WASHINGTON (AP) — Medicare says it’s moving toward potentially covering acupuncture for chronic low back pain as an alternative to opioid painkillers that can become addictive. The agency announced its initial decision on July 15. For now, access will be limited to seniors signed up in government-approved clinical studies. Medicare says more evidence is needed […]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A jury has awarded $23.3 million to a California pepper maker in a fiery battle with the manufacturer of world-famous Sriracha hot sauce. The Los Angeles Times says jurors determined earlier this month that Huy Fong Foods breached its contract with Underwood Ranches and also committed fraud. Underwood, based in Camarillo, […]

By WILLIAM J. KOLE Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — Boston is literally digging its Chinatown. On July 8, city archaeologist Joe Bagley launched the first excavations in Boston’s Chinatown, and he expects the dig to turn up artifacts that will shed new light on immigrants—not only those from China but also Syria, Ireland and England […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — The National Zoo in Washington, D.C., says the first documented Asian water dragon to be born from the DNA of a single parent has died. The Washington Post reports the zoo said that the 2-year-old female lizard died from blood cancer in mid-June. The lizard was born in 2016 through a process […]

By MARK SHERMAN and JILL COLVIN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department says it will press its search for legal grounds to force the inclusion of a citizenship question on the 2020 census, hours after President Donald Trump said he is “very seriously’’ considering an executive order to get the question on the […]

By JIM MUSTIAN Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — The parents of Otto Warmbier have filed a claim for a seized North Korean cargo ship, seeking to collect on a multimillion-dollar judgment awarded in the American college student’s death. The Warmbiers filed court papers on July 3 in New York federal court saying they have […]

By KELLI KENNEDY Associated Press MIAMI (AP) — Conspiracy theorists took to social media in a flurry of excitement on July 3 after a mysterious flying object resembling an orange fireball streaked across the Florida sky. The American Meteor Society reported two dozen sightings from Jacksonville to Key West after midnight and tweeted there’s “no […]

By BRADY McCOMBS Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A lawsuit filed on June 25 accuses the luxury Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City of luring workers from the Philippines to a program that promised training and cultural immersion but instead forced them to work long hours doing menial jobs for low pay. […]

DETROIT (AP) — Honda is recalling 1.6 million vehicles in the U.S. to replace potentially deadly Takata air bag inflators, completing its required recalls six months ahead of schedule, the automaker said on June 28. When the latest recall is done, Honda says it will have recalled or accounted for 22.6 million inflators in about […]