After decades spent playing simultaneous chess, an 87-year-old Hungarian pensioner clinched a world record Sunday, by finally overtaking a total set by 1920s Cuban grandmaster Jose Raul Capablanca.
Almost 60 years since her first simultaneous games, on six boards side-by-side at a Chess Olympiad in 1957, Brigitta Sinka overtook the magic 13,545 number attributed to Capablanca (1888-1942), one of the world's best-ever players.
Full Story
Authorities say bees are swarming near the Washington-Idaho border after a tractor-trailer full of the buzzing insects tipped over, spilling its load on Sunday.
One eastbound lane of Interstate 90 was closed by the accident near Coeur d'Alene
Full Story
A college party in the United States got a little wild when a black bear showed up.
The black bear, weighing between 300 and 400 pounds, crashed the party early Saturday near the campus of Lehigh University.
Full Story
Tama the stationmaster, Japan's feline star of a struggling local railway, was mourned by company officials and fans and elevated into a goddess at a funeral Sunday.
The calico cat was appointed stationmaster at the Kishi station in western Japan in 2007. Donning her custom-made stationmaster's cap, Tama quietly sat at the ticket gate welcoming and seeing off passengers. The cat quickly attracted tourists and became world-famous, contributing to the railway company and local economy.
Full Story
Sao Paulo has banned production and sales of foie gras -- and chefs in Brazil's largest city are fuming.
Mayor Fernando Haddad -- said to like the delicacy himself -- signed a decree instituting the ban, disappointing cooks who had hoped he would veto the bill passed in May by city hall.
Full Story
The White House is lit up in rainbow colors in commemoration of the Supreme Court's ruling to legalize same-sex marriage.
Gay and lesbian couples in Washington and across the nation are celebrating Friday's ruling, which will put an end to same-sex marriage bans in the 14 states that still maintain them.
Full Story
Criss Angel's rescue of an escape artist trapped in a water-filled box was no illusion.
Angel and Spencer Horsman were rehearsing for opening night of the illusionist's show at a Connecticut casino when Horsman became trapped in the box dangling above the stage and Angel came to his aid.
Full Story
A 10-year-old mutt named Quasi Modo, whose spinal birth defects left him a bit hunchbacked, is the winner of this year's World's Ugliest Dog contest.
The pit bull-Dutch shepherd mix and his owner took the $1,500 prize Friday night, besting 25 other dogs competing in the contest that applauds imperfection, organizers said.
Full Story
A pair of Argentine pilots were fired after taking pictures with a voluptuous star in the cabin of their passenger plane while in the air.
Curvaceous dancer and actress Vicky Xipolitakis posted photos on Twitter of her taking pictures with both pilots, one of which was taken clearly while the plane was in mid-flight.
Full Story
Already stung by accusations that his presidential palace in Ankara is a megalomaniac folly, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is facing new claims of wasteful extravagance.
But this time the controversy does not surround a grand new building but a humble table set for the traditional fast-breaking iftar meal for the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
Full Story


