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Former US Secretary of State in meeting with Iran opposition leader: US policy should be regime change in Iran by the Iranian people

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:57 GMT

In a conference on Friday with the presence of Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, Mike Pompeo, former US Secretary of State underscored that one year after the beginning of the uprising against the ruling theocracy in September 2022, it is clear that “The protests in Iran were aimed at a democratic, free republic of Iran that is devoid of any form of dictatorship. That's our objective.” “No matter what the regime does, it is doomed to fail. Even as important, change in Iran can only be achieved by those who have been working toward it for decades, those who have paid the price for it and contain the organizational structure to accomplish that objective. These things do not happen on their own. Finally, for the future, U.S. policy towards Iran has to be centered around support for this organized opposition and increasing pressure on the regime until it falls,” Secretary Pompeo said, adding,  “Iran will never return to the dictatorship of...

Dear Abby: My wife now ‘doesn’t remember’ our crucial conversation

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:57 GMT

DEAR ABBY: Ever since we first began dating, I told my wife I never wanted to own a dog. She seemed to be OK with it, but over the last 10 years, she has put intense pressure on me to get one.Related ArticlesAdvice | Dear Abby: What I said about his girlfriend got back to her Advice | Dear Abby: The holiday dinner came with an unpleasant surprise Advice | Dear Abby: This family constantly breaks the rules of our potluck Advice | Dear Abby: After this emotional blow, I feel I can’t trust my friends Advice | Dear Abby: I worry people are still judging me for the wedding dance bungle She now says she “doesn’t remember” our original conversation and says she never would have agreed to it. She is rallying the kids against me.She works, and I stay at home with the kids, so it would be my responsibility to take care of the pet, which I refuse to do. I feel physically sick around dogs, bu...

Walters: California’s new Delta plan faces the same political conflicts over water

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:57 GMT

California’s water warriors have a new arena for their perpetual conflict over the allocation of the state’s ever-evolving supply – a nearly 6,000-word proposal from the state Water Resources Control Board.The draft essentially calls for sharp reductions in diversions from the Sacramento River and its tributaries to allow more water to flow through the environmentally troubled Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.“It is a consequential effort,” Eric Oppenheimer, chief deputy director of the board, said during a media briefing on what is technically an update of the agency’s management plan for the Delta and San Francisco Bay. “It reflects years of scientific analysis that we’ve undertaken and years of public input.”The board had previously issued a similar policy paper for the San Joaquin River and its tributaries. The two rivers merge to form the Delta, a vast maze of islands and channels that is the West Coast’s largest estuary.In addition to upstream diversions to irrigate fields and orc...

AP Top 25 Takeaways: Turns out, Oklahoma’s back; Tide rising in West; coaching malpractice at Miami

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:57 GMT

Actually, it’s Oklahoma that’s back.Of course, the Sooners haven’t been gone for long.The final Red River Rivalry in the Big 12 before it moves to the Southeastern Conference felt like a chance for No. 3 Texas to lay claim to being the best team in the country.Instead, at the Cotton Bowl on Saturday, second-year Oklahoma coach Brent Venables got his first signature win and the 12th-ranked Sooners stamped themselves as College Football Playoff contenders.On a day when No. 1 Georgia re-asserted itself; No. 11 Alabama overcame itself; No. 10 Notre Dame ran out of gas at No. 25 Louisville; seven teams lost for the first time, including No. 17 Miami in the most unfathomable way — but somehow not No. 9 USC, which needed a 17-point comeback, three overtimes and more Caleb Williams magic to beat Arizona — the Sooners made the loudest statement.The Longhorns looked pretty good, too. No need to panic, Texas fans. The way the rest of the Big 12 is playing out, the Longhorns a...

Israel battles Hamas for a second day after mass incusion and trades fire with Lebanon’s Hezbollah

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:57 GMT

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli soldiers battled Hamas fighters in the streets of southern Israel on Sunday and launched retaliation strikes that leveled buildings in Gaza, while in northern Israel a brief exchange of strikes with Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group raised fears of a broader conflict.Fighting still raged more than 24 hours after an unprecedented surprise attack from Gaza, in which Hamas fighters, backed by a volley of thousands of rockets, broke through Israel’s security barrier and rampaged through nearby communities. The fighters took captives back into the coastal Gaza enclave, including women, children and the elderly, who they will likely try to trade for thousands of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the country was at war and would exact a heavy price from its enemies. Hamas leaders said they were prepared for further escalation.Israeli media, citing rescue service officials, said at least 300 peopl...

Earthquakes kill over 2,000 in Afghanistan. People are freeing the dead and injured with their hands

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:57 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Powerful earthquakes killed at least 2,000 people in western Afghanistan, a Taliban government spokesman said Sunday. It’s one of the deadliest earthquakes to strike the country in two decades. The figures couldn’t be independently verified.The magnitude-6.3 earthquake was followed by strong aftershocks on Saturday, a spokesperson for the country’s national disaster management authority said.The United States Geological Survey said the quake’s epicenter was about 40 kilometers (25 miles) northwest of Herat city. It was followed by three very strong aftershocks, measuring magnitude 6.3, 5.9 and 5.5, as well as lesser shocks.On Sunday, people attempted to dig out the dead and injured with their hands in Herat, clambering over rocks and debris. Survivors and victims were trapped under buildings that had crumbled to the ground, their faces grey with dust. One video, shared online, shows people freeing a baby girl from a collapsed building after being buried up to ...

American mountaineer, local guide dead after avalanches hit Tibetan mountain. Two others are missing

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:57 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — American mountaineer Anna Gutu and a Nepalese guide Mingmar Sherpa were confirmed Sunday dead after avalanches struck the slopes of a Tibetan mountain, while two others remained missing, according to Chinese media reports.The avalanches struck Tibet’s Mount Shishapangma on Saturday afternoon at 7,600 (24,934 ft) and 8,000 meters (26,246 ft) in altitude, according to state-owned Xinhua News Agency.Two others, American climber Gina Marie Rzucidlo and a Nepalese mountain guide Tenjen Sherpa went missing, the news agency said.The avalanches also seriously injured Nepalese mountain guide Karma Geljen Sherpa, who was escorted down the mountain by rescuers and is currently in stable condition.A total of 52 climbers from various countries including the U.S., Britain, Japan, and Italy were attempting to summit the mountain when the avalanches hit, Xinhua said.Climbing activities have since been suspended due to snow conditions.Shishapangma is the 14th-highest mountain in the w...

MuchMusic’s expansive physical videotape archive is finally going digital

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:57 GMT

TORONTO — MOVES SUNDAY AT 4 A.M.Decades of MuchMusic programming is being rescued from the sands of time.The music channel’s owner Bell Media says it’s on the final stretch of a years-long project to go through tens of thousands of videotapes and transfer pieces of pop culture history into a new digital archive.Bell’s content development vice-president Justin Stockman says interviews with international and Canadian musicians as well as Much’s special event broadcasts will be preserved in the process.Stockman says the project has been in the works for “several years” as the Canadian broadcaster considered ways to replace its physical card-cataloguing system with a computerized alternative.He says making the process more challenging are the various videotape formats used by MuchMusic over the years.Stockman says the archive will be useful for licensing footage to documentaries though he notes that some digitized footage is already available on Much’s YouTube channel.This report ...

Canadian universities bet on international students, but global shifts present risks

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:57 GMT

VANCOUVER — When the University of British Columbia announced the launch of Vantage College in 2013, the school said it envisioned the program for fee-paying international students would have enrolment of 1,000 by August 2016.The program would target first-year students who otherwise failed to meet UBC’s English requirements, providing them with extra language lessons in addition to their degree courses. It would house the students — whose fees are now about $60,000 per year — in a $127 million facility designed by world-renowned architecture firm Perkins&Will, some of its dorm rooms featuring sweeping ocean views.However, Vantage’s enrolment is currently 172 students, having declined every year since reaching 498 in 2018-2019. The struggles of Vantage College reflect the unpredictable nature of the lucrative international education sector, as Canadian universities find themselves beholden to geopolitical and economic shifts.There have been massive changes in the sec...

‘Most challenging Thanksgiving:’ Long weekend marked with soaring food bank use

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:20:57 GMT

VANCOUVER — Food banks across Canada continue to face soaring need this Thanksgiving, with one executive warning that things could quickly get worse.Amid inflation, increasing food and housing costs, and precarious employment situations, the country’s food banks have watched the need for their goods balloon as the organizations enter what, for many, is a critical time of year for fundraising. Neil Hetherington, CEO of Toronto’s Daily Bread, which supports more than 200 food programs in the area, said this long weekend has been the “most challenging Thanksgiving we have ever had.”Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization saw about 65,000 client visits per month, he said. That number last month was 275,000.“You’ve got food prices, you’ve got a precarious work environment, and most of all lack of decent, affordable housing,” he said.“And you put all of those things together and suddenly you can understand why people are turni...