[ad_1] LONDON — You could say Richard Plaud’s dreams of making the world’s tallest matchstick sculpture may have gone up in smoke. The Frenchman spent the last eight years painstakingly piecing together 706,900 matchsticks to make a 23.6-foot model of the Eiffel Tower, easily beating the existing record by 2 feet. But, he says, last…

[ad_1] Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told Senate Democrats he plans to force a vote Wednesday on an Israel and Ukraine aid package stripped of border security provisions after Republicans made clear they would block the entire bipartisan border security and foreign aid bill in the afternoon, a Senate Democratic aide told NBC News. If…

[ad_1] VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis said he sees “hypocrisy” in criticism of his decision to allow priests to bless same-sex couples, possibly his most strongly worded defense of the move. LGBTQ blessings were authorized last month by a Vatican document called Fiducia Supplicans (Supplicating Trust), but that has met with significant resistance in the Catholic Church,…

[ad_1] Russia fired cruise and ballistic missiles and Shahed-type drones at six regions across Ukraine on Wednesday morning, authorities reported, killing at least five civilians and injuring almost 40 others, including a pregnant woman. The attacks hit at least three major cities, including the capital Kyiv, where the European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, was…