It’s a name that might suit a rubber ducky, not an extremely expensive state-of-the-art research vessel designed to explore the coldest regions on Earth. Nonetheless the name “Boaty McBoatface” may be given to a 200 million pound ($288 million) vessel because of a public preference for that moniker. The name… Read More

Authorities are searching for someone who left a puppy tied to a plastic shovel to drown on a Los Angeles-area beach. The body of the brown-and-white terrier mix was found Friday by canoe paddlers at Mother’s Beach in Marina del Rey. A blue-handled plastic shovel was stuck through the dog’s… Read More

Sitting at a desk in the American embassy in London, a former U.S. State Department employee used his government-issued computer to prey on vulnerable young women and manipulate them into sharing nude photos, amassing thousands of images to make himself feel powerful, prosecutors said. Michael C. Ford, 36, faces years… Read More

New Englanders will face a messy commute as a spring storm kicks off the work week while others in the Northeast will have an easier time. Forecasters have predicted an accumulation of 4 to 8 inches of heavy, wet snow in Massachusetts and Rhode Island on Monday. Southeastern Massachusetts could… Read More

Northern Iowa appeared all but ready to book its plane tickets to California for next week’s Sweet 16. That was before Texas A&M put together the biggest last-minute comeback in NCAA Division I history. Led by Alex Caruso’s 25 points and 22 more from Danuel House in the second half… Read More

A Pennsylvania couple has been jailed in the starvation death of their 23-month-old daughter, who weighed just 10 pounds when she died last month. Andrea Dusha, 26, and Michael Wright Jr., 32, were charged Thursday with criminal homicide, endangering the welfare of a child and reckless endangerment in the death… Read More

State police say a 78-year-old nun was caught shoplifting $23 worth of coffee, snacks and toiletries from a central Pennsylvania store. Troopers say Sister Agnes Pennino was seen taking the items from the Surplus Outlet near Berwick on Monday afternoon. WNEP-TV reports police determined the woman captured on surveillance video… Read More

A felon offered a musical apology, apparently inspired by singer Adele’s “Hello,” before being sentenced to up to 17 years in prison in Michigan for unlawful imprisonment and carrying a concealed weapon. The Ann Arbor News reports 21-year-old Brian Earl Taylor on March 10 sang the refrain to Washtenaw County Trial… Read More

It sounds like a pitch for a far-fetched movie: “Cast Away,” but with a dog instead of Tom Hanks. Only this sea tale is true. A California fisherman’s beloved German shepherd fell overboard and was presumed drowned. More than a month later, she was found. The 1 ½-year-old dog named… Read More