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Russia approves 2 candidates for ballot against Putin in March election

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:36:56 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s national elections commission on Friday registered the first two candidates who will compete with President Vladimir Putin in the March election that Putin is all but certain to win.The commission approved putting Leonid Slutsky of the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party and Vladislav Davankov of the New People Party on the ballot for the March 15-17 vote. Neither poses a significant challenge to Putin, who has dominated Russian politics since becoming president in 2000. Both candidates’ parties are largely supportive in parliament of legislation backed by Putin’s power-base United Russia party.Slutsky, as head of the lower house of parliament’s foreign affairs committee, has been a prominent backer of Kremlin foreign policy that is increasingly oppositional to the West. In the last presidential election in 2018, the party’s candidate tallied less than 6% of the vote.Davankov is a deputy speaker of the lower house of parliament, ...

US Mint releases $5, $1 and half-dollar Harriet Tubman coins

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:36:56 GMT

(The Hill) - The U.S. Mint on Thursday began accepting preorders for its first commemorative coin program honoring abolitionist Harriet Tubman.The 2024 collection includes a $5 gold coin, a $1 silver one and a half-dollar silver coin.The Mint’s website listed surcharges of “$35 for each $5 gold coin, $10 for each silver dollar, and $5 for each clad half dollar.” Current order prices for the commemorative coins range from $47, for an uncirculated half-dollar coin, to $718 for a proof $5 one.The coins depict different moments from Tubman’s life.On the silver dollar, Tubman is honored for her work as a “conductor” on the Underground Railroad, the secret network of safe houses on routes that enslaved Americans took to escape to freedom. Tubman was born into slavery before escaping, but she returned many times in her efforts to help free other enslaved people.The $5 coin shows a close-up image of an older Tubman, and on its reverse side, the coin includes several phrases associ...

Letters: Superintendent of the Year, with these achievement levels?

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:36:56 GMT

Achievement and awardsHow does the St. Paul Public School Superintendent win Minnesota School Superintendent of the Year, much less become a finalist for national superintendent, without core subject competency or graduation rates (as reported in this paper) used as criteria for the awards?Thirty years ago, these achievement levels we are now at would have resulted in the superintendent being fired. Today, they all win meaningless awards.Pat McKenzie, Hastings Medical decisions from judges?I am wondering how many of our Supreme Court justices have medical degrees? Would any of them allow or take legal advice from their doctors?Why not? Then why are we relying on judges to make medical decisions? Why are they allowed to make medical decisions that will affect women’s lives everywhere in this country?LaVonne McCombie, Hudson Why people are madI am a native Minnesotan. I grew up in a small farm community. All the support for Donald Trump is hard to believe. He never rec...

Hannah Sward: My life after meth — learning to open and close the curtains

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:36:56 GMT

When I was on meth, I was busy. Very busy. There was gardening to do, color-coding the closet, taking apart doorknobs, trying to put doorknobs back together and trips to Home Depot at 3 a.m. to look at light fixtures and nails. I had things to do, and whatever I was doing I was very interested in. Until I wasn’t, leaving the bathroom doorknob on the floor and moving on to some other project.Time on meth is very different from time with no meth.No more gardening or trips to Home Depot. Everything stops. Imagine. You’ve been busy not sleeping, not eating, not living in real time for a decade. Then one day you stop. How do you live?For example, it’s 10 p.m. and you brush your teeth and wash your face, you get ready for bed. Yes, bed. Then, you take it a step further and get into bed. At 10 p.m. It’s dark out. The birds are not singing and the sun is not up. Which is how it’s supposed to be when people go to bed. You turn off your light and lie there.After ...

5 things to know this Friday, January 5

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:36:56 GMT

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Happy Friday! According to Meteorologist Jill Szwed, we can expect a hefty snowstorm ahead this weekend with the heaviest to fall late Saturday night into Sunday morning. Get the latest news, weather, sports and entertainment delivered right to your inbox! The Attorney General’s Office of Special Investigation is launching an investigation into the civilian death on I-87 on Wednesday. The civilian, Rakim A. Tillery, 35, was involved in a shooting on Hudson Avenue in Albany earlier in the day. Meanwhile, sleigh rides are a hallmark of the holidays, but one turned tragic when a horse-drawn carriage crashed in Chestertown. The manager of the company that operates the rides spoke with NEWS10 to clarify the details of that accident. These stories, and more, are covered in your five things to know this Friday morning. 1. AG’s office opens investigation into I-87 shootoutThe Attorney General’s Office of Special Investigation is launching an investigation into t...

Ask Amy: Husband’s diagnosis has social implications

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:36:56 GMT

Dear Amy: My husband of 30 years was recently diagnosed with ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorder.It explains a lot about his awkwardness in social situations.I love him very much, but we agree that we really do better socializing separately. We are moving to a new town. What can I say to people that want to do “couple” dates, or who ask why he doesn’t accompany me?He is a wonderful husband and has been a great provider. He just prefers a lot of time alone and does not enjoy chit-chat or meeting new people.We have lived where we are now since childhood, so he has a comfort level with a few select friends, and people just kind of know that he is not interested in gatherings or double dates.Do you have a suggestion for how to communicate about this?— Married and MovingDear Married: Most importantly, and before you make any kind of statement, you should let your husband decide whether he is comfortable with this disclosure, and/or how he would prefer that you explain his social choi...

Southern California father wounded in road rage shooting

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:36:56 GMT

A father of four remains hospitalized in the ICU after being shot in a road rage shooting on the 5 Freeway.The victim, Noel Pena, 48, was struck while driving on New Year's Eve. The bullet entered through his armpit, shattered his collarbone and left fragments in his throat. “It’s something no one expects,” said Pamela Pena, the victim’s daughter. “Like, I’ve heard about it and I’m like, ‘Wow, people are so ruthless out there doing these types of things.’ It’s not normal, should not be normal, to find out it happened to us.”On New Year’s Eve, Noel was heading home with his wife, daughter and niece after spending the day at the Sante Fe Springs Swap Meet. At around 3 p.m., the family was driving back home to East L.A. when they noticed what appeared to be a gray Honda SUV swerve into their lane just north of Carmenita Road in Norwalk. The suspect almost collided with their car.Noel Pena and his family seen in a personal photo. (GoFundMe)Noel Pena and his family seen in a pe...

Review: ‘Memory’ fails to answer its own questions honestly

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:36:56 GMT

By Lindsey Bahr | Associated PressPain and trauma permeate Michel Franco’s new drama ” Memory, ” about two lost souls who find surprising comfort in one another. Both Jessica Chastain’s Sylvia and Peter Sarsgaard’s Saul are hostage to their own minds, though in vastly different ways. Hers haunts her. His is failing rapidly. And neither are entirely trustworthy.“Memory,” expanding nationwide Friday, starts as a seemingly standard issue “damaged person” movie, introducing Chastain’s Sylvia celebrating 12 years of sobriety at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting that her 12-year-old attends with her. But there are layers to this dramatic mystery, compounded with unreliable narrators and moral grey areas. Before you know it, the film morphs from something familiar into something altogether unexpected.Though it is not easily categorizable, “Memory” is a thoughtful journey featuring very fine performances from both Chastai...

Monaco signs defender Thilo Kehrer on loan from West Ham until end of the season

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:36:56 GMT

PARIS (AP) — Monaco has signed defender Thilo Kehrer from Premier League club West Ham on loan for the rest of the season.Monaco announced the deal Friday and said it includes an option to buy the 27-year-old Germany defender after the loan expires.Kehrer returns to the French league after an inconsistent spell with Paris Saint-Germain from 2018-2022. Although he played 128 matches overall and won the league three times, Kehrer had a poor game at right back in the 2020 Champions League final, which PSG lost 1-0 against Bayern Munich.Kehrer made 27 league appearances for West Ham last season and helped the east London club win the Europa Conference League. But he has played only four league games for coach David Moyes’ side this season.He joins Monaco at the halfway point of the season, with the Principality club in third place after 17 rounds and sitting seven points behind leader PSG. He could make his league debut next weekend at home to Reims.___AP soccer: https://apnews.co...

Sabalenka extends winning streak in Australia to 14 ahead of Brisbane semifinal against Azarenka

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:36:56 GMT

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Aryna Sabalenka and Victoria Azarenka will be on opposite sides of the net in the Brisbane International semifinals almost five years after teaming up on the same court in a Fed Cup semifinal against Australia.Australian Open champion Sabalenka ensured the matchup when she extended her winning streak Down Under to 14 with a 6-1, 6-4 win over fifth-seeded Daria Kasatkina on Friday night.She won a title in Adelaide last year before her Grand Slam breakthrough at Melbourne Park, the start of a 2023 season that also included a run to the U.S. Open final and the semifinals at the French Open and Wimbledon.Sabalenka was utterly dominant in the first set of her night match in front of a Pat Rafter Arena crowd that included actor Jude Law, pinning Kasatkina on the baseline with her deep, powerful ground strokes.She peeled off 32 winners and dropped just one service game in 1 1/2 hours.Sabalenka and Azarenka have both won the Australian Open title and both have bee...