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Westminster just crowned its Dog of the Year (no, really)

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:09 GMT

LONDON — It’s official, British politics has gone to the dogs.As serious debates swirl on everything from Chinese espionage to illegal migration, Westminster’s lawmakers are taking the opportunity to drop everything for their four-legged friends. Each summer, dog welfare charities the Kennel Club and the Dog’s Trust host the Westminster Dog of the Year show. It’s become a bizarre but much-loved fixture of the political calendar, where normally buttoned-up MPs take to the Victoria Tower Gardens lawn next to the grand Houses of Parliament and compete to see who has the best furry friend in SW1.On a sunny Thursday, 16 MPs battled it out to show off their dogs, briefly putting aside the, ahem, political dogfights in the name of canine welfare.Those duking it out included William Wragg, vice-chairman of the 1922 committee of Conservative MPs, Tory whip Rebecca Harris, SNP frontbencher Patricia Gibson, and Labour’s Rosie Duffield and Anna McMorrin.So who has the best dog...

Putin ‘gratefully’ accepts Kim Jong Un’s invite to North Korea

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:09 GMT

After North Korea’s dictator Kim Jong Un traveled to Russia’s far east, Russian President Vladimir Putin accepted an invitation from Kim to visit North Korea. “During a one-on-one conversation, Kim Jong Un invited Putin to visit North Korea. Putin gratefully accepted this invitation. And then all agreements will take place through diplomatic channels,” Russian Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said, according to Russian news. If Putin makes the journey, it would be his first visit to North Korea since his trip in 2000 to meet with Kim Jong Il. While the dates for Putin’s visit have not been announced, preparations are ongoing for Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s visit to Pyongyang in October, Peskov noted.Like Kim — who traveled via armored train to Russia — Putin is likely avoid a plane journey when traveling to Pyongyang. Since the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Kremlin leader uses a train for travel out of fear of being t...

Red Sox part ways with Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:09 GMT

The Boston Red Sox have parted ways with the team’s Chief Baseball Officer, Chaim Bloom.“While parting ways is not taken lightly, today signals a new direction for our club,” Principal Owner John Henry said in a statement. “Our organization has significant expectations on the field and while Chaim’s efforts in revitalizing our baseball infrastructure have helped set the stage for the future, we will today begin a search for new leadership. Everyone who knows Chaim has a deep appreciation and respect for the kind of person he is. His time with us will always be marked by his professionalism, integrity, and an unwavering respect for our club and its legacy.”Bloom joined the Red Sox organization in 2019, following nearly 15 years with the Tampa Bay Rays where he started as an intern in 2005, before rising through the ranks to Senior Vice President of Baseball Operations.He went on to replace Dav...

Red Sox fire Chaim Bloom

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:09 GMT

Chaim Bloom was fired by the Red Sox on Thursday afternoon, bringing an abrupt end to a tenure that was chaotic from the start.The club made the announcement an hour before the first game of a doubleheader against the New York Yankees, with whom they are tied for last place in the American League East.“While parting ways is not taken lightly, today signals a new direction for our club,” said Principal Owner John Henry. “Our organization has significant expectations on the field and while Chaim’s efforts in revitalizing our baseball infrastructure have helped set the stage for the future, we will today begin a search for new leadership. Everyone who knows Chaim has a deep appreciation and respect for the kind of person he is. His time with us will always be marked by his professionalism, integrity, and an unwavering respect for our club and its legacy.”Bloom’s time in Boston felt doomed from the start. Within the first three months of his Oct. 28, 2019 hiring, the team “m...

3 ways to reduce taxes on Social Security

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:09 GMT

By Liz Weston | NerdWalletThe investing information provided on this page is for educational purposes only. NerdWallet, Inc. does not offer advisory or brokerage services, nor does it recommend or advise investors to buy or sell particular stocks, securities or other investments.Social Security benefits were once tax-free. That changed in 1983, when Congress decided to tax a portion of benefits for the highest-income recipients.Back then, fewer than 10% of beneficiaries were affected. Lawmakers failed to update the law to account for inflation, however, so today most Social Security beneficiaries have to pay federal income tax on at least some of their benefits, says Ted Sarenski, author of American Institute of CPA’s “Guide to Social Security Planning.”There are a few ways to reduce that tax bite, however, especially if you can plan ahead.How Social Security taxes workSocial Security taxes are based on your annual “combined income.” Combined income comprises:Your adjusted gross inc...

Italy works to transfer thousands of migrants who reached a tiny island in a day

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:09 GMT

LAMPEDUSA ISLAND, Italy (AP) — A migrant reception center in Italy’s southernmost island of Lampedusa was overwhelmed Thursday as authorities worked to transfer to the mainland thousands of people who arrived on small, unseaworthy boats in a 24-hour span this week.The Red Cross said there were still 4,200 migrants at the center out of the 6,800 who reached the tiny tourist and fishing island in a flotilla of some 120 boats that set out from Tunisia. Commercial ferries and Italian military vessels were taking newcomers from Lampedusa to mainland Italy. “After a particularly challenging day like yesterday, today people are being continuously transferred,’’ Francesca Basile of the Italian Red Cross said. “The situation is certainly complex and gradually we are trying to return to normal.”She said all of the migrants received and camping beds were being distributed “so that they don’t sleep in the cold.”The movements of newly arrived migrants are usually tightly controlled. But with the...

With Russia isolated on the world stage, Putin turns to old friend North Korea for help

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:09 GMT

After the handshakes, the platitudes and the lunch of Kamchatka crab dumplings, the outcome of the talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un stayed hidden.But the summit’s location — Russia’s Far East spaceport — offered a big clue.By choosing the Vostochny Cosmodrome, Putin has signaled his readiness to share Russian rocket and space technology with Pyongyang in exchange for access to North Korea’s mammoth arms stockpiles for the war in Ukraine.The move underscored Russia’s estrangement on the world stage and the shrinking circle of friends that Moscow can rely on, thanks to the 18-month-old invasion. At the same time, it heralds new threats for stability in northeast Asia and beyond.The nearly five hours of talks Wednesday between Putin and Kim marked a new high point in the ties between the old allies — a relationship that dates back nearly eight decades to Soviet leader Josef Stalin and Kim’s grandfather, Nor...

More E. coli cases from Calgary daycares, but fewer patients with serious illness

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:09 GMT

CALGARY — The number of E. coli cases linked to an outbreak at several Calgary daycares continues to rise, but doctors say there are fewer patients in hospital with serious complications.There were 310 lab-confirmed cases of the bacterial infection as of Wednesday. The outbreak at 11 Calgary daycares was declared Sept. 4.“It can be frightening to see these numbers, especially a jump in the last few days,” Dr. Tania Principi, section chief of pediatric emergency medicine at Alberta Children’s Hospital, told reporters during a news conference Wednesday. “This increase in numbers we’re seeing has more to do when we’re getting results from the lab on those tested previously. But actually, clinically in the (emergency department), we are seeing significant decrease in the number of children presenting with illness.”Principi said 14 patients have been discharged from hospitals since the beginning of the outbreak.Twenty-one patients were still rece...

Major life insurers taking steps, but falling short on climate action: report

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:09 GMT

TORONTO — A new report from an advocacy group finds two of Canada’s biggest insurers are taking steps toward climate action, but still have a ways to go.  The report from Investors for Paris Compliance says climate action from Sun Life Financial Inc. and Manulife Financial Corp. is important because they are Canada’s first and fourth-largest fossil fuel investors (a separate category from banking). The second annual assessment report says Sun Life Financial Inc. started disclosing some financed emissions this year, but that it still has no overall policy on phasing out fossil fuel investments, including coal. Sun Life had investments totalling US$11.6 billion in coal and US$12.7 billion in oil and gas last year according to data from the advocacy coalition Investing in Climate Chaos. The insurer said in a statement that it’s committed to doing its part to help solve the climate challenge, and has been building a climate team to track and measure its performance amo...

US names former commerce secretary, big Democrat donor to coordinate private sector aid for Ukraine

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 15:55:09 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration has tapped former Commerce Secretary and major Democratic donor Penny Pritzker to coordinate U.S. efforts to channel private sector reconstruction assistance to Ukraine.President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the appointment on Thursday, just moments after the Treasury imposed a raft of new sanctions on Russia and Russian operatives for their role in the war on Ukraine. “Working in lockstep with the Ukrainian government, our allies and partners, international financial institutions, and the private sector, she will drive the United States’ efforts to help rebuild the Ukrainian economy,” Biden said in a statement. “This includes mobilizing public and private investment, shaping donor priorities, and working to open export markets and businesses shut down by Russia’s brutal attacks and destruction.”Pritzker, a native of Chicago with Ukrainian family roots, heir to her family’s Hyatt hotel fortune and a prolific fun...