Evening Edition: Putin won’t expel diplomats in response to U.S. hacking sanctions

Russia slams Obama administration and CNN for ‘lie’ that it would shut American school in Moscow; Trump praises Putin's response to sanctions, calls him 'very smart!'; British leader Theresa May breaks with John Kerry's condemnation of Israel; Indiana's voucher system offers hint of school policy in the era of Trump; She was on course for stardom — then things went awry; Closing the gap between reality and entertainment; To reset the conversation about race, college course starts with a DNA test; Obama's foreclosure prevention program is ending, falling short of high expectations ; An eavesdropping Uber driver saved his teen passenger from her pimps, police say; Michigan just banned banning plastic bags. (Yes, you read that correctly.); A poker pro goes all in on MGM National Harbor and its rich 'whales'; The American diet hasn't changed in years — except for this one thing; What happened in Washington state after voters legalized recreational marijuana; More evidence that we need to stop sitting so much — especially men;   The day's most important stories   Putin won't expel diplomats in response to U.S. hacking sanctions Russia's Foreign Ministry had recommended that President Vladimir Putin expel 35 U.S. diplomats and close two properties used by the U.S. Embassy in Moscow as part of a growing diplomatic slugfest over Russia's interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. In a rare break from the diplomatic tradition of reciprocal punishment, Putin said he "wouldn't create problems for American diplomats" and planned to cultivate relations with the incoming Trump administration. By Andrew Roth  •  Read more » Russia slams Obama administration and CNN for ‘lie’ that it would shut American school in Moscow "The White House has completely lost its senses," said a Russian Foreign Ministry official. By Adam Taylor  •  Read more »   Trump praises Putin's response to sanctions, calls him 'very smart!' "Great move on delay (by V. Putin)," the president-elect tweeted. "I always knew he was very smart!" The tweet is Donald Trump's latest nod to the Russian president, whom he has praised as a strong leader — inspiring considerable backlash from American politicians from both parties. By Karoun Demirjian  •  Read more »   British leader Theresa May breaks with John Kerry's condemnation of Israel The rare diplomatic spat between Britain and the United States, which was met with surprise by the State Department, highlighted the fast-collapsing influence of the lame-duck White House. It also pointed to a vast reordering of international affairs expected after Donald Trump takes office in three weeks. By Michael Birnbaum  •  Read more »   ADVERTISEMENT   Indiana's voucher system offers hint of school policy in the era of Trump As Donald Trump signals his intent to pour billions of federal dollars into efforts to expand vouchers and charter schools, many public school advocates say Indiana offers a cautionary tale. While the state's voucher program was touted as a way to offer poor and lower-middle-class families an escape from public schools that have failed them, more than half of its recipients have never attended Indiana's public schools. By Emma Brown and Mandy McLaren  •  Read more »   She was on course for stardom — then things went awry In six years, Dagny Knutson has gone from odds-on Olympic star to cautionary tale through a series of twists and turns. Her story, according to her and her lawyers, evinces the massive power imbalance in Olympic sports, where management enjoys monopoly control and athletes have little leverage. By Will Hobson  •  Read more »   2016: The Year in Review Closing the gap between reality and entertainment This year it seemed like we were always minutes away from a shocking plot twist — and the twists came so fast that we had to keep reminding ourselves of the basic order of the universe. By Dan Zak  •  Read more »   To reset the conversation about race, college course starts with a DNA test An instructor at West Chester University led her students to learn more about their ancestry, and the test results delivered more than a few surprises. By Susan Svrluga  •  Read more »   Obama's foreclosure prevention program is ending, falling short of high expectations The Home Affordable Modification Program is scheduled to accept its final applications, having helped a fraction of the number of homeowners initially expected by the government. By Renae Merle  •  Read more »   ADVERTISEMENT   An eavesdropping Uber driver saved his teen passenger from her pimps, police say When a girl wearing a short skirt who looked like she might be 12 years old entered his car, Keith Avila sensed something was off, he would say later. By Avi Selk  •  Read more »   Michigan just banned banning plastic bags. (Yes, you read that correctly.) This means individual cities and municipalities are not allowed to ban plastic bags or charge customers a fee for using them. By Chelsea Harvey  •  Read more »   A poker pro goes all in on MGM National Harbor and its rich 'whales' This is what brings professionals such as Chad Power to a new poker room: fresh marks. A new $1.4 billion casino opening in an affluent region will flush out players with more cash than experience. For a while, anyway. By Steve Hendrix  •  Read more »   The American diet hasn't changed in years — except for this one thing The percentage of calories that we get from nuts jumped by 25 percent in a decade. By Caitlin Dewey  •  Read more »   What happened in Washington state after voters legalized recreational marijuana Studies looked at the rate of recreational marijuana use among high-schoolers in Washington state and Colorado after legalization of the drug in those states. By Christopher Ingraham  •  Read more »   More evidence that we need to stop sitting so much — especially men In a new study published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, researchers looked at the amount of time 4,486 men and 1,845 women spent sitting during work, school and at home. By Danielle Douglas-Gabriel  •  Read more »           Share Evening Edition:       Twitter      Facebook Trouble reading? Click here to view in your browser. You received this email because you signed up for Headlines. For additional free newsletters or to manage your newsletters, click here. We respect your privacy. If you believe that this email has been sent to you in error or you no longer wish to receive email from The Washington Post, click here. Contact us for help. ©2016 The Washington Post, 1301 K St NW, Washington DC 20071