Associated Press stories, Page 2022
Bill Cosby appeal set for Dec. 1 in Pennsylvania high court
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court will hear Bill Cosby’s appeal of his felony sex assault conviction on Dec. 1. Cosby, 83, is serving a three- to 10-year prison term. A lower appeals court had upheld his conviction, but the state’s high court agreed this year to review two key issues in...
Facebook removes fake accounts linked to conservative group
Facebook has removed 276 accounts that used fake profiles to pose as right-leaning Americans and comment on news articles, often in favor of President Donald Trump, the company announced Thursday. The platform also permanently banned an Arizona-based digital communications firm that it said was behind the fake accounts. The move...
Prominent GOP fundraiser charged in covert lobbying effort
WASHINGTON — Elliott Broidy, a prominent fundraiser for President Donald Trump and the Republican Party, has been charged in an illicit lobbying campaign aimed at getting the Trump administration to drop an investigation into the multibillion-dollar looting of a Malaysian state investment fund. Broidy is the latest person accused by...
Waymo removing backup drivers from its autonomous vehicles
Waymo is allowing the general public to hitch a ride in its driverless autonomous vehicles in Phoenix, expanding a service it had been quietly offering to a select group of riders for the past year. The service launches to the general public Thursday. The vehicles, which will have no back-up...
West Virginia site chosen for high-speed travel facilityVideo
Virgin Hyperloop One will build a certification center in West Virginia for the high-speed transportation concept that uses enclosed pods to zip passengers underground at over 600 mph. The company had received bids from more than a dozen states in the past year to build a 6-mile testing track and...
After 46 years, Cypriot ghost town’s beach opens to public
The pristine, azure waters lapping at the skirts of uninhabited Varosha contrast sharply with the dilapidated, crumbling buildings lining the beachfront of this abandoned suburb of Famagusta. For the first time in 46 years, members of the public were permitted on Thursday to access the beach of Varosha in the...
Brazil strains at quarantine as coronavirus cases pass 5 million
Dozens of people converged on the cobblestone streets of downtown Rio de Janeiro for its traditional Pedra do Sal samba party — the first since the pandemic began — and it seemed Brazil was returning to normal. Among those dancing Monday were Luana Jatobá and two friends, all of whom...
Philadelphia officials express alarm over 2020 gun violence
Philadelphia officials expressed alarm at surging gun violence this year that has already caused more homicides than were recorded in all of last year — and which continued Tuesday with more killings. Commissioner Danielle Outlaw told reporters Tuesday that police were “working very diligently and passionately toward the goal of...
Tensions rise as virus cases surge in Wisconsin, Dakotas
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — A surge of coronavirus cases in Wisconsin and the Dakotas is forcing a scramble for hospital beds and raising political tensions, as the Upper Midwest and Plains emerge as one of the nation’s most troubling hotspots. The three states now lead all others in new cases...
13 charged in plots against Michigan Gov. Whitmer, policeVideo
DETROIT — Agents foiled a stunning plot to kidnap Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, authorities said Thursday in announcing charges in an alleged scheme that involved months of planning and even rehearsals to snatch her from her vacation home. Six men were charged in federal court with conspiring to kidnap...
Country singer Morgan Wallen dropped as ‘SNL’ performer after breaking covid rules
Morgan Wallen has been dropped from performing on “Saturday Night Live” after breaking the show’s covid-19 protocols. The country singer posted a video on social media Wednesday about the show’s decision. He apologized after he was shown on TikTok socializing maskless at a crowded bar and house party this past...
‘Empire’ star Taraji P. Henson hailed for mental health work
“Empire” star Taraji P. Henson has enjoyed wealth, celebrity, a Golden Globe win and an Academy Award nomination. But behind the scenes, she’s battled anxiety and depression. On Thursday, the 50-year-old actress and filmmaker — who has spoken publicly and powerfully about her private struggles — was honored by the...
Armenia says cathedral shelled in clashes with Azerbaijan
YEREVAN, Armenia — Armenia accused Azerbaijan on Thursday of shelling a historic cathedral in the separatist territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, where nearly two weeks of heavy fighting has killed hundreds of people. The Holy Savior Cathedral, also known as the Ghazanchetsots Cathedral, suffered interior and exterior damage, according to the state-run...
‘So frustrating’: Doctors and nurses battle virus skeptics
MISSION, Kan. — Treating the sick and dying isn’t even the toughest part for nurse Amelia Montgomery as the coronavirus surges in her corner of red America. It’s dealing with patients and relatives who don’t believe the virus is real, refuse to wear masks and demand treatments like hydroxychloroquine, which...
‘Sheer anxiety’: Louisiana braces itself for Hurricane Delta
MORGAN CITY, La. — Louisiana residents still recovering from the devastation of a powerful hurricane less than two months ago braced for another hit as Hurricane Delta steamed north through the Gulf on Thursday after swiping Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. Forecasters warned that the storm could blow ashore Friday with winds...
Stocks climb again on Wall Street with hopes for stimulus
NEW YORK — Stocks rose for the second day in a row Thursday, reflecting hope on Wall Street that Washington can approve more aid for the economy and encouragement from a report that suggests the pace of layoffs is slowing a bit, even though it remains incredibly high. The S&P...
Trump hails virus treatment, says he’s ready to do rallies
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Thursday that he is ready to hold campaign rallies and he credited an experimental drug treatment with helping his recovery from COVID-19, although there is no way for the president or his doctors to know whether the drug had any effect. “I’m feeling good....
Protests follow clearing of Wisconsin officer in killing of Black teen
MADISON, Wis. — Residents of a Milwaukee suburb where protests turned violent after a Black police officer was cleared in the fatal shooting of a Black teenager outside a shopping mall were out early Thursday cleaning up debris from overnight damage to businesses. Neighbors wearing masks to protect against the...
Large Chinese mitten crab crawls into German woman’s home
BERLIN — Police in southern Germany say a woman got a shock while airing out her home when a 10-inch Chinese mitten crab scurried in from the terrace through the open door. Freiburg police said Thursday that they received a call reporting the unwanted home invader in the nearby town...
Trump 270 path narrows, Wisconsin mirrors swing state plight
MEDFORD, Wis. — President Donald Trump’s once-comfortable advantage in the pivotal region of Wisconsin around the blue-collar hub of Green Bay has dwindled. In suburban Milwaukee, long a Republican-dominated area, it has thinned as well. And his supporters are far from confident he can find thousands of new voters in...
Cody Bellinger robs Padres as Dodgers hold on for 2-0 NLDS lead
ARLINGTON, Texas — Cody Bellinger would take the homer-robbing catch over the home run he hit if he had to pick from the two. The Los Angeles Dodgers needed both from their MVP center fielder. Bellinger nearly went to a knee to hit his long home run, and later made...
U.S. layoffs remain elevated as 840,000 seek jobless aid
WASHINGTON — The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell slightly last week to a still-high 840,000, evidence that job cuts remain elevated seven months into the pandemic recession. The latest sign of a flagging recovery comes two days after President Donald Trump cut off talks over a new rescue...
Trump vows not to participate in virtual debate with Biden
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump vowed Thursday not to participate in next week’s debate with Democratic nominee Joe Biden after organizers announced it will take place virtually because of the president’s diagnosis of covid-19. “I’m not going to do a virtual debate” with Biden, Trump told Fox News, moments after...
Second debate with Biden going virtual amid Trump’s covid-19
WASHINGTON — The second presidential debate between President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden will take place virtually amid the fallout from the president’s diagnosis of covid-19. The nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates debates made the announcement Thursday morning, a week before the two were scheduled to face on...
American poet Louise Glück wins Nobel literature prize
STOCKHOLM — The Nobel Prize for literature was awarded to American poet Louise Glück on Thursday “for her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal.” The prize was announced in Stockholm by Mats Malm, the permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy. New York-born Glück (pronouced “Glick”),...
