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Russian prison watchdog claims jailed US journalist ‘cheerful’ and doing well

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:02:48 GMT

MOSCOW — Jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich is “cheerful” and doing well as he sits in pre-trial detention, a Russian prison watchdog claimed Monday — the first report on his condition since his arrest on espionage charges.“At the time of my visit, he was cheerful, there were a lot of jokes during our conversation,” Alexei Melnikov, a member of the Moscow Public Monitoring Commission (ONK), wrote in a post on Telegram late Monday. Melnikov is the first outsider to have been granted access to the American journalist since his arrest last Wednesday while on an assignment in Yekaterinburg, accused of collecting classified information on a defense company for “the American side.” No other foreign journalist has been arrested in Russia since the Cold War, and Gershkovich’s case marks a new low for the increasingly fraught relationship between Russia and the United States. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has claimed without evidence that Gershkovich ...

MBTA to offer $7,500 sign-on bonuses as hiring efforts continue

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:02:48 GMT

The MBTA will soon offer $7,500 sign-on bonuses for some positions as it continues hiring efforts, officials announced on Monday. The T in a statement said the bonuses are part of an “aggressive hiring campaign,” expanding on a previous bonus program that offered a $4,500 bonus for new bus operator hires. Positions now eligible for bonuses include bus operators, track laborers and subway train operators, among other roles, according to the T. Interested candidates can visit the MBTA’s careers page for more information. The T said it is planning to participate in several upcoming area career fairs while also holding mobile recruitment events.  The author of a recent analysis from the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation said the T faces a “stunning” labor shortage, saying the T could start its next fiscal year with staffing between 20 and 25 percent below levels required to maintain and operate its core system, the State House News Service reported.T officials ...

Jalen Brunson’s Most Improved Player candidacy revolves around his favorite stat: wins

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:02:48 GMT

Since he probably can’t win the statistical battle against Lauri Markkanen or Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the best argument for Jalen Brunson as the NBA’s Most Improved Player boils down to this:Leadership and impact on winning.Tom Thibodeau loves to use those phrases when describing Brunson, and they’re appropriate. Between last year’s plunge to the draft lottery and this year’s ascension to 13 games over .500, the biggest difference, by far, is the acquisition of Brunson.And after he was snubbed for the All-Star team – a decision from the NBA coaches that has looked worse over time – Brunson’s best hope for a major postseason award is M.I.P.Just don’t expect the point guard, who often deflects attention away from himself, to campaign very hard.“It’s a unique award,” Brunson told the Daily News. “It’s not something I’m really focused on 100 percent. I don’t really think about it but if it&#...

Trump returns to New York to face charges in criminal probe

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:02:48 GMT

By MICHAEL R. SISAK, TERRY SPENCER and WILL WEISSERT (Associated Press)NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump flew Monday from Florida to New York for his historic booking and arraignment on hush money charges, as the nation’s largest city bolstered security and warned potential protesters it was “not a playground for your misplaced anger.”Trump’s motorcade ride from his Mar-a-Lago club to his red, white and blue Boeing 757, emblazoned with his name in gold letters, was carried live on cable television. It took him past supporters waving banners and cheering, decrying the case against him — stemming from payments made during his 2016 campaign — as politically motivated. Trump is already months into a third campaign to reclaim the White House he lost to President Joe Biden in 2020, and he and his advisers seemed to relish the attention. Cable networks followed his plane at airports in Florida and New York with video from the air, and T...

Massachusetts State Police arrest suspect who almost struck trooper with stolen car, police recover fentanyl and ammunition

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:02:48 GMT

A 30-year-old man accused of stealing a car allegedly tried to get away from police Sunday evening, as he almost struck a Massachusetts State Police trooper with the stolen BMW before hitting several parked cars and ditching bags of fentanyl.Jose Bautista, of East Providence, R.I., is facing more than a dozen charges — including assault with a dangerous weapon, possession of a large capacity feeding device, and trafficking fentanyl — after the police chase in Foxboro on Sunday.Shortly before 7 p.m., a Massachusetts State Trooper saw a white BMW X5 SUV — which had been reported stolen from a Waltham dealership — parked outside a building at The Lodge apartment complex in Foxboro. Other State Police personnel and Foxborough Police responded.Then at about 7:40 p.m., police saw a man later ID’d as Bautista enter the stolen BMW. A trooper turned on his emergency blue lights and pulled in front of the BMW.As the trooper got out of his cruiser, Bautista allege...

MBTA hikes sign-on bonus for new hires to $7,500

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:02:48 GMT

The MBTA has hiked its hiring bonus to $7,500 across eligible positions in an effort to fill jobs as it struggles to run timely trains and buses amid a hiring crunch and a variety of safety concerns.The T announced Monday it was bumping up the hiring bonus to $7,500 from its previous $4,500 level.Open jobs that qualify for the bonus include bus operators, rail repairers, track laborers, streetcar operators, subway train operators, service technicians, and fuelers.  Previously, only bus operator slots qualified for the sign-on cash.The hiring push comes on the same day that the fiscal watchdog Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation issued an in-depth analysis finding the statewide effort to support the T was sorely lacking.The MTF report calls for an all-hands on deck approach from Beacon Hill legislators and the Governor’s office to get the agency back on track, emphasizing that the T can’t do it alone.“Even with a larger pipeline, sufficient resources, and faster hiring processes...

NASA announces 4 astronauts flying to the moon on Artemis II

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:02:48 GMT

Richard Tribou | Orlando SentinelHumans haven’t traveled beyond low-Earth orbit in more than 50 years, but that’s set to change with the launch of the Artemis II mission to orbit the moon next year. Just who will be flying was revealed Monday.NASA and the Canadian Space Agency announced the four crew members that will climb aboard the Orion spacecraft to be launched atop the Space Launch System rocket from Kennedy Space Center as early as November 2024.Commanding the mission will be Reid Wiseman, the former head of NASA’s astronaut office who stepped down to be eligible to fly on missions again. He will be joined by NASA astronaut Victor Glover, who will act as pilot, NASA astronaut and mission specialist Christina Koch and Canadian astronaut and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen.Fly ‘em to the Moon!@NASA has named @NASA_Astronauts @Astro_Christina, @AstroVicGlover, @astro_reidand @csa_asc @Astro_Jeremy as the crew of the #Artemis II mission. Artemis II will fly the crew of four to t...

Trump arrives in New York to face charges in criminal probe

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:02:48 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump flew Monday from Florida to New York for his historic booking and arraignment on hush money charges, as the nation’s largest city bolstered security and warned potential protesters it was “not a playground for your misplaced anger.”Trump’s motorcade ride from his Mar-a-Lago club to his red, white and blue Boeing 757, emblazoned with his name in gold letters, was carried live on cable television. It took him past supporters waving banners and cheering, decrying the case against him — stemming from payments made during his 2016 campaign — as politically motivated. Trump is already months into a third campaign to reclaim the White House he lost to President Joe Biden in 2020, and he and his advisers seemed to relish the attention. Cable networks followed his plane at airports in Florida and New York with video from the air, and Trump was joined aboard by a small group of senior campaign aides as well as his son, Eric Trump, who ...

Circle back: Maine claims biggest ice disk, at 1,776 feet

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:02:48 GMT

MADAWASKA, Maine (AP) — Volunteers cut a big ol’ circle in a frozen lake and set it in motion, claiming a world record in a category that few people know exists: The biggest ice carousel.With a diameter of 1,776 feet — or 541 meters — the giant piece of ice estimated at 146,000 tons moved slowly like a Lazy Susan to hoots, hollers and high fives on Saturday.Northern Maine Ice Busters had to cut through ice nearly 30 inches thick on a path painstakingly measured by survey crews to create a perfect circle measuring nearly six football fields across. It’s a laborious-but-fun way to provide entertainment during the long, cold winter, and it has turned into something of a rivalry in places like Finland, Minnesota and Maine. There’s even a World Ice Carousel Association.“It’s a friendly competition,” said John Mazo, media liaison for the Northern Maine Ice Busters.On Saturday, it took a herculean effort to get the giant disk moving with 10 outboard boat engines, farm equ...

Canada first to develop medical standards to keep kids from suffering pain in silence

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:02:48 GMT

OTTAWA — The Health Standards Organization has released a new set of guidelines to help hospital workers manage children’s pain — particularly for those who can’t communicate when they’re hurt.It’s the first national standard in the world focused on pediatric pain. Emergency physician and pediatric pain researcher Dr. Samina Ali says for a long time, doctors believed young children’s nervous systems were so underdeveloped they couldn’t feel or remember pain.“In the mid-’80s, babies were receiving open heart surgery with no anesthesia,” said Ali, who is also a professor of pediatrics and an adjunct professor of emergency medicine at the University of Alberta.“Even if those little ones don’t have the words at that time, their bodies remember and we see the long-term consequences of that in their physical and psychological development.”Since then, the country has made major strides toward managing the pain of young...