Associated Press stories, Page 2173

MEXICO CITY — Mexican migrants working abroad sent home a record $36 billion in remittances in 2019, the country’s central bank reported Tuesday. That was an increase of 7% in remittances from 2018, when they totaled $33.67 billion. It was the highest level of remittances on record, and is higher...

MIAMI — Two men charged with drug trafficking could have done a better job hiding their wares than using a package labeled “Bag Full of Drugs,” Florida authorities said. Ian Simmons and Joshua Reinhardt, both 34, were pulled over in Santa Rosa County on Saturday after a trooper clocked them...

BEIJING — Hong Kong hospitals cut services as thousands of medical workers went on strike for a second day Tuesday to demand the border with mainland China be shut completely. The new virus caused its first death in the semi-autonomous territory, adding to growing fears it is spreading locally. All...

HARRISBURG — Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania said Tuesday he will vote to acquit President Donald Trump on two impeachment charges, maintaining that the president didn’t commit an impeachable offense and that removing Trump would cause “societal upheaval.” Toomey sided with nearly all of his fellow Republicans in advance...

HARRISBURG — Highlights of Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf’s spending plan for the 2020-21 budget year that starts July 1: THE BIG PICTURE — Increases spending through the state’s main bank account to $36.1 billion. Including nearly $600 million for the current fiscal year, Wolf is seeking authorization for another $2.6...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — After a 5-year-old girl fell into a restaurant grease pit and was rescued, West Virginia’s Senate has passed legislation that would toughen fines for restaurants that have unsecured lids on the containers. The state Senate passed the bill Tuesday, 33-0. One member was absent. It now goes...

WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday slammed House Democrats’ drive to impeach President Donald Trump as “the most rushed, least fair and least thorough” in history and confirmed that he will vote to acquit him. McConnell said the two impeachment charges against Trump — that he abused...

WASHINGTON — Who’s clapping now? On the brink of his Senate acquittal, President Donald Trump will be unleashing “relentless optimism” during his third State of the Union address, a speech designed to pivot from his impeachment to his drive for reelection. Trump is speaking from a position of strength, with...

The documentary about several women who have accused Russell Simmons of sexual abuse has found a distributor after Oprah Winfrey’s exit from the film left it in the lurch. HBO Max on Monday said it acquired Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering’s film, “On the Record,” following its premiere last week...

DES MOINES, Iowa — A new mobile app was supposed to help Democratic officials quickly gather information from some 1,700 caucus sites throughout Iowa. Instead, it’s being blamed for delays that left the results unknown the morning after the first-in-the nation nominating contest. Glitches with a new mobile app Monday...

TALLAHASSEE — While Florida gains notoriety as the epicenter of the shark trade in the United States, state lawmakers there advanced legislation Monday that would ban the possession of shark fins. The Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee endorsed that proposal, as well as another bill that would stiffen penalties...

CHICAGO — Activist Hoda Katebi rarely takes a break from organizing. As tensions between the U.S. and Iran escalated in recent weeks, she became even busier. On a recent Sunday afternoon, the 25-year-old Iranian American sat in her Chicago apartment shifting between monitoring her Twitter feed, taking phone calls and...

WASHINGTON — Dog detectives might be able to help save ailing citrus groves, research published Monday suggests. Scientists trained dogs to sniff out a crop disease called citrus greening that has hit orange, lemon and grapefruit orchards in Florida, California and Texas. The dogs can detect it weeks to years...

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. — A Tennessee man was found dead in a donation bin outside a Walmart. Police responded Sunday afternoon to a report of a man stuck inside the bin in Clarksville. When emergency crews arrived at the scene, they found a 48-year-old man with the lower part of his...