Ukrainian drones have struck energy and industrial targets across several Russian regions, Russian authorities say, in an escalating campaign of strikes against infrastructure. In Saratov, a region on the Volga River with several oil refineries that has come under regular Ukrainian attack in recent years, Governor Roman Busargin said on Sunday on Telegram that "civil infrastructure" had been damaged in the overnight strikes. In the Kirov region, northeast of Moscow and about 1,300km (800 miles) from Ukraine, Governor Alexander Sokolov said drones had hit a facility in the Urzhumsky district. The Ukrainian army confirmed the attack, saying it had also hit the Lazarevo oil-pumping station in the region. Governors in the Rostov, Voronezh and Belgorod regions, all of which border Ukraine, also reported strikes, and three civilians were injured in Belgorod.

Unhinged I'm About to Go on a Date With a New Woman. I Know Something About Her--and She Doesn't Know I Know. I don't want to scare her away. I'm not sure what the proper etiquette is for acknowledging that you've recognized a mildly famous person when you match with them on a dating app. This is now the third time this has happened to me.

For all the constant buzz around AI, broad-based announcements about how AI has boosted profits are noticeably missing. The reason for this loud silence: it hasn't happened--yet. AI is not an immaterial vapor hovering above the economy. The models that will power future change run on a foundation of physical inputs: cables, turbines, chips, and copper. These are bought and sold all over the world.

In the race against China for AI supremacy, the United States dominates when it comes to access to the most cutting-edge semiconductors. But when it comes to powering the huge data centres that run on AI chips, China holds the clear advantage. A typical data centre can consume as much electricity as 100,000 households, while next-generation "hyperscale" facilities can gobble up as much power as two million homes, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). China's access to an abundant supply of cheap electricity places it in the ideal position to meet such colossal energy demands. China already generates more than twice as much electricity as the US, a lead that is expected to widen amid an aggressive state-led investment in the country's energy grid.

Pope Leo XIV attends the presentation of his first Encyclical Letter Magnifica Humanitas in The Vatican on May 25, 2026. Pope Leo XIV attends the presentation of his first Encyclical Letter Magnifica Humanitas in The Vatican on May 25, 2026. Over the past year, Pope Leo XIV and President Donald Trump have clashed several times in the press, including on the Iran War, nuclear weapons, and immigration. On Monday, Leo potentially opened a new front: AI. Leo's new encyclical --a 42,300-word open letter to the world's 1.4 billion Catholics about preserving dignity in a tech age--never mentions Trump at all.

You probably wouldn't notice if an AI chatbot slipped ads into its responses Hundreds of millions of people consult artificial intelligence chatbots on a daily basis for everything from product recommendations to romance, making them a tempting audience to target with potentially below-the-radar advertising. Indeed, our research suggests AI chatbots could easily be used for covert advertising to manipulate their human users. We are computer scientists who have been tracking AI safety and privacy for several years. In a study we published in an Association for Computing Machinery journal, we found that chatbots trained to embed personalized product ads in replies to queries influenced people's choices about products. And most participants didn't recognize that they were being manipulated.

Taiwan's economy is booming thanks to AI. For Li, an engineer at Taiwanese computer giant ASUS, the AI boom sweeping Taiwan has made it an exciting time to work in tech. Taiwan is a semiconductor powerhouse, producing about 90 percent of the most advanced chips used to power leading AI models such as ChatGPT and Claude. Still, Li worries that the spoils of Taiwan's AI windfall are not being shared equally. "Most industries unrelated to tech don't seem to be feeling the benefits, so it doesn't feel evenly distributed at the moment," Li said, explaining that many of his former classmates working outside of tech do not appear to be doing as well.

AI Tools Are Transforming Muslim Worship. Tarique Kazi used to recite the Quran to his mother. Kazi is a 32-year-old Houston-based Muslim and teacher of hifdh--the Islamic practice of memorizing the Quran in order to deepen faith. For Kazi, the hours he spent with his mother studying the sacred text were among his most cherished. "It was the most beautiful thing that I always looked forward to my mom giving me feedback, telling me how I did," he tells TIME.

Tech billionaire Elon Musk's SpaceX is preparing to list its shares on the US-based Nasdaq in what will be the most hotly anticipated initial public offering (IPO) in years. Here's everything you need to know about the deal: Founded in 2002 by Musk, now the world's richest man, SpaceX is best known for designing and launching rockets, spacecraft and reusable launch vehicles. Since 2006, the company has partnered with NASA to deliver cargo and crew to the International Space Station (ISS). The Texas-based company has also launched rockets, satellites and spacecraft for various private companies. As well as its aerospace business, SpaceX provides internet services and artificial intelligence platforms through its dedicated divisions, Starlink and xAI.

I was skeptical about ChatGPT and Claude at first. Then I started to come around--and I'm glad I did. Enter your email to receive alerts for this author. You can manage your newsletter subscriptions at any time. You're already subscribed to the aa_Alex_Kirshner newsletter.