Associated Press stories, Page 1231
Roller coaster crash at German Legoland amusement park injures 34
Two roller coaster trains crashed into each other Thursday at an amusement park in southern Germany, injuring at least 34 people, two of them severely, German media reported. One roller coaster train braked heavily and another train collided with it at the Legoland park in Guenzburg, the German news agency...
Pope Francis meets transgender guests of Rome church
ROME — Pope Francis has met with a fourth group of transgender people who found shelter at a Rome church, the Vatican newspaper reported Thursday. L’Osservatore Romano said the encounter took place Wednesday on the sidelines of Francis’ weekly general audience. The newspaper quoted Sister Genevieve Jeanningros and the Rev....
Taliban say bombing kills prominent Afghan cleric in Kabul
ISLAMABAD — A bombing killed a prominent Taliban cleric on Thursday at his religious center in the Afghan capital of Kabul, authorities said, the latest attack to strike the country in the year since the former insurgents seized power. Officials identified the cleric as Rahimullah Haqqani, a name that signifies...
U.S. unemployment claims rise to highest level since November
WASHINGTON — The number of Americans who signed up for unemployment benefits rose last week to the highest level since November, though the U.S. job market continues to show signs of strength. Applications for jobless aid climbed by 14,000 to 262,000 and now have risen five out of the past...
Big Mac is coming back: McDonald’s to reopen in Ukraine
CHICAGO — McDonald’s will start reopening some of its restaurants in Ukraine in the coming months, a symbol of the war-torn country’s return to some sense of normalcy and a show of support after the American fast-food chain pulled out of Russia. The burger giant closed its Ukrainian restaurants after...
Russia struggles to replenish its troops in Ukraine
The prisoners at the penal colony in St. Petersburg were expecting a visit by officials, thinking it would be some sort of inspection. Instead, men in uniform arrived and offered them amnesty — if they agreed to fight alongside the Russian army in Ukraine. Over the following days, about a...
Travelers are starting to get a break from higher airfares
DALLAS — Travelers got some welcome news in Wednesday’s inflation report from the government: Airfares are coming down, and at a faster clip. The price of the average airline ticket dropped 7.8% in July, to $311, after a 1.8% dip in June, the government said Wednesday. Lower prices for gasoline...
Trump’s bond with GOP deepens after primary wins, FBI search
NEW YORK — Donald Trump ‘s pick for governor in the swing state of Wisconsin easily defeated a favorite of the Republican establishment. In Connecticut, the state that launched the Bush family and its brand of compassionate conservatism, a fiery Senate contender who promoted Trump’s election lies upset the state...
Gas prices dip just below $4 for 1st time in 5 months
Gasoline prices have dipped under $4 for the first time in more than five months — good news for consumers who are struggling with high prices for many other essentials. AAA said the national average for a gallon of regular was $3.99 on Thursday, down from the mid-June record of...
Terry Francona suggests New Brighton host an MLB game: for the hot dogs, of courseVideo
DYERSVILLE, Iowa — Egypt. Australia. A hot dog place in Pennsylvania. A junior college in Chicago. If MLB is looking for another place for a game, oh man, do we have some fun ideas. The second “Field of Dreams” game is Thursday night in the cornfields of eastern Iowa, near...
FBI’s Christopher Wray denounces threats following search of Trump home
OMAHA, Neb. — The director of the FBI had strong words Wednesday for supporters of former President Donald Trump who have been using violent rhetoric in the wake of his agency’s search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home. Christopher Wray, who was appointed as the agency’s director in 2017 by Trump, called...
Bengals’ Burrow still healing from appendectomy
CINCINNATI — Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow is still on the mend from an appendectomy two weeks ago, and there is no timetable for his participation in training camp. The third-year quarterback, who last season led Cincinnati to its first Super Bowl in 33 years, has been observing practice from...
FedEx Cup playoffs arrive as LIV Golf topic lingers
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Perhaps it was only fitting that a violent thunderstorm hit the TPC Southwind right about the time a federal judge in California ruled against a motion that would have allowed three players who cashed in on LIV Golf to play for $75 million in bonus money on...
Deputy coroner: House explosion in southern Indiana kills 3
EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Three people were killed Wednesday when a house exploded in the southern Indiana city of Evansville, authorities said. Dave Anson, chief deputy coroner for Vanderburgh County, told The Associated Press that the identities of the people who died would not be released until the next of kin...
Deshaun Watson starting Browns’ preseason opener as suspension loomsVideo
CLEVELAND — Deshaun Watson’s debut for the Browns is tentative and subject to change. The same is true for his first season in Cleveland. Watson is scheduled to start the exhibition opener — his first game action since 2020 — at Jacksonville on Friday while the quarterback waits to see...
‘Self-professed’ white supremacist gets jail for Jan. 6 riot
A Maryland man described by the FBI as a “self-professed” white supremacist was sentenced on Wednesday to four months of incarceration for storming the U.S. Capitol while wearing a court-mandated device that tracked his movements, court records show. U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly also sentenced Bryan Betancur to one year...
Elon Musk sells $7B in Tesla shares ahead of Twitter fight
Elon Musk has sold nearly $7 billion worth of shares in Tesla as the billionaire gets his finances in order ahead of his court battle with Twitter. Musk disclosed in series of regulatory filings that he unloaded about 8 million shares of his company Tesla Inc. in recent days. “In...
In Mississippi, a trespasser, a killing and DEA meddling
CRYSTAL SPRINGS, Miss. — U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Agent Harold Duane Poole was waiting with his semiautomatic service rifle — and an explanation — when deputies arrived at his sprawling wooded property on a warm spring night last year and found a bullet-riddled body near the driveway. A veteran of...
Suspect in Albuquerque Muslim killings denies involvement
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — When pulled over by New Mexico police, the suspect in the killings of four Muslim men in Albuquerque denied any connection to the crimes that shook the city and its small Muslim community — and told authorities he was so unnerved by the violence that he was...
What’s next for Alex Jones after $49M Sandy Hook verdict?
DALLAS — The nearly $50 million defamation verdict against Alex Jones for his years of lies about the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre is far from a final reckoning. Jones’ attorneys plan to appeal and try to lower the price tag a Texas jury put on his false claim that...
Biden signs ‘burn pits’ help for vets; a personal win tooVideo
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden, whose elder son Beau died of cancer years after deploying to Iraq, signed legislation on Wednesday expanding federal health care services for millions of veterans who served at military bases where toxic smoke billowed from huge “burn pits.” “We owe you,” Biden said. “You’re the...
Lower prices offer Americans slight reprieve from inflationVideo
WASHINGTON — Falling prices for gas, airline tickets and clothes gave Americans a little bit of relief last month, though overall inflation is still running at close to its highest level in four decades. Consumer prices jumped 8.5% in July compared with a year earlier, the government said Wednesday, down...
Iranian operative charged in plot to murder John BoltonVideo
WASHINGTON — An Iranian operative has been charged in a plot to murder former U.S. national security adviser John Bolton in presumed retaliation for a U.S. airstrike that killed the country’s most powerful general, offering $300,000 to “eliminate” the Trump administration official, the Justice Department said Wednesday. Shahram Poursafi, identified...
Stacey Abrams tests positive for covid, has mild symptoms
ATLANTA — Democratic Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams has covid-19, her campaign said Wednesday. Abrams campaign spokesperson Alex Floyd said Abrams tested positive for the respiratory illness Wednesday morning after giving a public speech on the economy Tuesday night in Atlanta. Abrams tests daily for covid, Floyd said, and had...
Russian oil shipments to central Europe expected to resume
PRAGUE — Oil shipments from Russia through a critical pipeline to several European countries should resume soon after a problem over payments for transit was resolved, Slovakia’s Economy Minister Richard Sulik said on Wednesday. “I expect the oil shipments to resume in hours,” Sulik said. Russian state pipeline operator Transneft...
