No surprise: Beijing's pick Lam chosen as Hong Kong's leader

The candidate favored by China's Communist leadership was chosen as Hong Kong's new leader on Sunday, in the first such vote since huge pro-democracy protests erupted over the semiautonomous Chinese city's election system in 2014.

A committee dominated by pro-Beijing elites selected Carrie Lam, Hong Kong's former No. 2 official, as the financial hub's chief executive even though she was far less popular than her main rival. Lam received 67 percent of the votes cast by the 1,194-member committee.

US-born panda Bao Bao lands in China after leaving DC zoo

An American-born panda started settling into her new home Thursday in southwest China where she will eventually join a breeding program.

Bao Bao was born at the National Zoo in Washington to panda parents on loan from China. Under an agreement between China and the U.S., such panda cubs must be returned to China before they are 4 years old, the earliest age at which they might begin breeding.

Dick Bruna, 'spiritual father' of rabbit Miffy, dies at 89

Dick Bruna, the Dutch "spiritual father" of Miffy, the white rabbit who enchanted millions of young children around the world for more than half a century, has died at age 89, his publisher announced Friday.

Decades before Instagram made square images immensely popular, illustrator and artist Bruna understood their power. For years, his Miffy books were printed in a square format.

"He thought that size was really good for two little children's hands, and he loved the visual impact, too," longtime friend Marja Kerkhof, of his Dutch publisher Mercis, said in a telephone interview.