In the news today: The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv remains closed Wednesday after a warning of a significant Russian air attack; Trump nominates TV host Dr. Mehmet Oz and wrestling mogul Linda McMahon for top roles; and dark energy may not be what it seems. Also, Berlin’s Christmas lights are inspired by the city's club scene.
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A boy rides a scooter past a display of destroyed Russian military vehicles in central Kyiv, Ukraine. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
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US Embassy in Kyiv shuts down after warning of ‘significant’ Russian air attack
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The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv said it would stay closed Wednesday after receiving a warning of a potentially significant Russian air attack on the Ukrainian capital. The precautionary step came after Russian officials promised a response to President Joe Biden’s decision to let Ukraine strike targets on Russian soil with U.S.-made missiles — a move that angered the Kremlin. Read more.
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Trump picks Dr. Mehmet Oz to run Medicare and Medicaid and Linda McMahon for Education
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President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday tapped billionaire professional wrestling mogul Linda McMahon to be secretary of the Education Department. He also selected Dr. Mehmet Oz, a former television talk show host and heart surgeon, to head the agency that oversees health insurance programs for millions of Americans. Read more.
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McMahon led the Small Business Administration during Trump’s initial term from 2017 to 2019 and twice ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for the U.S. Senate in Connecticut. She’s seen as a relative unknown in education circles, though she has expressed support for charter schools and school choice.
Oz, who ran a failed 2022 bid to represent Pennsylvania in the U.S. Senate, has been an outspoken supporter of Trump and in recent days expressed support for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination for the nation’s top health agency. If confirmed by the Senate, Oz would be responsible for the programs — Medicaid, Medicare and the Affordable Care Act — that more than half the country relies on for health insurance.
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The dark energy pushing our universe apart may not be what it seems, scientists say
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Distant, ancient galaxies are giving scientists more hints that a mysterious force called dark energy may not be what they thought. Read more. |
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Astronomers know that the universe is being pushed apart at an accelerating rate and they have puzzled for decades over what could possibly be speeding everything up. They theorize that a powerful, constant force is at play, but they can’t see it and they don’t know where it comes from, so they call it dark energy.
But findings published earlier this year and a newer analysis on Tuesday by an international research collaboration of more than 900 scientists from around the globe yielded a major surprise. As the scientists analyzed how galaxies move, they found that the force pushing or pulling them around did not seem to be constant.
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Instead of the theorized constant force, the energy appears to be changing or weakening over time and could mean that dark energy is very different than what scientists thought — or that there may be something else altogether going on.
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A polar bear cub walks along rocks toward its mother, Aug. 7, 2024, near Churchill, Manitoba. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)
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Polar bears live next door, and Churchill, Canada, loves it
It’s the beginning of polar bear season in a tiny town on a spit of land jutting into Hudson Bay, and keeping tourists safe from hungry bears is an essential job for many. It’s become harder as climate change shrinks the Arctic sea ice the bears depend on to hunt, forcing them inland earlier and more often. But this remote town not only lives with the predator next door, but depends upon and even loves it.
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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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