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story from AP, so, not risking an excerpt.

A kinder, gentler car has debuted in Palo Alto. Tesla Motors has made vegan interiors (seats, steering wheels and gear shifts) an option on its new, falcon-winged electric Model X SUV thanks to the urging of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, a company shareholder. "By offering a 100 percent leather-free car, Tesla is pushing its eco-friendly business even further into the future," PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman said in a statement. "PETA can now point to Tesla as a source for top-quality vehicles whose cruelty-free seats are as kind to the environment as its engines are." New...

Parts of the UK were covered in snow today after the coldest night of the year so far saw several weather warnings issued. People in Birmingham and the Midlands found their cars and streets dusted in 3-6cm of the white stuff, while it also fell across central Scotland, northern England, Yorkshire and Humberside. Experts are predicting the chilly weather to continue with temperatures plummeting to -15C this weekend, with more sleet and snow expected in East Anglia.

Aerial flood maps of Britain are revealing more than just at-risk regions - they have also led to the discovery of several Roman roads. Amateur archaeologists have been able to use the flood-mapping technology to trace the paths of Roman roads which have remained buried under the land for some 1,600 years. The aerial flood maps were created by aircraft equipped with laser scanners which measure the distance between the aircraft and the ground. Using light detection and ranging (Lidar) technology, the Environment Agency was able to detect the areas of Britain which are most at risk of flooding. The...

Boeing and ANA (All Nippon Airways) have celebrated ANA becoming the first airline to reach its 100,000th revenue flight with the 787 Dreamliner, during a gate ceremony at Sea-Tac International Airport, Seattle, US. "The 787 Dreamliner has played an important role especially in forming the backbone of our international fleet," said Osamu Shinobe, President and CEO, ANA. "Reaching the 100,000th revenue flight milestone with the 787 Dreamliner is a significant milestone for ANA. As the largest customer of the 787, we look to forward to introducing the entire family of Dreamliners into our fleet as we aim to celebrate another...

A 70-year-old citizen of Taif got the surprise of his life when his two wives egged him on to get married a third time, and that too to a younger woman. They not only made the suggestion but also offered help in the form of arranging the marriage. Awad bin Aouaimer Al-Thouaibi told local media that he could not believe his ears when his wives came up with the idea. “First I thought they were pulling a fast one on me. However, they looked serious about it and said they want to do that out of love and respect for...

I am planning on participating in the Walk for Life and it has been many years since I been in DC. Any suggestions on the best travel rout from central VA? Do the sell tickets at the station?

The image, created by Walt Disney Imagineering and posted to the Disney Parks blog, was provided the same day that multiple attractions at the popular Anaheim theme park were closed in preparation of the expansion project. In the design, the riverbank featured and elevated trestle on which the railroad will travel upon after its refurbishment, the blog post stated. Disneyland has not provided an opening date for "Star Wars" land. Starting Monday, the Mark Twain Riverboat, Sailing Ship Columbia, Pirate’s Lair on Tom Sawyer Island, Davy Crocket Explorer Canoes and Fantastmic! - all along the Rivers of America - were...

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- Police are investigating a fatal shooting that happened on a BART train near the West Oakland station at 1451 Seventh Street in Oakland. The West Oakland station is closed and emergency responders are on scene, officials said. Witnesses say a passenger was killed by another rider as the San Francisco-bound BART Train pulled into the West Oakland Station. Witnesses say they noticed a disheveled looking man get on the BART train at Rockridge or MacArthur station.

In Saudi Arabia there are no specific statutes or laws to govern by. The sole constitution that is used is the Quran, which all judges have to interpret conservatively. Many actions that are considered illegal have no actual written laws to ban them – a lot of them are not even addressed in the Quran. Some of these bans also occur in other countries, but this list is specifically about Saudi Arabia since I was born there and I grew up (along with millions of others) shackled by these laws. The general rule in regards to the legality of something...

This video was filmed in 2012 after the tugboat Miss Stacy became pinned broadside against a construction barge at the Memorial Bridge in Portsmouth, N.H.. According to onlookers, the Miss Stacey was pinned for about 20 minutes before the larger tug Eugene Moran arrived and was able pull it to safety.

It was an event as audacious as its founder, Brock Yates, the Car and Driver editor known for speaking his mind regardless of the consequences. Five times in the 1970s, the Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash traversed the United States from New York City (or Darien, Connecticut) to Redondo Beach, California, with the sole rule being “get from start to finish in as little time as possible.” The slap-in-the-face to highway decorum spurred a successful 1981 comedy based on the 1979 running (and partially rooted in truth), but now a German writer and 1979 Cannonball Run participant, Gero Hoschek,...

That’s what you might call a restricted view. Police in Massachusetts were shocked when they spotted this car on the road in Wellesley. They quickly pulled the driver over Wednesday to point out they may need to clear their windshield of snow. And when they shared the picture on Twitter, neighboring force Burlington Police asked if perhaps the driver was wearing glasses with x-ray vision. “That is very…special. Were they driving with these?” they replied on the social media site. Police departments in the area have been warning drivers to clear windshields and roofs of snow and ice before hitting...

Canadian singer Justin Bieber asked to leave ancient Mayan city of Tulum after trying to climb an off-limits ruin Canadian pop sensation Justin Bieber was expelled from an archaeological site in Mexico after trying to clamber up some of its ruins. Bieber, 21, was on holiday in the Yucatan Peninsula, which overlooks the Caribbean, where he visited the ancient Mayan city of Tulum on Thursday afternoon.

Precolombian seafarers left what is now mainland Panama to settle on Pedro Gonzalez Island in the Perlas archipelago about 6,000 years ago, crossing 50-70 kilometers (31-44 miles) of choppy seas -- probably in dugout canoes. Dolphins were an important part of the diet of island residents according to Smithsonian archeologist Richard Cooke and colleagues from the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA and Colombia's Universidad del Norte... According to the results of recent excavations, published in Journal of Archaeological Science Reports, 8 percent of the mammal specimens -- bones and teeth -- recovered from a prehistoric scrap heap, or midden,...

When the Black Death swept through Europe in 1347, it was one of the deadliest disease outbreaks in human history, eventually killing between a third and half of Europeans. Prior work by investigators has traced the cause to plague-carrying fleas borne by rats that jumped ship in trading ports. In addition, historical researchers believe that famine in northern Europe before the plague came ashore may have weakened the population there and set the stage for its devastation. Now, new research using a unique combination of ice-core data and written historical records indicates that the cool, wet weather blamed for the...

Bronze ore smelting workshops, burial grounds, clay homes, stone tools and anvils are among the items unearthed last year in archaeological digs. Several excavations at sites across Sharjah, including in Mleiha, Al Faya, Wadi Al Hilo, Tell Abraq and Dibba Al Hisn, revealed a wealth of discoveries dating from half a million years ago. In Mleiha, in the central region of the emirate, a Belgian team from Ghent University found remains of homes made of clay containing pottery, as well as burial grounds... Carbon testing showed the finds dated back between 8,000BC and the Islamic era, the authority said, though...

When modern humans met Neanderthals in Europe and the two species began interbreeding many thousands of years ago, the exchange left humans with gene variations that have increased the ability of those who carry them to ward off infection. This inheritance from Neanderthals may have also left some people more prone to allergies. Researchers of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, and the Institut Pasteur and the CNRS in Paris, France, report about the discoveries in two independent studies, adding to evidence for an important role for interspecies relations in human evolution and specifically in the...

Ahhh Denver, Colorado. Sounds pretty enchanting, doesn't it? Well, don't let the Mile High City fool you. Here are 15 reasons why you definitely don't want to visit Denver any time soon. 1. When you look west, you have to look at this:

Hawaii's last sugar plantation is getting out of the sugar-growing business. Alexander & Baldwin Inc. said Wednesday that it will phase out sugar by the end of this year. Its 36,000 acre-Maui plantation will be divided into smaller farms to grow biofuels and food crops. The land will also provide irrigated pasture to local cattle ranchers. ...