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
WASHINGTON (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin is dismissing as “a load of nonsense” the idea that Russia has damaging information on President Donald Trump and denies having any relationship with him. “I never met with him. We have a lot of Americans who visit us,” Putin said in an interview with NBC’s “Sunday Night … Continue reading
BERLIN (AP) — Top European leaders pledged Thursday to keep fighting against global warming as U.S. President Donald Trump announced he was pulling out of the Paris climate accord, but they rejected his suggestion that the deal could later be renegotiated. The leaders of France, Germany and Italy said in a joint statement that they … Continue reading
BRUSSELS (AP) — A U.S. president who wants to build walls is celebrating the collapse of one of the world’s most iconic barriers: the Berlin Wall. Donald Trump looked on Thursday as German Chancellor Angela Merkel and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg unveiled two sections of the Berlin Wall that divided the German city until 1989, … Continue reading
BRUSSELS (AP) — Meeting fellow NATO leaders for the first time, U.S. President Donald Trump aggressively challenged them Thursday to spend more on their own defense, putting the alliance under exceptional pressure to become tougher, sharper and newly relevant. The 27 other leaders looked on in awkward silence as Trump suggested most NATO countries were … Continue reading
MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Home searches across Manchester and beyond have uncovered important items in a fast-moving investigation into the concert bombing that left 22 people dead, Manchester’s police chief said Thursday as a diplomatic spat escalated over U.S. leaks about the investigation to the media. Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Ian Hopkins told reporters … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump Administration budget released Tuesday slashes funding for the Environmental Protection Agency by nearly one-third, laying off thousands of employees while imposing dramatic cuts to clean air and water programs. The White House’s proposed spending plan for the EPA amounts to $5.6 billion, a 31 percent cut from the current budget … Continue reading
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Spacewalking astronauts completed urgent repairs at the International Space Station on Tuesday, replacing equipment that failed three days earlier and restoring a backup for a vital data-relay system. It took commander Peggy Whitson much longer than expected to install the spare unit. Success finally came after her spacewalking partner, Jack … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former CIA Director John Brennan said Tuesday he personally warned Russia last summer against interfering in the U.S. presidential campaign, telling the Russians that continued meddling would backfire and prevent and warming of relations after the election. The former CIA chief also told the House intelligence committee that he had become so … Continue reading
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Thursday mocked U.S. news reports suggesting President Donald Trump inappropriately shared sensitive intelligence with him about terror threats involving laptops on airplanes. Without directly confirming the details of their conversation, Lavrov said he didn’t understand what the “secret” was since the U.S. introduced a ban … Continue reading
BERLIN (AP) — Strong statements on the need to combat climate change have become staple fare at global summits — a problem, like terrorism, that all leaders traditionally agreed needs to be tackled even if they differed on the details. But the issue could become a stumbling block at a G-7 meeting of leading Western … Continue reading
Spartan Echo 