Associated Press stories, Page 2478
U.K. economy shrinks for first time since 2012 as Brexit bites
LONDON — The British economy shrank in the second quarter for the first time since 2012 as Brexit uncertainties weighed on business investment and firms reduced their stockpiling after Britain was granted an extension to its departure from the European Union, official figures showed Friday. The decline is set to...
Japan’s ex-Empress Michiko has early stage breast cancer
TOKYO — Japanese palace officials say former Empress Michiko will have an operation for breast cancer. The Imperial Household Agency said Friday that doctors found Michiko had an early stage of breast cancer in a health check in July. Michiko, 84, received the title of empress emerita after her husband,...
Belgian park trumpets arrival of twin baby pandas
BRUGELETTE, Belgium — A Belgian wildlife park is proudly announcing the birth of twin baby giant pandas. Pairi Daiza said in a tweet Friday that Hao Hao, a panda loaned to the park by China in 2014, has given birth to “two little ‘pink shrimps’ that are in good health...
U.S.-China trade war weakening demand for oil
PARIS — The International Energy Agency says the U.S.-China trade war and a decline in world economic growth are weakening the demand for oil. The Paris-based agency, which advises many developed countries on energy policies, cut its forecast for oil demand growth this year and next by 0.1 million barrels...
Some common garden plants might help keep bugs away
If mosquitoes, gnats, black flies and no-see-ums are driving you buggy, then consider cozying up to some lavender, marigolds or basil. Scientists question their overall effectiveness, but many fragrant ornamental flowers and herbs grown around the home have properties that can repel insects. Insect repellents are divided into two primary...
Topiary tips: When you want shrubs to double as sculpture
Topiary is the art of growing trees and shrubs as living sculptures — cubes, spheres, obelisks, animal shapes or combinations of these. The tradition has flourished in various places at different times, but in modern gardens, topiary is rare, unless you count our foundation plantings of clipped yews and junipers...
Trump picks Joseph Maguire as new acting national intelligence director
WASHINGTON — President Trump on Thursday named Joseph Maguire, the nation’s top counterterrorism official, as acting national intelligence director, part of a leadership shake-up at the agency that oversees 17 U.S. spy agencies. Maguire will become acting director on Aug. 15, the same day that National Intelligence Director Dan Coats’...
Mitch McConnell wants to consider gun background checks in fall
WASHINGTON — Shifting the gun violence debate, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Thursday he now wants to consider background checks and other bills, setting up a potentially pivotal moment when lawmakers return in the fall. The Republican leader won’t be calling senators back to work early, as some are...
Rosie Ruiz, infamous Boston Marathon course-cutter, dies at 66
BOSTON — Rosie Ruiz, the Boston Marathon course-cutter who was stripped of her victory in the 1980 race and went on to become an enduring symbol of cheating in sports, has died. She was 66. Ruiz, who was also known as Rosie Vivas, died in Florida of cancer on July...
Trump fundraiser puts billionaire host Stephen M. Ross on the defensiveVideo
WASHINGTON — A billionaire New York investor and owner of the Miami Dolphins who is hosting a high-dollar fundraiser for Donald Trump on Friday also has a financial interest in the president’s business empire — including his iconic Manhattan tower. Shortly after Trump’s election, Stephen M. Ross tried to take...
Technology companies power broad rally for U.S. stocks
Technology companies powered stocks broadly higher on Wall Street on Thursday, driving the S&P 500 to its best day in more than two months and erasing its losses for the week. The rally, which pushed the Dow Jones Industrial Average up by more than 370 points, followed an early rise...
Veteran quarterbacks abound in SEC, led by Tua Tagovailoa, Jake Fromm
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — It is the year of the veteran quarterback in the SEC. Tua Tagovailoa and Jake Fromm are the headliners, but the league is loaded with experienced passers with double-digit starts under their belts at their current school or elsewhere. The SEC has eight returning starters at quarterback...
Browns trade RB Duke Johnson to Texans for 2020 draft pick
CLEVELAND — Duke Johnson got his wish, and the Browns got more than expected for him. Cleveland traded the disgruntled running back to the Houston Texans on Thursday for an undisclosed 2020 draft pick. A person familiar with the deal told the Associated Press that the Browns are getting a...
First Eurasian Lynx born in Pyrenees in almost a century
BARCELONA, Spain — A Spanish nature conservation center says that the first baby lynx has been born in the Pyrenees in nearly a century. The Eurasian lynx is considered extinct in the Spanish and French Pyrenees, and the last time it was witnessed in these mountains was in the 1930s....
Funeral instead of 14th birthday for teen killed at Gilroy Garlic Festival
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Mourners used colored markers to write messages on Keyla Salazar’s white casket before a funeral Tuesday for the middle-school teenager killed in a mass shooting at a California food festival. “Keyla, you’re an angel. We will never forget you!” read one. Another said, “Keyla, I love...
Ferguson has changed, but racial tension lingers 5 years after Michael Brown death
FERGUSON, Mo. — Michael Brown’s death at the hands of a white Missouri police officer stands as a seismic moment in American race relations. The fledgling Black Lives Matter movement found its voice, police departments fell under intense scrutiny, progressive prosecutors were elected and court policies revised. Yet five years...
El Niño fades so forecasters expect busier hurricane season
Government meteorologists say this year’s hurricane season may be busier than initially expected now that summer’s weak El Niño has faded away. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center said Thursday the Atlantic season looks more active than normal as peak hurricane season begins. Forecasters now expect 10...
Officials in Pa. exhume body of man found frozen in cave in 1970s to test DNA
HAMBURG, Pa. — Investigators in Pennsylvania have exhumed the body of an unidentified man who was found frozen in a cave along the Appalachian Trail about four decades ago. Officials in Berks County say the man’s dental records recently were matched to missing men from Florida and Illinois. Berks County...
19 bodies hung from bridge or hacked up in Mexico gang feud
MEXICO CITY — Mexican police found nine bodies hanging from an overpass Thursday alongside a drug cartel banner threatening rivals, and seven more corpses hacked up and dumped by the road nearby. Just down the road were three more bodies, for a total of 19. The killing spree in the...
Sandusky to be resentenced next month in molestation case
Jerry Sandusky will be taken from prison to a central Pennsylvania courtroom next month for resentencing on his 45-count child sexual abuse conviction, six months after a state appeals court ruled mandatory minimums had been improperly applied. Judge John Foradora filed an order Wednesday scheduling the proceeding for Sept. 23...
Magnitude 6 quake shakes western Turkey; more than 20 hurt
ANKARA, Turkey — A strong earthquake hit western Turkey on Thursday, damaging homes, causing residents to run into the streets in panic and injuring over 20 people. The quake was centered on the town of Bozkurt, in Denizli province, according to Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency, AFAD. It said...
Ivanka Trump to promote women’s initiative in South America
WASHINGTON — Ivanka Trump will call attention to issues that make it difficult for women in developing countries to prosper financially when she travels to South America in September. Aides to President Donald Trump’s daughter and adviser say she plans to visit Paraguay and Argentina to promote her Women’s Global...
Kraft Heinz takes another $1 billion hit, shares plunge
Kraft Heinz released its second quarter earnings report delayed by accounting problems and revealed continued fall-out related to those issues on top of weak sales. The company that makes Oscar Mayer hot dogs, Kool-Aid, Heinz ketchup and Velveeta took charges in excess of $1 billion in the first half due...
Smokey Bear, fire prevention icon, turns 75Video
CAPITAN, N.M. — Smokey Bear, the icon of the longest-running public service campaign in the U.S., is 75 years old. Birthday parties are scheduled to take place this week in honor of the bear that promotes forest fire prevention. The decision to use the Smokey Bear character happened on Aug....
Police: 2 men arrested after road rage shooting at school
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Police in Alabama say two men are in custody after what they described as an apparent road rage shooting over traffic outside a Montgomery elementary school. Local news outlets report the shooting happened Thursday morning when two fathers got into an argument about traffic coming into Blount...
