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NEW YORK (AP) — For months, health officials in Brazil have assumed that the Zika virus causes abnormally small heads and other severe brain defects. Today, the head of the Centers for Disease control says there is no longer any doubt about the link. The mosquito-borne cases are spreading across Latin America. Federal health officials are advising pregnant women to avoid travel there. Zika can also be transmitted by sex.
LANGLEY, Va. (AP) — President Barack Obama says it's been "a bad few months" for the Islamic State group. Speaking at CIA headquarters after a briefing, Obama listed areas where the extremists have lost ground or been hit by airstrikes. He says its leaders now wake up every day and understand it could be their last. Still, he acknowledged the fight against the group and others remains difficult and complex.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — A handful of former contestants on the reality show "The Apprentice" say Republican Donald Trump should not be president. Six contestants from the TV show are planning a news conference on Friday. In statements, the contestants slammed Trump's rhetoric as divisive and accused him of running a "campaign of sexism, xenophobia, racism, violence and hate."
CHICAGO (AP) — A federal judge in Chicago says he'll consider lies told by former House Speaker Dennis Hastert when he is sentenced for breaking banking laws. The Illinois lawmaker paid $3.5 million in hush money to hide sexual abuse allegations. At a hearing today, Hastert's lawyers suggested that what occurred with a 14-year-old in a motel decades ago may not qualify as sexual abuse.
DALLAS (AP) — The government says more flights are arriving on time and that airlines are canceling fewer flights. But passengers' complaints are still rising. The Department of Transportation says 83.6 percent of flights on the leading airlines arrived on time in February. Hawaiian Airlines and Alaska Airlines were most likely to be on time. Southwest had the best on-time mark among the biggest four carriers.
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