Uncategorized
Russian barrage in Ukraine’s capital region kills 17 as air defenses fall short
KYIV, Ukraine | Russian attacks on Kyiv and its surrounding region killed 17 people and wounded dozens, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday, as Ukraine’s depleted air defenses failed to stop any of Moscow’s incoming missiles overnight. The barrage, which lasted about two hours, was the latest in a series of large-scale Russian missile strikes that […]
Aurora plans $1.9 million accessibility update for City Council chambers
AURORA | Plans are underway for a $1.9 million accessibility update for the city council chambers to bring the space in line with federal standards. Earlier this year, the city identified a number of accessibility issues with the council chambers not meeting the standards defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act and, in July, brought […]
Blossom of snow: A starry symbol of the Alps makes an unusual addition to rock gardens
If you’re looking to plant a rare flower with a storied past that’s had a well-known song written about it, edelweiss will check all your boxes. My mother grew up in northeastern Italy, just over the Austrian border near the Alps, where edelweiss grow wild along steep rocky ledges. When I was a child, she […]
Music Review: Ariana Grande’s ‘Petal’ displays a pop star at her most restrained
NEW YORK | Gone is the big-belter Ariana Grande. On “Petal,” her eighth studio album and first full-length release since both the end of her “Wicked” run and 2024’s “Eternal Sunshine,” the pop powerhouse looks inward across 12 tracks of real restraint. Lead single “Hate That I Made You Love Me,” with its muted reception […]
School backpack overload: Heavy bags can strain kids’ bodies
Backpacks can be fashionable and functional, but they can also be too heavy — weighed down by digital devices, musical instruments, sports equipment and more. Some kids carry home a laptop or tablet and textbooks, too. It’s good to be prepared, but kids who walk to school or participate in extracurricular activities may be lugging […]
UN, scientists warn that strong El Nino will add fuel to ‘a planet already on fire’
UNITED NATIONS | A strengthening El Nino has already broken records for intensity at its early stages, and it likely will spark even more wild weather worldwide as it grows, “adding fuel to a planet already on fire,” United Nations officials warned Friday. A key area of the Pacific Ocean used to measure the strength […]
Oystercatchers, known for sharp bills and beady eyes, are making a comeback thanks to conservation
SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. | On a pristine Rhode Island beach teeming with noisy seabirds, a group of biologists armed with nets sneak up on a pair of American oystercatcher chicks. But just as they move in to capture them, one of the football-size birds, with bright-orange bills and long legs, scampers into a coastal salt […]
Ancient mummy DNA provides scientific evidence that colonization brought smallpox to the Americas
NEW YORK | Ancient mummy DNA recovered in Chile has yielded the firmest evidence yet that European colonization brought smallpox to the Americas. Smallpox was one of the deadliest diseases in human history before it was eradicated in 1980, largely thanks to vaccination. For centuries, the virus had killed about one-third of the people it […]
Music Review: Charli xcx remains one of pop’s great contrarians on ‘Music, Fashion, Film’
NEW YORK | When Charli xcx released the barely two-minute, glitched-out “Rock Music,” the first single from “Music, Fashion, Film,” she was almost immediately labeled a provocateur. The song, with its hyperpop affectations and cheeky, lyrical dedication to craft — “I think the dance floor is dead/So now we’re making rock music” — confused and […]
Trump’s arch could harm the integrity of many of Washington’s historical sites, report says
WASHINGTON | President Donald Trump’s proposed 250-foot-tall (76-meter) memorial arch could disrupt the historical significance of dozens of sites near its planned location, according to an assessment by the National Park Service. Many of Washington’s monuments, buildings and sites have been carefully planned over decades to reflect significant moments in the nation’s history and evoke […]