Associated Press stories, Page 439
Brazil drought punishes coffee farms and threatens to push prices even higher
CACONDE, Brazil — Silvio Almeida’s coffee plantation sits at an ideal altitude on a Brazilian hillside, whose clay-rich soil does well at retaining moisture from rainfall and a nearby reservoir. Lately, though, water is scarce on Almeida’s modest farm in Caconde, a town in one of Sao Paulo state’s key...
U.S. will let more people take methadone at home
The first big update to U.S. methadone regulations in 20 years is poised to expand access to the life-saving drug starting next month, but experts say the addiction treatment changes could fall flat if state governments and methadone clinics fail to act. For decades, strict rules required most methadone patients...
JoJo was a teen sensation. At 33, she’s found her voice again
Joanna Levesque shot to stardom at 13. Two decades later, “JoJo” — as she’s better known — has written a memoir and says the song responsible for her meteoric rise, “Leave (Get Out),” was foreign to her. In fact, she cried when her label told her they wanted to make...
‘Water is flooding everywhere’ as torrential rains sweep through West and Central Africa
ABUJA, Nigeria — Houses swept away to the very last brick. Inmates frantically fleeing the city’s main prison as its walls got washed away by water rising from an overflowing dam. Corpses of crocodiles and snakes floating among human bodies on what used to be main streets. As torrential rains...
Israel carries out targeted strike in Beirut after Hezbollah hits northern Israel with 140 rockets
BEIRUT — Israel hit a Beirut suburb with an airstrike Friday, not long after Hezbollah pounded northern Israel with 140 rockets following a vow by the militant group’s leader Hassan Nasrallah to retaliate against Israel for a mass bombing attack, the Israeli military and the militant group said. The Israeli...
West Virginia, Kansas hope to turn things around when they meet in Big 12 openerVideo
Kansas (1-2) at West Virginia (1-2) When: Noon Saturday TV: ESPN2 Odds: West Virginia by 2 1/2. Series record: West Virginia leads 10-2. What’s at stake? Kansas and West Virginia are hoping to get off to a good start in the Big 12 after subpar showings in nonconference play. The...
Pennsylvania state senator sues critics of his book about WWI hero Sgt. York
HARRISBURG — A Pennsylvania state senator and former GOP gubernatorial candidate whose support for Donald Trump drew him to the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 has sued a Canadian university and nearly two dozen academics over criticism of him and his research into World War I hero Sgt. Alvin York....
No. 10 Penn State hopes to work out kinks against reeling Kent State
STATE COLLEGE — James Franklin knows his team is much better than how it played two weeks ago, and he’s sure that with this much time to ponder that too-close-for-comfort win, the No. 10 Nittany Lions will show it. “We’re used to playing dominating football,” Franklin said. “Around here, we’ve...
Aaron Rodgers shines in 1st home start since injury to lead Jets past Patriots
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Aaron Rodgers was in total control in a superb homecoming performance that kept the cheers and chants going from the giddy New York Jets fans. And this time, Rodgers was able to walk off the field — healthy and a winner. The star quarterback threw two...
Ohio sheriff condemned for saying people with Harris yard signs should have their addresses recorded
An Ohio sheriff is under fire for a social media post in which he said people with Kamala Harris yard signs should have their addresses recorded so immigrants can be sent to live with them if the Democrat wins the presidency. Good-government groups called it a threat and urged him...
Rory McIlroy loses club head, lead at BMW PGA Championship
VIRGINIA WATER, England — Rory McIlroy lost the club head on his 9-iron and then lost a chance to take the first-round lead by going out of bounds on the last hole in an eventful 5-under-par 67 at the BMW PGA Championship on Thursday. The No. 3-ranked McIlroy was two...
Lions coach Dan Campbell selling his house to seek more privacy
BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich. — Lions coach Dan Campbell is selling his suburban Detroit home to get more privacy. “There’s plenty of space, it’s on two acres, the home is beautiful,” Campbell told Crain’s Detroit Business. “It’s just that people figured out where we lived when we lost.” He didn’t elaborate....
Postal Service chief frustrated at criticism but promises ‘heroic’ effort to deliver mail ballots
TOPEKA, Kan. — The head of the U.S. Postal Service expressed frustration Thursday with ongoing criticism by election officials of how it handles mail ballots while also seeking to reassure voters it’s ready to handle an expected crush of those ballots this fall. U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy told reporters...
Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani becomes 1st player with 50 HRs, 50 stolen bases in same yearVideo
MIAMI — Shohei Ohtani became the first major league player to exceed 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a season during the most spectacular game of a history-making career for the Los Angeles Dodgers star, going deep three times and swiping two bags on Thursday against the Miami...
Apple releases AI software for a smarter Siri on the iPhone 16
Apple is accelerating the rollout of a software update that will implant artificial intelligence into its virtual assistant Siri and automate a variety of tedious tasks to coincide with the release of its latest iPhone. The free update enabling the first set of features in Apple’s suite of artificial intelligence...
U.S. warplanes, ships and troops ready in Middle East if conflict expands
WASHINGTON — The U.S. has kept an increased military presence in the Middle East throughout much of the past year, with about 40,000 forces, at least a dozen warships and four Air Force fighter jet squadrons spread across the region both to protect allies and to serve as a deterrent...
Titan submersible’s scientific director says the sub malfunctioned just prior to Titanic dive
The scientific director for the company that owned the Titan submersible that imploded last year while on its way to the Titanic wreckage testified Thursday that the sub malfunctioned just prior to the fatal dive. Appearing before a U.S. Coast Guard panel, Steven Ross told the board about a platform...
Ravens-Cowboys game features 2 teams coming off maddening lossesVideo
ARLINGTON, Texas — Lamar Jackson doesn’t see a mopey bunch of Baltimore Ravens with the franchise off to its first 0-2 start since 2015, three years before the reigning NFL MVP was drafted. There might a better word for both teams with Baltimore set to visit the Dallas Cowboys on...
Alaska man charged with sending graphic threats to kill Supreme Court justices
WASHINGTON — An Alaska man accused of sending graphic threats to injure and kill six Supreme Court justices and some of their family members has been indicted on federal charges, authorities said Thursday. Panos Anastasiou, 76, is accused of sending more than 465 messages through a public court website, including...
Inmates stab correctional officers at a Massachusetts prison
LANCASTER, Mass. — Two correctional officers were stabbed by inmates at a maximum-security prison in Massachusetts, and three others were injured as they responded, a spokesperson said. The five officers at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Lancaster were taken to hospitals after the confrontation Wednesday night, Scott Croteau, a spokesperson...
2 Georgia deaths are tied to abortion restrictions. Experts say abortion pills they took are safe
Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to speak about abortion Friday in Georgia, where two women’s deaths have been tied to a state law that mostly bans the procedure after roughly six weeks. Amber Thurman died after waiting 20 hours for a hospital to treat complications that occurred after she...
Veteran CIA officer who drugged and sexually assaulted dozens of women gets 30 years in prison
WASHINGTON — A longtime CIA officer who drugged, photographed and sexually assaulted more than two dozen women in postings around the world was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison Wednesday after an emotional hearing in which victims described being deceived by a man who appeared kind, educated and part...
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs will stay in jail after bail is denied for a second time
NEW YORK — Sean “Diddy” Combs is staying locked up after a judge Wednesday rejected the hip-hop mogul’s proposal that he await his sex trafficking trial in the luxury of his Florida mansion instead of a grim Brooklyn federal jail. U.S. District Judge Andrew L. Carter ruled that Combs’ plan...
Hezbollah fires new volley at Israel as fears of greater war mount after electronic devices bombing
BEIRUT — Hezbollah fired a new barrage into northern Israel on Thursday, continuing its drumbeat of exchanges with the Israeli military as fears of a greater war rise after hundreds of electronic devices exploded in Lebanon, killing at least 32 people and wounding more than 3,000 others. The device explosions...
Voters view Harris more favorably as she settles into role atop Democratic ticket: AP-NORC poll
WASHINGTON — Until recently, Lillian Dunsmuir of Bullhead City, Arizona, “didn’t really think about” Kamala Harris and had no opinion of the vice president. But now she likes what she’s seeing. “She’s funny. I think she’s very smart. She can speak well,” said Dunsmuir, a 58-year-old real estate agent. “I...
