Trump picks cancer specialist from Texas hospital to run FDA

    WASHINGTON --- President Donald Trump on Friday picked a cancer specialist and hospital executive to lead the Food and Drug Administration. If confirmed, Dr. Stephen Hahn of the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston would inherit a raft of high-profile public health issues, including leading the government's response to the problem of underage vaping and the prescription opioid epidemic. The White House announced plans for the nomination in a statement, citing Hahn's role as the cancer center's top medical executive. The Senate will vote on whether to confirm the 59-year-old to the post. Headquartered in the Maryland suburbs outside Washington, the FDA reg...

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One big step: Google buys Fitbit for $2.1 billion

Google, the company that helped make it fun to just sit around surfing the web, is jumping into the fitness-tracker business with both feet, buying Fitbit for about $2.1 billion. The deal could put Google in direct competition with Apple and Samsung in the highly competitive market for smartwatches and other wearable electronics. But it also raises questions about privacy and Google's dominance in the tech industry. The company's announcement Friday came with a promise that it won't sell ads using the intimate health data that Fitbit devices collect. Fitbit is a pioneer in wearable fitness technology, making a range of devices that have become pop-culture accessories, from b...

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Armed man at Missouri Walmart pleads guilty to lesser charge

    SPRINGFIELD, Missouri --- A man who caused panic at a Missouri Walmart when he walked inside wearing body armor and carrying loaded weapons in what he described as an effort to test his right to bear arms pleaded guilty to making a false report Friday after initially being charged with a more serious terrorist-related felony. Dmitriy Andreychenko, 21, pleaded guilty to an amended misdemeanor charge after originally being charged with making a terrorist threat. Police arrested Andreychenko on Aug. 8 after he filmed himself walking through the store with the weapons, prompting shoppers and employees to leave. The incident came just days after 22 people were killed...

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Sony sets ‘Into the Spider-Verse’ sequel for 2022

NEW YORK --- The inventive, animated Spider-Man remix "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" is getting a sequel. Sony Pictures on Friday set a follow-up to the 2018 Oscar-winning hit for an April 2022 release. Producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller also celebrated the announcement on Twitter and signaled that they, too, are returning. "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" grossed $375.5 million worldwide. Its deconstructionist approach to Spider-Man earned some of the best reviews of any recent superhero film, and won the Academy Award for best animated feature. Sony and Marvel Studios recently parted ways on "Spider-Man" before making up . Marvel is set to produce the third...

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Biden reaps $5.3M online donation surge amid Trump attacks

    WASHINGTON --- Joe Biden raised $5.3 million through a surge of online contributions in October that rolled in after President Donald Trump launched unfounded attacks against the former vice president over his son's Ukrainian dealings. The swell of cash came from 182,000 donations, with $28 being the average amount given, according to figures provided to The Associated Press by the campaign, which did not include money that Biden raised through big-dollar fundraisers. It comes after his internet fundraising operation stumbled over the summer, leading critics to suggest he lacked grassroots support. "All of the Trump attacks have started to catalyze. More peo...

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California firefighters struggle with big wildfire

    LOS ANGELES --- Firefighters struggled Friday to contain a big Southern California wildfire amid shifting winds, forcing authorities to expand evacuations as forecasters extended fire weather warnings into the weekend. The blaze dubbed the Maria Fire erupted late Thursday northwest of Los Angeles during what had been expected to be the tail end of a siege of Santa Ana winds that fanned destructively across the region, but a tug-of-war developed between those offshore gusts and the return of some onshore flow from the ocean. "It has been an uphill battle ever since," Ventura County Fire Chief Mark Lorenzen told a midday news conference. "We are finding that t...

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Halloween terror: 4 killed at Northern California party

  ORINDA, California --- Four people were killed and at least four injured at a Halloween party shooting at a Northern California home rented by a woman who falsely claimed she wanted the Airbnb so her asthmatic family members could escape wildfire smoke, officials and a person with knowledge of the transaction said Friday. Gunshots were reported at about 10:45 p.m. Thursday at the large home, surrounded by trees and up a steep hill in the wealthy San Francisco suburb of Orinda, where more than 100 people had gathered, police said. The home had been rented on Airbnb by a woman who told the owner her dozen family members needed a place with fresh air, the person with knowle...

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