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Ask Amy: Guilt follows in wake of estrangement

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:00 GMT

Dear Amy: My 82-year-old mother has an undiagnosed mental illness, marked by narcissism, paranoia, delusions, and abusive rages.Beginning in my teens (I’m in my 50s now), she has caused long periods of estrangement over perceived slights, so she missed my wedding and the births of my children.My father divorced her when I was eight years old.And yet she also has better periods when she can be lovely and charming, and so whenever she called me to reconcile, I always did.Throughout the pandemic, I visited her regularly, took her to her many doctor’s appointments, and helped her through other major problems. I did this because she has no one else — literally zero friends or other family willing to talk with or help her.But then last year, because I failed to return her call during the single hour I was in church for a special Mother’s Day service (oh, the irony), she left me more than a half-dozen increasingly hostile and abusive voicemails.I called her back and told her that we ...

Commission fines defence company €1.2 million in cartel settlement

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:00 GMT

The European Commission has fined defence company Diehl €1.2 million for participating in a cartel concerning the sale of military hand grenades together with its rival RUAG. Both companies admitted their involvement in the cartel and agreed to settle the case. RUAG was not fined as it revealed the cartel to the Commission under the leniency programme. The product concerned by the cartel is military hand grenades.The Commission investigation revealed that the two manufacturers split national markets across the European Economic Area (‘EEA') between themselves during almost 14 years. Following this allocation, only the designated manufacturer was entitled to sell military hand grenades in its allocated territory unless the other party gave its consent.Both companies cooperated with the Commission under the leniency programme (2006 Leniency Notice): RUAG received full immunity for revealing the cartel, thereby avoiding a fine of ca. € 2.5 million, while and Diehl benefited from a 50% ...

Word Game: Sept. 25, 2023

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:00 GMT

TODAY’S WORD — PICAYUNE (PICAYUNE: pik-ee-YOON: Something trivial.)Average mark 16 wordsTime limit 30 minutesCan you find 21 or more words in PICAYUNE? The list will be published tomorrow.SATURDAY’S WORD — ARMADILLO admiral alarm amid amir amoral aria arid armload aroma radial radio raid rail rill road roam roil roll maid mail malar mall mallard marl mild mill modal moil molar mold moll moral dial dill diorama doll dollar dorm dram drama drill droll idol laid lair lama lard liar lidar lido llama load loam lord oralTo purchase the Word Game book, visit WordGameBooks.com. Order it now for just $5 while supplies last!RULES OF THE GAME:1. Words must be of four or more letters.2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of “s,” such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed.3. Additional words made by adding a “d” or an “s” may not be used. For example, if “bake” is used, “baked” or “bakes” are not allowed, but “bake” and “baking” are admissible.4. Proper nouns,...

Nationals Notebook: The final days

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:00 GMT

Washington Nationals' CJ Abrams, left, celebrates with teammate Lane Thomas, right, after both score on a double hit in by Nationals' Keibert Ruiz during the third inning of the second game of a baseball doubleheader against the Atlanta Braves, Sunday, Sept. 24, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)(AP/Stephanie Scarbrough) Washington Nationals' CJ Abrams, left, celebrates with teammate Lane Thomas, right, after both score on a double hit in by Nationals' Keibert Ruiz during the third inning of the second game of a baseball doubleheader against the Atlanta Braves, Sunday, Sept. 24, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)(AP/Stephanie Scarbrough) Five games remain in the Washington Natio...

La inteligencia occidental de los Cinco Ojos llevó a Canadá a acusar a la India del asesinato de un activista sij, dice el embajador de Estados Unidos

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:00 GMT

(CNN) — La inteligencia obtenida por la red “Cinco Ojos” llevó a Canadá a hacer la acusación pública  de que el Gobierno de la India podría haber jugado un papel en el asesinato de un activista separatista sij en suelo canadiense, dijo este domingo el embajador de Estados Unidos en Canadá.Estoy “confirmando que hubo inteligencia compartida entre los socios de Cinco Ojos que ayudó a que Canadá hiciera las declaraciones que hizo el primer ministro”, dijo el embajador de Estados Unidos en Canadá, David Cohen, al programa de preguntas de CTV con Vassy Kapelos en una entrevista este domingo.Cinco Ojos es un pacto para compartir inteligencia entre Estados Unidos, Reino Unido, Canadá, Australia y Nueva Zelandia, aunque el embajador no confirmó si esa inteligencia compartida provino de Estados Unidos. “No lo haría. No lo haría bajo ninguna circunstancia”, dijo Cohen.Las relaciones entre India y Canadá se desplomaron la semana pasada después de que el primer ministro de Canadá, J...

Padres push back against reports there’s a lack of leadership in a dysfunctional franchise

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:00 GMT

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Less than a year after a stirring run to the NL Championship Series, the high-priced, underperforming San Diego Padres are defending themselves against reports there is a lack of clubhouse leadership within a dysfunctional organization.While hinting that there have been issues in the clubhouse, right-hander Joe Musgrove said they have been addressed following a story in the San Diego Union-Tribune that questioned the clubhouse culture and a story in The Athletic that suggested cultural issues and dysfunction extend up to general manager A.J. Preller.Both publications said the reports were based on interviews with players and former club employees who had been granted anonymity.“You look at last year, we were one step away from being in the World Series competing for the ultimate prize. Not a whole lot’s changed this year,” said Musgrove, who has spent two stints on the injured list. “Obviously, there were things that went on in the clubhouse this year that we didn’t...

Las 5 cosas que debes saber este 25 de septiembre: México deportará migrantes para reducir la presión en la frontera con EE.UU.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:00 GMT

Medidas para frenar la migración en la frontera entre México y EE.UU. Logran un acuerdo que podría finalizar la huelga en Hollywood. Separatistas en Ucrania. Usher cantará en el Super Bowl de 2024. Esto es lo que debes saber para comenzar el día. Primero la verdad.1. México anuncia medidas para reducir flujo de migrantesEl enorme tránsito de migrantes sigue en aumento y las autoridades de México acordaron con EE.UU. aplicar una serie de medidas para “despresurizar” varios lugares que están saturados. México asegura que recibe alrededor de 6.000 migrantes a diario en su frontera sur y planea deportar migrantes y tomar acción para que las personas no arriesguen su vida al utilizar el sistema ferroviario. ¿Qué causa el aumento en la migración? Además de la violencia, la desinformación jugaría un papel clave.La última estación antes de cruzar la selva del Darién: así es el campamento de AcandíAumentan los cruces de migrantes en la frontera sur de EE.UU. 2:332. Logran acuerdo que pondría...

AP Top 25 Reality Check: The top-tier of teams widens as points gap between them in poll shrinks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:00 GMT

The top tier of The Associated Press college football poll is getting crowded.Georgia remains a clear No. 1 in the Top 25. The two-time defending national champions have not budged since last season, a streak of 15 straight polls. The Bulldogs received 55 first-place votes this week.Five other teams split up the other eight first-place votes. No, 2 Michigan got one; No. 3 Texas two; No. 4 Ohio State had one; No. 5 Florida State got three; and No. 7 Washington one.That’s the most teams with a first-place vote during the regular season since November 2015.The teams in the top five are also tightening by points, with No. 2 and No. 5 separated by a season-low 79. Washington’s 1,228 points are the most by a team ranked seventh this season.It might be too early to draw conclusions about this, but it does seem like the band of teams with a chance to contend for a national title is wider.To use another barometer, ESPN’s SP+ — which is a forward-looking metric — has the top...

102-loss Royals have turned out to be quite the spoilers against playoff-chasing Houston

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:00 GMT

This wasn’t a run you saw coming — but then again, you rarely do when a baseball team starts to play spoiler.The Kansas City Royals, who reached 100 losses over two weeks ago and have been out of contention for almost the entire season, suddenly became a huge thorn in the side of the defending champions. The Royals went 5-1 in two recent series against Houston, leaving the Astros in a precarious spot in the playoff race. Kansas City has now won 10 of its last 11 games.Even after that impressive stretch, the Royals have the second-worst record in baseball, but you wouldn’t have known it watching those matchups with Houston. And the Astros looked nothing like the World Series champs from a season ago.On Friday night, Kansas City scored seven runs on only five hits in a win over Framber Valdez. The next evening, Jordan Lyles pitched five scoreless innings and improved to 5-17 on the year for the Royals.A nice September stretch doesn’t necessarily mean Kansas City will...

Toymaker Lego will stick to its quest to find sustainable materials despite failed recycle attempt

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:29:00 GMT

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Denmark’s Lego said on Monday that it remains committed to its quest to find sustainable materials to reduce carbon emissions, even after an experiment by the world’s largest toymaker to use recycled bottles did not work.Lego said it has “decided not to progress” with making its trademark colorful bricks from recycled plastic bottles made of polyethylene terephthalate, known as PET, and after more than two years of testing “found the material didn’t reduce carbon emissions.”Still, the toymaker remains “fully committed to making Lego bricks from sustainable materials by 2032,” it addedTwo years ago, the privately-held group which makes its bricks out of oil-based plastic, started researching a potential transition to recycled plastic bottles made of PET plastic, which doesn’t degrade in quality when recycled.It had invested “more than $1.2 billion in sustainability initiatives” as part of efforts to transition to more sustainab...