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The Frenchie becomes a favorite — and a dog-show contender

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:12:50 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The United States’ new favorite dog breed — the comical, controversial French bulldog — has never won the nation’s pre-eminent dog show. Yet here, at an ambling trot, comes Winston. The Frenchie with NFL connections is a strong contender at this week’s Westminster Kennel Club dog show, less than two months after the release of rankings showing that his kind has become the country’s most prevalent dog breed. Frenchies’ rise has been stunning: from 83rd most popular to No. 1 in three decades. It also has been dogged by concerns about their health, debate over the ethics of breeding, denunciations of a gold-rush-like market with ever more “exotic” variations, and a recent spate of high-profile and sometimes fatal robberies.If all that says something about these stumpy-snouted, pointy-eared, deep-chested, quizzical little bulldogs, what does it say about the culture that loves them? THEIR MEDIA IMAGE IMPACTS THEIR POPULARITY“Just like humans, dogs...

Panthers beat Maple Leafs in OT, take 3-0 series lead

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:12:50 GMT

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Sam Reinhart scored 3:02 into overtime and the Florida Panthers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 on Sunday night to take a commanding 3-0 lead in their Eastern Conference semifinal series.Reinhart dumped the puck off the boards behind the net to set up his game-winner, taking a pass back from Anton Lundell and scoring to give Florida its first 3-0 series lead in 27 years.Anthony Duclair and Carter Verhaeghe scored for Florida, and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 22 shots. Sam Lafferty and Erik Gustafsson scored for Toronto. Joseph Woll stopped 18 of the 21 he faced for the Maple Leafs after he relieved starter Ilya Samsonov, who stopped all eight shots he saw before leaving early in the second period with an injury.Game 4 is Wednesday night.DEVILS 8, HURRICANES 4NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Jack Hughes had two goals and two assists to help New Jersey cut their series deficit to 2-1.Nico Hischier and Ondrej Palat each had a goal and an assist, and Timo Meier, Damon Severson, Mic...

ANÁLISIS | El “nacionalismo” redefine la derecha estadounidense

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:12:50 GMT

(CNN) — El ala derecha estadounidense, identificada durante mucho tiempo con el movimiento conservador, se aferra cada vez más a algo muy diferente –el nacionalismo– que asusta a algunos estudiantes de historia pero inspira a una nueva generación de republicanos.Algunos ejemplos recientes:Al presentar su plataforma en una serie de videos, el expresidente Donald Trump acusa a una “clase globalista” de no poner a Estados Unidos en primer lugar.En medio de los restos de la carrera por cable del destituido presentador de Fox News, Tucker Carlson, se encuentra un viaje desde el conservador común hasta el nacionalista blanco explícito.Un diputado del Congreso, con una carrera prometedora, pide que el Partido Republicano sea “el partido del nacionalismo”.Estos momentos, que parecen anodinos para un consumidor habitual de noticias, nos recuerdan que el Partido Republicano ha luchado durante décadas para reconciliar a su asociación interna de nacionalistas y conservadores. ...

Today in History: May 8, Truman announces Nazi surrender

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:12:50 GMT

Today in History Today is Monday, May 8, the 128th day of 2023. There are 237 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On May 8, 1996, South Africa took another step from apartheid to democracy by adopting a constitution that guaranteed equal rights for Blacks and whites. On this date: In 1541, Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto reached the Mississippi River. In 1846, the first major battle of the Mexican-American War was fought at Palo Alto, Texas; U.S. forces led by Gen. Zachary Taylor were able to beat back Mexican forces.In 1915, Regret became the first filly to win the Kentucky Derby. In 1945, President Harry S. Truman announced on radio that Nazi Germany’s forces had surrendered, and that “the flags of freedom fly all over Europe.” In 1972, President Richard Nixon announced that he had ordered the mining of Haiphong Harbor during the Vietnam War.In 1973, militant American Indians who had held the South Dakota hamlet of Wounded Knee for 10 weeks surrendered. In 1978,...

UN urges Afghanistan’s Taliban to end floggings, executions

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:12:50 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — A U.N. report on Monday strongly criticized the Taliban for carrying out public executions, lashings and stonings since seizing power in Afghanistan, and called on the country’s rulers to halt such practices.In the past six months alone, 274 men, 58 women and two boys were publicly flogged in Afghanistan, according to a report by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, or UNAMA.“Corporal punishment is a violation of the Convention against Torture and must cease,” said Fiona Frazer, the agency’s human rights chief. She also called for an immediate moratorium on executions.The Taliban foreign ministry said in response that Afghanistan’s laws are determined in accordance with Islamic rules and guidelines, and that an overwhelming majority of Afghans follow those rules.“In the event of a conflict between international human rights law and Islamic law, the government is obliged to follow the Islamic law,” the ministry said in a statement.The Tal...

Pakistan, Afghan Taliban agree to boost trade, lower tension

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:12:50 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan and Afghanistan’s Taliban-appointed government have agreed to boost trade and lower tensions along their border amid a surge in militant attacks on security forces, officials said Monday. Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Afghanistan’s Taliban-appointed foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, struck the deal Sunday in Islamabad, according to Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry. The agreement is designed to improve bilateral trade, combat terrorism and boost bilateral ties.Earlier, Bhutto Zardari and Muttaqi also held talks with China’s Foreign Minister Qin Gang, a departure from recent years when such dialogue had been on hold, according to analysts, who say China is expanding its influence in the region. China also has played a role in the resumption of Saudi-Iran diplomatic ties. In Pakistan, Beijing is bankrolling the so-called China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, or CPEC — a sprawling package that includes such projects as road a...

Yoon, Kishida vow better Seoul-Tokyo ties following summit

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:12:50 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Monday called for officials to map out specific steps to hasten security and economic cooperation with Japan following his weekend summit in Seoul with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. Kishida during Sunday’s meeting expressed sympathy toward Koreans forced into industrial slavery during Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula as the leaders vowed to overcome historical grievances and strengthen cooperation in the face of the North Korean nuclear threat and other challenges.The summit, which was the second meeting between the leaders in less than two months, drew a mixed reaction in South Korea. Critics, including Yoon’s liberal opponents who control majority in the National Assembly, said Kishida’s comments fell short of a meaningful apology and accused Yoon of letting Japan off the hook over its past aggressions while pushing to repair bilateral ties. Others saw the summit as a sign that the two ...

Fire deep in gold mine in southern Peru kills 27 workers

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:12:50 GMT

LIMA, Peru (AP) — A fire broke out deep in a gold mine in southern Peru and killed at least 27 workers during an overnight shift, Peruvian authorities reported.The Yanaquihua mining company said in a statement that 175 workers had been safely evacuated after the accident, which happened late Friday or early Saturday. It said the 27 dead worked for a contractor that specializes in mining.Government officials said the cause of the fire was under investigation. Some news reports said preliminary investigations indicated an explosion might have been set off by a short circuit in a part of the mine about 100 meters (330 feet) below the surface.Relatives of the victims were brought by buses to the mine in Yanaquihua in the Arequipa region, where they were briefed by security agents. Some sat in front of posters at the entrance to the mine to wait for the bodies of their loved ones.Marcelina Aguirre said her husband was among the dead. She said he had told her there were risks at the mine....

Teacher appreciation? Try better pay, more governors say

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:12:50 GMT

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — As schools across the country struggle to find teachers to hire, more governors are pushing for pay increases, bonuses and other perks for the beleaguered profession — with some vowing to beat out other states competing for educators.Already in 2023, governors in Georgia and Arkansas have pushed through teacher pay increases. Ahead of Monday’s start of national Teacher Appreciation Week, others — both Republican and Democratic — have proposed doing the same to attract and retain educators.More than half of the states’ governors over the past year — 26 so far — have proposed boosting teacher compensation, according to groups that track it. The nonprofit Teacher Salary Project said it is the most it has seen in nearly two decades of tracking.“Today we have governors left and right from every political party and then some who are addressing this issue because they have to,” said founder and CEO Ninivé Caligari. “We’ve never seen what we are seeing right now. Neve...

Why so many mass killings? Families, experts seek answers

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 16:12:50 GMT

More than five years after his son was gunned down in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, Richard Berger still asks why.Why Stephen Berger was killed the day after celebrating his 44th birthday. Why the gunman rained bullets over the Las Vegas Strip in 2017, turning a country music festival into a bloodbath. Why the massacre’s death toll didn’t shock U.S. leaders into doing more to prevent that kind of violence from happening again and again.Why?“It’s just a hole in our hearts,” Berger said. “We just don’t know, and we just don’t know what to say.”For the Bergers, the families of the other 59 victims in Vegas — and relatives and friends of countless others slain in mass killings across the country in the years since — the questions loom just as large now as when the crimes happened. Yet the carnage continues.Over the first four months and six days of this year, 115 people have died in 22 mass killings — an average of one mass killing a week. That includes the bloodsh...