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Ruble touches 99 to the US dollar, continuing the Russian currency’s monthslong fall

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:19 GMT

The Russian ruble, which has been steadily losing exchange value in a long fall since the beginning of the year, hit 99 to the dollar in Friday trading, its lowest level since the early weeks of the Ukraine war. In January, the ruble traded at about 66 to the dollar but lost about a third of its value in subsequent months amid continuing concern about the Russian economy.After Western countries imposed wide sanctions in the wake of the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the ruble plunged to as low as 130 against the dollar, but the Russian Central Bank enacted capital controls that stabilized its value. By last summer, it was in the 50-60 range to the dollar. International sanctions cut off a significant part of imports to Russia, which Central Bank deputy director Alexei Zabotkin said has contributed to the ruble’s fall. “Activation of domestic demand also contributes to an increase in demand for imports, which, with limited exports, results in a weakening of the ruble, whic...

Attorney General Garland will appoint special counsel in Hunter Biden probe

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:19 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Friday he is appointing a special counsel in the Hunter Biden probe, deepening the investigation of the president's son ahead of the 2024 election.Garland said he is naming David Weiss, the U.S. attorney in Delaware who has been probing the financial and business dealings of the president's son, as the special counsel. Hunter Biden to plead guilty in deal with feds Garland said on Tuesday that Weiss told him that “in his judgment, his investigation has reached a stage at which he should continue his work as a Special Counsel, and he asked to be appointed."The move is a momentous development from the typically cautious Garland and comes amid a pair of sweeping Justice Department probes into Donald Trump, the former president, and President Joe Biden's chief rival in next year's election.

Coloradans prefer to buy local, survey shows

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:19 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- Lucky for Palisade peaches and Pueblo chiles, a recent survey showed that the majority of Coloradans prefer to buy local. As FOX31's morning anchor Kirk Yuhnke said, if they're not Palisade peaches, his family doesn't even think about buying them. 5 places to get Palisade peaches near Denver In a recent survey from the Colorado Department of Agriculture, more than 80% of respondents deemed that an item grown or raised in Colorado heavily influenced whether or not they'd buy the product. It's more than just Palisade peaches and Pueblo chiles that are benefitting from locals. More and more producers are featuring Colorado-based products, said Thilmany agricultural economist and professor with Colorado State University’s Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics in a press release. Some examples are local butchers only selling Colorado-based meat or bakeries selling grains from Colorado. "So, we’re seeing little tentacles where this interest in local foods ...

Loveland artist gets his inspiration from the Colorado outdoors

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:19 GMT

LOVELAND, Colo. (KDVR) — The Colorado outdoors offer up action, adventure and even history. For Loveland artist Howard Neville, it also offers inspiration.It all started when Neville was just a kid in grade school. “I was handed these boxes of colored chalk by my teachers and they told me to go up to the blackboard and create a picture for the holidays. And that’s what I did,“ said Neville. And that is how it went. Neville did not ask any questions, he just did it. Outdoor Colorado: One-of-a-kind summer camp for kids Neville paints, sculpts and makes jewelry. So which one does he like best? “That is like asking me which kid I like best. They are all kind of responsible for me, my behavior, and some days I feel like just doing one when I don’t feel like doing the other. I can’t pick,“ said Neville.Neville’s father had other plans for him and his brother. They were to be carpenters. “And it was up to me and my brother to build houses with him. And then I started doing this foo foo s...

Miami-Dade Police officer arrested after throwing cheeseburger at wife

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:19 GMT

A Miami-Dade Police officer was arrested by Miramar Police after he allegedly threw a cheeseburger at his wife of three years. On Friday, 34-year-old Andres Perez faced a judge in bond court after an argument with his wife at a McDonald’s led to domestic abuse. According to a police report, Perez and his wife were arguing about their finances and marital issues. He reportedly stormed into the kitchen of the fast-food restaurant, threw a burger at his wife and punched her behind the ear. The Miami-Dade Police Department’s Interim Director Stephanie V. Daniels said in a statement, “It is disheartening to learn that one of my officers was arrested for a domestic violence incident, that occurred while he was off duty. Police Officers are held to a higher standard; this type of behavior will not be tolerated. Any actions that may hinder the public’s confidence in law enforcement is unacceptable.He faces one count of a domestic battery charge. Miramar Police has be...

Couple arrested for neglect of disabled man found living in squalor behind Florida home

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:19 GMT

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WSVN) – A non-verbal 22-year-old intellectually disabled man was discovered living in deplorable conditions behind a St. Petersburg residence, leading to the arrest of his caretaker and the caretaker’s live-in girlfriend.The St. Petersburg Police Department became involved in the investigation after a report from the Department of Children and Families raised concerns about the well-being of the disabled individual. The victim, whose identity remains confidential, was found residing in a makeshift hut in the backyard of a house, exposed to the elements and living in filth.The victim’s living conditions were described as dire. He was sleeping outdoors and had been denied access to the house. Authorities reported that he had not bathed and was covered in feces when discovered.Jeffeth Garvey, 56, the victim’s designated caretaker, and Antoinette Mundy, 59, his live-in girlfriend, now face charges of neglect of a disabled adult. The couple w...

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos buys home in Miami’s ‘billionaire bunker.’ Tom Brady will be his neighbor

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:19 GMT

MIAMI (AP) — Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, is buying an estate on an exclusive man-made barrier island in Miami known as “Billionaire Bunker,” where he will be neighbors with a growing list of celebrities including Tom Brady, Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner.Bezos, 59, is paying $68 million for the three-bedroom, waterfront home, which sits on 2.8 acres (1.1 hectares), Fortune magazine and Bloomberg reported. The Amazon founder stepped down as CEO in 2021 to devote more time to philanthropy and other projects.MTM Star International is listed on Miami-Dade property records as the previous owner of the home. The county website does not list Bezos as the owner, but shows the property sold in June.Guillermo Olmedillo, the village manager of Indian Creek Village, told The Associated Press he has no information about the purchase. The village has a country club and its own police force.County records show the property previously sold for $1.4 million in 1982. Th...

Prosecutors say a California judge charged in his wife’s killing had 47 weapons in his house

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:19 GMT

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — A Southern California judge was charged Friday with murder in the shooting death of his wife and 47 weapons were seized from the house, authorities said.Orange County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ferguson, 72, was arrested last week after his adult son called 911 to report his mother, Sheryl Ferguson, had been shot at the family’s home in the upscale neighborhood of Anaheim Hills, the district attorney’s office said in a statement. He was released a day later on $1 million bail.Prosecutors want additional bail conditions because authorities recovered 47 weapons and more than 26,000 rounds of ammunition during a search of his home. A rifle registered in his name is not accounted for, the statement said.They want Ferguson to surrender his passport and wear an ankle monitor.Ferguson’s attorneys, Paul Meyer and John Barnett, issued a brief statement and declined to answer questions. “This is a tragedy for the entire Ferguson family. It was an accident and ...

Italy wants Musk vs. Zuckerberg cage fight

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:19 GMT

You’ve heard of the Thrilla in Manila and the Rumble in the Jungle. Well, how about the Melee in Milan or the Fracas in Florence? Italy is primed to host the proposed cage fight between tech billionaires Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg after SpaceX chief Musk said Friday he spoke to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her government’s culture ministry to agree on an undisclosed “epic location” for the battle.Italy’s Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano said he had a “long and friendly conversation” with Musk about the event, which would pit the feuding entrepreneurs against each other in mixed martial arts-style cage. The “epic location” for the planned scrap remains a secret but the Italian culture ministry did rule out Rome after Musk posted “everything in camera frame will be ancient Rome, so nothing modern at all.” Previously, Sangiuliano ruled out Rome’s Colosseum as a venue due to ongoing maintenance. “We ar...

Zelenskyy fires military recruitment chiefs amid corruption concerns

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:19 GMT

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that he fired all regional military recruitment bosses amid reports of corruption. The dismissed officials will be replaced by soldiers who have been on the front lines or who have been hurt in combat, as “they can be entrusted with this recruitment system,” Zelenskyy said.“This system should be run by people who know exactly what war is and why cynicism and bribery in times of war constitutes high treason,” he added, as Ukraine digs in against a Russian offensive in the northeast while also trying to reclaim territory captured by Moscow’s invading forces in the country’s south and east. The Ukrainian president held a meeting with the National Security and Defense Council to discuss the corruption allegations involving military officials. There are already 112 criminal proceedings open against military recruiting officials, he saidZelenskyy said many officials across multiple departments and Ukrainian regions were...