Associated Press stories, Page 2326

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump claimed Monday he wants legislation providing “strong background checks” for gun users, but he provided no details and has reneged on previous promises to strengthen gun laws after mass shootings. Trump tweeted Monday about the weekend shootings in Texas and Ohio that left 29...

For some people, backyards aren’t just backyards anymore. “We’re seeing everything from Zen retreats for al fresco yoga to whimsical children’s spaces that go way beyond the typical swing set,” says Jennifer Bringle, editor in chief of Casual Living magazine. More and more, she says, homeowners are putting the same...

NEW YORK — The Florida man who created a two-week crisis by mailing 16 packages of inoperative pipe bombs packed with fireworks powder and shards of glass to 13 famous Democrats and CNN is scheduled to learn his punishment Monday. Defense lawyers urge leniency, saying Cesar Sayoc, burdened as a...

TULLYTOWN — A Pennsylvania man has been charged with making threats against Temple University and its police department as he was buying ammunition in a Walmart store, authorities say. The Bucks County district attorney’s office says 29-year-old Patrick Buhler, who has addresses in Morrisville and Mount Bethel, was arraigned Saturday...

Ohio: A bar district where friends gathered for drinks on a warm Saturday night. Texas: A Walmart stocked with supplies for back-to-school shopping on an August morning. California: A family-focused festival that celebrates garlic, the local cash crop. Two consecutive summer weekends. Less than seven days. More than 30 fellow...

MAPLEWOOD, N.J. — A man has been charged in the shooting deaths of his au pair girlfriend and her employer at his suburban home in northern New Jersey. The Essex County prosecutor’s office said 27-year-old Joseph Porter of Elizabeth is charged with two counts of murder, weapons possession charges, and...

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — Chase Elliott put an emphatic end to his summer-long struggle, making a statement with a dominating win on the road course at Watkins Glen International. A year after racing to his first career NASCAR Cup victory at The Glen, Elliott won a second time in the...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Contura Energy has made a successful bid at an auction for the assets of three Blackjewel LLC coal mines, including two of the top producers in the country. The results are subject to a federal bankruptcy judge’s approval Monday in Charleston. The judge ordered the parties to...

TEHRAN — Iranian forces seized a ship in the Persian Gulf suspected of carrying smuggled fuel, state media reported Sunday, marking the Revolutionary Guard’s third seizure of a vessel in recent weeks and the latest show of strength by the paramilitary force amid a spike in regional tensions. State TV...

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is signing a two-year, $70 million contract extension that runs through 2021 and includes a hefty raise this season, a person with knowledge of the deal told the Associated Press. The person, speaking to the AP on condition of anonymity Sunday because the Patriots had not...

MILTON KEYNES, England — Hinako Shibuno of Japan finished with a birdie to win the Women’s British Open by one shot over Lizette Salas as she wrapped up a stunning major championship debut Sunday. The 20-year-old Shibuno, a rookie on the Japan LPGA Tour who was making her LPGA Tour...

LOUISVILLE — U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is recuperating at home in Kentucky after suffering a shoulder fracture in a fall Sunday, a spokesman said. McConnell tripped Sunday morning on his outdoor patio, but has been treated and released after getting medical attention, David Popp, a spokesman for the...

BRIDGEWATER, N.J. — As the nation reeled from two mass shootings in less than a day, President Donald Trump spent the first hours after the tragedies out of sight at his New Jersey golf course, sending out tweets of support awkwardly mixed in with those promoting a celebrity fight and...

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Democratic presidential candidates sought to lay blame Sunday on President Donald Trump following a pair of mass shootings in Ohio and Texas, saying his language against minorities promotes racial division and violence. At public events and on television, several candidates pointed to a need for more gun...

EL PASO, Texas — The shooting that killed 20 people at a crowded El Paso shopping area will be handled as a domestic terrorism case, federal authorities said Sunday as they weighed hate-crime charges against the gunman that could carry the death penalty. A local prosecutor announced that he would...

CLEVELAND — Investigators say a Cleveland bank robber made their job much easier because his note demanding money was written on the back side of a document bearing his name and address. FBI Special Agent Vicki Anderson tells WJW-TV the stunned teller who was handed the note last Monday looked...

SANGATTE, France — Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s a French inventor flying over the English Channel on his hoverboard. Looking like a superhero, Franky Zapata successfully completed the famed 35-kilometer (22-mile) journey in just 22 minutes Sunday morning, reaching speeds of up to 177 kilometers...

HONG KONG — Demonstrators in Hong Kong moved en masse to a luxury shopping district Sunday evening after riot police used tear gas to clear out an area they were previously occupying, as the 2-month-old protest movement showed no signs of easing. Clad in yellow helmets and black face masks,...

BALTIMORE — Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings took the high road in inviting President Donald Trump and other Americans to visit Baltimore but declining to respond in kind to the barrage of presidential tweets and comments disparaging him and the majority-black city he has long represented. “We are a great community,”...

Two mass shootings at crowded public places in Texas and Ohio claimed at least 29 lives in less than 24 hours and left scores of people wounded, a shocking carnage even in a country accustomed to gun violence. In the Texas border city of El Paso, a gunman opened fire...

WASHINGTON — Tourists aiming for postcard-perfect photos of the White House at first couldn’t avoid the black metal bicycle racks that were arranged to form an extra security barrier against possible fence-jumpers. The racks were in just about every shot. But visitors now must contend with a tall white wooden...