Associated Press stories, Page 1774
NASA rover lands on Mars to look for signs of ancient life
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A NASA rover streaked through the orange Martian sky and landed on the planet Thursday, accomplishing the riskiest step yet in an epic quest to bring back rocks that could answer whether life ever existed on Mars. Ground controllers at the space agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory...
This date in sports history: Feb. 19Video
1928 — Canada wins the gold medal in hockey at the Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland. Canada, represented by the 1926 Toronto University team, receives a bye to the final round. The Canadians then beat Sweden, 11-0, Britain, 14-0 and Switzerland, 13-0. 1955 — Bernie Geoffrion of the Montreal...
No. 4 Ohio State sends slumping Penn State to another lossVideo
STATE COLLEGE — E.J. Liddell scored 17 of his 23 points in the first half, and No. 4 Ohio State outlasted Penn State, 92-82, on Thursday night. Duane Washington scored 21 points and C.J. Walker added 13 for the Buckeyes (18-4, 12-4 Big Ten), who used a 15-0 run midway...
Rose Lavelle’s 2nd-half goal lifts U.S. past Canada 1-0Video
ORLANDO, Fla. — Rose Lavelle scored in the 79th minute to give the United States a 1-0 victory over Canada in the SheBelieves Cup on Thursday night. The U.S. extended its winning streak to 35 matches overall and 51 on American soil. Alex Morgan’s header off a cross from Crystal...
Democrats consider piecemeal approach to immigration reformVideo
WASHINGTON — After decades of failed attempts to pass comprehensive immigration legislation, congressional Democrats and President Joe Biden are signaling openness to a piece-by-piece approach. They unveiled a broad bill Thursday that would provide an eight-year pathway to citizenship for 11 million people living in the country without legal status....
Philadelphia lawmaker Malcolm Kenyatta to run for U.S. SenateVideo
HARRISBURG — A Philadelphia Democrat, state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, said Thursday that he is running for Pennsylvania’s open U.S. Senate seat in the election next year. Kenyatta, 30, is in his second term in the state House of Representatives. Last year, he campaigned around the country for President Joe Biden...
Sam Burns starts great, finishes strong in 1st round at RivieraVideo
LOS ANGELES — Sam Burns had the ideal start at Riviera. His finish was even better. Burns opened with an 18-foot eagle putt and closed with three straight birdies Thursday in the Genesis Invitational, giving him a 7-under-par 64, the third time this season he has shot 64 in the...
Georgia House Republicans push to ban early voting on Sunday
ATLANTA — Republican lawmakers in Georgia’s state House on Thursday introduced a sweeping election bill that would place restrictions on absentee voting and ban counties from holding early voting on Sundays, a popular day for Black churchgoers who vote during “Souls to the Polls” events. The bill comes after Black...
Cole says MLB players are concerned about lack of competitivenessVideo
New York Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole and other baseball players will be pushing for changes that make more teams competitive as they think about looming labor negotiations that could lead to a work stoppage at the start of 2022. Many veterans who are not top stars have taken substantial paycuts...
Health experts believe playing 2 seasons in 1 year could take toll on FCS playersVideo
North Dakota State has played 16 football games in a season twice and no fewer than 14 every year since 2010. Now imagine the Bison playing 27 or 28 in a calendar year. It could happen, considering they have won eight of the last nine Football Championship Subdivision titles. With...
PennDOT eyes tolls to fund work on nine interstate bridges
HARRISBURG — Facing growing demands on its highways, Pennsylvania’s Department of Transportation on Thursday named nine bridges on six interstates, including I-95′s mile-long Girard Point Bridge in Philadelphia, that need upgrades and that it will consider for tolling to help generate the cash. The work on the nine bridges would...
Ivanka Trump tells Marco Rubio she won’t run for his Senate seat
WASHINGTON — Ivanka Trump will not be running for Florida Sen. Marco Rubio’s U.S. Senate seat in 2022 as she settles into life after Washington. The former president’s eldest daughter and ex-senior White House adviser spoke with Rubio several weeks ago and told him she would not be running for...
South Dakota’s AG charged with 3 misdemeanors in fatal crash
PIERRE, S.D. — South Dakota’s Republican attorney general has been charged with misdemeanor careless driving after he struck and killed a man with his car, authorities said Thursday. Jason Ravnsborg is also facing misdemeanor charges of operating a motor vehicle while using a mobile electronic device and veering out of...
Sen. Ted Cruz says he went to Mexico amid deadly storm ‘to be a good dad’
DALLAS — With Texas paralyzed by a winter storm, Sen. Ted Cruz took his family on vacation to Cancun, Mexico, drawing criticism from leaders in both parties and potentially damaging his political ambitions. In a statement on Thursday, Cruz said he was returning to Texas. He said he accompanied his...
Bob Dole says he’s been diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer
TOPEKA, Kan. — Bob Dole, a former longtime senator and the 1996 Republican presidential nominee, announced Thursday that he has been diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer. Dole, 97, said in a short statement that he was diagnosed recently and would begin treatment on Monday. “While I certainly have some...
Anti-vax at the Vatican? You might lose your job
ROME — The Vatican is taking Pope Francis’ pro-vaccine stance very seriously: Any Vatican employee who refuses to get a coronavirus shot without a valid medical reason risks being fired. A Feb. 8 decree signed by the governor of the Vatican city-state says that employees who opt out of vaccination...
Arkansas state senator says he’s leaving Republican Party
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A longtime Arkansas legislator and nephew of the state’s Republican governor said Thursday that he’s leaving the GOP, citing former President Donald Trump’s rhetoric and the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol by the former president’s supporters. State Sen. Jim Hendren’s announcement closes the door on...
Baby whale found dead on beach south of Israel’s Tel Aviv
TEL AVIV, Israel — Israeli officials said Thursday that a dead whale has washed up on a beach south of Tel Aviv. David Halfon of the Nature and Parks Authority said the animal was a fin whale calf about half the size of an adult, which can grow to more...
U.S. jobless claims rise to 861,000 as layoffs stay high
WASHINGTON — The number of Americans applying for unemployment aid rose last week to 861,000, evidence that layoffs remain painfully high despite a steady drop in the number of confirmed viral infections. Applications from laid-off workers rose 13,000 from the previous week, which was revised sharply higher, the Labor Department...
Naomi Osaka eyes 4th Slam title in Australian Open final vs. Jennifer Brady
Whether or not Naomi Osaka claims the Australian Open championship — and make no mistake, she will be expected to win — this much seems certain: Tennis has a new dominant force. Sure, it’s clearly possible that Osaka could be beaten by the 22nd-seeded American Jennifer Brady in the title...
AP source: Eagles send Carson Wentz to Colts for draft picks
PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Eagles have agreed to trade Carson Wentz to the Indianapolis Colts, according to a person familiar with the deal. The Eagles will receive a third-round pick in this year’s draft and a conditional second-round pick in 2022 that can turn into a first-round pick if Wentz...
Longtime editor Genevieve Young left legacy in publishing
NEW YORK — Genevieve Young was a publishing editor with a long and diverse legacy. She entered the business in the early 1950s, when there were few female editors and even fewer Asians. She worked with authors ranging from Herman Wouk to Betty Rollin and played a key role in...
NFL increases salary cap minimum to $180 million
The NFL has increased the salary cap to a minimum of $180 million for the 2021 season. The league and the NFL Players Association had previously set a minimum of $175 million because of revenue losses incurred during the coronavirus pandemic. In a memo sent to clubs Thursday and obtained...
Myanmar protests focus on junta’s economic support
YANGON, Myanmar — State railway workers in Myanmar continued to strike Thursday despite a police rampage the previous night targeting them in a sign of the military junta’s concern over growing civil disobedience by public workers protesting the coup. Three-quarters of the country’s civil servants are on strike, all private...
German police crack down on Berlin organized crime families
BERLIN — Hundreds of German police and other investigators raided more than 20 buildings in Berlin and the surrounding state of Brandenburg early Thursday in a crackdown on two feuding organized crime families, authorities said. Two people, a 44-year-old and a 22-year-old, were arrested, police said. No names were given...
