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Dear Abby: Pal’s teasing hubby now AWOL in visits

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:05 GMT

Dear Abby: About 10 years ago, I visited my oldest and dearest friend, who I see a few times a year. The last time, her husband, who I’ve also known for years and who I thought was a friend, started teasing me. I can take a joke, but the teasing got mean. Eventually he stopped, and I continued my visit.I was really angry at him, but because I didn’t want to involve my friend, I sent him an email. I told him I thought his teasing went too far and to please not do it again. He never replied. Now when I visit my friend, her husband is never there. He stays away. I haven’t seen him in years.My friend makes silly excuses why he isn’t at home when I visit. In fact, the last time I went I saw him driving away when I drove up! I don’t hold a grudge against the guy. I think it’s sad that he has to run away. Should I say something? — Perplexed in CaliforniaDear Perplexed: No. You dealt with your friend’s husband appropriately without involving h...

Morocco’s Benzina becomes the first senior-level Women’s World Cup player to compete in hijab

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:05 GMT

Adelaide, Australia (AP) — Stepping onto the field against South Korea in Morocco’s second Women’s World Cup match, defender Nouhaila Benzina made history as the first player to wear a hijab while competing at a senior-level global tournament.A FIFA ban on playing in religious head coverings in its sanctioned games for “health and safety reasons” was overturned in 2014 after advocacy from activists, athletes and government and soccer officials.“I have no doubt that more and more women and Muslim girls will look at Benzina and just really be inspired – not just the players, but I think decision makers, coaches, other sports as well,” said Assmaah Helal, a co-founder of the Muslim Women in Sports Network.Benzina plays professional club soccer for the Association’s Sports of Forces Armed Royal – the eight-time defending champion in Morocco’s top women’s league. She did not play in Morocco’s opening 6-0 loss to Germany in Melbourne, and had to wait six days to finally get her start in t...

RCMP in British Columbia lifts amber albert after two children located

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:05 GMT

Mounties in British Columbia say the two children who were subjects of an amber alert issued about 10 days ago have been located safely.RCMP say the children were located safe Saturday evening and are being reunited with their family after they were allegedly abducted by their mother earlier this month.Surrey RCMP Media Relations Officer Cpl. Vanessa Munn said in a statement Saturday night that investigators appreciate the assistance from the public, media, and policing partners, who played an important role in helping to safely locate the children.Police issued an amber alert on July 19 for an eight-year-old and her 10-year-old brother after last being seen in Kelowna, B.C.Mounties said their mother was believed to be living off-grid in a rural area with her boyfriend.Earlier in the investigation, police had said they were looking for their mother’s father, who was driving a distinctive van that has its steering wheel on the right-hand side.This report by The Canadian Press w...

Anchorage homeless face cold and bears. A plan to offer one-way airfare out reveals a bigger crisis

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:05 GMT

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Shawn Steik and his wife were forced from a long-term motel room onto the streets of Anchorage after their rent shot up to $800 a month. Now they live in a tent encampment by a train depot, and as an Alaska winter looms they are growing desperate and fearful of what lies ahead.A proposal last week by Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson to buy one-way plane tickets out of Alaska’s biggest city for its homeless residents gave Steik a much-needed glimmer of hope. He would move to the relative warmth of Seattle.“I heard it’s probably warmer than this place,” said Steik, who is Aleut.But the mayor’s unfunded idea also came under immediate attack as a Band-Aid solution glossing over the tremendous, and still unaddressed, crisis facing Anchorage as a swelling homeless population struggles to survive in a unique and extreme environment. Frigid temperatures stalk the homeless in the winter and bears infiltrate homeless encampments in the summer. A record eight people ...

Overnight drone attack on Moscow injures 1, temporarily closes airport for traffic

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:05 GMT

Russian authorities say three Ukrainian drones attacked Moscow in the early hours on Sunday, injuring one person and prompting a temporary closure for traffic of one of four airports around the Russian capital.It was the fourth such attempt at a strike on the capital region this month and the third this week, fueling concerns about Moscow’s vulnerability to attacks as Russia’s war in Ukraine drags into its 18th month.The Russian Defense Ministry referred to the incident as an “attempted terrorist attack by the Kyiv regime” and said three drones targeted the city. One was shot down in the surrounding Moscow region by air defense systems and two others were jammed. Those two crashed into the Moscow City business district in the capital. Photos from the site of the crash showed the facade of a skyscraper damaged on one floor. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the attack “insignificantly damaged” the outsides of two buildings in the Moscow City district. A security guard was...

Consumer demand for speed and convenience drives labor unrest among workers in Hollywood and at UPS

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:05 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Six straight days of 12-hour driving. Single digit paychecks. The complaints come from workers in vastly different industries: UPS delivery drivers and Hollywood actors and writers.But they point to an underlying factor driving a surge of labor unrest: The cost to workers whose jobs have changed drastically as companies scramble to meet customer expectations for speed and convenience in industries transformed by technology.The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated those changes, pushing retailers to shift online and intensifying the streaming competition among entertainment companies. Now, from the picket lines, workers are trying to give consumers a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to produce a show that can be binged any time or get dog food delivered to their doorstep with a phone swipe. Overworked and underpaid employees is an enduring complaint across industries — from delivery drivers to Starbucks baristas and airline pilots — where surges in consumer demand hav...

Guatemala presidential candidate rushes to expand base beyond urban youth

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:05 GMT

SANTA MARIA DE JESUS, Guatemala (AP) — Presidential candidate Bernardo Arévalo stood before a few hundred residents of this small Indigenous community on the slopes of the Agua Volcano and told them they could be the seeds of a brighter, more corruption-free spring in Guatemala.The metaphor fits neatly with his political party, the Seed Movement, and allows the 64-year-old academic and former diplomat to riff on themes of renewal and growth.But it also alludes to Guatemala’s “democratic spring,” considered a more inclusive period in the country’s history during the presidency in the 1940s and early 1950s of his late father, Juan José Arévalo.Bernardo Arévalo won just 11% of the vote in the presidential election’s first round June 25, but it was enough to give him the surprise second slot in the Aug. 20 runoff ballot. He will face Sandra Torres, a conservative and former first lady who was the leading vote-getter in the first round and is making her third bid for the pres...

Taylor Swift-themed SF Giants game brings out all the hits

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:05 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO — Taylor Swift’s “Era’s Tour” concert rocked Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara on Saturday night. But attendees of the Giants’ 3-2 walkoff victory over the Boston Red Sox earlier in the day still heard several of Swift’s infectious hits. Before Giants batters took their swings, and in between innings, the sounds of the pop star’s expansive discography filled the air around Oracle Park. The players’ normal walkup songs were replaced by a selection of the 12-time Grammy winner’s greatest hits (and songs from ‘Reputation.’)A few seconds before Wilmer Flores drove in Austin Slater, the guitar riff from “Style” floated around the park. Next up was walk-off hero, J.D Davis, who was introduced by a short section of “Teardrops on My Guitar” from the Grammy-winner’s debut album. San Francisco Giants’ J.D. Davis (7) touches home plate after hitting a walk-off game winning home run against the Boston Red Sox in the ninth inning of their...

Curfew concerns, transportation challenges can’t dampen excitement for second Taylor Swift performance

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:05 GMT

Curfew concerns, logistical challenges, and crowded trams did little to diminish the energy and excitement for Taylor Swift’s second sold-out performance at Levi’s Stadium on Saturday night.After the performance on Friday night ran nearly 40 minutes past Santa Clara’s 11 p.m. curfew, at least some concertgoers found themselves struggling to return home in the wee hours of the morning.One fan, Donna Musick, said she found herself stranded at the Milpitas BART with her daughter at 1:00 a.m. after missing the last train north.“I can absolutely attest that there were at least a few hundred stranded concertgoers who had to scramble to find Uber, Lyft or other means to get to where they needed to go,” Musick wrote in an email to this news organization. “It was unconscionable that they would leave so many stranded in the early hours.”BART had not yet returned a request to comment.Related ArticlesEntertainment | Review: Taylor Swift triumphs on Night 1 of Eras Tour at Levi’...

Crews contain 87-acre fire along I-580 in Livermore

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:05 GMT

(KRON) -- Crews contained a vegetation fire that burned along Interstate 580 in Livermore on Saturday, according to fire officials. Large Pleasanton fire causes road closure The fire, which was originally started by a car, spread into nearby vegetation just before 7 p.m. and grew to 87 acres. Officials say wind helped the fire, located along Flynn and Carroll Roads, spread into more vegetation. Freeway traffic was interrupted as a result of the fire, officials said. Cal Fire crews were able to contain the fire by 8:30 p.m.