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Bridge: March 27, 2023

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:17:28 GMT

Having canceled five of its 10-day North American Championships in a row due to COVID-19, the ACBL has now staged four straight. The Fall NABC was held in Phoenix in November.In the Super Senior Pairs for players age 75 and higher, Bruce Ferguson was today’s East. Against South’s four hearts, West, Brenda Keller, led a trump. Declarer drew trumps and next let the jack of diamonds ride.Suppose East takes the queen and returns a spade. South will play low, win in dummy and lose only to the ace of diamonds, making five. But Ferguson won with the ACE of diamonds and led a spade.DISCARDSouth not unnaturally took the ace and passed the nine of diamonds, hoping for three diamond tricks and a spade discard. Ferguson produced the queen and cashed his king of spades, holding South to 10 tricks.Ferguson-Keller scored well here — and won the event. I suspect that at many tables, North played at four hearts after a transfer auction and was helped when East led a high club.DAILY...

Word Game: March 27, 2023

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:17:28 GMT

TODAY’S WORD — CORPSE (CORPSE: KORPS: A dead body, especially of a human being.)Average mark 15 wordsTime limit 25 minutesCan you find 18 or more words in CORPSE? The list will be published tomorrow.SATURDAY’S WORD — JAMBOREES jamb jeer aero aerobe amber arms arose major mare maser mere mesa more mores bare base baser beam bear beer berm besom bore bream obese ream roam robe rose ease ember erase erose saber same seam sear seem seer sere smear soar sober somber some sora sorb soreTo 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...

Horoscopes March 27, 2023: Mariah Carey, pioneer your way into the future

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:17:28 GMT

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Fergie, 48; Nathan Fillion, 52; Mariah Carey, 54; Pauley Perrette, 54.Fergie (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP) Happy Birthday: Express yourself, demonstrate your intentions and invite individuals into your circle this year who have something to contribute to your goal. Your dedication and determination will help you finish what you start if you don’t let anxiety or anger hold you back. Pioneer your way into the future by thinking outside the box and selling your beliefs and concepts passionately. Your numbers are 6, 12, 18, 23, 31, 36, 44.ARIES (March 21-April 19): Research and preparation will set your mind at ease. Knowing what you are up against will factor into your success. Choose your words wisely and share with like-minded people. Don’t lead someone on with a false gesture or empty promise. 4 starsTAURUS (April 20-May 20): You’ll charm others with your insight and progress. Concentrate on getting your intentions up and r...

Burkina Faso suspends France 24 for interview with jihadi

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:17:28 GMT

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Burkina Faso’s military junta has suspended French broadcaster, France 24, for interviewing a top jihadi rebel, a government spokesman announced Monday. The broadcasting of France 24’s programs will be blocked throughout Burkina Faso because of an interview the outlet did with the leader of an al-Qaida aligned group, Jean-Emmanuel Ouedraogo said in a statement.“It is with regret that the government discovered two weeks ago an interview with the ‘chief of al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb’ on France 24, part of the France Medias Monde group. Without contesting the freedom of the channel’s editorial choices, the government nevertheless questions the ethics that govern the professional practice of journalism on France 24,” he said.By describing the views of the head of the rebel group, France 24 had acted as a communication agency for the jihadis and gave them space to legitimize their actions, he said. On March 6, France 24 discussed on air, the e...

Greenland to stay in daylight saving time forever

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:17:28 GMT

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Residents of Greenland have switched to daylight saving time and moved their clocks one hour forward this weekend for the very last time.Unlike most of Europe, Greenlanders will leave their clocks untouched come autumn when daylight saving time ends. While Europe and the U.S. debates whether to stick to the twice-yearly practice, Greenland – a vast Danish semi-independent territory in the Arctic – has resolved to perennially remain only three hours behind Copenhagen and most other European countries instead of four. Greenland’s parliament, Inatsisartut, voted to stick to daylight saving time year-round on Nov. 24 last year. Officials say it will give Greenlanders another hour of daylight in the afternoons and more time to do business with Europe and farther afield.“The shift of time zone marks an exciting new beginning, an equal connection to North America and Europe, and an opportunity to slow down in a fast-paced world,” Visit Greenland...

More than 180 Rohingya refugees arrive on Indonesian beach

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:17:28 GMT

LHOKSEUMAWE, Indonesia (AP) — More than 180 disoriented Rohingya Muslims, some of whom needed medical attention, arrived in the early morning in Indonesia’s northernmost province of Aceh, an official said Monday.“From the information we received, the boat took them and told them that they have arrived at their destination and left them at the beach,” said Andy Rahmansyah, East Aceh police chief.He said the authorities are still collecting more information and giving medical aid to some of the refugees.Ali Hussein, one of the refugees, said the boat took them from Bangladesh before it fled and left them in the dark after the group disembarked to the beach.“It was difficult there. When we were gathered, we got offered a rate for the boat and we agreed to go to a far place, whether it is Indonesia or Malaysia,” Hussein said.The group of 184, including women and children, arrived by fishing boat at Kuala Matang Peulawi, a coastal area in Peureulak subdistrict in East Aceh.More than 700,...

UN expert advising IOC gives views on Russians at Olympics

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:17:28 GMT

GENEVA (AP) — Russian athletes who have actively served in the military invasion of Ukraine should be allowed to return to international sports if they did not take part in war crimes, according to a United Nations expert advising the International Olympic Committee.The U.N. special rapporteur for cultural rights, Alexandra Xanthaki, said late Sunday only Russian military members implicated in “allegations of war crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity or propaganda for war” should be denied neutral status to compete in international sports ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics.Xanthaki angered Ukrainian athletes who took part in an IOC-hosted call to consult them ahead of an Olympic announcement due Tuesday to update guidance for sports bodies 16 months before the opening of the Paris Games.Ukrainian government and sports officials want the IOC to ban all Russians from the 2024 Games and claim most of the country’s recent Olympic medalists were affiliated with the military.Xanthaki wr...

Amid higher risk, Fairfax Co. firefighters receive early cancer screening

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:17:28 GMT

As if trying to extinguish a raging inferno wasn’t dangerous enough, firefighters face life-threatening risks even after the blaze is knocked down.Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department Capt. Barry Maham is living proof, two years after he was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer.Firefighters face a 9% increased risk of cancer, according to the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, and more than 14% higher than the general public, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Fairfax County’s fire department is offering free early cancer screenings to all of its members.More Fairfax County NewsMore Virginia NewsBattalion Chief Brian Edmonston said all current firefighters and those who retired within the last five years are eligible for the ultrasound scans after a $450,000 grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.The diagnostic screening includes an echocardiogram, carotid Doppler, abdominal aorta, thyroid, live, gall bladder, sple...

$1M to help with ‘vital’ Chesapeake Bay improvement

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:17:28 GMT

BISHOPS HEAD, MARYLAND — NOVEMBER 12: In this aerial view, Crab Point reaches out into the water where the Honga River empties into the Chesapeake Bay on Nov. 12, 2022 near Bishops Head, Maryland. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)The Chesapeake Bay Trust nonprofit based in Annapolis, Maryland, will receive over $1 million in funding from the federal government to strengthen tidal wetland restoration, public education and bolster green infrastructure projects.In a news release Friday, U.S. Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin and Congressman John Sarbanes announced that $1,129,063 in federal funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will go toward local projects to restore, preserve and protect the Chesapeake Bay.More Local NewsMore Maryland News“The health of the Chesapeake Bay is vital to the health of our communities and our regional economy,” said Van Hollen.“We fought to pass the infrastructure modernization law — and within it to boost resource...

Germany’s rebuilding hurt by Havertz, Schlotterbeck absences

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 21:17:28 GMT

COLOGNE, Germany (AP) — Germany coach Hansi Flick’s quest to rebuild has been hampered once again, this time by injuries to Kai Havertz and Nico Schlotterbeck.Flick had been hoping to establish some continuity among his key players to create a strong foundation for more important games to come, but Havertz and Schlotterbeck have dropped out of the squad for Tuesday’s friendly against Belgium after playing in the 2-0 win over Peru on Saturday.Schlotterbeck has muscular problems in his left thigh. West Ham defender Thilo Kehrer came on for the Borussia Dortmund defender toward the end of the game against Peru and is likely to start against Belgium in Cologne. AC Milan defender Malick Thiaw is the only other potential option in Flick’s squad.The Germany coach did not call up Real Madrid defender Antonio Rüdiger or Dortmund center back Niklas Süle for the two friendlies, while Southampton defender Armel Bella-Kotchap is out with a shoulder injury.Havertz, who is out with a cold, had pla...