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Tiny ‘nation’ in California desert might be worth a day trip, or not

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:47 GMT

According to Worldometer, there are 200 countries of which 193 are member states of the United Nations and seven are not for various reasons. The breakdown of U.N. countries consists of 54 in Africa, 48 in Asia, 44 in Europe, 33 in Latin America and the Caribbean, 14 in Oceania and two in Northern America.It’s pretty hard to imagine running out of travel destinations, right?Actually, Randy “R Dub” Williams, a well-known San Diego late-night DJ, has visited all 200 countries, which is why he created his own on an 11.07-acre plot of arid land in California that he purchased for $19,000. In December 2021, Williams broadcast the Republic of Slowjamastan’s secession from the United States from his open-air government office in Dublandia, the capital. To date, there are 500 registered citizens, with 4,500 more conditionally approved and waiting in line for citizenship.“I like to put it simply,” says Randy “R Dub!” Williams, a late-night “slow jams” DJ from San Diego who’s also known as “t...

Maryland’s budget deficits loom in the wake of the 2023 session

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:47 GMT

This content was republished with permission from WTOP’s news partners at Maryland Matters. Sign up for Maryland Matters’ free email subscription today.The most recent 90-day legislative session swung the Maryland’s fiscal picture from hundreds of millions in surplus to increasing projected deficits over the coming four years, according to the Department of Legislative Services.Deficits projected in the report for 2028 exceed $1 billion and approach levels not seen since The Great Recession. The new projections pose a test to the ability of Gov. Wes Moore (D) to deliver on a number of priorities and promises.Lawmakers said they were not surprised by the numbers but acknowledged challenges lie ahead.“We’ve made some real commitments, and they are robust,” said House Appropriations Chair Ben Barnes (D-Anne Arundel and Prince George’s), noting new investments in education reform and transit. “ … We need to fulfill these commitments and to do that we certainly are going to need to take ...

Ryan Reynolds’ Wrexham is on its way to the United States after being given the Hollywood treatment

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:47 GMT

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Ryan Reynolds has already taken Hollywood to Wrexham. Now the Welsh soccer team is on its way to Tinseltown.The club, which was down on its luck and languishing in the fifth tier of English soccer before being given the A-list treatment by Reynolds and co-owner Rob McElhenney, is embarking on a U.S. tour this month, when fans of the globally-streamed docuseries “Welcome to Wrexham” will get to see its unlikely stars in the flesh.The series has made household names of the likes of manager Phil Parkinson, a coach who has spent his entire career in the lower levels of the sport.Likewise Paul Mullin, a striker who has never been close to playing in the Premier League but is getting a taste of David Beckham-levels of exposure courtesy of being featured on Reynolds’ Instagram feed, which has 49 million followers.Wrexham will play games against Chelsea, Manchester United, LA Galaxy II and Philadelphia Union II at venues in North Carolina, Los Angeles, San D...

Carlos Alcaraz’s Wimbledon trophy keeps him at No. 1. Marketa Vondrousova’s lifts her to No. 10

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:47 GMT

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — Carlos Alcaraz held onto No. 1 in the ATP rankings on Monday by virtue of his victory over No. 2 Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final, and Marketa Vondrousova’s first Grand Slam title pushed her all the way up to a career-high No. 10 on the WTA list.Vondrousova jumped 32 places from No. 42 thanks to her 6-4, 6-4 win against Ons Jabeur in Saturday’s final at the All England Club. Vondrousova, a 24-year-old from the Czech Republic, was the lowest-ranked and first unseeded women’s champion at the grass-court major.Alcaraz’s 1-6, 7-6 (6), 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 defeat of Djokovic on Sunday marked the third time in the past four major tournaments that the men’s title match determined who would be at No. 1.At last September’s U.S. Open, Alcaraz became the first teenager to lead the ATP by beating Casper Ruud in the final. At January’s Australian Open, it was Djokovic — who has spent more weeks atop the rankings than anyone in tennis hi...

2 Orange Line stations reopen, Metro moves on to Green Line construction

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:47 GMT

The Vienna and Dunn Loring stations on Metro’s Orange Line reopen Monday after weeks of construction work, the transit agency said in a news release.Metro closed the four Orange Line stations west of Ballston-Marymount University in early June to replace some of the oldest rails in the system. The East and West Falls Church stations reopened earlier this month.“Replacing this section of rail was critical to ensuring the Orange Line is safe and reliable for years to come,” said Metro Chief of Infrastructure Andy Off in a statement. “We appreciate our customers’ patience while we completed this important work to improve our system.”In the latest phase of its four-part maintenance initiative, the transit agency said it replaced nearly 25 miles of rail and cleared more than 97,000 feet of vegetation to keep areas around the tracks clear in case of storms. Metro also said it installed fiber-optic cables along the corridor to modernize communications and allow for more efficient fut...

5 suffer life-threatening injuries in Aurora rollover crash

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:47 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — Five people were sent to the hospital with life-threatening injuries after a rollover crash in Aurora.At 11:25 p.m. Sunday, Aurora Police Department officers and Aurora Fire Rescue responded to what they described as a "serious" crash on Interstate 25 just before 6th Avenue.Fire crews said the vehicle had rolled into a median and some of the five victims needed to be extricated from the car. Exclusive: Mother of Aurora man shot at house party wants justice Police are currently investigating the cause of the crash.Multiple closures were in place, and officers asked drivers to avoid the area. Lanes on I-225 north from Alameda to 6th and south from Colfax to Alameda were closed.

US academic’s appointment to EU job should stand, economists say

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:47 GMT

Dozens of prominent European economists on Monday declared their support for the appointment of Fiona Scott Morton as the European Commission’s new chief competition economist.The appointment last week of Scott Morton unleashed harsh criticism, largely from the French establishment and the country’s business community. The concerns center on her American citizenship and her past work as a consultant for Big Tech companies.“The European Commission and, more broadly, us Europeans are very lucky to have drawn someone of her caliber,” reads the statement signed by 39 top competition experts, including Nobel Prize winner Bengt Holmstrom and French economist Olivier Blanchard. “Scott Morton is one of the best economists in the world in the domain of industrial organization, a major contributor to policy thinking on tech regulation, and strongly motivated for public service,” they added, and the Commission should “recruit the best possible collaborators in the s...

Russia killed off the Black Sea grain deal. What happens now?

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:47 GMT

Russia on Monday pulled out of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, a U.N.-brokered accord that has made it possible for Ukraine to export tens of millions of tons of grains and oilseeds over the past year even as the war rages on.The deal was vital to keeping food flowing from Ukraine — a major breadbasket — to the wider world. But Russia, claiming that its own food and fertilizer exports were being hurt by “hidden” Western sanctions, had already effectively strangled the deal before finally killing it off. Here’s how the deal worked and what might happen next:What was the Black Sea grain deal and how did it work? The United Nations and Turkey brokered the agreement a year ago to allow the safe passage of Ukrainian grain exports through the Black Sea after shipments ground to a halt in the wake of Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine and blockade of its seaports in February 2022.Under the agreement, a Joint Coordination Centre was set up to inspect ships and monitor their move...

Ohio’s Republican secretary of state, Frank LaRose, launches his campaign for US Senate

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:47 GMT

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio’s Republican secretary of state, Frank LaRose, launched a bid for the U.S. Senate on Monday, joining GOP efforts to try to unseat Democrat Sherrod Brown next year.LaRose, 44, is in his second term as Ohio’s elections chief, one of the state’s highest profile jobs. He managed to walk a delicate line between GOP factions divided by falsehoods sewn by former President Donald Trump over election integrity to score a convincing 59% of the statewide vote in his 2022 reelection bid. He first took office in 2019, with just over 50% of the vote, and previously spent eight years as a state senator and did a turn as a U.S. Army Green Beret.LaRose already has competition for the GOP nomination, including State Sen. Matt Dolan, whose family owns baseball’s Cleveland Guardians, and Bernie Moreno, a wealthy Cleveland business owner whose bid Trump has encouraged. Dolan made his first Senate run last year, investing nearly $11 million of his own mo...

German captain in a migrant rescue standoff will run for the European Parliament

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 11:01:47 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Carola Rackete, who as captain of a humanitarian rescue ship was arrested in 2019 for docking in an Italian port without authorization, was presented Monday as one of a struggling German left-wing party’s top candidates for next year’s European Parliament election.The Left party unveiled Rackete as one of its two lead candidates in the election expected in the spring of 2024, alongside party co-leader Martin Schirdewan, who is already a European Parliament lawmaker.Rackete wrote on Twitter that she “didn’t take the decision lightly” and said she views her candidacy as an opportunity for a “new partnership” between social movements and the Left party. The party has been struggling for years and only just mustered enough support to stay represented in the German parliament in the last national election in 2021. Polls have shown its support stagnating at around 4% or 5%. Its position has been weakened further by a festering public rift between the leader...