Lifestyle

This image provided by Mattel in April 2024 shows the company's Kristi Yamaguchi Barbie doll. Yamaguchi became the first Asian American to win an individual gold medal for figure skating at the 1992 Winter Olympics. (Mattel via AP)

Olympian Kristi Yamaguchi is ‘tickled pink’ to inspire a Barbie doll

Like many little girls, a young Kristi Yamaguchi loved playing with Barbie. So, it’s surreal for the decorated Olympian figure skater to now be a Barbie girl herself.

Emily Henry poses for a portrait on Tuesday, April 23, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP)

Rom-com author Emily Henry knows the secret to having a healthy relationship with love

This photo shows Phish fans walking through the lobby of the Sphere on Saturday, April 20, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Josh Cornfield)

Phish fans are famously dedicated. What happens when they enter the Sphere?

FILE - This Nov. 11, 2013 file photo shows a bedroom built by Mike Spangler using some reclaimed materials, in Belle, W.Va. Nearly one-third of American adults don't get the recommended seven to nine hours of sleep per night. Some of the major causes: Stress, anxiety and a culture that experts say is about productivity, not rest. (Craig Cunningham/Charleston Daily Mail via AP, file)

Get better sleep with these 5 tips from experts

FILE - A gardener uses a leaf blower to clear leaves at a home on Oct. 13, 2021 in Sacramento, Calif.. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)

The problem with leaf blowers, and what you can do instead

More news

Writer Leonardo Padura chronicles life in Cuba as his detective ‘alter ego’ solves gripping crimes

Cuban writer Leonardo Padura has managed to turn his series of detective novels into a social and political chronicle of Cuba, especially his native Havana.

New federal rule bars transgender school bathroom bans, but it likely isn’t the final word

A new federal rule seeks to clarify that a law against sex discrimination at schools includes gender identity, too.

With graduation near, colleges seek to balance safety and students’ right to protest Gaza war

U.S. colleges and universities are preparing for end-of-year commencement ceremonies with a unique challenge: providing safety for graduates while honoring the free speech rights of students involved in protests over the Israel-Hamas war.

Minnesota and other Democratic-led states lead pushback on censorship. They’re banning the book ban

At a time when book bans have soared to their highest levels in decades, a countertrend is emerging.

America’s child care crisis is holding back moms without college degrees

The high costs and limited availability of quality child care are holding back American moms without college degrees.

When red-hot isn’t enough: New government heat risk tool sets magenta as most dangerous level

U.S. health and weather officials are unveiling a new color-coded system to warn Americans about heat danger, and it will set magenta as the most dangerous level.

An adored ostrich at a Kansas zoo has died after swallowing a staff member’s keys

A beloved zoo ostrich named Karen has died after swallowing a staff member’s keys. The Topeka Zoo & Conservation Center announced the bird’s death in a social media post on Friday.

Express files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, announces store closures, possible sale

Express Inc. has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and the fashion retailer is seeking to sell the majority of its stores.

Wake up, sleeping beauties. It’s almost Met Gala time

True love’s kiss or an invite to the Met Gala? Those in the rarified ranks of international celebrity and Anna Wintour’s good graces need not choose.

Don’t roll your vegetarian ‘meatballs’! Smash them for better flavor

Browning is the key to developing flavor in meatballs and their vegetarian siblings. For a vegetarian interpretation of the Greek meatballs known as keftedes, the cooks at Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street substitute the usual mixture of chickpeas and sardines with chickpeas and feta cheese.

Glimpses of Beijing through windows and doorways

BEIJING (AP) — China’s sprawling capital city was new territory for Associated Press photographer Tatan Syuflana.

What to stream this week: A Bon Jovi documentary, Idris Elba in ‘Knuckles’ and ‘Anyone But You’

This week’s new streaming entertainment releases include the Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell hit romantic comedy “Anyone But You” hitting Netflix, two teen ghost detectives who appear in DC comic books star in their own series called “Dead Boy Detectives” and a documentary detailing Bon Jovi’s rise t

AP photographer gets in the right spot for a big swing at the Masters

AP photographer Matt Slocum knows his way around the bucolic Augusta National Golf Club during the week of the Masters — and it’s a difficult task with the regulations that help preserve the aura of the tournament.

Earth Day: How one grocery shopper takes steps to avoid ‘pointless plastic’

Nature wraps bananas and oranges in peels. But in some modern supermarkets, they’re bagged or wrapped in plastic too.

Lama Rod describes himself as a Black Buddhist Southern Queen. He wants to free you from suffering

Lama Rod Owens describes himself as a Black Buddhist Southern Queen. The Harvard Divinity school-educated lama and yoga teacher blends his training in Tibetan Buddhism with experiences from his life as a Black, queer man.

Hawaii lawmakers take aim at vacation rentals after Lahaina wildfire amplifies Maui housing crisis

An acute housing shortage hitting fire survivors on the Hawaiian island of Maui is squeezing out residents even as they try to overcome the loss of loved ones, their homes and their community.

Will there be a ‘superbloom’ this year in California? Here’s what to know

Carpets of yellow, orange and gold flowers are beginning to cover stretches of Southern California’s vast deserts, the Bay Area’s dramatic bluffs and even the fields near Los Angeles International Airport.

A coffee roastery in Finland launched an AI-generated blend. The results were surprising

An artisan roastery based in the Finnish capital has introduced a coffee blend that has been developed by artificial intelligence in a trial in which it’s hoped that technology can ease the workload in a sector that traditionally prides itself on manual work.

Morning sickness? Prenatal check-ups? What to know about new rights for pregnant workers

Pregnant workers have the right to a wide range of accommodations under new federal regulations for enforcing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.

Children learn matzo making and Passover’s traditions ahead of the Jewish holiday

A group of Washington area first graders had no time to waste — they had matzo to make. The students from Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School of the Nation’s Capital had just 18 minutes to prep and cook the cracker-like, unleavened Passover staple.