Associated Press stories, Page 1916
Trucker who drove through George Floyd protesters is charged
MINNEAPOLIS — A truck driver who drove into a large crowd of protesters on a bridge in Minneapolis following the killing of George Floyd was charged Thursday with two criminal counts. Hennepin County prosecutors charged Bogdan Vechirko, of Otsego, with making threats of violence, a felony, and criminal vehicular operation,...
GOP to high court: Move up North Carolina absentee deadline
RALEIGH, N.C. — Republican officials have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to move up North Carolina’s recently extended deadline for accepting late-arriving absentee ballots postmarked by Election Day. State Republican legislative leaders filed an appeal on Thursday. The North Carolina State Board of Elections had announced in late September that...
Judge dismisses 1 charge against former cop in George Floyd’s death
MINNEAPOLIS — A Minnesota judge has dismissed a third-degree murder charge filed against the former Minneapolis police officer who pressed his knee against George Floyd’s neck, but the more serious second-degree murder charge remains. Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill’s ruling was dated Wednesday and made public Thursday. Cahill said...
Power cut in parts of Northern California to prevent fires
SAN FRANCISCO — Power was shut off in wind-prone parts of Northern California on Thursday to prevent sparking wires from igniting new wildfires during a new round of gusty, dry weather. Pacific Gas & Electric’s online map of public safety power shutoffs showed outages in the northern Sacramento Valley, northern...
Santa Claus won’t be coming to Macy’s this year
NEW YORK — Macy’s said Santa Claus won’t be greeting kids at its flagship New York store this year because of the coronavirus, interrupting a holiday tradition started nearly 160 years ago. More than a quarter of a million people come to see Santa at Macy’s in New York each...
Poland’s top court rules out abortions for birth defects
WARSAW, Poland — Poland’s top court has ruled that a law allowing abortion of fetuses with congenital defects is unconstitutional. The decision by the country’s Constitutional Court on Thursday effectively bans terminating pregnancies in cases where birth defects are found and will further limit access to abortions in Poland. The...
Kevin Hart: Hosting MDA telethon is a ‘major level-up’
Kevin Hart says hosting a re-imagined online fundraiser for the Muscular Dystrophy Association is “a major level-up for me.” “It’s different from anything that you’ve really seen me do. And there’s a great reason behind it,” said the comic and actor, who is leading the MDA Kevin Hart Kids Telethon...
GOP-led Senate panel advances Amy Coney Barrett despite Dems’ boycott
WASHINGTON — The Senate Judiciary Committee voted Thursday to advance Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court nomination to the full Senate as Republicans powered past Democrats’ boycott of the session. Democratic senators refused to show up in protest of the GOP’s rush to install President Donald Trump’s nominee to replace the...
Plot thickens over origins of pope’s civil union endorsement
VATICAN CITY — Question swirled Thursday about the origins of Pope Francis’ bombshell comments endorsing same-sex civil unions, with all evidence suggesting he made them in a 2019 interview that was never broadcast in its entirety. The Vatican refused to comment on whether it cut the remarks from its own...
U.S. jobless claims drop to 787,000, but layoffs remain high
WASHINGTON — The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell last week to 787,000, a sign that job losses may have eased slightly but are still running at historically high levels. With confirmed infections having neared 60,000 in the past week, the highest level since July, many consumers have been...
Banksy artwork sells for almost $10 million at auction
Banksy’s playful take on a famous Impressionist painting has sold at auction for 7.6 million pounds ($9.8 million), the second-highest price ever paid for a work by the British street artist. “Show Me the Monet” sold to an unidentified bidder at Sotheby’s in London on Wednesday evening, surpassing its upper...
Taliban rockets kill 4 civilians in northern Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan — At least four civilians were killed in their homes by militant rocket fire in northern Afghanistan on Thursday, the country’s Ministry of Defense said. The ministry statement blamed the Taliban for the firing, which it said wounded another 14 civilians and destroyed several houses in the Sharin...
Coca-Cola recovery continues a it grows leaner in pandemic
Coca-Cola measured gradual improvement in the third quarter as it focused on emerging leaner from the global pandemic. Revenue fell 9% to $8.7 billion, edging out Wall Street expectations of $8.4 billion, according to analysts polled by FactSet. It was far better than the 28% drop in revenue in the...
Rays hold off Dodgers in Game 2, even up World Series
ARLINGTON, Texas — Brandon Lowe busted out early and Tampa Bay’s bullpen hung on late. Rays and Dodgers, tied after two in Texas. Lowe shook loose from his extended postseason slump with two opposite-field homers, and Tampa Bay held off Los Angeles 6-4 on Wednesday night to square the World...
U.S. officials Pompeo, Esper to visit India for annual talks
NEW DELHI — India’s government said Thursday that talks next week with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defense Mark Esper in New Delhi will cover “all bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest.” The talks are also expected to focus on cooperation in building a...
Police, autopsy reports reveal details about Dallas woman who died of covid-19 during flight
DALLAS — A Spirit Airlines employee performed CPR on an unconscious Dallas woman during a July flight that made an emergency landing in New Mexico, where the woman was pronounced dead. The woman’s death was later determined to have been caused by covid-19, and Dallas County officials included her in...
Watchdog group cites interference at polls in Latino areas
SANTA FE, N.M. — A voting rights group says that caravans of flag-waving President Donald Trump supporters appeared to obstruct and intimidate voters last weekend at two polling locations in predominantly ethnic-minority neighborhoods in the Albuquerque area. Common Cause New Mexico Executive Director Heather Ferguson said Wednesday that the incidents...
Man faces state, federal charges in death of Houston officer
HOUSTON — A man accused of fatally shooting a Houston police officer during a domestic disturbance call is facing both state and federal charges and could face the death penalty, authorities announced on Wednesday. In state court, Elmer Manzano is facing a capital murder charge for the death of 65-year-old...
Carrie Underwood adds to CMT Music Awards haul
NASHVILLE, Tennessee — Carrie Underwood already had the most CMT Music Awards of any artist, but she’ll need to make more room on her shelf. The superstar picked up two more trophies for video of the year and female video of the year in a remotely shot awards show. Underwood...
Court orders California to cut San Quentin inmates by half
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California appeals court has ordered state corrections officials to cut the population of one of the world’s most famous prisons to less than half of its designed capacity, citing officials’ “deliberate indifference” to the plight of inmates during the coronavirus pandemic. State prison officials said Wednesday...
Remains found in search for 1921 Tulsa race massacre victims
OKLAHOMA CITY — At least 10 bodies were found Wednesday in an unmarked mass grave at a Tulsa cemetery where investigators are searching for the remains of victims of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, Oklahoma’s state archaeologist said. “What we were finding was an indication that we were inside a...
James Randi, dazzling magician and skeptic, dies at 92
James Randi, a magician who later challenged spoon benders, mind readers and faith healers with such voracity that he became regarded as the country’s foremost skeptic, has died, his foundation announced. He was 92. The James Randi Educational Foundation confirmed the death, saying simply that its founder succumbed to “age-related...
Face to face: Trump, Biden to meet for final debate
NASHVILLE — President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, are set to square off in their final debate Thursday, one of the last high-profile opportunities for the trailing incumbent to change the trajectory of an increasingly contentious campaign. Worried about losing the White House, some advisers are urging...
Whitmer: Michigan at ‘dangerous moment’ as virus cases spike
LANSING, Mich. — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer warned Wednesday that Michigan on average has more confirmed daily cases of the coronavirus than ever, noting a sharp increase since the state Supreme Court invalidated her sweeping orders earlier this month. The number of covid-19 cases had been gradually rising for months prior...
Notre Dame kicker Jonathan Doerer gets kick out of golfVideo
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Jonathan Doerer pays careful attention to the nuances of his stance, swing path and ball contact — and not just in football. The Notre Dame kicker also frequents the driving range, a habit that increased when he was home in North Carolina over the spring and...
