Associated Press stories, Page 2614
Man sets himself on fire amid Czech commemoration event
PRAGUE — Czech officials say a man has been seriously injured after he set himself on fire in downtown Prague amid commemorative events to remember a student who burned himself to death 50 years ago to inspire resistance against the 1968 Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia. Police say the man born...
Glen Wood, auto racing pioneer and patriarch, dies at 93
Glen Wood, the courtly and innovative patriarch of the famed Wood Brothers Racing team who had been the oldest living member of the NASCAR Hall of Fame, died Friday. He was 93. He died on Friday in Stuart, Virginia, after a long illness. Wood Brothers announced the death of its...
Sen. Bob Casey ends consideration of a presidential run in 2020
HARRISBURG — U.S. Sen. Bob Casey is ending any consideration of joining a potentially crowded Democratic field running for president in 2020. Casey’s statement Friday comes a couple months after he dropped hints that he was considering a run, fresh off easily winning a third term in the Senate. The...
On road to make an affordable car, Tesla cuts jobs
Tesla, recognizing as imperative its ability to produce a cheaper electric car, told employees Friday that it must cut 7 percent of its workforce. Tesla’s cheapest model right now is the $44,000 Model 3, and it needs to broaden its customer base to survive. “Looking ahead at our mission of...
Secret talks between U.S., N. Korea take place in Sweden
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Envoys from the United States and North Korea took part in an unannounced high-level meeting in Stockholm on Friday, an official said. Swedish Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Diana Kudhaib said the talks included North Korea’s Deputy Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui but declined to give further details. Sweden’s...
Police: 150 pounds of pot found in bags at Tennessee airport
NASHVILLE — Police in Tennessee say two men were caught at the Nashville International Airport with more than 150 pounds of marijuana in their suitcases. News outlets report 40-year-old Trung Tiey, of Philadelphia, and 56-year-old Tihn Tran, of Murphy, Texas, were arrested Tuesday on felony drug charges. The Metro Nashville...
Zimbabwe in ‘total internet shutdown’ amid violent crackdown
HARARE, Zimbabwe — Zimbabwe on Friday faced a “total internet shutdown,” a media group said, after a days-long violent crackdown on people protesting a dramatic fuel price increase. Badly injured people streamed into a hospital in the capital after alleged assaults by security forces. “Our country is going through one...
Prince Philip, 97, recovering after car crash
LONDON — Queen Elizabeth II’s 97-year-old husband was recovering Friday at the royal Sandringham estate after the Land Rover he was driving rolled on a nearby highway in a collision with another vehicle. Witness Roy Warne told the BBC he was driving home from work when the accident involving Prince...
Focused Roger Federer advances at Australian Open
MELBOURNE, Australia — Roger Federer has played on Rod Laver Arena a hundred times and has six Australian Open crowns in his collection of 20 Grand Slam titles. The 37-year-old tennis statesman has developed a loyal following over 20 consecutive visits for the season-opening major. After beating 21-year-old American Taylor...
North Carolina elections board let green card holder vote
WHITEVILLE, N.C. — A federal judge has chastised election officials in North Carolina who let a Korean woman with a green card vote in three elections. The News & Observer reports Hyo Suk George had lived legally in the country for nearly two decades before a town council member at...
Woman sues luxury resort after severe allergic reaction
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — A luxury Massachusetts resort has been sued by a woman with a nut allergy who landed in the hospital after being served a veggie burger containing cashews. The Berkshire Eagle reports that the suit filed in federal court in Springfield this week against Canyon Ranch Wellness Resort...
Romney backs Trump in shutdown showdown, questions Pelosi
OGDEN, Utah — U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah said Friday he supports President Donald Trump’s push for a border wall that has led to a government shutdown and questioned why Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi won’t agree to “another few miles” of barriers on the U.S.-Mexico border. Romney also...
Rams thin on playoff experience, hungry for Super Bowl run
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Ndamukong Suh earned multiple All-Pro honors, Pro Bowl selections and tens of millions of dollars during his first eight NFL seasons. The imposing defensive lineman had never won a playoff game, let alone a Super Bowl. When he was free to choose his next team after...
Saints redeemed secondary confident vs. high-powered Rams
METAIRIE, La. — Marshon Lattimore and the Saints’ secondary no longer look — or sound — haunted by the “Minnesota Miracle” touchdown pass that stunningly ended their playoffs one year ago. “We don’t panic. We don’t do none of that,” Lattimore said. “We adjust well.” Lattimore backed that up with...
Jurors convict man in Temple University student slaying
PHILADELPHIA — A man was convicted of murder and sentenced to life without possibility of parole Thursday in the slaying of a 22-year-old Temple University student. Jurors convicted Joshua Hupperterz of first-degree murder and possession of an instrument of crime in the death of Jenna Burleigh. He earlier pleaded guilty...
Patriots try to overcome road woes in AFC championship game
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The Patriots are going on the road again in the playoffs, a place that hasn’t always been kind to them during the Tom Brady era. New England was unbeatable at home this season, going 8-0 during the regular season and rolling past the Los Angeles Chargers in...
Tom Marino resigning from Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation for private-sector job
HARRISBURG — Tom Marino, a five-term Republican congressman who helped steer Donald Trump’s successful presidential campaign in Pennsylvania, said Thursday that he is resigning just days into a new term. In a statement, Marino said his last day will be Jan. 23 and that he is taking a job in...
Upper St. Clair native Vincent Trocheck nears return for Florida Panthers
CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. — The Florida Panthers desperately need a boost, and Vincent Trocheck has pronounced himself ready to provide one. Barely eight weeks removed from surgery to repair the right ankle he fractured by crashing into the boards during a game at Ottawa, Trocheck took part in a full...
Judge acquits 3 Chicago officers of Laquan McDonald cover-up
CHICAGO — A judge on Thursday acquitted three Chicago police officers of trying to cover up the 2014 police shooting of Laquan McDonald to protect the white officer seen pulling the trigger on dashcam video that showed the black teen getting hit with 16 bullets. In rejecting the prosecution’s entire...
Watchdog: Thousands more children taken from their families than previously disclosed
WASHINGTON — It seems likely that thousands more migrant children were split from their families than the Trump administration has acknowledged, in part because officials were stepping up family separations long before the border policy that prompted international outrage last spring, a government watchdog said Thursday. It’s unclear just how...
Trump denies Pelosi aircraft for planned trip abroad
WASHINGTON — It took President Donald Trump one day to flex his executive power back at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, denying her an aircraft for a planned trip abroad in apparent response to her attempt to delay his State of Union address amid their government shutdown clash. The nation’s two...
Asteroids are smacking Earth twice as often as before
WASHINGTON — Giant rocks from space are falling from the sky more than they used to, but don’t worry. For the past 290 million years, large asteroids have been crashing into Earth more than twice as often as they did in the previous 700 million years, according to a new...
California storm moving out after battering state for 3 days
SAN FRANCISCO — The storm that pummeled much of California for three days began moving east Thursday after causing at least six deaths, forcing wildfire victims threatened by floods to flee their homes and plunging nearly 300,000 utility customers into darkness. The winter storm is forecast to drop heavy rain,...
Britain’s Prince Philip, queen’s husband, in car accident
LONDON — Buckingham Palace says the 97-year-old husband of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, has been in a car accident but wasn’t injured. The palace said the two-vehicle accident happened Thursday afternoon near Sandringham Estate, the queen’s country retreat in eastern England. The Norfolk Constabulary says officers responded to...
Study of Leonardo’s 1st landscape finds he had 2nd thoughts
ROME — The first-ever scientific study of the oldest known drawing by Leonardo da Vinci has found that he added details to an earlier sketch of a countryside landscape, said the Uffizi Galleries, whose collections include the fragile work. The Galleries said the 1473 “Landscape Drawing for Santa Maria della...
