Russian Economy Slows Amid Ukraine Crisis

LONDON — Prince William took a day out from royal duties on Friday to serve as an usher at the wedding of his friend Hugh Grosvenor, the Duke of Westminster. The wedding of 33-year-old Grosvenor, one of Britain’s wealthiest landowners, to his partner Olivia Henson, 31, is one of the high-society events of the year in Britain. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] William, 41, arrived with his fellow ushers at Chester Cathedral in northwest England ahead of the midday service.

Amid intense criticism for his Israel-Gaza approach, President Joe Biden announced earlier this year the construction of a pier to deliver desperately-needed aid to the Strip amid Israel’s ongoing bombardment. But the $230 million pier, which should be re-anchored this week after it broke apart on May 28, has proven to be a hapless operation.

St. Petersburg, Fla. — At first, fossil-hunting diver Alex Lundberg thought the lengthy object on the sea floor off Florida’s Gulf Coast was a piece of wood. It turned out to be something far rarer, Lundberg said: a large section of tusk from a long-extinct mastodon. Lundberg and his diver companion had found fossils in the same place before, including mammoth teeth, bones of an ancient jaguar and parts of a dire wolf.

Washington — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to address a joint meeting of Congress on July 24, according to a person familiar with the matter. Congressional leaders last week formally invited Netanyahu to come speak, delivering the most recent show of wartime support for the longtime ally despite mounting political divisions over Israel’s military assault on Hamas in Gaza.

Washington — The horse transformed human history – and now scientists have a clearer idea of when humans began to transform the horse. Around 4,200 years ago, one particular lineage of horse quickly became dominant across Eurasia, suggesting that’s when humans started to spread domesticated horses around the world, according to research published Thursday in the journal Nature. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] There was something special about this horse: It had a genetic mutation that changed the shape of its back, likely making it easier to ride. “In the past, you had many different lineages of horses,” said Pablo Librado, an evolutionary biologist at the Spanish National Research Council in Barcelona and co-author of the new study.

As Russia’s war grinds on, the Biden Administration is now taking on bigger risks to support Ukraine. The latest example is a White House decision to allow Ukrainian forces to use U. S.-provided weapons to strike targets inside Russia. We may also soon see NATO personnel on the ground in Ukraine to train fighters. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Six months ago, Western leaders weren’t ready to discuss either of these changes—at least not publicly.