Associated Press stories, Page 1745
USFL relaunching next year, 4 decades after its birth
The USFL is relaunching in 2022, four decades after the spring football league’s short-lived run that featured such stars as Reggie White, Herschel Walker, Steve Young, Jim Kelly and future president Donald Trump. The new USFL announced Thursday it will play next spring with a minimum of eight teams “and...
Crews remove barriers, memorials at George Floyd Square
MINNEAPOLIS — Crews have removed concrete barriers, artwork, flowers and other items from a Minneapolis intersection that became a sprawling memorial to George Floyd, whose death last year at the hands of police galvanized the racial justice movement. It took the city crews less than four hours Thursday morning to...
Twitter starts subscription service in Canada, Australia
Twitter is rolling out a subscription service, starting in Canada and Australia, that offers perks like an undo button for subscribers. The “Twitter Blue” subscription service will offer features that users have long asked for — but still no edit button. It includes bookmark folders for organizing saved content; an...
Biden announces international covid-19 vaccine sharing plan
WASHINGTON — The White House on Thursday unveiled President Joe Biden’s plans to share covid-19 vaccines with the world, including its intent to direct 75% of excess doses through the U.N.-backed COVAX global vaccine sharing program. The White House has previously stated its intent to share 80 million vaccine doses...
EU plans digital ID wallet for bloc’s post-pandemic life
LONDON — The European Union unveiled plans Thursday for a digital ID wallet that residents could use to access services across the 27-nation bloc, part of a post-pandemic recovery strategy that involves accelerating the shift to an online world. The European Digital Identity Wallet proposed by the EU’s executive commission...
Danish military to lease electric training planes as a trialVideo
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — The Danish defense ministry said Thursday that it will lease two electric trainer airplanes as a test, adding that it is the first country in the world to do so. The single-engine, two-seater Pipistrel Velis Electro is an electric-powered Slovenian light aircraft intended primarily for training use....
Report: Inmate’s death at Ohio prison ruled a homicide
ORIENT, Ohio — The death of an inmate who died in his cell at an Ohio prison earlier this year has been ruled a homicide. Michael McDaniel, 55, died Feb. 6 after he became combative and injured two guards who had tried to remove him from his cell at the...
Canadiens’ Game 1 win tempered by late hit on Jake Evans
WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Eric Staal scored early goals and Montreal beat the Winnipeg Jets, 5-3, on Wednesday night in Game 1 of the second-round series, a victory tempered by a scary late-game hit on Canadiens center Jake Evans. Playing on his 25th birthday, Evans was taken off...
Walmart aims to empower workers with own devices, new app
NEW YORK — Walmart is coming out with a new app for its store workers’ phones that allows them to do a variety of tasks from digitally clocking into work to helping locate merchandise and answering customers’ questions. It also has a push-to-talk feature to let them communicate directly with...
Princess Diana’s wedding dress goes on display in London
LONDON — The dress Princess Diana wore at her 1981 wedding to Prince Charles went on public display Thursday at the late princess’s former home in London. The taffeta-ruffled white dress designed by David and Elizabeth Emanuel, with its 25 foot sequin-encrusted train, helped seal the fairytale image of the...
3 Pa. lawmakers visit Arizona GOP election audit
PHOENIX — Three Pennsylvania lawmakers were in Arizona on Wednesday to check out the state Senate GOP’s partisan audit of the 2020 election. They’re the latest Republicans to make a pilgrimage to Phoenix, ground zero in the “stop the steal” movement’s push to find support for conspiracy theories suggesting the...
‘Stand your ground’ defense rejected in iguana killing by Florida man
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A judge has rejected the “stand your ground” defense of a Florida man who said he beat an iguana to death only after it attacked him, biting him on the arm. PJ Nilaja Patterson, 43, must stand trial on a felony animal cruelty charge, Palm...
Last-place Sabres win draft lottery; Kraken get No. 2 pick
BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Buffalo Sabres won the NHL Draft lottery, and the expansion Seattle Kraken jumped up the order to take the No. 2 pick Wednesday night. The Sabres have the No. 1 pick for the fourth time in franchise history and second in three years. It marks a...
Same strong field at Memorial gets new look for golf course
DUBLIN, Ohio — Jon Rahm was motoring to victory along the back nine of Muirfield Village last year at the Memorial, and just as compelling was the activity on the front nine. Heavy equipment was inside the ropes, ripping out huge strips of turf. Rahm returned to what tournament host...
State seeks 30 years for Derek Chauvin; defense wants time served
MINNEAPOLIS — Prosecutors are seeking a 30-year sentence for the former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murder in George Floyd’s death, but a defense attorney is asking that Derek Chauvin be sentenced to probation and time already served, according to court documents filed Wednesday. Chauvin is scheduled to be sentenced...
Pair flees Florida juvenile home, engages in gunbattle with deputiesVideo
ORLANDO, Fla. — A 14-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy fled from a Florida juvenile home and broke into a house, where they found a small arsenal — a shotgun, an AK-47 and plenty of ammunition. When confronted by sheriff’s deputies, the pair opened fire, sparking a gunbattle. The gunfire...
New York transit officials confirm cyberattack; say harm limited
NEW YORK — Hackers infiltrated computer systems for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York, setting off a scramble to counter a potentially crippling cyberattack against North America’s largest transit system, MTA officials confirmed on Wednesday. The officials said in a statement that that agency received an alert from the...
Netanyahu opponents reach coalition deal to oust Israeli PM
JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s opponents announced Wednesday that they have reached a deal to form a new governing coalition, paving the way for the ouster of the longtime Israeli leader. The dramatic announcement by opposition leader Yair Lapid and his main coalition partner, Naftali Bennett, came shortly before...
Ohio teen says coaches forced him to eat pork despite beliefs
CANTON, Ohio — An attorney for an Ohio high school football player who says coaches forced him to eat pork in violation of his religious beliefs for missing a voluntary workout has announced plans to sue the school district. Canton McKinley head football coach Marcus Wattley and seven assistant coaches...
Prosecutors drop case against New York man charged in Capitol riot
Federal prosecutors have dropped the criminal case against a New York man who was accused of participating in the riot at the U.S. Capitol, in what appears to be the first such move by the Justice Department in its sprawling Jan. 6 prosecution. The dismissal of the case against Christopher...
Japan’s vaccine push ahead of Olympics looks to be too late
TOKYO — It may be too little, too late. That’s the realization sinking in as Japan scrambles to catch up on a frustratingly slow vaccination drive less than two months before the Summer Olympics, delayed by a year because of the coronavirus pandemic, are scheduled to start. The Olympics risk...
Study: California fire killed 10% of world’s redwood trees
SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK, Calif. — At least a tenth of the world’s mature giant sequoias were destroyed by a single California wildfire that tore through the southern Sierra Nevada last year, according to a draft report prepared by scientists with the National Park Service. The Visalia Times-Delta newspaper obtained a...
Stocks manage modest gains overall; AMC nearly doubles
Wall Street wrapped up another wobbly day of trading Wednesday with modest gains for the major stock indexes, as energy and technology companies kept losses elsewhere in the market in check. The benchmark S&P 500 rose 0.1% after wobbling between a gain of 0.4% and a loss of 0.1%. Strength...
Sacked: Browns All-Pro Myles Garrett ‘retires’ from basketball
BEREA, Ohio — Myles Garrett can dump all the quarterbacks he wants. His dunking days are over. The Browns’ All-Pro defensive end, who recently posted videos on Twitter and Instagram of him dominating on the basketball court, has put his hoops game on hold. On Wednesday, Garrett, who is attending...
Biden pushes for U.S. voting rights law as restrictions mount
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden used the 100th anniversary of Tulsa’s race massacre to make a plea for sweeping legislation in Congress to protect the right to vote as Republican-led governments in Texas and other states pass new restrictions making it tougher to cast ballots. Biden, marking the centennial in...
