Associated Press stories, Page 1544
Judge loosens Apple’s grip on app store in Epic decision
SAN RAMON, Calif. — A federal judge ordered Apple to dismantle a lucrative part of the competitive barricade guarding its closely run iPhone app store, but rejected allegations that the company has been running an illegal monopoly that stifles competition and innovation. The ruling issued Friday continues to chip away...
Greece approves tough penalties for bogus covid certificates
ATHENS, Greece — Greece has introduced tough penalties for the issuing of fake covid-19 vaccination certificates after a worker at a state vaccination center was suspended for allegedly helping several dozen people acquire bogus documents. Health Minister Thanos Plevris said Friday that parliament has approved a legislative amendment to impose...
U.S. investigating airlines over slow refunds during pandemic
WASHINGTON — The Transportation Department is detailing efforts it says it is making to help airline customers who were wrongfully denied refunds after flights were canceled or changed during the pandemic. The department says in a new report that it investigated 20 airlines over failures to issue prompt refunds to...
Queen’s London representative says royals back BLM movement
LONDON — Queen Elizabeth II and the Royal Family back the Black Lives Matter movement, one of her senior representatives said in a television interview to be broadcast Friday. Philanthropist Kenneth Olisa, the first Black Lord Lieutenant of Greater London, told Channel 4 News that he had discussed the issue...
No. 11 Penn State anticipating tough matchup with Ball State
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Weeks like this are why Penn State coach James Franklin tries to keep his messaging focused on the opponent at hand. If he talks about a weeks-away SEC foe or a looming Big Ten road trip, it may appear that Franklin is overlooking Penn State’s more...
West Virginia’s Sam James focuses on mental health, solid 2021
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia wide receiver Sam James used the offseason to focus on his mental well-being and put a tough stretch in the past. With a reputation for some great moments as well as mistakes, James is looking to return to the form that saw him catch 69...
Report of gunshot triggered lockdown at Air Force base in Ohio
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio — Ohio’s Wright-Patterson Air Force Base went into lockdown for several hours while security officials investigated reports of a shooter on the campus but eventually gave the all-clear early Friday morning. Two individuals reported hearing one gunshot at the base just east of Dayton just...
From 9/11’s ashes, a new world took shape. It did not last
In the ghastly rubble of ground zero’s fallen towers 20 years ago, Hour Zero arrived, a chance to start anew. World affairs reordered abruptly on that morning of blue skies, black ash, fire and death. In Iran, chants of “death to America” quickly gave way to candlelight vigils to mourn...
Behind 4 TD passes from Tom Brady, Bucs sneak past Cowboys
TAMPA, Fla. — Tom Brady threw for 379 yards and four touchdowns, helping the defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers kick off the NFL season with a mistake-filled 31-29 victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday night. With seats in a NFL stadium filled to full capacity for the...
Federal mandate takes vaccine decision off employers’ hands
Larger U.S. businesses now won’t have to decide whether to require their employees to get vaccinated against covid-19. Doing so is now federal policy. President Joe Biden announced sweeping new orders Thursday that will require employers with more than 100 workers to mandate immunizations or offer weekly testing. The new...
Teen dream: Raducanu, 18, Fernandez, 19, into U.S. Open finalVideo
NEW YORK — Emma Raducanu and Leylah Fernandez are so similar in so many ways: They possess enviable quickness and anticipation. They take balls low to the ground and redirect them with ease. They don’t care how much better-known or more successful opponents are. They love the big moment. There’s...
$3M deal reached in rough arrest of Colorado woman with dementia
DENVER — A Colorado city announced Wednesday it has agreed to pay $3 million to a woman with dementia who was roughly arrested by police last year after being suspected of shoplifting, money which her family said will pay for the around-the-clock care she has needed after her condition deteriorated...
List of Ravens players with knee injuries continues to growVideo
BALTIMORE — The Baltimore Ravens listed running back Gus Edwards and cornerback Marcus Peters as limited in practice Thursday, and ESPN later reported each player had a torn ACL. ESPN cited unidentified sources in its report. Losing Edwards would be another major blow to Baltimore’s backfield after the Ravens lost...
AP: Big 12 presidents set to vote on adding UCF, Cincinnati, Houston, BYUVideo
The Big 12 is moving swiftly to plug the holes looming with the upcoming departure of Oklahoma and Texas for the Southeastern Conference. A person familiar with the Big 12′s expansion plans said the conference’s presidents are scheduled to vote on applications for entry into the league at a meeting...
Gonzaga basketball coach Mark Few smelled of alcohol prior to DUI arrestVideo
SPOKANE, Wash. — Gonzaga basketball coach Mark Few’s breath smelled of alcohol and he had bloodshot eyes on the night he was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, though he initially told a police officer he had not been drinking, according to newly released documents. “Mark told me...
Los Angeles to require vaccine for all students 12 and olderVideo
LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles board of education voted Thursday to require students 12 and older to be vaccinated against the coronavirus to attend in-person classes in the nation’s second-largest school district. The move makes Los Angeles by far the largest of a very small number of districts with...
Hurricane Olaf heading toward Mexico’s Los Cabos resortsVideo
CABO SAN LUCAS, Mexico — Hurricane Olaf was heading toward a strike on the Los Cabos resort region at the tip of Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula on Thursday. As the storm approached, authorities closed ports in the area, prepared temporary shelters and urged people to monitor public announcements. The U.S....
Florida’s GOP-backed ‘anti-riot’ law struck down by judge
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Florida’s new “anti-riot” law championed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis as a way to quell violent protests is unconstitutional and cannot be enforced, a federal judge ruled Thursday. The 90-page decision by U.S. District Judge Mark Walker in Tallahassee found the recently-enacted law “vague and overbroad”...
Michael Constantine of ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’ dies at 94
Michael Constantine, an Emmy Award-winning character actor who reached worldwide fame playing the Windex bottle-toting father of the bride in the 2002 film “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” has died. He was 94. Constantine died Aug. 31 at his home in Reading of natural causes, his family said. The news...
Biden moves to require vaccines for 100 million AmericansVideo
WASHINGTON — In his most forceful pandemic actions and words, President Joe Biden on Thursday announced sweeping new federal vaccine requirements affecting as many as 100 million Americans in an all-out effort to increase covid-19 vaccinations and curb the surging delta variant. Speaking at the White House, Biden sharply criticized...
Loophole allows some Pennsylvania students to avoid masking
HARRISBURG — An apparent loophole in Pennsylvania’s mask mandate for schools is making it easier for some students to go to class without having to cover their faces, even as state education regulators sought to make an example of one openly defiant school board. The state health secretary’s order requiring...
Justice Department sues Texas over state’s new abortion lawVideo
AUSTIN, Texas — The Justice Department on Thursday sued Texas over a new state law that bans most abortions, arguing that it was enacted “in open defiance of the Constitution.” The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Texas, asks a federal judge to declare that the law is invalid, “to...
Steveson signs NIL deal with WWE, will wrestle for Minnesota
Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson has achieved his childhood dream of signing with World Wrestling Entertainment — with a twist. The WWE announced Thursday that it has signed Steveson to a deal that will allow him to join the WWE roster and return to the University of Minnesota to defend...
Republicans start election ‘investigation’ in Pennsylvania
HARRISBURG — Republicans in Pennsylvania’s state Senate held their first hearing Thursday in what they call a “forensic investigation” into last year’s presidential election, an underwhelming affair that Democrats nevertheless say is an extension of a national campaign to attack voting rights following former President Donald Trump’s loss. Republicans maintain...
Florida man wins $1 million the day he opened his auto shop
CALLAHAN, Fla. — A Florida man won $1 million in a lottery game the same day he and his wife opened an auto repair shop. Brian Woodle, 46, bought the $5 Gold Rush Supreme scratch-off ticket from a Circle K in Callahan. “I love working on vehicles and it has...
