Providing a unique experience is retailers’ holiday strategy
NEW YORK — As Amy Witt prepared for the grand opening of her Dallas clothing store, she read up on the demise of thousands of chain stores this past y...
No more menthol cigarettes: New ban on tobacco, vape flavors
BOSTON — Massachusetts’ governor signed into law Wednesday a groundbreaking ban on the sale of flavored tobacco and vaping products, including menthol...
Holiday TV forecast: a sleighful of movies, music, a Grinch
LOS ANGELES — There are enough holiday TV movies to overturn Santa’s sleigh this season, with Oprah Winfrey’s OWN channel and a new streaming service ...
Jane Seymour on finding new love in her mid-60s: No Tinder
LOS ANGELES — Jane Seymour was in her mid-60s when her husband of 20 years decided it was over. The actress was floored.
Hikers answer plea to find wedding ring lost on mountaintop
MANCHESTER, N.H. — A man’s quest to find his wedding ring on a 4,000-foot snow-covered mountain in New Hampshire has been completed by a couple of hik...
Empty stores along NYC’s 5th Avenue dressed for holidays
NEW YORK — Some vacant stores along New York City’s luxury shopping corridor will be dressed for Christmas as if retailers like Tommy Hilfiger and Ral...
World markets mostly rise on trade optimism
BEIJING — World shares mostly rose Wednesday, spurred by optimism over trade talks between the U.S. and China.
UN: South Sudan recruits new force, contrary to peace deal
JOHANNESBURG — A new report says South Sudan’s National Security Service has recruited a force of 10,000 fighters in President Salva Kiir’s ethnic str...
On the Thanksgiving menu: Turkey, with a side of impeachment
CINCINNATI — Some people heading to Thanksgiving gatherings predict it’s not just the turkey that will get roasted.
New film explores legacy of Boston’s Cocoanut Grove fire
BOSTON — Even though Boston’s Cocoanut Grove fire happened long before she was born, Michele Shapiro learned all about the disaster when she was a gir...
From modest beginnings, Washington now a force in wine world
SPOKANE, Wash. — When Craig and Vicki Leuthold opened the Maryhill Winery in 2001, there were about 100 wineries in the state of Washington.
One-two punch of storms threatens Thanksgiving travel in US
DENVER — Heavy snow and wind shut down highways Tuesday in Colorado and Wyoming, closed schools in Nebraska and forced more than 1,000 travelers to sl...
FAA says it will handle all approvals for new Max jets
WASHINGTON — Federal safety regulators indicated Tuesday that they will keep full control over approvals of each new Boeing 737 Max built since the pl...
US judge bars Trump’s health insurance rule for immigrants
PORTLAND, Ore. — A U.S. judge in Oregon on Tuesday granted a preliminary injunction blocking a Trump administration proclamation that would require im...
Man found in freezer was husband of recently deceased woman
SALT LAKE CITY — A man whose body was in a freezer for as long as 11 years was the husband of the woman who had recently died in their apartment west ...
Man wanted in Utah ‘extreme stalking’ arrested in Hawaii
SALT LAKE CITY — U.S. prosecutors have arrested a Hawaii man they accuse of sending hundreds of unwanted service providers and others to a Utah home, ...
Texas inmate freed while innocence claims investigated
HOUSTON — A Houston man serving a life sentence for a 2010 fatal stabbing was freed on bond Tuesday while authorities reinvestigate his case, includin...
Pennsylvania overhauls child sexual abuse laws
READING, Pa. — Pennsylvania overhauled its child sexual abuse laws Tuesday, more than a year after a landmark grand jury report showed the cover-up of...
Chief: Officers ‘basically ambushed’ in South Texas shooting
Officers responding to a disturbance call early Tuesday in South Texas were “basically ambushed” by a man with a semi-automatic rifle who shot and inj...
Religious freedom law plays key role in migrant-aid case
Religious liberty is often a high priority for conservatives, but last week’s acquittal of an Arizona man prosecuted for aiding migrants along the U.S...
Baby Yoda GIFs are back after ‘confusion’ led to removal
NEW YORK — People can send each other animations of Baby Yoda again.
Red Cross reports new outbreak of dengue fever in Yemen
UNITED NATIONS — The International Committee of the Red Cross reported a new outbreak of dengue fever in war-torn Yemen on Monday, with thousands of c...
Agency agrees to designate habitat for threatened ice seals
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A federal agency will decide by September how much ocean and coast in northern Alaska will be designated as critical habitat for t...
3 Maryland men exonerated after 36 years in prison
BALTIMORE — Three men incarcerated for 36 years in Maryland were exonerated Monday in the slaying of a Baltimore teenager after a review of their case...
Gelb’s contract as Met Opera head extended through 2026-27
NEW YORK — Peter Gelb is set to become the Metropolitan Opera's third-longest tenured general manager.
Powell: Solid economy but tame inflation allows low rates
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is sketching an optimistic view of the economy but signaling that continued low inflation means higher interest...
California man tells court he served as agent for China
OAKLAND, Calif. — A former San Francisco Bay Area tour operator agreed to plead guilty Monday to serving as an unregistered agent for China in exchang...
Ex-director of Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America charged
NEW YORK — The former head administrator of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America was arrested Monday on charges he embezzled over half a million ...
Review: In ‘Knives Out,’ a whodunit for the Trump era
Rian Johnson’s “Knives Out” unravels not just a good old-fashioned murder mystery but the very fabric of the whodunit, pulling at loose threads until ...
Chinese woman sentenced to 8 months for Mar-a-Lago trespass
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A federal judge on Monday sentenced a Chinese businesswoman to eight months in prison for trespassing at President Donald Trum...