Today's INTERNATIONAL story

Russia slams Kyiv, hits government building

What happened
Russia fired more than 800 attack drones and 13 missiles at cities across Ukraine on Saturday night and early yesterday, in Moscow's largest aerial assault since launching its full-scale invasion in 2022. At least four people were killed, including a woman and her infant, and a main government building, in a heavily guarded section of Kyiv, was struck for the first time in the war.

Who said what
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said the fire-damaged Cabinet of Ministers building would be restored, "but lost lives cannot be returned." President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on social media that "such killings now, when real diplomacy could have already begun long ago, are a deliberate crime and a prolongation of the war." European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the Kremlin was "mocking diplomacy."

French President Emmanuel Macron said last Thursday that 26 countries had agreed to send peacekeeping troops to Ukraine after fighting stops. Russian President Vladimir Putin responded on Friday that such European troops would be considered "legitimate targets for destruction."

What next?
President Donald Trump said "yes" last night when asked if he was ready to move to a second phase of sanctioning Russia. That's the "closest he has come to suggesting he is on the verge of ramping up sanctions against Moscow," Reuters said, though "he did not elaborate." The "latest in a series of deadlines Trump has given Putin to show progress toward peace came and went last week," The Wall Street Journal said.

Today's RELIGION Story

Pope Leo canonizes first millennial saint

What happened
Pope Leo XIV yesterday elevated to sainthood two young Italians who died eight decades apart, Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati, during a mass in St. Peter's Square before a crowd of 80,000. Acutis, a computer prodigy known as "God's influencer" due to his meticulous cataloging of miracles online, died at age 15 in 2006, days after being diagnosed with leukemia. He is the Catholic Church's first millennial saint.

Who said what
“Saints Pier Giorgio Frassati and Carlo Acutis are an invitation to all of us, especially young people, not to squander our lives, but to direct them upward and make them masterpieces,” Leo said yesterday, at the first canonization of his papacy. Acutis' "road to sainthood ranks among the fastest in modern history," The Washington Post said. His parents and siblings were in attendance at the ceremony.

Frassati, who died from polio in 1925 at age 24, was known for serving the poor and spreading his faith among his friends. He and Acutis came from prominent, wealthy families, and "in both cases, word of their goodness and faith spread quickly and grew globally," The New York Times said.

What next?
Pope Francis, before he died in April, had "fervently pushed the Acutis sainthood case forward, convinced that the church needed someone like him to attract young Catholics to the faith while addressing the promises and perils of the digital age," The Associated Press said. About a million pilgrims visited Acutis' glass tomb in Assisi last year, and "more people are on track to visit it this year," The Wall Street Journal said.

It's not all bad

The over-the-counter antihistamine azelastine is used to treat seasonal allergies, but a new clinical trial shows that it could also potentially block Covid-19, RSV and influenza infections. The two-month study at Germany's Saarland University Hospital split 450 adults in their 30s into two groups, with one using azelastine nasal spray three times a day and the other doing the same with a placebo. The placebo group had a 6.7% Covid infection rate compared to 2.2% in the azelastine group. Researchers say more trials are necessary.

Under the radar

Earth's seasons are out of whack

The planet's seasons are not as immutable as previously thought. This irregularity may have led to evolutionary changes in various ecosystems. Now, humans are also adding to the seasonal alterations, which could create fresh future consequences.

Earth contains hot spots that are seasonally "asynchronous" with surrounding areas, according to a study published in the journal Nature. These spots are regions where the "timing of seasonal cycles can be out of sync between nearby locations," Drew Terasaki Hart, an ecologist and study author, said at The Conversation.

One example is the Earth's Mediterranean climate regions — areas like California, Chile, South Africa, southern Australia and the Mediterranean — characterized by mild, wet winters and hot, dry summers. Neighboring drylands may rely on summer rains. In the American Southwest, cities "just about 100 miles apart can show very different annual rhythms, because one area leans on summer monsoon rains while another splits rain between winter and summer," said Earth.com.

Many of these seasonally asynchronous regions have singular biodiversity, according to the study. Because "seasonal cycles of plant growth can be out of sync between nearby places, the seasonal availability of resources may be out of sync too," said Hart.

Humans may also be influencing the shift. A study published in the journal Progress in Environmental Geography suggests that the planet is developing new seasons because of human activity. There has been a rise in "syncopated" seasons, where "things are still technically on beat, just in weird and unpredictable ways," said Vice, like "heat waves where there should be rain or snowstorms in April."

On this day

September 8, 2015

Stephen Colbert took over as host of "The Late Show" following David Letterman's retirement. Colbert turned his program into the highest-rated late-night show, but it will end in 2026 after CBS controversially decided in July to cancel it.

TODAY'S newspaperS

'Trump walks all over' Congress

"As Congress lies down, Trump walks all over it," The New York Times says on Monday's front page. "Job seekers are facing worst conditions in years," The Washington Post says. "Soft data on jobs stir hopes for faster rate cuts," though "inflation risks remain a wild card," The Wall Street Journal says. "ICE raid strains South Korea ties," says the Los Angeles Times. "Koreans detained at factory to be freed," The Atlanta Journal-Constitution says. "Schools: ICE fears keep kids at home," says USA Today. "Trump threatens 'Chipocalyps Now' by Department of War," The Kansas City Star says. "Trump downplays post threatening Chicago," says The Sacramento Bee.

► See the newspaper front pages

Tall tale

What's in a name?

A Tennessee man named George Herman Ruth — the given name of Yankees legend Babe Ruth — has been charged with aggravated identity theft, mail fraud and money laundering after allegedly posing as dead and retired baseball players to collect class action lawsuit settlements. A federal indictment claims that Ruth obtained or tried to obtain more than $550,000 in payouts, using P.O. boxes across the state and the Social Security numbers of "unwitting victims," said The Associated Press.

Morning Report was written and edited by Nadia Croes, Catherine Garcia, Scott Hocker, Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, Justin Klawans, Rafi Schwartz, Peter Weber and Kari Wilkin, with illustrations by Stephen Kelly and Julia Wytrazek.