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As shoppers flood stores across the country during the year’s biggest shopping season, retail workers are bracing for what many describe as the most demanding — and often demoralizing — stretch of the job.“It magnifies everything,” said Nick Leighton, host of the podcast “Were You Raised by Wolves?,” which he co-hosts with comedian Leah Bonnema. Together, they dissect etiquette and the subtleties of social behavior. “People are stressed, they’re busy, they’re frazzled,” he said. “When that happens, we tend to forget other people exist.”Whether it’s gridlocked parking lots or shelves picked clean, the holiday retail environment can become a pressure…

In Tuscany, schiacciata — which is pronounced skee-ah-CHA-tah and roughly means “crushed,” “flattened” or “squashed” — is a versatile word applied to a variety of breads and bread-like things, from a piece of sweet focaccia studded with roasted grapes around the autumn harvest to a savory situation that more closely resembles a panino and comes stuffed with your choice of cured meats and cheeses.In this recipe from my cookbook “Stuzzichini,” instead of the flour-based, focaccia-like traditional schiacciata, the base is made of blended root vegetables that get a boost from baked-in cheese. There’s a slight tang from beets, an earthy…

LOS ANGELES (AP) — With eyes closed and a small mallet in hand, the Rev. Kyohei Mikawa gently struck the bronze Himalayan singing bowl resting in his palm and bathed the Buddhist sanctuary in a resonant hum.Mikawa spent the next 45 minutes skimming bowls, playing a tongue drum and chanting to create an immersive experience called a sound bath as he sat facing a dozen people relaxing or meditating on yoga mats.Sometimes known as sound healing or sound meditation, sound baths have surged in popularity over the past decade, driven by growing public interest in mental health and wellness. But…

If you’re in the market for a new vehicle, the remaining weeks of December could very well be a great time to buy. Several recurring industry trends converge at year-end, creating favorable conditions that can help you save money. The auto experts at Edmunds have come up with three key reasons why December often delivers the opportunity for better deals — and what to know to ensure you get the best one. Year-end sales quotas and dealership incentivesManufacturers and dealers operate under annual targets, and December is when they make their most concerted effort to meet them. According to Edmunds…

ROME (AP) — Italian food is known and loved around the world for its fresh ingredients and palate-pleasing tastes. On Wednesday, the U.N.’s cultural agency gave foodies another reason to celebrate their pizza, pasta and tiramisu by listing Italian cooking as part of the world’s “intangible” cultural heritage.UNESCO added the rituals surrounding Italian food preparation and consumption to its list of the world’s traditional practices and expressions. It’s a designation celebrated alongside the more well-known UNESCO list of world heritage sites, on which Italy is well represented with locations like the Rome’s Colosseum and the ancient city of Pompeii.The citation…

It’s normal for parents, or anyone, to have questions about vaccinations — but what happens if your pediatrician urges a shot that’s under attack by the Trump administration?That’s getting more likely: The nation’s leading doctors groups are in an unprecedented standoff with federal health officials who have attacked long-used, lifesaving vaccines. The revolt by pediatricians, obstetricians, family physicians, infectious disease experts and internists came to a head when an advisory panel handpicked by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. urged an end to routine newborn vaccination against hepatitis B, a virus that can cause liver failure or liver cancer.That vaccine…

BEIRUT (AP) — Every evening as the sun drops behind Beirut’s concrete skyline, Loubna Hamdan steps onto her rooftop and whistles. A flutter of wings follows. Dozens of pigeons — white, speckled, chestnut, black — circle above her, catching the day’s last light. Here, the 36-year-old office worker has found an unexpected refuge. Pigeons circle above the rooftop of Loubna Hamdan and her husband Ibrahim Ammar, who leave food out for the birds in Chiyah, the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Lebanon, Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar) Pigeons circle above the rooftop of Loubna Hamdan and her husband…

PARIS (AP) — A glittering exhibition of royal jewels is opening Wednesday in Paris even as the city still reels from the brazen crown-jewel heist at the nearby Louvre Museum. The four-minute operation in October emptied cases in the Louvre’s Apollo Gallery, forced its closure and rattled public confidence in France’s cultural security.With the plundered gallery still sealed off, another museum nearby is showcasing diamonds and tiaras that endured revolutions, exile and empire: treasures that have managed to escape the type of plunder now afflicting the Louvre’s own jewels.A loaded locationThe “Dynastic Jewels” exhibition at the Hôtel de la Marine…

We’re in the thick of the holiday shopping season, and U.S. residents are expected to shatter the spending record again this year. The National Retail Federation forecasts that 2025 will be the first time we collectively spend more than $1 trillion on year-end gifts.A lot of materials, energy, packaging and gasoline have gone into making and moving those gifts. All of those processes release planet-warming gases into the atmosphere.But a lot of that environmental impact is avoidable. Making, baking, thrifting and avoiding traditional wrapping paper are all more planet-friendly ways to give. We’ve got tips on how to do them…

I’ve planted the potted mums in the garden and packed away the scarecrows — now it’s time to deck the halls.That means filling vacant pots with evergreen branches foraged from my trees and shrubs, hanging cedar swags on the porch and placing a wreath on the door.They’ll look great at first, of course, but that threatens to change as December marches on. And since nothing says “The Addams Family” like a house adorned with crispy spruce boughs, my challenge will be to keep them fresh for as long as possible.The best way to do that would be to treat them…