By HANNAH FINGERHUT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The remains of two Iowa National Guard members killed in an attack in the Syrian desert were welcomed back to Des Moines on Wednesday, marking a solemn Christmas Eve for their grieving families.

Several loved ones approached the caskets carrying Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, 25, and William Nathanial Howard, 29. The families huddled together, comforting one another and wiping away tears. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst and U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn looked on alongside senior leaders of the Iowa National Guard.

The killed guardsmen as well as a U.S. civilian interpreter killed in the Dec. 13 ambush were flown back to the U.S. last week, when President Donald Trump paid his respects and met with the families at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.

On Wednesday, escorted by Howard’s step-brother and two other members of the Iowa National Guard, the wooden caskets draped in American flags were lowered from the body of an Iowa Air National Guard aircraft that flew from Sioux City to collect the soldiers’ remains from Delaware.

In Des Moines, like at Dover, as part of the solemn transfer ritual, fellow Iowa National Guard members wearing white gloves carried the cases. After the families spent several minutes mourning over their loved ones on the tarmac, the caskets were each loaded into a hearse, one blue and the other black.

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The two soldiers, posthumously promoted to staff sergeant, were members of the 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry Regiment. Their families followed the hearses in a procession to funeral homes in Des Moines and Marshalltown, escorted by Des Moines Police Department and Iowa State Patrol, respectively. Their funerals will take place in the coming days, according to the Iowa National Guard.

On the route away from the 132nd Wing at the Des Moines International Airport, dozens of people lined up on the mild December day carrying American flags and paying their respects to the killed soldiers.

Ayad Mansoor Sakat, of Macomb, Michigan, a U.S. civilian working as an interpreter, was also killed. He was laid to rest in Michigan over the weekend.

Hundreds of U.S. troops are deployed in eastern Syria as part of a coalition fighting the Islamic State group, and Trump promised “very serious retaliation” after the attack. The administration last week proceeded with military strikes in what Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth described as a “declaration of vengeance” in a post on social media.

Three other Iowa National Guard members were wounded in the attack, one of whom was treated locally. Two others who were evacuated from Syria for medical treatment returned to the U.S. on Dec. 20.

Nolan Minessale committed to St. Thomas basketball in the summer of 2023, before his senior year at Marquette University High School in Milwaukee — well before he became the school’s all-time leading scorer and well before he helped lead his team to a state championship.

In choosing the Tommies over Wisconsin-Green Bay and South Dakota State, the 6-foot-5 guard pointed to the connection he made with Tommies head coach Johnny Tauer and his staff. Minnesale also was inspired by the trajectory of the program, as it made the transition from Division III to Division I.

There was something else, too.

“About a year after he signed,” Tauer said, “I asked him about his decision. He said he just wanted to get the recruiting process over with. He didn’t like talking with all those adults on the phone.”

Nolan Minessale, left, goes up for a shot against Army’s Jorn Everson in the Tommies’ 83-76 victory Nov. 8 at Lee & Penny Arena. The 6-foot-5 shooting guard from Brookfield, Wis., was the Summit League’s preseason player of the year and ranks fifth nationally in scoring with a 22.4-point average per game. (Kylie Macziewski / University of St. Thomas)

The self-described introvert boasts a quiet confidence that makes him comfortable in his own skin — and on the basketball court. Combining that with his talent, hard work and competitiveness has created a recipe for success.

Minessale started in all 34 games last season as a freshman, averaging 11.2 points, and 3.5 rebounds a game, enough of an impression to be named the Summit League preseason player of the year this fall.

Fourteen games into this season, Minessale has made the prognosticators look good. He ranks fifth in the nation in scoring at 22.4 points a game and aready earned Summit League player of the week honors four times.

Don’t count him among those who are impressed.

“I just want to win,” he Minessale said while talking to an adult on the phone. “It’s really the only thing I care about.”

His interview with the Pioneer Press took place late Monday morning as Minessale was just setting out on a road trip home for the holiday break. It was supposed to occur at the Tommies’ new Anderson Arena, but despite an open line of communication, the connection wasn’t made.

Perhaps the phone call was deemed the lesser of two evils.

Through conversations with Minessale’s mother, Michelle, Tauer knows that the young man of few words once was a boy of few words. And he’s fine with that.

“He’s got a great sense of humor,” Tauer said, “and when you watch him with his teammates, they love him, and he’s really funny. Put him around adults … . As coaches we joke with him that he could talk a little more around us.”

Tauer lauds Minessale’s parents for raising a thoughtful, humble and determined son.

“He’s very low maintenance,” Tauer said, “because what he needs is the opportunity to play and compete, and then he goes and does his thing.”

From a basketball perspective, it all but screams for a nickname — a handle for the guy with the handles.

Quiet Riot? Silent Knight? Something, one assumes, Minessale would be happy to live without.

Tauer first set his sights on landing Minessale after watching him play for his club team at a tournament in Louisville, Ky., in April of 2023.

“I was just enamored with how hard he played, what a phenomenal passer he was and his versatility,” Tauer recalled. “I said, ‘This kid is a basketball player.’ ”

Minessale spent the past offseason working on his 3-point shot and gaining weight by adding muscle to a frame that is now a sturdy 200 pounds. The result has been the emergence of a player who can score in every way possible.

“I could see all summer the tireless work he was putting in,” Tauer said. “I told people, ‘You’re not going to believe it when you see him.’”

After filling a team need by playing as an undersized power forward last season, Minessale has moved to the backcourt this season and has flourished.

“His 2-point shooting percentage (66 percent) looks like a post player who only dunks,” Tauer said. “Yet, he’s a perimeter player who has the ball in his hands a lot. And he leads our team in assists. Those are the things that highlight the versatility I saw in him.

“We don’t call a lot of plays for him,” Tauer added. “He’s able to find ways to score, and he doesn’t force things. I think he’s a perfect fit here in the sense of how we play position-less basketball.”

The Tommies lost some veteran leadership through graduation, and as a returning starter and the team’s leading scorer, the Tommies would benefit from having Minessale assume some of that responsibility.

Minessale said he’s working on it.

“That’s one of the harder parts for me,” he said. “I’m not a huge talker. I’m trying to be better at it. It’s hard to lead if you don’t talk.”

But not impossible, not with the respect he has earned from his teammates by working hard and having his priorities in order.

“We’ve talked to him about it,” Tauer said. “We told him that he doesn’t need to be overly verbose. But when he huddles the guys up, they’re going to listen.”

The Tommies, who open Summit League play on January 4 at home against Denver, are the preseason favorite. Winning the conference tournament would earn them a spot in the Division I NCAA Tournament for the first time.

Tauer and his charge know that opponents undoubtedly will game plan a strategy aimed at keeping Minessale in check. His focus will be on taking what the defense gives him.

Tauer is confident his best player will be focused on doing what is best for the team.

“He doesn’t pay attention to statistics,” Tauer said.

Minessale ended the phone call on Monday by saying, “Appreciate you,” and it was easy to believe he meant it.

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By LAURA UNGAR, AP Medical Writer

The American Academy of Pediatrics sued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday, seeking to block nearly $12 million in cuts to the group.

Earlier this month, the federal government “abruptly terminated” grants to the group, the lawsuit says.

The funding supported numerous public health programs, including efforts to prevent sudden unexpected infant death, strengthen pediatric care in rural communities and support teens facing substance use and mental health challenges.

“AAP does not have other sources of grant funding to replace the federal awards, and without the necessary funds it must immediately terminate its work on its dozens of programs that save children’s lives every day,” says the lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. “Within a few weeks, AAP will have to begin laying off employees dedicated to this critically important work.”

The suit alleges HHS made the cuts in retaliation for the doctors’ group speaking out against the Trump administration’s positions and actions.

The doctors’ group has been vocal about its support for pediatric vaccines and has publicly opposed HHS positions. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — who helped lead the anti-vaccine movement for years — is seeking to broadly remake federal policies on vaccines. Earlier this year, the pediatrics group released its own recommendations on COVID-19 vaccines, which substantially diverged from the government’s recommendations.

The group also supports access to gender-affirming care and has publicly criticized HHS positions on the topic, saying it opposes what it calls the government’s infringements on the doctor-patient relationship.

“The Department of Health and Human Services is using federal funding as a political weapon to punish protected speech, trying to silence one of the nation’s most trusted voices for children’s well-being by cutting off critical public-health funding in retaliation for speaking the truth,” Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, said in a statement. Perryman’s organization is representing the doctors’ group in the case.

A spokesman for HHS could not immediately be reached for comment.

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Mark Del Monte, CEO and executive vice president of the 67,000-member doctors’ group, said the organization depends on its relationship with the federal government.

“We need this partnership to advance policies that prioritize children’s health. These vital child health programs fund services like hearing screenings for newborns and safe sleep campaigns to prevent sudden unexpected infant death,” he said in a statement. “We are forced to take legal action today so that these programs can continue to make communities safer and healthier.”

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Immigration officials have promised to not target metro area churches this holiday season, according to the metro’s Catholic leader.

In a statement Tuesday, Archbishop Bernard Hebda of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis said Department of Homeland Security officials recently reiterated to archdiocesan representatives that action would not be taken unless there is an imminent public safety threat.

“We are unaware of any enforcement actions in our parishes and schools in these past weeks and months and have no reason to believe that will change,” Hebda said.

Gov. Tim Walz, joined by faith leaders and other public officials at a press conference on Tuesday, said he would “not put it past” immigration officials to target midnight Mass services or to step up actions during other parts of the holiday season, according to KARE 11.

“Public safety is strongest when law enforcement can focus on real threats and when communities trust that they will be treated fairly and with dignity,” Walz said. “What we are seeing from the Trump Administration is not about safety — it is political theater that creates fear and weakens trust.”

Hebda emphasized the role of Catholic churches as places of refuge for all.

“We are at a moment in this country when we need to lower the temperature of rhetoric, stop fear-filled speculation and start seeing all people as created in the image and likeness of God,” Hebda said. “That is as true for our immigrant sisters and brothers as it is for our elected officials and those who are responsible for carrying out our laws.”

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