Associated Press stories, Page 2494
Wildfires spread in remote Siberia, Russian Far East
MOSCOW — Hundreds of Russian towns and cities are shrouded in heavy smoke from wildfires in Siberia and the Far East Thursday, and the blazes appear to be spreading in remote terrain. Avialesookhrana, Russia’s aerial forest protection service, said more than 11,850 square miles are on fire, with the vast...
Somalia says Mogadishu mayor dies after attack in office
MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia’s government says the mayor of Mogadishu has died after being badly wounded in an al-Shabab extremist attack in his office last week. The spokesman for Somalia’s president said Abdirahman Omar Osman died Thursday in Qatar, where he had been airlifted for treatment after the July 24...
A$AP Rocky testifies at trial, says he tried to avoid fight
STOCKHOLM — American rapper A$AP Rocky testified Thursday at his assault trial that he did everything possible to avoid conflict with two men he says persistently followed the artist’s entourage in Stockholm, and that one of the men picked a fight with one of his bodyguards. Rakim Mayers, the rapper’s...
Stock markets recover their poise after Fed rate confusion
LONDON — Global stock markets recovered their poise Thursday after the U.S. central bank’s first rate cut in more than a decade had initially been greeted with some disappointment on Wall Street. The Fed’s quarter-point cut was widely expected so there was much more interest in the accompanying statements from...
Alleged Capital One hacker barely bothered to hide
SEATTLE — The 33-year-old former Amazon software engineer accused of hacking Capital One made little attempt to hide her attack. In fact, she effectively publicized it. It’s one of many riddles swirling around Paige Thompson, who goes by the online handle “erratic.” Well-known in Seattle’s hacker community, Thompson has lived...
Edward Snowden book coming out Sept. 17
NEW YORK — Former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden has written a memoir. The book by the man whose leaks of classified documents transformed the debate about government surveillance is coming out Sept. 17. Metropolitan Books, an imprint of Macmillan Publishers, announced Thursday that Snowden’s “Permanent Record” will be...
Pompeo says he was ready, but North Korea meeting unlikely
BANGKOK — U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday the Trump administration remains ready to resume talks with North Korea now, although he regretted that a meeting between the two sides is unlikely at an Asian security conference this week in Thailand. Pompeo said he and the administration’s chief...
Boris Johnson’s government faces test in special election
LONDON — After a first week in office that saw him booed in Scotland and berated in Belfast, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was facing his first electoral test on Thursday — a special election that could see the Conservative government’s working majority in Parliament cut to just one vote....
Fact Check: Dems gloss over economy, migrant complexities in debate
WASHINGTON — Some of the Democratic presidential contenders dug in their heels with unsupported rhetoric about immigration, the economy and more Wednesday night as they scrambled to stay in contention for the winnowed-down debates to come. Several persisted in their distorted depiction of caged migrant children as a singular cruelty...
Impossible Whopper goes nationwide at Burger King
MIAMI — Burger King will begin selling the plant-based Impossible Whopper nationwide next week after a successful run in six regions. The rollout to 7,000 U.S. locations will be for a limited time, a typical practice in the fast food industry for new products. The chain won’t say how many...
Kentucky: 1 dead, 5 hospitalized in gas line rupture, fire
JUNCTION CITY, Ky. — A regional gas pipeline ruptured early Thursday in Kentucky, causing a massive explosion that killed one person, hospitalized five others, destroyed railroad tracks and forced the evacuation of a nearby mobile home park, authorities said. The 30 inch (76 centimeter) wide pipeline moves natural gas under...
Hall of Fame Preview: Ty Law’s path to greatness guided by big dreams
NEW YORK — Ty Law was a wide-eyed youngster with big dreams when he started making summer visits to his Uncle Tony’s home in Texas. They fueled his passion for football. And, they guided his journey to greatness. Tony Dorsett was forging his own path to the Pro Football Hall...
Video: Giants, Phillies players help corral wind-blown tarp in storm
PHILADELPHIA — Players from the San Francisco Giants and Philadelphia Phillies rushed to help the grounds crew put the tarp on the field when strong wind blew it out of control a few hours before Wednesday’s game. Many of the players were stretching or playing catch in the outfield as...
11 brothers from Alabama, 158 years of U.S. military service
TUNICA, Miss. — The sons of Ben and Hattie Davis give special meaning to the term “band of brothers.” Eleven in all, their combined 158 years of service to the U.S. military make them brothers in arms as well as brothers raised on a family farm in rural Alabama. Seven...
Senate panel OKs defense pick despite sexual assault allegationVideo
WASHINGTON — A Senate committee on Wednesday approved the nomination of an Air Force general to become the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, largely discounting an aide’s allegations that he had subjected her to unwanted sexual advances. Gen. John Hyten flatly denied the allegations during a Senate...
Iceland cuts teen drinking with curfews, youth centers
REYKJAVIK, Iceland — The clock strikes 10 p.m. on a Friday when the “Parent Patrol” enters a popular playground in suburban Reykjavik. The teens turn down the music and reach for their phones to check the time: It’s ticking into curfew. Every weekend, parents all over the Icelandic capital embark...
Baltimore schools’ mission: Help students cope with trauma
BALTIMORE — When she transferred to a new K-8 school two years ago, Tinazsha Johnson was in deep distress. The Baltimore sixth-grader was crushed by the death of her mother. Her father was in and out of lockups. She’d witnessed searing violence in her neighborhood and felt overwhelmed helping her...
Video: Man who died during arrest cries, begs Dallas police to stopVideo
DALLAS — Police body camera video footage shows a man who called 911 to request help crying, pleading then going limp as arresting officers restrain him. Soon after, a paramedic says he’s dead. Dallas police released the footage Tuesday showing the August 2016 death of 32-year-old Tony Timpa. A federal...
Astros deal for Greinke during busy MLB trade deadline day
The Houston Astros acquired ace Zack Greinke on Wednesday, adding another All-Star to a formidable rotation that included Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole. The AL West leaders got Greinke in a startling trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks for four minor leaguers. It came right before the deadline to complete deals...
Kentucky Democrats: ‘Just say Nyet to Moscow Mitch’Video
FRANKFORT, Ky. — Democrats in Mitch McConnell’s home state are hawking T-shirts with a barbed message — “Just say Nyet to Moscow Mitch” — as they try to capitalize on a bitter dispute involving the Republican senator over election security legislation. The Kentucky Democratic Party said Wednesday it’s launching a...
Canadian police scale down manhunt for fugitive teenagersVideo
WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Canadian police said Wednesday they are scaling down but not abandoning the hunt in a remote and rugged part of northern Manitoba for two teenagers suspected of killing a college professor, a North Carolina woman and her Australian boyfriend. Over the last nine days, police and others...
Fire at Texas Exxon Mobil refinery injures dozensVideo
HOUSTON — An explosion and fire at an Exxon Mobil oil refinery in Texas on Wednesday left 37 people with minor injuries, in the latest of a series of petrochemical industry blazes this year in the Houston area. The fire began after an explosion at approximately 11:07 a.m. at an...
Judge sets tentative date for Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking trial
NEW YORK — A subdued Jeffrey Epstein listened passively in court Wednesday as a judge said he won’t face trial on sex trafficking charges before June 2020, and more likely a few months afterward. There was no mention at the Manhattan federal court appearance or any visible sign of injuries...
Organizers finally cancel troubled Woodstock 50 festival
NEW YORK — Woodstock 50 is officially canceled. Organizers announced Wednesday that the troubled festival that hit a series of setbacks in the last four months won’t take place next month. The three-day festival was originally scheduled for Aug. 16-18, but holdups included permit denials and the loss of a...
Pirates lose on road to Reds, both teams behaveVideo
CINCINNATI — Clint Hurdle and David Bell had little interaction while exchanging lineup cards one day after their teams fought on the field. Luis Castillo made sure there wouldn’t be much to talk about in the game that followed. Castillo pitched into the eighth inning Wednesday, leading Cincinnati to a...
