Associated Press stories, Page 1783

LONDON — Britain became the first country to authorize AstraZeneca’s inexpensive, easy-to-handle covid-19 vaccine Wednesday, gaining another weapon against the virus amid a resurgence so severe that the government extended lockdowns to three-quarters of England’s population. The country also changed course by deciding to dispense the first dose of its...

TORONTO — The Canadian government said Wednesday that travelers must have a negative covid-19 test taken within three days before they arrive in the country. Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc said the measure will be implemented in the next few days. Canada already requires those entering the country to self-isolate...

2020 reminded us that the show mustn’t always go on. Disrupted by the coronavirus, sports stopped cold three months in and then started up again in emptied-out stadiums, stumbling, skidding and finally staggering across the finish line — all the while shadowed by loss. Celebrations were muted, crowd noise was...

WASHINGTON — The U.S. flew strategic bombers over the Persian Gulf on Wednesday for the second time this month, a show of force meant to deter Iran from attacking American or allied targets in the Middle East. One senior U.S. military officer said the flight by two Air Force B-52...

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Majority Democrats in the U.S. House will allow an Iowa Republican to take office while they review her opponent’s contest claiming the six-vote race was wrongly decided, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday. Pelosi said “yes” when asked at a news conference whether Mariannette Miller-Meeks will be...

Count West Virginia coach Neal Brown among those wanting to see Army play a bowl game. He will get the chance when his Mountaineers take on Army in the Liberty Bowl after the Black Knights were tapped as a covid-19 replacement for Tennessee. Brown sees this as a big opportunity...

MIAMI — The Trump administration has imposed sanctions on the Venezuelan judge and prosecutor behind the conviction on corruption charges of six American oil executives. The six employees of Houston-based Citgo were lured to Caracas just before Thanksgiving in 2017 on the pretense of attending a business meeting. Once there,...

BEDMINSTER — A hunter who fatally shot a man he apparently mistook for an animal at a state park has been charged with homicide and weapons counts, authorities said. Kenneth Troy Heller, 52, of Warminster made his initial court appearance Wednesday and was jailed after the judge denied him bail....

LONDON — The British government on Wednesday extended its toughest coronavirus restrictions to more than three-quarters of England’s population, saying a fast-spreading new variant of the virus has reached most of the country. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said that at midnight the government’s top infection-warning level, Tier 4, would be...

Stocks eked out modest gains Wednesday, keeping the major stock indexes on Wall Street at or near record highs. The S&P 500 inched up 0.1%, recovering some of its losses from a day earlier. It’s hovering within 0.1% of the record high it set on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial...

Britain’s House of Commons voted resoundingly on Wednesday to approve a trade deal with the European Union, paving the way for an orderly break with the bloc that will finally complete the U.K.’s years-long Brexit journey. With just a day to spare, lawmakers voted 521-73 in favor of the agreement...

WEST POINT, N.Y. — When Army came calling at Jeff Monken’s door, departing for the north was not on his mind. He was content as head coach at Georgia Southern, fresh from pulling off one of the biggest college football upsets in recent memory — 26-20 over the Florida Gators...

Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly is clearly tired of the question: Do the Fighting Irish have something to prove as they again prepare to take on one of college football’s elite teams in the College Football Playoff? “No, I mean, we’re knocking on the door every year playing really good...

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Joe Louis Clark, the baseball bat and bullhorn-wielding principal whose unwavering commitment to his students and uncompromising disciplinary methods inspired the 1989 film “Lean on Me,” died at his Florida home on Tuesday after a long battle with an unspecified illness, his family said. He was 82....

NEW YORK — Ryan Seacrest will have a special pair of guests alongside the music stars at this year’s New Year’s Eve celebration on ABC — the president-elect and the future first lady. President-elect Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden are scheduled to give “their last interview of the year”...

SAN ANTONIO — Texas has been tested all year, but losing senior quarterback Sam Ehlinger to a shoulder injury was an obstacle the Longhorns never anticipated. The same spirit that pushed the team through this entire chaotic season helped the Longhorns thrive without him. Sophomore signal-caller Casey Thompson came off...

BRUSSELS — Top European Union officials and Chinese President Xi Jinping will conclude a business investment deal Wednesday that will open big opportunities to European companies, but has the potential to irk the new American administration. Amid concerns about the human rights situation in China, the EU said the seven-year-long...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — More than a year before Anthony Warner detonated a bomb in downtown Nashville on Christmas, officers visited his home after his girlfriend told police that he was building bombs in an RV trailer at his residence, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. But they were...

JERUSALEM — Jonathan Pollard, who spent 30 years in U.S. prison for spying for Israel, arrived in Israel early Wednesday with his wife, triumphantly kissing the ground as he disembarked from the aircraft in the culmination of a decades-long affair that had long strained relations between the two close allies....

BATON ROUGE — Luke Letlow, Louisiana’s incoming Republican member of the U.S. House, died Tuesday night from complications related to covid-19 only days before being sworn into office. He was 41. Letlow spokesman Andrew Bautsch confirmed the congressman-elect’s death at Ochsner-LSU Health Shreveport. “The family appreciates the numerous prayers and...