Plus: Nothing confirms over-ear headphones, there’s a new Xperia phone, and a striking transparent turntable from Audio-Technica catches our eye.https://www.wired.com/story/apple-and-googles-accessibility-tech-a-sony-xperia-and-huawei-watches-your-gear-news-of-the-week/
A family and pension-aged women were among the victims of a strike by a Russian Lancet attack drone on Saturday, said local authorities and President Zelensky.https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/05/17/sumy-bus-strike-russia-ukraine/
There are early signs that Pope Leo XIV is capitalizing on a moment of euphoria for Catholics and gaining traction within a divided church.https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/05/17/pope-leo-catholic-popularity-united-states/
The withering Israeli aerial campaign appeared to presage the ground operation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to launch if no ceasefire and hostage deal were struck by the time Trump returned to the U.S.https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/05/16/israel-gaza-conflict-escalates/
After dangling the possibility of his attendance, Trump said he would stay away but still wants to meet with Putin, further weakening the Istanbul talks.https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/05/16/russia-ukraine-talks-istanbul-peace/
Karim Khan, the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor, is pursuing cases against Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu.https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/05/16/karim-khan-international-criminal-court-putin-netanyahu/
The disruptive impact of artificial intelligence poses moral, ethical and spiritual questions. The new pope says the world’s largest church has answers.https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/05/16/pope-leo-ai-artificial-intelligence-catholic-church/
Seabirds have been fishing plastic from the ocean and feeding it to their chicks, researchers say. One bird was found to have ingested nearly 800 pieces.https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/05/16/birds-crunch-plastic-pollution-lord-howe/
Sunday’s presidential election in Romania could have significant implications for NATO and the European Union if the ultranationalist candidate wins.https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/05/16/simion-romania-presidential-elections-russia/
Pakistan’s generals are in an unexpectedly comfortable position after the ceasefire with India. But will they help bridge the country’s deep political divides?https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/05/16/pakistan-military-india-conflict-imran-khan/
Russia claims the hotels have housed military targets, but Reporters Without Borders says the attacks are aimed at reducing coverage of the war.https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/05/16/ukraine-russia-hotels-targeting-journalists/
As President Donald Trump’s Middle East sojourn drew to a close, a much-vaunted “grand bargain” bringing peace to a restive region was nowhere in sight.https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/05/16/trump-middle-east-israel-gaza/
The ramped up strikes began just hours after the Trump administration brokered the release on Monday of Edan Alexander in direct talks with Hamas.https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/05/15/israel-gaza-trump-middle-east/
The Trump administration is resettling Afrikaners in the United States after halting admission for other refugees. Here’s what to know.https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/05/15/white-south-africans-trump-racial-discrimination/
Rubio said the low level of the Russian delegation likely meant there would be no major breakthroughs for the first direct talks between the two sides in years.https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/05/15/ukraine-russia-direct-talks-istanbul/
Valeria Márquez was streaming on TikTok from a salon in Jalisco state, Mexico, when she was shot by a person not visible to the camera.https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/05/15/valeria-marquez-shooting-mexico-influencer-femicide/
President Donald Trump has falsely claimed the U.S. is alone in offering citizenship as a birthright. More than 30 countries do — but some have rolled it back.https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/01/22/birthright-citizenship-countries-trump-executive-order/
The new sunspot responsible for this powerful blast is rotating into view, which could bring more solar activity—and potential aurora-causing coronal mass ejections—to Earth in the coming dayshttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/strongest-solar-flare-of-the-year-causes-blackouts-around-the-world-180986643/
New research shows that the weapons found in Germany are much younger than previously thought, suggesting they were made by skilled Neanderthal craftspeoplehttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/nimble-minded-neanderthals-may-have-used-these-wooden-spears-to-hunt-200000-years-ago-180986620/
Snake wranglers safely relocated the healthy, female western diamondback from a backyard in Scottsdale, but they say the find is a first in their experiencehttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-eye-catching-rattlesnake-found-in-arizona-has-unusual-leopard-spots-likely-from-a-genetic-mutation-180986641/