Associated Press stories, Page 1774
Georgia judge sets October trial in slaying of Ahmaud Arbery
SAVANNAH, Ga. — A Georgia judge Friday scheduled an October trial for three white men charged with murder in the slaying of Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man who was chased and shot while running in the defendants’ neighborhood. Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley issued a notice stating that jury...
Alexander Zverev beats Rafael Nadal in straight sets in Madrid Open quarters
MADRID — Alexander Zverev ended his winless streak on clay against Rafael Nadal on Friday, keeping the Spaniard from winning a sixth Madrid Open. Zverev defeated Nadal 6-4, 6-4 in the quarterfinals, picking up his third consecutive win over the 20-time grand slam champion — but first on clay. His...
Former Bradford County DA drops ‘vicious lies’ defense, pleads guilty in sex case
A Pennsylvania district attorney who had cast the sex case against him as a pack of “vicious lies” pleaded guilty Friday to pressuring clients for sex when he was a defense attorney and then coercing them to keep quiet about it. Bradford County District Attorney Chad Salsman admitted guilt and...
UEFA deal with 9 Super League clubs; 3 rebels face sanctions
MANCHESTER, England — Nine of the 12 Super League clubs have formally renounced the breakaway and committed to the existing European competitions but they will have to give up 5% of UEFA revenue for one season as a punishment for the rebellion that briefly split football. But Barcelona, Real Madrid...
Former MLB manager Bobby Valentine running for mayor of hometown
STAMFORD, Conn. — Former Major League Baseball player and manager Bobby Valentine is taking a swing at politics, announcing Friday that he’s running for mayor of his Connecticut hometown. Valentine, 70, who currently serves as the athletic director at Sacred Heart University, posted a video on social media and said...
Ohio becomes latest state to propose transgender sports ban
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Transgender girls would be banned from participating in female sports teams in high school or college in two bills introduced by Republican lawmakers in Ohio, which became the latest state to take up the contentious debate. The proposals, titled the Save Women’s Sports Act, would require schools...
WHO panel OKs emergency use of China’s Sinopharm vaccine
GENEVA — The World Health Organization on Friday gave its authorization for emergency use of a covid-19 vaccine manufactured by China’s Sinopharm, potentially paving the way for millions of the doses to reach needy countries through a U.N.-backed program rolling out coronavirus vaccines. The decision by a WHO technical advisory...
Ohio GOP censures 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump
LEWIS CENTER, Ohio — The Ohio Republican Party censured U.S. Rep. Anthony Gonzalez and nine other GOP representatives Friday for voting in February to impeach former President Donald Trump, in a nearly unanimous vote of the powerful central committee. The vote made the Cleveland congressman the eighth of the 10...
Brazil’s Amazon deforestation surged in April after pledges
RIO DE JANEIRO — Preliminary data released Friday signaled deforestation of Brazil’s Amazon in April was the highest for that month in at least five years, a report that comes two weeks after Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro said his government would dedicate more energy and resources toward curbing deforestation. Deforestation...
TripAdvisor removes insensitive review of Auschwitz Museum
NEEDHAM, Mass. — Travel website TripAdvisor has removed an insensitive review of the Auschwitz Museum after initially saying it complied with its submission guidelines. The museum at the site of the Nazi concentration camp in Poland on Thursday tweeted that it had asked the Massachusetts-based travel website to take down...
Tokyo Olympic head says IOC President Thomas Bach visit to Japan could be ‘tough’
TOKYO — The president of the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee said Friday that a visit to Japan this month by IOC President Thomas Bach seemed unlikely with a state of emergency order being extended by the government to Tokyo and other areas until May 31. Canceling the trip could be...
EU leaders attend summit in person for 1st time this year
PORTO, Portugal — European Union leaders and their large following of diplomats and advisers met Friday in Portugal for two days of in-person talks, signaling their belief that the threat from covid-19 on the continent is waning amid a quickening vaccine rollout. The pandemic was a constant presence, however. Meeting...
4 ex-cops indicted on U.S. civil rights charges in George Floyd death
MINNEAPOLIS — A federal grand jury has indicted the four former Minneapolis police officers involved in George Floyd’s arrest and death, accusing them of violating the Black man’s constitutional rights as he was restrained face-down on the pavement and gasping for air, according to indictments unsealed Friday. The three-count indictment...
Stocks rally to records after grim jobs data undercuts rates
NEW YORK — Stocks are rallying to records on Wall Street Friday despite a stunningly disappointing report on the nation’s job market, as investors see it helping to keep interest rates low. The S&P 500 rose 0.7% in morning trading, above the 4,232 level. If it stays there, it would...
U.S. employers added just 266K jobs in April as hiring slows
WASHINGTON — America’s employers added just 266,000 jobs last month, sharply lower than in March and a sign that some businesses are struggling to find enough workers as the economic recovery strengthens. With viral cases declining and states and localities easing restrictions, businesses have added jobs for four straight months,...
High-level talks resume on returning U.S. to Iran nuclear deal
VIENNA — World powers began a fourth round of high-level talks in Austria aimed at bringing the United States back into the nuclear deal with Iran, with major stumbling blocks remaining Friday but both sides suggesting a resolution was possible. The U.S. pulled out of the landmark 2015 deal in...
Carbon emissions from energy dropped 10% in the EU last year
BRUSSELS — Carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel combustion dropped 10% in the European Union last year amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to estimates from the EU’s statistical office. Eurostat said in a statement Friday that emissions fell in all of the EU’s 27 member nations compared to 2019 as...
Front-line, farm-state Democrats push back against Biden tax plan
WASHINGTON — A group of 13 House Democrats, led by Iowa’s Cindy Axne and California’s Jim Costa, is pressing party leaders to exempt family farms from a tax increase President Joe Biden has proposed on inherited assets to help pay for new child care, education and other spending. Under Biden’s...
Main stage of Chinese rocket likely to plunge to Earth soonVideo
BEIJING — The largest section of the rocket that launched the main module of China’s first permanent space station into orbit is expected to plunge back to Earth as early as Saturday at an unknown location. Usually, discarded core, or first-stage, rockets reenter soon after liftoff, normally over water, and...
South Carolina cuts federal unemployment boost from weekly payments
COLUMBIA — South Carolina will leave the federal unemployment programs providing extra money to jobless residents in light of “unprecedented” workforce shortages across the state, Gov. Henry McMaster announced on Thursday. The state will opt out of the coronavirus pandemic assistance programs beginning June 30. The federal benefits include an...
Blast from past as Mickelson opens with 64 at Quail HollowVideo
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Phil Mickelson has gone nine months since he finished among the top 20, and it looks as though that streak is about to end at the Wells Fargo Championship. The 50-year-old Mickelson kept his focus Thursday at Quail Hollow and blistered the course for a 7-under-par 64...
2 women freed from ongoing Minnesota bank robbery standoff
ST. CLOUD, Minn. — A standoff between police in St. Cloud, Minn., and an alleged hostage-taker continued into the evening Thursday despite the release of two employees. The women were released from a Wells Fargo Bank branch, according to authorities. The first woman ran from the bank toward members of...
Paul Newberry: The NHL embarrasses itself again as MMA On IceVideo
The National Hockey League is an embarrassment. This is not a new development, but it’s worth revisiting. As long as the league condones the sort of mindless, reckless violence we’ve seen this week, it will never be anything more than MMA On Ice. To contend the carnage that went on...
Mandaloun and Essential Quality won’t run in PreaknessVideo
Kentucky Derby favorite Essential Quality and runner-up Mandaloun will not run against Medina Spirit in the Preakness, trainer Brad Cox said Thursday. Cox said he will skip the second jewel of the Triple Crown with those two horses and Caddo River, who was scratched from the Derby for spiking a...
U.S. sends more warplanes to protect pullout from AfghanistanVideo
WASHINGTON — The United States has deployed a dozen additional warplanes to bolster protection of American and coalition troops making a final withdrawal from Afghanistan as Taliban insurgents step up pressure on Afghan government forces, top Pentagon officials said Thursday. Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,...
