KYIV, Ukraine — In cities across Ukraine, there are billboards that show a smiling young man beckoning in full battle gear. "Learn how to defend your home today," the message says.

The advertisement from Ukraine's Territorial Defense Forces, an offshoot of the army, seems to be working. As Ukrainians prepare for a possible Russian invasion, thousands of citizens are volunteering to train in case they have to help protect their cities.

In his new film, The Power of the Dog, British actor Benedict Cumberbatch plays Phil Burbank, a hyper-masculine cattle rancher living on the plains of Montana in the 1920s.

President Biden is expected to hold his first press conference of 2022 on Wednesday afternoon, just ahead of his one-year anniversary in the White House.

Watch his 4 p.m. press conference here:

Oklahoma will allow state employees to work as substitute teachers — while keeping their current jobs — as it attempts to keep schools open for in-person learning in the face of widespread staffing shortages.

It's the latest state to float an unorthodox solution to the problem of teachers and school staff calling out sick in high numbers because of an omicron-driven spike in COVID-19 infections across the country.

You couldn't miss André Leon Talley.

Six foot six. Bedecked in splendid capes and caftans, classic bespoke suits, fur coats and record-album-sized sunglasses. The legendary fashion editor died suddenly and unexpected at age 73, reportedly of a heart attack.

"Andrew was hard to ignore," says Karen Grigsby Bates, of NPR's Codeswitch podcast . "He was tall and large with a big voice."

Gaspard Ulliel, who played a young Hannibal Lecter in Hannibal Rising and starred opposite Audrey Tatou in A Very Long Engagement has died in a ski accident at age 37, according to authorities in Albertville, France. Ulliel also played Yves Saint Laurent in a 2007 biopic about the fashion icon and stars in the upcoming Marvel film Moon Knight.

The Villa Aurora in Rome is on the market and almost has it all: lush gardens dotted with statues of Roman deities, more than one colorful fresco and the only known ceiling mural painted by Baroque master Caravaggio. The only thing it doesn't have? A bidder.

LIMA, Peru — An oil spill on the Peruvian coast caused by the waves from an eruption of an undersea volcano in the South Pacific nation of Tonga prompted dozens of fishermen to protest Tuesday outside the South American country's main oil refinery.

Athletes and admirers are paying tribute to Lusia Harris, the women's basketball legend who died Tuesday at age 66.

Harris may not be a household name, but her credentials speak for themselves: She led her college team to three championships in the 1970s, scored the first points in the history of Olympics women's basketball and was the only woman to be officially drafted by the NBA.

Amid a flurry of diplomatic efforts aimed at preventing a feared Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia's embassy in Washington tweeted out a call to "end the hysteria," reiterating that Moscow planned no such military move.

"We stress once again: [Russia] is not going to attack anyone," the embassy said in a tweet Tuesday night.