Associated Press stories, Page 1434
Aiming to make CDC nimble, agency director has rankled many
From the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic, the top U.S. public health agency has been criticized as too slow to collect and act on new information. Now, increasingly, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is also being criticized for moving too fast. One year into Dr. Rochelle Walensky’s tenure...
U.S. jobless claims rise to 286,000, highest since October
WASHINGTON — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose to the highest level in three months as the fast-spreading omicron variant disrupted the job market. Jobless claims rose for the third straight week — by 55,000 to 286,000, highest since mid-October, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The four-week...
Russia accuses West of plotting ‘provocations’ in Ukraine
MOSCOW — Russia accused the West on Thursday of plotting “provocations” in Ukraine and disguising its alleged intentions by fomenting concerns about Moscow planning aggressive military action in the neighboring country. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova alleged that Ukrainian and Western claims of an imminent Russian attack on Ukraine...
Report on sexual abuse in German diocese faults retired pope
BERLIN — A long-awaited report on sexual abuse in Germany’s Munich diocese on Thursday faulted retired Pope Benedict XVI’s handling of four cases when he was archbishop in the 1970s and 1980s. The law firm that drew up the report said that Benedict strongly denies any wrongdoing. The findings, though,...
U.K. lawmaker says Johnson critics face government ‘blackmail’
LONDON — A lawmaker from Britain’s governing Conservatives accused the government on Thursday of blackmailing opponents of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, as the party’s internal rifts deepened. William Wragg, a Tory member of Parliament, said legislators calling for a challenge to Johnson’s leadership have faced “intimidation,” and urged them to...
NFL’s wild-card round TV ratings increase 21% over last yearVideo
TV ratings for the NFL’s wild-card round increased 21% over last year despite most of the games not being in doubt going into the fourth quarter. The six games averaged 30.5 million viewers, making it the second-highest average for the postseason’s opening weekend over the past six seasons. CBS and...
Voting bill collapses, Democrats unable to change filibusterVideo
WASHINGTON — Voting legislation that Democrats and civil rights leaders say is vital to protecting democracy collapsed Wednesday when two senators refused to join their own party in changing Senate rules to overcome a Republican filibuster after a raw, emotional debate. The outcome was a stinging defeat for President Joe...
Georgia QB Stetson Bennett announces he will return for 1 more yearVideo
ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett is returning for another season after leading the Bulldogs to their first national championship in 41 years. Bennett, who carried a flip phone and avoided social media during the 2021 season, made an exception to his policy by posting the words “One More...
Top-ranked Jon Rahm back in California desert after 2-year breakVideo
LA QUINTA, Calif. — Jon Rahm is back in the California desert for The American Express after a two-year break. It feels as though the top-ranked Spaniard never left his Arizona home. “I would say the demographic might be a little bit older here, but it pretty much is the...
New York City mayor says even he doesn’t feel safe on subway systemVideo
NEW YORK — After a woman was pushed to her death in front of a New York City subway train beneath Times Square over the weekend, Mayor Eric Adams acknowledged to reporters Tuesday that even he didn’t feel entirely safe riding the rails. The Democrat recounted when he rode the...
Eagles say Jalen Hurts will be their starting QB next seasonVideo
PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Eagles say Jalen Hurts will be the team’s starting quarterback in 2022. “We talk about Jalen and the growth he had, really as a first-year starter and second-year player, and leading this team to the playoffs,” general manager Howie Roseman said Wednesday, just three days after...
Chiefs keep leaning on Jerick McKinnon, other unsung playersVideo
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Jerick McKinnon probably shouldn’t have been surprised to spend all season buried on the Chiefs depth chart. The journeyman running back had been passed over plenty of times before. Start with those early years in Minnesota, when he backed up Adrian Peterson. An injury to the...
Foot feels fine as Derrick Henry preps for Titans’ playoff returnVideo
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Derrick Henry, the man who literally ran the Tennessee Titans to the AFC championship game two years ago, is ready to play again. The 2020 AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year says his surgically repaired right foot, fixed with a steel plate, feels no different than...
West Virginia lawmakers seek to ban school mask, testing requirements
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A group of Republican lawmakers in West Virginia is trying to pass a law forbidding mask mandates in K-12 schools and restricting districts from requiring covid-19 testing for people who don’t have symptoms. The “Public School Health Rights Act” would also prevent students or school employees from...
Browns’ Baker Mayfield has surgery, starts road to ‘true self’
CLEVELAND — Baker Mayfield has shifted into comeback mode. The Cleveland Browns quarterback had successful surgery Wednesday to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder, an injury that affected his play, led to a disappointing season and raised doubts about his future. Mayfield posted a video on social media...
Supreme Court allows Jan. 6 committee to get Trump documentsVideo
WASHINGTON — In a rebuff to former President Donald Trump, the Supreme Court is allowing the release of presidential documents sought by the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection. The justices on Wednesday rejected a bid by Trump to withhold the documents from the committee until the issue is...
Naomi Osaka, Ash Barty advance toward Australian Open showdown
MELBOURNE, Australia — For the first set, Naomi Osaka’s rediscovered love of the game meant it was anything but fun for Madison Brengle in the second round of the Australian Open. The defending champion conceded only four points in the first four games Wednesday and rifled forehand winners seemingly at...
3 of Tonga’s smaller islands badly damaged by tsunami
SYDNEY — Three of Tonga’s smaller islands suffered serious damage from tsunami waves, officials and the Red Cross said Wednesday, as a wider picture begins to emerge of the destruction caused by the eruption of an undersea volcano near the Pacific archipelago nation. U.N. humanitarian officials report that about 84,000...
NHL reschedules games, season set to end on time April 29
The NHL on Wednesday revealed new dates for 98 games postponed for coronavirus-related reasons, keeping the end of the regular season on schedule for April 29. The changes include moving 23 other games around and 95 games — including nine of the Penguins’ — filling the Feb. 7-22 gap that...
Starbucks nixes vaccine mandate after Supreme Court ruling
Starbucks is no longer requiring its U.S. workers to be vaccinated against covid-19, reversing a plan it announced earlier this month. In a memo sent Tuesday to employees, the Seattle coffee giant said it was responding to last week’s ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court. In a 6-3 vote, the...
Pennsylvania Senate passes bills aimed at ransomware, data breaches
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s state Senate passed a package of legislation on Wednesday aimed at preventing data security breaches and requiring victims and law enforcement officials to be notified when they do happen. The bills’ passage comes barely two weeks after the state’s unemployment compensation system acknowledged that hackers changed bank...
Sotomayor, Gorsuch deny report they were at odds over masksVideo
WASHINGTON — Two Supreme Court justices say a media report that they were at odds over the wearing of masks in court during the recent surge in coronavirus cases is false. The court on Wednesday issued an unusual three-sentence statement from Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Neil Gorsuch. It read: “Reporting...
Dale Earnhardt Jr. matches his father as NASCAR Hall of Famer
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Dale Earnhardt Jr. recognized early he would never be a seven-time NASCAR champion like his dad. It was unrealistic to believe he would match the late Dale Earnhardt on the track. The Intimidator was tough as nails, didn’t tolerate any nonsense and built a winning resume that...
Jon Stewart to receive Mark Twain lifetime award for comedy
Comedian, talk show host and political influencer Jon Stewart has been named the 23rd recipient of the Kennedy Center’s Mark Twain Award for lifetime achievement in comedy. The 59-year-old Stewart — born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz — rose to prominence as a standup comic and host of multiple failed talk shows...
Yvette Mimieux, ’60s starlet of ‘Time Machine,’ dies at 80
Yvette Mimieux, the blond and blue-eyed 1960s film star of “Where the Boys Are,” “The Time Machine” and “Light in the Piazza,” has died. She was 80. Michelle Bega, a family spokeswoman, said Mimieux died in her sleep of natural causes overnight Monday evening at her home in Los Angeles....
