Air France flight diverted to Montreal amid U.S. Ebola travel restrictions

MONTREAL - U.S. Customs and Border Protection says an Air France flight bound for the United States was diverted to Montreal after a passenger from the Democratic Republic of Congo boarded "in error" amid flight restrictions tied to the Ebola outbreak in Africa.

A spokesperson for the U.S. agency said the passenger "should not have boarded" the plane because of entry restrictions put in place to reduce Ebola risk.

Online plane tracker FlightAware showed the plane was en route from Paris to Detroit when it landed at Trudeau International Airport on Wednesday. The U.S. border agency said it was taking "necessary measures" to protect public health in co-ordination with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A spokesperson for the Public Health Agency of Canada confirmed the plane was diverted to Montréal-Trudeau International Airport.

‘Pack your patience’: Fuel shortages keeping Canadians’ summer travel plans in flux

With airline tickets growing more expensive and customers facing the risk of cancelled flights, insurance experts are advising those with summer travel plans to stay on their toes.

Air carriers are continuing to grapple with sky-high jet fuel costs, an offshoot of Iran's ongoing closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which has led to soaring oil prices globally since late February.

Like their international peers, Canadian airlines have been consolidating some flights and adding fuel surcharges, leaving customers with pricier tickets and more uncertainty over whether they'll even take off.

But that situation is now considered a "known event" by most travel insurance companies, making it harder for customers to protect themselves from financial loss — not to mention disappointment — if their plans are derailed.

What to know about the Japanese-style scalp massages catching on in the US

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Getting a scalp or face massage is often a relaxing highlight of getting a haircut or a facial. Now, head spas are popping up across the country offering deep cranial and facial relaxation.

“Typically, when you go get a massage, the focus is always like your back, and I always wish there was more on my head, on my face especially, on my neck,” says Karena Kong, a frequent customer of Nen Head Spa in San Francisco. “When I saw that they give 90 minutes of just head, face, shoulder massage, I felt like it’s a great way to just focus on the areas that I love.”

What to expect from a head spa

Head spas originated in Japan, rooted in centuries-old practices that combine massage and herbal tinctures. Modern versions began gaining popularity in Japanese salons in the 1990s before spreading throughout Asia and now the U.S.

SpaceX tries to launch a bigger version of Starship but hits a series of last-minute problems

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — SpaceX got within a half-minute of launching its newest and biggest Starship on a test flight Thursday evening before a cascade of problems halted the countdown.

The 407-foot (124-meter) rocket was poised to begin a space-skimming journey from Texas extending halfway around the world. But issues cropped up with the brand-new pad at Starbase near the Mexican border, and the company ran out of time.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk later said the hydraulic pin holding the launch tower's arm in place did not retract. If the problem can be fixed quickly, another launch attempt will be made Friday, he noted.

Thursday's launch attempt came one day after Musk announced that his rocket company would be going public.

Artist JR, the ‘French Banksy’ creates a ‘cave’ installation over Paris’ oldest bridge

JR, a street artist known as the “French Banksy,” is inflating a giant artificial “cave” over a Paris bridge.

Former CFL standout Dequoy named to Canadian men’s flag football roster

OTTAWA - Marc-Antoine Dequoy isn't finished with football.

The Canadian safety retired Feb. 2 after five seasons with the CFL’s Montreal Alouettes. On Thursday, the 31-year-old was among 16 players named to the Canadian men's flag football roster following the team's selection camp earlier this month in Winnipeg.

Dequoy, a Grey Cup champion and twice a CFL all-star, and the 15 others will attend the national team's training camp in California in June. They'll compete for berths on the Canadian squad that will participate in the 2026 world championship event in August in Duesseldorf, Germany, and chase a berth in the '28 Los Angeles Games, where football will make its Olympic debut.

The top-two men's and women's teams in Germany will secure Olympic berths. If the United States reaches either final, the top-three squads will advance as the American teams have secured berths as host.

Her Sports Fest hopes to reconnect women to recreational sports and activity

TORONTO - More than a year ago, Sherry Lamb woke up from a dream with a fully formed idea for a multi-sport event where women of different ages and backgrounds could get together and try them all out.

She collaborated with longtime friend Carolyn Jeffs to develop and program Her Sports Fest, a three-day event that will open Friday evening at The Hangar Sport and Events Centre in Toronto's north end. Both Lamb and Jeffs hope it will help girls and women reconnect with or maintain their love of sports.

"I saw the event in my head. I could just see the whole thing, the entire event, and the idea wouldn't let me go," said Lamb. "So I called my friend Carolyn and said, 'What are we both passionate about?' and without missing a beat, she said, 'women's sports,' and I said, 'Well, I have a bit of an idea for you.'

"Since then, we've registered as a non-profit and, 15 months later, we're here, we're ready to go."

Colorful ‘Greetings from’ postcards reflected American innovation, idealism

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Greetings from Concord, New Hampshire.

Postcards emblazoned with “Greetings from” a state, city or tourist attraction advertise more than just the tiny scenes squeezed into 3D letters. They also reflect American innovation and idealism in both their production and popularity.

So-called large-letter postcards weren’t new when a German immigrant named Curt Teich began producing colorful linen-textured versions in the early 1930s, but he “was kind of a genius,” said Will Hansen, curator of Americana at the Newberry Library in Chicago, home to largest public collection of Teich postcards in the United States.

Just as Henry Ford revolutionized automobile production, Teich’s company perfected a system of mass producing large-letter postcards based on the idea that no town was too small to include.

Israeli security minister who taunted flotilla activists has a record of extreme actions

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s far-right national security minister has a long history as a provocateur. This week, Itamar Ben-Gvir sparked global outrage after promoting a video of himself taunting activists from a flotilla to Gaza who were detained by his police force.

Denied entry into the military as a teenager because of his extreme views, the 50-year-old Ben-Gvir nevertheless rose to become one of the most powerful people in the country after operating for decades within its far-right fringes.

His tactics drew a backlash this week, as foreign leaders — and even coalition partner Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — condemned his on-camera treatment of some 430 detainees from the Global Sumud Flotilla.

In one clip, Ben-Gvir is seen waving a large Israeli flag over hunched-over detainees whose hands appear to be bound. In another, he taunts a kneeling detainee whose wrists are zip-tied, yelling “Am Yisrael Chai” at him — Hebrew for “The nation of Israel lives.” In another, the detainees can be seen — foreheads to the floor of an outdoor pen — as the Israeli national anthem plays and armed guards encircle them.

Trump calls off AI executive order over concern it could weaken US tech edge

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump called off plans to sign a new executive order on artificial intelligence hours before an expected White House ceremony Thursday because he said he was worried the measure could dull America’s edge on AI technology.

Trump said he was postponing the Oval Office event with tech industry executives because he did not like what he saw in the order’s text. “We’re leading China, we’re leading everybody, and I don’t want to do anything that’s going to get in the way of that lead,” Trump told reporters.

The order would have established a framework for the government to vet the national security risks of the most advanced AI systems before their public release, according to a person familiar with the White House’s deliberations with the tech industry but not authorized to speak about them publicly. The directive was being characterized as a voluntary collaboration with participating U.S.-based tech companies, including Anthropic, OpenAI and Google, the person said.

The push for some kind of government action to review leading AI systems follows growing concern within the banking industry and other institutions about the leaps in AI’s abilities to find cybersecurity vulnerabilities in the world’s software.

Atlantic hurricane season forecast to be milder than normal thanks to El Nino

A developing El Nino that is forecast to get quite strong will likely dampen the upcoming Atlantic hurricane season, but it won't make the potentially deadly storms disappear, federal and outside meteorologists predict.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Thursday issued its seasonal outlook for the Atlantic, giving a 55% chance of a below-average season. The agency forecasts eight to 14 named storms, with three to six of them becoming strong enough to hit hurricane status and one to three of those intensifying to major hurricanes.

A normal hurricane season has 14 named storms, seven of them becoming hurricanes and three of them reaching major hurricane level, which is more than 110 mph (177 kph).

Eighteen other groups, private and academic, have also forecast what they think the season will be like and most of them also call for a below average summer and fall. Those other forecasts average a dozen named storms, only five becoming hurricanes and two of those being major ones. Those forecasts also call for the Accumulated Cyclone Energy index, which takes into account strength and duration of storms, to be 80% of normal.

Trump eases refrigerant rule in a bid to address surging grocery costs

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Thursday loosened federal rules requiring grocery stores and air-conditioning companies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cooling equipment, a step that President Donald Trump said would help lower grocery costs.

Trump said at a White House ceremony that the action by the Environmental Protection Agency would “substantially lower costs for consumers” by delaying costly restrictions that limit the type of refrigerants U.S. businesses and families can use.

The move to relax the Biden-era rules on harmful pollutants known as hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, emitted by refrigerators and other appliances was the latest attempt by the Republican administration before pivotal elections in November to try to address rising voter concerns over the cost of living.

It is not clear how much or how quickly grocery prices could be impacted. Industry groups said it could even raise prices because manufacturers have already redesigned products, retooled factories and trained workers to build and service next-generation refrigerant equipment.

Memorial Day: Higher fuel prices have some Americans scaling back their travel plans

As someone who is “not the best person with bugs and stuff,” Stephanie Bernaba never imagined herself becoming an outdoorsy mom.

But the mother of three is getting more daring as gas prices and other travel costs make vacations more expensive. Her family has traded pricier trips, such as long summer stays in Florida and an annual Disney World visit around her birthday, for local beaches, bike rides and hiking trails near their home in coastal Rhode Island.

“I’ve been trying to do more of that because one, it’s quality time. Two, it’s fresh air. And three, we’re not spending an arm and a leg,” Bernaba, 47, said.

That kind of calibration is shaping the summer travel season, which gets its traditional start in the U.S. with the long Memorial Day holiday weekend. Higher fuel prices resulting from the Iran war and other inflationary pressures are making most forms of travel costlier as people in many parts of the world form their plans.

A parody ‘cockroach’ party in India becomes major outlet for youth anger and protest

NEW DELHI (AP) — It began as a satirical online project. Now millions of young Indians are flocking to it as an outlet for their frustration.

A parody political party called the Cockroach Janta Party, with the insect as its symbol, has exploded across India’s social media by turning absurdist humor into protest. Memes and short videos mocking corruption, joblessness and political dysfunction have flooded social media sites, where millions of users are embracing the cockroach — known for its ability to survive harsh conditions — as a tongue-in-cheek symbol of endurance.

The online movement’s rise has been unusually rapid. The Cockroach Janta Party, or CJP, set up its website and social media accounts on Saturday. By Thursday, its Instagram page had amassed more than 15 million followers, far surpassing the 8.8 million followers of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s governing Bharatiya Janata Party on the platform.

“Nothing of this was intentional,” CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke told The Associated Press, saying the movement’s rise reflected mounting frustration among young Indians.