Associated Press stories, Page 1536

NEW YORK — Masks, which had started to disappear from store shelves, may be front and center again. A spot check of businesses and other data sources are showing that mask sales have been rising in recent weeks as Americans worry about the surging cases of the delta variant of...

LONDON — AstraZeneca said Thursday that it intends to seek U.S. approval for its covid-19 vaccine later this year, further delaying the application even as the company announced it had already delivered more than 1 billion doses to other countries. The Anglo-Swedish drugmaker said the application has been delayed because...

BOSTON — The Biden administration will allow a nationwide ban on evictions to expire Saturday, arguing that its hands are tied after the Supreme Court ruled it could only be extended until the end of the month. In a statement Thursday, the White House said President Joe Biden would have...

MADRID — The former lover of Spain’s King Emeritus Juan Carlos has filed a lawsuit with a British court accusing him of spying on her, the latest twist in a financial scandal plaguing the ex-monarch. The London-based High Court said Wednesday that Corinna Larsen, a Danish-German businesswoman long linked to...

NHL teams combined for a series of splashes in free agency, managing to make major moves despite the salary cap staying flat for a third straight year. Over the first 12 hours of the signing period Wednesday, teams in the league signed 160-plus players to contracts worth more than $783...

TOKYO — Sunisa Lee wanted to quit during quarantine. It all had become too much. The lingering pain from a broken foot. The deaths of two family members from covid-19. Her father’s slow recovery from an accident that left him paralyzed. The urge eventually passed. It always does. Still, less...

SAITAMA, Japan — There was plenty of time to talk about it, had they wanted to. Devin Booker, Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton were together on a plane to Tokyo, just days after they had played in the hard-fought NBA Finals. They had roughly nine hours in the air to...

Federal agents near New Orleans ordered a cargo ship to leave the U.S. after an inspection found wood infested with a type of Asian beetle that has been destroying trees in the U.S. for about 25 years. They discovered the beetle in wood onboard the Pan Jasmine on July 17,...

WASHINGTON — Fueled by vaccinations and government aid, the U.S. economy grew at a solid 6.5% annual rate last quarter in another sign that the nation has achieved a sustained recovery from the pandemic recession. Thursday’s report from the Commerce Department estimated that the nation’s gross domestic product — its...

WASHINGTON — Even with production glitches, transportation bottlenecks and labor shortages, the U.S. economy grew in the second quarter at one of the fastest rates in decades, lifting the nation’s total output above where it was before covid-19 hit, according to government data released Thursday. “That we were able to...

LOS ANGELES — Ron Popeil, the quintessential TV pitchman and inventor known to generations of viewers for hawking products including the Veg-O-Matic, the Pocket Fisherman, Mr. Microphone and the Showtime Rotisserie and BBQ, has died, his family said. Popeil died “suddenly and peacefully” Wednesday at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in...

PERRYVILLE, Alaska — A powerful earthquake which struck just off Alaska’s southern coast caused prolonged shaking and prompted tsunami warnings that sent people scrambling for shelters. Residents reported only minor damage, but officials said that could change after sunrise and people get a better look. The National Tsunami Warning Center...

U.S. regulators took action Wednesday that will make it easier to get a cheaper, near-copy of a brand-name insulin at the drugstore. Doctors now have to specifically prescribe what’s called a biosimilar or OK substituting it for a more expensive brand-name insulin. Wednesday’s move by the Food and Drug Administration...

LOS ANGELES — “Better Call Saul” star Bob Odenkirk had a “heart related incident” when he collapsed on the show’s New Mexico set, and his condition is stable as he recovers at a hospital, his representatives said Wednesday. “We can confirm Bob is in stable condition after experiencing a heart...