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KWETHLUK, Alaska (AP) — “St. Olga of Kwethluk, Matushka of All Alaska,” as she is officially known, was canonized on June 19 as the first female Orthodox saint from North America.Orthodoxy — the world’s second-largest Christian communion — gained a foothold in the present-day United States with the 18th and 19th century arrival of Russian Orthodox missionaries to what was then the czarist territory of Alaska. While the Orthodox are a small minority within the Christian population in the state and the nation, Alaska is often considered a holy land for the now-independent Orthodox Church in America. Who is St.…

KWETHLUK, Alaska (AP) — It was in the dusty streets and modest homes of this remote Alaska Native village that Olga Michael quietly lived her entire life as a midwife and a mother of 13. As the wife of an Orthodox Christian priest, she was a “matushka,” or spiritual mother to many more.The Yup’ik woman became known in church communities across Alaska for quiet generosity, piety and compassion — particularly as a consoler of women who had suffered from abuse, from miscarriage, from the most intimate of traumas. She could share from her own grief, having lost five children who…

VENICE, Italy (AP) — Oprah Winfrey arrived in Venice on Thursday, leading a star-studded guest list of celebrities descending on the lagoon city for the weekend wedding of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez.Winfrey’s private jet landed at Venice’s Marco Polo airport.The bride and groom pulled into the Aman Hotel dock on the Grand Canal on Wednesday, traveling via water taxi with security boats in tow. A few hours later they slipped out of the hotel, with Sánchez wearing a sleek black and white striped, one-shoulder gown.The details of the nuptials have been a tightly kept secret, though the…

NEW YORK (AP) — It was mother’s day at the NBA draft Wednesday night.The moms of the NBA draftees took centerstage, receiving hugs and wiping away tears as they heard their offspring’s names called.Kelly Flagg, whose son Cooper went first to the Dallas Mavericks, was a strong player in her own right. She starred for the University of Maine in the late 1990s. The 1998-99 team she was on made school history when it won the program’s first NCAA Tournament game, upsetting Stanford.Asked what she helped instill in her son, Kelly Flagg said: “I just hoped that he loved the…

NEW YORK (AP) — Rama Duwaji’s Election Day post on Instagram was only four words long, but said all it needed to say: “couldn’t possibly be prouder.”It was accompanied by a photo-booth strip of happy poses with her husband, Zohran Mamdani, and a voting selfie that would presage a momentous night: The 33-year-old state assemblyman would stun the political world — and opponent Andrew Cuomo — with his success in the race for the Democratic nomination for New York City mayor. While the ultimate outcome has yet to be confirmed by a ranked choice count, many across the country woke…

Women everywhere from China and the U.S. to Indonesia and Russia have broken many glass ceilings, thanks to everything from coal and collagen to software and soy sauce. By Grace Chung, Forbes Staff It’s never been a better time for women entrepreneurs – at least by the numbers. There are now an estimated 658 million female founders and company owners worldwide, compared to 772 million men, per the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor. Nearly two-thirds are early stage entrepreneurs, compared to less than half of their male counterparts. “Women’s entrepreneurship is the number one policy solution to things like health deficits and…

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The case behind the U.S. Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide a decade ago is known as Obergefell v. Hodges, but the two Ohio men whose names became that title weren’t so at odds as it would seem, and are now friends. One year after the Supreme Court’s June 26, 2015, decision, lead plaintiff Jim Obergefell was at an event for an LGBTQ+ advocacy organization when its former director asked if he wanted to meet Rick Hodges, who’d been the title defendant in his capacity as state health director in Ohio, one of the states…

LONDON (AP) — This week, thousands of music lovers from across the U.K. and beyond will flock to a farm in the southwest of England for the legendary Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts. But just how many?Find out in this guide to Glastonbury — and all of its quirks — by the numbers.210,000: Full capacity of the festival The festival’s current license allows up to 210,000 people on-site, including fans, staff and performers — but, this year, a few thousand fewer tickets have been sold, to avoid overcrowding. Revellers queue for entry, on the first day of the Glastonbury…

Most electric vehicles are five-passenger sedans or SUVs. But automakers are increasingly expanding their lineups to cater to shoppers wanting a three-row EV that can serve as a family hauler. These EVs can seat six or seven passengers, haul lots of cargo, and potentially have more than 300 miles of driving range. They also come standard with many advanced safety features. To help you with your search, the car experts at Edmunds rounded up five of their favorites. They are ordered by price, and all pricing includes destination charges. The most affordable three-row SUV on the list is one of…

Mamdani is hoping to win the Democratic primary amid a brutal heat wave.Adam Gray/Bloomberg Update (June 24, 2025, 11 p.m.): With roughly 90% of the first-round votes in, Zohran Mamdani topped the field as of Tuesday night, taking 43% to Andrew Cuomo’s 36%. Cuomo appeared to concede the Democratic nomination in a speech—though whether the former governor will run on a separate party’s ticket in the general election remains to be seen—leaving Mamdani’s path to the nomination wide open, with final ranked-choice results expected in the coming days. If Mamdani can defeat incumbent mayor Eric Adams and Republican nominee Curtis…