just now (59+ words) Russia says three people killed and 10 injured in attack on Rostov region, while Ukraine says attack on Kyiv killed two. Russia says three people killed and 10 injured in attack on Rostov region, while Ukraine says attack on Kyiv killed two. Zelenskyy says Kyiv seeking compromises that strengthen Ukraine, not weaken it By Tim Hume and Rory Sullivan...

2+ min ago (874+ words) The richest man on earth owns X. The family of the second-richest man owns Paramount, which owns CBS " and could soon own Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns CNN. The third-richest man owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. The fourth-richest man owns The Washington Post and Amazon MGM Studios. Another billionaire owns Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, and the New York Post. Why are the ultra-rich buying up so much of the media? Vanity may play a part, but there's a more pragmatic " some might say sinister " reason. As vast wealth concentrates in the hands of a few, this small group of the ultra-wealthy may rationally fear that a majority of voters could try to confiscate their wealth " through, for example, a wealth tax. But rather than rely on Republicans, a more reliable means of stopping majorities from targeting your riches might…...

15+ min ago (460+ words) In recent days, five U.S. senators and two representatives requested documents from the Department of Homeland Security and a formal investigation into how a firm closely tied to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem ended up receiving money from a $220 million, taxpayer-funded ad campaign. The demands came in response to a ProPublica story this month that revealed that the Republican consulting firm had been secretly working on the ads, which star Noem. The company, called the Strategy Group, has long-standing personal and business ties to Noem and her senior aides at DHS. Its CEO is married to Noem's chief spokesperson at DHS. Under Noem, DHS bypassed the normal competitive bidding process when awarding the contracts " allocating the majority of the money to a mysterious Delaware LLC that was created days before the deal was finalized. The Strategy Group does not appear on public…...

16+ min ago (1720+ words) A Jacobean-era man and woman standing romantically in a forest. The curiosity that drove the Irish novelist Maggie O'Farrell to write her bestselling 2020 novel Hamnet sprang from the scarcity of documentation about the book's title character, Hamnet Shakespeare. Born in 1585 to William and Anne Shakespeare, the twin brother to a girl named Judith, Hamnet died of unknown causes in 1596, the only one of the Shakespeares' three children not to reach adulthood. But for the records of his christening and his burial in the Stratford-upon-Avon parish registers, Hamnet's 11 years on earth remain a tantalizing blank, one of those countless human existences that are legible to us now only in the form of a bookended pair of dates. And yet, because Hamnet happened to have a father who spent his life creating characters that four centuries on remain as legible and as…...

26+ min ago (590+ words) Ukrainians know Donald Trump's Ukraine deal is a betrayal, even if Volodymyr Zelensky and others have to keep flattering Trump in the hope he changes his mind. Negotiated between American billionaire Steve Witkoff and Russian oligarch Kirill Dmitriev without Ukrainian or European participation, the proposed deal gives Russia even more territory, forces Ukraine to shrink its army, and prevents the country joining NATO. Its guarantees of future Ukraine security could easily melt away as did those Russia, the US and European nations made when Ukraine gave up its nuclear weapons in 1994. The treaty is culmination of Trump's undermining of Ukraine, from his first cancellations of Biden-era military support to validating Valdimir Putin's claims to Ukrainian territory. It's tempting to simply mourn, but those of us who've opposed Russia's invasion from the start can do more than just play the role…...

26+ min ago (93+ words) The Trump administration's proposed plan is fairly vague'but it would result in a clear victor. The Trump administration has announced a 28-point plan to end the war in Ukraine that involves ceding territory, giving up on joining NATO and reducing its military'in essence an extremely, even suspiciously, friendly deal for Russia and Russian demands. How does Ukraine play this without losing a powerful ally or the war? Guest: Fred Kaplan, Slate's War Stories correspondent. Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther....

43+ min ago (473+ words) Mark Kelly aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour prior to a simulated launch countdown in November 2001. The US Department of Defense on Monday announced it was launching an investigation into a Democratic senator who had participating in a video warning active-duty troops to not follow illegal orders given by President Donald Trump. In a social media post, the DoD said it had "received serious allegations of misconduct" against Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), a retired US Navy captain who was one of several Democrats with backgrounds in national defense to speak out against the president potentially giving unlawful orders that pit the US military against American civilians. As a result of the investigation, the DoD said that Kelly could be recalled to active duty to face potential court-martial proceedings for violating the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). "All servicemembers are reminded that…...

56+ min ago (539+ words) The Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles has fired a longtime employee nearly five years after investigators found he used his position to garner steep discounts on cars he bought from a towing company, according to a termination letter obtained last week. In total, DMV investigators found that from 2015 to 2019, D&L sold 15 vehicles to an investment firm owned by Stefanski, who had worked for the agency since 1999 and was then a document examiner in the DMV's main office. In one case, Stefanski bought a Cadillac for $1,000 and sold it for $17,500. The car was eventually sold by another company for $23,250. But the DMV did not discipline Stefanski or issue fines against D&L in the years after the investigation. The agency declined to comment on the firing and declined to answer specific questions about the investigation. Stefanski was placed on paid…...

57+ min ago (1132+ words) U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) speaks at a campaign event of Republican vice presidential nominee U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-OH) in Lindale, Georgia, U.S., October 4, 2024. REUTERS/Megan Varner Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene surprised me Friday by announcing her resignation from the Congress effective January 5. I was surprised, because just a few days prior she flexed her muscle when she got the president to step off. She had been demanding the release of the Epstein files. Donald Trump called her a traitor. Though she got death threats, she didn't budge. Then, last Monday, he caved. CNN's Dana Bash said their feud was the breakup heard around the world. That seemed confirmed by Greene's resignation. Trump called her a RINO (Republican in Name Only). He pledged support for a primary challenger. Indeed, it appeared she is similar to many moderate Republicans, a casualty…...

1+ hour, 15+ min ago (319+ words) The GOP may "return to the status quo" after Donald Trump finishes his second term in the White House. He wrote, "The schisms underscore the growing fragility of the nascent coalition in the waning days of its founder. But the idea that the party can go back to some kind of status quo that existed before Mr. Trump is fanciful." Baker also believes the MAGA faction of the GOP "seems slightly lost" after Marjorie Taylor Greene announced her resignation. Trump had called his one-time close ally a "traitor" after she was one of the first to break rank and back the release of the Epstein files. Trouble for the MAGA wing of the party may come to a head sooner than expected, with a "crack" never in doubt for the devoted Trump followers. Baker added, "That the MAGA coalition would…...