Associated Press stories, Page 2339

WASHINGTON — A man whose relatives reported concerns about his behavior and far-right extremist rhetoric after last year’s Pittsburgh synagogue massacre pleaded guilty to a federal gun charge Tuesday. Jeffrey Clark Jr. of Washington, D.C., faces a maximum of 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to one count of...

TOLEDO, Ohio — A roughly $1 billion financial rescue for Ohio’s two nuclear power plants is on the way after lawmakers and the governor signed off on a plan Tuesday that will add a new fee to every electricity bill in the state. Backed mostly by Republicans, the legislation will...

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — The Miss America pageant is leaving one casino town for another. The Miss America Organization says this year’s pageant will be held at the Mohegan Sun Connecticut in Uncasville, Conn. It will be broadcast on NBC Dec. 19, in a switch from recent broadcaster ABC. The...

WASHINGTON — After years of tension between Washington and Islamabad, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan insisted Tuesday the two are now on the same page and said he will do his best to convince the Taliban to open negotiations with the Afghan government to resolve the war. The U.S. has...

NEW YORK — Attorney General William Barr said Tuesday increased encryption of data on phones and computers and encrypted messaging apps are putting American security at risk. Barr’s comments at a cybersecurity conference mark a continuing effort by the Justice Department to push tech companies to provide law enforcement with...

RALEIGH, N.C. — A federal judge approved a legal settlement Tuesday affirming transgender people’s right to use restrooms matching their gender identity in many North Carolina public buildings. The consent decree between the state’s Democratic governor and transgender plaintiffs covers numerous state-owned buildings including facilities run by executive branch agencies...

CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela’s opposition on Tuesday sought to harness anger over a massive blackout that deepened hardship nationwide, but turnout at a Caracas demonstration was relatively modest as many Venezuelans despair of an imminent solution to their plight. Lights came back on in parts of the capital and other...

NEW YORK — Cellphone videos of people brazenly dousing uniformed New York Police Department patrolmen with water have sparked outrage and led police officials to urge the force not to tolerate the behavior. Police on Tuesday were looking into two recent instances captured on video clips widely circulated on social...

NEW YORK — U.S. stocks marched broadly higher in afternoon trading Tuesday on Wall Street as several major companies reported solid second quarter earnings. The steady gains built on Monday’s upward momentum and moved stocks closer to record highs reached just over a week ago. Stocks have been volatile in...

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A Florida lawmaker known as a champion for child sexual abuse victims asked Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday to authorize a state investigation into the circumstances of wealthy convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s freedom to leave jail on work release a decade ago. Democratic state Sen....

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A Puerto Rico judge issued search warrants for the cellphones of government officials involved in a crude and offensive online chat whose leak has set off a political crisis that threatens to bring down the U.S. territory’s governor. Kelvin Carrasco, a spokesman for the island’s...

WASHINGTON — FBI Director Christopher Wray offered a lesson Tuesday in how to dodge questions about the special counsel’s Russia investigation , offering a possible preview of what lawmakers can expect when Robert Mueller testifies to Congress. Wray, in an appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee, repeatedly declined to answer...

LOS ANGELES — In just 2½ years, the Trump administration has put its stamp on the nation’s immigration court system, appointing more than 4 in 10 judges while dramatically expanding the bench and issuing new rules that make it harder for migrants to win their cases and stay in the...

WASHINGTON — It took seven months, but President Trump finally has a Senate-confirmed secretary of defense. Mark Esper, an Army veteran and former defense industry lobbyist, won Senate confirmation Tuesday by a vote of 90-8. He was to be officially sworn by the end of the day, ending the longest...

SYDNEY — A driver has been charged after methamphetamine valued at more than $140 million was found in a van that crashed into police cars parked outside a Sydney police station, police said on Tuesday. A Toyota HiAce van hit the cars outside the Eastwood Police Station on Monday morning,...

HURON, Ohio — Authorities in Ohio have shut down a Lake Erie beach after a second swimmer went missing in less than a month. Officials in Huron say Nickel Plate Beach will be closed until further notice while the city looks at ways to improve safety at the beach, about...

NORFOLK, Va. — Gavin Grimm, a young man who has become a national face for transgender student rights, returns to a Virginia courtroom Tuesday to challenge his former high school’s bathroom policy. A federal judge in Norfolk is considering whether the Gloucester County School Board violated Grimm’s rights when it...

Her name was “Lucille,” and in B.B. King’s hands she gave voice to the “King of the Blues.” Julien’s Auctions announced Tuesday that King’s black Gibson ES-345 prototype guitar is among the items from his estate that will go up for bid on Sept. 21. Julien’s says Gibson gave King...

LONDON — Brexit hardliner Boris Johnson won the contest to lead Britain’s governing Conservative Party on Tuesday and will become the country’s next prime minister, tasked with fulfilling his promise to lead the U.K. out of the European Union. Johnson resoundingly defeated rival Jeremy Hunt, winning two thirds of the...

HARRISBURG — At least three men recently paroled from Pennsylvania prisons have been arrested in unrelated homicides over the past two months, leading to calls from prosecutors and corrections officers for a review of the state’s parole practices. The men were arrested within a couple days of one another this...

BISMARCK, N.D. — Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson and Monique Lamoureux-Morando, stars of the United States’ gold medal-winning hockey team in South Korea, are hard at work training to make another Olympic team in 2022. But they also are carving out time to do good off the ice, launching a foundation Monday that...

WASHINGTON — Millions of people who take aspirin to prevent a heart attack may need to rethink the pill-popping, Harvard researchers reported Monday. A daily low-dose aspirin is recommended for people who have already had a heart attack or stroke and for those diagnosed with heart disease. But for the...

SAN DIEGO — The administration of President Trump announced Monday that it will vastly expand the authority of immigration officers to deport migrants without allowing them to first appear before judges, its second major policy shift on immigration in eight days. Starting Tuesday, fast-track deportations can apply to anyone in...