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NEW YORK (AP) — “Being bald is sexy. It’s an attitude. It’s a luxury. It’s a lifestyle.”That’s how Brennan Nevada Johnson, who shaved her head voluntarily 14 years ago, opens the video podcast she launched last November to celebrate the advantages of choosing a bald look.Sensuous, self-assured and glamorous are not the adjectives typically assigned to women with shorn hair. For centuries, many cultures have viewed long hair as a symbol of femininity, health and fertility. But more women are defying that traditional beauty standard and finding empowerment by baring their heads.“Once you do it, it brings all this confidence…

BOSTON (AP) — Four South African rowers are making history over the weekend at the prestigious Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston as the first crew of color from the country to compete internationally.Their participation marks a multinational effort to expand access to one of the most elite and exclusive sports, dominated by white athletes, and to open the 60-year-old regatta to a more diverse future of rowers. Competitive rowing originates among Englishmen who colonized both South Africa and what is now the United States, but historically excluded large swaths of the populations that lived there from recreation on…

PARIS (AP) — A theft occurred at the Louvre on Sunday, France’s culture minister said, as the museum closed for the day while authorities investigate. “A robbery took place this morning at the opening of the Louvre Museum,” Rachida Dati wrote on X. The Louvre said it would close “for exceptional reasons,” offering no further details on the heist. No injuries were reported.Dati said she was on site and that an investigation was underway.French daily Le Parisien reported that the criminals entered the world’s most visited museum and former palace via the Seine-facing facade, where construction is underway. The report…

NEW YORK (AP) — The powerful gods of ancient Egypt are having a get-together on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.That would be at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It’s been more than a decade since the museum’s last big Egypt show, so “Divine Egypt” — a lavish exploration of how ancient Egyptians depicted their gods — is a major event, as evidenced by the crowds packing the show since its Oct. 12 opening.After all, few things excite the museum-going public like ancient Egypt, notes Diana Craig Patch, the Met’s curator of Egyptian art.“It’s the first ancient culture that you learn in…

Nurse Rod Salaysay works with all kinds of instruments in the hospital: a thermometer, a stethoscope and sometimes his guitar and ukulele.In the recovery unit of UC San Diego Health, Salaysay helps patients manage pain after surgery. Along with medications, he offers tunes on request and sometimes sings. His repertoire ranges from folk songs in English and Spanish to Minuet in G Major and movie favorites like “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”Patients often smile or nod along. Salaysay even sees changes in their vital signs like lower heart rate and blood pressure, and some may request fewer painkillers.“There’s often a cycle…

HONOLULU (AP) — Jason Momoa drove a vintage pickup along a winding country road in Hawaii, a tattooed arm dangling out the window and Metallica blasting.“POO’-ah-LEE’,” he said. His passenger corrected him, again, modeling the subtle emphasis on the “u” sound: “Puali.”Momoa was preparing for his role in “Chief of War,” the first major TV series featuring the language and culture of Hawaii’s Indigenous people. His passenger, Kahoʻokahi Kanuha, connected with Momoa years ago while they were both protesting against a giant telescope on a mountain summit held sacred by some Native Hawaiians. He wound up living with the Hawaiian…

It was one scandal too many.After emails emerged this week showing that Prince Andrew remained in contact with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein longer than he previously admitted, the House of Windsor finally moved to insulate the monarchy from years of tawdry headlines about Andrew’s dodgy friends and suspicious business deals. Buckingham Palace on Friday released a statement from Andrew saying that he had agreed to give up use of his last remaining royal titles so that continued allegations about him “don’t distract from the work of His Majesty.”This week’s revelations demonstrated that Andrew had committed the unforgivable sin…

METEPEC, Mexico (AP) — The first time he met a pope, Mexican craftsman Hilario Hernández could not believe his luck. He did not travel to the Vatican as a guest, but as the guardian of the fragile ceramic piece he had created as a gift for Benedict XVI.“No one really planned to take me along,” Hernández said. “But a Tree of Life can easily break, so I got the chance to bring it myself.”The work he was commissioned to create for the pope in 2008 is a celebrated expression of Mexican craftsmanship. Known as a Tree of Life, it belongs…

Diwali is the most important festival of the year in India — and for Hindus in particular. It is celebrated across faiths by more than a billion people in the world’s most populous nation and the diaspora. Over five days, people take part in festive gatherings, fireworks displays, feasts and prayer. Diwali is derived from the word “Deepavali,” which means “a row of lights.” Celebrants light rows of traditional clay oil lamps outside their homes to symbolize the victory of light over darkness and knowledge over ignorance. Diwali’s date is based on Hindu lunar calendarThe dates of the festival are…

In the South, there is only one thing that can rival college football itself: the party before kickoff.Pinpointing the exact origins of tailgating is near impossible. Some trace it to Nov. 6, 1869, when Rutgers and New Jersey (later Princeton) played in the first college football game. Others credit Green Bay Packers fans, who folded down pickup truck tailgates for makeshift pregame seating during the team’s inaugural season in 1919.Arguments over who has the best tailgating traditions are as old as the sport itself and the creativity is as varied as the fans themselves. From Bevo Boulevard (Texas) and the…