Associated Press stories, Page 2618
U.S. trade gap falls 15 percent to $51.1 billion in January
WASHINGTON — The U.S. trade deficit tumbled nearly 15 percent in January as imports fell and exports rose. Shipments of American goods to China skidded to the lowest level in more than eight years as the world’s two biggest economies remained locked in a trade war. The Commerce Department said...
Arby’s manager charged in death of threatening customer
TULSA, Okla. — Authorities say the manager of an Oklahoma Arby’s restaurant has been charged in the fatal shooting of a customer who she said threatened her. Tulsa County jail records show 25-year-old Deionna Young is being held without bond Tuesday on a first-degree murder charge. Records don’t list an...
U.S. shuts interior checkpoints to focus on Mexico border
LAS CRUCES, New Mexico — U.S. immigration authorities have temporarily closed highway checkpoints in New Mexico and much of West Texas, as they reassign agents and use the outposts to help process the growing numbers of Central Americans arriving at the Mexican border. The checkpoints, located up to 100 miles...
Chinese viewers balk at ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ film censorship
BEIJING (AP) — A huge fan of rock legends Queen, Peng Yanzi rushed to see “Bohemian Rhapsody,” the biopic about the band’s late lead singer, Freddie Mercury, while he was traveling in Britain last October. It was a touching film that made him cry hard, Peng says. He loved it...
Search on for burial site of America’s first published poet
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. — Anne Bradstreet was the North American continent’s first published poet, yet her legacy has largely been lost to time. Now, professors and students at Merrimack College in Massachusetts are trying to pinpoint her burial site while at the same restoring her legacy and what they say...
Heiress hoax scores woman celebrity treatment, and charges
NEW YORK — Anna Sorokin traveled in celebrity circles and tossed $100 tips — all the more reason to believe she was the German heiress she said she was. But behind the jet-set lifestyle and pricey threads, prosecutors say, was a fraudster who bilked friends, banks and hotels for a...
Trump buoyant at luncheon while Pelosi urges focus on policy
WASHINGTON — An exuberant President Donald Trump took a victory lap on Capitol Hill, emboldened by the end of the special counsel’s Russia probe, even as Democrats pressed insistently for Robert Mueller’s full report and Justice Department officials said more information could be released in “weeks, not months.” Trump strode...
Trump’s 2020 machine a far cry from fly-by-night 2016 effort
WASHINGTON — In 2016, President Donald Trump compared Hillary Clinton’s campaign to the lumbering federal bureaucracy. Now he’s building one of his own. From an office tower across the Potomac River from Washington, from the bowels of the Republican National Committee’s headquarters on Capitol Hill and from field offices across...
FAA to revamp aircraft construction oversight, official says
The Federal Aviation Administration plans to significantly revamp its oversight of airplane construction this summer after questions were raised about how it manages inspections done by the industry, according to testimony prepared for a Senate subcommittee hearing on Wednesday. The testimony by Calvin Scovel III, the Transportation Department’s inspector general...
Dismissal of Smollett case brings backlash, more questions
CHICAGO — Prosecutors still insist Jussie Smollett faked a racist, anti-gay attack on himself in the hopes that the attention would advance his acting career. The “Empire” star still says he was assaulted by two men late at night in downtown Chicago. But with little explanation, authorities on Tuesday abruptly...
Dutch art sleuth recovers Picasso stolen 20 years ago
AMSTERDAM — A Dutch art detective said Tuesday that he has recovered a valuable painting by Pablo Picasso 20 years after it was stolen from a wealthy Saudi’s yacht in France. Arthur Brand told The Associated Press that he took possession two weeks ago of the 1938 painting “Buste de...
3 Philadelphia dental clinics closed because of infection risk
PHILADELPHIA — Three dental offices in Philadelphia have been closed for what city health officials say was improper reprocessing and sterilization of dental equipment, along with lapses in injection safety practices. Patients of the Trieu Family Dental Clinics are also urged to get tested for HIV, hepatitis B and C,...
NFL approves reviews for pass-interference calls, no-callsVideo
PHOENIX — Roger Goodell laid down the law, and the owners readily changed NFL rules on reviewing pass interference, whether flagged or not. As the league concluded its spring meeting one day early, the owners passed by a shockingly overwhelming 31-1 margin that interference can be challenged by coaches and...
Ohio man takes perfect NCAA Tournament bracket into Sweet 16
COLUMBUS, Ohio — An Ohio man has made history with a March Madness bracket that’s perfect through 48 games on the NCAA.com’s “Bracket Challenge,” according to the NCAA. Gregg Nigl of Columbus told the Columbus Dispatch he almost didn’t fill out his bracket last week, saying he was home sick...
Deal helps Gonzaga earn more money for NCAA Tournament success
When leaders at Gonzaga were looking to sweeten the pot for their basketball team in exchange for staying in the West Coast Conference, they knew where the money might come from. NCAA Tournament payouts. With the perennially contending Zags being courted by the Mountain West, athletic director Mike Roth sought...
Trump opposes further disaster aid for battered Puerto Rico
WASHINGTON — President Trump’s opposition to further disaster aid for hurricane-devastated Puerto Rico hardened on Tuesday as he told GOP allies at a Capitol Hill meeting that the U.S. island territory has gotten too much rebuilding money compared with mainland states like Florida and Texas. Trump’s ardent opposition to additional...
Democrats cry foul as Trump calls for striking down ‘Obamacare’Video
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has told a federal appeals court it wants the entire Affordable Care Act struck down, an outcome that could leave millions uninsured and re-ignite a winning political issue for Democrats. The administration, in a terse filing Monday with the court in New Orleans, said it...
Newspapers largely shun Apple’s news subscription service
NEW YORK — Many newspaper publishers — after suffering for a decade from job losses, shrinking ad dollars and circulation declines — are so far shunning Apple’s new “Netflix for news” subscription. For $10 a month, Apple News Plus offers articles from more than 300 magazines, but only three newspapers....
Maker of OxyContin reaches $270M settlement in Oklahoma
OKLAHOMA CITY — The maker of OxyContin and the company’s controlling family agreed Tuesday to pay a groundbreaking $270 million to Oklahoma to settle allegations they helped create the nation’s deadly opioid crisis with their aggressive marketing of the powerful painkiller. It is the first settlement to come out of...
Murder, DUI counts added in Philly crash that killed 3
PHILADELPHIA — A driver arrested after a south Philadelphia crash that killed three people, including two members of a Mummers organization, is now facing third-degree murder charges. Twenty-nine-year-old Keith Campbell was originally charged with vehicular homicide and aggravated assault after the Jan. 2 crash. Anthony Voci of the district attorney’s...
Kids get measles vaccine after New York county declares emergency
NEW YORK — Some parents who had resisted having their children vaccinated reluctantly brought them in for a measles shot Wednesday as a state of emergency took effect in a county in New York City’s northern suburbs. Rockland County enacted the emergency order Tuesday night to fight a measles outbreak...
Pa. Democrats, Muslim lawmaker decry opening prayer as divisive
HARRISBURG — The first female Muslim member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives said Tuesday she was offended by a colleague’s decision to open a voting session with a prayer a day earlier that “at the name of Jesus every knee will bow.” Democratic Rep. Movita Johnson-Harrell of Philadelphia said...
Spanish Basque Ball players use hands to hit ball
PAMPLONA, Spain (AP) — Their hands protected by layers of tightly bound tape, the players take turns swatting a small, hard ball at speeds that reach 115 kilometers (71.4 miles) per hour. They are playing a match of Pelota Vasca, or “Basque Ball,” a sport popular to its native Basque...
House fails to override Trump veto of his border emergency
WASHINGTON — The Democratic-controlled House fell short Tuesday in its effort to override President Donald Trump’s first veto, handing him a victory in his effort to spend billions more for constructing barriers along the Southwest border than Congress has approved. Lawmakers voted 248-181 in favor of overturning his veto, mostly...
Mets, Cy Young winner Jacob deGrom agree to 5-year, $137.5 million deal
NEW YORK — NL Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom and the New York Mets have agreed to a $137.5 million, five-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press. The deal guarantees an additional $120.5 million over four seasons. The person spoke on condition of anonymity...
