Kyle Whittingham was barely two weeks into retirement after 21 years at Utah when he found an offer he couldn't turn down. Whittingham is the new head coach at Michigan. It's a proud program in disarray after the firing of Sherrone Moore for an extramarital relationship with a staffer. Michigan also was punished for a sign-stealing scandal. Whittingham says that didn't deter him from what he calls one of the best jobs in the country. He says the players are solid and the issues will work themselves out. Whittingham says he brings a style of play familiar to Michigan.

CAUCAGUA, Venezuela (AP) — Hundreds of people in northern Venezuela took to the streets for the annual Bandos and Parrandas of the Holy Innocents of Caucagua, a celebration rooted in Afro-descendant cacao-growing communities. Marked on Dec. 28 alongside the Catholic…

One person was killed and another was left critically injured after two helicopters crashed in southern New Jersey on Sunday, officials said. The Federal Aviation Administration described the crash as a midair collision. Hammonton Police Chief Kevin Friel said rescuers responded to a report of an aviation crash at about 11:25 a.m. on Sunday, and police and fire crews subsequently extinguished flames that engulfed one of the helicopters. One person was killed and another was transported to a nearby hospital with life-threatening injuries. Video from the scene showed a helicopter spinning rapidly to the ground. Friel said the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board have been notified and will be investigating the crash.

The New York City transit system is retiring the MetroCard after more than 30 years. The gold-and-blue swipeable card was introduced in 1994 to replace the subway token, which had been used for half a century. The last sales and refills on MetroCards will be Dec. 31, though existing cards will still work for some time into 2026. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is fully transitioning to OMNY, a contactless payment system rolled out in 2019. The system allows riders to tap their credit card, phone or other smart device to pay their fare, much in the same way they do for other purchases.

IBI, Spain (AP) — Revelers take part in the Els Enfarinats festival, a battle using flour, eggs and firecrackers in the Spanish town of Ibi. This is a photo gallery curated by Associated Press photo editors.

Derrick Henry rushed for a season-high 216 yards and matched a career high with four touchdown runs as the Baltimore Ravens kept their playoff hopes alive by defeating the Green Bay Packers 41-24 on Saturday night. Henry had three touchdown runs in the first half and then scored again on a 25-yard run with 1:56 left in the game. His seventh career 200-yard rushing performance moved him ahead of Adrian Peterson and O.J. Simpson for the most in NFL history. His 36 carries represented a career high.

Brigitte Bardot, the French 1960s sex symbol who became one of the greatest screen sirens of the 20th century and later a militant animal rights activist, has died. She was 91. This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo…

Winter rain has lashed the Gaza Strip, flooding camps with ankle-deep puddles as Palestinians displaced by war try to stay dry in fraying tents. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is traveling for an expected meeting on Monday with U.S. President Donald Trump about the second phase of the ceasefire. The first phase that took effect on Oct. 10 was meant to bring a surge in humanitarian aid for Gaza, including shelter. Though the ceasefire agreement has mostly held, its progress has slowed. Its second phase is expected to be even more challenging, with issues including Gaza's security and governance.

A powerful winter storm driven by a rapidly intensifying cyclone was sweeping east from the Plains on Sunday, bringing heavy snow, ice, rain and severe weather expected to affect much of the country. Forecasters warned of possible blizzard conditions and whiteouts in parts of the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes, where snowfall could exceed a foot and reach 2 feet near Lake Superior. The system is expected to deliver freezing rain in New England, thunderstorms across the South and East, and widespread strong winds. The storm follows some flight disruptions during the busy holiday travel period.

Guineans are voting to elect a new president in the country’s first election since a 2021 coup. The election on Sunday features a weakened opposition with a total of nine candidates. Analysts have predicted a likely win for junta leader Gen. Mamadi Doumbouya. The election in Guinea is the latest such vote among African countries that have seen a surge in coups in recent years. Doumbouya’s closest challenger is the little-known Yero Baldé of the Democratic Front of Guinea party, who was education minister under ousted President Alpha Condé. More than half of Guinea’s 15 million people are experiencing record levels of poverty and food insecurity despite its rich mineral resources — including as the world’s biggest exporter of bauxite, used to make aluminum.

Brigitte Bardot, who has died at 91, often said that the hounding she received from the world's press in her years as a sex symbol of the 1960s made her identify with hunted and abused animals. So it was that the sultry star of “And God Created Woman” and many other films reinvented herself as a militant animal rights activist, devoting herself to protecting animals across the globe. But while she was initially lauded and honored for her work, she was later repeatedly convicted of inciting racial hatred and several towns removed statues of Marianne — the bare-breasted symbol of the French republic — that were modeled on Bardot.

Brigitte Bardot, the French 1960s sex symbol who became one of the greatest screen sirens of the 20th century and later a militant animal rights activist, has died. She was 91. Bardot rocketed to international stardom in the 1956 movie “And God Created Woman.” Directed by her then-husband, Roger Vadim, it triggered a scandal with scenes of the long-legged beauty dancing on tables naked. As an animal rights activist, she earned her compatriots’ respect and was awarded the nation’s highest honor. Later, however, she fell from public grace as her animal protection diatribes took on a decidedly extremist tone and her far-right political views sounded racist.

Voters in Myanmar are participating in the first phase of the country’s general election, held under military rule amid a civil war. Final results will not be known until after two more rounds of voting are completed in January. It is widely expected that Min Aung Hlaing, the general who led the ouster of the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021, will then assume the presidency. Critics argue the election is a facade to legitimize military control under the pretense of civilian rule. Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party was dissolved after refusing to register under new military rules. Other major parties are also not contesting the polls, making the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party the heavy favorite to take power.

People probably don’t know how much sugar they’re eating. Up to 57 pounds per year, according to the American Heart Association. And the culprit isn’t just glazed pastries and soda. Many products marketed as healthy can have a tablespoon of added sugars per serving. Nicole Avena, a neuroscience and psychiatry professor at Mount Sinai Medical School, says to be wary of marketing terms that aren’t regulated, like “organic,” “made with real fruit,” “all natural” and “superfood.” Healthy grocery buzzwords like those often cover up an unhealthy amount of sugar. Along with saturated fat and salt, eating excess sugar is linked to heart disease, obesity, diabetes and other health risks.

President Donald Trump will host Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to try to close out a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia that would end nearly four years of war. The two men will meet Sunday in Florida, where the U.S. president is spending the holidays. In announcing the meeting, Zelenskyy said he will raise “territorial issues” as Moscow and Kyiv remain fiercely at odds over the fate of the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine. Trump has been working to end the war for much of his first year back in office, showing irritation with both Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin.