Associated Press stories, Page 1489
U.S. looks to build off Erin Jackson’s historic speedskating gold
BEIJING — The U.S. speedskating team had been waiting for someone, anyone, to win an Olympic medal. The sport that has delivered more medals than any other for the U.S. in the history of the Winter Games has been in a deep freeze. Erin Jackson provided a welcome thaw with...
Super Bowl ads look toward the future — and the past
NEW YORK — Super Bowl advertisers this year want Americans to forget about pandemic woes and focus on the future: of electric vehicles, mind reading Alexas, robots and cryptocurrency — and also to harken back to the nostalgic past of ’90s movies like “Austin Powers” and “The Cable Guy.” The...
West Virginia school district investigating religious eventVideo
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — A West Virginia school superintendent is investigating a Feb. 2 religious revival event that occurred at Huntington High School, saying he believes some students’ rights have been violated. Cabell County Schools Superintendent Ryan Saxe announced the investigation in a statement issued on Friday. About 100 students at...
Suspect charged 40 years after Pennsylvania woman was killed
MARCUS HOOK, Pa. — A Pennsylvania man has been charged with murder and kidnapping more than 40 years after an 18-year-old woman was killed, prosecutors announced Friday. Investigators had long suspected two men named in the announcement Friday had played a role in the death of Denise Marie Pierson, who...
From campus to Congress, colleges urged to end legacy boost
America’s elite colleges are facing growing calls to end the decades-old tradition of giving an admissions boost to the children of alumni — a practice that critics say is rooted in racism and bestows an unfair advantage to students who need it least. Fueled by the national reckoning with racial...
‘Death on the Nile’ tops a quiet box office weekend
NEW YORK — Hollywood’s Super Bowl weekend largely fizzled with the muted debut of Kenneth Branagh’s long-delayed Agatha Christie whodunit, “Death on the Nile,” a tepid reception for the Jennifer Lopez romantic-comedy “Marry Me” and modest box-office bumps for Oscar nominees. “Death on the Nile,” Branagh’s follow-up to the 2017...
Graham becomes early player to watch in Supreme Court drama
WASHINGTON — The list of Republicans willing to support President Joe Biden’s forthcoming nominee to the Supreme Court “is longer than you would initially imagine,” the Senate’s second-ranking Democrat recently teased to reporters. Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin declined to name names. But it’s clear that Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., is...
Key U.S.-Canada bridge reopens after police clear protesters
WINDSOR, Ontario — The busiest U.S.-Canada border crossing reopened late Sunday after protests against covid-19 restrictions closed it for almost a week, while Canadian officials held back from a crackdown on a larger protest in the capital, Ottawa. Detroit International Bridge Co. said in a statement that “the Ambassador Bridge...
Super Bowl matchup: Veteran Rams versus upstart Bengals
Across both Super Bowl rosters, there is a great divide. The Rams are the team loaded with veterans and the Bengals are the new kids on the block. Los Angeles has the star power, which figures with Hollywood next door. Cincinnati has a bunch of relative no names outside of...
Payton Willis, Eric Curry help Minnesota beat Penn State, snap skid
MINNEAPOLIS — Sixth-year senior Eric Curry scored a career-high 22 points, Payton Willis scored 13 of his 18 in the second half and Minnesota beat Penn State, 76-70, on Saturday night to snap a five-game losing streak. Willis made 3 of 4 from 3-point range and finished with 10 assists...
No slip this time: Jackson wins Olympic speedskating gold
BEIJING — Erin Jackson has become the first Black woman to win a speedskating medal at the Winter Olympics. A gold one, at that. Jackson won the 500 meters Sunday with a time of 37.04 seconds, giving the American speedskating program its first medal of the Beijing Games and first...
Ryder aces wild 16th, Theegala holds onto Phoenix Open leadVideo
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Sam Ryder brought down the house with a hole-in-one on the stadium 16th hole Saturday in the WM Phoenix Open, where newcomer Sahith Theegala topped a leaderboard as crowded as the course. Ryder’s wedge shot on the 124-yard hole landed just right and short, bounced a couple...
Keep it clean, and the Lombardi Trophy could be yoursVideo
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Stay clean. Avoid the critical mistakes. That’s a mantra both the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams should have adopted as they head to Sunday’s Super Bowl. Limit the turnovers and costly penalties. Don’t waste timeouts, particularly in the second half. Get physical rather than fancy. Being...
Paris police fire tear gas to disperse banned virus protest
Paris police fired tear gas Saturday against a handful of demonstrators on the Champs-Elysees Avenue who defied a police order by taking part in a vehicle protest against virus restrictions inspired by Canada’s horn-honking truckers. In the Netherlands, dozens of trucks and other vehicles — ranging from tractors to a...
Villeneuve tries to add Daytona 500 to his storied careerVideo
Jacques Villeneuve tried 14 years ago to run the Daytona 500 to add to his storied racing resume. He failed to make the field and moved on with his career. Now he is returning to Daytona International Speedway to give it another shot. The Canadian will attempt to qualify for...
West Virginia men smacked by Oklahoma State
STILLWATER, Okla. — Moussa Cisse finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Avery Anderson III scored 18 to power Oklahoma State to an 81-58 romp over West Virginia on Saturday. Cisse sank 8 of 12 shots from the floor for the Cowboys (12-12, 5-7 Big 12) on the way...
Russian figure skater Valieva to learn her fate in doping case MondayVideo
BEIJING — Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva will find out Monday if she can compete at the Olympics in the women’s competition, which starts a day later. The Court of Arbitration for Sport said Saturday the expedited hearing on Valieva’s doping case will be held Sunday night in Beijing, with...
Overlooked Tyler Boyd, Tee Higgins complete Bengals WR trio entering Super BowlVideo
LOS ANGELES — Ja’Marr Chase gets most of the attention at receiver for Cincinnati with his big-play ability helping the Bengals reach the Super Bowl. The addition of Chase this season wouldn’t have been nearly as consequential for the Bengals if not for the standout play from the two returning...
Scant progress in MLB talks, spring training likely delayedVideo
NEW YORK — The final blow has been dealt to an on-time start to spring training, with MLB making a new offer Saturday that the players’ association received as only scant progress in the drawn-out labor talks. On the 73rd day of a lockout that has become the second-longest work...
Canada border blockade clearing peacefully as police move in
A tense standoff at a U.S.-Canadian border crossing crucial to both countries’ economies appeared to be dissolving peacefully Saturday as Canadian police moved in to disperse the nearly weeklong blockade and protesters began leaving without resistance. Many demonstrators drove away from the Ambassador Bridge spanning the river between Detroit and...
Biden warns Putin of ‘severe costs’ of Ukraine invasion
President Joe Biden told Russia’s Vladimir Putin that invading Ukraine would cause “widespread human suffering” and that the West was committed to diplomacy to end the crisis but “equally prepared for other scenarios,” the White House said Saturday. It offered no suggestion that the hourlong call diminished the threat of...
Longtime U.S. teammates win mixed snowboardcross at Olympics
ZHANGJIAKOU, China — The running joke was American snowboardcross racer Nick Baumgartner always referring to them as a pair of 40-somethings. “I’m 36,” Lindsey Jacobellis playfully corrected time after time in interview after interview. For these two, and all their vast experience, age proved to be one thing — golden....
Young U.S. hockey team beats Canada to start Olympics 2-0
BEIJING — It’s no secret the young United States men’s hockey team is fast and skilled. Turns out the kids can hit, too. Answering all the questions raised about their youth and inexperience, the U.S. went toe to toe with Canada in a bruising matchup between the longtime rivals. Using...
Many faith leaders wary of religious exemptions for vaccine
By the thousands, Americans have been seeking religious exemptions in order to circumvent covid-19 vaccine mandates, but generally they are doing so without the encouragement of major denominations and prominent religious leaders. From the Vatican, Pope Francis has defended the vaccines as “the most reasonable solution to the pandemic.” The...
Afghans protest U.S. order to give $3.5B to 9/11 victims
Demonstrators in Afghanistan’s capital Saturday condemned President Joe Biden’s order freeing up $3.5 billion in Afghan assets held in the U.S. for families of America’s 9/11 victims — saying the money belongs to Afghans. Protesters who gathered outside Kabul’s grand Eid Gah mosque asked America for financial compensation for the...
