By Adam HadhazyFeatures correspondent Getty ImagesIs it even possible to have 69 children naturally? (Credit: Getty Images)Conceiving and raising one child is demanding enough – yet historical reports suggest that one woman bore 69. Are they true? And will modern medicine push the limit even further? If British tabloids had existed in the 18th Century, they would have gone utterly barmy over the family of Russian peasant Feodor Vassilyev. Why? His first wife – whose name is lost to history – holds the widely cited world record for bearing the most children.

When people meet Hamilton and ask something uncouth like how long beagles live, my pat reply is, “Forever.” I know how silly and dismissive that sounds. But it’s less upsetting than recalling the heartbreak and grief I experienced after my beagle Darwin died in 2011 or coming to terms with the near certainty that I will outlive Hammy. I have always thought that dogs — who have figured out, evolutionarily, how to be our perfect companions — should live exactly as long as their humans.

SIGHISOARA, Romania (AP) — The European Union announced Thursday that it has granted EU candidate status to Moldova, a poor non-NATO Eastern European country bordering war-torn Ukraine, which likely won’t enjoy the perks of full bloc membership for years to come. Along the road, Moldova will need to enact reforms in areas such as tackling corruption, organized crime, strengthening human rights and the rule of law. The former Soviet republic — landlocked between Romania and Ukraine — applied to join the 27-nation bloc just days after Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb.

Two Mississippi favorites follow their passion for cooking and painting.MoreMore Two Mississippi favorites -- chef Robert St. John and artist Wyatt Waters – follow their passion for cooking and painting across the state in their new series Palate to Palette. The duo travels from the Delta to the Coast, sampling local fare, whipping up scrumptious dishes, and painting watercolors of the locales. These best friends have loads of fun on their road trips.

A former D.C. police lieutenant pleaded guilty Friday to involuntary manslaughter and unlawful discharge of a firearm in the fatal shooting of a library officer during a training exercise at the Anacostia Neighborhood Library. Jesse Porter, 58, faces a maximum of 30 years in prison in the Aug. 4 shooting death of 25-year-old library officer Maurica Manyan. Porter had initially been charged with involuntary manslaughter, but earlier this year a grand jury voted to elevate the charges to second-degree murder.