GLENORCHY, New Zealand (AP) — We crested a hill on the winding lakeside road, and there it was: Middle-earth.

MILAN (AP) — If any one designer can take credit for revolutionizing menswear, it is Gucci’s Alessandro Michele, who made his runway debut as creative director five years ago with a menswear collection that challenged masculine codes.

Earlier this month, mom Amber Dunevant was told that one of her 7-year-old daughter’s classmates had put her daughter on a “kill list” at Parkview Elementary in Chula Vista, Calif.

Think your profanity-laced T-shirt would be fun to wear on your next cruise? Carnival Cruise Line says no.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Sex tech will grace the CES gadget show in Las Vegas this week after organizers endured scorn for revoking an innovation award to a sex device company led by a female founder.

NEW YORK (AP) — New technology. Same furry faces.

Gardeners in 2020 will veer from the beaten path, opting for unconventional varieties and eco-conscious surroundings, according to a plant trends study by horticulturalists with the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS).

After a big year for its plant-based burger, Impossible Foods has something new on its plate.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — California officials are suing a billionaire who has been fighting for more than a decade to keep a secluded beach to himself, a move designed to ensure that the public always has access to the scenic stretch of sand.

I love a shiny new kitchen object as much as the next cook, and at times my kitchen has resembled a kitchen specialty store. But if you have a small kitchen, counter space and cabinet storage are at a premium.

From early December through Jan. 1 (or beyond, depending on how fervently you hang on to the holidays), the pop of a Champagne or sparkling wine cork is a welcome and frequent sound. Fizzy wine is just the most festive of drinks, whether sipped straight up in a flute or mixed into cocktails. And many a New Year’s toast would feel incomplete without a glass of bubbles.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — When Nalini Nadkarni was a kid, she’d run home from school, climb into one of the eight maple trees in her parents’ backyard and spend an afternoon there with an apple and a book.