CHURCH CREEK, Md. — Revered abolitionist Harriet Tubman, the first woman to oversee an American military action during a time of war, was posthumously awarded the rank of general on Monday for Veterans Day.

Dozens gathered at Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad State Park in Maryland’s Dorcester County for a formal ceremony making Tubman a one-star brigadier general in the state’s National Guard.

Gov. Wes Moore called the occasion not just a great day for Tubman’s home state but for all of the United States.

“Today, we celebrate a soldier and a person who earned the title of veteran,” Moore said. “Today we celebrate one of the greatest authors of the American story.”

Tubman escaped slavery in 1849 and settled in Philadelphia. Intent on helping others achieve freedom, she established the Underground Railroad network and led other enslaved Black women and men to freedom. She then channeled those experiences as a scout, spy and nurse for the Union Army during the Civil War, helping guide 150 Black soldiers on a gunboat raid in South Carolina.

Nobody would have judged Tubman had she chosen to remain in Philadelphia and coordinate abolitionist efforts from there, Moore said.

“She knew that in order to do the work, that meant that she had to go into the lion’s den,” he said. “She knew that leadership means you have to be willing to do what you are asking others to do.”

The reading of the official order was followed by a symbolic pinning ceremony with Tubman’s great-great-great-grandniece, Tina Wyatt.

Wyatt hailed her aunt’s legacy of tenacity, generosity and faith and agreed that Veterans Day applied to her as much as any other service member.

“Aunt Harriet was one of those veterans informally, she gave up any rights that she had obtained for herself to be able to fight for others,” Wyatt said. “She is a selfless person.”

Tubman’s status as an icon of history has only been elevated within the past few years. The city of Philadelphia chose a Black artist to make a 14-foot bronze statue to go on display next year. But plans to put Tubman on the $20 bill have continued to stall.

Mexico judicial reform: Officials laid out five easy steps Monday for registering online as a candidate for one of nine spots on Mexico’s Supreme Court or any one of hundreds of federal judgeships.

If you’re a Mexican citizen, all you need is an ID, a law degree, a grade-point average of 3.2, and five letters of recommendation from neighbors or friends.

Write a three-page letter saying why you want to sit on the Supreme Court and you’re good to go.

Don’t speak much Spanish? Don’t worry. Candidates who speak one of Mexico’s approximately five dozen Indigenous languages can apply too.

President Claudia Sheinbaum has pushed through a controversial reform to make thousands of judges stand for election.

The judiciary was previously named through a complicated civil service type of system.

Starting next June, that’s all gone: People will have to go to the polls to choose among thousands of lawyers whose names they’ve probably never heard before.

Haiti unrest: Haiti’s international airport shut down Monday after gangs shot a commercial flight landing in the capital, prompting some airlines to temporarily suspend operations as the country swore in a new interim prime minister who promised to restore peace.

The Spirit Airlines flight headed from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to Port-au-Prince was just hundreds of feet from landing when gangs shot at the plane, striking a flight attendant who suffered minor injuries, the airline and the U.S. Embassy said.

The flight landed in the Dominican Republic. Photos and videos show bullet holes dotting the plane’s interior.

In other parts of Haiti’s capital, firefights between gangs and police broke out.

The turmoil comes a day after a council meant to reestablish democratic order in the Caribbean nation fired the interim prime minister, Garry Conille, replacing him with businessman Alix Didier Fils-Aimé.

He said his top priorities were to restore peace and hold elections, not done in Haiti since 2016.

“There is a lot to be done to bring back hope,” Fils-Aimé told a room of suit-clad diplomats and security officials. “I’m deeply sorry for the people ... that have been victimized.”

COP29 meeting: For the first time since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, Afghanistan sent a delegation Monday to the United Nations climate talks, called COP29, to get help with global warming.

Matuil Haq Khalis, who’s head of the country’s environment protection agency, said Afghanistan needs international support to deal with extreme weather like erratic rainfall, prolonged droughts and flash floods.

“All the countries must join hands and tackle the problem of climate change,” Khalis said, speaking through a translator at the talks, taking place this year in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Afghanistan has been hard hit by climate change, with a recent ranking as the world’s sixth-most climate-vulnerable country.

Also, climate activist Greta Thunberg attended a rally Monday in Georgia to protest Azerbaijan hosting the annual talks. Thunberg and many other activists in Tbilisi argued that Azerbaijan doesn’t deserve to be the host because of its repressive policies.

Abuse allegations in Church of England: The head of the Church of England, spiritual leader of the global Anglican Communion, is under pressure to resign after an investigation found that he failed to inform police about serial physical and sexual abuse by a volunteer at Christian summer camps as soon as he became aware of it.

Some members of the church’s national assembly started a petition calling on Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby to step down, saying he had “lost the confidence of his clergy.” The petition had more than 1,800 signatures on Monday.

Calls for Welby’s resignation have grown since Thursday, when the church released an independent review into John Smyth, who sexually, psychologically and physically abused about 30 boys and young men in the U.K. and 85 in Africa over five decades.

NYC mayor’s trial: New York City Mayor Eric Adams is seeking to move up the start of his trial on corruption and bribery charges so he can focus on his campaign for reelection this spring.

In a letter sent to the federal judge Monday, an attorney for Adams requested the trial begin April 1 rather than April 23.

Adams, a Democrat, was indicted in September on charges that he accepted luxury travel perks and illegal campaign contributions from a Turkish official seeking political favors. He has pleaded not guilty.

Adams will likely face a contested primary in June.