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Dear Abby: I can’t believe she ended our friendship over this wedding dispute

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:07:13 GMT

DEAR ABBY: I am heartbroken over the loss of my best friend of more than 30 years.“Barb” and I met in college. We live and are raising our families in the same city and are godmothers to each other’s children. My children and hers have grown up together and are best friends.Our friendship ended abruptly about six months ago at my daughter’s wedding. Barb had a lot to drink at the reception. When she was ready to go home, my son and I walked out with her and quietly told her we would give her a ride home.Barb was adamant about driving herself home, although we knew she was too drunk to get there safely. We eventually had to physically take away her keys so she couldn’t drive herself. This was done away from the party so as not to make a scene.Barb finally agreed, but during the drive she announced that our friendship was over. I assumed she would call me in the next couple days, embarrassed about her behavior, and everything would be good again.Related A...

Former Indian lawmaker, brother fatally shot live on TV

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:07:13 GMT

LUCKNOW, India (AP) — A former Indian lawmaker convicted of kidnapping and facing murder and assault charges was shot dead along with his brother in a dramatic attack that was caught live on TV in northern India, officials said Sunday.Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf were under police escort on their way to a medical checkup at a hospital on Saturday night when three men posing as journalists targeted the two brothers from close range in Prayagraj city in Uttar Pradesh state.The men quickly surrendered to the police after the shooting, with at least one of them chanting “Jai Shri Ram,” or “Hail Lord Ram,” a slogan that has become a battle cry for Hindu nationalists in their campaign against Muslims.Uttar Pradesh is governed by India’s ruling Hindu nationalist Bhartiya Janata Party.Police officer Ramit Sharma said the three assailants came on motorcycles posing as journalists. “They managed to reach close to Atiq and his brother on the pretext of recording a byte and fired at them f...

Terror en Lousiville: tiroteo en parque repleto de personas deja al menos dos muertos y cuatro heridos

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:07:13 GMT

KENTUCKY – Autoridades en la ciudad de Lousiville investigan un tiroteo que dejó al menos dos muertos la noche del sábado.Según la policía de la ciudad, el tiroteo ocurrió alrededor de las 9p.m., cuando un pistolero baleó al menos seis personas en el parque Chickasaw Park.“Cientos de personas estaban en el parque en el momento del tiroteo, cuando un sujeto comenzó a disparar contra la multitud”, detalló el subjefe del Departamento de Policía Metropolitana de Louisville, Paul Humphrey.Se informó que el incidente dejó a dos personas sin vida y a cuatro heridos de bala. Los investigadores resaltaron que hasta el momento no hay sospechosos bajo custodia y le pidieron a cualquier persona con información que se comunique con ellos.El incidente se produjo a menos de una semana después de que un sujeto arremetiera a balazos contra un grupo de empleados dentro de un banco en Louisville, matando a cinco de sus compañeros de trabajo.Source

How new-school data and old-school communication are helping Orioles hitters jump on starters

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:07:13 GMT

Austin Hays remembers a time when iPads weren’t in the Orioles’ dugout.Hays made his big league debut in 2017, one year after MLB began allowing teams to access the devices during games. But the Orioles, under the previous regime, didn’t have iPads containing vast amounts of data available for players to use during the game, Hays said.Now, though, the days of simply asking fellow hitters coming back into the dugout questions about the pitcher’s velocity, movement and release point are mostly in the past.“We actually have numbers and diagrams for that now,” Hays said. “We don’t have to ask those questions anymore because we’re totally prepared.”The data on the iPads — which MLB in 2021 broadened to include in-game video recordings — is just one tool, co-hitting coach Ryan Fuller said, that has allowed the Orioles to jump on starting pitchers earlier than the club did in 2022 and better than any other team in base...

Traffic collision kills 7 police officers in Pakistan’s SW

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:07:13 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — A head-on traffic collision in Pakistan’s southwest killed seven police officers who were returning home for the Eid holidays, an official said. They died at the scene of the crash on a national highway in the Khuzdar area of Baluchistan province on Saturday night, according to police official Fahad Khoso.Khoso said the collision was between the officers’ vehicle and a truck. The seven men had finished a course at police training college.In a separate incident, a shootout in the country’s restive northwest killed two soldiers and eight militants.The Pakistani army said late Saturday there was an intense exchange of fire between security forces and militants during the raid on a hideout in South Waziristan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.Weapons and ammunition were recovered from the slain militants, the army said. The country is seeing a rise in militant attacks since the end of a cease-fire last November between the banned group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pak...

Letters: The true genius of democracy

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:07:13 GMT

The genius of democracyI appreciated George Will’s Thursday piece, (“How, ‘I despise, therefore I am,’ locks in the political status quo”), in that I think I actually understood most of it.What is happening to American politics? It is like the IQ of our elected officials has plummeted to a level moronic. I have seen better reasoning in operation with my preschool grandchildren. People keep trying to reassure me that it’s no worse than usual.Thank goodness we live in a democracy, whose true genius, I have come to think, is that no one gets their own way for long enough to do much harm.G.J. Mayer, Forest Lake Financing health careMy heart goes out to the people described in your article, “States confront medical debt that’s bankrupting millions.” What a burden it must be to face financial ruin after being arbitrarily stricken by a medical condition. The article points out that half a million Americans experience that nightmare every year.The so...

Ask Amy: My friends walked out of the funeral, and I was frozen in shock

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:07:13 GMT

Dear Amy: I appreciate the conversation in your column about funerals.While I understand that these events can be healing for family members, they can also be traumatic for some.Many years ago, I lost my partner to AIDS. He came from a very religious family who had always treated me kindly.My partner had requested that his parents be allowed to handle the funeral service, as it was important to them, and I agreed.I flew to his childhood home with my mother and several of our mutual friends, and was welcomed warmly by the family at the viewing and treated as the grieving widower that I was.However, at the funeral the next day, the officiant went on and on about how my partner would be going to Hell and would remain there until his mother passed and “redeemed” him for his sinful “life choices,” along with many other remarks about his “lifestyle.”Many of our mutual friends walked out.Sitting in the front pews with my mother, I simply sat in shock. I was horrified and devastated, but th...

Sunday Storms in Store

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:07:13 GMT

Well hopefully you enjoyed the sunshine and dry weather conditions Saturday because storms unfortunately return to the forecast. A front near the central Gulf Coast this Sunday morning will reach South Florida tomorrow morning, elevating our rain chances from Sunday afternoon through Monday evening.Expect a bright and mostly dry start to the day this Sunday with temperatures heating up into the mid to upper 80s by the early afternoon hours. By this time, showers and storms are then expected to develop inland and will get a push toward the east coast metro. Therefore, scattered showers and thunderstorms are expected from the mid-afternoon hours through the evening, generally between 3pm and 9pm.Some of these storms could contain heavy rain, so flooding is a concern especially in Broward County which has received so much rainfall over the past week. There will also be the threat for isolated severe storms today with some of the storms producing strong winds and small hail.The risk for...

Japan prime minister vows to boost G7 security after smoke bomb attack

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:07:13 GMT

Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he would increase security at G7 meetings taking place in his country, a day after a man threw a smoke bomb at him at a campaign event. Kishida was campaigning Saturday ahead of next week’s by-elections for the Japanese parliament when an explosive device was hurled toward him. Footage on Twitter appeared to show a bodyguard kicking a smoke bomb away from the prime minister and bundling him away, after the device landed near them. A 24-year-old man was arrested at the scene.Japan will host the leaders of the Group of Seven most industrialized nations at a summit in Hiroshima next month.On Sunday, speaking after emerging unscathed from the smoke bomb incident, CNN quoted Kishida as saying: “Japan as a whole must strive to provide maximum security during the dates of the summit and other gatherings of dignitaries from around the world.”G7 foreign ministers are meeting Sunday for a three-day conference in Karuizawa, where they...

Who will the Chicago Bears select at No. 9? Brad Biggs’ NFL mock draft 2.0.

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:07:13 GMT

Unless Jalen Carter falls to No. 9, which would be a sign teams seriously dinged the Georgia defensive tackle for character and makeup concerns, there might not be a premium defensive player on the board for Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles to select.The Bears could deem Carter’s Bulldogs teammate Nolan Smith, who measured 6-foot-2, 238 pounds, large enough to fit in Matt Eberflus’ scheme as a hybrid pass rusher. Perhaps Carter will experience a wait when the draft kicks off April 27 and he’s there for the Bears to consider.If not, the Bears — who have made only marginal improvements to a shoddy pass rush and defensive line — would have to go a different direction. It’s impossible to say how things will shake out, and maybe a talent no one expected will remain when Poles has the chance to make the first first-round pick of his tenure.This dilemma, the one the Bears surely are working through, is the price the Bears had to pay to get wide r...