New York City police officer and her passenger die in fiery car crash
NEW YORK — A 24-year-old off-duty New York Police Department officer and her passenger have died after a car driven by the officer veered off a Manhattan parkway, hit a tree and erupted in flames. Police identified the victims of the 3:45 a.m. Sunday crash as 24-year-old Kimberly Lajara and...
Epstein’s guards worked extreme overtime shifts morning of deathVideo
NEW YORK — Guards on Jeffrey Epstein’s unit were working extreme overtime shifts to make up for staffing shortages the morning of his apparent suicide, a person familiar with the jail’s operations told The Associated Press. The person said that the Metropolitan Correctional Center’s Special Housing Unit was staffed with...
Muslims clash with Israeli police at Jerusalem holy siteVideo
JERUSALEM — Muslim worshippers and Israeli police clashed Sunday at a major Jerusalem holy site during prayers marking the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha. Palestinian medics said at least 14 people were wounded, one seriously, in the skirmishes with police at the site, which Muslims refer to as the Al-Aqsa...
Dayton bar patrons commemorate 1 week since mass shooting
DAYTON, Ohio — People who gathered at the scene of the Dayton mass shooting observed a moment of silence Sunday in tribute to the victims. Nine people were killed in the Aug. 4 attack that injured more than 30 people in the city’s historic Oregon District. Investigators say Connor Betts,...
Steve Bannon floats idea of Michelle Obama run against TrumpVideo
WASHINGTON — Democrats eager to oust President Trump in 2020 could pin their hopes on an 11th-hour bid by former first lady Michelle Obama rather than the roughly two dozen candidates now in the mix, former White House strategist Steve Bannon suggested. “I don’t see anybody that’s on this stage...
Tennessee inmate Curtis Ray Watson caught emerging from farm field
HENNING, Tenn. — A Tennessee convict suspected of killing a corrections administrator before escaping prison on a tractor was captured Sunday seven hours after homeowners recognized him on their outdoor surveillance camera, authorities said. Curtis Ray Watson put his hands up and was arrested as he came out of a...
5 children killed in fire at Erie day care centerVideo
ERIE — A day care center where children could stay overnight as their parents worked was ravaged Sunday by a fire that killed five and sent the owner to the hospital, authorities said. The victims in the lakeside city of Erie ranged in ages from 8 months to 7 years,...
Justice late, not denied: New York to allow old abuse suits
ALBANY, N.Y. — Hundreds, if not thousands of people who say they were molested as children in New York state are expected to go to court this week to sue their alleged abusers and the institutions they say failed them, including the Catholic Church, the Boy Scouts, public schools and...
Border official: Timing of immigration raids ‘unfortunate’
WASHINGTON — Trump administration officials are defending last week’s mass immigration raids in Mississippi, including emotional footage of a girl pleading with authorities to let her father go. Acting Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Mark Morgan acknowledged that video of the 11-year-old sobbing was “emotional” but says the girl was...
Epstein dies in the dark, but abuse investigation carries on
NEW YORK — Investigators have long been digging into allegations of sexual abuse and conspiracy against Jeffrey Epstein . The financier’s apparent suicide brings another mystery to investigate: How did he end up dying in jail? An additional federal investigation was launched Saturday after the Federal Bureau of Prison said...
Trump-McConnell 2020? Senate leader takes on role of wingman
WASHINGTON — It’s not quite “Trump-McConnell 2020,” but it might as well be. As he runs for reelection, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is positioning himself as the president’s wingman, his trusted right hand in Congress, transformed from a behind-the-scenes player into a prominent if sometimes reviled Republican like none...
Woodstock: 3 days of peace and music that defined an era turns 50
BETHEL, N.Y. — Some come to remember, others to show reverence. A few find their way to the hallowed ground after decades of regret. All come to honor and pay respect to three days that transcended time and place, that pulled together the counterculture of the 1960s into a defining...
CMU study: Football players can still have brain damage from hits without concussionVideo
Football players can still experience brain damage from repeated hits to the head even if they don’t result in a concussion, according to a study released Wednesday involving researchers from Carnegie Mellon. The news comes as teams across the country prepare to begin their football seasons this month. The study,...
Trump, Clinton caught in fresh round of conspiracy theories after Epstein death
Jeffrey Epstein’s apparent suicide Saturday morning in a federal jail launched new conspiracies online in a saga that has provided fodder for them for years, fueled by Epstein’s ties to princes, politicians and other famous and powerful people. Online theorists Saturday quickly offered unsubstantiated speculation — including some retweeted by...
Ruling could push how colleges handle sexual assault to U.S. Supreme Court
DETROIT — A ruling this past week by the federal 1st Circuit Court of Appeals could be the key to landing the issue of how universities handle sexual assaults before the U.S. Supreme Court. At the very least, the ruling pumps the brakes on the fast-moving train of judicial decisions...
Karma catches up with ketchup swiper; now Heinz is helping the thief
A condiment thief was so overcome with guilt that she returned two new bottles to the scene of the crime. Someone tried to shake off some bad luck by buying two fresh bottles of ketchup at Walmart and leaving them outside a Perkins Restaurant & Bakery in Lacey Township, New...
Amid protest, Hawaii astronomers lose observation time
Astronomers across 11 observatories on Hawaii’s tallest mountain have cancelled more than 2,000 hours of telescope viewing over the past four weeks because a protest blocked a road to the summit. The lost research atop Mauna Kea includes work on clouds of gas and dust on the verge of forming...
Rare tornado hits Luxembourg, injuring 19, damages 100 homes
A rare tornado injured 19 people, two of them severely, in Luxembourg, while 15 soccer players were injured by a lightning strike in southern Germany as unseasonal storms hit northern Europe late Friday. The tornado in the southwestern Luxembourg communities of Pettingen and Kaerjeng left a path of destruction that...
Bear falls on California patrol car causing fiery wreck
HOOPA, Calif. — They probably don’t train people for this at the Sheriff’s Academy. A patrol car was struck by a falling bear in Northern California last weekend. Authorities say a Humboldt County sheriff’s deputy was driving on State Route 96 on Aug. 3, answering a report of a drug...
Spanish aid boat blocked by Italy rescues 39 more migrants
LAMPEDUSA, Italy — A private rescue ship that has remained at sea with 121 migrants after being denied permission to enter ports in two European countries rescued 39 more people Saturday, a Spanish aid group said, further complicating conditions on and off board. The Open Arms made its latest rescue...
Trump: Kim wants to meet again, apologized for missile tests
BERKELEY HEIGHTS, N.J. — President Donald Trump said Saturday that North Korea’s Kim Jong Un wants to meet once again to “start negotiations” after joint U.S.-South Korea military exercises end. He also said Kim apologized for the flurry of recent short-range missile tests that has rattled U.S. allies in the...
Source: Jeffrey Epstein dies by suicide while awaiting trialVideo
NEW YORK — Financier Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges in New York, a former law enforcement official said Saturday. He was found dead in his cell at the Manhattan Correctional Center Saturday morning, according to the officials, who was briefed on the matter but...
Democrats use Iowa event to attack Trump — not each other
CLEAR LAKE, Iowa — The crowded field of Democratic presidential candidates descended Friday night on a small town in northern Iowa, delighting a raucous crowd of activists and operatives by largely attacking President Donald Trump rather than each other. Some of the loudest applause at the Wing Ding fundraiser came...
Armed man at Missouri Walmart says he was testing right to bear arms
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Prosecutors on Friday filed a terrorist threat charge against a 20-year-old man who said he walked into a Missouri store wearing body armor and carrying a loaded rifle and handgun to test whether Walmart would honor his constitutional right to bear arms. The incident, just days after...
Families gather to remember victims of El Paso shooting
Families of those killed when a gunman opened fire at an El Paso Walmart are gathering at funerals on each side of the U.S.-Mexico border to remember loved ones whose lives told the story of the vibrant region. The 22 people killed ranged in age from 15 to 90, and...
