By FERNANDA PESCE MEXICO CITY (AP) — As World Cup fever sweeps Mexico City, one of the tournament’s biggest fan favorites isn’t a player, coach or official mascot. Joining Merlin the duck in the pantheon of heart-stealers is Osito, an 8-year-old rescue poodle…
By JEZ FIELDER BOURG-SAINT-PIERRE, Switzerland (AP) — At the Great St. Bernard Pass high in the Swiss Alps, the eponymous dogs still walk the same mountain paths their ancestors patrolled for hundreds of years to find travelers buried beneath the snow. Down…
By J.M. HIRSCH BOSTON (AP) — Which wine pairs well with Shark Week? Does a pinot noir have enough acidity to cut through the grime of a Tough Mudder race? Is a big, brassy cabernet bold enough of a quaff for…
By VANESSA GERA WARSAW, Poland (AP) — When Ewa Lutka-Krawczyk was diagnosed with gallbladder cancer, her first thought was for Gaja, a shelter dog she took in three years ago. She asked her doctor to assure her she would live a…
By NICOLE WINFIELD VATICAN CITY (AP) — One of the most intricately decorated parts of the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace, a passageway walked by popes and presidents and attributed to Renaissance master Raphael, is getting its first major face-lift in over 500…
By GRAHAM DUNBAR LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — The IOC set a target of 2029 on Wednesday to pick a 2036 Olympics host in a currently stalled contest that has long been targeted by India and Qatar. The timetable agreed at a meeting of the…
By JAKE COYLE NEW YORK (AP) — The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Wednesday invited 529 members to the Oscar voting body, a new class that brings the group’s membership to nearly double what it was a decade ago.…
By BARBARA ORTUTAY Apple on Thursday announced an increase in prices for Macs and iPads, citing a memory chip shortage brought on by the artificial intelligence boom. The Cupertino, California-based company called the demand spike an “unprecedented challenge” for the consumer electronics industry. “The…
By MARCIA DUNN Astronomers have uncovered a pair of giant planets that are lighter than cotton candy — super-puffs the size of Jupiter. The featherweight pair — orbiting a star 1,110 light-years away — are the biggest exoplanets found to have less density than cotton…
By MIKE KOSHMRL/WyoFile Every now and then, a hiker, climber or biologist lays eyes on a mountain goat in the nooks and crannies of the mighty Teton Range. There’s a good likelihood that the unwanted, nonnative animal doesn’t survive long after the authorities pinpoint its…
By ROD MCGUIRK MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Joseph McGrail-Bateup, an Australian professional air conditioner cleaner and honorary town crier, has been recognized as the world’s loudest person. Guinness World Records last week acknowledged the 58-year-old Canberra resident recorded the loudest ever shout…
By STAN CHOE NEW YORK (AP) — Most of the U.S. stock market rose Friday after oil prices eased back to where they were before the war with Iran, but drops for stocks swept up in the mania around artificial-intelligence technology kept the market in check.…
By PAUL WISEMAN WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy expanded at a solid and unexpected 2.1% annual pace from January through March, the Commerce Department reported Thursday in its final estimate of first-quarter growth. The growth in gross domestic product —…
By ANDREW DALTON LOS ANGELES (AP) — An appeals court on Friday upheld Harvey Weinstein’s 2022 rape and sexual assault conviction in California, but ordered his trial judge to resentence him. A three-judge panel from the California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal unanimously…
By ADITHI RAMAKRISHNAN NEW YORK (AP) — Humans and great apes have been giggling in similar ways since branching off the evolutionary tree, a new study suggests. How do we know this? Researchers tickled 13 captive apes — including gorillas, orangutans, chimpanzees and bonobos —…
By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN WASHINGTON (AP) — The District of Columbia has reached a settlement agreement for an undisclosed amount of money with a resident who claims police illegally detained him for following an Ohio National Guard patrol while playing Darth Vader’s theme song…
By JOHN HANNA Gracie the Giraffe, who went missing for about two weeks in Texas after wandering off a remote private ranch, was finally found Friday — and the open range appeared to have agreed with her. The giraffe was spotted about 4…
By MATTHEW BROWN The Utah judge in the murder case over Charlie Kirk’s killing held prosecutors in contempt of court on Friday over comments they made to media organizations about defendant Tyler Robinson’s guilt. Judge Tony Graf said the comments violated his restrictions…
Texas public schools will require students to read Bible stories under a reading list approved by the state’s education board. The required reading list approved Friday by the Texas State Board of Education widens conservative efforts to bring more Christian…
By BEN FINLEY and MELANIE LIDMAN WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Marco Rubio along with Israel and Lebanon’s ambassadors announced a framework agreement Friday that was described as a first step toward peace following months of conflict between Israel and the Lebanese…
By COLLIN BINKLEY WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday threatened a 100% tax on imports from any country that imposes a tax on digital services from United States companies. In a post on social media, Trump took aim at…
By JUAN PABLO ARRAEZ, MEGAN JANETSKY and REGINA GARCIA CANO LA GUAIRA, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelans took the search for missing loved ones into their own hands Friday in the aftermath of back-to-back earthquakes, saying they have not seen state rescue teams despite authorities projecting…
By HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH A federal judge has blocked part of a Trump administration plan that would have limited access to loans for students pursuing graduate degrees in nursing, physical therapy, public health and some other fields. The American Association of Nurse…
By ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE NEW YORK (AP) — New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani barreled into City Hall vowing to tackle the city’s notoriously high cost of living, partly by fulfilling a campaign promise repeated with almost monomaniacal zeal in social media ads,…