Associated Press stories, Page 2547
Verizon says 5G network will cost extra $10 a month
A handful of Verizon customers will soon have faster wireless service — but they’ll have to pay $10 a month more. Verizon says it’ll flip the switch next month on a much-hyped, next-generation 5G phone network. Service will start in parts of Chicago and Minneapolis. The offer is available only...
Paul Manafort sentenced to a total of 7½ years in prison for conspiracy, fraud
WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Wednesday sentenced former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort to an additional three and one-half years of prison, questioning his remorse and rebuking him for his crimes and years of lies. That makes seven and one-half years for Manafort, coming on top of the roughly...
U.S. health officials move to tighten sales of e-cigarettes
WASHINGTON — U.S. health regulators are moving ahead with a plan designed to keep e-cigarettes out of the hands of teenagers by restricting sales of most flavored products in convenience stores and online. The new guidelines, first proposed in November, are the latest government effort to reverse what health officials...
Actress Lori Loughlin surrenders as admissions fallout spreads
BOSTON — Fallout from a sweeping college admissions scandal swiftly spread Wednesday, with actress Lori Loughlin surrendering ahead of a Los Angeles court hearing and a Silicon Valley hedge fund replacing its leader. Loughlin and fellow actress Felicity Huffman headline the list of some 50 people charged in documents unveiled...
Sudan cancels flogging of 9 women arrested in protests
CAIRO — A Sudanese opposition group says an appeals court has overturned a sentence of flogging and imprisonment against nine women who took part in anti-government protests. The Democratic Lawyers Alliance says Wednesday the court ordered their release the previous day. The women were arrested Saturday and an emergency court...
Officials: 2 attackers kill 6, themselves at Brazil school
SAO PAULO — Authorities say hooded teenagers opened fire at a school in southern Brazil, killing six people before taking their own lives. Wednesday’s shooting happened in a public school in Suzano, a suburb of Sao Paulo, Brazil’s largest city. The state government of Sao Paulo says two youths armed...
Germany to compensate gay men investigated after WWII
BERLIN — German authorities on Wednesday extended compensation payments to more gay men who were investigated under a law criminalizing homosexuality that was enthusiastically enforced in West Germany after World War II. German lawmakers in 2017 approved the annulment of thousands of convictions under the Paragraph 175 law, which remained...
Woman sentenced for stealing donations for young burn victim
WICHITA, Kan. — A 34-year-old Kansas woman who stole charitable donations meant for an 11-year-old burn victim has been sentenced to a year of probation. KAKE-TV reports Cinthia Davis, of Wellington, was sentenced Tuesday and ordered restitution to the victim’s family. Davis was found guilty of felony theft in January....
U.S. construction spending up strong 1.3 percent in January
WASHINGTON — Spending on U.S. construction projects in January posted the biggest gain in nine months, as strength in nonresidential construction and government projects offset continued weakness in home construction. The Commerce Department says that construction spending rose 1.3 percent in January following two months of declines. It was the...
Carnival in Spanish towns
ALSASUA, Spain (AP) — Dozens of devil-like figures dance and convulse at the sound of cowbells, chasing onlookers with pitchforks in Alsasua as part of this northern Spanish town’s Carnival. Alsasua is one of several villages in this remote region in the foothills of Pyrenees Mountains that still honor these...
Feds charge dozens in widespread U.S. college admissions scam
BOSTON — A fast-moving college admissions scandal moved from bombshell indictments to guilty pleas in a matter of hours, yet the full fallout from the federal case against the rich and famous could take months or more to unfold. Big names such as actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin headline...
Trump sees advantage in debate over Israel, anti-Semitism
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump can’t get enough of Rep. Ilhan Omar. As Democrats try to turn the page after the freshman lawmaker’s remarks, criticized by some as anti-Semitic, ignited an embarrassing, intra-party fight, the Republican president is trying to prolong and weaponize the issue for his 2020 campaign, asserting...
Compromise seeks to limit president’s emergency declarations
WASHINGTON — The White House and Republican senators sought compromise on limiting presidents’ powers to unilaterally declare national emergencies, as chances improved that President Donald Trump might avoid a long-expected rejection by Congress of his effort to divert billions more for building barriers along the Mexican border. As a Thursday...
New Pentagon transgender rule sets limits for troops
WASHINGTON — The Defense Department has approved a new policy that will largely bar transgender troops and military recruits from transitioning to another sex, and require most individuals to serve in their birth gender. The memo outlining the new policy was obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press, and it comes...
3-story building collapses in Nigeria with children inside
LAGOS, Nigeria — Frantic rescue efforts were underway in Nigeria on Wednesday after a three-story school building collapsed while classes were in session, with scores of children thought to be inside. Witnesses said nearly a dozen students had been pulled from the ruins, but it was not yet clear if...
California’s new governor signs moratorium on executions
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The 737 inmates on the largest death row in the nation got a reprieve from California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday when he signed an executive order placing a moratorium on executions. Newsom also withdrew the lethal injection regulations that death penalty opponents already have tied up...
Report: Jets agree to $52.5M deal with ex-Steelers RB Le’Veon Bell
NEW YORK — Le’Veon Bell sat out a full season while considering where he’d make his next playmaking moves. Well-rested, motivated and armed with a new contract, the star running back is joining Sam Darnold and the New York Jets. Bell agreed to a deal early Wednesday morning, a person...
Saint Mary’s knocks off No. 1 Gonzaga for WCC title
LAS VEGAS — Saint Mary’s ended the nation’s longest winning streak and Gonzaga’s six-year reign as West Coast Conference Tournament champions, grinding out a 60-47 victory in the title game Tuesday night. Saint Mary’s (22-11) all but shut down the nation’s highest-scoring team by slowing the game and forcing Gonzaga...
Freshman duo combines for 49 points as Pitt tops Boston College in ACC tourney
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Pitt coach Jeff Capel gave his freshman backcourt simple instructions Tuesday night: Attack the hole. The strategy worked as Trey McGowens scored 26 points, Xavier Johnson added 23 and the Panthers defeated Boston College, 80-70, in the first round of the ACC Tournament. Pitt faces Syracuse on...
Reports: Browns to acquire star receiver Odell Beckham from Giants
CLEVELAND — Odell Beckham Jr. is about to run a deep route out of New Jersey and straight to Cleveland. The star wide receiver is bound for the Browns to be a target for quarterback Baker Mayfield. The Browns agreed to acquire Beckham in a blockbuster trade, two people familiar...
New Mexico bill would create first state-run pot shops in U.S.
SANTA FE, N.M. — New Mexico would become the first U.S. state to set up its own government-operated marijuana stores and subsidize medical cannabis for the poor under a bill brokered between Republicans and Democrats, as a new wave of states weighs legislation that would legalize recreational sales and consumption....
Gene-edited food quietly arrives in restaurant cooking oil
NEW YORK — Somewhere in the Midwest, a restaurant is frying foods with oil made from gene-edited soybeans. That’s according to the company making the oil, which says it’s the first commercial use of a gene-edited food in the U.S. Calyxt said it can’t reveal its first customer for competitive...
2,200 quarantined over mumps outbreak at immigration centers
PHOENIX — Over 2,200 people exposed to the mumps virus in at least two immigration detention facilities have been quarantined, authorities said Tuesday. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials say the 25-day quarantine began March 7 at facilities in Pine Prairie, La., and Aurora, Colo. The outbreak has renewed long-held concerns...
Pennsylvania opens investigation into gas liquids pipeline
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s attorney general said Tuesday that his office has opened an investigation into construction on a 350-mile natural gas liquids pipeline project across southern Pennsylvania that has been blamed for polluting waterways in dozens of places and causing sinkholes near homes. Attorney General Josh Shapiro took the investigation...
NHL: Maple Leafs’ Morgan Rielly didn’t utter gay slur at official
TORONTO — Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly didn’t direct a gay slur at referee Brad Meier during the game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, the NHL said Tuesday after an investigation. Television cameras picked up what sounded like a slur with 1 minute, 51 seconds left in the second...
