One of the first officers on the scene at the 2022 school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, is about to stand trial. The charges are related to the fact that police waited more than an hour to confront the shooter while children and teachers lay dead or wounded in classrooms. Former Uvalde schools police officer Adrian Gonzales is accused of ignoring his training in a crisis with deadly consequences. He is charged with multiple counts of child abandonment and endangerment. His attorney insists that he was focused on helping children escape from the building.

The New York Rangers have continued their dominance in outdoor games. Mika Zibanejad had a hat trick, Artemi Panarin scored twice and the Rangers beat the Florida Panthers 5-1 on Friday night in the Winter Classic at Miami's loanDepot Park. It was the first outdoor game played in the Sunshine State. Alexis Lafrenière had three assists and Igor Shesterkin stopped 36 shots for the Rangers, who improved to 6-0-0 in outdoor games. The roof was open and the game-time temperature was 63 degrees at the home of baseball's Miami Marlins. Sam Reinhart scored for Florida, which was playing outdoors for the first time.

The Trump administration has frozen child care funds to all states after allegations of fraud at Minnesota day care centers run by Somali residents. A Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson said states will have to provide more verification for the child care centers that receive funds from the Child Care and Development Fund. In addition, Minnesota will have to provide additional verification on top of the new requirements for centers that are suspected of fraud. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz has accused President Donald Trump of weaponizing the allegations for political gains. Trump has targeted the Somali diaspora in the state.

Casey Dawson has secured a spot in the men’s 5,000 meters in long track speedskating at the Milan Cortina Winter Games by winning that event at the U.S. Olympic trials. Dawson finished Friday in 6 minutes, 12.857 seconds. Ethan Cepuran was about 6 1/2 seconds back, finishing next in 6:19.335. The last American man to medal in the 5,000 at an Olympics was Chad Hedrick at the 2006 Turin Games. Dawson is a 25-year-old from Park City, Utah. He already had secured the lone U.S. place for Milan in the men’s 10,000 and also will join Cepuran as part of the trio for men’s team pursuit at the Olympics.

Minnesota officials are rushing to provide information to the Trump administration about child care providers and parents receiving federal funds. This follows allegations of widespread abuse. According to an email sent to recipients, Minnesota’s Department of Children, Youth and Families has until January 9 to verify recipients after funds were frozen due to fraud schemes at day care centers. All 50 states must now provide additional verification before receiving more funds. Minnesota Democrats accuse the Trump administration of playing politics and hurting Minnesota families and children as a result.

A federal judge in Kentucky has dismissed Louisville’s proposed settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice. The agreement, called a consent decree, was meant to trigger police reforms. But the Department of Justice withdrew its support for those proposed reforms in Louisville and Minneapolis in May. The reform plans were brought by the DOJ during the Biden administration and were spurred by the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor in 2020. Federal Judge Benjamin Beaton wrote in a ruling this week that Louisville's police reforms should be conducted without federal involvement.

People across the world celebrate the start of 2026, with New York’s iconic Times Square ball descending 18 hours after the South Pacific greeted the new year. This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.

Here’s to a lifetime of pink skies. The irreverent country singer Zach Bryan is married. Bryan confirms the news in an Instagram post shared Thursday. Beneath a photo of him holding his bride, Samantha Leonard, he wrote the caption, “tougher than the rest.” It is a reference to the Bruce Springsteen song of the same name. It is unclear when the couple started dating or got engaged. Rumors of their relationship hit social media in August, when Leonard posted a picture of the pair embracing on a boat on her official Instagram account. Bryan is scheduled to release a new album, “With Heaven On Top,” next Friday.

Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman will be advising the Miami Dolphins in their search for a new general manager. Aikman, who led the Dallas Cowboys to three Super Bowl wins and is now an ESPN analyst, isn’t expected to remain with the organization beyond their GM search, ESPN reported. Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel welcomed the outside help. The Dolphins fired longtime general manager Chris Grier on Oct. 31 after a 2-7 start to the season. Dolphins senior personnel executive Champ Kelly has been Miami’s interim general manager.

Hilary Knight is set to make her fifth Olympic appearance, and this time lead a younger, faster U.S. women’s national team favored to win gold at the Milan Cortina Winter Games next month. The 36-year-old Knight headlines the list as USA Hockey released its 23-player Olympic women’s roster. It’s a group that returns just 11 members from the team that won the silver medal at the 2022 Beijing Games, and features several newcomers, highlighted by defender Laila Edwards. From Cleveland, the 21-year-old Wisconsin senior is set to become the first Black female hockey player to compete for the U.S. at the Olympics.

Dec. 26, 2025 - Jan 1, 2026 This photo gallery, curated by photo editor Leslie Mazoch, highlights some of the most compelling images worldwide published by The Associated Press in the past week. See last week’s top photos of the…

Tesla lost its crown as the world’s bestselling electric vehicle maker on Friday as a customer revolt over Elon Musk’s right-wing politics and stiff overseas competition pushed sales down for a second year in a row. Tesla said that it delivered 1.64 million vehicles in 2025, down 9% from a year ago. Chinese rival BYD, which sold 2.26 vehicles last year, is now the biggest EV maker. For the fourth quarter, sales totaled 418,227, falling short of the 440,000 that analysts polled by FactSet expected. The sales total may likely have been impacted by the expiration of a $7,500 tax credit that was phased out by the Trump administration at the end of September.