Associated Press stories, Page 2328
Cruise line: Grandpa leaned out window before girl’s fall
MIAMI — An Indiana man charged with negligent homicide in his young granddaughter’s fatal fall from a cruise ship’s open window in Puerto Rico leaned out of that window for several seconds before he lifted the child up to it and she fell, the cruise operator alleges in a court...
U.S. to screen airline passengers from China for new illness
NEW YORK — Three U.S. airports will screen passengers arriving from central China for a new virus that has sickened dozens, killed two and prompted worries about an international outbreak, health officials said Friday. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials say they will begin taking temperatures and asking about...
U.S. agency examining Tesla unintended acceleration complaint
DETROIT — The U.S. government’s auto safety agency is looking into allegations that all three of Tesla’s electric vehicle models can suddenly accelerate on their own. An unidentified person petitioned the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration asking for an investigation into the problem. An agency document shows 127 owner complaints...
Pompeo breaks silence on alleged threats to envoy in Ukraine
WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday broke nearly 72 hours of silence over alleged surveillance and threats to the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, saying he believed the allegations would prove to be wrong but that he had an obligation to evaluate and investigate the matter. In...
Analysis: Baseball has become a prisoner of technology
NEW YORK — Technology unleashed baseball’s Analytics Era, and now it’s holding the sport prisoner. AJ Hinch, Alex Cora and Carlos Beltrán are casualties, a triple play of hubris. At the cutting edge with the Houston Astros, now they have been cut. Their sign-stealing system exposed, all three managers were...
Steve Martin, Martin Short to star in Hulu comedy series
PASADENA, Calif. — Steve Martin and Martin Short are taking their touring act to television with a new Hulu comedy. The untitled show about three strangers who share an obsession with true crime and suddenly find themselves wrapped up in one was announced Friday at a TV critics meeting. Martin...
Jury selected for Harvey Weinstein’s rape trial
NEW YORK — Jury selection in Harvey Weinstein’s rape trial concluded Friday after an arduous two-week process, setting the stage for testimony to begin in the next week. The lawyers and judge halted the selection process after 12 jurors and three alternates had been seated. Of the total, eight were...
2 dead, 1 gravely hurt in Mexico fireworks explosion
MEXICO CITY — An explosion of a fireworks cache killed two people and critically injured another in a town on the northern outskirts of Mexico City. The government of Mexico State, which surrounds the capital, reported on its online information portal that a male victim died at the scene of...
South Carolina woman pleads guilty to poisoning husband with eye drops
YORK, S.C. — A South Carolina woman pleaded guilty to fatally poisoning her husband by putting eye drops into his water for days. She was sentenced to 25 years in prison. Lana Sue Clayton, 53, pleaded guilty Thursday to voluntary manslaughter and tampering with a food or drug, news outlets...
Eminem drops surprise album, advocates changes to gun laws
Rapper Eminem once again dropped a surprise album, releasing “Music to Be Murdered By” on Friday — along with a video that calls for changes to gun laws. The follow-up to 2018’s “Kamikaze” — also released without warning — was announced on Twitter just after midnight. The Detroit rapper’s new...
Denver officials won’t hand over information sought by ICE
WASHINGTON — Denver officials on Thursday said they would not hand over information requested by U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement on four men wanted for deportation. ICE, the Homeland Security agency tasked with arresting and deporting people in the U.S. illegally, sent four administrative subpoenas earlier this week to law...
Andrew Yang’s wife details alleged sexual assault by OB-GYN
WASHINGTON — The wife of Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang says she was sexually assaulted by her OB-GYN while she was pregnant with the couple’s first child. Evelyn Yang said in an interview televised Thursday by CNN that the assault happened in 2012, and she was initially afraid to tell...
Giants make Alyssa Nakken first female major league coachVideo
SAN FRANCISCO — Alyssa Nakken became the first female coach on a major league staff in baseball history Thursday when she was named an assistant under new Giants manager Gabe Kapler. Major League Baseball confirmed Nakken is the first woman coach in the majors. Nakken is a former softball standout...
Florida high court sides with governor on felon voter rights
TALLAHASSEE — The Florida Supreme Court sided with Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday in a legal dispute over restoring voting rights to felons with unpaid fines — one of many clashes over the ballot box in a state that will play a crucial role in this year’s presidential election. The...
Stolen away: Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher recalls 1951 sign-stealing scamVideo
NEW YORK — Stealing signals. Banging on a trash can. Beating the Dodgers in October. Sounds very familiar to Carl Erskine. “If they’re going to go back to 2017 with penalties for the Astros,” he said Wednesday, “then I want them to go all the way back to 1951 to...
Prolific pass-catcher Kittle takes more pride in blocking for 49ers RBsVideo
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — No tight end in NFL history has been as productive catching the ball over the first three years of a career as George Kittle. A player that skilled as a receiver might be expected to ask — or even demand — for the ball to come...
Gambling revenue in Pennsylvania hits record high
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s commercial casinos reached a new high in revenue last year, state regulators said Thursday, a record boosted by an aggressive new expansion of gambling authorized by state lawmakers and Gov. Tom Wolf in 2017. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board said revenue at the state’s 12 casinos, as...
Judge upholds ban on weapons at gun rally in VirginiaVideo
RICHMOND — A judge on Thursday upheld a ban on firearms at a pro-gun rally scheduled for next week in Virginia, rejecting a request from gun-rights groups who had sued to overturn it. The Virginia Citizens Defense League and Gunowners of America had filed a lawsuit Thursday seeking an injunction...
Gov. Tom Wolf mixed state work with personal time in Israel trip
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf returned Thursday to the United States after a previously undisclosed trip to Israel that his office said mixed personal travel with state business. Wolf’s spokesman said the governor and his wife, first lady Frances Wolf, spent three days at the end of their trip...
Derek Culver, Oscar Tshiebwe help No. 12 WVU’s half-court defense thrive
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — No. 12 West Virginia’s opponents don’t have to dribble the ball past midcourt to the point of exhaustion anymore. But it comes at a cost. In abandoning a suffocating full-court pressure defense from past seasons, the Mountaineers have doubled down on an even-greater priority: keeping teams out...
Former starting QB Mariota still finding ways to help TitansVideo
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee Titans benched Marcus Mariota for Ryan Tannehill in mid-October after a 2-4 start. Finding the No. 2 overall pick from the 2015 draft isn’t that hard during their amazing playoff run. Just keep an eye on the field. The Titans (11-7) have gotten Mariota into...
Stock indexes rally to more record highs, led by tech gains
Stocks closed broadly higher on Wall Street, pushing major indexes to new record highs. A batch of solid economic data injected more optimism into markets Thursday, a day after the U.S. and China signed an initial trade deal. Technology companies including Microsoft led the gains. Morgan Stanley rose sharply after...
Vladimir Putin fast-tracks effort to extend his rule in Russia
MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin on Thursday fast-tracked work on constitutional changes that could keep him in power well past the end of his term in 2024 while lawmakers quickly sealed his choice for new prime minister. Speaking to a working group created to draft constitutional changes, Putin cast his...
Ukraine opens probe of possible surveillance of ambassador
KYIV, Ukraine — Police in Ukraine are investigating whether the U.S. ambassador came under illegal surveillance by an unknown party before the Trump administration recalled her from Kyiv, Ukrainian authorities said Thursday. The announcement came two days after Democratic lawmakers in the United States released documents and text messages that...
Trump boosts school prayer, helps faith groups
President Donald Trump took steps Thursday to give religious organizations easier access to federal programs and reaffirmed students’ rights to pray in public schools. Under orders from Trump, nine Cabinet departments proposed rules intended to remove “regulatory burdens” on religious organizations participating in federal programs by eliminating a requirement that...
