Associated Press stories, Page 2194

SYDNEY — Wildfires raging across Australia have prompted one of the largest evacuations in the country’s history as what is already the worst season on record is likely to become even more devastating due to hot weather and strong winds. More than 200 fires were burning, and warnings of extreme...

NEW YORK — A federal judge on Friday allowed a Rudy Giuliani associate indicted on campaign finance charges to turn over documents to Congress as part of the impeachment proceeding against President Donald Trump. U.S. District Court Judge Paul Oetken granted Lev Parnas’ request to turn over to the House...

BROWNSVILLE, Tenn. — A Tennessee teenager was arrested in connection to a shooting that killed a pregnant woman and her fetus, paralyzed her 8-year-old daughter and wounded another adult family member, authorities said. A 17-year-old boy was arrested Thursday and charged with two counts of first-degree murder and two counts...

The Super Bowl is weeks away, but for “Jeopardy!” addicts the big game is here: All-time top money winners Brad Rutter, Ken Jennings and James Holzhauer are facing off for ultimate bragging rights. “The first person to win three matches will be crowned the greatest of all time,” said executive...

WASHINGTON — The United States said Friday it is sending nearly 3,000 more Army troops to the Mideast in the volatile aftermath of the killing of an Iranian general in a strike ordered by President Donald Trump. Defense officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a decision not...

CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Browns are interviewing Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy in Kansas City to possibly be their next head coach. Bieniemy is the third candidate to interview with the Browns, who met Thursday with former Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy at their facility and traveled to Baltimore to...

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Friday that he ordered the killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani because he was “plotting to kill” many Americans. In his first comments since the strike against the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force early Friday, Trump said Soleimani was also responsible for killing...

PARIS — A man armed with a knife rampaged through a Paris park attacking passersby seemingly at random Friday, killing one person and injuring two others before police shot him dead, officials said. The afternoon attack took place in Villejuif in the southern suburbs of Paris. The man’s motives weren’t...

OTTSVILLE — A former high school teacher has been charged with secretly taking indecent photos of three students and posting them online. Francis Reppert, 26, of Quakertown in Bucks County, outside of Philadelhia, was arraigned Thursday on charges of indecent exposure and invasion of privacy. He was released on $500,000...

A fifth inmate has died violently in a Mississippi prison, raising further questions about security as clashes between prisoners continue. Sunflower County Coroner Heather Burton told local news outlets that 36-year-old Dennoris Howell was stabbed to death before dawn Friday at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman. Howell is the...

WASHINGTON — U.S. manufacturing activity fell to the lowest level in more than a decade, as the sector was hurt by weakening demand and last year’s global economic slowdown. The Institute for Supply Management, an association of purchasing managers, said Friday that its manufacturing index dropped to 47.2 in December,...

AUSTIN, Texas — One person was killed and three others hurt in a reported “stabbing incident” Friday morning in downtown Austin and a suspect was in custody, police and emergency officials said. Austin-Travis County EMS said a man in his 20s was pronounced dead and a man in his 50s...

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — A building under construction in southern Cambodia collapsed Friday, killing at least two workers and trapping others inside, police said. The seven-story building in the coastal province of Kep collapsed while about 20 workers were inside. By nightfall, 17 injured workers had been rescued, said Nguon...

Hollywood kicked off the year’s compressed awards season with an emotional night in the desert. The Palm Springs International Film Festival’s annual opening gala is often treated by honorees as a businesslike, pro forma stop on the industry’s self-congratulation circuit. But Thursday found Laura Dern, Jennifer Lopez and Quentin Tarantino...

JAKARTA, Indonesia — The death toll from floods in Indonesia’s capital rose to 43 on Friday as rescuers found more bodies amid receding floodwaters, disaster officials said. Monsoon rains and rising rivers submerged at least 182 neighborhoods in greater Jakarta and caused landslides in the Bogor and Depok districts on...

It may be time to say goodbye to Pete in the garden. Peat Moss, that is. Peat has been a great helper for years, especially with seedlings. It’s made our potting mixes better able to hold both water and air, so important for confined roots, and it’s helped grab onto...

WASHINGTON — Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort said he knew he “had no chance at trial” when he pleaded guilty in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, according to a summary of an interview with investigators that was made public Thursday. “When he saw the jury pool questionnaire for...

SAN DIEGO — The owners and operators of a San Diego-based porn website must pay $12.7 million after a judge found them liable for fraud and breach of contract for lying to women about how their explicit videos would be distributed, according to a court ruling Thursday. The site, GirlsDoPorn,...

SALT LAKE CITY — The son of television producer Jenji Kohan, who created the series “Örange Is the New Black,” died in a New Year’s Eve ski accident in Utah, police said Thursday. Charles “Charlie” Noxon, 20, was pronounced dead after hitting a sign Tuesday on an intermediate-level trail at...