# Jury convicts boy and girl in England of murdering transgender teenager in frenzied knife attack
By **PAN PYLAS**
December 20, 2023. 1:30 PM EST

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**LONDON (AP)** - A boy and a girl were found guilty Wednesday of murdering a transgender teenager in northwest England earlier this year, in a frenzied knife attack that was described as "horrific" by police.

Brianna Ghey, 16, was stabbed with a hunting knife 28 times in her head, neck, chest and back in broad daylight after being lured to a park in the town of Warrington on Feb. 11.

The convicted pair, who are identified only as girl X and boy Y, are 16 now but were 15 at the time. They denied killing Ghey, and each blamed the other for the fatal stabbing. It is not known which one or if both wielded the knife. Neither had been in trouble with police before.

A jury of seven men and five women convicted the two following a four-week trial at Manchester Crown Court. The jurors deliberated for just four hours and 40 minutes of deliberations.

"You probably didn't anticipate sitting on a case as emotionally difficult as this one," Justice Amanda Yip told them.

The trial heard that the young defendants were intelligent and had a fascination with violence, torture and serial killers. They had planned the attack for weeks, detailed in a handwritten plan and phone messages found by detectives. They had also discussed killing others, which prompted police early in the investigation to rule out transphobia as a motivation behind Brianna's murder.

Police believe Brianna was killed because she was vulnerable and accessible, with her death not a hate crime but done for "enjoyment" and a "thirst for killing."

"This was a senseless murder committed by two teenagers who have an obsession with murder," said Nigel Parr, senior investigating officer from Cheshire Police. "Brianna trusted the female defendant, she was betrayed by someone she called her friend."

Yip said she won't be sentencing the pair this week. She said a life sentence was mandatory but that she would await psychologists' reports before deciding the minimum prison time the pair will be required to serve before being eligible for parole.

"Frankly I don't expect them to make a huge difference to the outcome in sentencing but given their ages and the unusual circumstances of the case, I think it is right I have all the information available," the judge said.

Neither defendant displayed a visible reaction to the verdicts.

Girl X spoke to her social worker and glanced at her parents when leaving the courtroom, while Boy Y, who avoids all eye contact, did not look over at his mother as he was led from the dock carrying his Sudoku puzzles book.

Boy Y has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and is non-verbal and girl X has traits of autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Outside the court, Brianna's mother said her daughter's killers had not shown "an ounce of remorse" but she called for the families of the convicted pair to be shown some empathy and compassion.

"We miss Brianna so much and our house feels empty without her laughter," Esther Ghey said. "To know how scared my usually fearless child must have been when she was alone in that park with someone that she called her friend will haunt me forever."


# Congressman told to hand over hundreds of texts and emails to FBI in 2020 election probe
By **MARC LEVY**
December 20, 2023. 4:59 PM EST

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**HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP)** - A federal judge is ordering Republican Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania to turn over more than 1,600 texts and emails to FBI agents investigating efforts to keep President Donald Trump in office after his 2020 election loss and illegally block the transfer of power to Democrat Joe Biden.

The ruling, late Monday, came more than a year after Perry's personal cellphone was seized by federal authorities who have explored his role in helping install an acting attorney general who would be receptive to Trump's false claims of election fraud.

The decision, by U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, is largely in line with an earlier finding by a federal judge that Perry appealed to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C.

Boasberg, in a 12-page decision, said that, after viewing each record, he decided that Perry, a top Trump ally, can withhold 396 of the messages under the constitution's speech and debate clause that protects the work of members of Congress.

However, the other 1,659 records do not involve legislative acts and must be disclosed, Boasberg ruled. That includes efforts to influence members of the executive branch, discussions about Vice President Mike Pence's role in certifying the election and providing information about alleged election fraud.

In a statement Wednesday, Perry's lawyer, John Rowley, said he is reviewing how the judge ruled and will decide whether to appeal. He maintained that Perry's work was on behalf of his constituents, as well as the nation, to "investigate the seemingly credible information he received about discrepancies in the 2020 election."

He also defended Perry's legal challenge as necessary to contend "with overly aggressive prosecutors." In the past, Rowley has said that government officials have never described Perry to him as a target of their investigation.

Perry is chairman of the Freedom Caucus, a hardline faction of conservatives. Perry has not been charged with a crime and is the only sitting member of Congress whose cellphone was seized by the FBI in the 2020 election investigation.

Perry's efforts to protect the contents of his cell phone have proceeded largely in secret, except in recent weeks when snippets and short summaries of his texts and emails were inadvertently unsealed - and then resealed - by the federal court.

Those messages revealed more about where Perry may fit in the web of Trump loyalists who were central to his bid to remain in power.

Making Perry a figure of interest to federal prosecutors were his efforts to elevate Jeffrey Clark to Trump's acting attorney general in late 2020.

Perry, in the past, has said he merely "obliged" Trump's request that he be introduced to Clark. At the time, Trump was searching for a like-minded successor to use the Department of Justice to help stall the certification of Biden's election victory.

But the messages suggest that Perry was a key ally for Clark, who positioned himself as someone who would reverse the Department of Justice's stance that it had found no evidence of widespread voting fraud.

To that end, Clark had drafted a letter that he suggested sending to Georgia saying the Department of Justice had "identified signiﬁcant concerns that may have impacted the outcome of the election in multiple states, including the state of Georgia," according to the August indictment in that state accusing Trump, Clark and 17 others of trying illegally to keep him in power.

At the time, Clark was the assistant attorney general of the Environment and Natural Resources Division and served as the acting head of the Civil Division.

The showdown over Clark brought the Justice Department to the brink of crisis, prosecutors have said, and Trump ultimately backed down after he was told that it would result in mass resignations at the Justice Department and his own White House counsel's office.

Clark is now described in the federal indictment of Trump as one of six unnamed and unindicted co-conspirators in an effort to illegally subvert the 2020 election.


# Newly released video shows how police moved through UNLV campus in response to reports of shooting
By **RIO YAMAT** and **GABE STERN**
December 20, 2023. 8:24 PM EST

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**LAS VEGAS (AP)** - Officers shouted over blaring alarms and knocked down reports of additional gunfire while responding to what became a deadly shooting at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, body camera footage released Wednesday showed.

In one video, police officers moved hastily through the university's business school on Dec. 6 amid a loud, piercing sound and called out for the alarm to be cut off. Commands were difficult to hear and, one officer noted, there was "blood everywhere" near a doorway on the fifth floor, the footage showed.

The suspect, Anthony Polito, was killed in a shootout with police outside the building after fatally shooting three professors, police later said. Reports of gunfire after Polito's death turned out to be the sounds of police trying to break down locked doors to clear classrooms, evacuate students and assess any remaining threats.

The more than five hours of video made public Wednesday was the first of several releases by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department that is leading the investigation. Police have not disclosed a motive for the shooting.

The three professors were inside the business school when they were killed. They are: Naoko Takemaru, 69, an author and associate professor of Japanese studies; Cha Jan "Jerry" Chang, 64, an associate professor in the business school's Management, Entrepreneurship & Technology department; and Patricia Navarro Velez, 39, an accounting professor focusing on research in cybersecurity disclosures and data analytics.

While police searched door to door in the business school, fears about multiple assailants continued for more than 40 minutes, according to the videos.

At one point, a dispatcher is heard on a police sergeant's radio relaying a report that someone was "shooting through the wall." Another officer knocks down the report, saying: "That's us. We're breaching doors. There are no shots fired."

Outside the building, students were eating and playing games about a week before final exams that were canceled in the wake of the shooting. UNLV graduation ceremonies were held this week amid tight security and remembrances of the victims, including a 38-year-old visiting professor who was critically injured.

Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill later said Polito had a 9mm handgun and nine ammunition magazines holding more than 150 bullets with him when he died.

The shocking scenes at the 30,000-student campus occurred just miles from the Las Vegas Strip where 58 people died in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. The deaths of at least two other people have since been attributed to that Oct. 1, 2017 attack.

Students, faculty members and campus employees barricaded themselves in rooms until officers from nearly every law enforcement agency in southern Nevada converged on campus and escorted them off. Many boarded buses to await interviews with investigators.

Police said Polito, 67, had been turned down for teaching positions at UNLV and other schools and taught courses at the Roseman University of Health Sciences, a private college in suburban Las Vegas between 2018 and 2022.

He left a tenured post in 2017 at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina, after teaching business there for more than 15 years.

McMahill characterized Polito as "struggling financially," pointing to an eviction notice taped on Polito's apartment door in Henderson. The sheriff said Polito had a "target list" of faculty members from UNLV and East Carolina University, but none of the shooting victims' names were on it.

University President Keith Whitfield characterized the shooting as "nothing short of life-changing" and vowed that students, faculty and alumni "not ever forget that day."


# Federal judge blocks California law that would have banned carrying firearms in most public places
December 20, 2023. 9:05 PM EST

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**SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP)** - A federal judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked a California law that would have banned carrying firearms in most public places, ruling that it violates the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and deprives people of their ability to defend themselves and their loved ones.

The law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in September was set to take effect Jan. 1. It would have prohibited people from carrying concealed guns in 26 places including public parks and playgrounds, churches, banks and zoos. The ban would apply whether the person has a permit to carry a concealed weapon or not. One exception would be for privately owned businesses that put up signs saying people are allowed to bring guns on their premises.

U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney granted a preliminary injunction blocking the law, which he wrote was "sweeping, repugnant to the Second Amendment, and openly defiant of the Supreme Court."

The decision is a victory for the California Rifle and Pistol Association, which sued to block the law. The measure overhauled the state's rules for concealed carry permits in light of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen. That decision said the constitutionality of gun laws must be assessed by whether they are "consistent with the nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation."

"California progressive politicians refuse to accept the Supreme Court's mandate from the Bruen case and are trying every creative ploy they can imagine to get around it," the California association's president, Chuck Michel, said in a statement. "The Court saw through the State's gambit."

Michel said under the law, gun permit holders "wouldn't be able to drive across town without passing through a prohibited area and breaking the law." He said the judge's decision makes Californians safer because criminals are deterred when law-abiding citizens can defend themselves.

The law was supported by Newsom, who has positioned himself as a national leader on gun control while he is being increasingly eyed as a potential presidential candidate. He has called for and signed a variety of bills, including measures targeting untraceable "ghost guns," the marketing of firearms to children and allowing people to bring lawsuits over gun violence. That legislation was patterned on a Texas anti-abortion law.

Carney is a former Orange County Superior Court judge who was appointed to the federal bench by President George W. Bush in 2003.


# Bus crash kills player, assistant coach in Algerian soccer's top league, matches postponed
December 20, 2023. 9:10 PM EST

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**ALGIERS, Algeria (AP)** - The Algerian Football Federation said late Wednesday that a bus crash has killed two members of its Ligue 1 side Mouloudia El Bayadh and that it would postpone all games scheduled for this week.

The federation said the accident killed El Bayadh reserve goalkeeper Zakaria Bouziani, 27, and assistant coach Khalid Muftah. Bouziani made two league appearances this season.

"It is with immense sadness that the president of the Algerian Football Federation, Walid Sadia... learned of the tragic road accident which left the club in mourning. MC El-Bayadh, playing in professional Ligue 1 Mobilis, and which led to the death of two members of this club," the federation said in a statement translated from French.

Local media said the bus carrying the team overturned in the town of Sougueur in northwestern Algeria on the way to Tizi Ouzou to play JSK Kabylie in a league game on Friday. The club said on social media that other injured team members were in stable condition.

"In the wake of the painful tragedy that befell Algerian football... the Algerian Football Federation decided to suspend all football activities scheduled for the end of this week across the entire country," it said in a later statement.


# NYC Council approves bill banning solitary confinement in city jails
By **PHILIP MARCELO**
December 20, 2023. 6:29 PM EST

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**NEW YORK (AP)** - Over the objections of Mayor Eric Adams, New York City lawmakers passed legislation Wednesday meant to ban solitary confinement in the city's jails.

Adams, a Democrat, had urged the City Council to reject the bill, arguing it will make jails more dangerous for both inmates and staff. But the measure was overwhelmingly approved and has enough supporters on the council to overrule a potential veto from the mayor.

The bill places a four-hour limit on isolating inmates who pose an immediate risk of violence to others or themselves in "de-escalation" units. Only those involved in violent incidents could be placed in longer-term restrictive housing, and they would need to be allowed out of their cells for 14 hours each day and get access to the same programming available to other inmates.

New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who introduced the legislation, said ahead of the vote that solitary confinement amounts to torture for those subjected to lengthy hours in isolation in small jail cells.

He and other supporters, including prominent members of New York's congressional delegation, have pointed to research showing solitary confinement, even only for a few days, increases the likelihood an inmate will die by suicide, violence or overdose. It also leads to acute anxiety, depression, psychosis and other impairments that may reduce an inmate's ability to reintegrate into society when they are released, they said.

"This is about safety at Rikers," Williams said, referring to New York's infamous island jail complex. "If we want something different, we need to try something different."

A report released by the Columbia University Center for Justice on Wednesday said that while the city Board of Correction, which oversees city-run jails, recently limited de-escalation confinement to six hours, some inmates have been locked up for far longer, even for days.

Inmates in restrictive housing can be locked up for 23 to 24 hours a day, according to the report, which urged City Council members and the mayor to support the bill.

Adams, a former NYPD captain, in a televised interview ahead of the vote, took specific aim at a provision of the bill that requires an inmate be granted a hearing before being placed in solitary confinement. But he stopped short of saying he would veto it.

"What City Council is saying is while they're in jail if they commit an assault on someone, an inmate or a correction officer, before we place them into punitive segregation, we need to allow them to have a trial of due process," he told WNYW. "That is saying, if someone assaults me on the street, before I could place them in jail, they must have a trial to determine if I'm going to arrest them and place them in the jail. That makes no sense."

The Correction Officers' Benevolent Association, the union representing staff in the city's jails, has also railed against the bill, as has the conservative Common Sense Caucus of the council.

Council Minority Leader Joe Borelli, who co-chairs the caucus, said the proposal would "essentially take away a vital tool our correction officers have to keep everyone safe."

California's legislature last year passed legislation to restrict segregated confinement in prisons and jails, but it was vetoed by Gov. Gavin Newsome.


# A passenger hid bullets in a baby diaper at New York's LaGuardia Airport. TSA officers caught him
December 20, 2023. 8:35 PM EST

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**NEW YORK (AP)** - It was a loaded diaper, but not like you would think.

Security officers found 17 bullets concealed inside a disposable baby diaper Wednesday at New York's LaGuardia Airport, the Transportation Security Administration said.

Officers pulled the otherwise clean diaper from a passenger's carry-on bag after it triggered an alarm in an X-ray machine at an airport security checkpoint, the TSA said.

According to the agency, the passenger initially claimed he didn't know how the bullet-filled diaper ended up in his bag. Later he suggested his girlfriend put it there, the agency said.

The TSA identified the passenger as a man from Arkansas who was ticketed for a flight to Chicago's Midway Airport, but did not disclose his name. Port Authority police cited him for unlawful possession of the 9mm ammunition.

Messages seeking details were left with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the airport, and the Queens district attorney's office.

The diaper disguiser is just the latest LaGuardia passenger to be flagged for packing bullets - and sometimes heat. It's a problem that has cropped up at airports across the U.S.

Last month, TSA officers found a .45-caliber pistol and a magazine loaded with six bullets concealed in a pair of Nike sneakers in a checked bag at LaGuardia. Firearms are allowed to be transported as checked luggage, but only in a locked, hard-sided container - not shoes.

In January 2021, officers at a security checkpoint intercepted 13 bullets hidden in a Mentos chewing gum container inside a carry-on bag. The bullets were mixed in with pieces of gum, the TSA said. The passenger, who was charged with unlawful possession of ammunition, claimed the bag belonged to his son, the agency said.

In April, officers pulled a loaded .22-caliber pistol and two boxes of ammunition - more than 100 bullets total - from a carry-on bag. That passenger claimed he had been at a shooting range and forgot to remove the gun and bullets before heading to the airport, the TSA said. He was still arrested.


# After 12 years, two children and 'Barbie,' Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach quietly marry
By **The Associated Press**
December 20, 2023. 12:15 PM EST

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Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach are officially married, their representative told The Associated Press Wednesday.

The two filmmakers have been together for 12 years, have two children and collaborated on many films, including "Barbie," which they co-wrote and Gerwig directed. They met on Baumbach's "Greenberg" and went on to work together on films like "Mistress America" and "Frances Ha," which they co-wrote, Baumbach directed and Gerwig acted in.

Baumbach was previously married to and shares a child with Jennifer Jason Leigh.

Gerwig and Baumbach wrote "Barbie" during the pandemic, not knowing if it would ever actually get made. In a "60 Minutes" interview from earlier this year Baumbach said that Gerwig signed them up to write it without telling him and he even tried to get out of it. His attempts, he laughed, were unsuccessful because "Greta was persistent and Greta saw something," he said.

The film became a cultural phenomenon and the highest grosser of the year, with over $1.4 billion in ticket sales, as well as a presumed Oscar contender.


# On Christmas Eve, Bethlehem resembles a ghost town. Celebrations are halted due to Israel-Hamas war
By **MELANIE LIDMAN**
December 24, 2023. 10:12 AM EST

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**BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP)** - The normally bustling biblical birthplace of Jesus resembled a ghost town on Sunday, as Christmas Eve celebrations in Bethlehem were called off due to the Israel-Hamas war.

The festive lights and Christmas tree that normally decorate Manger Square were missing, as were the throngs of foreign tourists and jubilant youth marching bands that gather in the West Bank town each year to mark the holiday. Dozens of Palestinian security forces patrolled the empty square.

"This year, without the Christmas tree and without lights, there's just darkness," said Brother John Vinh, a Franciscan monk from Vietnam who has lived in Jerusalem for six years.

He said he always comes to Bethlehem to mark Christmas, but this year was especially sobering, as he gazed at a nativity scene in Manger Square with a baby Jesus wrapped in a white shroud, reminiscent of the thousands of children killed in the fighting in Gaza. Barbed wire surrounded the scene, the grey rubble reflecting none of the joyous lights and bursts of color that normally fill the square during the Christmas season.

The cancellation of Christmas festivities is a severe blow to the town's economy. Tourism accounts for an estimated 70% of Bethlehem's income - almost all of that during the Christmas season.

With many major airlines canceling flights to Israel, few foreigners are visiting. Local officials say over 70 hotels in Bethlehem have been forced to close, leaving thousands of people unemployed.

Gift shops were slow to open on Christmas Eve, although a few did once the rain had stopped pouring down. There were few visitors, however.

"We can't justify putting out a tree and celebrating as normal, when some people (in Gaza) don't even have houses to go to," said Ala'a Salameh, one of the owners of Afteem Restaurant, a family-owned falafel restaurant just steps from the square.

Salameh said Christmas Eve is usually the busiest day of the year. "Normally, you can't find a single chair to sit, we're full from morning till midnight," said Salameh. This year, just one table was taken, by journalists taking a break from the rain.

Under a banner that read "Bethlehem's Christmas bells ring for a cease-fire in Gaza," a few teenagers offered small inflatable Santas, but no one was buying. Instead of their traditional musical march through the streets of Bethlehem, young scouts stood silently with flags. A group of local students unfurled a massive Palestinian flag as they stood in silence.

"Our message every year on Christmas is one of peace and love, but this year it's a message of sadness, grief and anger in front of the international community with what is happening and going on in the Gaza Strip," Bethlehem's mayor, Hana Haniyeh, said in an address to the crowd.

Dr. Joseph Mugasa, a pediatrician, was one of the few international visitors. He said his tour group of 15 people from Tanzania was "determined" to come to the region despite the situation.

"I've been here several times, and it's quite a unique Christmas, as usually there's a lot of people and a lot of celebrations," he said. "But you can't celebrate while people are suffering, so we are sad for them and praying for peace."

More than 20,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 50,000 wounded during Israel's air and ground offensive against Gaza's Hamas rulers, according to health officials there, while some 85% of the territory's 2.3 million residents have been displaced. The war was triggered by Hamas' deadly assault Oct. 7 on southern Israel in which militants killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took more than 240 hostages.

The Gaza war has been accompanied by a surge in violence, with some 300 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire.

The fighting has affected life across the West Bank. Since Oct. 7, access to Bethlehem and other Palestinian towns in the Israeli-occupied territory has been difficult, with long lines of motorists waiting to pass military checkpoints. The restrictions have also prevented tens of thousands of Palestinians from exiting the territory to work in Israel.

Amir Michael Giacaman opened his store, "Il Bambino," which sells olive wood carvings and other souvenirs, for the first time since Oct. 7. There have been no tourists, and few local residents have money to spare because those who worked in Israel have been stuck at home.

"When people have extra money, they go buy food," said his wife, Safa Giacaman. "This year, we're telling the Christmas story. We're celebrating Jesus, not the tree, not Santa Claus, she said, as their daughter Makaella ran around the deserted store.

The fighting in Gaza was on the minds of the small Christian community in Syria, which is coping with a civil war now in its 13th year. Christians said they were trying to find joy, despite the ongoing strife in their homeland and in Gaza.

"Where is the love? What have we done with love?" said the Rev. Elias Zahlawi, a priest in Yabroud, a city about 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of Damascus. "We've thrown God outside the realm of humanity and unfortunately, the church has remained silent in the face of this painful reality."

Some tried to find inspiration in the spirit of Christmas.

Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa, arriving from Jerusalem for the traditional procession to the Church of the Nativity, told the sparse crowd that Christmas was a "reason to hope" despite the war and violence.

The pared-down Christmas was in keeping with the original message of the holiday and illustrated the many ways the community is coming together, said Stephanie Saldana, who is originally from San Antonio, Texas, and has lived in Jerusalem and Bethlehem for the past 15 years with her husband, a parish priest at the St Joseph Syriac Catholic Church.

"We feel Christmas as more real than ever, because we're waiting for the prince of peace to come. We are waiting for a miracle to stop this war," Saldana said.


# A weekend of combat in Gaza kills 14 Israeli soldiers as public support for the war is tested
By **TIA GOLDENBERG**, **WAFAA SHURAFA**, and **SAMY MAGDY**
December 24, 2023. 11:04 AM EST

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**TEL AVIV, Israel (AP)** - Fourteen Israeli soldiers were killed in combat in Gaza over the weekend, the Israeli military said Sunday, in some of the bloodiest days of battle since the ground offensive began and a sign that Hamas is still putting up a fight despite weeks of brutal war.

The mounting death toll among Israeli troops - 153 since the ground offensive began - is likely an important factor in Israeli support for the war, which was sparked when Hamas-led militants stormed communities in southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 and taking 240 hostage.

The war has devastated parts of Gaza , killed roughly 20,400 Palestinians and displaced almost all of the besieged territory's 2.3 million people. The Health Ministry in Gaza said 166 people were killed in the coastal enclave over the past day.

Israelis still stand behind the country's stated goals of crushing Hamas' governing and military capabilities and releasing the remaining 129 captives. That support has stayed mostly steady despite rising international pressure against Israel's offensive and the soaring death toll and unprecedented suffering among Palestinians.

As Christmas Eve fell, smoke still rose over Gaza from the fighting while Bethlehem in the West Bank was hushed, its holiday celebrations called off.

## HAMAS EXACTS A PRICE
The 14 Israeli soldiers killed on Friday and Saturday died in central and southern Gaza, a sign of how Hamas still puts up tough resistance even as Israel claims to have dealt the militant group a serious blow.

"The war exacts a very heavy price from us but we have no choice but to continue fighting," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a Cabinet meeting.

There has been widespread anger against Netanyahu's government, which many criticize for failing to protect civilians on Oct. 7 and promoting policies that allowed Hamas to gain strength over the years. Netanyahu has avoided accepting responsibility for the military and policy failures.

Efforts toward another exchange of hostages for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel continued. On Sunday, the head of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group also involved in the Oct. 7 attack, Ziyad al-Nakhalah, arrived in Cairo for talks. The militant group said it was prepared to consider releasing hostages only after an end to fighting. Hamas' top leader Ismail Haniyeh traveled to Cairo for talks days earlier.

Egypt and Qatar have been key mediators in the conflict.

## INSIDE GAZA
Israel's offensive has been one of the most devastating military campaigns in recent history. More than two-thirds of the 20,000 Palestinians killed have been women and children, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said a 13-year-old boy was shot and killed in an Israeli drone attack while inside al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis, a part of Gaza where Israel's military believes Hamas leaders are hiding.

An Israeli strike overnight hit a house in a refugee camp west of the city of Rafah, on Gaza's border with Egypt. At least two men were killed, according to Associated Press journalists in the hospital where the bodies were taken.

At least two people were killed and six others wounded when a missile stuck a building in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza.

And Palestinians reported heavy Israeli bombardment and gunfire in Jabaliya, an area north of Gaza City that Israel had claimed to control. Hamas' military arm said its fighters shelled Israeli troops in Jabaliya and Jabaliya refugee camp.

"Sounds of explosions and gunfire never stopped," said Jabaliya resident Assad Radwan.

Israel has come under international criticism for the civilian death toll but it blames Hamas, citing the militants' use of crowded residential areas and tunnels. Israel has launched thousands of airstrikes since Oct. 7, and has largely refrained from commenting on specific attacks.

Israel also faces allegations of mistreating Palestinian men and teenage boys detained in homes, shelters, hospitals and elsewhere during the offensive. It has denied abuse allegations and said those without links to militants are quickly released.

Speaking to the AP from a hospital bed in Rafah after his release, Khamis al-Burdainy of Gaza City said Israeli forces detained him after tanks and bulldozers partly destroyed his home. He said men were handcuffed and blindfolded.

"We didn't sleep. We didn't get food and water," he said, crying and covering his face.

Another released detainee, Mohammed Salem, from the Gaza City neighborhood of Shijaiyah, said Israeli troops beat them. "We were humiliated," he said. "A female soldier would come and beat an old man, aged 72 years old."

Israel says it has killed thousands of Hamas militants, without presenting evidence, and says it is dismantling Hamas' vast tunnel network and killing off top commanders - an operation that leaders have said could take months.

## INTERNATIONAL PRESSURE
The United Nations Security Council has passed a watered-down resolution calling for the speedy delivery of humanitarian aid for hungry and desperate Palestinians and the release of all the hostages, but not for a cease-fire.

But it was not immediately clear how and when deliveries of food, medical supplies and other aid, far below the daily average of 500 before the war, would accelerate. Trucks enter through two crossings - Rafah, and Kerem Shalom on the border with Israel. Wael Abu Omar, a spokesman for the Palestinian Crossings Authority, said 93 aid trucks entered Gaza through Rafah on Saturday.

The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, reiterated U.N. calls for a humanitarian cease-fire, adding on social media that "the decimation of the Gaza health system is a tragedy."

Israel's allies in Europe have stepped up calls for a stop to the fighting. But the U.S., Israel's top ally, appeared to remain firmly behind Israel despite intensifying its calls for greater protection for civilians.

U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with Netanyahu on Saturday, a day after Washington shielded Israel from a harsher U.N. resolution. Biden said he did not ask for a cease-fire, while Netanyahu's office said the prime minister "made clear that Israel would continue the war until achieving all its goals."


# Reindeer are famous for pulling Santa's sleigh, but there's a characteristic that sets them apart
By **HOLLY RAMER**
December 23, 2023. 12:01 AM EST

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**CONCORD, N.H. (AP)** - Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer may have millions of carrots set out for him on Christmas Eve, but what about the rest of the year?

Finding food in a cold, barren landscape is challenging, but researchers from Dartmouth College in New Hampshire and the University of St. Andrews in Scotland report that reindeer eyes may have evolved to allow them to easily spot their preferred meal.

It's further evidence that while reindeer are famous for pulling Santa's sleigh, it's their vision that really sets them apart, says Nathaniel Dominy, a Dartmouth anthropology professor and co-author of a recent study published in the journal i-Perception.

"They've been sort of obscure and unheralded in the annals of visual neuroscience, but they're having their moment because they have a really fascinating visual system," he said in an interview.

Scientists have known for years that mirror-like tissue in reindeer eyes changes color from a greenish gold in the summer to vivid blue in the winter, a process that is thought to amplify the low light of polar winter. But they weren't sure what to make of another curious fact: Unlike other mammals, reindeer can see light in the ultraviolet spectrum.

"Most animals that are active under daylight conditions want to avoid UV light. UV light is damaging," Dominy said. "Snow reflects UV light, which is a problem, which is why humans get snow blindness."

Some scientists believe reindeer vision evolved to protect the animals from predators, allowing them to spot white wolves against a snowy landscape, for example. The new study points to another possibility: food.

Reindeer subsist largely on light-colored reindeer moss, which isn't actually a moss but rather a type of lichen that grows in crunchy, carpet-like patches across northern latitudes.

Researchers traveled to the Cairngorms mountains in the Scottish Highlands, which hosts more than 1,500 species of lichen as well as Britain's only reindeer herd. They found reindeer moss absorbs UV light, meaning the white lichen that humans have trouble seeing against the snow stands out as dark patches to the animals.

"If you're a reindeer, you can see it and you have an advantage because then you're not wandering around the landscape. You can walk in a straight line and get to that food, and you conserve energy in the process," Dominy said. "These animals are desperate for food, and if they can find lichen sufficiently, then they have an advantage."

Juan Jose Negro specializes in evolutionary ecology and conservation biology at the Spanish Council for Scientific Research. While his focus is mainly on birds of prey, he found the new reindeer research intriguing.

"I love every piece of work dealing with colors and vision," he said. "Every time I read other people's works, there is something that sparks new ideas. ... And in the case of the reindeer, this is leading me to want to pay more attention to this part of the spectrum."

While he saw no immediate biomedical benefit to the research, such work is useful in furthering the understanding of how animals deal with difficult environments, he said.

Dominy echoed that point, but said it also has human implications. There has been a lot of pharmacological research on lichens because they have antioxidant properties. Reindeer eyes allowing in UV light suggests there might be some mechanism in place to protect them from damage, he said.

"Reindeer eyes are full of ascorbic acid, or vitamin C, and vitamin C is just terrific for repairing damaged cells," he said.

With that in mind, Dominy is updating the advice he offered after writing a 2015 paper exploring why a reindeer's red nose would be ideal for guiding Santa's sleigh.

Back then, he recommended children leave Rudolph cookies and other high-calorie food to make up for the body heat he loses through his nose. Now, he says, focus on his eyes and save the milk and cookies for Santa.

"The best thing to give them to protect the health of their eyes would be something rich in vitamin C," he said. "Orange juice, carrots, these would be perfect treats for reindeer on Christmas Eve."


# Second suspect arrested in theft of Banksy stop sign artwork featuring military drones
December 24, 2023. 10:44 AM EST

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**LONDON (AP)** - A second suspect was arrested in the alleged theft of a work by the elusive street artist Banksy of a stop sign adorned with three military drones, London police said Sunday.

A man in his 40s was in custody on suspicion of theft and criminal damage, the Metropolitan police said. A suspect in his 20s who was arrested Saturday was released on bail.

Witnesses who arrived at a street corner Friday in the south London section of Peckham less than an hour after Banksy posted a photo of the work on Instagram said they were stunned to watch a man with bolt cutters remove the sign as another man steadied a bike he stood on.

The incident was captured in photos and video.

Much of Banksy's political and satirical art is critical of war, and many of his followers interpreted the work as calling for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.


# Decaying Pillsbury mill in Illinois that once churned flour into opportunity is now getting new life
By **JOHN O'CONNOR**
December 24, 2023. 12:17 AM EST

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**SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP)** - It was the dog, stuck atop skyscraping grain silos on Springfield's northeast side in 2019, that forced Chris Richmond's hand.

The stray had found its way to the top of the behemoth Pillsbury Mills, for decades a flour-churning engine of the central Illinois city's economy but now vacant more than 20 years. Rescue was too risky amid such decay, officials said.

The brief but precarious appearance by the dog, found dead at ground level days later after ingesting rat poison, represented the hopelessness posed by the vacant campus, Richmond recalled.

"That's when I said, 'This is just unacceptable in our community,'" said the 54-year-old retired city fire marshal, whose father's Pillsbury paycheck made him and his brother first-generation college graduates.

A year later, Richmond and allies emerged with a nonprofit called Moving Pillsbury Forward and a five-year, $10 million plan to raze the century-old plant and renew the 18-acre (7.3-hectare) site.

Richmond, the group's president and treasurer, vice president Polly Poskin and secretary Tony DelGiorno have $6 million in commitments and targets for collecting the balance.

Having already razed two structures, the group expects the wrecking ball to swing even more feverishly next year. Next door to a railyard with nationwide connections, they envision a light industrial future.

Meanwhile, Moving Pillsbury Forward has managed to turn the decrepit site in Illinois' capital city into a leisure destination verging on cultural phenomenon.

Tours have been highly popular and repeated. Oral histories have emerged. Spray-paint vandals, boosted instead of busted, have become artists in residence for nighttime graffiti exhibitions, which more than 1,000 people attended.

Retired University of Illinois archeologist Robert Mazrim has mined artifacts and assembled an "Echoes of Pillsbury" museum beneath a leaking loading dock roof. This month, the plant's towering headhouse is ablaze with holiday lights.

Perhaps the exuberance with which Moving Pillsbury Forward approaches its task sets it apart. But in terms of activist groups pursuing such formidable reclamation aspirations, it's not unusual, said David Holmes, a Wisconsin-based environmental scientist and brownfields redevelopment consultant.

Government funding has expanded to accommodate them.

"You find some high-caliber organizations that are really focused on the areas with the biggest problems, these most-in-need neighborhoods," Holmes said. "A lot of times, cities (local governments) are focused on their downtowns or whatever gets the mayor the ribbon cutting."

Minneapolis-based Pillsbury built the Springfield campus in 1929 and expanded it several times through the 1950s. A bakery mix division after World War II turned out the world's first boxed cake mixes.

There is circumstantial evidence that the Pillsbury doughboy, the brand's seminal mascot, was first drawn by a Springfield plant manager who eschewed credit, not, as the company maintains, in a Chicago ad agency.

Pillsbury sold the plant in 1991 to Cargill, which departed a decade later. A scrap dealer ran afoul of the law with improper asbestos disposal in 2015, prompting a $3 million U.S. Environmental Protection Agency cleanup. After the dog's cameo, Moving Pillsbury Forward persuaded the EPA to drop a lien for its cleanup costs and purchased the property for $1.

Now, all that's left is to sweep up a the remaining asbestos and lead paint chips before pulling down more than 500,000 square feet (46,450 square meters) of factory, including a 242-foot (73.8-meter) headhouse that's the city's third-tallest structure and 160 silos, four abreast and standing 100 feet (30.5 meters).

"It's daunting. Everything about this place is daunting," Richmond concedes. "But a journey of 1,000 miles starts with the first step, right?"

The timing is right. There is more money than ever available to mop up America's left-behinds, according to Holmes.

The 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act included $1.2 billion for brownfields cleanup, four times the typical annual allotment The Pillsbury group wants $2.6 million of the total added to what the group already has been promised by the federal, state and Springfield governments.

The application plays up the intangible benefits: economic and environmental justice availing the 12,000 people who live within 1 mile (1.61 kilometers) of the plant, only 25% of whom have a high school diploma and whose median household income is $25,000.

"It's a tough sell but at some point, there are enough people who have a vision for what it could be that that's a powerful incentive," Poskin said. "It isn't going to be anything until what's there is gone. No developer is going to take on a $10 million cleanup job."

The group also set out to preserve memories of the place they are working to tear down. Ex-workers and neighbors have clamored for spots in ongoing tours and posed for group photos.

In a historical seniority list on display, next to "Jackson, Ernest, 1937," is the message, "Hi Grandpa. We are visiting your workplace of 42 yrs." Richmond and Mazrim have collected more than a dozen oral histories from past employees. Photographers are documenting what remains for historical context.

And it's become an unlikely canvas. Minneapolis-based graffiti artists who tag their work "Shock" and "Static" were surreptitiously decorating the place in September when Richmond and Mazrim confronted them. Instead of pressing a trespassing charge, Richmond invited them to stage an exhibition. The nighttime November showing proved so popular that Richmond added a second date.

Artist Eric Rieger, known to fans as HOTTEA, also took part, creating in a "cathedral-like" setting a huge, rectangular grid of black-light-lit neon strings of yarn suspended from the ceiling. His goal was "a sense of really positive energy" reminiscent of the fond memories employees experienced.

"They were so enthusiastic and that's rare to find nowadays," Rieger said the night of the first exhibit Nov. 9. "I really respect what they did for this community because they're the backbone of America - they were feeding America."


# Iowa won't participate in US food assistance program for kids this summer
December 23, 2023. 7:26 PM EST

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**DES MOINES, Iowa (AP)** - Iowa will not participate this summer in a federal program that gives $40 per month to each child in a low-income family to help with food costs while school is out, state officials have announced.

The state has notified the U.S. Department of Agriculture that it will not participate in the 2024 Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer for Children - or Summer EBT - program, the state's Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Education said in a Friday news release.

"Federal COVID-era cash benefit programs are not sustainable and don't provide long-term solutions for the issues impacting children and families. An EBT card does nothing to promote nutrition at a time when childhood obesity has become an epidemic," Iowa Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds said in the news release.

She added, "If the Biden Administration and Congress want to make a real commitment to family well-being, they should invest in already existing programs and infrastructure at the state level and give us the flexibility to tailor them to our state's needs."

States that participate in the federal program are required to cover half of the administrative costs, which would cost an estimated $2.2 million in Iowa, the news release says.

Some state lawmakers, including Democratic Sen. Izaah Knox of Des Moines, quickly voiced their opposition to the decision.

"It's extremely disappointing that the Reynolds administration is planning to reject federal money that could put food on the table for hungry Iowa kids," Knox said in a statement. "This cruel and short-sighted decision will have real impacts on children and families in my district and communities all across Iowa."

Officials in nearby Nebraska also announced this week that the state will not participate in Summer EBT, which would cost Nebraska about $300,000 annually in administrative costs, the Lincoln Journal Star reported.

"In the end, I fundamentally believe that we solve the problem, and I don't believe in welfare," Nebraska Republican Gov. Jim Pillen told the Journal Star on Friday.

But Nebraska will continue participating in a different federal program, called the Summer Food Service Program, which combines programming - like reading, physical activity and nutrition education - with food assistance, according to the Journal Star.

"We just want to make sure that they're out. They're at church camps. They're at schools. They're at 4-H. And we'll take care of them at all of the places that they're at, so that they're out amongst (other people) and not feeding a welfare system with food at home," Pillen said.

A bipartisan group of Nebraska lawmakers have urged the state to reconsider, saying Summer EBT would address the needs of vulnerable children and benefit the state economically, the Journal Star reported.

At least 18 states and territories and two tribal nations - Cherokee Nation and Chickasaw Nation - have announced they intend to participate in Summer EBT in 2024, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The list includes Arizona, California, Kansas, Minnesota, West Virginia, American Samoa and Guam, among others.

States, territories and eligible tribal nations have until Jan. 1 to notify the Department of Agriculture of their intent to participate in the program this summer.


# New York governor vetoes bill that would make it easier for people to challenge their convictions
By **MAYSOON KHAN**
December 23, 2023. 4:45 PM EST

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**ALBANY, N.Y. (AP)** - New York Gov. Kathy Hochul vetoed a bill days before Christmas that would have made it easier for people who have pleaded guilty to crimes to challenge their convictions, a measure that was favored by criminal justice reformers but fiercely opposed by prosecutors.

The Democrat said the bill's "sweeping expansion of eligibility for post-conviction relief" would "up-end the judicial system and create an unjustifiable risk of flooding the courts with frivolous claims," in a veto letter released Saturday.

Under existing state law, criminal defendants who plead guilty are usually barred from trying to get their cases reopened based on a new claim of innocence, except in certain circumstances involving new DNA evidence.

The bill passed by the Legislature in June would have expanded the types of evidence that could be considered proof of innocence, including video footage or evidence of someone else confessing to a crime. Arguments that a person was coerced into a false guilty plea would have also been considered.

Prosecutors and advocates for crime victims warned the bill would have opened the floodgates to endless, frivolous legal appeals by the guilty.

Erie County District Attorney John Flynn, the president of the District Attorney's Association of the State of New York, wrote in a letter to Hochul in July that the bill would create "an impossible burden on an already overburdened criminal justice system."

The legislation would have benefitted people like Reginald Cameron, who was exonerated in 2023, years after he pleaded guilty to first-degree robbery in exchange for a lesser sentence. He served more than eight years in prison after he was arrested alongside another person in 1994 in the fatal shooting of Kei Sunada, a 22-year-old Japanese immigrant. Cameron, then 19, had confessed after being questioned for several hours without attorneys.

His conviction was thrown out after prosecutors reinvestigated the case, finding inconsistencies between the facts of the crime and the confessions that were the basis for the conviction. The investigation also found the detective that had obtained Cameron's confessions was also connected to other high-profile cases that resulted in exonerations, including the Central Park Five case.

Various states including Texas have implemented several measures over the years intended to stop wrongful convictions. Texas amended a statute in 2015 that allows a convicted person to apply for post-conviction DNA testing. In 2017, another amended rule requires law enforcement agencies to electronically record interrogations of suspects in serious felony cases in their entirety.

"We're pretty out of step when it comes to our post-conviction statute," Amanda Wallwin, a state policy advocate at the Innocence Project, said of New York.

"We claim to be a state that cares about racial justice, that cares about justice period. To allow Texas to outmaneuver us is and should be embarrassing," she said.

In 2018, New York's highest court affirmed that people who plead guilty cannot challenge their convictions unless they have DNA evidence to support their innocence. That requirement makes it very difficult for defendants to get their cases heard before a judge, even if they have powerful evidence that is not DNA-based.

Over the past three decades, the proportion of criminal cases that make it to trial in New York has steadily declined, according to a report by the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. About 99% of misdemeanor charges and 94% of felony charges in the state are resolved by guilty pleas.

"In my work, I know there there are a lot of circumstances where people plead guilty to crimes because they are advised or misadvised by their attorneys at the time," said Donna Aldea, a lawyer at law firm Barket Epstein Kearon Aldea & LoTurco. "Sometimes they're afraid that if they go to trial, they'll face much worse consequences, even if they didn't commit the crime."

She said the state's criminal justice system right now is framed in a way that makes it impossible for people to challenge their guilty pleas years later when new evidence emerges, or when they're in a better financial position to challenge their convictions.

Under the bill, those challenging their convictions would be provided court-appointed pro bono representation if they can't afford an attorney. They'd also be able to request retesting of physical evidence, as well as access to both the defense and prosecutor's discovery files related to their case.

State Senator Zellnor Myrie, a New York City Democrat who sponsored the bill, said he is considering reintroducing the bill in the next legislative session to give innocent people a "fair chance to reverse a terrible wrong."

Nick Encalada-Malinowski, the civil rights campaign director for VOCAL-NY, a grassroots organization, said the bill would have removed various barriers for folks who got their wrongful conviction cases dismissed on procedural or technical grounds.

The bill, he said, would have given them a chance to get their cases heard on the merits.

"The problem of wrongful convictions in New York requires a statewide solution," said Nick Encalada-Malinowski, the civil rights campaign director for VOCAL-NY, a grassroots organization. "We're trying to have a system where people have an ability no matter where they are, if they're wrongfully convicted, to get back in courts and argue their cases."


# Judges to decide if 300 possible victims of trafficking from India should remain grounded in France
By **ANGELA CHARLTON** and **ELISE MORTON**
December 24, 2023. 9:18 AM EST

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**PARIS (AP)** - Judges in France were expected to decide Sunday whether about 300 Indian citizens who are suspected of being victims of human trafficking should continue to be sequestered in a small airport in Champagne country.

En route to Central America, the passengers have been held at Paris-Vatry Airport since Thursday after a dramatic police operation prompted by a tip about a possible human trafficking scheme, authorities said.

The passengers appeared throughout the day before judges who will decide whether to extend their detention in the airport, according to the administration for the Marne region. If they can't be held any longer, they will be free to leave the country.

"I don't know if this has ever been done before in France," Francois Procureur, the head of the Châlons-en-Champagne Bar Association, told BFM TV on Saturday.

The situation is urgent because "we cannot keep foreigners in a waiting area for more than 96 hours. Beyond that, it is the liberty and custody judge who must rule on their fate," he said.

The four-day period can be extended to eight days if a judge approves, then another eight days in exceptional circumstances.

With this urgency in mind, Procureur said four hearings would take place simultaneously, with four judges, four clerks and at least four lawyers taking part in the proceedings along with the Indian citizens and interpreters. "We are all mobilized," he said.

According to a statement from the Marne prefecture, the seizure order for the airliner was lifted Sunday morning, a decision which "makes it possible to contemplate the passengers in the waiting area being rerouted."

The French Civil Aviation Authority then set about trying to get the necessary permissions for the plane to take off once again, which should be in place "no later than Monday morning," according to the prefecture. Passengers were still undergoing questioning when the statement was issued.

The passengers included children and families. The youngest is a toddler of 21 months, and among the children are several unaccompanied minors, according to the local civil protection agency.

Two of the passengers were detained as part of a special investigation into suspected human trafficking by an organized criminal group, according to the Paris prosecutor's office. Prosecutors wouldn't comment on what kind of trafficking was alleged, or whether the ultimate destination was the U.S., which has seen a surge in Indians crossing the Mexico-U.S. border this year.

The 15 crew members of the Legend Airlines charter flight - an unmarked A340 plane en route from Fujairah airport in the United Arab Emirates to Managua, Nicaragua - were questioned and released, according to a lawyer for the Romania-based airline.

According to an official with the Marne administration, the passengers initially remained in the plane, surrounded by police on the tarmac, but were then transferred into the main hall of the airport to sleep.

Legend Airlines lawyer Liliana Bakayoko said the company was cooperating with French authorities and has denied any role in possible human trafficking. She said the airline "has not committed any infraction."

A "partner" company that chartered the plane was responsible for verifying identification documents of each passenger, and communicated their passport information to the airline 48 hours before the flight, Bakayoko told The Associated Press.

The customer had chartered multiple flights on Legend Airlines from Dubai to Nicaragua, and a few other flights had already made the journey without incident, she said. She would not identify the customer, saying only that it is not a European company.

The U.S. government has designated Nicaragua as one of several countries deemed as failing to meet minimum standards for eliminating human trafficking.

Nicaragua has also been used as a migratory springboard for people fleeing poverty or conflict in the Caribbean as well as far-flung countries in Africa or Asia, because of relaxed or visa-free entry requirements for some countries. Sometimes charter flights are used for the journey. From there, the migrants travel north by bus with the help of smugglers.

The influx of Indian migrants through Mexico has increased from fewer than 3,000 in 2022 to more than 11,000 from January to November this year, according to the Mexican Immigration Agency. Indian citizens were arrested 41,770 times entering the U.S. illegally from Mexico in the U.S. government's budget year that ended Sept. 30, more than double from 18,308 the previous year.


# A man is killed and a woman injured in a 'targeted' afternoon shooting at a Florida shopping mall
December 24, 2023. 6:50 AM EST

**OCALA, Fla. (AP)** - A man died in a shooting at a shopping mall in central Florida two days before Christmas in which the victim was "targeted" for the attack, police said.

Ocala Police Chief Mike Balken told reporters Saturday evening that the man was killed after he was shot multiple times in a common area at Paddock Mall in Ocala, located about 79 miles (127 kilometers) northwest of Orlando.

A woman also was shot in the leg. She was treated at a local hospital and expected to recover, Balken said.

The suspect fled the scene and left behind the firearm, Balken said.

Police arrived at the mall around 3:40 p.m. after a call of multiple shots being fired at the mall.

"Officers immediately made entry into the mall (and) ultimately discovered that this was not what we would consider an active shooter," Balken told reporters.

The attack was likely a "targeted act of violence" against the man, Balken said.

Several other mall patrons suffered injuries during the shooting, with one person having chest pain and another reporting a broken arm, police said.

The Ocala police posted photos overnight of a person of interest that appear to be taken from a mall security camera. The three images show a male with a red cap and dark clothing. Balken previously said the suspect wore a hooded sweatshirt and a mask partially covering his face.

The police also asked the public for assistance by submitting mobile phone video of the shooting scene.

The mall's corporate owner, WPG, did not immediately respond to an email seeking additional information. The mall has dozens of stores, including J.C. Penney and Foot Locker.

Calvin and Diana Amos, who were shopping in the J.C. Penney store, told the Ocala Star-Banner that they evacuated the store quickly once they figured out what was going on. They described themselves as scared and apprehensive.


# New migrants face fear and loneliness. A town on the Great Plains has a storied support network
By **JESSE BEDAYN**
December 24, 2023. 12:04 AM EST

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**FORT MORGAN, Colo. (AP)** - Magdalena Simon's only consolation after immigration officers handcuffed and led her husband away was the contents of his wallet, a few bills.

The hopes that had pushed her to trudge thousands of miles from Guatemala in 2019, her son's small frame clutched to her chest, ceded to despair and loneliness in Fort Morgan, a ranching outpost on Colorado's eastern plains, where some locals stared at her too long and the wind howls so fiercely it once blew the doors half off a hotel.

The pregnant Simon tried to mask the despair every morning when her toddlers asked, "Where's papa?"

To millions of migrants who have crossed the U.S. southern border in the past few years, stepping off greyhound buses in places across America, such feelings can be constant companions. What Simon would find in this unassuming city of a little more than 11,400, however, was a community that pulled her in, connecting her with legal council, charities, schools and soon friends, a unique support network built by generations of immigrants.

In this small town, migrants are building quiet lives, far from big cities like New York, Chicago and Denver that have struggled to house asylum-seekers and from the halls of Congress where their futures are bandied about in negotiations.

The Fort Morgan migrant community has become a boon for newcomers, nearly all of whom arrive from perilous journeys to new challenges: pursuing asylum cases; finding a paycheck big enough for food, an attorney and a roof; placing their kids in school; and navigating a language barrier, all while facing the threat of deportation.

The United Nations used the community, 80 miles (129 kilometers) west of Denver, as a case study for rural refugee integration after a thousand Somalis arrived to work in meatpacking plants in the late 2000s. In 2022, grassroots groups sent migrants living in mobile homes to Congress to tell their stories.

In the last year, hundreds more migrants have arrived in Morgan County. More than 30 languages are spoken in Fort Morgan's only high school, which has translators for the most common languages and a phone service for others. On Sundays, Spanish is heard from the pulpits of six churches.

The demographic shift in recent decades has forced the community to adapt: Local organizations hold monthly support groups, train students and adults about their rights, teach others how to drive, ensure kids are in school and direct people to immigration attorneys.

Simon herself now tells her story to those stepping off buses. The community can't wave away the burdens, but they can make them lighter.

"It's not like home where you have your parents and all of your family around you," Simon tells those she meets in grocery stores and school pickup lines. "If you run into a problem, you need to find your own family."

The work has grown amid negotiations in Washington, D.C., on a deal that could toughen asylum protocols and bolster border enforcement.

On a recent Sunday, advocacy groups organized a posada, a Mexican celebration of the biblical Joseph and Mary seeking shelter for Mary to give birth and being turned away until they were given the stable.

Before marching down the street singing a song adaption in which migrants are seeking shelter instead of Joseph and Mary, participants signed letters urging Colorado's two Democratic senators and Republican U.S. Rep. Ken Buck to reject stiffer asylum rules.

A century ago, it was sugar beet production that brought German and Russian migration to the area. Now, many migrants work inside dairy plants.

When area businesses were raided several times in the 2000s, friends disappeared overnight, seats sat empty in schools and gaps opened on factory lines.

"That really changed the the understanding of how deeply embedded migrants are in community," said Jennifer Piper of American Friends Service Committee, which organized the posada celebration.

Guadalupe "Lupe" Lopez Chavez, who arrived in the U.S. alone in 1998 from Guatemala at age 16, spends long hours working with migrants, including helping connect Simon to a lawyer after her husband was detained.

One recent Saturday, Lopez Chavez sat in the low-ceilinged office of One Morgan County, a nearly 20-year-old migration nonprofit. In a folding chair, Maria Ramirez sifted through manila folders dated November 2023, when she'd arrived in the U.S.

Ramirez fled central Mexico, where cartel violence claimed her younger brother's life, and asked Lopez Chavez how she could get health care. Ramirez's 4-year-old daughter - who pranced behind her mother, blowing bubbles and popping the ones that landed in her brown curls - has a lung condition.

Ramirez said she would work anywhere to move from the living room they sleep in, with just a blanket on the floor as cushioning.

In the offices resembling a hostel's well-loved communal space, Lopez Chavez cautioned Ramirez to consult a lawyer before applying for health care. Sitting aside Ramirez were two settled migrants offering support and advice.

"A lot of stuff that you heard in Mexico (about the U.S.) was you couldn't walk on the streets, you had to live in the shadows, you'd be targeted," said Ramirez. "It's beautiful to come into a community that's united."

Lopez Chavez works with new migrants because she remembers shackles snapping around her ankles after she was stopped for a traffic violation in 2012 and turned over to the U.S. immigration authorities.

"I just wanted to leave there because I'd never been in a cage before," Lopez Chavez said in an interview, her eyes filling with tears.

At her first court hearing, Lopez Chavez and her husband stood alone. At her second hearing, after Lopez Chavez was connected to the community, she was flanked by new friends. That wall of support allowed her to keep her chin up as she fought her immigration case before being granted residency last year.

Lopez Chavez now works to cultivate that strength across the community.

"I don't want any more families to go through what we went through," said Lopez Chavez, who also encourages others to tell their stories. "Those examples give people the idea: If they can manage their case and win, maybe I can too."

In Fort Morgan, train tracks divide a mobile home park, where many migrants live, and the city's older homes. Some older migrants see new arrivals as getting better treatment by the U.S. and feel that is unfair. The community can't solve every challenge, and hasn't laid the last brick on cultural bridges between the diverse communities.

But at the posada event, crowded in the One Morgan County offices, the assurances of community itself showed through the eyes of partygoers as children in cultural regalia danced traditional Mexican dances.

Among those bouncing around the long room was 7-year-old Francisco Mateo Simon. He doesn't remember the journey to the U.S., but his mother, Magdalena, does.

She remembers how ill he became as she carried him the last miles to the border. Now he spits out armadillo facts between the nubs of incoming front teeth in their mobile home, then points to his favorite ornament on their white, plastic Christmas tree.

"That's our brand new tree," said his mother, as her eldest daughter practiced English with a kids' book.

"It's new," she repeated, "It's our first new tree because in the past we've only had trees from the thrift store."


# As conflicts rage abroad, a fractured Congress tries to rally support for historic global challenges
By **STEPHEN GROVES** and **SEUNG MIN KIM**
December 24, 2023. 10:40 AM EST

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**WASHINGTON (AP)** - As the Senate wrapped up its work for the year, Sen. Michael Bennet took to the floor of the nearly empty chamber and made a late-night plea for Congress to redouble support for Ukraine: "Understand the stakes at this moment."

It was the third time in recent months the Colorado Democrat has kept the Senate working late by holding up unrelated legislation in a bid to cajole lawmakers to approve tens of billions of dollars in weaponry and economic aid for Ukraine. During a nearly hour-long, emotional speech, he called on senators to see the nearly 2-year-old conflict as a defining clash of authoritarianism against democracy and implored them to consider what it means "to be fighting on that freezing front line and not know whether we're going to come through with the ammunition."

Yet Congress broke for the holidays and is not expected to return for two weeks while continued aid for Ukraine has nearly been exhausted. The Biden administration is planning to send one more aid package before the new year, but says it will be the last unless Congress approves more money.

With support slipping in Congress even as conflicts and unrest rattle global security, the United States is once again struggling to assert its role in the world. Under the influence of Donald Trump, the former president who is now the Republican Party front-runner, GOP lawmakers have increasingly taken a skeptical stance toward U.S. involvement abroad, particularly when it comes to aid to Ukraine.

Leaders of traditional allies Britain and France have implored Western nations to continue their robust support, but Russia's President Vladimir Putin is emboldened and building up resources for a fresh effort as the war heads towards its third year.

Ukraine's lifelines to the West are also imperiled in the European Union, which sent 1.5 billion euros ($1.6 billion) each month to ensure macroeconomic stability, pay wages and pensions, keep hospitals and schools running, provide shelter for displaced people and rebuild infrastructure destroyed in the war.

That package has now expired and the EU's executive branch failed to produce another one for the new year when Hungary vetoed a 50 billion euro ($55 billion) package this month.

Bolstering Ukraine's defense used to be celebrated in the U.S. Capitol as one of a few remaining bipartisan causes. But now the fate of roughly $61 billion in funding is tied to delicate policy negotiations on Capitol Hill over border and immigration changes. And in the last year, lawmakers have had to mount painstaking, round-the-clock efforts to pass even legislation that maintains basic functions of the U.S. government. Bills with ambitious changes have been almost completely out of reach for the closely divided Congress.

Still, congressional leaders are trying to rally members to address global challenges they say are among the most difficult in decades: the largest land invasion of a European nation since World War II, a war between Israel and Hamas, unrest and economic calamity driving historic levels of migration and China asserting itself as a superpower.

In the Senate, both Democratic and Republican leaders have cast the $110 billion aid package, which is attempting to address all those issues, as a potential turning point for democracy around the world. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters last week that "history will look back if we don't support our ally in Ukraine."

"We're living in a time when there are all kinds of forces that are tearing at democracy, at here and abroad," Bennet said.

In a year-end speech, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said: "From South Texas to Southeast Asia and from the Black Sea to the Red Sea, it is an historically challenging and consequential time to protect America's interests, our allies and our own people."

The Republican leader, a key supporter of Ukraine aid, has tried for months to build support in his party for Ukraine. But after a $6 billion military and civilian aid package for Ukraine collapsed in October, McConnell began telling top White House officials that any funding would need to be paired with border policy changes.

The White House deliberately stayed out of the negotiations until senior officials felt the time was right to do so. But senior Republicans involved in the border talks believe the administration stepped in too late, ultimately delaying the prospects of additional Ukraine aid getting approved until the new year.

Senate negotiators have had to navigate both the explosive politics of border policy as well as one of the most complex areas of American law.

"This is a tightrope, but we are still on it," said Sen. Chris Murphy, the lead Democratic negotiator.

At one point during the negotiations, McConnell felt compelled to stress the urgency to administration officials and impose a deadline to reach a border deal in time for the agreement to be drafted into legislative provisions before the end of the year.

With the negotiations still plodding along, McConnell called White House chief of staff Jeff Zients on Dec. 7 and said a deal must be reached within five days - a message that the Kentucky Republican emphasized to President Joe Biden himself when the two men spoke later that day, according to a person familiar with the discussions.

It wouldn't be until five days later, on Dec. 12, that Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and senior White House aides came to the Capitol to participate directly in the negotiations. A White House official said the administration got involved when it did because it felt the talks had moved beyond the realm of unacceptable or unattainable measures - and to a more productive phase.

A second White House official stressed that previous legislative negotiations, such as the bipartisan infrastructure law that is now more than two years old, started similarly, with Republican and Democratic senators talking on their own and the administration stepping in once it felt the talks were ready for White House involvement.

Still, "it would be nice to have had them earlier," Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford, the chief GOP negotiator, said last week.

"We would have a lot more progress, and we would have had potential to be able to get this done by this week if they would have gotten earlier," Lankford said. The two White House officials and the person familiar with McConnell's phone call to Biden all spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private and ongoing negotiations.

The White House's strategy of including Republican priorities such as Israel aid and border security in the package has also raised several thorny issues for Democrats.

Progressive lawmakers, critical of Israel's campaign into Gaza that has killed thousands of civilians, have called for humanitarian conditions to be placed on the money for Israel. And Latino Democrats in both the Senate and House have also been critical of restrictions on asylum claims.

Any package also faces deep uncertainty in the House, where Republican Speaker Mike Johnson holds tenuous control of the closely divided chamber. Before becoming speaker in October, Johnson had repeatedly voted against aid for Ukraine, but he has surprised many by offering support for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and saying he wants to find a way to approve the aid.

But Trump's allies in the House have repeatedly tried to stop the U.S. from sending more aid to Ukraine. And Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a close ally to the former president, said it was a mistake for Republicans even to insist on border policy changes because it could "give the Biden administration some kind of policy wins out on the campaign trail."

As the border and immigration talks drag forward in the Senate, Johnson has weighed in from afar to push for sweeping measures. On social media, he has called for "transformational change to secure the border," and pointed to a hardline bill that passed the House on a party-line vote.

As senators left Washington, they still sought to assure Ukrainians that American help was on its way. White House staff and Senate negotiations planned to work on drafting border legislation for the next two weeks in hopes that it would be ready for action when Congress returns.

Schumer told The Associated Press he was "hopeful," but "I wouldn't go so far as to say confident yet." He sought to put the pressure on Republicans, saying they needed to be ready to compromise.

Yet Sen. Roger Wicker, an Alabama Republican who is a Ukraine supporter, expressed confidence that Congress would act. He alluded to the words of former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, another European leader who eventually elicited robust support from the U.S. to repel an invasion.

"Americans will always do the right thing," Wicker said. "After they've exhausted every other alternative."


# With the Supreme Court on sideline for now, Trump's lawyers press immunity claims before lower court
By **ERIC TUCKER**
December 24, 2023. 7:37 AM EST

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**WASHINGTON (AP)** - Donald Trump was acting within his role as president when he pressed claims about "alleged fraud and irregularity" in the 2020 election, his lawyers told a federal appeals court in arguing that he is immune from prosecution.

The attorneys also asserted in a filing late Saturday night that the "historical fallout is tremendous" from the four-count indictment charging Trump with plotting to overturn the election he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.

No other former president has ever been indicted; Trump has been indicted four times, in both state and federal court, as he campaigns to reclaim the White House.

"The indictment of President Trump threatens to launch cycles of recrimination and politically motivated prosecution that will plague our Nation for many decades to come and stands likely to shatter the very bedrock of our Republic - the confidence of American citizens in an independent judicial system," the attorneys wrote in a brief filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

At issue before the court, which has set arguments for Jan. 9, is whether Trump is immune from prosecution for what defense lawyers say are official acts that fell within the outer perimeter of a president's duties and responsibilities.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan earlier this month rejected that argument, siding with prosecutors from special counsel Jack Smith's team and declaring that the office of the presidency "does not confer a lifelong 'get-out-of-jail-free' pass."

The appeals court's role in the dispute is center stage after the Supreme Court on Friday rejected a request from Smith to fast-track a decision on the immunity question. After Trump appealed Chutkan's order, Smith urged swift intervention from the high court in an effort to get a speedy decision that could keep the case on track for a trial scheduled to start on March 4.

But with that request denied, the two sides are advancing their arguments before the appeals court, where a three-judge panel will decide as early as next month whether to affirm or overrule Chutkan's decision.

In their latest filing, Trump's lawyers say that all of the acts Trump is accused of - including urging the Justice Department to investigate claims of voter fraud and telling state election officials that he believed the contests had been tainted by irregularities - are "quintessential" presidential acts that protect him from prosecution.

"They all reflect President Trump's efforts and duties, squarely as Chief Executive of the United States, to advocate for and defend the integrity of the federal election, in accord with his view that it was tainted by fraud and irregularity," they said.

They also contend that, under the Constitution, he cannot be criminally prosecuted for conduct for which he was already impeached, but then acquitted, by Congress.

Federal prosecutors, by contrast, say Trump broke the law after the election by scheming to disrupt the Jan. 6, 2021, counting of electoral votes, including by pressing then-Vice President Mike Pence to not certify the results and by participating in a plot to organize slates of fake electors in battleground states won by Biden who would falsely attest that Trump had actually won those states.

Though Trump's lawyers have suggested that he had a good faith basis to be concerned that fraud had affected the election, courts around the country and Trump's own attorney general and other government officials have found no evidence that that was the case.


# Iran's navy adds sophisticated cruise missiles to its armory
December 24, 2023. 6:00 AM EST

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**DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)** - Iran's navy on Sunday added domestically produced sophisticated cruise missiles to its arsenal, state TV reported.

The TV said both Talaeieh and Nasir cruise missiles have arrived at a naval base near the Indian Ocean in the southern Iranian port of Konarak, some 1,400 kilometers (850 miles) southeast of the capital, Tehran.

Navy chief Adm. Shahram Irani said the Talaeieh has a range of more than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) and called it "fully smart." Irani said the cruise missile is capable of changing targets during travel.

He said the Nasi has a range of 100 kilometers (62 miles) and can be installed on warships.

Last month, a container ship owned by an Israeli billionaire came under attack from a suspected Iranian drone in the Indian Ocean, as Israel wages war on Iran-backed Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

From time to time Iran announces the test firing, production and commissioning of new military equipment that cannot be independently verified. The country says it has a stock of various kinds of missiles with ranges up to 2,000 kilometers (1250 miles), capable of reaching its archenemy Israel and U.S. bases in the region.


# Zac Efron and Lily James on the simple gesture that frames the tragedy of the Von Erich wrestlers
By **LINDSEY BAHR**
December 20, 2023. 1:30 PM EST

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Zac Efron didn't realize how much he needed a hug.

He'd transformed himself into a mass of muscle and repressed emotion to play professional wrestler Kevin Von Erich in the new film "The Iron Claw." It was a taxing role and unlike anything he'd done before, both physically and psychologically. He often found himself with real bruises from recreating fights in the ring. Downtime between shots, too, was usually spent lifting.

But he didn't appreciate how much it was affecting him until he and Lily James sat down to film the first date between his character and the woman who would marry him. Pam tells Kevin that he has oldest brother syndrome. Kevin tells her that he's not actually the oldest: That brother died in an accident when he was 6 and Kevin was 5. He says he's fine, but Pam gets out of her seat, walks around the table and drapes her arms around Kevin, who seems to melt in the warmth of a love that's not conditional.

"It felt very needed, that hug," Efron told The Associated Press in a joint interview with James. "It was the first time I'd embraced anyone in months without it being a fake punch, or someone trying to submit me or get me to tap out."

Efron is half-laughing but also not. If you know anything about the Von Erichs, sometimes referred to as the Kennedys of wrestling, you know that the tragic death of the oldest brother is not the last that they would endure. In fact, the completely true account of what would transpire was too much for even the film to bear: By the time Kevin was 35 he'd have lost his four remaining brothers, three to suicide. For "The Iron Claw," in theaters Friday, writer-director Sean Durkin made the decision to take the youngest, Chris, out entirely.

"The Iron Claw" is still primarily about the relationship between the brothers David (Harris Dickinson), Kerry (Jeremy Allen White) and Mike (Stanley Simons) and their father Fritz (Holt McCallany), a wrestler who dreamt of greatness for himself and his family at any cost. Kevin told Durkin that he just wanted audiences to know how much the brothers loved one another.

As a lifetime wrestling fan who grew up following the Von Erichs, who presided over the Texas wrestling scene in the 1970s and '80s, Durkin was fascinated by ideas of American masculinity, trauma and grief, as well as Kevin's relationship with Pam that somehow survived through it all.

Though Kevin had spoken a lot about his life after the deaths, there wasn't much Pam "out there," Durkin found. But instead of a hinderance, it provided an opportunity to be creative and make it personal. He'd already decided that he wanted to write and figure out the story before getting in touch with his real-life subjects.

James joined the project a bit later than everyone else. Efron recalled a "collective jump for joy" upon finding out that she'd said yes. Though they didn't know one another beforehand, they quickly established a natural rhythm that would prove to be magic on camera and off.

"It's so nice when you meet someone at work and it just instantly kind of clicks," James said. "Zac made me feel so welcome and at home in our scenes, which are so special and effortless."

Part of that they attribute to Durkin's preference for filming long, uninterrupted takes that helped them get out of their own heads. After five minutes, Efron said, you simply forget that the camera is there. But Durkin thinks something even more special happened when it was just them.

"The second we started filming, it was like everything fell away and they were just totally present with each other and just fully responding," Durkin said. "It was really fun to watch."

It's not just that you're watching two people fall in love. Pam shows Kevin a different way of living and a different kind of love than he had known, which becomes even more essential as everything he thought he knew about life crumbles around him.

"She's a slight horse whisperer. I was really intrigued by this woman that has such emotional intelligence and directness. She's not afraid to be fragile." James said. "When Pam just goes around and hugs him, you get the feeling that he never experiences that kind of physical, gentle intimacy. It felt really moving to do that moment because she kind of knew what he needed."

The hug is a cathartic moment for Kevin, who has been taught to hold back his emotions in real life.

"It was the first time that it really wasn't about winning or losing and, for Kevin, about being himself and finding meaning outside of the gym and the ring and the world of his family," Efron said.

But Efron didn't expect to feel it too.

"It was overwhelming in the best possible way," he said. "I almost didn't know how to deal with it. It felt very close to the character."

Efron's committed performance has earned him some of the highest praise in his career. And the fact that he hadn't done anything like it before is part of the reason Durkin wanted him.

"He had the athletic background, the dance background and the physicality and those are great building blocks to being a wrestler. And he has a clear hunger for doing tough work," Durkin said. "But the ultimate thing was meeting him and seeing how kind and sweet he is as a person. It's quite a silent role in a lot of ways and having that core was crucial."

While filming, he said, "A lot of my direction to Zac was 'don't cry yet.' Even in moments where it's impossible, just hold it in and keep holding it in."

For Efron, the exploration of repressed emotions resonated. Spending time with Kevin has only helped reinforce its importance.

"I think a lot of men deal with this," Efron said. "Repressed emotion never leads to good things. It's something that I've definitely had to work on over the course of my career and life. That this movie was about that was intriguing to me. It felt personal."

But it wasn't all tears and bruises. They had some genuinely fun scenes to look forward to as well, including line dancing at Kevin and Pam's wedding.

"It's just the coolest thing I've ever done on camera," James said.

"You rocked that scene," Efron responded. "By the way, I didn't know you had rehearsed. I thought you just knew that dance. I was blown away, I was like, what is going on? How do you know this? Aren't you British?"

For both, the film was a "real ride" and flush with creative energy and freedom.

"It definitely rekindled something inside me," Efron said. "I'm in love with this process more than ever. I really needed it. I really did."


# Movie Review: If this is goodbye, 'Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom' keeps its trident high
By **MARK KENNEDY**
December 21, 2023. 10:57 AM EST

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It's perhaps appropriate that the latest Aquaman movie is about a lost kingdom. In many ways, this mini-franchise is just that, a Jason Momoa kingdom that could just quietly sink below the cinematic waves.

At least Momoa is going out swinging in "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom," an overstuffed tale that goes from desert to ice, steals from other movies like a coked-up magpie and says goodbye at the near-operatic level of a mid-franchise Marvel flick. Much of it doesn't happen underwater at all.

"Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom" is likely the final installment of the King of Atlantis' storyline for a time. The new heads of DC Studios plan nearly a dozen film and TV comic book projects in the next decade and none have Aquaman front and center.

Holding it all together is Momoa, and it's hard to overstate his charisma, humor and presence. DC Studios may regret deep-sixing this franchise if it doesn't find a home for an actor who actually looks like a real-life superhero. But, then again, they bungled it with Dwayne Johnson, too.

"Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom" is equivalent to "Thor: Love and Thunder" or "Fast X" - an attempt to raise the level of the last decent entry by keeping the same overall plot but just throwing money at it - more locations, more fights, more armies led by commanders in medieval-looking suits of armor riding underwater beasts.

In 2018 - the last time Aquaman owned the movie theaters - he battled his half-brother in the Ring of Fire, trekked to the Sahara to locate a clue about the Sacred Trident, wrecked most of Sicily, found the Hidden Sea, reunited with his mom and united Atlantis, along the way slaughtering more sea creatures than the entire Red Lobster empire.

This time, Aquaman - again under director James Wan - must reconcile with his brother (Patrick Wilson, the Ken doll of the deep) and hunt down the villain from the first film, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Black Manta, who is using ancient technology to destroy the globe, super mad at the murder of his dad.

The screenplay by returning writer David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick throws everything at the sinking kitchen sink, including a cute sidekick (a genetically altered octopus) and a rare metallic ore named Orichalcum, described as "the greatest power in human history." It's basically a Kinko's copy of Eternium or Vibranium. Amber Heard is back as Aquaman's wife but this new movie is a brother-brother movie and so she's somewhat sidelined.

Johnson-McGoldrick unfortunately likes referencing other, better movies in the dialogue, like "Cast Away" and "Harry Potter," and layering in terrible puns like, "Put a hook in it." The sparks come from Momoa and Wilson needling each other like siblings do. Aquaman, at his heart, is a goofy, beer-drinking, motorcycle-loving bouncer while his brother is so uptight he'd bring his own coaster to the bar.

The less gloopy visuals and plot liberally steal from "The Matrix," "Pirates of the Caribbean," "Star Wars" - Martin Short voices a Jabba the Hutt monster fish - "Jumanji," "Spider-Man" and "Fast & Furious." But credit goes to layering in some messaging about global warming - toxic algae, greenhouse gasses and rising acidity levels. There's an overused song this time - "Born to be Wild" by Steppenwolf - but it's not clear if that's for Aquaman, the man who wants to kill him or the Earth.

With rival Marvel at a bit of a crossroads - especially in the wake of its dropping of actor Jonathan Majors - DC, which has suffered its own woes with "The Flash," "Blue Beetle" and "Shazam: Fury of the Gods" in 2023 - gets a chance to end the year on a high. "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom" might not be all that but it keeps its trident high even as the sea reclaims its hero.

"Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom," a Warner Bros. Pictures release that opens in theaters this weekend, is rated PG-13 for "sequences of sci-fi violence, action and some language." Running time: 143 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.