In the news today: 24 hours of life in Ukraine as the war hits a grim milestone; Pennsylvania’s high court rules disputed ballots should not be counted; and though Osprey safety issues have spiked and can turn deadly, pilots still want to fly them. Also, a teen Buddhist lama celebrates his birthday before joining a monastery in the Himalayas.
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(AP Photos/Mykola Tys, Anton Shtuka, Alex Babenko, George Ivanchenko, Nina Lyashonok)
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A single day in Ukraine shows the reality of life as the war hits 1,000 days
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The Associated Press fanned out across Ukraine to chronicle a typical 24 hours of life just as the country was about to mark a grim milestone Tuesday: 1,000 days since Russia’s full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022. Read more. |
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Nearly three years after Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine, the outlook is again grim. Russia is expending huge amounts of weaponry and human life to make small-but-steady territorial gains to the nearly one-fifth of Ukraine it already controls. Ukraine, meanwhile, is struggling to minimize losses, maintain morale and persuade allies that, with more military aid, it can turn the tide.
As this brutal war of attrition grinds toward its 1,000th day, neither side seems eager to negotiate. President-elect Donald Trump has said he could quickly end the war, though it is unclear how or in whose favor he might tip the scales. For Ukraine, the key to any cease-fire would be guarantees from the West that it won’t allow Russia to re-invade in the future.
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Pennsylvania’s high court orders counties not to count disputed ballots in US Senate race
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Pennsylvania’s state Supreme Court on Monday weighed in on ongoing vote counting in the U.S. Senate election between Democratic Sen. Bob Casey and Republican David McCormick, ordering counties not to count mail-in ballots that lack a correct handwritten date on the return envelope. Statewide, the number of mail-in ballots with wrong or missing dates on the return envelope could be in the thousands. Read more.
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The order is a win for McCormick and a loss for Casey as the campaigns prepare for a statewide recount and press counties for favorable ballot-counting decisions while election workers are sorting through thousands of provisional ballots. McCormick’s campaign called it a “massive setback” for Casey.
The Associated Press called the race for McCormick last week, concluding that not enough ballots remained to be counted in areas Casey was winning for him to take the lead. As of Monday, McCormick led by about 17,000 votes out of almost 7 million ballots counted — inside the 0.5% margin threshold to trigger an automatic statewide recount under Pennsylvania law.
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Osprey accidents are often tied to its design. Pilots still want to fly it
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An AP investigation has found safety issues have spiked with the U.S. military's Osprey aircraft over the past five years, and even a minor mistake by a pilot can turn deadly. Read more. |
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The Pentagon bought the V-22 Osprey more than 30 years ago as a lethal hybrid, with the speed of an airplane and the maneuverability of a helicopter. Since then, 64 personnel have been killed and 93 injured in more than 21 major accidents.
The AP found that the top three most serious types of incidents rose 46% between 2019 and 2023, while overall safety issues jumped 18% in the same period before the fleet was grounded. Yet current and former Osprey pilots — even those who have lost friends in accidents or been in crashes themselves — are some of the aircraft’s greatest defenders.
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Unlike other aircraft, the Osprey’s problems have not leveled off as the years passed. Instead they spiked — even as the number of hours flown have dropped. Many of those incidents can be directly tied to the aircraft’s design, experts said. Parts are wearing out faster than planned, and it’s so complex that a minor mistake by a pilot can turn deadly. While some aspects of the Osprey are now getting modified to make it more reliable, it’s unlikely the Osprey’s core design will change.
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Madison Chock and Evan Bates at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating series in Tokyo, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)
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One Extraordinary Photo: An AP photographer captures two skaters in a frozen moment
Photographer Hiro Komae got his start as a contractor in the Tokyo bureau in 2008. He became a full-time AP employee five years later and is currently a photo editor and photographer based in Tokyo where he covers news, sports and everyday life. Here is what he had to say about this extraordinary photo. |
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Please let us know what you think of this newsletter. You can sign up for more and invite a friend here. For news in real time visit APNews.com. - Sarah
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