HOLIDAYS WEEKENDS

“They like to cuddle and even sleep together,” a North Carolina caretaker says of a recently rescued emu and donkey. “We can’t separate them.”

The White House accused Acosta of “putting his hands” on an aide during a press conference in which he repeatedly challenged the president.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Archbishop Ieronymos jointly announced the agreement, which is aimed at separating religion and state. But it is drawing resistance from other Church leaders.

The chief of staff to former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Whitaker is a former U.S. attorney with a history of questioning the scope of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.

The former police chief is among 14 people swept up in a raid and accused of buying infants of poor women. His partner, a well-known model in Peru, is considered the ringleader.

The girls’ leadership development organization is accusing the Boy Scouts of trademark infringement, after it started admitting girls as well as boys.

Guam’s archdiocese is facing claims from nearly 200 alleged survivors. “Bankruptcy is the method to deliver the greatest measure of justice to the greatest number of victims,” said a Church lawyer.

The students were released at another school 12 miles away. A principal and teacher reportedly remain captive. Tensions in Cameroon have heightened as an Anglophone separatist movement has taken root.

Colorado voters have approved an amendment to their state’s constitution that completely abolishes slavery — by stripping away language that still exists in the U.S. Constitution’s 13th Amendment.

In mice genetically programmed to develop Alzheimer’s symptoms, those given a synthetic version of a chemical in marijuana retained normal memory function.

The speaker of the House from 2007 to 2011 is eyeing a return to that post despite calls from many in her party for fresh leadership. Wednesday, both she and the president spoke of working together.

Hundreds of lesbian, gay, transgender, bisexual and queer candidates made the ballot Tuesday. And by Election Day’s end, several of them had also made U.S. history.

Voters in Idaho, Utah and Nebraska approved ballot initiatives to expand Medicaid, overcoming roadblocks that had kept an estimated 300,000 people from obtaining coverage.

There are now 33 states that have legalized marijuana to some degree, and recreational pot use is now legal in 10 states, along with Washington, D.C.

It was a night with bragging rights and disappointments — a midterm election in which both parties took some lumps, but could also take some satisfaction. Rancor and wrangling are likely from now on.

A record-breaking year of female candidates and nominees will culminate in a record-breaking number of female legislators on Capitol Hill next year.

Christopher Watts, 33, had gone on television in August to call for the safe return of his wife and children. But the bodies of the three were later discovered dumped in an oil field.

The biggest story of the night is that Democrats took back the House. That will stop President Trump’s agenda in its tracks unless he compromises with the other side.

Politically conservative Catholics criticize Francis for being pro-migrant, anti-capitalist and less rigid in doctrine than predecessors. The cleric sex abuse scandals have emboldened these critics.

The Pentagon wants university researchers to find ways to protect crops in the field using infectious viruses carried by insects. Critics think it looks like bioweapons research.

Democrats made modest inroads on the GOP’s commanding lead in governors’ offices around the country. But did not fare well in marquee races in Florida and Georgia.

The state approved a key ballot initiative that will restore voting rights to citizens who have served sentences for certain crimes.

Lawmakers in at least three states will have less power to draw political boundaries, while automatic and same-day voter registration is coming in other places. New voter ID laws also got approved.

The next Congress will include the first Muslim women, the first Native American women, and the youngest woman ever elected to that body.

Democrats had a big victory — retaking the majority of the House for the first time since 2011. Senate Republicans expanded their Senate majority, with President Trump helping in key red states.

Despite raising more than $60 million and garnering national attention, O’Rourke was unable to overcome the GOP’s hold on the state.

The Republican clerk’s refusal to issue marriage certificates to same-sex couples made her a flashpoint for controversy in 2015. Now, Davis has lost to her Democratic opponent.

Placing stickers on the suffragist’s gravestone has become a kind of pilgrimage for voters in Rochester, N.Y. With a record number of women running, the tribute has special significance this year.

Italy joins other western countries seeking to help the woman at the center of a simmering dispute between the government and hard-line religious groups.

You may be looking at early exit polls to see how the political winds are blowing. But exit polls are not very helpful in gauging turnout. And because so many people vote early, they are incomplete.