By MAURO MEDEL LLANOS DE CHALLE NATIONAL PARK, Chile (AP) — A rare bloom in Chile’s Atacama Desert has briefly transformed one of the world’s driest places into a dazzling carpet of fuchsia-colored wildflowers. The arid region — considered the driest nonpolar desert…
PARMA HEIGHTS, Ohio (AP) — Police in northeast Ohio went in pursuit of a runaway inflatable pumpkin after receiving calls of a large, orange inflatable object on the run. Body camera footage from the Parma Heights Police Department shows the…
By MARIA SHERMAN NEW YORK (AP) — Don’t speak — scream, because No Doubt has announced the band’s first run of shows in 14 years. After surprising fans with a brief reunion at the 2024 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, the ska-punks have set their…
By JEFFREY COLLINS BISHOPVILLE, S.C. (AP) — When J.D. Stevens flips on the lights in the shed by his South Carolina home, he feels the presence of his dad, who died nearly a decade ago. He also sees hundreds of thousands of…
By THALIA BEATY The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation announced its 2025 class of fellows on Wednesday, a prize often called the “genius award.” The MacArthur fellows receive a $800,000 prize paid out over five years that they can spend…
By JULIE WALKER and JOHN RABY Francine the calico cat is back home at a Lowe’s store in Virginia after going missing for a few weeks, hitching a ride on a truck that turned up at a sister facility in another state. Two…
By KOSTYA MANENKOV, SETH BORENSTEIN and MIKE CORDER STOCKHOLM (AP) — Three scientists at American universities won the Nobel Prize in physics Tuesday for research on subatomic quantum tunneling that lays the groundwork for better cellphones and faster computers and makes possible the kind of ultra-sensitive…
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Thirty paintings created by the bushy-haired, soft-spoken Bob Ross will soon be up for auction to defray the costs of programming for small and rural public television stations suffering under cuts in federal funding. Ross, a public…
By ADITHI RAMAKRISHNAN and SHELBY LUM WAPPINGERS FALLS, N.Y. (AP) — The pumpkin in Tony Scott’s backyard weighs almost as much as a small car. He’s been tending to it for months, feeding it fertilizer and covering it with a blanket at night to keep it at…
CLEVELAND (AP) — A critically endangered rhino made its public debut Friday at a Cleveland zoo, dashing about its enclosure and giving a boost to the endangered species. The 120-pound (55-kilogram) eastern black rhino was born earlier this month to…
NEW YORK (AP) — A monthslong calm on Wall Street shattered Friday, and U.S. stocks tumbled after President Donald Trump threatened to crank tariffs much higher on China. The S&P 500 sank 2.7% in its worst day since April. The Dow Jones…
By MARY CLARE JALONICK WASHINGTON (AP) — More than two decades later, Congress is on the verge of writing a closing chapter to the war in Iraq. The Senate voted Thursday to repeal the resolution that authorized the 2003 U.S. invasion, following…
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK (AP) — New York Attorney General Letitia James, a longtime political foe of President Donald Trump, was indicted by a federal grand jury Thursday on mortgage fraud charges. It’s a case she says is bogus, cooked up…
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A juvenile male was arrested Friday for his part in a shooting that killed two people and injured 12 others in a crowded downtown nightlife district in Alabama’s capital city this past weekend, police said. Montgomery police announced that the…
By KOSTYA MANENKOV, REGINA GARCIA CANO and GEIR MOULSON OSLO, Norway (AP) — Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for her struggle to achieve a democratic transition in the South American nation, winning recognition as a woman “who keeps…
By STEPHEN WHYNO The NFL has initiated a review of the concussion protocol used in the evaluation of New York Giants rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart in the second half of the team’s game against Philadelphia. The league announced Friday the review will…
By ABDEL KAREEM HANA, WAFAA SHURAFA and MELANIE LIDMAN WADI GAZA, Gaza Strip (AP) — Tens of thousands of Palestinians headed back to the heavily destroyed northern Gaza Strip on Friday as a U.S.-brokered ceasefire came into effect in a deal that raised hopes for ending the Israel-Hamas…
By SEUNG MIN KIM and STEPHEN GROVES WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House budget office said Friday that mass firings of federal workers have started in an attempt to exert more pressure on Democratic lawmakers in the ongoing government shutdown. Russ Vought, the director…
By TRAVIS LOLLER Associated Press An explosion at a Tennessee military munitions plant has left 19 people missing and feared dead, authorities say. The blast occurred Friday at Accurate Energetic Systems, about 60 miles southwest of Nashville. The cause of…
By SOPHIA TAREEN and HALLIE GOLDEN CHICAGO (AP) — An Indiana man convicted in the 2001 rape and murder of a teenage girl was executed by injection early Friday in the state’s third execution since resuming capital punishment last year. Roy Lee Ward, 53, was put to…
By ANDREW SELIGMAN and TIM REYNOLDS CHICAGO (AP) — Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, the chaplain for the men’s basketball team at Loyola Chicago who became a beloved international celebrity during the school’s fairy-tale run to the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament in…
By GARY FIELDS WASHINGTON (AP) — More than half the states contributing National Guard troops to President Donald Trump’s federal law enforcement initiative in Washington have set target dates for their withdrawal later this fall, state officials told The Associated Press. The dates, in late…
By STAN CHOE NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street took a pause on Thursday as U.S. stocks and even the price of gold pulled back from record highs following torrid runs. The S&P 500 slipped 0.3% from its latest all-time high for just its second…
By ALEX VEIGA The average rate on a 30-year U.S. mortgage edged lower this week, returning to its lowest level in about a year. The average long-term mortgage rate slipped to 6.3% from 6.34% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said…