🎬 Box Office Shock: ‘28 Years Later: The Bone Temple’ Topples ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ With $5.6M Friday Take

Nia DaCosta’s zombie sequel breaks James Cameron’s four-week box office reign as MLK holiday frame reshapes the domestic leaderboard

Nia DaCosta’s 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple delivered a jolt to the domestic box office, ending the four-week reign of Avatar: Fire and Ash and claiming the No. 1 spot on Friday with a $5.6 million opening day haul.

The Sony-backed horror sequel—opening in 3,506 North American theaters—marks the fourth entry in the long-running “28” franchise and the follow-up to last summer’s “28 Years Later.” Industry estimates project $15 million across the four-day Martin Luther King Jr. holiday frame, a solid result for an R-rated genre title amid premium-format competition.

Written by franchise architect Alex Garland, The Bone Temple follows survivors portrayed by Ralph Fiennes, Jack O’Connell, and Alfie Williams as they navigate a ravaged British countryside while the Rage Virus resurges. With a $63 million production budget—slightly higher than its predecessor—the film has been buoyed by strong word of mouth, landing a rare “A-” CinemaScore for the horror genre alongside rave critical notices.

Alabama Storms Back in Norman: Crimson Tide Rally Past Oklahoma 83–81

No. 18 Tide Erase 11-Point Halftime Deficit for First-Ever Win at Lloyd Noble Center

NORMAN, Okla. | The Alabama Crimson Tide delivered a statement road win Saturday afternoon, erasing an 11-point halftime deficit to defeat the Oklahoma Sooners 83–81 and secure their first victory in program history in Norman.

Behind a dominant second half and clutch late-game execution, No. 18 Alabama (13–5, 3–2 SEC) outscored Oklahoma 50–37 after intermission, showcasing the composure and resilience that have defined the Tide under head coach Nate Oats.

Philon, Sherrell Power the Comeback

Sophomore guard Labaron Philon Jr. led all scorers with 23 points, marking his third straight game with 20-plus. Philon poured in 17 of those points in the second half, including two critical three-pointers late and a decisive and-one with 20 seconds remaining.

Forward Aiden Sherrell added 21 points and a game-high nine rebounds, continuing his recent surge after a career-high performance in the Tide’s previous outing. Sherrell scored 14 after halftime, repeatedly igniting Alabama’s rally.

Amari Allen chipped in 12 points, eight rebounds, and a team-leading four assists, while Houston Mallette contributed 12 points and a spark of energy after being inserted into the starting lineup for the second half.

Bragging Rights Secured: Auburn Stuns No. 21 Alabama in Gritty 58–54 Rivalry Win

Clutch Free Throws, Lockdown Defense Deliver Tigers’ First Top-25 Victory Since 2024

AUBURN, Ala. | In a rivalry game defined by toughness, composure, and late-game nerve, the Auburn Tigers delivered a statement win Wednesday night, knocking off the Alabama Crimson Tide 58–54 to claim in-state bragging rights and their first top-25 victory since 2024.

Auburn sealed the win at the free-throw line, going a perfect 10-for-10 in the fourth quarter while holding Alabama nearly 20 points below its season scoring average. The result marked a signature moment for first-year head coach Larry Vickers, who earned his first rivalry win in Neville Arena.

“I’m super proud of my team,” Vickers said after the game. “They came out with a different level of intensity and did a tremendous job of making Alabama work for everything they got. Defensively, this was by far our most complete game.”

LSU Women’s Tennis Opens Dual Season at Home With Northwestern State, San Diego

No. 5 Tigers Begin 2026 Campaign After Elite Eight Run, Welcome Two Nonconference Matchups in Baton Rouge

BATON ROUGE, La. | The LSU Tigers are set to launch their 2026 dual-match season at home this weekend, welcoming Northwestern State Demons and San Diego Toreros to the LSU Tennis Complex in a two-match opening homestand.

LSU will face Northwestern State on Saturday, Jan. 17, at 1:00 p.m. CT, before hosting San Diego on Monday, Jan. 19, at noon CT, as the Tigers begin the year with one of the most anticipated seasons in program history.

Fresh off the release of the ITA preseason rankings, LSU opens the spring ranked No. 5 nationally, the highest preseason ranking the program has ever earned. The Tigers are coming off a landmark 2025 campaign that included a 24–8 overall record and the program’s first-ever NCAA Elite Eight appearance.

Momentum Builds Under Taylor Fogleman

Now in his fourth season, head coach Taylor Fogleman has guided LSU to three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and a school-record 10 SEC regular-season victories last spring. The Tigers enter 2026 aiming to turn last season’s breakthrough into sustained national contention.

LSU’s home court has been a major advantage under Fogleman. The Tigers finished 11–2 at home last season and captured the crucial doubles point in 21 matches, setting the tone early in dual competition.

Federal Judges Allow California Congressional Map to Stand Ahead of Midterms

Court Rejects GOP, DOJ Challenge, Clearing Way for Democrats to Target Five New Seats

SACRAMENTO, Calif. | A federal appeals panel on Wednesday cleared the way for California Democrats to use the state’s newly approved congressional map in the 2026 midterm elections, rejecting claims that the redistricting plan amounted to unlawful racial gerrymandering and delivering a significant legal victory for Democrats in the nation’s largest state.

In a 2–1 ruling, the judges denied a request from the California Republican Party and the U.S. Department of Justice under President Donald Trump to block the map approved by voters last November. The plan, adopted after a summer special election, was designed to create up to five additional Democratic-leaning congressional districts.

Writing for the majority, Judge Josephine Staton, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, concluded that challengers failed to meet the high bar required to halt the map before it is used in an election. Judge Wesley Hsu, appointed by President Joe Biden, joined the opinion. Judge Kenneth Lee, a Trump appointee, dissented.

“We find that Challengers have failed to show that racial gerrymandering occurred, and we conclude that there is no basis for issuing a preliminary injunction,” Staton wrote, adding that the court’s conclusion “probably seems obvious to anyone who followed the news in the summer and fall of 2025.”

Explaining Trump’s Claim That Venezuela ‘Stole’ U.S. Oil

President Donald Trump said one reason that the U.S. will “run” Venezuela and “indefinitely” control its oil sales is that “years ago, Venezuela took our oil away from us” and “stole our assets.” That’s an oversimplification of what happened when Venezuela assumed greater control of its energy sector.

In 2007, under then-President Hugo Chávez, Venezuela continued the nationalization of its oil industry that began in 1976. The Chavez administration required the foreign oil companies still operating in the country to enter into new contracts that would give Venezuela’s state-owned oil and gas company majority control of their oil projects.

The companies that did not agree to those conditions were expropriated, meaning their oil-related assets were seized by the Venezuelan government.

“They did change the terms of the deals that they had with the companies that were operating in Venezuela,” Roxanna Vigil, an international affairs fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, told us in an interview. But Vigil said the assets belonged to the private companies, not the U.S. government.

Furthermore, the oil in the ground always belonged to Venezuela.

Politicians Reach Different Conclusions on Minnesota Shooting Video

The Trump administration and some Democrats have drawn divergent conclusions from bystander video of the fatal shooting of a woman in Minnesota by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent. How can one side say the agent was “recklessly using power” and the other determine he “fired defensive shots”? Experts told us it’s common for people to view the same video differently, and that the early evidence isn’t enough to reach definitive conclusions.

Shortly after the Jan. 7 incident, in which 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good was killed by the agent in Minneapolis, President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social a video clip of the shooting, captured from a distance, and said that the woman “violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE Officer, who seems to have shot her in self defense.” Additional bystander video, captured closer to the shooting, showed the agent wasn’t run over but left unclear whether the vehicle struck him. Republicans and Democrats have still disagreed on what the early video evidence depicted.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a Jan. 7 press conference, “This appears as an attempt to kill or to cause bodily harm to agents, an act of domestic terrorism,” determining that the ICE officer “fired defensive shots” because he was “fearing for his life.” The next day, Vice President JD Vance echoed that assessment, saying, “She was trying to ram this guy with his — with her car.”

Democratic leaders in Minnesota have disputed that. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said on Jan. 7, “So they are already trying to spin this as an action of self-defense. Having seen the video … myself, I want to tell everybody directly. That is bullshit. This was an agent recklessly using power that resulted in somebody dying, getting killed.” In a press conference that day, Gov. Tim Walz referred to “a very difficult video to watch,” saying it was “beyond me” that Noem “has already determined who this person [Good] was, what their motive was.” He criticized the large deployment of federal agents in Minneapolis and said that Good was killed “for no reason whatsoever.”