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As the delta variant of COVID-19 spread across the United States this summer, the virus appeared to take a particular toll on unvaccinated pregnant people, with deaths dramatically increasing in the summer months. The number of pregnant people who died of COVID-19 spiked sharply in August and September, with more than two dozen deaths recorded in each of those months, according to data released this week by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). More than 40% of the 248 deaths among pregnant people since the start of the pandemic occurred since August, the data shows. The number...

Do any of our fellow Freepers play strategy board games? My brother taught me to play Alexander when I was 12 and I've been playing games ever since. I mostly like Avalon Hill Games but also have some by GMT and SPI. It's also possible to play these via email and online through various platforms.

In northwest Europe, meanwhile, the Viking game Hnefatafl popped up in such far-flung locales as Scotland, Norway and Iceland. Farther south, the ancient Egyptian games of Senet and Mehen dominated. To the east in India, Chaturanga emerged as a precursor to modern chess. And 5,000 years ago, in what is now southeast Turkey, a group of Bronze Age humans created an elaborate set of sculpted stones hailed as the world’s oldest gaming pieces upon their discovery in 2013. Senet is one of the earliest known board games. Archaeological and artistic evidence suggest it was played as early as 3100 B.C.,...

illegalopoly

The rules of word game Scrabble are being changed for the first time in its history to allow the use of proper nouns, games company Mattel has said. Place names, people's names and company names or brands will now count. Mattel, which brings out a new version of the game containing amended rules in July, hopes the change will encourage younger people to play.

Get Out of Jail Free: Monopoly's Hidden Maps Silk Escape Maps Concealed in Game Boards Helped WWII It's a story that will forever change the way you think of the phrase, "Get Out of Jail Free...

CHICAGO (CBS) ― Full release from U.S. Attorney's Office: Illinois Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich and his Chief of Staff, John Harris, were arrested today by FBI agents on federal corruption charges alleging that they and others are engaging in ongoing criminal activity: conspiring to obtain personal financial benefits for Blagojevich by leveraging his sole authority to appoint a United States Senator; threatening to withhold substantial state assistance to the Tribune Company in connection with the sale of Wrigley Field to induce the firing of Chicago Tribune editorial board members sharply critical of Blagojevich; and to obtain campaign contributions in exchange...

Rezko sent governor a wish list [and] 10 of 19 people he recommended were appointed or got spouse named One nondescript page ￯﾿ﾽ containing 19 names and a note to Gov. Blagojevich from his chief of staff ￯﾿ﾽ shows the clout Antoin "Tony" Rezko once wielded in state government. "Rod, Here is a list of candidates that Tony Rezko wants to be put on non-paying boards. What are your thoughts?" Blagojevich's former top aide, Lon Monk, wrote in a note faxed to the governor along with the Jan. 20, 2003, list. Of the 19 people named on the document, obtained...

Bored games BY DAVE BARRY (This classic Dave Barry column was originally published Jan. 26, 1997.) OK, here's a nostalgia question: What childhood game does this remind you of? ''Colonel Mustard in the library with a candlestick.'' If you answered, ''Spin the Bottle,'' then I frankly do not want to know any more about your childhood. What I'm referring to is, of course, the classic board game ''Clue,'' in which you try to solve a murder by using a logical process of deduction to narrow down the various possibilities until your sister has to go to the bathroom, at which...