A pair of snowy owls spotted along a Lake Michigan beach has drawn curious crowds and sparked happy speculation about how long the Arctic birds of prey will call Chicago home.

Word of the two owls has circulated on birder forums in the nation's third-largest city for about a week, according to the Chicago Ornithological Society. While snowy owls aren't rare in Chicago, their frequency varies widely each winter. Generally, a handful are reported around December, but sometimes there aren't any.

The pollution from food is sneaky. Because the apple sitting on your kitchen counter isn't really causing any harm.

But chances are good that you didn't pick it from a tree in your backyard. It required land and water to grow, machines to harvest and process, packaging to ship, trucks to transport and often refrigerators to store. Much of that process releases planet-warming greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

Thousands of Cubans remain without power, water or proper shelter almost a month after Hurricane Melissa pummeled the island's eastern region as one of the strongest Atlantic storms in history.

By day, families walk toward the nearest river to fill plastic containers with water and by night, they squeeze together to sleep under temporary shelters and tents.

Sanae Takaichi made history by becoming Japan's first female prime minister in October. She must now decide whether she'll break another barrier: the taboo barring women from the sumo ring.

The winner of the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament that ends Sunday will be presented with the Prime Minister's Cup. Some of her male predecessors, including former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, have entered the ring to hand over the cup.

The top two teams in the Champions League standings meet Wednesday as Arsenal hosts Bayern Munich in a game between the leaders in the Premier League and Bundesliga.

Arsenal has yet to concede a goal in four straight wins in the eight-round opening phase but is still second behind Bayern on the tiebreaker of more goals scored, with both having the same goal difference.

Severe flooding in southern Thailand has caused at least 33 deaths since the weekend, officials said, as dramatic video footage showed people whose homes were virtually engulfed by water awaiting help on rooftops.

About 1 million households and more than 2.7 million people have been impacted by floods in 12 southern provinces triggered by heavy rains, the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation said Wednesday.

The Australian government said young children will be banned from social media next month as scheduled despite a rights advocacy group on Wednesday challenging the world-first legislation in court.

The Sydney-based Digital Freedom Project said it had filed a constitutional challenge in the High Court on Wednesday to a law due to take effect on Dec. 10 banning Australian children younger than 16 from holding accounts on specified platforms.

The soil surrounding the gas facility in Ukraine was once pitch-black before it was burned to a rusty red by a massive Russian drone and missile assault.

Scattered remnants of Shahed drones littered the reservoir designated for storing tanks of liquefied propane gas. Nearly a month after the Oct. 30 attack, several tanks lay empty and in ruins.

Following weeks of speculation and mixed signals, Britain's center-left government will deliver a budget Wednesday aimed at pleasing financial markets, businesses and jaded voters — an all-but-impossible task for an already unpopular administration.

In her second annual budget since the Labour Party returned to power after 14 years with a landslide election victory in July 2024, Treasury chief Rachel Reeves is set to tell lawmakers that more tax-raising measures are necessary to plug a hole in the public finances.

Kirill Dmitriev is not a professional diplomat. But the head of Russia's sovereign wealth fund has emerged as a key player in drafting a new proposal to end Moscow's war in Ukraine.

That is perhaps no surprise: A former investment banker, Dmitriev has increasingly served as a back-channel communicator between the Kremlin and allies of U.S. President Donald Trump, despite being on the U.S. sanctions list.