By LAURIE KELLMAN and ALMAZ ABEDJE

LONDON (AP) — Love and bacon hovered in the air of the Smalley house one sunny morning when Annie, 7, came to breakfast.

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A “baconaholic,” according to her father, Annie spied the last remaining strips of the intoxicating salty meat on a plate. She could easily have inhaled them all. But incoming was Annie’s sister, Murphy, 16, another bacon devotee. Annie paused and decided to offer one strip of crispy goodness to her sister. “Dad,” she declared, ““I just laid down my life for Murphy.”

Perhaps, Greg Smalley reminded his daughter, the pig had sacrificed more. But what struck him was the choice. The sisters had a history of generosity toward each other, but Annie had given up something important — a massive understatement for any bacon lover — for Murphy’s delight. “Love,” Smalley said by email, “is built on small, daily sacrifices that quietly say, ‘You matter.’”

In doing so, Annie arguably had gotten the love part right — a universal goal that’s been sought and debated across borders, politics and religions for as long as people have been writing things down.

Ahead of Valentine’s Day 2026, with the card and chocolate industries eager to help, loving someone well — a romantic partner, a parent, a child, a pet and especially yourself — can seem as perplexing as ever. It depends on what you want, and don’t, as well as what others want from you — now and in five minutes, relentlessly.

Love stinks, love bites, love hurts: What history says about loving well

Across traditions and philosophies, love is generally defined as an ongoing moral choice that requires truthfulness and accountability. What it’s not, those texts widely say: controlling, unconditional or abusive.

Valentine’s day Plush bears are displayed at a retail store in Lincolnshire, Ill., Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Aristotle wrote that to love, a person “wishes and does what is good, or seems to, for the sake of his friend.” St. Thomas Aquinas taught that, “to love is to will the good of the other.” The Old Testament includes a famous directive, translated roughly: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

“Love,” wrote the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader, “can be defined as a wish that others be happy.”

It’s all pretty lofty-sounding, so The Associated Press asked people around the world how they got love part right in real, contemporary life. Here’s what they said.

Las Vegas: Knowing each other well enough to give the right gifts

“Personally, I love gift-giving,” said Ally Fernandez of Las Vegas, a seamstress. “I make a lot of my items, and I love making something special and like custom to my person, and I do that for pretty much everybody.”

For her husband, Fernandez said she did “some really cool, patchwork…It’s just so unexpected when you get something that’s handmade like that.”

Her husband, meanwhile, has paid close enough attention to know she loves surprises. One recent date night, he took her to Area15, an immersive entertainment experience in Las Vegas.

“You walk through it…and you can interact with all the things around you,” she recalled. “I love things like that, like just things that are different and artsy.”

Budapest, Hungary: Suffering through Sephora with your makeup-loving lover

A Valentine heart cushion is seen at a grocery store in Buffalo Grove, Ill., Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Back home in Budapest, Hungary, there are no Sephora stores. But there are multiples in Paris. So on a recent visit to the French capital, Lili Henzel, 25, couldn’t stay away from the cosmetics giant — and her husband, Bulcsu Alkay, 23, went along for the ride. Again. And again.

“Yesterday, we went to Sephora for five times,” Henzel said in an interview. “It’s not fun for him, obviously, so I appreciate that a lot.”

Alkay took it with good humor. “I guess it’s my second home, I would say,” he said. Turning to his wife, he empathized. “Because you have so much at Sephora and we don’t have it at home.”

They displayed admirable honesty, appreciation and clear communication.

“I love makeup, so we had to buy a lot of it,” Henzel explained.

“I’m not really interested in that kind of shopping,” Alkay said.

Replied Henzel: “Thanks again for that.”

Los Angeles: Spending enough time together to know when your person, or pet, feels down

Luis Mitre of Los Angeles says that “love is the most wonderful thing.” He tries to express how he feels to people, but his dogs seem to know automatically.

That might be because he takes them wherever he goes, even on travel. “They sense when you’re sad, when you’re happy, even when people don’t,” said Mitre, who also lives in Las Vegas, where he spoke to the AP. “I think they show their love in unexpected ways every single day.”

Colmar, France: Rooting for each other every day

Claudia Verdun and Francarlos Betancourt, French visitors to Rome’s romantic Trevi Fountain, took a quick selfie and kissed — then talked about love.

“For me, it is a daily test,” Verdun said. “Little attentions, respect, care for the other, to believe in the other pushing, for the best for him. I think that is important.”

Added Betancourt, love is “to help each other with some things, to always be together, starting with your differences — you have to love each other.

Colombia’s Ambassador in the United States Daniel García-Peña, right, hands out flowers from Colombia to pedestrians outside the Longworth House Office Building ahead of Valentine’s Day, as a symbol of the close partnership between Colombia and the United States, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Beijing: Accepting yourself

Yi Yi, a Beijing resident, thinks “no relationship is closer than that with oneself.”

“I think for many people, the most important is that you should really love yourself, fully accept yourself and accept your own vulnerability and shortcomings,” Yi said. “I think these are the most important aspects of love for oneself.”

Brussels: Choosing to keep talking

“What we do,” said Joel Stimpfig, 18, who visited Paris from Madrid, “is that we always have good communication and when we’re having a bad day, we always have a little moment to talk and discuss the relationship.”

Anke Verbeek, 40, and Jari Jacobs, 39, from Brussels, Belgium, “have difficult jobs.”

“She works late. I work early,” said Verbeek. “So communication is key for being together, for doing things together and keep the relationship alive.”

Brazil: Fighting to stand up a healthy family

FILE – A man walks holding flowers and balloons on Valentine’s Day, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki, File)

Rafael Almeida thinks love has to do with solid planning for the future.

“We have already married, and to have children was our big dream together, and we are planning to expand our family,” he said in Rome, on a visit from his home in Brazil.. “We are planning and fighting for that.”

But love is also the daily practice of showing “the respect and admiration we have for each other every day.”

Colorado Springs, Colorado: Making the bed just because it’s that important to her

Erin Smalley wanted the bed made. Her husband, Greg Smalley (Annie’s dad), didn’t see why when he’d just have to climb back under the covers in a few hours. Decades of marriage, several children and co-hosting a podcast did little to resolve this ongoing dispute. Until, that is, Greg watched Erin hobble around with a recent foot injury as she made the bed herself.

“I know it doesn’t make sense to you,” Erin explained, “But I really like our bed made. It makes me feel good.”

“I finally got it,” Greg Smalley, a vice president at Focus on the Family, a Colorado-based Christian nonprofit, wrote in his email. “I realized that this was an opportunity to sacrifice a little bit of my time in the morning for my wife.”

These days, he says, he makes the bed every day.

Contributing to this story were AP journalists Zheng Liu and Wayne Zhang in Beijing, Trisha Thomas and Silvia Stellacci in Rome, Alex Turnbull in Paris and Rio Yamat in Las Vegas.

By DÁNICA COTO

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico’s governor on Thursday signed a bill that amends a law to recognize a fetus as a human being, a move doctors and legal experts warn will have deep ramifications for the U.S. Caribbean territory.

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The amendment was approved without public hearings and amid concerns from opponents who warned it would unleash confusion and affect how doctors and pregnant or potentially pregnant women are treated.

The new law will lead to “defensive health care,” warned Dr. Carlos Díaz Vélez, president of Puerto Rico’s College of Medical Surgeons.

“This will bring complex clinical decisions into the realm of criminal law,” he said in a phone interview.

He said that women with complicated pregnancies will likely be turned away by private doctors and will end up giving birth in the U.S. mainland or at Puerto Rico’s largest public hospital, noting that the island’s crumbling health system isn’t prepared.

“This will bring disastrous consequences,” he said.

Díaz noted that the amended law also allows a third person to intervene between a doctor and a pregnant woman, so privacy laws will be violated, adding that new protocols and regulations will have to be implemented.

“The system is not prepared for this,” he said.

Gov. Jenniffer González, a Republican and supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump, said in a brief statement that “the legislation aims to maintain consistency between civil and criminal provisions by recognizing the unborn child as a human being.”

The amendment, in Senate Bill 923, was made to an article within Puerto Rico’s Penal Code that defines murder.

The government noted that the amendment complements a law that among other things, classifies as first-degree murder when a pregnant woman is killed intentionally and knowingly, resulting in the death of the conceived child at any stage of gestation. The law was named after Keishla Rodríguez, who was pregnant when she was killed in April 2021. Her lover, former Puerto Rican boxer Félix Verdejo, received two life sentences after he was found guilty in the killing.

Some cheered the amendment signed into law Thursday, while opponents warned that it opens the door to eventually criminalizing abortions in Puerto Rico, which remain legal.

“A zygote was given legal personality,” said Rosa Seguí Cordero, an attorney and spokesperson for the National Campaign for Free, Safe and Accessible Abortion in Puerto Rico. “We women were stripped of our rights.”

Seguí rattled off potential scenarios, including whether a zygote, or fertilized egg, would have the right to health insurance and whether a woman who loses a fetus would become a murder suspect.

Díaz said doctors could even be considered murder suspects and condemned how public hearings were never held and the medical sector never consulted.

“The problem is that no medical recommendations were followed here,” he said. “This is a serious blow … It puts us in a difficult situation.”

Among those condemning the measure was Annette Martínez Orabona, executive director for the American Civil Liberties Union in Puerto Rico.

She noted that no broad discussion of the bill was allowed, which she said is critical because the penal code carries the most severe penalties.

“There is no doubt that the measure did not undergo adequate analysis before its approval and leaves an unacceptable space for ambiguity regarding civil rights,” she said.

“The legislative leadership failed to fulfill its responsibility to the people, and so did the governor.”

Police are asking for the public’s help in identifying a man who broke into Russell’s Sport N’ Bike in Star Prairie, Wis., early Thursday and stole multiple guns.

The St. Croix County (Wis.) Sheriff’s Office released several photos and a video of the suspect Thursday on social media. The man appears to be wearing a black sweatshirt, black pants, black tennis shoes, a black hat and a mask.

Anyone with information about the alleged suspect or any information related to the incident is asked to call the St. Croix County Emergency Communications Center at 715-386-4701. Anonymous tips may also be submitted via email to Tipline@sccwi.gov. The tipline is not monitored 24/7.

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By MATT BROWN

WASHINGTON (AP) — The press gallery overlooking the U.S. House chamber has been renamed after the abolitionist, writer and presidential adviser Frederick Douglass in a bipartisan move brokered by Black lawmakers.

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The renaming of the press gallery, spearheaded by Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., was conceived over the last year after the congressman said he brainstormed with his staff on ways to commemorate the history of prominent Americans, including Black Americans, across the Capitol.

“When we talk about Frederick Douglass, we are talking about a man who possessed a profound and unshakable faith in Americans, in America’s family,” Donalds said in remarks celebrating the dedication.

Douglass wrote about congressional proceedings from the chamber during the Civil War. His public speeches and letters to President Abraham Lincoln and northern Republican congressmen helped galvanize support among lawmakers and the public for the abolition of slavery.

“It’s an important thing for us to give honor where honor is due. That’s a biblical admonition,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said during the unveiling of a plaque that now overlooks the entrance to the gallery. “Frederick Douglass is certainly deserving of that honor.”

A bipartisan celebration in a divided Washington

Prominent Black conservatives, including activists, faith leaders and senior Trump administration officials, mingled with lawmakers at a ceremony inside the U.S. Capitol. Staffers from the Library of Congress displayed artifacts from Douglass’ life.

Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., speaks during a formal dedication of the House Press Gallery in honor of Frederick Douglass on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Feb., 12, 2026, in Washington. Frederick Douglass was the first African American reporter admitted into the Capitol press galleries. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

The celebration, which came during Black History Month and the 100th anniversary of the earliest national observance of Black history, coincided with intense debate over how race, history and democracy are understood in the U.S.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order last year targeting the teaching of history in the Smithsonian Institution, which the order claimed had “come under the influence of a divisive, race-centered ideology” that “promoted narratives that portray American and Western values as inherently harmful and oppressive.”

Another order signed by the president claimed that in U.S. K-12 schools, “innocent children are compelled to adopt identities as either victims or oppressors.” Trump ordered federal agencies to develop a comprehensive strategy to end “indoctrination” by teachers who may promote “anti-American, subversive, harmful, and false ideologies on our nation’s children.”

Critics argued that the orders, with the removal of some public displays by the National Park Service related to race and identity, and the White House’s ongoing efforts to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs, represented a whitewashing of history that could ultimately fuel discrimination against minority communities.

But the administration’s allies argue that the policies are a corrective to an overly critical narrative about America’s past. Black conservatives, in particular, have defended the moves and argued that more positive stories of individual triumph, like Douglass’ life story, need to be more widely told.

Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., left, shakes hands with Rep. Burgess Owens, R-Utah, right, prior to a formal dedication of the House Press Gallery in honor of Frederick Douglass on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Feb., 12, 2026, in Washington. Frederick Douglass was the first African American reporter admitted into the Capitol press galleries. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

“This is what we did when I was growing up. We knew about our Black heroes,” said Rep. Burgess Owens, a Utah Republican who is Black and attended the dedication. “When we stop telling the good, then people start thinking that we’re not the country that is the promise that we gave. So we need to talk about our history, our success.”

Rep. Steve Horsford, a Nevada Democrat who worked with Donalds on the renaming, said it was important to find bipartisan agreement where possible.

“I wouldn’t be here if it were not for the desire to want to work across the aisle, to not just recognize our history and culture, but to solve our problems that people face today,” Horsford said.

The life and legacy of Frederick Douglass

Born in Maryland, Douglass escaped slavery by fleeing to New York as a young man. He become one of the most influential activists for abolition and later moved to Capitol Hill in Washington, where he advocated for civil rights.

An estate he bought after emancipation in the Anacostia neighborhood of Washington is now a national park.

A plaque is seen for the dedication of the House Press Gallery to honor Frederick Douglass, during on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Feb., 12, 2026, in Washington. Frederick Douglass was the first African American reporter admitted into the Capitol press galleries. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

Douglass, who taught himself to read and write, fiercely condemned the dehumanization of people of African descent and delivered numerous influential speeches throughout his life. His 1852 speech “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” denounced the contradictions of the country’s founding ideals with its embrace of slavery.

In an 1867 essay, Douglass urged Congress to allow Black men to vote and called for more aggressive Reconstruction efforts in the South to guarantee multiracial democracy.

“What, then, is the work before Congress? It is to save the people of the South from themselves,” Douglass wrote. “It must enfranchise the negro, and by means of the loyal negroes and the loyal white men of the South build till a national party there, and in time bridge the chasm between North and South, so that our country may have a common liberty and a common civilization.”

Douglass, who did not know the day he was born because records were rarely kept about enslaved people’s lives, celebrated his birthday on Valentine’s Day because his mother called him her “little Valentine” before he was separated from her as a child.

Donalds praised Douglass for his ability to “love this country enough to tell the truth about it.”

“His life story, from the field, from the slavery fields to the world stage, is one of the greatest narratives of perseverance in U.S. history,” Donalds said.