The landmark mission, dubbed Artemis II, is on track to lift off as soon as February. Instead, Artemis II aims to test and verify the various systems and components of the crew’s spacecraft, called Orion. Isaac Watson/NASAUnlike the Apollo missions that entered low-lunar orbit, Artemis II will use a flight path better suited to Orion’s design and mass. Darlene Beville of contractor ASRC Federal inspects the Artemis II heat shield in July 2020. The next giant leapThe Artemis II astronauts will be far from passive passengers during their 10-day trek.

A recent meeting of the New York City Council rekindled hope among many New Yorkers and EMS professionals that the creation of an independent New York City EMS Department might finally become a reality [1]. In 2022 alone, EMS professionals in New York City experienced 363 workplace assaults or violent threats [4]. New York City EMS professionals could achieve similar results. An independent New York City EMS Department would not be a luxury. The question is no longer whether New York City can afford an independent EMS Department, but whether it can afford not to build one.

Russia holds a glitzy reopening at site of atrocityA theater bombed by Russia in 2022 has reopened to the public in the Russia-controlled Donetsk region of Ukraine. Hundreds of civilians were killed in the airstrike on The Mariupol Drama Theatre, though Russia denies any involvement in the attack.

Prosecutors announced the decision Tuesday afternoon, releasing a report that cleared the officers involved of wrongdoing when they opened fire. Footage released by Huntington Park police showed three officers — Munoz, Volasgis and Freddy Ramirez — arriving on the scene and approaching Lowe as he tried to wheel away. Lowe picked up the knife and began hobbling away on his knees as officers trained their guns at him. 's report, Volasgis told investigators he feared for his life and that of his police colleagues, drawing on his prior training that a knife can be thrown 10-15 feet away. Volasgis was not one of the officers who fired, but was named in a lawsuit brought by Keunang’s family.

Gavin Newsom and White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller swap their hairstyles? AdvertisementBut hope and humor are what make life worth living, and President Trump makes Kissinger seem as inoffensive as Bluey. Rick Caruso decides not to run for California governor or mayor of Los Angeles when he realizes JD Vance has a better chance of winning than he does. Instead, the developer challenges L.A. City Councilmember Traci Park and easily beats her by spending $538 million. NASA announces that a meteor is headed toward Los Angeles, leading Mayor Karen Bass to successfully order the evacuation of the city for everyone except her.

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Every hint, nudge and outright answer you need to complete today's NYT Strands puzzle. Today's NYT Strands hints are easy if you love going in circles. NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal? Today's NYT Strands spangram is horizontal. NYT Strands spangram answer todayToday's spangram is Round and Round.

A Barnes & Noble bookstore is slated to open in Turlock in May of 2026, filling a vacancy for city bibliophiles that has existed since Lightly Used Books closed its doors in March. Barnes & Noble has a location in Modesto, and had one in Merced until 2024. Shortly before the pandemic, Barnes & Noble seemed destined for a fate similar to Borders, as online giant Amazon grew to dominate the bookselling business. According to a report in Forbes magazine, Barnes & Noble reported a loss of $125 million on revenue of $3.7 billion for the 2018 fiscal year, and lost more than $1 billion in market value since 2014. The Barnes & Noble reins, according to Forbes, were handed to Waterstones CEO James Daunt, who nursed Barnes & Noble back to health and opened more than 60 new stores this year, with plans to open the same number in 2026.

Right-wing talking heads like Megyn Kelly and Mark Levin once reserved their sharpest slings for liberals, immigrants and Joe Biden. Kelly, a former Fox News anchor and NBC host, has been engaged in an increasingly ugly social-media shootout with her former Fox News colleague Mark Levin, the longtime host of the syndicated The Mark Levin Show and star of Fox News’ weekend staple Life, Liberty & Levin. “You’re just upset bc I’m not afraid of you or your baseless slurs,” she quickly clapped back on her former Fox News colleague. At Fox, where Kelly once served as a popular primetime anchor, the network’s usually voluble anchors have stayed silent as their onetime colleagues battle it out. Who you gonna root for in that fight?” one longtime Fox News producer wryly tells The Hollywood Reporter.

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Advertisement“I think this rollout, first of all, was never meant to be a rollout,” she told Murray. AdvertisementWhile mounting pressure from his own base and bipartisan support for the transparency act led Trump to sign the bill into law, his administration has failed to meet the 30-day deadline, as only a fraction of the Epstein files have been released. Greene said Trump told her his “friends will get hurt” if she does. There’s no monogram.”“It’s just wild to me,” Bensky added about his dismissal of an Oval Office invite. So when we say ‘the people’s house,’ you’re talking about survivors.

AdvertisementEven though the federal minimum wage remains just $7.25 per hour, a majority of states now require employers to pay a higher rate. That strategy has been successful in several red states, including Nebraska and Missouri, where Republican politicians have been reluctant to raise the minimum wage due to business lobbying. Referendums on the minimum wage tend to pass easily due to their popularity even among conservative voters. Twenty states are on their way to a $15 minimum wage if they haven’t reached it already. “Right now, the federal minimum wage, if you index it for inflation, or relative to inflation, it’s the lowest level since the 1940s,” Hawley told HuffPost at the time.

A worker boards up a Sephora store off Colorado Boulevard ahead of the Rose Parade on Wednesday. Lightning typically seeks the highest conductive point, raising concerns in large open areas with bleacher-seated crowds and steel-framed parade floats. (National Weather Service)Pasadena spokesperson Lisa Derderian said that parade organizers were preparing responses to different weather scenarios and would have a meteorologist present during the parade. Parade organizers have urged spectators to bring a rain jacket or poncho instead. AdvertisementUrban flooding remains a risk in Pasadena and throughout Los Angeles, Lewis said.

Wandering wallaby's escape ends at Walmart Rex was missing for nearly a day before being returned to the petting zoo and animal sanctuary in Williamstown, New Jersey, from which he escaped.

Starbucks – the unfathomably woke coffee empire that takes up 90% of local real estate – just did America a massive favor on the eve of 2026. I'm giving Starbucks props, which is so against everything I stand for I can't even believe what I'm saying. Now, to be fair, equally woke ChatGPT tells me that there are, roughly, 17,000 Starbucks locations in America as of Dec. 2025. But that doesn't change the fact that Starbucks is overpriced, way too strong of a brew, and, again, insufferably woke. Fair is fair, and I have to be fair here.