内容摘要：To reach the house, visitors drive up the dark, narrow mountain road hemmed in on both sides by foliage, before arriving, slightly carsick, slightly confused, at the low-slung residence with a modest roofline.

To reach the house, visitors drive up the dark, narrow mountain road hemmed in on both sides by foliage, before arriving, slightly carsick, slightly confused, at the low-slung residence with a modest roofline.

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Venus gazes in bewilderment at the candles flickering on her mini birthday cake. The partygoers crowd around her in expectant silence, but she doesn’t blow them out.Dogs can’t blow candles, after all. So Venus’ owner intervened, drawing a breath and extinguishing the flames to a round of applause before serving her black mixed-breed a bite of meat-flavored birthday cake.

“Venus is like my daughter,” gushes Victoria Font, founder of Barto Cafe, a bakery making cakes for canines just south of Argentina’s capital of Buenos Aires.About two decades ago, a birthday party for pampered pets featuring a custom cake for dogs may have struck Argentines as bizarre.Petrona licks her lips in front of her meat-flavored cake during her third birthday celebration at a park in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Petrona licks her lips in front of her meat-flavored cake during her third birthday celebration at a park in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)makes headlines for having among the most pet owners per capita in the world. Public opinion surveys report pets in almost 80% of the city’s homes. That’s about 20% more than the average city in the United States, according to a recent survey by the Pew Research Center, and leaps and bounds ahead of other countries in the region.

As a growing number of Argentines opt to be childless in a country

, dogs have become the go-to companion.This story has been corrected to correct the spelling of Russia in headlines.

CLOVIS, Calif. (AP) — A transgender athlete bested the competition Saturday at the California high school track and field championship to take home gold in the girls high jump and the triple jump at a meet that has stirred controversy and drawn national attention.AB Hernandez competed under a new rule change that may be the first of its kind nationally by a high school sports governing body. California’s governing body changed the rules ahead of the meet to allow more girls to compete and medal in events in which Hernandez competed.

Hernandez finished the high jump with a mark of 5 feet, 7 inches (1.7 meters), with no failed attempts. Co-winners Jillene Wetteland and Lelani Laruelle also cleared that height after each logged a failed attempt. The three shared the first-place win, smiling as they stepped together onto the podium.Hernandez wrapped up the night with a first place finish in the triple jump, sharing the top spot with Kira Gant Hatcher who trailed by just over a half-meter. Earlier in the afternoon, Hernandez placed second in the long jump.