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Bridge: July 23, 2023

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:46 GMT

“You know that Greek myth about the nymph Echo?” a club player asked me.“She displeased Hera, the queen of the gods,” I replied, “and was punished by not being able to speak first. She could only repeat what others said. The Greeks knew nothing of reflected sound waves; they concocted all kinds of pretty tales that attributed natural phenomena to divine influence.”“Well, my partner should be named Echo,” my friend grumbled. “She always has to have the last word.”My friend had been South in today’s deal from a team match. When North doubled West’s one club, South was willing to jump to four spades. West’s decision not to bid again was odd.“West led the king of clubs and shifted to the ten of diamonds,” South told me. “East captured dummy’s king and returned a diamond. I discarded a heart on dummy’s queen and drew trumps. Next, I led the ace and a second heart, playing low from ...

Senate Committee Passes Potential First Step to Radically Lower Drug Prices

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:46 GMT

On Thursday, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions voted to take a significant first step on a long road that could lead to far lower prices on new, better pharmaceutical drugs for Americans.The measure was part of an amendment to a bill reauthorizing the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act, and was reported out of the committee 17-3. It allocates $3 million for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to study different models to pay for the development of new drugs. NASEM, which was created by Congress to provide high-quality advice on technical issues, would have to produce the report within two years.The bill’s language specifically instructs NASEM to examine two ways of funding new drugs: the government paying for it directly, and innovation prizes for inventors. Drugs created in this manner would presumably then be placed in the public domain and sold as generics.This issue is almost never discussed in U.S...

Missile barrage batters Odesa, heavily damaging cathedral

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:46 GMT

KYIV — Russia unleashed a missile barrage early Sunday on Ukraine’s southern port city of Odesa, leaving one person dead and heavily damaging the cathedral in the historic city center.Moscow has been bombarding Odesa and its surroundings with different types of missiles for nearly a week after Russia withdrew from the Black Sea Grain Initiative, the U.N.-brokered deal to export Ukrainian grain.The attack on Odesa Sunday came hours before Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko in St. Petersburg.Russian forces attacked the Odesa region with 19 missiles, including cruise, anti-ship and ballistic missiles, in Sunday’s barrage. Ukrainian air defense managed to shoot down nine of them, the country’s air force said in a statement.More than 19 people were wounded and one person was killed in the attack. Odesa’s historical city center, a UNESCO world heritage site, was badly damaged by the attack. Six residential buildings were destroyed. ...

Greece evacuates thousands of tourists in Rhodes as wildfire burns

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:46 GMT

(CNN) — A large wildfire tearing through the Greek island of Rhodes has forced thousands of tourists to evacuate their hotels, officials say.The wildfire in the central and south part of Rhodes has been burning since Tuesday. It is the largest of a number of blazes in Greece, which is sweltering due to a heat wave that experts say is likely to become the country’s longest on record.Photos on Greek TV showed fires and smoke nearing properties and beaches in Rhodes and videos posted on social media show large groups of tourists evacuating hotels on foot.An estimated 10,000 tourists were safely taken to the northern part of the island on Saturday, according to the Rhodes Hotel Association.The association said on Greek TV that tourists from 12 hotels were transported by buses, on foot and by sea.The coastguard told CNN on Saturday that four of its boats had assisted, as well as 20 private vessels.Local fire officials said boats had evacuated about 2,000 people. They said the n...

‘We’ve organized, strategized, now it’s time to pulverize,’ says Teamsters union president ahead of looming UPS strike

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:46 GMT

New York (CNN) — Ahead of a looming UPS nationwide strike, Teamsters union President Sean O’Brien said during a rally speech in Atlanta Saturday, “We’ve organized, strategized, now it’s time to pulverize.”Speaking with CNN’s Isabel Rosales, O’Brien said 95% of the contract has been negotiated, and “now we’re down to economics, and UPS knows they need to pay our members, especially the part-timers.”A UPS spokesperson has said part-timers receive the same benefits as full-time workers. However, they do make less than full-time employees who make, on average, $95,000 a year, as CNN previously reported. Part-timers start by earning $16.20 an hour and are eligible for a higher hourly rate after 30 days. On average, part-time workers make $20 an hour, according to the spokesperson.When asked what happens if a deal is not reached by July 31, O’Brien said they would withhold their labor on August 1 at 12:01 a.m.“UPS represents our members that deliver goods and services that deliv...

Elon Musk says Twitter logo to change, birds to be gradually abandoned

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:46 GMT

(CNN) — Elon Musk tweeted on his official account on Sunday that Twitter would be changing its logo to an “X” and that all the birds will be disappearing from the platform.In a series of tweets, Musk said: “And soon we shall bid adieu to the twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds.”In the same series of tweets, Musk posted “Paint It Black,” before launching a user poll to “Change default platform color to black.”“If a good enough X logo is posted tonight, we’ll make go live worldwide tomorrow,” he continued.“Like this but X,” he added above an illustration of the iconic bird silhouette but against a black background.One of the world’s richest men, Musk, once known for his innovative efforts through companies SpaceX and Tesla to launch rockets and build electric cars, now makes headlines for his antics and eccentric remarks on his personal Twitter account – often sharing conspiracy theories and getting into public spats on the social media platform.Musk overhauled ...

How Patriots plan to deploy new playmakers on offense

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:46 GMT

There was disappointment within the Patriots’ organization that the team couldn’t close a deal with free-agent wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, a source told the Boston Herald. But it’s not as if the Patriots didn’t get quarterback Mac Jones any help this offseason.The team allowed wide receiver Jakobi Meyers to walk in free agency and traded tight end Jonnu Smith to the Atlanta Falcons but replaced them with players who have higher ceilings — at least as pass-catchers — in receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster and tight end Mike Gesicki. The feeling within the organization is that Smith-Schuster can be better after the catch and provide more playmaking ability than Meyers.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Patriots training camp countdown No. 4: Will special teams be fixed? New England Patriots | Patriots place two veterans, one rookie on PUP list ahead of training camp New England Patriots | Sources: Patriots agree to terms with final two unsign...

Seasonal floods hit eastern China and leave at least 5 dead and over 1,500 evacuated

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:46 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — Floods caused by heavy rain hit eastern China, leaving at least five dead and three missing while over 1,500 people were evacuated, state media reported on Sunday. China National Radio said the massive floods swept through a village in the Fuyang district of the city of Hangzhou, engulfing many houses on Saturday afternoon. The rain later led to a partial mountain collapse and mudslide, affecting multiple areas in the district and more than 1,600 households suffered power outage, CCTV said. Over 1,500 people were evacuated, the state news agency Xinhua reported.Every year, seasonal flooding hits large parts of China, particularly in the semitropical south. However, some northern regions this year have reported the worst floods in 50 years. The torrents have hit different parts of the country this month and caused casualties. Earlier this month, at least 15 people were killed by floods in the southwestern region of Chongqing. According to CCTV on Sunday, torrential rai...

UK political parties are getting the jitters over green policies after a special election verdict

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:46 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Environmentalists cautioned Britain’s main political parties on Sunday not to water down their climate change promises after a special election result widely seen as a thumbs-down from voters to a tax on polluting cars.The governing Conservatives suffered two heavy defeats in a trio of by-elections for House of Commons seats on Thursday. But they managed to win the third contest, for a suburban London district, by focusing on a divisive green levy imposed by London’s Labour Party mayor.The Ultra Low Emission Zone, or ULEZ, charges drivers of older gas and diesel vehicles 12.50 pounds ($16) a day to move around the city. The charge was announced by then-Mayor Boris Johnson, a Conservative, in 2015 and took effect for central London in 2019. Mayor Sadiq Khan plans to extend it next month to the city’s less densely populated suburbs, where more people rely on cars to get around.Labour Party leader Keir Starmer said the mayor should “reflect” on the policy in the wake of t...

Indian rescuers recover 27 dead but no sign of dozens of missing villagers swamped by a landslide

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:53:46 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — Hundreds of rescuers have recovered 27 dead as they pushed on with a fourth day of searching for scores of people still missing after heavy monsoon rains triggered a massive landslide in a village in western India, an official said Sunday.Seventy-eight people are still unaccounted for since the landslide hit Irshalwadi village on Wednesday night in Raigadh district, nearly 80 kilometers (50 miles) from Mumbai, the Maharashtra state capital. At least 17 of 48 houses in the village were fully or partially buried under the debris, officials said.Rescuers were mostly using rods and shovels. Heavy equipment like earth movers and excavators could not reach the village with no paved roads and a massive sludge around it, said Deepak Avadh, an official of the National Disaster Response Force. A dog squad was also deployed to detect any survivors.From the base of the hill, it takes about 90 minutes to reach Irshalwadi by foot. Rainfall and a threat of more landslides caused t...