Associated Press stories, Page 2466

LOS ANGELES — Britney Spears says she’s decided to focus on self-care as she goes through a rough stretch. Spears posted an image on Instagram Wednesday with the words, “Fall in love with taking care of yourself. Mind. Body. Spirit.” In the caption she wrote that everyone needs “a little...

LOS ANGELES — A man who rode around on a bicycle and slashed the faces and necks of at least nine people in Los Angeles was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of attempted murder, police said. One victim said the man laughed after he cut her. Lenrey Briones was tracked down...

DALLAS — Texas prisons will no longer allow clergy in the death chamber after the U.S. Supreme Court blocked the scheduled execution of a man who argued his religious freedom would be violated if his Buddhist spiritual adviser couldn’t accompany him. Effective immediately, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice will...

DALLAS — A black woman who Dallas police say was beaten by a white man over a parking dispute now has been charged with a felony for later shattering a windshield on the man’s pickup. Police said Tuesday that 24-year-old L’Daijohnique Lee is charged with criminal mischief following last month’s...

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Justice Department issued a scathing report on Alabama’s prisons on Wednesday, saying the state is violating the Constitution by failing to protect inmates from violence and sexual abuse and by housing them in unsafe and overcrowded facilities. The department gave Alabama 49 days to correct the...

WARSAW, Poland — A priest in northern Poland who led a public burning of books that included titles from the “Harry Potter” series and other items parishioners wanted destroyed has apologized, saying the ritual was not intended to condemn specific authors, religions or social groups. The Rev. Rafal Jarosiewicz called...

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine customs officials were astonished when they opened nicely gift-wrapped boxes of cookies and oatmeal flown in all the way from Poland and found a hair-raising contraband: hundreds of live tarantulas. Bureau of Customs personnel seized the 757 tarantulas at a mail exchange center near Manila’s international...

BELLEFONTE — Three ex-Penn State fraternity brothers have been sentenced to jail on hazing charges in connection to the February 2017 death of a student pledging the fraternity. The Centre Daily Times reports that sentences handed down Tuesday to the three former Beta Theta Pi members range from 30 days...

LOS ANGELES — Angelina Jolie is not ruling out running for public office. The 43-year-old actress and U.N. special envoy tells People magazine “never say never!” However, Jolie says she’s “looking to others for leadership.” In her role with the U.N.’s High Commission for Refugees, Jolie recently urged nations to...

WESTERLY, R.I. — A stolen car crashed into the gates of Taylor Swift’s beachfront Rhode Island home Tuesday morning following a police chase that started in a neighboring town, police said. The chase started around 1 a.m. Tuesday when a Hopkinton officer on patrol noticed the car had no license...

WASHINGTON — U.S. health officials are investigating whether electronic cigarettes may trigger seizures in some people who use the nicotine-vaping devices. The Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday it has reviewed 35 reports of seizures among e-cigarettes users, particularly young people. Regulators stressed it’s not yet clear whether vaping is...

CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Indians may have some injury issues, bullpen worries and payroll problems. They’re set at manager. The club signed New Brighton native Terry Francona to a two-year contract extension on Wednesday through the 2022 season, giving him more security and a chance to become the longest tenured...

UPPER BERN, Pa. — Thousands of chickens have died after a fast-moving fire ripped through a barn in Pennsylvania. Authorities say the fire at A&L Farms in Upper Bern broke out around 7 p.m. Tuesday and tore through a 300-foot-long chicken house. It’s believed that roughly 28,000 chickens died in...

HAYS, Kan. — A Kansas woman donated 204 pairs of shoes to Nebraska flood victims after buying everything that was left at a closing Payless store. The Hays Post reports the shoes were part of a flood relief shipment taken to farmers in Nebraska by Fort Hays State’s agriculture sorority,...

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama is the latest Republican-leaning state seeking to enact a strict abortion ban as conservatives take aim at the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. Energized by new conservatives on the Supreme Court, abortion opponents in multiple states hope to ignite new legal battles that...

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump praised NATO countries for increasing their financial contributions to the Western alliance, but he hounded them to pay even more, saying America still shoulders a disproportionate share of the cost of protecting Europe. The president met Tuesday with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, who was in...

WASHINGTON — His border shutdown went from imminent to uncertain. A major health care push was declared and then delayed. Funding cuts were inserted in his proposed budget and just as quickly taken out. President Donald Trump has been exploring the art of the climb-down. Trump pivoted on two big...

WASHINGTON (AP) — “Not any longer.” And with that, a triumphant Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell appeared to close the book Tuesday on a divisive Republican debate, convincing President Donald Trump to shelve plans to replace the Affordable Care Act until after the 2020 election. “I made it clear to...

Former federal prosecutor Lori Lightfoot defeated a longtime political insider Tuesday to become Chicago’s next mayor, the first black woman and openly gay person to lead the nation’s third-largest city. Lightfoot, who had never been elected to public office, easily defeated Toni Preckwinkle, who served on the City Council for...

BARBOURSVILLE, W.Va. — Police in West Virginia say a woman now says she might have misinterpreted an incident when she reported that a man was trying to abduct her 5-year-old daughter at a mall. News outlets report the woman told police Monday that she stopped the man by pulling out...

WALTON, Ky. — A Kentucky judge has ruled against a student who sued after he wasn’t allowed to play basketball because he wasn’t vaccinated for chickenpox. In the lawsuit against the Northern Kentucky Health Department, 18-year-old Jerome Kunkel claimed the vaccine is against his religious beliefs. WXIX-TV in Cincinnati reports...

PHILADELPHIA — The oldest reform school in the country has announced plans to lay off about 250 staff members at the Pennsylvania campus amid multiple state probes into allegations of child abuse. Glen Mills Schools spokeswoman Aimee Tysarczyk said the school and its board of managers made what she called...