Security has become a top concern for voters across the region who are calling for iron-fisted measures. In Chile, the issue is pushing the country to the right.

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Retired WNBA star and Hall of Famer Sue Wicks rides her boat to check on her oysters in Moriches Bay in New York, Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)2025-12-14T14:10:15Z After seven days of wind, the morning is finally calm enough on New Yorks East Moriches Bay for Sue Wicks to jetty her boat to check on her oysters. Hundreds of cages pop out at odd angles from their lines, and a few float away.The retired WNBA star and Hall of Famer admits that the aquaculture farm she started at age 50 can be anxiety-inducing and compares it to her time playing basketball. Retired WNBA star and Hall of Famer Sue Wicks throws an anchor from her boat in Moriches Bay in New York, Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura) Retired WNBA star and Hall of Famer Sue Wicks throws an anchor from her boat in Moriches Bay in New York, Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura) 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 Some days youre like, Why am I doing this? Youre injured, youre hurt, you are losing, things are going bad. And then the next day you go back and do it again because you love it, she said. Wicks, 59, has worked as a commentator, college basketball coach and at a fitness start-up since retiring from the WNBA in 2002, and says she feels lucky to again find a career that works for my soul. But the reality is that even a successful run as one of the worlds best basketball players didnt earn her enough to fully retire. Retired WNBA star and Hall of Famer Sue Wicks rides her boat to check on her oysters in Moriches Bay in New York, Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura) Retired WNBA star and Hall of Famer Sue Wicks rides her boat to check on her oysters in Moriches Bay in New York, Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura) 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 Although the WNBA is bringing in more than ever from sponsors and ticket sales, many players still find themselves financially unsteady when the final whistle blows. The choice is what they do as their second career, not whether they have a second career, said Risa Isard, director of research and insights at womens sports marketing platform Parity. Since women athletes get paid a fraction of what men do while theyre playing, Isard said their next acts tend to look more like traditional career paths rather than managing substantial investment portfolios. The average NBA salary is around $11.9 million, according to data reviewed by The Associated Press. Thats nearly 100 times what the WNBA says is the average salary of $120,000 for its players although major differences in league size, age, profit margins and media contracts account for part of that gap. For 2009 second overall draft pick and 2015 WNBA All-Star Marissa Coleman, the main difference between post-playing careers between WNBA and NBA players is that most NBA guys are sitting on tens, sometimes hundreds of million dollars. And for those who are financially savvy, working after the game is more so curing boredom versus a necessity. Retired WNBA All-Star Marissa Coleman poses for a photo in Mitchellville, Md., Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert) Retired WNBA All-Star Marissa Coleman poses for a photo in Mitchellville, Md., Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert) 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 Most women athletes across the board have to find a career after basketball out of necessity, Coleman said.All this is happening against a backdrop of unresolved questions about the future of WNBA player compensation. Tensions have run high in the ongoing labor battle between the WNBA and the players union, although it is unclear how far apart the sides are in terms of compensation. Both parties agreed on Nov. 30 to an extension of the current collective bargaining agreement to Jan. 9 while negotiations continue. A major sticking point has been revenue sharing: As the WNBA booms, players are looking for a larger share in that growth. They currently earn a significantly smaller fraction of the leagues revenue compared with NBA players.When former Minnesota Lynx forward Devereaux Peters transitioned from basketball to real estate development in 2019, she said the hardest lesson was learning that working hard in her new career may not be enough to yield results quickly, or at all. After a tough game during her playing days, she could go in the gym and shoot and work on my shot. And youre going to see a result if youre putting in the work. That is not necessarily true in the real world, said the 36-year-old. You can put in a ton of work and do a lot right and not get anywhere. Former Minnesota Lynx forward Devereaux Peters, transitioned from basketball to real estate development, poses for a photo at her office in Chicago, Monday, Nov. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley) Former Minnesota Lynx forward Devereaux Peters, transitioned from basketball to real estate development, poses for a photo at her office in Chicago, Monday, Nov. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley) 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 shift away from basketball also came as a financial shock: That transition was a little bit difficult in that I had to cut back significantly, she said. There was a lot of learning very quickly given the big gap in what I was making then and what I make now.For the last six years, Peters has shepherded an affordable housing project in South Bend, Indiana home to her alma mater, Notre Dame. Red tape, politics, and myriad other logistical challenges have made the project the hardest thing Ive ever done in my life, Peters said.But she says its also the best: Helping people that truly, genuinely need it makes it all worth it. Her affordable apartment building is slated to break ground next month, and open its doors in August 2027.For 38-year-old Coleman, the next phase of her career also unfolded far outside the paint. Alongside former teammate Alana Beard, Coleman franchised a Mellow Mushroom a psychedelic-themed pizza chain in Roanoke, Virginia. She also chaired a campaign to legalize sports betting in Maryland, and now leads strategy and growth for the VIP team at fantasy sports platform Underdog, with the aim of carving space for more women and people of color to access the industry.I knew from a very early age entrepreneurship and business were something that I was really, really passionate about, Coleman said. She added that she feels grateful to her parents for emphasizing the importance of education and long-term career planning. Thanks to their wisdom, she made sure to seek out mentors and explore industries that interested her throughout her basketball career. I knew I didnt want to be one of those players that retired, and it was like, Oh gosh, what now? Coleman said.Many former athletes land in sports-related roles, such as coaching or sports broadcasting. But not all are surefooted in finding their next calling. Jayne Appel Marinelli, SVP of player relations for the leagues union and a former center for the San Antonio Stars, counsels players on their post-basketball career path. She explained the transition remains challenging for many, even with the WNBA and unions joint tuition assistance and internship program, and semester-long opportunity with Harvard Business School, which Coleman completed.The players union has worked to further expand opportunities by adding player internship slots to licensee contracts, partnering with universities and more, according to Appel Marinelli. Athletes sometimes need help recognizing that the skills that they have built are so easily transferable over to any role that theyre going to take on next, she said.That kind of support didnt exist for Wicks generation at the leagues inception in 1997. There was no stability in womens sports, she said. Our victory was, we got our next paycheck, and that the lights were on and that the bus was waiting there still.Back then, my dream was that the league would exist, Wicks said. Almost 30 years later, her new dream is that players are compensated in a way that gives them freedom to do what they want in life.Despite her own post-WNBA success, Peters says players could use more guidance to help them understand how to plan, save and prepare for the future. The general lifespan of a basketball player is not long, she said. You have to be prepared to not be here tomorrow or the next year.________AP Sports Writers Doug Feinberg in New York and Tim Reynolds in Miami contributed to this report.The Associated Press women in the workforce and state government coverage receives financial support from Pivotal Ventures. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APs standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org. CLAIRE SAVAGE Savage is a national reporter for the APs Business team. She covers women in the workforce and is based in Chicago. twitter instagram mailto BRITTANY PETERSON Peterson is an Associated Press video journalist based in Denver. She covers water in the western U.S. for APs global climate team. twitter mailto

Ukraines president is meeting with U.S. negotiators on the latest plans to try end the war with Russia. He said he would give up hopes of joining NATO, at least for now, if he got strong security guarantees.

The city has not seen this much snow this early in the season since 2019, the National Weather Service said.

Rodney Brooks, famous for the Roomba, argues the humanoid robot craze in Silicon Valley is doomed to fail.

The killing of three Americans during what was said to be a counterterrorism operation in central Syria served as a reminder that U.S. troops are still operating in the country.

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Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski, one of the Belarusian prisoners released on Saturday, speaks during an interview with the Associated Press in Vilnius, Lithuania, on Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis)2025-12-14T17:27:41Z VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski arrived for an interview with The Associated Press on Sunday in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, direct from a dentist appointment. The 63-year-old veteran human rights advocate was experiencing a return to daily life after more than four years behind bars in Belarus. He was suddenly released on Saturday. Medical assistance in the penal colony where he served his 10-year sentence was very limited, he said in his first sit-down interview after release. There was only one option of treating dental problems behind bars pulling teeth out, he said. Bialiatski recalled how in the early hours of Saturday he was in an overcrowded prison cell in the Penal Colony no. 9 in eastern Belarus when suddenly he was ordered to pack his things. Blindfolded, he was driven somewhere: They put a blindfold over my eyes. I was looking occasionally where we were headed, but only understood that were heading toward west. In Vilnius, he hugged his wife for the first time in years. When I crossed the border, it was as if I emerged from the bottom of the sea and onto the surface of the water. You have lots of air, sun, and back there you were in a completely different situation under pressure, he told the AP. Bialiatski was one of 123 prisoners released by Belarus in exchange for the U.S. lifting sanctions imposed on the Belarusian potash sector, crucial for the countrys economy. A close ally of Russia, Belarus has faced Western isolation and sanctions for years. Its authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko has ruled the nation of 9.5 million with an iron fist for more than three decades, and the country has been repeatedly sanctioned by the West for its crackdown on human rights and for allowing Moscow to use its territory in the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. In an effort at a rapprochement with the West, Belarus has released hundreds of prisoners since July 2024. Bialiatski won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022 along with the prominent Russian rights group Memorial and Ukraines Center for Civil Liberties. Awarded the prize while in jail awaiting trial, he was later convicted of smuggling and financing actions that violated the public order charges widely denounced as politically motivated and sentenced to 10 years in prison.The veteran advocate, who founded Belarus oldest and most prominent human rights group, Viasna, was imprisoned at a penal colony in Gorki in a facility notorious for beatings and hard labor. He told AP that he wasnt beaten behind bars his status as a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, perhaps, protected him from physical violence, he said. But he said he went through much of what all political prisoners in Belarus go through: solitary confinement, arbitrary punishment for minor infractions, not being able to see your loved ones, rarely being able to receive letters. We can definitely talk about inhumane treatment, about creating conditions that violate your integrity and some kind of human dignity, he said. Bialiatski is concerned about two of his Viasna colleagues, Marfa Rabkova and Valiantsin Stefanovic, who remain imprisoned, and about all 1,110 political prisoners still behind bars, according to Viasna. Despite the fact that prisoners are being freed right now, new people regularly end up behind bars. Some kind of schizofrenia is taking place: with one hand, the authorities release Belarusian political prisoners, and with the other they take in more prisoners to trade, to maintain this abnormal situation in Belarus, he said. The advocate vows to continue to fight for the release of all political prisoners, adding: There is no point in freeing old ones if youre taking in new ones. He intends to use his status as a Nobel Peace Prize laureate of which he learned in prison and couldnt initially believe it to help Belarusians who chose freedom. This prize was given not to me as a person, but to me as a representative of the Belarusian civil society, of the millions of Belarusians who expressed will and desire for democracy, for freedom, for human rights, for changing this stale situation in Belarus, he told AP. And it was a signal to the Belarusian authorities, too, that its time to change something in the life of the Belarusians. YURAS KARMANAU Karmanau is an Associated Press journalist covering Belarus and the CIS countries. He has worked in Belarus and Ukraine, as well as other countries in the region, for more than 20 years. He is part of the team that covers the Russia-Ukraine war. mailto

U.S. forces patrol oil fields in Syria, Oct. 28, 2019 . (AP Photo/Baderkhan Ahmad, File)2025-12-14T17:28:45Z BEIRUT (AP) A man who carried out an attack in Syria that killed three U.S. citizens had joined Syrias internal security forces as a base security guard two months earlier and was recently reassigned amid suspicions that he might be affiliated with the Islamic State group, a Syrian official told The Associated Press Sunday.The attack Saturday in the Syrian desert near the historic city of Palmyra killed two U.S. service members and one American civilian and wounded three others. It also wounded three members of the Syrian security forces who clashed with the gunman, interior ministry spokesperson Nour al-Din al-Baba said.Al-Baba said that Syrias new authorities had faced shortages in security personnel and had to recruit rapidly after the unexpected success of a rebel offensive last year that intended to capture the northern city of Aleppo but ended up overthrowing the government of former President Bashar Assad. We were shocked that in 11 days we took all of Syria and that put a huge responsibility in front of us from the security and administration sides, he said.The attacker was among 5,000 members who recently joined a new division in the internal security forces formed in the desert region known as the Badiya, one of the places where remnants of the Islamic State extremist group have remained active. Attacker had raised suspicionsAl-Baba said the internal security forces leadership had recently become suspicious that there was an infiltrator leaking information to IS and began evaluating all members in the Badiya area.The probe raised suspicions last week about the man who later carried out the attack, but officials decided to continue monitoring him for a few days to try to determine if he was an active member of IS and to identify the network he was communicating with if so, al-Baba said. He did not name the attacker.At the same time, as a precautionary measure, he said, the man was reassigned to guard equipment at the base at a location where he would be farther from the leadership and from any patrols by U.S.-led coalition forces. On Saturday, 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, al-Baba said. The attacker was shot and killed at the scene.Al-Baba acknowledged that the incident was a major security breach but said that in the year since Assads fall there have been many more successes than failures by security forces.In the wake of the shooting, he said, the Syrian army and internal security forces launched wide-ranging sweeps of the Badiya region and broke up a number of alleged IS cells.A delicate partnershipThe incident comes at a delicate time as the U.S. military is expanding its cooperation with Syrian security forces.The U.S. has had forces on the ground in Syria for over a decade, with a stated mission of fighting IS, with about 900 troops present there today.Before Assads ouster, Washington had no diplomatic relations with Damascus and the U.S. military did not work directly with the Syrian army. Its main partner at the time was the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in the countrys northeast. That has changed over the past year. Ties have warmed between the administrations of U.S. President Donald Trump and Syrian interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, the former leader of an Islamist insurgent group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham that used to be listed by Washington as a terrorist organization.In November, al-Sharaa became the first Syrian president to visit Washington since the countrys independence in 1946. During his visit, Syria announced its entry into the global coalition against the Islamic State, joining 89 other countries that have committed to combating the group.U.S. officials have vowed retaliation against IS for the attack but have not publicly commented on the fact that the shooter was a member of the Syrian security forces. Critics of the new Syrian authorities have pointed to Saturdays attack as evidence that the security forces are deeply infiltrated by IS and are an unreliable partner. Mouaz Moustafa, executive director of the Syrian Emergency Task Force, an advocacy group that seeks to build closer relations between Washington and Damascus, said that is unfair.Despite both having Islamist roots, HTS and IS were enemies and often clashed over the past decade.Among former members of HTS and allied groups, Moustafa, said, Its a fact that even those who carry the most fundamentalist of beliefs, the most conservative within the fighters, have a vehement hatred of ISIS.The coalition between the United States and Syria is the most important partnership in the global fight against ISIS because only Syria has the expertise and experience to deal with this, he said. ABBY SEWELL Sewell is the Associated Press news director for Lebanon, Syria and Iraq. She joined the AP in 2022 but has been based in the region since 2016, reporting and guiding coverage on some of its most significant news stories. twitter mailto

Palestinians pray during the funeral of Hamas' Al-Qassam Brigades operatives, whose bodies are draped in the group's flag, killed in an Israeli strike Saturday, in Gaza City, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)2025-12-14T15:23:32Z JERUSALEM (AP) Hamas on Sunday confirmed the death of a top commander in Gaza, a day after Israel said it had killed Raed Saad in a strike outside Gaza City.The Hamas statement described Saad as the commander of its military manufacturing unit. Israel had described him as an architect of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that sparked the war in Gaza, and asserted that he had been engaged in rebuilding the terrorist organization in a violation of the ceasefire that took effect two months ago.Israel said it killed Saad after an explosive device detonated and wounded two soldiers in the territorys south.Hamas also said it had named a new commander but did not give details.Saturdays strike west of Gaza City killed four people, according to an Associated Press journalist who saw their bodies arrive at Shifa Hospital. Another three were wounded, according to Al-Awda hospital. Hamas in its initial statement described the vehicle struck as a civilian one. Israel and Hamas have repeatedly accused each other of truce violations.Israeli airstrikes and shootings in Gaza have killed at least 391 Palestinians since the ceasefire took hold, according to Palestinian health officials. Israel has said recent strikes are in retaliation for militant attacks against its soldiers, and that troops have fired on Palestinians who approached the Yellow Line between the Israeli-controlled majority of Gaza and the rest of the territory. Israel has demanded that Palestinian militants return the remains of the final hostage, Ran Gvili, from Gaza and called it a condition of moving to the second and more complicated phase of the ceasefire. That lays out a vision for ending Hamas rule and seeing the rebuilding of a demilitarized Gaza under international supervision. The initial Hamas-led 2023 attack on southern Israel killed around 1,200 people and took 251 hostages. Almost all hostages or their remains have been returned in ceasefires or other deals. Israels two-year campaign in Gaza has killed more than 70,660 Palestinians, roughly half of them women and children, according to the territorys Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between militants and civilians in its count. The ministry, which operates under the Hamas-run government, is staffed by medical professionals and maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by the international community.___Find more of APs Israel-Hamas coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

The video, verified by The New York Times, shows a man sneaking up on one of the shooters who targeted a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney on Sunday.

People gather on Washington Street in front of Manhattan Bridge during a snowfall, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in the Brooklyn Borough of New York. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)2025-12-14T18:46:33Z A weekend storm sent temperatures plunging well below zero in the Midwest and dumped heavy snow on parts of the Northeast on Sunday, creating many airport delays and slick roads as the Pacific Northwest braced for more rain after days of flooding and mudslides. The storm began Saturday and brought up to several inches of snow in the New York-New Jersey metro area, the regions first significant snowfall of the season. Light snow fell over parts of New England.The storm was expected to weaken by Sunday night, followed by arctic conditions with overnight windchill temperatures at or plummeting below zero degrees (-18 Celsius). Crews and contractors were out plowing and treating roads in New Jersey, where the state Department of Transportation advised people to avoid unnecessary travel. Salt spreaders and plows worked overnight to clear snow from roads and bike lanes, the New York City Department of Sanitation posted online. The state of Pennsylvania temporarily reduced speed limits on interstates to 45 mph (72 kph). There were over 1,000 flights delayed and more than 100 cancellations at U.S. airports due to the weather, according the flight tracking site FlightAware. Meanwhile, a blastic of arctic air swept south from Canada and into parts of the northern U.S. The National Weather Service in Chanhassen, Minnesota, said Sunday was the coldest morning of the season so far. It was -10 degrees (-23 C) at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, with temperatures as low as -22 (-30 C) in some communities. In the Pacific Northwest, which has seen catastrophic flooding that has forced thousands of people to evacuate, more rain and wind was expected in the region as early as late Sunday, forecasters said. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

When a slogans real meaning comes true.

The student, in his first year at Brown, described helping others who were more seriously injured than him as they hid in their classroom.

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Bill and Hillary Clinton have repeatedly offered to provide sworn statements, but Representative James R. Comer has threatened to hold them in contempt of Congress if they fail to appear.

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Director of the National Economic Council Kevin Hassett does a television interview at the White House, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)2025-12-14T20:53:47Z WASHINGTON (AP) A leading candidate to be President Donald Trumps choice for Federal Reserve chair said that he would present the presidents views to Fed officials for their consideration but they could reject them if they chose when making decisions on interest rates. Kevin Hassett, in an interview Sunday on CBS News Face the Nation, said he would continue to speak with Trump if he becomes the Fed chair. But when asked if Trumps opinions on interest rates would have equal weighting with members of the Feds interest-rate setting committee, Hassett replied, No, he would have no weight.His opinion matters if its good, if its based on data, Hassett continued. And then if you go to the committee and you say, well, the president made this argument and thats a really sound argument, I think, what do you think? If they reject it, then theyll vote in a different way. Hassetts comments come as Trump is reportedly in final interviews with potential replacements for the Feds current chair, Jerome Powell. Trump has emphasized that he expects whomever he nominates to lead the Fed will sharply lower the central banks key rate, which currently stands at about 3.6%. Trump has said it should be cut to 1% or lower, a view almost no economist shares. Trumps outspokenness has raised concerns about the Feds independence from day-to-day politics under any chair he appoints. Until Trumps first election in 2016, presidents of both parties for several decades had avoided commenting publicly on Fed decisions, and usually refrained from doing so privately as well. Economists generally believe that a politically independent Fed is better at combating inflation, because it can take unpopular steps to keep prices down, such as raise interest rates. On Friday, however, Trump said that he certainly should have a role in talking to whoever the head of the Fed is about rates. Ive done great. Ive made a lot of money, Im very successful, he said. I think my voice should be heard.The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that Kevin Warsh, a fellow at the right-leaning Hoover Institution and former Fed governor, is Trumps current favorite to replace Powell, whose term ends next May. But Trump has previously hinted that he would pick Hassett. I think the two Kevins are great, Trump told the Journal. Hassett, for his part, on Sunday said that in the end, the job of the Fed is to be independent. In the end, its a committee that votes, he said. And Id be happy to talk to the president every day until both of us are dead because its so much fun. CHRISTOPHER RUGABER Rugaber has covered the Federal Reserve and the U.S. economy for the AP for 16 years. He is a two-time finalist for the Gerald Loeb award for business reporting. twitter mailto

The gunman who killed two U.S. soldiers and an American civilian interpreter had been set to be dismissed from the security forces over his extremist views, U.S. and Syrian officials said.

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As the shooter remained at large, students sheltered in place in classrooms and basements, waiting for the all clear.

The committee cited interviews with police commanders in an effort to buttress President Trumps federal takeover of law enforcement and the National Guard deployment in the capital city.

A JetBlue logo is displayed on the side of a jet as it taxis at Boston's Logan International Airport, Jan. 20, 2011. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia, File)2025-12-14T19:15:23Z WASHINGTON (AP) A JetBlue flight from the small Caribbean nation of Curaao halted its ascent to avoid colliding with a U.S. Air Force refueling tanker on Friday, and the pilot blamed the military plane for crossing his path. We almost had a midair collision up here, the JetBlue pilot said, according to a recording of his conversation with air traffic control. They passed directly in our flight path. ... They dont have their transponder turned on, its outrageous.The incident involved JetBlue Flight 1112 from Curaao, which is just off the coast of Venezuela, en route to New York Citys JFK airport. It comes as the U.S. military has stepped up its drug interdiction activities in the Caribbean and is also seeking to increase pressure on Venezuelas government. We just had traffic pass directly in front of us within 5 miles of us maybe 2 or 3 miles but it was an air-to air-refueler from the United States Air Force and he was at our altitude, the pilot said. We had to stop our climb. The pilot said the Air Force plane then headed into Venezuelan air space. Derek Dombrowski, a spokesman for JetBlue, said Sunday: We have reported this incident to federal authorities and will participate in any investigation. He added, Our crewmembers are trained on proper procedures for various flight situations, and we appreciate our crew for promptly reporting this situation to our leadership team. The Pentagon referred The Associated Press to the Air Force for comment. The Air Force didnt immediately respond to a request for comment. Stay up to date with the news and the best of AP by following our WhatsApp channel. Follow on The Federal Aviation Administration last month issued a warning to U.S. aircraft urging them to exercise caution when in Venezuelan airspace, due to the worsening security situation and heightened military activity in or around Venezuela.According to the air traffic recording, the controller responded to the pilot, It has been outrageous with the unidentified aircraft within our air.___Associated Press writer Ben Finley contributed to this report. CHRISTOPHER RUGABER Rugaber has covered the Federal Reserve and the U.S. economy for the AP for 16 years. He is a two-time finalist for the Gerald Loeb award for business reporting. twitter mailto

This image released by Disney shows Nick Wilde, voiced by Jason Bateman, left, and Judy Hopps, voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin, in a scene from "Zootopia 2." (Disney via AP)2025-12-14T18:12:57Z NEW YORK (AP) Zootopia 2 regained the No. 1 spot at the domestic box office with $26.3 million in its third weekend of release, according to studio estimates Sunday, as The Walt Disney Co. animated sequel became the years second film to gross $1 billion worldwide.With Avatar: Fire and Ash arriving Friday, it was a relatively quiet weekend in theaters. There were no major new releases, leaving holdovers Zootopia 2 and Five Nights at Freddys 2 to duke it out for the top spot.The edge went to Zootopia 2, which has quickly amassed $1.14 billion in global ticket sales thanks significantly to its enormous success in China. There, its grossed $502.4 million, making Zootopia 2 the biggest Hollywood hit in the country in years. The only other 2025 Hollywood title to surpass $1 billion worldwide was Disneys Lilo & Stitch ($1.04 billion). The highest grossing movie of the year, though, is the Chinese blockbuster Ne Zha 2, which collected nearly $2 billion just in China. In its second weekend of release, the Universal Pictures and Blumhouse Productions sequel Five Nights at Freddys 2 collected $15.4 million, a brutal drop of 70% from its above-expectations debut. Still, with a domestic total of $95.5 million, the $36 million production is a big win for Blumhouse, adding another horror franchise to its portfolio.The weekends most notable new release was James L. Brooks Ella McCay, his first directed film in 15 years. Ella McCay earned a scant $2.1 million from 2,500 locations, making it one of the years worst wide releases. Stay up to date with the news and the best of AP by following our WhatsApp channel. Follow on But box-office expectations werent high coming in from Ella McCay, a comic drama about a 34-year-old woman (newcomer Emma Mackey) who becomes governor of her home state. Reviews (22% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) were poor, and the kind of award-winning comic dramas movies that Brooks (Terms of Endearment, Broadcast News) has long specialized in today seldom find large audiences in theaters. Ella McCay, featuring a supporting cast including Jamie Lee Curtis, Ayo Edebiri and Woody Harrelson, cost $35 million to make. With overall ticket sales on the year running close to even with last years disappointing grosses, according to Comscore data, Hollywood will be hoping the coming holiday corridor, traditionally the busiest moviegoing period of the year, ends 2025 on a high note. Movies on tap include Avatar: Fire and Ash, The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants, Marty Supreme, Anaconda and Song Sung Blue. Top 10 movies by domestic box officeWith final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:1. Zootopia 2, $26.3 million. 2. Five Nights at Freddys 2, $19.5 million. 3. Wicked: For Good, $8.6 million. 4. Dhurandhar, $3.5 million. 5. Now You See Me: Now You Dont, $2.4 million.6. Jujutsu Kaisen: Execution, $2.1 million. 7. Ella McCay, $ 2.1 million. 8. Dr. Seuss How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000), $1.9 million. 9. Eternity, $1.8 million. 10. Hamnet, $1.5 million. JAKE COYLE Coyle has been a film critic and covered the movie industry for The Associated Press since 2013. He is based in New York City. twitter mailto

Jos Antonio Kast won the race on Sunday after a contest marked by concerns over security and immigration.

The Air Force refueling tanker was flying without its location transponder activated and could not be detected by air traffic control.

Quemuel Arroyo, the New York transit systems chief accessibility officer, has used a wheelchair for half his life. He understands how difficult it is to navigate the subway.

We set out to investigate worker abuse in Saudi Arabia. We found a system that begins exploiting them before they ever leave home.

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) is checked on after being injured during the second half of an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Chargers Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)2025-12-14T21:34:40Z KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) The final images of the Kansas City Chiefs postseason pursuit were Patrick Mahomes getting helped to the locker room with what turned out to be a torn ACL in his left knee, a white towel draped over his head, and backup quarterback Gardner Minshew throwing an interception to Derwin James that gave the Los Angeles Chargers a win over one of their biggest rivals.It all happened in the final two minutes of their 16-13 victory Sunday.Justin Herbert, playing through a broken left hand, had helped the Chargers take the lead with a second-half rally, but Kansas City got the ball back with one more chance. Mahomes was sprinting toward the sideline and throwing the ball away when he was spun to the ground by defensive lineman DaShawn Hand, leaving the two-time MVP grabbing at his left knee.It didnt look good, Chiefs coach Andy Reid acknowledged afterward. Later, the Chiefs released an update, saying: An MRI has confirmed that Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes sustained a torn ACL in his left knee in todays game. Patrick and the club are currently exploring surgical options. Minshew took over and completed three straight passes, giving Chiefs fans hope on a day that began with wind chills near zero and their playoff chances about the same. But with 20 seconds to go, Minshew unloaded a pass for Travis Kelce, and James his longtime divisional foil leaped up to pick it off, allowing Los Angeles (10-4) to begin celebrating a second straight 10-win season. Perhaps soon, a second straight postseason appearance.Its a ball team. This is a ball team, Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh said. Starting to think this is my favorite ball team that Ive ever been on. Ive been on a lot of teams, none better than this team. Its a ball team. A real ball team. Love these guys.We know what that team has done the last eight, nine years, James added. Coming into Arrowhead Stadium and getting a win, it means a lot for out team, because were 5-0 in our division. Minshew will quarterback the Chiefs through the final three games of the season. One of them is a primetime showdown with the Denver Broncos on Christmas night.Ill do whatever the coaches ask of me, Minshew said, and well go try to win some games.The Chiefs (6-8) already are guaranteed to be watching the playoffs on TV for the first time since 2014, and Kelce was in no mood to talk about it. Just as hes done after several losses this season, the star tight end refused to answer questions from reporters.Sorry guys, its not the time, Kelce said.The Chargers had beaten the Chiefs in their opener in Brazil, ultimately setting each club on its season-long trajectory.Los Angeles arrived for the rematch Sunday trying to extend the momentum built in last weeks win over the Super Bowl champion Eagles. The Chiefs showed up knowing a loss, coupled with the wrong results elsewhere, would eliminate them completely.The Chiefs played appropriately inspired for most of the first half.They moved swiftly downfield with Mahomes darting in from 12 yards out for a touchdown on their opening drive. They added a field goal later in the first half, and another by Harrison Butker gave them a 13-3 lead with 38 seconds left before the break. Thats when the Chargers started playing like a playoff-bound team. And the Chiefs like one that should be sitting at home.Herbert completed three passes in five plays to cover 60 yards, and KeAndre Lambert-Smiths first career TD catch got the Chargers within a field goal. Cameron Dicker knotted the game on their opening possession of the second half, then he gave them the lead when he drilled a 49-yarder on a cold, windy day at Arrowhead Stadium with 2:40 to go in the third quarter.The Chiefs tried to answer down the stretch, despite a rash of injuries that had left them with a patchwork offensive line. But just like so often this season, a promising drive went haywire in the red zone. Tyquan Thorntons spectacular catch was immediately forgotten when Mahomes pass was picked off by Daiyan Henley on a jump ball thrown to Kareem Hunt at the goal line. Mahomes, who had just 189 yards passing, would ultimately end the game in the Kansas City locker room.The Chargers would end the Chiefs postseason hopes with one more interception.I thought it was really cool that we were able to close out a one-score game like that, how many times weve played them and had one-score games, Herbert said. For the defense to come out there with the turnovers and stops, it was awesome to see.Sent packingThornton landed in the concussion protocol after his late 20-yard reception following a vicious hit by cornerback Tony Jefferson, who helped to trigger a mild midfield scuffle. Jefferson was ejected, and Henley and James had to push him toward the tunnel.InjuriesChargers: WR Quentin Johnson (groin) was inactive. S R.J. Mickens left with a shoulder injury.Chiefs: CB Trent McDuffie (knee) was inactive. Thornton (concussion protocol) and RT Jaylon Moore (knee) left and did not return.Up nextChargers: At Dallas next Sunday.Chiefs: At Tennessee next Sunday.___AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl DAVE SKRETTA Skretta is a Kansas City-based sports writer for The Associated Press. He covers the Royals, the Chiefs and college sports along with auto racing, the Olympics and other sports.

He attributed his rags-to-riches ascent to the freedoms of Hong Kong, and has paid a hefty price for defending them.

A former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and a former chief medical officer of the agency will advise the state on public health issues.

Her picture books found models of perseverance and imagination in figures like Emily Dickinson, Georgia OKeeffe and Benny Goodman.

Rob Reiner arrives at the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network's Respect Awards, in Beverly Hills, Calif., Friday, Oct. 8, 2010. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, File)2025-12-15T02:56:14Z LOS ANGELES (AP) Two people were found dead at a Los Angeles home owned by director-actor Rob Reiner on Sunday, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation.The official could not publicly discuss details of the investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.The Los Angeles Fire Department says it responded to a medical aid request Sunday afternoon and found a 78-year-old man and 68-year-old woman dead inside.Reiner was long one of the most prolific directors in Hollywood, and his work includes some of the most memorable movies of the 1980s and 90s, including This is Spinal Tap, A Few Good Men, When Harry Met Sally and The Princess Bride.His role as Meathead in the 1970s TV classic All in the Family alongside Carol OConnors Archie Bunker catapulted him to fame.He turned 78 in March, although authorities have not confirmed the identities of the people found dead in Reiners home in the upscale Brentwood neighborhood on the citys west side thats home to many celebrities. Messages to his representatives were not immediately returned Sunday night.The son of comedy legend Carl Reiner, Rob Reiner has been married to photographer Michele Singer Reiner since 1989. The two met while he was directing When Harry Met Sally and have three children together.Reiner was previously married to actor-director Penny Marshall from 1971 to 1981. He adopted her daughter, Tracy Reiner. Carl Reiner died in 2020 at age 98 and Marshall died in 2018.__Balsamo reported from Washington. MIKE BALSAMO Balsamo is the national law enforcement editor for The Associated Press. He oversees coverage of the Justice Department, federal courts and criminal justice. twitter mailto

The Los Angeles Police Department said it is investigating the deaths as an apparent homicide.

The Hong Kong publishers fate will reveal whether democracies still have the resolve to defend their own values.

Writer-director Rob Reiner poses for a portrait, May 2, 2016, in New York. (Photo by Brian Ach/Invision/AP, File)2025-12-15T05:27:22Z Rob Reiner, the son of a comedy giant who went on to become one, himself, as one of the preeminent filmmakers of his generation with movies such as The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally and This Is Spinal Tap, has died. He was 78. Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer, were found dead Sunday at their home in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles. A law enforcement official briefed on the investigation confirmed that Reiner and Singer were the victims. The official could not publicly discuss details of the investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. RELATED COVERAGE Rob Reiner and his wife found dead in Los Angeles home, AP source says Authorities were investigating an apparent homicide, said Capt. Mike Bland with the Los Angeles Police Department. The Los Angeles Fire Department said it responded to a medical aid request shortly after 3:30 p.m. Reiner grew up thinking his father, Carl Reiner, didnt understand him or find him funny. But the younger Reiner would in many ways follow in his fathers footsteps, working both in front and behind the camera, in comedies that stretched from broad sketch work to accomplished dramedies. Sally Struthers plants a kiss on the cheek of Rob Reiner, right, Carroll O'Connor and Jean Stapleton hold hands during a reunion of the cast of "All in the Family," at O'Conner restaurant, Feb. 12, 1991, in Beverly Hill, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Martinez, File) Sally Struthers plants a kiss on the cheek of Rob Reiner, right, Carroll O'Connor and Jean Stapleton hold hands during a reunion of the cast of "All in the Family," at O'Conner restaurant, Feb. 12, 1991, in Beverly Hill, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Martinez, File) 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 Rob Reiner talks on the phone at his office at Castle Rock Enterprises, seeking donations for anti-smoking campaigns, July 29, 1988, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File) Rob Reiner talks on the phone at his office at Castle Rock Enterprises, seeking donations for anti-smoking campaigns, July 29, 1988, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File) 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 My father thought, Oh, my God, this poor kid is worried about being in the shadow of a famous father, Reiner said, recalling the temptation to change his name to 60 Minutes in October. And he says, What do you want to change your name to? And I said, Carl. I just wanted to be like him. After starting out as a writer for The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, Reiners breakthrough came when he was, at age 23, cast in Norman Lears All in the Family as Archie Bunkers liberal son-in-law, Michael Meathead Stivic. But by the 1980s, Reiner began as a feature film director, churning out some of the most beloved films of that, or any, era. His first film, the largely improvised 1984 cult classic This Is Spinal Tap, remains the urtext mockumentary. After the 1985 John Cusack summer comedy, The Sure Thing, Reiner made Stand By Me (1986), The Princess Bride (1987) and When Harry Met Sally (1989), a four-year stretch that resulted in a trio of American classics, all of them among the most often quoted movies of the 20th century. Rob Reiner arrives at the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Networks Respect Awards, in Beverly Hills, Calif., Friday, Oct. 8, 2010. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, File) Rob Reiner arrives at the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Networks Respect Awards, in Beverly Hills, Calif., Friday, Oct. 8, 2010. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, File) 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 legacy on and off screenFor the next four decades, Reiner, a warm and gregarious presence on screen and an outspoken liberal advocate off it, remained a constant fixture in Hollywood. The production company he co-founded, Castle Rock Entertainment, launched an enviable string of hits, including Seinfeld and The Shawshank Redemption. By the turn of the century, its success rate had fallen considerably, but Reiner revived it earlier this decade. This fall, Reiner and Castle Rock released the long-in-coming sequel Spinal Tap II: The End Continues. All the while, Reiner was one of the film industrys most passionate Democrat activists, regularly hosting fundraisers and campaigning for liberal issues. He was co-founder of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, which challenged in court Californias ban on same-sex marriage, Proposition 8. He also chaired the campaign for Prop 10, a California initiative to fund early childhood development services with a tax on tobacco products. Reiner was also a critic of President Donald Trump. That ran in the family, too. Reiners father opposed the Communist hunt of McCarthyism in the 1950s and his mother, Estelle Reiner, a singer and actor, protested the Vietnam War. If youre a nepo baby, doors will open, Reiner told the Guardian in 2024. But you have to deliver. If you dont deliver, the door will close just as fast as it opened.All in the Family to Stand By Me Robert Reiner was born in the Bronx on March 6, 1947. As a young man, he quickly set out to follow his father into entertainment. He studied at the University of California, Los Angeles film school and, in the 1960s, began appearing in small parts in various television shows. Carl Reiner, left, and his son Rob Reiner pose together following their hand and footprint ceremony at the TCL Chinese Theatre, April 7, 2017, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File) Carl Reiner, left, and his son Rob Reiner pose together following their hand and footprint ceremony at the TCL Chinese Theatre, April 7, 2017, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File) 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 But when Lear saw Reiner as a key cast member in All in the Family, it came as a surprise to the elder Reiner.Norman says to my dad, You know, this kid is really funny. And I think my dad said, What? That kid? That kid? Hes sullen. He sits quiet. He doesnt, you know, hes not funny. He didnt think I was anyway, Reiner told 60 Minutes. On All in the Family, Reiner served as a pivotal foil to Carroll OConnors bigoted, conservative Archie Bunker. Reiner was five times nominated for an Emmy for his performance on the show, winning in 1974 and 1978. In Lear, Reiner also found a mentor. He called him a second father. It wasnt just that he hired me for All in the Family, Reiner told American Masters in 2005. It was that I saw, in how he conducted his life, that there was room to be an activist as well. That you could use your celebrity, your good fortune, to help make some change.Lear also helped launch Reiner as a filmmaker. He put $7.5 million of his own money to help finance Stand By Me, Reiners adaptation of the Stephen King novella The Body. The movie, about four boys who go looking for the dead body of a missing boy, became a coming-of-age classic, made breakthroughs of its young cast (particularly River Phoenix) and even earned the praise of King. With his stock rising, Reiner devoted himself to adapting William Goldmans 1973s The Princess Bride, a book Reiner had loved since his father gave him a copy as a gift. Everyone from Franois Truffaut to Robert Redford had considered adapting Goldmans book, but it ultimately fell to Reiner (from Goldmans own script) to capture the unique comic tone of The Princess Bride. But only once he had Goldmans blessing.At the door he greeted me and he said, This is my baby. I want this on my tombstone. This is my favorite thing Ive ever written in my life. What are you going to do with it? Reiner recalled in a Television Academy interview. And we sat down with him and started going through what I thought should be done with the film. Actor and director Rob Reiner, center, poses for photographs while stumping along with actor Martin Sheen, not seen, for Democratic presidential hopeful Howard Dean, Jan. 14, 2004, at the University of Northern Iowa, in Cedar Falls, Iowa. (Rick Chase/The Courier via AP, File) Actor and director Rob Reiner, center, poses for photographs while stumping along with actor Martin Sheen, not seen, for Democratic presidential hopeful Howard Dean, Jan. 14, 2004, at the University of Northern Iowa, in Cedar Falls, Iowa. (Rick Chase/The Courier via AP, File) 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 Though only a modest success in theaters, the movie starring Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin, Wallace Shawn, Andr the Giant and Robin Wright would grow in stature over the years, leading to countless impressions of Inigo Montoyas vow of revenge and the risky nature of land wars in Asia. When Harry Met Sally ... Reiner was married to Penny Marshall, the actor and filmmaker, for 10 years beginning in 1971. Like Reiner, Marshall experienced sitcom fame, with Laverne & Shirley, but found a more lasting legacy behind the camera. After their divorce, Reiner, at a lunch with Nora Ephron, suggested a comedy about dating. In writing what became When Harry Met Sally Ephron and Reiner charted a relationship between a man and a woman (played in the film by Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan) over the course of 12 years.Along the way, the movies ending changed, as did some of the films indelible moments. The famous line, Ill have what shes having, said after witnessing Ryans fake orgasm at Katzs Delicatessen, was a suggestion by Crystal delivered by none other than Reiners mother, Estelle. The movies happy ending also had some real-life basis. Reiner met Singer, a photographer, on the set of When Harry Met Sally In 1989, they were wed. They had three children together: Nick, Jake and Romy.Reiners subsequent films included another King adaptation, Misery (1990) and a pair of Aaron Sorkin-penned dramas: the military courtroom tale A Few Good Men (1992) and 1995s The American President.By the late 90s, Reiners films (1996s Ghosts of Mississippi, 2007s The Bucket List) no longer had the same success rate. But he remained a frequent actor, often memorably enlivening films like Sleepless in Seattle (1993) and The Wolf of Wall Street (2013). In 2023, he directed the documentary Albert Brooks: Defending My Life.In an interview earlier this year with Seth Rogen, Reiner suggested everything in his career boiled down to one thing.All Ive ever done is say, Is this something that is an extension of me? For Stand by Me, I didnt know if it was going to be successful or not. All I thought was, I like this because I know what it feels like. JAKE COYLE Coyle has been a film critic and covered the movie industry for The Associated Press since 2013. He is based in New York City. twitter mailto

Mr. Reiner, who was in All in the Family, directed films including This Is Spinal Tap, When Harry Met Sally , The Princess Bride and A Few Good Men.

A broad measure of investment fell more than 10 percent in November, continuing a recent reversal and signaling the depth of Chinas property crisis.

Jimmy Lai, the publisher of a popular tabloid, was convicted of national security charges on Monday after spending decades supporting the citys vanquished pro-democracy movement.

I lived and worked around Bondi for years. The emergency response tells you everything you need to know about the area.

A couple lay flowers at a tribute to shooting victims outside the Bondi Pavilion at Sydney's Bondi Beach, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025, a day after a shooting. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)2025-12-15T03:39:09Z SYDNEY (AP) Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday proposed tougher national gun laws after a mass shooting targeted a Hanukkah celebration on Sydneys Bondi Beach, leaving at least 15 people dead.Albanese said he would propose new restrictions, including limiting the number of guns a licensed owner can obtain. His proposals were announced after the authorities revealed that the older of the two gunmen who were a father and son had held a gun license for a decade and amassed his six guns legally.The government is prepared to take whatever action is necessary. Included in that is the need for tougher gun laws, Albanese told reporters.Peoples circumstances can change. People can be radicalized over a period of time. Licenses should not be in perpetuity, he added.At least 38 people were being treated in hospitals after the massacre on Sunday, when the two shooters fired indiscriminately on the beachfront festivities. Those killed included a 10-year-old girl, a rabbi and a Holocaust survivor. Stay up to date with the news and the best of AP by following our WhatsApp channel. Follow on Australia has gun laws meant to prevent mass attacksThe horror at Australias most popular beach was the deadliest shooting in almost three decades in a country with strict gun control laws primarily aimed at removing rapid-fire rifles from circulation. Albanese called the massacre an act of antisemitic terrorism that struck at the heart of the nation.He pledged swift change, planning on Monday afternoon to present his gun law proposals to a national cabinet meeting that includes state leaders. Some of the measures would also require state legislation.Some laws are commonwealth and some laws are implemented by the states, the Australian leader said. What we want to do is to make sure that were all completely on the same page. Christopher Minns, premier of New South Wales where Sydney is the state capital, agreed with Albanese that gun licenses should not be granted in perpetuity. Minns said his states gun laws would change, but he could not yet detail how. It means introducing a bill to Parliament to I mean to be really blunt make it more difficult to get these horrifying weapons that have no practical use in our community, Minns told repoters.If youre not a farmer, youre not involved in agriculture, why do you need these massive weapons that put the public in danger and make life dangerous and difficult for New South Wales Police? Minns asked.Australias gun laws were revised after a 1996 massacre in the Tasmanian town of Port Arthur, where a lone gunman killed 35 people. Jewish leaders lambast antisemitism measures Meanwhile, the massacre provoked questions about whether Albanese and his government had done enough to curb rising antisemitism. Jewish leaders and the massacres survivors expressed fear and fury as they questioned why the men hadnt been detected before they opened fire.Theres been a heap of inaction, said Lawrence Stand, a Sydney man who raced to a Bar Mitzvah celebration in Bondi when the violence erupted to find his 12-year-old daughter. But the people were warned about this. ... And still not enough has been done by our government.I think the federal government has made a number of missteps on antisemitism, Alex Ryvchin, spokesperson for the Australian Council of Executive Jewry, told reporters gathered on Monday near the site of the massacre. I think when an attack such as what we saw yesterday takes place the paramount and fundamental duty of government is the protection of its citizens, so theres been an immense failure.An investigation was needed, Ryvchin said, into how that was allowed to take place. Those investigations were beginning to unfold Monday.More details about the shooters emergeLittle was publicly confirmed about the men. Police said they were a father and son but wouldnt supply their names.The father, 50, who was shot dead, had a gun license that allowed him to legally acquire the six firearms recovered from his property and also held a gun club membership, New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said.The particular gun license he held entitled an adult with a genuine reason to own a rifle or shotgun. Accepted reasons include target shooting, recreational hunting and vermin control, but self-defense is not an accepted reason. The man arrived in Australia in 1998 on a student visa, authorities said, and was an Australian resident when he died. Officials wouldnt confirm what country he had migrated from.His 24-year-old Australian-born son, who was shot and wounded, is being treated at a hospital. Lanyon said the man may well face criminal charges and police wouldnt divulge what they knew about him to avoid marring a prosecution case against him.Albanese confirmed that Australias main domestic spy agency, the Australian Security Intelligence Agency, had investigated the son for six months in 2019.Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported that ASIO had examined the sons ties to a Sydney-based Islamic State group cell. Albanese did not describe the associates, but said ASIO was interested in them rather than the son.He was examined on the basis of being associated with others and the assessment was made that there was no indication of any ongoing threat or threat of him engaging in violence, Albanese said. Victims included children and the elderlyNone of the dead or wounded victims have been formally named by the authorities. Identities of those killed, who ranged in age from 10 to 87, began to emerge in news reports Monday.Among them was Rabbi Eli Schlanger, assistant rabbi at Chabad of Bondi and an organizer of the family Hanukkah event that was targeted, according to Chabad, an Orthodox Jewish movement that runs outreach worldwide and sponsors events during major Jewish holidays.Israels Foreign Ministry confirmed the death of an Israeli citizen, but gave no further details. French President Emmanuel Macron said a French citizen, identified as Dan Elkayam, was among those killed.Larisa Kleytman told reporters outside St Vincents Hospital that her husband, Alexander Kleytman, was among the dead. The couple were both Holocaust survivors, according to The Australian newspaper.The violence erupted at the end of a summer day when thousands had flocked to Bondi Beach, an icon of Australias cultural life. They included hundreds gathered for the Chanukah by the Sea event celebrating the start of the eight-day Hanukkah festival with food, face painting and a petting zoo.On Monday, hundreds arrived near the scene to lay flowers at a growing pile of floral tributes. There were words of pride, too, for a man who was captured on video appearing to tackle and disarm one gunman, before pointing the mans weapon at him, then setting the gun on the ground.The man was identified by Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke as Ahmed al Ahmed. The 42-year-old fruit shop owner and father of two was shot in the shoulder by the other gunman and survived.Massacre followed a surge in antisemitic crimesAustralia, a country of 28 million people, is home to about 117,000 Jews, according to official figures. Over the past year, the country was rocked by antisemitic attacks in Sydney and Melbourne. Synagogues and cars were torched, businesses and homes graffitied and Jews attacked in those cities, where 85% of the nations Jewish population lives.The Australian government has enacted various measures to counter a surge in antisemitism since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel launched a war on Hamas in Gaza in response. Measures included appointing a special enjoy to combat antisemitism, toughening laws and investing in enhanced security for Jewish schools and synagogues.Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that he warned Australias leaders months ago about the dangers of failing to take action against antisemitism. He claimed Australias decision, in line with scores of other countries, to recognize a Palestinian state pours fuel on the antisemitic fire.Albanese on Monday vowed the violence would be met with a moment of national unity where Australians across the board will embrace their fellow Australians of Jewish faith. There is no place in Australia for antisemitism, he said.Albanese in August blamed Iran for two of the previous attacks and cut diplomatic ties to Tehran. Authorities have not suggested Iran was linked to Sundays massacre.___Graham-McLay reported from Wellington, New Zealand and McGuirk from Melbourne, Australia. CHARLOTTE GRAHAM-MCLAY Graham-McLay is an Associated Press reporter covering regional and national stories about New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific Islands by putting them in a global context. She is based in Wellington. twitter mailto ROD MCGUIRK McGuirk covers Australian and South Pacific news for The Associated Press. He is based in Melbourne. mailto KRISTEN GELINEAU Gelineau is a global investigative reporter for The Associated Press, based in Sydney. She covers human rights issues across the Asia-Pacific. twitter mailto

People wait to enter the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts ahead of the verdict for Hong Kong activist publisher Jimmy Lai's national security trial, in Hong Kong, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)2025-12-15T00:24:29Z HONG KONG (AP) Jimmy Lai, the pro-democracy former Hong Kong media mogul and outspoken critic of Beijing, was convicted in a landmark national security trial in the citys court on Monday, which could send him to prison for the rest of his life.Three government-vetted judges found Lai, 78, guilty of conspiring with others to collude with foreign forces to endanger national security and conspiracy to publish seditious articles. He pleaded not guilty to all charges. Lai was arrested in August 2020 under a Beijing-imposed national security law that was implemented following massive anti-government protests in 2019. Lai has spent five years in custody, much of it in solitary confinement, and appears to have grown more frail and thinner. He has also been convicted of several lesser offenses related to fraud allegations and his actions in 2019.Lais trial, conducted without a jury, has been closely monitored by the U.S., Britain, the European Union and political observers as a barometer of media freedom and judicial independence in the former British colony, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997. Court said Lai spent years plotting against BeijingReading from an 855-page verdict, Judge Esther Toh said that Lai had extended a constant invitation to the U.S. to help bring down the Chinese government with the excuse of helping Hong Kongers.Lais lawyers admitted during the trial that he had called for sanctions before the law took effect, but insisted he dropped these calls to comply with the law.But the judges ruled that Lai had never wavered in his intention to destabilize the ruling Chinese Communist Party, continuing though in a less explicit way.Toh said the court was satisfied that Lai was the mastermind of the conspiracies and that Lais evidence was at times contradictory and unreliable. The judges ruled that the only reasonable inference from the evidence was that Lais only intent, both before and after the security law, was to seek the downfall of the ruling Communist Party even at the sacrifice of the people of China and Hong Kong. This was the ultimate aim of the conspiracies and secessionist publications, they wrote. Among the attendees were Lais wife and son, and Hong Kongs Roman Catholic Cardinal Joseph Zen. Lai nodded to his family before being escorted out of the courtroom. His verdict is also a test for Beijings diplomatic ties. U.S. President Donald Trump said he has raised the case with China, and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said his government has made it a priority to secure the release of Lai, who is a British citizen. Lai could face life in prisonThe founder of the now-defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily will be sentenced on a later day. The collusion charge carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. Hearings were set to begin Jan. 12 for Lai and other defendants in the case to argue for a shorter sentence.The Apple Daily, a vocal critic of the Hong Kong government and Beijing, was forced to shut in 2021 after police raided its newsroom and arrested its senior journalists, with authorities freezing its assets. During Lais 156-day trial, prosecutors accused him of conspiring with senior executives of Apple Daily and others to request foreign forces to impose sanctions or blockades and engage in other hostile activities against Hong Kong or China. The prosecution also accused Lai of making such requests, highlighting his meetings with former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in July 2019 at the height of the protests.It also presented 161 publications, including Apple Daily articles, to the court as evidence, as well as social media posts and text messages. Lai testified for 52 days in his own defense, arguing that he had not called for foreign sanctions after the sweeping security law was imposed in June 2020. His legal team also argued for freedom of expression. Health concerns raised during marathon trialAs the trial progressed, Lais health appeared to be deteriorating. Lais lawyers in August told the court that he suffered from heart palpitations. After the verdict, lawyer, Robert Pang, said his client is in okay spirits as the legal team studies the verdict.Before the verdict, his daughter Claire told The Associated Press that her father has become weaker and lost some of his nails and teeth. She also said he suffered from infections for months, along with constant back pain, diabetes, heart issues and high blood pressure.His spirit is strong but his body is failing, she said.Hong Kongs government said no abnormalities were found during a medical examination that followed Lais complaint of heart problems. It added this month that the medical services provided to him were adequate. Hong Kong leader John Lee said Lai harmed the fundamental interests of the country, calling his intentions malicious. Steve Li, chief superintendent of Hong Kong polices National Security Department, disputed claims of Lais worsening health outside the court building. Lais conviction is justice served, he told reporters. UK and rights groups slam outcome, as China defends itU.K. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said on X that her country condemned the politically motivated prosecution that resulted in the guilty verdict, saying it would continue to call for his release. In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said China expressed firm opposition to the vilification of the citys judiciary by certain countries, urging them to respect the citys legal system.Rights groups, including global media watchdog Reporters Without Borders and Amnesty International, criticized the verdict. It is not an individual who has been on trial it is press freedom itself, and with this verdict that has been shattered, said Reporters Without Borders director general Thibaut Bruttin. But Hong Kong Secretary for Security Chris Tang said the verdict has nothing to do with press freedom. Before sunrise, dozens of residents queued outside the court building to secure a courtroom seat.Former Apple Daily employee Tammy Cheung arrived at 5 a.m., saying she wanted to know about Lais condition after reports of his health.She said she felt the process was being rushed since the verdict date was announced only last Friday, but added, Im relieved that this case can at least conclude soon. ___Associated Press writer Chan Ho-him in Hong Kong contributed to this report. KANIS LEUNG Leung covers Hong Kong, Macao and mainland China for The Associated Press. She is based in Hong Kong. twitter

Time and again in Alabama, immigrants face harsher punishments for the same crimes as citizens, even when they have fewer prior convictions, a ProPublica review of more than 100 court cases found.The cases include a Mexican immigrant who caused a fatal car crash and received a 61-year sentence which exceeds the sentences of about 93% of all inmates convicted of similar crimes. Sent to prison in 2000, hes one of the noncitizens whos been incarcerated in Alabama the longest.An immigrant detainee who set fire to his mattress inside a jail cell received a sentence twice as long as a citizen with a similar criminal history who committed the same offense in the same facility three months later.And in a case ProPublica recently covered, a Mexican immigrant who crashed into a car and killed the driver received a sentence four times longer than anyone else involved in fatal crashes in that circuit court.We identified these cases using data provided by the Alabama Department of Corrections covering the 156 currently incarcerated people who self-identified as noncitizens. They represent a tiny slice of the overall inmate population, less than 1%.The U.S. Supreme Court has consistently ruled that noncitizens accused of crimes are entitled to the same rights as citizens. That extends to sentencing, which should not be influenced by the nationality or immigration status of the defendant. In the cases identified by ProPublica, defendants said they believe their citizenship status tipped the scales of justice against them.The small number of inmates on the list and the complicated nature of criminal sentencing make it difficult to draw broad conclusions. Sentences can be longer if the defendant has a criminal history, targeted a young child or used a gun.But academic research has found that incarcerated immigrants face tougher punishment on average, with sentences that are longer by months or years than nonimmigrants. Michael Light, a sociology professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, looked at the role of citizenship in both federal and state courts in California and Texas, which, unlike Alabama, keep detailed information about defendants citizenship status.He found the starkest differences in Texas, where noncitizens received sentences 62% longer than citizens, even with the same charges and criminal backgrounds. The disparities exceed those between white and nonwhite citizens. Another researcher, University of California, Los Angeles law professor Ingrid Eagly, found similar results in her study of Harris County cases in Houston.Several factors can increase sentences for immigrants convicted of crimes. In some cases, Eagly said, the differences could come down to the judge.Judges could be punishing them for their immigration status in addition to punishing them for the criminal conduct, she said. Of course, punishing someone for their immigration status isnt what we do in criminal courts, right? Its something that the immigration system is supposed to handle.In October, ProPublica published a story detailing what lawyers consider one of the most egregious cases of excessive sentencing of an immigrant in Alabama: the 99-year prison sentence handed to Jorge Ruiz for a fatal car crash. Ruiz was not charged with DUI or even reckless speeding. He had a clean criminal history. Yet his 2018 sentence was almost four times longer than those handed down for similar crimes in the same circuit court over the past two decades.Last year, a court reduced that sentence to 50 years, which is still twice as long as any other crime involving a fatal car crash in the county. His appeal of the sentence is pending. The prosecutor in Ruizs case said he did not treat the defendant differently because of his race or citizenship status and that the long sentence was warranted because Ruiz was a minor driving with alcohol in his system. Neither the judge who handed down the 99-year sentence nor the one who handed down the 50-year one responded to requests for comment.In the course of examining Ruizs case, we looked for examples of other immigrants in Alabamas criminal justice system to see whether they too were serving a more severe sentence than citizens who commit similar crimes. One happens to be a friend hed made at Ventress Correctional Facility.Heriberto Arevalo Robles is 25 years into his 61-year sentence. Thats the longest sentence for any Alabama inmate currently incarcerated for assault, manslaughter or both who has no prior felony convictions.Robles has spent more than half his life locked up for a July 1999 fatal car crash near the small town of Heflin in east Alabama. It was raining hard that night and Robles had been drinking. He crashed head on into a van carrying six people, killing the driver.A blood test found alcohol in his system at a level that exceeded the legal limit. Initially, the criminal justice system seemed forgiving. Although he couldnt pay his bond, the sheriff at the time allowed him to work nights to support his family. He even let Robles come home for a long weekend on Easter. His wife, Johnnie Arevalo, took it as a sign that she would soon be reunited with her husband.As the trial approached, her hopes dimmed. In a bond reduction hearing, a police officer testified that he had heard Robles say that as quick as he gets a chance, hes going back to Mexico, according to the transcript. (Robles attorney disputed at a bond hearing that his client said that.) The sheriff stopped letting him out to work.Almost a year after the crash, a jury found Robles guilty of manslaughter for the death of the driver, as well as five counts of assault for each of the five passengers. Some of them sustained serious injuries, including one woman who suffered so much damage to her face that she later told authorities that she couldnt look in the mirror for a year.The family and the prosecutor asked the judge to run the sentences for each charge back-to-back for a total of 82 years behind bars. The prosecutor, whos now the judicial circuits district attorney, did not respond to requests for comment.Heriberto Robles with his sister Veronica Arevalo at Ventress Correctional Facility in 2005. After his arrest, Arevalo moved to Alabama to assist with his case, and she now lives about an hour from Birmingham with her youngest daughter. Courtesy of Veronica ArevaloCourts rarely punish defendants in car crash cases with prison sentences that are stacked that way. ProPublica found only one other case in a review of the dozens of inmates incarcerated for manslaughter and assault. The judge in Robles case decided to give him stacked, back-to-back sentences: 20 years for manslaughter and an additional 41 years for the five assaults.Robles said in an interview from prison that he believes his status as an immigrant, even though he was a lawful permanent resident, affected his sentence.When asked whether Robles status played a role in his long sentence, Judge Malcolm Street, whod presided over the case, said no. But Street, who is now retired, also said he couldnt immediately recall all the details of the case or why he gave such a long sentence.In 2000, Robles missed a key deadline to appeal his case. In a federal court filing, he blamed his lack of English proficiency and unfamiliarity with the court system. Instead, he has sought relief from the court where he was convicted.In a recent filing, his attorney argued that the court erred by ordering the sentences to run back-to-back because it punished Robles several times for a single reckless act. If he had crashed into a car with one driver, he would be out of prison by now.He has already been in prison for over 25 years, five years more than the entirety of his manslaughter sentence, according to his brief. There is no benefit to the State, no benefit to the victims, and no public interest served by keeping Robles incarcerated for his one act of impaired driving.Inmates light fires in jail frequently and for a host of reasons: to mask the smell of smoking, to draw attention to their grievances or in the midst of mental health crises. One organization estimated that 600 fires break out in prisons every year.Many fires get extinguished quickly and go unreported. Others can lead to chaos and tragedy. In 2017, a series of fires set at the Etowah County Detention Center in east Alabama illustrate the differences in punishment for nearly identical crimes.In May 2017, a group of Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees held at the jail through an agreement with the federal government started a fire to draw attention to the facilitys conditions, which advocates had described as inhumane. (An Etowah County Sheriffs Office spokesperson said the current sheriff has worked to fix the problems: Substantial improvements have been made in the safety, security and overall conditions, he said.)Nigerian-born Okiemute Omatie had been in the facility for more than five months. He and three other men used a wire brush and an electrical outlet to ignite a piece of paper. Omatie then placed it on his mattress, which caught fire. His cell filled with smoke and officers evacuated several detainees. It created a potentially dangerous scene, law enforcement would later say, but no one was injured.Omatie pleaded guilty to arson in February 2018. Etowah County Circuit Court Judge David Kimberley sentenced him to 20 years in state prison, which is what the prosecutor recommended.I got 20 years for a burned mattress, Omatie said.Over the next six months, other inmates who were not immigrant detainees started fires inside the Etowah County Detention Center. In August 2017, two inmates used an electronic cigarette to ignite debris on a food tray. Then, a few weeks later, another inmate sparked a fire inside the jail. Officers quickly extinguished both blazes.The three men pleaded guilty and each received the prosecutors recommended sentence of 10 years in prison for arson.Prosecutors pointed out that Omatie had a prior felony, second-degree assault. But so did one of the detainees who received a 10-year sentence. Hed been convicted of burglary, theft, breaking and entering into a vehicle and fraudulent use of a credit card. Hed received a longer sentence for those crimes than Omatie did for his prior felony.The green card holder had received an 11-month sentence for second-degree assault in New Hampshire, where hed lived with his mother. He was later arrested for robbery, but the charge was dropped because officials had initiated deportation proceedings.Omatie described being distraught due to the separation from his mother and his young son and said he made a bad decision regarding the fire. He also said he felt he should be deported rather than tried for the arson.The prosecutor, when asking for the 20-year sentence, said Omatie should not be allowed to return to Nigeria. Neither the Etowah County district attorneys office nor the judge who oversaw the case responded to requests for comment.If he doesnt go to prison, he will be getting just what he wanted, said Etowah County Chief Deputy District Attorney Marcus Reid. His whole ploy, his whole scheme to start a fire to endanger everybody in the jail will have worked.Omatie told ProPublica he believed he was punished more harshly because he was an immigrant.I think it was racism and because of where Im from, he said.Immigrant crime has become a potent political issue in recent years, and states have rushed to consider bills that would punish them more harshly than citizens. Although an Alabama bill that would have automatically increased the severity of some felonies and misdemeanors committed by undocumented immigrants died in 2025, other measures succeeded. A bill in Florida adding additional punishments for undocumented immigrants passed, but it has been challenged and is on hold.Judges and district attorneys in Alabama are elected, and both play key roles in sentencing. Most defendants take plea deals offered by prosecutors, who recommend a sentence length to the judge. Judges ultimately determine the sentences both for those who plead guilty and those who go to trial.Judges tend to sentence noncitizens to longer sentences than U.S. citizens, said Juliet Stumpf, a professor at Lewis and Clark Law School who studies the intersection of immigration and criminal justice. And theres some theories about why thats true, but some of them have to do with maybe the judges or prosecutors who are asking for these longer sentences are seeing these particular noncitizens as more dangerous or more undesirable.But well before a judge hands down a sentence, bias can factor into a case in a way that leads to longer sentences.The truth is, were almost all saddled with all the packaging we came with, Madison County District Attorney Robert Broussard said. If the defendant is from another country in front of 12 U.S. citizens, wed be kidding each other if we said justice is blind.If the defendant is from another country in front of 12 U.S. citizens, wed be kidding each other if we said justice is blind.Robert Broussard, Madison County district attorneyBroussard said his office doesnt treat people differently because of their race or citizenship. But he conceded some juries might be less forgiving in cases involving immigrant defendants.We had reached out to Broussard about a 2015 case hed prosecuted against a Nigerian immigrant charged with attempted murder of a police officer. Olusola Kuponiyi got a 40-year sentence, which is only slightly higher than the average sentence for that crime. But Kuponiyis case stood out in that most people who face that charge fired a gun at an officer, while Kuponiyi got into a fight with an officer who drew his own knife, and each man stabbed the other.Broussard said that since Kuponiyi tried repeatedly to pull the officers gun out of its holster, it needed to be elevated to attempted murder.But some citizens also charged with attempted murder received much shorter sentences than Kuponiyis. A man who shot an off-duty state trooper and a 6-year-old received 21 years in prison. Another was sentenced to five years for shooting an officer in the shoulder. And a woman who fired a high-powered rifle at agents serving a search warrant got a 30-year sentence.When asked about those shorter sentences, Broussard said that comparing any of them to Kuponiyis is problematic. It is impossible to compare discrepancies in sentencing of cases under the same charge when considering the variables in arriving at any particular sentence, he said. Each case has its own unique set of facts, its own unique inherent strength or weakness in proving the case, its own unique cast of characters, i.e., defendants, lawyers, judges and juries, and its own jurisdictional philosophy on severity in sentencing.Northern Alabama defense attorney Ivannoel G. Dollar points out that judges sometimes show more mercy to defendants who can bring character witnesses to speak on their behalf. He said such witnesses can be difficult to source for people in the country without documentation.It can be hard to get them to come to court because they may not have documentation, he said.Federal sentencing policy shifted after President Donald Trump took office in January. A key change excluded some noncitizens from the First Step program that reduced sentences.A bill in Congress would take that further, adding extra prison time to all undocumented immigrants convicted of felonies in state and federal court. If it passes, Stumpf said, it could lead to many more instances of the type of disparities that have been playing out in Alabama and beyond. She said the law essentially would create a blueprint by which the court system could mete out vastly different punishments for two defendants identical in every way except their citizenship status even those who committed the same crime together.That would be a serious departure from the principles of our nations criminal law system, Stumpf said, which focus on a persons actions, not their status, when imposing punishment.The post Immigrants in Alabama Can Face Harsher Sentences Than Citizens for the Same Crimes appeared first on ProPublica.

Sometimes Trumps unconventional foreign policy just works.

The directors family said that he and his wife, Michele, had died on Sunday. The police said they had found two bodies at the Reiner home in Los Angeles.

Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trumps son-in-law, exits from the American Embassy in Berlin, Monday Dec. 15, 2025. (Fabian Sommer/dpa via AP)2025-12-15T06:00:26Z BERLIN (AP) European leaders are expected to cement support for Ukraine Monday as it faces Washingtons pressure to swiftly accept a U.S.-brokered peace deal.After Sundays talks in Berlin between U.S. envoys and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukrainian and European officials are set to continue a series of meetings in an effort to secure the continents peace and security in the face of an increasingly assertive Russia.Finnish President Alexander Stubb, one of the key European interlocutors between U.S. President Donald Trump and Zelenskyy, was spotted Monday morning in downtown Berlin.Zelenskyy sat down Sunday with Trumps special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trumps son-in-law Jared Kushner in the German federal chancellery in the hopes of bringing the nearly four-year war to a close.Washington has tried for months to navigate the demands of each side as Trump presses for a swift end to Russias war and grows increasingly exasperated by delays. The search for possible compromises has run into major obstacles, including control of Ukraines eastern Donetsk region, which is mostly occupied by Russian forces. The U.S. government late Sunday said in a social media post on Witkoffs account after the five-hour meeting that a lot of progress was made. Earlier in the day, Zelenskyy voiced readiness to drop his countrys bid to join NATO if the U.S. and other Western nations give Kyiv security guarantees similar to those offered to NATO members. But Ukraine continued to reject the U.S. push for ceding territory to Russia. Putin wants Ukraine to withdraw its forces from the part of the Donetsk region still under its control among the key conditions for peace.The Russian president also has cast Ukraines bid to join NATO as a major threat to Moscows security and a reason for launching the full-scale invasion in February 2022. The Kremlin has demanded that Ukraine renounce the bid for alliance membership as part of any prospective peace settlement. Zelenskyy emphasized that any Western security assurances would need to be legally binding and supported by the U.S. Congress.The Kremlin said Monday that it expected to be updated on the Berlin talks by the American side once the talks had finished.Asked whether the negotiations could be over by Christmas, presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov described trying to predict a potential time frame for a peace deal as a thankless task.I can only speak for the Russian side, for President Putin, Peskov said. He is open to peace, to a serious peace and serious decisions. He is absolutely not open to any tricks aimed at stalling for time.In London, meanwhile, the new head of the MI6 spy agency is set to warn on Monday of how Putins determination to export chaos around the world is rewriting the rules of conflict and creating new security challenges.Blaise Metreweli will use her first public speech as chief of the United Kingdoms foreign intelligence service to say that Britain faces increasingly unpredictable and interconnected threats, with emphasis on aggressive, expansionist Russia. Drone strikes continueRussia fired 153 drones of various types at Ukraine overnight Sunday into Monday, according to Ukraines Air Force. The air force said early Monday that 133 drones were neutralized, while 17 more hit their targets.In Russia, the defense ministry on Monday said forces destroyed 130 Ukrainian drones overnight. An additional 16 drones were then destroyed between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. local time Monday. Eighteen drones were shot down over Moscow itself, the Russian defense ministry said.Flights were temporarily halted at the citys Domodedovo and Zhukovsky airports as part of safety measures, officials said.Damage details and casualty figures were not immediately available. Pax Americana is overGerman Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who has spearheaded European efforts to support Ukraine alongside French President Emmanuel Macron and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, said Saturday that the decades of the Pax Americana are largely over for us in Europe and for us in Germany as well.Pax Americana refers to the U.S.s postwar dominance as a superpower that has brought relative peace to the globe.Merz warned that Putins aim is a fundamental change to the borders in Europe, the restoration of the old Soviet Union within its borders.If Ukraine falls, he wont stop, Merz warned during a party conference in Munich.Macron, meanwhile, vowed Sunday on social platform X that France is, and will remain, at Ukraines side to build a robust and lasting peace one that can guarantee Ukraines security and sovereignty, and that of Europe, over the long term.Putin has denied plans to attack any European allies. __Ciobanu reported from Warsaw, Poland. Pietro De Cristofaro in Berlin, Illia Novikov in Kyiv, Ukraine, and Katie Marie Davies in Manchester, England, contributed to this report. STEFANIE DAZIO Dazio covers Northern Europe from Berlin for The Associated Press. She previously covered crime and criminal justice from Los Angeles. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

New South Wales Premier Chris Minns, right, and Kellie Sloane, leader of the opposition, the New South Wales Liberal Party, lay wreaths at a tribute for shooting victims outside the Bondi Pavilion at Sydney's Bondi Beach, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025, a day after a shooting. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)2025-12-15T09:40:56Z SYDNEY (AP) A father and son are suspected by officials to have killed 15 people on a popular Australian beach, shocking a country where gun violence is rare. The government on Monday, a day after the shootings, proposed tougher new gun laws amid criticism that officials didnt take seriously enough a string of antisemitic attacks.Heres a look at what to know from the attack at Bondi Beach: The suspects attacked a Jewish beachside gatheringLittle is known about the suspects in the attack on Sydneys famous Bondi Beach, but there was widespread shock when officials said that the two men pictured firing weapons in social media videos were related.The 50-year-old father, who was killed, arrived in Australia in 1998 on a student visa, authorities said, and was an Australian resident when he died. Officials wouldnt confirm what country he had migrated from.His 24-year-old Australian-born son, who was shot and wounded, is being treated at a hospital The target was a Hanukkah celebration where hundreds had gathered to celebrate the first day of the eight-day Jewish holiday. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called it an act of antisemitic terrorism. The dead included a 10-year-old girl, a rabbi and a Holocaust survivor. Dozens of others were injured, some seriously. Police said officers were examining a number of suspicious items, including improvised explosive devices found in one of the suspects car. One dramatic clip broadcast on Australian television showed a man appearing to tackle and disarm one of the gunmen, before pointing the mans weapon at him, then setting the gun on the ground. Police said the father held a firearms license that entitles an adult with a genuine reason to own a rifle or shotgun, other than a rapid-fire variety. Accepted reasons include target shooting, recreational hunting and vermin control. Self-defense is not an accepted reason. Police say the father was a member of a gun club, which suggests he was a target shooter. Hate crimes targeting Jews in Australia are on the riseA wave of antisemitic attacks have shocked and angered many in Australia over the last year. Australia has 28 million people and about 117,000 Jews. Antisemitic incidents, including assaults, vandalism, threats and intimidation, surged more than threefold in the country during the year after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel launched a war on Hamas in Gaza in response, the governments Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism Jillian Segal reported in July. Last year, there were antisemitic attacks in Sydney and Melbourne. Synagogues and cars have been torched, businesses and homes vandalized with graffiti, and Jews attacked in cities where 85% of the nations Jewish population lives. Albanese in August blamed Iran for two of the attacks and cut diplomatic ties to Tehran.Israel urged Australias government to address crimes targeting Jews. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he warned Australias leaders months ago about the dangers of failing to take action against antisemitism. He claimed Australias decision in line with scores of other countries to recognize a Palestinian state pours fuel on the antisemitic fire. This is the deadliest shooting in Australia in three decadesAustralia has strict gun control laws.Mass shootings are extremely rare. A 1996 massacre in the Tasmanian town of Port Arthur, where a lone gunman killed 35 people, prompted the government to drastically tighten gun laws, making it much more difficult to acquire firearms.Significant mass shootings this century included two murder-suicides with death tolls of five people in 2014 and seven in 2018, in which gunmen killed their own families and themselves.In 2022, six people were killed in a shootout between police and Christian extremists at a rural property in Queensland state. The prime minister said he was pushing for tougher gun laws.

Nature, Published online: 15 December 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-04051-yHow the Trump administration caused seismic disruptions to the worlds premier scientific superpower.