Associated Press stories, Page 2540

ARE, Sweden — Anyone expecting Lindsey Vonn to take it easy in her last race should think again. Doesn’t matter if she’s still banged up from a crash with a black eye, a sore rib — not to mention the pain in both of her knees that forced her to...

WASHINGTON — Republicans have vilified Nancy Pelosi for years as a San Francisco liberal and now they’re trying to portray her as a captive of resurgent left-wingers in her Democratic Party. But in her early moves so far as House speaker, Pelosi is displaying her pragmatic streak. She’s set to...

CINCINNATI — She kept her eyes on the dapper, wavy-haired man who smiled, winked and exuded self-confidence as the courtroom proceedings moved along. “I don’t know what it is he has, but he’s fascinating,” the teenage spectator explained to me at the time. “He’s impressive. He just has a kind...

NEW YORK — Sleek and aerodynamic, Whiskey the whippet is dashing through the dog show world. He’s among the fastest breed of pooches on the planet, and his rise has been rapid: Coming off big wins televised on Thanksgiving Day and New Year’s Day, he’ll now try for dogdom’s Triple...

LAWRENCE, Mass. — Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren made her bid for the presidency official on Saturday in this working-class city, grounding her 2020 campaign in a populist call to fight economic inequality and build “an America that works for everyone.” Warren delivered a sharp call for change at her presidential...

NEW YORK — With a strobe light show worthy of a seizure warning and classic statuary in clear boxes, Milan streetwear cool guy Francesco Ragazzi brought his celeb-popular Palm Angels brand to New York Fashion Week on Friday for the first time. And the reason? His explanation wasn’t nearly as...

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — “This Is Us” actor Milo Ventimiglia was Friday as Man of the Year by Harvard University’s Hasty Pudding Theatricals at Farkas Hall in Cambridge. The Emmy-nominated actor received the award after a roast from Elizabeth Mann and Mariana Sanchez Medina of the Hasty Pudding Theatrics, who poked...

IOWA CITY, Iowa — On his first trip to Iowa as a presidential candidate, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker urged Democratic activists and black leaders on Friday to heed his call for social justice and apply it to the fight for universal health care coverage and a fair criminal justice...

ST. LOUIS — At 37, Adam Wainwright remains confident in his ability to still be effective on the mound for the Cardinals. Wainwright made just eight starts in an injury-plagued 2018 season, giving up 12 earned runs on 22 hits in 22 1/3 innings. He still struck out 25 and...

ORLANDO, Fla. — Don’t look for a National League designated hitter this year or for new anti-tanking rules in June’s amateur draft. Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said Friday management is focused on pace-of-game changes for 2019, and bolder ideas proposed by the players’ association are too complex to be put...

PHOENIX — The embattled operators of an Arizona long-term care facility agreed Friday to be regulated by the state, effectively nixing a plan to close down the unit where an incapacitated woman gave birth after being raped. The state received written confirmation that Hacienda HealthCare would enter into a voluntary...

LOS ANGELES — More than 120 visitors and staff who were snowbound in a Sierra Nevada resort for five days have been freed, authorities said Friday. Up to 7 feet of snow trapped the guests and staff at Montecito Sequoia Lodge in Sequoia National Forest starting Sunday following a storm,...

ARE, Sweden — Of all the people flying in to attend Lindsey Vonn’s final race — her dad and two siblings, U.S. Ski Team top brass and even Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark — one very significant other will be missing. P.K. Subban, Vonn’s boyfriend and a defenseman for the NHL’s...

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Chad Knaus got his first big break at Hendrick Motorsports when he was picked to build a team from scratch around a rookie driver who had yet to prove he belonged at NASCAR’s top level. The driver was Jimmie Johnson. Once Johnson was paired with Knaus...

CLEVELAND — The Indians swung a wrecking ball at their roster this offseason. With a frugal eye on their future, the three-time defending AL Central champions slashed payroll by nearly $20 million while letting core championship players like All-Star outfielder Michael Brantley, franchise career saves leader Cody Allen, reliever Andrew...

BETHESDA, Md. — It’s reckoning time: President Trump had his annual medical exam Friday, a year after his doctor advised him to up the exercise and cut the calories. Trump spent more than four hours at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for a checkup supervised by Dr. Sean P....

NEW YORK — The National Enquirer’s alleged attempt to blackmail Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos with intimate photos could get the tabloid’s parent company and top editors in deep legal trouble and reopen them to prosecution for paying hush money to a Playboy model who claimed she had an affair with...

Chief Justice John Roberts broke with the Supreme Court’s other conservative justices and his own voting record on abortion to block a Louisiana law requiring abortion providers to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. Roberts didn’t explain his decision late Thursday to join the court’s four liberal justices. But...

NEW YORK — Gov. Andrew Cuomo warned Friday about what he called “political pandering” to critics of Amazon’s proposed secondary headquarters amid a report that the company is reconsidering its planned New York City headquarters. But opponents said they’d keep fighting a project they consider corporate welfare. The back-and-forth came...

RICHMOND, Va. — A second woman has come forward to accuse Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax of sexual assault. The woman said in a statement Friday that the attack took place when she and Fairfax were students at Duke University. “I deny this latest unsubstantiated allegation. It is demonstrably false....

RICHMOND, Va. — Confronted with a triple threat to the party’s top ranks, Virginia Democrats are trying to thread the needle, demanding anew that Gov. Ralph Northam resign but giving the benefit of the doubt — for the time being — to the lieutenant governor and attorney general. Key Democratic...

WASHINGTON — Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker said Friday that he has “not interfered in any way” in the special counsel’s Russia investigation as he faced a contentious and partisan congressional hearing in his waning days on the job. The hearing before the House Judiciary Committee was the first, and...

MILAN — Director Spike Lee said Friday he will no longer wear Gucci or Prada until the brands hire some black designers following a pair of blackface fashion fails from the major Italian fashion houses. Lee said on Instagram that “It’s Obvious To Da Peoples That They Don’t Have A...

MOSCOW — Russian news reports say that Google has agreed with national authorities to delete links to websites banned in Russia. The daily Vedomosti reported Thursday that Google has reached an agreement with the Russian state media oversight agency, Roskomnadzor, to regularly receive updated lists of banned sites and delete...