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Six former world leaders join Maryam Rajavi to call for new Iran policy

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:12:24 GMT

Following the publication of an open letter calling for new policies toward Iran, six of its 117 signatories attended a conference on Thursday with the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, Maryam Rajavi, at the NCRI headquarters in Auvers-sur-Oise, north of Paris. The six former heads of state reiterated their call for a firm strategy in dealing with Iran’s religious dictatorship, and affirmed the Iranian people’s right to establish a democratic republic in its place.The event featured remarks by former Prime Minister of Belgium, Guy Verhofstadt; former Prime Minister of Ukraine, Yulia Tymoshenko; former Prime Minister of Italy, Matteo Renzi; former President of Slovakia, Andrej Kiska; former President of Bolivia, Jorge Tuto Quiroga Ramírez; and former Prime Minister of Andorra, Jaume Bartumeu Cassany. The six were also joined by former Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine, Hryhoriy Nemyria; former European Parliament Vice President, Alejo Vidal-Quadras; and fo...

INTERVIEW: Azerbaijan's Socar sees current oil prices as satisfactory for midterm planning

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:12:24 GMT

Azerbaijan's state-owned oil and gas producer Socar sees current oil prices as satisfactory for midterm planning, Deputy Vice President of Socar Vitaly Baylarbayov told S&P Global Commodity Insights on 20 June, writes Rosemary Griffin."We worked successfully in different price environments, including much lower ones. So, what we have now is fully satisfactory from the point of view of our midterm planning," Baylarbayov said.Prices are currently significantly below peaks seen in 2022, which were driven by supply concerns, as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed Dated Brent at $74.495/b on June 20. Platts assessed Dated Brent at a post-invasion high of $137.64/b on March 8, 2022.The recent dip in prices has led some members of the OPEC+ crude production agreement to extend voluntary production cuts until the end of 2024. The group's largest producer Saudi Arabia has also suggested its latest 1 million b/d cut may be ...

Bridge: June 23, 2023

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:12:24 GMT

“Never argue with your wife,” a club player advised me. “You might win, and then you’re in real trouble.”My friend and his wife were today’s East-West. His bid of four hearts and South’s four spades were questionable. West led the king and ten of hearts. South ruffed, led a diamond to dummy’s ace and returned a club: three, jack, ace.“My wife led another heart,” East said. “Declarer ruffed, ruffed a club in dummy, led a diamond to his king and ruffed a club. He ruffed a heart, ruffed his last club with the queen of trumps and ruffed a diamond with his nine. My wife overruffed, but South’s A-10 of trumps won the last two tricks.”DEFENSE“My wife and I argued about the defense. When I showed her how to beat the contract, she admitted I was right — and I slept with the dog last night.”The winning defense isn’t easy. At some point West must lead the king of trumps. South can ruff only tw...

Horoscopes June 23, 2023: Frances McDormand, keep a strong hold on your plans

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:12:24 GMT

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Melissa Rauch, 43; Jason Mraz, 46; Frances McDormand, 66; Randy Jackson, 67.Happy Birthday: Keep the communication going until you understand what others expect of you and what options are available. Problems with friends, relatives or colleagues will surface if you let your emotions slip into controversial conversations. Keep a strong hold on your plans and oversee every detail yourself. Trust in your ability to make a difference. Reinforce your knowledge and qualifications. Avoid temptation. Your numbers are 7, 15, 22, 26, 34, 40, 42.ARIES (March 21-April 19): Do something that motivates you. How you react to someone you love will determine the outcome of a decision you have to make regarding prospects. Choose peace and love over discord and chaos, and you’ll outmaneuver anyone trying to take advantage of you. 5 starsTAURUS (April 20-May 20): Don’t go overboard. Taking on too much or trying to impress by overspending will backfire. Aim to ...

Word Game: June 23, 2023

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:12:24 GMT

TODAY’S WORD — STELLAR (STELLAR: STEL-er: Principal; leading; outstanding.)Average mark 30 wordsTime limit 45 minutesCan you find 42 or more words in STELLAR? The list will be published tomorrow.YESTERDAY’S WORD — ACCURATE accrue acre acute area aura carat care caret cart cater crate cruet curate cure curt cute cuter urea race rate react reata tare tear trace truce true ecru eructTo 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.Contact Word Game creator Kathleen Saxe at [email protected].

Ask Amy: Wife’s sarcasm takes center stage during evening with Martha and George

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:12:24 GMT

Dear Readers: Like you, I’m often curious about what happens to the advice I offer once it leaves my desk, and so I’ve asked readers to send in updates. Publishing them that we have been through a lot over these past decades.To refresh all of our memories, I’m running the original Q&A, followed by the update.Dear Amy: My husband and I have become friends with another couple and have gotten together with them several times, either at one another’s homes or by going out.Each time, over the course of the evening, the wife begins trying to pick a fight with her husband. She speaks to him in a belittling manner, her voice dripping with sarcasm and points out what she sees as his shortcomings, and though he ignores her, she doesn’t stop.As you can imagine, this makes for an intensely uncomfortable time for my husband and me, to the point where we no longer want to socialize with them as a couple.My husband thinks we should just continue to ignore her venting. I want to tel...

A suspected Russian diplomat is occupying a proposed embassy site vetoed by Australia

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:12:24 GMT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A suspected Russian diplomat is apparently squatting on the site of Moscow’s proposed new embassy in Canberra after the Australian government vetoed the plan on security grounds and passed legislation that Russia will try to overturn in Australia’s highest court. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese dismissed the Russian act of defiance in occupying the site, saying on Friday that a “bloke standing in the cold on a bit of grass in Canberra is not a threat to our national security.”Albanese also said he was confident that the eviction would stand up to any Russian legal challenge.Parliament passed emergency legislation last week blocking on security grounds Russia’s lease on the largely empty block because the new embassy would have been too close to Parliament House.A man has been living on the site in a portable building since Sunday, when passersby first saw Australian Federal Police outside the fenced block in Canberra’s Yarralumla diplomat...

Japanese fisheries head opposes a plan to pump treated radioactive water from Fukushima into the sea

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:12:24 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — The head of Japan’s national fisheries cooperatives has reiterated his group’s opposition to the planned discharge of treated radioactive water into the sea from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant, demanding the government take full responsibility for any negative impact on the industry.“We cannot support the government’s stance that an ocean release is the only solution,” said Masanobu Sakamoto, president of JF Zengyoren, or the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives.A release is expected to begin this summer, though the exact date has not been set. Sakamoto met Economy and Trade Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura on Thursday and handed him a statement of objection to the treated wastewater release plan. “Whether to release the water into the sea or not is a government decision, and in that case we want the government to fully take responsibility,” he told reporters after meeting with Nishimura. Japan’s government announced plans in April 2021 to graduall...

El desastre del Titanic condujo a un replanteamiento de las regulaciones internacionales. El caso del Titán puede tener un legado similar

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:12:24 GMT

(CNN) — Después de que el RMS Titanic se hundiera en su viaje inaugural a través del Atlántico en 1912, los gobiernos de ambos lados del océano analizaron detenidamente si se podría haber hecho más para proteger a las aproximadamente 2.200 personas a bordo, incluidas las más de 1.500 que murieron ese trágico día.El resultado fue la Convención para la Seguridad de la Vida Humana en el Mar (SOLAS). Su marco, aprobado en 1914, se mantiene hasta el día de hoy, con muchas de sus reglas que evolucionan directamente de la tragedia del Titanic.Con la implosión del submarino Titán cuando avanzaba hacia los restos del Titanic esta semana, los expertos dicen que puede haber un impulso para las reglas que rigen el nuevo turismo de alto nivel y altos precios del tipo que hace OceanGate Expeditions, la compañía que manejaba el Titán.El Titanic zarpa de Southampton, Gran Bretaña, 1912. El RMS Titanic fue un transatlántico británico que se hundió en el Océano Atlántico Norte en la madrugada d...

‘It’s a pretty fast hamster wheel’: Stepping away from DC’s work-obsessed culture

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:12:24 GMT

A rising star in Washington, Luke Russert left a prominent career as a NBC correspondent and fill-in anchor back in 2016 and didn’t look back.The son of the late Tim Russert, a television news legend, gave up what many eager and hard-charging young worker seek in the nation’s capital: Prominence and power.“I don’t regret that decision at all,” Russert said. “I think it was one of the most consequential ones I’ve ever made in my life, and probably one of the best ones.”After leaving NBC, Russert went on to visit six continents and more than 67 countries, a journey that is the subject of his New York Times best-selling book “Look For Me There.” In an interview with the DMV Download podcast, Russert said his decision to step away from D.C. shocked many — even himself.“It was unexpected for a lot of people,” Russert said. “I was on an upward trajectory, and I think for a...