Western sanctions are dealing a severe blow to Russia’s economy. The ruble is plunging, foreign businesses are fleeing and sharply higher prices are in the offing. Familiar products may disappear from stores, and middle-class achievements like foreign vacations are in doubt. Beyond the short-term pain, Russia’s economy will likely see a deepening of the stagnation…
Read more
The Miami Heat again find themselves in an injury waiting game, this time with forward Caleb Martin. Injured during the first half of Wednesday night’s loss to the Phoenix Suns at FTX Arena, Martin initially was diagnosed with a hyperextended left knee, with an MRI expected to follow Thursday. Martin already had been dealing with…
Read more
California’s seminal open-meetings law, the Brown Act, requires that public agencies conduct the public’s business in public view. It allows narrow exceptions over the specific “price and terms” of financial negotiations, but law’s intent is clear – officials’ “actions be taken openly and that their deliberations be conducted openly.” Did the city of Anaheim, in…
Read more
The brutal invasion of Ukraine by Russia has renewed conservatives’ calls for large increases of our defense budget. The extra money, we are told, would fund more weapons to better prepare us to respond to aggression in a world that looks increasingly dangerous. As compelling as these arguments can be in a stressful time, it’s…
Read more
Kevin Marcus and Wil Baptiste of Black Violin want to shatter classical music stereotypes. “We play violins but we don’t look like violinists and we always just try to lean into that. The reason we’ve been doing this so long isn’t just because we’re good at the violin but because we do things with the…
Read more
By Nicole Chavez | CNN When Sherri Papini claimed she was abducted in Northern California, investigators were led to believe they were looking for two Hispanic women who spoke Spanish, played Mariachi music and fed her mostly tortillas and rice. Papini’s elaborate story of her 2016 kidnapping, which federal prosecutors now allege was false, reinforced…
Read more
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street pointed toward a lower open Thursday and oil continued its rapid, upward trajectory after a brief and sharp sell-off the previous day. Futures for Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.8% as Russian attacks on Ukraine intensified as fighting entered its third…
Read more
By JULHAS ALAM DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — The crisis in Ukraine and Russia, one of the world’s main sources of grain, fertilizers and energy, presents new challenges in securing food supplies on top of a prolonged pandemic, a U.N. official said Thursday. “We weren’t going well even before the pandemic, the hunger was rising slowly…
Read more
Chipotle Mexican Grill is introducing what it calls its first new take on chicken in 29 years. It’s called Pollo Asado. The Newport Beach-based company describes it as chicken meat tumbled in a spice blend, then seared on a plancha and complemented with marinade, fresh lime juice and cilantro. It will be available for a…
Read more
This time, the ovation was muted. This time, no chants on “O-La-DI-Po!” at FTX Arena. This time just another game — and, in this case, another loss — in the 82-game NBA regular-season grind. If Monday night’s return from 11 months away from the game felt like fantasy for Victor Oladipo in the resounding victory…
Read more
