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For some, like Reps. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., and Byron Donalds, R-Mo., that means annual Christmas traditions with loved ones.

"So, Christmas Eve is Spanish bean soup and Cuban sandwiches," Donalds told Fox News Digital. "And Christmas Day we just spend time, and Christmas night will be some basketball, some football, and maybe a fire."

Burlison described a "special" Christmas scavenger hunt his mother puts on for her grandchildren to find in their stockings.

Aj Brown, Tee Higgins Among Nfl Stars Reminiscing On Christmas Memories As They Impact Their Communities

"And then we do Christmas bingo for our White Elephant gifts, and it gets pretty competitive," Burlison smiled. "One of the funny things that happens every year is my brother will, whatever home we're in, he'll steal something from the house and then throw it in as one of the gifts."

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"You'll end up opening it and you're like, 'Oh, we have a vase just like this, Oh, wait, that's our vase!' It's so funny. He does it all the time."

House Majority LeaderSteve Scalise, R-La., told Fox News Digital his favorite Christmas tradition is opening presents with his children and eating Cajun fried turkey.

Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, said he always keeps his faith close on Christmas.

"The holidays always begin with attendingChristmas Massand thanking God for the miracle of the birth of Christ," Cuellar told Fox News Digital. "From there, it's about being at home with family — gathering around the table, sharing home-cooked meals, and keeping traditions that bring everyone together."

Meanwhile, Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., likes to share the end-of-year holidays with her chosen family of friends and neighbors.

'Christmas Lawyer' Who Went To War With Hoa Spends Windfall On Holiday Cheer

That includes making and sharing Christmas cookies with those same people, as well as "holiday dinner with my college roommates and holiday dinner with my poker group."

And Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., said Hanukkah and the rest of the holiday season was about his loved ones as well.

"The holidays are a special time for me to celebrate with my family — whether that's lighting the menorah with my kids, donating toys at local toy drives, or joining our community for tree and menorah lightings," Gottheimer said.

Original article source:Scavenger hunts, Christmas mass, Cajun-fried turkey: Capitol Hill's favorite holiday traditions

Tarique Rahman moved to London in 2008 for medical treatment with permission after he was tortured while in custody during a military-backed government that ruled from 2006 to 2008.

Rahman, 60, is the acting chairman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, one of two major political parties in the South Asian nation of more than 170 million people. His return is seen as politically significant ahead ofthe next election set for Feb. 12under the currentinterim government.

A flight carrying Rahman, his wife and daughter arrived at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in the capital, Dhaka, late Thursday morning among tight security measures.

Massive crowds of supporters spread across an area about 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) between the airport and a reception venue, where many had stayed overnight. A sea of people also waited at the venue. Rahman's senior party leaders said earlier they expected "millions."

After a reception, party officials said Rahman plans to go to a hospital to visit his critically ill mother, formerPrime Minister Khaleda Zia,who led a coalition government from 2001 until 2006 when a non-elected government backed by the military came to power during a period of political chaos.

Zia, a former housewife, came to politics after her husband, former military chief and then President Ziaur Rahman, was assassinated in a military coup in 1981. She held power for the first time in 1991 after becoming a key leader in a nine-year movement against a former military dictator who was forced to resign during a mass uprising in 1990.

Zia is considered one of two key figures in Bangladesh politics along withSheikh Hasina, who wassentenced to deathin absentia in November. Hasina was convicted on charges of crimes against humanity involving the crackdown on a mass uprising that ended her 15-year rule in 2024. India has not approved requests to extradite Hasina since she fled there last year.

In recent years, Rahman has been a de facto leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. He regularly joined meetings and rallies online from London, keeping his party united. He was not openly challenged by any party insiders during his absence.

Bangladesh is now ata political crossroads. The interim government headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureateMuhammad Yunusis struggling to maintain law and order and restore confidence while attempting a return to democracy after Hasina's long premiership.

Global human rights groups including Human Rights Watch and the Amnesty International have accused the Yunus government of eroding democratic rights. Liberals in Bangladesh have expressed concernsover press freedomandminority rightsand accused Yunus of presiding over a visible rise of Islamists.

Rahman supported Yunus when he took over as the government's chief adviser, but the relationship with his party has been shaky.

Rahman was convicted in several criminal cases during Hasina's 15-year rule since 2009. Appeals courts under the Yunus government have acquitted him of all criminal charges including involvement of agrenade attacks on a Hasina rallyin 2004.

Forecasters said Southern California could see its wettest Christmas in years and warned of flash flooding and mudslides. Areas scorched bywildfires in Januarysaw evacuation warnings as heavy rains and gusty winds brought mudslides and debris flows.

Many flood areas were in burn scar zones, which were stripped of vegetation by fire and are less able to absorb water.

San Bernardino County firefighters said they rescued people trapped in cars Wednesday when mud and debris rushed down a road leading into Wrightwood, a resort town in the San Gabriel Mountains about 80 miles (130 kilometers) northeast of Los Angeles. It was not immediately clear how many were rescued.

Firefighters also went door to door to check homes, and the area was under a shelter-in-place order, officials said. An evacuation order was issued for Lytle Creek, also in the San Gabriel Mountains.

Travis Guenther and his family were trapped in Lytle Creek after roaring waters washed out the only bridge in or out of their neighborhood. More than a dozen neighbors took shelter at a community center or found hotel rooms.

"Everybody that left to go to work this morning is stuck," he said. "Half the families are here, and half the families are on the other side of the creek."

Guenther said he had plenty of supplies and was coordinating with other in the community of about 280 people. Two nurses who live on his street offered to help anyone who may need medical attention.

Janice Quick, president of the Wrightwood Chamber of Commerce and a resident of the mountain town for 45 years, said a wildfire in 2024 left much of the terrain without tree coverage.

The storm also stranded Dillan Brown, his wife and 14-month-old daughter at a rented cabin in Wrightwood with almost no food and only enough diapers for about another day. Roads leading off the mountain and to a grocery store became blocked by rocks and debris, Brown said.

A resident learned of his situation and posted a call for help in a Facebook group. In less than an hour, neighbors showed up with more than enough supplies to ride out the storm, including bread, vegetables, milk, diapers and wipes.

"I think we're a little sad and upset that we're not going to be home with our families," Brown said, but the "kindness shown is definitely an overwhelming feeling."

Residents around burn scar zones from the Airport Fire in Orange County were also ordered to evacuate.

Areas along the coast including Malibu were under flood warnings until Wednesday evening, and wind and flood advisories were issued for much of the Sacramento Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Several roads including a part of Interstate 5 near the Burbank Airport closed due to flooding.

The storms were the result of multipleatmospheric riverscarrying massive plumes of moisture from the tropics during one of the busiest travel weeks of the year.

Southern California typically gets half an inch to 1 inch (1.3 to 2.5 centimeters) of rain this time of year, but this week many areas could see between 4 and 8 inches (10 to 20 centimeters) with even more in the mountains, National Weather Service meteorologist Mike Wofford said.

Snow at higher elevations

Heavy snow and gusts created "near white-out conditions" in parts of the Sierra Nevada and made mountain pass trave treacherous. Officials said there was a "considerable" avalanche risk around Lake Tahoe, and a winter storm warning was in effect until Friday morning.

Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in six counties to allow state assistance in storm response.

The state deployed emergency resources and first responders to several coastal and Southern California counties, and theCaliforniaNational Guard was on standby.

The California Highway Patrol reported a seemingly weather-related crash south of Sacramento in which a Sacramento sheriff's deputy died. James Caravallo, who was with the agency for 19 years, was apparently traveling at an unsafe speed, lost control on a wet road and crashed into a power pole, CHP Officer Michael Harper said via email.

Associated Press writers Sophie Austin in Sacramento, Jessica Hill in Las Vegas and Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City contributed.

The statement from Saudi Arabia's Foreign Ministry on Christmas morning appeared aimed at putting public pressure on the Southern Transitional Council, a force long backed by the United Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia has backed other fighters within Yemen, including the National Shield Forces, in the war against the Iranian-backed Houthis the kingdom launched in 2015.

"The kingdom stresses the importance of cooperation among all Yemeni factions and components to exercise restraint and avoid any measures that could destabilize security and stability, which may result in undesirable consequences," the Saudi Foreign Ministry warned.

Saudi Arabia says negotiations ongoing

The Council has moved into Yemen'sgovernorates of Hadramout and Mahra. The Saudi statement said meditation efforts were aimed at having the Council's forces return to "their previous positions outside of the two governorates and handover the camps in those areas" to the National Shield Forces.

"These efforts remain in progress to restore the situation to its previous statement," the ministry added.

Those aligned with the Council have increasingly flown the flag of the flag of South Yemen, which was a separate country from 1967 to 1990. There were calls for demonstrations Thursday in Aden to support political forces wanting South Yemen to again secede from Yemen, but it wasn't immediately clear if they would go ahead given Saudi Arabia's announcement. Aden has been the seat of power in Yemen for forces aligned against the Houthis.

The confrontation also has put pressure on the relationship between neighboring Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which maintain close relations and are members of the OPEC oil cartel but also have vied for more intensely for influence and international business in recent years.

The Council's moves in Yemen followan escalation of violence in Sudan, another nation on the Red Sea, where the kingdom and the Emirates back opposing forces in an ongoing war.

It's the latest chaos to grip war-torn Yemen

The Houthis seized Yemen's capital, Sanaa, in September 2014 and forced the internationally recognized government into exile. Tehran denies arming the rebels, althoughIranian-manufactured weaponry has been found on the battlefieldand in sea shipments heading to Yemen despite a United Nations arms embargo.

A Saudi-led coalition armed with U.S. weaponry and intelligence entered the war on the side of Yemen's exiled government in March 2015. Years of inconclusive fighting has pushed the Arab world's poorest nation to the brink of famine.

The war has killed more than 150,000 people, including fighters and civilians, and created one of the world's worst humanitarian disasters, killing tens of thousands more.

The Houthis launched attacks on hundreds of ships in the Red Sea corridor over the Israel-Hamas war, greatly disrupting regional shipping.

While traffic has inched up recently in the lull in attacks, many shippers continue to go around Africa via the Cape of Good Hope to avoid the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

Further chaos in Yemen could again draw in the United States. The U.S. launchedan intense bombing campaign targeting the rebelsearlier this year that President Donald Trump halted just before his trip to the Mideast. The Biden administration also conducted strikes against the Houthis, includingusing America's B-2 bombersto target what it described as underground bunkers used by the Houthis.

The Houthis meanwhile announced plans for a funeral Thursday for several of its fighters, including Maj. Gen. Zakaria Abdullah Yahya Hajar, whom analysts identified as the group's drone and missile chief. U.S. forces reportedly targeted Hajar, who allegedly received training from expeditionary Quds Force of Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, in a strike in March in Sanaa. The Houthis provided no information on how or when he died in the funeral announcement.

Meanwhile, the Houthis have increasingly threatened Saudi Arabia andtaken dozens of workers at U.N. agencies and other aid groupsas prisoners, alleging without evidence that they were spies — something fiercely denied by the U.N. and others.

atmospheric river is laying siege to California, where evacuations have been issued because of the risk of life-threatening flooding and debris flows. - Sara Floyd" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />

A powerful storm carrying a strongatmospheric riveris laying siege to California, where evacuations have been issued because of the risk of life-threatening flooding and debris flows.

"A dangerous scenario is unfolding, with widespread and significant impacts from flash flooding and debris flows expected," the Weather Prediction Center said about areas near and north of Los Angeles as the downpours arrived Wednesday morning.

The National Weather Service is warning of more flooding rains and strong winds in Northern and Southern California on Christmas Day.

Some areas in the mountains to the north and northwest of Los Angeles have already seen 4 to 8 inches of rain and the atmospheric river continues to soak the region. Feet of mountain snow, severe thunderstorms and strong winds round out the multiple threats the state is facing.

Evacuation warnings or orders were in place in parts of at least five Southern California counties, notably around areas recently burned by wildfires.

California Gov. Gavin Newsomdeclared a state of emergencyin Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Shasta counties. The state of emergency will "activate emergency authorities and preposition resources to keep our communities safe," Newsom said in a Wednesday post on X.

The city of Los Angeles also declared a local emergency Wednesday evening to ensure departments "have the required resources in the days ahead," Mayor Karen Bass said.

Here's the latest:

• Rare high risk of flooding rain: More than 7 million people in portions of Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties were in the highest-risk zone Wednesday, according to the Weather Prediction Center. More than a dozen flash flood warnings were issued Wednesday morning in Southern California. San Bernardino County was under an extended warning until 9:45 p.m.

• Roads and highways washed out: Authorities in northwest Los Angeles and northeast Ventura counties have reported "heavy rain, rockslides, mudslides, and washed out roadways," the National Weather Service said. Debris flows and flooding have also been reported in the San Bernardino Mountains, including Highway 2. Mud and debris flows shut down northbound Interstate 15 near Cajon Junction Wednesday morning, and flooding shut down portions of Interstate 5 in Los Angeles County on Wednesday afternoon, according to Caltrans, the state Department of Transportation. The Los Angeles Police Department had responded to 52 traffic accidents as of Wednesday morning, the mayor's office said.

• Rescues underway amid mud and debris flows in Wrightwood: The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department issued a shelter-in-place order for the community of Wrightwood, northeast of Los Angeles, Wednesday afternoon due to flash flooding, mud and debris flows. An evacuation warning was previously in effect for the area. Video posted by the county Fire Department showed heavy flooding in the area that made Highway 2 impassable.

• Man rescued on Los Angeles River: The Los Angeles Fire Department rescued a man trapped in a small drainage tunnel on the Los Angeles River in the Winnetka neighborhood during heavy rain Wednesday morning. Two other people in the area were also moved out of the danger zone, the department said. The fire department has deployed teams to two river rescue incidents as of early Wednesday afternoon, the mayor's office said.

• Thousands without power amid high winds: Strong winds and heavy rain blasted Northern California Wednesday, including the Bay Area, where a wind gust up to 108 mph was clocked in the northern hills. Wind gusts have topped 90 mph in multiple spots across Southern California's San Gabriel Mountains. Thousands of homes and businesses have lost power in the state, according to PowerOutage.us.

• Chain controls in effect for I-80: The snowy side of this storm is now ramping up in the Sierra Nevada. Requirement 2 chain controls are in effect for Interstate 80, which means chains or traction devices are required on all vehicles except those with four-wheel or all-wheel drive that also have snow-tread tires.

• Two dead in weather-related incidents: A motorist crashed and died on a wet roadway in South Sacramento, the state highway patrol told CNN. "While the crash is still under investigation, it appears that the vehicle was traveling at an unsafe speed on the wet roadway and lost control," hitting a metal power pole, the agency said. Heavy rainfall had occurred in the 5 a.m. hour and light rain was in the area during the time of the crash. In San Diego, a 61-year-old man died Wednesday when a large portion of a tree fell on him. High winds were blowing in the area at the time, according to San Diego Fire-Rescue Department Capt. Jason Shanley. The victim was pinned under the tree and family members were unable to rescue him, the captain said. Firefighters and police were able to pull the victim from under the tree, but the resident succumbed to his injuries, Shanley added.

Rare high risk on Christmas Eve

High risk flooding events are incredibly significant: They're issued on fewer than 4% of days per year on average, but are responsible for more than 80% of all flood-related damage and36% of all flood-related deaths, Weather Prediction Center research shows.

Rainfall rates could exceed 1 inch per hour at times into Wednesday evening and potentially again on Thursday. That's more than enough to trigger dangerous flash flooding and life-threatening debris flows on recent burn scars, including from January'sEaton and Palisades fires.

The scorched ground of these scars repels water instead of absorbing it, quickly turning rain into a surge of floodwater that pulls mud and debris with it.

The holiday danger doesn't end Wednesday: Another atmospheric river-fueled storm will follow Christmas Day and continue into Friday. It's raising a Level 3 of 4 flooding rain risk for more than 12 million people, including many in Wednesday's high risk.

All told, rainfall totals in Southern California through the end of the week could be as much as 4 to 7 inches in coastal and valley locations, while foothills and mountains see 6 to 14 inches.

To put those totals into perspective, a city like Los Angeles could see anywhere from two months' worth of rain to nearly half a year's worth in just a week.

Residents not evacuating despite orders

Ventura, Santa Barbara, Orange and San Bernardino counties all issued evacuation warnings or orders for the threat of flooding by Tuesday evening. They followed orders and warnings first issued on Monday by Los Angeles County for areas in and around burn scars in the greater Los Angeles area, including the Eaton and Palisades fire zones.

The orders in the Los Angeles area for 383 properties that sheriff's deputies reached out directly to, including going door-to-door, the county Office of Emergency Management said Monday.

But many of the people had chosen not to leave, the city's Police Chief Jim McDonnell said at a Tuesday news conference.

"I would ask you to seriously reconsider that," McDonnell said.

They include Steve Schklair and his family, who live in a warning area for debris flow and mudslides. They recently moved back into their home in Altadena, which they spent almost a year rebuilding following the fires, he told CNN affiliate KCBS.

But the family will not be evacuating because they live in a "lucky spot" and will instead spend Christmas hunkered down at home, Schklair said.

"All the mud flows — and it does flow — (go) around the house and down the street, never comes up here," he told KCBS.

Impossible travel conditions in the mountains

Feet of snow falling in the Sierra Nevada will make travel there difficult or impossible at times through Friday. That includes Interstate 80 through Donner Pass.

The heavy snow will be a big change for the region, which has had much less snow than usual to start the season.

If that's not enough, severe thunderstorms are a threat for coastal parts of California both Wednesday and Thursday. Any storms that turn severe could produce damaging wind gusts or a brief tornado.

Some relief from this nonstop stormy pattern looks to finally arrive for the upcoming weekend.

CNN's Eric Levenson and Cindy Von Quednow contributed to this report.

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The disclosure of the transcripts as part of the Justice Department's ongoing release of its investigative files on Maxwell and the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein exposed how an FBI agent told grand jurors about Maxwell's critical role in Epstein's decades-long sexual abuse of girls and young women.

Maxwell,a British socialite and publishing heir, was convicted of sex trafficking in December 2021 after four women told a federal jury in New York City about how she and Epstein abused them in the 1990s and early 2000s. Epstein never went to trial. He was arrested in July 2019 on sex trafficking charges and killed himself a month later in his cell at a Manhattan federal jail.

Two weeks ago, as the Justice Department prepared to begin releasing what are commonly known as the Epstein files, Maxwell filed a habeas petition, asking a federal judge to free her on grounds that "substantial new evidence" has emerged proving that constitutional violations spoiled her trial.

Maxwell claimed exonerating information was withheld and that witnesses lied in their testimony. She filed the petition on her own, without the assistance of a lawyer.

This week, the judge, Paul A. Engelmayer, scolded Maxwell for failing to remove victim names and other identifying information from her court papers. He said future filings must be kept sealed and out of public view until they have been reviewed and redacted to protect victims' identities.

Victims fear Maxwell will be pardoned

Epstein accuser Danielle Bensky said the release of records has only sharpened the focus on Maxwell's crimes among their victims. Bensky said she's been involved in daily discussions with about two dozen other victims that make clear Maxwell "is a criminal who was 1,000% engaged in sexual acts."

"I've heard things that would make your blood curdle. I just had a conversation with a survivor last night who said she was the puppeteer," Bensky said.

Bensky said she was sexually abused by Epstein two decades ago. She said she was never personally abused by Maxwell.

Delayed and heavily redacted files

The transcripts of grand jury proceedings that resulted in Maxwell's indictment were released this week in accordance withthe Epstein Files Transparency Act, a law enacted last month aftermonths of public and political pressure.

The Justice Department has been periodically posting records after acknowledging it would miss last Friday's congressionally mandated deadline to release all records. It blamed the delay on the time-consuming process of obscuring victims' names and other identifying information.

On Wednesday, the department said itmay need a "few more weeks"to release the full trove after suddenly discovering more than a million potentially relevant documents. It was a stunning development after department officials suggested months ago that they'd already accounted for the vast universe of Epstein-related materials.

Some of the Epstein and Maxwell grand jury records were initially released with heavy redactions — A 119-page document marked "Grand Jury-NY" — was entirely blacked out. Updated versions were posted over the weekend.

FBI agent testifies Maxwell manipulated young girl

An FBI agent's grand jury testimony, describing interviews conducted with Epstein victims, foreshadowed trial testimony a year later from four women who described Maxwell's role in their sexual abuse from 1994 to 2004.

The agent told of a woman who described meeting Maxwell and Epstein as a 14-year-old attending aMichigansummer arts camp in 1994. Flight logs showed Epstein and Maxwell went to the school sponsoring the camp because Epstein was a donor.

According to the agent, whose name was redacted from the transcript, the girl had a chance encounter with Epstein and Maxwell one day. After learning that the girl was from Palm Beach, Florida, Epstein mentioned that he sometimes gave scholarships to students and they requested her phone number, the agent said.

Once home, the girl visited Epstein's estate with her mother for tea and the mother was impressed when Epstein said he provided scholarships, enough so that the mother said Epstein was like a "godfather," the agent said.

The agent said the girl began regularly going to the estate as Epstein and Maxwell "groomed" her with gifts and trips to the movies, and Epstein began paying for voice lessons and giving her money that he said she should give to her struggling mother.

The agent said the girl thought her relationship with Epstein and Maxwell was strange, "but Maxwell normalized it for her. She was like a cool, older sister and made comments like, 'This is what grownups do.'"

Eventually, the agent testified, the girl saw Maxwell topless at the pool. After she revealed that she hoped to be an actor and a model, Epstein told her he was best friends with the owner of Victoria's Secret and that she'll have to learn to be comfortable in her underwear and not be a prude, the agent said.

Then, the agent said, the girl asked Epstein what he meant by that and the financier pulled her into his lap and masturbated. After that, the agent added, the girl's encounters with Epstein began to include sexual contact, particularly in his massage room.

Maxwell was sometimes there with other girls, the agent said. One of the girls would begin massaging Epstein and Maxwell would tease the girls, the agent said.

"She'd grab the girl's breasts, and she would direct the girls on what to do," the agent said, relaying the girl's account. Maxwell's attitude during the encounters was "very casual; she acted like this was normal," the agent said.

The released testimony appeared to reflect the testimony at Maxwell's 2021 trial by a woman who testified under the pseudonym "Jane."

At trial, Jane said Maxwell also participated in group sessions between multiple females and Epstein that usually began with Epstein or Maxwell leading them all into a bedroom or a massage room at the Palm Beach residence.

But they can still be thrust back to their days of wanderlust and thrill-seeking whenever caretakers at the community in Los Gatos, California, schedule a date for residents — many of whom are in their 80s and 90s — to take turns donningvirtual reality headsets.

Within a matter of minutes, the headsets can transport them to Europe, immerse them in the ocean depths or soar them on breathtaking hang-gliding expeditions while they sit by each other. The selection of VR programming was curated by Rendever, a company that has turned a sometimes isolatingform of technologyinto a catalyst for better cognition and social connections in 800 retirement communities in the United States and Canada.

A group of The Terraces residents who participated in a VR session earlier this year found themselves paddling their arms alongside their chairs as they swam with a pod of dolphins while watching one of Rendever's3D programs. "We got to go underwater and didn't even have to hold our breath!" exclaimed 81-year-old Ginny Baird following the virtual submersion.

During a session featuring a virtual ride in a hot-air balloon, one resident gasped, "Oh my God!" Another shuddered, "It's hard to watch!"

The Rendever technology can also be used to virtually take older adults back to the placeswhere they grew upas children. For some, it will be the first time they've seen their hometowns in decades.

A virtual trip to her childhood neighborhood in New York City's Queens borough helped sell Sue Livingstone, 84, on the merits of the VR technology even though she still is able to get out more often than many residents of The Terraces, which is located in Silicon Valley about 55 miles south of San Francisco.

"It isn't just about being able to see it again, it's about all the memories that it brings back," Livingstone said. "There are a few people living here who never really leave their comfort zones. But if you could entice them to come down to try out a headset, they might find that they really enjoy it."

Adrian Marshall, The Terraces' community life director, said that once word about a VR experience spreads from one resident to another, more of the uninitiated typically become curious enough to try it out — even if it means missing out on playing Mexican Train, a dominoes-like board game that's popular in the community.

"It turns into a conversation starter for them. It really does connect people," Marshall said of Rendever's VR programming. "It helps create a human bridge that makes them realize they share certain similarities and interests. It turns the artificial world into reality."

Rendever, a privately owned company based in Somerville, Massachusetts, hopes to build upon its senior living platform with a recent grant from the National Institutes of Health that will provide nearly $4.5 million to study ways to reducesocial isolationamong seniors living at home and their caregivers.

Some studieshave found VR programming presented in a limited viewing format can help older people maintain and improve cognitive functions, burnish memories and foster social connections with their families and fellow residents ofcare facilities. Experts say the technology may be useful as an addition to and not a replacement for other activities.

"There is always a risk of too much screen time," Katherine "Kate" Dupuis, a neuropsychologist and professor who studies aging issues at Sheridan College in Canada, said. "But if you use it cautiously, with meaning and purpose, it can be very helpful. It can be an opportunity for the elderly to engage with someone and share a sense of wonder."

VR headsets may be an easier way for older people to interact with technology instead of fumbling around with asmartphoneor another device that requires navigating buttons or other mechanisms, said Pallabi Bhowmick, a researcher at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign who is examining the use of VR with older adults.

"The stereotypes that older adults aren't willing to try new technology needs to change because they are willing and want to adapt to technologies that are meaningful to them," Bhowmick said. "Besides helping them to relieve stress, be entertained and connect with other people, there is an intergenerational aspect that might help them build their relationships with younger people who find out they use VR and say, 'Grandpa is cool!'"

Rendever CEO Kyle Rand's interest in helping his own grandmother deal with the emotional and mental challenges of aging pushed him down a path that led him to cofound the company in 2016 after studying neuroengineering at Duke University.

"What really fascinates me about humans is just how much our brain depends on social connection and how much we learn from others," Rand said. "A group of elderly residents who don't really know each other that well can come together, spend 30 minutes in a VR experience together and then find themselves sitting down to have lunch together while continuing a conversation about the experience."

It's a large enough market that another VR specialist, Dallas-based Mynd Immersive, competes against Rendever with services tailored forsenior living communities.

Besides helpingcreate social connections, the VR programming from both Rendever and Mynd has been employed as a possible tool for potentially slowing down the deleterious effects of dementia. That's how another Silicon Valley retirement village, the Forum, sometimes uses the technology.

Bob Rogallo, a Forum resident with dementia that has rendered him speechless, seemed to be enjoying taking a virtual hike through Glacier National Park inMontanaas he nodded and smiled while celebrating his 83rd birthday with his wife of 61 years.

Sallie Rogallo, who doesn't have dementia, said the experience brought back fond memories of the couple's visits to the same park during the more than 30 years they spent cruising around the U.S. in their recreational vehicle.

"It made me wish I was 30 years younger so I could do it again," she said of the virtual visit to Glacier. "This lets you get out of the same environment and either go to a new place or visit places where you have been."

In another session at the Forum, 93-year-old Almut Schultz laughed with delight while viewing a virtual classical music performance at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado and later seemed to want to play with a puppy frolicking around in her VR headset.

"That was quite a session we had there," Schultz said with a big grin after she took off her headset and returned to reality.