The United States will suspend the planned export of hundreds of air defense munitions to its allies and partners and redirect them to Ukraine, the White House said Thursday, as Russia continues its assault on the country’s power grid and other vital infrastructure. Speaking to reporters, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby characterized the decision as “difficult but necessary,” and said it would affect deliveries of Patriot and NASAMS interceptor missiles, principally. Ukraine, he said, faces a “desperate” need. “We have, of course, informed all the affected countries that weRead More

Thunderstorms could threaten parts of New Mexico with more flash flooding on Thursday, forecasters said, after heavy rain complicated efforts from firefighters to contain two fast-moving wildfires that have killed two people and prompted the evacuation of thousands of residents. The rain could help control the blazes, authorities said, which were still expected to burn for several days. But it also presented its own dangers, prompting the evacuation of some emergency crews to higher ground on Wednesday as water levels rose. Parts of New Mexico, including Mora County and SanRead More

Washington CNN  —  On a Supreme Court where the conservative supermajority increasingly leans on history as a guide, a dispute may be simmering over how many modern cases can be resolved by looking to the nation’s past. Though Justice Clarence Thomas’ decision in a major trademark case last week was unanimous, it prompted a sharp debate led by Justice Amy Coney Barrett over the use of history to decide the case. Barrett, the newest conservative on the court, accused Thomas, the most senior associate justice, of a “laser-like focus onRead More

MOSCOW (AP) — A court in Russia’s far eastern city of Vladivostok on Wednesday convicted a visiting American soldier of stealing and making threats of murder, and it sentenced him to three years and nine months in prison. Staff Sgt. Gordon Black, 34, flew to the Pacific port city to see his girlfriend and was arrested last month after she accused him of stealing from her, according to U.S. officials and Russian authorities. Russia’s state news agencies Tass and RIA Novosti reported that the judge in Pervomaisky District Court inRead More