Associated Press stories, Page 2704
5 children heading to Disney killed in fiery Florida crash
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Five children heading to Disney World in a church van from Louisiana died along with two truck drivers in fiery crash on Interstate 75 in north Florida, the Florida Highway Patrol said Friday. The children were traveling in a large passenger van from Avoyelles Parish, Lt....
Stocks surge as U.S. and China plan trade talks; hiring climbs
NEW YORK — Global stocks are jumping Friday as investors welcomed news of trade talks between the U.S. and China next week and the U.S. government reported a big increase in hiring in December. The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared about 500 points. China’s Commerce Ministry said the talks will...
U.S. employers added a stellar 312,000 jobs in December
WASHINGTON — U.S. employers dramatically stepped up their hiring in December, adding 312,000 jobs in an encouraging display of strength for an economy in the midst of a trade war, slowing global growth and a partial shutdown of the federal government. The Labor Department said Friday that the unemployment rate...
Fewer affected in Marriott hack, but passports a red flag
BETHESDA, Md. — Fewer Marriott guest records that previously feared were compromised in a massive data breach, but the largest hotel chain in the world confirmed Friday that approximately 5.25 million unencrypted passport numbers were accessed. The compromise of those passport numbers has raised alarms among security experts because of...
UK coroner: 102-year-old man got stuck on roof, dies of cold
LONDON — A British coroner has found that the death of a 102-year-old man who got stuck on his roof for three days after falling while adjusting his TV aerial was accidental. Ron Easton died in a hospital on Nov. 2, nine days after he was rescued from his ordeal...
No. 1 UConn’s 126-game win streak ends at No. 8 Baylor
WACO, Texas — Geno Auriemma knew that top-ranked UConn couldn’t keep winning every regular-season game it played, even though the Huskies had won 126 in a row. That winning streak of more than four years ended with a 68-57 loss Thursday night at No. 8 Baylor, which won against a...
Trump refers to many walls as he fights for border money
WASHINGTON — Everywhere President Donald Trump looks, he sees a wall. As he lobbies for money for his long-promised border wall, Trump keeps talking up other barricades. He’s pointing to walls in Israel, at the Vatican, even at former President Barack Obama’s house — though fact checkers have pushed back...
Patriots assistant Brian Flores interviews for Dolphins’ head job
MIAMI — New England Patriots linebackers coach Brian Flores is the first candidate to interview for the Miami Dolphins’ coaching job. Miami is seeking a replacement for Adam Gase, who was fired Monday after three seasons. Flores, who met Friday with the Dolphins, has been a Patriots assistant for 11...
Herb Kelleher, co-founder of Southwest Airlines, dies at 87
DALLAS — Not many CEOs dress up as Elvis Presley, settle a business dispute with an arm-wrestling contest, or go on TV wearing a paper bag over their head. Herb Kelleher did all those things. Along the way, the co-founder and longtime leader of Southwest Airlines also revolutionized air travel...
State: Cranberry woman got $200K in assistance while running $1M business
A Cranberry woman faces criminal charges for allegedly receiving $200,000 in public assistance while operating a business that was paid $1 million from the state Department of Human Services. Kimberly Coleman faces three counts of welfare fraud. Each carries a maximum seven-year prison sentence. The Office of Inspector General says...
Harborcreek teen pleads guilty, mentally ill in grandma’s killing
ERIE — A 16-year-old Pennsylvania boy has pleaded guilty but mentally ill in the 2016 shooting death of his grandmother. The Erie Times-News reports Hunter Reeser entered the plea on Friday morning as part of a deal with prosecutors. Reeser was 14 when he was charged with shooting 60-year-old Sandra...
Sketch released of suspect in shooting of Texas girl
HOUSTON — Authorities on Thursday released a composite sketch of a man accused in the death of a 7-year-old black girl during a Houston-area shooting that her family believes might have been racially motivated. The suspect is described as a white man in his 30s or 40s, wearing a black...
Police identify woman sought in Las Vegas manicurist death
LAS VEGAS — A 21-year-old Las Vegas woman was being sought Thursday for allegedly using a stolen car to run over and kill a Las Vegas nail salon owner who chased her last weekend for failing to pay for a $35 manicure, police said. Las Vegas police released an April...
7 killed after fiery crash, fuel spill on Florida highway
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Two big rigs and two passenger vehicles collided and spilled diesel fuel across a Florida highway Thursday, sparking a massive fire that killed seven people, authorities said. The wreck occurred on Interstate 75 about a mile south of Alachua, near Gainesville. The flames were fed by...
Stocks plunge after Apple says iPhone sales in China slowed
NEW YORK — Stocks tumbled Thursday on Wall Street, with technology companies suffering their worst loss in seven years, after Apple reported that iPhone sales in China are slumping. The rare warning of disappointing results from Apple reinforced investors’ fears that the world’s second-biggest economy is losing steam and that...
Police: More than 60 victims in Virginia changing-room camera case
FAIRFAX, Va. — Police believe more than 60 women and girls were secretly recorded undressing in changing rooms at northern Virginia shopping malls in the weeks before Christmas. Fairfax County Police arrested 39-year-old Mumtaz Rauf of Alexandria on Christmas Eve and charged him with unlawful filming of a minor after...
Mexico asks U.S. to investigate tear gas incident at border
MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s foreign affairs ministry has formally asked the United States government through its embassy for a thorough investigation into a Jan. 1 incident in which U.S. agents fired tear gas into Mexico to stop crossing migrants. In a statement Thursday, the ministry said it lamented any violent...
Woman pleads not guilty in fatal butt injections
NEW YORK — A New York City woman accused of killing a patient at an illegal cosmetic surgery clinic has pleaded not guilty to charges including manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. Whalesca Castillo, 44, was arraigned Thursday in the June 17, 2018 death of Lesbia Ayala of Philadelphia. Prosecutors say...
Redskins’ Reuben Foster has domestic violence charge dropped
TAMPA, Fla. — Prosecutors have decided not to pursue a domestic violence charge against Washington Redskins linebacker Reuben Foster, though the NFL continues to review the matter. Prosecutors in Tampa, Florida, filed a notice of termination of prosecution on Wednesday. The notice states that the first-degree misdemeanor battery charge is...
Pennsylvania mom charged with assaulting infant triplets
BETHLEHEM — A Pennsylvania woman has been charged with battering her infant triplets. Lehigh County prosecutors said Thursday that 52-year-old Ann Henry of Bethlehem injured her children in September 2016, when they were 8 weeks old. One infant suffered a broken arm, another suffered fractured ribs and the third had...
AP report: Big jump in U.S. Catholic dioceses naming names
PHILADELPHIA — Over the past four months, Roman Catholic dioceses across the U.S. have released the names of more than 1,000 priests and others accused of sexually abusing children in an unprecedented public reckoning spurred at least in part by a shocking grand jury investigation in Pennsylvania, an Associated Press...
Bristol-Myers Squibb buying Celgene in $74B deal
SUMMIT, N.J. — Bristol-Myers Squibb is spending $74 billion on fellow drugmaker Celgene in a deal aimed at stocking the combined company’s development pipeline with cancer, immunology and cardiovascular treatments. Bristol would gain the cancer treatment Revlimid in the cash-and-stock deal announced Thursday, as well as inflammatory disease treatments and...
Detecting depression: Phone apps could monitor teen angst
Rising suicide rates and depression in U.S. teens and young adults have prompted researchers to ask a provocative question: Could the same devices that some people blame for contributing to tech-age angst also be used to detect it? The idea has sparked a race to develop apps that warn of...
Watch live: House gavels in as 116th Congress begins
WASHINGTON — The House and Senate have convened for the 116th Congress with the most diverse class of lawmakers in history. The House is returning the first woman to the speaker’s office as Democrats take the majority with a large class of freshman lawmakers. They’re ready to confront President Donald...
Disappointing outlook from Delta drags down airline stocks
ATLANTA — Airlines are getting pummeled after a major carrier trimmed its revenue expectations for the fourth quarter. Delta Air Lines said Thursday that fourth-quarter revenue will rise about 7 percent, a half-point lower than it was expecting. The Atlanta airline says prices for tickets sold close to departure —...
