Latest news with #Abboud
Newsweek
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Newsweek
Cat Has Identity Crisis After Owner Adopts Puppy: 'Broke Her'
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. A confused kitty has gone viral after seemingly having an identity crisis when introduced to a new puppy, in a video that has left internet users in stitches. The clip, shared on Instagram by @catpowercouple in July, shows a blue-eyed kitten reacting to his first meeting with a canine. Initially curious about the pup, the kitty begins by smelling him, only to end up panting just like him. "I introduced my kitten to a doggo. I think he broke her..." the poster writes in the clip. She adds in the caption: "Slight identity crisis (or more likely, she's mocking him). "On a serious note, cats don't usually pant—so if they do, it's often a sign they're overheated, stressed, or something might be wrong. Keep an eye out, especially after playing or in hot weather! Make sure you give your fluffy children big hugs all the time [because] they need to feel loved always." The poster, Robin Abboud, 22, from Edmonton, Canada, told Newsweek that while they were thinking of adopting the little pup in the clip, they ended up not taking him because she turned out to be gravely allergic to his breed. Screenshots of the viral video show the cat imitating the puppy. Screenshots of the viral video show the cat imitating the puppy. @catpowercouple "In the video, the dog starts panting excitedly to get home, my cat and him meet and she watches him curiously (and definitely she was scared as she doesn't have much experience with dogs and cats usually aren't a fan of change), and then surprisingly starts panting too," she said. "Cats can pant for a few reasons, in this case, it was most likely heat from the hot summer day and stress from meeting a new furry friend. I included cat panting explanations in my caption because a lot of people don't realize panting in cats is possible. "It's been really fun seeing the reactions—many people are both amused and learning something new about cats." Cats may pant for several reasons, though it's less common than in dogs, according to Pet MD. Normal causes include intense exercise, stress, or overheating—situations where the cat may need to cool down or calm. More serious causes include severe pain, heart disease, heartworms, and respiratory illnesses like asthma or pneumonia. Anemia, where the body lacks red blood cells to carry oxygen, can also lead to panting. If panting is persistent, occurs at rest, or is accompanied by other symptoms like vomiting, lethargy, or difficulty breathing, it could signal a medical emergency and should be evaluated by a veterinarian. Abboud said that beyond just posting cute or funny moments, her account has a deeper purpose. "I'm building a community that spreads happiness and love toward animals. I grew up in Lebanon during the revolution, the economic crash, and later the Beirut explosion. A lot of people had to abandon their pets during that time—either in panic or because they simply couldn't afford to feed them. There were so many strays, and it really stuck with me," she said. "When I moved to Canada alone at 18, having my animals made me feel loved and gave me a sense of family. I want to replicate that feeling that make people smile and remind them how much joy pets can bring, even in tough times. It is a special feeling interacting with animals!" The video quickly went viral on social media and it has so far received over 1.9 million views and 272,000 likes. One user, Halloween_queen_x3, commented: "My cat used to do this when she was stressed in the car." Younosyesil said: "Catto has turned into a doggo." Josephbassemyoussef added: "She looks happier with the dog software." Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@ with some details about your best friend and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.
Memri
26-06-2025
- Politics
- Memri
Lebanese TV Host Walid Abboud Tells Hizbullah to Leave Lebanon and Take Their Weapons with Them: Iran Will Not Reject You After All the Love You Showed Them; Go Away, We Want to Live in Peace
On June 16, 2025, Lebanese TV host Walid Abboud, on Hala Al-Arabiya (Lebanon), addressed Hizbullah and Iranian regime supporters in Lebanon, telling them to leave Lebanon. He said that they should take their weapons, drones, rockets, flags, and allegiance to the Supreme Leader and the 'Resistance Axis' with them. He said that their 'Great Iran' has planted a nuclear bomb in the midst of Lebanon, while its people are consumed by wars and killed by hunger. He accused Hizbullah of planting weapons and drones throughout Lebanon under the guise of saving the country, saying that in reality, it is finishing it off. He told them to stop hijacking the Lebanese people and killing their children, adding that Lebanese people no longer consider them a resistance movement: 'You are not our destiny, and we will not be held hostage by your delusions.' He asked: 'Who told you that loyalty to Iran is tantamount to patriotism?' He urged them to go away and settle in those faraway lands. He said that Iran will not reject them, after 'all the love' they have shown it. 'Go away, we want to live in peace.' Abboud, who also hosts a program on Lebanese state television, sparked significant backlash with his remarks, including public calls for his dismissal.
CNN
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CNN
The ‘destiny' hidden in Pope Francis' soccer club card
Pope Francis never returned to his native Argentina after he became head of the Roman Catholic Church. But some of the faithful here believe he sent a final message home, in the unlikeliest but perhaps most appropriate of ways. Francis was a lifelong soccer fan — and occasional youth goalkeeper — and a card-carrying member of his favorite club, San Lorenzo. And it's the number on that card that's become the talk of Buenos Aires. 'It has to be destiny,' said Ramiro Rodríguez, who arrived wearing a rosary over his team shirt at a small chapel that's the spiritual birthplace of the club, for a Mass to celebrate the life of Francis. The number that's causing the stir is assigned to 'regular member' Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the Pope's birth name: 88235. And as person after person has pointed out, Francis was 88 when he died, at 2:35 a.m. Argentina time on Easter Monday. For Rodríguez, it was another otherworldly, even divine, connection. 'I went to the Vatican in 2019 and I wore my San Lorenzo (jersey), of course,' Rodríguez, 23, said. 'I didn't see him, but I knew he was there with all his energy and healing the world and that's very significant to me.' In a preface the late Pope contributed for an upcoming book by Cardinal Angelo Scola, he left an eloquent message about ageing and dying. 'Death is not the end of everything, but the beginning of something,' he wrote. Talking to those who knew him well, it seems likely he would also have appreciated the warmth and good nature of the desire to see a meaning in his soccer club membership number. Omar Abboud knew how quick-witted his friend he still knew as Jorge was and how much he enjoyed a joke, but never at anyone else's expense. 'He has a different kind of humor,' Abboud said of the Pope, 'a kind of joke that was with the people, not over the people. He has an intelligent, smart humor.' Abboud, a prominent Muslim leader in Argentina, formed The Institute of Interreligious Dialogue with then-Cardinal Bergoglio and Rabbi Daniel Goldman in 2002. They visited each other's communities and regularly held meetings and public exchanges to break down barriers between faith groups. Abboud said he last visited the Pope in January, when the two spoke of artificial intelligence and how it could be regulated. He said he learned much from his friend Jorge and their discussions about literature and sacred texts. And he's just beginning to talk about him in the past tense. 'He used to be a good friend, we need him. Really, words are not enough,' he said, his voice trailing off. Francis is on the minds of everyone we meet — from his friends to people who admired him from afar, to those to whom he had ministered. Flowers and messages are left in tribute at his childhood home, a square where he once played kickabout with other kids, and the church where he heard the call from God to join the priesthood. That church, the Basílica de San José de Flores, has an engraving marking the date when Francis received his vocation, while in the confessional — September 21, 1953. So many candles have been burned to honor Francis that the steps of the Metropolitan Cathedral are covered with wax. Seven days of official mourning were declared to honor Francis in Argentina, but they won't all be filled with sadness. The Mass held at San Lorenzo's chapel ended more as a pep rally and there will be another crowd for the soccer team's next match on Saturday, a few hours after Francis is laid to rest in Rome. The team will wear commemorative jerseys to honor the late pontiff, and there is talk a new stadium will bear the name 'Papa Francisco.' In a sign of his humility, Francis once wrote he didn't much like that idea. A Swiss Guardsman used to keep Francis updated on match scores and San Lorenzo's progress by leaving notes on his desk; the Pope has said he had not watched television — barring seismic events like 9/11 — since 1990. Francis said his love for sport was not only for the competition — and San Lorenzo is only one of several teams in soccer-mad Buenos Aires, the capital of soccer-mad Argentina, whose men are the current World Cup champions — but for the participation. He believed sports, especially team games, get young people away from their screens and shuttered virtual lives and teach them to be out in the world. The club may have lost Regular Member 88235 but Buenos Aires will remember him. A homemade flag at the cathedral linked Francis and San Lorenzo with a simple phrase that seems to apply to Buenos Aires today: 'Mis Dos Amores,' my two loves. Francis reciprocated that love, writing in his book 'Hope:' 'My homeland, for which I continue to feel just the same great, profound love. The people for whom I pray every day, who formed me, who trained and then offered me to others. My people.' In Flores, the working-class neighborhood where Francis lived and worked, a woman left a note outside his childhood home. It read: 'You were one of us — an Argentine — and a gift to the world.'
CNN
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CNN
The ‘destiny' hidden in Pope Francis' soccer club card
Pope Francis never returned to his native Argentina after he became head of the Roman Catholic Church. But some of the faithful here believe he sent a final message home, in the unlikeliest but perhaps most appropriate of ways. Francis was a lifelong soccer fan — and occasional youth goalkeeper — and a card-carrying member of his favorite club, San Lorenzo. And it's the number on that card that's become the talk of Buenos Aires. 'It has to be destiny,' said Ramiro Rodríguez, who arrived wearing a rosary over his team shirt at a small chapel that's the spiritual birthplace of the club, for a Mass to celebrate the life of Francis. The number that's causing the stir is assigned to 'regular member' Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the Pope's birth name: 88235. And as person after person has pointed out, Francis was 88 when he died, at 2:35 a.m. Argentina time on Easter Monday. For Rodríguez, it was another otherworldly, even divine, connection. 'I went to the Vatican in 2019 and I wore my San Lorenzo (jersey), of course,' Rodríguez, 23, said. 'I didn't see him, but I knew he was there with all his energy and healing the world and that's very significant to me.' In a preface the late Pope contributed for an upcoming book by Cardinal Angelo Scola, he left an eloquent message about ageing and dying. 'Death is not the end of everything, but the beginning of something,' he wrote. Talking to those who knew him well, it seems likely he would also have appreciated the warmth and good nature of the desire to see a meaning in his soccer club membership number. Omar Abboud knew how quick-witted his friend he still knew as Jorge was and how much he enjoyed a joke, but never at anyone else's expense. 'He has a different kind of humor,' Abboud said of the Pope, 'a kind of joke that was with the people, not over the people. He has an intelligent, smart humor.' Abboud, a prominent Muslim leader in Argentina, formed The Institute of Interreligious Dialogue with then-Cardinal Bergoglio and Rabbi Daniel Goldman in 2002. They visited each other's communities and regularly held meetings and public exchanges to break down barriers between faith groups. Abboud said he last visited the Pope in January, when the two spoke of artificial intelligence and how it could be regulated. He said he learned much from his friend Jorge and their discussions about literature and sacred texts. And he's just beginning to talk about him in the past tense. 'He used to be a good friend, we need him. Really, words are not enough,' he said, his voice trailing off. Francis is on the minds of everyone we meet — from his friends to people who admired him from afar, to those to whom he had ministered. Flowers and messages are left in tribute at his childhood home, a square where he once played kickabout with other kids, and the church where he heard the call from God to join the priesthood. That church, the Basílica de San José de Flores, has an engraving marking the date when Francis received his vocation, while in the confessional — September 21, 1953. So many candles have been burned to honor Francis that the steps of the Metropolitan Cathedral are covered with wax. Seven days of official mourning were declared to honor Francis in Argentina, but they won't all be filled with sadness. The Mass held at San Lorenzo's chapel ended more as a pep rally and there will be another crowd for the soccer team's next match on Saturday, a few hours after Francis is laid to rest in Rome. The team will wear commemorative jerseys to honor the late pontiff, and there is talk a new stadium will bear the name 'Papa Francisco.' In a sign of his humility, Francis once wrote he didn't much like that idea. A Swiss Guardsman used to keep Francis updated on match scores and San Lorenzo's progress by leaving notes on his desk; the Pope has said he had not watched television — barring seismic events like 9/11 — since 1990. Francis said his love for sport was not only for the competition — and San Lorenzo is only one of several teams in soccer-mad Buenos Aires, the capital of soccer-mad Argentina, whose men are the current World Cup champions — but for the participation. He believed sports, especially team games, get young people away from their screens and shuttered virtual lives and teach them to be out in the world. The club may have lost Regular Member 88235 but Buenos Aires will remember him. A homemade flag at the cathedral linked Francis and San Lorenzo with a simple phrase that seems to apply to Buenos Aires today: 'Mis Dos Amores,' my two loves. Francis reciprocated that love, writing in his book 'Hope:' 'My homeland, for which I continue to feel just the same great, profound love. The people for whom I pray every day, who formed me, who trained and then offered me to others. My people.' In Flores, the working-class neighborhood where Francis lived and worked, a woman left a note outside his childhood home. It read: 'You were one of us — an Argentine — and a gift to the world.'
Asharq Al-Awsat
17-04-2025
- Politics
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Lebanon Begins Clearing Beirut, Airport Road of Political Banners
Lebanese authorities have launched a sweeping campaign to remove political party flags, posters, and slogans from Beirut's streets and the main road to Rafic Hariri International Airport, in a move aimed at restoring the capital's image and promoting tourism. The cleanup, which began early Wednesday, was ordered by Interior Minister Ahmad al-Hajjar and Beirut Governor Marwan Abboud, with municipal crews and Internal Security Forces overseeing its execution. The initiative is part of a broader government plan to improve public spaces and reflect state authority, especially in areas highly visible to visitors. 'This is about presenting a unified, civil image of Lebanon,' al-Hajjar told Asharq Al-Awsat, emphasizing that the effort aligns with the government's commitment to assert state sovereignty and support economic recovery. 'The President pledged to restore the state's authority, and that includes enhancing the appearance and functionality of our cities,' he added. Starting from central Beirut and stretching along the airport highway, the operation targets all political symbols — including those of powerful groups like Hezbollah and the Amal Movement — as well as commercial billboards installed on public property. Abboud confirmed that all major parties were informed of the decision and responded cooperatively. 'There's consensus that the capital and airport road should reflect the Lebanese state — not individual factions,' he said, adding that the airport zone must be safe and firmly under state control. The campaign is also part of preparations for the upcoming summer tourism season, with expectations of increased arrivals from Arab countries, expatriates, and international visitors. Authorities have prioritized street lighting and infrastructure upgrades as part of the broader revitalization. 'In just a few months, we've gone from pleading for diesel to keep the airport running, to relighting the entire route from the city center to the terminal,' said Abboud. 'We want Beirut to look like a city of joy and openness.' Party-related imagery placed on public property along Beirut's roads has long caused tension, often dividing neighborhoods along political lines. Security officials say the removal effort has proceeded smoothly and without resistance, marking a rare show of unity in a politically fractured country. 'The state respects everyone's right to political activity,' a security source said. 'But that no longer includes turning public space into partisan territory.'
