Want to burn calories? Climbing stairs might be effective

TOKYO (AP) - If you’re trying to lose weight and want a new way to do it, stair-climbing as a regular exercise - or just adding a few flights a day - might be for you.

Book Review: Lauren Elkin's novel `Scaffolding'

If you're a Francophile with an interest in psychoanalysis, Lauren Elkin's smart and steamy debut novel, "Scaffolding," may be for you.

Vatican to rule on reported apparitions at Bosnian shrine

VATICAN CITY (AP) - The Vatican is providing its long-awaited assessment on one of the more contested aspects of Roman Catholicism in recent years: the reported "apparitions" of the Virgin Mary in an otherwise unremarkable village in southern Bosnia.

Hillary Clinton takes stock of life in memoir

NEW YORK (AP) - At the end of her new memoir, Hillary Clinton offers up what sounds like a far-off wish: "I hope I'm alive to see the United States elect a female president."

Women in Iran are going without hijabs

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - On the streets of Iranian cities, it’s becoming more common to see a woman passing by without a mandatory headscarf, or hijab, as the second anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini and the mass protests it sparked approaches.

Woman challenges Miss America, Miss World ban on mothers

NEW YORK (AP) - A New York woman is challenging the longstanding rules of Miss America and Miss World that disqualify mothers from their beauty pageants.

Maligning a culture via its foods is a longtime American habit

NEW YORK (AP) - It’s a practice that’s about as American as apple pie - accusing immigrant and minority communities of engaging in bizarre or disgusting behaviors when it comes to what and how they eat and drink, a kind of shorthand for saying they don’t belong.