The Oscars are usually blessed with standard Southern California weather: sunshine and blue skies.

That could be the case again this year, but not until the first major storm to hit Los Angeles this winter gives the area a major dousing.

To the world, she's a humanitarian, superstar actress and half of Hollywood's most glamorous couple.

But to the workers who met Angelina Jolie on Thursday at Oscar rehearsals, she was just "Angie."

Actor Liam Neeson says he's upset at New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio for wanting to shut down the city's horse-drawn carriage industry.

Neeson complained during an appearance on "The Daily Show" this week that critics have put out false information about how the horses are treated. He says drivers treat the horses like their own children.

Japan's recovery is holding steady ahead of a looming sales tax hike, economic indicators showed Friday, though weakness in wages and spending suggest it remains vulnerable to a reversal.

The consumer price index rose 1.3 percent in January and factory production also climbed.

Pungent smoke filled the room, obscuring the lights and leaving clothing and skin reeking. There was applause, shouts and laughter, and above all plenty of H. Upmann Sir Winstons — formidable 7-inch (17.8-centimeter) Cuban cigars.

More than 450 stogie aficionados took part in an unusual contest Thursday at Havana's annual marquee Cigar Festival: competing to see who could create the longest unbroken ash.

The Maronite Catholic Church in the United States has ordained a married Lebanese priest for the first time in nearly a century, after Pope Francis gave his permission.

A ceremony at the ornate St. Raymond's Maronite Cathedral in St. Louis ordained Deacon Wissam Akiki on Thursday night.

Expect sharper, clearer selfies this year.

Samsung Electronics Co. has beefed up the camera in its Galaxy S5 smartphone due for April release and added smarter camera software, following Sony and Nokia in their upgrades of handset cameras. The tweaks mean smartphone photos, ubiquitous nowadays because of social media such as Facebook and Twitter, will be closer in quality to images captured by digital single-lens reflex cameras, also known as DSLR.

Scientists investigating a graveyard of marine mammal fossils near Chile's northern coast say toxins generated by algae blooms most likely poisoned the animals millions of years ago.

The study by a team of Chilean and Smithsonian Institution scientists was published Wednesday in the British journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

A DNA test of a pregnant woman's blood is more accurate than current methods of screening for Down syndrome and other common disorders, new research finds. If other studies bear this out, it could transform prenatal care by giving a more reliable, non-invasive way to detect these problems very early in pregnancy.

That would let couples decide sooner whether to have an abortion or to prepare for a major medical problem. It also might cut down on the more invasive tests like amniocentesis to diagnose or rule out problems with a fetus.

The first full day of Paris' frenzied ready-to-wear shows mixed up iconic fashion veterans like Dries Van Noten with a whole new sort of fashion player: H&M.

It may be a tricky ride ahead for the main street shop, which is now attempting to walk the snooty high fashion runway.