Associated Press stories, Page 2659
Drivers expect new NASCAR rules to create drama, headlines
HAMPTON, Ga. — NASCAR was long overdue for an added punch to its racing product and eagerly awaits the results from a new competition package designed to increase the entertainment factor for the troubled series. The new rules debut Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway, where the prevailing opinion is the...
Spotlight now on Goodell and how he might discipline Patriots owner Kraft
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has wide-ranging powers to discipline teams, coaches, players and, yes, owners. Pending the completion of police investigations in Florida — and likely a league inquiry as well — Goodell could punish New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft for being charged with two counts of soliciting a...
West Virginia falters late, loses to Baylor
WACO, Texas — Mario Kegler had 23 points and 10 rebounds, including a 3-pointer that gave Baylor the lead for good and six free throws in the final minute, in an 82-75 win over West Virginia on Saturday. In a game that featured more fouls (51) than field goals made...
Lamar Stevens, Mike Watkins pace Penn State past Illinois
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Lamar Stevens scored 25 points, and Mike Watkins got his 26th career double-double as Penn State beat Illinois, 83-76, on Saturday. “I’m just so proud of Mike,” Penn State coach Pat Chambers said. “He’s had to deal with some personal issues lately, and he really came through...
Sheriff: No likely survivors in cargo plane crash near Houston
HOUSTON — A Boeing 767 cargo jetliner heading to Houston with three people aboard disintegrated after crashing Saturday into a bay east of the city, according to a Texas sheriff. Witnesses told emergency personnel that the twin-engine plane “went in nose first,” leaving a debris field three-quarters of a mile...
Goodell has wide-ranging powers to fine or suspend Kraft
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has wide-ranging powers to discipline teams, coaches, players, and, yes, owners. Pending the completion of police investigations in Florida — and likely a league inquiry as well — Goodell could punish New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft for being charged with two counts of soliciting a...
Mueller: Manafort ‘brazenly violated the law’ for years
WASHINGTON — Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort committed crimes that cut to “the heart of the criminal justice system” and over the years deceived everyone from bookkeepers and banks to federal prosecutors and “members of the executive branch of the United States government,” according to a sentencing memo filed...
Biden’s 2020 opening? Dem field missing foreign policy hand
WASHINGTON — In town halls, television interviews and social media posts, Democratic presidential candidates are touting their support for “Medicare-for-all,” higher taxes on the wealthy and a war on climate change. But foreign policy, one of the chief responsibilities of a president, is largely taking a back seat on the...
Iceland to keep hunting up to 2,130 whales over 5 years
REYKJAVIK, Iceland — Iceland’s whaling industry will be allowed to keep hunting whales for at least another five years, killing up to 2,130 baleen whales under a new quota issued by the government. The five-year whaling policy was up for renewal when Fisheries Minister Kristjan Juliusson announced this week an...
Sen. Feinstein debates children over climate change
SAN FRANCISCO — U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein and a group of San Francisco Bay Area students squared off over climate change in a sometimes tense exchange captured on video and widely shared on social media. The 15-minute video of the impromptu Friday meeting captures the students and Feinstein debating the...
R. Kelly ordered jailed on $1M bond at Chicago hearing
CHICAGO — R. Kelly was ordered jailed on $1 million bond Saturday at his first court hearing since the R&B star was charged with sexually abusing four people, including three minors, in a case that seemed likely to produce another #MeToo trial involving a celebrity. The 52-year-old Grammy winner turned...
Pentagon chief getting firsthand look at US-Mexico border
EL PASO, Texas — Top defense officials toured sections of the U.S.-Mexico border Saturday to see how the military could reinforce efforts to block drug smugging and other illegal activity, as the Pentagon weighs diverting billions of dollars for President Donald Trump’s border wall. Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan, accompanied...
Soldiers unleash tear gas amid tension on Venezuela’s border
CUCUTA, Colombia — Venezuela’s National Guard fired tear gas on residents clearing a barricaded border bridge to Colombia on Saturday, heightening tensions over blocked humanitarian aid that opposition leader Juan Guaido has vowed to bring into the country despite President Nicolas Maduro’s defiant refusal to accept assistance. The opposition is...
Smile: Some airliners have cameras on seat-back screens
Now there is one more place where cameras could start watching you — from 30,000 feet. Newer seat-back entertainment systems on some airplanes operated by American Airlines, United Airlines and Singapore Airlines have cameras, and it’s likely they are also on planes used by other carriers. American, United and Singapore...
California parents of 13 plead guilty to torture, abuse – Feb. 23, 2019
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — As prosecutors brought charges of cruelty and torture against a California couple who had shackled and starved their children for years, they had two goals in mind: Punish the perpetrators and ensure they could never victimize those 13 children in any way again. On Friday they appeared...
U.S. Latinas rally around ‘Roma’ actress Yalitza Aparicio
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Yalitza Aparicio, the Oscar-nominated, first-time actress in “Roma,” is finding strong support among Mexican-American women who identify with her indigenous roots despite backlash she is receiving in Mexico. Some Mexican-American women say they are glad Aparicio’s high-profile role is challenging typical images of light-skinned Latinas in Spanish-language...
Man takes stand to deny flipping woman to her death in a Pennsylvania river
SCRANTON, Pa. — A man accused of hurling a woman to her death in a northeastern Pennsylvania river two years ago took the stand to deny that he was responsible and accuse police of lying about an alleged confession. Ryan Taylor, 26, said Friday he blacked out after smoking synthetic...
Jim Boeheim returns to Syracuse bench in loss to Duke
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — No matter the outcome, Jim Boeheim needed this. Three days after the Hall of Fame coach of the Syracuse Orange struck and killed a pedestrian on a darkened highway that leads out of town, he returned to the bench Saturday night. Boeheim’s first public appearance since the...
Judge grants citizenship to twin son of gay couple
LOS ANGELES — A federal judge in California ruled Thursday that a twin son of a gay married couple has been an American citizen since birth, handing a defeat to the U.S. government, which had only granted the status to his brother. The State Department was wrong to deny citizenship...
Patriots owner Kraft denies charges of soliciting prostitute
JUPITER, Fla. — Robert Kraft, the billionaire owner of the New England Patriots, faces charges of soliciting a prostitute after he was twice videotaped in a sex act at a shopping-center massage parlor in Florida, police said Friday. The 77-year-old Kraft denied any wrongdoing. The case comes amid a crackdown...
San Francisco authorities search for woman in landslide
SAN FRANCISCO — Rescue workers switched from search to recovery mode Friday night in their efforts to find a woman believed to be buried by a landslide near a San Francisco beach. One woman was rescued after the landside above a beach popular with dog walkers. Dozens of search-and-rescue workers...
Chicago police: Singer R. Kelly arrested at precinct
CHICAGO — R&B star R. Kelly was taken into custody after arriving Friday night at a Chicago police precinct, hours after authorities announced multiple charges of aggravated sexual abuse involving four victims, including at least three between the ages of 13 and 17. The 52-year-old singer, whose real name is...
Trump vows veto as Democrats try to block emergency order
WASHINGTON — Democrats controlling the House have teed up a vote next week to block President Donald Trump from using a national emergency declaration to fund a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, accelerating a showdown in Congress that could divide Republicans and lead to Trump’s first veto. The Democrats introduced...
NASCAR’s new rule package shrouded in unknowns before debut
HAMPTON, Ga. — NASCAR rolled into Atlanta Motor Speedway ready to begin a new era of racing shrouded in unknowns. Will it be racier? That’s the point. Will it make Sunday’s event at Atlanta exciting? That remains to be seen. “We don’t have that answer. I can tell you that...
Dodgers shut down pitcher Clayton Kershaw
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw was shut down indefinitely after telling manager Dave Roberts that he “didn’t feel right” after two discouraging outings on the mound. Kershaw worked out indoors at Camelback Ranch on Friday but didn’t play catch. Roberts wouldn’t speculate on the left-hander’s next bullpen session....
