GREEN MAG

HONOLULU (AP) — Survivors of the 1941 Japanesebombing of Pearl Harborhave long been the center of a remembrance ceremony held each year on the military base's waterfront.

But today only 12 are still alive — all centenarians — and this year none is able to make the pilgrimage to Hawaii to mark the event, scheduled for Sunday.

That means no one attending will have firsthand memories of serving during the attack, which killed more than 2,300 troops and catapulted the U.S. into World War 2. The development is not a surprise and is an evolution of an ongoing trend. As survivors fade, their descendants and the public are increasingly turning to other ways of learning about the bombing.

"The idea of not having a survivor there for the first time — I just, I don't know — it hurt my heart in a way I can't describe," said Kimberlee Heinrichs, whose 105-year-old fatherIra "Ike" Schabhad to cancel plans to fly in from Oregon after falling ill.

Survivors have been present every year in recent memoryexcept for 2020,when the Navy and the National Park Service closed the observance to the general public because of coronavirus pandemic health risks.

"I can still see what was happening."

The ceremony begins with a moment of silence at 7:55 a.m., the same time the attack began on Dec. 7, 1941. Solemn rituals follow.

Fighter jets fly overhead in "missing man formation," in which one jet peels off to symbolize those lost. Survivors present wreaths to honor the dead, though active duty troops have assumed this job in recent years. Survivors rise to salute active duty sailors who themselves salute as their ship passes the USS Arizona Memorial, which sits above submerged hull of the battleship sunk in the attack.

About 2,000 survivors attended the 50th anniversary event in 1991. A few dozen have showed in recent decades. Last year,only two made it. That is out of an estimated 87,000 troops stationed on Oahu that day.

Many survivors were jovial despite the occasion, happy to catch up with old friends and pose for photographs. Even so, harrowing recollections were seldom far from their minds.

In 2023, Harry Chandler gazed across the waterwhile telling an Associated Pressreporter how he was raising the flag at a mobile hospital in the hills above the base when he saw Japanese planes fly in and drop bombs. Chandler and his fellow Navy hospital corpsmen jumped in trucks to help the injured.

He spoke of seeing the Arizona explode, and of hearing sailors trapped onthe capsized USS Oklahomadesperately tapping on their ship's hull to summon rescue. He helped care for Oklahoma sailors after crews cut holes in the battleship.

"I can still see what was happening," Chandler said.He diedthe next year at a senior living center in Tequesta, Florida.

Lessons from the past

The bombing has long held different meanings for different people, the historian Emily S. Rosenberg wrote in her book "A Date Which Will Live: Pearl Harbor in American Memory."

Some say it highlights the need for a well-prepared military and a vigilant foreign policy. To some it evokes then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt administration's "ineptitude or deceit" and the unfair scapegoating of the military. Others focus on the "treachery" of Japan or the heroic acts of individual troops, she wrote.

Asked what he wanted Americans to know about Pearl Harbor, Chandler said: "Be prepared."

"We should have known that was going to happen. The intelligence has to be better," he said.

Lou Conter, who was theArizona's last living survivorwhen he died last year at 102,told the AP in 2019he liked to attend to remember those who lost their lives.

"It's always good to come back and pay respect to them and give them the top honors that they deserve," Conter said.

Heinrichs' father has been six times since 2016. The former tuba player on the USS Dobbin likes to go not only to remember those killed but also in place of his late band mates; his three brothers who fought in World War II; and the now-deceased Pearl Harbor survivors he has met.

Recording the remembrances before the survivors are gone

Retired National Park Service Pearl Harbor historian Daniel Martinez said the circumstances resemble the early 20th century when Civil War veterans were dying in increasing numbers. Awareness grew that soon they wouldn't be able to share their stories of Gettysburg and other battles, he said.

Martinez knew something similar could happen with Pearl Harbor survivors and recorded their oral histories. During a 1998 convention, he conducted interviews 12 hours a day for three days. The Park Service today has nearly 800 interviews, most on video.

"They remain as a part of the national memory of a day that changed America and changed the world," Martinez said.

The Park Service shows some in its Pearl Harbor museum and aims to include more after renovations, said David Kilton, the agency's Pearl Harbor interpretation, education and visitor services lead.

The Library of Congress has collections from 535 Pearl Harbor survivors, including interviews, letters, photos and diaries. Over 80% are online. They are part of the library'sVeterans History Projectof firsthand recollections of veterans who served in World War I onward. Many were recorded by relatives, Eagle Scouts and other amateurs interested in documenting history.

The Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbor Survivors gives presentations in schools and marches in parades to share the stories of their families. The California chapter has added six new members this year, including two great-grandchildren of survivors.

"When they're all gone, we're still going to be here," said Deidre Kelley, the group's president. "And it's our intent to keep the memory alive as long as we're alive."

DAKAR. Senegal (AP) — Dozens of people who have fled Mali tell The Associated Press that a new Russian military unit that replaced the Wagner mercenary group this year is carrying out abuses, including rapes and beheadings, as it teams up with Mali's military to hunt down extremists.

The refugees said the Africa Corps, which reports to Russia's Defense Ministry, is using the same tactics as Wagner. Their accounts, collected during rare access to the Mauritanian border, have not been reported by international media until now.

West Africa's vast Sahel region has become the deadliest place in the world for extremism. The military governments of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger in recent years have turned from Western allies to Russia for help combating the fighters affiliated with al-Qaida or the Islamic State group.

The Africa Corps replaced Wagner six months ago. That sparked hope for less brutality among weary civilians whothe United Nations sayshave been abused by all sides. But refugees described a new reign of terror by the "white men" in the vast and largely lawless territory. The AP spoke to 34 refugees. Most spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.

Here are takeaways from the AP investigation.

A 'scorched-earth policy'

Two refugees showed videos of villages they said were burned by Africa Corps. Two others said they found bodies of loved ones with liver and kidneys missing.Previous AP reportinghas tracked social media channels, likely administered by Wagner members, that shared images of men in military uniform butchering corpses of what appear to be Malian civilians, hacking out organs and posing with severed limbs.

"It's a scorched-earth policy," said a Malian village chief who fled to Mauritania last month for the second time. "The soldiers speak to no one. Anyone they see, they shoot. No questions, no warning. People don't even know why they are being killed."

He added: "There is no difference between Wagner and Africa Corps."

Malian authorities never publicly acknowledged Wagner's presence, and have not acknowledged Africa Corps. But Russian state media in recent weeks have published reports from Mali praising Africa Corps for defending the country from "terrorists," and Russia's Foreign Ministry has confirmed that the unit is active "at the request of the Malian authorities," providing ground escorts, search-and-rescue operations and other work.

Russia's Defense Ministry did not respond to AP questions.

Questions around Africa Corps

Reported abuses against civilians intensified when Wagner teamed up with the underfunded Malian army in 2021. According to private security analysts, Mali paid Russia about $10 million a month for Wagner's assistance. While the group was never officially under the Kremlin's command, it had close ties to Russia's intelligence and military.

Moscow began developing the Africa Corps as a rival to Wagner after its leaderYevgeny Prigozhinwas killed in a plane crash in 2023 following his brief armed rebellion in Russia that challenged the rule ofPresident Vladimir Putin.

It is unclear whether Mali's agreement remains the same for Africa Corps. Much is unknown about the unit's operations, including the number of fighters, which analysts estimate at around 2,000.

Not all Africa Corps fighters are Russian. Several refugees told the AP they saw Black men speaking foreign languages. The European Council on Foreign Relations in a recent report said the unit recruits from Russia, Belarus and African states.

Civilians are 'between a rock and a hard place'

The hunt by Africa Corps and Malian forces for militants intensified in September, when JNIM fighters imposed anunprecedented blockade on fuelinto Mali from neighboring countries.

Experts say it's impossible to know how many people are being killed and assaulted in Mali, especially in remote areas, while journalists and aid workers have limited access to the country.

"There is a lot of people raped, attacked, killed. Families are separated, there is no doubt about that," said Sukru Cansizoglu, the representative in Mauritania for the U.N. refugee agency. But "it is sometimes difficult to really pinpoint who are the perpetrators."

Civilians, under pressure from both the militants and the Africa Corps and Malian fighters, are "between a rock and a hard place," said Heni Nsaibia from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project.

As one refugee put it: "If you don't tell the army you saw jihadists, the army will kill you. But if you tell them, the jihadists will find you and kill you."

Direct accountability of the Russian state

Legal experts said the shift from Wagner to Africa Corps makes the Russian government directly accountable for its military unit's actions.

"Despite the rebranding, there is striking continuity in personnel, commanders, tactics and even insignia between Wagner and Africa Corps," said Lindsay Freeman, senior director of international accountability at the UC Berkeley School of Law's Human Rights Center, which has monitored the conflict in Mali.

Because Africa Corps is embedded in Russia's Ministry of Defense, it can be treated as an organ of the Russian state under international law, Freeman said. "That means any war crimes committed by Africa Corps in Mali are, in principle, attributable to the Russian government under the rules on state responsibility."

The Nordic countries are no strangers to the long, dark winter.

Despite little to no daylight — plus months of frigid temperatures — people who live in northern Europe and above the Arctic Circle have learned how to cope mentally and physically with the annual onset of the winter blues, which can begin as early as October and last into April for some.

Thewinter solsticewill occur Dec. 21, marking the shortest day and longest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. While sunlight increases daily after that, winter won't be over for a while yet.

The Associated Press spoke to experts in Norway, Sweden and Finland about the winter blues. Here's how they suggest looking for light, literally and figuratively, during the darkest months of the year:

Maintaining sleep and social habits are key

Dr. Timo Partonen, a research professor at the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, said the dark winter affects ourcircadian rhythm.

With limited daylight, our internal body clocks cannot reset or synchronize properly and it throws off our sleep. We may sleep longer in the winter, he said, but we don't wake up refreshed and can remain tired the rest of the day.

Partonen recommended trying a dawn simulator, sometimes known as a sunrise alarm clock, to gradually light up your bedroom and ease you awake.

In addition to being more tired, we're more likely to withdraw from others socially in the wintertime. We're more irritable, Partonen said, and more prone to fights with friends.

It's important to maintain our relationships, he said, because symptoms rarely improve in isolation.

And since keeping up with exercise is also key to combating the winter blues, consider inviting a friend along for a workout.

It could also help keep off the wintertime weight gain — typically 2 to 5 kilograms (4 to 11 pounds) a year, Partonen said — that's fed by cravings for carbohydrates, especially in the evenings.

Light therapy encouraged for a range of symptoms

Millions of people worldwide are estimated to suffer from seasonal depression. Also known asseasonal affective disorder, or SAD,patients typically have episodes of depression that begin in the fall and ease in the spring or summer. A milder form, subsyndromal SAD, is recognized by medical experts, and there's also a summer variety of seasonal depression, though less is known about it.

Scientists are learning how specialized cells in our eyes turn the blue wavelength part of the light spectrum into neural signals affecting mood and alertness. Sunlight is loaded with the blue light, so when the cells absorb it, our brains' alertness centers are activated andwe feel more awakeand possibly even happier.

Researcher Kathryn Roecklein at the University of Pittsburgh tested people with and without SAD to see how their eyes reacted to blue light. As a group, people with SAD were less sensitive to blue light than others, especially during winter months. That suggests a cause for wintertime depression.

In severe cases, people need clinical support and antidepressant medications. Christian Benedict, a pharmacology professor at Uppsala University in Sweden, suggests light therapy for people with SAD as well as those who have a milder case of the winter blues.

"It's not like it's a fate, an annual or a seasonal fate, and you cannot do anything about it," Benedict said. "There are possibilities to affect it."

A routine of morning light therapy, using devices that emit light about 20 times brighter than regular indoor light, can be beneficial for both people with and without SAD.

The light therapy helps to kickstart your circadian rhythm and increases serotonin in your brain, Benedict said.

Research supports using a light that's about 10,000 lux, a measure of brightness, for 30 minutes every morning. Special lights run from $70 to $400, though some products marketed for SAD are not bright enough to be useful. Your insurance company might cover at least part of the cost if you've been diagnosed with SAD.

Partonen recommended using both a dawn simulator and a light therapy device each day before noon.

Yale has tested products and offersa list of recommendations, and the nonprofit Center for Environmental Therapeutics hasa consumer guideto selecting a light.

Prioritizing a positive outlook as a survival strategy

And don't forget to, well, look on the bright side. It's crucial to embrace winter instead of dreading it, according to Ida Solhaug, an associate professor in psychology at the University of Tromsø, also known as the Arctic University of Norway — the world's northernmost university.

Prioritize a positive outlook as a survival strategy and learn to appreciate the change in seasons. It's a typical Norwegian way of thinking, she said, that can make all the difference when there's very little daylight for months.

"It's part of the culture," she said.

And don't forget to take advantage of both outdoor and indoor hobbies, she said. Inside, channel hygge —the Danish obsession with getting cozy— and snuggle up on the couch with blankets and a movie.

But don't hibernate all winter. After the film finishes, head outside with a thermos for fika, the traditional Swedish coffee break. Even during cloudy days, a quick walk in the fresh air will help, she said. And if you're brave enough, doa cold plungelike many people in the Nordics.

Solhaug tries to jump into the frigid waters off the coast of Tromsø, an island 350 kilometers (217 miles) north of the Arctic Circle, at least once a week, adding that it makes her feel revitalized during the long winter.

"Challenge yourself to look for light in the darkness," she said.

After all, as many Nordic people say, there's no such thing as bad weather — only bad clothing.

Finland's President Alexander Stubb, too, had some tips for how to tackle Nordic winters. When asked in aninterview with The Associated Presslast month how to survive the cold season, he had some very specific advice.

"Take an ice bath and then followed up by a sauna and do one more ice bath, one more sauna, then a shower and go out there. You'll manage," Stubb said.

Dazio reported from Berlin.

BYU footballhad an automatic berth to theCollege Football Playoffsitting in front of itself when it arrived at AT&T Stadium on Saturday, Dec. 6 forthe Big 12 championship game.

However, the 11th-ranked Cougars were unable to grab that ticket, asthey lost 34-7 to No. 6 Texas Tech(No. 4 in CFP rankings) to drop to 11-2 on the season.

Following the loss,BYU wide receiver Parker Kingstonoffered an emphatic answer to the CFP selection committee on why the Cougars should still make the field at 11-2, which included a jab at the SEC and ESPN, which owns the broadcast rights to the CFP and theSEC.

"... What's the point of going to a Big 12 championship when it's going to hurt us (and) our College Football Playoff chances. I hope the committee realizes it. They are all biased towards ESPN and the SEC," Kingston told BYUtv Sports Nation following the Big 12 championship game. "It is what it is. If we don't get put in, we will be there next year."

CFP predictions:Live bracket projections for 12-team field

BYU's CFP pitch after Texas Tech loss:'Who's played the best team in the country twice? We have'

BYU Wide Receiver Parker Kingston shares his thoughts on the CFP situation 😤pic.twitter.com/zggtiGT8wF

— BYUtv Sports Nation (@BYUSportsNation)December 6, 2025

The Cougars were outplayed and outmatched by theRed Raidersfor the second time this season in Saturday's Big 12 title game. After driving down the field for a touchdown on its opening drive of the game, BYU was unable to score for the remainder of the game.

Texas Tech's defense came up with four takeaways and a turnover on downs in BYU's final seven drives of the second half. The Cougars finished with just 200 total yards of offense compared to the Red Raiders' 374 yards.

BYU entered Week 15 on the wrong side of the bubble as the 11th-ranked team in the penultimate CFP top 25 rankings: The No. 11 and 12 seeds will go to two of the five highest-ranked conference champions, meaning BYU's only way to the CFP entering the day was to become a conference champion.

As noted by Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark in a news conference before the game, no Power Four team with an 11-1 record had ever finished outside the top 10 in the CFP rankings entering championship week until the committee ranked BYU 11th in the penultimate rankings.

Using the penultimate CFP rankings, the SEC is projected to have five of the 12 spots in the CFP field, which is the most by any Power Four conference.

Kingston wasn't the only member of BYU's program to give a last-minute pitch to the committee, asBYU coach Kalani Sitake offered his two centsin his postgame news conference as well.

"If you look at what Texas Tech's done, they're the best team in the country for a reason," Sitake. "I'm not on the playoff committee, but I can tell you one thing: Who's played the best team in the country twice? We have."

When do new CFP rankings come out?

The Cougars will learn whether they made the 12-team field as an at-large or not at noon ET on Sunday, Dec. 7 when the official 12-team CFP bracket is released.

The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast.Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:BYU's Parker Kingston says CFP committee is 'biased' toward ESPN, SEC

It's unclear if Deshaun Watson will see any game action this season afterbeing designated to return to practice this week, but we know where he'll be next season.

The Cleveland Browns are planning to keep the former Pro Bowl quarterback on their roster for next season according toESPNandNFL Network, confirminga report from cleveland.com on Tuesdaythat he'll be on the 2026 roster barring "something unforeseen."

Next season is the last one on Watson's fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million contract, or at least the final one in which he'll be obligated to play for the team. After that come the void years.

PerOverTheCap, Watson will carry an $80.7 million cap hit for 2026, the largest number in the history of the NFL. Still it's preferable to the $131.2 million in dead money they would incur by cutting him loose before June 1. If they cut him after June 1, they would still save zero money against the cap.

Watson hasn't played in a game since rupturing his Achilles tendon on Oct. 20, 2024. After undergoing surgery,he re-ruptured it in January, putting his 2025 season in jeopardy. He has now been designated to return after spending the season on the PUP list, which means he needs to be activated or placed on season-ending injured reserve over the next three weeks.

Per NFL Network, the plan with Watson returning to practice isn't so much activating him as it is getting him back into football shape ahead of the offseason. It's reportedly possible he could join the 53-man roster and serve as backup quarterback, but it's unlikely.

With Watson out, the Browns have started Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders, and the result has been a 3-9 record with neither player posting great numbers. Sanders is slated to get his third start of the season Sunday against the Tennessee Titans.

Watson figures to compete with the rookie duo next season, and it's possible Cleveland uses one of its two first-round picks in the 2026 NFL Draft on a quarterback. Any productivity the franchise gets from Watson will be a pleasant surprise at this point, but it will definitely be dealing with the cost of the worst contract in NFL history for some time.

Deshaun Watson's contract is a deserved nightmare for the Browns

When the Browns traded for Watson and gave him the most guaranteed money in the history of the NFL, despite sexual misconduct accusations against him from more than 20 women, they figured they would at least be getting a star quarterback after decades of languishing at the position.

Instead, they received only further embarrassment, as Watson still has yet to play more than seven games in a season for them. He holds a 9-10 record since joining Cleveland, with numbers that have only gotten worse with age.

Rather than become contenders, the Browns haven't won a single playoff game since acquiring Watson. And here's the punchline: The worst parts of Watson's contract haven't even kicked in yet.

Via OverTheCap, Watson's salary cap numbers with the Browns have been $9.4 million in 2022, $19.1 million in 2023, $27.9 million in 2024 and $36 million this year. By the standards of an NFL starting quarterback, those are reasonable numbers.

Next year, it's that record $80.7 million, though cleveland.com reports his fourth contract restructure will push some of that money to 2030. For now,due to a contract restructure that spread out his dead money, he still has three void years with numbers of $27.1 million in 2027, $18.1 million in 2028 and $8 million in 2029.

Cleveland might have Watson on its roster for 2026, but it appears it will have him on its cap sheet through 2031. Disaster doesn't even begin to describe it.