4 mins read

The Knicks made a championship run that will be remembered in New York and in NBA history

NEW YORK | By the time Jalen Brunson and the Knicks returned home, it was as easy to find something orange around New York as at Halloween. The city was caught up in this championship run for nearly two months and the party will last at least a few days more, with the Knicks’ first […]

4 mins read

FDA’s e-cigarette authorization: Fruity vapes not significantly better than tobacco ones

WASHINGTON | Fruit-flavored e-cigarettes recently authorized by the Food and Drug Administration were not significantly better at helping smokers quit than tobacco-flavored e-cigarettes, according to a new memo that’s likely to stir more questions about the agency’s decision. The FDA last month gave its first OK to fruit-flavored vapes — essentially endorsing them as a […]

5 mins read

Movie Review: This train’s going fast, but the jokes fly even faster in “Stop! That! Train!’

Presidential candidates take note: If you ever want an effectively simple campaign slogan, you could do worse than this: “SHE FUN!” That’s the slogan that got President Judy Gagwell — aka RuPaul — elected, and if it puts a smile on your face, it’s a good sign that lots of other, er, gags from Gagwell […]

7 mins read

Lights! Camera! Cage match! The White House lawn’s Octagon is ready for Trump’s 80th birthday bash

WASHINGTON | It looks from afar more UFO than UFC. Maybe it’s the kind of contraption that has carried space aliens to the White House to force a meeting with America’s leader. But come closer and you’ll see the contours of the eight-sided cage, 30 feet (9 meters) in diameter and shaped, with careful precision, […]

5 mins read

A blind Ukrainian veteran turns pottery into a business and mentors others

VINNYTSIA, Ukraine | The two burly men stare straight ahead, hands intertwined on a pottery wheel, fingers buried in the clay. They sense each other’s presence through touch alone. One is a veteran who lost his sight in combat and now teaches other blind veterans. Slowly, a piece resembling a cup takes form. The instructor, […]

6 mins read

A Bosnian song about disillusionment with the American Dream becomes a World Cup banger

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina | The opening lyrics couldn’t be plainer: “I am from Bosnia; take me to America.” But by rewriting its classic “USA,” the Bosnian band Dubioza Kolektiv has transformed a song about disillusionment with the American Dream into a viral anthem powering Bosnia-Herzegovina’s own World Cup dreams. On the eve of Friday’s match between […]

8 mins read

David Hockney, iconic British artist known for his colorful landscapes and pool scenes, dies at 88

LONDON | David Hockney, a treasured British artist whose paintings of shimmering pools and colorful iPad drawings became icons of contemporary art, has died, his publicist said Friday. He was 88. Over a seven-decade career, Hockney explored and reimagined classical portraiture, landscape painting and pop art, working in painting, collage, photography and digital drawing. Hockney […]

5 mins read

Ahead of G7, Carney softens tone toward Trump with trade talks at stake

PARIS | Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney became a symbol of middle power resistance after a celebrated speech earlier this year, but he is expected to be more muted in his criticism of U.S. President Donald Trump at an upcoming summit in Europe. Carney’s speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, helped make […]

4 mins read

Officials search tornado-damaged areas after strong storms hit Illinois and Indiana

Authorities and residents searched tornado-ravaged areas and assessed damage Friday after a strong line of storms barreled through communities south of Chicago, leaving several hundred thousand customers without power in Illinois and Indiana and disrupting air travel in the region. There were no immediate reports of deaths or life-threatening injuries from Thursday’s storms, although several […]

7 mins read

Supreme Court nixes Alabama request for nitrogen execution, which lower court ruled unconstitutional

ATMORE, Ala. | An Alabama man facing the death penalty by nitrogen gas was spared Thursday as the U.S. Supreme Court refused to set aside a lower-court ruling that found the method is unconstitutionally cruel, issuing a brief order that came well after the hour originally planned to initiate Jeffery Lee’s execution. The justices decided […]