FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky’s former Republican House speaker has been hospitalized days after resigning his leadership position amid sexual harassment allegations. A statement from a family member Friday morning said Jeff Hoover had a heart-related issue and asked for privacy. Hoover, 57, acknowledged on Sunday that he was one of four lawmakers who … Continue reading
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are falling Friday as investors worry that health care product companies will see their industry shaken up by Amazon. That’s hurting health care companies, and energy companies are also lower. Media companies and retailers are rising. Stocks have risen for eight weeks in a row, their longest run in … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans weren’t supposed to have to worry about Alabama. Yet in the span of a tumultuous afternoon, a low-profile special election became a Republican nightmare that threatens a once-safe Senate seat — and offers a new window into ugly divisions that continue to plague the GOP in the age of President Donald … Continue reading
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — A Virginia judge has dismissed two of the three felony counts against a prominent white nationalist charged after a torch-lit rally at the University of Virginia. Christopher Cantwell of Keene, New Hampshire, is accused of pepper-spraying a counterprotester during an Aug. 11 Charlottesville protest, a day before the much larger white … Continue reading
By HYUNG-JIN KIM, Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The U.S. military flew advanced bombers and stealth jets over the Korean Peninsula and near Japan in drills with South Korean and Japanese warplanes on Monday, three days after North Korea fired a missile over Japan. The United States often sends powerful military aircraft in a … Continue reading
MIAMI (AP) — The Latest on tropical weather (all times local): 11:10 a.m. The National Hurricane Center in Miami says that Hurricane Maria has strengthened to a Category 3 storm as it headed toward the Caribbean. Maria on Monday was “rapidly” intensifying into a major hurricane. The eye is expected to move through the Leeward … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the Harvey aid bill in Congress (all times local): 11:05 a.m. The White House is praising Congress for acting fast to deliver storm recovery money to people dealing with the aftermath of Harvey. It’s not yet clear when President Donald Trump will sign the $15.3 billion disaster aid package … Continue reading
GENEVA (AP) — U.N.-mandated investigators said Wednesday that Syrian President Bashar Assad’s air force conducted a sarin-gas attack in the spring that killed at least 83 civilians and sparked a retaliatory U.S. strike. The investigators also appealed to the U.S.-led coalition to better protect civilians as it strikes at Islamic State militants in the east. … Continue reading
CHICAGO (AP) — Shootings kill or injure at least 19 U.S. children each day, with boys, teenagers and blacks most at risk, according to a government study that paints a bleak portrait of persistent violence. The analysis of 2002-14 U.S. data is billed as the most comprehensive study on the topic. While it mostly confirms … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. pushed China Wednesday to rein in companies that deal with North Korea after President Donald Trump tweeted ahead of the high-level talks that Beijing’s efforts to sway its wayward ally weren’t working. Trump has been counting on China to use its economic leverage with the government of North Korean leader … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — Current and former government officials painted a sinister portrait Wednesday of Russian cyberattacks on the United States aimed at interfering in the U.S. presidential election last year. Moscow stockpiled stolen information and selectively disseminated it during the campaign in an effort to undermine the legitimacy of the American political process, they said. … Continue reading
YOKOSUKA, Japan (AP) — Navy divers found a number of sailors’ bodies Sunday aboard the stricken USS Fitzgerald that collided with a container ship in the busy sea off Japan, but a spokeswoman said not all seven missing had been accounted for. Searchers gained access to the spaces that were damaged during the collision and … Continue reading
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Polygamous sect leader Lyle Jeffs was captured Wednesday night in South Dakota after being on the run for nearly a year after escaping from home confinement in Utah pending trial on food stamp fraud charges. The FBI announced the capture Thursday morning with a Tweet: “#ARRESTED: FLDS leader Lyle Jeffs … Continue reading
WYOMING, Ohio (AP) — An American college student who was imprisoned in North Korea and returned to his home state of Ohio in a coma suffered a “severe neurological injury,” a hospital spokeswoman said Thursday. Otto Warmbier is in stable condition at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center with his mother by his side, hospital … Continue reading
NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. (AP) — Erendira Wallenda, the aerialist wife of daredevil Nik Wallenda, successfully hung by her teeth from a helicopter over Niagara Falls on Thursday, pulling off the stunt five years to the day her husband walked a tight rope over the falls. The 36-year-old mother of three was tethered to a hoop … Continue reading
Spartan Echo 