Justice Department declines to prosecute James Comey over memosVideo
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has declined to prosecute former FBI Director James Comey over his handling of a series of memos he wrote that documented personal interactions with President Trump, a person familiar with the matter said Thursday. The memos, some of which Justice Department officials later determined contained...
Al-Qaida is as strong as ever after rebuilding itself, U.S. says
WASHINGTON — Al-Qaida and its affiliates remain as much of a threat to the U.S. as “it has ever been” after the terrorist group rebuilt itself while the U.S. and other nations focused on destroying Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, a State Department official said Thursday. “Al-Qaida has been...
Delay in grand jury action in death of twins left in car
NEW YORK — Prosecutors need more time to investigate the heatstroke deaths of twin 1-year-olds left in a parked car before deciding whether to proceed with charges against the children’s father, a New York City judge was told on Thursday. An assistant Bronx district attorney said at a court hearing...
Senate approves two-year, $2.7 trillion government spending bill
WASHINGTON — The Senate on Thursday approved a $2.7 trillion spending agreement negotiated between Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the White House, sending the deal to President Donald Trump’s desk for his signature. The bill passed 67-28. It was approved with more Democratic votes than Republican, a potential embarrassment for the...
Vexed with minority status and rancor, GOP lawmakers retire
WASHINGTON — House Republicans are suffering an early exodus ahead of next year’s elections, hampering their uphill prospects for recapturing control from Democrats as lawmakers chafe under life in the minority, today’s razor-edged partisanship and the tweets and tantrums of President Trump. Rep. Michael Conaway, R-Texas, this week became the...
Gunmaker asks U.S. Supreme Court to hear Sandy Hook appeal
HARTFORD, Conn. — The maker of the rifle used in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear its appeal Thursday of a state ruling against the company. Remington Arms, based in Madison, North Carolina, cited a much-debated 2005 federal law that shields firearms manufacturers...
Congress wants Capital One, Amazon to explain data breach
WASHINGTON — Leaders of House and Senate committees want Capital One and Amazon to explain to Congress how a hacker accessed personal information from more than 100 million Capital One credit applications. The incident was the latest massive data breach at a large company. Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, the top...
Trump threatens 10% tariffs on China starting Sept. 1
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump says the United States will apply a new tariff of 10% on about $300 billion worth of products from China on Sept. 1. Trump tweeted Thursday amid slow-moving talks with China that negotiations will continue. But he blamed China for not following through on stopping...
Florida real estate agent posts house in flames on Zillow
When you’ve got a hot property to unload, why not advertise it? One Florida real estate agent took to Zillow to show off the fixer-upper he’s trying to unload by posting a photo of the home fully engulfed in flames. “Bring your Smores to the Campfire and Build your Dream...
Video: Kentucky shocks Asian carp to control spread of invasive fishVideo
Kentucky state workers shocked a huge school of Asian carp that had collected near a dam in the state. The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources posted a stunning video that showed hundreds of fish jumping into the air after an electric shock was sent into the water by...
Hard-won budget, debt deal clears Senate, advances to Trump
WASHINGTON — A hard-won budget and debt deal easily cleared the Senate on Thursday, powered by President Donald Trump’s endorsement and a bipartisan drive to cement recent spending increases for the Pentagon and domestic agencies. The legislation passed by a 67-28 vote as Trump and his GOP allies relied on...
Chinese army releases promo video for Hong Kong troops
HONG KONG — The Chinese army has released a promotional video for its Hong Kong-based troops showing them dealing with a mock street demonstration at a time of uncertainty over whether the military will intervene in the city’s summer of protest. On the eve of Thursday’s anniversary of the army’s...
At least 44 people injured in massive ‘tsunami’ at wave pool
You’d expect huge waves at a “tsunami pool.” But swimmers at a water park in northeast China got a lot more than they bargained for Tuesday when a malfunction produced a massive wave that injured at least 44 of them. The South China Morning Post reports the incident happened at...
7 Philadelphia officers resign over offensive Facebook posts
PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Police Department says seven officers have resigned in the last two weeks following an investigation into offensive and sometimes threatening Facebook posts. Last month, the department suspended 13 officers with an intent to fire them after a nonprofit group published the results of a two-year review...
John Dillinger relatives doubt body in grave is the gangster
INDIANAPOLIS — Two relatives of notorious 1930s gangster John Dillinger who plan to have his remains exhumed say they have “evidence” the body buried in an Indianapolis cemetery beneath a gravestone bearing his name may not be him and that FBI agents possibly killed someone else in 1934. The FBI...
U.K. town evacuated over fears of dam collapse
LONDON — British police have ordered the evacuation of a town of 6,500 residents in northwest England over fears that a dam could collapse. The Derbyshire Police force says residents of Whaley Bridge should leave their homes because of the “significant threat to life.” A dam wall at the 19th-century...
N.Y. skyscraper now unofficially has highest roof in North America
CHICAGO — Chicago’s Willis Tower, which was dethroned five years ago by One World Trade Center as the tallest building in North America, just lost its unofficial title as the highest roof in North America to another New York skyscraper, Central Park Tower, which is still under construction. Willis Tower...
Wildfires spread in remote Siberia, Russian Far East
MOSCOW — Hundreds of Russian towns and cities are shrouded in heavy smoke from wildfires in Siberia and the Far East Thursday, and the blazes appear to be spreading in remote terrain. Avialesookhrana, Russia’s aerial forest protection service, said more than 11,850 square miles are on fire, with the vast...
Somalia says Mogadishu mayor dies after attack in office
MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia’s government says the mayor of Mogadishu has died after being badly wounded in an al-Shabab extremist attack in his office last week. The spokesman for Somalia’s president said Abdirahman Omar Osman died Thursday in Qatar, where he had been airlifted for treatment after the July 24...
A$AP Rocky testifies at trial, says he tried to avoid fight
STOCKHOLM — American rapper A$AP Rocky testified Thursday at his assault trial that he did everything possible to avoid conflict with two men he says persistently followed the artist’s entourage in Stockholm, and that one of the men picked a fight with one of his bodyguards. Rakim Mayers, the rapper’s...
Stock markets recover their poise after Fed rate confusion
LONDON — Global stock markets recovered their poise Thursday after the U.S. central bank’s first rate cut in more than a decade had initially been greeted with some disappointment on Wall Street. The Fed’s quarter-point cut was widely expected so there was much more interest in the accompanying statements from...
Alleged Capital One hacker barely bothered to hide
SEATTLE — The 33-year-old former Amazon software engineer accused of hacking Capital One made little attempt to hide her attack. In fact, she effectively publicized it. It’s one of many riddles swirling around Paige Thompson, who goes by the online handle “erratic.” Well-known in Seattle’s hacker community, Thompson has lived...
Edward Snowden book coming out Sept. 17
NEW YORK — Former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden has written a memoir. The book by the man whose leaks of classified documents transformed the debate about government surveillance is coming out Sept. 17. Metropolitan Books, an imprint of Macmillan Publishers, announced Thursday that Snowden’s “Permanent Record” will be...
Pompeo says he was ready, but North Korea meeting unlikely
BANGKOK — U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday the Trump administration remains ready to resume talks with North Korea now, although he regretted that a meeting between the two sides is unlikely at an Asian security conference this week in Thailand. Pompeo said he and the administration’s chief...
Boris Johnson’s government faces test in special election
LONDON — After a first week in office that saw him booed in Scotland and berated in Belfast, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was facing his first electoral test on Thursday — a special election that could see the Conservative government’s working majority in Parliament cut to just one vote....
