Associated Press stories, Page 2255
Iran denies downing plane, says West should share evidenceVideo
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran on Friday denied Western allegations that one of its own missiles downed a Ukrainian jetliner that crashed outside Tehran, and called on the United States and Canada to share any information they have on the crash, which killed all 176 people on board. Western leaders said...
Mother of 5 found beaten to death in Philadelphia home
PHILADELPHIA — Police on Friday were searching for a suspect who killed a mother of five inside her Philadelphia home. The 25-year-old’s mother called police after finding the back door kicked in on Thursday night and officers discovered the woman dead in an upstairs bedroom, police said. There were signs...
Stakes high as U.S. Supreme Court weighs New Jersey ‘Bridgegate’ case
NEWARK, N.J. — “This is not going to end well.” Those words spoken by a Port Authority of New York and New Jersey official in the summer of 2013 could hardly have been more prophetic. The plot to create gridlock near the busy George Washington Bridge that September to punish...
Iraqi PM tells U.S. to decide mechanism for troop withdrawal
BAGHDAD — Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi has told the U.S. secretary of state to send a delegation to Iraq tasked with formulating the mechanism for the withdrawal of U.S troops from Iraq, according to a statement released Friday. The statement, from the office of the Iraqi caretaker prime minister,...
Giants coach Joe Judge, old-fashioned at 38, wants blue-collar teamVideo
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Joe Judge has every intention of bringing old-fashioned, blue-collar football back to the struggling New York Giants. Roughly three minutes after being introduced as coach of the Giants, the relative unknown 38-year-old disciple of two of football’s coaching greats set out to answer the question of...
Ravens, Lamar Jackson launch playoff run against underdog TitansVideo
BALTIMORE — Containing Lamar Jackson has been virtually impossible for opposing defenses this season, and now the task falls on the Tennessee Titans to find a way to slow down a versatile quarterback who is equally adept at running the ball and throwing downfield. “Other than try to tie his...
NFL doctor calls Eagles’ Carson Wentz ‘heroic’ for reporting concussionVideo
PHILADELPHIA — The NFL’s chief medical officer called Carson Wentz “heroic” for reporting his concussion during Philadelphia’s playoff loss and disputed the notion the league’s system failed the Eagles quarterback. “I think what Carson Wentz did is heroic and should be highlighted as an example of how an unbelievably skilled...
Facebook again refuses to ban political ads, even false onesVideo
SAN FRANCISCO — Despite escalating pressure ahead of the 2020 presidential election, Facebook reaffirmed its freewheeling policy on political ads Thursday, saying it won’t ban them, won’t fact-check them and won’t limit how they can be targeted to specific groups of people. Instead, Facebook said it will offer users slightly...
U.S. courts rule for border walls both public and privateVideo
WASHINGTON — Crews could start building a private border wall in South Texas within the coming days following a federal judge’s ruling Thursday that lifted a restraining order against the project. U.S. District Judge Randy Crane’s order was the second federal ruling in two days in favor of border barriers....
House approves measure to restrain Trump’s actions on IranVideo
WASHINGTON — Reigniting a debate over who has the power to declare war, the Democratic-controlled House on Thursday approved a resolution asserting that President Donald Trump must seek approval from Congress before engaging in further military action against Iran. The war powers resolution is not binding on the president and...
Video in apparent Jeffrey Epstein suicide attempt ‘no longer exists,’ feds say
NEW YORK — Video footage of the area around Jeffrey Epstein’s jail cell on a day he apparently tried to kill himself “no longer exists,” federal prosecutors told a judge Thursday. Officials at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York believed they had preserved footage of guards finding Jeffrey Epstein...
John Beilein says he apologized for ‘thugs’ comment about CavsVideo
DETROIT — Cleveland Cavaliers coach John Beilein said Thursday he has apologized after using the word “thugs” during a film session with his players the previous day. ESPN.com, citing unidentified sources, reported that Beilein suggested during a Wednesday film session his players were no longer playing “like a bunch of...
Man charged after beer can thrown onto court during Celtics gameVideo
BOSTON — A man was arrested and escorted out of the arena after throwing a can of hard seltzer onto the court near the San Antonio Spurs bench during Wednesday night’s game with the Boston Celtics, Boston police said Thursday. Justin Arnold, 22, of Everett, was charged with disturbing a...
Half-empty stadiums won’t stop number of bowls from going upVideo
Six bowls had their smallest crowds on record, with section after section of unoccupied seats a yawning indication of how little buzz there can be for the long list of postseason games. Half-empty stadiums? Teams with tiny fan bases and mediocre records? Too many bowls? They aren’t going away. There...
Donald Glover’s ‘Atlanta’ set for 2 more seasons in 2021
PASADENA, Calif. — Donald Glover’s “Atlanta” is returning with new episodes, but not for another year. FX Networks Chairman John Landgraf said Thursday that star and creator Glover is making a total of 18 new episodes. Ten of them will air in January 2021, with the rest to follow later...
Anti-establishment views unite, divide Hong Kong protesters
HONG KONG — Trump signs, Pepe the Frog graffiti and British and American flags have become a common sight at Hong Kong’s anti-government protests — and an unsettling one to longtime democracy activists on the left. Beijing has seized on the images to portray the movement as a coddled, westernized...
Trump proposes sweeping rollback of environmental oversight
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Thursday proposed rolling back enforcement of a landmark environmental law, reducing federal oversight of many major projects, from pipelines to commercial development, to speed the approval process. He said the United States cannot compete “if a bureaucratic system holds us back from building what...
Bill Cosby asks Pennsylvania high court to review conviction
Comedian Bill Cosby filed an appeal Thursday of a court decision last month that upheld his conviction for drugging and sexually assaulting a woman at his home. The latest appeal — filed with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which does not have to take the case — focuses on four key...
Puerto Rico earthquake aftermath deepens as government seeks help
SAN JUAN — More than 2,000 people in shelters. Nearly one million without power. Hundreds of thousands without water. The aftermath of a 6.4-magnitude earthquake that killed one person, injured nine others and severely damaged infrastructure in Puerto Rico’s southwest coast is deepening as the island’s government says it is...
Facebook riles tiny Oregon town with plan for undersea cable
TIERRA DEL MAR, Ore. — A battle playing out in Oregon is pitting residents of a tiny coastal town with no stoplights or cellphone service against one of the world’s biggest tech companies. Locals in Tierra del Mar are trying to stop Facebook from using property in their quiet community...
Prolific ‘Graduate’ writer-actor Buck Henry dies at 89
NEW YORK — Buck Henry, the versatile writer, director and character actor who co-wrote and appeared in “The Graduate,” has died. He was 89. Henry’s wife, Irene Ramp, told The Washington Post that his death Wednesday in Los Angeles was due to a heart attack. Henry acted in and co-directed...
Lawmakers approve Brexit bill, U.K. on course for Jan. 31 exit
LONDON — Britain passed a major milestone on the road to Brexit when the House of Commons on Thursday approved a bill authorizing the country’s departure from the European Union at the end of the month. Lawmakers voted by 330-231 to pass the Withdrawal Agreement Bill, which sets the terms...
Ex-Pa. mayor on prison life: Spin class, teaching and law books
The former mayor of a Pennsylvania city who is serving a 15-year prison sentence for public corruption told a newspaper his life behind bars is “kind of like being mayor but for a lot less money.” Former Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski has spent more than a year at a low-security...
U.S. officials: ‘Highly likely’ Iran shot down Ukrainian jetliner
WASHINGTON — Two U.S. officials said Thursday it was “highly likely” that an Iranian anti-aircraft missile downed a Ukrainian jetliner late Tuesday, killing all 176 people on board. The crash came just a few hours after Iran launched a ballistic missile attack against Iraqi military bases housing U.S. troops amid...
Timeline: A look at tensions between U.S., Iran since 2018
Iran is sending mixed signals as tensions with the U.S. appear to ease. President Hassan Rouhani has warned of a “very dangerous response” if the U.S. makes “another mistake,” and a senior commander has vowed “harsher revenge” for the killing of a top Iranian general. Both sides appeared to step...
