Oddities

A bear is spotted in Connecticut playing on family’s backyard slide

A Connecticut family got a chance to see a bear have some fun on their backyard playset. Sarah Loving saw two bears in her backyard in Simsbury after returning home from lunch with her family on a recent Saturday.

Mark Allen during his match with Chris Wakelin on day seven of the Halo World Snooker Championship at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, England, Friday, April 25, 2025. (Mike Egerton/PA via AP)

Mark Allen compiles rare 147 break at snooker worlds and earns lucky fan $33,000

Dirt and dust originating 2,000 miles away in the desert Southwest, is seen on the windshield of a car in Portland, Maine, after being carried by wind and mixing with rain Saturday, April 19, 2025. (Mike Hartford/WGME-TV via AP)

April showers bring ‘dirty rain’ to New England after storm absorbs desert dust 2,000 miles away

Women's race competitors, including Jodie Ounsley, center, who plays Fury in the British TV show "Gladiators," run with a 20kg sack of coal over a 1.1km course during the World Coal Carrying Championships in Ossett, West Yorkshire, England, Monday, April 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Photos: Contestants haul heavy sacks of coal in unusual Yorkshire tradition

Los Angeles Kings left wing Kevin Fiala celebrates his goal during the third period in Game 1 of an NHL hockey first-round playoff series against the Edmonton Oilers, Monday, April 21, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Kings serenaded by another national anthem by harmonica chorus from Koreatown senior citizen center

Army suspends Wisconsin training base’s first female commander after Trump portrait flipped to wall

The Sky Project Ultra robot also known as Tien Kung Ultra crosses the finish line to win the Humanoid Robot Half-Marathon held in Beijing on Saturday, April 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Humanoid robots run a Chinese half-marathon alongside flesh-and-blood competitors

Sweets from the sky! A helicopter marshmallow drop thrills kids in suburban Detroit

Young men don a powdery paste called din sor pong believed to bring blessings and protection as they take part in the Songkran water festival marking the Thai New Year in the Prachinburi province of central Thailand, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)

The top photos of the week by AP’s photojournalists

This image provided by the St. Louis Blues via NHL shows Jobu, the doll from the 1989 movie “Major League,” in the locker of the NHL hockey club St. Louis Blues. (Courtesy St. Louis Blues/NHL via AP)

Meet Jobu, the good luck charm behind the St. Louis Blues’ late-season run to the playoffs

Customers watch as a robot arrives with their food at Dona Alicia restaurant in Havana, Wednesday, April 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

A restaurant in Havana defies Cuba’s tech struggles with digital menus and a robot waitress

FILE – Clouds hang over the North Sentinel Island, in India's southeastern Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Nov. 14, 2005. (AP Photo/Gautam Singh, File)

US YouTuber remains in custody in India after visiting restricted island with a Diet Coke can

A ‘fireball’ lights up Mexico City skies, sparking awe and plenty of memes

Dr. Robert Montgomery, director of NYU Langone's transplant institute, prepares a pig kidney for transplant into a brain-dead man in New York, July 14, 2023. (AP Photo/Shelby Lum, File)

Behind the story of the decades-long journey of xenotransplantation

In this photo provided by Burrill Strong, supporters of Serendipity Books pass the store's books hand to hand, helping move the business to a new storefront about a block away from its current location, Sunday, April 13, 2025, in Chelsea, Mich. (Burrill Strong via AP)

See how a Michigan town moved 9,100 books one by one to their new home

Spanish police arrest two people linked to cat smuggling ring based in Mallorca

This image taken from video released by the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance shows a herd of elephants forming a circle to shield the two calves, Zuli and Mkhaya, during an earthquake Monday, April 14, 2025, at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in Escondido, Calif. (San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance via AP)

Elephants at San Diego safari park huddle to protect calves during earthquake

Tiffany Emanuel holds her pet tortoise, Myrtle, in Kokomo, Miss., on Thursday, April 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Sophie Bates)

A beloved pet tortoise is reunited with its family weeks after disappearing in a Mississippi tornado

The Cologne cathedral is illuminated in Cologne, Germany, Monday, Jan. 5, 2015. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)

Police detain 6 climbers who wanted to scale Cologne’s famous cathedral

A capybara gets scratches from visitors at the Capybara Cafe in St. Augustine, Fla., March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mike Schneider)

Giant rodents cuddle with visitors at the Capybara Cafe in Florida

This image from video shows an exterior view of the Monash IVF clinic in Brisbane, Australia, Friday, April 11, 2025. (AuBC, CHANNEL 9 via AP)

Australian woman unknowingly gives birth to a stranger’s baby after IVF clinic error

Foster mom is charged with abuse as authorities investigate whether a girl was traded for a monkey

Man loses legal bid to cash in $59,500 in chips from now-defunct New Jersey casino

Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson, delivers a speech at a Conservative Party campaign event at the National Army Museum in London., Tuesday, July 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Thomas Krych,File)

Boris Johnson gets a surprise peck from an ostrich in Texas

An illustration of a Teotihuacan-style altar that was recently discovered in the Mayan site of Tikal is displayed on a screen as Guatemalan archaeologist Lorena Paiz, right, speaks during a press conference at the National Palace in Guatemala City, Monday, April 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

Altar found in Guatemalan jungle evidence of mingling of Mayan and Teotihuacan cultures, experts say

Galapagos tortoises at Philadelphia Zoo become first-time parents at nearly 100

Jared Smith speaks about torpedo baseball bats during an interview at Victus Sports in King of Prussia, Pa., Wednesday, April 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Demand for viral ‘torpedo’ baseball bats has sent a Pennsylvania factory into overdrive

Elias stands briefly on the checkout counter at Stars Deli in the Williamsburg section of the Brooklyn borough of New York, Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Bodega cats make New Yorkers’ hearts purr, even if they violate state regulations

Atlanta Hawks' Trae Young shoots during the 3-point contest at the NBA basketball All-Star weekend, Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, FILE)

Hardwood is basketball’s longtime foundation. A German company would love to change that to glass

This photo provided by Chrissy Lovitt shows Macy, a golden retriever dog, whale-watching off Lahaina, Hawaii on Saturday, March 29, 2025. (Chrissy Lovitt via AP)

Dog of captain who lost boats in Lahaina wildfire barks with delight during whale encounter

Escaped otter is home safe but zoo says her pal is still on the loose

Actor Naomi Watts poses for a portrait with her Great Dane co-star Bing, to promote the film "The Friend" on Monday, March 24, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Taylor Jewell/Invision/AP)

‘The Friend': When the star of the movie is a very good boy

First lady Jill Biden waves as she boards a plane before departing from Meadows Field Airport in Bakersfield, Calif., April 1, 2021. (Mandel Ngan/Pool via AP, File)

April Fools’ Day celebrated with pranks and hoaxes worldwide

First disappointment and then a celebration as video captures high school band’s big surprise

A look inside the Tampa Bay Rays’ 120-hour makeover of the Yankees’ Steinbrenner Field