- Everything old is new again. Renée Zellweger stars in “Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy,” and it’s a tearjerker totally worth watching
When we last caught up with Bridget Jones in 2016’s Bridget Jones’s Baby, she wound up marrying her longtime love Mark Darcy (Colin Firth) after it turned out he was indeed the father of her son William. In the fourth book and new movie Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, everything in Bridget’s life has indeed fallen to pieces.We find her reeling from the tragic death of her husband, Mark Darcy, who died four years earlier during a humanitarian trip to Sudan. She is struggling with her grief and life as a single mom to their two kids, Billy, 9, and Mabel, 4. Her house is a mess, her hair is a mess, she’s a mess — similar to the original film, albeit much sadder. However, with the encouragement of her friends Bridget decides to lean into life again. Similarly to the first film, you truly root for her to succeed.
- Trump’s spending cuts target ‘probationary workers.’ What does the status mean?
A probationary employee is a newly hired worker who is put on a “probationary” period — typically for one or two years, though it can be longer at some agencies — before they may be hired into full-time
status. It’s like a trial period during which the worker and their performance is under heightened scrutiny until they become a permanent employee. Recently hired federal employees who are still on probationary status are some of the first positions on the chopping block. The probationary firings have hit several agencies, including Veterans Affairs, the Department of Energy, the Small Business Administration and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). The cuts are part of a Trump administration plan to slash government spending, overseen by DOGE, the governmental efficiency unit headed by Elon Musk. Compensation for federal employees comprised about 3% of the 2024 fiscal year federal budget, according to government data. - ‘Postural hypotension,’ it’s a fancy way of saying, to avoid falling on your butt don’t get up too fast when you stand up
As you go from lying down or sitting to standing, your blood pressure drops, and it can take a second or so for the blood to flow up to your brain. But if your blood pressure drops more than normal — by 20 mmHg or more for the top number of a blood pressure reading, or by 10 mmHg or more for the bottom number — it can take longer for the blood to travel to your brain, and you may feel light-headed. This is called postural hypotension, and it’s something your doctor can test you for in the office. Medications that affect your blood pressure can cause postural hypotension; so can dehydration, diabetes and Parkinson’s disease, among other factors. Many other factors can cause falls as you grow older.
- Ah choo to flu. FDA Approves New At-Home Flu Vaccine — No Needles Needed
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved a nasal spray flu vaccine, called FluMist, for people ages 2 to 49 that can be ordered from an online pharmacy and administered at home. Doctors and public health experts are hopeful the at-home option, which should be available for the 2025–26 flu season, will help boost declining vaccination rates and protect more Americans from the common but sometimes deadly illness. Less than half of U.S. adults (45 percent) got a flu shot last year, and only 38 percent plan to get a flu vaccine this year, a new report from the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases finds.
- What is President’s Day? Upcoming holiday started with Washington, now for all presidents
The holiday was originally intended to celebrate George Washington, the first president, but it has come to encompass the 45 men who have held the office since. President’s Day’s status as a federal holiday means some governmental entities and businesses will be closed in observance. Some Federal workers are scheduled to have the day off. Banks are set to close along with the Nasdaq, New York Stock Exchange and U.S. bond markets. President Rutherford B. Hayes formalized the holiday in 1879, according to History.com. The holiday’s proximity to the birthday of President Abraham Lincoln on Feb. 12 caused the general public to link the two and later expand the celebration to all presidents. The holiday is celebrated annually on the third Monday of February due to the Uniform Holiday Act. The act mandates that President’s Day, Memorial Day and Veterans Day occur on Mondays to avoid mid-week shutdowns. The bill was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968 and took effect in 1971.
- The president has been busy! How do his executive actions affect affect the government… and possibly your job
President Trump has signed more than 75 executive orders, memos and proclamations during his first few weeks in office at a pace that surpasses his most recent predecessors’. The executive actions reflect much of Trump’s rhetoric on the campaign trail: reducing diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives; cracking down on immigration; and formalizing “America First” foreign policy. Many have already had far-reaching impacts,triggering a rapid shakeup of the federal bureaucracy. Axios has identified and grouped the executive actions to illuminate how the Trump administration is carrying out its agenda, though his actions have raised constitutional questions about the reach of his authority that courts will now weigh in on.
- The shortage is real. Costco and Trader Joe’s are limiting how many eggs people can buy
Other grocery stores are following suit. Kroger confirmed to CNN that while no national limit is in place for its stores, some of its locations “are choosing to do so based on availability” — allowing purchases of only two dozen eggs per customer, per trip, a spokesperson said. Videos on social media platforms like TikTok and X show people stocking up on huge amounts of eggs and showing signs at stores about limits. Costco also confirmed that it was limiting customers to three packages of eggs, typically sold in two-dozen or four-dozen cartons. Egg prices have soared recently because of the avian influenza, which is responsible for the deaths of more than 40 million egg-laying birds last year. Due to the short supply, egg prices rose 14% from November to December alone — and they are projected to rise another 20% this year, according to the US Department of Agriculture.
- Understanding blood pressure. Particularly important for older adults
Stunning as it may sound, nearly half of Americans ages 20 years and up – or more than 122 million people – have high blood pressure, according to a 2023 report from the American Heart Association. And even if your numbers are normal right now, they are likely to increase as you age; more than three-quarters of Americans age 65 and older have high blood pressure. Also known as hypertension, high blood pressure is a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke. Our research has found that most Americans don’t know the normal or healthy range for blood pressure – yet strikingly, they think they do. And that is cause for serious concern. [Read article]
- The wealth of the world’s billionaires grew by $5.7 billion a day while 44% of the world’s population lives in poverty on $6.85 a day
The wealth of the world’s billionaires grew by two trillion in 2024, three times faster than in 2023. The latest inequality report reveals that the world is now on track to have five trillionaires within a decade! The report, titled Takers Not Makers, comes as many of the world’s political leaders, corporate executives and the super-rich travel to the Swiss ski resort of Davos for the annual World Economic Forum meeting from Monday. Oxfam’s examination of billionaire assets also coincides with Donald Trump’s inauguration as US president. Trump is expected to include several billionaires in his team of close advisers, including the Tesla and SpaceX chief executive, Elon Musk, and to offer large-scale tax breaks to the wealthiest US citizens. At the same time, the number of people living under the World Bank poverty line of $6.85 a day has barely changed since 1990, and is close to 3.6 billion – equivalent to 44% of the world’s population today, the charity said. One in 10 women live in extreme poverty (below $2.15 a day), which means 24.3 million more women than men endure extreme poverty.
- Get used to it: your brick and mortar bank is soon to be extinct. Technology continues to reshape the banking industry
From credit cards to NFC readers and AI banking solutions, financial technology has rapidly transformed banking in the last few decades. Big data analytics has been the major innovation affecting us today, allowing providers to gather more customer insights and optimize their operations like never before. New and existing technologies based on big data will continue to redefine the way we manage and trade our money in 2025—let’s break down some of the key trends to watch. [7 trends]
- Do you know anybody who doesn’t have an achy back!? These exercises might help
When you spend a ton of time sitting—especially if you’re hunched over a screen—your head, neck, and shoulders tend to pull forward, leading to that rounded improper posture that can cause uncomfortable tightness. The muscles associated with good posture are the ones that retract the shoulder blades, depress the shoulder blades, and put the shoulder blades in a good position in order to help keep you upright. Working these muscles, as well as other muscles in the back of your body, like your latissimus dorsi (the large, triangular muscles that span the width of your lower back), help counteract that forward slouch and work to build muscles. This workout will give you a complete back-of-the-body burn in just over 20 minutes. [See the workout]
- La Niña has arrived. And brought the snow. Here’s what the country can expect for the winter months
The forecast is not too bad. The climate pattern — which typically has an outsized influence on winter weather in the US — is rather weak and may not stick around for long. But that won’t totally eliminate its effect. And, despite its late arrival, it’s already played a clear role in this winter’s weather. California is the most obvious example. Northern California has had plenty of rain while Southern California is so tinder-dry that thousands of acres ignited this week. La Niña also typically delivers more precipitation to the Midwest, having one of the wettest starts to winter to date. Periods of brutally cold Arctic air have dominated the eastern two-thirds of the country since December and winter storms have delivered disruptive weather on a weekly basis since the year began.
- Tax deadline 2024: When is the last day you can file taxes in 2025?
Taxes for 2024 are due for most of us by April 15, which falls on a Tuesday this year. If you don’t expect to file by then, you can request a six-month extension. When do I get my refund? If you filed electronically and chose to receive your refund by direct deposit, your refund will probably be issued within 21 days, the IRS says. If you mailed a paper return, the wait could be four weeks or longer. What happens if I miss the tax deadline? If you fail to file your federal tax return on time, the standard penalty is a whopping 5% of any tax due for every month the return is late, up to 25% of the unpaid balance. If you file a return but fail to pay any taxes you owe, or if you get an extension, you typically face a much smaller monthly penalty of 0.5% of any unpaid amount.
A newspaper by and for seniors, Senior News Daily scours the internet each morning for news of interest to active men and women of retirement age. Coverage includes financial and health news, politics, retirement strategies and assisted living news and helpful blogs about aging.
Senior News Daily is written by and for active seniors. We believe seniors have a sense of humor and can laugh at themselves. We know our readers are intelligent, influential, have active lives and get their news from a variety of national sources, both left and right of the political center. We don’t simply duplicate what they report. Each day we scour the internet for articles that interest and benefit seniors. We publish health and financial news for seniors, breaking political news, and retirement and community news of value to seniors. Humorous or serious, they advocate for our generation of AARP members. In addition to news by and for seniors, Senior News Daily publishes a Blog featuring posts from our editors and the opinions of our contemporaries. Occasionally there are reviews of products and services we test and endorse.