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Last week, ProPublica published a five-part series that I wrote with senior research reporter Doris Burke about Albany, Georgia, and its only hospital, Phoebe Putney Memorial. We started working on the story five years ago, when COVID-19 was racing around the globe and Albany small, remote and barely touched by time had the worlds fourth-highest case rate.We initially set out to write a David-vs.-Goliath narrative about the towns response to the crisis. But, as I write in the series, there came a turning point at which we realized there were more enduring questions and challenges facing Albany than COVID-19. They were about race and power.In the weeks immediately following the outbreak, when the pandemic made it too risky for me to travel, I monitored the citys daily press briefings and the hospitals flood of social media posts on Facebook. That, I thought, was where the first draft of Albanys COVID-19 story was being written, and the narrative that was being pushed in them felt disturbingly familiar.Albany is a majority Black city of some 67,000 people. However, while Black residents were dying in disproportionate numbers, the officials leading the response were white: the mayor, the chair of the county government and the senior executives at Phoebe. At every briefing, officials announced the number of people who were sick with COVID-19 and the number of whod died.Then, in early April 2020, for the first time, they announced a name, not a number. The one person who merited personal recognition was Judge Nancy Stephenson. She was white.The chief medical officer at the hospital, Dr. Stephen Kitchen, choked up when he announced her death. Mayor Kermit Bo Dorough took to the podium to ask for a moment of silence to mark the moment, saying it brings many of the people in this community to the next phase of this battle because now we know someone who has been a victim of COVID.The chair of the county government at the time, Christopher Cohilas, proclaimed, We have lost a tremendous jewel of this community. A jewel to the people. Then he added, I think that her passing highlights exactly how lethal this disease can be.Im not going to lie. I cringed at what I was hearing. Some 38 people had died by then. The overwhelming majority were Black. There hadnt been any named mentions or moments of silence at the press briefings for them. How could it be, I thought to myself, that it wasnt until Stephensons death that the citys leaders understood how lethal the disease could be?The comments that came pouring into the live chat of the video briefing made clear I wasnt the only one asking that question.One read, Lets not forget all the others who have passed, and who are known by others in our community.Another read, So you extend condolences to the judge, but not your residents.And then there was this: So now it hits home.That moment resonated with me because two decades earlier Id written a piece as part of a Pulitzer Prize-winning series for The New York Times about how histories written by people in power most of them white tend to erase, minimize and misrepresent the experiences and contributions of those who are not.That story was also set in the South. The series, titled How Race Is Lived in America, was meant to show how the systemic divisions that shape our society and each individuals place in it are driven by day-to-day interactions at work, at school and in hospitals.What I was seeing play out in Albany and at Phoebe felt like the stuff of a new installment. Not only did it seem that city leaders had failed to recognize the magnitude of the crisis until one of their own had died, they had also made those bearing the brunt of the pandemic feel responsible for their own demise. According to the official narrative, the outbreak started at a Black funeral, and the reason Black people were so vulnerable to the virus was because they didnt take care of themselves.Read MoreInside the Free Clinic Caring for Those Who Cant Afford the Only Hospital in TownOn my first visit to Albany, I met Pastor Daniel Simmons, the leader of Mt. Zion Baptist Church. He made clear he was skeptical of the prevailing narrative and encouraged me not to fall for it either.If Albany, Georgia, had done things differently over the years, our community wouldnt have been as vulnerable as it was, he said. If the health care system was different, if it had a different relationship with poor people and people of color, the outcome would have been different.The main lesson that he hoped I and other people would take from Albanys COVID-19 crisis was: It didnt have to be this way.What he and others told me had been left out of that narrative was how hard it had been for African Americans in Albany, particularly those who are poor and uninsured, to get safe and affordable health care in a city whose dominant institution is a hospital. Phoebe Putney Health System is not only the largest provider of health care in southwest Georgia, it is also Albanys largest employer and property owner. The health systems CEO, Scott Steiner, said the hospitals mission is to provide care regardless of race, religion and ability to pay, but were always trying to balance that out with paying the bills.Doris and I spent the following four years exploring that part of Albanys story, interviewing more than 150 sources and poring over thousands of pages of records. We learned that Phoebe was the only hospital in town because it had worked hard even stealthily and spent millions of dollars to drive out its old competitor, before finally managing to acquire it. The cost of care went up and quality went down. Meanwhile the more Phoebe grew, the more economically dependent Albany became, and the harder it was for patients to hold the hospital to account.The CEO that oversaw Phoebe during the period of its most significant growth and the health systems former attorney did not respond to detailed lists of questions. When we asked Phoebes current leaders for responses to our findings, a hospital spokesperson accused us of intentionally excluding positive patient stories. Most patients have positive experiences at Phoebe, he said. Ignoring that fact is wrong.As for Doris and me, we were determined to focus on the people who tend to get left out of Albanys, and the nations, stories because we believed they would resonate with anyone who has struggled to get the health care they need. We hope youll spend time with the whole series. You can read it here. Or you can listen here to an audio version, produced in collaboration with actors from Theater of War.The post I Started Covering the COVID-19 Crisis in Albany, Georgia. This Moment Made Me Realize There Was a Bigger Story to Tell. appeared first on ProPublica.

The alleged gunmen in the shooting, Sajid Akram, 50, and his son, Naveed Akram, 24, were from Bonnyrigg, a diverse, multilingual suburb miles from Sydneys Bondi Beach.

Judges across Tennessee are now demanding greater accountability from people who have been ordered to give up their guns, a shift aimed at strengthening protections for domestic violence victims.The change is being adopted county by county, after state lawmakers bowed to opposition from the National Rifle Association over a bill that would have taken that reform statewide.The move follows reporting by WPLN and ProPublica over the past two years that found Tennessees lax gun laws and enforcement have allowed firearms to remain in dangerous hands. The state consistently has one of the highest rates of women killed by men, and most of those homicides are committed with guns. The news organizations analysis found that about 1 in 4 victims of domestic violence gun homicides were killed by someone who was barred from having a firearm.In Tennessee, when someone is convicted of a domestic violence charge or is subject to an order of protection, they are not allowed to possess a gun. A person ordered to relinquish their firearm can turn it over to a third party, like a friend or relative, for safekeeping. But the state doesnt require them to disclose whose hands the weapon ends up in. Advocates say that makes it hard to ensure that the guns were given up and that they were given to someone who is legally allowed to hold on to them.As part of its investigation, WPLN and ProPublica reported on an East Tennessee county that had transformed its justice system for domestic violence victims. Scott Countys reforms include a requirement that when a court is stripping domestic violence abusers of their guns, they must tell the court in a written affidavit who is going to take custody of their weapons. The county also asks for the address of that person, who is asked to sign an affidavit saying they are in receipt of the weapons. None of these extra measures of accountability, however, are required on the states standard gun-dispossession form.The [states] form is really incomplete, said Becky Bullard with Nashvilles Office of Family Safety. We cant have someone dispossess of their firearm lawfully if we dont know who theyre giving the gun to.At least nine counties, including Tennessees two largest, Davidson and Shelby, have amended the states gun dispossession affidavit to require information about who will be taking possession of the weapon. Other counties are also considering the change, advocates say.When I heard about what Scott County was doing, I was shocked, said Shelby County Judge Greg Gilbert, who adjusted that courts form when he found out that courts were able to do that themselves. It does make it a little more likely that people will take this seriously.Last year, two Republican lawmakers introduced legislation that would have made Scott Countys form the default for the rest of the state, but the bill was pushed to 2026 after opposition from the Tennessee Firearms Association and the NRA. Neither association responded to requests for comment at the time. One of the lawmakers who introduced the bill, Sen. Becky Massey, a Knox County Republican, said she would move forward with the bill again if her House counterpart, Rep. Kelly Keisling, did. But Keisling, a Republican whose district includes Scott County, said he is uncertain as to the future of this particular piece of legislation.This month, advocates for victims of domestic violence also pushed for a state council on domestic violence to recommend adoption of the amended form. That effort failed after a procedural mishap; the group plans to revisit the topic at its next meeting in March.We really do not have a minute to lose. This is a battle that we have been fighting around a form for years, said Bullard, who has advocated for this reform since a deadly shooting in 2018 at a Waffle House where the man traveled with a gun that he was ordered to give up. And it could affect someone in the next minute.The post A Countys Move to Protect Domestic Violence Victims Is Spreading Across Tennessee After Legislative Delay appeared first on ProPublica.

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A rescue worker walks in front of a residential house damaged after a Russian attack on Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Kateryna Klochko)2025-12-20T08:03:20Z KYIV, Ukraine (AP) A Russian missile strike on port infrastructure in Odesa in southern Ukraine killed eight people and wounded 27, Ukraines emergency service said Saturday, as a a Kremlin envoy was set to travel to Florida for talks on a U.S.-proposed plan to end the nearly four-year war,The discussions are part of the Trump administrations monthslong push for peace that also included meetings with Ukrainian and European officials in Berlin earlier this week. Ukraines chief negotiator said late Friday that his delegation had completed separate meetings in the U.S. with American and European partners. Meanwhile, European Union leaders agreed on Friday to provide a massive interest-free loan to Ukraine to meet its military and economic needs for the next two years.Some of those wounded in Odesa were on a bus at the center of the strike late Friday, the emergency service said in a Telegram post. Trucks caught fire in the parking lot and cars were also damaged. The port was struck with ballistic missiles, said Oleh Kiper, the head of the Odesa region.Moscow did not immediately acknowledge reports of the attack. The Russian Defense Ministry said Saturday that over the previous day, it had struck unspecified transport and storage infrastructure used by the Ukrainian armed forces, along with energy facilities and those supplying Kyivs war effort. Elsewhere, Ukrainian drones hit a Russian oil rig, the military patrol ship Okhotnik and other facilities, Ukraines General Staff said in a statement Saturday. It said the ship was patrolling in the Caspian Sea near an oil and gas production platform. The extent of the damage was still being clarified, it said. The drilling platform at the Filanovsky oil and gas field as also hit. The facility is operated by Russian oil giant Lukoil. Ukrainian drones also struck a radar system in the Krasnosilske area of Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014. There was no immediate comment from the Russian government or Lukoil. The company is one of two Russian oil majors alongside state-owned Gazprom targeted by recent U.S. sanctions that aim to deprive Moscow of oil export revenue that helps it sustain the war. Kyiv has used similar arguments to justify months of long-range strikes on Russian oil infrastructure, which it says both funds and directly fuels the Kremlins all-out invasion, soon to enter its fifth year. Trumps peace push set to continue SaturdayU.S. President Donald Trump has unleashed an extensive diplomatic push to end the war, but his efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands by Moscow and Kyiv.Russian President Vladimir Putin has recently signaled he is digging in on his maximalist demands on Ukraine, as Moscows troops inch forward on the battlefield despite huge losses. On Friday, Putin voiced confidence that the Kremlin would achieve its goals militarily if Kyiv doesnt agree to Russias conditions in peace talks.EU leaders agreed to provide 90 billion euros ($106 billion) to Ukraine to meet its military and economic needs for the next two years, although they failed to bridge differences with Belgium that would have allowed them to use frozen Russian assets to raise the funds. Instead, they were borrowed on capital markets. After almost four years of war, the International Monetary Fund estimates that Ukraine will need 137 billion euros ($161 billion) in 2026 and 2027. The government in Kyiv is on the verge of bankruptcy, and desperately needs the money by spring.Meanwhile, Kirill Dmitriev, who heads Russias sovereign wealth fund, is set to meet with Trumps envoy Steve Witkoff and Trumps son-in-law Jared Kushner in Miami on Saturday, according to a U.S. official. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to preview a meeting that hasnt yet been publicly announced.The official said Witkoff and Kushner will sit down with Dmitriev, after meetings with Ukrainian and European officials in Berlin for talks on U.S. security guarantees for Kyiv, territorial concessions and other aspects of the American-authored plan. Ukraines chief negotiator Rustem Umerov said late Friday that a Ukrainian delegation had met with American and European partners in the U.S. He gave few details, but said they agreed to continue joint work in the near future. Asked about the meeting in Miami, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday that Moscow was preparing for contacts with the U.S. to learn about the results of the meetings in Berlin, but he didnt give details. ___Associated Press writers Matthew Lee in Washington and Illia Novikov in Kyiv, Ukraine, contributed to this report.___Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

A street scene in Allentown, Pa., Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Steven Sloan)2025-12-20T13:03:34Z ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) When Idalia Bisbal moved to this Pennsylvania city synonymous with Americas working class, she hoped for a cheaper, easier life than the one she was leaving behind in her hometown of New York City.About three years later, she is deeply disappointed. Its worse than ever, the 67-year-old retiree, who relies on Social Security, said when asked about the economy. The prices are high. Everything is going up. You cant afford food because you cant afford rent. Utilities are too high. Gas is too expensive. Everything is too expensive. Bisbal was sipping an afternoon coffee at the Hamilton Family Restaurant not long after Vice President JD Vance rallied Republicans in a nearby suburb. In the Trump administrations second high-profile trip to Pennsylvania in a week, Vance acknowledged the affordability crisis, blamed it on the Biden administration and insisted better times were ahead. He later served food to men experiencing homelessness in Allentown. The visit, on top of several recent speeches from President Donald Trump, reflects an increasingly urgent White House effort to respond to the economic anxiety that is gripping both parties. Those worries are a vulnerability for Republicans in competitive congressional districts like the one that includes Allentown, which could decide control of the U.S. House in next years midterms. But in confronting the challenge, there are risks of appearing out of touch. Only 31% of U.S. adults now approve of how Trump is handling the economy, down from 40% in March, according to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Yet Trump has called affordability concerns a hoax and gave the economy under his administration a grade of A+++++. Vance reiterated that assessment during his rally, prompting Bisbal to scoff.In his world, Bisbal, a self-described straight-up Democrat, responded. In the rich mans world. In our world, trust me, its not an A. To me, its an F, F, F, F, F, F. Agreement that prices are too highWith a population of roughly 125,000 people, Allentown anchors the Lehigh Valley, which is Pennsylvanias third-largest metro area. In a dozen interviews this week with local officials, business leaders and residents of both parties, there was agreement on one thing: Prices are too high. Some pointed to gas prices while others said they felt the shock more at the grocery store or in their cost of health care or housing. Few shared Trumps unbridled boosterism about the economy. Tony Iannelli, the president and CEO of the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce, called Trumps grade a stretch, saying we have a strong economy but I think its not yet gone to the next stage of what I would call robust. Tom Groves, who started a health and benefits consulting firm more than two decades ago, said the economy was at a B+ as he blamed the Affordable Care Act, widely known as Obamacare, for contributing to higher health costs and he noted stock and labor market volatility. Joe Vichot, the chairman of the Lehigh County Republican Committee, referred to Trumps grade as a colloquialism. Far removed from Washingtons political theater, there was little consensus on who was responsible for the high prices or what should be done about it. There was, however, an acute sense of exhaustion at the seemingly endless political combat. Pat Gallagher was finishing lunch a few booths down from Bisbal as she recalled meeting her late husband when they both worked at Bethlehem Steel, the manufacturing giant that closed in 2003. Now retired, she, too, relies on Social Security benefits and lives with her daughter, which helps keep costs down. She said she noticed the rising price of groceries and was becoming exasperated with the political climate. I get so frustrated with hearing about the politics, she said. Allentown has a front-row seat to politics That feeling is understandable in a place that often gets a front-row seat to the national debate, whether it wants the view or not. Singer Billy Joels 1982 song Allentown helped elevate the city into the national consciousness, articulating simultaneous feelings of disillusionment and hope as factories shuttered.In the decades since, Pennsylvania has become a must-win state in presidential politics and the backdrop for innumerable visits from candidates and the media. Trump and his Democratic rival in 2024, Kamala Harris, made several campaign swings through Allentown, with the then-vice president visiting the city on the eve of the election. Every race here, all the time, Allentowns mayor, Democrat Matt Tuerk, recalled of the frenzied race last year.The pace of those visits and the attention they garnered has not faded from many minds. Some businesses and residents declined to talk this week when approached with questions about the economy or politics, recalling blowback from speaking in the past. But as attention shifts to next years midterms, Allentown cannot escape its place as a political battleground.Trumps win last year helped lift other Republicans, like U.S. Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, to victory. Mackenzie, who unseated a three-term Democrat, is now one of the most vulnerable Republicans in Congress. To win again, he must turn out the Republicans who voted in 2024 many of whom were likely more energized by Trumps candidacy while appealing to independents.Mackenzies balancing act was on display when he spoke to the party faithful on Tuesday, bemoaning the failures of Bidenomics before Vance took the stage at the rally. A day later, the congressman was back in Washington, where he joined three other House Republicans to rebel against the partys leadership and force a vote on extending health care subsidies that expire at the end of the year.Vichot, the local GOP chairman, called Mackenzie an underdog in his reelection bid and said the health care move was a signal to voters that he is compassionate for the people who need those services.A swing to Trump in 2024Lehigh County, home to Allentown and the most populous county in the congressional district, swung toward Trump last year. Harris nearly 2.7 percentage point win in the county was the tightest margin for a Democratic presidential candidate since 2004. But Democrats are feeling confident after a strong performance in this falls elections when they handily won a race for county executive. Retaking the congressional seat is now a top priority for Democrats. Gov. Josh Shapiro, who faces reelection next year and is a potential presidential contender in 2028, endorsed firefighter union head Bob Brooks this week for the May primary.Democrats are just a few seats shy of regaining the House majority and the first midterm after a presidential election historically favors the party thats out of power. If the focus remains on the economy, Democrats are happy. The Uline supplies distribution factory where Vance spoke, owned by a family that has made large donations to GOP causes, is a few miles from the Mack Trucks facility where staff was cut by about 200 employees this year. The company said that decision was driven in part by tariffs imposed by Trump. Shapiro eagerly pointed that out in responding to Vances visit.But the image of Allentown as a purely manufacturing town is outdated. The downtown core is dotted by row homes, trendy hotels and a modern arena that is home to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms hockey team and hosts concerts by major artists. In recent years, Latinos have become a majority of the citys population, driven by gains in the Puerto Rican, Mexican and Dominican communities. This is a place of rapid change, said Tuerk, the citys first Latino mayor. Its constantly changing and I think over the next three years until that next presidential election, were going to see a lot more change. Its going to be an interesting ride. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Christmas trees and Santa Clauses decorate the entrance to the beach in Haffkrug, northern Germany, Monday, Dec. 20, 2021. (Photo/Michael Probst, File)2025-12-20T12:41:24Z Christmas is a Christian holiday that observes the birth of Jesus. But did you know that the earliest followers of Jesus did not annually commemorate his birth? Or that Santa Claus is inspired by the acts of kindness of a fourth-century Christian saint? And have you heard about the modern-day Japanese tradition of eating Kentucky Fried Chicken on Christmas? Since the early 20th century, Christmas has evolved from a religious holiday to a hugely popular cultural holiday observed by Christian and secular people across the globe who gather with families, exchange gifts and cards and decorate Christmas trees.Heres a look at the history, beliefs and the evolution of Christmas: Origins and early history of ChristmasEarly followers of Jesus did not annually commemorate his birth but instead focused on commemorating their belief in his resurrection at Easter.The story of the birth of Jesus appears only in two of the four Gospels of the New Testament: Matthew and Luke. They provide different details, though both say Jesus was born in Bethlehem. The exact day, month and even year of Jesuss birth are unknown, said Christine Shepardson, a professor at the University of Tennessee who studies early Christianity. The tradition of celebrating Jesus birth on Dec. 25, she said, only emerged in the fourth century.Its hard to overemphasize how important the fourth century is for constructing Christianity as we experience it in our world today, Shepardson said. It was then, under Emperor Constantine, that Christians began the practice of gathering at churches instead of meeting at homes. Some theories say the date coincides with existing pagan winter solstice festivals, including the Roman celebration of Sol Invictus, or the Unconquered Sun, on Dec 25.While most Christians celebrate Christmas on Dec. 25, some Eastern Orthodox traditions celebrate the holy day on Jan. 7. Thats because they follow the ancient Julian calendar, which runs 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar, used by Catholic and Protestant churches as well as by much of the secular world. Rowdy medieval celebrationsFor centuries, especially during the Middle Ages, Christmas was associated with rowdy street celebrations of feasting and drinking, and for many Christians, it was not in good standing as a holiday, said Thomas Ruys Smith, a professor of American literature and culture at the University of East Anglia in England.Puritans, he said, were not fond of Christmas.But in the 19th century, he said, Christmas became respectable with the domestic celebration that we understand today one centered around the home, the family, children, gift-giving.The roots of modern-day Christmas can be traced back to Germany. In the late 19th century, there are accounts of Christmas trees and gift-giving that, according to Smith, later spread to Britain and America, helping to revitalize Christmas on both sides of the Atlantic.Christmas became further popularized with the publication of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens in 1843, and the writings of Washington Irving, who was a fan of St. Nicholas and helped popularize the celebration of Christmas in America.The first Rockefeller Center Christmas tree was put up by workers in 1931 to raise spirits during the Great Depression. The tradition stuck as the first tree-lighting ceremony was held in 1933 and remains one of New York Citys most popular holiday attractions. Americas secular Santa is inspired by a Christian saintSt. Nicholas was a fourth-century Christian bishop from the Mediterranean port city of Myra (in modern-day Turkey). His acts of generosity inspired the secular Santa Claus legend.The legends surrounding jolly old St. Nicholas celebrated annually on Dec. 6 go way beyond delivering candy and toys to children. He is believed to have interceded on behalf of wrongly condemned prisoners and miraculously saved sailors from storms.Devotion to St. Nicholas spread during the Middle Ages across Europe and he became a favorite subject for medieval artists and liturgical plays. He is the patron saint of sailors and children, as well as of Greece, Russia and New York. Devotion to St. Nicholas seems to have faded after the 16th century Protestant Reformation, except in the Netherlands, where his legend remained as Sinterklaas. In the 17th century, Dutch Protestants who settled in New York brought the Sinterklaas tradition with them.Eventually, St. Nicholas morphed into the secular Santa Claus.Its not just Santa who delivers the giftsIn the U.K., its Father Christmas; in Greece and Cyprus, St. Basil (who arrives on New Years Eve). In some parts of Italy, its St. Lucy (earlier in December) and in other Italian regions, Befana, a witch-like figure, who brings presents on the Epiphany on Jan. 6.Instead of a friendly Santa Claus, children in Iceland enjoy favors from 13 mischievous troll brothers, called the Yule Lads. They come down from their mountain cave 13 days before Christmas, according to folklore. Christian traditions of ChristmasOne of the oldest traditions around Christmas is bringing greenery holly, ivy or evergreen trees into homes. But determining whether its a Christian tradition is harder. For many people, the evergreen can symbolize Christs promise of eternal life and his return from death, Smith said. So, you can interpret that evergreen tradition within the Christian concept.The decorating of evergreen trees is a German custom that began in the 16thcentury, said Maria Kennedy, a professor at Rutgers UniversityNew Brunswicks Department of American Studies. It was later popularized in England and America.Mistletoe, an evergreen shrub, was used in celebrations dating back to the ancient Druids Celtic religious leaders some 2,000 years ago, Kennedy writes in The Surprising History of Christmas Traditions.Mistletoe represented immortality because it continued to grow in the darkest time of the year and bore white berries when everything else had died.Other traditions include Christmas services and Nativity scenes at homes and churches. More recently, Nativity scenes when erected on public property in the U.S. have triggered legal battles over the question of the separation of church and state.Christmas caroling, Kennedy writes, can also be traced back to European traditions, where people would go from home to home during the darkest time of the year to renew relationships within their communities and give wishes for good luck, health and wealth for the forthcoming year.They would recite poetry, sing and sometimes perform a skit. The idea was that these acts would bring about good fortune to influence a future harvest, Kennedy writes.Kentucky Fried Chicken for Christmas in JapanAmong the many Christmas traditions that have been adopted and localized globally, theres one that involves KFC.In 1974, KFC launched a Christmas campaign where they began to sell fried chicken with a bottle of wine so it could be used for a Christmas party.KFC says the idea for the campaign came from an employee who overheard a foreign customer at one of its Tokyo restaurants saying that since he couldnt get turkey in Japan, hed have to celebrate Christmas with Kentucky Fried Chicken.That really stuck, Smith said. And still today, you have to order your KFC months in advance to make sure that youre going to get it at Christmas Day.___Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the APs collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. LUIS ANDRES HENAO Henao is a multimedia reporter on the APs Global Religion team. He focuses on features and has reported for the AP from Alaska, Antarctica and the Amazon. twitter instagram mailto

Pope Leo XIV greets faithful as he arrives in St. Peter's Square on the occasion of the last Jubilee audience, at the Vatican, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)2025-12-20T12:25:41Z VATICAN CITY (AP) Pope Leo XIV has summoned the worlds cardinals for two days of meetings to help him govern the church, the Vatican said Saturday, in the clearest sign yet that the new year will signal the unofficial start of his pontificate.The consistory, as such gatherings are called, will be held Jan. 7-8, immediately following the Jan. 6 conclusion of the 2025 Holy Year, a once-every-quarter century celebration of Christianity.Leos first few months as pope have been dominated by fulfilling the weekly Holy Year obligations of meeting with pilgrimage groups and celebrating special Jubilee audiences and Masses. Additionally, much of his time has been spent wrapping up the outstanding matters of Pope Francis pontificate.As a result, the January consistory in many ways will mark the first time that Leo can look ahead to his own agenda following his May 8 election as the first American pope. It is significant that he has summoned all the worlds cardinals to Rome. Francis had largely eschewed the consistory tradition as a means of governance. He had instead relied on a small group of eight or nine hand-picked cardinal advisers to help him govern and make key decisions. The Vatican said Saturday that Leos first consistory will be oriented toward fostering common discernment and offering support and advice to the Holy Father in the exercise of his high and grave responsibility in the government of the universal Church.Other types of consistories include the formal installation of new cardinals. But no new cardinals will be made at this meeting, which is purely consultative. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan, right, and Bushra Bibi, his wife, speak to the media before signing documents to submit surety bond over his bails in different cases, at an office of Lahore High Court in Lahore, Pakistan, on July 17, 2023. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary, File)2025-12-20T10:02:19Z ISLAMABAD (AP) A Pakistani court convicted and sentenced imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi on Saturday to 17 years in prison after finding them guilty of retaining and selling state gifts, officials and his party said.The couple pleaded not guilty when they were indicted last year. They were accused of selling the gifts, including jewelry from Saudi Arabias government, at prices far below their market value while he was in office. Prosecutors said Khan and his wife declared the value of the gifts at a little over $10,000, far below their actual market value of $285,521, allowing them to purchase the items at a reduced price.Khans lawyer, Salman Safdar, said he would appeal the ruling on behalf of the former premier and his wife. Under Pakistani law, for government officials and politicians to keep gifts received from foreign dignitaries, they must buy them at the assessed market value and declare any proceeds earned from selling them. Khans spokesperson, Zulfiquar Bukhari, said Saturdays sentencing ignored basic principles of justice. In a statement, he said that the criminal liability was imposed without proof of intent, gain, or loss, relying instead on a retrospective reinterpretation of rules. Bukhari said the court ruling raised serious questions about the fairness and impartiality of the process, turning justice into a tool for selective prosecution. Khans opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, or PTI, denounced the ruling in a statement, calling it a black chapter in history, and said Khan was present in the court when the judge announced the verdict in the Adiala prison in the city of Rawalpindi.On its official X account, the party wrote Khans family was not allowed access to the court when the verdict was announced. A closed-door jail trial is neither free nor fair. It is, in fact, a military Trial. Omar Ayub, a PTI senior leader, said on X that there was no rule of law in Pakistan.Meanwhile, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said Khan and his wife were convicted and sentenced after the court examined solid evidence. He said the couple indulged in corruption, and the court delivered a fair decision. Khan, 73, was ousted in a no-confidence vote in April 2022 and his party is in opposition in the parliament. However, he remains popular in Pakistan.His party made a strong showing in the Feb. 8, 2024, parliamentary election but did not win a majority of the seats in the National Assembly, or lower house of the parliament. The party claimed the vote was rigged. The government denies such claims. Khans main political rival, Shehbaz Sharif, is the countrys current prime minister. Since his ouster, Khan has repeatedly alleged that his removal was the result of a U.S.-backed conspiracy carried out with the support of Pakistans powerful military claims denied by Washington, the military and his opponents.The former prime minister has been serving multiple prison terms since 2023 on corruption convictions and other charges that the former cricket star and his supporters have alleged are aimed at blocking his political career.

Photo by Canva / Yunus Tu.Subscribe nowSince Sept. 5, right-wing sports publication OutKick has published 19 articles about a 12th grade girls volleyball player at Skyline High School in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The player caught the attention of reporter Dan Zaksheske after he obtained public documents that appear to show her requesting a legal name change from a traditionally masculine first name to a traditionally feminine one.Over the next three months, Zaksheske would write 18 of the 19 articles OutKick would publish about this student. He and other OutKick reporters attended multiple high school girls volleyball games where they recorded and reported on Skyline Highs volleyball season. At the heart of each article was a focus on the girl, who Zaksheske refers to as a trans-identifying biological male.Zaksheskes reporting stoked a controversy that drew the attention of multiple right-wing publications, politicians and influencers. This coverage led Sean Lechner, whose cisgender daughter played against Skyline and allegedly shared a locker room with their team, to file a Title IX complaint.Lechners daughter at a press conference about the complaint. Screenshot via Fox Business.While the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) does require trans athletes to get a waiver approved to compete in official state tournaments, the Democrat-majority state Senate outright rejected the idea of a trans athlete sports ban earlier this year. In addition, LGBTQ Michiganders have strong anti-discrimination protections under the states Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act.In the complaint, Lechner calls for a ban on biological males from competing in female sports and for a full investigation into actions and communications of Ann Arbor Public Schools/Monroe High/Chet Hesson, citing a Trump executive order that declares that trans-inclusive policies are in violation of Title IX.Shortly after the complaint was filed, Uncloseted Media published an interview clip with Hesson, the athletic director of Monroe Public Schools, in which he simply said his heart goes out to the player for being under such scrutiny. Less than 24 hours later, he was put on administrative leave.As this story spreads like wildfire, experts in journalistic ethics are raising concerns about Zaksheskes reporting.OutKicks inflammatory reporting on a Michigan high school volleyball player who may or may not be trans disregards several core principles of the Society of Professional Journalists [SPJ] Code of Ethics, Dan Axelrod, chairman of the SPJs ethics committee, told Uncloseted Media. SPJs Code of Ethics, originally drafted in 1973, has been embraced and used by thousands of journalists from numerous newsrooms and schools.The Code cautions reporters to show compassion for those who may be affected by news coverage, and to use heightened sensitivity when dealing with juveniles, while weigh[ing] the consequences of publishing or broadcasting personal information, Axelrod says. [OutKick] has essentially ignored all those ethical principles, given [Zaksheskes] relentless coverage of the player, which has led the public to easily infer who she is, and its negative framing of her story.Zaksheske (right) on Fox News.Ethical QuestionsThe player, whose mother did not respond to an interview request, does not appear to have publicly come out as trans prior to the publication of Zaksheskes first article.Chad Painter, associate professor and chair of the communications department at the University of Dayton, says this brings up a whole host of issues. While Zaksheske wrote that he did not name the girl because the student athlete is under 18, Painter says that doesnt do enough to conceal her identity.In his reporting, Zaksheske references the existence of publicly accessible name change documents, the girls county of residence and the name of a local volleyball club shed been a part of. Someone who is reasonably well-versed in being able to Google someone can figure this out pretty easily, Painter, who has co-authored multiple media ethics textbooks, told Uncloseted Media.Theres longstanding norms in newsrooms that we dont out people, that that is a very personal decision that an individual gets to make, and unless there is a massively compelling reason to do that, its not our role, he says. The idea that he is in the clear because he didnt specifically write this persons name in a story, it wouldnt hold up to journalistic scrutiny.Subscribe nowAnd Zaksheskes reporting appears to have outed the girl. The same day that he published his first article on the matter, an X account whose mission is to call out these male athletes and expose the damage that they have each caused to women and girls in sports published the girls full name and deadname along with multiple photos and videos of her. (Uncloseted Media has chosen not to link to these posts directly in the interest of her privacy.)Skyline High School. Photo by Dwight Burdette.In addition to the 18 articles Zaksheske wrote, he also tweeted about the situation at least 41 times and attended at least four high school girls volleyball games. While watching, he recorded videos of the girls playing and then posted them to X and OutKicks website.Having 19 stories about one athlete to me, that seems like this coverage is out of line with how wed normally talk about, especially high school sports, which, frankly, no one outside of this little area in Michigan are going to really care about, says Painter.Outside of the culture war stuff, I dont see where this is a story.When Zaksheske was confronted by multiple people at the school about attending and recording one of the games, he published another article accusing them of harassment. I was shadowed by the school principal and harassed and stalked by Skyline supporters, he wrote.Painter notes that while Zaksheske was within his rights as a journalist and citizen to be attending and recording such events, he understands why the school would approach him with skepticism.I have a feeling that if I just started showing up randomly to high school volleyball games and taking photos and videos, there would probably be questions, Painter says. Because, again, we are talking about minors.The reporter has a right to pursue news and that right especially exists at a public school, says Axelrod. However, one has to wonder at what point is the coverage just pandering to curiosity as opposed to serving a valid societal purpose in informing and facilitating larger discussions about real and valid questions regarding the participation of trans athletes in sports.Misinformation and AnimusZaksheske has pushed back against similar criticism on X, accusing those who question the ethics of his reporting of being in favor of sterilizing, mutilating and castrating children and characterizing his reporting as exposing their heinous acts.I dont see that as an ethical problem because it doesnt even enter into the world of ethics, Painter says of Zaksheskes rhetoric. It is wrong factually and it doesnt really have a place in what we do in terms of the journalism field.Misleading rhetoric about trans health care is common throughout OutKicks reporting. Zaksheske has written several articles about gender-affirming care, where he has claimed that puberty blockers take healthy children and sterilize them for life.Puberty blockers have been FDA-approved for treating precocious puberty in cisgender children since 1993. Multiple studies have found no evidence of them causing permanent infertility, and gynecologists and endocrinologists have said that they do not cause sterilization.Much of Zaksheskes coverage of trans people has been negative. Of adult trans women, he wrote that that person might see himself as a woman, but we are under no obligation to affirm that. He also wrote that doctors who provide gender-affirming care have to answer to their consciences.Subscribe nowOutKick also generally misgenders trans women and girls, referring to them as males, biological males or trans-identifying males, additionally using masculine pronouns to refer to them.Painter notes that this goes against the Associated Press Stylebook, which he says any newsroom worth its salt is going to follow.The journalist and the news outlet squander their credibility covering these types of societal questions when they use language that fails to recognize and respect the underlying humanity of an entire group of people, he says.In an email, Brian Karpas, OutKicks director of media relations, told Uncloseted Media that the publication stands by the thorough and responsible reporting of Dan Zaksheske and will continue to protect women from competing against biological males.Beyond MichiganOutKicks extensive reporting of the Michigan volleyball player is reflective of the publications increasingly conservative bent since it launched in 2011. In 2021, it was acquired by Fox Corporation. Since then, it has partnered with Fox News and has become home to numerous right-wing personalities known for anti-trans rhetoric. These include founder Clay Travis, who has said World Aquatics is encouraging super young kids to be transitioned; Tomi Lahren, who said that liberals dont know what a woman is; and Riley Gaines, who referred to an eighth-grade trans girl as a mediocre man.This story in Michigan is not the first time OutKick and Zaksheske have hyperfocused on one trans girl. They were one of the first national publications to report on California-based track and field athlete AB Hernandez, who later became the center of a feud between the Trump administration and Gov. Gavin Newsom. Since March, OutKick has published at least 24 articles about Hernandez, 10 of which were written by Zaksheske. They sent reporters to at least two games to photograph Hernandez and other teenage players. Additionally, OutKick published 15 articles and attended at least four games covering the story of a trans softball player in Minnesota, whose presence on the team became a key point of a lawsuit by the Southern Poverty Law Center-designated anti-LGBTQ hate group, Alliance Defending Freedom.This massive amount of coverage is common for U.S. conservative media: A report published this year from Media Matters for America found that Fox News ran over 400 weekday segments mentioning trans athletes from Feb. 5 to June 6.Consequences and ImpactSean Lechner being interviewed on Fox Business.All of this has had an impact. While the Title IX investigation is still pending, Hesson, who was named in the complaint, told Uncloseted Media that he had been targeted with harassment and vitriol online.@unclosetedmediaUncloseted Media on Instagram: "Last Friday, Uncloseted Media pIn the comments of the Instagram post, Hesson was attacked by numerous users: squaredbeach9 wrote, Stop normalizing these freaks. You dont give a bulimic chick a bucket and some gum.And others chimed in, saying:Guaranteed he has child pron on an electronic device.Fuck off, poor tranny hates attention, give me a fn break.So a male playing in womens sports. And this cuck is defending it.All of this has come even though Hesson is not directly affiliated with Skyline High School, which is part of a different district. As such, he was not involved in the decision to allow the girl to play, and he was also not privy to whether she had a waiver.Still, Zaksheskes 18 articles have catapulted this small story to the national level. Lechner has been interviewed by journalists sympathetic to his cause, including Dave Bondy and Fox Business anchors. And since Hesson was placed on administrative leave, the Daily Mail, CBS News, the Toledo Blade, WTVG, MLive, The Times of India and more have covered the story.In addition, numerous right-wing lawmakers and candidates have endorsed Lechners complaint. Republican state Rep. James DeSana posted a statement to Facebook calling for Chet Hesson to be removed immediately.The public cannot have good discourse, debate, or dialogue without good information, Painter says. Supplying that information is the fundamental duty of the news media. When journalists are distracted by inconsequential stories, then were not spending the time to cover interesting and important news that our readers really need.Subscribe nowBoth Painter and Axelrod took note of the small number of known trans athletes in the U.S. Last year, the NCAAs president told a Senate panel that fewer than 10 of the 510,000 college athletes affiliated with the organization were transgender.This controversy is part of a much larger national narrative about transgender athletes and the LGBTQ+ community as a whole, Painter says. The entire national conversation is based on virtually nothing, so this particular set of stories are based on an inconsequential premise.Going ForwardIf the Department of Education does find that Title IX was violated, the school district could risk losing federal funding if it continues to allow trans athletes to compete.Zaksheske has been pressuring the MHSAA to confirm whether a waiver was approved for the volleyball player to compete, citing a statement from early September in which the association said it had not yet approved any waivers for the semester. On Dec. 9, MHSAA confirmed that one waiver was granted in the fall season, though no details were given in the interest of the students privacy.While research into the relative athletic capabilities of trans and cis women is ongoing, numerous experts and athletes say that politicized vitriol, misleading information and outsized media attention about trans athletes makes girls sports less safe for all athletes.There are real, valid, and necessary societal discussions to be had about trans athletes participating against competitors who dont match their birth gender, and ethical journalism can have a place in informing those discussions, Axelrod says. At the end of the day, this woman is still a human, and a child at that, not a canvas for OutKick to paint a distorted picture of one individual whos a tiny part of a much bigger societal dialogue about trans athletes.If objective, nonpartisan, rigorous, LGBTQ-focused journalism is important to you, please consider making a tax-deductible donation through our fiscal sponsor, Resource Impact, by clicking this button:Donate to Uncloseted Media

Here are this weeks most popular positive stories, with some fun social media posts tossed in too. Like seeing uplifting content like this?Sign up for our Good News email.We have lots of goodies wrapped up for you in this holiday edition of the Good News roundup. And also, did you hear about the first gay Miss Englands inspiring advice for young people coming out, the Real Housewives star who showed support for trans rights, and the supportive dad who made a surprising stand for his queer kids? Related YouTube phenom Ms. Rachel says LGBTQ+ people are welcome in her classroom Youll love this lesbian handywomans modern X-mas tree View this post on Instagram A post shared by Ali Spagnola (@alispagnola) Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today Ron DeSantis forced this city to remove Pride crosswalks. So it put up Pride bike racks instead.The state of Florida has become the epicenter of Republicans rainbow crosswalk crackdown. But folks across the state have been finding ways to fight back. Internet in tears over grandmas beautiful reaction to grandaughter coming out as transThe video shows how uncomplicated it can be to accept someone for exactly who they are.Rosie ODonnell says shes loving life in exileShe fled to Ireland for safety, distance, and relief from the orange specter that was haunting her. Shes checked two of those boxes. Dont forget your last-minute holiday shopping! View this post on Instagram A post shared by Stormi Gee (@stormigee) Queer Wicked star Cynthia Erivo makes Golden Globes history with Best Actress nominationErivo is one of several queer members of the Wicked & Wicked: For Good cast.Drag queen Pattie Gonia hikes 100 miles in drag to raise $1 million for inclusive outdoors groupsI hope i can be a little bit of proof that combining who you are and what youre good at to fight for the change you want to see in the world works. State Supreme Court invalidates MAGA education heads Christian Nationalist curriculumPublic schools are not Sunday schools. When it comes to this performance, were big fans View this post on Instagram A post shared by Amann Amann (@amannoficial)A MAGA mayor tried to ban Pride. It immediately backfired.The clout-hungry council member failed miserably. How lesbian Rep. Angie Craigs relationship with her son fuels her political passionRight now, shes using that energy to run for Senate after already making history as the first lesbian mom in the House of Representatives. Is Last Christmas a gay song? Lets unwrap its history and seeWhether or not you consider Wham!s Last Christmas a gay song depends on how you see its lyrics and its creator.And lastly, check out this fearsome doggy-dino couple View this post on Instagram A post shared by MARU BEAR FREYA (@maruhusky) From our sibling sites:OUTSPORTS: Gay player Marcus Hansen says coach kicked him off HardingGAYCITIES: December 21 Is Carol Day: How a Cate Blanchett Classic Became a Queer Movie HolidayINTO: Active Latter-day Saints are abandoning their anti-gay views, with good reasonQUEERTY: Jane Austen wrote about marriage with awful men & was never wed but how gay was she?

Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham has signed a new five-year contract that will average nearly $7.5 million over the course of the deal, sources told ESPN.

President Trumps trade policy, inflation and climbing stock prices shaped business and the economy this year.

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This image provided by Providence Police Dept. shows surveillance images of Claudio Neves Valente, a suspect in the mass shooting at Brown University. (Providence Police Dept. via AP)2025-12-20T05:07:06Z PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) More than a decade ago, a frenzied 5-day search for the Boston Marathon bombers left some lessons in its aftermath.One was that increasingly pervasive surveillance technology could help catch the culprits. Another was that amateur online sleuths on Reddit could not.But the intense search this week for a suspect in a Brown University shooting that killed two students and wounded nine other people turned the tables on those expectations. Sweeping surveillance, now found in doorbells, cars and a vast network of vehicle-tracking cameras, did eventually help track down the whereabouts of Claudio Neves Valente, the 48-year-old former Brown graduate student investigators believe was responsible for the Dec. 13 shooting and another killing two days later of an MIT professor in Brookline, Massachusetts.But the latest artificial intelligence-powered surveillance was of little use in the early search for a gunman who walked away from the Brown campus after the shooting and slipped unnoticed into the surrounding neighborhoods of Providence, Rhode Island. He evaded detection for days, using a hard-to-trace phone, avoiding facial recognition software by obscuring his face with a medical-type mask and switching the license plates on his rental cars. It wasnt until a local Reddit user blew this case right open with an old-fashioned tip first posted on the social media platform that police were able to connect a car to Neves Valente, said Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha. They finally found the suspect dead Thursday in Salem, New Hampshire, days after he likely killed himself. The Reddit tipster known only as John is no less than a hero, Providence Mayor Brett Smiley wrote Friday to FBI Director Kash Patel, asking for John to get the entirety of the FBIs $50,000 reward for information leading investigators to the suspect. Stay up to date with the news and the best of AP by following our WhatsApp channel. Follow on Strangers have invited him to Christmas dinner and suggested he get a key to the city and free coffee and doughnuts for life, according to fellow contributors to Reddits Providence forum. It was a stark turn from 2013 when commentators on Reddit and other online discussion boards falsely smeared a Brown University student as a potential suspect in the deadly attack at Bostons famed marathon, just an hour north of Providence, because of a supposed resemblance to a grainy suspect image. Hey Reddit, enough Boston bombing vigilantism, declared a headline in The Atlantic at the time.It definitely went sideways in the Boston Marathon situation, said Liza Potts, a professor at Michigan State University and director of a digital humanities lab that studied the online response. Thats why folks will jokingly refer to the Reddit Detective Agency or the Reddit Bureau of Investigations.The mistaken connection between the 2013 bombers and a missing Brown student who was later found dead of an apparent suicide is still remembered by many at the Ivy League school and its surrounding community.Brown officials this week sought to swiftly tamp down another smear campaign circulating on X and other social media platforms falsely tying a current Brown student to the campus shooting because of his ethnicity, perceived political views and supposed resemblance to a police video of a person of interest. The unimaginable nightmare of false accusations led to non-stop death threats and hate speech, the student said in a statement. Frustrated that tip lines could be jammed with nonsense, U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat and former state attorney general, urged social media speculators to just shut up.There is simply no need from an investigative point of view for people who have no idea what theyre talking about to offer their stupid and ill-informed views about what happened all over the internet, Whitehouse said from Congress on Wednesday.But Potts said some social media has been working better than others, and of all the spaces that I study, Reddit seems to be getting it right more than not. Harmful accusations were largely absent from Reddits Providence forum, in part because volunteer moderators who manage Reddits subject matter forums known as subreddits are largely responsible for keeping the peace.Reddits chief moderator for the Providence subreddit said in an interview that hes been on the platform for about 15 years and remembers the trauma that false Boston Marathon report caused.The Providence subreddit is very sensitive about (not) trying to go on a witch hunt or the mob mentality, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity to avoid doxing and because of the platforms culture of anonymity. The Associated Press also reached out to the tipster on Tuesday, a day after he wrote on Reddit urging police to look into a Nissan sedan with Florida license plates. Fellow Redditors urged him to contact the FBI, and he said he did. He didnt respond to requests for comment and later posted that he doesnt plan to talk with media. When he finally met with police on Wednesday after approaching them on the street and identifying himself as the Reddit tipster his information gave new life to a stalled investigation. With a known vehicle, Providence police started looking through the footage from dozens of AI-powered cameras positioned around the city that can read license plates as well as other identifying details about a car, such as make, color, side damage or even bird droppings on the window. The cameras, run by surveillance company Flock Safety, spotted his vehicle at least 14 times starting nearly two weeks before the shooting, according to a police affidavit. Providence police could then ask Flock-using police agencies in nearby cities and states to look for the same car, although New Hampshire because of privacy restrictions on how long they can hold images doesnt have any. It was a breakthrough Flock was happy to boast about, especially as wariness remains in Providences immigrant communities about more aggressive federal immigration enforcement. Flock says each of its customers decides when to share camera data, and the city doesnt share it with federal immigration agents. Some still want more safeguards. Once you know what they are, you see them everywhere, said Madalyn McGunagle, a policy associate at the ACLU of Rhode Island. People notice because theyre distinct-looking a solar panel on top with a little oval camera underneath.But unlike the residential doorbell cameras that spotted him walking around Providence, had Neves Valente walked by a Flock camera, it wouldnt have detected him, said Flock Safety CEO Garrett Langley.It is a technical impossibility. The camera does not have an ability for a user to search for people, Langley said in an interview Friday. Our cameras are focused on vehicles because if you look at America, people drive. It is very hard to get anywhere on foot.For the majority of our cities, they want to just know who is coming in and who is leaving, he said.Still, without John the tipster whom local Redditors dubbed Reddit Guy no one would have known how he left.Someone who is in the area and sees stuff all the time, theyre going to be better in a lot of ways than a random camera, said the Providence subreddits moderator. John saw this guy going back and forth, unlocking his car and all that, and he just thought it was kind of weird. MATT OBRIEN OBrien covers the business of technology and artificial intelligence for The Associated Press. mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

This photo provided by the U.S. Air Force shows a U.S. Airman preparing an A-10 Thunderbolt II for flight from a base in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, in support of Operation Hawkeye Strike. (U.S. Air Force/DVIDS via AP)2025-12-20T14:08:20Z DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) Jordan confirmed Saturday that its air force took part in strikes launched by the United States on Islamic State group targets in Syria in retaliation for the killing of three U.S. citizens earlier this month.The U.S. launched military strikes Friday on multiple sites in in Syria to eliminate Islamic State group fighters and weapons in retaliation for an attack by a Syrian gunman that killed two U.S. troops and an American civilian interpreter almost a week earlier.The Jordanian military said in a statement that its air force participated in precise airstrikes ... targeting several ISIS positions in southern Syria, using a different abbreviation for the Islamic State group. Jordan is one of 90 countries making up the global coalition against IS, which Syria recently joined.The U.S. military did not say how many had been killed in Fridays strikes. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based war monitor, reported that at least five people were killed, including the leader and members of an IS cell. The Jordanian statement said the operation aimed to prevent extremist groups from exploiting these areas as launching pads to threaten the security of Syrias neighbors and the wider region, especially after ISIS regrouped and rebuilt its capabilities in southern Syria. U.S. Central Command, which oversees the region, said in a statement that its forces struck more than 70 targets at multiple locations across central Syria with fighter jets, attack helicopters, and artillery, with the Jordanian air force supporting with fighter aircraft. It said that since the Dec. 13 attack in Syria, U.S. and partner forces conducted 10 operations in Syria and Iraq resulting in the deaths or detention of 23 terrorist operatives, adding that the U.S. and partners have conducted more than 80 counterterrorism operation in Syria in the past six months. President Donald Trump had pledged very serious retaliation after the shooting in the Syrian desert, for which he blamed IS. Those killed were among hundreds of U.S. troops deployed in eastern Syria as part of a coalition fighting the militant group. On Friday Trump reiterated his backing for Syrian interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, who Trump said was fully in support of the U.S. strikes against IS.IS has not taken responsibility for the attack on the U.S. service members, but the group has claimed two attacks on Syrian security forces since, one of which killed four Syrian soldiers in Idlib province. The group in its statements described al-Sharaas government and army as apostates. While al-Sharaa once led a group affiliated with al-Qaida, he has had a long-running enmity with IS.As well as killing three U.S. citizens, the shooting near Palmyra also wounded three other U.S. troops as well as members of Syrias security forces, and the gunman was killed. The assailant had joined Syrias internal security forces as a base security guard two months ago and recently was reassigned while he was under investigation on suspicions that he might be affiliated with IS, Syrian officials have said.The man stormed a meeting between U.S. and Syrian security officials who were having lunch together and opened fire after clashing with Syrian guards.

This photo provided by Blue Origin shows Michaela Benthaus, a German engineer aiming to become the first wheelchair user in space, sitting in a capsule mockup Monday, Dec. 15, 2025, at Blue Origins rocket launch site in Van Horn, Texas. (Blue Origin via AP)2025-12-20T14:18:45Z A paraplegic engineer from Germany blasted off on a dream-come-true rocket ride with five other passengers Saturday, leaving her wheelchair behind to float in space while beholding Earth from on high.Severely injured in a mountain bike accident seven years ago, Michaela Benthaus became the first wheelchair user to launch to space, soaring from West Texas with Jeff Bezos company Blue Origin. She was accompanied by a retired SpaceX executive also born in Germany, Hans Koenigsmann, who helped organize and, along with Blue Origin, sponsored her trip. Their ticket prices were not divulged.The 10-minute space-skimming flight required only minor adjustments to accommodate Benthaus, according to the company. Thats because the autonomous New Shepard capsule was designed with accessibility in mind, making it more accessible to a wider range of people than traditional spaceflight, said Blue Origins Jake Mills, an engineer who trained the crew and assisted them on launch day. Among Blue Origins previous space tourists: those with limited mobility and impaired sight or hearing, and a pair of 90-year-olds. For Benthaus, Blue Origin added a patient transfer board so she could scoot between the capsules hatch and her seat. The recovery team also had a carpet to lay on the desert floor following touchdown, providing immediate access to her wheelchair, which she left behind at liftoff. She practiced in advance, with Koenigsmann taking part with the design and testing. An elevator was already in place at the launch pad to ascend the seven stories to the capsule perched atop the rocket. Benthaus, 33, part of the European Space Agencys graduate trainee program in the Netherlands, experienced snippets of weightlessness during a parabolic airplane flight out of Houston in 2022. Less than two years later, she took part in a two-week simulated space mission in Poland. I never really thought that going on a spaceflight would be a real option for me because even as like a super healthy person, its like so competitive, right? she told The Associated Press ahead of the flight. Her accident dashed whatever hope she had. There is like no history of people with disabilities flying to space, she said.When Koenigsmann approached her last year about the possibility of flying on Blue Origin and experiencing more than three minutes of weightlessness on a space hop, Benthaus thought there might be a misunderstanding. But there wasnt, and she immediately signed on.Its a private mission for Benthaus with no involvement by ESA, which this year cleared reserve astronaut John McFall, an amputee, for a future flight to the International Space Station. The former British Paralympian lost his right leg in a motorcycle accident when he was a teenager.An injured spinal cord means Benthaus cant walk at all, unlike McFall who uses a prosthetic leg and could evacuate a space capsule in an emergency at touchdown by himself. Koenigsmann was designated before flight as her emergency helper; he also was tapped to help her out of the capsule and down the short flight of steps at flights end. Benthaus was adamant about doing as much as she could by herself. Her goal is to make not only space accessible to the disabled, but to improve accessibility on Earth too. While getting lots of positive feedback within my space bubble, she said outsiders arent always as inclusive. I really hope its opening up for people like me, like I hope Im only the start, she said. Besides Koenigsmann, Benthaus shared the ride with business executives and investors, and a computer scientist. They raised Blue Origins list of space travelers to 86.Bezos, the billionaire founder of Amazon, created Blue Origin in 2000 and launched on its first passenger spaceflight in 2021. The company has since delivered spacecraft to orbit from Cape Canaveral, Florida, using the bigger and more powerful New Glenn rocket, and is working to send landers to the moon. ___The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

An exam room at a medical clinic in Detroit on July 29, 2015. (Charles V. Tines/Detroit News via AP, File)2025-12-20T13:05:35Z WASHINGTON (AP) Its not unusual for a 20-something to text Mom in a panic from the doctors office, seeking help answering a question. And patients of any age can struggle to recall all their medicines or forget to mention a concern.Getting the most out of a doctors visit requires some advance preparation. Even the professionals plan ahead.It is really hard even for me as a doctor going to see my own family doctor to remember the things that I wanted to bring up, said Dr. Sarah Nosal, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians. The worst is when youve had that moment with your doctor only to recall another problem after walking out, she said. Youve lost that time.Her top tip: Bring a list of symptoms and questions to show at the start of the visit. The first item should be your top concern, but seeing the full list helps your doctor prioritize whats most medically urgent.Im actually going to be able to see, is there a red flag? explained Nosal, who has some advice about prepping for a typical primary care visit. Your primary care doctor monitors your overall healthSome illnesses require specialists like a cardiologist or rheumatologist. But regardless of your age or how healthy you are, research has long shown that a relationship with a primary care provider is important for overall health. It might be a family physician like Nosal, who cares for all ages, or an internist. Some patients choose gynecologists, geriatricians, or have a primary care team that includes nurse practitioners or physician assistants.Primary care is more than preventive checkups to help avoid illness, such as vaccinations, cancer screenings or health advice. It also includes detecting and treating common problems like high blood pressure, and helping to find and coordinate specialty care.That ongoing relationship also helps me know your normal, Nosal explained. If somethings different or changes or you feel off, when you tell me that information and I also have known you over time, we can really figure out together whats going on. Quiz your family before the appointmentYoung adults navigating health care on their own for the first time may need help filling out forms with their personal medical history. Have you ever had general anesthesia? Is your tetanus shot up to date?If you still have access to the patient portal at your former pediatricians office, you can see records of vaccinations and prior illnesses, or you may have to request them or quiz parents.For all ages, family medical history is critical and needs regular updating. Ask what diseases your close relatives have had and how they fared. For example, if Type 2 diabetes runs in the family, or Grandma had a stroke, or someone had cancer at a young age, that information could help tailor your preventive care, Nosal said.Fill out your paperwork ahead of the visitFilling out paperwork from home makes it easier to check medicine bottles for the name and dose. Include both prescription and over-the-counter medicines, pills or creams and dont forget vitamins and supplements.Why are the latter important? Some can interact with prescription medicines. Nosal cited some patients whose longtime treatments quit working after they started taking turmeric, a spice also sold as a supplement. Also before your visit, check if the doctor received records of recent lab tests, hospitalizations or visits to other health providers, since electronic medical records arent always automatically shared. Keep a running list of questions before a doctor visitSome symptoms are bad enough to prompt an urgent visit. But if youve got a checkup coming, whether its routine or to follow up on health problems, start a list of questions in advance.Notice a pain when you move a certain way? Or chatting with a friend who just got a colonoscopy and wonder if youre due? Pop those on your list right away, before you forget and be specific in describing symptoms.Nosal keeps a running list on her phone and, ahead of visits with her own doctor, sends it as a heads-up through her patient portal. Patients also can include their list on visit check-in forms.The idea is to address the most urgent questions first, rather than patients running out of time before raising a key concern. Nosal said questions about mental or sexual health and wellness especially tend to come up at the last minute.Whatever the medium, please bring that list, she said. Thats the most critical of all pieces. Its OK to ask againPeople may know to ask questions about treatments, such as how well they work and what side effects to expect. But its also important to understand why a doctor makes a particular diagnosis or, conversely, isnt as worried about a symptom as you might be.Dont hesitate to say, Explain to me what else could be going on, Nosal advised. What would be the next step? How would you evaluate that for me, to know if its this or that?Most health advocacy groups also advise bringing along a friend or relative, especially if you have serious or multiple health problems. They can help ask questions and take notes. Whether you are 20 or you are 85, you will not remember everything from your medical visit, Nosal said.___The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. LAURAN NEERGAARD Neergaard is an Associated Press medical writer who covers research on brain health, infectious diseases, organ transplantation and more. She is based in Washington, D.C. mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Welcome back to the Abstract! Here are the studies this week that defied expectations, broke barriers, made trash into shelter, and lived to swear another day.First, theres a giant, lemony, diamond-studded, black widow in space. Ill explain. Then: electrons get ready for a close-up, the ultimately tiny home, and why expletives are the hottest new workout hack.As always, for more of my work, check out my book First Contact: The Story of Our Obsession with Aliens or subscribe to my personal newsletter the BeX Files.LemonworldZhang, Michael et al. A Carbon-rich Atmosphere on a Windy Pulsar Planet. The Astrophysical Journal Letters.Astronomers have observed a Jupiter-sized planet more than 700 light years from Earth that is unlike anything spotted before and defies explanation.Known as PSR J2322-2650b, the exoplanet is shaped like a lemon, boasts baffling skies, and may have hidden troves of diamonds in its belly. The distant world closely orbits a pulsar, a type of hyper-dense dead star that is tugging on the gassy planet, giving it the distended shape.Pulsar companions are normally other stars. These are called black widow systems because winds from the pulsar weather down the stellar companion, eventually destroying it, similar to the deadly embrace of the namesake spider. It is very rare to see a black widow system with a planet as the pulsar companion.Curious about this unusual exoplanet, astronomers observed it with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), thereby unveiling a bizarre atmosphere that raises more questions than it answers, according to their new study.PSR J23222650b is different from other ultralight pulsar companions, being the only pulsar companion with a mass, a density, and a temperature similar to those of hot Jupiters, said researchers led by Michael Zhang of the University of Chicago. The atmosphere of such an object has never been observed.In stark contrast to every known exoplanet orbiting a main-sequence star, we find an atmosphere rich in molecular carbon (C3, C2) with strong westward winds, they said.Molecular carbon is unusual in planetary atmospheres because carbon atoms tend to bind to other elements, producing more familiar compounds like carbon dioxide. The atmosphere is so carbon-dominated, and so depleted in oxygen and nitrogen, that it doesnt neatly line up with any known planetary formation scenarios. In a sparkling twist, its dense carbon atmosphere may produce soot clouds that then solidify into diamonds, bedazzling its core.Is this a long-lived gas giant that survived the transformation of its star into a pulsar? Or was it born from the debris of the supernova that created the pulsar? And will this black widow system end as others do, with a slow death by pulsar winds? Nobody knows!Our findings pose a challenge to the current understanding of black-widow formation and it will take more observations of similar systems to determine whether PSR J23222650bs composition is unusual or representative of the class.In other newsAn attofirst for attosecondsArdana-Lamas, Fernando et al. Brilliant Source of 19.2-Attosecond Soft X-ray Pulses below the Atomic Unit of Time. Ultrafast Science.Scientists have created the shortest X-ray light pulse ever produced, a breakthrough that could resolve the previously hidden motions of electrons and other particles at subatomic scales.These newly-demonstrated soft X-ray pulses last for just 19.2 attoseconds, where an attosecond is equal to one quintillionth (1018) of a second. In other words, an attosecond is to a second as a second is to 31.69 billion years, more than twice the age of the universe.This is where the science happened. Image: ICFOExcitation, scattering, and electron relaxation are crucial processes that control how matter interacts with light, said researchers led by Fernando Ardana-Lamas of the Institute of Photonic Science (ICFO) in Spain. Their timing influences how chemical bonds form or break, how charge and energy move, and how properties of molecules and materials emerge. Understanding these dynamics requires attosecond resolution, as electronic excitations and dynamics occur on timescales of tens of attoseconds.We demonstrated the generation of coherent attosecond [short X-ray] pulses with a duration of 19.2 as, significantly shorter than the atomic unit of time, a milestone that offers exciting new opportunities to investigate atomic, molecular, and solid-state physics, the team concluded.This high pulse speed is necessary for the development of instruments that could capture the mysterious dynamics of particles on subatomic timescales. Other experimental technologies are still required to make these ultrafast cameras a reality, but for now, heres to shattering the shutter speed record.My other house is a tooth socketViola-Lpez, Lzaro W. et al Trace fossils within mammal remains reveal novel bee nesting behaviour. Royal Society Open Science.Heres a question for prospective home owners: have you ever considered living in a clump of regurgitated bones? This solution worked out well for Caribbean cave bees that lived some 20,000 years ago, according to a new study that reports the discovery of the first known fossilized bee nests built inside skeletal remains.Scientists found the honeycombed bones buried in a cave on the island of Hispaniola that was once also inhabited by owls. Since owls regularly barf up pelletsgnarly globs of half-digested preythe solitary bee species had a ready-made supply of skeletal remains, which were apparently a perfect place to raise offspring.A part of a fossilized mammal skull, with sediment in a tooth socket that turned out to be a nest built by a prehistoric bee. Image: Courtesy of Lazaro Viola Lpez.Isolated brood cellswere found inside cavities of vertebrate remains, including tooth sockets and the spinal canal, said researchers led by Lzaro Viola Lpez of the Field Museum in Chicago. The high abundance of nests throughout the deposit indicated that this cave was used for a long period as a nesting aggregation area by this solitary bee.Theres nothing like getting the skeleton keys to your new skeleton house.A prescription for profanityStephens, Richard et al. Dont Hold Back: Swearing Improves Strength Through State Disinhibition. American Psychologist.Cussing is discouraged in polite company, but it may actually be good for your health and performance, according to a new study that confirms swearing alleviates inhibitions and provides increased endurance during physical challenges.Psychologists recruited nearly 200 volunteers to hold themselves in a sustained chair pushup while repeating either a swear word of their choice, or a neutral word, every two seconds. The results revealed a consistent swearing advantage characterized by significant performance improvements in the swearing condition.These effects have potential implications for athletic performance, rehabilitation, and contexts requiring courage or assertiveness, said researchers led by Richard Stephens of Keele University. As such, swearing may represent a low-cost, widely accessible psychological intervention to help individuals not hold back when peak performance is needed.At long last, science has vindicated the foul-spoken, the pottymouths, the salty-tongued, and the vulgarians. So go forth, ye cursers, and f*ck that sh*t up! Its the doctors orders, after all.Thanks for reading! See you next week.

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Heather Sterling poses for a portrait during a hike, Aug. 11, 2025, near Daniel, Wyo. (AP Photo/Amber Baesler)2025-12-20T15:02:43Z Heather Sterling stepped into the ring at the Texas Game Warden Training Center, ready to face an ambush by instructors acting as violent assailants.The four-on-one drill is a rite of passage for those training to be game wardens, sworn officers who enforce state conservation laws. Nationwide, thousands of local and state police recruits are allowed into the profession only after passing similar drills simulated fights for their lives.The barrage of force against Sterling came rapidly, video obtained by The Associated Press shows. A surprise push from behind threw her to the floor. A right-handed punch to the back of the head knocked her down. Within two minutes, she was struck at least seven times in the head, the last blow knocking off her wrestling helmet. In this still image from video obtained by The Associated Press, Heather Sterling is hit in the head by one of her instructors, who is acting as a violent assailant, during a four-on-one training drill, Dec. 13, 2024, at the Texas Game Warden Training Center in Hamilton, Texas. In this still image from video obtained by The Associated Press, Heather Sterling is hit in the head by one of her instructors, who is acting as a violent assailant, during a four-on-one training drill, Dec. 13, 2024, at the Texas Game Warden Training Center in Hamilton, Texas. Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Protect yourself! an instructor yelled.Sterling completed the drill but suffered a concussion. A dozen of her classmates a third in all were injured that day as they were repeatedly punched, tackled on a gym floor and thrown against padded walls, records show.While the drill was physically punishing, their experience was not unique. Since 2005, similar drills at law enforcement academies nationwide have been linked to at least a dozen deaths and hundreds of injuries, some resulting in disability, an AP investigation has found. ______ Stay up to date with the news and the best of AP by following our WhatsApp channel. Follow on Editors note: This is the third installment of APs Dying to Serve series. Find the previous stories here and here.______The drills frequently referred to as RedMan training for the brand and color of protective gear worn by participants are intended to teach law enforcement recruits how to defend themselves against combative suspects. Theyre among the most challenging tests at police academies. Law enforcement experts say that when properly designed and supervised, they teach new officers critical skills for handling high-stress situations.But critics say they can put recruits at risk of physical and mental abuse that runs some promising officers out of the profession. Academies have wide latitude in running such exercises, given a lack of national standards governing police training. Sterling quit the academy after her drill. Shes now speaking out, hoping to spark change in training practices nationwide.Im worried that someone is going to get killed, said Sterling, whod previously worked as a senior game warden and defensive tactics instructor in Wyoming. This is a poorly disguised assault. This photo provided by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department shows new graduates during the 67th Texas Game Warden and State Park Police Officer Commissioning Ceremony on May 30, 2025, in Austin, Texas. (Sonja Sommerfeld/Texas Parks and Wildlife Department via AP) This photo provided by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department shows new graduates during the 67th Texas Game Warden and State Park Police Officer Commissioning Ceremony on May 30, 2025, in Austin, Texas. (Sonja Sommerfeld/Texas Parks and Wildlife Department via AP) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More An investigation by the agency that regulates law enforcement training found no wrongdoing in how the drill was conducted. An academy official told investigators the goal was to overwhelm the cadet physically and mentally to force them to think while physically exhausted. An expert who reviewed the case told AP injuries happen during volatile training environments nationwide, but the Texas drill stood out for its design recruits could not use force to defend themselves against the onslaught of assailants. He said the number of injuries was concerning.To teach cadets how and when to defend themselves, only to put them in a doomsday scenario with the instruction that theyre not allowed to fight back, does not match any training curriculum Ive seen, said David Jude, a retired Kentucky State Police academy commander. Heather Sterling hikes along the Green River, Aug. 11, 2025, near Daniel, Wyo. (AP Photo/Amber Baesler) Heather Sterling hikes along the Green River, Aug. 11, 2025, near Daniel, Wyo. (AP Photo/Amber Baesler) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More A Wyoming game warden moves back to TexasIn October 2024, Sterling started the Texas Parks and Wildlife Departments eight-month academy in rural central Texas, which boasts of producing the best-trained conservation officers in the country.Game wardens called conservation officers or wildlife troopers in some states enforce hunting and fishing laws. They carry firearms, have arrest powers, are often among the first to respond to emergencies and rescue missions.Sterling said she loved serving as a game warden for nearly five years in Wyoming, where she sometimes shooed moose and mountain lions away from towns. Patrolling without backup, she said, she had some very tense conversations with suspects and had to restrain some in handcuffs.She said almost everyone she encountered during hunting season was armed and potentially dangerous, but she prided herself on responding alertly and calmly. She never had to fight a suspect, and none of the 40 wardens she taught self-defense had been in a significant use-of-force incident. Sterling applied in Texas to live closer to family, hoping for a similar law-enforcement role in her home state. She grew up as the daughter of a Dallas police officer and ran track and cross-country at Texas A&M.The academy scheduled the four-on-one drill for Dec. 13, 2024, after five weeks of arrest and control training.Instructors told cadets they couldnt defend themselves and were only to punch and kick a shield held by instructors, Sterling recalled. They discussed how some cadets had been seriously injured and terminated from previous academies for performing poorly. Sterling told AP she was confused by the drills purpose. Shed never been ambushed by one person, let alone four. If that happened, shed be able to use a firearm or other force to defend herself. As an instructor, she said, she would have never approved such a scenario or allowed punches to the head and neck.A female classmate who had previously worked as a police officer resigned rather than participate. She later told investigators she saw the drill as inappropriate and part of an academy culture of unprofessional training and hazing.But Sterling felt she had no choice if she wanted to stay in her profession. She completed a cardio exercise, and the drill began. In this still image from video obtained by The Associated Press, Heather Sterling is knocked to the ground by one of her instructors, who is acting as a violent assailant, during a four-on-one training drill, Dec. 13, 2024, at the Texas Game Warden Training Center in Hamilton, Texas. (AP Photo) In this still image from video obtained by The Associated Press, Heather Sterling is knocked to the ground by one of her instructors, who is acting as a violent assailant, during a four-on-one training drill, Dec. 13, 2024, at the Texas Game Warden Training Center in Hamilton, Texas. (AP Photo) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Combat drills take various forms nationwideAcademies have discretion to design training within state guidelines, and AP found the drills take many forms at local police, county sheriff and state departments. Theyre sometimes called combat training, Fight Day or stress reaction training.Recruits like Sterling must ward off several assailants at once. Others fight a series of instructors, one after another. Some academies intentionally use larger, more skilled instructors. In Kentucky, one scenario requires fighting a combative suspect in a pool.The stated goals are generally the same: to use skills learned in the academy to fend off or subdue assailants and to never give up.Recruits and instructors wear protective gear to cushion their heads from blows. But there are no uniform safety guidelines, including whether academies must have medical personnel on site.Lawyers for some Black and female former trainees have alleged that instructors targeted their clients with excessive force to try to run them out of the profession. Several of the deaths have been of Black men hoping to join disproportionately white police forces.Amid the deaths and criticism, experts are encouraging academy directors to retire or modify any problematic drills.The drills can quickly devolve into abusive rites of passage without appropriate focus and oversight, said Brian Baxter, who oversaw training at the Texas Department of Public Safety and now leads a group that studies the use of force. Some instructors want to win rather than allow recruits to practice their skills, he added.The idea that were just punching each other to see whos toughest ... thats when it becomes inappropriate, said Baxter, whose former agency overhauled its practices after a trooper died in 2005 from getting hit several times in the head. There needs to be a problem thats being solved by this training. And that problem needs to be directly related to public service. In this still image from video obtained by The Associated Press, Heather Sterling is hit by one of her instructors, who is acting as a violent assailant, during a four-on-one training drill, Dec. 13, 2024, at the Texas Game Warden Training Center in Hamilton, Texas. In this still image from video obtained by The Associated Press, Heather Sterling is hit by one of her instructors, who is acting as a violent assailant, during a four-on-one training drill, Dec. 13, 2024, at the Texas Game Warden Training Center in Hamilton, Texas. Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More For this Texas academy class, injuries were widespreadFor Sterling, the drill came to an end when she simulated holding her assailants at gunpoint and put them in handcuffs.Later that day, she had a pounding headache. Her knee swelled, and shed skinned her elbow on the floor.At least 13 of 37 cadets reported injuries: concussion symptoms; a fractured wrist; a torn MCL; sprained wrists and knees; a bruised nose, records show.Two recruits needed surgery. Some were told the injuries were due to their lack of preparation and poor technique, and had to redo the drill.Sterling said she wasnt offered medical care. She recalled vomiting while driving herself for emergency treatment. A doctor found she suffered a concussion that resulted from an assault, a medical record provided by Sterling shows.Sterling had passed the drill, but turned in her resignation.I have a very high sense of what is right and what is wrong, she told AP. I did not want to be part of what was happening at the academy anymore.Deaths and injuries across the countryNationwide, deaths and injuries have been blamed on a mix of trauma from punches and other force, overexertion, heat stroke, dehydration, and organ failure.In August, 30-year-old Jon-Marques Psalms died two days after a training exercise at the San Francisco Police Academy. He suffered a head injury while fighting an instructor in a padded suit. This undated photo provided by Christina Psalms shows Jon-Marques Psalms, who died two days after a training exercise at the San Francisco Police Academy in August 2025. (Christina Psalms via AP) This undated photo provided by Christina Psalms shows Jon-Marques Psalms, who died two days after a training exercise at the San Francisco Police Academy in August 2025. (Christina Psalms via AP) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More An autopsy found his death was an accident caused by complications of muscle and organ damage in the setting of a high-intensity training exercise. His family has filed a legal claim against the city and hired experts for a second autopsy.In November 2024, a 24-year-old Kentucky game warden recruit died after fighting an instructor in a pool to the point of collapse, video obtained by AP shows. William Baileys death was ruled an accidental drowning due to a sudden cardiac dysrhythmia during physical exertion.A year earlier, a Denver police recruit had both legs amputated after a training fight that his attorney called a barbaric hazing ritual. An Indiana recruit died of exertion after he was pummeled by a larger instructor, and a classmate was disabled after fighting the same man.Investigations of Austins police academy in Texas found that physical and psychological abuse from such exercises resulted in a significant number of cadets injured, ranging from dehydration to broken bones, and led to reforms. Black and female cadets represented a disproportionate number of those who were injured and quit.Macho Products Inc., which sells RedMan Training Gear nationwide, cautions in its warranty that such training always presents risks of accidental injury, disability, and death that must be assumed by all participants. The document says risks can be minimized through carefully planned scenarios conducted at appropriate levels of force. A company spokesperson didnt respond to APs request for comment on recent deaths and injuries. In this photo provided by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department a person holds up a game warden badge during the 67th Texas Game Warden and State Park Police Officer Commissioning Ceremony on May 30, 2025, in Austin, Texas. (Sonja Sommerfeld/Texas Parks and Wildlife Department via AP) In this photo provided by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department a person holds up a game warden badge during the 67th Texas Game Warden and State Park Police Officer Commissioning Ceremony on May 30, 2025, in Austin, Texas. (Sonja Sommerfeld/Texas Parks and Wildlife Department via AP) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Read More Former cadet compares the drill to a gang initiation ritualAlarmed by the injuries to Sterling and others, a state lawmakers office contacted the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement to seek an investigation.After reviewing videos, investigating the injuries, and interviewing instructors and some recruits, the investigation found the drill was conducted in a control and organized manner, with safety measures in place and training objectives clearly communicated. The videos did not show instructors acting overly aggressive to Sterling, or any other actions that were inappropriate or inconsistent with the established training guidelines, it found.While multiple cadets sustained minor to moderate injuries during the drill, the majority recovered without extended medical consequences or changes to their training status, the report said.The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department declined to comment and refused to release records, citing the potential for litigation.Sterling, who has returned to Wyoming and still works in law enforcement, was outraged by the states defense of the drill, which she compared to a gang initiation ritual.New members are physically beaten down by the gang membership, she said, which now considers you as its property. RYAN J. FOLEY Foley covers national news for The Associated Press and is based in Iowa City, Iowa. A 21-year AP veteran, he was part of the AP team honored as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in investigative reporting for the 2024 series, Lethal Restraint. twitter mailto

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