Top dog: Labrador retriever continues dominance as Canada’s most popular breed

The Labrador retriever continues to be top dog in Canada.

The Canadian Kennel Club has released its list of the 10 most popular purebred dog breeds in Canada for 2025, and it says the Labrador retains the top spot.

The breed, known for its friendliness and intelligence, has topped the list for 32 straight years.

Nipping at its heels are the golden retriever in second place and the German shepherd in third.

Louisiana’s alligator farms raise the reptiles for meat, skins – and conservation

ABBEVILLE, La. (AP) — Jacob Sagrera unrolls an alligator skin and lays it flat on a metal table, brushing off flecks of salt. He holds it up to the light, looking for blemishes, and gives it a score. That score will help a tannery an ocean away prepare it to be used by a luxury designer — for items like boots, watch bands and handbags destined for fashion runways and posh shops.

Then he adds it to a pile of hides, each with a yellow tracking tag that allows authorities to enforce legal trade.

Advocates say commercial alligator farming has helped preserve a species often seen as scary, bothersome or good only for their skins. Not all conservationists think that's a good thing, but for the farmers and luxury brands seeking to market their products as sustainable, it's made sense to tie conservation to capitalism.

Some of the scientists who study them agree.

Iran war pushes countries into energy triage as they conserve power and curb soaring prices

BANGKOK (AP) — The escalating war with Iran is pushing parts of the world into energy triage, forcing governments to choose where to cut demand or absorb costs, while prioritizing dwindling supplies.

Asia is the most exposed since it relies heavily on imported fuel, much of it shipped through the now-blocked Strait of Hormuz. The narrow passage offshore from Iran is the main route for shipping a fifth of global trade in crude oil and liquified natural gas.

Governments in the region are scrambling to adjust — tallying oil reserves, conserving energy, competing for supplies and trying to blunt prices. That brings difficult trade-offs: saving power may slow business activity. Prioritizing cooking gas for households can hurt restaurants and other businesses.

“Even relatively modest constraints on energy use can create a drag on industrial activity,” said Linh Nguyen, with the consultancy Control Risks. She pointed to Vietnam’s energy-intensive export industries and warned that higher fuel costs or conservation measures could quickly raise production costs or slow factory output.

Japan’s cherry blossom season begins with first flowering confirmed in 3 cities

TOKYO (AP) — Cherry blossom spotters from the Japanese government announced Monday the first blooming of the country’s favorite flower in three cities, marking the official start of the season.

Japan Meteorological Agency officials examined the benchmark tree of the Somei Yoshino variety in three locations — Kochi in the southwest, and Gifu and Yamanashi in central Japan — declaring they found more than five flowers on each tree, the minimum required for the announcement.

The tree in Kochi blossomed first, for the third year in a row, six days earlier than the average year, the JMA said. Those in Gifu and Yamanashi were nine days earlier than the average.

Shinobu Imoto from Kochi Meteorological Agency told TBS television that low rainfall during the winter and longer hours of sunshine might have helped the early blooming.

Thousands in the Maritimes without power amid strong winds and heavy rain

HALIFAX - Thousands of people across the Maritimes were without power this morning as strong winds and heavy rain buffeted the region. 

Nova Scotia's electrical utility said there were almost 23,000 customers without power as of 10:30 a.m., most of them in the Halifax area. 

There were more than 8,000 without power in New Brunswick, mostly in the Saint John and Fredericton areas. 

Maritime Electric says there were about 1,000 customers in the dark in Prince Edward Island. 

Oldest known whale recording could unlock mysteries of the ocean

A haunting whale song discovered on decades-old audio equipment could open up a new understanding of how the huge animals communicate, according to researchers who say it’s the oldest such recording known.

Deer chased, ran over by truck in southeast Saskatchewan: conservation group

MARYFIELD - A non-profit group in Saskatchewan that works with conservation officers wants to find suspects it says had allegedly used a truck to chase down and kill deer.

SaskTip says witnesses saw a truck deliberately run over the animals this week on the outskirts of Maryfield, 250 kilometres southeast of Regina near the Manitoba boundary.

The organization says conservation officers found the remains of three white-tailed deer, including two fawns.

It says it believes one truck was actively pursuing the animals while the other was sitting idle.

Wisconsin Senate passes $133 million package to combat ‘forever chemicals,’ sends bills to governor

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Legislature sent a $133 million plan to combat contamination from so-called forever chemicals to Gov. Tony Evers for his approval Tuesday, promising an end to years of squabbling between the Democratic governor and Republican lawmakers over the issue.

Evers said immediately after the Senate approved the bills Tuesday afternoon that he would sign them into law. The rare bipartisan compromise offers at least some hope for the scores of Wisconsin villages, towns and cities grappling with PFAS pollution in their groundwater.

“Beautiful. This has been a long time coming,” Campbell Town Supervisor Lee Donahue said of the Senate votes. Residents of the town of 4,300 have been drinking bottled water since state health officials warned them in 2021 that more than 500 wells were contaminated. Donahue said state dollars would help the town transition from private wells to a municipal water system treated for PFAS.

“This is definitely a day for celebration,” she said.

See how mezcal is made in Mexico

SANTA MARIA ZOQUITLAN, Mexico (AP) — Mexico’s agave spirit mezcal is still produced much as it has been for generations. The work is slow and physical, guided by knowledge passed down within Indigenous families.

In many villages in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, the country’s largest mezcal producer, the spirit has long been used as a home remedy and offered as a gesture of hospitality. It is at every wedding, funeral and community celebration. It remains not only a drink, but part of daily life.

Here is how it’s made:

Harvesting agave

Are 105-degree days coming to the Cactus League? Spring training could turn to summer in Arizona

PHOENIX (AP) — A day of fun in the sun for a Major League Baseball spring training game in the Cactus League looks like it's about to get toasty — even by Arizona standards.

Record-setting heat is forecast over the next 10 days in central Arizona with temperatures that could rise into the 90s by the end of this week and top 105 degrees Fahrenheit (40.6 degrees Celsius) late next week.

National Weather Service meteorologist Katherine Berislavich in Phoenix said Wednesday that the current forecast shows a roughly 55% chance the temperature will top 105 by next Wednesday, March 18. That chance improves to 70% on March 19 and 85% on March 20.

Fifteen of MLB's 30 teams play their exhibition games in the Phoenix area. MLB does not schedule spring training games, leaving the calendar up to individual teams. Theoretically, teams could move day games to the night if they wanted.

Trump administration sues California over the state’s nation-leading vehicle-emission rules

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The Trump administration ramped up a battle with California over the state's nation-leading vehicle-emission standards Thursday, suing air regulators over rules aimed at curbing pollution from cars.

President Donald Trump has long fought California's efforts to curb tailpipe emissions and spur electric vehicle adoption, and last summer he blocked the state's first-in-the-nation ban on the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035. He's also routinely criticized California's highest-in-the-nation gas prices, which are largely due to taxes and environmental regulations.

Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office blasted the lawsuit, noting it comes as gas prices climb amid the Iran war and as some drivers consider going electric.

“Gas prices are soaring nationwide because of Trump’s reckless choices, and now he’s attacking the Golden State for trying to give Californians more freedom and cheaper options,” Newsom spokesperson Anthony Martinez said in a statement.

Raucous bird tornado touches down as snow geese make annual flight to Arctic

KLEINFELTERSVILLE, Pa. (AP) — A few dozen birdwatchers gathered in the predawn darkness to wait for the moment when thousands of migrating snow geese stopped honking and preening to suddenly take flight from a Pennsylvania reservoir.

The mesmerizing display, about an hour after sunrise, was over almost as soon as it began. The birds circled a few times and then headed out to neighboring farm fields, seeking unharvested grains and other sustenance on their epic annual spring flight northward into New York state and Quebec.

The Pennsylvania reservoir was built a half-century ago to attract waterfowl, and over the years the gaggle has grown. Pennsylvania Game Commission environmental education specialist Payton Miller described it as a raucous bird tornado that lifts off the water.

“All it takes is for me to come out here on a really nice morning where there’s a huge morning flight and I’m kind of reminded how awesome it is to see such a large number of such a beautiful bird,” Miller said. “I never get sick of it.”

Quebec’s Abitibi region buried by March storm estimated to bring up to 50 cm of snow

MONTREAL - A March storm forecast to bring up to 50 centimetres of snow and freezing rain to Quebec's Abitibi-Témiscamingue region closed schools and suspended municipal services on Monday.

The city of Rouyn-Noranda, about 500 kilometres northwest of Montreal, said its offices were closed, garbage pickup was suspended and buses weren't running because of the heavy snow.

About 100 km east, Val d'Or, Que., closed several municipal buildings, while schools and businesses across the area also shut for the day. The regional health authority said some home visits could be postponed and people who couldn't make it to medical appointments wouldn't be treated as no-shows.  

Lebel-sur-Quévillon, 120 kilometres northeast of Val d'Or, closed its local airport after receiving nearly 45 cm of snow by mid-afternoon, Mayor Guy Lafrenière said in a phone interview.

Snow and wind batter parts of US, with threat of thunderstorms and tornadoes starting later Sunday

CHICAGO (AP) — A broad and erratic patchwork of severe weather rumbled across much of the U.S. on Sunday, dumping heavy snow and making roads impassable in the Upper Midwest while damaging high winds swept across the Plains.

Hawaii continued to be affected by severe flooding.

And portions of the mid-South readied for late-day thunderstorms.

Forecasters said the storms would spread eastward by Monday, with mid-Atlantic states and Washington, D.C., at greatest risk for high winds and tornadoes.

Strong winds leave thousands without power in Central Canada, Maritimes

MONTREAL -  

Strong winds put electrical grids to the test across Central Canada and the Maritimes on Tuesday, with Quebec particularly hard hit by the massive gusts.

At their peak, the outages affected more than 310,000 customers in Quebec, as Environment Canada forecast winds as strong as 90 kilometres an hour in parts of the province. The most outages were in the Laurentians, Lanaudière and Montérégie regions.

That figure stood at just over 190,000 by 3:30 p.m., before dropping to about 60,000 in the evening.