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Oktoberfest: It starts sooner than you think

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:59 GMT

Despite its name, Oktoberfest actually starts well before October. Held in Munich each year, Germany’s 188th Oktoberfest will run from Sept. 16 through  Oct. 3.In Munich, Oktoberfest is not just any beer festival. It’s a celebration of German and especially Bavarian culture. The folk festival started there in 1810 as a wedding party to celebrate Bavaria’s Crown Prince Ludwig’s marriage to Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen. The reception lasted multiple days and ended with a horse race. Over time, Oktoberfest became an annual event at the nearly 104-acre site known as Theresienwiese (or simply d’Wiesen), which means Therese’s meadow.The ever-evolving event has been held almost every year since, with notable exceptions during the Napoleonic Wars, World Wars I and II, and for two years during the pandemic.Pre-pandemic, more than 6 million people attended Munich’s Oktoberfest each year, with roughly 85% coming from Germany and the rest from around the world. ...

California-based Grindr loses nearly half its staff to strict return-to-office rule

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:59 GMT

By Natalie Lung | BloombergGrindr Inc. has lost about 45% of its staff as it enforces a strict return-to-office policy that was introduced after a majority of employees announced a plan to unionize.About 80 of the 178 employees at the LGBTQ dating app company were forced to resign after the company in August mandated workers return to work in person two days a week at assigned “hub” offices or be fired, the Communications Workers of America said in a statement Wednesday.The West Hollywood-based company also gave a severance package to staff who were unable to relocate, in what the CWA alleged was an attempt “to silence workers from speaking out about their working conditions,” according to a statement from the organization. The CWA filed a new labor complaint against the company on Wednesday, the second such complaint in about a month.“These decisions have left Grindr dangerously understaffed and raises questions about the safety, security and stability of the app for users,” Erick ...

Walgreens to pay $44 million to settle Theranos fraud claims

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:59 GMT

By Erik Larson | BloombergWalgreens Boots Alliance Inc. has agreed to pay $44 million to settle class action claims by consumers who received flawed blood tests in Arizona and California through the pharmacy chain’s partnership with Theranos Inc.The proposed settlement, which needs court approval, will provide consumers who participated in the lawsuit with “approximately double their out-of-pocket damages,” lawyers for plaintiffs said in a court filing Wednesday in federal court in Phoenix.The lawsuit accused Walgreens of being “willfully blind” to fraud at Theranos and entering into a partnership with the startup even though it had good reason to suspect its finger-prick testing technology didn’t really work.Lawyers for the company and consumers filed a notice of a tentative settlement in May but did not disclose the amount of the deal or any other terms. The initial agreement was struck after US District Judge David Campbell ordered the case to go to trial.According to the filing,...

England springs Rugby World Cup selection surprises with Mitchell and May; Ford starts at 10

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:59 GMT

LE TOUQUET, France (AP) — Coach Steve Borthwick selected two players to start England’s Rugby World Cup against Argentina that didn’t even make his original squad as he searched for a change in fortunes for the former champion and 2019 finalist currently stuck in one of its worst ruts.The selection surprises on Thursday saw scrumhalf Alex Mitchell go straight into the team ahead of veterans Ben Youngs and Danny Care after Mitchell was a late callup following an injury to Jack van Poortvliet. Wing Jonny May was also given a starting place against Argentina in Marseille on Saturday having been included for the World Cup only when Anthony Watson was ruled out.England will be captained by flanker Courtney Lawes with regular skipper Owen Farrell suspended for a high tackle and a red card in a warmup against Wales. England is also without No. 8 Billy Vunipola — also because of a red card — and Ben Earl steps in at the back of the scrum.Farrell will miss the first two pool game...

Marine Corps Base Quantico struggling to fill job openings

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:59 GMT

Marine Corps Base Quantico is located 35 miles south of Washington, D.C., in Prince William County. It can be reached from exits 148 (South Entrance) and 150-A (North Entrance, Main Gate), just off Interstate 95. (Courtesy InsideNova.com/Quantico.Marines.Mil) Marine Corps Base Quantico is located 35 miles south of Washington, D.C., in Prince William County. It can be reached from exits 148 (South Entrance) and 150-A (North Entrance, Main Gate), just off Interstate 95. (Courtesy InsideNova.com/Quantico.Marines.Mil) This article was written by WTOP’s news partner InsideNoVa.com and republished with permission. Sign up for InsideNoVa.com’s free email subscription today.Marine Corps Base Quantico commander Col. Michae...

First day of school jitters: Influx of migrant children tests preparedness of NYC schools

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:59 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Damien, age 5, was giddy with excitement as he left a Manhattan homeless shelter, sometimes running and skipping along the sidewalk accompanied by his wistful mother, a migrant from Ecuador.“What I want for him is a future,” Kimberly Carchipulla said in Spanish of her son, one of nearly 800,000 New York City public school students who headed off to class Thursday for their first day of the new school year.That is what school officials want, too, as the city’s classrooms work to accommodate nearly 20,000 migrant children newly arrived in the U.S. — a number that could swell as record numbers of families cross the border from Mexico in hopes of gaining asylum.Several major U.S. cities have struggled with an influx of many thousands of asylum seekers who have filled up homeless shelters after entering the U.S.New York City’s shelter system has been especially overwhelmed, but Mayor Eric Adams has sought to reassure parents and community groups that the city’s near...

La apatía y la fatiga por el covid-19 son reales. Aprende aquí cómo afrontarlas

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:59 GMT

(CNN) — El covid-19 llegó para quedarse. Para demostrarlo, los contagios del virus están aumentando en muchos lugares del mundo, justo cuando la inmunidad a las vacunas está disminuyendo y la mayoría de las personas se han acostumbrado a la vida sin usar mascarillas y sin distanciamiento físico.Si bien sabemos que es lo más inteligente, la idea de volver a los protocolos de seguridad requeridos durante la pandemia hace que muchos de nosotros repitamos una frase que a menudo escuchamos de nuestros hijos: “¡No quiero!”.“Yo tampoco quiero”, dijo la Dra. Cynthia Ackrill, experta en manejo del estrés y miembro del Instituto Estadounidense del Estrés. “Una de las respuestas al estrés es congelarse, dejar de vivir sin rumbo. Y cuando se trata de aceptar el covid como una realidad que requiere una serie de comportamientos para mantenerse a salvo, algunas personas simplemente han escondido la cabeza en la arena y han dicho: ‘Voy a actuar como si no hubiera nada allí’”.Otros...

Georgia Tech, a week after blowing a lead in a season-opening loss, hosts South Carolina State

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:59 GMT

South Carolina State (0-2) at Georgia Tech (0-1), Saturday, 1 p.m. ET (ACC Network Extra)Line: No line.Series record: Georgia Tech leads 1-0.WHAT’S AT STAKE?Georgia Tech, trying to avoid its first 0-2 start since 1989, seeks to bounce back after collapsing in the second half of its opener against Louisville last week, blowing a 28-13 halftime lead in a 39-34 loss. South Carolina State dropped its first two games, 37-7 to Jackson State and 24-3 to Charlotte. KEY MATCHUPGeorgia Tech QB Haynes King vs. South Carolina State secondary. King, a Texas A&M transfer, completed 19 of 32 passes for 313 yards — the most by a Jackets signal-caller in his debut — and three touchdowns against Louisville. He ran for a team-high 53 yards on 10 carries. King will seek to fine-tune his chemistry with Malik Rutherford, Jamal Haynes, Chase Lane, Christian Leary and Eric Singleton. PLAYERS TO WATCHSouth Carolina State: QBs Andre Washington and Corey Fields are a combined 14 of 40 passing with just 12...

After summit joined by China, US and Russia, Indonesia’s leader warns of protracted conflicts

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:59 GMT

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia’s president issued a stark warning Thursday after wrapping up a summit of Southeast Asian countries that was joined by China, the United States and Russia, saying “we will be destroyed” unless conflicts are resolved. The three-day summit by leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations along with Asian and Western counterparts in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta spotlighted major conflicts in Asia with calls for peaceful resolutions and restraint.Myanmar’s bloody civil strife and the South China Sea territorial disputes, which have dragged on without any solution in sight, figured high on the agenda.Concerns were also raised over the U.S.-China rivalry in the region, although no ne was specifically called out as Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris were in attendance. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also took part. “I can guarantee you, if we are not able to manage differences, we ...

New federal rule may help boost competition for railroad shipments at companies with few options

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:12:59 GMT

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Companies that have plants and facilities only served by one railroad may soon be able to get a bid from another railroad if their current service is bad enough under a new rule that was proposed Thursday to help boost competition.Railroad shippers with plants that are only served by one railroad may soon be able to get a bid from another railroad if their current service is bad enough under a new rule that was proposed Thursday to help boost competition.The U.S. Surface Transportation Board announced the long-awaited rule that has been under consideration in some form at least since 2010 to provide some relief to so called “captive shippers” that only have a connection to one of the six giant freight railroads that deliver the vast majority of goods across North America.Many companies have complained about poor railroad service over the past couple years as the industry worked to recover from the depths of the pandemic. The railroads have acknowledged they cut th...