NEW YORK Jerry Van Dyke, the younger brother of Dick Van Dyke who struggled for decades to achieve his own stardom before clicking as the dim-witted sidekick in television’s “Coach,” died Friday in Arkansas, according to his manager. He was 86. John Castonia said Van Dyke died at his ranch in Hot Spring County. His […]

Legendary astronaut John Young, who walked on the moon and later commanded the first space shuttle flight, has died, NASA said Saturday. Young was 87. The space agency said Young died Friday night at home in Houston following complications from pneumonia. NASA called Young one of its pioneers — the only agency astronaut to go […]

LONDON Ray Thomas, a founding member of British rock group The Moody Blues, has died at 76, months before the band is due to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His music label, Esoteric Recordings/Cherry Red Records, said Thomas died suddenly Thursday at his home in Surrey, south of London. “We […]

WASHINGTON Trump administration officials and allies are rallying to the president’s defense, trying to contain the fallout from an explosive new book that questions Trump’s fitness for office. Chief policy adviser Stephen Miller, in a combative appearance Sunday on CNN, described the book as “nothing but a pile of trash through and through.” CIA Director […]

BOSTON The blast of arctic air that engulfed portions of the East Coast broke cold temperature records from Maine to West Virginia and stunned sea turtles in Florida — although a warm-up is coming Monday. Burlington, Vermont, and Portland, Maine set records, with Burlington falling to minus 20, beating a 1923 record by a degree, […]

WASHINGTON Democrats are shifting to offense on health care, emboldened by successes in defending the Affordable Care Act. They say their ultimate goal is a government guarantee of affordable coverage for all. With Republicans unable to agree on a vision for health care, Democrats are debating ideas that range from single-payer, government-run care for all, […]

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIF. With a red carpet dyed black by actresses dressed in a color-coordinated statement, the Golden Globes were transformed into an Alist expression of female empowerment in the post- Harvey Weinstein era. Oprah Winfrey led the charge. “For too long women have not been heard or believed if they dared to speak their […]

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s foreign minister today warned neighboring countries over fomenting insecurity in Iran in a reference to anti-government protests that have roiled the country over the past two weeks. The remarks by Mohammad Javad Zarif at a security conference in Tehran echoed the Iranian authorities’ stance, which alleges that foreign powers — […]

BEIJING (AP) — An oil tanker that caught fire after colliding with a freighter off China’s east coast is at risk of exploding and sinking, Chinese state media reported today, as authorities from three countries struggled to find its 32 missing crew members and contain oil spewing from the blazing wreck. State broadcaster China Central […]