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Disney-DeSantis war of words heats up 

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:00:17 GMT

ORLANDO, Fla. — Disney CEO Bob Iger on Monday said any retaliatory actions by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature against the company that threaten jobs or expansion at its Florida resort is not only “anti-business … but anti-Florida.”Answering a question during an online shareholders’ meeting, Iger said that the Republican governor and lawmakers appeared to be retaliating against the company for exercising its constitutional rights.He referred to the incident last year when Disney criticized Florida’s law dubbed by critics “Don’t Say Gay” while Bob Chapek was helming the company at the time. The measure bars instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade, as well as lessons deemed not age-appropriate.In response, Florida lawmakers passed, and DeSantis signed, legislation revamping the government-like board that oversees Walt Disney World’s 27,000-...

Magic not losing sight of the bigger picture even as play-in hopes fade

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:00:17 GMT

The message inside the Orlando Magic’s locker room hasn’t changed.So even as they walked off the court and left Amway Center after their dominant 128-102 win over the Detroit Pistons knowing their chances of making the play-in tournament diminished, they did so without losing sight of the bigger picture: development and growth that can extend beyond this season.“We put ourselves in a great position this year,” Jalen Suggs said. “We had a slow start, but we bounced back, went on a winning streak, really played well and kind of just made a name for ourselves now. The Magic aren’t the Magic of last year where it’s ‘we’ve got a free win coming in here’ [or] ‘this team is in a complete rebuilding process’. We’re winning now.”The Magic’s win over the Pistons was their sixth victory in eight games and their largest margin of victory this season.They’re 29-25 since Dec. 5 — No. 11 in the le...

Lot of exotic sugar gliders land at the MSPCA

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:00:17 GMT

The MSPCA has a new group of rare, exotic animal available for adoption — 33 odd and “very, very cute” sugar gliders.“They have their little colonies and fresh mealworms they’ve been munching on and enjoying,” said Ally Phelps, MSPCA Animal Welfare Specialist. “A lot of volunteers have been getting a kick out of them because they’re so cute. It very exciting, maybe not for them yet but for us. And we’re looking forward to getting them adopted.”The group of 33 sugar gliders — and a hedgehog duo — came in after they were surrendered by an owner in western Massachusetts. The owner was dealing with medical issues, the MSPCA said, and had a large number of the critters — they can multiply “pretty quickly,” Phelps said.The “deceptively small,” hand-sized animals are within the possum family and from regions in South America, Phelps said.Like for many exotic pets, Phelps said, the ideal ad...

AFN says it secured extra $3 billion from Ottawa for child-welfare compensation

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:00:17 GMT

OTTAWA — The Assembly of First Nations announced Monday it has secured an extra $3 billion from the federal government in a historic child-welfare compensation case. The assembly, along with the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society, announced the revised compensation package totalling $23 billion, which it plans to present to chiefs gathered this week in Ottawa. “The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal has been clear there was more work to do to satisfy its orders to ensure Canada provided proper compensation and other remedies for the racial discrimination imposed on First Nations by Canada,” Manitoba Regional Chief Cindy Woodhouse said in a statement. Last year the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal rejected the $20-billion compensation package the government had negotiated with the parties, throwing the settlement into question. The tribunal had expressed concerns about whether all claimants would received the $40,000 it says they are owed and about the timelines for ...

Governor General wants Indigenous leaders to meet King Charles to ‘reset’ ties: AFN

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:00:17 GMT

OTTAWA — Gov. Gen. Mary Simon wants Indigenous leaders to meet with King Charles to reset their relationship with the Crown, the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations said Monday. Speaking to chiefs gathered in Ottawa, RoseAnne Archibald said she meets frequently with Simon, who is the first Indigenous person to hold the position of Governor General, the King’s representative in Canada. Archibald said Simon is “facilitating an opportunity for Indigenous leaders to meet with King Charles before his coronation in May.”She did not divulge further details and Rideau Hall did not immediately to a request for comment. Simon, an Inuk leader, has said advancing reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people is one of her top priorities. On a recent trip to Finland to mark the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties with Canada, Simon brought Indigenous leaders to build better ties with the Sámi, Indigenous people of northern Europe. There have been quest...

Progressive Conservatives take early lead in Prince Edward Island election race

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:00:17 GMT

CHARLOTTETOWN — The Progressive Conservatives in P.E.I. pulled into an early lead as advance ballots were counted Monday after an election race dominated by debate over health-care and housing.Elections P.E.I. says nearly a third of registered voters cast ballots in advance polls.The incumbent Tories, led by Premier Dennis King, are seeking a second term in office after four years marked by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, two major post-tropical storms and mounting health-care woes.The party’s main challengers are the Green Party, led by Scottish-born dentist Peter Bevan-Baker, and the Liberals, led by former bureaucrat Sharon Cameron, who was acclaimed leader less than five months ago.At dissolution, the Conservatives held a slight majority with 15 of the legislature’s 27 seats. The Greens had eight seats, most of them in the Charlottetown and Summerside areas. And the Liberals held four seats, having lost their majority to the Tories in 2019.The vote in April 2019 saw P....

Canada’s animal testing ban proposal applauded by humane societies

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:00:17 GMT

Canada plans to join over 40 other countries in banning cosmetic testing on animals.The move was outlined in the release of the federal budget as part of changes to the Food and Drugs Act.It’s a proposal that is being welcomed by many advocates, who say animal testing in the cosmetic industry causes unnecessary suffering and death.“There’s about 20,000 chemicals out there that are used on a regular basis in cosmetics and they’ve all been tested on animals already, there’s no need to keep doing it. So this will stop that,” explained Barbara Cartwright, the CEO of Humane Canada, which is the country’s federation of SPCAs and humane societies.The Government of Canada has moved to ban cosmetic testing on animals in the 2023 Budget Bill! This is a huge win for animal welfare. Cosmetic testing is unnecessary and painful for animals, and an issue we've advocated to end for years. Help spread the good news! #budget2023 pic.twitter.com/rVu7fyc8sA...

Medical examiners group steps away from ‘excited delirium’

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:00:17 GMT

A leading group of medical experts says the term “excited delirium” should not be listed as a cause of death. Critics have said the term has been used to justify excessive force by police.The National Association of Medical Examiners had been one of the last to take a stand against the commonly used but controversial term. In a statement posted on its site March 23, the association said “excited delirium” or “excited delirium syndrome” should not be used as a cause of death. The statement has no legal weight, but will be influential among medical examiners.Critics have called the terms unscientific, rooted in racism — and a way to hide police officers’ culpability in deaths. The American Medical Association and the American Psychiatric Association do not recognize excited delirium as a diagnosis. Yet some police training materials have described it as a potentially fatal collection of symptoms including elevated temperature, unexpected strength, hallucinations and extreme agit...

LSU’s Mulkey talks “timing” as national champs return home

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:00:17 GMT

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — LSU’s national championship women’s basketball team returned to campus on Monday where thousands of fans gathered to welcome them back.“Timing is everything in our lives,” LSU coach and Louisiana native Kim Mulkey told the cheering crowd. “It was time for me to come home.”Mulkey and and her players, including star forward Angel Reese and standout guard Alexis Morris, climbed onto a metal stage inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center, holding aloft the NCAA national championship trophy they captured with a 102-85 triumph over Iowa in Dallas on Sunday.The championship was LSU’s first in either women’s or men’s basketball. It was Mulkey’s fourth national championship as a coach. She won three at Baylor University before agreeing two years ago to move to LSU. Mulkey, 60, also won a national title as a player at Louisiana Tech.Mulkey gestured upward toward hanging banners from LSU’s appearances in five straight women’s Fi...

Judge: Alaska oil project can proceed as lawsuits play out

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 11:00:17 GMT

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Construction can proceed related to a major oil project on Alaska’s petroleum-rich North Slope after a federal judge on Monday rejected requests to halt work until challenges to the Biden administration’s recent approval are resolved.The decision means ConocoPhillips Alaska can forge ahead with cold-weather construction work, including mining gravel and using it to extend a road toward the Willow project.U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason in Anchorage refused requests by environmental groups and an Alaska Native organization to delay construction related to Willow. In separate lawsuits, the groups ultimately want Gleason to overturn the project’s approval, saying the U.S. Bureau of Land Management failed to consider an adequate range of alternatives.A ConocoPhillips Alaska executive, Stephen Bross, in court documents warned that an order blocking construction could make it “impossible” for the project to begin production by Sept. 1, 2029, and that t...