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Russia jails artists amid crackdown on dissent

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:43:27 GMT

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A Russian court on Friday ordered pretrial detention for a theater director and a playwright facing charges of justifying terrorism, the latest move in a relentless crackdown on dissent in Russia that spiked to unprecedented levels since the start of the war in Ukraine. The Zamoskvoretsky District Court in Moscow jailed Zhenya Berkovich, a prominent independent theater director, and Svetlana Petriychuk, a playwright, for two months pending investigation and trial. The two were detained in the Russian capital on Thursday because of the play Petriychuk wrote and Berkovich staged, “Finist, the Brave Falcon.” Police also raided the apartments of Berkovich’s parents and grandmother in St. Petersburg. The play, named after a Russian fairy tale, depicts Russian women who faced prosecution after being lured into marriage and life in Syria by representatives of radical Islam. The authorities have alleged that the play justifies terrorism, accusations that both B...

19 horses to tangle in wide-open 149th Kentucky Derby

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:43:27 GMT

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The cast of characters for the 149th Kentucky Derby was rewritten in the days before the race. What didn’t change: Forte is the early 3-1 favorite on Saturday in a seemingly wide-open field of 19 horses.Four horses were scratched — Practical Move, Lord Miles, Continuar and Skinner — and three horses waiting on the also-eligible list moved into the field. They are Cyclone Mischief, Mandarin Hero and King Russell.Last year’s Derby was a stunner: 80-1 shot Rich Strike weaved his way through traffic and came rushing up the rail to win. NBC Sports’ overhead replay of the race was viewed more than 36 million times.A crowd of about 150,000 is expected to jam Churchill Downs to wager and watch the 1 1/4-mile Derby. Post time is 6:57 p.m. EDT.Forte breaks from the No. 15 post, which has produced six winners. The dark brown colt is trained by two-time Derby winner Todd Pletcher, who also has the second favorite in Tapit Trice, at 5-1.The Todd Squad inc...

Heavy rain, spring snowmelt threaten several B.C. communities with flooding

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:43:27 GMT

The mayor of Grand Forks, B.C., says he’s confident the community’s downtown is prepared for a 200-year flood, as the rain begins to fall in earnest in the community.The city of about 4,100 residents, not far from the Canada-U. S. border, already endured a major flood in 2018 and is one of several currently threatened by rising waters throughout B.C.’s southern and central Interior.Mayor Everett Baker said they’ve protected what they can. “I have great confidence in our flood mitigation program that will do the job it needs to do in the downtown core and protect industry,” he said, while watching the rain come down from his office window on Friday.“Is it enough? I guess Monday morning will tell that story.”A week of record temperatures melted mountain snow packs and heavy rain in the forecast through the weekend have combined to create conditions ripe for flooding.Environment Canada says 19 daily heat records were broken in the south a...

Stock market today: Apple-juiced rally closes bruising week

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:43:27 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Apple is leading Wall Street toward its biggest rally in nearly four months Friday after the market’s most influential company reported a better profit than feared. Stocks of beaten-down banks are also leaping to recover a smidgen of their sharp losses from a brutal week.The S&P 500 was 2.1% higher, though it’s still on pace for a losing week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 599 points, or 1.8%, at 33,725, with about an hour left in trading, while the Nasdaq composite was 2.4% higher. Treasury yields were jumping in the bond market after a report showed hiring accelerated across the economy by much more than expected last month. The U.S. government’s jobs report also showed workers won bigger pay raises in April than expected. While that’s good news, particularly when many economists fear a recession may arrive this year, the data also raises worries inflation may stay high and push the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates higher. That in turn wou...

Ex-Ohio Lottery director conduct toward staff found improper

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:43:27 GMT

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The sudden resignation last month of Ohio’s lottery director came after he inappropriately touched two employees and sent texts “expressing inappropriate fondness and innuendo” to members of his staff, according to an independent investigation released Friday.The review by Zashin & Rich law firm determined that Pat McDonald’s behavior violated Ohio Lottery Commission policy against inappropriate conduct in the workplace. The firm, enlisted by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, also found that McDonald’s assistant lottery director had knowledge of his inappropriate behavior but failed to take action. The assistant director will be demoted out of management and reassigned to a different state agency in a lower classification and pay grade, the state’s human resources department said.DeWine’s chief of staff and chief counsel had traveled to Cleveland on April 11 to confront McDonald about the unwanted behavior alleged by a subordinate — which...

Mayorkas: Border is ‘very challenging’ as asylum limits end

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:43:27 GMT

BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) — U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Friday that authorities faced “extremely challenging” circumstances along the border with Mexico days before pandemic-related asylum restrictions end.A surge of Venezuelan migrants through South Texas, particularly in and around Brownsville, has occurred over the last two weeks for reasons that Mayorkas said were unclear.Mayorkas noted that Mexico agreed this week to continue taking back Venezuelans who enter the U.S. illegally after asylum restrictions end Thursday, along with Cubans, Haitians and Nicaraguans. Migrants have been expelled from the U.S. more than 2.8 million times since March 2020 under what is known as Title 42 authority.The secretary reaffirmed plans to finalize a new policy by Thursday that will make it extremely difficult for migrants to seek asylum if they pass through another country, like Mexico, on their way to the U.S. border. “The situation at the border is a very serious one...

Search underway for missing Chicago woman

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:43:27 GMT

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Police Department are asking for the public's help in locating a missing 52-year-old woman who was last seen on Monday.Arelia Elliston, 52, of Chicago, was last seen leaving her residence on the 4400 block of North Francisco Avenue near Horner Park on Chicago's North side. Search underway for missing Cook County woman Elliston has been described as 5-foot-5, weighing 100 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a gray parka.Anyone with information regarding her whereabouts are asked to contact the Chicago Police Department at 312-746-6554.

Highest-rated restaurants for burgers in Chicago, according to Yelp

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:43:27 GMT

There's something about a hamburger. The way juices from the freshly grilled meat gently dribble down your chin as you take that first bite into the succulent patty, seasoned to perfection. Something about the way the cheese curves along the sides, melting slowly over the ground-beef goodness placed gently between two buns. While that certain something may always defy definition—what can be said for certain is that America, and what seems like the world, loves hamburgers.Named after Hamburg, a region in Germany known for its cattle, the Hamburg steak was the first step toward what would become the sandwich we know and love today. Served on a plate (sans buns if you can believe it), the steak was said to have become popular during the Industrial Revolution after an influx of German immigrants into New York. In order to make the food easier to consume for the workers on their breaks, a now unknown cook sandwiched the steak between two pieces of bread, and the rest as they sa...

Liam Hendriks gets a step closer to a return to the White Sox

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:43:27 GMT

CHICAGO — As one of the biggest battles of his life concludes, Liam Hendriks is taking a big step on his next journey in 2023. That's a return to the White Sox bullpen, and Friday featured another major moment to achieving that goal.The White Sox have officially sent Liam Hendriks, who has finished treatments for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and is cancer-free, to his first rehab assignment with Triple-A Charlotte..Yoan Moncada is also headed to Charlotte to begin his rehab assignment. .@WGNNews pic.twitter.com/mfANu2S9Mc— Larry Hawley (@HawleySports) May 5, 2023After finishing his treatments for Stage 4 non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, Hendriks will begin his first rehab assignment with the Triple-A Charlotte Knights. He'll join that club on the road Friday as they face Gwinnett in the fourth of a six-game series.It's expected that Hendriks will take the mound on Friday for the Knights and will make 4-to-5 appearances in Triple-A before joining the White Sox. An official date for a return t...

Democrats urge Supreme Court ethics code amid Justice Thomas allegations

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:43:27 GMT

WASHINGTON (Nexstar) – Following brand-new allegations about Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, lawmakers on Capitol Hill question whether Thomas has been acting ethically during his years on the court.Democratic lawmakers say they are keeping a close eye on all of the latest allegations against Thomas but say they’re still figuring out what action, if any, Congress can take.Illinois Senator Dick Durbin urges the chief justice of the Supreme Court to take action after new reports indicate that real estate billionaire Harlan Crow paid for the private school tuition of Justice Thomas' nephew that Thomas himself said he raised as a son.“The reputation of the Supreme Court is at stake here,” Sen. Dick Durbin said. “The credibility of the court, when it comes to its future decisions is at stake.”As the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Sen. Durbin has been an outspoken critic following the allegations against Thomas that also include reports that Crow paid for the justice and his ...