Associated Press stories, Page 1143
Focused on 2024, Biden sees opportunity in GOP-held Florida
TAMPA, Florida — With an eye toward the 2024 campaign, President Joe Biden on Thursday ventured to Florida, a state defined by its growing retiree population and status as the unofficial headquarters of the modern-day Republican Party. The president sees a chance to use Social Security and Medicare to drive...
U.S. says China balloon could collect intelligence signals
WASHINGTON — The China balloon shot down by the U.S. was equipped to detect and collect intelligence signals as part of a huge, military-linked aerial surveillance program that targeted more than 40 countries, the Biden administration declared Thursday, citing imagery from American U-2 spy planes. A fleet of balloons operates...
Chick-fil-A tests its first plant-based sandwich
Chick-fil-A is jumping on the plant-based bandwagon. The Atlanta chain said Thursday that it’s testing its first plant-based entrée — a breaded cauliflower sandwich — at restaurants in Denver; Charleston, S.C.; and the Greensboro, N.C., area. The test begins Monday. Chick-fil-A said its culinary team spent four years developing the...
U.S., U.K. impose cybersecurity sanctions on Russian group
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday announced a joint U.S.-U.K. effort to sanction Russian cybercriminals as the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine nears and Treasury tightens its efforts to financially punish violators of existing sanctions. The U.S. coordinated with the United Kingdom to impose sanctions on...
Minnesota factory workers subdue armed person at plant
NEW YORK MILLS, Minn. — Workers at a boat factory in Minnesota subdued a person armed with a weapon at the plant early Thursday, authorities said. The unidentified person was taken into police custody and no one was injured at the Lund Boat Co., the Otter Tail County Sheriff’s office...
U.S. House votes to condemn China over balloon surveillance
WASHINGTON — The House voted unanimously Thursday to condemn China’s balloon surveillance program as a “brazen violation” of U.S. sovereignty, a rare and swift bipartisan rebuke of Beijing as questions mount about the craft the U.S. says was part of a vast aerial spy program. The 419-0 action comes as...
Pilot shortage puts pressure on airline operations
GOODYEAR, Ariz. — Until last summer, Ashley Montano had never flown. Now she was preparing to land a small plane with three passengers after a previous touch-and-go that had been rough. “The plane is a bit heavy, so give it just a little more power to make a smooth landing,”...
Senate panel probes holiday meltdown at Southwest Airlines
A pilots’ union president has told Congress that Southwest Airlines’ December meltdown happened because the airline grew too fast during the pandemic and didn’t update critical technology, then botched the recovery including operating 500 empty flights while passengers were stranded over the holidays. In prepared testimony for a Senate hearing...
Burt Bacharach, legendary composer of pop songs, dies at 94Video
Burt Bacharach, the singularly gifted and popular composer and Oscar winner who delighted millions with the quirky arrangements and unforgettable melodies of “Walk on By,” “Do You Know the Way to San Jose” and dozens of other hits, has died at 94. Bacharach died Wednesday at home in Los Angeles...
Super Bowl ads will tout Jesus ‘gets us’ to the masses
The religiously wary, the spiritually curious — and anyone inclined to appeal to a higher power on game day — are the target audience for a Super Bowl ad campaign with a simple message: Jesus loves them. A group that includes wealthy Christian boosters is using the biggest megaphone TV...
Damar Hamlin put prayer in football back in the spotlight
PHOENIX — When medical personnel rushed onto the field to save Damar Hamlin’s life after the Buffalo Bills’ defensive back collapsed during a game last month in Cincinnati, many people witnessing the horrifying scene did the only thing they could to help. They prayed. Players and coaches from both teams...
New ‘Toy Story,’ ‘Frozen’ and ‘Zootopia’ movies on tap
Disney is working on sequels for “Toy Story,” “Frozen” and “Zootopia,” three huge hits as the entertainment powerhouse attempts to find its footing under newly returned CEO Bob Iger. The Walt Disney Co. is undergoing a “strategic transformation,” Iger said on Wednesday. That includes 7,000 job cuts announced this week...
AP source: Nets trading Kevin Durant to Suns; former OLSH, Pitt standout Cam Johnson heading to Brooklyn
NEW YORK — Kevin Durant’s time in Brooklyn ended early Thursday when the Nets agreed to trade him to the Phoenix Suns, a person with knowledge of the details said. The Suns will send OLSH grad Cam Johnson, Mikal Bridges, Jae Crowder, four first-round picks and additional draft compensation to...
More Americans apply for jobless benefits last week
More Americans filed for jobless benefits last week, but layoffs remain historically low despite attempts by the Federal Reserve to cool the economy, and hiring, to bring down inflation. Applications for jobless aid in the U.S. for the week ending Feb. 4 rose by 13,000 last week to 196,000, from...
Supreme Court might have easy outs on elections, immigration
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court soon could find itself with easy ways out of two high-profile cases involving immigration and elections, if indeed the justices are looking to avoid potentially messy, divisive decisions. Off-ramps in those cases could prove attractive in a term with no shortage of big cases that...
The pandemic missing: The kids who didn’t go back to school
She’d be a senior right now, preparing for graduation in a few months, probably leading her school’s modern dance troupe and taking art classes. Instead, Kailani Taylor-Cribb hasn’t taken a single class in what used to be her high school since the height of the coronavirus pandemic. She vanished from...
Earthquake hits Indonesia, killing 4 as restaurant collapses
JAKARTA, Indonesia — A shallow earthquake shook Indonesia’s easternmost province of Papua on Thursday, killing four people who were unable to escape when a floating restaurant collapsed into the sea. The U.S. Geological Survey said the magnitude 5.1 earthquake hit residential areas in Jayapura, near Papua’s northern coast and was...
Air near Ohio derailment safe for residents to return home
EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — Evacuated residents can return to the Ohio village where crews burned toxic chemicals after a train derailed five days ago near the Pennsylvania state line now that monitors show no dangerous levels in the air, authorities said Wednesday. Around-the-clock testing inside and outside the evacuation zone...
Death toll rises, rescues dwindle in earthquake aftermathVideo
ANTAKYA, Turkey — A teenager was pulled largely unscathed from beneath the rubble of a collapsed building in the Turkish city of Gaziantep early Friday, in a dramatic rescue that belied the reality that the chances of finding many more survivors four days after a catastrophic earthquake killed tens of...
Sen. John Fetterman hospitalized after feeling lightheaded, no evidence of a new stroke, spokesman says
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, the Pennsylvania Democrat who suffered a stroke during his campaign last year, was hospitalized Wednesday night after feeling lightheaded while attending a Senate Democratic retreat, his office said. Initial tests at George Washington University Hospital did not show evidence of a new stroke, Fetterman’s communications director,...
Wisconsin men’s basketball beats Penn State in OT
UNIVERSITY PARK — Chucky Hepburn scored 19 points, and Connor Essegian added 18, the two combining for nine of Wisconsin’s 11 3-pointers in a 79-74 overtime victory over Penn State on Wednesday night. After a layup by Max Klesmit gave Wisconsin a 76-72 lead with 44 seconds remaining in overtime,...
Kedrian Johnson, Emmitt Matthews lead West Virginia over No. 11 Iowa State
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Kedrian Johnson tied a career high with 22 points, and West Virginia held off No. 11 Iowa State, 76-71, on Wednesday night. Emmitt Mathews added a season-high 20 points for the Mountaineers (15-9, 4-7 Big 12), who have won five of seven to get their season moving...
Twitter scrambles to fix meltdown as many unable to tweet
Many Twitter users found themselves unable to tweet, follow accounts or access their direct messages on Wednesday as the Elon Musk-owned platform experienced a slew of widespread technical problems. “Twitter may not be working as expected for some of you. Sorry for the trouble. We’re aware and working to get...
Analysis: LeBron James defies odds with no drop-off in sightVideo
LeBron James is 38 years old. He is in Season 20 of his NBA career. He is, by conventional basketball-playing standards, ancient. History says his decline should have started already. Except it hasn’t. Not even close. And count that as just another example of what sets James apart from so...
More than 200 discarded shotguns found in Oklahoma dumpster
MIDWEST CITY, Okla. — An Oklahoma firearms dealer is under investigation after more than 200 shotguns were found in a dumpster outside a store he owns in suburban Oklahoma City, according to a search warrant by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. “A Midwest City sanitation worker found...
