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Miss Manners: Is there a rule against flushing the toilet at night?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:50 GMT

DEAR MISS MANNERS: Is there a rule against flushing the toilet at night that I have so far overlooked?My family has started hosting overnight guests again after a hiatus. Each of the last two people who stayed with us asked my permission to flush the toilet at night before they turned in.The bathroom is off the hallway shared by the bedrooms, including our children’s. I guess the concern was that the flush would wake up the kids?This isn’t something I’ve ever worried about, or thought to ask at someone else’s house. Is it rude to flush without permission? I can’t imagine not flushing would be a good option for anyone.GENTLE READER: Unless you are on a train and stopped at a station, Miss Manners can think of no reason why flushing should be suspended. The shock of any late-night noise will surely be far less offensive than that of waking up to refuse that has been lingering overnight.Related ArticlesAdvice | Miss Manners: How do I tell them m...

Dear Abby: This toxic person put me in his will. What should I do?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:50 GMT

DEAR ABBY: My older brother is toxic. I want to cut ties with him because he has always criticized, antagonized, marginalized and dismissed me. He has no filters and also criticizes and ridicules my grown children. I’ve had enough.If I were ghosted, I’d want to know why and not be blindsided. But it’s pointless to engage or explain to him.He’s a lifelong bachelor with no children or significant other, so he has me in his will if he goes first. I would be physically ill to inherit his estate — home, car, funds and personal effects. I want nothing from him.Should I notify his attorney and copy my brother that I wish to be removed from his will?OTHER BROTHER IN WASHINGTONDEAR OTHER BROTHER: It would be even more effective if you include in your letter the reasons for your decision.Related ArticlesAdvice | Dear Abby: She doesn’t know how cruel her new friend was to us Advice | Dear Abby: I’m still married, but I want m...

Tel Aviv car attack kills Italian tourist, injures 7 others

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:50 GMT

An Italian tourist was killed and seven others were injured in a car-ramming attack that took place on Friday night in Tel Aviv.Police in Tel Aviv said a man drove a white Kia car alongside the beachside walk, hitting several pedestrians before overturning. The driver was killed by a police officer.The victim was identified by the Italian government as Alessandro Parini. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed “deep sorrow” and “solidarity to the victim’s family, to the injured, and solidarity with the State of Israel for the cowardly attack that hit him,” her office said in a note late Friday.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the scene of the attack, and ordered the mobilization of police and army reservists to counter terrorism, his office said in a statement.The attack took place hours after Israel carried out air strikes in southern Lebanon and the Gaza Strip on targets belonging to militant group Hamas. The strikes were in r...

How a ‘human fountain show’ became the inspiration for the Orioles’ new sprinkler celebration

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:50 GMT

As Ramón Urías rounded first base on his go-ahead double in the Orioles’ home opener Friday, a collection of water bottles went bottoms up in Baltimore’s dugout. But when Urías got to second and didn’t break into dance, that liquid had nowhere to go.In its earliest days, the Orioles’ latest celebration remains a work in progress, but it’s become an immediate source of joy when it works effectively. A season after binoculars acknowledged hits and a chain celebrated home runs, doubles are now met with a classic dance move and a whole lot of water.“It’s, like, a human fountain show,” catcher Adley Rutschman said.If executed properly, the routine is straightforward: After an Oriole reaches second on a double, he turns toward the dugout and performs “the sprinkler,” putting one hand on his head while elevating his other arm in front of him and moving it side to side. In response, his teammates in the dugout provid...

Truck crashes into pedestrians in Kenya, killing 10

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:50 GMT

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — A truck crashed into pedestrians and motorcycle taxis near western Kenya’s border with Tanzania, killing at least 10 people and injuring 10 others Saturday, authorities said. A local police commander said the crash in the town of Migori happened along a major highway when the driver lost control of the brakes.An operation to free people trapped under the truck was underway, and there were fears the deal toll might rise, Migori county commander Mark Wanjala said. Two more people were reported to have been knocked across a bridge and into a river, but an attempt to rescue them had not started, Wanjala said.Witnesses told local media the truck driver honked the vehicle’s horn repeatedly before the crash. The truck was carrying bags of rice toward the Isebania border town into neighboring Tanzania.Videos of people looting the rice while people remained trapped under the track appeared on social media. Many Kenyans travel to their rural homes during the ...

US deploys guided-missile submarine amid tensions with Iran

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:50 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.S. Navy has deployed a guided-missile submarine capable of carrying up to 154 Tomahawk missiles to the Middle East, a spokesman said Saturday, in what appeared to be a show of force toward Iran following recent tensions.The Navy rarely acknowledges the location or deployment of submarines. Cmdr. Timothy Hawkins, a spokesman for the 5th Fleet based in the Gulf nation of Bahrain, declined to comment on the submarine’s mission or what had prompted the deployment.He said the nuclear-powered submarine, based out of Kings Bay, Georgia, passed through the Suez Canal on Friday. “It is capable of carrying up to 154 Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles and is deployed to U.S. 5th Fleet to help ensure regional maritime security and stability,” Hawkins said.The 5th Fleet patrols the crucial Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which 20% of all oil transits. Its region includes the Bab el-Mandeb Strait off Yemen and the Red...

Ask Amy: Why did I end the friendship? Let me tell you about this traumatic car trip.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:50 GMT

Dear Amy: I have Irritable Bowel Syndrome. About a year ago, I had breakfast with a friend of mine, “Pat,” whom I’ve known for 40 years.I picked her up, drove her to the restaurant, and after the meal I brought her back home. I asked if I might use her bathroom before continuing to my house, which is about 15 miles away.Pat said no.I mentioned that I really couldn’t wait, due to the IBS. I pleaded and was told absolutely not.Well, I fumed all the way home, and I was in a bad way. I made it, but I was not happy with my friend’s treatment of me.Pat called about a month later to inquire why I hadn’t been in touch.I told Pat how I felt and reminded her of the many times I’ve hosted parties and she was always invited. I have seen the inside of Pat’s apartment but have never even had as much as a cup of coffee offered to me.I feel like I’ve been used. I really don’t feel the need to entertain Pat anymore. I have forgiven her, I just don̵...

Silicon Valley ‘party animal’ VC faces second fraud trial

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:50 GMT

By Joel Rosenblatt | BloombergMike Rothenberg, the venture capitalist once described as Silicon Valley’s “party animal,” faces a new criminal trial over charges he gouged investors after a jury failed to reach a verdict last year on separate bank fraud claims against him.Rothenberg was indicted in 2020 for what prosecutors said were multiple fraudulent schemes from years earlier that helped him misappropriate almost $19 million.The first trial, involving allegations that Rothenberg made false statements to Silicon Valley Bank to borrow funds, ended in November with jurors in Oakland, California, unable to reach a unanimous consensus on the two charges. Afterward, Rothenberg asked US District Judge Jon Tigar to acquit him, but Tigar refused in February. No retrial has been scheduled for those counts.On Friday Tigar set a trial to start Oct. 2 over charges that Rothenberg raised millions of dollars telling investors he would use it to back promising startups but actually kept a large ...

Why severe weather this year has been so destructive and deadly

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:50 GMT

By Jennifer Gray and Haley Brink | CNN MeteorologistsThe last few weeks have consisted of a steady string of violent storms, dozens of deaths and entire towns left in ruins.There have been 494 tornado reports so far in 2023 — nearly double the average at this point in the year. Many of these storms have occurred outside “Tornado Alley,” which includes states across the Plains, but instead have carved miles of destruction across the Southeast and Midwest.A deadly EF-4 tornado ripped through the town of Rolling Fork, Mississippi, on March 24, killing at least 26 people and injuring dozens more. One week later, another round of deadly storms ravaged neighborhoods in Little Rock and Wynne, Arkansas, killing at least 32 more people and leaving many more homeless.Then the third round of deadly storms in less than two weeks hit the very same region on Tuesday, spawning nearly two dozen tornadoes, which killed at least five people in Missouri.The numbers have been mind-blowing, yet severe w...

At 106 and 101, two Bay Area men marked more milestone birthdays

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:00:50 GMT

What are the odds of two men, 106 and 101, respectively, sharing the same birthday and living in the same assisted-living center in Vacaville?Maybe not as utterly slim as winning the Mega Millions lottery but, by any reasonable guess, pretty darn slim nevertheless.But there they were Friday at Cornerstone on Orange Tree Circle: Bruce Sooy, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, World War II bomber pilot and prisoner of war; and Robert Kuznik, the last survivor of 14 children and a retiree who spent some of his working years at a Bay Area motor car company and a foundry.Sooy, six years beyond the century mark, and Kuznik, who reached triple digits last year, looked like kings for a day seated at a table in the spacious facility’s dining room, topped with birthday cakes and lighted number candles, party hats, curled gold ribbon, paper eyeglasses with the words “Happy Birthday” topping the frames, and white, gold, and black balloons floating above on a nearby wall, a celebratory banne...