Tuesday, 19 April 2022

Masks are no longer required on planes and trains, plus a new social media trend: pet cloning. Here's the latest.

April 19, 2022 | VIEW IN BROWSER

Your day starts here. The latest in news, pop culture, wellness and more.

Masks are no longer mandatory on planes and trains after a ruling by a federal judge, and the big brother of an 8-year-old Boston Marathon bombing victim ran the race in the boy's honor. Plus, a new frontier in "doing it for the gram": Cloning your dog.

THE LATEST

😷 Masks are no longer required on planes and trains after federal judge rules the CDC's mandate to be 'unlawful.'

Travelers are no longer required to wear a mask on planes, trains and other public transportation after a federal judge in Florida struck down the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's travel mask mandate on Monday. The judge said the CDC overstepped its authority by imposing the mandate last year. Several airlines, including United, Delta, American and Alaska, issued statements saying masks are now optional. But other agencies, like Massachusetts' MBTA, are telling riders to keep masks on.

One of José Andrés' World Central Kitchen sites in Ukraine was destroyed by a Russian missile.

A World Central Kitchen restaurant in Kharkiv named Yaposhka was destroyed and four staff members were wounded when it was struck by a Russian missile on Sunday, according to the organization's CEO. The four staffers are recovering in the hospital, but they vowed to continue cooking. CEO Nate Mook showed images of the destruction on Twitter, and said the nonprofit plans to keep operating at another location in the city.

🐕 Social media influencers are cloning their pets after they die.

Death doesn't need to be the end for the beloved cats and dogs of Instagram. Social media influencers are spending anywhere from $30,000 to $85,000 to have a Texas-based company make clones of their dead cats, dogs or horses. The process, which is similar to in-vitro fertilization, has produced more than 1,000 cloned animals since 2015 — and about the same number of arguments over whether it's ethical. "I don't believe cloning should become a trend. I hope it doesn't," one influencer who had her pet cloned told us.

🧠 Grab the dark chocolate: These 5 superfoods will give your brain a nice boost.

Simply adding these 5 foods to your diet can boost energy, memory levels and sleep in only three weeks, an expert told us. They also pack a dense amount of nutrients in each serving, allowing you to get big benefits with only a small snack. Some of the brain-boosting nutrients you may not have heard of (choline? milk thistle?), but you can find them in these everyday foods. And, most importantly for us, there's chocolate involved.

Soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo shares the heartbreaking news that one of his newborn twins has died.

Ronaldo and partner Georgina Rodriguez wrote in an emotional Instagram post that their baby boy died of undisclosed causes. Ronaldo, who announced in October that the couple was expecting boy-girl twins, wrote that the loss "is the greatest pain that any parents can feel. Only the birth of our baby girl gives us the strength to live this moment with some hope and happiness."

WHAT'S FOR DINNER?

Allow us to do the meal-planning for you.

As warmer weather arrives, it's a good time to have a few easy salad recipes in your weekday arsenal. This green goddess salad with vegan pesto dressing by Melissa Ben-Ishay takes just five minutes to make, and we think it will knock you off your feet. Plus, there's no need to run out to the store — just improvise with any veggies and nuts you have on hand.

DAILY DELIGHT

A little pick-me-up before you go.

Nine years after his little brother became the youngest victim of the Boston Marathon bombing, Henry Richard, 20, ran the iconic 26.2-mile race for the first time on Monday. Martin Richard was just 8 years old when he was killed in the 2013 attack, but his brother has made sure Martin's memory lives on. "So much emotion. I know Martin would have been doing it with me ... I did it for both of us," Henry told NBC's Boston affiliate.