Associated Press stories, Page 8

WASHINGTON — Special counsel Jack Smith has provided a road map for how prosecutors hope to prove their case charging former President Donald Trump with an illegal scheme to overturn his 2020 election loss — if it ever gets to trial. In court papers unsealed Wednesday, Smith’s team details new...

WASHINGTON — The IRS is expanding its program that allows people to file their taxes directly with the agency for free. The federal tax collector’s Direct File program, which allows taxpayers to calculate and submit their returns to the government directly without using commercial tax preparation software, will be open...

Eminem killed off his alter ego Slim Shady with his latest album, but he’s making way for a new nickname: Grandpa. The rapper announced his daughter Hailie Jade is pregnant through a touching music video that is a tribute to their relationship. Home videos dating back to 1999 and photos...

NEW YORK — Caitlin Clark has been named WNBA Rookie of the Year in a near-unanimous vote, the league announced Thursday. A national panel of sportswriters and sportscasters gave the Indiana Fever guard 66 of 67 votes. Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese received the other. Clark, the No. 1 overall...

MILAN — An Italian family hopes to prove definitively that a painting discarded from a villa on the island of Capri more than 60 years ago is a Picasso, and has been gathering scientific data to persuade Picasso’s estate administration in Paris to make the definitive call. The rolled-up canvas...

WARSAW, Poland — Kosovo’s prime minister said Thursday that the Balkan region has enjoyed the greatest degree of peace, freedom and democracy over the past 25 years but that this could be reversed if Russia prevails in Ukraine and encourages Serbian expansion. Albin Kurti, who has served as Kosovo’s leader...

MIAMI — Waves from Hurricane Kirk could cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions this weekend along the U.S. East Coast as well as in Bermuda, the Greater Antilles and the Bahamas, forecasters said. Kirk was a Category 3 storm in the central Atlantic Ocean and could strengthen further, but...

Retailers are ramping up hiring for the holiday season, but fewer seasonal employees are expected to be taken on this year to help customers in stores and assemble online orders in warehouses. E-commerce giant Amazon said Thursday it will hire 250,000 full, part-time and seasonal workers for the crucial shopping...

HORSESHOE BEACH, Fla. — It was just a month ago that Brooke Hiers left the state-issued emergency trailer where her family had lived since Hurricane Idalia slammed into her Gulf Coast fishing village of Horseshoe Beach in August 2023. Hiers and her husband Clint were still finishing the electrical work...

Tesla is recalling more than 27,000 Cybertrucks because the rearview camera image may not activate immediately after shifting into reverse, the fifth recall for the vehicle since it went on sale late last year. Tesla has released a free software upgrade to address the issue and owner notification letters are...

GOMA, Congo — A boat carrying scores of passengers capsized on Lake Kivu in eastern Congo on Thursday, killing at least 50 people, witnesses told The Associated Press. It was not immediately clear exactly how many people were on board or how many perished but witnesses said they saw rescue...

BEIRUT — The Israeli military on Thursday warned people to evacuate a city and other communities in southern Lebanon that are north of a U.N.-declared buffer zone, signaling that it may widen a ground operation launched earlier this week against the Hezbollah militant group. Israel has told people to leave...

LONG BEACH, Wash. — Russ Lewis has picked up some strange things along the coast of Long Beach Peninsula in Washington state over the years: Hot Wheels bicycle helmets with feather tufts, life-size plastic turkey decoys made for hunters, colorful squirt guns. And Crocs — so many mismatched Crocs. If...

NEW YORK — Much like those annoying political TV ads, the warnings come back every four years: All the uncertainty around the U.S. presidential election could have big consequences for your 401(k)! Such warnings can raise anxiety, but remember: If your 401(k) is like many retirement savers’, with most invested...

WASHINGTON — Liz Cheney, one of Donald Trump’s fiercest Republican antagonists, will join Democrat Kamala Harris at a campaign event in Wisconsin on Thursday aimed at reaching out to moderate voters and rattling the former president. Cheney was the top Republican on the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6,...

Ever since the assassination attempt at his rally in Pennsylvania, Donald Trump has professed a unique fondness for a bar chart he credits for saving his life. Trump was addressing the crowd in Butler about illegal immigration and reviewing a chart that detailed U.S.-Mexico border crossings during his administration and...

SAN DIEGO — Kyle Higashioka’s solo homer started a five-run rally against an ailing Max Fried with two outs in the second inning, and the San Diego Padres held on to sweep the Atlanta Braves with a 5-4 win in Game 2 of their NL Wild Card Series on Wednesday...

BALTIMORE — Bobby Witt Jr. beat out an infield single to drive in the go-ahead run and send the Kansas City Royals into an AL Division Series with a 2-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday for a two-game sweep of their Wild Card Series. With two outs and...

HARRISBURG — Voting has begun in earnest in the presidential battleground state of Pennsylvania, as counties increasingly begin mailing out ballots, offering over-the-counter voting in election offices and opening other avenues to voting. In Philadelphia, the state’s largest city, voters have returned about 15,000 mail-in ballots, said Seth Bluestein, who...