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National Pet Day celebrated worldwide to promote pet adoption

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:44:26 GMT

April 11 is the day to cherish your pets just a little more. It’s National Pet Day! The annual event was founded by Colleen Paige, an animal welfare advocate and pet and family lifestyle expert. While April 11 is the official day to honor our animal companions, pet owners know that every day is an opportunity to celebrate their furry, feathered, or scaled friends.This year’s celebration takes on added significance as more people have turned to pets for comfort and companionship during the pandemic. But beyond the joy they bring, pets also offer physical and mental health benefits. Research by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has found that pets can lower cortisol, cholesterol, and blood pressure levels, contributing to overall cardiovascular health.However, not all pets have a loving home. According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, approximately 6.5 million companion animals enter shelters nationwide each year. That...

Dems tap Chicago for 2024 convention, cite critical Midwest

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:44:26 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats announced on Tuesday that they will hold their party’s 2024 national convention in Chicago, choosing the biggest liberal city in the Midwest as they try to keep the momentum going after a strong midterm election performance in the key battleground region.Organizers from Chicago, Atlanta and New York spent months lobbying to be the site of the convention, but the final decision lay with President Joe Biden, who is expected to formally launch his reelection campaign in the coming weeks.“Chicago is a great choice,” Biden said in a statement. “Democrats will gather to showcase our historic progress including building an economy from the middle out and bottom up, not from the top down.”The Democratic National Committee said its convention would be held Aug. 19-22 and noted that Illinois, along with Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota, was part of the critical Midwestern “blue wall,” which was key to Democrats’ success in the 2020 and 2022 elections. ...

Macron heckled by protesters during speech in the Netherlands

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:44:26 GMT

A speech by French President Emmanuel Macron was interrupted Tuesday in the Netherlands by protesters attacking him on the state of democracy in France.“I think we lost something; where is French democracy?” shouted one male protester at the beginning of a speech by the French president on European sovereignty at the Nexus Institute in The Hague. Another yelled, “Why did you bypass [the] French parliament?” in reference to the political crisis that has emerged over the president’s flagship pensions reform in France.Macron responded with, “Do you allow me to answer?” and turned toward the protesters, who continued to heckle him over his green track record and held a banner saying, “President of violence and hypocrisy.”France has been gripped by a deepening political crisis since the French president authorized the use of a constitutional maneuver to bypass a vote in the French parliament over his plans to increase the legal age of retirement to 64 from 62. Scenes of chaos and disrupt...

EU: Macron and von der Leyen were united in the room with China’s Xi

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:44:26 GMT

Emmanuel Macron and Ursula von der Leyen delivered Chinese leader Xi Jinping a unified message last week, the European Commission argued Tuesday — avoiding comment on the divisions that emerged after.“The messaging which came out of that trilateral meeting was very consistent,” said Eric Mamer, a Commission spokesperson, during a briefing with journalists, days after Macron, the French leader, met in Beijing with Commission chief von der Leyen and Xi. The French president, however, caused a commotion shortly after the gathering when he suggested in an interview with POLITICO and others that Europe should not get dragged into a U.S.-China confrontation over Taiwan, the self-ruled island Beijing claims as its own.The remarks prompted hand-wringing from Europeans who want a more confrontational approach to Beijing and tighter relations with Washington — and were frustrated that Macron was freelancing on Europe’s behalf.Macron and von der Leyen were traveling t...

Police look to ID person of interest as part of Prudential station assault investigation

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:44:26 GMT

Authorities in Boston are looking to identify a person of interest as they investigate an assault that happened at Prudential station earlier in April.Officials with the MBTA Transit Police Department shared an image of the individual in question on social media Tuesday morning. The department said the person was being sought in connection with an incident that occurred on April 1 around 1 p.m.https://twitter.com/MBTATransitPD/status/1645811992106614785No additional details on the case were released.If anyone recognizes the individual seen in the image provided, they are asked to contact the TPD’s Criminal Investigations Unit at 617-222-1050.

House $1.1B tax relief bill includes previously rejected cap gains tax cut

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:44:26 GMT

The House unveiled its version of a tax relief package Tuesday, offering $1.1 billion in cuts that will play out over the next three years, including a capital gains cut rejected by lawmakers last session.“This tax relief package strikes the critically important balance of providing permanent financial relief to residents and businesses across Massachusetts, without compromising the long-term fiscal security of the Commonwealth,” House Speaker Ron Mariano said with the plan’s release. “I’m confident that this tax reform legislation will help to make Massachusetts more affordable for all residents, while also helping to make the Commonwealth more competitive with other states.”The plan, offered against Gov. Maura Healey’s about $750 million tax cut proposal includes several cuts the Legislature nearly passed last term and some that didn’t make the previous reform package.Notably, lawmakers had rejected a proposal by-then Gov. Charlie Baker to cut the state’s short term capital gains ...

Protesters briefly interrupt Macron’s speech in Netherlands

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:44:26 GMT

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Protesters opposing France’s unpopular pension reforms on Tuesday briefly interrupted a speech in the Netherlands by French President Emmanuel Macron as he was about to outline his vision for the future of Europe during a two-day state visit.Some members of the audience at a theater in The Hague shouted at Macron as he was just starting his speech, accusing him of undemocratically forcing through his plan to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64.Macron’s pension reforms prompted massive protests and strikes. Critics were additionally infuriated when he used a special constitutional power last month to push the bill through parliament without a vote. Some protesters in The Hague theater Tuesday brandished a banner calling Macron the “president of violence and hypocrisy.”“I can answer these questions if you give me some time,” Macron responded, speaking in English. The protesters were quickly removed from the hall.It’s “very important t...

CEO, board of Trudeau Foundation resign citing recent politicization of their work

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:44:26 GMT

OTTAWA — The CEO and most members of the board of directors for the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation say they are stepping down because of the political climate that has recently surrounded their work. In a statement posted on its website, the foundation says the politicization of a donation it received seven years ago has put a great deal of pressure on its management, volunteer board of directors and staff.The resignations come after the Globe and Mail newspaper reported, citing unnamed sources, that Chinese billionaire Zhang Bin and another Chinese businessman, Niu Gensheng, donated $200,000 to the foundation in 2016.The foundation, which describes itself as independent and non-partisan, said last month that it was returning the money because of a potential connection between the donation and the Chinese government.Its statement today says three directors will stay with the organization on an interim basis to ensure it can continue to meet its obligations.Prime Minister Justin T...

US-Apple-Books-Top-10

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:44:26 GMT

Top Paid Books (US Bestseller List): 1. Romantic Comedy (Reese’s Book Club) by Curtis Sittenfeld (Random House Publishing Group) 2. It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover (Atria Books) 3. Over My Brother’s Dead Body, Chase Andrews by Piper Rayne (Piper Rayne Incorporated) 4. Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus (Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group) 5. The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth (St. Martin’s Publishing Group) 6. I Will Find You by Harlan Coben (Grand Central Publishing) 7. It Starts with Us by Colleen Hoover (Atria Books) 8. Blue Moon by Lee Child (Random House Publishing Group) 9. Searching for Caryn by Susan Stoker (Stoker Aces Production, LLC) 10. Rizzoli & Isles: Listen to Me by Tess Gerritsen (Random House Publishing Group)The Associated Press

Ukraine wants India to play bigger role in ending war

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:44:26 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — Ukraine wants India to play a bigger role in helping end Russia’s war, its deputy foreign minister said Tuesday during the first visit by a senior Ukrainian official to India since the war began last year. India “can play a bigger and greater role” and Ukraine would “welcome any effort that is directed at resolving the war,” Emine Dzhaparova said.She made the comments in a speech at the Indian Council of World Affairs, a think tank in New Delhi, after meeting with her Indian counterpart, Sanjay Verma, and other officials. Dzhaparova has sought to use her visit to deepen ties with India, which has refrained from condemning Russia’s role in the war and has abstained several times from voting on U.N. resolutions against Moscow. Instead, New Delhi has stressed the need for diplomacy and dialogue on ending the war and has expressed its willingness to contribute to peace efforts.Dzhaparova said she hopes Indian officials including National Security Advis...