Associated Press stories, Page 270

If you’re looking for a houseplant that’s as unique as it is low-maintenance, let me introduce you to air plants, members of the Tillandsia genus in the Bromeliad family. I first became acquainted with Tillandsia circa 2007, when I was invited to tour the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival at...

NEW YORK — Oprah Winfrey is beginning 2025 with an old favorite. She has selected Eckhart Tolle’s “A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life Purpose” for her book club, marking the first time she has chosen a publication twice. Winfrey, who launched her club in 1996, also picked “A New...

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — More than 5,600 people were reported killed in Haiti last year as a U.N.-backed mission led by Kenya struggles to contain rampant gang violence, officials said Tuesday. The number of killings increased by more than 20% compared with all of 2023, according to the U.N. Human Rights...

WASHINGTON — U.S. job openings rose unexpectedly in November, showing companies are still looking for workers even as the labor market has cooled overall. Openings rose to 8.1 million in November from 7.8 million in October, the Labor Department reported Tuesday. They were down from 8.9 million a year earlier...

DENVER — It’s not about the money until it is. The final weekend of the NFL regular season brought the usual intrigue over which teams would clinch the final playoff spots — the Buccaneers and Broncos — and who would get the No. 1 overall draft pick — the Titans...

The overlap of the NFL playoffs and coaching search season will have many of the league’s top assistants pulling double duty this month. While 14 teams are deep into playoff preparations with hopes of winning a Super Bowl, there are five teams that had disappointing campaigns that have led to...

MELBOURNE, Australia — Get ready for the Australian Open before play begins with a guide that tells you everything you need to know about how to watch the year’s first Grand Slam tennis tournament, what the betting odds are, what the schedule is, who the defending champions are and more:...

BANGKOK — U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision to reject a bid by Nippon Steel to acquire U.S. Steel on national security grounds isn’t the first time friction over trade and investment has irked Washington’s closest ally in Asia. There have been plenty of scraps over trade in the past few...

The eldest son of President-elect Donald Trump arrived in Greenland on Tuesday for a private visit that heightened speculation that the incoming U.S. administration could seek to take control of the mineral-rich Danish territory. The Danish state broadcaster reported that Donald Trump Jr.’s plane landed in Nuuk, capital of the...

Bending to the political headwinds of the incoming Trump administration, Facebook and Instagram owner Meta is scrapping its third-party fact-checking program and replacing it with “community notes” written by users similar to the model used by Elon Musk’s social platform X. Announcing the policy shift Tuesday, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said...

Two bodies were found in the landing gear compartment of a JetBlue aircraft at a South Florida airport, the latest security breach involving the nation’s aviation system, authorities said. The bodies were discovered in the wheel well area during a routine post-flight inspection on Monday night at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International...

WASHINGTON — Vowing to stop machines from taking their jobs, 45,000 U.S. longshoremen are threatening to go on a strike that would shut down ports on the East and Gulf coasts and could damage the American economy just as President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House. If the standoff...

BEIJING — A strong earthquake shook a high-altitude region of western China and areas of Nepal on Tuesday, damaging hundreds of houses, littering streets with rubble and killing at least 126 people in Tibet. Many others were trapped as dozens of aftershocks shook the remote region. Rescue workers climbed mounds...

Frigid air that normally stays trapped in the Arctic has escaped, plunging deep into the United States for an extended visit that is expected to provoke teeth-chattering but not be record-shattering. It’s a cold air outbreak that some experts say is happening more frequently, and paradoxically, because of a warming...

PARIS — Jean-Marie Le Pen, the founder of France’s far-right National Front who was known for fiery rhetoric against immigration and multiculturalism that earned him both staunch supporters and widespread condemnation, has died. He was 96. Jordan Bardella, president of the National Rally as the party is now known, confirmed...

NEW YORK — Visual content companies Shutterstock and Getty Images will join to become a $3.7 billion visual content company. The companies said Tuesday that they have complementary portfolios and that a merger will provide customers with a broader array still imagery, video, music, 3D and other media. “With the...

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon said Monday it had transferred 11 Yemeni men to Oman this week after holding them for more than two decades without charge at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The transfer was the latest and biggest push by the Biden administration in its final...

NEW ORLEANS — President Joe Biden told mourners in New Orleans on Monday that they are not alone as he paid tribute to victims of the deadly New Year’s attack and channeled the pain felt by their loved ones. Biden made the remarks at St. Louis Cathedral in the city’s...

NEW YORK — An average of 10.1 million viewers tuned into the 82nd Golden Globes across CBS and Paramount+, Dick Clark Productions said Monday, roughly matching the audience for last year’s broadcast. CBS reported ratings figures from VideoAmp rather than the industry standard audience measurement service, Nielsen. Paramount Global, which...

LOS ANGELES — Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck have settled their divorce and are asking a judge to finalize their breakup. Lopez filed documents Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court that show the former couple settled their divorce through mediation in September, about a month after she filed for divorce....

LAS VEGAS — An ex-gang leader is seeking to have all the charges against him dismissed in the 1990s killing of rap music icon Tupac Shakur. Attorney Carl Arnold filed the motion Monday in the District Court of Nevada to dismiss charges against Duane Davis in the 1996 shooting of...