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NJ Veteran takes therapy ducks to visit seniors

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:50 GMT

A military veteran from southern New Jersey is sharing his love for birds with a group of seniors.Jeremy Piatt is disabled and suffers from post traumatic stress disorder.Piatt and his fiancé bought and raised birds as emotional support animals, and Piatt shared some of his favorite animals when he visited an assisted living facility in Vineland on Sunday. “PTSD is kind of a thorn in a person’s side and I’ve been struggling with work and I believe that this is my calling to share my love with animals with other people,” Piatt said. Piatt travels around the region to visit senior citizen homes with his ducks.

Adam Sandler gets Mark Twain prize surrounded by celeb pals

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:50 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Adam Sandler placed his hand on the bronze bust of Mark Twain and speculated that it “one day might be the weapon used to bludgeon me in my sleep.”A host of comedic and entertainment royalty gathered at Washington’s Kennedy Center as Sandler was presented with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.Presenters including Drew Barrymore, Conan O’Brien, Chris Rock, Jennifer Aniston, Steve Buscemi, Dana Carvey, and Luis Guzmán gave testimonials to Sandler’s creative longevity, while poking occasional fun at his uneven movie output and tendency to cast all his friends in his movies. Sandler’s longtime writing and production partner Tim Herlihy joked that the pair were responsible for “31 motion pictures with a combined Rotten Tomatoes score of 59.”Buscemi, known largely for dramatic and often violent roles, portrayed a string of comedic characters in Sandler movies. “He takes his comedy very seriously. I laugh hard at everything I do with him,” he said...

Putin sticks to protocol during Chinese leader Xi’s visit

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:50 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin wasn’t waiting at the end of the red carpet to greet Chinese leader Xi Jinping upon his arrival in Russia on Monday for a high-profile visit.But it wasn’t a snub.Russia’s standard protocol for visiting dignitaries calls for them to be welcomed at the airport by a lower-ranking Cabinet official. Many observers argue that the fighting in Ukraine has made Russia increasingly dependent on China for support as the country becomes isolated from the West.But Putin didn’t deviate from the script, and the start of Xi’s trip was like that of any visiting leader.Putin sent Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko to the Russian capital’s Vnukovo airport to meet Xi after he stepped off his Boeing 747.The Russian president, meanwhile, was far away in central Moscow busy with other commitments before his high-stakes dinner with Xi in the evening. Putin began his day by making an appearance at a meeting of the Interior Ministry’...

Wall Street opens mostly higher with banks still in focus

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:50 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is opening mostly higher after regulators pushed together two huge banks over the weekend to build confidence in the struggling industry. The S&P 500 rose 0.2% shortly after the opening bell Monday. The Dow added 0.6% and the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.3%. Much of the attention was still on banks, which may be cracking under the pressure of the fastest series of interest rate hikes in decades. Swiss banking giant UBS is buying rival Credit Suisse for almost $3.25 billion in a deal quickly put together by regulators. U.S. bank First Republic fell again after another credit rating downgrade.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.BEIJING (AP) — Global stock markets sank Monday after Swiss authorities arranged the takeover of troubled Credit Suisse amid fears of a global banking crisis ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting to decide on more possible interest rate hikes.Hong Kong’s main index slid 2.7%. London, Frankfurt and Pa...

French government fights to survive 2 no-confidence motions

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:50 GMT

PARIS (AP) — France’s government is facing a critical, maybe fatal, moment Monday with no-confidence motions filed by lawmakers who are furious that President Emmanuel Macron ordered the use of special constitutional powers to force through an unpopular bill raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 without giving them a vote.National Assembly lawmakers are set to vote in the afternoon on two no-confidence motions, one from the far-right National Rally and the other, more threatening one from a small group that has gathered support across the left.The Senate, dominated by conservatives who back the retirement plan, passed the legislation last week.The no-confidence motions each need the backing of 287 lawmakers in the National Assembly, the lower chamber, to pass.Although the motions appear unlikely to succeed, the climate of protest that Macron’s pension reforms has sparked in parliament and on the streets means the outcome of voting in the National Assembly is not guaranteed. No su...

Belarus tightens border with Poland after ‘terrorist’ shot

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:50 GMT

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Belarus has stepped up security along its border with Poland after security forces killed a foreigner in the region who allegedly was planning a terrorist attack, the Belarusian human rights group Viasna said Monday.The Belarusian KGB security agency said the alleged terrorist was killed in a shootout on Sunday in the city of Grodno, just east of the Polish border. It did not identify the suspect’s nationality or give other details, but said its officers along with police and border guards were conducting “special operations” in the city on Monday.Viasna released what it said was a video of the Sunday incident in which dozens of officers could be seen storming the entrance of a five-story apartment building. Sappers and explosives-seeking dogs were called to the residence of the regional governor, Viasna said.Border guards were intensely inspecting vehicles and luggage and scrolling through mobile telephones at the Kazlovichy border crossing with Poland...

Thailand dissolves Parliament ahead of May elections

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:50 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s Parliament was dissolved Monday by a government decree, setting the stage for a May general election that poses an opportunity to lessen the military’s influence in politics.The dissolution, just a few days before the end of the four-year term of the House of Representatives, was initiated by Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who is seeking a fresh mandate in the election expected to be held May 7 or 14. The date will be announced next week. The election will pit the popular opposition Pheu Thai party, backed by billionaire populist Thaksin Shinawatra, against parties representing the conservative establishment and closely linked to the military.Parties led and backed by Thaksin have won the most seats in every election since 2001, but have been blocked by military coups, unfavorable rulings by the conservative judiciary and election laws drafted to favor army-backed parties.The leading Pheu Thai candidate is Thaksin’s daughter, 36-year-old Paetongtar...

World on ‘thin ice’ as UN climate report gives stark warning

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:50 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Humanity still has a chance, close to the last one, to prevent the worst of climate change ’s future harms, a top United Nations panel of scientists said Monday.But doing so requires quickly slashing carbon pollution and fossil fuel use by nearly two-thirds by 2035, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said. The United Nations chief said it more bluntly, calling for an end to new fossil fuel exploration and rich countries quitting coal, oil and gas by 2040.“Humanity is on thin ice — and that ice is melting fast,” United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said. “Our world needs climate action on all fronts — everything, everywhere, all at once.”Stepping up his pleas for action on fossil fuels, Guterres not only called for “no new coal” but also for eliminating its use in rich countries by 2030 and poor countries by 2040. He urged carbon-free electricity generation in the developed world by 2035, meaning no gas-fired power plants too.That date is key bec...

China’s Xi visits Moscow to bolster Putin amid Ukraine war

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:50 GMT

MOSCOW — Chinese leader Xi Jinping arrived in Moscow on Monday to show off Beijing’s new diplomatic swagger and give a political lift to Russian President Vladimir Putin against the West just days after an international arrest warrant was issued for the Kremlin leader on war crimes charges related to Ukraine.The two major powers have described Xi’s three-day trip as an opportunity to deepen their “no-limits friendship.” China looks to Russia as a source of oil and gas for its energy-hungry economy, and as a partner in standing up to what both see as U.S. domination of global affairs. The two countries, which are among the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, also have held joint military drills.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that over dinner on Monday, Putin and Xi will likely include a “detailed explanation” of Moscow’s actions in Ukraine.Broader talks involving officials from both countries on a range of subjects are scheduled for Tuesday, Peskov ...

With overdoses up, states look at harsher fentanyl penalties

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:11:50 GMT

RENO, Nev. (AP) — State lawmakers nationwide are responding to the deadliest overdose crisis in U.S. history by pushing harsher penalties for possessing fentanyl and other powerful lab-made opioids that are connected to about 70,000 deaths a year.Imposing longer prison sentences for possessing smaller amounts of drugs represents a shift in states that in recent years have rolled back drug possession penalties. Proponents of tougher penalties say this crisis is different and that, in most places, the stiffer sentences are intended to punish drug dealers, not just users.“There is no other drug — no other illicit drug — that has the same type of effects on our communities,” said Mark Jackson, the district attorney for Douglas County, Nevada, and president of the Nevada District Attorneys Association, which is pushing for stricter penalties for fentanyl-related crimes.But the strategy is alarming recovery advocates who say focusing on the criminal angle of drugs has historically backfir...