USC basketball recruit Alijah Arenas injured in LA car crash

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Alijah Arenas, a Los Angeles high school basketball star who's committed to playing for the University of Southern California next season, was in an accident early Thursday, the university said.

The Los Angeles Police Department said officers responded shortly before 5 a.m. to single-vehicle collision in the Reseda area of the San Fernando Valley. The LA Fire Department further said the vehicle was a Tesla Cybertruck that crashed into a tree.

An 18-year-old man was transported to the hospital in stable condition, police said. The police department did not identify the driver.

Multiple news outlets including the Los Angeles Times and ESPN said Arenas was the driver, citing unnamed sources.

USC men's basketball coach Eric Musselman said in a statement on X: “Our thoughts and prayers are with Alijah and his family following this morning's accident. Please keep him, his teammates and friends, and the entire Arenas family in your prayers.”

Arenas is a son of former NBA player Gilbert Arenas. He attends Chatsworth High School in Los Angeles and played for them in the Division II state championships this year, making it all the way to the finals. With that game, he became the first high school boys basketball player in the Los Angeles area to reach 3,000 career points.

He was also one of 48 players selected to play in McDonald’s All-American Games in April, which showcases the best high school basketball players in the country.

Alijah's mother, Laura Govan, posted on social media asking for prayers for her son. Gilbert Arenas canceled his online talk show scheduled for Thursday.

Chatsworth High School basketball player Alijah Arenas poses for a photo, Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in Los Angeles. (Hans Gutknecht/The Orange County Register via AP)

Chatsworth High School basketball player Alijah Arenas practices, Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in Los Angeles. (Hans Gutknecht/The Orange County Register via AP)

Chatsworth High School basketball player Alijah Arenas, right, is defended by a Jesuit player in the second half of a boys CIF State Division II championship basketball game in Sacramento, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (Keith Birmingham/The Orange County Register via AP)

Chatsworth High School basketball player Alijah Arenas prepares to shoot a free throw in the second half of a boys CIF State Division II championship basketball game in Sacramento, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (Keith Birmingham/The Orange County Register via AP)

Chatsworth High School basketball player Alijah Arenas, left, talks to his dad, former NBA player Gilbert Arenas before a CIF State Division IV championship basketball game in Sacramento, Saturday, March 9, 2024. (Keith Birmingham/The Orange County Register via AP)

Chatsworth High School basketball player Alijah Arenas prepares to shoot a free throw in the second half of a boys CIF State Division II championship basketball game in Sacramento, Saturday, March 15, 2025. (Keith Birmingham/The Orange County Register via AP)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched a second major drone and missile bombardment of Ukraine in four days, officials said Tuesday, aiming again at the power grid and apparently snubbing U.S.-led peace efforts as the war approaches the four-year mark.

Russia fired almost 300 drones, 18 ballistic missiles and seven cruise missiles at eight regions overnight, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media.

One strike in the northeastern Kharkiv region killed four people at a mail depot, and several hundred thousand households were without power in the Kyiv region, Zelenskyy said. The daytime temperature in the capital was -12 C (around 10 F). The streets were covered with ice, and the city rumbled with the noise from generators.

Four days earlier, Russia also sent hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles in a large-scale overnight attack and, for only the second time in the war, it used a powerful new hypersonic missile that struck western Ukraine in what appeared to be a clear warning to Kyiv’s NATO allies that it won’t back down.

On Monday, the United States accused Russia of a “ dangerous and inexplicable escalation ” of the fighting, when the Trump administration is trying to advance peace negotiations.

Tammy Bruce, the U.S. deputy ambassador to the United Nations, told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council that Washington deplores “the staggering number of casualties” in the conflict and condemns Russia’s intensifying attacks on energy and other infrastructure.

Russia has sought to deny Ukrainian civilians heat and running water in the freezing winter months over the course of the war, hoping to wear down public resistance to Moscow’s full-scale invasion, which began on Feb. 24, 2022. Ukrainian officials describe the strategy as “weaponizing winter.”

In Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, the Russian attack also wounded 10 people, local authorities said.

In the southern city of Odesa, six people were wounded in the attack, said Oleh Kiper, the head of the regional military administration. The strikes damaged energy infrastructure, a hospital, a kindergarten, an educational facility and a number of residential buildings, he said.

Zelenskyy said that Ukraine is counting on quicker deliveries of agreed upon air defense systems from the U.S. and Europe, as well as new pledges of aid, to counter Russia’s latest onslaught.

Meanwhile, Russian air defenses shot down 11 Ukrainian drones overnight, Russia’s Ministry of Defense said Tuesday. Seven were reportedly destroyed over Russia’s Rostov region, where Gov. Yuri Slyusar confirmed an attack on the coastal city of Taganrog, about 40 kilometers (about 24 miles) east of the Ukrainian border, in Kyiv's latest long-range attack on Russian war-related facilities.

Ukraine’s military said domestically-produced drones hit a drone manufacturing facility in Taganrog. The Atlant Aero plant carries out design, manufacturing and testing of Molniya drones and components for Orion unmanned aerial vehicles, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Explosions and a fire were reported at the site, with damage to production buildings confirmed, the General Staff said.

It wasn't possible to independently verify the reports.

Katie Marie Davies contributed to this report from Manchester, England.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following a Russian attack in Kyiv region, Ukraine, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)