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Aruban getaway a great laid-back, or lively Caribbean escape

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:01:27 GMT

As has become our tradition, my husband and I headed to someplace warm the day after Labor Day, this year choosing Aruba via a direct JetBlue flight.Many visitors, including myself, opt for the high-rise district. It’s fun there. The beaches are busy and bustling; the hotel names are familiar and trusted. The main beach in that area, Palm Beach, is sandy, wide and beautiful. But this time around I decided to go low.Aruba is a relatively small island; you can e-bike pretty easily from end to end. And the low-rise district, as locals call it, hit the spot. It’s quieter; the lesser known Druif Beach is wide enough to give you room all day, not to mention that gorgeous ocean. The hotels there don’t rise higher than three floors and seem to almost blend in with the flora.It’s pristine, peaceful but never boring. Low-rise was the way to go.We arrived at the Divi & Tamarijn resort (https://www.diviandtamarijnaruba.com/) and checked into our spacious room on the Divi side, where we coul...

Senior cat not so nimble anymore

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:01:27 GMT

Dear Dr. John,My cat is getting older, and I’ve noticed that she is not as nimble as she used to be. She is pushing 15 and she cannot jump up on the kitchen counter or other places like she used to. She is a bit overweight, and I suspect that she may have some arthritis. How would I know if she is in any kind of pain? I want her to be comfortable and content and if she were in any kind of discomfort, what could I give her for it? I’ve always been told that animals tolerate pain better than humans. Is that so? L.P.Dear L.P.,Several different pain scale assessments have been developed for cats in the past few years. But there are plenty of signs that one can look for to determine if a cat is painful in any way. These include decreased appetites, lethargy, being withdrawn or hiding, decreased movement, decreased interest in play, and being more vocal. One might see any of these signs or a combination of them, but they might also signify other problems or illnesses.Some of the pain asse...

Dear Abby: Adult child won’t chip in for health insurance

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:01:27 GMT

Dear Abby: When my husband and I married a year ago, I dropped my health insurance plan and joined his family plan, since he also provides coverage for his children, including one who is an adult. There was no additional cost to add me.However, months later, the insurance company raised the monthly premium for all employees. When my husband talked to his adult child about helping to pay their share of the premium, they avoided an answer, and the issue was dropped. My husband recently raised the subject again, and was met with the same avoidance and excuses about not working enough hours at their job. They are not a full-time college student, either.Shortly after the conversation ended, this adult child took to social media to rant about what a jerk their dad is for asking them to help pay, and then also posted several accusations that were untrue. This hurt my husband deeply, and his attempts to communicate are being ignored.My husband was never heavy-handed about it. He was hoping ...

Hamas fighters storm Israeli towns in surprise attack; Israel responds with deadly strikes on Gaza

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:01:27 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Hamas militants broke out of the blockaded Gaza Strip and rampaged through nearby Israeli communities, killing at least 250 people and abducting others in an unprecedented surprise attack during a major Jewish holiday Saturday. Israel responded with strikes in Gaza that killed 232 and signaled more as its prime minister said the country is at war and vowed to inflict an “unprecedented price.” In an assault of startling breadth, Hamas gunmen rolled into as many as 22 locations outside the Gaza Strip, including towns and other communities as far as 15 miles (24 kilometers) from the Gaza border. In some places they gunned down civilians and soldiers as Israel’s military scrambled to muster a response. Gun battles continued well after nightfall, and militants held hostages in standoffs in two towns. Militants occupied a police station in a third town, where Israeli forces struggled until Sunday morning to finally reclaim the building. An Israeli military spokesperson sa...

Boomer Sooner: Gabriel tosses late TD pass as No. 12 Oklahoma beats No. 3 Texas in Red River rivalry

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:01:27 GMT

DALLAS (AP) — Dillon Gabriel knew he couldn’t take a sack as the pocket collapsed around him in the closing seconds of his Red River rivalry debut, the kind of big game he went to Oklahoma to play.Then he saw Nic Anderson in the back of the end zone. “The rest is history,” Gabriel said. Gabriel appeared to do a jump step and connected with Anderson for a 3-yard touchdown with 15 seconds left as 12th-ranked Oklahoma won a battle of unbeatens 34-30 over No. 3 Texas on Saturday in their last matchup at the State Fair of Texas as Big 12 members before moving to the Southeastern Conference.“Just proud of everyone coming together, controlling the chaos,” Gabriel said. “It’s something you dream of as a little kid.”With the SEC commissioner in attendance, but not the Big 12’s, the Sooners (6-0, 3-0 Big 12) and Longhorns played a classic that must have made Greg Sankey thrilled with his new acquisitions.Gabriel completed 23 of 38 passes for 285 yards and ran 14 times for 113 yards and a scor...

Toddlers with developmental delays are missing out on help they need. It can hurt them long term

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:01:27 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — Alexander watches Paw Patrol with fervor, bowls his baby brother over with hugs and does everything with gusto.What the 3-year-old West Chicago toddler can’t do yet is speak more than a few words. His balance is wobbly and he isn’t able to let his preschool teachers know when he’s hurt or scared.When his mother, Hilda Garcia, had him tested, the youngster qualified for five therapies through a U.S. program dedicated to treating developmental delays in babies and toddlers — treatment designed to help Alexander develop the tools he needs to thrive. The relief she felt in identifying what he needed was short-lived. The federally mandated Early Intervention program is plagued by chronic staffing shortages nationwide, leaving thousands of desperate parents frustrated: They know their children need support, they’re aware of proven therapies that could make a difference, but they have to wait for months to get the help they need.After 14 months of phone calls, hours of resea...

An app shows how ancient Greek sites looked thousands of years ago. It’s a glimpse of future tech

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:01:27 GMT

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Tourists at the Acropolis this holiday season can witness the resolution of one of the world’s most heated debates on cultural heritage.All they need is a smartphone. Visitors can now pinch and zoom their way around the ancient Greek site, with a digital overlay showing how it once looked. That includes a collection of marble sculptures removed from the Parthenon more than 200 years ago that are now on display at the British Museum in London. Greece has demanded they be returned.For now, an app supported by Greece’s Culture Ministry allows visitors to point their phones at the Parthenon temple, and the sculptures housed in London appear back on the monument as archaeologists believe they looked 2,500 years ago.Other, less widely known features also appear: Many of the sculptures on the Acropolis were painted in striking colors. A statue of goddess Athena in the main chamber of the Parthenon also stood over a shallow pool of water. “That’s really impressiv...

Tourism resuming in West Maui near Lahaina as hotels and timeshare properties welcome visitors

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:01:27 GMT

HONOLULU (AP) — The area around the Maui town largely destroyed by wildfire two months ago was scheduled to welcome back travelers on Sunday as the mayor and Hawaii’s governor pushed ahead to restart tourism to boost the economy despite opposition from some Lahaina residents. Five hotels in West Maui were accepting reservations again, according to their websites and the Maui Hotel and Lodging Association. In addition, eight timeshare properties — in which visitors have an ownership stake in their room — were opening across the region early this month, including some a few miles from the devastation. The reopening fell on the two-month anniversary of the wildfire that killed at least 98 people and destroyed more than 2,000 structures, many of them homes and apartments. Many local residents have objected to resuming tourism in West Maui, which includes Lahaina town and a stretch of coastline to the north. Opponents said they don’t want travelers asking them about their traumatic exper...

A Ugandan business turns banana fiber into sustainable handicrafts

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:01:27 GMT

MUKONO, Uganda (AP) — A decapitated banana plant is almost useless, an inconvenience to the farmer who must then uproot it and lay its dismembered parts as mulch.But can such stems somehow be returned to life? Yes, according to a Ugandan company that’s buying banana stems in a business that turns fiber into attractive handicrafts. The idea is innovative as well as sustainable in the East African country. Uganda has the highest banana consumption rate in the world and is Africa’s top producer of the crop. Especially in rural areas, bananas can contribute up to 25% of the daily calorie intake, according to figures from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. In Uganda, eating bananas is in many ways embedded in local customs and tradition; for many a meal is incomplete without a serving of matooke, the local word for the starchy boiled mush made from banana cultivars harvested and cooked raw.To harvest the crop, the stem must be decapitated, and in the largest plantations th...

Hamas attack on Israel thrusts Biden into Mideast crisis and has him fending off GOP criticism

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 15:01:27 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The deadly Hamas militant attack on Israel and the massive retaliation it provoked from Jerusalem have thrust President Joe Biden into a Middle East crisis that risks expanding into a broader conflict and has left him fending off criticism from GOP presidential rivals that his administration’s policies led to this moment.The potential for prolonged and expanding violence could test Biden’s leadership on both the world stage and at home as he tries to navigate between demonstrating unflinching support for Israel and fostering a broader peace in the combustible Mideast, where sympathetic militants were quick to loudly praise the action by Hamas.Lebanon’s Hezbollah group welcomed the attack as a response to “Israeli crimes.” The group, which holds similar goals as Hamas for the destruction of the Israeli state, said its command was in contact with Hamas about the operation. A senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader also lauded the deadly attack. And Hamas ...