Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift kiss after the AFC Championship NFL football game against the Buffalo Bills, in Kansas City, Mo., Jan. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis, File)2025-12-22T15:34:24Z Dictionaries define things. Its their job. So when dictionary.com pronounced 6-7 as their 2025 word of the year, youd think they would have, well, defined it.But no. Were all still trying to figure out exactly what it means, they told us of this years linguistic time capsule.But thats just how pop culture works, isnt it? Whos to explain why parents alone in their cars were suddenly singing up up up from that KPop Demon Hunters? song? Or why, in the Venn diagram of pop culture and zoology, it was the capybara that emerged victorious and beloved? Goodbye, Moo Deng. Youre adorable, but so 2024.Despite our new obsessions, though, some things remained constant by which we mean Taylor Swift and Beyonc, of course. It seems like every year gets bigger for Swift. But in 2025, she put a bow or ring on it with Travis Kelce, announcing your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married. As for Beyonc, the musical goddess finally won that best album Grammy she long deserved and, on tour, introduced a new force: her daughter, Blue Ivy.So from the inexplicable to the familiar, heres our annual, highly selective journey down pop culture memory lane: JANUARYThey may not be TAYVIS, but theyre a delightful couple just the same: ZENDAYA and TOM HOLLAND are engaged. Lets hear it also for DEMI MOORE, who wins a GOLDEN GLOBE for her wild performance in The Substance. At the bookstore, fans go wild for ONYX STORM, the third installment of REBECCA YARROS romantasy series. A NIRVANA reunion highlights FireAid, a fundraiser for relief efforts following the Los Angeles wildfires. At the Australian Open, U.S. tennis star COCO GAUFF mourns the temporary loss of TikToks app back home, drawing a broken heart on a TV lens. FEBRUARYSalutations! says SAMUEL L. JACKSON, introducing KENDRICK LAMAR, the first solo hip-hop artist and Pulitzer winner to headline the Super Bowl halftime show. (P.S. Is that SERENA WILLIAMS?) At the GRAMMYS, members of the Los Angeles Fire Department present BEYONC with her best album trophy for COWBOY CARTER the most awarded and nominated artist in Grammy history becomes the first Black woman to win the top prize in the 21st century. In the age of TikTok, you never know whats going to catch fire like those hand-penned party invitations from 87-year old DOUG TURNER to his Pennsylvania neighbors, with the priceless line: 4 p.m. until the cops arrive. MARCHIts OSCAR month! All hail to SEAN BAKERS victorious, Brooklyn-set ANORA and its star, MIKEY MADISON. Also scoring an acting prize is ADRIEN BRODY for THE BRUTALIST who probably should have found another place to put his chewing gum. WICKED, an audience favorite, misses out on big prizes, but its stars, CYNTHIA ERIVO and ARIANA GRANDE, perform a rousing opening number. Meanwhile, the once-promising Netflix contender EMILIA PREZ wins two prizes but sees best picture chances evaporate in the wake of an uproar over past tweets from star KARLA SOFA GASCN. APRILThe blender! The poisonous fruit! The lizard! And SAM ROCKWELL! The Thailand-set third season of THE WHITE LOTUS is certainly a talker. KATY PERRY may be wishing shed headed to Thailand rather than outer space: her Earth-kissing return from an 11-minute trip on a JEFF BEZOS Blue Origin rocket is widely mocked even by Wendys, which writes on X: Can we send her back. On BEYONCS Cowboy Carter tour, a star has emerged 13-year old BLUE IVY. In a megadeal, HAILEY BIEBER sells her Rhode skincare and makeup brand for a cool $1 billion. MAYA crisis, at CANNES! The film fest bans nudity on the carpet do they think this will halt the naked dress phenomenon? Bonne chance. Also at Cannes, TOM CRUISE again shows hell risk life and limb to entertain, this time atop a classic biplane in MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: THE FINAL RECKONING. Across the ocean, the MET GALA turns its focus to menswear and Black style over the centuries. It took a minute, says an approving SPIKE LEE. You belong with me, SWIFT sings, buying back the rights to her first six albums. Finally, cue the Chicago Pope memes in honor of the first American pope, LEO XIV. Later this year, hell reveal his WORDLE strategy. JUNEThe world will know you as pop stars but you will be much more than that. Like, perhaps, the surprise, multigenerational hit of the summer? KPOP DEMON HUNTERS starts streaming this month, and in August will give Netflix a big box office win with its singalong screenings. On TV, its a new season of love LOVE ISLAND USA, that is, chronicling the goings-on at a luxury villa in Fiji. Its the album cover that launched a thousand conversations: Some are offended when SABRINA CARPENTER illustrates her MANS BEST FRIEND album with a photo of her on all fours, with a man holding her hair. Is it offensive, a purposeful joke, or nothing at all? Meanwhile politics finds its way into the GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL in Britain, as rap-punk duo BOB VYLAN spark a police probe after leading a chant calling for death to the Israeli military. JULYOASIS begins a reunion tour, and the GALLAGHER brothers are still getting along! SYDNEY SWEENEY has great jeans, goes the much-discussed advertisement, and American Eagle insists its about the denim. CBS says it will end STEPHEN COLBERTS show in May 2026 a move that will remove from air one of President DONALD TRUMPS most outspoken critics. We cannot leave July behind although at least two people would have loved to without mentioning the saga of the COLDPLAY KISSCAM. Finally, within six days, the world loses three 80s icons: mustachioed wrestling icon HULK HOGAN, heavy metal godfather OZZY OSBOURNE, and beloved Cosby Show actor MALCOLM-JAMAL WARNER.AUGUSTLets just give this whole entry to pop cultures biggest LOVE STORY because, baby, she said yes! TAYLOR-TRAVIS skeptics eat their words when the couple announces their happy news, in whats destined to become one of the most liked posts in Instagram history. Its the fairytale culmination of a courtship that began during the Eras Tour and for two years captivated millions around the world but especially Swifties, the pop stars loving and fiercely protective fan base.SEPTEMBERProving once again that Hollywood loves stories about itself, the EMMYS heap awards on SETH ROGENS movie-biz satire THE STUDIO. Also triumphing is THE PITT, the edgy medical drama starring beloved ER veteran NOAH WYLE that beats out the mighty SEVERANCE. Perhaps the biggest Cinderella story of all: 15-year-old OWEN COOPER, the youngest Emmy winner in over 40 years for the searing ADOLESCENCE. Also this month, JIMMY KIMMEL is temporarily suspended by ABC bosses for comments that angered supporters of the slain CHARLIE KIRK. The world says goodbye to ROBERT REDFORD, Hollywoods golden screen idol turned influential activist. OCTOBERSo, how was your October? Oh, 6-7. Thats apparently how one should use the new viral term accompanied by that palms-up gesture. You know who has better moves than that? BAD BUNNY, who hosts the season premiere of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE. In SWIFT updates, her new album THE LIFE OF A SHOWGIRLsets sales records. The shocking LOUVRE HEIST captures the worlds attention, not least for the impossibly dapper stranger who walks into an AP photographers frame. Another sad loss: DIANE KEATON, famous for her fedoras, vests and especially La di da, La di da.NOVEMBERAre we at the end of the yellow brick road? The WICKED press tour, which reached all ends of the universe actual and fictional, wraps with the release of JON M. CHUS second installment, WICKED: FOR GOOD. The reviews are much less, er, enthusiastical this time, but the movie defies gravity at the box office. Thats not enough for JONATHAN BAILEY, aka FIYERO, who is named Peoples Sexiest Man Alive. Another fan favorite, ROBERT IRWIN, is also having a very good month: a decade after his sister, BINDI, did the same, the son of late conservationist STEVE IRWIN is crowned winner of DANCING WITH THE STARS.DECEMBEROne award after another! Excuse the rather obvious pun, but its the perfect one to describe momentum in the OSCARS race. While some films see their fortunes fade on GOLDEN GLOBE nominations day, the emerging favorite is ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER, director PAUL THOMAS ANDERSONS father-daughter saga of political resistance starring LEONARDO DiCAPRIO and newcomer CHASE INFINITI. Its success also lends a victory to WARNER BROS. in the middle of its NETFLIX acquisition deal which, at years end, is in a holding pattern, facing antitrust challenges and a hostile takeover effort from PARAMOUNT, and sowing one fear after another that the very nature of entertainment will change. JOCELYN NOVECK Noveck is an Associated Press national writer specializing in culture and gender, and a film critic. twitter mailto

People arrive for a funeral service for Brown University shooting victim Ella Cook, Monday, Dec. 22, 2025, in Birmingham, Ala. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)2025-12-22T19:16:23Z BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) A Brown University sophomore who was killed in an attack at the Rhode Island university was remembered Monday as smart, confident, curious, kind, principled, brave, at a funeral in her home state of Alabama.Hundreds gathered at the Cathedral Church of the Advent in downtown Birmingham to remember Ella Cook, 19. She and freshman MukhammadAziz Umurzokov, 18, were killed Dec. 13 when a gunman entered a study session in a Brown academic building and opened fire on students. Nine other students were wounded.Authorities believe the attack was carried out by Claudio Neves Valente, 48, who had been a graduate student at Brown studying physics during the 2000-01 school year. Neves Valente then fatally shot Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro at Loureiros Boston-area home two days later, officials said. Neves Valente, who had attended school with Loureiro in Portugal in the 1990s, was found dead days later in a New Hampshire storage facility, killed by a self-inflicted gunshot wound. An autopsy determined that Neves Valente died Dec. 16, the same day Loureiro died in a hospital.On Monday, Cooks family invited attendees to wear Easter colors, underscoring Cooks Christian faith, at an Episcopal funeral service that also nodded to the Christmas season. AP AUDIO: Hundreds mourn Brown University sophomore Ella Cook, killed in campus shooting A memorial service was held in honor of one of the shooting victims at Brown University Ella Cook, just days before Christmas. Stay up to date with the news and the best of AP by following our WhatsApp channel. Follow on The Rev. Paul F.M. Zahl, who formerly led the church, read from several letters written by members of the Brown community to Cooks parents, Anna Bishop Cook and Richard Cook, who raised Ella and her two younger siblings in the affluent Birmingham suburb of Mountain Brook. Ella was smart, confident, curious, kind, principled, brave. She had a big impact on campus in only three semesters, wrote Brown professor of political economy David Skarbek. I used to tell Ella, We need an Alabama to Brown pipeline. In fact, her nickname on campus was Ellabama. Zahl told the congregation that the funeral was a kind of bigger stage, a kind of more amplified mic for Cook to spread her Christian faith. Zahl said he dreamed last week that he was skiing behind Cook and her family. Ella turned around and shouted confidently, self-assuredly, Come on, will you? he said, saying he believed God had shown himself through the dream.I pray now that everyone who has loved Ella so much in this life would be given a vivid, individual feeling of Ellas love, still present with us, Zahl said. Because Ellas love is eternal and entirely altruistic.Cook was an accomplished pianist who was studying French, math and economics at Brown, where she also served as vice president of the college Republicans. Her political activity brought a wave of reaction from national and Alabama Republicans. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey ordered flags to be flown at half-staff statewide in Cooks memory. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

In this photo taken on Saturday Dec. 20, 2025 and provided by Ukraine's 24th Mechanized Brigade press service, a soldier walks through the ruins of the town of Kostyantynivka, in the Donetsk region, Ukraine. (Oleg Petrasiuk/Ukraine's 24th Mechanized Brigade via AP)2025-12-22T15:11:26Z KYIV, Ukraine (AP) Initial drafts of U.S. proposals for a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia meet many of Kyivs demands, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday, although he suggested that neither side in the almost four-year war is likely to get everything it wants in talks on reaching a settlement. Overall, it looks quite solid at this stage, the Ukrainian leader said of recent talks with U.S. officials who are trying to steer the neighboring countries toward compromises.There are some things we are probably not ready for, and Im sure there are things the Russians are not ready for either, Zelenskyy told reporters in Kyiv.U.S. President Donald Trump has for months been pushing for a peace agreement. However, the negotiations have run into sharply conflicting demands from Moscow and Kyiv. But U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff said Sunday he held productive and constructive talks in Florida with Ukrainian and European representatives. Zelenskyy said that nearly 90% of Ukraines demands have been incorporated into the draft agreements.The backbone of the proposed deal is a 20-point plan, he said. There is also a framework document on security guarantees between Ukraine, European countries, and the United States, as well as a separate document on bilateral security guarantees granted to Ukraine by the U.S. Zelenskyy mentioned several key points, such as the Ukrainian army remaining at a peacetime level of 800,000; membership in the European Union; and European forces, under the leadership of France and the U.K. and with a backstop from Washington, ensuring Ukraines security in the air, on land, and at sea. Some key countries will provide presence in these domains; others will contribute to energy security, finance, bomb shelters, and so on, the Ukrainian president said.Ukraine is arguing that the bilateral document with U.S. should be reviewed by the U.S. Congress, with some details and annexes kept classified, Zelenskyy said.The U.S. team is now in talks with Russian envoys, and Washington has asked that no details be released, he added. Ukraine strikes deep inside RussiaZelenskyy said Monday he met with his military commanders who reported that defensive lines are holding firm against the Russian onslaught.In (recent) weeks, the Russian army has significantly increased the intensity of attacks, and the number of Russian losses has increased accordingly, he said in a post on Telegram.Ukrainian forces hit an oil terminal, a pipeline, two parked jet fighters and two ships in a series of strikes on Russian soil, officials said Monday.The attacks are part of an ongoing campaign to disrupt the Russian war effort and sow fear behind the front line, where outnumbered Ukrainian troops are straining to hold back Russias bigger army.The strikes also seek to undermine President Vladimir Putins attempt to portray Russia as negotiating from a position of military strength in U.S.-led peace efforts, which have yet to make a breakthrough on key points.The killing of a top Russian general by a car bomb in Moscow on Monday, with investigators suspecting Ukraine was behind it, could be another instance of Kyiv picking surprise targets. Ukrainian partisans burn Russian fighter jetsUkrainian forces struck the Tamanneftegaz oil terminal, an ammunition depot and a launch site for attack drones inside Russian territory and Russian-held Ukrainian territory, Ukraines General Staff said in a statement Monday.A pipeline, two docks and two ships were damaged in the southern Krasnodar region, and a large blaze broke out, the statement said, without specifying what kind of weapons were used in the attack.It added that a Ukrainian-made missile also hit a temporary base for Russias 92nd River Boat Brigade in Olenivka, in the occupied Crimean Peninsula.A separate strike targeted an ammunition depot in a Russian-controlled portion of the Donetsk region, aiming to slow the Russian advance there, the General Staff said. A Russian launch site for attack drones was also hit.Ukrainian partisans set fire to two Russian jet fighters in an operation on Sunday evening at a base near Lipetsk, a city in western Russia, according to Ukraines military intelligence.Russias Ministry of Defense said only that its forces shot down 41 Ukrainian drones overnight, three of them over the Krasnodar region. Russia targets the power grid againMeanwhile, Russian forces kept up their targeting of Ukraines energy sector, aiming to deprive civilians of heat and running water during the frigid winter. Russia has tried to knock out power in Ukraine throughout the war, in a tactic that Ukraine refers to as weaponizing winter.Energy infrastructure across five regions were attacked during the night, Ukraines Ministry of Energy said.Russia struck Ukraine with 86 drones of different types overnight, Ukraines air force said. Ukrainian forces stopped 58 of them, it said.___Follow APs coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine SAMYA KULLAB Kullab is an Associated Press reporter covering Ukraine since June 2023. Before that, she covered Iraq and the wider Middle East from her base in Baghdad since joining the AP in 2019. twitter instagram mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

Kilmar Abrego Garcia arrives at the United States District Court District of Maryland, Monday, Dec. 22, 2025, in Greenbelt, Md. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)2025-12-22T05:05:13Z GREENBELT, Md. (AP) A federal judge on Monday will decide whether Kilmar Abrego Garcia should be returned to immigration custody after being free for just over a week. This is an extremely irregular and extraordinary situation, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, of Maryland, told attorneys.The Monday hearing was a glimpse into the complexity of immigration proceedings as Xinis tried to get information on the status of Abrego Garcias case. I am trying to get to the bottom of whether there are going to be any removal proceedings, she said as she questioned the governments lawyer. You havent told me what youre going to do next.Abrego Garcia, his wife and legal team were welcomed to the federal court building in Maryland by a boisterous reception that included a choir, bullhorn and drum as scores of supporters cheered. His mistaken deportation to El Salvador has become a lightning rod for both sides of the immigration debate. Inside the courtroom Abrego Garcia sat with at least half a dozen defense team members while a lone government attorney sat across from them. Abrego Garcia had been in immigration detention since August before his Dec. 11 release. In that time, the government has said it planned to deport him to Uganda, Eswatini, Ghana and, most recently, Liberia. However, officials have made no effort to deport him to the one country he has agreed to go to Costa Rica. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, in Maryland, has even accused the government of misleading her by falsely claiming that Costa Rica was unwilling to take him. The governments persistent refusal to acknowledge Costa Rica as a viable removal option, their threats to send Abrego Garcia to African countries that never agreed to take him, and their misrepresentation to the Court that Liberia is now the only country available to Abrego Garcia, all reflect that whatever purpose was behind his detention, it was not for the basic purpose of timely third-country removal, she wrote. In court on Monday, Abrego Garcias reiterated that he is prepared to go to Costa Rica today. Xinis Dec. 11 order that Abrego Garcia be released from immigration custody also concluded that the immigration judge who heard his case in 2019 had failed to issue an order of removal from the U.S., and he cannot be deported anywhere without a removal order.Abrego Garcia has an American wife and child and has lived in Maryland for years, but he immigrated to the U.S. illegally from El Salvador as a teenager. In 2019, an immigration judge granted him protection from being deported back to his home country, finding he faced danger there from a gang that had targeted his family. In March, he was mistakenly deported there anyway. U.S. officials resisted calls to bring him back until the Supreme Court weighed in. However, officials have said he cannot stay in the U.S. and have vowed to deport him to a third country.In filings last week, government attorneys argued that, with or without a final order of removal, they are still working to deport Abrego Garcia, so they can legally detain him during the process. If there is no final order of removal, immigration proceedings are ongoing, and Petitioner is subject to pre-final order detention, they wrote.For their part, Abrego Garcias attorneys cited a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that because immigration proceedings are civil, not criminal detention must be nonpunitive. They argued that in Abrego Garcias case, detention is punitive because the government wants to be allowed to hold him indefinitely without a viable plan to deport him. If immigration detention does not serve the legitimate purpose of effectuating reasonably foreseeable removal, it is punitive, potentially indefinite, and unconstitutional, they wrote. In addition to the Maryland case, Abrego Garcia is fighting human smuggling charges in a Tennessee court. His attorneys in that case on Friday asked the judge for sanctions after Border Patrols Gregory Bovino made disparaging comments about their client on national news. The judge previously ordered Justice Department and Homeland Security officials to cease making comments that could prejudice Abrego Garcias right to a fair trial. ___Loller reported from Nashville, Tenn. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

President Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)2025-12-22T17:19:00Z WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) President Donald Trump is gathering with top national security officials on Monday, a meeting that comes as the U.S. Coast Guard steps up efforts to interdict oil tankers in the Caribbean Sea as part of the Republican administrations escalating pressure campaign on Venezuelan President Nicols Maduros government.Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Navy Secretary John Phelan are scheduled to join Trump, who is vacationing at his Mar-a-Lago resort, for what the White House called a major announcement. Trump plans to discuss a shipbuilding initiative at the event, according to a White House official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.But Trumps gathering of key members of his national security team also comes at yet another inflection point in Trumps four-month pressure campaign on the Maduro government, which began with the stated purpose of stemming the flow of illegal drugs from the South American nation but has developed into something more amorphous. Russias Foreign Ministry has started evacuating the families of diplomats from Venezuela, according to a European intelligence official speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information. The official told The Associated Press the evacuations include women and children and began on Friday. The official said Russian Foreign Ministry officials are assessing the situation in Venezuela in very grim tones. The White House and Kremlin did not immediately respond to requests for comment. In the Caribbean, the U.S. Coast Guard on Monday continued for the second day to chase a sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration describes as part of a dark fleet Venezuela is using to evade U.S. sanctions. The tanker, the official added, is flying under a false flag and is under a U.S. judicial seizure order. It is the third ship pursued by the Coast Guard, which on Saturday seized a Panama-flagged vessel called Centuries that U.S. officials said was part of the Venezuelan shadow fleet. The Coast Guard, with assistance from the Navy, seized a sanctioned tanker called Skipper on Dec. 10, also part of the shadow fleet of tankers that the U.S. says operates on the fringes of the law to move sanctioned cargo. That ship was registered in Panama.Trump, after that first seizure, said the U.S. would carry out a blockade of Venezuela. Trump has repeatedly said that Maduros days in power are numbered.Last week, Trump demanded that Venezuela return assets that it seized from U.S. oil companies years ago, justifying anew his announcement of a blockade against sanctioned oil tankers traveling to or from the South American country.Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, whose agency oversees the Coast Guard, said in a Monday appearance on Fox & Friends that the targeting of tankers is intended to send a message around the world that the illegal activity that Maduro is participating in cannot stand, he needs to be gone, and that we will stand up for our people. Meanwhile, the Defense Department, under Trumps orders, continues its campaign of attacks on smaller vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean that it alleges are carrying drugs to the United States and beyond.At least 104 people have been killed in 28 known strikes since early September. The strikes have faced scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers and human rights activists, who say the administration has offered scant evidence that its targets are indeed drug smugglers and that the fatal strikes amount to extrajudicial killings.___Burrows reported from London. AAMER MADHANI Madhani covers the White House for The Associated Press. He is based in Washington. twitter mailto EMMA BURROWS Burrows covers security, defense and intelligence for The Associated Press in Europe. She is based in London. twitter

Steam rises from chimneys during the night shift at the Tyson Foods' beef plant in Lexington, Neb., Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)2025-12-22T15:45:04Z LEXINGTON, Neb. (AP) On a frigid day after Mass at St. Anns Catholic Church in rural Nebraska, worshippers shuffled into the basement and sat on folding chairs, their faces barely masking the fear gripping their town.A pall hung over the room just as it hung over the holiday season in Lexington, Nebraska.Suddenly they tell us that theres no more work. Your world closes in on you, said Alejandra Gutierrez.She and the others work at Tyson Foods beef plant and are among the 3,200 people who will lose their jobs when Lexingtons biggest employer closes the plant next month after more than two decades of operation.Hundreds of families may be forced to pack up and leave the town of 11,000, heading east to Omaha or Iowa, or south to the meatpacking towns of Kansas or beyond, causing spinoff layoffs in Lexingtons restaurants, barbershops, grocers, convenience stores and taco trucks. A pall is hanging over the holiday season in Lexington, Nebraska, where the Tyson beef plant, by far the largest employer in small town, is set to lay off 3,200 people when the company closes the facility on Jan. 20, after three decades of operation. (AP Video: Thomas Peipert) Losing 3,000 jobs in a city of 10,000 to 12,000 people is as big a closing event as weve seen virtually for decades, said Michael Hicks, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at Indianas Ball State University. It will be close to the poster child for hard times. All told, the job losses are expected to reach 7,000, largely in Lexington and the surrounding counties, according to estimates from University of Nebraska, Lincoln, shared with The Associated Press. Tyson employees alone will lose an estimated $241 million in pay and benefits annually. Tyson says its closing the plant to right-size its beef business after a historically low cattle herd in the U.S. and the companys expected loss of $600 million on beef production next fiscal year. Amela Lipnicevic with the Nebraska Department of Labor, right, helps Tyson Foods employee Guillermo Vargas during an informational meeting in Lexington, Neb., Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert) Amela Lipnicevic with the Nebraska Department of Labor, right, helps Tyson Foods employee Guillermo Vargas during an informational meeting in Lexington, Neb., Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert) 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 The plants closure threatens to unravel a Great Plains town where the American Dream was still attainable, where immigrants who didnt speak English and never graduated high school bought homes, raised children in a safe community and sent them to college. Now, those symbols of economic progress mortgages and car payments, property taxes and tuition costs are bills that thousands of Tyson workers wont have an income to pay. At St. Anns church, Gutierrez sat between her daughters and recalled being told of the plant closure just before Thanksgiving while she visited a college campus with her high school senior, Kimberly.At that moment, my daughter said she no longer wanted to study, Gutierrez said. Because where would we get the money to pay for college? A tear slipped down Kimberlys cheek as she looked at her mother and then down at her hands. Two men walk past a business in downtown Lexington, Neb., Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert) Two men walk past a business in downtown Lexington, Neb., Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert) 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 Tyson was our motherlandIf you threw a dart at a map of the United States, Lexington called Lex by locals would be just about bullseye.Its easy to miss driving down Interstate 80, half hidden by barren hackberry trees, corn fields and pastures of Black Angus cattle, but a driver can spy the plants hulking industrial buildings pumping steam.The plant opened in 1990 and was bought by Tyson 11 years later, attracting thousands of workers and nearly doubling the towns population within a decade. Many came from Los Angeles, then stricken by recession, including Lizeth Yanes, who initially hated what she called a little ghost town. But soon Lexington flourished, with suburbs sprouting among bur oak and American elm trees. The downtown, a strip of cobblestone streets and brick buildings, has a Somali grocer that abuts a Hispanic bakery; locals attend over a dozen churches and several city recreation centers. Tyson Foods employee Lizeth Yanes cries during an interview in Lexington, Neb., Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert) Tyson Foods employee Lizeth Yanes cries during an interview in Lexington, Neb., Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert) 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 To this day, the plant creates the towns rhythm as workers roll on and off the daily A, B and C shifts and fill restaurants, school pickup lines and the one-screen movie theater showing Polar Express.It took a long time for me to actually enjoy this little place, said Yanes. Now that I enjoy it, now I have to leave.The atmosphere inside the Tyson plant, where workers process as many as 5,000 head of cattle a day, laboring on slaughter floors, cleaning crews or trimming cuts of meat, feels like a funeral, she said.Tyson was our motherland, said plant worker Arab Adan. The Kenyan immigrant sat in his car with his two energetic sons, who asked him a question he has no answer to: Which state are we gonna go, daddy?The only thing Adan is set on is that his kids finish the school year in Lexington, where school officials say nearly half of students have a parent working for Tyson.The school district, where at least 20 languages and dialects are spoken, has higher high school graduation and college attendance rates than the state and national average, and one of Nebraskas biggest marching bands. Residents are proud of the diversity and the tightknit community, where young people return to raise families.During Mass at St. Anns, parishioners gave the cash in their pockets to a fund for families in financial need, despite knowing theyll be out of work next month. Afterward, Francisco Antonio ran through his future employment options with a sad smile. After the plant closes on Jan. 20, the 52-year-old father of four said hell stay a few months in Lexington and look for work, though now theres no future. He took off his glasses, paused, apologized and tried to explain his emotions.Its home mostly, not the job, he said, replacing his glasses with an embarrassed smile.We need another opportunity, job, here in Lex, he said. Otherwise Lex is gonna disappear. Tyson Foods employees wait for help at an informational meeting held by the Nebraska Department of Labor in Lexington, Neb., Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert) Tyson Foods employees wait for help at an informational meeting held by the Nebraska Department of Labor in Lexington, Neb., Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert) 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 Tyson owes this communityThe domino effect could go something like this: If 1,000 families skip town, said economist Hicks who wouldnt be surprised if it were double that seats would be left empty in schools, leading to teacher layoffs; there would be far fewer customers in restaurants, shops and other businesses.Most of the customers at Los Jalapenos, a Mexican restaurant down the street from the plant, are Tyson workers. They fill booths after work and are greeted by owner Armando Martinezs mustachioed grin and bellow of Hola, amigo!Martinezs grandson once told his grandfather that when he grows up he wants to work at Tyson. The childs fifth-grade sister recently gathered with classmates to talk about the changes happening with their parents. Some were headed to California, others to Kansas. All were in tears. Armando Martinez, left, and his wife, Maria Dolores Perez, right, work in their restaurant, Los Jalapenos, near the Tyson Foods beef plant in Lexington, Neb., Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert) Armando Martinez, left, and his wife, Maria Dolores Perez, right, work in their restaurant, Los Jalapenos, near the Tyson Foods beef plant in Lexington, Neb., Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert) 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 If he cant keep up with bills, the restaurant will close, but theres just nowhere we can go, said Martinez, who undergoes dialysis for diabetes, has an amputated foot and prays for a miracle: that Tyson will change its mind. He knows its unlikely. Asked by The Associated Press for comment about plans for the site, Tyson said in a statement that it is currently assessing how we can repurpose the facility within our own production network. It did not provide details, or say whether it plans to offer support to the community through the plant closure.Many, including City Manager Joe Pepplitsch, are hoping Tyson puts the plant up for sale and a new company comes in bringing jobs. That isnt a quick fix, requiring time, negotiations, renovations and no guarantee of comparable jobs.Tyson owes this community a debt. I think they have a responsibility here to help ease some of the impact, he said, noting Tyson doesnt pay city taxes due to a deal negotiated decades ago. Trucks carrying grain drive past cattle in pens at the Darr Feedlot in Cozad, Neb., Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert) Trucks carrying grain drive past cattle in pens at the Darr Feedlot in Cozad, Neb., Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert) 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 Its not easy, at our age, to go back and start overNear the plant, at the Dawson County Fairgrounds, Tyson workers recently filled a long hall as state agencies responding with the urgency of a natural disaster offered information on retraining, writing a resume, filing for unemployment and avoiding scammers when selling homes.Attendees faces were subdued, like listening to a doctors prognosis. Your financial health is going to change, they were told. Dont ignore the bank, they will not go away. Many of the older workers dont speak English, havent graduated high school and arent computer savvy. The last application some filled out was decades ago. We know only working in meat for Tyson, we dont have any other experience, said Adan, the Kenyan immigrant.Back at St. Anns, workers echoed that concern. They only want young people now, said Juventino Castro, whos worked at Tyson for a quarter-century. I dont know whats going to happen in the time I have left.Lupe Ceja said shes saved a little money, but it wont last long. Luz Alvidrez has a cleaning gig that will sustain her for awhile. Others might return to Mexico for a time. Nobody has a clear plan.It wont be easy, said Fernando Sanchez, a Tyson worker for 35 years who sat with his wife. We started here from scratch and its time to start from scratch again.Tears rolled down his wifes cheeks and he squeezed her hand. JESSE BEDAYN Bedayn covers major breaking news on the Rapid Response Team, as well as politics and housing. mailto RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

A shopper heads into a Walmart store Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025, in Englewood, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)2025-12-22T15:36:47Z From department stores to grocery stores, most retailers across the U.S. close early on Christmas Eve and shut their doors entirely on Christmas Day while others opt to cut back hours. But theres also a handful of businesses that will be open during the holiday.Before you run out the door this Christmas whether its to buy last-minute gifts or simply get out of the house its wise to double-check operating hours, which can differ depending on their location. When in doubt, call ahead or look up more specific schedules online for stores in your neighborhood.Heres a rundown of major chains on Christmas Day this year.IS WALMART OPEN ON CHRISTMAS?Walmart will be closed on Christmas Day and reopen at 6 a.m. on Dec. 26.IS TARGET OPEN ON CHRISTMAS?Target will be closed on Christmas and reopen at 7 a.m. on Dec. 26.IS COSTCO OPEN ON CHRISTMAS? All Costco warehouses in the U.S. are closed on Christmas Day.IS CVS OPEN ON CHRISTMAS?Many CVS locations will have modified hours on Christmas Day. Customers are encouraged to call ahead or double-check local hours online.IS WALGREENS OPEN ON CHRISTMAS? Walgreens stores will be open on Christmas Day but pharmacy hours may vary. All 24-hour locations will continue to remain open. You can double-check local hours here.IS STARBUCKS OPEN ON CHRISTMAS?Many Starbucks locations will be closed on Christmas, while some may have limited hours. Its best to check ahead online. IS MCDONALDS OPEN ON CHRISTMAS?Many McDonalds locations in the U.S. are open on holidays like Christmas, but hours vary by location. Consumers can use the chains online store locator to confirm.IS KROGER OPEN ON CHRISTMAS?Kroger stores are closed on Christmas Day and will resume regular hours on Dec. 26.IS ALBERTSONS OPEN ON CHRISTMAS?Many Albertsons stores will be closed on Christmas but there will also be locations that remain open with adjusted hours. Select pharmacies may also be closed or have different hours. WHAT STORES ARE CLOSED ON CHRISTMAS?Heres some other grocery, convenience and retail stores that are closed on Christmas Day:1. ALDI: Stores are closed.2. Harris Teeter: Stores are closed.3. Home Depot: Stores are closed.4. IKEA: Stores are closed.5. Jewel-Osco: Stores and pharmacies are closed.6. Lowes: Stores are closed.7. Macys: Stores are closed.8. Meijer: Stores are closed.9. Publix: Stores are closed.10. Rite Aid: Stores are closed.11. Sams Club: Stores are closed.12. Sprouts Farmers Market: Stores are closed.13. Trader Joes: Stores are closed.14. Whole Foods: Stores are closed.WHAT STORES ARE OPEN ON CHRISTMAS?Here are some stores that are open on Christmas Day (or have select locations that are):1. Safeway: Many stores are closed, but there will also be some locations open with adjusted hours.2. Sheetz: Stores are open with regular hours (24/7).3. 7-Eleven: Most stores are open 24/7 (including on Christmas), but some locations hours can vary.

Dorothy Waterhouse, program director for the syringe exchange program at the Clark County Health Department, opens a cabinet containing supplies used for the program Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2025, in Jeffersonville, Ind. (AP Photo/Obed Lamy)2025-12-22T14:01:01Z JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. (AP) Inside a storage room at the Clark County Health Department are boxes with taped-on signs reading, DO NOT USE. They contain cookers and sterile water that people use to shoot up drugs.The supplies, which came from the state and were paid for with federal money, were for a program where drug users exchange dirty needles for clean ones, part of a strategy known as harm reduction. But under a July executive order from President Donald Trump, federal substance abuse grants cant pay for supplies such as cookers and tourniquets that it says only facilitate illegal drug use. Needles already couldnt be purchased with federal money.In some places, the order is galvanizing support for syringe exchange programs, which decades of research show are extremely effective at preventing disease among intravenous drug users and getting them into treatment. In others, its fueling opposition that threatens the programs existence.Republican-led Indiana passed a law allowing exchanges a decade ago after the tiny city of Austin became the epicenter of the worst drug-fueled HIV outbreak in U.S. history. Unless lawmakers extend it, that law is scheduled to sunset next year, and the number of exchanges has been dwindling. State officials told remaining programs to comply with Trumps order and even to discard federally funded supplies such as cookers and tourniquets. For now, Clark County health workers have found a way to keep distributing cookers and other items: buy them with private money and package them in mystery bags, assembled by employees who arent paid with state or federal funds. Democratic-led California, meanwhile, has continued using state funds for supplies such as pipes and syringes. California is home to a rising number of exchanges, with 70 of the more than 580 listed by the North American Syringe Exchange Network. Some public health experts lament that syringe services programs have become subject to growing politicization and dissent.Clark County Health Officer Dr. Eric Yazel says IV drug users will likely inject themselves with or without clean supplies. Exchanges prevent people from sharing needles and spreading disease, he said, decreasing the public health risk for the whole population.But Curtis Hill, a Republican former Indiana attorney general, is among critics who raise the same concern Trumps order does: We dont want to get into a situation where were promoting drug use. Help without judgmentWhen participants arrive at the Clark County health department, they look down at a list of services and say they are there for No. 1.They choose from a cart with needles, bandages, sharps containers and the overdose reversal drug naloxone. They can receive testing for HIV and hepatitis C; information on drug treatment; and flyers on food banks, housing, and job placement. There are even handmade knit hats with encouraging notes like, Youve got this! We spend a half hour, 45 minutes or so talking to them about where they are, if they want treatment, if theyre ready, Program Director Dorothy Waterhouse said. These are our brothers, our sisters, our mothers, our fathers. We need compassion to make sure theyre getting into treatment. Its the closest exchange to Austin, a 35-minute drive away. Scott County, where Austin is located, already ended its program.Joshua Gay lived in an apartment across the street when he used the Clark County exchange. He shot up meth daily.The addiction, it took away everything. It took away my life. It took away my job, took away my health. I mean, it made my mind so bad that I wouldnt even shower, said the 44-year-old, who now lives in Austin. God was telling me, You need to do something, and he led me to the needle exchange.Hes sober today. He sought drug treatment at LifeSpring Health Systems after encouragement from health workers and now encourages others in recovery to stay healthy.He believes the syringe exchange not only saved him, but helped him save someone else, providing the naloxone he used to revive a friend who overdosed on heroin. Keeping the program goingAfter Trumps order which focused on homelessness Indiana health officials told exchanges that certain items they provided were now off-limits, citing a letter from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.Although Clark County workers have found ways to provide privately funded items for now, they worry about Indianas exchange law expiring on July 1. Six counties have exchanges down from nine in 2020 despite the programs successes.Statewide, exchanges have made more than 27,000 referrals to drug treatment and provided naloxone that reversed nearly 25,000 overdoses, according to information collected by the nonprofit Damien Center in Indianapolis.Since its 2017 start, Clark Countys program alone has given out more than 2,000 doses of naloxone; made more than 4,300 referrals to drug treatment; and made more than 4,400 referrals for HIV or hepatitis C testing. Its syringe return rate is 92%. Local and national public health and addiction experts point to research showing exchanges dont increase syringe litter, crime or IV drug use and that every dollar invested returns an estimated $7 in avoided health care costs.Exchanges are associated with an estimated 50% reduction in the incidence of HIV and hepatitis C, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said last year. Scott County where the HIV outbreak ultimately sickened 235 people had fewer than five new cases a year in 2020 and 2021, just before that syringe program ended. The numbers have stayed low.When these programs first started, I was like, I dont know. I didnt get it, Yazel said. And then I took a deep dive and started to understand the impact.Elsewhere, a mix of support and oppositionIndiana is among 43 states with syringe services programs, according to health care research nonprofit KFF.Support remains strong in many places. This year in Hawaii, for example, legislators passed a law allowing people to get as many clean needles as needed rather than only one for one.But bills elsewhere, including two introduced in West Virginia this year, propose eliminating syringe programs.This month, West Virginias Cabell-Huntington Health Department stopped giving out needles. Naloxone and fentanyl test strips remain available, along with services such as education, disease testing and links to care.The folks who come in to see us are going to get the same smiles and the same hugs, said Health Officer Dr. Michael Kilkenny. Were just not going to be dispensing syringes or the other things that are in disfavor.Andrew Nixon, spokesman for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, stressed in an email that federal funds can still be used for life-saving services like education and naloxone, reflecting a commitment to addressing the addiction and overdose crisis impacting communities across our nation. A murky futureYazel expects a difficult path ahead in Indiana.To be very blunt, he said, we have an uphill battle coming up this legislative session.Damien Center CEO Alan Witchey, whose organization runs a syringe program, said he and a group of advocates created a website with information and a way to contact lawmakers. Theyve met with elected officials, and a state senator introduced a bill to extend the sunset date to 2036.Without these programs, there will be one less tool to address the diseases of substance use disorder, hepatitis C and HIV, Witchey said. And that could lead to a very dangerous place for us. We have seen where this leads.___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. LAURA UNGAR Ungar covers medicine and science on the APs Global Health and Science team. She has been a health journalist for more than two decades. twitter mailto

As prisoners stand looking out from a cell, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a tour of the Terrorist Confinement Center in Tecoluca, El Salvador, March 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)2025-12-22T12:39:29Z REDDING, Calif. (AP) Heavy rain and flash flooding soaked roads in northern California, leading to water rescues from vehicles and homes and at least one confirmed death, authorities said.In Redding, police said they received numerous calls for stranded motorists on Sunday who tried to drive through flooded areas. One person in Redding died, Mayor Mike Littau posted online. He did not provide further information.Redding has about 93,000 people and is about 160 miles (257 kilometers) north of Sacramento.Between 3 and 6 inches (7.6 centimeters and 15.2 centimeters) had fallen by Sunday night in parts of two counties, the National Weather Service said.In the mountain pass area of Donner Summit, firefighters in Truckee extended a ladder to stranded residents at a house along the South Yuba River, the fire department posted online Sunday. No injuries were reported. The weather service office in Sacramento had said a series of warm atmospheric rivers would bring moderate to heavy rain to the Valley, foothills, and mountains the week of Christmas.Atmospheric rivers are long, narrow bands of water vapor that form over an ocean and flow through the sky, transporting moisture from the tropics to northern latitudes. Earlier this month, warm weather and air and unusual weather conditions tracing back as far as tropical cyclone flooding in Indonesia helped supercharge stubborn atmospheric rivers that drenched Washington state with nearly 5 trillion gallons (19 trillion liters) of rain in a week, threatening record flood levels, meteorologists said.

As prisoners stand looking out from a cell, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a tour of the Terrorist Confinement Center in Tecoluca, El Salvador, March 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)2025-12-22T14:21:52Z AP Media Writer (AP) CBS News 60 Minutes on Sunday didnt air a planned story on Trump administration deportations of immigrants to El Salvador, pulling it only hours before airtime at the direction of new editor-in-chief Bari Weiss.The story, where correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi spoke to deportees who had been sent to El Salvadors notorious CECOT prison, was held because Weiss sought to add perspective from the Trump administration, according to people at the network.In an email sent to some colleagues and reported by multiple media outlets, Alfonsi said shed learned on Saturday that Weiss had decided not to air it. She said her story was factually correct and cleared by CBS attorneys and news standards officials. In my view, pulling it now -- after every rigorous internal check has been met is not an editorial decision, it is a political one. The shift, publicly announced two hours before the broadcast aired, is sure to increase scrutiny on Weiss, the founder of the Free Press website who was installed at the top of CBS News this fall when its parent company, Paramount, was bought out. President Donald Trump has been sharply critical of 60 Minutes. He sued the network last fall over its interview with election opponent Kamala Harris, which was settled this summer, and recently complained about the shows interview with former ally turned foe Marjorie Taylor Greene. Weiss told The New York Times in a statement: My job is to make sure that all the stories we publish are the best they can be. Holding stories that arent ready for whatever reason that they lack sufficient context, say, or that they are missing critical voices happens every day in every newsroom.She said she looked forward to airing Alfonsis piece when its ready. DAVID BAUDER Bauder is the APs national media writer, covering the intersection of news, politics and entertainment. He is based in New York. twitter mailto