Why China Is Requiring Ninth Graders to Read ‘Jane Eyre’

Private Effort Protects Reservoir: Landowner’s project restores creek; safeguards Kinkaid Lake water

Greg Reising began his conservation work on his 100-acre property near Kinkaid Lake in 1995. He transformed former agricultural land by establishing prairie vegetation and planting thousands of trees. Erosion and sedimentation problems in the Kinkaid Lake watershed led to broader conservation efforts involving various agencies. The Environmental Quality Incentives Program supported Reising's initiatives, including streambank stabilization and habitat improvement measures.

Ancient school where Aristotle taught Alexander the Great has been unearthed by archaeologists in Greece

In an extraordinary archaeological discovery in northern Greece, a gymnasium complex tied to Alexander the Great's education has emerged in Mieza. Believed to have been established by King Philip II, this site functioned as a prestigious institution for the elite. Recent excavations revealed various structures, including banquet halls used for social gatherings and teaching facilities, hinting at Aristotle's influence on students like Alexander.

8 US Marines hurt in previously unreported Iranian strikes; possible brain injuries

Meet Sully Sullenberger: He landed a plane on Hudson, saving 155 lives; gets top honour

OpenAI scraps rollout of new model over safety concerns

The firm also issued an update on incidents in which its models accessed Australian government systems.

Criminal case reopened in Cornell sexual assault case involving Korean student

SEATTLE — A Korean student named as one of seven defendants in a sexual assault lawsuit involving Cornell University is facing renewed scrutiny as prosecutors in New York are reopening the criminal investigation into the 2024 case. Winston Lee, widely believed to be a Korean national, is among seven current and former Cornell students accused in a civil lawsuit filed this month by a former student identified as Jane Doe. She alleges that she was drugged and sexually assaulted by multiple members of the Chi Phi fraternity at its house in October 2024. No criminal charges were filed following the initial police investigation, but Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten said Monday that his office has begun reconsidering whether charges should be pursued. “I have been asked by the community to revisit the decision whether to pursue criminal charges against the seven fraternity members,” Van Houten said in a statement. “I have already begun that process, starting with our conversation with Jane Doe and her attorneys.” Van Houten said his office intends to take the case

Wall St declines as oil spikes after Trump rejects Iran peace proposal

Wall Street's main indexes fell on Monday after President Donald Trump rejected an Iranian proposal to end the conflict, leading to a spike in crude prices that revived inflation worries and drove Treasury yields higher. Limiting declines was Nvidia's 2.1 percent gain after the chip giant announced a $150 billion share repurchase authorization, making it the company's biggest ever increase in share buybacks on record. Iran announced a peace proposal at last week's United Nations General Assembly in New York, saying it had been relayed to the United States through Qatari mediators. While Trump said on Saturday he had rejected the offer, he told Axios on Sunday that he expected U.S.negotiators to continue talks this week. Crude prices jumped 3 percent to around $107-a-barrel and weighed on Treasuries, sending longer-dated yields to fresh multi-decade highs. "Energy has been the one consistent upward pressure on inflation, and anything that continues to put pressure on inflation is going to be something that motivates the Fed to raise rates," Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley W

Senior NK diplomat says nuclear status can never be reversed 'in any circumstances'

WASHINGTON — A senior North Korean diplomat reiterated Monday that Pyongyang's status as a "nuclear weapons state" can never be reversed "in any circumstances" or "by any means," stressing that the claimed status has been "uncompromisingly and permanently fixed." Vice Foreign Minister Kim Son-gyong made the remarks in an address to the U.N. General Assembly in New York, defending North Korea's nuclear deterrent as an "irresistible" force to defend sovereignty and security against external threats. His remarks came a week after South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyon, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi reiterated their "resolute" commitment to the "complete" denuclearization of the North and called on the North to resume dialogue in a joint statement last week. "The DPRK's nuclear deterrent is the absolute might and irresistible force designed from A to Z to safeguard the sovereignty, security and peace against aggression and threat from outside," he said. DPRK stands for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Ko

China, US pledge tariff cuts on $60 bil. of goods including agriculture, toys, toasters

BEIJING — China and the United States said they will pursue tariff cuts on $60 billion worth of goods imported from each other, including products from U.S. corn to cosmetics, and from Chinese toys to household appliances, with some notable omissions on each side. Under the U.S.-China Board of Trade, both countries have each recommended $30 billion of trade in non-sensitive goods for more favourable tariff treatment, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a statement on Sunday night. For the United States, that was "unlocking improved market access" for about 30 percent of U.S. exports to China, he said. The reciprocal tariff reduction effort as well as an extension of a trade truce were among the key takeaways from the second summit this year between President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump, hosted in Washington last week. But statements from neither side indicated the extent of tariff reductions nor any timing for implementation. USTR said the $30 billion valuation for import product lists proposed by each country were based on 2024 import data. One of two lists

Contradicting Trump, Pope Leo says artificial intelligence safety concerns not 'fake news'

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE — Pope Leo XIV said Monday that concerns about artificial intelligence going rogue are not “fake news” and should be taken seriously, insisting that safety issues raised by AI experts should be discussed and acted on. Leo, who dedicated his first encyclical to AI and protecting humanity in its wake, was asked during a press conference about what the United States and China especially should be doing to prevent AI from posing catastrophic risks to humanity. U.S. President Donald Trump has called concerns about AI going rogue a “hoax.” “This is a problem that, I think, we need to sit down and talk about,” the American pope told reporters returning home from France. “We can’t just sit back and pretend nothing is going to happen.” Trump has been a champion of AI, often warning that the United States must remain ahead of China in the technological arms race. He has said efforts to limit the technology were part of a “conspiracy” by his political opponents. Several AI giants, including Anthropic, have called for a slowdown in development to give s

Anthropic's IPO prospectus shows sweeping AI vision, surging costs

Anthropic is making a massive bet that AI will transform the global economy more profoundly than industrialization, electricity and the internet, according to its IPO prospectus seen by Reuters. But the cost to get there will be staggering. Anthropic reported a net loss of $42 billion in 2025, and plans to spend $518 billion on cloud, computing and infrastructure obligations in coming year, according to the prospectus. The prospectus details how the company has grown sharply in the last year — while also posting wider losses. Revenue grew 12-fold in 2025 to nearly $4.6 billion, even as the company lost more than $8 billion on an operating basis, excluding writedowns of various liabilities mostly tied to previous fundraising, according to the documents, reported here for the first time. The public sale, which could value it at more than $2 trillion, would capitalize on the rapid rise of the AI startup lab that only came into existence five years ago, and establish it as a benchmark for how Wall Street values AI's leading companies, including rival OpenAI. The plans come as Anthropic con

Ukraine's Zelenskyy says North Korea prepares to deploy another 10,000 troops to Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday there are more than 8,000 North Korean troops on Russian territory and preparations are underway to deploy another 10,000 troops. Citing "new data" on the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia, Zelenskyy said they were "being selected for training and subsequent deployment to Russia." The Ukrainian president said in August that up to 50,000 North Korean soldiers could be sent to fight for Russia, and called on South Korea to provide support for Ukraine's air defence. South Korea announced in July a $100 million aid package for Ukraine, although it excluded lethal weapons. Zelenskyy's comments on Monday came after Seoul and Kyiv were at odds over his announcement last week that Ukraine had transferred two captured North Korean soldiers to South Korea. Seoul expressed regret over his announcement, citing an agreement to keep the transfer confidential. South Korea also protested against what it called a false statement from the Ukrainian presidential office denying that such a confidentiality agreement existed. North Korea has sent