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Move over, Santa. Now there’s another magical character for kids to track: the Tooth Fairy. After making a personalized Tooth Fairy video for his nephew, Oliver Finel noticed a gap. While there are plenty of Santa trackers, nothing similar existed for the Tooth Fairy. Recognizing that Generation Alpha is growing up with interactive online experiences at their fingertips, he set out to create a new kind of adventure that families everywhere could enjoy. Tooth Fairy Tracker features Kiki the Tooth Fairy as its central character. When a child loses a tooth, parents can visit the website and enter their email…

LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — Before setting out for the wide, white mountain, Ana Lia González Maguiña took stock of her gear: A chunky sweater to guard against the chill. A harness and climbing rope to scale the 6,000-meter summit of one of Bolivia’s tallest mountains. Aviator glasses to protect from the bright highland sun.And most crucially, a voluminous, hot-pink skirt.The bell skirt with layered petticoats — known as the “pollera” (pronounced po-YEH-rah) — is the traditional dress of Indigenous women in Bolivia’s highlands. Imposed centuries ago by Spanish colonizers, the old-fashioned pollera has long since been restyled with local,…

U.S. consumers showed resilience this holiday season, driving retail spending up 4.2% year over year, according to preliminary data released Tuesday by Visa.The report from Visa Consulting and Analytics indicated that despite lingering economic headwinds, shoppers were still spending, particularly on technology and personal goods. The findings tracked payments activity over a seven-week period beginning Nov. 1 using a subset of Visa payments network data in the U.S. and cover core retail categories, excluding spending on automotive, gasoline and restaurants. The figures are also not adjusted for inflation.In-store shopping accounted for the bulk of holiday spending, capturing 73% of total…

Frederic J. Brown | Afp | Getty ImagesDETROIT – The U.S. automotive industry has entered a new phase for all-electric vehicles: realism. The industry was euphoric about the EV segment in the early 2020s, but consumer demand never took off as much as expected and, as it fizzled, automakers monitored and planned how to react. Now, they’re pivoting, as companies have wasted billions of dollars in capital, Detroit automakers are refocusing on large gas-guzzling trucks and SUVs, and many have admitted that policies, not consumers, were driving the charge for EVs.”We have to make the investments to get to ……

by Sarah Kuta Last updated: 10:55 AM ET, Mon December 22, 2025 Trafalgar is getting into the holiday spirit with new Christmas market itineraries in 2026 and 2027.Trafalgar, which specializes in guided land tours, is launching its first European river cruise itineraries in the spring of 2026. Now, the company is unveiling its line-up of holiday voyages on the Rhine and Danube rivers. Trafalgar will have the 128-passenger Trafalgar Verity and the 128-passenger Trafalgar Reverie offering holiday river cruises starting November 25, 2026. Trafalgar Verity will sail on the Rhine in 2026 and 2027, cruising between Basel and Düsseldorf, while…

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — A Croatia man was sentenced Tuesday to 50 years in prison for fatally stabbing a 7-year-old student in an attack at a school that shocked the European Union country where such violence is rare.The attack on Dec. 20, 2024, at the Precko Elementary School in Zagreb also wounded three students and a teacher. The 20-year-old attacker, who was identified only by his intials L.M., was 19 when he walked into his former school wielding a knife and stabbed the children and the teacher. He later tried to kill himself. Police last year said the man had…

No doubt you’ve seen your share of hollies this month — in wreaths and boughs or perhaps on holiday cards and catalog covers. But are they growing in your garden?There are hundreds of holly species and hybrids hailing from China, Japan, South America, Europe and North Africa, and more than a dozen are native to the continental U.S.Lore holds that ancient pagans fashioned the evergreen’s branches into wearable crowns and believed that displaying it indoors would repel evil spirits and hasten the return of spring. Later, hollies were adapted by early Christians, their evergreen nature symbolic of eternal life.Although the…

The oldest baby boomers — once the vanguard of an American youth that revolutionized U.S. culture and politics — turn 80 in 2026.The generation that twirled the first plastic hula hoops and dressed up the first Barbie dolls, embraced the TV age, blissed out at Woodstock and protested the Vietnam War — the cohort that didn’t trust anyone over age 30 — now is contributing to the overall aging of America. Boomers becoming octogenarians in 2026 include actor Henry Winkler and baseball Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson, singers Cher and Dolly Parton and presidents Donald Trump, George W. Bush and…

VACAVILLE, Calif. (AP) — Kamiali Abdulsalam, Kami for short, has already been in the kitchen for several hours baking a batch of 100 sugar cookies when he pulls out chilled dough for another round — which will be cut into the shapes of snowflakes, trees and holiday presents to later be topped with red and green sprinkles. Mere feet away across the small countertop at the restaurant inside California State Prison Solano is Michael Wilson, a skilled left-hander who finely chops onions for pico de gallo. He was recently promoted from dishwashing duties to a creative role that involves perfecting…

OK boomers: The oldest of you are turning 80 in 2026, the vanguard of a “rock n’ roll” and “TV age” generation that left an imprint on popular culture like no other. During the 18 years of the “baby boom” from 1946 to 1964, around 76 million Americans were born. The spike in births was magnified by couples reuniting after World War Two and the postwar prosperity that followed. Better educated and wealthier than previous generations, boomers made popular culture more inclusive and helped grow a consumer-driven economy.Here are 20 questions to see how well you know — or remember…