Associated Press stories, Page 1104
Russia launches another major missile attack on Ukraine
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine’s capital came under one of the biggest attacks of the war Friday as Russia’s invading forces fired dozens of missiles across the country, Ukrainian officials said, reporting strikes in at least four cities that triggered widespread emergency power outages. Gunfire from air defense systems and thudding...
Huge Berlin aquarium bursts, unleashing flood of devastation
BERLIN — A huge aquarium in Berlin burst, spilling debris, water and more than a thousand tropical fish out of the AquaDom tourist attraction in the heart of the German capital early Friday. Police said parts of the building, which also contains a hotel, cafes and a chocolate store, were...
Satellite launched to map the world’s oceans, lakes, rivers
A U.S.-French satellite that will map almost all of the world’s oceans, lakes and rivers rocketed into orbit Friday. The predawn launch aboard a SpaceX rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California capped a highly successful year for NASA. Nicknamed SWOT — short for Surface Water and Ocean Topography...
Easter Island rebounds from wildfire that singed its statues
RAPA NUI, Chile — The hillside of Rano Raraku volcano on Rapa Nui feels like a place that froze in time. Embedded in grass and volcanic rock, almost 400 moai — the monolithic human figures carved centuries ago by this remote Pacific island’s Rapanui people — remained untouched until recently....
Louisiana officers charged in Black motorist’s deadly arrest
FARMERVILLE, La. — Five Louisiana law enforcement officers were charged Thursday with state crimes ranging from negligent homicide to malfeasance in the deadly 2019 arrest of Ronald Greene, a death authorities initially blamed on a car crash before long suppressed body-camera video showed white officers beating, stunning and dragging the...
Twitter suspends journalists who wrote about owner Elon Musk
Twitter suspended the accounts of several journalists who cover the social media platform, the latest battle over what can and cannot be said on the site since billionaire Elon Musk took control of it. Accounts of reporters with The New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, Voice of America and other...
Third-string QB helps 49ers beat Seahawks, clinch division title
SEATTLE — Rookie Brock Purdy threw a pair of touchdown passes to George Kittle, and the San Francisco 49ers won their first NFC West title since 2019, beating the Seattle Seahawks, 21-13, on Thursday night. Despite using their third starting quarterback this season, the 49ers (10-4) continued to show they...
Don’t look now but it’s bowl season! 42 picks for them all
The bowl season is now three years removed from the last time every postseason game was played. The pandemic whittled the 2020 bowl season down to a shell. Last year, a December spike in cases led to five games being canceled and some games using replacement teams. So we step...
Report: Yankees, Carlos Rodón agree to $162 million, 6-year dealVideo
NEW YORK — The New York Yankees added Carlos Rodón to their rotation on Thursday, agreeing to a $162 million, six-year contract with the left-hander, a person familiar with the negotiations said. The person confirmed the contract to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because it was pending a...
Senate passes defense bill rescinding covid vaccine mandate
WASHINGTON — A bill to rescind the covid-19 vaccine mandate for members of the U.S. military and provide nearly $858 billion for national defense passed the Senate on Thursday and now goes to President Joe Biden to be signed into law. The bill provides for about $45 billion more for...
GOP seeks vote in May on Dem vacancies in House power struggle
HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania House’s Republican leader on Thursday submitted paperwork seeking to wait until the May primary before holding special elections in two vacant districts, the latest move in a power struggle over control of the nearly evenly divided chamber. Republican Leader Bryan Cutler of Lancaster County sent Allegheny...
FCS features numerous potential NFL draft picksVideo
Most of the attention leading up to the NFL Draft centers on the top players, the ones who can change the fortunes of a franchise, help it climb up from the bottom. Far less attention is generally paid to the players in the Championship Subdivision and below, players who probably...
Prosecutors: Florida family used sham ministry to get covid loans
ORLANDO — Family members who ran a sham ministry have been charged with defrauding the federal government of covid-19 relief funds in a scheme to buy a $3.7 million luxury home in a development at Walt Disney World, authorities said. Evan Edwards, 64, and his 30-year-old son, Joshua Edwards, were...
New York bans pet stores from selling cats, dogs, rabbits
ALBANY, N.Y. — New York on Thursday became the latest state to ban the sale of cats, dogs and rabbits in pet stores in an attempt to target commercial breeding operations decried by critics as “puppy mills.” The new law, which was signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul and takes effect...
Kylian Mbappe, France can make World Cup history against ArgentinaVideo
DOHA, Qatar — World Cup history is beckoning for France, star player Kylian Mbappé and coach Didier Deschamps. When France walks on the field Sunday for the tournament final against Argentina and Lionel Messi, soccer lore is waiting to be written for the team. Les Bleus could be the first...
Lionel Messi carries weight of Argentina into World Cup finalVideo
DOHA, Qatar — As Lionel Messi approaches his second and likely last World Cup final, the stakes hardly could be higher. The same goes for Argentina after more than 30 years of disappointment since it last won soccer’s ultimate prize. For Messi, victory against France at Lusail Stadium on Sunday...
Ohio education bill, transgender athlete ban die in House
COLUMBUS — The latest proposal to give Ohio’s governor more power overseeing K-12 education cleared the state Senate with a ban on transgender student-athletes in girls sports — but hit a roadblock hours later when the legislation fell several votes short of passage in the House early Thursday. The bill...
Texas officer convicted in shooting of Atatiana JeffersonVideo
FORT WORTH, Texas — A former Texas police officer was convicted of manslaughter Thursday for fatally shooting a Black woman through a rear window of her home in 2019, a rare conviction of an officer for killing someone also armed with a gun. Jurors were also considering a murder charge...
House approves referendum to ‘decolonize’ Puerto RicoVideo
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House passed a bill Thursday that would allow Puerto Rico to hold the first-ever binding referendum on whether to become a state or gain some sort of independence, in a last-ditch effort that stands little chance of passing the Senate. The bill, which passed 233-191 with...
Red Sox sign Japanese batting champ Masataka YoshidaVideo
BOSTON — The Boston Red Sox have signed outfielder Masataka Yoshida, who won a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics and twice led Japan’s Pacific League in batting, to a five-year deal that will pay him $90 million. Yoshida, 29, helped Orix to a victory in the Japan Series in...
Review: ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ is a big screen blastVideo
It is impossible to talk about “Avatar: The Way of Water” without sounding hyperbolic. But James Cameron’s sequel is a truly dazzling cinematic experience that will have you floating on a blockbuster high. No matter if you’ve spent a second of your life in the past 13 years thinking about...
Tesla stock rises despite Musk selling $3.58B of its shares
Shares of Tesla rose slightly in midday trading Thursday despite news that CEO Elon Musk sold another $3.58 billion worth of the electric vehicle maker’s stock this week. The stock traded at $157.06 at midday, near its two-year lows, but it was faring better than the broader markets. Musk, the...
Lengthy prison terms for 3 who aided Whitmer kidnap plotter
JACKSON, Mich. — A judge on Thursday handed down the longest prison terms so far in the plot to kidnap Michigan’s governor, sentencing three men who forged an early alliance with a leader of the scheme before the FBI broke it up in 2020. Joe Morrison, Pete Musico and Paul...
Group casts doubt on Amazon’s claims of reducing plastic
NEW YORK — A report by environmental group Oceana has found that plastic waste from Amazon packages went up by 18% last year, but Amazon says it has reduced its use of single-use plastic across its network. According to the Oceana’s estimates, released Thursday, Amazon’s plastic waste jumped from 599...
Organic livestock farmers, hit by rising prices, seek help
WHITINGHAM, Vt. — Organic dairy and other livestock farmers are seeking emergency federal aid as they grapple with skyrocketing organic feed costs, steep fuel and utility expenses as well as the consequences of drought in many parts of the country. Two dozen U.S. senators and representatives wrote to U.S. Agriculture...
