Associated Press stories, Page 176
In stressful times, our anxiety can rub off on pets. Causes and cures for pet anxiety
In this age of heightened anxiety, many of us turn to our pets for emotional support. But is our behavior increasing our furry friends’ fears? The answer isn’t simple, says Frankie Jackson, a veterinary nurse and animal behavior consultant, and the owner of Canine Counseling in Smyrna, Georgia. She said...
U.S. unemployment claims dipped to 245,000 last week, hovering at historically low levels
WASHINGTON — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits dipped to 245,000 last week, hovering at historically low levels, the Labor Department said Wednesday. U.S. jobless claims ticked down from 250,000 the week before. Economists had expected last week’s claims to match that at 250,000. The four-week average of...
Iran’s leader rejects call to surrender, saying U.S. intervention would cause ‘irreparable damage’
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran’s supreme leader on Wednesday rejected U.S. calls for surrender in the face of more Israeli strikes and warned that any military involvement by the Americans would cause “irreparable damage to them.” European diplomats prepared to hold talks with Iran on Friday. The second public...
Fed leaves key rate unchanged as it awaits the impact of tariffs and Trump again scolds Jerome Powell
WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve officials expect inflation to worsen in the coming months but they still foresee two interest rate cuts by the end of this year, the same as they projected in March. The Fed kept its key rate unchanged for the fourth straight meeting Wednesday, and said the...
Firms led by U.S. military veterans deliver aid in Africa and Gaza, alarming humanitarian groups
ON A PLANE OVER UPPER NILE STATE, South Sudan — Swooping low over the banks of a Nile River tributary, an aid flight run by retired American military officers released a stream of food-stuffed sacks over a town emptied by fighting in South Sudan, a country wracked by conflict. Last...
On brink of free agency, Florida’s Sam Bennett wins Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP
SUNRISE, Fla. — Sam Bennett won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP on Tuesday night after leading all players in goals scored to help the Florida Panthers win a second consecutive Stanley Cup championship. Bennett scored 15 goals during a postseason run that culminated with a victory in Game...
Panthers repeat as Stanley Cup champs by beating Oilers in 6 games
SUNRISE, Fla. — Stanley’s stay in South Florida is getting extended. The Florida Panthers repeated as Stanley Cup champions by beating the Edmonton Oilers, 5-1, in Game 6 of the final on Tuesday night, becoming the NHL’s first back-to-back winners since Tampa Bay in 2020-21 and the third team to...
Rafael Devers ready to put Boston situation behind, start fresh in San FranciscoVideo
SAN FRANCISCO — Rafael Devers strolled into the clubhouse side-by-side with home run king Barry Bonds, a fellow left-handed slugger who San Francisco’s new big hitter has long admired from afar. “I think just looking at him my game has already improved a lot,” Devers joked as he was formally...
U.S. spies said Iran wasn’t building a nuclear weapon. Trump dismisses that assessment
WASHINGTON — Tulsi Gabbard left no doubt when she testified to Congress about Iran’s nuclear program earlier this year. The country was not building a nuclear weapon, the national intelligence director told lawmakers, and its supreme leader had not reauthorized the dormant program even though it had enriched uranium to...
Ravens’ Lamar Jackson defends Mark Andrews from online criticism after playoff drop
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Lamar Jackson said he never gets over losses. And he also dislikes fans criticizing one of his teammates online. After the Baltimore Ravens’ first day of mandatory minicamp Tuesday, Jackson called out the social media criticism directed at tight end Mark Andrews following the tight end’s...
Stocks slump, oil prices jump as Trump urges Iran’s unconditional surrenderVideo
NEW YORK — U.S. stocks slumped on Tuesday under the weight of another jump for the price of oil. It was a return to form for financial markets after Wall Street’s worries about Israel’s fighting with Iran had seemed to calm a bit on Monday. The S&P 500 fell 0.8%...
Judge says government can’t limit passport sex markers for many transgender, nonbinary people
BOSTON — A federal judge expanded a ruling Tuesday that blocked the Trump administration from enacting policy changes to sex markers on passports for many transgender and nonbinary Americans. In an executive order signed in January, the president used a narrow definition of the sexes instead of a broader conception...
Giants’ Kayvon Thibodeaux wants T.J. Watt’s sack record
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Kayvon Thibodeaux expects a lot more from himself this season. Especially sacks. The New York Giants edge rusher had just 5 1/2 of them last season after setting a career best with 11 1/2 in 2023. Thibodeaux, who missed five games with a broken bone in...
Olympic champion Noah Lyles calls off race with Dolphins’ Tyreek Hill
A race between Olympic 100-meter champion Noah Lyles and Miami Dolphins receiver Tyreek Hill that was never formally announced but supposedly taking place this weekend was called off by Lyles for “personal reasons.” Lyles announced the cancelation Tuesday at Stagwell’s Sport Beach event in Cannes, France. His news was captured...
Phillies outfielder Nick Castellanos benched for ‘inappropriate comment’ after being pulled for defensive replacement
MIAMI — Nick Castellanos was benched by Phillies manager Rob Thomson on Tuesday for “an inappropriate comment” the outfielder made after he was pulled for a defensive replacement a day earlier, ending Castellanos’ streak of 236 consecutive starts. “One thing about Nick, one of the many things about Nick is...
Federal judge calls on NASCAR, teams to settle bitter antitrust battle
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A federal judge urged NASCAR and two of its teams, including one owned by retired NBA great Michael Jordan, to settle their increasingly acrimonious legal fight that spilled over into tense arguments during a hearing on Tuesday. U.S. District Judge Kenneth Bell of the Western District of...
Kristi Noem ‘alert and recovering’ after trip to hospital over allergic reaction, official saysVideo
WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem was taken to the hospital on Tuesday after experiencing an allergic reaction, her spokeswoman said. “She is alert and recovering,” said the statement from department spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin, who said the hospital treatment was out of an “abundance of caution.” Noem,...
J.J. Spaun takes long road to become U.S. Open champ
J.J. Spaun faced his first big moment on a big stage in golf, and he wasn’t ready for it. He didn’t even have a club in his hand. Spaun was a 26-year-old PGA Tour rookie at Torrey Pines in 2017. He was not eligible for the pro-am and wanted to...
OKC’s Jalen Williams and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander enter NBA Finals lore with Game 5 scoring spree
OKLAHOMA CITY — Jerry West and Elgin Baylor did it often. Kyrie Irving and LeBron James did it a couple of times. Magic Johnson and Jamaal Wilkes were among those who did it once. And now, Jalen Williams and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander have entered NBA lore. Game 5 of the NBA...
The rest that’s built into the NBA Finals can be a good thing, especially now
INDIANAPOLIS — Given the way Indiana guard Tyrese Haliburton was limping on his way out of the postgame news conference after Game 5 of the NBA Finals, it’s safe to assume he’s a fan of the schedule right about now. Put simply, he could use a couple of days off....
One Stanley Cup ring hasn’t changed Panthers coach Paul Maurice
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Paul Maurice is not the same person or coach he was when he got his first job in the NHL at 28 years old in the mid-1990s with the Hartford Whalers. He followed that organization to Carolina, went to Toronto, returned to Carolina and spent nearly...
Split forms in MAGA world as Trump weighs next steps on Iran, with some top ranks rebuking him
A schism has opened among President Donald Trump’s most devout MAGA supporters and national security conservatives over the Israel-Iran conflict, as some longtime defenders of the president’s America First mantra call him out for weighing a greater U.S. role in the region. Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, commentator Tucker Carlson...
CBO: Trump tax bill would widen deficits by $2.8T after factoring in economic impacts
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s tax and budget bill would increase deficits by $2.8 trillion over the next decade after including other economic effects, according to a more fulsome analysis of the measure released Tuesday by the Congressional Budget Office. The report, produced by the nonpartisan CBO and the Joint...
Jay Monahan to leave next year as PGA Tour turns to NFL exec Brian Rolapp for new leadershipVideo
CROMWELL, Conn. — Jay Monahan is leaving the PGA Tour next year after a decade that ends with a sport fractured by the Saudi riches of LIV Golf. He turns it over to top NFL executive Brian Rolapp in a new role as CEO that Rolapp sees as rife with...
Los Angeles mayor lifts downtown curfew she imposed during protests against immigration raids
LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass lifted a curfew in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday that was first imposed in response to clashes with police and vandalism amid protests against President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in the city. Bass, a Democrat, said she’s lifting the curfew following “successful...
