Policymakers and investors are pursuing whats feasible rather than promising the impossible.

Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud (7) throws a pass during the first half of an NFL football game against the Los Angeles Chargers Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Wally Skalij)2025-12-28T00:46:15Z INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) The Houston Texans are riding a wave of momentum as the playoffs near. Theyre still alive in the race for the AFC South, a division theyve won multiple times, and bolstered by the NFLs best defense, theyre taking aim at earning their first berth in the AFC Championship Game.C.J. Stroud threw for two long touchdowns on Houstons first two drives of the game, and the Texans went on to beat the Los Angeles Chargers 20-16 on Saturday to clinch a third consecutive playoff berth for the first time in franchise history.Its what you fight for during the season, for an opportunity to be in the playoffs and go win it all, Houston coach DeMeco Ryans said. We earned that. It wasnt given to us. Our guys went out and earned it.The Texans (11-5) won their eighth in a row, their longest such streak since winning nine straight in 2018. To do something like that in this league is not easy, rookie wide receiver Jaylin Noel said. Any time you can stack wins like this is special and we just want to keep it going. The coaches are pushing us to get better and everybody in the locker room is pushing to get better. The Chargers (11-5) had their four-game winning streak snapped and handed the AFC West title to idle Denver. They beat the first-place Broncos in Week 3, but blew a chance to set up a winner-take-all showdown in Denver in Week 18. Thats what hurts the most, linebacker Daiyan Henley said. We just didnt do it. We didnt have enough, but well take the loss now and make sure it doesnt happen again.The Chargers got knocked out of the playoffs in a wild-card loss to Houston last season.Strouds two explosive TDs stunned the Chargers and gave Houston a 14-0 lead. On his first pass of the game, he hit rookie Jayden Higgins for a 75-yard score against busted coverage. Stroud wasnt pressured when he threw a 43-yard TD to Noel, who wasnt covered. The big plays to start the game was really great execution starting with the O-line, Ryans said. It starts with great protection, and the guys did a great job there. They were two plays that helped us be in position to win.The Chargers had allowed just one TD pass of 40 or more yards in their last 15 games.Youre not going to beat nobody in this league spotting them 14 (points), safety Derwin James Jr. said.Stroud completed his first six throws of the game. He finished 16 of 28 for 244 yards and two interceptions.Houstons defense forced third-down sacks of Justin Herbert on the Chargers first two possessions. They were three-and-out on three of their first four possessions, quieting the SoFi Stadium crowd.The Chargers were just 2 of 5 in the red zone.Just have to execute, Herbert said. Weve got to be able to convert on those third downs down there and have to score points. We got our opportunities, but its on us to be able to execute those plays we put in.Playing his third game with a broken left (non-throwing) hand, Herbert was 21 for 32 for 236 yards, with one touchdown and one interception. He was sacked five times. James intercepted Stroud in the second quarter, but the Chargers only managed a 27-yard field goal by Cameron Dicker on the turnover to trail 14-3. Another interception of Stroud failed to produce any points despite both miscues coming in Houston territory.Herbert was intercepted by Azeez Al-Shaair at the Houston 1-yard line. The ball, intended for Oronde Gadsden, popped off his hands and Al-Shaair came down with it for his second interception of the season. Gadsden held his face in his hands on the bench.Dicker missed a field goal from under 40 yards for the first time in his career just before halftime, leaving the Chargers trailing 14-3. He later was wide left to miss his first point after attempt of the season on the Chargers final drive after Omarion Hamptons 5-yard TD run made it 20-16.Unforced errors on penalties, special teams, just everybody, James said. We got to clean it up.Kaimi Fairbairn had field goals of 41 and 44 yards for Houston. The Chargers closed to 17-10 after a wild drive in which Herbert was sacked twice and threw two incompletions before finding Gadsden in the back of the end zone for a 1-yard TD in the third. InjuriesTexans: CB Kamari Lassiter (knee) left in the second quarter and later returned.Chargers: RB Hassan Haskins was evaluated for a head injury in the fourth.Up next Texans: Play Indianapolis to end the regular season.Chargers: Visit Denver to end the regular season.___AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

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French actress Brigitte Bardot poses with a huge sombrero she brought back from Mexico, as she arrives at Orly Airport in Paris, France, on May 27, 1965. (AP Photo/File)2025-12-28T10:18:23Z PARIS (AP) Brigitte Bardot, the French 1960s sex symbol who became one of the greatest screen sirens of the 20th century and later a militant animal rights activist, has died. She was 91.Bruno Jacquelin, of the Brigitte Bardot Foundation for the protection of animals, told The Associated Press that she died Sunday at her home in southern France, and would not provide a cause of death. He said no arrangements have yet been made for funeral or memorial services. She had been hospitalized last month.Bardot became an international celebrity as a sexualized teen bride in the 1956 movie And God Created Woman. Directed by her then-husband, Roger Vadim, it triggered a scandal with scenes of the long-legged beauty dancing on tables naked.At the height of a cinema career that spanned some 28 films and three marriages, Bardot came to symbolize a nation bursting out of bourgeois respectability. Her tousled, blond hair, voluptuous figure and pouty irreverence made her one of Frances best-known stars. Such was her widespread appeal that in 1969 her features were chosen to be the model for Marianne, the national emblem of France and the official Gallic seal. Bardots face appeared on statues, postage stamps and even on coins.Bardots second career as an animal rights activist was equally sensational. She traveled to the Arctic to blow the whistle on the slaughter of baby seals; she condemned the use of animals in laboratory experiments; and she opposed sending monkeys into space. Man is an insatiable predator, Bardot told The Associated Press on her 73rd birthday, in 2007. I dont care about my past glory. That means nothing in the face of an animal that suffers, since it has no power, no words to defend itself.Her activism earned her compatriots respect and, in 1985, she was awarded the Legion of Honor, the nations highest honor. A turn to the far rightLater, however, she fell from public grace as her animal protection diatribes took on a decidedly extremist tone and her far-right political views sounded racist as she frequently decried the influx of immigrants into France, especially Muslims.She was convicted five times in French courts of inciting racial hatred. Notably, she criticized the Muslim practice of slaughtering sheep during annual religious holidays like Eid al-Adha.Bardots 1992 marriage to fourth husband Bernard dOrmale, a onetime adviser to former National Front leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, contributed to her political shift. She described the outspoken nationalist as a lovely, intelligent man.In 2012, she caused controversy again when she wrote a letter in support of Marine Le Pen, the current leader of the party now renamed National Rally in her failed bid for the French presidency. In 2018, at the height of the #MeToo movement, Bardot said in an interview that most actors protesting sexual harassment in the film industry were hypocritical and ridiculous because many played the teases with producers to land parts.She said she had never had been a victim of sexual harassment and found it charming to be told that I was beautiful or that I had a nice little ass. A privileged, but difficult upbringingBrigitte Anne-Marie Bardot was born Sept. 28, 1934, to a wealthy industrialist. A shy, secretive child, she studied classical ballet and was discovered by a family friend who put her on the cover of Elle magazine at age 14.Bardot once described her childhood as difficult and said her father was a strict disciplinarian who would sometimes punish her with a horse whip.But it was French movie producer Vadim, whom she married in 1952, who saw her potential and wrote And God Created Woman to showcase her provocative sensuality, an explosive cocktail of childlike innocence and raw sexuality.The film, which portrayed Bardot as a bored newlywed who beds her brother-in-law, had a decisive influence on New Wave directors Jean-Luc Godard and Francois Truffaut, and came to embody the hedonism and sexual freedom of the 1960s.The film was a box-office hit, and it made Bardot a superstar. Her girlish pout, tiny waist and generous bust were often more appreciated than her talent. Its an embarrassment to have acted so badly, Bardot said of her early films. I suffered a lot in the beginning. I was really treated like someone less than nothing.Bardots unabashed, off-screen love affair with co-star Jean-Louis Trintignant further shocked the nation. It eradicated the boundaries between her public and private life and turned her into a hot prize for paparazzi.Bardot never adjusted to the limelight. She blamed the constant press attention for the suicide attempt that followed 10 months after the birth of her only child, Nicolas. Photographers had broke into her house only two weeks before she gave birth to snap a picture of her pregnant.Nicolas father was Jacques Charrier, a French actor whom she married in 1959 but who never felt comfortable in his role as Monsieur Bardot. Bardot soon gave up her son to his father, and later said she had been chronically depressed and unready for the duties of being a mother. I was looking for roots then, she said in an interview. I had none to offer.In her 1996 autobiography Initiales B.B., she likened her pregnancy to a tumor growing inside me, and described Charrier as temperamental and abusive.Bardot married her third husband, West German millionaire playboy Gunther Sachs, in 1966, but the relationship again ended in divorce three years later.Among her films were A Parisian (1957); In Case of Misfortune, in which she starred in 1958 with screen legend Jean Gabin; The Truth (1960); Private Life (1962); A Ravishing Idiot (1964); Shalako (1968); Women (1969); The Bear And The Doll (1970); Rum Boulevard (1971); and Don Juan (1973).With the exception of 1963s critically acclaimed Contempt, directed by Godard, Bardots films were rarely complicated by plots. Often they were vehicles to display Bardots curves and legs in scanty dresses or frolicking nude in the sun.It was never a great passion of mine, she said of filmmaking. And it can be deadly sometimes. Marilyn (Monroe) perished because of it.Bardot retired to her Riviera villa in St. Tropez at the age of 39 in 1973 after The Woman Grabber.Reinventing herself in middle age She emerged a decade later with a new persona: An animal rights lobbyist, her face was wrinkled and her voice was deep following years of heavy smoking. She abandoned her jet-set life and sold off movie memorabilia and jewelry to create a foundation devoted exclusively to the prevention of animal cruelty.Her activism knew no borders. She urged South Korea to ban the sale of dog meat and once wrote to U.S. President Bill Clinton asking why the U.S. Navy recaptured two dolphins it had released into the wild.She attacked centuries-old French and Italian sporting traditions including the Palio, a free-for-all horse race, and campaigned on behalf of wolves, rabbits, kittens and turtle doves.By the late 1990s, Bardot was making headlines that would lose her many fans. She was convicted and fined five times between 1997 and 2008 for inciting racial hatred in incidents inspired by her anger at Muslim animal slaughtering rituals.Its true that sometimes I get carried away, but when I see how slowly things move forward ... and despite all the promises that have been made to me by all different governments put together my distress takes over, Bardot told the AP.In 1997, several towns removed Bardot-inspired statues of Marianne the bare-breasted statue representing the French Republic after the actress voiced anti-immigrant sentiment. Also that year, she received death threats after calling for a ban on the sale of horse meat.Bardot once said that she identified with the animals that she was trying to save.I can understand hunted animals because of the way I was treated, Bardot said. What happened to me was inhuman. I was constantly surrounded by the world press.___Ganley contributed to this story before her retirement. Angela Charlton in Paris contributed to this report. THOMAS ADAMSON Adamson is a foreign reporter based in Paris for The Associated Press. He covers European politics, culture and style. He has reported across the continent in an over two-decade career. twitter mailto

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Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during a media conference at the EU Summit in Brussels, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)2025-12-28T05:02:02Z WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (AP) President Donald Trump will host his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on Sunday to try to close out a peace agreement that would end nearly four years of war that began with Moscows invasion of Ukraine.The two will meet at Mar-a-Lago, Trumps private club in Palm Beach, Florida, where the U.S. president is spending the holidays and has an agenda mostly filled with daily rounds of golf. Zelenskyy said the two planned to discuss security and economic agreements and he will raise territorial issues as Moscow and Kyiv remain fiercely at odds over the fate of the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine.In the days before the meeting, Russia has intensified its attacks on Ukraines capital, using missiles and drones to attack Kyiv and try to increase the pressure on Zelenskyy.Ukraine is willing to do whatever it takes to stop this war, Zelenskyy posted Saturday on X. We need to be strong at the negotiating table. In response to the attacks, he wrote: We want peace, and Russia demonstrates a desire to continue the war. If the whole world Europe and America is on our side, together we will stop Russian President Vladimir Putin. In a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on Saturday, Zelenskyy said the key to peace is pressure on Russia and sufficient, strong support for Ukraine. To that end, Carney announced $2.5 billion Canadian (US$1.8 billion) more in economic assistance from his government to help Ukraine rebuild. Denouncing the barbarism of Russias latest attacks on Kyiv, Carney credited both Zelenskyy and Trump with creating the conditions for a just and lasting peace at a crucial moment.Trump and Zelenskyy sitting down face-to-face also underscored the apparent progress made by Trumps top negotiators in recent weeks as the sides traded draft peace plans and continued to shape a proposal to end the fighting. Zelenskyy told reporters Friday that the 20-point draft proposal negotiators have discussed is about 90% ready echoing a figure, and the optimism, that U.S. officials conveyed when Trumps chief negotiators met with Zelenskyy in Berlin earlier this month. During the recent talks, the U.S. agreed to offer certain security guarantees to Ukraine similar to those offered to other members of NATO. The proposal came as Zelenskyy said he was prepared to drop his countrys bid to join the security alliance if Ukraine received NATO-like protection that would be designed to safeguard it against future Russian attacks. Intensive weeks aheadZelenskyy also spoke on Christmas Day with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trumps son-in-law. The Ukrainian leader said in a post on X that they discussed certain substantive details of the ongoing work and cautioned in a subsequent post that there is still work to be done on sensitive issues and the weeks ahead may also be intensive.The U.S. president has been working to end the war in Ukraine for much of his first year back in office, showing irritation with both Zelenskyy and Putin while publicly acknowledging the difficulty of ending the conflict. Long gone are the days when, as a candidate in 2024, he boasted that he could resolve the fighting in a day. After hosting Zelenskyy at the White House in October, Trump demanded that both Russia and Ukraine halt fighting and stop at the battle line, implying that Moscow should be able to keep the territory it has seized from Ukraine. Before Sundays meeting, Zelenskyy said the key issues that remain unresolved between Ukraine and the U.S. include questions surrounding territory, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and funding for Ukraines postwar recovery. He said there also are outstanding technical matters related to security guarantees and monitoring mechanisms.Ukraine has conveyed its position to the U.S., Zelenskyy said, adding that Trump administration officials would relay that to Russia.Zelenskyy also said last week that he would be willing to withdraw troops from Ukraines eastern industrial heartland as part of a plan to end the war, if Russia also pulls back and the area becomes a demilitarized zone monitored by international forces. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Friday that the Kremlin had already been in contact with U.S.It was agreed upon to continue the dialogue, he said. Putin wants Russian gains kept, and morePutin has publicly said he wants all the areas in four key regions that have been captured by his forces, as well as the Crimean Peninsula, illegally annexed in 2014, to be recognized as Russian territory. He also has insisted that Ukraine withdraw from some areas in eastern Ukraine that Moscows forces havent captured. Kyiv has publicly rejected all those demands.The Kremlin also wants Ukraine to abandon its bid to join NATO. It warned that it wouldnt accept the deployment of any troops from members of the military alliance and would view them as a legitimate target.Putin also has said Ukraine must limit the size of its army and give official status to the Russian language, demands he has made from the outset of the conflict.Putins foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, told the business daily Kommersant this month that Russian police and national guard would stay in parts of Donetsk - one of the two major areas, along with Luhansk, that make up the Donbas region even if they become a demilitarized zone under a prospective peace plan.Ushakov cautioned that trying to reach a compromise could take a long time. He said U.S. proposals that took into account Russian demands had been worsened by alterations proposed by Ukraine and its European allies.Trump has been somewhat receptive to Putins demands, making the case that the Russian president can be persuaded to end the war if Kyiv agrees to cede Ukrainian land in the Donbas region and if Western powers offer economic incentives to bring Russia back into the global economy.___Kim reported from Washington and Morton from London. Associated Press writers Illia Novikov in Kyiv and Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report. WILL WEISSERT Weissert covers the White House for The Associated Press. He is based in Washington. twitter mailto SEUNG MIN KIM Kim covers the White House for The Associated Press. She joined the AP in 2022 and is based in Washington. Kim is also a political analyst for CNN. twitter mailto

Voters line up to cast their ballots at a polling station in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)2025-12-27T23:36:42Z YANGON, Myanmar (AP) Voters went to the polls Sunday for the initial phase of Myanmar s first general election in five years, held under the supervision of its military government while a civil war rages throughout much of the country.Final results will not be known until after two more rounds of voting are completed later in January. It is widely expected that Min Aung Hlaing, the general who has ruled the country with an iron hand since an army takeover in 2021, will then assume the presidency.The military government has presented the vote as a return to electoral democracy, but its bid for legitimacy is marred by bans on formerly popular opposition parties and reports that soldiers have used threats to force voters to participate.While more than 4,800 candidates from 57 parties are competing for seats in national and regional legislatures, only six are competing nationwide with the possibility to gain political clout in Parliament. The well-organized and funded Union Solidarity and Development Party, with its support from the military, is by far the strongest contender.Voting is taking place in three phases, with Sundays first round being held in 102 of Myanmars 330 townships. The second phase will take place Jan. 11, and the third on Jan. 25. Final results are expected to be announced by February. Critics call the election a sham to keep the army in power Critics charge that the election is designed to add a facade of legitimacy to military rule that began when the military ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021. It blocked her National League for Democracy party from serving a second term despite winning a landslide victory in the 2020 election.They argue that the results will lack legitimacy due to the exclusion of major parties and limits on freedom of speech and an atmosphere of repression.The expected victory of the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party makes the nominal transition to civilian rule a chimera, say opponents of military rule and independent analysts. An election organized by a junta that continues to bomb civilians, jail political leaders, and criminalize all forms of dissent is not an election it is a theater of the absurd performed at gunpoint, Tom Andrews, the U.N.-appointed human rights expert for Myanmar, posted on X.However, holding the election may provide an excuse for neighbors like China, India and Thailand to continue their support, claiming the election promotes stability. Western nations have maintained sanctions against Myanmars ruling generals due to their anti-democratic actions and the brutal war against their opponents.Voters on Saturday expressed mixed feelings.Khin Marlar, 51, who voted at a polling station in Yangons Kyauktada township, said she felt she needed to vote because she hoped that peace would follow afterward. She explained that she had fled her village in the town of Thaungta in the central Mandalay region due to the fighting.I am voting with the feeling that I will go back to my village when it is peaceful, she told The Associated Press. Some voters feel pressured by the armyA resident of southern Mon state, who asked to be identified only by her first name, Khin, for fear of arrest by the military, told The Associated Press she felt compelled to go to a polling station because of pressure from local authorities.I have to go and vote even though I dont want to, because soldiers showed up with guns to our village to pressure us yesterday, Khin said. There were reports ahead of the voting from independent media and rights groups that officials and the military used such threats to compel people to vote.Suu Kyi, Myanmars 80-year-old former leader, and her party are not participating in the polls. She is serving a 27-year prison term on charges widely viewed as spurious and politically motivated. Her party, the National League for Democracy, was dissolved in 2023 after refusing to register under new military rules.Other parties also refused to register or declined to run under conditions they deem unfair, and opposition groups have called for a voter boycott.Amael Vier, an analyst for the Asian Network for Free Elections, noted a lack of genuine choice, pointing out that 73% of voters in 2020 cast ballots for parties that no longer exist. War and repression shape the voteMobilizing opposition is difficult under the militarys repression. According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, more than 22,000 people are currently detained for political offenses, and over 7,600 civilians have been killed by security forces since they seized power in 2021.Armed resistance arose after the army used lethal force to crush non-violent protests against its 2021 takeover. The ensuing civil war has left more than 3.6 million people displaced, according to the U.N.A new Election Protection Law imposes harsh penalties and restrictions for virtually all public criticism of the polls. In these circumstances, both the military and its opponents believe power is likely to remain with Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, who led the 2021 seizure of power.___Associated Press writer Peck reported from Bangkok.

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Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow attends a Special ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting that convened Monday, Dec. 22, 2025 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (Thai MFA via AP)2025-12-28T11:13:22Z BEIJING (AP) Top diplomats from Thailand and Cambodia kicked off two days of talks in China on Sunday as Beijing seeks to strengthen its role in mediating the two countries border dispute, a day after they signed a new ceasefire. The ceasefire agreement signed on Saturday calls for a halt to weeks of fighting along their contested border that has killed more than 100 people and displaced over half a million in both countries.Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow and Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn were set to meet in Chinas southwestern Yunnan province for talks mediated by their Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi.The talks aim to ensure a sustained ceasefire and promote lasting peace between the countries, according to a statement by Sihasaks office. Wang was scheduled to join both bilateral meetings with each of the diplomats and a trilateral talk on Monday. China has welcomed the ceasefire announcement, which freezes the front lines and allows for displaced civilians to return to their homes near the border. China stands ready to continue to provide (the) platform and create conditions for Cambodia and Thailand to have fuller and more detailed communication, a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement read. The ceasefire agreement comes with a 72-hour observation period, at the end of which Thailand agreed to repatriate 18 Cambodian soldiers it has held as prisoners since earlier fighting in July. Their release has been a major demand of the Cambodian side. Stay up to date with the news and the best of AP by following our WhatsApp channel. Follow on China has sought to position itself as a mediator in the crisis, along with the United States and Malaysia. A July ceasefire was brokered by Malaysia and pushed through by pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump, who threatened to withhold trade privileges unless Thailand and Cambodia agreed. Despite those deals, Thailand and Cambodia carried on a bitter propaganda war, and minor cross-border violence continued, erupting into heavy fighting in early December. Prak Sokhonn, in a statement after his meeting with Wang, expressed deep appreciation for Chinas vital role in supporting the ceasefire. China also announced 20 million yuan ($2.8 million) of emergency humanitarian aid for Cambodia to assist the displaced.The first batch of Chinese aid, including food, tents and blankets, arrived in Cambodia on Sunday, Wang Wenbin, Chinese ambassador to Cambodia, wrote on Facebook.Sihasak said Sunday he hoped the meetings would convey to China that it should both support a sustainable ceasefire and send a signal to Cambodia against reviving the conflict or attempting to create further ones.Thailand does not see China merely as a mediator in our conflict with Cambodia but wants China to play a constructive role in ensuring a sustainable ceasefire by sending such signals to Cambodia as well, he said. SIMINA MISTREANU Mistreanu is a Greater China reporter for The Associated Press, based in Taipei, Taiwan. She has reported on China since 2015. twitter mailto

Election officials work as voters wait to cast their ballots in the presidential election in Conakry, Guinea, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Fode Toure)2025-12-28T07:35:36Z CONAKRY, Guinea (AP) Guineans are voting Sunday to elect a new president in the countrys first election since a 2021 coup, as analysts say a weakened opposition will result in a likely win for junta leader Gen. Mamadi Doumbouya.Sundays election is the culmination of a transition process that began four years ago after Doumbouya ousted President Alpha Cond. The junta leader has proceeded to clamp down on the main opposition and dissent, critics say, leaving him with no major opposition among the eight other candidates in the race.Despite Guineas rich mineral resources including as the worlds biggest exporter of bauxite, used to make aluminum more than half of its 15 million people are experiencing record levels of poverty and food insecurity, according to the World Food Program.This vote is the hope of young people, especially for us unemployed, said Idrissa Camara, an 18-year-old resident of Conakry, who said he has been unemployed since graduating from university five years ago. Im forced to do odd jobs to survive. I hope this vote will improve the standard of living and the quality of life in Guinea, he added. The election is being held under a new constitution that revoked a ban on military leaders running for office and extended the presidential mandate from five to seven years. That constitution was overwhelmingly approved in a September referendum despite opposition parties asking voters to boycott it. The vote is the latest such election among African countries that have seen a surge in coups in recent years. At least 10 countries in the young continent have experienced soldiers forcefully taking power after accusing elected leaders of failing to provide good governance and security for citizens. This election will open a new page in Guineas history and mark the countrys return to the league of nations, said Guinea political analyst Aboubacar Sidiki Diakit. Doumbouya is undoubtedly the favorite in this presidential election because the main opposition political parties have been sidelined and the General Directorate of Elections, the body that oversees the presidential election, is under the supervision of the government, he added. In addition to a weakened opposition, activists and rights groups say Guinea has since the coup seen civil society leaders silenced, critics abducted and the press censored. More than 50 political parties were dissolved last year in a move authorities claimed was to clean up the political chessboard despite widespread criticism.There was heavy security in Conakry and other parts of Guinea with nearly 12,000 police officers among security forces mobilized and checkpoints set up along major roads. Authorities had said on Saturday that security forces neutralized an armed group with subversive intentions threatening national security after gunshots were heard in Conakrys Sonfonia neighborhood.Across polling stations, long queues of mostly young voters waited to cast their ballot while police officers closely monitored the process. A total of nine candidates are contesting the election, and Doumbouyas closest challenger is the little-known Yero Bald of the Democratic Front of Guinea party, who was education minister under Cond.Two opposition candidates, former Prime Minister Lansana Kouyat and former government minister Ousmane Kaba, were excluded on technical grounds while longtime opposition leaders Cellou Dalein Diallo and Sidya Toure have been forced into exile.While Bald has hinged his campaign on promises of governance reforms, anti-corruption efforts and economic growth, Doumbouya has built his around major infrastructure projects and reforms launched since taking power four years ago.The juntas most important project has been the Simandou iron ore project, a 75% Chinese-owned mega-mining project at the worlds largest iron ore deposit which began production last month after decades of delays.Authorities say that a national development plan tied to the Simandou project aims to create tens of thousands of jobs and diversify the economy through investments in agriculture, education, transport, technology and health. In four years, he (Doumbouya) has connected Guinean youth to information and communication technologies, said Mamadama Tour, a high school student wearing a T-shirt with Doumbouyas image in the capital of Conakry, as he cited digital skills training programs put in place by the authorities.About 6.7 million registered voters are expected to cast ballots at roughly 24,000 polling stations nationwide, with results expected within 48 hours. There will be a runoff if no candidate wins a majority of the votes.In Conakry, 22-year-old student Issatou Bah said he is still undecided about whether to vote in the election. This is the third time Ive voted in Guinea, hoping things will change. But nothing has changed, said Bah, adding that he hopes the election will improve this country that has everything but struggles to take off.

Election officials work as voters wait to cast their ballots in the presidential election in Conakry, Guinea, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Fode Toure)2025-12-28T11:15:31Z JOHANNESBURG (AP) Three people, including a one-year-old child, died when a two-story building collapsed in South Africas Soweto township, west of Johannesburg, in the early hours of Sunday morning, authorities said.Three others sustained injuries during the incident and were receiving treatment at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital.According to authorities, a total of six people were inside the building when it collapsed and emergency personnel rescued the three people injured who were trapped under the rubble.Tragically, three lives were lost in this incident, two adult females and one child. The incident has been handed over to the relevant authorities for further investigation, said Xolile Khumalo, spokesperson for Johannesburg Emergency Management Services.On Dec. 12, five people died when a multistory building at the site of a Hindu temple collapsed near the coastal city of Durban.The building was being constructed on top of the temple in the town of Verulam, about 25 kilometers (15 miles) north of Durban, when it collapsed.One person was reported dead at the time, but search teams later pulled four more bodies from the rubble, bringing the death toll to five.

This photo illustration shows granulated sugar falling from a spoon, in Philadelphia, on Sept. 12, 2016. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)2025-12-28T05:45:27Z Many consumers feel pride in avoiding the glazed pastries in the supermarket and instead opting for all natural granola that comes packed with extra protein. Same goes for low-fat yogurts made with real fruit, organic plant-based milks and bottled superfood smoothies.Buyer beware: Healthy grocery buzzwords like those often cover up an unhealthy amount of sugar.Added sugars are difficult to quickly spot because many companies use clever marketing to distract consumers, said Nicole Avena, a professor of neuroscience and psychiatry at Mount Sinai Medical School and Princeton University who has studied added sugars.Avena said while some health-forward brands know people are starting to become aware of the hazards of added sugars, a lot of the bigger brands dont worry so much about peoples health.Heres how to spot hidden sugars and what to do about it. What to look forAlong with saturated fat and salt, eating excess sugar is linked to heart disease, obesity, diabetes and other health risks.The average American consumes 17 grams of added sugar a day, which adds up to 57 pounds (26 kilograms) per year, according to the American Heart Association. About half of that comes from beverages, but much of the rest is sneaked into cereal, salsa, prepared sandwiches, dairy products, bottled sauces and baked goods, including many brands of whole-grain bread. To help control sugar intake, start by checking the nutrition label. Since 2021, food companies have been required to list the quantity of added sugars separately from total sugar content. But the plan backfired, Avena said. This article is part of APs Be Well coverage, focusing on wellness, fitness, diet and mental health. Read more Be Well. Companies reduced common sweeteners like refined beet sugar and high-fructose corn syrup but added alternatives, such as monk fruit and the sugar alcohol erythritol, which arent considered added sugars under FDA regulations.Now our foods are even more sweet than they were back in 2020, Avena said. What should you do?Collin Popp, a dietitian and professor at NYU Langone Health, said the current FDA recommendation allows for some flexibility. People should get no more than 10% of their calories from added sugar, which amounts to about 50 grams per day if eating 2,000 calories, or a bit more than whats in a typical can of soda.But that might be too flexible, Popp said.I would actually like to see that be less than 5%, and closer to zero for some, if they have diabetes or prediabetes, he said.The key is to be mindful of what youre eating, even if the product seems healthy or if the package is labeled organic, Popp said. Roasted nuts, plant-based milks and wasabi peas, for example, can include a surprising amount of added sugars. So can English muffins and Greek yogurt.One Chobani black cherry yogurt, for example, has zero grams of fat but 9 grams of added sugar, or more than 2 teaspoons. Silk brand almond milk has 7 grams per cup.Popp recommends taking control of how much sugar goes into your food. That could mean buying plain yogurt and adding honey or berries, or asking the barista if you can put your own oat milk into your coffee. Taking from one column to add to anotherAlthough they lower the calorie content of foods, artificial sweeteners like stevia and sugar alcohols may not be better because they can encourage people to overeat, Avena said. She said research shows that sweet flavors are what activate the reward center of the brain, not the sugar itself.Thats not to write off sugar alternatives, including allulose for people with Type 1 diabetes since it doesnt affect blood sugar. But for the general public, minimizing dependence on the overall sweetness of food is key to improving health, she said.Dont let the food companies decide how much sugar youre eating, Avena said.___Albert Stumm writes about food, travel and wellness. Find his work at www.albertstumm.com.

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/// The sun rises over a winter scene in Lowville, N.Y., on Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Cara Anna)2025-12-28T14:34:48Z A powerful winter storm was sweeping east from the Plains on Sunday, driven by what meteorologists describe as an intense cyclone, setting off a chain reaction of snow, ice, rain and severe weather expected to affect much of the country.Snow and strengthening winds spread across the Upper Midwest on Sunday, where the National Weather Service warned of whiteout conditions and possible blizzard conditions that could make travel impossible in some areas. Snowfall totals were expected to exceed a foot across parts of the upper Great Lakes, with up to 2 feet (61 centimeters) possible along the south shore of Lake Superior.In the South, meteorologists warn of severe thunderstorms expected to signal the arrival of a sharp cold front sometimes referred to as a Blue Norther bringing a sudden temperature drop and strong north winds that will end days of record warmth across the region. The snowy holiday season in the Upper Midwest and Northeast comes as springlike warmth continues in much of the nations midsection and South, where record high temperatures had Santa sweating in recent days. The high temperature in Atlanta is forecast to be around 72 degrees Fahrenheit (22 degrees Celsius) on Sunday, continuing a warming trend after climbing to 78 F (about 26 C) to shatter the citys record high temperature for Christmas Eve, the National Weather Service said. Numerous other record high temperatures were seen across the South and Midwest on the days after Christmas. Stay up to date with the news and the best of AP by following our WhatsApp channel. Follow on But that record heat is quickly coming to an end, forecasters say. A cold front is expected to bring rain to much of the South late Sunday night into Monday, bringing much colder weather on Tuesday. The abrupt change will drop the low temperature in Atlanta to 25 F (minus 3.9 C) by early Tuesday morning. The colder temperatures in the South are expected to continue through New Years Day. Over the next 48 hours, the cyclone is expected to produce heavy snow and blizzard conditions in the Midwest and Great Lakes, freezing rain in New England, thunderstorms across the eastern U.S. and South, and widespread strong winds.The storm is expected to intensify as it moves east, drawing energy from a sharp clash between frigid air plunging south from Canada and unusually warm air that has lingered across the southern United States, according to the National Weather Service.It follows thousands of flight delays and cancellations across the Northeast and Great Lakes regions earlier this weekend due to snow, as thousands took to the roads and airports during the busy travel period between Christmas and New Years.On the other side of the country, California was experiencing a fairly dry weekend after powerful storms battered the state with heavy rains, flash flooding and mudslides. At least four people were killed including a man who was found dead Friday in a partially submerged car near Lancaster, the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department reported.___Willingham reported from Concord, New Hampshire. Martin reported from Kennesaw, Georgia. JEFF MARTIN Martin covers a variety of topics including crime, hurricanes, and civil rights across the southeastern U.S. He was a member of the AP team named a finalist for the 2025 Pulitzer Prize in Investigative Reporting for the Lethal Restraint project. mailto

Palestinians receive donated food at a temporary camp for displaced people, on the beach near the port of Gaza City, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)2025-12-28T14:17:32Z KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) Winter rain lashed the Gaza Strip over the weekend, flooding camps with ankle-deep puddles as Palestinians displaced by two years of war attempted to stay dry in tents frayed by months of use.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled for an expected meeting on Monday with U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida about the second phase of the ceasefire. The first phase that took effect on Oct. 10 was meant to bring a surge in humanitarian aid for Gaza, including shelter.Netanyahu made no public statement as he departed. Nowhere to escape the rainIn the southern city of Khan Younis, blankets and mattresses were soaked and clay ovens meant for cooking were swamped. Children wearing flip-flops and light clothing waded through puddles as some people used shovels to try to push water out of tents.We drowned last night, said Majdoleen Tarabein, who was displaced from Rafah in southern Gaza. Puddles formed, and there was a bad smell. The tent flew away. We dont know what to do or where to go.She showed blankets and other items in the tent soaked and covered in mud as she and family members tried to wring them dry by hand. When we woke up in the morning, we found that the water had entered the tent, said Eman Abu Riziq, also displaced in Khan Younis. These are the mattresses they are all completely soaked. She said her family is still reeling from her husbands recent death, and is further drained by the constant struggle to stay dry. At least 12 people, including a 2-week-old infant, have died since Dec. 13 from hypothermia or weather-related collapses of war-damaged homes, according to Gazas Health Ministry, part of the Hamas-run government.Emergency workers have warned people not to stay in damaged buildings because they could collapse. But with much of the territory in rubble, there are few places to escape the rain. The United Nations in July estimated that almost 80% of buildings in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged. Since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas began, 414 people have been killed and 1,142 wounded in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry. The overall Palestinian death toll from the war is at least 71,266. The ministry, which does not distinguish between militants and civilians in its count, is staffed by medical professionals and maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by the international community.Aid in Gaza falls shortAid deliveries into Gaza are falling far short of the amount called for under the U.S.-brokered ceasefire, according to aid organizations and an Associated Press analysis of the Israeli militarys figures.The Israeli military body in charge of humanitarian aid said in the past week that 4,200 trucks with aid entered Gaza, plus eight garbage trucks to assist with sanitation, as well as tents and winter clothing. It refused to elaborate on the number of tents; aid groups have said the need far outstrips the number that have entered.Since the ceasefire began, approximately 72,000 tents and 403,000 tarps have entered, according to the Shelter Cluster, an international coalition of aid providers led by the Norwegian Refugee Council. Harsh winter weather is compounding more than two years of suffering. People in Gaza are surviving in flimsy, waterlogged tents and among ruins. There is nothing inevitable about this. Aid supplies are not being allowed in at the scale required, Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the top U.N. group overseeing aid in Gaza, wrote on social media.Ceasefires next phaseThough the ceasefire agreement has mostly held, its progress has slowed.Israel has said it refuses to move to the next phase while the remains of the final hostage killed in the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, that sparked the war are still in Gaza. Hamas has said the destruction in Gaza has hampered efforts to find remains.Challenges in the next phase include the deployment of an international stabilization force, a technocratic governing body for Gaza, the disarmament of Hamas and further Israeli troop withdrawals from the territory. Both Israel and Hamas have accused each other of truce violations.___Abou AlJoud reported from Beirut. Associated Press writer Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report.___This version corrects to say the ceasefire came into effect on Oct. 10.___Find more of APs Israel-Hamas coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.

French film actress Brigitte Bardot and her husband Gunter Sachs pose just before boarding a chartered airplane on their honeymoon in Las Vegas on July 14, 1966. (AP Photo/David F. Smith, File)2025-12-28T12:09:40Z PARIS (AP) Brigitte Bardot felt each pop of the flashbulb like the impact of a high-powered rifle bullet. And so it was, she said, that years of implacable hounding by the worlds paparazzi turned a woman idolized as a sultry sex kitten into a militant animal rights crusader.Bardot, who died Sunday at age 91, was just 22 when she rocketed to international fame with the 1956 film sensation And God Created Woman, a cinematic ode to her hourglass figure, sultry pout and tousled blond mane.Bardot would spend another decade and a half in the limelight and among the paparazzis preferred prey, including just days before she gave birth before she retired from the cinema to devote her life to protecting animals.I understand wild animals, under the fire of machine guns or hunters rifles, so well, Bardot said in a 1982 interview. The paparazzi didnt shoot to kill, but they certainly killed something inside me by photographing me like that with their zoom lenses. They were like the arms of war, like bazookas. A sex symbol turned animal rights activistBardot earned the title of one of the greatest sex symbols of the 20th century after her teenage breakthrough role dancing naked on tables in And God Created Woman, directed by the first of her four husbands, Roger Vadim.At the height of her cinema career, Bardot came to symbolize a nation bursting the seams of bourgeois respectability. Her tousled, blond mane, fabulous figure and pouty irreverence were among Frances most visible natural assets. Air France, the state-run air carrier, once used Bardot in an advertising campaign. Bardots second career as animal rights activist was equally sensational. She traveled to the Arctic to blow the whistle on the slaughter of baby seals; she condemned the use of animals in laboratory experiments; and she vigorously opposed Muslim sheep-slaughtering rituals. Man is an insatiable predator, Bardot told The Associated Press on her 73rd birthday in 2007. I dont care about my past glory. That means nothing in the face of an animal that suffers, since it has no power, no words to defend itself. Her activism earned her compatriots respect and, in 1985, she was awarded the Legion of Honor. Later, however, she fell from public grace as her animal protection diatribes took on a decidedly extremist ring. She was convicted five times in French courts of inciting racial hatred, including for criticism of the Muslim practice of slaughtering sheep during the annual Aid el-Kebir and Eid Al-Adha festivals. Her fourth husband was Bernard dOrmale, a one-time adviser to far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, also repeatedly convicted of racism. Bardot denied being racist, but frequently decried the influx of immigrants into France, especially Muslims. Made famous by her first husbandBardot was born Sept. 28, 1934, to a wealthy industrialist, studied classical ballet and was discovered by a family friend who put her on the cover of Elle magazine at the age of 14. She said her father was a strict disciplinarian who would sometimes punish me with a horse whip. It was French movie producer Vadim, whom she married in 1952, who saw her potential and wrote And God Created Woman to showcase her provocative sensuality, an explosive cocktail of childlike innocence and raw sexuality. The film, which portrayed Bardot as a bored newlywed who beds her brother-in-law, had a decisive influence on New Wave directors Jean-Luc Godard and Francois Truffaut, and it came to embody the hedonism and sexual freedom of the 1960s. The film was a box-office hit and it made Bardot a superstar. Her girlish pout, tiny waist and generous bustline were more appreciated than her talent. Its an embarrassment to have acted so badly, Bardot said of her early films. I suffered a lot in the beginning. I was really treated like someone less than nothing. Bardots unabashed, off-screen love affair with co-star Jean-Louis Trintignant further shocked the nation. It eradicated the boundaries between her public and private life and turned her into fair game for paparazzi who pursued her relentlessly. Hounded by paparazziShe never adjusted to the limelight and blamed the constant press attention for a suicide attempt shortly after the birth of her only child, Nicolas. Photographers broke into her house only two weeks before she gave birth to snap a picture of her pregnant. Nicolas father was Jacques Charrier, a handsome French actor who never liked his role as Monsieur Bardot. Bardot soon gave up her son to his father, and later said she had been chronically depressed and unready for the duties of being a mother. I was looking for roots then, she said in an interview. I had none to offer. In her 1996 autobiography, Initiales B.B., she likened her pregnancy to a tumor growing inside me, and described Charrier as temperamental and abusive. Bardot married her third husband, West German millionaire playboy Gunther Sachs, in 1966. They divorced three years later. Among her films were A Parisian (1957); In Case of Misfortune, in which she starred in 1958 with Jean Gabin, Frances Clark Gable; The Truth (1960); Private Life (1961); A Ravishing Idiot (1963); A Happy Heart (1967); Shalako (1968); Women (1969); The Bear And The Doll (1970); Rum Boulevard (1971); and Don Juan (1973). The films were rarely complicated by plots and had little psychological depth. Most were vehicles to display Bardot in scanty dress or frolicking nude in the sun. It was never a great passion of mine, she said of filmmaking. And it can be deadly sometimes. Marilyn (Monroe) perished because of it. A new Bardot, revered but later reviledBardot retired to her Riviera villa in St. Tropez at the age of 39 in 1973 after The Woman Grabber. She emerged a decade later with a new persona: animal rights lobbyist, face wrinkled and voice deepened by years of heavy smoking. She abandoned her jet-set life and sold off movie memorabilia and jewelry to create a foundation devoted exclusively to the prevention of animal cruelty. Her activism knew no borders. She urged South Korea to ban the sale of dog meat and once wrote to then-U.S. President Bill Clinton asking why the U.S. Navy recaptured two dolphins it had released into the wild. She attacked centuries-old French and Italian sporting traditions including the Palio, a free-for-all horse race, and campaigned on behalf of wolves, rabbits, kittens and turtle doves. Actress Pamela Anderson, also an animal rights activist, called Bardot my mother of the heart and my absolute idol, in an interview with the AP in 2008. In 1997, several towns removed Bardot-inspired statues of Marianne the bare-breasted statue representing the French Republic after she voiced anti-immigrant sentiment. Also that year, she received death threats after calling for a ban on the sale of horse meat. In 2018, at the height of the #MeToo movement, Bardot said in an interview that most actors protesting sexual harassment in the film industry were hypocritical and ridiculous because many played the teases with producers to land parts.She said she had never had been a victim of sexual harassment and found it charming to be told that I was beautiful or that I had a nice little ass.Bardot once said she identified with the animals she tried to save. I can understand hunted animals because of the way I was treated, she told an interviewer. What happened to me was inhuman. I was constantly surrounded by the world press. Retired Associated Press correspondent Ganley contributed biographical material to this obituary. RSShttps://feedx.net https://feedx.site

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