Associated Press stories, Page 2351

SAN DIEGO — The slow, agonizing demise of the Oakland Raiders will continue for at least one more season. There will be one more “final” home game at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, on Dec. 15 against the Jacksonville Jaguars. There have been possible “final” home games for a few years...

WASHINGTON — Moving ahead despite objections, the Trump administration on Friday set a timetable for federally funded family clinics to comply with a new rule that bars them from referring women for abortions. The move is part of a series of efforts to remake government policy on reproductive health to...

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Friday that he received a “beautiful” three-page letter from Kim Jong Un and predicted that the two leaders would have more talks to try resolving the standoff over North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. Trump has said he’s not bothered by the flurry of missiles...

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Friday he believes he has influence to rally Republicans around stronger federal background check laws as Congress and the White House work on a response to last weekend’s mass shootings in Texas and Ohio. At the same time, Trump said he had assured the...

Stocks capped a turbulent week with another decline Friday as investors worry that a resolution in the U.S.-China trade dispute is a long way off. Escalating tension over trade between the world’s two biggest economies was the catalyst for big swings in the market this week. President Donald Trump indicated...

SAN DIEGO — The slow, agonizing demise of the Oakland Raiders will continue for at least one more season. There will be one more “final” home game at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, on Dec. 15 against the Jacksonville Jaguars. There have been possible “final” home games for a few years...

NEW YORK — Companies like Guard Dog Security, TuffyPacks and Bullet Blocker are peddling bullet-resistant backpacks for children in time for the back-to-school shopping season. But critics argue they are using tragedy as a marketing opportunity and exploiting parents’ worst fears. Safety is high on the minds of parents, especially...

PHILADELPHIA — Colin Kaepernick is eager to prove he’s good enough to play in the NFL. A person close to Kaepernick told The Associated Press on Friday: “Colin has always been prepared to compete at the highest level and is in the best shape of his life.” The person spoke...

PHILADELPHIA — Workers have started to neutralize a highly toxic chemical on the site of a massive Philadelphia refinery that’s been shut down since explosions and a blaze earlier this summer. Philadelphia Fire Commissioner Adam Thiel says workers are at the Philadelphia Energy Solutions site around the clock, seven days...

CLAYTON, Mo. — On the fifth anniversary of Michael Brown’s death in Ferguson, his father urged St. Louis County’s top prosecutor Friday to reopen the investigation into the white police officer who fatally shot the black and unarmed 18-year-old. Before a memorial service in the Ferguson street where a white...

EL PASO, Texas — The man accused of carrying out last weekend’s deadly mass shooting at Walmart in the Texas border city of El Paso confessed to officers while he was surrendering and later explained that he had been targeting Mexicans. Patrick Crusius, 21, emerged with his hands up from...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Police in West Virginia say a man who tried to steal a police cruiser while handcuffed has been charged. Criminal complaints filed in Charleston say Blake King is facing two misdemeanors and a felony after the incident Thursday. The filings say an officer first arrested King and...

KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghanistan faces a presidential election next month but few believe the vote will take place as the United States and the Taliban inch closer to a deal that could end the nearly 18-year war but bring uncertainty about almost everything else. Few candidates — 18 are running...

TOLEDO, Ohio — A man accused of plotting with his girlfriend to obtain guns and explosives for a foiled domestic terror attack pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge. Prosecutors said the pair had talked extensively about taking part in violent attacks on public places, visited the site of the...

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — A former North Carolina police officer has pleaded guilty to beating a black pedestrian in a case that sparked outrage after graphic video of the encounter surfaced. Christopher Hickman pleaded guilty Friday in Asheville to assault by strangulation, assault inflicting serious injury and communicating threats. Buncombe County...

DELTONA, Fla. — A Florida homeowner says someone stole a 9 mm Glock handgun from his bedroom during a weekend sex party. But Volusia County Sheriff’s Sgt. Todd Smith tells The Daytona Beach News-Journal the homeowner couldn’t give detectives the names of possible suspects because the 20 or so people...

Entertainer Wayne Newton is being sued by a Las Vegas woman who claims the veteran crooner’s pet monkey bit and injured her daughter during an invited visit to Newton’s showpiece mansion nearly two years ago. Jocelyne Urena seeks at least $15,000 in damages on behalf of her daughter, Genevieve, in...

BEIRUT — A Canadian citizen, freed after being imprisoned in Syria since last year, has appeared before reporters in Lebanon. Kristian Lee Baxter dissolved into tears at the press conference in Beirut on Friday, saying he thought he “would be there forever.” He then got off the podium. Lebanon’s General...

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Police in Springfield, Missouri, said they arrested a man who showed up at a Walmart store carrying a rifle and wearing body armor, terrifying shoppers who fled from the store. Springfield police posted on Facebook that “an armed individual” was arrested Thursday. No shots were fired. The...

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Officials in western Massachusetts are embracing a controversial tactic amid a dramatic spike in fatal overdoses: sending men to jail for court-ordered addiction treatment. Hampden County Sheriff Thomas Cocchi has designated a jail wing for the treatment of men civilly committed for substance abuse reasons. Cocchi and...

LONDON — The British economy shrank in the second quarter for the first time since 2012 as Brexit uncertainties weighed on business investment and firms reduced their stockpiling after Britain was granted an extension to its departure from the European Union, official figures showed Friday. The decline is set to...

TOKYO — Japanese palace officials say former Empress Michiko will have an operation for breast cancer. The Imperial Household Agency said Friday that doctors found Michiko had an early stage of breast cancer in a health check in July. Michiko, 84, received the title of empress emerita after her husband,...

BRUGELETTE, Belgium — A Belgian wildlife park is proudly announcing the birth of twin baby giant pandas. Pairi Daiza said in a tweet Friday that Hao Hao, a panda loaned to the park by China in 2014, has given birth to “two little ‘pink shrimps’ that are in good health...

PARIS — The International Energy Agency says the U.S.-China trade war and a decline in world economic growth are weakening the demand for oil. The Paris-based agency, which advises many developed countries on energy policies, cut its forecast for oil demand growth this year and next by 0.1 million barrels...

If mosquitoes, gnats, black flies and no-see-ums are driving you buggy, then consider cozying up to some lavender, marigolds or basil. Scientists question their overall effectiveness, but many fragrant ornamental flowers and herbs grown around the home have properties that can repel insects. Insect repellents are divided into two primary...