SYDNEY — An accused gunman in Sydney’s Bondi Beach massacre was charged with 59 offenses including 15 charges of murder on Wednesday, as hundreds of mourners gathered in Sydney to begin funerals for the victims.

Two shooters slaughtered 15 people on Sunday in an antisemitic mass shooting targeting Jews celebrating Hanukkah at Bondi Beach, and more than 20 other people are still being treated in hospitals. All of those killed by the gunmen who have been identified so far were Jewish.

As investigations unfold, Australia faces a social and political reckoning about antisemitism, gun control and whether police protections for Jews at events such as Sunday’s were sufficient for the threats they faced.

Accused shooter charged in hospital

Naveed Akram, the 24-year-old alleged shooter, was charged on Wednesday after waking from a coma in a Sydney hospital, where he has been since police shot him and his father at Bondi. His father Sajid Akram, 50, died at the scene.

The charges include one count of murder for each fatality and one count of committing a terrorist act, police said.

Akram was also charged with 40 counts of causing harm with intent to murder in relation to the wounded and with placing an explosive near a building with intent to cause harm.

Police said the Akrams’ car, which was found at the crime scene, contained improvised explosive devices.

Akram’s lawyer did not enter pleas and did not request his client’s release on bail during a video court appearance from his hospital bed, a court statement said.

Akram is being represented by Legal Aid NSW, which has a policy of refusing media comment on behalf of clients. He is expected to remain under police guard in hospital until he is well enough to be transferred to a prison.

A father of 5 who ministered in prisons is buried

Families from Sydney’s close-knit Jewish community gathered, one after another, to begin to bury their dead. The victims of the attack ranged in age from a 10-year-old girl to an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor.

Jews are usually buried within 24 hours from their deaths, but funerals have been delayed by coroner’s investigations.

The first farewelled was Eli Schlanger, 41, a husband and father of five who served as the assistant rabbi at Chabad-Lubavitch of Bondi and organized Sunday’s Chanukah by the Sea event where the attack unfolded. The London-born Schlanger also served as chaplain in prisons across New South Wales state and in a Sydney hospital.

“After what happened, my biggest regret was — apart from, obviously, the obvious – I could have done more to tell Eli more often how much we love him, how much I love him, how much we appreciate everything that he does and how proud we are of him,” said Schlanger’s father-in-law, Rabbi Yehoram Ulman, who sometimes spoke through tears.

“I hope he knew that. I’m sure he knew it,” Ulman said. “But I think it should’ve been said more often.”

One mourner, Dmitry Chlafma, said as he left the service that Schlanger was his longtime rabbi.

“You can tell by the amount of people that are here how much he meant to the community,” Chlafma said. “He was warm, happy, generous, one of a kind.”

Outside the funeral, not far from the site of the attack, the mood was hushed and grim, with a heavy police presence.

Authorities are probing a suspected connection to the Islamic State group

Authorities believe that the shooting was “a terrorist attack inspired by Islamic State,” Australia’s federal police commissioner Krissy Barrett said Wednesday.

The Islamic State group is a scattered and considerably weaker group since a 2019 U.S.-led military intervention drove it out of territory it had seized in Iraq and Syria, but its cells remain active and it has inspired a number of independent attacks including in western countries.

Authorties are also examining a trip the suspects made to the Philippines in November.

Groups of Muslim separatist militants, including Abu Sayyaf in the southern Philippines, once expressed support for IS and have hosted small numbers of foreign militants from Asia, the Middle East and Europe in the past. Philippine military and police officials say there has been no recent indication of any foreign militants in the country’s south.

Leader pledges action on guns and antisemitism

The news that the suspects were apparently inspired by the Islamic State group provoked more questions about whether Australia’s government had done enough to stem hate-fueled crimes, especially directed at Jews. In Sydney and Melbourne, where 85% of Australia’s Jewish population lives, a wave of antisemitic attacks has been recorded in the past year.

After Jewish leaders and survivors of Sunday’s attack lambasted the government for not heeding their warnings of violence, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese vowed Wednesday to take whatever government action was needed to stamp out antisemitism.

Albanese and the leaders of some Australian states have pledged to tighten the country’s already strict gun laws in what would be the most sweeping reforms since a shooter killed 35 people in Port Arthur, Tasmania, in 1996. Mass shootings in Australia have since been rare.

Albanese has announced plans to further restrict access to guns, in part because it emerged the older suspect had amassed six weapons legally. Proposed measures include restricting gun ownership to Australian citizens and limiting the number of weapons a person can hold.

Australians come together to grieve

Meanwhile, Australians seeking ways to make sense of the horror settled on practical acts. Hours-long lines were reported at blood donation sites and at dawn on Wednesday, hundreds of swimmers formed a circle on the sand, where they held a minute’s silence. Then they ran into the sea.

Not far away, part of the beach remained behind police tape as the investigation into the massacre continued, shoes and towels abandoned as people fled still strewn across the sand.

One event that would return to Bondi was the Hanukkah celebration the gunmen targeted, which has run for 31 years, Ulman said. It would be in defiance of the attackers’ wish to make people feel like it was dangerous to live as Jews, he added.

“Eli lived and breathed this idea that we can never ever allow them not only to succeed, but anytime that they try something we become greater and stronger,” he said.

“We’re going to show the world that the Jewish people are unbeatable.”

Graham-McLay reported from Wellington and McGuirk from Melbourne.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/17/accused-gunman-bondi-beach-shooting-charged/ 

LOS ANGELES — Rob Reiner’s son Nick Reiner is expected to make his first court appearance Wednesday on two counts of first-degree murder in the killing of his parents.

Nick Reiner, 32, was charged Tuesday with killing the 78-year-old actor and director Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced at a news conference with LA Police Chief Jim McDonnell.

Days after seeing Rob Reiner and wife, Gov. JB Pritzker mourns deaths and blasts Trump’s response to tragedy

“Their loss is beyond tragic and we will commit ourselves to bringing their murderer to justice,” Hochman said.

Along with the two counts of first-degree murder, prosecutors added special circumstances of multiple murders and a special allegation that the defendant used a dangerous weapon, a knife. The additions could mean a greater sentence.

Hochman said his office has not yet decided whether to seek the death penalty in the case.

“This case is heartbreaking and deeply personal, not only for the Reiner family and their loved ones but for our entire city,” McDonnell said.

The announcement came two days after the couple was found dead from apparent stab wounds in their home in the upscale Brentwood neighborhood on the west side of Los Angeles. Nick Reiner did not resist when he was arrested hours later in the Exposition Park area near the University of Southern California, about 14 miles (22.5 kilometers) from the crime scene, police said.

Rob Reiner was the Emmy-winning star of the sitcom “All in the Family” who went on to direct films including “When Harry Met Sally…” and “The Princess Bride.” He was an outspoken liberal activist for decades. Michele Singer Reiner was a photographer, movie producer and advocate for LGBTQ+ rights. They had been married for 36 years.

Several of those closest to them, including actors Billy Crystal, Albert Brooks, Martin Short and Larry David, released a statement mourning and celebrating the couple on Tuesday night.

“They were a special force together — dynamic, unselfish and inspiring,” the statement said. “We were their friends, and we will miss them forever.”

Nick Reiner had been scheduled to make an initial court appearance earlier Tuesday, but his attorney Alan Jackson said he was not brought from the jail to the courthouse for medical reasons and the appearance was postponed.

At Wednesday’s hearing, Reiner may enter a plea, a judge may schedule an arraignment for later or the same issue that prevented him from coming to court Tuesday could cause further postponement. He is being held without bail.

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Jackson is a high-profile defense attorney and former LA County prosecutor who represented Harvey Weinstein at his Los Angeles trial and Karen Read at her intensely followed trials in Massachusetts. He was a central figure in the HBO documentary on the Read case.

On the other side will be Deputy District Attorney Habib Balian, whose recent cases included the Menendez brothers’ attempt at resentencing and the trial of Robert Durst.

Authorities haven’t said anything about a motive for the killings and would give few details when asked at the news conference.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/17/rob-reiner-son-nick-court-appearance/ 

When a player gets sent down to the AHL, it shouldn’t always be seen as a demotion. Sure, there won’t be a Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid or Nathan MacKinnon in the AHL, but it’s still a professional league with its own challenges.

Most of all, it’s a chance for a skater to find their rhythm again before returning to the NHL. Defenseman Sam Rinzel went through the first step of being sent to Rockford, now he’s flowing in step two — finding his groove again.

In three games played with the IceHogs, Rinzel has skated on the top power-play unit and has set up his teammates for goals, just like he did to start the 2025-26 Chicago Blackhawks season. He has become more decisive with the puck and it’s helping everyone around him.

The defenseman has four points through three games in Rockford. On Friday against the Milwaukee Admirals, he had three non-primary assists.

He’s getting comfortable with his play, but he’s also still adjusting to being in Rockford. It will come with time, just like any roster move.

“It’s different, like any kind of change in scenery,” Rinzel said. “I’m trying to get used to the play style and how it is here and whatnot.”

He’s on a different squad, but he still has a talented group of defensemen around him. Kevin Korchinski and Nolan Allan are improving skaters who are getting better with each game.

“Everyone’s good, (this is) a good league,” Rinzel said. “(I’m) happy to see them succeed.”

Rinzel was sent to Rockford on Dec. 8 after a lackluster showing with the Hawks, scoring eight points (one goal, seven assists) in 28 games. Hawks coach Jeff Blashill wanted him to “get his swagger with the puck back” with the IceHogs.

He’s been focused on improving his game overall. His talent is unquestioned after his college career at Minnesota, but sometimes it takes some extra time.

“Coming from college, (I’m) learning to adapt a little bit,” Rinzel said. “I have to play a little differently on defense than what I’m used to.

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“(It’s) using my brain a little more (and) using my smarts instead of trying to wrap and pin guys. I want to kill plays (and) do it quick, but (it’s) just getting a little smarter. I have a good brain and good IQ to do it.”

The Hawks recently recalled Nick Lardis, Ethan Del Mastro and Dominic Toninato from Rockford. They’ve all said how time with the IceHogs makes players better.

“I think it’s good, especially for young guys,” the veteran Toninato said. “When you’re young, you want to play (but) the pro game is different from wherever you come from.

“Learning that pro game, learning the pro lifestyle (is) what you got to bring every day. They get a lot of minutes down there being in key situations, a lot of ice time (and) a lot of touches.”

Added Del Mastro: “When you’re a younger guy, (you’re) able to kind of work on your skills down there (with) the staff behind you and all of them working on you. It’s a little bit easier there, for sure.”

It’s unclear when Rinzel will return to the Hawks roster. The defenseman will enjoy the slightly laid-back atmosphere of the AHL while he can.

“(The) guys are unbelievable on their own, they’ve done an unbelievable job,” Rinzel said. “It’s a fun group to be around and it’s fun to laugh and smile.”

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/17/chicago-blackhawks-rockford-icehogs-sam-rinzel/ 

For the second time in three weeks, it’s the Chicago Bears against the Green Bay Packers with the winner grabbing first place in the NFC North.

The Bears could clinch a playoff berth with a victory Saturday night at Soldier Field, combined with a Detroit Lions loss Sunday to the Pittsburgh Steelers. But has a series of lesser opponents — and opposing quarterbacks — steeled the Bears for the postseason?

The Tribune’s Brad Biggs begins his weekly Bears mailbag there.

Shedeur Sanders, Jordan Love, Jalen Hurts, Mason Rudolph, J.J. McCarthy, Russell Wilson, Joe Flacco, Tyler Huntley, Spencer Rattler, Jayden Daniels. Do these prepare the Bears for a playoff run? — DunningMar47239

One problem with your list is games against Love and Hurts very much prepare the Bears for the kind of tests they could face in the postseason. And at the time they played in Washington, Daniels was still very much a threat. Here’s what I would say: Hurts, Love (twice), Brock Purdy and Jared Goff is a very good list of quarterbacks the Bears will have faced through the stretch run of the season.

Those who doubt the Bears’ viability as a threat in the NFC cite the schedule and how they squeaked out close victories over some of the quarterbacks you listed. Questions about the level of competition will be answered in the final three weeks. The Bears’ strength of schedule (.400) is the third-lowest in the league — just ahead of New England (.371) and Denver (.393) — so the same questions apply to the Patriots and Broncos.

It’s the Bears’ schedule to date that probably creates a difference of opinion about the team locally and elsewhere. But as they continue to run the ball with success and collect takeaways in bunches while Caleb Williams puts together an array of dazzling plays, outside perception slowly is changing.

To borrow from Bill Parcells, you are what your record says you are. Parcells’ wisdom is irrespective of a team’s schedule.

One concern: The Bears had 250 yards of offense in the first half against Cleveland and only 14 points. It’s been a problem all season. Lots of yards that don’t produce points. — Tim S., Chicago

Not exactly a question here but I will tackle it. The Bears rank fifth in the league in total offense (which is simply yardage), averaging 369.1 yards per game. They are ninth in scoring at 26.1 points per game. I’d say those rankings are pretty close. As a side note, the Bears have averaged more yards per game only once: in 2013, when they averaged 381.8 in a 16-game season.

To your point, they’ve left some points on the field or, as the players and coaches like to say, some meat on the bone. The 26-14 win over the New Orleans Saints and the 24-20 win over the New York Giants come to mind as examples of games that probably could have had a larger margin based on how the offense moved the ball.

“We’ve had some spurts like that where it’s been challenging to move the ball and score the points,” Ben Johnson said Monday. “But it was just a matter of time for us. We moved the ball really well in the first half. We had a couple opportunities there before halftime that we’ll address when we get a chance to (Tuesday) with the group that we felt like we left something out there.”

This is something every team goes through on a weekly basis, dissecting why more possessions didn’t end with a touchdown. The Bears rank 15th in the red zone at 59.2%. It’s something to keep an eye on because if you start trading touchdowns for field goals in a close game against a good opponent, that’s a quick way to lose. But I don’t think the issue has been as pervasive as you might imagine.

Is it me or does Ozzy Trapilo look a little lost at left tackle? I totally get that Myles Garrett is the best in the business. Of course Ozzy looked silly a few times. But just wondering what the view is in the building. — Josh G.

Bears left tackle Ozzy Trapilo blocks Browns defensive end Myles Garrett in the fourth quarter Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, at Soldier Field. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

I’ve seen a lot of left tackles who looked sillier over the years than Trapilo has in a four-start stretch in which the Bears faced Garrett, Micah Parsons, T.J. Watt and a defense designed by Vic Fangio. And let me be clear, “silly” is your word, not mine. No need to list the left tackles I’m thinking of either.

The coaching staff has done a ton to assist Trapilo, especially the last two weeks against Garrett and Parsons, keeping him out of positions where he could be overwhelmed. It was nearly an entire-11 project in blocking Garrett last week. You saw every tight end, running back and wide receiver join in blocking him at some point, and with Garrett lined up so wide, it made it easier for wide receivers and tight ends to provide chip help on him. You saw Garrett looking to the outside before plays started because he wasn’t certain where all of the blockers were coming from.

The Bears were predominantly right-handed with their running game and still made Garrett a marked man when they went away from him. On the first snap of the second series, tight end Cole Kmet came in motion and cut-blocked Garrett on a toss play to the other side.

So it was kind of an incomplete game for Trapilo from the sense that you didn’t see him performing a lot of one-on-one tasks that a left tackle is asked to do more regularly in a normal game. That’s fine. It was the plan, just as it was a week earlier at Lambeau Field.

Ben Johnson isn’t going to ask Trapilo to solo block Garrett on third-and-8. That’s a recipe for a negative play. But you’d like to see him be able to handle that chore on occasion against good players who don’t wear a Superman cape.

There was a handful of questions about Trapilo this week, and many folks are looking for a snap judgment: Can he be the starting left tackle in Week 1 in 2026? The Bears aren’t focused on that, and with three regular-season games remaining and a potential playoff run, you’re looking at having 250 or more snaps to add to his library and evaluate.

It’s not where the Bears need it right now, but they’re making do and that’s a credit to Trapilo, the other players on offense and the design created by the coaches.

Chicago Bears offensive line and CB Nahshon Wright see strong support in Pro Bowl fan voting

The medical/training staff again pushed players to return when a week further would have been sensible. That needs clearing up immediately, maybe change of staff as it’s not an isolated incident. — @bigdelboy46

I wish I had as much deep insight into precisely what went wrong with wide receiver Rome Odunze on Sunday when the team ruled him out after declaring inactives for the game. Here’s what I do know: It’s a delicate business when players have injuries and are working to get back on the field. I can tell you for a fact there have been Bears head coaches in the past who got upset with the training staff at various times for not pushing players hard enough to get back on the field sooner.

There’s this idea that the medical and training staffs have failed the Bears this season because of a series of soft-tissue injuries that have cost cornerbacks Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon and linebacker T.J. Edwards a lot of time on the field. Odunze’s situation with a foot injury is different.

As I’ve written in this space previously, there’s no question the Bears will evaluate their entire operation at the end of the season and study each unique situation to determine if a different course of action was more appropriate. That’s an annual practice teams go through whether they were blitzed with injuries (the Bears have not been) or were very healthy.

D’Marco Jackson has been playing at such a high level, it’s hard to take him off the field. How do you think they will deploy him, T.J. Edwards, and Tremaine Edmunds when Tremaine is back on game days? — @michael16824439

Bears linebacker D’Marco Jackson makes an interception against the Browns in the third quarter Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, at Soldier Field. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

Edwards and Edmunds look like the starters to me when both are fully healthy. The Bears opened the return-to-practice window for Edmunds (groin) on Monday, and if all goes well this week in practices Wednesday and Thursday, it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s restored to the 53-man roster in time to play against the Packers.

The Bears aren’t going to put one of their highly paid linebackers on the shelf to keep Jackson on the field. Let’s not forget how well Edmunds was playing before he was injured at the end of the Week 11 game in Minnesota. Fortunately he has missed only four games.

If Edmunds is eased back on some kind of snap count, there would be room for Jackson to play, and I would agree he has done more than enough to warrant being involved. Potentially you could see him in scenarios in which the team has three linebackers on the field, although the Bears have leaned heavily into their nickel and even dime packages all season.

Jackson’s contribution to the defense is a terrific story for a player who had to bide his time for an opportunity. The Bears claimed him off waivers because he was a really good special teams player in New Orleans. He has proved to be more than that, and it’s another good example of how the team’s depth has really stood out for the first time in several years.

Are you surprised the Packers are still favored on Saturday night with Micah Parsons out? The game two weeks ago went down to the final minute. — Blake, Bloomington, Ill.

The Week 14 matchup in Green Bay did go down to the wire, and the Packers, who opened as a 6½-point favorite, won by seven. This week the Packers were installed as a three-point favorite Sunday night at Westgate SuperBook in Las Vegas. The line moved pretty quickly, and as of midday Tuesday you could find Green Bay by 1½ or one point, depending on where you looked.

To get a better understanding of the situation and hopefully explain this to folks who believe oddsmakers have it out for the Bears, I turned to Joe Fortenbaugh, a betting expert at ESPN.

“Let’s look at like this: The look-ahead line for this game (posted during the middle of last week) was three,” Fortenbaugh said. “That was before there were any injuries or any data points (from Week 15). The Bears were expected to beat the Browns and the Packers were in a toss-up game at Denver. That could have gone either way, and the results were not going to shock anyone there either way.

“So it was Green Bay minus-three on the look-ahead, and when they posted it Sunday evening, that number came out right as Parsons was leaving the game injured. People were smart enough to realize there was something wrong with Parsons. It was a noncontact injury. They hung the number at three and it got hit immediately and it’s down to one. That’s only two points but it’s moving off of three, which is a big move in itself.”

Fortenbaugh explained that in the NFL, an injury to a quarterback is the only thing that would dramatically shift the point spread. And those big shifts happen only when elite quarterbacks are involved. He emphasized that having the line come off the key number of three was a big deal.

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“If we were talking about the spread in what was expected to be a blowout college game where the number went from 16 up to 19, that’s a bunch of dead numbers,” he said. “It really doesn’t matter. Moving from four to six is relatively dead when you’re moving through five. But when you’re coming off three down to one, it’s a two-point move — but you’re coming off the key number of three, which has more value to it.

“I can’t say Parsons is worth more than like a point because non-quarterbacks are not going to be worth a whole lot. That’s still very respectful to say he’s worth at least a point off of three, and the market is telling you he’s probably worth two because it has dropped to one.”

Sportsbooks don’t set a number based on who they think will win or whom they prefer. They set lines with a goal of attracting even money on both sides. That’s the case 99.9% of the time.

“Most of these shops would be thrilled if they had $1 million on the Packers and $1 million on the Bears and they could collect their 10% and have no risk whatsoever,” Fortenbaugh said. “There are shops that will occasionally take a position on a game. There was a guy that used to run a book in Las Vegas that was great with college football. He would have a couple games every season where he would offer the best possible price on one side. He would tell you, ‘I want your Oregon money because I’ve got USC here.’ That’s generally not what is happening. They are looking for the balancing of the action.”

Bears fans aren’t alone. Broncos fans were mystified last week how their team was a home underdog against Green Bay.

“One thing to keep in mind with this, and it’s not just Bears fans, people can’t seem to figure out the love for the Packers,” Fortenbaugh said. “Analytically, they are a darling of sharp sports bettors. When you go deep into EPA and all these analytics, the Packers check so many boxes. Last year the sharp guys loved them. This year the sharp guys love them.

“That could change with the Parsons injury, but Denver fans were so disrespected last week (because Green Bay was favored). It’s not about your team, it’s about how much love there is for this Packers team among guys who really know what they’re doing.”

Why did the Bears let the clock run down to seven seconds at the end of the first half only to attempt a trick play when they could have taken one of two timeouts and gotten off another play to get into better field-goal range? — @hokatoka

Bears coach Ben Johnson greets tight end Colston Loveland before the game against the Browns on Dec. 14, 2025, at Soldier Field. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

The problem was it was fourth-and-3 after a 7-yard pass to Luther Burden III put the Bears on the Cleveland 42-yard line with about 15 seconds remaining in the second quarter. The Browns also had two timeouts. Let’s say Ben Johnson calls a timeout immediately and Caleb Williams throws an incomplete pass. In that scenario, the Browns could complete one pass and potentially stop the clock and attempt a long field goal on the final play of the half.

I didn’t have any issue with the way Johnson managed the clock. In fact, he has been really sharp with game management all season. The Bears have gotten a real upgrade in that area.

As it was, the Bears let the clock run down to three seconds — not seven — before using their second timeout. That ensured they would run the final play of the half, and the options were a Hail Mary or a gadget play. Johnson chose the latter.

I’d also point out that the Bears were completely dominating the action, so taking any risky chances there would not have been advisable. The Browns had one first down in the first half. Why try something that might backfire and risk breathing even a little life into an opponent that was trailing 14-0?

What does the NFL rulebook say happens if a pass happens to strike something on the field of play, perhaps a pigeon, during a game? Incomplete pass, replay the down or a secret third thing? — @bschultzy

Fortunately the pesky pigeons — or whatever type of annoying birds that decided to hang out on the field during a portion of Sunday’s game — didn’t get that involved in the action. They sure weren’t bothered by the 22 players and officials on the field.

Digging through the NFL rules, it appears that if a thrown or kicked ball happened to strike a bird, the play would be ruled dead and the down would be replayed. The bird likely would be headed to injured reserve.

While the rules don’t specifically account for unwelcome flying visitors, here is Rule 7, Section 2, Article 1R:

“If a loose ball in play strikes a video board, guide wire, sky cam or any other object, the ball will be dead immediately and the down will be replayed at the previous spot. In the event the down is replayed, the game clock will be reset to the time remaining when the snap occurred, and the clock will start on the snap. All penalties will be disregarded, except for personal fouls or unsportsmanlike conduct fouls, which will be administered prior to the replaying of the down.”

I’m pretty certain we can lump a bird under the category of “other object.” For what it’s worth, the play would be reviewable.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/17/chicago-bears-mailbag-schedule-packers-point-spread/ 

With three pass-rush-heavy foes standing between the Chicago Bears and the playoffs, it’s a good thing they’ve assembled an offensive line that quarterback Caleb Williams has nicknamed “The Avengers.”

“I call my O-linemen ‘The Avengers,’ and so all of them collectively form a very formidable team to go out there and go to war with,” Williams told reporters Tuesday at Halas Hall.

Four of the five starting linemen were in the top 10 at their positions in fan voting for the Pro Bowl based on the latest available results Monday: center Drew Dalman, guards Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson, and right tackle Darnell Wright.

Williams broke down which character he assigned to each lineman. Admittedly, some aren’t recognized as Avengers within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, though they are in some storylines in the comics.

Ozzy Trapilo, left tackle

Chicago Bears offensive tackle Ozzy Trapilo blocks Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Nick Herbig during the first quarter at Soldier Field on Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)

How assembled: The Bears drafted the 6-foot-8, 312-pound rookie out of Boston College in the second round (No. 56) in April.

Williams says: “I got Ozzy — obviously, he’s not really in the Avengers — but Wolverine.”

Joe Thuney, left guard

Chicago Bears guard Joe Thuney celebrates after a touchdown against the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Sept. 28, 2025. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)

How assembled: The Bears traded a 2026 fourth-round draft pick to the Kansas City Chiefs for the four-time Super Bowl champion on March 12.

Williams says: “From stats to longevity to how he is — I mean, he’s Doctor Strange. He just, for some reason, everything just kind of moves how he moves on the football field and things like that. So I feel like all the guys kind of like that one for Joe. I think it was fitting.”

Drew Dalman, center

Chicago Bears center Drew Dalman snaps the ball to Caleb Williams against the Philadelphia Eagles in the first quarter Nov. 28, 2025, at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

How assembled: Signed as an unrestricted free agent March 13.

Williams says: “I call Drew Dalman ‘The Hulk.’ He’s the brains and all of it, but when he gets out there on the field, he’s strong as can be, fast and the right guy for the job for us and my future and our future here.”

Jonah Jackson, right guard

Chicago Bears guard Jonah Jackson leaves the field after a game against the Minnesota Vikings, Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

How assembled: The Bears traded a 2025 sixth-round draft pick to the Los Angeles Rams on March 12.

Williams says: “I have the Red Hulk as Jonah.”

Darnell Wright, right tackle

Chicago Bears offensive tackle Darnell Wright during a game against the Minnesota Vikings, Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

How assembled: Drafted in the first round (No. 10) in 2023.

Williams says: “I have Darnell as Bucky because he has the one arm brace.” (Bucky Barnes, aka the Winter Soldier, has a metallic arm.)

Williams was asked which Avenger he would be — Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury, maybe?

“I don’t know who I am,” he said. “They’ll figure that out.”

Perhaps the nickname wide receiver Luther Burden III gave Williams on a social media post works: Iceman.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/17/chicago-bears-caleb-williams-avengers/ 

Associated Press

LONDRES (AP) — Reino Unido se reincorporará al programa insignia de intercambio de estudiantes Erasmus de la Unión Europea, según se anunció el miércoles, en un paso importante para los esfuerzos de restablecer las relaciones de Reino Unido con el bloque de 27 naciones después del Brexit.

Los estudiantes universitarios y de colegios británicos, así como los aprendices, podrán estudiar o formarse en países de la UE dentro del programa sin pagar tarifas adicionales para estudiantes extranjeros a partir de enero de 2027. A su vez, los estudiantes de países de la UE podrán estudiar en Reino Unido.

El acuerdo también cubre oportunidades para que los alumnos de escuelas, los estudiantes adultos, los educadores y los entrenadores deportivos estudien o se formen en el extranjero.

“El acuerdo es una gran victoria para nuestros jóvenes, derribando barreras y ampliando horizontes para asegurar que todos, de cualquier origen, tengan la oportunidad de estudiar y formarse en el extranjero”, indicó el ministro británico de Relaciones con la UE, Nick Thomas-Symonds.

Reino Unido pagará alrededor de 570 millones de libras (860 millones de dólares) por el primer año, y el costo para los años futuros se establecerá más adelante.

El programa, que tiene casi cuatro décadas de existencia, es uno de los logros más populares del bloque y ha permitido a millones de jóvenes europeos estudiar en otros países. El programa incluye varios países no pertenecientes a la UE, como Islandia y Noruega.

Reino Unido votó en 2016 para salir de la UE y se retiró en 2020 con un acuerdo comercial básico que puso fin al derecho de los ciudadanos británicos a vivir, estudiar y trabajar libremente en todo el bloque. El entonces primer ministro Boris Johnson sacó a Reino Unido de Erasmus, diciendo que no era una buena relación calidad-precio.

El gobierno del Partido Laborista de centro-izquierda del actual primer ministro, Keir Starmer, prometió reparar los lazos con la UE, tensados por años de acritud por el Brexit.

Londres y Bruselas anunciaron en mayo nuevos acuerdos sobre comercio, viajes y defensa, y las dos partes están negociando la reducción de barreras comerciales para productos alimenticios y bebidas y un programa más amplio de movilidad juvenil.

Sin embargo, las conversaciones sobre la incorporación británica a un importante fondo de defensa de la UE se rompieron el mes pasado debido a cuánto tendría que pagar Reino Unido.

___

Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con la ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/17/los-estudiantes-britnicos-volvern-al-programa-de-intercambio-erasmus-de-la-ue-tras-el-brexit/ 

“Buy Nicotine, Energy Drink, Candy Stocks”: Goldman Tells Clients Get Ready For Party In USA 

Tyler Durden
Wed, 12/17/2025 – 06:55

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/buy-nicotine-energy-drink-candy-stocks-goldman-gets-bullish-american-consumer 

Gustavo Cortiñas doesn’t “do” absolute music — music for music’s sake. The Humboldt Park-based drummer’s work is always about something.

2022’s “Kind Regards/Saludos Afectuosos” collaged immigrant narratives from both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. Before that, Cortiñas’s bookworm tendencies inspired “Desafío Candente” (2021), on the work of Uruguayan writer and theorist Eduardo Galeano, and “Esse” (2017), which referenced philosophers and their works.

“I’m thinking about it all the time, trying to make sense of the world in some way,” he says of those texts.

Not too many jazz drummers would casually reference Plato’s allegory of the cave in a chat. But Cortiñas, 38, isn’t most jazz drummers. His latest album, “The Crisis Knows No Borders,” took on as potent and enormous a topic as climate change. In the bilingual “Kind Regards,” Cortiñas proved as gifted a lyricist as a composer; “Crisis” returned to pure instrumental heat, written for a fiery and unconventional quartet of drums, saxophone, violin and guitar.

Released in April, the album earned a well-deserved nod on Downbeat’s year-end best-albums list. Earlier this year, Cortiñas also received a prestigious Sistema Nacional de Creadores de Arte grant, essentially Mexico’s answer to the National Endowment for the Arts.

But Cortiñas isn’t one to rest on those laurels. As he told me earlier this month over jibaritos (his favorite spot is Cafeteria Marcela’s in Logan Square), his 2026 and 2027 are already crammed with projects, thanks to the SNCA grant. In June, he’ll release the musically provocative “The Drum Also Sings,” interpreting 10 originals — complete with melodies and harmonies — for drums alone. Fellow percussionists Dave King and Isaiah Spencer assist on that album; among the featured guest vocalists is Angel Bat Dawid, the Tribune’s 2021 Chicagoan of the Year in jazz.

Drummer Gustavo Cortiñas at the Jazz Showcase in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)

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Further out, he’s planning a follow-up to “Kind Regards,” either to be called “Kindness Is Off-Brand” or “Secret Thoughts,” after one of the songs on the album. (“No one will ever be able to know the lyrics, because it’s everything that I wish I could say that I can’t in these times,” Cortiñas says.) Also cooking is “Rostros Migratorios,” or “Immigrant Faces,” a multimedia “documentary suite” weaving interviews and music.

Cortiñas himself is an immigrant to the U.S., growing up in Mexico City. His father was a law scholar and his mother a teacher; postcolonial literature was common dinner-table chatter in his household. Cortiñas learned English, then drums, from the Beatles, playing the backbeat to “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” during his first drum lesson. An accidental drum lesson, Cortiñas adds: His older brother was a no-show at one of his lessons. Not wanting to waste the fee, Cortiñas’ father threw him in instead.

After formative encounters with touring jazz artists in Mexico, Cortiñas arrived in the U.S. as an international student in 2007, studying at Loyola University in New Orleans. Living in the city post-Hurricane Katrina may have first planted the seed that grew into “The Crisis Knows No Borders.” But at the time, he just wanted to cut his teeth in a jazz capital.

It “kicked my ass,” he recalls, “and it was freaking beautiful.”

Cortiñas attended Northwestern University for further studies with then-jazz studies director Victor Goines, who also appeared on “Snapshot” (2013), his first album as a bandleader. The first Chicago show he ever attended was a Jazz Showcase appearance by Chuchito Valdés, a pianist in the mold of his legendary father, Chucho.

Now, not only has Cortiñas played with Valdés, but he leads his own bands at the storied venue regularly. “My wife and I, we have a joke that it’s like my church,” he says of the Showcase. “If I ever have a Sunday off, I want to go.”

It’s also one of a few venues where Cortiñas can take his new best friend: his 5-month-old daughter Violeta, so named because the resilient and adaptable flower “grows everywhere.” Just like her father’s music.

Hannah Edgar is a freelance critic.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/17/chicagoan-year-jazz-cortinas/ 

In 1968, Crystal Palmer and her family moved to the seventh floor of the Henry Horner Homes. It felt like penthouse living: No longer did she and her siblings have to sleep three to a room, and other residents on the floor left their door unlocked, like a big family.

“We ate together; we cried together,” she recalled. “We’re still a family today, those of us that are still living.”

Palmer is a Chicago Housing Authority lifer. She returned to Henry Horner as an adult, moving out 14 years ago. Today, she’s CHA’s assistant director of resident engagement. What “outsiders or naysayers” may not realize about public housing is that the projects were, for many residents, the “best place (they) ever lived,” Palmer said.

Likewise, Evanston resident Sunny Fischer was dazzled when she moved into the Eastchester Projects in the South Bronx as a 5-year-old. Here was somewhere her grandmother could keep kosher, somewhere where her mother no longer had to chase mice with a broom.

“When we walked into that apartment, I still remember the light: It was so bright, and everything was so clean,” Fischer said.

Today, Fischer and Palmer sit on the board of the National Public Housing Museum, which opened on the Near West Side in the spring on the former site of the Jane Addams Homes, near the University of Illinois Chicago.

Fischer said visitors have the same reaction to the museum that she did as a child to the Eastchester Projects: astonishment that it could be so nice.

A gleaming LED display in the lobby recaps decades of public housing history. Nearby, the museum’s gift shop promotes small businesses and merch by public housing residents. Upstairs are an oral history studio and an interactive listening room, allowing visitors to spin LPs by musicians who once lived in public housing.

Walking through all of those spaces is free for visitors, five days a week. But the soul of the museum is its recreation of units occupied by two resident families: the Turovitzes, a Jewish immigrant family that moved into the Jane Addams Homes shortly after the homes opened in the 1930s, and the Hatches, an African American family that lived there in the 1960s and ’70s.

In Palmer’s words, the museum outlines “the good, the bad and the ugly of public housing, or any government program.”

A recreation of a public housing unit with elements from the 1960s and 1970s is on display at the National Public Housing Museum in Chicago on July 11, 2025. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)

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As part of the museum’s “artist as instigator” residency, Chicago-born rapper Open Mike Eagle will build on his 2017 concept album “Brick Body Kids Still Daydream,” drawing on his family history in the razed Robert Taylor Homes in Bronzeville. Painter Nathaniel Mary Quinn will also open an exhibition in May 2026 reflecting on the Taylor Homes.

The museum owes its existence to two “founding mothers.” Activist and housing commissioner Deverra Beverly advocated for what would become the National Public Housing Museum more than 20 years ago, responding to the 1999 Plan for Transformation that led to the destruction of 11 CHA developments, including the Horner, Taylor and Addams projects. Beverly died in 2013, and Fischer helped see the museum through, operating it more or less as a pop-up in the intervening years.

About half of the museum’s staff members have lived, or still live, in public housing, and still more have experienced housing insecurity. The museum maintains an active presence in current CHA programming, attending project reunions and coordinating special tours for residents. The onsite ambassadors who guide visitors through the museum — such as Humboldt Park resident Gentry Quinones — are also current CHA residents.

The National Public Housing Museum at 919 S. Ada St. in Chicago, July 11, 2025. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)

“When I bring that up to people, you can see the change in their faces,” Quinones said. “People end up sharing very personal stories.”

To sum up the museum’s message, executive director Lisa Yun Lee is drawn to — what else — a housing metaphor.

“I love this quote Isabel Wilkerson has, where she says that America is an old house. We’re all living in this house now, and we inherit whatever’s wrong with it. You could say, ‘Hey, I didn’t cause that,’ but that’s your house now,” Lee said. “The history of public housing is our collective house that we all live in.”

Hannah Edgar is a freelance writer.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/17/chicagoans-of-the-year-museums/ 

US, Mexico Reach Agreement To Fix Tijuana River Sewage Crisis: EPA

Tyler Durden
Wed, 12/17/2025 – 06:30

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/us-mexico-reach-agreement-fix-tijuana-river-sewage-crisis-epa