South Korea embraces a huge shark slowly circling a canal in the country's biggest port city
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A huge gray shark named Bukangi has become an honorary mascot in South Korea’s biggest port city. Officials in Busan have embraced the attention brought by the shark, which has drawn thousands of tourists and become a social media sensation. The shark now shares the Korean name for the city’s North Port, where it was first spotted Sept. 18. Bukanji has become a social media sensation and drawn about 600,000 visitors to watch it in the canal. Guiding the animal back to open water has proved tricky. Five vessels were deployed Tuesday but the crews gave up after hours of unsuccessfully spraying streams of water to herd the shark toward the open sea.
Plínio Trump, Mick Jagger and Samurai Taxi Driver keep Brazil's tradition of joke candidates alive
JUIZ DE FORA, Brazil (AP) — In Brazil, candidates like Plínio Trump bring a surreal element to elections by impersonating famous figures. Plínio, a first-time congressional candidate, channels Donald Trump with his style and mannerisms. This tradition of "joke candidates" in Brazil dates back decades, allowing voters to express frustration with the political system. These candidates often boost their parties' votes, securing more public funds. The movement gained attention with figures like Tiririca, a clown who won a congressional seat in 2010. As Brazil's political landscape evolves, these novelty candidates highlight the public's discontent with traditional politics.
Gentle giant Backpack declared winner of Alaska's Fat Bear Week
After a week of fierce competition, Backpack emerged victorious as Fat Bear Week champion, the heftiest bear of Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Preserve. The nonprofit running the longstanding contest announced the winner Tuesday. The week of competition celebrates the resilience of the 2,200 brown bears that live in the preserve on the Alaska Peninsula, which extends from the state’s southwest corner toward the Aleutian Islands. Fat Bear Week was started in 2014 as an interactive way to inform the public about brown bears, the coastal cousins of grizzlies.
Austrian yodelers take their voices underground, turning a parking garage into the Alps
GRAZ, Austria (AP) — Yodeling fans in Austria have found an unusual practicing location for their sessions: an underground parking garage in the city of Graz. The garage offers acoustic conditions similar to the Alps. Yodeling teacher Anna Maria Gutschi led a group of 30 through the garage earlier this week. Gutschi works for a cultural organization promoting traditional folk music in Graz. The group has been holding courses in unusual places to keep the tradition alive. Participants practice in locations like car parks, canals or gas stations. Yodeling emerged centuries ago as a way of communicating in the Alps.
Do-over: FA Cup game to be replayed because of referee error
LONDON (AP) — Manchester United only got a mea culpa for a refereeing error in a 1-0 loss to Manchester City earlier this month. Woodford Town is getting a full game replay. An FA Cup qualifying match will be replayed because of a refereeing mistake made in Mulbarton Wanderers’ 2-1 win over Woodford, both lower-division clubs have announced. The result has been voided and the teams will play again Tuesday. Woodford had protested to the FA after the referee disallowed its successful penalty because of encroachment. The match official had awarded an indirect free kick for Mulbarton. But Woodford successfully argued to an FA panel that was a mistake. It said the only outcomes should have been either allow the goal or give a retake.
'Catman' to the rescue, as man pulls stuck Long Island pet to safety after long ordeal
He doesn’t wear a mask or cape, but John DeBacker is a hero to one Long Island family. Wearing his “Catman” T-shirt, DeBacker pulled off the intricate rescue of a frightened and exhausted cat named Lola last Friday. She had spent about five days trapped, likely upside down for most of that time, behind a wall in her family’s old home in the New York City suburbs. The ordeal started with the cat disappearing about two weeks before the rescue. After trying to get Lola to come out of her own accord, she fell and got stuck behind a first-floor wall. DeBacker, who has been rescuing cats professionally for years, says freeing her was the best feeling in the world.
Fire up the grills! Thousands of South Africans try to set a record for the biggest cookout
PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — Thousands of determined and hungry South Africans descended on a sports stadium in an attempt to break the world record for the biggest cookout. Thursday's record attempt was aiming to better the 2,220 people who gathered to grill simultaneously in Ishigaki City, Japan in 2023. South Africa failed in an attempt last year, but organizers said they hoped 3,000 people would join the mass cookout this year around 500 grilling stations. A Guinness World Records adjudicator attended and laid out the rules: Everyone needs to be barbecuing simultaneously for a minimum of five minutes to be counted.
Fat Bear Week opens for Alaska’s heavyweight crown. Can Chunk, the 1,200-pound champ, win again?
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — After a summer spent packing away sockeye salmon, Alaska’s heftiest brown bears are ready to throw their weight around. Online voting began Tuesday for Fat Bear Week, the annual contest that pits the rotund residents of Katmai National Park and Preserve against each other for the title of most oversized ursine. Last year’s winner, Chunk — known officially as Bear 32 — is hungry for a repeat. The event this year features 16 bears facing off in a single-elimination, bracket-style tournament. All voting is done online at www.fatbearweek.org, with the winner declared Sept. 29.
A raccoon boot camp in Mississippi teaches abandoned kits survival skills
PASS CHRISTIAN, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi wildlife rescue gives abandoned and injured baby raccoons their best chance of survival through a program they call “raccoon boot camp.” Woodside Wildlife Rescue staff teach the kits by example. They mimic raccoon calls, hide worms in dirt to teach the youngsters to dig for food and break open pine cones and acorns to reveal the seeds inside to their charges. Rescuers take raccoons to a pond to learn to swim and provide live prey for hunting practice. When a group of kits is ready for release, the staff hosts a graduation ceremony, complete with Edward Elgar’s “Pomp and Circumstance Marches,” a roll call and a reverend's blessing.
Oxford English Dictionary adds several words long used in the Caribbean and Bermuda
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The Oxford English Dictionary has officially added over a dozen Caribbean words. "Bimpert," a Bermudian term for a foolish person, is included. "Hornerman," from Trinidad and Tobago, describes an unfaithful man. In the Caribbean, someone might "get on" to make a scene or "cut someone’s tail" to beat them. "Vex money" is emergency cash for women. Supernatural terms like "jablesse" and "douen" also made the list. Food words include "shadeesh" for chorizo and "sugar cake." "Trinbagonian" and "canboulay" reflect Trinidad and Tobago's culture. The dictionary has around 500,000 words and phrases.
