Associated Press stories, Page 1665

GATLINBURG, Tenn. — A rider was ejected from a mountain coaster in Tennessee and hospitalized with head, wrist and ankle injuries, according to state officials. A report submitted by the owner to the Tennessee Department of Labor & Workforce Development says the incident occurred Monday on the Gatlinburg Mountain Coaster...

BOSTON — President Joe Biden should help those struggling under crushing student loan debt by immediately canceling up to $50,000 of debt for federal student loan borrowers, Democratic elected officials said Thursday. Biden can make the move by using existing authority granted to him under the Higher Education Act, said...

LOUISVILLE, Ky — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell urged his fellow Republicans to be vaccinated against covid-19 during a visit to a western Kentucky hospital Thursday. “As a Republican man, I wasn’t reluctant to get it when I was eligible and I would encourage everybody to do that,” he said....

DENVER (AP) — Colorado lawmakers are considering a proposal that would ban Native American mascots in public schools and colleges amid a nationwide push for racial justice that gained new momentum last year following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the NFL team in Washington changing its name....

NEW YORK — A new child is introduced this month on the animated TV show “Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum” who is a little different. He’s sensitive to loud noises and he likes doing things his way, in his time. Ben is autistic and he helps teach the show’s...

WASHINGTON — Seeking to overcome vaccine hesitancy, the Biden administration on Thursday stepped up its outreach efforts to skeptical Americans, launching a coalition of community, religious and celebrity partners to promote covid-19 shots in hard-hit communities. The administration’s “We Can Do This” campaign features television and social media ads, but...

WASHINGTON — The opening day baseball game between the Nationals and Mets was postponed hours before it was scheduled to begin Thursday night because of coronavirus concerns after one of Washington’s players tested positive for covid-19. The Nationals issued a statement saying “ongoing contact tracing involving members of the Nationals...

CAIRO — Egypt is expecting more than $1 billion in compensation after a cargo ship blocked the Suez Canal for nearly a week, according to the top canal official. He also warned the ship and its cargo will not be allowed leave Egypt if the issue of damages goes to...

WASHINGTON — U.S. health officials have authorized two more over-the-counter covid-19 tests that can be used at home to get rapid results. The move by the Food and Drug Administration is expected to vastly expand the availability of cheap home tests that many experts have advocated since the early days...

MINNEAPOLIS — George Floyd’s girlfriend cried on the witness stand Thursday as she told the story of how they first met in 2017 at a Salvation Army shelter where Floyd was a security guard with “this great Southern voice, raspy.” She also recounted how they both struggled with opioid addiction....

WARWICK, R.I. — A handful of coins unearthed from a pick-your-own-fruit orchard in rural Rhode Island and other random corners of New England may help solve one of the planet’s oldest cold cases. The villain in this tale: a murderous English pirate who became the world’s most-wanted criminal after plundering...

Stocks were moderately higher Thursday, helped by a rise in technology companies as well as smaller companies, which would benefit from a quickly growing economy. The S&P 500 rose 0.8% as of 11:44 a.m. Eastern, crossing the 4,000-point mark for the first time. The benchmark index is coming off its...

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously upheld federal regulators’ decision to ease ownership limits on local media, rejecting a claim that the change would hurt minority and female ownership. The court said the Federal Communications Commission acted reasonably in 2017 when it modified rules that predated the internet....

LINCOLN, Neb. — Twenty-eight Nebraska lawmakers are objecting to proposed state education standards that include lessons on gender identity and gender stereotypes, with lessons starting as early as the first grade. The senators sent an open letter to the Nebraska State Board of Education, which is expected to consider the...

JUPITER, Fla. — Donald Trump Jr. and his girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle are now Florida home owners. The Palm Beach Post reports that the couple spent $9.7 million this week to buy a 11,000-square-foot, six-bedroom, 11-bath mansion in the town of Jupiter, about 20 miles from the Mar-a-Lago compound where former...

The last time Roy Williams left North Carolina, he was a virtually unknown assistant who was getting his first shot as a college head coach at tradition-rich Kansas. Now Williams is leaving the Tar Heels again with a resume chock full of honors — as a retiring Hall of Famer...

RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia’s highest court ruled Thursday that the city of Charlottesville can take down two statues of Confederate generals, including one of Robert E. Lee that became the focus of a violent white nationalist rally in 2017. The state Supreme Court overturned a Circuit Court decision in favor...

PHOENIX — America is starting to claw its way out of the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, but food insecurity persists, especially for children and older adults. Food banks around the U.S. continue giving away far more canned, packaged and fresh provisions than they did before the virus outbreak...

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — To hear many of those in charge of Division I programs tell it, the state of play for women’s sports could get worse, not better, under proposals that would put more money in the pockets of some college athletes. Via a new Associated Press survey of athletic...

GENEVA — The head of the World Trade Organization called Thursday for expanded capability in developing countries to manufacture vaccines, saying the gaping imbalance in access to coronavirus vaccines that mostly favors rich, developed countries was unacceptable. WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said she supports the creation of a framework that...

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Republicans advanced a slate of proposed new voting restrictions Thursday that would reduce options to cast ballots, limit polling hours and hand more power to partisan poll watchers. All those efforts are rolled into a single bill that cleared the GOP-controlled state Senate — a key...

BEIJING — The organizers of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics started 10 days of testing Thursday for the hockey and other indoor venues. A curling mixed doubles competition was held at the refashioned “Water Cube,” where an ice surface has been laid over the pool that hosted the swimming events...