The French bulldog has been chosen as America’s most popular dog breed for the second year in a row, according to the data collected by the American Kennel Club. The Labrador retriever, which held the top place for 31 years before being dethroned by the French bulldog in 2022, came in at second place once again. The French bulldog has seen a rapid rise in popularity since 2015, when it first entered the top 10 list in 100 years. The top 5 dog breeds in 2023 remained the same as 2022 with

PARIS -- Climate change caused by carbon dioxide emissions already in the atmosphere will shrink global gross domestic product in 2050 by about $38 trillion, or almost a fifth, no matter how aggressively humanity cuts carbon pollution, researchers said Wednesday. But slashing greenhouse gas emissions as quickly as possible remains crucial to avoid even more devastating economic impacts after midcentury, they reported in the journal Nature. Economic fallout from climate change, the study shows, c

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell cautioned Tuesday that persistently elevated inflation will likely delay any Fed interest rate cuts until later this year, opening the door to a period of higher-for-longer rates. “Recent data have clearly not given us greater confidence" that inflation is coming fully under control and "instead indicate that it’s likely to take longer than expected to achieve that confidence,” Powell said during a panel discussion at the Wilson Cen

ANCIENT OLYMPIA, Greece — Even without the help of Apollo, the flame that is to burn at the Paris Olympics was kindled Tuesday at the site of the ancient games in southern Greece. Cloudy skies prevented the traditional lighting, when an actress dressed as an ancient Greek priestess uses the sun to ignite a silver torch — after offering up a symbolic prayer to Apollo, the ancient Greek sun god. Instead, a backup flame was used that had been lit on the same spot Monday, during the fina

SAN FRANCISCO -- Meta's oversight board said Tuesday it is scrutinizing the social media titan's deepfake porn policies, through the lens of two cases. The move by what is referred to as a Meta "supreme court" for content moderation disputes comes just months after the widespread sharing of lewd artificial intelligence-generated images of megastar Taylor Swift on X, formerly Twitter. The Meta board picked its two cases, regarding images shared on Instagram and Facebook, to &q

Samsung Electronics was the most popular home appliance brand in the United States last year in terms of market share, data showed. Samsung Electronics took up 21 percent of the home appliance market share in the US in terms of sales in 2023, followed by Korean rival LG Electronics at 19 percent, General Electric at 18 percent and Whirlpool at 15 percent, according to data from market researcher TraQline. A survey by also showed that Samsung was the most considered brand when consumers purchas

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday warned members not to further escalate tensions with reprisals against Iran, while the US warned the Security Council it would work to hold Tehran accountable at the UN. Guterres, speaking to a meeting of the UN Security Council, told member states that the UN charter bars the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state as he also condemned Iran's attack on Israel. Iran launched a swarm of

The United States on Sunday highlighted its role in helping Israel thwart Iran's aerial attack as President Joe Biden convened leaders of the Group of Seven countries in an effort to prevent a wider regional escalation and coordinate a global rebuke of Tehran. The US assisted Israel in shooting down dozens of drones and missiles fired by Iran on Saturday in what was the first time it had launched a direct military assault on Israel. Israeli authorities said 99% of the inbound weapons were s

Countries around the world condemned Iran's strikes on Israel late Saturday, warning the attack threatened to further destabilise the Middle East. Here are some of the main reactions so far: US - US President Joe Biden promised "ironclad" support for Israel after holding an urgent meeting with top security officials. "I just met with my national security team for an update on Iran's attacks against Israel. Our commitment to Israel's security against threats from Iran and its

Booms and air raid sirens sounded across Israel early Sunday after Iran launched hundreds of drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles in an unprecedented revenge mission that pushed the Middle East closer to a regionwide war. A military spokesman said the launches numbered more than 300 but 99% of them were intercepted. Calling the outcome “a very significant strategic success,” Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Iran fired 170 drones, more than 30 cruise missiles and more than 120 b

After a winning debut on Wall Street last month, Donald Trump's media group has suffered a bruising retreat, denting the Republican candidate's wealth as he faces legal challenges. Since entering public markets on March 26, Trump Media and Technology Group has seen its market value plummet from around $11 billion to under $4.5 billion. That's an unhappy reversal for the former White House inhabitant and current presidential candidate, who faces around a half billion dollars in civ

The United States, Japan and the Philippines affirmed their commitment to the "complete" denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and denounced North Korea's growing military threats in their joint statement Thursday. Following their countries' first-ever trilateral summit in Washington, President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. issued the "joint vision" statement, noting Pyongyang's provocative actions have "