A new poll shows Xavier Becerra with a hefty lead in the California governor's race. Voters also expressed strong opposition to AI data centers and nuanced views on environmental policies and affordability.

Is the war entering a new phase? Ukrainian officials say the capital city of Kyiv has endured a major Russian assault as ballistic missiles rained down on multiple districts, setting off explosions. Writing on Telegram early on Thursday, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that emergency services were battling blazes across the capital after a warehouse in the Sviatoshynskyi district and a non-residential building in the Darnytskyi district were hit. He added that falling missile debris had also struck a non-residential development area in Darnytsia, triggering additional fires. Ukraine's Air Force Command later confirmed that the immediate threat was lifted after approximately one hour.

The Trump administration has not disclosed its cost estimates for the Iran war. President Donald Trump restarted the Iran conflict with days of missile strikes, and US intelligence officials now estimate the total military cost of the war for the Pentagon could exceed $100 billion, according to two people directly familiar with the matter. The officials were tracking the total cost of Operation Epic Fury to be in the $50 to $100 billion range at the end of May, dovetailing with confidential congressional estimates putting the costs to date at around $80 billion. The Trump administration has not disclosed its cost estimates for the Iran war. In June the White House made a request for $88 billion to cover some of the costs of the war, but even that is an undercounting, the people say.

President Donald Trump says Vladimir Putin is "ready to make a deal" to end the Ukraine war, even as Russia warns Western troops enforcing any ceasefire would become military targets.

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Long-range drone and missile strikes on Russian soil have shifted the balance of the conflict--will they be enough to end it? In recent weeks, Donald Trump--whose attitude toward Ukraine and its President, Volodymyr Zelensky, has been notoriously fickle, when not outright hostile --has appeared to warm to Ukraine's chances in the war with Russia. On the sidelines of the summit in Ankara, he met with Zelensky and later spoke of him in flattering terms, declaring "We've actually developed a good relationship. Trump has a history of favoring those he perceives as winners, and his change in attitude regarding Ukraine seems driven by the country's newfound ability to strike targets deep inside Russia--"an escalation that can help lead to an end," Trump said. In Ankara, Zelensky, the inveterate entertainer, riffed on a question from Trump, who asked if Zelensky would consider travelling to Moscow for direct talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. That would be dangerous, Zelensky ...

OpenAI employees have donated more than $215,000 to a political effort opposing Leading the Future, a group backed by the company's president, Greg Brockman. A group of rank-and-file OpenAI employees have donated more than $215,000 to a super PAC pushing for stricter regulations on frontier AI labs. Guardrails Alliance, which launched last month with $5 million in total initial funding, bills itself as a populist effort supported by tech workers, labor unions, and other groups. It's aiming to be a counterweight to Leading the Future, a pro-AI industry super PAC bankrolled with more than $100 million from technology industry leaders, including OpenAI president and cofounder Greg Brockman. Seven current OpenAI employees have donated to Guardrails Alliance, as well as one former employee, WIRED has learned.

Is the war entering a new phase? Several people have been killed in Russian attacks on port infrastructure in Odesa and Mykolaiv, and Ukraine said it launched drone strikes on 20 Russian vessels as the warring sides escalated their battle over the Black Sea and key trade routes. Odesa region Governor Oleh Kiper said on Wednesday that a "massive" Russian drone and missile attack on the southern region continued for a fifth day, with civilian, industrial and port infrastructure coming under attack. Russia's Ministry of Defence confirmed the strikes on the Odesa and Chernomorsk ports, saying Russian forces targeted infrastructure facilities that it claims are used to store fuel and assemble drones. Russia in recent days has stepped up attacks on Ukraine's Black Sea ports in the Greater Odesa area, which handle much of the country's grain and other cargo and are vital to its wartime economy.

Anguished family of teenager murdered at New Year's Eve party in 1982 reveal killer's final act of cruelty as he takes crucial detail to the grave after being executed in Florida Trump outlines plan to destroy Iran's power plants and bridges next week as he warns bombing will continue until he says'enough' DR PHIL: I've reviewed hundreds of secret government UFO videos and files that have been actively hidden from the public... what I can now reveal about non-human life and this psyop cover-up could spark a national crisis Heiress' $2m Aspen wedding was'horrific nightmare' that sparked the mother of all lawsuits before a bombshell divorce... Now she'll try again with new hunk Truth about Alix Earle's revolving door of famous men: Friends insist it's just a'hot girl summer' of one-time flings... but now insiders blow lid on her desperate secret and jaw-dropping ulterior motive Matt Damon reveals'new phase of life' as he brings wife and rarely seen daughter, 20, to The Odyssey ...

Complainants claim that their works on Google Play Books were not licensed for use in training Gemini. Complainants claim that their works on Google Play Books were not licensed for use in training Gemini. The case, filed in federal court in New York, has been brought by three publishers - Hachette Book Group, Cengage Learning, and Elsevier - and bestselling American author Scott Turow. The publishers argue that Google repurposed books that had been supplied for limited services such as Google Books, Google Play Books and Google Scholar. Those services allowed Google to use the works in specific ways - for example, to display searchable snippets or sell ebooks - but not, the lawsuit claims, to copy them for training commercial AI products.