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A few tips on navigating grief during the holidays

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:20 GMT

The holidays are filled with activities, excitement, and very high expectations for a joyful season.But for families experiencing the loss of a loved one, the holidays can be especially tough.Children and GriefWhen it comes to children, Andy McNeil, senior advisor for Youth Programs at the nonprofit Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors or TAPS, told WTOP in an interview that it’s common to hear that “kids are resilient, they bounce right back.” But, McNeil said, “kids are not resilient in a vacuum,” they need guidance and support from the adults around them.Everyone, child or adult, grieves differently. Adults, McNeil advised, shouldn’t assume that children are doing just fine if they don’t bring up the loss of the loved one or if they seem to be carrying on as normal.“Silent grief is not absent grief,” McNeil said.He said adults who are having a difficult time with their own grief, or simply want to express it, shouldn’...

Bayern Munich’s game with Union Berlin called off due to snow chaos in southern Germany

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:20 GMT

MUNICH (AP) — Bayern Munich’s home game against Union Berlin was called off because of heavy snowfall on Saturday.Cold weather, snowfall and ice have caused transport chaos in Munich and southern Germany.“It was decided not to play the game because of the security risks for all involved,” Union said in a statement 5½ hours before the Bundesliga game was due to start.The league added that the Allianz Arena management “has kept the stadium from hosting today’s game due to persistent heavy snowfall.”News agency DPA reported that flight operations at Munich airport were suspended, and numerous railway lines around Munich had to be closed on Saturday night. Passengers had to spend the night on trains in Ulm and Munich.___AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/SoccerSource

Record Heat Possible this Saturday as Heat and Humidity Returns

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:20 GMT

This time of the year, South Florida can experience a flip flop in weather conditions, with a cool down occurring earlier this week but temperatures have now returned above average this weekend ahead of our next cold front.In Miami, the record high of 86F today can even be tied!Expect partly sunny to partly cloudy skies this Saturday across South Florida paired with a light, southeasterly breeze and only the chance for seeing a stray shower. Highs will reach the mid 80s.Sunday will be fairly similar with times of sunshine and clouds although rain chances will be higher at a 30% chance courtesy of more moisture in place being drawn in by a southerly wind. Lots of dry time is still ahead so this rain chance shouldn’t disrupt your outdoor plans too much. Otherwise it will remain relatively hot with highs in the mid to upper 80s. There will also be the chance for areas of morning fog.One more day of heat is on the docket for our Monday before a weak front crosses through late in t...

Kamala Harris at climate summit: World must ‘fight’ those stalling action

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:20 GMT

DUBAI — The vast, global efforts to arrest rising temperatures are imperiled and must accelerate, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris told the world climate summit on Saturday. “We must do more,” she implored an audience of world leaders at the COP28 climate talks in Dubai. And the headwinds are only growing, she warned.“Continued progress will not be possible without a fight,” she told the gathering, which has drawn more than 100,000 people to this Gulf oil metropolis. “Around the world, there are those who seek to slow or stop our progress. Leaders who deny climate science, delay climate action and spread misinformation. Corporations that greenwash their climate inaction and lobby for billions of dollars in fossil fuel subsidies.” Her remarks — less than a year before an election that could return Donald Trump to the White House — challenged leaders to cooperate and spend more to keep the goal of containing global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius within reach. So far, the pl...

France and Philippines eye a security pact to allow joint military combat exercises

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:20 GMT

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — France and the Philippines are condiering a defense pact that would allow them to send military forces to each other’s territory for joint exercises, the Philippine defense chief said Saturday after holding talks with his French counterpart.Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said in a joint press conference with French Minister for the Armed Forces Sebastien Lecornu that they were seeking authorization from their heads of state to begin negotiations.“We intend to take concrete steps into leveling up and making more comprehensive our defense cooperation, principally by working to get authorization from our respective heads of state and relevant agencies to begin negotiations for a status of visiting forces agreement,” Teodoro said.“The first goal is to create interoperability or a strategic closeness between both armed forces, see how both navies work together, how air forces work together,” Lecornu said through an interpreter.The Philippines has such an agreement ...

Russia brings new charges against jailed Kremlin foe Navalny

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:20 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — Imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been handed new charges by Russian prosecutors.The 47-year-old is already serving more than 30 years in prison after being found guilty of crimes including extremism — charges that his supporters characterize as politically motivated. In comments passed to his associates, Navalny said he had been charged under article 214 of Russia’s penal code, which covers crimes of vandalism.“I don’t even know whether to describe my latest news as sad, funny or absurd,” he wrote in comments on social media Friday via his team. “I have no idea what Article 214 is, and there’s nowhere to look. You’ll know before I do.”He said that the charges were part of the Kremlin’s desire to “initiate a new criminal case against me every three months.” Never before has a convict in solitary confinement for more than a year had such a rich social and political life,” he joked.Navalny is one of President Vladimir Putin’s most ardent opponents, best kno...

Here are the buttons for the 2024 St. Paul Winter Carnival

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:20 GMT

2024 Winter Carnival button art by Kao Lee Thao. (Courtesy of the St. Paul Winter Carnival)2024 Winter Carnival button art by Kao Lee Thao. (Courtesy of the St. Paul Winter Carnival)2024 Winter Carnival button art by Kao Lee Thao. (Courtesy of the St. Paul Winter Carnival)2024 Winter Carnival button art by Kao Lee Thao. (Courtesy of the St. Paul Winter Carnival)Show Caption of ExpandEven if the weather hasn’t caught up, winter has officially arrived — because the 2024 St. Paul Winter Carnival buttons have been unveiled.The four buttons, designed by artist Kao Lee Thao, were made public Saturday night at the annual tree lighting ceremony at Union Depot.Local painter and animator Kao Lee Thao, who designed the commemorative buttons for the 2024 St. Paul Winter Carnival, poses with a 3D project. Thao is first-generation Hmong-American and grew up in St. Paul and Savage. (Courtesy of the St. Paul Winter Carnival)Thao, 47, is a painter and a partner at Folklore Studio, a 3D animation com...

Ask Amy: Woman at home worries about work

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:20 GMT

Dear Amy: I am a woman in my mid-40s with two grown children.I have suffered with depression and anxiety for much of my life. I am on medication and work weekly with a therapist.Things have been under control until recently.Over the past few months my mother had a stroke, my husband had a heart attack, and one of my children called off their wedding. I handled everything as it was happening, but once everything settled, I had a bit of a breakdown.I took some time off work to attend to my mental health. When I returned, I was pretty much told I was no longer needed at the company. I was very hurt, but in reality it was probably time for me to move on.My husband and I talked and decided that I didn’t need to be in a hurry to return to work. We realized that we could more than make it on his salary and I still wasn’t in a great place mentally. My therapist didn’t think I was ready to return to work, and definitely not in a place to start a new job.Being home, I’ve bee...

Money in the bank or homeownership: What should this couple do?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:20 GMT

Question: Regarding your November 25, 2023, column titled “This holiday advice is not the best recipe for wanna-be homebuyers” on The Mercury News and East Bay Times websites:   Your column indicates home prices will not drop with lower home-loan interest rates. The experts agreed. Just like the uncles in your article, my in-laws provided homebuying advice. We listen. In our case, realty advice and down payment assistance come as a package.    My wife is content to rent a home indefinitely. She prefers money in the bank. It is not surprising. Foreclosure ended homeownership for her parents during The Great Recession. Her parents had a bad home loan. They did recover. They have been renting since 2010. My in-laws saved all their disposable income. Now, they want their daughter to buy a home. But there is a catch. Her parents want us to wait until interest rates are lower. Then they will give us down payment assistance.  It is a housing dilemma. My in-laws want us to buy a home when h...

Why so many DCPS teachers are headed for the classroom exit

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:20 GMT

Increasing numbers of D.C. public school teachers are heading for the classroom door.At a hearing held by the D.C. Council during the week, some educators sounded off on what’s lost when their peers exit the classroom as turnover that eased during COVID-19 rebounded to pre-pandemic rates.With the turnover increase “that institutional knowledge as well as the community knowledge, as well as just pedagogical knowledge, gets lost with it,” Dylan Craig, a DCPS teacher, Washington Teachers Union rep and executive board member, told WTOP.“And even there can be great new teachers coming in. But there’s something unique about each school, each community and programs/initiatives that are part of that school … with constant turnover, it’s not quite starting fresh, but almost starting fresh each year,” Craig said.Being overworked is among the reasons teachers leave the classroom, according to Craig, who also said the IMPACT teacher evaluation system ca...