Associated Press stories, Page 2653
Gory details emerge about Kelsey Berreth’s suspected demise
DENVER — After months of mostly silence from authorities investigating the disappearance of a Colorado mother on Thanksgiving Day, grim details about her suspected demise emerged this week, including accusations that the woman’s fiance beat her to death with a baseball bat while their baby was in the next room....
Samsung’s foldable phone will cost nearly $2,000
SAN FRANCISCO — Samsung has unveiled a highly anticipated smartphone with a foldable screen that breaks new ground in a market that has been stuck in an innovative funk. The phone announced Wednesday in San Francisco will be called the Galaxy Fold and will sell for $1,980 when it is...
U.S. says Alabama woman who joined Islamic State can’t return
WASHINGTON — An Alabama woman who left home to join the Islamic State group in Syria is not a U.S. citizen and will not be allowed to return to the United States, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday. In a brief statement that gave no details as to...
Neptune’s newest, tiniest moon likely fragment of bigger one
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Neptune’s newest and tiniest moon is probably an ancient fragment of a much larger moon orbiting unusually close. In the journal Nature on Wednesday, California astronomers shine a light on the 21-mile-wide moon Hippocamp, named after the mythological sea horse. SETI Institute’s Mark Showalter discovered Neptune’s...
Gwyneth Paltrow denies causing Utah ski crash
SALT LAKE CITY — Actress Gwyneth Paltrow denied Wednesday that she skied into a man who accused her in a lawsuit of seriously injuring him at a Utah ski resort, alleging in a counter claim that the man actually plowed into her from behind and delivered a full “body blow.”...
After surgery, Michael Cohen’s prison date postponed to May
NEW YORK — A judge has agreed to postpone the start of ex-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen’s prison sentence by two months to May 6. New York Judge William Pauley signed off on the delay Wednesday after Cohen’s lawyers said he needed more time to recover from shoulder surgery. They noted...
Pennsylvania must keep up on voting systems, lawmakers told
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s top elections official is warning that failing to replace voting machines by 2020 could make the state the only one without a voter-verifiable paper trail. Kathy Boockvar, Pennsylvania’s acting state secretary, also told senators Wednesday during an Appropriations Committee hearing that election-security experts agree that moving to...
U.S., North Korean envoys to meet in Hanoi ahead of summit
HANOI, Vietnam — U.S. and North Korean special envoys are to meet in Hanoi, Vietnam’s capital, to make final preparations for a second summit next week between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. U.S. Special Envoy for North Korea Steve Biegun was to arrive in Hanoi...
Putin sternly warns U.S. against putting missiles in Europe
MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin sternly warned the United States against deploying new missiles in Europe, saying Wednesday that Russia will retaliate by fielding new weapons that will take just as little time to reach their targets. While the Russian leader didn’t say what specific new weapons Moscow could...
Dan + Shay, Chris Stapleton lead ACM nominations
NASHVILLE — Chris Stapleton and Dan + Shay lead the 54th Academy of Country Music Awards with six nominations each while Grammy album of the year winner Kacey Musgraves comes in with five nominations. Reba McEntire, who is hosting the show for a record 16th time, announced the nominees in...
U.S. mining sites dump 50 million gallons of fouled wastewater daily
RIMINI, Mont. — Every day many millions of gallons of water loaded with arsenic, lead and other toxic metals flow from some of the most contaminated mining sites in the United States and into surrounding lakes and streams without being treated, the Associated Press has found. That torrent is poisoning...
State patrol: Ohio prison inmates planned possible escape, riot
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The State Highway Patrol says inmates at an Ohio maximum security prison were plotting “a possible escape attempt and possible riot” when the plan was interrupted. The patrol is investigating the Feb. 12 incident in which authorities confiscated three fake handguns, drawings of handguns, and a fake...
Missouri official investigates day care ‘fight club’ claims
ST. LOUIS — Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt is launching his own investigation of a St. Louis day care center where two workers were accused of facilitating a “fight club” among small children, his office said Wednesday. The announcement came two weeks after St. Louis prosecutors dropped criminal charges against...
‘Firefall’ phenomenon wows visitors to Yosemite’s El Capitan
YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. — California’s Yosemite National Park is again wowing visitors and photographers with its annual “firefall.” Every February for a few days, the setting sun illuminates Horsetail Fall to make it glow like a cascade of molten lava. The natural wonder draws scores of people to Yosemite...
Wisconsin school ends cheerleading awards for body parts
KENOSHA, Wis. — A Wisconsin high school is ending cheerleading awards given annually to girls with the largest breasts or buttocks — dubbed “Big Booty” and “Big Boobie” — after the American Civil Liberties Union demanded action following repeated complaints from parents and a former coach to school and district...
Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon invests $250 million in AAF
Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon is investing $250 million in the Alliance of American Football. Dundon also will serve as chairman of the fledgling eight-team league that began play Feb. 9. His involvement came together in a matter of days last week, according to Dundon and Alliance co-founder Charlie Ebersol,...
Trump nominates Jeffrey Rosen for deputy attorney general to replace Rod Rosenstein
WASHINGTON — President Trump on Tuesday nominated Jeffrey Rosen, a longtime litigator and deputy transportation secretary, to replace Rod Rosenstein as deputy attorney general. In his current post, the 60-year-old Rosen serves as the Department of Transportation’s chief operating officer and is in charge of implementing the department’s safety and...
Michael McDowell defends Daytona 500 decision not to push Joey Logano
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Michael McDowell was still digesting his fifth-place finish at the Daytona 500 when Joey Logano appeared at the front of his car, angrily pointing at the Ford logo. He was questioning McDowell’s loyalty to the brand. “He shows up pointing at the Ford emblem, pushing on the...
Judge OKs suit aimed at halting Obama library in Chicago
CHICAGO — A federal judge gave the green light Tuesday to a parks-advocacy group’s lawsuit that aims to stop for good the delayed construction of former President Barack Obama’s $500 million presidential center in a Chicago park beside Lake Michigan. Supporters of the project had hoped the court would grant...
Former Dodgers great, baseball pioneer Don Newcombe dies at 92
LOS ANGELES — Don Newcombe, the hard-throwing Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher who was one of the first black players in the major leagues and who went on to win the Rookie of the Year, Most Valuable Player and Cy Young awards, died. He was 92. The team confirmed Newcombe died Tuesday...
Burberry apologizes for hoodie with noose knot
NEW YORK — The chief executive and chief creative officer of luxury fashion powerhouse Burberry have apologized for putting a hoodie with strings tied in the shape of a noose on their London Fashion Week runway. The knotted strings surfaced after Sunday’s show when a model hired to walk (but...
Mysterious attack claims lives of 6 llamas near Kentucky zoo
LOUISVILLE — Authorities believe a “large animal” is responsible for an attack that killed six llamas on a farm near a zoo in Kentucky. Louisville Llama Farm owner Caroline Willette tells the Courier Journal she awoke Monday morning to blood and tufts of wool spread around her property. Five llamas...
Man pleads guilty in rape, murder of Pennsylvania teen
DOYLESTOWN, Pa. — A Pennsylvania man pleaded guilty on Tuesday in the rape, murder and dismemberment of a 14-year-old girl, and the victim’s adoptive mother has agreed to plead guilty and serve a life sentence. Jacob Sullivan, 46, pleaded guilty to all charges in the 2016 death of Grace Packer....
Gettysburg College trustee quits over Nazi uniform photo
GETTYSBURG — A Pennsylvania college trustee apologized and announced his resignation Tuesday after a student found a 1980 yearbook photo in which the trustee wore a Nazi uniform at a fraternity event. Gettysburg College President Janet Morgan Riggs said in an email to the college community that Bob Garthwait decided...
Thousands rally in France to oppose recent anti-Semitic acts
PARIS — Rallies against anti-Semitism attracted crowds of thousands in Paris and other French cities Tuesday following a series of aggressive acts with Jewish targets, including a cemetery where about 80 gravestones were spray-painted with swastikas overnight. In the French capital, former presidents Francois Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy joined a...
