Associated Press stories, Page 1594
GOP may boycott Jan. 6 probe after Pelosi blocks members
WASHINGTON — House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy says the GOP won’t participate in a House investigation of the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol if Democrats won’t accept the members he appointed. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday rejected two of McCarthy’s five picks to the panel, Indiana Rep. Jim...
U.K. man arrested in Spain, charged in U.S. with Twitter hack
WASHINGTON — A British man has been charged in the United States in connection with a Twitter hack last summer that compromised the accounts of prominent politicians, celebrities and technology moguls, the Justice Department said Wednesday. Joseph O’Connor, 22, was arrested in the coastal resort town of Estepona, Spain, on...
Pelosi moves to block Trump allies from Jan. 6 committee
WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is rejecting two Republicans tapped by House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy to sit on a committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, citing the “integrity” of the probe. Pelosi said in a statement Wednesday that she would not accept the appointments of Indiana Rep....
Pennsylvania decertifies Fulton County’s voting system after ‘audit’
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s top election official has decertified the voting machines of a small southern county that disclosed that it had agreed to requests by local Republican lawmakers and allowed a software firm to inspect the machines as part of an “audit” after the 2020 election. The action by Acting...
Bette Midler, Berry Gordy among new Kennedy Center honorees
The Kennedy Center Honors will return in December with a class that includes Motown Records creator Berry Gordy, “Saturday Night Live” mastermind Lorne Michaels and actress-singer Bette Midler. Organizers expect to operate at full capacity, after last year’s ceremony was delayed for months and later conducted under covid-19 restrictions. This...
Pa. Supreme Court deals blow to outdated claims of child sexual abuse
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s high court on Wednesday dealt a blow to victims of child sexual abuse who had hoped to revive their otherwise outdated claims, throwing out a lawsuit by a woman whose lower court legal victory had given hope to similarly situated victims who sued in the wake of...
Explainer: What’s making mid-Atlantic songbirds sick?
WASHINGTON — A mysterious ailment has sickened and killed thousands of songbirds in several mid-Atlantic states, including Pennsylvania, since late spring. While scientists are still racing to confirm the cause, it seems juvenile birds may be most susceptible. The U.S. Geological Survey, which oversees responses to some natural hazards and...
Expansion Seattle Kraken make Jeremy Lauzon top pick
SEATTLE — The Seattle Kraken chose Boston defenseman Jeremy Lauzon with the first pick in their expansion draft Wednesday night. They introduced pending free agent Chris Driedger as their first goaltender and passed on Montreal’s Carey Price. Driedger agreed to terms on a $10.5 million, three-year contract to join Seattle....
Sue Bird, Eddy Alvarez to carry American flag at Olympic opening ceremony
Four-time Olympic women’s basketball gold medalist Sue Bird and baseball player Eddy Alvarez were chosen as U.S. flag bearers for the opening ceremony of the Olympics on Friday night. Alvarez, who won a silver medal in speedskating at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, and Bird were chosen by a vote of...
Sweden clobbers U.S. women’s soccer team in Olympic opener
TOKYO — Sweden didn’t have to bunker down on defense against the Americans this time. Stina Blackstenius scored a pair of goals and the Swedes stunned the United States at the Olympics with a 3-0 victory Wednesday in the women’s soccer tournament. The Americans, ranked No. 1 in the world...
Japan, U.S., South Korea reaffirm cooperation on North Korea
TOKYO — The United States, Japan and South Korea on Wednesday reaffirmed their commitment to work together on North Korea’s denuclearization and other regional threats but made no progress in bringing closer together the two U.S. allies. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, who held talks in Tokyo with...
Seemingly safe GOP incumbents under attack from right-wing
OKLAHOMA CITY — Republican U.S. Sen. James Lankford would seem to have all the conservative credentials he’d need to coast to reelection in deep-red Oklahoma. A devout Baptist, Lankford was the director of the nation’s largest Christian youth camp for more than a decade. He speaks out regularly against abortion...
Ford, Argo AI to deploy autonomous vehicles on Lyft network
DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. and a self-driving vehicle company it partly owns will join with the Lyft ride-hailing service to offer autonomous rides on the Lyft network. The service using Ford vehicles and a driving system developed by Pittsburgh-based Argo AI will begin in Miami later this year and...
Report: U.K. border officers to stop routine covid checks
LONDON — U.K. border officers have been directed to stop routinely checking whether travelers from many countries have tested negative for covid-19, British media reported Wednesday, citing leaked government documents. While the change is designed to reduce waiting times for airport immigration checks, it has raised concerns about importing new...
Behind 50 points from Giannis, Bucks beat Suns to end 50-year NBA title drought
MILWAUKEE — Giannis Antetokounmpo ended one of the greatest NBA Finals ever with 50 points — and a championship Milwaukee waited 50 years to win again. Antetokounmpo had 50 points, 14 rebounds and five blocked shots as the Bucks beat the Phoenix Suns 105-98 on Tuesday night to win the...
Japan tops Australia in softball as delayed Tokyo Games open
FUKUSHIMA, Japan — Host Japan got off to a winning start when the Tokyo Olympics got underway after a one-year delay, beating Australia 8-1 on Wednesday in softball behind 39-year-old pitcher Yukiko Ueno, who won the 2008 gold medal game against the United States. The game was played in a...
Nationals GM doesn’t plan to have Starlin Castro this season
WASHINGTON — Washington Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo says he doesn’t plan on having infielder Starlin Castro back with the team this season. Castro was placed on administrative leave July 16 by MLB under its domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy. Rizzo, speaking with a group of reporters...
Jeff Bezos’ comments on workers after spaceflight draws rebukeVideo
NEW YORK — The world’s richest man wanted to say thanks to the people who made his brief trip into space Tuesday possible. But for some, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ expression of gratitude went over like a lead rocket. “I want to thank every Amazon employee, and every Amazon customer...
Netflix confirms move into video games as its growth slowsVideo
SAN RAMON, Calif. — Netflix reported its worst slowdown in subscriber growth in eight years as people emerge from their pandemic cocoons. So it’s adding a new attraction to its marquee: Video games. On Tuesday, the video streaming giant announced it will offer video games in its existing subscription plans...
Lawsuit against Liberty University alleges mishandling of sex assaults
RICHMOND, Va. — Twelve women filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Liberty University, accusing the Christian institution of a pattern of mishandling cases of sexual assault and harassment, and fostering an unsafe campus environment. The federal lawsuit filed in New York made various claims under Title IX, the federal law that...
Troopers shoot, kill Harrisburg gunman who fired toward them
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania state police shot and killed an armed man Tuesday morning near Harrisburg when he allegedly fired into two occupied homes and toward troopers who were called to the scene, an agency spokeswoman said. The police agency said 34-year-old Mitchell James Shuller of Harrisburg ignored demands to drop...
Kraken expansion draft to be milestone for SeattleVideo
SEATTLE — When the calendar flips to this time of year, there is normally a mix and anger and resentment for sports fans in this corner of the country. Not this year. Not with one of the biggest moments yet in the creation of the newest NHL franchise about to...
Federal appeals court nixes Indiana’s voter registration purge law
INDIANAPOLIS — A federal appeals court has sided with opponents of an Indiana law aimed at having elections officials immediately purge voter registrations for people who appear to have registered in another state. The decision released Monday upholds an order issued by an Indianapolis-based judge that blocked the law enacted...
Health officials: Coronavirus surge a ‘raging forest fire’ in ArkansasVideo
LITTLE ROCK — Public health researchers on Tuesday called the rapid rise in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations in Arkansas a “raging forest fire,” and the state’s top health official warned that he expects significant outbreaks in schools. The model by the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences’ Fay W. Boozman...
U.S. opioid lawsuits on verge of settlements with 4 companiesVideo
The yearslong effort by state and local governments in the United States to force the pharmaceutical industry to help pay to fix a nationwide opioid addiction and overdose crisis took a major step forward Tuesday when lawyers for local governments announced they were on the verge of a $26 billion...
