Associated Press stories, Page 1841
Spacewalkers take extra safety precautions for toxic ammonia
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Spacewalking astronauts had to take extra safety precautions Saturday after possibly getting toxic ammonia on their suits from the International Space Station’s external cooling system. Victor Glover and Mike Hopkins had no trouble removing and venting a couple of old jumper cables to remove any ammonia...
Virus tolls similar despite governors’ contrasting actions
Nearly a year after California Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered the nation’s first statewide shutdown because of the coronavirus, masks remain mandated, indoor dining and other activities are significantly limited, and Disneyland remains closed. By contrast, Florida has no statewide restrictions. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has prohibited municipalities from fining people...
More than 1,000 Guard troops now leaving D.C.; others stay on
WASHINGTON — More than 1,000 National Guard members will be leaving Washington, D.C. over the next few days, but several thousand others will stay on for days or weeks, in the ongoing mission to provide security for the U.S. Capitol that has drawn criticism from lawmakers and reluctance from the...
Immigrant living in church for years wins temporary reprieve
BEDFORD, Mass. — A Guatemalan woman who has been living in a Massachusetts church for more than three years to avoid deportation has been granted a reprieve to remain in the country for now. Maria Macario was issued a one-year stay of her deportation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement...
Wyoming shelves hate crime law decades after Shepard’s death
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Lawmakers in Wyoming, where gay college student Matthew Shepard was killed more than 20 years ago, again decided not to adopt a hate crimes law. Wyoming is one of just three states that haven’t enacted hate crimes legislation since Shepard was beaten and left for dead in...
Governors applaud Biden’s vaccine timeline, but need supply
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Governors largely cheered President Joe Biden’s declaration that all adults should be eligible for coronavirus vaccinations by May 1, but the goal will require a shift for states that have been methodical in how they roll out the shots. The top health official in California said the...
IRS says new round of covid relief payments on the way
WASHINGTON — Along with daylight saving time, this weekend could bring Americans fatter bank balances. Officials at the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service said Friday that processing of the new round of stimulus payments has already begun, with the aim of having the first payments start showing up in...
Better with age? Westwood takes lead at Players ChampionshipVideo
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Lee Westwood isn’t interested in comparing himself with the player who rose to No. 1 in the world a decade ago. All he knows is he is playing some of his best golf, and he gets another chance to see if it can hold up...
Dutch inventor of audio cassette tape, Lou Ottens, dies at age 94
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Lou Ottens, the Dutch inventor of the cassette tape, the medium of choice for millions of bedroom mix tapes, has died, said Philips, the company where he also helped develop the compact disc. Ottens died Saturday at age 94, Philips confirmed. A structural engineer who trained...
Kansas withdraws from Big 12 tourney after positive covid test
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas withdrew from the Big 12 Tournament on Friday after a positive covid-19 test within the men’s basketball program, becoming the third major team to have its conference postseason come to an end because of the coronavirus. The development sent No. 13 Texas into the championship...
Brazil reaches deal for 10 million shots of Russian vaccine
Brazil’s federal government said Friday it has reached a deal to purchase 10 million doses of the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine against covid-19, though the shot is yet to be approved by the South American nation’s health agency. The Brazilian Health Ministry said on Twitter that the jabs will be...
Tom Brady signs extension, frees salary cap space for Buccaneers
TAMPA, Fla. — Tom Brady has agreed to a contract extension with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that provides the Super Bowl champions with much-needed salary cap relief and will help the seven-time NFL champion reach a goal of playing until he’s at least 45. Brady posted a picture of himself...
Minneapolis reaches historic $27M settlement with George Floyd’s family
The city of Minneapolis on Friday agreed to pay $27 million to settle a civil lawsuit from George Floyd’s family over the Black man’s death in police custody, as jury selection continued in a former officer’s murder trial. Council members met privately to discuss the settlement, then returned to public...
UN says Ebola in Guinea may be linked to 2014 outbreak
A top official at the World Health Organization said that a genetic analysis of the ongoing Ebola outbreak in Guinea suggests it may have been sparked by a survivor of the devastating West Africa epidemic that ended five years ago. At a press briefing in Geneva, WHO emergencies chief Dr....
Gov. Wolf seeks to phase out Pennsylvania’s gas tax
Amid a deepening stalemate over financing highways and public transit, Gov. Tom Wolf on Friday proposed phasing out Pennsylvania’s gasoline tax, the second-highest in the nation, and appointed a commission to recommend alternative ways to pay for the state’s needs. Wolf ordered a commission of several dozen lawmakers, transportation industry...
Nick Markakis retires after 15 years with Braves, Orioles
ATLANTA — Outfielder Nick Markakis has retired after 15-year career with the Atlanta Braves and Baltimore Orioles. The 37-year-od Markakis, who was a free agent, told The Athletic in a story published Friday that he was done playing after accumulating 2,388 hits, earning his lone All-Star selection in 2018 and...
What’s this craze for ‘NFTs’ all about, anyway?
LONDON — A digital art piece, tweaked using cryptocurrency technology to make it one-of-a-kind, sold at auction this week for nearly $70 million. That transaction made global headlines and buoyed already-mushrooming interest in these kinds of digital objects — known as non-fungible tokens, or NFTs — that have captured the...
Maskless, boozing JetBlue passenger faces $14,500 FAA fine
An airline passenger could wind up paying $14,500 for refusing to wear a face mask and drinking alcohol that he had brought on board. The Federal Aviation Administration said Friday it proposed the civil penalty against a passenger on a Dec. 23 JetBlue Airways flight that left New York’s John...
Biden moves to relieve strain of child border crossings
The Biden administration hopes to relieve the strain of thousands of unaccompanied children coming to the southern border by ending a Trump-era order that discouraged potential family sponsors from coming forward to care for them. The 2018 policy called on Health and Human Services to share information about family sponsors...
Conflict grows between U.S. and allies over vaccine supply
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s administration is stockpiling tens of millions of doses of a covid-19 vaccine whose authorization in the U.S. remains uncertain, frustrating U.S. allies who say those doses should be used now to save lives overseas. The standoff is part of a growing global debate over who...
Philly to dim lights to make it safer for birds in flight
The lights of Philadelphia might not shine as bright in the coming weeks as a coalition in the City of Brotherly Love tries to prevent millions of migrating birds that pass through twice a year from slamming into skyscrapers and crashing to the sidewalk. Bird Safe Philly on Thursday announced...
WHO grants emergency approval for 1-shot J&J covid vaccine
GENEVA — The World Health Organization granted an emergency use listing Friday for the coronavirus vaccine made by Johnson & Johnson, meaning the one-dose shot can now theoretically be used as part of the international COVAX effort to distribute vaccines globally, including to poor countries without any supplies. In a...
Netflix tests out a possible password-sharing crackdown
NEW YORK — Netflix is testing a way to crack down on password sharing. The popular streaming service has been asking some users of the popular streaming site to verify their account via email or text, or to “verify later.” “If you don’t live with the owner of this account,...
Patriots completing 1-year deal to re-sign Cam Newton
BOSTON — The New England Patriots are completing an agreement to re-sign free-agent quarterback Cam Newton, a person with knowledge of the negotiations told The Associated Press. The one-year deal is worth close to $14 million, the person said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because new signings can’t be...
Michigan: All adults eligible for covid vaccine April 5
LANSING, Mich. — Michigan announced Friday that all residents age 16 and up will become eligible for the covid-19 vaccine on April 5, nearly a month before the May 1 date pledged by President Joe Biden. People age 16 to 49 with certain medical conditions or disabilities will qualify starting...
