• USA TODAY Sports

    Patrick Mahomes proves his superhuman ability yet again in shaking off ankle injury

    In the Chiefs' win over the Texans, Patrick Mahomes shook off an ankle injury that would have hindered almost any other NFL quarterback.

  • Reuters

    Analysis-Syrian Kurdish groups on the back foot as power balance shifts

    QAMISHLI, Syria/BEIRUT/ANKARA (Reuters) -With hostile Turkish-backed groups mobilising against them in Syria's north, and Damascus ruled by a group friendly to Ankara, Syria's main Kurdish factions are on the back foot as they seek to preserve political gains carved out during 13 years of war. Part of a stateless ethnic group straddling Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Armenia and Syria, Kurds have so far been among the few winners of the Syrian conflict, controlling nearly a quarter of the country and leading a powerful armed group that is a key U.S. ally in countering Islamic State. But the power balance has tilted against them since the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) swept into Damascus this month, toppling President Bashar al-Assad, two analysts and a senior Western diplomat told Reuters.

  • Reuters

    Starbucks workers expand strike in US cities including New York

    The five-day strike, which began on Friday and initially closed Starbucks cafes in Los Angeles, Chicago and Seattle, has added New Jersey, New York, Philadelphia and St. Louis, Workers United said in a statement. Starbucks did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours. Workers United warned on Friday that the strike could reach "hundreds of stores" by Tuesday, Christmas Eve.