Russian forces pushed deeper into Ukraine�s besieged and battered port city of Mariupol on Saturday, where heavy fighting shut down a major steel plant and local authorities pleaded for more Western help. The fall of Mariupol, the scene of some of the war�s worst suffering, would mark a major battlefield advance for the Russians, who […]

Until the missiles struck within walking distance of the cathedrals and cafes downtown, Ukraine�s cultural capital was a city that could feel distant from the war. The early panic had eased, and the growing response to morning air raid sirens was not to head downstairs but roll over in bed. But Friday�s Russian airstrikes at […]

Since the shelling began to intensify in Kyiv and Kharkiv about a week ago, Julia Entin has been working feverishly � thousands of miles away in Los Angeles � to evacuate Holocaust survivors in Ukraine who find themselves trapped in yet another conflict. For the last six years, the 39-year-old paralegal at Beth Tzedek Legal […]

Afghanistan is the unhappiest country in the world � even before the Taliban swept to power last August. That�s according to a so-called World Happiness report released ahead of the U.N.-designated International Day of Happiness on Sunday. The annual report ranked Afghanistan as last among 149 countries surveyed, with a happiness rate of just 2.5. […]

Russia was massing troops on the border with Ukraine when an increasingly desperate Cesar Quintana went to the U.S. embassy in Kyiv in December to plead for a passport for

Four U.S. Marines were killed when their Osprey aircraft crashed in a Norwegian town in the Arctic Circle during a NATO exercise unrelated to Russia�s war in Ukraine, authorities said Saturday. Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere tweeted that they died in the crash on Friday night. The cause was under investigation, but Norwegian police […]

Alaska Rep. Don Young, who was the longest-serving Republican in the history of the U.S. House, has died. He was 88. His office announced Young�s death in a statement Friday night. �It�s with heavy hearts and deep sadness that we announce Congressman Don Young (R-AK), the Dean of the House and revered champion for Alaska, […]

Fire crews in Texas made progress Saturday against a massive complex of wildfires that have killed a deputy sheriff and burned at least 50 homes, officials said. �Progress has been made, but fire activity has picked up with rising temperatures and lower humidity,� said Matt Ford, spokesperson for Texas A&M Forest Services. He said about […]