Associated Press stories, Page 2642
Venezuelans turn highway off ramp into cellphone hotspot
CARACAS, Venezuela — A highway shoulder in Venezuela’s capital has turned into one of the city’s most sought-after destinations. It’s one of the few places residents could find the slightest cellphone signal strong enough to reach loved ones around the world during the country’s worst blackout. “My siblings who live...
Venezuelan government targets Guaido over national blackout
CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido is under investigation for the alleged sabotage of the country’s power grid, the chief prosecutor said Tuesday, as the government sought to pressure an adversary who blames corruption and mismanagement for nearly a week of national blackouts. The announcement by Tarek William...
Trump laments complexity of modern airlines in wake of crash
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump lamented the complexity of modern airplanes Tuesday in the wake of two deadly crashes in the past five months, appearing to speculate on the cause of the disasters before aviation experts from the United States and elsewhere complete their investigations. The president commented as several...
U.S. stock indexes end mostly higher, extending market’s gains
Technology and health care companies led U.S. stock indexes mostly higher Tuesday, building on the market’s solid gains from a day earlier. Boeing weighed down the Dow Jones Industrial Average for a second day as shares in the aircraft maker fell amid safety concerns following another deadly crash involving its...
Longest U.S.-Taliban peace talks see ‘progress’ in Qatar
DOHA, Qatar — The longest peace talks between the United States and the Taliban to end America’s 17-year war in Afghanistan concluded Tuesday night in Qatar, with both sides saying progress had been made. The nearly two weeks of talks produced two draft agreements between the militants and the U.S....
Dick’s to halt sales of rifles, ammo at 125 of its stores
CORAOPOLIS — Dick’s Sporting Goods said Tuesday that it will stop selling hunting rifles and ammunition at 125 of its stores, replacing the gear with merchandise it believes will sell better at those locations. CEO Edward Stack said the move comes after the sporting goods retailer replaced hunting merchandise in...
Lumber Liquidators paying $33M to settle U.S. fraud charges
WASHINGTON — Lumber Liquidators will pay $33 million to settle fraud charges by federal authorities who accused the company of falsely saying its Chinese-made laminate flooring met formaldehyde emissions standards. The company, based in Toano, Virginia, is one of the biggest retailers of flooring products in the United States. Its...
Cargo plane appears to have hit turbulence before February crash in Texas
DALLAS — A Boeing 767 appears to have hit turbulence a minute before it dropped into a rapid descent and smashed into a Texas bay in February, killing all three people aboard. The National Transportation Safety Board says “small vertical accelerations” suggest Atlas Air Flight 3591 entered turbulence soon after...
100K backlogged rape kits sent for DNA testing, lead to 1K arrests
NEW YORK — Languishing evidence in over 100,000 sexual assault cases around the country has been sent for DNA testing with money from a New York prosecutor and federal authorities, spurring over 1,000 arrests and hundreds of convictions in three years, officials said Tuesday. It’s estimated that another 155,000 or...
Federal appeals court OKs Ohio law aimed at abortion funding
CINCINNATI — A divided federal appeals court has upheld an Ohio anti-abortion law that blocks public money for Planned Parenthood. The Tuesday ruling by the full 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court ruling and could result in an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Ohio...
TV stars, coaches charged in college bribery scheme
BOSTON — Fifty people, including Hollywood stars Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin, were charged Tuesday in a scheme in which wealthy parents allegedly bribed college coaches and other insiders to get their children into some of the nation’s most elite schools. Federal authorities called it the biggest college admissions scam...
Do Americans care about Britain’s next royal birth?
NEW YORK — Gwynne Wilcox jokingly calls herself a duchess because she celebrates all things Meghan Markle. The New York attorney wore a Markle mask in the office for Halloween and served scones to colleagues. If not for work demands, would have been one of those people standing outside a...
At age 30, World Wide Web is ‘not the web we wanted’
GENEVA — At the ripe old age of 30 and with half the globe using it, the World Wide Web is facing growing pains with issues like hate speech, privacy concerns and state-sponsored hacking, its creator says, trumpeting a call to make it better for humanity. Tim Berners-Lee on Tuesday...
Jussie Smollett expected at hearing to discuss cameras in courtroom
CHICAGO — “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett is expected at a Chicago hearing to discuss whether cameras will be allowed in the courtroom during his disorderly conduct case. A spokeswoman for Smollett’s attorneys says the actor is expected to attend Tuesday’s hearing in Cook County criminal court. A grand jury indicted...
Confederate statue being removed in North Carolina city
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — A construction crew was preparing to take down a Confederate statue in a North Carolina city Tuesday morning, a rare move in a state where such monuments are largely protected by law. Two cranes were set up on either side of the statue in Winston-Salem and traffic...
Firebomb sparks unrest at sensitive Jerusalem holy site
JERUSALEM — Israeli police on Tuesday closed the entrances to Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site after Palestinian suspects threw a firebomb at a police station. There were no injuries reported from the firebombing. But police quickly deployed across the hilltop compound, scuffling with Palestinians in the area, as they searched...
Fire officials say 13 dogs die in Ohio house fire
TOLEDO, Ohio — Fire officials say a house fire in Ohio has killed 13 dogs, including eight puppies. Toledo fire officials say the blaze started in the home around 11:30 p.m. Monday. They say no people were in the home at the time of the fire. Fire crews say the...
Drummer Hal Blaine, played on hits of Sinatra, Elvis, dies
LOS ANGELES — Hal Blaine, the Hall of Fame session drummer and virtual one-man soundtrack of the 1960s and ’70s who played on the songs of Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and the Beach Boys and laid down one of music’s most memorable opening riffs on the Ronettes’ “Be My Baby,”...
U.S. consumer prices rose 0.2 percent in February
WASHINGTON — U.S. consumer prices rose 0.2 percent in February, pushed up slightly by higher gasoline and housing costs even as the prices for autos and clothing slumped. The Labor Department said Tuesday that the consumer price index rose a modest 1.5 percent last month from a year ago. Inflation...
Honda recalls 1.2M more vehicles with dangerous air bags
DETROIT — Honda is recalling about 1.2 million vehicles in North and Central America because their Takata air bag inflators can explode and send shrapnel into the passenger compartment. The recall covers many Honda and Acura models from 2001 through 2016. Takata used ammonium nitrate to inflate air bags. But...
Utah teacher apologizes for Ash Wednesday cross incident
SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah teacher on administrative leave apologized Monday for making 9-year-old Catholic student William McLeod wash off the Ash Wednesday cross from his forehead, saying it was a misunderstanding. Fourth-grade teacher Moana Patterson said Monday she thought the cross was dirt, and she gave William a...
Species by the dozen moved north during marine heatwaves
SAN FRANCISCO — Dozens of species of sea slugs, jellyfish and other marine life from toastier southern waters migrated into the Northern California region over an unusually long two-year period of severe heatwaves, says a new scientific report. The 67 species identified in the report include a carnivorous sea slug...
Judge’s ruling revives questions about Russian man’s death
WASHINGTON — On a foggy November morning in 2015, a heavily intoxicated man showed up before dawn at the Dupont Circle Hotel, forked over $1,200 cash for a ninth-floor penthouse suite and kept drinking. His bender continued all day. By the next morning, he was dead. Authorities concluded that he...
Trump’s budget proposal offers preview of upcoming campaign
WASHINGTON — Frustrated by a divided Congress and rifts within his own party, President Donald Trump is giving little indication in his latest budget proposal of any new policy ambitions for the coming two, or six, years. Trump’s budget plan increases spending on his border wall and the military but...
New Jersey takes big step toward legalizing recreational pot
TRENTON, N.J. — New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and legislative leaders say they’ve agreed on legislation to legalize recreational marijuana for adults. The Democrats announced the agreement in a statement Tuesday after more than a year of negotiations, mostly behind closed doors. It’s unclear whether there are enough votes in...
