Associated Press stories, Page 1862
Christopher Nolan calls Warner’s streaming plan ‘a mess’Video
Christopher Nolan, one of Warner Bros.’ most important filmmakers, has come out strongly against the company’s decision to debut its films on HBO Max and in theaters in 2021. The “Tenet” filmmaker told The Associated Press Monday that it’s not a good business decision and criticized how the company handled...
Pope makes surprise early morning prayer visit in rainy Rome
ROME — Pope Francis on Tuesday made a surprise early morning visit to the Spanish Steps in Rome to pray for people worldwide struggling in the pandemic. The Vatican last week said that, because of social distancing concerns, Francis was canceling the traditional Dec. 8 afternoon visit to the square...
UK-EU talks near collapse ahead of Johnson trip to Brussels
LONDON — Britain and the European Union warned Tuesday that talks on a post-Brexit free-trade deal are teetering on the brink of collapse, with just over three weeks until an economic rupture that will cause upheaval for businesses on both sides of the English Channel. Officials downplayed the chances of...
‘Turning point’: UK giving 1st doses of covid-19 vaccine
LONDON — British health authorities rolled out the first doses of a widely tested and independently reviewed covid-19 vaccine Tuesday, starting a global immunization program that is expected to gain momentum as more serums win approval. The first shot was given to Margaret Keenan, who turns 91 next week, at...
Trump questions Pennsylvania House Speaker Bryan Cutler on electoral votes
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is continuing his futile appeal to battleground state lawmakers to subvert the votes of their constituents. The president has reached out twice to Pennsylvania House Speaker Bryan Cutler, a Republican, to see what might be possible for Trump to do about the state’s presidential vote....
Florida agents raid home of ousted covid-19 data curator Rebekah JonesVideo
TALLAHASSEE — Florida authorities investigating an alleged hack into the state’s emergency response system raided the home Monday of a woman fired earlier this year from her job as covid-19 data curator. Florida Department of Law Enforcement said that Rebekah Jones, who was fired for unauthorized public comments about the...
Biden to name retired Gen. Lloyd Austin as defense secretary
WASHINGTON — President-elect Joe Biden will nominate retired four-star Army general Lloyd J. Austin to be secretary of defense, according to four people familiar with the decision. If confirmed by the Senate, Austin would be the first Black leader of the Pentagon. Biden selected Austin over the longtime front-runner candidate,...
Trump administration passed up chance to lock in more Pfizer vaccine dosesVideo
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration opted last summer not to lock in a chance to buy millions of additional doses of one of the leading coronavirus vaccine contenders, a decision that could delay the delivery of a second batch of doses until manufacturer Pfizer fulfills other international contracts. The revelation,...
Pearl Harbor dead remembered in ceremony shrunk by pandemicVideo
HONOLULU — U.S. servicemen and women and National Park Service officials gathered at Pearl Harbor on Monday to remember those killed in the attack — but elderly survivors stayed home to pay their respects from afar to avoid health risks from the coronavirus pandemic. The USS Arizona battleship bell rang...
EPA overrides scientists’ calls for tougher pollutant limit
The Trump administration on Monday made final its decision to leave limits for a deadly kind of air pollutant unchanged, overriding scientific findings that tougher standards could save tens of thousands of lives yearly. Environmental groups and many scientists have condemned the decision, slated to be among the final actions...
Lawmakers who met with Rudy Giuliani scramble after covid newsVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Monday his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani was “doing very well” after being hospitalized with the coronavirus as lawmakers in battleground states that Giuliani visited last week scrambled to make sure they did not contract the virus. The 76-year-old former New York mayor, hospitalized in...
3 years later, dog and Michigan owners reunited in Illinois
WHEATON, Ill. — A whiff of her old blanket was enough for Lola: The black Lab was back in her owners’ arms three years after the Michigan dog disappeared on a trip to suburban Chicago. “I feel like I’m in a dream right now,” Debra Mejeur said Saturday when she...
Gonzaga, Baylor remain atop AP Top 25 after game scrapped
Gonzaga and Baylor remained atop the AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll Monday after their hotly anticipated weekend game in Indianapolis was called off about 90 minutes before tipoff because of positive covid-19 tests and contact tracing within the Bulldogs’ program. Gonzaga received 54 of 61 first-place votes from a...
Dick Allen, fearsome hitter and 7-time All-Star, dies at 78Video
Dick Allen, a fearsome hitter who was a seven-time All-Star, the 1964 NL Rookie of the Year and the 1972 AL MVP, has died. He was 78. The Philadelphia Phillies, the team Allen started out with, announced his death on Monday. Allen’s No. 15 was retired by the Phillies in...
Report finds ‘directed’ microwave energy likely made U.S. diplomats ill
WASHINGTON — A new report by a National Academy of Sciences committee has found that “directed” microwave radiation is the likely cause of illnesses among American diplomats in Cuba and China. The study commissioned by the State Department and released Saturday is the latest attempt to find a cause for...
As coronavirus relief talks drag, Congress prepares temporary funding fixVideo
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers are giving themselves more time to sort through their end-of-session business on government spending and covid-19 relief, preparing a one-week stopgap spending bill that would prevent a shutdown this weekend. House floor leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said on Twitter that the temporary government funding bill is slated...
Adam Wainwright wins MLB’s Roberto Clemente Award
NEW YORK — Longtime St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright has won the Roberto Clemente Award, given annually by Major League Baseball for community involvement and philanthropy. Wainwright’s Big League Impact foundation and recording artist Garth Brooks’ Teammates for Kids Foundation teamed for a Home Plate Project with Texas pitcher...
Trump campaign appeals another ballot case in Pennsylvania
HARRISBURG — President Donald Trump’s campaign continues to press lawsuits over Pennsylvania’s election, appealing another case it lost to the state Supreme Court, this time over fewer than 2,000 ballots in a suburban Philadelphia county. The appeal, filed Friday, is one of at least four pending cases in which Trump...
Whitmer administration extends partial shutdown in Michigan by 12 days
LANSING, Mich. — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration on Monday lengthened, by 12 days, a partial shutdown of businesses and schools to curb the coronavirus. The extended order, now due to end Dec. 20, will enable the state health department to assess how Thanksgiving travel affected the spread of covid-19,...
SpaceX capsules parked side-by-side at station for 1st time
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A SpaceX supply ship bearing Christmas goodies arrived at the International Space Station on Monday, parking alongside another Dragon capsule that carried up astronauts three weeks ago. It’s the first time Elon Musk’s company has two Dragons at the orbiting lab, filling both available slots. Unlike...
Michigan House cancels voting session after Giuliani test
LANSING, Mich. — The Michigan House canceled its voting session scheduled for Tuesday following an announcement that President Donald Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani had tested positive for the coronavirus. Giuliani visited Lansing last Wednesday to testify for hours before a Republican-led committee investigating alleged election irregularities. Without wearing a...
Chief says Erie’s new police car totaled in crash
ERIE — A Pennsylvania town’s new patrol car was totaled in a crash with a drunken driver, the police chief said. Chief Dan Spizarny told Erie News Now one of his officers was driving early Sunday when a van came speeding toward the rear of the patrol car, which had...
Final goodbye: Recalling influential people who died in 2020
In a year defined by a devastating pandemic, the world lost iconic defenders of civil rights, great athletes and entertainers who helped define their genres. Many of their names hold a prominent place in the collective consciousness — RBG, Kobe, Maradona, Eddie Van Halen, Little Richard, Sean Connery, Alex Trebek,...
Romania’s center-right prime minister resigns after election
BUCHAREST, Romania — Romania’s center-right prime minister resigned Monday after a general election in which voters delivered nominal victory to the left-leaning, populist opposition party. With 95% of votes counted in Sunday’s election, Ludovic Orban’s National Liberals have been defeated by the populist Social Democrat Party. However the Social Democrats...
Trudeau: Canada to get Pfizer vaccine by end of this year
TORONTO — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday Canada will get up to 249,000 doses of the vaccine developed by American drugmaker Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech before the end of December. The vaccine is expected be approved by Health Canada as soon as Thursday. Trudeau had come under criticism from...
