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Dear Abby: I was blindsided by my fiance’s threat over this business deal

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:40 GMT

DEAR ABBY: I’m a Realtor and managing broker helping my fiance’s son, “Mark,” buy a new home. We’re set to close next month.Related ArticlesAdvice | Dear Abby: The groom’s father refuses to attend the wedding if heavy-drinking kin are excluded Advice | Dear Abby: Everything was great until my girlfriend came back from her weekend trip with this crazy story Advice | Dear Abby: An unmade quilt has undercut our friendship. Am I being unreasonable? Advice | Dear Abby: Am I being selfish to think he needs to get over his grief? Advice | Dear Abby: My boyfriend and I resent each other, but we can’t break up Tonight, my fiance, “Simon,” told me I am not to keep any of my commission, that Mark expects me to give it all to him.Granted, I was planning to give Mark a token of appreciation — a few hundred dollars, perhaps — but not my entire commissio...

Single family residence sells in Pleasanton for $1.6 million

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:40 GMT

1957 Greenwood Road – Google Street ViewThe property located in the 1900 block of Greenwood Road in Pleasanton was sold on Sept. 22, 2023. The $1,550,000 purchase price works out to $836 per square foot. The house, built in 1965, has an interior space of 1,854 square feet. This single-story house offers a capacious living environment with its four bedrooms and two baths. In addition, the home provides a garage.These nearby houses have also recently changed hands:On Brooktree Way, Pleasanton, in June 2022, a 1,790-square-foot home was sold for $1,550,000, a price per square foot of $866. The home has 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.A 2,047-square-foot home on the 1800 block of Rosetree Court in Pleasanton sold in May 2023, for $1,779,500, a price per square foot of $869. The home has 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.In May 2023, a 1,377-square-foot home on Rosetree Court in Pleasanton sold for $1,510,000, a price per square foot of $1,097. The home has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. 

Top 101 Scary Movies of All Time

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:40 GMT

Happy Halloween! Are you looking for a spooky film to watch?Check out my Top 101 Scary Movies of All Time.This list mostly includes horror, but also gripping suspense and psychological thrillers. There’s even a bonus list at the bottom of horror-comedies that are more funny than scary.Obviously, such lists are highly subjective, so let me know your favorites on X at @JFrayWTOP.Top 101 Scary Movies of All Time(Alphabetical)28 Days Later (2002) – Danny BoyleAlien (1979) – Ridley ScottThe Amityville Horror (1979) – Stuart RosenbergAudition (1999) – Takashi MiikeThe Babadook (2013) – Jennifer KentBarbarian (2022) – Zach CreggerThe Birds (1963) – Alfred HitchcockThe Black Phone (2021) – Scott DerricksonBlack Sunday (1960) – Mario BavaBlack Swan (2010) – Darren AronofskyThe Blair Witch Project (1999) – Daniel Myrick & Eduardo SanchezBlue Velvet (1986) – David LynchThe Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) – R...

Opinión | “Oscuro, aterrador, claustrofóbico”: cómo es el interior de los túneles de Hamas

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:40 GMT

Nota del editor: Peter Bergen es analista de seguridad nacional de CNN, vicepresidente de New America, profesor de prácticas en la Universidad Estatal de Arizona y presentador del podcast de Audible “In the Room With Peter Bergen”, también en Apple y Spotify. Las opiniones expresadas en este comentario son suyas. Lee más opiniones en CNN.(CNN) — Es probable que los túneles construidos por Hamas en Gaza sean un objetivo clave de la ofensiva israelí desencadenada por el ataque terrorista del 7 de octubre contra el sur de Israel. Se cree que Hamas alberga bajo tierra un número considerable de combatientes y armas, junto con un número indeterminado de los 239 rehenes que, según el Gobierno israelí, Hamas ha tomado.Una de las expertas en túneles es la Dra. Daphné Richemond Barak, autora de “Underground Warfare”, un libro que hasta hace tres semanas interesaba sobre todo a los estudiantes de historia militar.Ella es profesora de la Escuela Lauder de Gobierno,...

Montenegro finally gets new government and PM

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:40 GMT

Montenegro’s parliament voted in a new government on Tuesday, following weeks of negotiations and nearly five months after the country went to the polls.The small Balkan country will be led by a coalition of pro-European, pro-Serb and Albanian minority parties, helmed by former finance minister and ex-Goldman Sachs banker Milojko Spajić, who leads the centrist Europe Now Movement. At 36, he is the youngest prime minister in Europe.“Our vision is Montenegro as the Switzerland of the Balkans and the Singapore of Europe”, Spajić told parliament ahead of the vote. He pitched his government’s main foreign policy priorities as joining the EU, continued membership in NATO, and improving Montenegro’s relations with its neighbors and participation in multilateral organizations.The country declared independence from Serbia in 2006, began negotiations to join the EU in 2012 and joined NATO in 2017. It adopted the euro as its currency in 2002.In recent years, the c...

Afghans in droves head to border to leave Pakistan ahead of a deadline in anti-migrant crackdown

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:40 GMT

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Large numbers of Afghans crammed into trucks and buses in Pakistan on Tuesday, heading to the border to return home hours before the expiration of a Pakistani government deadline for those who are in the country illegally to leave or face deportation. The deadline is part of a new anti-migrant crackdown that targets all undocumented or unregistered foreigners, according to Islamabad. But it mostly affects Afghans, who make up the bulk of migrants in Pakistan. The expulsion campaign has drawn widespread criticism from U.N. agencies, rights groups and the Taliban-led administration in Afghanistan.Pakistani officials warn that people who are in the country illegally face arrest and deportation after Oct. 31. U.N. agencies say there are more than 2 million undocumented Afghans in Pakistan, at least 600,000 of whom fled after the Taliban takeover in 2021.Although the government insists it isn’t targeting Afghans, the campaign comes amid strained relations ...

AB InBev earnings climb but Bud Light backlash still weighs on North American sales

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:40 GMT

Anheuser-Busch Inbev said Tuesday that revenue growth in most of its global regions was offset by a drop in North American sales, in a sign of continuing fallout from a promotion with a transgender influencer that cost it sales.The world’s largest brewer and parent company of Bud Light said adjusted earnings for the latest quarter rose 4.1% to $5.4 billion on revenues that climbed 5% to $15.6 billion. Revenue in the United States for the July-September period, however, tumbled 13.5%. AB InBev, based in Leuven, Belgium, noted that sales to retailers were down “primarily due to the volume decline of Bud Light.” Bud Light sales plunged amid a conservative backlash after the brand sent a commemorative can to transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney in early April.The controversy toppled Bud Light from its position as America’s best-selling beer for more than two decades. In June, it dropped to second place in U.S. retail sales behind Modelo Especial. Modelo – which is own...

A wildfire raging for a week in eastern Australia claims a life and razes more than 50 homes

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:40 GMT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A wildfire is suspected to have killed a man, destroyed more than 50 homes and razed 20,000 hectares (49,000 acres) of farm and scrubland in eastern Australia, authorities said on Tuesday.Firefighters have been battling the blaze that has scorched the Queensland state town of Tara for more than a week.No new property losses were reported on Tuesday as crews sweltered in 37 degrees Celsius (99 degrees Fahrenheit) weather to reinforce containment lines established on Monday, Queensland Fire and Emergency Services Acting Superintendent Cameron Herbert said.“It’s not a fire that you can put out. We can’t actually extinguish it, but we just need to control it,” Herbert told reporters.Firefighting reinforcements from Victoria state and New Zealand were heading to the fire front this week to relieve weary locals.“The fatigue is definitely setting in,” Herbert said.Prime Minister Anthony Albanese flew to Queensland on Tuesday to pledge his support for wildfire vic...

Chinese factory activity contracts in October as pandemic recovery falters

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:40 GMT

HONG KONG (AP) — An official survey of manufacturers shows China’s factory activity contracted in October, suggesting the economy remains on uneven footing. The purchasing managers’ index, or PMI, fell to 49.5 in October on a 100-point scale, down from 50.2 last month, according to the National Bureau of Statistics and the China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing. A figure below 50 indicates a contraction in manufacturing activity while a number above 50 reflects an expansion. The non-manufacturing PMI for October fell 1.1 percentage points to 50.6, a sign of slowing activity in China’s service and construction industries. Factory output and supplier delivery times improved while measures of new orders, raw materials and employment contracted.China’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic has faltered after an initial burst of growth earlier in the year faded more quickly than expected.In recent months, the government has raised spending on building ports and other infrastr...

Montenegro gets new government, promises to unblock EU integration as EU Commissioner visits

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:33:40 GMT

PODGORICA, Montenegro (AP) — Montenegro’s new government was confirmed on Tuesday, with the prime minister promising to unblock the Balkan nation’s stalled European Union integration process as a top EU official was set to hold talks in the small NATO member country.Parliament approved the new Cabinet with 46 votes in favor and 19 against after a session that lasted all night. Montenegro’s assembly has 81 members but not all were present at the vote. The government was formed after months of political bickering that followed an election in June. The centrist Europe Now party of Prime Minister Milojko Spajic won the election, but without enough support to form a government on its own.To form the government, the winning coalition received backing from staunchly anti-Western groups under the condition that one of their leaders, Andrija Mandic, was elected as the speaker of parliament — an influential political position.Spajic said his government will be pro-European d...