Associated Press stories, Page 1813

LONE TREE, Colo. — A 15-year-old Colorado high school student and young scientist who has used artificial intelligence and created apps to tackle contaminated drinking water, cyberbullying, opioid addiction and other social problems has been named Time Magazine’s first-ever “Kid of the Year.” Gitanjali Rao, a sophomore at STEM School...

MEXICO CITY — Sometimes Latin American dance tunes on the radio — salsa, cumbia, ranchera — bring a little cheer into the emergency room of Mexico City’s Ajusco Medio hospital, which is operating well over normal capacity because of the coronavirus pandemic. Dr. Marta Patricia Mancilla, head of the emergency...

WILMINGTON, Del. — President-elect Joe Biden is predicting a “bleak future” if Congress doesn’t take speedy action on a coronavirus aid bill, amid a nationwide spike in the virus that’s hampering the nation’s recovery. Biden delivered remarks Friday afternoon reacting to November’s national jobs report, which showed a sharp decrease...

As the old man on the roster, Landen Akers has been at Iowa State longer than fifth-year coach Matt Campbell. The Cyclones occupied the spot next to Kansas at the bottom of the Big 12 when the wide receiver from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, arrived in Ames. Now the Cyclones (7-2,...

LONDON — A week of intense trade talks between Britain and the European Union ended in stalemate Friday, with attention turning to political leaders who will decide whether significant differences can be bridged. EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier said he and his British counterpart, David Frost, had agreed to “pause”...

WASHINGTON — The State Department said Friday that the U.S. will impose visa restrictions on Chinese citizens engaged in overseas influence operations. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the restrictions would apply to Chinese Communist Party officials or anyone else taking part in propaganda or influence campaigns linked to the...

ATLANTA — Vice President Mike Pence is trying to help Republicans project a unified front in two high-stakes Senate runoffs as he campaigns in Georgia a day ahead of President Donald Trump’s potentially volatile visit to the state that will determine which party controls the Senate in January. The vice...

WASHINGTON — The Democratic-controlled House on Friday approved a bill to decriminalize and tax marijuana at the federal level, reversing what supporters called a failed policy of criminalization of pot use and taking steps to address racial disparities in enforcement of federal drug laws. Opponents, mostly Republicans, called the bill...

HOUSTON — More than two dozen people who police in Texas believe were being held as a part of a possible human smuggling operation have been removed from a house in Houston. One of the men was seen Thursday running down a residential street in his underwear, yelling that he...

WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi gave an optimistic assessment of the prospects for a mid-sized COVID-19 relief bill and a separate $1.4 trillion governmentwide spending bill on Friday, teeing up expectations for a successful burst of legislative action to reverse months of frustration on pandemic relief. Pelosi told reporters...

The Cleveland Browns got two more players back from the covid-19 list, activating starting linebacker Sione Takitaki and defensive end Joe Jackson on Friday. Earlier this week, the team activated star defensive end Myles Garrett, who missed the past two games after getting sick. Garrett has practiced this week and...

LONDON — Ukrainian tennis player Stanislav Poplavskyy has been given a lifetime ban for participating in match-fixing activities, the Tennis Integrity Unit said Friday. The TIU said Poplavskyy took part in match-fixing and “courtsiding” activities on multiple occasions between 2015 and 2019. Courtsiding involves transmission of live scoring data from...

WASHINGTON — America’s employers sharply scaled back their hiring last month as the viral pandemic accelerated across the country, adding 245,000 jobs, the fewest since April and the fifth straight monthly slowdown. At the same time, the unemployment rate fell to a still-high 6.7%, from 6.9% in October as many...

Stocks returned to record highs Friday on Wall Street as traders took a discouraging jobs report as a sign that Congress may finally move on delivering more aid for the pandemic-striken economy. The S&P 500 rose 0.9% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.8%. In another bullish signal, small-company...

BRADSHAW, W.Va. — Police in West Virginia have arrested a woman in a hit-and-run crash that killed a 2-year-old boy. Angel Alberta Estep, 37, of War was charged Thursday with negligent homicide, crash involving death and other counts, McDowell County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy James Muncy told news outlets. The child...

EDINBURG, Texas (AP) — A Texas high school football player who ran onto the field and blindsided a referee who had ejected him from a game was charged with assault Friday and his team has been taken out of the playoffs. Senior defensive lineman Emmanuel Duron of Edinburg High School...

MANSFIELD, Ohio — Authorities on Friday were investigating after a welfare check by police turned into an exchange of gunfire that left one man dead and a sheriff’s deputy wounded in Ohio. Two deputies were sent to a home to check on a person around 11:30 p.m. Thursday, the Richland...

DETROIT — A week after being fined by regulators for delaying safety recalls, Hyundai is recalling about 130,000 vehicles in the U.S. because the engines could fail. The recall covers certain 2012 Santa Fe SUVs, 2015 and 2016 Veloster cars, and Sonata Hybrid cars from 2011 through 2013 and 2016....

PRAGUE — A Czech government advisory body has agreed to a proposal for the country to phase out coal as an energy source by 2038, a plan that environmental groups say isn’t ambitious enough. Trade and Minister Karel Havlicek, one of the two chairmen of the body, said on Friday...

NEW YORK — A suspect in the shooting of a state trooper in Massachusetts was killed during a gunfight with U.S. marshals in New York City early Friday that left two of the officers wounded. The two deputy marshals injured in the 5:30 a.m. confrontation in the Bronx were treated...

HARRISBURG — Fresh off another rejection in Pennsylvania’s courts, Republicans on Thursday again asked the U.S. Supreme Court to block President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the battleground state, while the state’s lawyers say fatal flaws in the original case mean justices are highly unlikely to grant it. Republican U.S. Rep....

WASHINGTON — Up soon for President-elect Joe Biden: naming his top health care officials as the coronavirus pandemic rages. It’s hard to imagine more consequential picks. Already two Democratic governors seen as candidates for health and human services secretary have faded from the frame. Rhode Island’s Gina Raimondo told reporters...