Hunt for Tube hero who gave blind man his shoes after he lost one through the gap The hunt is on find an ‘absolute hero’

Get you up to speed: Obamas’ dog Sunny dies: “A cherished member of our family”

Former President Barack Obama confirmed the death of the family’s dog, Sunny, in a social media post on Wednesday. Sunny, a 13-year-old Portuguese water dog and a “cherished member” of the Obama family, had been adopted in 2013.

Sunny, the Portuguese water dog of former President Barack Obama, died at the age of 13, over five years after the family lost their previous dog, Bo. The Obama family adopted Sunny in 2013 during Obama’s second term, intending her to be a companion for Bo, who had been with the family since 2009.

Former President Barack Obama announced the death of the family’s dog, Sunny, in a social media post that garnered over 2 million views within three hours. In response to the announcement, Michelle Obama reshared the post, highlighting the family’s collective grief and Sunny’s cherished role in their lives.

What remains unclear — It is not known how the Obamas are coping with the loss of Sunny.

Barack Obama announces death of family dog Sunny at age 13

Washington — Former President Barack Obama announced Wednesday that the family’s dog, Sunny, had died, calling the 13-year-old Portuguese water dog a “cherished member of our family.”  

In a social media post, Obama wrote “we will miss her terribly.” 

“As far as our family was concerned, she was pretty much perfect,” Obama wrote. The post was reshared by his wife, former first lady Michelle Obama, and had been viewed on X over 2 million times within three hours of being shared. They also shared a Facebook post with several photos, including one with the pope, which had hundreds of thousands of reactions. 

The Obama family adopted Sunny as a puppy during his second term in 2013. On Wednesday, Obama wrote that the whole household, including their first dog, Bo, “immediately fell in love” with her, adding that for the next 13 years, “she would be by our side – always loyal, always sweet, always ready for adventure, still fiery and gorgeous till the very end of her days. ” 

Obama also described the contrast between his two dogs’ personalities. Bo could usually be won over with a treat, he wrote, whereas Sunny “was more interested in having us run around with her, roll on the floor with her, or have her belly rubbed for as long as we were willing.” 

Sunny’s best qualities. Both of the Obamas’ dogs were famous for running around the White House lawn, and the former president Obama also described Sunny in his memorial post as “athletic and full of boundless energy.” He also wrote about her quirks, such as how the Portuguese water dog had an ironic hatred for getting wet. “As far as our family was concerned, she was pretty much perfect,” he wrote. 

Obama’s daughters Sasha and Malia, who were 12 and 14 when Sunny joined the family, also were close with Sunny, Obama said. “She (Sunny) loved the girls, even if they were pestering her when she was napping,” Obama wrote. Sunny was also a great addition to the White House staff, Obama said. “She loved our team, and would often follow them around, helping them on the job.” 

Sunny’s death comes more than five years after the Obamas lost Bo, who the family said died of cancer in 2021 at the age of 12. The Obamas adopted Bo in 2009, fulfilling a campaign promise to Malia and Sasha. Bo had been with the Obamas since shortly after Barack Obama’s first inauguration in 2009. Sunny joined the family a few years later as a companion for Bo, and the pair were soon after dubbed “the first dogs” by the press.

‘Cheer up, you caught the bad guy,’ says killer Virginia McCullough as she is arrested for murdering her parents

A woman who murdered her parents “in cold blood” before hiding them in makeshift tombs for four years told officers to “cheer up, you caught the bad guy” as she was arrested in her home.

Virginia McCullough, 36, poisoned her father John McCullough, 70, with prescription medication and fatally stabbed her mother Lois McCullough, 71, shortly afterwards in 2019.

She ran up large debts on credit cards in her parents’ names and after their deaths, she continued to spend their pensions until she was finally caught in 2023.

In body-worn video footage released by police, a handcuffed – and eerily calm – McCullough told officers: “I did know that this would kind of come eventually.

“It’s proper that I serve my punishment.”

She said she had slipped something into her father’s drink then put his body under a bed on the ground floor, and put her mother’s body in an upstairs wardrobe.

McCullough, having been arrested on suspicion of double murder, told an officer: “Cheer up, at least you’ve caught the bad guy.”

She added: “I know I don’t seem 100% evil.”

At the police station, she told officers where a kitchen knife was, which she described as a “murder weapon”, and a hammer which she said “will still have blood on it”.

McCullough, of Pump Hill, Chelmsford, Essex, was sentenced to life imprisonment on Friday with a minimum term of 36 years at Chelmsford Crown Court, after she admitted to their murders between 17 and 20 June 2019 at an earlier hearing at the same court.

Chelmsford Crown Court heard how she hid their bodies in makeshift tombs at the family home in Great Baddow in Essex, then told persistent lies to cover her tracks.

The court heard she cancelled family arrangements and frequently told doctors and relatives her parents were unwell, on holiday or away on lengthy trips.

But concerns over Mr and Mrs McCullough’s welfare were raised in September 2023 by a GP at their registered practice, and Essex County Council’s safeguarding team referred these to police.

The GP had not seen the couple for some time and said Mr McCullough had failed to collect medication and attend scheduled appointments. It was found McCullough had frequently cancelled appointments, using a range of excuses to explain her father’s absence.

Police said a missing persons investigation was initially launched and McCullough lied to officers, claiming her parents were travelling and would be returning in October.

It became a murder investigation, and when officers forced entry to the house in Pump Hill on September 15 2023, McCullough confessed that her parents’ bodies were in the house and that she had killed them.

Nicola Rice, a specialist prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “McCullough callously and viciously killed both of her parents before concealing their bodies in makeshift tombs within their home address.

“She spent the next four years manipulating and lying to family members, medical staff, financial institutions, and the police, spending her parents’ money and accruing large debts in their name.”

She added: “This was a truly disturbing case, which has left behind it a trail of devastation, and I can only hope that the sentence passed today will help those who loved and cared for Lois and John begin to heal.”

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/virginia-mccullough-arrest-video-murder-parents-chelmsford-b2627978.html

Sarah Wilkinson
Sarah Wilkinson@swilkinsonbc
To downplay the genocide, the israelis claim there’s only 20,000 people left in north Gaza, says @MahaGaza : the real number exceeds 400,000
Carol Voderman
Carol Voderman@carolvorders
Man of the right wing Nigel Farage taking more second jobs and freebie helicopter rides Gosh he’ll soon be a true blue Tory at this rate Or far far worse
Zarah Sultana
Zarah Sultana@ZarahSultana
The cost-of-living crisis is far from over, yet the government’s 50% increase to the bus fare cap is a political choice, adding hundreds to annual costs. To address hardship & the climate crisis, the government must keep the £2 cap & make public transport accessible for all.

Defense alliance NATO chief Mark Rutte has met US President-elect Donald Trump to discuss global security issues, according to a NATO spokesperson.

The meeting took place in Palm Beach, Florida.

During his first term as US president, 2017-2020, Trump pushed for European NATO countries to spend more on defense and described the alliance’s cost-sharing as unfair to the US.

Rutte took over as NATO chief from Norwegian Jens Stoltenberg in November.

Before taking office in January, Trump has nominated Pete Hegseth for the post of defense secretary, which has raised eyebrows among many allies.

Hegseth, 44, has served as an infantry captain in Iraq and Afghanistan, but has no senior military or government officer experience.

Multiple missiles were fired in an airstrike towards a densely populated part of Lebanon’s capital early on Saturday.

The huge airstrike targeted Beirut’s Basta neighbourhood, and no prior warnings were given by the Israeli military. The largely residential area was struck last month.

At least one violent explosion was heard across the city, Reuters witnesses said, and plumes of smoke could be seen. Scenes of massive destruction at the site were shared online, including a massive crater in the ground.

“Beirut, the capital, woke up to a horrific massacre, as the Israeli enemy’s air force completely destroyed an eight-story residential building with five missiles on Al-Mamoun Street in Basta,” the state-run National News Agency reported.

The health ministry put the initial death toll at four, with 23 wounded. The number is expected to climb in the coming hours as search and rescue efforts continue.

It came after a long day of Israeli airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs, which have been non-stop since last week.

The cross-border fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group escalated into a full-blown war in mid-September.

Israel has bombed southern Lebanon, Beirut’s southern suburbs and the eastern Beqaa region, and has sent ground troops across the border. Hezbollah has continued to fire rockets deeper into Israel.

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