Associated Press stories, Page 2198

NEW YORK — An anti-robocalls measure signed into law Monday by President Donald Trump should help reduce the torrent of unwanted calls promising lower interest rates or pretending to be the IRS, though it won’t make all such calls disappear. The new law gives authorities more enforcement powers and could...

NEW YORK — The children are playing with their gifts, the new TV is up on the wall, and that puppy has a brand-new cashmere-lined bed, when another gift arrives in the mail. This one isn’t from Santa. It’s your statement from your friendly credit card company. They want to...

AUSTIN, Texas — A Texas judge ordered conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to pay $100,000 in another court setback over the Infowars host using his show to promote falsehoods that the 2012 Sandy Hook school massacre was a hoax. Jones is being sued for defamation in Austin, Texas, by the parents...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville Jaguars are retaining coach Doug Marrone and general manager Dave Caldwell despite consecutive losing seasons. Owner Shad Khan made the announcement Tuesday after “positive meetings” with Marrone, Caldwell, their staffs and several players. “This is not the time to consider an overhaul of our organization,”...

ALPENA, Mich. — The restaurant bill was $23. But the tip at a small-town restaurant in Michigan was much larger: $2,020. “Things like this don’t happen to people like me,” server Danielle Franzoni told The Alpena News. Franzoni, 31, got the tip while working Sunday at Thunder Bay River Restaurant...

NEW YORK — Every movie year offers up a parade of hits and flops. But in 2019, no winner was in the same galaxy as the Walt Disney Co. And the biggest loser might have been anyone less thrilled about the box-office domination of franchise films. When the year closes...

Revelers around the globe are bidding farewell to a decade that will be remembered for the rise of social media, the Arab Spring, the #MeToo movement and, of course, President Donald Trump. A look at how the world is ushering in 2020: ——— AUSTRALIA More than a million people descended...

PERTH, Australia — Wildfires burning across Australia’s two most populous states Tuesday trapped residents of a seaside town in apocalyptic conditions and killed at least two people while more property along the country’s east coast fell victim to a devastating fire season. About 4,000 residents in the southeastern town of...

PITTSBURGH — Federal authorities said Monday the remains of an American soldier killed during the Korean War have been accounted for and will be interred at Arlington National Cemetery. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced that in August it verified the remains of Army 1st Lt. Robert C. Styslinger, 28,...

CHARLESTON, W. Va. — West Virginia’s governor has fired 34 correction officer trainees who were photographed giving a Nazi salute, and he fired their instructor. He also says four instructors are being suspended without pay. Republican Gov. Jim Justice announced his decision Monday after receiving a report from state investigators...

TOKYO — Nissan’s former Chairman Carlos Ghosn said Tuesday from Lebanon that he was not fleeing justice but instead left Japan to avoid “injustice and political persecution” over financial misconduct allegations during his tenure leading the automaker. Ghosn had been released on bail by a Tokyo court while awaiting trial...

MIAMI — Erik Prince, a major Republican donor and founder of controversial security firm Blackwater, has been referred to the U.S. Treasury Department for possible sanctions violations tied to his recent trip to Venezuela for a meeting with a top aide of President Nicolas Maduro, two senior U.S. officials said....

WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Monday dismissed a lawsuit from a former White House official who had challenged a congressional subpoena in the impeachment inquiry involving President Donald Trump. Charles Kupperman, a former deputy national security adviser, sued in October after being subpoenaed by House Democrats to testify in...

MOBILE, Ala. — A police chief in the south Alabama city of Mobile is apologizing for an officer’s social media post appearing to ridicule homeless people that was shared widely over the holidays. The Facebook post showed two Mobile Police officers, holding what the post called a “homeless quilt” made...