4 Ohio operatives plead not guilty in $60M bribery probe

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Four Ohio lobbyists and political operatives pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges they conspired as part of what one defendant called an “unholy alliance” aimed at bailing out two aging Ohio nuclear power plants. Former Republican House Speaker Larry Householder and...

Correction: Bribery Investigation-Ohio story

CLEVELAND (AP) — In a story Aug. 5, 2020, about groups named in an FBI affidavit regarding an alleged Ohio corruption scheme, The Associated Press erroneously reported that D. Eric Lycan is currently the counsel for the Republican Party of Kentucky. He left the position in April 2019.

Egypt, Sudan suspend talks with Ethiopia over disputed dam

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt and Sudan suspended talks with Ethiopia after it proposed linking a deal on its newly constructed reservoir and giant hydroelectric dam to a broader agreement about the Blue Nile waters that would replace a colonial-era accord with Britain. The African Union-led talks among the three key...

Tropic storm Isaias whips up eastern US, killing at least 6

WINDSOR, N.C. (AP) — At least six people were killed as Tropical Storm Isaias spawned tornadoes and dumped rain Tuesday along the U.S. East Coast after making landfall as a hurricane in North Carolina, where it caused floods and fires that displaced dozens of people. Two people died when Isaias spun off a...

Ford COO Jim Farley to lead company, CEO Hackett to retire

DETROIT (AP) — Jim Farley will lead Ford Motor Co. into the future as the global auto industry faces a new era of autonomous and electric vehicles. The company named Farley, 58, as its new CEO effective Oct. 1, replacing Jim Hackett, who will retire after three years at the helm. Farley, who has been with...

Record heat, politics inflame Iraq's electricity shortages

BASRA, Iraq (AP) — In Iraq’s oil-rich south, the scorching summer months pose painful new choices in the age of the coronavirus: stay at home in the sweltering heat with electricity cut off for hours, or go out and risk the virus. This is Zain al-Abidin’s predicament. A resident of al-Hartha...

Trump fires TVA chair, cites hiring of foreign workers

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Monday that he had fired the chair of the Tennessee Valley Authority, criticizing the federally owned corporation for hiring foreign workers. Trump told reporters at the White House that he was formally removing chair Skip Thompson and another member of the...

CEO of Puerto Rico's power company to resign amid outages

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The CEO of Puerto Rico’s state-owned power company is resigning as thousands of clients remain without electricity since last week’s tropical storm that further weakened a grid still trying to recover from previous hurricanes and earthquakes, officials said...

Nuclear bailout tied to bribery scandal was years in making

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — A $1 billion bailout for Ohio’s two nuclear plants that’s now entangled in a state bribery scandal had little support when the idea came up three years ago. It was all but dead until the spring of last year, when the new leader of the Ohio House stepped up with a...

Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia return to talks over disputed dam

CAIRO (AP) — Three key Nile basin countries on Monday resumed their negotiations to resolve a years-long dispute over the operation and filling of a giant hydroelectric dam that Ethiopia is building on the Blue Nile, officials said. The talks came a day after tens of thousands of Ethiopians flooded the...