House camera records 'senseless' carjacking death of Uber driver in GA

A 15-year-old inGeorgiais accused of ordering anUber ridewith the intent of carjacking the driver, leading to thedeathof a man on New Year's Day.

Around 5 a.m. on Jan. 1,Lawrenceville Policewere called to Groveland Parkway with reports of a person lying in the road, according to a news release.

The man had a gunshot wound and was declared dead on the scene. Police identified him as 58-year-old Cesar Tejada, a husband and father of two who was "working as an Uber driver to provide for his family."

Camera captures deadly moments

A nearby Ring camera captured a black SUV pulling up in the street, and with FLOCK camera technology and in collaboration with Uber, police were able to piece the night together.

Around 4:13 a.m., Tejada picked up a man on Rangewood Drive and drove him to Groveland Parkway, according to police.

When the car stopped, the passenger stepped out of the back of the vehicle before shooting Tejada in the driver's seat and then leaving him in the road.

The Uber rider then got into the car and drove away.

Police later tracked the car to the same area where the passenger had been picked up. As officers surveilled the area, their person of interest came out of his home and walked into the road where he was arrested.

15-year-old charged as adult

The passenger and accused shooter was identified as 15-year-old Christian Simmons. He was charged with murder, and is being charged as an adult, police said.

In astatementto news outlets, a representative for Uber said, "We're saddened by this devastating loss, and our condolences go out to the driver's family during this incredibly difficult time. We've been in contact with the Lawrenceville Police Department to help support their investigation."

Uber also said the rider's account has been banned, but that account has not been confirmed as belonging to Simmons.

Police called the violent carjacking "senseless," but commended the speed in which the passenger was identified and taken into custody.

Irene Wright is the Atlanta Connect reporter with USA Today's Deep South Connect team. Find her on X @IreneEWright or email her at ismith@usatodayco.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Teen accused of fatally carjacking Uber driver outside Atlanta

byAlex Forten

in

January 02, 2026

House camera records 'senseless' carjacking death of Uber driver in GA

A 15-year-old inGeorgiais accused of ordering anUber ridewith the intent of carjacking the driver, leading to thedeathof ...

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Think You're Cold? Alaska's Minus 50s Would Like A Word

Do you think that Alaska is cold during winter? Think again, it's beyond cold there. How about having consecutive days of temperatures colder than 40 degrees below zero!

This is true for much of the Alaskan interior, particularly near Fairbanks and in between the Alaska and Brooks mountain ranges.

Over the last three days in Fairbanks, temperatures have struggled to reach 40 degrees below zero, with organizers in Fairbanks even postponing their annual New Year's Eve fireworks show due to the extreme cold.

The temperature in the final few minutes of 2025 in Fairbanks was43 degrees below zero.

In other words, conditions are unbearably and dangerously cold, even by local standards in Central Alaska.

In Chicken, Alaska, located near the Canadian Border, temperatures dropped as low as 62 degrees below zero! Numerous other locations in the eastern Alaskan Interior have seen temperatures between 50 and 60 degrees below zero.

On top of bringing dangerously cold minimum temperatures, this most recent cold snap has also been more prolonged than usual.

Temperatures in much of Alaska have been largely colder than usual since aboutDecember 5th, 2025

Some regions of Far-Eastern Alaska and the neighboring Yukon Territory in Canada have seen combined December temperaturesup to 30 degreesbelow the climatological average.

For reference, the average December temperature in Fairbanks from 1904 to 2025 is 22 degrees below zero with much of central Alaska having similarly cold December temperatures on average. Fairbanks, in particular, has seen a temperature departure of 18.5 degrees below average for December 2025, ranking as the 8th coldest December on record.

This means that much of East-Central Alaska has been stuck between 40 and 50 degrees below for nearly an entire month!

While many factors affect the severity of winters in Alaska, one notable statistic is the unusually high snowfall in portions of Alaska this past December. Fairbanks saw more than double its usual snowfall for the month of December.

Juneau, Alaska's capital, located in far-southeast Alaska, has seen nearly its entire annual snowfall in December alone, atover 80 inches.

Snowfall promotes cold temperatures by reflecting light from the sun back to space. In Alaska, there is already very little sunlight during the winter due to its positioning on and near the Arctic Circle.

What little sunlight snow-covered portions of Alaska have seen has been quickly reflected back to space by the unusually heavy snowpack.

In Central Alaska, located between the Alaska and Brooks ranges, the heavy snowpack, lack of sunlight, and lack of transport of air from warmer locations have led to the development of an arctic high pressure system, leading to stable conditions and light winds. These conditions cause the land to rapidly lose heat, becoming even colder. As long as this arctic high pressure is in place, Central Alaska will remain brutally cold (see forecast for next 3 days).

Fortunately, this pattern will break down as we approach mid-January. A more active storm track from the Pacific is poised to bring wetter and warmer conditions to portions of Alaska, especially towards the middle to second half of the month. While this wetter pattern means snow for most, temperatures will improve, being far more bearable than the current temperatures in the 40 to 50 degree below zero range.

Hayden Marshall is a meteorologist intern and First-Year-Master's Student at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He has been following weather content over the past three years as a Storm Spotter and weather enthusiast. He can be found onInstagramandLinkedin.

byAlex Forten

in

January 02, 2026

Think You're Cold? Alaska's Minus 50s Would Like A Word

Do you think that Alaska is cold during winter? Think again, it's beyond cold there. How about having consecutive day...

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Earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.5 rattles southern and central Mexico

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A strongearthquakerattled southern and central Mexico on Friday, interrupting PresidentClaudia Sheinbaum's first press briefing of the new year as seismic alarms sounded.

The earthquake had a magnitude of 6.5 and its epicenter was near the town of San Marcos in the southern state of Guerrero near the Pacific coast resort of Acapulco, according toMexico's national seismological agency. There were more than 500 aftershocks.

The state's civil defense agency reported various landslides around Acapulco and on other highways in the state.

Residents and tourists in Mexico City and Acapulco rushed into the streets when the shaking began. Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada said that one person died after suffering an apparent medical emergency followed by a fall while evacuating a building.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake occurred at a depth of 21.7 miles (35 kilometers), 2.5 miles north-northwest of Rancho Viejo, Guerrero, which is in the mountains about 57 miles northeast of Acapulco.

Sheinbaum, who resumed her press briefing a short time later, said she spoke with Guerrero's Gov. Evelyn Salgado, who told her there was no serious damage reported.

José Raymundo Díaz Taboada, a doctor and human rights defender who lives on one of the peaks ringing Acapulco, said he heard a strong rumble noise and all the neighborhood dogs began barking.

"In that moment the seismic alert went off on my cellphone," he said, "and then the shaking began to feel strong with a lot of noise."

He said the shaking was lighter than in some previous quakes and he had prepared a backpack of essentials to be ready to leave as the aftershocks continued.

He said he had been unable to reach some friends who live along the Costa Chica southeast of Acapulco because communications were cut.

byAlex Forten

in

January 02, 2026

Earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.5 rattles southern and central Mexico

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A strongearthquakerattled southern and central Mexico on Friday, interrupting PresidentClaudia Sheinba...

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Olympic medalist Katharina Liensberger suffers serious knee injuries in training crash

ST. MICHAEL, Austria (AP) — Olympic slalom silver medalist Katharina Liensberger of Austria sustained serious knee injuries in a crash in training that effectively ends her season, skiing's governing body said on Friday.

The International Ski and Snowboard Federation said the 28-year-old slalom specialist sustained a fracture of the tibial plateau — where the shin bone meets the knee — along with a meniscus tear and a medial collateral ligament injury in her right knee.

It said the fall occurred during a giant slalom training in St. Michael, Austria ahead of the weekend's World Cup races in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia.

FIS said Liensberger was due to undergo surgery on Friday and wished her a successful recovery from the injuries that rule her out of theWinter Olympicsin Italy next month, where she won two world titles five years ago.

It leaves Mikaela Shiffrin without one of her main rivals in slalom at the Milan Cortina Winter Games, and is the latest training crash involving a top skier.

Three of Switzerland's reigning Olympic champions have also been injured in training recently;Michelle Gisin,Lara Gut-BehramiandCorinne Suter.

At the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing, Liensberger won gold in the team event for Austria and individual silver in the slalom. She became the world slalom and parallel event champion the previous year in Cortina D'Ampezzo.

She finished fourth in her last World Cup slalom in Semmering, Austria on Sunday.

AP Olympics:https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

byAlex Forten

in

January 02, 2026

Olympic medalist Katharina Liensberger suffers serious knee injuries in training crash

ST. MICHAEL, Austria (AP) — Olympic slalom silver medalist Katharina Liensberger of Austria sustained serious knee injuri...

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Rory McIlroy would welcome Bryson DeChambeau back to PGA Tour, says LIV players have 'paid their consequence'

Rory McIlroy would welcome back former PGA Tour stars who left for LIV Golf, saying those players have "paid their consequence."

The reigningMasters champion was a guest on this week's "Overlap" podcastand said that while Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund has helped elevate the majors and Ryder Cup — making those events the only times during the year where the best players are all together — the sport needs them together more often in order to be relevant.

McIlroy's comments come nearlytwo weeks after five-time major winner Brooks Koepka announcedhe would step away from LIV Golf for the 2026 season. That decision leaves open the question of whether he will pursue a return to the PGA Tour.

Should Koepka attempt a return, McIlroy believes that no punishment is needed as it would be in the best interests of the PGA Tour.

"They've made the money but they've paid their consequence when you talk about their reputation and some of the things that they've lost by going over there," McIlroy said. "If it made the overall tour stronger to have Bryson DeChambeau back and whoever else, I would be okay with it. But, it's not just me, and I recognize that not everyone's in my position. It would be up to the collective group of PGA Tour members to make that decision."

FellowPGA Tour member Billy Horschel had a similar response earlierthis week, saying that he was once in favor of a punishment for any LIV players who want to return, but now sees it as a betterment of the product.

Koepka, DeChambeau, along with Jon Rahm, Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson were the biggest names to leave the PGA Tour for LIV Golf. Their departures created tension between the tours and players, with some arguing there should be a consequence in order to return.

The PGA Tour has indicated that a pathway back from LIV would require a player to sit out at least a year after playing in a non-sanctioned event. LIV's final event ended on Aug. 25, 2025; a year's delay would make Koepka ineligible to play until at least the PGA Tour's fall events. He could potentially play on the DP World Tour.

McIlroy has been one of thebiggestanti-LIV voiceson the PGA Tour since its inception. He doesn't like what it's done to golf and the fractures that it has created.

Those feelings have softened, however, with McIlroy saying that he felt his earlier comments were "too judgmental" and that he realized other players are in a different position than him or Tiger Woods.

"You get this offer and what do you do?"McIlroy said in Jan. 2024. "We all turned professional to make a living playing the sports that we do and I think that's what I realized over the past two years, I can't judge people for making that decision."

LIV Golf has made changes for 2026, including the biggest decision ofmoving from 54 holes to the traditional 72in order to better its chances of players receiving Official World Golf Rankings points.

Will that be enough for LIV Golf to gain relevancy? In McIlroy's eyes, time is running out.

"If LIV is failing to capture the imagination and they've spent so much money on this venture and it isn't making a return for them I don't know how much longer they can keep it going," McIlroy said.

byAlex Forten

in

January 02, 2026

Rory McIlroy would welcome Bryson DeChambeau back to PGA Tour, says LIV players have 'paid their consequence'

Rory McIlroy would welcome back former PGA Tour stars who left for LIV Golf, saying those players have "paid their consequence." ...

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Anthony Joshua's driver charged over fatal car crash in Nigeria

Authorities in Nigeria have charged the driver of former heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua with causing the car crash that killed two of his team members and injured the boxer.

Adeniyi Mobolaji Kayode, 46, was charged at theSagamu Magistrate Court in Africaon Friday.

"The Ogun State Police Command wishes to inform the general public that the driver of the Lexus SUV involved in the Anthony Joshua accident case, Adeniyi Mobolaji Kayode (male), aged 46, was charged to the Sagamu Magistrate Court today," authorities said in a statement on social media.

Kayode faces four counts: driving causing death, reckless and negligent driving, driving without due care and attention causing bodily harm and damage to property, and driving without a valid national driver's license.

Joshua was a passenger in the Lexus with Kayode, his personal trainer, Latif Ayodele, and Sina Ghami, his strength coach, when the vehicle struck a stationary truck in Ogun State, near Lagos, Africa's largest city.

The 36-year-old Joshua was taken to the hospital with injuries following the accident and was discharged on Wednesday.

Kayode was granted bail in the amount of 5,000,000 Naira, the equivalent of nearly $3,500 U.S. dollars, and the Ogun State Police Command said his case has been adjourned until January 20.

Joshua was in Nigeria visiting relatives for New Year celebrations, according to the BBC, following his Dec. 19 fight with YouTuber-turned-boxer, which he won in a sixth-round knockout.

Highlights from Jake Paul vs Anthony Joshua fight

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Anthony Joshua's driver faces four charges over fatal car crash

byAlex Forten

in

January 02, 2026

Anthony Joshua's driver charged over fatal car crash in Nigeria

Authorities in Nigeria have charged the driver of former heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua with causing the car crash t...

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New York reports record-breaking number of flu hospitalizations in a single week

New York is reporting the highest number of flu hospitalizations recorded in a single week, the state's health department said on Friday.

During the week ending Dec. 27, 4,546 people were hospitalized with flu, a 24% increase from the 3,666 who were hospitalized the previous week, according to data from the New York State Department of Health (NYSOH)

It comes after the state reported a record-breaking number of flu cases in a single week with 72,133 infections during the week ending Dec. 20.

What you need to know about flu treatments as cases spike across the US

NYSDOHissued a declarationlast month stating influenza is prevalent in New York, which requires health care facilities and agencies to ensure any staff who have not received this year's flu vaccine wear masks in any areas where patients and residents may be present.

"We are having a more severe flu season than prior years, almost 1,000 more people were admitted to a hospital during this most recent seven-day period compared to the prior week," Dr. James McDonald, the state's health commissioner, said in a statement on Friday.

Meanwhile, flu activity is also spiking nationwide. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates there have been at least ​7.5 million illnesses, ​81,000 hospitalizations and ​3,100 deaths from flu so far this season.

New York is one of 20 states recording "very high" levels of respiratory illness activity, according to the latestCDC data.

Public health experts previously told ABC News that many of this season's cases are linked to a new flu strain called subclade K -- a variant of the H3N2 virus, which is itself a subtype of influenza A.

Subclade K has been circulating since the summer in other countries and was a main driver of a spike in flu cases in Canada, Japan and the U.K.

Of the 1,600 flu samplestested by the CDC, roughly ​92% were H3N2. Of those samples, nearly ​90% belonged to subclade K.

Flu cases are on the rise in the US. Here's what you need to know

Experts expect flu-like illnesses to continue to climb in the coming weeks after holiday gatherings and colder weather.

Currently, theCDC recommendsthat everyone aged 6 months and older, with rare exceptions, get a flu vaccine.

The federal health agency states on its website that getting an annual flu shot prevents millions of illnesses and flu-related doctors' visits every year and is especially important for those at higher risk of serious complications.

The flu vaccine is currently available to New Yorkers aged 2 years and older at a health care provider's office or at participating pharmacies while children aged 6 months and older can receive the flu vaccine at a health care provider's office, according to the state health department.

"There is still time to get a flu shot and remember, flu can be treated with antiviral medication if started within 48 hours of symptom onset and your doctor deems appropriate," McDonald said.

ABC News' Youri Benadjaoud contributed to this report.

byAlex Forten

in

January 02, 2026

New York reports record-breaking number of flu hospitalizations in a single week

New York is reporting the highest number of flu hospitalizations recorded in a single week, the state's health depart...

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