cited a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that “because immigration proceedings ‘are civil, not criminal’ detention must be ‘nonpunitive.’” They argued that in Abrego Garcia’s case, detention is punitive because the government wants to be allowed to hold him indefinitely without a viable plan to deport him.

“If immigration detention does not serve the legitimate purpose of effectuating reasonably foreseeable removal, it is punitive, potentially indefinite, and unconstitutional,” they wrote.

MOSCOW (AP) — A car bomb killed a Russian general on Monday, the third such killing of a senior military officer in a year. Investigators said Ukraine may be behind the attack.

Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov, head of the Operational Training Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces’ General Staff, died from his injuries, said Svetlana Petrenko, the spokesperson for Russia’s Investigative Committee, the nation’s top criminal investigation agency.

This undated image provided by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Monday, Dec. 22, 2025, shows Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov, head of the Operational Training Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff, who was killed Monday morning after an explosive device detonated under his car in southern Moscow. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

“Investigators are pursuing numerous lines of inquiry regarding the murder. One of these is that the crime was orchestrated by Ukrainian intelligence services,” Petrenko said.

Since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine nearly four years ago, Russian authorities have blamed Ukraine for several assassinations of military officers and public figures in Russia. Ukraine has claimed responsibility for some of them. It has not yet commented on Monday’s death.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that President Vladimir Putin had been immediately informed about Sarvarov’s killing.

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The Defense Ministry said that Sarvarov had previously fought in Chechnya and taken part in Moscow’s military campaign in Syria.

Just over a year ago, Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, the chief of the military’s nuclear, biological and chemical protection forces, was killed by a bomb hidden on an electric scooter outside his apartment building. Kirillov’s assistant also died. Ukraine’s security service claimed responsibility for the attack.

An Uzbek man was quickly arrested and charged with killing Kirillov on behalf of the Ukrainian security service.

Putin described Kirillov’s killing as a “major blunder” by Russia’s security agencies, noting they should learn from it and improve their efficiency.

In April, another senior Russian military officer, Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik, a deputy head of the main operational department in the General Staff, was killed by an explosive device placed in his car parked near his apartment building just outside Moscow. A suspected perpetrator was quickly arrested.

Days after Moskalik’s killing, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he received a report from the head of Ukraine’s foreign intelligence agency on the “liquidation” of top Russian military figures, adding that “justice inevitably comes” although he didn’t mention Moskalik’s name.

By GEIR MOULSON, Associated Press

The leaders of Denmark and Greenland insisted Monday that the U.S. won’t take over Greenland and demanded respect for their territorial integrity after President Donald Trump announced the appointment of a special envoy to Greenland.

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Trump’s announcement on Sunday that Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry would be the U.S. special envoy prompted a new flare-up of tensions over Washington’s interest in the vast, semi-autonomous territory of Denmark, a NATO ally. Denmark’s foreign minister said in comments to Danish broadcasters that he plans to summon the U.S. ambassador.

”We have said it before. Now, we say it again. National borders and the sovereignty of states are rooted in international law,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and her Greenlandic counterpart, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said in a joint statement. “They are fundamental principles. You cannot annex another country. Not even with an argument about international security.”

“Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders and the U.S. shall not take over Greenland,” they added in the statement, emailed by Frederiksen’s office. “We expect respect for our joint territorial integrity.”

Trump called repeatedly during his presidential transition and the early months of his second term for U.S. jurisdiction over Greenland, and has not ruled out military force to take control of the mineral-rich, strategically located Arctic island. In March, Vice President JD Vance visited a remote U.S. military base in Greenland and accused Denmark of underinvesting there.

The issue gradually drifted out of the headlines, but in August, Danish officials summoned the top U.S. diplomat in Copenhagen following a report that at least three people with connections to Trump had carried out covert influence operations in Greenland. Denmark is a NATO ally of the United States.

On Sunday, Trump announced Landry’s appointment as special envoy, saying that “Jeff understands how essential Greenland is to our National Security, and will strongly advance our Country’s Interests for the Safety, Security, and Survival of our Allies, and indeed, the World.”

Landry wrote in a post on X that “it’s an honor to serve you in this volunteer position to make Greenland a part of the U.S.”

FILE – Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry speaks to reporters at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, La., Sept. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said in a brief statement that “the appointment confirms the continued American interest in Greenland.”

“However, we insist that everyone — including the U.S. — must show respect for the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark,” he added.

Danish broadcasters TV2 and DR reported that in comments from the Faroe Islands later Monday, Løkke Rasmussen said he will call in the U.S. ambassador in Copenhagen, Kenneth Howery, for a meeting at the ministry.

Before issuing the joint statement with Frederiksen, Nielsen wrote on Facebook that Denmark had again woken up to a new announcement from the U.S. president, but it “does not change anything for us at home.”

Earlier this month, the Danish Defense Intelligence Service said in an annual report that the U.S. is using its economic power to “assert its will” and threaten military force against friend and foe alike.

Denmark is a member of the European Union as well as NATO.

Anouar El Anouni, a spokesperson for the EU’s executive Commission, told reporters in Brussels Monday that it wasn’t for him to comment on U.S. decisions. But he underlined the bloc’s position that “preserving the territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark, its sovereignty and the inviolability of its borders is essential for the European Union.”

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — A rather meaningless game at its core on Sunday afternoon at MetLife Stadium felt even more, well, meaningless once young quarterback J.J. McCarthy exited with a right hand injury.

That took away almost all of the intrigue as the Vikings managed to slog their way to a 16-13 win over the New York Giants.

It was an uninspiring performance from the offense after McCarthy left the game. It was clear the Vikings didn’t want to ask rookie quarterback Max Brosmer to do too much in relief. They left the game mostly in the hands of their defense, and that unit did the rest.

Here are some takeaways from the game:

J.J. McCarthy rode the roller coaster

There was good and bad from McCarthy before he left the game due to his right hand injury. He showed noticeable command under center and threw accurately for the most part.

The final stat line doesn’t tell the full story: He threw for 108 yards and an interception while also running for a touchdown. He would have passed for a touchdown had it not been for a drop by receiver Jordan Addison in the end zone. The interception was his fault as it came after receiver Jalen Nailor failed to reel in a catchable pass near the sideline.

The biggest mistake from McCarthy might have been the fact that he suffered a right hand injury and tried to play through the pain. It led to him being unable to grip the ball on a designed screen pass that ended in disaster.

After failing to let it rip to star receiver Justin Jefferson, McCarthy was strip sacked by an unblocked edge rusher Brian Burns, and the fumble was returned for a touchdown. That ended up being the last snap McCarthy took.

Max Brosmer showed mental toughness

It would’ve been easy for Brosmer to doubt himself after struggling mightily in his NFL debut. He was a turnover machine against the Seattle Seahawks a few weeks ago, and while it might have shaken his confidence in real time, he didn’t let it affect the way he prepared.

That ensured Brosmer was ready to go when the Vikings called his number against the Giants. Though he didn’t dominate the game by any means, Brosmer never put the ball in harm’s way when he dropped back to pass. His best throw came when he hooked up with Jefferson for a 21-yard gain to move the chains. It was a perfectly layered ball near the sideline, and Jefferson did the rest.

That was a key play on the game-winning drive, which was capped by a 30-yard field goal by kicker Will Reichard.

Justin Jefferson finally broke out

After displaying incredible leadership amid a lack of production, Jefferson finally had a breakout game against the Giants. He parlayed a few easy completions and a few acrobatic catches into 85 total yards, his highest output since he went off against the Cleveland Browns in Dublin a couple of months ago.

He is now only 83 yards away from continuing his streak of reaching 1,000 yards.

Ryan Kelly suffered another concussion

It’s suddenly unclear if veteran center Ryan Kelly will ever play in the NFL again. He was evaluated for a concussion midway through the game and did not return.

This could be the third time Kelly has suffered a concussion this season, and the sixth documented concussion of his NFL career. After spending time on injured reserve this season due to a concussion, Kelly will now have to contemplate whether it’s still worth playing the game he loves.

Brian Flores continued to bolster his resume

When the hiring cycle begins in a few weeks, defensive coordinator Brian Flores should be in consideration for open head coaching jobs. He added to his résumé on Sunday, making life miserable for rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart, completed 7 of 13 passes for 33 yards (!) and an interception while also being sacked a handful of times.

That dominance has been par for the course for the Vikings as of late. The defense hasn’t allowed a passing touchdown in a month and a half. That’s how good Flores has been scheming it up on that side of the ball.

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