US Pursuing 3rd Oil Tanker Near Venezuela; Power Outage, Heavy Rain and Flooding in California | NTD Good Morning (Dec. 22)

The U.S. Coast Guard is pursuing an oil tanker in international waters near Venezuela. A U.S. official told The Epoch Times on Sunday that the vessel is part of Venezuela’s “illegal sanctions evasion.” It comes as tensions are increasing in the Caribbean, with the United States building up a naval presence in the region and striking alleged drug boats.

Utility crews in San Francisco are working to restore power to thousands of residents and businesses after a widespread outage on Saturday. A fire at an electrical substation knocked out power for about 130,000 customers. Farther north, residents in Redding, California, experienced flash flooding, leaving at least one dead. The heavy rains flooded highways and roads, leaving several vehicles stranded.

A Russian general was killed in a car bombing in Moscow. Russian officials are blaming Ukraine for the latest assassination of a senior military officer. Officials said Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov died on Monday morning. Russian officials say investigators are considering various motives for the attack, including a theory that it was organized by Ukrainian special forces.