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Ask Amy: A mother yearns for a simple “thumbs up”

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:12 GMT

Dear Amy: My adult daughter (married, no children) lives a few hundred miles from where I live.We visit several times a year, usually when I head down her way. It’s always enjoyable.That said, text messages are an important lifeline and communal experience.Frankly, I’m getting fed up with her inability to somehow confirm with me that she’s received my texts — even with a “thumbs up” icon.I’ve made an effort over the years to chalk it up to her personal style and to be forgiving of the distractions of life.She doesn’t have a 9-to-5 job and has stretches of time between work projects. I don’t text her daily, so it’s not like I’m inundating her with irritating updates.I’d expect at least a simple response when I text a couple of times a month, and it’s disturbing to me that she never answers.This behavior also extends to any phone messages.When I’m visiting her, she responds quickly to texts or phone calls with friends, so I’d wager it’s not a systemic attitude.We’re on good term...

Greek parliament gives backing to new government's four-year plan

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:12 GMT

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis's new government won a key vote in parliament on Saturday (8 July) after promising to rebuild the country's credit rating, create jobs, raise wages and cut taxes.Mitsotakis, 55, has announced a €9 billion programme that includes one-off handouts to pensioners, pay rises to the public sector and an increase in the tax-exemption threshold by €1,000 for households with children from next year.Mitsotakis won 158 sets in the 300-seat parliament in a 25 June national election, securing a second term and a clear majority to push ahead with his finance plan. Greece emerged from a huge debt crisis five years ago that rocked the eurozone.

Single-family house sells for $1.9 million in Dublin

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:12 GMT

4549 Lee Thompson Street – Google Street ViewA spacious house located in the 4500 block of Lee Thompson Street in Dublin has new owners. The 3,156-square-foot property, built in 2013, was sold on June 1, 2023. The $1,900,000 purchase price works out to $602 per square foot. This three-story house offers a spacious layout with four bedrooms and three bathrooms. In addition, the home comes with a two-car garage, allowing for convenient vehicle storage and additional storage space. The property sits on a 2,905-square-foot lot.These nearby houses have also recently been sold:On Fabriano Place, Dublin, in May 2023, a 2,706-square-foot home was sold for $1,800,000, a price per square foot of $665. The home has 4 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms.In April 2023, a 2,658-square-foot home on Cherico Lane in Dublin sold for $1,700,000, a price per square foot of $640. The home has 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.A 2,737-square-foot home on the 3200 block of Vittoria Loop in Dublin sold in November 2022, for...

Word Game: July 10, 2023

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:12 GMT

TODAY’S WORD — NATURE (NATURE: NAY-cher: The world of living things and the outdoors.)Average mark 16 wordsTime limit 25 minutesCan you find 20 or more words in NATURE? The list will be published tomorrow.SATURDAY’S WORD — FRAGILITY fail fair fairly fairy fiat filar fitly flag flair flat flay flirt flirty flit frail frailty fray raft rail ratify rift agility airily airlift airy alit argil arty gaily gait gift gilt girl girt glair glary graft grail gratify gray grift grit lair laity liar lift tail trail tray trial trigTo 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 nou...

Bridge: July 10, 2023

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:12 GMT

“My husband’s an attractive man,” a club player told me, “but I didn’t marry him for his looks — especially the ones he’s been giving me at the bridge table.”She had been today’s West.“My husband was East. Against four hearts I cashed the K-A of spades. My hubby played the deuce and then the ten. His ten looked like a suit-preference signal, showing diamond strength, so I led the jack of diamonds next.”HIGH RUFFS“South took the ace, led a club to the ace and ruffed a club high. He got to dummy with the seven and eight of trumps to ruff two more clubs high and went to the jack of trumps to pitch a diamond on the good fifth club. Making four. My husband gave me a look that could have put out a fire.”West missed her best play. The defense will always get any diamond tricks they have coming — unless South sets up dummy’s long club for a discard. At Trick Three, West must lead a trump, removing a vi...

‘We will win’: Hundreds sing, pray for peace in Ukraine at Washington National Cathedral

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:12 GMT

Song and prayer filled the high-reaching nave of the Washington National Cathedral Sunday evening as almost 750 people gathered to commemorate the Ukrainians injured and killed in the 500 days since Russia’s full scale invasion.The numbers are staggering. The United Nations estimates over 9,000 Ukrainian citizens have been killed, over 15,000 Ukrainian citizens have been wounded and countless Ukrainian and Russian soldiers have died since the invasion on Feb. 24, 2022.Despite this, Oksana Markarova, Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.S., said the songs sung for the dead and suffering gave her hope.“When English was together with Ukrainian going all the way up to the God’s ears — I don’t know — I felt home, I felt that we will win,” Markarova said.Paul Molde, a choir member of the Ukrainian Catholic National Shrine of the Holy Family, agreed.“You feel it in your heart, in your bones, in your soul,” Molde said. “And it is sad, but we al...

Turkish president says Ankara could approve Sweden’s NATO membership if Europeans ‘open way’ to Turkey’s EU bid

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:12 GMT

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish president says Ankara could approve Sweden’s NATO membership if Europeans ‘open way’ to Turkey’s EU bid.Source

Solomon Islands leader visits Beijing, highlighting US-China rivalry in South Pacific

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:12 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Leaders of the Solomon Islands and China on Monday promised to expand relations that have fueled unease in Washington and Australia about Beijing’s influence in the South Pacific.Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare met Chinese leader Xi Jinping and the country’s No. 2 leader, Premier Li Qiang. Sogavare and Li presided over the signing of agreements on police, economic and technical cooperation.“We are here to further boost relations,” Sogavare told Li following a ceremony at which a Chinese military band played the Solomon Islands national anthem.The Solomon Islands, 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) northeast of Australia, has been China’s biggest success in a campaign to expand its presence in the South Pacific. Sogavare’s government switched official recognition in 2019 to Beijing from Taiwan, the self-ruled island democracy claimed by the mainland’s ruling Communist Party as part of its territory.“Solomon Islands, sir, has a lot to learn from China’s d...

Egypt’s inflation rate sets record high at 36.8% in June, official data show

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:12 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt’s annual inflation rate set a record high in June, as the most populous Arab country continues to battle price hikes and a depreciating currency, the Egyptian statistics bureau said Monday.The annual inflation rate reached 36.8% last month, up from 33.7% recorded in May, according to data released by the state-run Central Agency for Mobilization and Statistics.Prices in Egypt rose across many sectors, from food items and medical services to housing and furniture following the Russia-Ukraine war, which unleashed a wave of inflation across the globe.In Egypt, food and beverage prices, the main drivers of inflation, rose by 64.9% in June over the same time last year, the data released Monday showed. Grains, meat, poultry, fish, and fruit were among the products with the biggest price spikes.The inflation rate last month more than doubled compared to June 2022 when it was at 14.7%.Egypt, a country with over 105 million people, is the world’s largest wheat importer. Mo...

Thousands of children’s bikes recalled over handlebar issue

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:07:12 GMT

Watch Video: Recall issued for popular children’s bike over handlebar issueFederal regulators have recalled more than 84,000 woom children’s bicycles over an issue in which the handlebar can potentially become detached from the rest of the bike.The recall applies to all woom Original bike models manufactured from 2018 to 2021, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said.About 84,000 bikes — designed for children ages 18 months to 14 years old — were sold in the U.S., and more than 500 in Canada, the agency said.The safety commission received at least 77 reports of woom handlebar stems becoming detached or loosened, resulting in 19 injuries including bruises, cuts and abrasions.On its website, woom said the recalled bikes have a “one-bolt stem clamp design.”The recalled bikes, which retail for anywhere between $200 and $530, were sold at local stores — and through woom’s website and Amazon.com — between September 2018 and March 2022, according to t...