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Beer flows and crowds descend on Munich for the official start of Oktoberfest

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:27 GMT

MUNICH (AP) — The beer is flowing and millions of people descending on the Bavarian capital to celebrate the official opening of Oktoberfest. With the traditional cry of “O’zapft is” — “It’s tapped” — Mayor Dieter Reiter inserted the tap in the first keg at noon on Saturday, officially opening the 18-day festivities.Revelers decked out in traditional lederhosen and dirndl dresses trooped to Munich’s festival grounds Saturday morning, filling the dozens of traditional tents in anticipation of getting their first 1-liter (2-pint) mug of beer.Minutes before the first keg was tapped, to cheers from the crowd, Bavarian Gov. Markus Soeder asked festivalgoers if they were ready for Oktoberfest to begin.“I can only say one thing: This is the most beautiful, biggest, most important festival in the world,” he said.The Oktoberfest has typically drawn about 6 million visitors every year. The event was skipped in 2020 and 2021 as authorities grappled with COVID-19, but returned in 2022.A 1-liter...

Thousands of South Korean teachers are rallying for new laws to protect them from abusive parents

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:27 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Thousands of South Korean school teachers and staff rallied in Seoul on Saturday for more legal protection from bullying by parents, a rising problem in a country known for its brutally competitive school environments.The weekend demonstrations in the capital city, were triggered by the death of a teacher who was found dead at her elementary school in July after reportedly expressing emotional distress caused by complaints from allegedly abusive parents.The protesting teachers, who have rallied for weeks, say current laws make it difficult to exercise control over their classrooms and leave them at the mercy of overbearing parents, who could easily accuse them of emotionally abusing children.South Korean lawmakers are currently debating bills that would meet some of the teachers’ demands to for immunity from child abuse claims. But some experts have raised concerns over the potential changes, saying the proposals could further weaken protection for ch...

Farmers, vampires, cab drivers: Five hidden gems from this year’s TIFF

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:27 GMT

TORONTO — Without Hollywood stars popping up around town to draw attention to their latest projects almost every movie at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival was a candidate for hidden gem status.But in a turbulent period of dual actor and writer strikes, some TIFF titles managed to stand on their own quality and get festivalgoers talking.Here’s a look at five TIFF hidden gems to add to your must-see list: “The Promised Land”Nobody does brooding vengeance quite like Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen, whose fiery gaze could ignite villages. In this 18th-century Denmark drama, he’s less about destruction and more about cultivation — or at least that’s how things start. As former military man Ludvig von Kahlen, he’s pledged to realize King Frederik V’s dream of making the wild heath of Jutland a prosperous land. Yet not everyone is on board, in particular, raging landowner Frederik de Schinkel who only sees a loss of his power. As tension...

David Brooks: Mitt Romney has given us a gift

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:27 GMT

Sometimes you do things that make you feel ashamed. It was the first day of the Republican convention in 2012, and I had nothing to write about, so I wrote a humor column mocking the Romney family for being perfect in every way. It was a hit with readers, but the afternoon it was published I crossed paths with two of Mitt Romney’s sons, and they looked at me with hurt in their eyes, which pierced me. I’d ridiculed people for the sin of being admirable.A few years later, before he was a senator, Romney asked me to come out to Utah to give a talk to a group he was convening. It’s a pain to write a speech and get on a plane, but I did it in penance for my sins. Of course, all the Romneys were lovely to me, as is their nature. And I learned a lesson: The partisans may applaud if you ridicule those you admire, of any political stripe, but stay faithful to them.We all struggle to be the best version of ourselves we can be, and Romney’s struggle is now taking him into retirement and out of...

Ask Amy: Engaged man is a fool for love

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:27 GMT

Dear Amy: I’m writing in reference to my recent engagement.I was alone for a long time and met a woman at work and fell deeply in love with her. Two nights a week, she comes to my place for dinner, and we are intimate. Then she leaves at 10 p.m.Two months ago, I asked her to marry me and she said yes!But our situation is very unusual.She lives with the guy she has been with for 15 years. She has two children with him. They are not married and she told me there are no feelings or intimacy between them — and I believe that.But she still sleeps in the same bed with him. I haven’t met her kids and my place is too small to have them.So when she comes to my place and we are intimate and then she goes home, I have a hard time dealing with that.I try not to think about it, but sometimes it gets the best of me.Any advice? Am I being a fool?— Foolish FianceDear Fiance: There are different categories of fools. You are in the “fool-for-love” category. Being a fool for love is ...

Why pay a seller concession when we are ready for retirement?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:27 GMT

Question: In your column, you suggest that home sellers pay for presale seller inspections. You go on to promote home sellers to buy down the prospective homebuyer’s mortgage interest rates. You call it a seller concession. When we were homebuyers, we paid for our inspection. We also paid our closing costs without any seller assistance. The same goes for all adult children. We are about to put our Bay Area family home of 40 years on the market. Why would we add those costs to ourselves when we need the proceeds for our retirement?  Answer: The utility of presale seller inspections exponentially increases consumer confidence in the homebuyers’ minds. This is my experience. Presale seller inspections dramatically reduce the chances of post-sale litigation. Full stop. As homebuyers, you and your adult children bought homes at one standard of practice. Agents included. You all should set exacting standards of practice as home sellers. It pays. Home sellers offering to buy down the prosp...

Word Game: Sept. 16, 2023

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:27 GMT

TODAY’S WORD — CHARLATANS (CHARLATANS: SHAHR-lih-tens: Fakers; frauds; quacks.)Average mark 50 wordsTime limit 60 minutesCan you find 60 or more words in CHARLATANS? The list will be published Monday.YESTERDAY’S WORD — PETTIFOGS peso pest pesto poet pogies poise pose posit post potties egis egoist egotist epos estop test tiptoe tope topi tote fest fist fogies foist gift gist goes sept sift site soft softie spigot spit spite spot step stet stogie stopTo 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 explicit words are not allowed...

Most Cops Involved in High-Profile Killings Since 2014 Kept Their Police Licenses

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:27 GMT

Rarely does a new police hire make national headlines. But when Myles Cosgrove got a job at the Carroll County sheriff’s department in northern Kentucky this past April, people had reason to pay attention.About three years earlier, he and his squad of Louisville police officers had used a battering ram to break into Breonna Taylor’s home during a deadly raid. Investigators later found that Cosgrove was one of three officers who fired their guns. While the Louisville police department ultimately fired Cosgrove for violating use-of-force procedures and not using his body camera, he eluded criminal charges and remains employable as a cop.That’s because he kept his police certification.He’s not the only one. Out of 54 officers involved in 14 high-profile killings that spurred Black Lives Matter protests in the last nine years, only 10 had their certifications or licenses revoked as a matter of disciplinary action, according to The Intercept’s analysis of certification documents obtained...

BMW PGA Championship Scores

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:27 GMT

FridayAt Wentworth ClubVirginia Water, United KingdomPurse: $9 millionYardage: 7,267; Par: 72Second RoundLudvig Aberg, Sweden68-66—134Sebastian Soderberg, Sweden70-64—134Thomas Detry, Belgium67-68—135Tommy Fleetwood, England69-66—135Masahiro Kawamura, Japan70-65—135Adrian Meronk, Poland67-68—135Marcus Helligkilde, Denmark64-72—136Aaron Rai, England69-67—136Sepp Straka, Austria70-66—136Matthew Baldwin, England67-70—137Jorge Campillo, Spain67-70—137Ryan Fox, New Zealand69-68—137Tyrrell Hatton, England68-69—137Tom Kim, South Korea70-67—137Connor Syme, Scotland67-70—137Matt Fitzpatrick, England66-72—138Billy Horschel, United States75-63—138Rikuya Hoshino, Japan67-71—138Nathan Kimsey, England70-68—138Pablo Larrazabal, Spain67-71—138Min Woo Lee, Australia71-67—138James Morrison, England67-71—138Jon Rahm, Spain71-67—138Robin Sciot-Siegrist, France69-69—138Rafa Cabrera Bello, Spain72-67—139Calum Hill, Scotland68-71—139Viktor Hovland, Norway69-70—139Richie Ramsay, Scotland66-73—139Callum Shi...

BMW PGA Championship Par Scores

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:58:27 GMT

FridayAt Wentworth ClubVirginia Water, United KingdomPurse: $9 millionYardage: 7,267; Par: 72Second RoundLudvig Aberg, Sweden68-66—134-10Sebastian Soderberg, Sweden70-64—134-10Thomas Detry, Belgium67-68—135-9Tommy Fleetwood, England69-66—135-9Masahiro Kawamura, Japan70-65—135-9Adrian Meronk, Poland67-68—135-9Marcus Helligkilde, Denmark64-72—136-8Aaron Rai, England69-67—136-8Sepp Straka, Austria70-66—136-8Matthew Baldwin, England67-70—137-7Jorge Campillo, Spain67-70—137-7Ryan Fox, New Zealand69-68—137-7Tyrrell Hatton, England68-69—137-7Tom Kim, South Korea70-67—137-7Connor Syme, Scotland67-70—137-7Matt Fitzpatrick, England66-72—138-6Billy Horschel, United States75-63—138-6Rikuya Hoshino, Japan67-71—138-6Nathan Kimsey, England70-68—138-6Pablo Larrazabal, Spain67-71—138-6Min Woo Lee, Australia71-67—138-6James Morrison, England67-71—138-6Jon Rahm, Spain71-67—138-6Robin Sciot-Siegrist, France69-69—138-6Rafa Cabrera Bello, Spain72-67—139-5Calum Hill, Scotland68-71—139-5Viktor Hovland, Nor...