2017: Staten Island’s future begins now

It all starts with the new American president. Republican Donald Trump is set to take the oath of office as the nation’s 45th chief executive in a couple of weeks, the first time we’ve had a new occupant of the Oval Office since 2009.

AP News in Brief at 6:04 a.m. EST

Moscow is hoping Donald Trump will reconsider the sanctions the U.S. is levying in response to its finding of election hacking, a wait-and-see strategy bolstered by the American president-elect’s own approving words for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin has essentially put relations with the U.S. on hold until Trump replaces President Barack Obama on Jan. 20. Though his foreign minister encouraged him to slap back at Washington for the sanctions imposed by Obama, Putin decided that Russia wouldn’t immediately retaliate.

Obama Expels Russian For Spying

In a rare, if not unprecedented news conference, Russian Consul General Sergey Petrov addressed the media after President Obama ordered four diplomats at that embassy to leave. One of the employees is a chef.

Russia expert: New US sanctions ‘clearly meant to throw a…

New US sanctions on Russia could complicate the Trump administration’s relations with the Kremlin, as the president-elect seeks to warm relations while other US officials insist on harsh punishments for election meddling. Boris Zilberman, a Russia expert at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, said increased sanctions from the US are “clearly … meant to throw a wrench into next [administration’s] dealings with Moscow.”

US senators: Russia should be sanctioned for election hacks

President-elect Donald Trump speaks to reporters at Mar-a-Lago, Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2016, in Palm Beach, Fla. WASHINGTON – U.S. senators visiting eastern European allies to discuss security issues called for sanctions against Russia for interfering in the presidential election by hacking American political sites and email accounts.

US senators: Russia should be sanctioned for election hacks

President-elect Donald Trump speaks to reporters at Mar-a-Lago, Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2016, in Palm Beach, Fla. WASHINGTON – U.S. senators visiting eastern European allies to discuss security issues called for sanctions against Russia for interfering in the presidential election by hacking American political sites and email accounts.

Toys evacuate Trump Tower

A stray backpack prompted the partial evacuation of Trump Tower on Tuesday, though bomb squad technicians quickly determined the unattended bag contained children’s toys and was harmless. Video posted online showed people running through the Manhattan skyscraper’s public lobby as uniformed police officers waved them toward the exits.

Knights of Malta to pope: Stay out of our internal affairs

Tens of thousands of children from around the world plan to call the North American Aerospace Defense Command to ask where Santa is, and starting Saturday they will get a cheery answer about the mythical route from… Tens of thousands of children from around the world plan to call the North American Aerospace Defense Command to ask where Santa is, and starting Saturday they will get a cheery answer about the mythical route from a real… “Star Wars” actress Carrie Fisher is receiving treatment in an intensive care unit after suffering a medical emergency on a flight Friday, according to her brother.

Trump thanks Putin for Christmas letter, offers to restore relations

Miami, Dec 24 : US President-elect Donald Trump thanked Russian leader Vladimir Putin for the “very nice” Christmas letter in which the latter expressed his wishes “to restore the framework of bilateral cooperation”. [NK World] In a statement released on Friday, Trump thanked Putin for the Christmas greeting and said the thoughts expressed in the letter are “so correct”, Efe reported.

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Donald Trump has won the presidency after narrowly carrying a few states to put him above 270 electoral votes.But according… Senate Republicans refused to give President Obama’s pick to replace Supreme Court Justice Scalia even the courtesy of a… Donald Trump has been steadfastly unwilling to divest himself from his business empire, and indeed has continued to use his status as candidate and now president-elect to funnel money to that empire. It runs the gamut from using Trump-owned venues for meetings and fundraisers to serving Trump-branded bottled water to renting out floors of Trump Tower to the government agency assigned to protect him.

Here’s what the future of rail travel in the Northeast could be like

WASHINGTON — U.S. transportation officials proposed spending more than $120 billion over the next 30 years to revamp and overhaul railroad tracks in the Northeast Corridor, shaving 80 minutes off the trip between Washington and Boston, and expanding rail service throughout New Jersey. The report by the Federal Railroad Administration said a mixture of funding sources would need to be tapped to fulfill the plan of improved service along the 457-mile corridor, including some new tracks, new stations and new trains.

U.S. Representatives vote against D.C. assisted suicide law

The U.S. House of Representatives’ Oversight Committee voted on Monday to strike down a Washington, D.C. law that would allow physician-assisted suicide there. City leaders passed legislation in December that allows terminally ill patients to end their lives with a doctor’s help, but the U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power to overturn laws in the 68-square-mile district.