Associated Press stories, Page 2615
Netflix has no plans to cut ‘Bird Box’ scene despite outcry
NEW YORK — Netflix’s post-apocalyptic survival film “Bird Box” is drawing criticism for using footage of a real fiery train disaster but the streaming giant has no plans to remove it. The footage concerns a 2013 tragedy in the Quebec town of Lac-Megantic when an unattended train carrying crude oil...
Fans buy Melissa Gilbert’s ‘Little House on the Prairie’ memorabilia
GENOA TOWNSHIP, Mich. — More than 200 items belonging to “Little House on the Prairie” star Melissa Gilbert and her husband, Emmy-winning actor Timothy Busfield, have been purchased in an estate sale in Michigan. Items sold in the American Eagle Auction & Appraisal Co. online auction this month included a...
Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Mary Oliver dies at 83
NEW YORK — Mary Oliver, the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet whose rapturous odes to nature and animal life brought her critical acclaim and popular affection, has died. She was 83. Bill Reichblum, Oliver’s literary executor, said she died Thursday at her home in Hobe Sound, Florida. The cause of death was...
CDC sees possible link between opioids and birth defect
NEW YORK — Health officials are looking into a possible link between prescription opioids and a horrific birth defect. Babies born with the defect have their intestines hanging outside the stomach, due to a hole in the abdominal wall. Surgery is often needed to fix it. Roughly 1,800 such cases...
LA teachers, district to resume negotiations amid strike
LOS ANGELES — Teachers walked rainy picket lines Thursday at Los Angeles schools for a fourth day ahead of a new round of contract negotiations that a union leader said is unlikely to quickly end the walkout. “After 21 months of negotiations I think it would be an unrealistic expectation...
Nissan to cut up to 700 contract workers in Mississippi
JACKSON, Miss. — Nissan Motor Co. says it’s cutting up to 700 contract workers at its Mississippi assembly plant, citing slow sales for Titan pickup trucks and vans. The company employs 6,400 employees and contractors in Canton, Miss. The move follows Nissan’s December announcement that it’s cutting 1,000 jobs at...
Police: 2 killed in shooting at IHOP in Alabama
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — An employee and a customer at an IHOP restaurant in northern Alabama were killed in a Wednesday night shooting that also injured another employee. Huntsville Police Lt. Michael Johnson told news outlets the shooting happened shortly before 10 p.m. Wednesday after a male customer argued with a...
Police: 3 suspects identified in Pa. Walmart arsons; 3 hurt
HANOVER — Police say they have identified three suspects in a pair of arsons at a Walmart store in central Pennsylvania that injured three people. West Manheim Township police say two fires were set inside the South Hanover store during store hours Tuesday night. Three Walmart employees reported smoke inhalation...
U.S.-led coalition airstrikes pound IS areas in eastern Syria
BEIRUT — Syrian activists are reporting intense airstrikes on the last area held by the Islamic State group in the country’s east where the extremists’ control has been shrinking over the past weeks. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Thursday the airstrikes hit the 5.8 square miles controlled...
9 dead in car bombing at police academy in Colombia capital
BOTOGA, Colombia — At least nine people were killed and dozens more injured in a car bombing at a police academy in Colombia’s capital on Thursday, recalling the high-profile attacks associated with bloodiest chapters of the country’s drug-fueled guerrilla conlfict. The scene outside the General Santander police academy in southern...
Police: Trucker in deadly Indiana bus crash was removing jacket
Indiana State Police say the driver of a truck that rear-ended a school bus in December, killing one student, was removing a jacket and a sweatshirt just before the collision. A crash report released Wednesday says the truck driver was traveling behind the bus Dec. 5 when he “pulled the...
Remains of Monongahela airman who died in WWII identified
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Military authorities have announced the identification of remains of a Pennsylvania airman and two other servicemen who died in Europe during World War II. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency said Thursday that 19-year-old Air Forces Sgt. Vernon L. Hamilton of Monongahela was accounted for last month. On...
Sweden charges man in royal jewels heist
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — A man was charged Thursday with stealing 65 million kronor — $7.2 million — worth of Swedish royal treasure including a jeweled crown from a cathedral where they were on display. The two crowns and an orb used for the funerals of King Karl IX and Queen...
Steve Carell, ‘Office’ producers reteam for ‘Space Force’ comedy
LOS ANGELES — Steve Carell is starring in a new workplace comedy that could be out of this world. Netflix said Wednesday that Carell is re-teaming with “The Office” producers Greg Daniels and Howard Klein on the series “Space Force.” It’s about the people assigned to create a sixth branch...
Metallica, Miley Cyrus perform at Chris Cornell tribute
LOS ANGELES — Many from Metallica and the Foo Fighters rocked on with electrifying performances as family members gave heartfelt speeches in memory of the late Chris Cornell. Cornell’s wife, Vickey, stepped onstage struggling to speak at first. But after gathering herself, she eventually thanked everyone for their support and...
Facebook shuts hundreds of Russia-linked pages, accounts
LONDON — Facebook says it has removed hundreds of Russia-linked pages, groups and accounts that it says were part of two big disinformation operations, in its latest effort to fight fake news. The social media company said Thursday it took action after finding two networks “that engaged in coordinated inauthentic...
2020 Democrats face a choice: Fight Trump or ignore him?
SIOUX CITY, Iowa — When Sen. Elizabeth Warren took the stage earlier this month at this city’s ornate Orpheum Theatre, Tricia Currans-Sheehan posed a pointed question to the expected presidential contender. “Why did you undergo the DNA testing and give Donald Trump more fodder to be a bully?” the Iowa...
GOP dismisses suggestion that State of Union be postponed
WASHINGTON— A grand Washington ritual became a potential casualty of the partial government shutdown as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi asked President Donald Trump to postpone his Jan. 29 State of the Union speech. She cited concerns about whether the hobbled government can provide adequate security, but Republicans cast her move...
Microsoft pledges $500M to tackle Seattle housing crisis
SEATTLE — Microsoft pledged $500 million to address homelessness and develop affordable housing in response to the Seattle region’s widening affordability gap. Most of the money will be aimed at increasing housing options in the Puget Sound region for low- and middle-income workers at a time when they’re being priced...
Rams’ Marcus Peters, Saints’ Sean Payton downplay gumbo beef
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Marcus Peters stood at a podium Wednesday and spoke about his respect for Sean Payton and the New Orleans Saints. He insisted his feisty comments about the coach two months ago had been misinterpreted and blown out of proportion by controversy-hungry fans and media. And then...
Duquesne earns 1st win in Richmond in 25 years
RICHMOND, Va. — Sincere Carry scored 21 points with six assists and Duquesne won at Richmond for the first time in over 25 years, taking a 74-68 victory over the Spiders on Wednesday night. Frankie Hughes added 15 points on five 3-pointers and Marcus Weathers had 12 points, nine rebounds...
Penn State loses to No. 23 Iowa, falls to 0-7 in Big Ten
STATE COLLEGE — With plenty of time left on the shot clock and his team nursing a slight lead late, Iowa guard Jordan Bohannon probably could’ve been more patient. His coach is glad he wasn’t. Bohannon stepped back with 36 seconds left and drained his fifth 3-pointer of the night...
Trump administration to roll out new missile defense plan
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration will roll out a new strategy Thursday for a more aggressive space-based missile defense system to protect against existing threats from North Korea and Iran and counter advanced weapon systems being developed by Russia and China. Details about the administration’s Missile Defense Review — the...
‘Dinosaur’ defensemen like Brooks Orpik survive in NHL by adapting
When John Tortorella compares Brooks Orpik to a creature that went extinct 65 million years ago, he means it affectionately. “He’s a little bit of a dinosaur because he hits, and there isn’t a lot of hitting in this game,” Tortorella said. Orpik, the longtime Pittsburgh Penguin who helped the...
Unbearable stench: Giant sewage spill befouls Peru’s capital
LIMA, Peru — Amid an unbearable stench, thousands of workers, police and soldiers struggled Wednesday to contain and clean up a flood of sewage that has caused the government to declare a health emergency in one of the most populous parts of Peru’s capital. The foul flood was caused by...
