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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, […]
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 […]
Insider tour of the Sagrada Familia reveals 5 divine enigmas and hidden treasures
BARCELONA, Spain | The Sagrada Familia basilica features sandcastle-like spires, stone carved to look like lush flora, a kaleidoscopic interior and a trove of treasures, some hiding in plain sight. Even regular worshippers at Barcelona’s world-famous landmark find themselves dumbstruck with wonder. Josep Turull, the Catalan rector of the Sagrada Familia and the priest in […]
Pope honors Barcelona’s sacred monuments on death centenary of Sagrada Familia designer Gaudí
BARCELONA, Spain | Pope Leo XIV honored Barcelona’s most sacred and beautiful monuments Wednesday by first leading a noontime prayer at a mountain-top abbey, hours before he was due to give an evening Mass at the famed Sagrada Familia Basilica on the centenary of the death of its architect, Antoni Gaudí. The celebration of Barcelona’s […]
The AP’s gardening expert has a list of 10 top-performing new plants for this season
Every spring brings a new growing season and, for me and other garden communicators, dozens of not-yet-available sample plants sent by breeders and growers. To try them out, I squeeze some into my beds and borders, tuck others into containers, and plant the rest in the Maternity Ward, a 3-foot-deep strip of soil along the […]
From tennis to T-ball, the White House’s South Lawn is no stranger to sports. But not like the UFC
WASHINGTON | Teddy Roosevelt boxed. Richard Nixon bowled. Dwight D. Eisenhower put in a putting green. George H.W. Bush added a horseshoe pit. Herbert Hoover played a game named for himself to get more exercise, while George W. Bush threw open the space for youth T-ball. The White House and its storied South Lawn are […]
Longtime CBS correspondent Scott Pelley lived many workers’ fantasy: Telling your boss off
NEW YORK | As if Scott Pelley’s years in a glamorous, globetrotting, seven-figure dream job weren’t enough, he’s pulled off one more thing to stir your envy: a cutting takedown of his boss that went loudly public. The “60 Minutes” correspondent’s searing rebuke of CBS management this week, in which he questioned his bosses’ credentials […]
A new kind of date makes personal to-do lists a reason to get together with friends
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. | Life tasks like paying bills, canceling subscriptions and answering overdue emails are becoming a reason to socialize for friends, couples, roommates and other people who get together for what’s known as “admin dates.” The low-pressure gatherings taking place in coffee shops, accommodating bars and private homes are intended to turn tedious and […]
Shia LaBeouf gets probation after pleading guilty to punching bargoers during Mardi Gras
NEW ORLEANS | Actor Shia LaBeouf was sentenced to probation Wednesday after pleading guilty to punching three people outside a New Orleans bar during Mardi Gras. LaBeouf must attend an alcohol treatment program under the sentence handed down by an Orleans Parish judge, according to Sarah Chervinsky, an attorney for the actor. LeBeouf, most widely […]
Movie Review: ‘Masters of the Universe’ does not have the power
“Masters of the Universe” might not know who its audience is. Sure, yes, perhaps “everyone” is the goal. Modern blockbusters are usually aiming for those golden four quadrants that might justify spending hundreds of millions of dollars to make a movie about an old toy. But as far as beautiful, blond Mattel products go, He-Man […]