In this Dec. 16, 2016 photo, Tuesday, a golden retriever, poses in Bethel, Conn. Tuesday gained fame as a service dog and was the subject of several books written by Luis Carlos Montalvan, an Iraq War veteran who credited the dog with helping him deal with post traumatic stress disorder. Tuesday died Monday, Sept. 23, 2019, in Burlington, Conn. (Cyrus McCrimmon/Educated Canines Assisting with Disabilities via AP)

HARTFORD, Conn. — A service dog that was the subject of several books by an Iraqi war veteran who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder has died. Tuesday, a golden retriever, was 13 when he died Tuesday in Burlington, according to Educated Canines Assisting with Disabilities, a service dog training organization that places dogs with veterans. Tuesday gained fame touring the country with former U.S. Army Captain Luis Carlos Montalvan, who wrote the memoir “Until Tuesday: A Wounded Warrior and the Golden Retriever Who Saved Him.” The book, the first of four written by Montalvan about his life with Tuesday, became a bestseller in 2011. It was credited with helping raise awareness of PTSD and the availability of service dogs for veterans. Montalvan was a decorated veteran, who was wounded in Iraq and earned two Bronze Stars and a Purple Heart. After he came home, his extreme PTSD often prevented him from even leaving his apartment, said Dale Picard, co-founder and executive director of ECAD. But that changed when he received Tuesday. The dog would nudge him awake when he had night terrors, or explore the house when Montalvan became concerned someone may have broken in, Picard said. He also would bring Montalvan his medication case when it was time for him to take his prescriptions. “Tuesday kept him calm, kept him so he could function,” Picard said. “He began to participate in life again. Before this story, not a lot of veterans were receiving service dogs, because it wasn’t well known how much benefit they would be.” Montalvan became a leading advocate for military veterans’ mental health and increasing access to more service animals. Since the book’s publication, ECAD has placed more than 40 other dogs with veterans, Picard said. Montalvan took his own life in 2016. He had left Tuesday with family members and the dog was not with him at the time. Tuesday was later placed as a service dog with a Connecticut cancer patient. He died in the arms of that man, Gordon Schafer, at their home after being diagnosed with a mass in his abdomen.

Dems plunge into investigation

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump pressed Ukraine’s leader to “look into” Democratic rival Joe Biden as well as his grievances from the 2016 election, according to a rough transcript of a summer phone call that is now at the center of Democrats’ impeachment probe into Trump. Trump repeatedly prodded Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to work with Attorney General William Barr and Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal lawyer. At one point in the conversation, Trump said, “I would like for you to do us a favor.” The president’s words set the parameters for the debate to come — just the fourth impeachment investigation of an American president in the nation’s history. The initial response highlighted the deep divide between the two parties: Democrats said the call amounted to a “shakedown” of a foreign leader, while Trump — backed by the vast majority of Republicans — dismissed it as a “nothing call.” The call is one part of a whistleblower complaint on the president’s activities. After being stymied by the administration, lawmakers on the House and Senate intelligence committees will get their first look at the complaint on Wednesday. Congress is also seeking an in-person interview with the whistleblower, who remains anonymous.

Top bargainers take over

DETROIT — Contract talks between General Motors and striking United Auto Workers took a step closer to reaching an agreement Wednesday when committees finished their work and sent it to the top bargainers. The move means that minor issues largely are resolved, and a few bargainers for both sides will now try to come to terms on wages, use of temporary workers and other contentious issues. UAW Vice President Terry Dittes outlined the development in a letter to members. He says the union presented material to GM and is waiting for a response. “This back and forth will continue until negotiations are complete,” Dittes wrote. “We will continue to bargain this contract until your Bargaining Committee is satisfied that we have achieved an agreement that properly addresses our members’ concerns.” In a statement, GM spokesman Dan Flores said the company will “continue to bargain in good faith, and our goal remains to reach an agreement that builds a stronger future for our employees and our company.” Art Schwartz, a former GM negotiator who now runs a labor consulting business in Ann Arbor, Michigan, said shifting work to the main table is a good sign. But it’s tough to say how far apart both sides are on the major economic issues, he said. “It kind of depends on how hard each side holds out. Collective bargaining is the art of compromise,” he said. “This is probably a couple people from each side are going to hammer out the final economics.” Schwartz said. The strike by about 49,000 workers, in its 10th day, has halted production at more than 30 GM factories nationwide.

Fingerprint cracks arson case

COLUMBIA, S.C. — A 40-year-old man was charged Tuesday with burning down his South Carolina high school more than 23 years after authorities say he set books and other papers on fire in the hallways. Daniel Scott Harris, 40 left his fingerprints in a “unique place” just before Macedonia High School was burned in August 1996, and when investigators recently reopened the arson case, they made the match, Berkeley County Sheriff Duane Lewis said. The community around the high school was already hurting at the time because the historic school near Moncks Corner was being closed and consolidated into a new building. The fire was a cruel final blow, said Sally Wofford, a Berkeley County School Board member who was in the last graduating class at Macedonia High School. “The magnificent hardwood floors, the vaulted ceilings — when I close my eyes, and think about the school, I think about those floors and those ceilings and all the times that were had there,” Wofford said, trying not to cry. “I pray this brings closure to a lot of people to a community I represent that made me who I am.” One of the few things salvaged from the ruins of the school was the original Macedonia school bell. The district had a longtime employee ring it to start this school year.

Amazon launches wireless buds

NEW YORK — Amazon doesn’t want you to leave home without Alexa. The online shopping giant unveiled wireless earbuds at a Seattle event Wednesday, its first major attempt at getting its Alexa voice assistant outside of homes and worn by customers all day long. The Echo Buds, which cost $130, let users order an Uber ride or find the nearest coffee shop as they stroll down the street. And later this year, Whole Foods shoppers wearing the black buds can ask Alexa what aisle they can find canned tomatoes or other groceries. Amazon said the earbuds will start shipping in October. Some customers will be invited to buy $180 prescription glasses with Alexa built in. And it will also sell a limited number of Alexa-enabled rings.

Region ‘on the edge of collapse’

UNITED NATIONS — Iran’s president warned world leaders Wednesday that security in the energy-rich Persian Gulf could collapse quickly with a “single blunder,” and he accused the United States of engaging in “merciless economic terrorism” against his country. On the same day as President Hassan Rouhani spoke, the U.S. ramped up oil-related sanctions on Iran, imposing penalties on six Chinese companies and their chief executives for continuing to transport Iranian crude. Rouhani said in his speech to the annual U.N. General Assembly that the U.S. was engaging in “international piracy” against his country by re-imposing economic sanctions after Washington withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

Climate panel sees dire future

NEW YORK — Earth is in more hot water than ever before, and so are we, an expert United Nations climate panel warned in a grim new report Wednesday. Sea levels are rising at an ever-faster rate as ice and snow shrink, and oceans are getting more acidic and losing oxygen, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said in a report issued as world leaders met at the United Nations. It warned that if steps aren’t taken to reduce emissions and slow global warming, seas will rise 3 feet by the end of the century, with many fewer fish, less snow and ice, stronger and wetter hurricanes and other, nastier weather systems. “The oceans and the icy parts of the world are in big trouble, and that means we’re all in big trouble, too,” said one of the report’s lead authors, Michael Oppenheimer, professor of geosciences and international affairs at Princeton University.

Johnson faces raucous Parliament

LONDON — An unrepentant Prime Minister Boris Johnson brushed off cries of “Resign!” and dared his foes to try to topple him Wednesday at a raucous session of Parliament, a day after Britain’s highest court ruled he acted illegally in suspending the body ahead of the Brexit deadline. Amid shouts, angry gestures and repeated cries of “Order!” in the House of Commons, Johnson emphatically defended his intention to withdraw Britain from the European Union on Oct. 31, with or without a separation agreement with the EU. “I say it is time to get Brexit done,” he declared, accusing his opponents of trying to frustrate the will of the people, who in 2016 voted 52% to 48% to leave the 28-nation bloc. Johnson was greeted with applause from his own Conservative lawmakers and jeers from the opposition side as he arrived in the Commons, hours after cutting short a trip to the United Nations in New York.

136K eggs fall onto roadway

HEGINS, Pa. — More than 136,000 eggs splattered on a road when they shifted and fell out of a tractor-trailer driving through Pennsylvania. The 11,340 dozen eggs and 2,260 gallons of egg product were ruined when a 66-year-old driver lost control of the rig Tuesday after pickup them up at Carl Faus Farm on his way to Elizabethtown. As the rig was going uphill, the load shifted causing the eggs and egg products to fall and roll down the hill. The driver did not realize the eggs had fallen and continued his drive. A section of Route 125 was closed for several hours after the incident.

Chance to form new government

JERUSALEM — Israel’s president on Wednesday asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to form a new government, giving the longtime leader the difficult task of breaking a post-election deadlock that has paralyzed the country’s political system. After a divisive campaign, Netanyahu called for a “broad unity government” with his chief rival former military chief Benny Gantz. But he faces an uphill struggle, with his future clouded by a likely corruption indictment and his opponents opposed to sitting with him. President Reuven Rivlin announced his decision late Wednesday after a second meeting aimed at brokering a unity deal between Netanyahu and Gantz ended without an agreement. Standing alongside Rivlin, Netanyahu said it was clear that neither his Likud party nor Gantz’s Blue and White could put together a coalition on its own, and that the only option was to band together. “The two of us cannot form a government unless we are together,” he said. “The order of the moment is a unity government, a broad national unity government that is formed quickly.”

Juul stops e-cigarette ads

WASHINGTON — Juul Labs Inc. will stop advertising its electronic cigarettes in the U.S. and replace its chief executive as mysterious breathing illnesses and an explosion in teen vaping have triggered efforts to crack down on the largely unregulated industry. The nation’s largest e-cigarette maker and other brands are fighting to survive as they face backlash from two public health debacles. Federal and state officials have seized on the recent outbreak of lung illnesses — including 10 reported deaths — to push through restrictions designed to curb underage vaping. No major e-cigarette company has been tied to the ailments, including Juul, which said it won’t fight a Trump administration proposal for a sweeping ban on e-cigarette flavors that can appeal to teens. Michigan, New York and Rhode Island banned vaping flavors this month, while Massachusetts said it will stop sales of all vaping products for four months, the first such step in the country. “I think this rush to judgment is extraordinary, and we might be looking at the demise of vaping,” said Kenneth Warner of University of Michigan’s school of public health.

#MeToo-er fined for defamation

PARIS — A Paris court ruled on Wednesday that the woman who launched the French version of the #MeToo movement must pay 20,000 euros ($22,000) for defaming the man she accused of harassment. French journalist Sandra Muller said she fears the message of the decision is “be quiet.” Muller launched #balancetonporc, which roughly translates as “squeal on your pig, “at the height of the global movement against sexual misconduct in October 2017 when she tweeted that former TV channel executive Eric Brion made sexually explicit comments to her. TIME Magazine featured Muller among #MeToo “silence breakers” in its 2017 “Person of the Year” edition. Brion, former head of television channel Equidia, took Muller to court over the tweets, arguing that they harmed him and that his remarks to Muller were not harassment. The court ruled in his favor, ordered Muller to delete her tweets and to pay Brion 15,000 euros ($16,400) in damages and 5,000 euros more ($5,400) in legal fees.

Second arrest in Mac Miller probe

LOS ANGELES — An Arizona man has become the second person arrested on drug charges in the investigation of the overdose death of rapper Mac Miller, authorities said. Ryan Reavis, 36, was charged in Mohave County court with possession of marijuana, prescription drugs and drug paraphernalia; weapons misconduct by a prohibited possessor; manufacture of a prohibited weapon and engaging in fraudulent schemes, Lake Havasu City police said in a statement Tuesday. Reavis was being held on $50,000 bail. He has not entered a plea, and police did not know if he has hired an attorney who could be asked for comment. Police gave no details on the connection but said the arrest emerged from the investigation into the accidental overdose death of Miller, who died one year ago in his Los Angeles home at age 26 from a combination of cocaine, alcohol and the powerful opioid fentanyl , authorities said. On Monday, local authorities and agents from the FBI and Drug Enforcement Agency served a search warrant at Reavis’ home, police said.