Edmonton zoo elephant Lucy gets medical OK as she approaches 50th birthday

DEAR MISS LONELYHEARTS: I’m an emotional mess. My lesbian girlfriend and I broke up in August, and now I hold the lease on the apartment we shared. It’s a great big old place with two spacious balconies.

I just got new roommates — two younger friends who really love it here — but secretly I’m still feeling lonely. Every minute of living here reminds me of my girlfriend because we decorated the place together and hung out on the balconies to sunbathe in the summer.

Would it help to move out of my beloved old block with its memory triggers? Maybe, but what if I died of loneliness in a new place? I need people around me, and no one but my ex-girlfriend has really been the right person. Please help. I feel sick about this.

— Love-Nest Sadness, Winnipeg

“I would not like to call this an incident. Let’s say it’s a diplomatic misunderstanding,” said Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Andrii Sybiha. But the South Korean president definitely sees it as a serious incident, and he has already gone public with it.

“If (Ukraine’s) refusal to acknowledge the facts and issue a public apology continues, we will take additional measures,” President Lee Jae-myung wrote on X. He probably means cutting the non-military aid South Korea gives to Ukraine. (There is no military aid, since the constitution bans Seoul from providing arms to a country actively involved in a war).

What monstrous misdeed did the Ukrainian government commit to deserve such harsh words from a country that is generally sympathetic to Ukraine’s struggle against its giant neighbour? Have the South Koreans discovered Ukrainian spies in the Blue House?

No, it’s what we professionals call a “spat.”

On diet and humanity

Re: “Maybe ASI will need us” (Letters, Oct. 5)

Mr. Martin, humans eating animals is not part of the circle of life. Many cultures with abundant plant resources, or for religious beliefs, have historically subsisted on largely or strictly vegetarian diets. Likewise, in extreme environments such as the Arctic, Inuit rely heavily on animal products due to the near-absence of arable land. Humans adapt locally to their environments and do not have a single ancestral diet.

Clearly vegetarian or vegan diets are not fringe, as evidenced by plant-based products on main-stream grocery store shelves. To suggest the Free Press is morally endorsing a fringe diet is rubbish, (the newspaper) merely gives the public a platform for diverse opinions, thus generating individual, thought-provoking ideas and conversations — a practice that is desperately needed these days.