Russian consulate staff in San Francisco apparently burned something to keep it out of U.S. hands
Employees of the Russian consulate in San Francisco used a fireplace to burn unknown items Friday, causing the building to emit black smoke from its chimney.
When local firefighters showed up to investigate, presuming an emergency because the temperature outside was in the 90s, consulate staff turned them away and explained the smoke came from intentional fireplace use. The fire happened while consulate staff emptied the building in response to a White House order to vacate by Saturday in connection to rising tensions between Moscow and Washington.
U.S. agents are expected to search the facility Saturday and have already "search[ed] apartments in San Francisco used by Russian diplomats and their families," Politico reports, quoting Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.
- 
Will the public buy Rachel Reeves’ tax rises?Today’s Big Question The Chancellor refused to rule out tax increases in her televised address, and is set to reverse pledges made in the election manifesto
 - 
Margaret Atwood’s ‘deliciously naughty’ memoirIn the Spotlight ‘Bean-spilling’ book by The Handmaid’s Tale author is ‘immensely readable’
 - 
Being a school crossing guard has become a deadly jobUnder the Radar At least 230 crossing guards have been hit by cars over the last decade
 
- 
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstancesSpeed Read
 - 
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2Speed Read
 - 
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governorSpeed Read
 - 
Los Angeles city workers stage 1-day walkout over labor conditionsSpeed Read
 - 
Mega Millions jackpot climbs to an estimated $1.55 billionSpeed Read
 - 
Bangladesh dealing with worst dengue fever outbreak on recordSpeed Read
 - 
Glacial outburst flooding in Juneau destroys homesSpeed Read
 - 
Scotland seeking 'monster hunters' to search for fabled Loch Ness creatureSpeed Read
 
