'We have to be wacky.' With suggestive poses and pets, election campaigning tests Tokyo's patience

TOKYO (AP) — Tokyo elects a new governor this weekend, but residents say personal publicity stunts have overtaken serious campaigning to a degree never seen before, with nearly nude women in suggestive poses, pets, an AI character and a man practicing his golf swing. It's...

Bertoletti, Sudo win top dog honors at Nathan’s Famous power-eating contest, absent longtime champ

NEW YORK (AP) — Patrick Bertoletti gobbled up 58 hot dogs to win his first men’s title Thursday at the annual Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July hot dog eating contest, taking advantage of the absence of the event's biggest star. In the women's competition, defending champion Miki Sudo won her...

Patrick Bertoletti of Chicago wins his first men’s title at the annual Nathan’s hot dog eating contest

Defending champion Miki Sudo wins women's division at annual Nathan's Famous Fourth of July hot dog eating contest

Yes, some animals can have babies without a mate. Here's how

A boa constrictor in the U.K. gave birth to 14 babies — without a mate. Is it a miracle? The result of a secret rendezvous? Probably not. Females of species have the ability to reproduce asexually, without sperm from a male. The process is called parthenogenesis, from the Greek...

Flying objects and shrunken heads: World UFO Day feted amid surge in sightings, government denials

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — For those of you who don't celebrate World UFO Day, consider this: A former U.S. Air Force intelligence officer told Congress last summer about a government program that retrieves and reverse engineers unidentified flying objects. The Mexican...

An Arizona museum tells the stories of ancient animals through their fossilized poop

WILLIAMS, Ariz. (AP) — One way to help tell how a Tyrannosaurus rex digested food is to look at its poop. Bone fragments in a piece of fossilized excrement at a new museum in northern Arizona — aptly called the Poozeum — are among the tinier bits of evidence that indicate T....

Some Boston subway trains are now sporting googly eyes

BOSTON (AP) — Subway riders in Boston are playing their own game of “Where’s Waldo?” But instead of searching for a cartoon character with a red and white striped top, they’re on the lookout for subway trains with googly eye decals attached to the front. The head of...

Military horses bolt through London in scene reminiscent of runaway stampede in April

LONDON (AP) — Three runaway horses bolted through the streets of central London Monday after one was spooked by a bus and two others tossed their riders, the Army said. The Army said one horse Monday had minor injuries but didn’t require further treatment and neither soldier was...

Rainforest animal called a kinkajou rescued from dusty highway rest stop in Washington state

YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) — Why did the kinkajou cross the road? And what's a kinkajou, anyway? One of the mammals — which look like a cross between a monkey and a tiny bear — was found far from its normal rainforest habitat this week at a highway rest stop amid the rolling sagebrush...