Paintbrush in hand, Anastasiya Sereda is working on a painting of a chubby-faced panda in the uniform of a Ukrainian soldier. Propped on her easel is the reason why – a photo of her boyfriend Bohdan, a burly serviceman with a gentle smile. “He looks like a panda,” Sereda said in explanation, alternately laughing and choking with tears as she talked about her partner, who was killed almost a year ago on the front line in eastern Ukraine.
The leaders of three large public school systems will appear before Congress on Wednesday to answer questions about how they have handled incidents of antisemitism on their school campuses. The witnesses scheduled to testify before a House Education and Workforce subcommittee represent New York City Public Schools, the Berkeley Unified School District in California and the Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland.
China's account blaming Australia for a dangerous clash between their military aircraft in international airspace over the Yellow Sea failed to undermine Australian objections, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Wednesday. The Chinese and Australians lodged official protests and blamed each other for a Chinese warplane’s extraordinary use of flares against an Australian navy helicopter Saturday. Australia publicly accused China of unprofessional and unacceptable behavior, while China retorted that the Seahawk deliberately flew close to China’s airspace in a “provocative move.”
As former President Donald Trump remains stuck in the courtroom listening to salacious details of an affair he denies, another spectacle is playing out in the background as his vice presidential tryouts get underway. Trump, at one point, invited many of the contenders on stage like contestants in one of his old beauty pageants. The next day several of them, including South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, South Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Ohio Sen. Marco Rubio and New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, fanned out across Sunday news shows to sing his praises.
The future of the Tampa Bay Rays is about to come into clearer focus as local officials begin public discussions over a planned $1.3 billion ballpark that would be the anchor of a much larger project to transform downtown St. Petersburg with affordable housing, a Black history museum, a hotel and office and retail space. The St. Petersburg City Council will begin a detailed look Thursday at the plans by the Rays and the Hines development company for what the city calls the Historic Gas Plant Project. The name is a nod to the 86-acre (34-hectare) tract's history as a once-thriving Black community demolished for the Rays' current domed Tropicana Field and earlier for an interstate highway spur.
As President Joe Biden runs for reelection, he’s resurrecting proposals to reshape American life from the cradle to the grave by lowering the cost of child care, expanding preschool opportunities and making home aides more available to the elderly. The initiatives were once part of Build Back Better, Biden’s gargantuan legislative agenda that stalled on Capitol Hill two years ago. Now they’re what Neera Tanden, the Democratic president's top domestic policy adviser, describes as “unfinished business.”
The United States paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over fears it would invade the southern Gaza city of Rafah, an official said Tuesday, marking the first time in the conflict that President Joe Biden has squeezed military aid to the key US ally.The pausing of weapons marks the first time that Biden has acted on the warning that he gave Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in April that US policy on Gaza would depend on how Israel treated civilians.
Facing heat over its military support for Israel's war, the Biden administration is due to deliver a first-of-its-kind formal verdict this week on whether the airstrikes on Gaza and restrictions on delivery of aid have violated international and U.S. laws designed to spare civilians from the worst horrors of war. A decision against Israel would add to pressure on President Joe Biden to curb the flow of weapons and money to Israel's military. The administration agreed in February at the insistence of Democrats in Congress to look at whether Israel has used U.S.-provided weapons and other military assistance in a lawful manner.
Italy’s president told the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine can’t be solved by rewarding its aggression and peace can only come when Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are restored. Sergio Mattarella said Italy, which now heads the G7 meetings, and many international partners have come to Ukraine’s defense to support the principle that solidarity must be given to nations attacked by acts that violate international law and the U.N. Charter.
Struggling foreign automakers in China are looking for help from local tech giants to try to stay competitive in the world's biggest electric car market, where shiny smart screens, assisted driving and sophisticated map technology are in high demand.One major reason why foreign automakers are seeking partnerships with local tech firms is to benefit from their innovation, which Chinese automaking executives have attributed to the cutthroat competition in the industry.
There were a half-dozen consequential GOP primaries Tuesday, but Nikki Haley’s performance in the already concluded presidential race could be a sign of trouble for Trump in more competitive states.
The judge in Donald Trump’s hush money trial called the former president’s defense attorney to the bench and ordered him to speak to his client about his “contemptuous” behavior during adult film actress Stormy Daniels’ testimony Tuesday, according to the trial transcript.
An Arizona State University postdoctoral research scholar is on leave as the institution investigates his confrontation with a woman in a hijab that was captured on video, the school said Tuesday.
The number of vacant houses in Japan has surged to a record high of nine million – more than enough for each person in New York City – as the east Asian country continues to struggle with its ever-declining population.
Several tornadoes hit Michigan on Tuesday, with one twister pummeling a mobile home park in the southern part of the state, leaving a dozen people hurt and rescuers looking for more possible victims.
TikToker Morgan Elisa Strickell says she refuses to be her husband’s “kin keeper” and family communicator. Her video is striking a chord with women.
David Knezevich, the husband of Ana Maria Knezevic Henao, was arrested by FBI agents at the Miami International Airport and faces kidnapping charges.
Social media influencer Kai Cenat will not be prosecuted on charges of inciting a riot and unlawful assembly connected to a chaotic giveaway he promoted in New York City’s Union Square last year, which resulted in dozens of arrests, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said.
Panera is discontinuing its controversial Charged Lemonade drinks, which have been named in lawsuits three times for causing wrongful deaths and injury.
Military force from the United States, Australian and the Philippines launched a barrage of high-precision rockets, artillery fire and airstrikes to sink a ship Wednesday as part of largescale war drills in waters facing the disputed South China Sea that have antagonized Beijing. Military officials and diplomats from several countries, along with journalists, watched the display of firepower from a hilltop along a sandy coast in Laoag City on Wednesday in Ilocos Norte, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s northern home province. More than 16,000 military personnel from the United States and the Philippines, backed by a few hundred Australian troops and military observers from 14 countries were participating in annual combat-readiness drills called Balikatan, Tagalog for shoulder-to-shoulder, which started on April 22 and will end on Friday.