What I Wanted, What I Got

What I Wanted, What I Got

The popular girl at my elementary school—let’s call her Denise—was not blond like Barbie but pretty in a conventional manner I envied. She had brown hair, skin that tanned easily, and a confident personality. In a town of loggers, hippies, and students, Denise’s father was a doctor. Although her family was probably just comfortably middle…

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Happy Meal Toys In Japan Now Harder For Scalpers To Snatch Up

Happy Meal Toys In Japan Now Harder For Scalpers To Snatch Up

McDonald’s Japan is tightening its rules on Happy Meals after facing chaos during a Pokémon collaboration earlier this summer. When limited-edition Pokémon cards were offered in August, long lines of fans and scalpers led to arguments, food waste, and reselling at inflated prices online. Now, with the release of its new Sanrio Happy Meal series,…

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Migrant return flights to France set to start next week

Migrant return flights to France set to start next week

The first deportation flights of migrants under the UK’s new returns deal with France are expected to begin next week, the BBC understands. The ‘one in, one out’ pilot scheme was set up as part of a deal announced by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron during his state visit to…

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Ivory Coast’s ‘iron lady’ – from hiding in a bunker to presidential hopeful

Ivory Coast’s ‘iron lady’ – from hiding in a bunker to presidential hopeful

Former Ivory Coast First Lady Simone Gbagbo has gone from hiding in a bunker in an attempt to avoid arrest to defiantly announcing she will run for president. In an extraordinary comeback, the controversial 76-year-old was this week surprisingly allowed to contest October’s elections, calling on supporters to help “build a new nation”. For years,…

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Zelensky claims Russia’s advance on Sumy has failed

Zelensky claims Russia’s advance on Sumy has failed

After several months of fierce fighting, Ukraine says it has stopped a Russian advance in north-east Ukraine. “As of today, we can state that the Russian offensive operation in (the Sumy region) has been completely foiled by our forces,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyi wrote in a post on Telegram following a consultation with the army leadership,…

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