By ILLIA NOVIKOV

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia fired more than 700 attack and decoy drones at Ukraine overnight, topping previous nightly barrages for the third time in two weeks, part of Moscow’s intensifying aerial and ground assault in the three-year war, Ukrainian officials said Wednesday.

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Russia has recently sought to overwhelm Ukraine’s air defenses by launching major attacks that include increasing numbers of decoy drones. The most recent one appeared aimed at disrupting Ukraine’s vital supply of Western weapons.

The city of Lutsk, home to airfields used by the Ukrainian army, was the hardest hit, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. It lies near the border with Poland in western Ukraine, a region that is a crucial hub for receiving foreign military aid.

The attack comes at a time of increased uncertainty over the supply of crucial American weapons and as U.S.-led peace efforts have stalled. Zelenskyy said that the Kremlin was “making a point” with it.

The Russian Defense Ministry said its forces took aim at Ukrainian air bases and that “all the designated targets have been hit.” Meanwhile, Ukraine fired drones into Russia overnight, killing three people in the Kursk border region, including a 5-year-old boy, the local governor said.

The Russian attack, which included 728 drones and 13 missiles, had the largest number of drones fired in a single night in the war. On Friday, Russia fired 550 drones, less than a week after it launched 477, both the largest at the time, officials said.

Beyond Lutsk, 10 regions were struck. One person was killed in the Khmelnytskyi region, and two wounded in the Kyiv region, officials said.

Poland, a member of NATO, scrambled its fighter jets and put its armed forces on the highest level of alert in response to the attack, the Polish Armed Forces Operational Command wrote in an X post.

Russia’s bigger army has also launched a new drive to punch through parts of the 620-mile front line, where short-handed Ukrainian forces are under heavy strain.

Trump says the US must send more weapons to Ukraine

U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he was “not happy” with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who hasn’t budged from his ceasefire and peace demands since Trump took office in January and began to push for a settlement.

Trump said Monday that the U.S. would have to send more weapons to Ukraine, just days after Washington paused critical weapons deliveries to Kyiv.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Trump “has quite a tough style in terms of the phrasing he uses,” adding that Moscow hopes to “continue our dialogue with Washington and our course aimed at repairing the badly damaged bilateral ties.”

Zelenskyy, meanwhile, urged Ukraine’s partners to impose stricter sanctions on Russian oil and those who help finance the Kremlin’s war by buying it.

“Everyone who wants peace must act,” Zelenskyy said. The Ukrainian leader met Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday during a visit to Italy ahead of an international conference on rebuilding Ukraine.

Both Russia and Ukraine look to build more drones

Ukraine’s air defenses shot down 296 drones and seven missiles during the overnight attack, while 415 more drones were lost from radars or jammed, an air force statement said.

Ukrainian interceptor drones, developed to counter the Shahed ones fired by Russia, are increasingly effective, Zelenskyy said, adding that domestic production of anti-aircraft drones is being scaled up in partnership with some Western countries.

Western military analysts say Russia is also boosting its drone manufacturing and could soon be capable of launching 1,000 a night at Ukraine.

“Russia continues to expand its domestic drone production capacity amid the ever-growing role of tactical drones in front-line combat operations and Russia’s increasingly large nightly long-range strike packages against Ukraine,” the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said late Tuesday.

Ukraine has also built up its own offensive drone threat, reaching deep into Russia with some long-range strikes.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday that air defenses downed 86 Ukrainian drones over six Russian regions overnight, including the Moscow region.

Flights were temporarily suspended at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport and the international airport of Kaluga, south of Moscow.

The governor of Russia’s Kursk border region, Alexander Khinshtein, said a Ukrainian drone attack on the region’s capital city just before midnight killed three people and wounded seven others, including the 5-year-old boy who died on the way to a hospital.

Meanwhile, Europe’s top human rights court ruled Wednesday that Russia had violated international law during the war in Ukraine, the first time an international court has found Moscow responsible for human rights abuses since the full-scale invasion in 2022.

The court also ruled Russia was behind the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, the first time Moscow was named by an international court as being responsible for the 2014 tragedy that claimed 298 lives. Any decision is largely symbolic.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

After police found blood stains on the walls and floor of his apartment, a Columbia Heights man was charged with second-degree murder Wednesday in connection with the death of his 16-year-old son, Jordan “Manny” Collins Jr. His son’s body was found last month in a landfill.

The Anoka County attorney’s office charged Jordan Dupree Collins Sr., 38, with second-degree attempted murder with intent but not premeditated.

Jordan “Manny” Collins Jr. (Courtesy of the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office)

According to the criminal complaint, Collins Jr.’s mother filed a missing person report with the Columbia Heights Police Department on May 12. She told police that her son lived with his father in an apartment in Columbia Heights. She last heard from Collins Jr. about 4 a.m. May 8 when he reacted to a text message she sent him.

When police talked to Collins Sr. about the missing person report, he told law enforcement that his son left the apartment the afternoon of May 8 to take a bus to St. Paul to visit his grandmother and girlfriend.

Police learned later that Collins Jr. never arrived at his grandmother’s or girlfriend’s home.

Collins Jr.’s girlfriend told police she was on a video call with Collins Jr. until she fell asleep about 2:30 a.m. May 8. Collins Jr. was in his father’s apartment during the call. She said he didn’t seem upset and he didn’t tell her he was planning on visiting her.

Search finds blood, knives

Law enforcement executed a search warrant at Collins Sr.’s apartment May 15, according to the complaint. Police found items stained by blood in garbage bags in the living room closet. They also located butcher-style knives in a bedroom closet and a mattress on the bedroom floor with a piece of its underside missing. A piece of carpet and carpet padding were also missing underneath the mattress. None of these pieces were found in the apartment, according to police.

On May 17, analysis showed that the DNA from the blood stains in Collins Sr.’s apartment matched DNA taken from Collins Jr.’s personal items. Law enforcement conducted more tests in the apartment and found blood from Collins Jr. on the bedroom wall.

According to the complaint, video footage from May 13 showed a garbage truck emptying the contents of a large dumpster behind Collins Sr.’s apartment. This led police to believe the body of Collins Jr. went from the dumpster in Columbia Heights to the Elk River landfill.

Body found, father arrested

Law enforcement began searching the landfill June 4. Police used GPS data from the facility to find the area where contents from the Columbia Heights dumpster would be located.

The FBI brought in its Laboratory Evidence Response Team Unit and the Technical Hazardous Response Unit from Virginia to help in the investigation. A member of the search team discovered Collins Jr.’s body on June 28.

Jordan Dupree Collins Sr. (Courtesy of the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office)

Collins Sr. gave a voluntary statement to police Monday. He told them he cut the mattress and carpet sections to clean up his own blood. The blood near the mattress and carpet cuttings matched the DNA of Collins Jr., and no blood from Collins Sr. was found in the apartment.

Collins Sr. said he owned the knives found in the apartment and that he used them to butcher goats and sheep.

Investigators received preliminary autopsy results Monday. Result showed evidence of decapitation by knife and suggested the manner of death as homicide.

Collins Sr. was arrested Monday and made his first court appearance Wednesday.

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A recent report by the NYC Biodiversity Task Force says the city needs more funds to protect its increasingly at-risk fauna and flora.

Jamaica Bay in Queens is a critical habitat for birds, supporting some 325 species. (Photo by Adi Talwar)

Most people think of New York City as a concrete jungle where nature is hard to find. But a new report on the importance of protecting the Big Apple’s biodiversity begs to differ. 

The city is also a rich ecological hotspot that rare species like the Monarch Butterfly, the Atlantic Coast Leopard Frog, and the endangered Butternut tree call home, the report notes.

“We have a lot of nature here. It’s really important to highlight that because when we don’t, city officials undermine it,” said botanist Marielle Anzelone, lead author of the report and co-founder of the NYC Biodiversity Task Force, which published it.

Last month, budget negotiations came to a close with New York City setting aside only 0.6 percent of its $115.9 billion budget for the Parks Department, which is in charge of managing the city’s fauna and flora.

A chronically underfunded Parks Department—which has received between 0.5 and 0.6 percent of the city’s total budget for 30 years—and the lack of a citywide biodiversity protection plan puts the city’s natural wonders at risk, the report says.

The Big Apple has already lost 84 percent of its salt marshes and 99 percent of its freshwater wetlands and streams over the last 120 years, according to the report, thanks in large part to coastal fill and development.

“This makes the plants and animals that depend on these systems extraordinarily rare in the five boroughs,” the report notes. 

New York is located along the Atlantic Flyway, a major migratory path that hundreds of species of birds, bats, butterflies, and dragonflies pass through annually, relying on its green spaces and waterways to find shelter as they do.

They find solace in the mosaic of ecosystems that cover approximately 20,000 acres of land across the five boroughs from forests to grasslands, beaches, and freshwater wetlands.

Wetlands on Staten Island. (Photo by Adi Talwar)

New Yorkers might spot the American Beaver lurking in the Bronx River or come across 200 native kinds of bees buzzing through its skyscrapers.

Keeping the city’s biodiversity alive is important because thriving ecosystems guarantee cleaner air and water, cooler temperatures and prevent diseases. This is especially important in low-income communities, as the neighborhoods with the highest poverty rates in the five boroughs also have the highest asthma rates, according to the city’s Health Department. 

To keep this vast ecologically rich environment alive and thriving, the city needs to pour more resources and political willpower into protecting it, the NYC Biodiversity Task Force says. 

The city’s Parks Department, which manages 12,400 acres of parkland where ecologically significant fauna and flora thrive, has been chronically underfunded for decades.  

Back in the 1960s, Parks received 1.4 percent of the city’s budget, according to the non-profit New Yorkers for Parks. But after a fiscal crisis hit in the late 1970s, the agency’s budget was slashed to between 0.5 percent and 0.6 percent, where it remains today.

By comparison, other major U.S cities like Los Angeles, Chicago and Minneapolis, reportedly dedicate between 2 and 5 percent of their municipal budgets to parks. 

When Mayor Eric Adams campaigned for office he promised to dedicate 1 percent of the city’s total budget to parks, but has yet to make due on his pledge. 

Parks does plan to spend $10.4 billion on capital improvements over the next 10 years, which includes $891 million for land acquisition, tree planting, and green infrastructure, the mayor’s office noted in an email.

And in the most recent budget deal for fiscal year 2026, which elected officials finalized last month, $687.6 million was set aside for parks. That includes a $47 million bump than what City Hall initially intended to spend when funding negotiations first kicked off, the mayor’s office noted in an email. 

But the budget falls short of the $79.5 million environmental advocates said is needed to restore 795 vital staff positions that help take care of the city’s natural wonders.  

The final budget does guarantee $6.1 million to hire over 70 additional parks maintenance workers and lift a current hiring freeze for certain positions. 

Still, the new budget “only restores roughly one fourth of the positions, leaving the Parks Department down roughly 600 positions still,” according to the Play Fair for Parks Coalition. 

Central Park. (Daniel Avila/NYC Parks)

“We’ve made major investments to improve our parks and public amenities, including increasing the Parks budget and headcount to their highest level, as we aim to reach the 1 percent target,” a City Hall spokesperson said in an email.

But taking care of the city’s biodiversity shouldn’t fall on the shoulders of the Park’s Department alone, Anzelone says. 

“They are not able to do this work on their own. Nor should the topic of biodiversity be siloed into just the Parks Department. We need a citywide plan to protect our natural environment,” Anzelone said.

The city does have a biodiversity public awareness campaign and it leads the Forever Wild Program, which aims to protect ecologically significant habitats across the parks system. It also operates a Plant Ecology Center and Nursery that includes the largest municipal seed collection in the country, according to City Hall. 

While the administration has a plan to tackle climate change and build a more resilient city through its PlaNYC agenda, Anzelone says it lacks a comprehensive biodiversity blueprint to protect fauna and flora. 

“New York City is a climate leader. We want New York City to be a biodiversity leader too,” she added. 

To reach the reporter behind this story, contact Mariana@citylimits.org. To reach the editor, contact Jeanmarie@citylimits.org

Want to republish this story? Find City Limits’ reprint policy here.

The post As Parks Get Shortchanged on City Budget, NYC Biodiversity Faces Risks, Report Says appeared first on City Limits.

By Gretchen McKay, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

June is a great time to fire up your grill and move at least some of your daily or weekly dinner duties to the backyard.

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Cooking outdoors is usually cooler, tends to have a better view and is generally a lot more fun for both the cook and those he or she is trying to feed.

Chicken is often a prime choice when it comes to proteins to cook on gas or charcoal because it’s cheaper to feed a crowd with than beef or seafood. It’s also a lot more forgiving since it doesn’t require a lot of technique so long as you 1) cook over a moderate heat, 2) use an instant read thermometer to know when it’s done and 3) remember to let the grilled chicken rest for at least 5 minutes before slicing or serving so it can reabsorb some of its juices.

And if you take the time to soak it in a tasty marinade or stir together a homemade sweet-and-tangy barbecue sauce for basting, it will both elevate the flavor of the finished product and help keep the meat moist and tender.

While chicken breast is often a favorite choice because it’s leaner and has a milder, more subtle flavor, it’s also more expensive than other parts of the bird. Without a whole lot of fat to protect it from flames or heat as you grill it, it’s really easy to overcook and dry out.

That’s why I almost always opt for chicken thigh when I’m planning a cookout. It’s true that, as a fattier meat, dark-colored thigh packs more calories onto your plate than chicken breast. Still, it’s so much juicier and incredibly flavorful.

Grilled boneless, skinless chicken thigh builds the foundation for this summery budget meal for four. A scratch, ketchup-based barbecue sauce sweetened with brown sugar and spiced up with hot sauce and vinegar adds the perfect mix of tang and sugar, and because our recipe makes a lot of it, there’s plenty left over for dipping.

We serve it with a corn salad made with fresh kernels off the cob, salty feta and cherry tomatoes tossed in a simple four-ingredient dressing (if you don’t count the salt and pepper) that can be whisked together in seconds.

Rounding out the meal are roasted sweet potato chips and super-easy brown sugar blondies studded with butterscotch chips and chopped pecans and topped with gooey swirls of homemade strawberry jam.

It’s a feast fit if not for a king or queen (that’d require steak) at the very least a member of a royal family — especially since you’ll probably get some leftovers out of it.

Also impressive: It rings up 28 cents under our budget of $25.

I’m always surprised when a salad dish ends up costing more than dessert, but there’s no getting around the fact that fresh fruits and vegetables are becoming increasingly more expensive. All told, the corn salad added up to $6.55, or almost three times the price of the sweet potatoes ($2.25 for two) and more than half the total cost of the chicken, including the barbecue sauce.

Then again, I went with fresh ears of corn instead of canned or frozen and added not just a nice crumble of feta but also a generous handful of fat and juicy cherry tomatoes I couldn’t resist in the produce aisle.

Thanks in (small) part to the decreasing price of eggs and the fact that I almost always have homemade jam in my refrigerator, the blondies were quite economical, even with the addition of chips and pecans. Where else can you find a decadent, butterscotch-forward dessert for 42 cents a serving but from a home kitchen?

As always, I reached into my pantry and fridge for some of the ingredients most home cooks and/or bakers have on hand — olive oil, baking soda, vanilla, honey, vinegar and mustard — and I also did not calculate the cost of the basil in the salad because as someone who loves Italian cuisine, I am never without it.

Ditto with the red onion, a few of which are always in my refrigerator crisper, and various spices (though I did try to calculate the cost based on price per ounce).

Nothing on the menu takes more than 30 minutes to prepare, and if you get all your ducks in a row before you preheat the grill, you can make everything in one fell swoop.

As always, folks, remember to shop for ingredients at home before heading to the grocery store — it’s amazing how we forget what we already have on hand and then buy in duplicate, or let go to waste.

Ingredients for a budget-minded barbecue chicken dinner for four. (Gretchen McKay/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette/TNS)

Corn-Tomato Salad

PG tested

Fresh corn is best for this recipe, but you also can use canned or frozen. I threw it into a hot skillet with a drizzle of olive oil and fried it while continuously shaking the pan until the kernels were charred, about 7 minutes.

The salad is equally delicious warm, at room temperature or chilled, if you want to make it ahead.

For salad

4 cups fresh or frozen corn, rinsed and drained if frozen, and steamed, boiled or grilled if fresh
1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, halved or quartered
1/3 cup crumbled feta
1/4 red onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup fresh basil (about a handful), thinly sliced, optional

For dressing

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Juice of 1 lime
2 teaspoons honey
1 small clove garlic, minced
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Toss corn, tomatoes, feta, onion and basil in a large bowl and set aside while you make dressing.

In a small jar or bowl, stir together olive oil, lime juice, honey and garlic. Season to taste with salt and pepper

Add dressing to the corn mixture and mix well to combine. Taste and add more salt or pepper, if needed.

Serves 4.

— Gretchen McKay, Post-Gazette

Grilled Barbecue Chicken

PG tested

Chicken thighs are not only cheaper than chicken breast, but they’re also juicier and have a richer flavor. The homemade barbecue sauce that goes on top is spicy-sweet — brush it on while you’re cooking and also serve on the side for dipping.

For chicken

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 tablespoon dry rub of choice

For barbecue sauce

1 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon hot sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon barbecue rub
1 tablespoon mustard
1/2 teaspoon each garlic and onion powder

Prepare barbecue sauce: In saucepan over medium-low heat, stir together ingredients until well combined. Simmer for 5-10 minutes and use immediately or transfer when cool to an airtight container and store in refrigerator for up to a month. (Makes about 1 cup.)

Preheat grill to medium-high heat (400 degrees) and lightly oil the grates. If using charcoal, set up the briquettes underneath the grill grate.

Place the chicken on the grill and cook for 3-4 minutes, until grill marks have formed and the chicken is nicely browned.

Flip the thighs over and let cook for 3 minutes. Brush on the side facing up lightly with barbecue sauce and cook an additional 3 minutes.

Flip the chicken again, and brush lightly with more barbecue sauce on this side. Cook for 2 minutes.

Flip one last time, and brush again with barbecue sauce.

Continue to cook until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees (about 20 total minutes on the grill). Serve immediately, either whole or sliced.

Serves 4.

— Gretchen McKay, Post-Gazette

Roasted Sweet Potato Chips

PG tested

Sweet potatoes are more nutritious than regular potatoes, and they’re also so easy to cook. In this recipe, you just slice, sprinkle with spices and bake.

2 large sweet potatoes
Olive oil, for coating
Salt and paprika, for seasoning

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Use a mandolin slicer or chefs knife to cut sweet potatoes into paper-thin rounds. Depending on how big your potatoes are, you may also want to then slice then into half-moons.

Pile sweet potato rounds into a large bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Using your hands, gently toss to coat every piece with oil. Lay the rounds out on the baking sheets in a single layer.

Sprinkle the chips lightly with salt and smoked paprika. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until crisp and golden around the edges.

Serve immediately.

Serves 4.

— Gretchen McKay, Post-Gazette

Barbecued chicken thigh headlines this budget dinner for four. (Gretchen McKay/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette/TNS)

Strawberry-Pecan Blondies

PG tested

I used strawberry jam and pecans for this recipe, but it’s easy to customize with your favorite flavors. Try almonds and blueberry jam or pistachios and raspberry jam. Perfect for a simple dessert — or breakfast.

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for pan
1 cup lightly packed brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg, slightly beaten
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup butterscotch chips
1/4 cup chopped pecans
3 tablespoons strawberry jam

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with foil, leaving an overhang on 2 sides. (I used parchment paper.) Butter the foil.

Combine butter and brown sugar in a large microwave-safe bowl. Microwave until the butter is melted, about 1 minute.

Stir in vanilla. Let cool slightly, then stir in the egg.

Whisk the flour, salt and baking powder in a bowl. Stir into the butter mixture.

Stir in butterscotch chips and pecans and spread the batter in the pan. Drop dollops of strawberry jam on top and swirl with a knife.

Bake the blondies until set, about 20-25 minutes. Transfer to a rack and let cool 15 minutes, then lift out of the pan using the foil. Transfer to rack to cool completely.

Discard the foil and cut into squares.

Makes 9 blondies.

— adapted from “Baking for Fun: 75 Great Cookies, Cakes, Pies & More” by Food Network Magazine

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