By OPE ADETAYO and TUNDE OMOLEHIN, Associated Press

JABO, Sokoto (AP) — Sanusi Madabo, a 40-year-old farmer in the Nigerian village of Jabo, was preparing for bed Thursday night when he heard a loud noise that sounded like a plane crashing. He rushed outside his mud house with his wife to see the sky glowing a bright red.

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Trump says US struck Islamic State targets in Nigeria after group targeted Christians

The light burned bright for hours, Madabo said: “It was almost like daytime.”

He did not learn until later that he had witnessed a U.S attack on an alleged Islamic State camp.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced late Thursday that the U.S had launched a “powerful and deadly strike” against “ISIS Terrorist Scum in north-west Nigeria.” The Nigerian government has since confirmed the strike was a joint collaboration with the U.S government.

Residents of Jabo, a village in the northwestern Nigerian state of Sokoto, told The Associated Press in interviews Friday that they were seized with panic and confusion at the airstrikes.

They also said the village had never experienced a terror attack, even though attacks regularly occur in neighboring villages.

“As it approached our area, the heat became intense,” recalled Abubakar Sani, who lives just a few houses from the scene of the explosion.

“Our rooms began to shake, and then fire broke out,” he told the AP. “The Nigerian government should take appropriate measures to protect us as citizens. We have never experienced anything like this before.”

The Nigerian military did not respond to an AP request asking how many locations were targeted.

It’s a ‘new phase of an old conflict’

The strikes are the outcome of a months-long tense diplomatic clash between the West African nation and the U.S. that has evolved to result in a new form of cooperation.

The Trump administration has been claiming that Nigeria is witnessing a Christian genocide, a claim the Nigerian government has rejected, and which caused initial tensions.

But now Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the strikes resulted from intelligence sharing and strategic coordination between the two governments.

Yusuf Tuggar, Nigeria’s foreign minister, called the airstrikes a “new phase of an old conflict” and said he expected more strikes to follow.

“For us, it is something that has been ongoing,” Tuggar added, referring to attacks that have targeted Christians and Muslims in Nigeria for years.

Bulama Burkati, a security analyst on sub-Saharan Africa at the Tony Blair Institute, said the fear of residents is compounded by a lack of information.

Residents say there were no casualties, and security operatives have cordoned off the area.

But the Nigerian government has yet to release information about the militants who were targeted and the post-strike assessment of casualties.

“What can help in dousing the tension is for the American and Nigerian governments to declare who was targeted, what was attacked, and what has happened so far,” Burkati said. Such information is “still missing, and the more opaque the governments are, the more panic there would be on the ground, and that is what will escalate tension.”

Foreign fighters operated in Nigeria

Analysts say the strikes might have been intended for the Lakurawa group, a relatively new entrant to Nigeria’s complex security crisis.

The group’s first attack was recorded around 2018 in the northwestern region before the Nigerian government officially announced its presence last year. The composition of the group has been documented by security researchers as primarily consisting of foreigners from the Sahel region of Africa.

However, experts say ties between the Lakurawa group and the Islamic State are unproven. The Islamic State West African Province, a branch of ISIS in Nigeria, has its strongholds in the northeastern part of the country, where it is currently involved in a power struggle with its parent organisation, Boko Haram.

“What might have happened is that, working with the American government, Nigeria identified Lakurawa as a threat and identified camps that belong to the group,” Burkati said.

Either way, the local people feel vulnerable.

Aliyu Garba, a traditional leader in the village, told the AP that debris left by the strikes was scattered around and residents rushed to the scene before the arrival of security operatives. People picked up metal pieces hoping for valuable metal which they could trade, and he fears they could get hurt.

The strikes also rattled 17-year-old Balira Sa’idu as she prepared to get married.

“I am supposed to be thinking about my wedding, but right now I am panicking,” she said. “The strike has changed everything. My family is afraid, and I don’t even know if it is safe to continue with the wedding plan in Jabo.”

Adetayo reported from Lagos, Nigeria.

By August Brown, Amy Nicholson, Mark Olsen, Joshua Rothkopf, Josh Rottenberg, Glenn Whipp and Mikael Wood, Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES — Tunes — well-chosen ones — turn normal movie scenes into electric ones. Needle drops, they’re called in the film world. (And don’t laugh: Several of the filmmakers below are, indeed, dropping turntable needles onto vinyl records.)

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What makes for a good needle drop? Sometimes it’s comic irony. Elsewhere, it’s trapping the sincerity of a moment in the amber glow of a perfect pop song, one you’ll never think of in the same way again.

We went through the entire year and grabbed a dozen of our favorites, listed below in no particular order — feel free to resequence them into your own personal playlist.

The Spice Girls, ‘2 Become 1,’ as heard in ‘Together’

Dave Franco and Alison Brie are married in real life, but in the body horror romance “Together,” they play an engaged couple named Tim and Millie who might be happier breaking up. He’s a frustrated, flunked-out rock star; she’s a schoolteacher who loves the Spice Girls. Writer-director Michael Shanks plays their discordant musical taste like a minor joke among all the major reasons why their codependent relationship has hit the skids. As a Hail Mary, Tim and Millie move from the city to the countryside for some miserable quality time — and there, deep in the woods, an eerie cave infects Tim’s skin cells with the urge to merge with Millie permanently. It all climaxes in a slow dance to the 1996 grrrl-pop ballad that’s never felt more sticky-sweet. — Amy Nicholson

Jack O’Connell, Lola Kirke and Peter Dreimanis, ‘Pick Poor Robin Clean,’ as heard in ‘Sinners’

This image released by Warner Bros Pictures shows Michael B. Jordan, foreground from left, Michael B. Jordan and Omar Benson Miller in a scene from “Sinners.” (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)

So much of Ryan Coogler’s supercharged vampire movie is saturated with blues music, both in its original score by Ludwig Göransson (itself an impressive piece of scholarship) and its careful selection of authentic period songs that both articulate and subvert the legend of going down to the crossroads to make a deal with the devil. So why is it this one I’m fixated on? It’s the tune most loaded with subtext. A trio of white musicians shows up at the door of the juke joint. They play this traditional number in the hopes of getting through the door. But in their smiling, cleaned-up, sprightly version of it, you can hear the whole of white cultural appropriation to come. The music is ominous. What exactly is getting picked clean? The song has become an evil spell. And the fact that it doesn’t work — they’re turned away — is another credit to Coogler’s instincts. It’s music criticism smuggled into a Hollywood smash. — Joshua Rothkopf

Steely Dan, ‘Dirty Work,’ as heard in ‘One Battle After Another’

This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Leonardo DiCaprio in a scene from “One Battle After Another.” (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)

Paul Thomas Anderson has been deploying needle drops with precision since “Boogie Nights” and “Magnolia,” and 10 movies deep into his career, his ear remains sharp. In “One Battle After Another,” his darkly comic action-thriller, Leonardo DiCaprio plays Bob Ferguson, a former revolutionary who has spent years in hiding, raising his teenage daughter and trying to keep his past at bay. But the movie’s frenetic opening stretch loosens into something shaggier when Steely Dan’s 1972 world-weary track “Dirty Work” comes in. We see Bob parked outside his daughter’s school, getting high before a parent-teacher conference, ducking the eyes of other parents and swinging the door to air out the smoke. When the chorus arrives — “I’m a fool to do your dirty work” — it lands as recognition, not commentary. Bob knows he’s a sucker. We all are sometimes. The song just says it out loud. — Josh Rottenberg

George Harrison, ‘Beware of Darkness,’ as heard in ‘Weapons’

Zach Cregger’s viral horror hit winds its way methodically to a climax of such hilarious savagery that you’ll scare yourself with how hard you’re laughing. Yet the movie opens with an almost unbearably poignant blend of picture and sound: a bunch of third-graders in their PJs running over dark, rain-slicked suburban streets — why? how? to what end? — against the aching psychedelic folk-rock of George Harrison’s “Beware of Darkness.” The song, from Harrison’s first solo album after the Beatles’ breakup, urges the listener not to be swallowed by “the hopelessness around you in the dead of night.” In “Weapons,” its eerie harmonic movement portends an innocence soon to be lost. — Mikael Wood

Led Zeppelin, ‘Whole Lotta Love,’ as heard in ‘F1’

Too on the nose? Sure. That’s why it’s such a thing of beauty. First with “Top Gun: Maverick” and now this year with “F1,” director Joseph Kosinski has perfected Dad Cinema, creating movies centered on old(ish) guys who most definitely know best. There’s no better soundtrack to this microgenre than classic rock music. And there’s no better classic rock band than Led Zeppelin, a group famously resistant to licensing their songs until recently when the levee has apparently broken. Kosinski employs “Whole Lotta Love” when Brad Pitt’s Sonny arrives at the track for his shift at the 24 Hours of Daytona. His team is languishing until Sonny gets behind the wheel and Robert Plant starts wailing and John Bonham begins bashing. Jimmy Page’s guitar riff seemingly propels Sonny’s car forward to the lead. Ramble on, baby. — Glenn Whipp

John Prine and Iris DeMent, ‘In Spite of Ourselves,’ as heard in ‘Die My Love’

Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson in “Die My Love.” (Kimberly French/Mubi/TNS)

Lynne Ramsay’s film is an elliptical, claustrophobic portrait of postpartum delirium. Jennifer Lawrence and Robert Pattinson evoke the small-bore unraveling of new parenthood in the boonies, with Lawrence in particular throwing her whole body into a creeping alienation from one’s spouse and oneself. But there is humor and tenderness shot throughout, moments where the lines of connection between them still hum. The pair singing along to Prine and DeMent’s “In Spite of Ourselves,” with its wincingly funny lovers trading jabs and devotions, is one moment of levity and self-awareness breaking through the desperation. The tune also memorably appeared in Celine Song’s “Materialists,” but here, it’s arguably the heart of the movie. — August Brown

Gil Scott-Heron, ‘The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,’ as heard in ‘Dead Man’s Wire,’ ‘One Battle After Another’ and ‘The Running Man’

If the same piece of music is used at the end of three different movies, it becomes song of the year by default, right? Gil Scott-Heron’s 1971 “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” unexpectedly captured the mood of the moment, one of absurdity and anger with a clear-eyed view on the world. Edgar Wright’s “The Running Man” used the song’s looping, funky backing track underneath a bit of conspiracy-minded explainer video, adding an escalating urgency to the conclusion of the movie’s action-packed satire of corporate media culture. Gus Van Sant’s “Dead Man’s Wire” (in theaters Jan. 9) placed it in the end credits to sharpen focus on the film’s growing sense that those stuck outside the system must make their own sense of justice. Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” also deploys the song as part of the end credits, revealing that lines of his script’s dialogue — repeated numerous times as a passcode among compatriot revolutionaries — come from the lyrics. To see three movies using this one song in particular is thrilling, giving expression to the confusion and discontent felt by so many. Moviemaking can often feel disconnected from the moment. To get three films so vibrant and relevant, in tune with the times and each other, is electrifying. — Mark Olsen

Peter Gabriel, ‘I Have the Touch,’ as heard in ‘Marty Supreme’

Timothée Chalamet in the movie “Marty Supreme.” (A24/TNS)

Let the era of Peter Gabriel’s gentle movie contributions — “In Your Eyes,” and “Solsbury Hill” most sweetly — come to an end. So much of his spikier music deserves attention. Take this cut off 1982’s “Security,” which director Josh Safdie puts to vibrant use in “Marty Supreme” (in theaters Dec. 25). How good is Timothée Chalamet’s Marty at table tennis? He’s a machine. Aggressive ’80s drums and processed electric guitars set the tone. Even as his opponents step up, there’s no question about the outcome. “I have the touch,” Gabriel states, an alpha competitor in his element. Originally, the song was about establishing dominance while meeting strangers (ah, art rock). Safdie turns it into a referee’s instructions: “Shake hands!” the lyrics continue, as we train in on a match. Then, a few seconds later, we hear Gabriel’s voice isolated in scary clarity: Shake hands. — J. Rothkopf

Donna Summer, ‘Love to Love You Baby,’ as heard in ‘The Secret Agent’

Wagner Moura in “The Secret Agent.” (Victor Juca/Neon/TNS)

Between “Sirāt” and “The Secret Agent,” 2025 was a good movie year for scenes featuring late-night drives along treacherous rural roads. “The Secret Agent” finds a ruthless stepfather and stepson hit man team winding their way around São Paulo in the dead of night, skirting the Sérgio Motta Dam, their headlights barely illuminating the path ahead. The darkness is essential to the task at hand: dumping a corpse into the dam’s reservoir. It’s 1977 and the radio’s on, so naturally the soundtrack to their drive is Donna Summer’s disco anthem. It’s a 17-minute song, punctuated by 23 orgasmic moans (per a BBC count). The hypnotic groove gives the sequence an eerie, otherworldly feel, giving it a place among cinema’s great late-night body disposal scenes. — G.W.

Katy Perry, ‘Firework,’ as heard in ‘Eddington’

Joaquin Phoenix, left, and Pedro Pascal in “Eddington.” (A24/TNS)

Katy Perry’s “Firework” insists on optimism whether you’re in the mood or not. Midway through “Eddington,” Ari Aster’s polarizing pandemic-era Western, the glossy pop song becomes a pivot point as tensions rise between Joaquin Phoenix’s sheriff and Pedro Pascal’s mayor. At a COVID-masked backyard fundraiser, the sheriff shows up on a noise complaint and tries to turn the music down. The mayor turns it up. The sheriff cuts it again. The mayor cranks it louder still. When Pascal finally slaps Phoenix across the face, the joke is gone and what’s left is a petty, pathetic standoff, scored to Perry’s incongruously perky anthem. Aster has shown a taste for this kind of pop perversity before, most memorably using Mariah Carey’s “Always Be My Baby” in an Oedipal sex scene in “Beau Is Afraid.” For some filmmakers, a needle drop doesn’t just score a moment. It pierces it. — J. Rottenberg

The Veronicas, ‘Untouched,’ as heard in ‘Bring Her Back’

In any other movie, the pop-punk confection of the Veronicas’ “Untouched” would be a perfect cue to establish its setting in middle-class suburban Australia, as light and lucky a place as ever was. In this foster care cult-horror nightmare, though, the song is the comic foil to one of the movie’s most grotesque and intense moments, and you’re left to watch the scene cackling through clenched hands as all the gore gets barely papered over by a frothy mid-aughts hit. It’s played less for irony and more as context for the relatable world that the directing Philippou brothers built for Sally Hawkins’ desperate pain. A completely sinister, bleakly hilarious bit of soundtrack work that the Veronicas must have found absolutely delicious. — A.B.

Metallica, ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls,’ as heard in ‘Freaky Tales’

“Freaky Tales” is a kooky love song to the Oakland of the 1980s by the filmmaking duo Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (“Half Nelson,” “Captain Marvel”). Fittingly, it’s packed with fantastic tunes by local artists like Too Short, who narrates these retro misadventures and lets a younger version of himself lose a rap battle to a pair of ferocious female teenagers. Their lyrical spat is my favorite scene but the film’s show-stopping sequence is Golden State Warriors point guard Sleepy Floyd (Jay Ellis) avenging himself upon a Nazi gang who murdered his girlfriend during a playoff game. (Here’s where I should say “Freaky Tales” is very fictional.) At the first peals of Metallica’s thrash classic, Floyd stuffs his pockets with knives, grabs a samurai sword and gets to slashing, offing so many goons that the movie eventually has to cue up another Bay Area banger, E-40’s “Choices (Yup).” — A.N.

©2025 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

By KATIE WORKMAN, Associated Press

Perhaps you’re one of those people who are very thoughtful and assiduous about planning the Big Holiday meals. You’re on top of the appetizers, entrée, the sides, the dessert. Maybe you even iron your linen napkins.

But then you slap your proverbial forehead when you realize you didn’t think about what you (and maybe some houseguests?) are going to have for breakfast the day after.

Scones are the answer. So simple to make, fairly quick to bake, and if you want to make the dough and pat it out into a circle the night before, you can pop them into the oven in the morning while you make a cup of coffee and stare at the pots soaking in the sink.

Scone tips

A recipe for dried cherry scones is displayed in New York on July 5, 2018. (Cheyenne M. Cohen via AP)

The dough for these scones is fairly sticky, so it benefits from a period of chilling in the fridge, at least two hours. If you’re in a rush, it can also hang out for 30 minutes in the freezer before baking. This allows the butter to remain very cold, and as it melts while baking, small air pockets form which give the scones a light, somewhat flaky texture. The chilling also firms up the dough and prevents it from spreading. Finally, this resting period allows the gluten in the flour to relax, resulting in a more tender product.

Since refrigerator or freezer space is often tight this time of year, you can chill the dough on a parchment-lined plate, since baking sheets are big and cumbersome.

If you don’t have a food processor, or just want to do this by hand, you can also cut the butter into the flour mixture using two knives, a pastry cutter, or your fingers if you work quickly.

I love dried cherries and use them often in dishes both savory and sweet. They can be pricy though, so feel free to substitute other chopped or tiny dried fruit. Try these with dried cranberries or blueberries, or chopped dried apricots.

These scones are best eaten the day they are made, but you can store them for one or two days in an airtight container at room temperature. Warming them in a 300°F oven for a few minutes will refresh the texture and flavor.

Dried Cherry Scones

Servings: Makes 8 scones

A recipe for dried cherry scones is displayed in New York on July 5, 2018. (Cheyenne M. Cohen via AP)

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for flouring the work surface

1/3 cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

10 tablespoons (1 stick plus 2 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

3/4 cup dried cherries

1 cup half and half, plus more for brushing the scones

1 large egg yolk

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

To serve:

Butter, jam or jelly, clotted cream, and/or lemon curd

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Directions

1. In the bowl of a food processor, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together. Add the butter and pulse to blend until the biggest pieces of butter are pea-size but the mixture is not blended — you want it to be unevenly crumbly, with some little bits of cold butter throughout. Transfer to a large bowl and stir in the dried cherries.

2. Mix together the half and half, egg yolk and vanilla in a small bowl until well blended. Slowly add the liquid to the dry ingredients, stirring with a fork just until it comes together into a very soft, very sticky dough.

3. Very lightly flour a piece of parchment paper at least 12-by-12 inches and place it on a baking sheet or a large flat plate. (This will be going into your refrigerator, so choose whatever will fit). Turn the dough onto the floured surface, getting all of it out of the bowl. Lightly flour your hands and pat the dough into a 1-inch thick round. Chill the unbaked dough round in the refrigerator for at least two hours, or up to 12, or place in the freezer for 30 minutes.

4. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

5. Use a sharp knife to score the top of the dough (this means cut into it only about 1/4-inch deep, creating a line, but not cutting through the dough.) You want to create 8 even wedges (think of cutting a pizza pie). Brush the tops of the scones lightly with half and half. Bake for about 24 to 28 minutes until the top is golden brown and the scones are baked though.

6. Cool the scones on the baking sheet until warm or room temperature. Serve with the condiments of your choice.

Katie Workman writes regularly about food for The Associated Press. She has written two cookbooks focused on family-friendly cooking, “Dinner Solved!” and “The Mom 100 Cookbook.” She blogs at https://themom100.com/. She can be reached at Katie@themom100.com.

By LAURAN NEERGAARD, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s not unusual for a 20-something to text Mom in a panic from the doctor’s office, seeking help answering a question. And patients of any age can struggle to recall all their medicines — or forget to mention a concern.

Getting the most out of a doctor’s visit requires some advance preparation. Even the professionals plan ahead.

“It is really hard — even for me as a doctor going to see my own family doctor — to remember the things that I wanted to bring up,” said Dr. Sarah Nosal, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians. “The worst is when you’ve had that moment with your doctor” only to recall another problem after walking out, she said. “You’ve lost that time.”

Her top tip: Bring a list of symptoms and questions to show at the start of the visit. The first item should be your top concern, but seeing the full list helps your doctor prioritize what’s most medically urgent.

“I’m actually going to be able to see, is there a red flag?” explained Nosal, who has some advice about prepping for a typical primary care visit.

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Your primary care doctor monitors your overall health

Some illnesses require specialists like a cardiologist or rheumatologist. But regardless of your age or how healthy you are, research has long shown that a relationship with a primary care provider is important for overall health. It might be a family physician like Nosal, who cares for all ages, or an internist. Some patients choose gynecologists, geriatricians, or have a primary care team that includes nurse practitioners or physician assistants.

Primary care is more than preventive checkups to help avoid illness, such as vaccinations, cancer screenings or health advice. It also includes detecting and treating common problems like high blood pressure, and helping to find and coordinate specialty care.

“That ongoing relationship also helps me know your ‘normal,’” Nosal explained. “If something’s different or changes or you feel off, when you tell me that information and I also have known you over time, we can really figure out together what’s going on.”

Quiz your family before the appointment

Young adults navigating health care on their own for the first time may need help filling out forms with their personal medical history. Have you ever had general anesthesia? Is your tetanus shot up to date?

If you still have access to the patient portal at your former pediatrician’s office, you can see records of vaccinations and prior illnesses, or you may have to request them or quiz parents.

For all ages, family medical history is critical — and needs regular updating. Ask what diseases your close relatives have had and how they fared. For example, if Type 2 diabetes runs in the family, or Grandma had a stroke, or someone had cancer at a young age, that information could help tailor your preventive care, Nosal said.

Fill out your paperwork ahead of the visit

Filling out paperwork from home makes it easier to check medicine bottles for the name and dose. Include both prescription and over-the-counter medicines, pills or creams — and don’t forget vitamins and supplements.

Why are the latter important? Some can interact with prescription medicines. Nosal cited some patients whose longtime treatments quit working after they started taking turmeric, a spice also sold as a supplement.

Also before your visit, check if the doctor received records of recent lab tests, hospitalizations or visits to other health providers, since electronic medical records aren’t always automatically shared.

Keep a running list of questions before a doctor visit

Some symptoms are bad enough to prompt an urgent visit. But if you’ve got a checkup coming, whether it’s routine or to follow up on health problems, start a list of questions in advance.

Notice a pain when you move a certain way? Or chatting with a friend who just got a colonoscopy and wonder if you’re due? Pop those on your list right away, before you forget — and be specific in describing symptoms.

Nosal keeps a running list on her phone and, ahead of visits with her own doctor, sends it as a heads-up through her patient portal. Patients also can include their list on visit check-in forms.

The idea is to address the most urgent questions first, rather than patients running out of time before raising a key concern. Nosal said questions about mental or sexual health and wellness especially tend to come up at the last minute.

Whatever the medium, “please bring that list,” she said. “That’s the most critical of all pieces.”

It’s OK to ask again

People may know to ask questions about treatments, such as how well they work and what side effects to expect. But it’s also important to understand why a doctor makes a particular diagnosis or, conversely, isn’t as worried about a symptom as you might be.

Don’t hesitate to say, “Explain to me what else could be going on,” Nosal advised. “What would be the next step? How would you evaluate that for me, to know if it’s this or that?”

Most health advocacy groups also advise bringing along a friend or relative, especially if you have serious or multiple health problems. They can help ask questions and take notes.

“Whether you are 20 or you are 85, you will not remember everything from your medical visit,” Nosal said.

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.