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US shutdown averted: Senate clears stopgap bill with hours to spare

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:46 GMT

The Senate cleared a stopgap funding bill Saturday night, sending it to President Joe Biden’s desk just in time to avert a government shutdown.The legislation effectively punts the deadline for Congress’ various spending fights to Nov. 17. It passed the upper chamber by a wide margin, 88-9.“It’s been a day full of twists and turns, but the American people can breathe a sigh of relief. There will be no government shutdown,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said shortly after passage.The package is a departure from Senate leaders’ original ambitions to include Ukraine aid in the short-term funding bill. The final version of the bill — which overwhelmingly passed the House with bipartisan support Saturday afternoon — only includes disaster relief alongside regular government funding. Senate Democrats now say they’ll be seeking a supplemental bill to continue assisting Ukraine in its war against Russia.“Most Senate Republicans remain committ...

Russian gas supplies ensured German growth, Merkel adviser says

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:46 GMT

Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s economic adviser was adamant that his country wasn’t in the wrong by working with Russian President Vladimir Putin to secure massive gas supplies.“It helped to deliver us strong growth rates that paid for things we otherwise wouldn’t have had, for a period of 10-15 years, things which would otherwise not have been possible,” Lars-Hendrik Röller said in an interview with the Financial Times.Merkel, Germany’s chancellor from 2005 to 2021, had little choice but to bet big on Russian gas after deciding to phase out nuclear energy, according to Röller, who was Merkel’s chief economic aide for her last 11 years in power. “You can argue whether that was the right thing to do, but it was the consensus in society at the time,” he said.“If we’d known then what we know now, we would of course have acted differently,” Röller added. While Merkel was long considered the Western leader of her time who knew Putin best, her polic...

Explosion, gunfire rock Ankara in terror attack, Turkey says

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:46 GMT

A suicide bombing on a government building in Turkey’s capital of Ankara Sunday morning was a terrorist attack, Turkish Internal Affairs Minister Ali Yerlikaya said.“At around 9:30 a.m., two terrorists arrived with a light commercial vehicle in front of the entrance gate of the General Directorate of Security of our Ministry of Internal Affairs [and] carried out a bomb attack,” Yerlikaya said in a statement.“One of the terrorists blew himself up and the other terrorist was neutralized,” the minister said. Two police officers were injured. “Our struggle will continue … until the last terrorist has been neutralized,” Yerlikaya said.Local media reports said explosions and gunfire were heard in the city. Atatürk Boulevard, home to a number of government buildings and the country’s parliament, was closed. MPs were due to return to work Sunday following the summer recess.Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said an investigation has been launc...

Five Celtics storylines to watch as 2023-24 training camp begins

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:46 GMT

A year ago at this time, the Celtics were a team in the midst of turmoil after the sudden departure of Ime Udoka just days before training camp began. They got through that early adversity to make another playoff run deep into the spring, but a championship ultimately remained out of reach.There isn’t nearly as much drama following the Celtics as they begin camp this week, but still plenty of questions to answer as they embark on another title pursuit. Here are five storylines to watch:1. Malcolm Brogdon’s statusIt’s been an interesting offseason for Malcolm Brogdon. The reigning Sixth Man of the Year had a disappointing end to his season, when he suffered a partial tendon tear in his right elbow/forearm during the Eastern Conference Finals, which made him a non-factor in the series. Weeks later, it looked like the guard was en route to Los Angeles in the Kristaps Porzingis trade before the deal fell apart, reportedly because there were concerns over Brogdon’s medicals. The Celtics ...

Polish opposition head Donald Tusk leads march to boost chances to unseat conservatives in election

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:46 GMT

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish opposition leader Donald Tusk is leading a march Sunday in Warsaw to mobilize supporters and boost the chances of unseating the conservative government in upcoming parliamentary elections. Thousands of supporters were arriving on buses provided for them from across Poland to take part in the “March of a Million Hearts.” Police closed some downtown streets for the 4-kilometer (2.5-mile) walk. Rallies are also to be held in other cities.Tusk has been facing a hostile and aggressive campaign on the government’s side and his electoral alliance, the Civic Coalition, is trailing in surveys a few percentage points behind the ruling Law and Justice party. Still, Tusks says there are chances for the wider opposition that includes the Left party and centrist Third Way to win in the Oct. 15 vote. A similar march in June drew huge crowds that the organizers estimated at some 500,000. Tusk, 66, an ex-prime minister and former European Union leader, returned to ...

Other voices: Here’s how Medicare should negotiate drug prices

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:46 GMT

The Inflation Reduction Act, passed last year, gave Medicare the authority to negotiate drug prices for the first time. The government will start with 10 medications, which were announced in August. Now it just needs to figure out how much they should cost.When Congress created Medicare’s prescription-drug benefit in 2003, it prevented the government from haggling with drugmakers — a coup for the industry. Medicare’s new powers are forecast to reduce out-of-pocket costs for seniors and save nearly $100 billion over a decade. For consumers accustomed to paying the highest drug prices in the world, that’s unequivocally good news.Yet the government needs to strike a careful balance. The goal should be to push prices down while preserving incentives to develop new and better treatments. With this in mind, the law directs Medicare to find the “lowest maximum fair price” while “appropriately rewarding innovation.”Officials have spent months ...

Readers and writers: Sandford’s latest, plus fiction and nonfiction with eyes on the water

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:46 GMT

Davenport and Flowers are back in John Sandford’s 33rd Prey novel today, and we have fiction and nonfiction about canoes, ships, big water and rivers.(Courtesy of Penguin Random House)“Judgment Prey”: by John Sandford (Putnam, $29.95)“You’re a little testy, and not in a particularly fun way,” Virgil said.“I know,” Lucas said. “I can’t help it, because Lundgren told me something important about who killed Sand, but I don’t know what she told me.”“What? I didn’t pick up a single thing from her,” Virgil said. “We should go back and ask her.”“That’s the problem,” Lucas said. “I had it, but I don’t know what it is, and I don’t think she’d know, either.”“Something about cheese? About goats?”“No. Goats had nothing to do with it. I don’t think.” — from “Judgment Prey”John Sandford (Courtesy of Pe...

Word Game: Oct. 1, 2023

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:46 GMT

TODAY’S WORD — INCREMENT (INCREMENT: IN-krih-ment: An amount of positive or negative change.)Average mark 55 wordsTime limit 60 minutesCan you find 68 or more words in INCREMENT?TODAY’S WORD — INCREMENT icemen inert inner inter intern item nene nice nicer niece nine niter cement cent center centime cite crime recent recite rein remit rennet rent retie rice rime rite emetic eminent emir emit enter entice entire erect ermine erne meet mere merit mete meter metier metric mice mien mince mine miner mint mire mite miter teem teen term tern tier time timer tine tinner tire tree trice trim trineTo 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 “bake...

Horoscopes Oct. 1, 2023: Zach Galifianakis, prepare to move on

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:46 GMT

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Brie Larson, 34; Zach Galifianakis, 54; Esai Morales, 61; Julie Andrews, 88.Happy Birthday: Keep your circle small and your personal information a secret. Protect against injury, illness and temptation. Look inward and address issues that will encourage personal growth. Prioritize warding off drama, chaos and nonproductive situations with individuals who don’t fit certain criteria. Discard, reboot and prepare to move on with less baggage. Your numbers are 8, 14, 23, 25, 37, 46, 48.ARIES (March 21-April 19): Tread carefully, look before you leap and stick to what you know and trust. Change may tempt you, but you aren’t likely to get an accurate picture without a thorough investigation. Put more time and effort into self-improvement. 3 starsTAURUS (April 20-May 20): Believe in yourself and what you can do to achieve contentment and happiness. Use intelligence and change what you don’t like. Disconnect from manipulative individuals who tr...

Bridge: Oct. 1, 2023

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:46 GMT

My friend the English professor picks his words carefully — as if he were wielding a pair of tweezers.“People are so careless with word usage,” he complained to me in the club lounge. “Today, one of my students insisted that it didn’t matter whether someone `played bad’ or `played badly.'”“How did you respond to that?”“I asked him, when a pretty girl walked by, whether it mattered if he looked at her stern or sternly.”I don’t suppose today’s declarer played bad or badly, but he didn’t make his contract. After South boldly accepted North’s invitational raise to 2NT, West led the five of spades, and South put up dummy’s jack as his only chance to win the first trick. When East’s queen covered, South played low, ducked the spade return and won the third spade.South then needed to set up four club tricks without letting West get in to cash his two good spades; South needed to find East ...