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Maintaining a decent credit history is more crucial than ever. Unfortunately, that’s hard to do if you’re saddled with a high-interest-rate card. Rates as high as 19.9 percent are not uncommon these days, especially for people with a few blemishes on the credit report. With rates like that, it’s easy to fall further down the debt spiral: overborrowing or missing a payment can lower your credit score, triggering your interest rate to rise and forcing you to chip away at interest and principal that may take a lifetime to eliminate....

–Desertion among Army soldiers has reached its highest rate since 1980. –There’s been an 80 percent increase in Army desertions since the Iraq war began in 2003. –There’s been a 42 percent increase in desertions since last year. –About nine in every 1000 soldiers deserted in fiscal year 2007. –4,698 soldiers deserted this year, while 3,301 deserted last year. –Marine and Navy desertions declined over the last fiscal year. –About 20 soldiers have applied for refugee status in Canada....

My son, a student in the class, is describing all this in an excited jumble while I’m trying to watch Zeffirelli’s film version of ““The Taming of the Shrew.’’ On the second Scotch, my internal editor is elsewhere and I suddenly hear me say, ““Why don’t I come to your class and talk about William Shakespeare?'' The next day, when he hies from school bearing an invitation in the fine hand of Mrs....

The branch is set up in a converted former residence, conveniently–or perhaps strategically–located down the street from the Karadat Maryam police station and inevitably, hidden behind a bank of high concrete barriers. “This place was in ruins and it took months to accomplish this,” says one of the managers, waving at the front office with its new computers and faux leather furniture. Asked if it had been difficult to get the venture going, another manager shrugs....

The training ground can be an unforgiving place for those that dare to break the mould, with anything out of the ordinary seized upon by mischievous teammates. De Gea the number one GK in the world In years gone by, any questionable clobber would be shredded or set on fire and hung out of the dressing room window. Manchester United, it would appear, is a little more respectful of people’s belongings, but then the club is living in an era where social media offers a window to the world and there is no longer a need for banter with club colleagues to be kept in-house....

Mayfield, the No. 1 overall pick of the 2018 NFL Draft, said he doesn’t envision returning to Cleveland this season, even if the team’s new starting signal-caller Deshaun Watson is unavailable to play. He said as much in an interview at a youth football camp in Norman, Okla. “I think for that to happen there would have to be some reaching out (by Cleveland),” Mayfield said. “We’re ready to move on, I think on both sides....

Cannon arm. Improvisational skills. Swag. Infectious style of play. Mayfield even reenacted Favre’s “jorts picture” ahead of the 2018 NFL Draft. So, it was almost too perfect that Mayfield’s first defining moment with the Browns nearly mirrored Favre’s legendary start in a Packers uniform. In fact, Mayfield’s resurrection of the Browns in a 21-17 comeback victory against the New York Jets on Thursday came 26 years to the day after Favre broke through with Green Bay....

Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield — one of 20 players on his team in the league’s COVID protocols along with coach Kevin Stefanski — sounded off on Twiter on Thursday. MORE: Browns’ QB depth chart with Mayfield, Keenum in COVID protocols Notably, Mayfield told the NFL to “make up your damn mind” about the protocols and said that player safety concerns are secondary to the league. The league announced new protocols Thursday....

Madrid drew home and away against Las Palmas last season in La Liga. This term, though, the Canary Islanders find themselves in a perilous position in the table and started the weekend in the relegation zone, six points adrift of 17th-placed Levante. For Real, 15 points behind Barcelona with nine fixtures remaining, winning the Primera Division is impossible now. So the Champions League takes priority and with a trip to Turin to face Juventus in the quarter-finals on Tuesday, Zidane made his intentions clear with sweeping changes to his line-up....

Demaci’s refusal upset the key U.S. strategy at the Rambouillet talks. A Kosovar “yes” would have shifted the pressure to Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic, who was resisting the idea of NATO troops as guarantors of Kosovo’s autonomy. But the best Albright could achieve was a vague rebel pledge to sign by March 15. The true winner was Milosevic, who in the interim has a free hand to terrorize Kosovo’s population and harass Western truce monitors there....

He had just one person to beat: the right-field ball girl, who had jumped into the action to become the last line of defense. MORE: Each contender’s biggest issue heading into stretch run She did her job so well that she became an instant Twitter star. The sudden free safety (or kicker/punter, as mentioned on the internet) showed good lateral movement and balance and kept her shoulders square while forcing the play back inside....

Pep Guardiola’s Premier League leaders prevailed 4-3 but will rue leaving Madrid in with a chance of completing another famous Champions League Remontada at the Santiago Bernabeu next week. Kevin De Bruyne and Gabriel Jesus put City 2-0 up inside 11 minutes but the indomitable Karim Benzema reduced the arrears. Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva scored either side of a Vinicius Jr. solo effort as each side refused to relent during a sensational second half, with Benzema claiming his second of the night from the penalty spot to leave the semi-final up for grabs....

What Is Balloon Angioplasty? Balloon angioplasty is an interventional technique in which a specially equipped catheter is inserted into a blood vessel and inflated to widen it and restore blood flow. Once inflated, an expandable mesh tube (called a stent) can be inserted to keep the vessel open. Balloon angioplasty is also sometimes used in emergency situations, such as during a heart attack, where it is performed under general anesthesia. On occasion, regional anesthesia, including nerve blocks, may be used if there is a vascular obstruction in the legs....

The Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia are at the forefront of European Union and NATO efforts to deter further Russian aggression in Ukraine. All three have repeatedly urged a tougher response to Russian belligerence, the cancellation of Moscow’s Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline to Germany, and more military support for Ukraine. They told Newsweek of their concern that the massing of Russian troops—and its planned joint military drills with Belarus scheduled for next month—represent a grave threat to Ukrainian and European security....

The children were identified as 7-year-old Joshlyn Johnson and 5-year-old Larry O’Neil, who police said are siblings. On Friday morning, the county police said they had arrested Nicole Johnson in connection with the deaths of the children, who have been identified as Johnson’s niece and nephew. Johnson faces multiple charges, including first-degree child abuse that resulted in the death of a child under 13. Police said that given the sensitive nature of the case, it will take time to determine the exact causes of death....

Ahmad Alissa, 21, has been identified as the suspected gunman. Boulder Police Chief Maris Herold announced Alissa has been charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder. According to the arrest affidavit, the suspect bought a pistol six days before the mass shooting. It read: “Using law enforcement databases, investigators determined that Alissa had purchased a Ruger AR556 pistol on March 16, 2021.” The affidavit also says that officers recovered a rifle and a handgun inside the grocery store, though it does not say whether the Ruger pistol was one of the guns....

Brian Moynihan told the Associated Press in an interview that consumers are spending “at a faster rate” than he’s ever seen, and spending on the bank’s debit and credit cards has risen. Still, he remains concerned about the potential impact of inflation and supply-chain issues on the economy heading into the winter season. The U.S. government said Friday that prices for Americans rose 6.8 percent in November compared to the previous year, with growing costs for things like food and energy driving the highest annual inflation rate in 39 years....

Ahead of the midterms, Democrats recruited Obama—one of the most popular people in the party—to campaign for candidates in battleground states such as Michigan, Georgia and Wisconsin in hopes of drawing Democratic voters to the polls. On Saturday, he delivered a speech in support of Governor Gretchen Whitmer, first elected in 2018 and facing a tight election. During the rally in Detroit, he compared Whitmer and Dixon by reading two headlines from The Detroit News—one of which refers to Trump-backed Dixon’s character in a 2009 horror film being eaten by zombies....

The party, which is expected to take place on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, next weekend, will likely be attended by several celebrities with Axios reporting that Pearl Jam will provide music at the bash. A person with knowledge of the party told Axios that all attendees will need to be tested for COVID and will be asked to be fully vaccinated before arriving at the event on the small island frequented by the Clintons....