Associated Press stories, Page 2275

DENVER — A simple yes-or-no question keeps tripping up Senate Republicans: Should the president ask foreign countries to investigate political rivals? A month ago the question was a legal and constitutional no-brainer. It’s illegal to accept foreign help in a political campaign, an action that also raises questions about U.S....

DENVER — A jury on Thursday found an Uber driver not guilty of murder in the fatal shooting of a passenger he said attacked him while driving on a freeway in Denver. Jurors sided with Michael Hancock, 31, who argued that he was defending himself against passenger Hyun (Huhn) Kim....

EL PASO, Texas — The 21-year-old man charged with capital murder in the fatal shooting of 22 people at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, pleaded not guilty Thursday during a brief initial hearing. Police have said Patrick Crusius of Dallas confessed to the Aug. 3 mass shooting and that...

Stocks closed broadly higher on Wall Street for the second straight day Thursday as the U.S. and China kicked off a new round of negotiations in their long-running trade war. Technology companies and banks led the rally as investors turned hopeful that the 13th round of trade talks will bring...

SAN FRANCISCO — One of California’s largest hospital systems is facing a trial over accusations that it has used its market dominance to snuff out competition and overcharge patients for medical bills. The antitrust lawsuit against Sutter Health, which operates 24 hospitals with 5,500 doctors across Northern California, was first...

SONOMA, Calif. — The Latest on power outages in California (all times local): 12:55 p.m. A fire has erupted in a Southern California city as strong Santa Ana winds buffet the region. The San Bernardino County Fire Department says the fire erupted in Fontana early Thursday afternoon. Officials say one...

WASHINGTON — Two Florida businessmen tied to President Donald Trump’s lawyer and the Ukraine investigation were charged Thursday with federal campaign finance violations. The charges relate to a $325,000 donation to a group supporting Trump’s reelection. Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, associates of Rudy Giuliani, were arrested Wednesday night trying...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The mayor of West Virginia’s capital city on Thursday reversed a decision to change the name of the annual holiday parade after intense backlash from church leaders and conservatives. Mayor Amy Goodwin announced on Monday that she planned to rename the “Charleston Christmas Parade” the “Charleston Winter...

NEW YORK — The observatory atop the Empire State Building has a dizzying new look with floor-to-ceiling, 360-degree windows 102 floors above New York City. The remodeled observatory opens to the public Saturday. It was unveiled to the media Thursday. More than 4 million annual visitors will get a bird’s-eye...

Cuba Gooding Jr. learned on Thursday that he’s facing a new undisclosed charge in his sexual misconduct case, a development that came as jury selection was set to begin for his trial. At a court hearing in Manhattan, Assistant District Attorney Jenna Long revealed the charge is contained in a...

CLEARWATER, Fla. — A white Florida man who told detectives he was irritated by people who illegally park in handicapped spots was sentenced on Thursday to 20 years in prison for the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man outside a convenience store. Circuit Judge Joseph Bulone called 49-year-old Michael...

DALLAS — Welterweight boxing champion Errol Spence crashed a speeding Ferrari in Dallas early Thursday and was badly injured but is expected to survive, police said. The crash happened just before 3 a.m., when Spence’s Ferrari crossed a median into oncoming traffic and flipped over several times, ejecting Spence, who...

HARRISBURG — Trump administration officials say the U.S. Navy will name a ship that has yet to be built after the city of Harrisburg. The naming of the future USS Harrisburg was announced Thursday in the Capitol Rotunda, at an event that included federal, state and local officials. The $800...

PARIS — Audio recordings from the Nuremberg trials of Nazi leaders will be made available to the public for the first time in digital form after nearly two years of work conducted in secret. The Memorial of the Shoah in Paris will officially accept the recordings at a ceremony Thursday...

WASHINGTON — Two Florida businessmen tied to President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani have been arrested on campaign finance violations resulting from a $325,000 donation to a political action committee supporting Trump’s reelection. Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman were arrested on a four-count indictment that includes charges of conspiracy,...

PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia police are searching for a suspect who they say raped a Drexel University student in an off-campus apartment. Police say the attack took place just before 1 p.m. Wednesday in the apartment on Winter Street. Authorities have not said how the man got into the apartment. Students...

PALM CITY, Fla. — Authorities say they’ve arrested a Florida man who provoked a small alligator into biting his arm and poured beer into the animal’s mouth. News outlets report 27-year-old Timothy Kepke and 22-year-old Noah Osborne were charged last week with unlawfully taking an alligator. Florida Fish and Wildlife...

RAPID CITY, S.D. — A powerful winterlike storm moving through the Great Plains was closing schools and causing travel headaches in several states, authorities said Thursday. Winter storm warnings and watches stretched from Wyoming and Montana through western Nebraska and into the Dakotas and Minnesota. Forecasters said the storm packs...

STOCKHOLM — Polish novelist Olga Tokarczuk and Austrian writer Peter Handke won the 2018 and 2019 Nobel Prizes for literature on Thursday, a rare double announcement that came after no prize was announced last year due to sex abuse allegations that tarnished the group awarding the prizes. The Swedish Academy...