Associated Press stories, Page 2647
N.J. town calls for hefty fine, jail time for barking dog owners
SADDLE RIVER, N.J. — A New Jersey town is putting some bite in an ordinance that could result in hefty fines and even jail time for owners of barking dogs. The Saddle River council is amending a one-sentence noise rule by placing time restrictions that would prohibit dogs from barking,...
At least 16 diagnosed with mumps at Temple University
PHILADELPHIA — Health officials say at least 16 cases of mumps have been confirmed at Temple University, the most cases in the city since 2011. The Department of Public Health for Philadelphia said Thursday the effectiveness of the mumps vaccination tends to wane over time so it’s not necessarily a...
Monthly shots control HIV as well as pills in 2 big studies
SEATTLE — Monthly shots of HIV drugs worked as well as daily pills to control the virus that causes AIDS in two large international tests, researchers reported Thursday. If approved by regulators in the United States and Europe, the shots would be a new option for people with HIV and...
Cohen sues Trump Organization, wants it to pay nearly $2M in legal bills
President Donald Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen filed a lawsuit Thursday claiming the Trump Organization broke a promise to pay his legal bills and owes at least $1.9 million to cover the cost of his defense. The lawsuit, filed Thursday in New York state court, claims the Trump Organization stopped...
Colorado man discloses details about killing wife, daughters
DENVER — A Colorado man strangled his pregnant wife in their bed before driving her body and their two daughters to a worksite where he smothered the girls with a blanket, according to records of an interview he gave police from prison. Christopher Watts made the statements during authorities’ prison...
Justice Department targeting scams against older people
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department said Thursday that it has charged more than 225 individuals over the past year in connection with fraud scams that victimize people age 60 and older. Attorney General William Barr and other law enforcement officials announced what they said was the department’s largest-ever nationwide crackdown...
Facebook’s vision of future? Looks like Chinese app WeChat
LONDON — Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is taking the social media company in a new direction by focusing on messaging. Chinese tech giant Tencent got there years ago with its app WeChat. Zuckerberg outlined his vision to give people ways to communicate privately, by stitching together Facebook’s various services so...
In response to expanded gambling, MLB wants notice of lineups before stadium announcements
NEW YORK — Major leagues teams this season must notify the commissioner’s office of their starting lineups before they are announced at stadiums. The decision Thursday comes in response to the Supreme Court ruling that has led to more widespread legal gambling. Through last season, clubs announced lineups as they...
Melania Trump recognizes women of courage around the world
WASHINGTON — Melania Trump is honoring women from around the world with international courage awards. The first lady said at Thursday’s ceremony in Washington that courage is one of the qualities society needs most. She says courage is what propels the world forward. Mrs. Trump joined Secretary of State Mike...
Germany: Woman cries ‘murder’ for faster response to car blocking garage
German police say officers called to investigate a murder arrived to find that the woman who had reported it just wanted someone to remove a car blocking her garage. The woman, who wasn’t named, rang emergency dispatchers early Thursday and claimed that her husband had been killed, sending police and...
Man speaking on cellphone fatally shot in Philly restaurant; 1 bullet goes through phone
Authorities say a man talking on a cellphone inside a Philadelphia restaurant was killed when someone fired several shots, including one that went through the phone and struck him in the face. But it’s not yet known what sparked the shooting, which occurred around 9:30 p.m. Thursday. The 26-year-old man...
After a decade of doubts, the stock market’s bull chugs on
NEW YORK — The bull market for U.S. stocks turns 10 years old this weekend, which puts it way past senior citizen status for a market run. It’s got the scars to prove it. Since rising from the rubble of the financial crisis in 2009, this bull market has faced...
Ohio governor delays 3 more executions while drugs reviewed
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has delayed three additional executions to give the state prison system time to develop a new lethal injection method. The Republican governor’s order Thursday follows a federal judge’s scathing critique in January of the first drug used in the current process, the sedative...
Fired Florida officer guilty of slaying black motorist
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A fired Florida police officer was found guilty of manslaughter and attempted murder Thursday for the fatal 2015 shooting of a stranded black motorist, becoming the first officer in the state to be convicted of an on-duty shooting in 30 years. Nouman Raja, 41, now...
Guidelines ask agents to target Spanish speakers at border
SAN DIEGO — Border agents have been told to explicitly target Spanish speakers and migrants from Latin America in carrying out a Trump administration program requiring asylum seekers wait in Mexico, according to memos obtained by The Associated Press that reveal some inner workings of a top government priority to...
U.S. stocks fall in morning trading, extending weekly losses
NEW YORK — U.S. stocks moved lower in morning trading Thursday, led by banks and technology companies, putting the market on track for its first losing week since January. Utilities and real estate stocks eked out slight gains as investors moved toward safer holdings. A lack of concrete news on...
Christina Aguilera to receive honor from Human Rights Campaign as ‘LGBTQ icon’
WASHINGTON — The nation’s largest LGBTQ civil rights organization is honoring Christina Aguilera with its Ally for Equality award. The Human Rights Campaign announced Thursday the six-time Grammy-winning singer is a true “LGBTQ icon” who uses her platform to “share a message of hope and inspiration” to those who have...
Trump still hopes for North Korea deal after video of activity at rocket launch site
WASHINGTON — Satellite photos showing new activity at a North Korean rocket launch site raised fresh doubts that Kim Jong Un will ever give up his drive for nuclear weapons, yet talks continue and President Donald Trump said he was still hoping for the agreement that eluded the leaders at...
R. Kelly says ex-wife destroyed his name, others stole money
CHICAGO — Embattled R&B star R. Kelly angrily blamed his ex-wife for “destroying” his name and claimed other people with access to his bank accounts stole from him, according to an interview that aired Thursday, a day after he was sent to jail for not paying child support. Kelly, who...
Insta-Monarch: Queen Elizabeth makes first Instagram post
LONDON — Queen Elizabeth II has posted her first Instagram image. The media-savvy queen posted from the Science Museum Thursday to help promote the museum’s summer exhibition. Using an iPad, she shared an image on the official royal family Instagram account of a letter from 19th century inventor and mathematician...
Can Zuckerberg really make a privacy-friendly Facebook?
SAN FRANCISCO — After building a social network that turned into a surveillance system, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says he’s shifting his company’s focus to messaging services designed to serve as fortresses of privacy. Instead of just being the network that connects everyone, Facebook wants to encourage small numbers of...
McSally says in Senate hearing she was raped in Air ForceVideo
WASHINGTON— U.S. Sen. Martha McSally, the first female Air Force fighter pilot to fly in combat, said she was sexually assaulted by a superior officer and later, when she tried to talk about it to military officials, she “felt like the system was raping me all over again.” The Arizona...
Out of the shadows: Loyal money man swept into Trump probes
NEW YORK — Allen Weisselberg is seemingly everything his longtime boss, Donald Trump, isn’t. The modest money man has always been content to work behind the scenes, with no hint of flash, braggadocio or ostentatious spending. He lived in the same three-bedroom ranch house in suburban Long Island with the...
Manafort scheduled to learn sentence for tax and bank fraud
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — When former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort is sentenced for tax and bank fraud , U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III will likely issue the same lecture he gives to drug dealers and bank robbers. “You write the pages to your own life story,” Ellis routinely tells...
23 tornado deaths ‘gut wrenching’ in tiny Alabama community
BEAUREGARD, Ala. — With nearly two dozen people killed in a tornado outbreak that shattered a rural community in east Alabama, notifying the families of the dead was a huge, gut-wrenching task, done in the privacy of a country church. Pastor Rusty Sowell, with the county coroner behind him, would...
