September 2026
Martin McDonagh on being scared of John Malkovich, the CIA and ‘Wild Horse Nine’
TORONTO | Stop me if you’ve heard this before. Martin McDonagh has unveiled a dark comedy of mischievous wit and melancholy soulfulness, and it’s immediately been hailed as one of the best movies of the year. Yes, the British-Irish writer-director of “The Banshees of Inisherin,” “In Bruges” and “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” has been […]
One thing that hasn’t changed in 250 years: Americans’ willingness to get suckered
NEW YORK | America: land of possibility. And also: land of suckers. Our enduring belief that anything is possible — whether based in reality or not — has helped the nation become the world’s largest economy. It has also led us to fall head over heels for hucksters and charlatans, again and again. If so […]
A judge rejects Pamela Smart’s latest bid for a new trial in 1990 accomplice to murder case
CONCORD, N.H. | A New Hampshire judge on Thursday dismissed the latest petition for a new trial from Pamela Smart, who is serving life in prison for orchestrating the murder of her husband by her teenage student more than three decades ago. Smart, 59, was a 22-year-old high school media coordinator when she began an […]
Kennedy tells anti-vaccine activists they have a friend in Trump’s White House
WASHINGTON | Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. gave the keynote address Thursday at a conference of an anti-vaccine activist group he once chaired, telling the hundreds in attendance that they had a friend in President Donald Trump’s White House. It was Kennedy’s first time appearing at the Children’s Health Defense conference […]
Postal Service chief says work stopped on computer system key to Trump effort to limit mail voting
WASHINGTON | The top official at the U.S. Postal Service said Thursday that the agency has stopped work on developing a controversial computer system that was central to President Donald Trump’s effort to limit mail voting after the Supreme Court rejected his executive order this week. “There’s an injunction so we’re not doing anything,” postmaster […]
Former Syrian official convicted of torture under Assad sentenced to 60 years in US prison
LOS ANGELES | A former Syrian military official convicted of torturing prisoners during the rule of former President Bashar Assad was sentenced Thursday to 60 years in a U.S. prison after a federal judge recounted the “unimaginably cruel” details of his abuse. A jury in March found Samir Ousman Alsheikh guilty on all six counts […]
Anthropic says its model Claude is helping to build the next version of itself
Anthropic’s Claude is helping the company develop the next, more intelligent version of the model, the artificial intelligence lab said in an announcement Thursday. Claude is leading 26% of Anthropic’s model research and development, which the company said means it can complete most of a given task “end-to-end from a high-level prompt” while still being […]
Early voting begins in US midterm elections that could flip control of Congress
HENRICO, Va. | In-person voting for this year’s midterm elections began Friday, ushering in the final six weeks for Americans to decide which party they trust to lead Congress through a cost-of-living crisis, a prolonged war in Iran and other pressing issues. Election administrators say they are prepared and confident the vote will be accurate […]
Football: Late Patton field goal lifts Eaglecrest over Cherokee Trail in wild finish between unbeatens
Explosive plays, costly turnovers, huge momentum swings, pomp and circumstance, conference implications and a game-winning kick in the closing seconds all came into play Thursday night at Legacy Stadium when Eaglecrest secured a thrilling 29-27 Homecoming football win over Cherokee Trail.
BIZ BRIEFCASE: 85 Degrees hit the 100 mark in Aurora on Parker Road as the fans celebrated
News for and about the business community in the greater Aurora region Read more US-Canada trade war further taxes small businesses as costs rise during the Iran war Read more Why Yemen’s Houthis have only grown stronger through years of war Read more OpenAI flags concerning new AI behavior and vows to track it more […]