Associated Press stories, Page 1770
Senate confirms Biden’s choice for UN ambassador
WASHINGTON — The Senate confirmed President Joe Biden’s choice to lead U.S. diplomacy at the United Nations on Tuesday. The vote for Linda Thomas-Greenfield reflected a divide between the Biden administration’s determination to re-engage with the world body and former President Donald Trump’s diplomacy that often left the U.S. isolated...
Shailene Woodley confirms she’s engaged to Aaron RodgersVideo
Shailene Woodley confirmed that she’s engaged to Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. The actor discussed her relationship with Rodgers on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” on Monday, saying they got engaged “a while ago.” The 37-year-old Rodgers mentioned his engagement and thanked his fiancée while accepting his third...
Drug executives: Big jump in vaccine supply is coming soon
Covid-19 vaccine makers told Congress on Tuesday to expect a big jump in the delivery of doses over the coming month after a rocky start to inoculations, and the companies insist they will be able to provide enough for most Americans by summer. By the end of March, Pfizer and...
Consumer confidence rises for 2nd straight month
SILVER SPRING, Md. — U.S. consumer confidence rose again in February as an accelerating covid-19 vaccine push provides hope for Americans who have lived through a year of unprecedented restrictions. The Conference Board reported Tuesday that its consumer confidence index rose to 91.3, up from 88.9 in January. However, despite...
In year of pandemic, Home Depot became supplier to millions
The housing market was among the very few bright spots for the U.S. economy in the year of the lockdown and Home Depot became its supplier, racking up an unprecedented $132 billion in sales for 2020. Sales grew even stronger in the final quarter of the year, surging 25% to...
Macy’s closes out a horrendous year with hope for 2021
NEW YORK — Macy’s fourth-quarter profit plunged 52% and sales slid nearly 19%. In the context of a year spent under the weight of a pandemic, that was seen as a pretty good ending to 2020 for the besieged department store. Shares rose more than 3% before the opening bell...
Coronavirus forces Biden to forgo pomp for U.S.-Canada meeting
The coronavirus pandemic is forcing President Joe Biden to alter another first for his administration: the typically formal White House meeting with a foreign counterpart. Biden will play host to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday for the first bilateral meeting of his presidency, but he will do it...
This date in sports history: Feb. 23Video
1938 — Joe Louis knocks out Nathan Mann in the third round to defend his world heavyweight title at Madison Square Garden in New York. 1960 — Figure skater Carol Heiss captures the first gold medal for the U.S. in the Squaw Valley Winter Olympics. 1968 — Wilt Chamberlain becomes...
Pennsylvania GOP sets meeting to discuss Toomey censure
HARRISBURG — Republican Party committee members in Pennsylvania expect to meet Wednesday night to decide whether to censure U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey amid a GOP backlash over his vote to convict Donald Trump during the former president’s second impeachment trial, members said. The state party chairman, Lawrence Tabas, emailed committee...
Reds’ Joey Votto wants to get back ‘to being dangerous’Video
Joey Votto is determined to be a power hitter again. “I want to get back to being dangerous,” Votto said Monday from the Cincinnati Reds’ spring training complex in Goodyear, Ariz. Besides, guys who crush the ball into the seats and punctuate it with a bat flip are just more...
Angels’ Mike Trout hears his playoff clock tickingVideo
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Mike Trout is beginning a new season with the same old question. How long will the Los Angeles Angels’ three-time AL MVP have to wait for his first playoff victory? “It’s definitely weighed on me,” Trout said Monday before the Angels’ first full workout of spring training...
Texas AG Ken Paxton was in Utah after historic freeze back home
AUSTIN, Texas — As Texas was reeling from last week’s historic freeze, the state’s attorney general was in Utah for previously scheduled meetings, a spokesman said Monday. Republican Ken Paxton’s trip was not previously known publicly, and he made no mention of being out of state while lashing out at...
Violation of NASCAR’s covid-19 guidelines leads to suspension, fine for Chip GanassiVideo
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Chip Ganassi was fined $30,000 and suspended one race for bringing a guest into the NASCAR pit area at Daytona International Speedway. NASCAR said the team owner violated its covid-19 guidelines by bringing a nonessential individual into the restricted competition area. Ganassi, a Pittsburgh native, cannot...
Colorado city probe faults overall police treatment of Elijah McClain
DENVER — The results of an investigation into the fatal arrest of Elijah McClain in suburban Denver released Monday criticizes how police handled the entire incident, faulting officers for their quick, aggressive treatment of the 23-year-old Black man and the department for having a weak accountability system that failed to...
Wife of drug kingpin ‘El Chapo’ arrested on U.S. drug charges
WASHINGTON — The wife of Mexican drug kingpin “El Chapo” Guzman was arrested on Monday at an airport in Virginia on international drug trafficking charges, the Justice Department said. Emma Coronel Aispuro, 31, who is a dual citizen of the U.S. and Mexico, was arrested at Dulles International Airport and...
In Rush Limbaugh’s home state, a flap over lowering flagsVideo
TALLAHASSEE — In life, the conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh was a divisive figure, who proudly waved the flag of conservatism and wallowed in the controversies he helped ignite. In death, those controversies follow him as partisans in his home state of Florida debate over whether to lower flags in...
Ohio governor: Up to 30% of fans for spring pro teams
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio’s major league sports teams beginning their seasons this spring could be allowed up to 30% of fan capacity under approved pandemic plans, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said Monday. Permitting 30% of fans into stadiums would be contingent on social distancing and continued mask wearing, the governor...
U.S. tops 500,000 coronavirus deaths, matching the toll of 3 warsVideo
The covid-19 death toll in the U.S. topped 500,000 Monday, a staggering number that all but matches the number of Americans killed in World War II, Korea and Vietnam combined. The lives lost, as recorded by Johns Hopkins University, are about equal to the population of Kansas City, Mo., and...
Mariners CEO Kevin Mather resigns after video commentsVideo
In one 45-minute conversation, Kevin Mather undermined the Seattle Mariners far beyond being the organization with the longest playoff drought in baseball. He took insensitive shots at a former All-Star from Japan and a top prospect from the Dominican Republic for their English skills. He admitted to the team possibly...
U.N. experts: Erik Prince, UAE firms violated Libya sanctions
UNITED NATIONS — American security contractor Erik Prince, a close ally of former U.S. President Donald Trump, violated the U.N. arms embargo against Libya along with three United Arab Emirates-based companies and their top managers during an operation to help a rebel military commander take the capital Tripoli, U.N. experts...
After long wait, New Jersey moves ahead on recreational potVideo
TRENTON, N.J. — A recreational marijuana marketplace, cannabis decriminalization and looser penalties for underage possession of the drug and alcohol became law Monday in New Jersey, more than three months after voters overwhelmingly approved a ballot question to legalize adult use of the drug. Acknowledging that the legislation took much...
Big factor in covid votes: Would Democrats sink first Biden goal?
WASHINGTON — Democratic leaders have a potent dynamic on their side as Congress preps for its first votes on the party’s $1.9 trillion covid-19 relief bill: Would any Democrat dare cast the vote that scuttles new President Joe Biden’s leadoff initiative? Democrats’ wafer-thin 10-vote House majority leaves little room for...
Dominion Voting Systems sues ‘MyPillow Guy’ for $1.3 billionVideo
MINNEAPOLIS — Dominion Voting Systems filed a $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit Monday against the founder and CEO of Minnesota-based MyPillow, saying that Mike Lindell falsely accused the company of rigging the 2020 presidential election. The lawsuit filed in federal court in the District of Columbia alleges that Lindell ignored repeated...
Ex-Pirate Chris Archer hoping to re-establish himself with RaysVideo
Chris Archer is back in familiar surroundings, eager to re-establish himself with the Tampa Bay Rays. The 32-year-old former Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher is three seasons removed from a being a two-time All-Star and the ace of a rotation the AL champions are revamping after losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers...
Police say N.Y. man killed by exploding gender reveal device
LIBERTY, N.Y. — An expectant father was killed when a device he was building for a gender reveal party exploded, police in New York said Monday. Christopher Pekny, 28, was assembling a device for his child’s gender reveal party in the Catskills town of Liberty when it exploded just before...
