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Bridge: July 14, 2023

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:12:18 GMT

“I’m supposed to know about the English language,” my friend the English professor said to me, “but it continually mystifies me. I’m a teacher, and I have taught; if I were a preacher, wouldn’t I have praught?”The prof was today’s North in a penny game.“My partner had to oversee the play at four hearts,” he said.East took the king of spades and led the nine of diamonds: ten, jack, deuce. When West led a trump next, South drew trumps and led a second diamond to his queen. West produced the king and exited with a diamond. South lost a club finesse later and was down one.WINNING PLAY“My partner overlooked a winning play,” the prof said. “Odd how ‘overlook’ and ‘oversee’ have different meanings.”After South draws trumps, he can finesse in clubs. West wins and returns a club. When East’s ten falls, South gets two diamond discards on the J-9 of clubs. (He could also succeed by...

Horoscopes July 14, 2023: Jane Lynch, change begins with you

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:12:18 GMT

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Alisha Wainwright, 34; Scott Porter, 44; Matthew Fox, 57; Jane Lynch, 63.Happy Birthday: Remember what’s important to you this year. Letting outside influences infiltrate your world will set you back. Wanting to help others is admirable but not in your best interest. Put your needs first, and you’ll be in a better frame of mind when helping others. Change begins with you. A steady pace will take you where you want to go. Your numbers are 6, 13, 22, 29, 32, 37, 40.ARIES (March 21-April 19): Social events will lead to an introduction you won’t want to miss. The connections you make will give you hope for a better future. Don’t hesitate to offer your services to someone you’d like to work alongside. Romance is in the stars. 4 starsTAURUS (April 20-May 20): Be a good listener, and you’ll be privy to information that can help you bypass someone who gives you a hard time. Be willing to put your energy where it counts instea...

Word Game: July 14, 2023

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:12:18 GMT

TODAY’S WORD — NATIVES (NATIVES: NAY-tivs: Those belonging to a particular place by birth.)Average mark 33 wordsTime limit 45 minutesCan you find 41 or more words in NATIVES? The list will be published tomorrow.YESTERDAY’S WORD — VENDETTA vane vend vent vetted eaten eave evade even event nave neat need netted neve date dean deet dent dentate detent teat teed teen tend tenet tent advent ante attendTo 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, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed.Contact Word Game creator Kathleen Saxe at kzsaxe@gma...

UK officials warn low measles immunization rates could lead to tens of thousands of cases in London

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:12:18 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s Health Security Agency said on Friday that measles vaccination rates in parts of London have dropped so low that the capital could see tens of thousands of cases of the rash-causing disease unless immunization coverage is quickly boosted.In a statement, the agency said that among some groups of children in London, fewer than 70% have received their first dose of the standard measles, mumps and rubella vaccine; two doses are needed to provide protection. Measles is among the world’s most infectious diseases and health experts estimate that about 95% of the population must be immunized to stop new outbreaks.The Health Security Agency said that although the risk of an outbreak across the U.K. was low, the current levels of immunization in London suggest that “a measles outbreak of between 40,000 and 160,000 cases could occur in the capital.” As of June 30, there have been 128 cases of measles in Britain this year, versus 54 cases last year. More than 60% of the ...

Wolves fined and told to implement action plan after discriminatory chanting against Chelsea

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:12:18 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Wolverhampton was fined 100,000 pounds ($131,000) on Friday and told to implement an action plan following discriminatory chanting by its fans during a Premier League match against Chelsea in April.The sanctions were imposed by an independent regulatory commission set up by the Football Association after Wolves acknowledged the homophobic nature of its supporters’ chants on two separate occasions in the second half of the April 8 game at Molineux.“They failed to ensure their spectators and/or supporters — and anyone purporting to be their supporters or followers — conduct themselves in an orderly fashion,” the FA said, “and do not use words or otherwise behave in a way which is improper, offensive, abusive, indecent, or insulting with either express or implied reference to sexual orientation.”Wolves condemned the chanting in a post-match statement but must take further steps to prevent similar future incidents as part of an action plan ordered by the commission._...

Italians outraged after judge clears man of groping teen because contact was under 10 seconds

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:12:18 GMT

ROME (AP) — Italians are using social media to denounce a court verdict clearing a school janitor of a sexual assault charge for groping a 17-year-old student because it only lasted “around five/10 seconds.”The teenager said the man came up from behind her as she was pulling up her trousers while walking up the stairs in a Rome high school, and slipped his hand beneath her underpants, according to court documents. Pulling on the undergarments, he then lifted her slightly in the air. He admitted to groping her in the April 2022 incident but claimed it was a joke.A court in Rome ruled last week that the groping was ‘just a few seconds” and wasn’t sexual, and that it was so brief that his argument that it was a joke was convincing even if “inopportune.” Actor and comedian Paolo Camilli, who appears in The White Lotus, posted a video on TikTok this week fondling his chest in front of the camera as a chronometer counts down 10 seconds. “If this is not molestation, I don’t know what is,’’...

BlackRock: Q2 Earnings Snapshot

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:12:18 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — NEW YORK (AP) — BlackRock Inc. (BLK) on Friday reported second-quarter profit of $1.37 billion.On a per-share basis, the New York-based company said it had profit of $9.06. Earnings, adjusted for amortization costs and costs related to mergers and acquisitions, came to $9.28 per share.The results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of six analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $8.47 per share.The investment firm posted revenue of $4.46 billion in the period, which missed Street forecasts. Five analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $4.47 billion.BlackRock shares have climbed slightly more than 4% since the beginning of the year, while the S&P’s 500 index has increased 17%. The stock has climbed 24% in the last 12 months._____This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on BLK at https://www.zacks.com/ap/...

Eintracht Frankfurt signs Germany under-21 forward Jessic Ngankam from Hertha Berlin

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:12:18 GMT

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Eintracht Frankfurt has signed Germany under-21 forward Jessic Ngankam from Hertha Berlin on a five-year contract.Frankfurt’s announcement on Friday will fuel speculation that its star forward Randal Kolo Muani could leave. The 24-year-old Kolo Muani, who scored 15 Bundesliga goals and set up 16 more in his debut season, has been linked with Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain.Hertha, which was relegated from the Bundesliga last season, said it had done all it could to try to convince Ngankam to stay. The 22-year-old Ngankam had joined Hertha as a 6-year-old.“Unfortunately, he made another decision that we have to respect,” Hertha sporting director Benjamin Weber said. “Jessic is a true Berliner who came to us as a small boy, progressed through our academy, and from there into the professional area.”Ngankam helped Hertha’s under-19 team win the German title in 2018. He made his Bundesliga debut in May 2020 as a 19-year-old and went on to make 37 lea...

DC teen climbs mountain to help sister with her own uphill climb through life

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:12:18 GMT

(new Image()).src = "https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=9be9c680-c459-4acb-af21-654a2ccca384&cid=c2ffed0c-3624-46c0-b10f-97c976d290a3";cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "9be9c680-c459-4acb-af21-654a2ccca384",mediaId: "f81ff303-4089-4d1c-ac4f-e02d69c17cec"}).render("a121e53c3a574714baa6fc8319af4a94"); });A D.C. teenager is beginning his climb up Africa’s famed Mount Kilimanjaro. He’s doing it for his sister, whose rare disease has left her with her own uphill climb since the day she was born.Two days after her birth, 20-year-old Tia Piziali was diagnosed with a disease called phenylketonuria, more commonly known as PKU. Only a few thousand people have the disease, which prevents your body from digesting protein. It’s so rare that when Tia tested positive as a newborn, the doctor ordered a retest because most of the time, the positive tests are false-positives, said her mom, Alison Reynolds.Piziali was one of the very few whose positive test resul...

Why some Virginia students’ next report cards may be a better indication of what they know

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:12:18 GMT

In a video shared on YouTube, leaders at James Madison High School in Fairfax County, Virginia, said a student’s previous test grade will be changed if their score on the next test is higher, effective in the 2023-24 school year.The school will also use a rolling a gradebook, according to the video. Fairfax County Public Schools policy allows for either a traditional or rolling gradebook.In a statement, a school system spokeswoman said its a school-based grading decision that is in alignment with the county’s grading guidelines. Schools have some latitude as long as they fall within county rules. The spokeswoman characterized the elements discussed in the video as “nothing significantly new.”Late last year, Fairfax County said it started the process of reevaluating its high school grading policy, though there hasn’t been an update on those efforts since November. Meanwhile, in nearby Arlington, Superintendent Francisco Duran recently signed off on chang...