Associated Press stories, Page 1872
Georgia Aquarium’s largest female whale shark dies
ATLANTA — The largest female whale shark at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta has died. Trixie, who had been at the aquarium since 2006, died Friday, the aquarium said in a statement on its Facebook page. “She was having difficulty navigating the habitat earlier in the day and then her...
Los Angeles issues stay-home order as coronavirus surges
LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles County announced a new stay-home order Friday as coronavirus cases surged out of control in the nation’s most populous county. The three-week order takes effect Monday. It came as the county of 10 million residents confirmed 24 new deaths and 4,544 new confirmed cases of...
Brooklyn bishop hails ruling, says diocese in line with pope
NEW YORK — The longtime head of the Roman Catholic Church in Brooklyn said Friday that a ruling by the Supreme Court that barred New York from enforcing certain restrictions on religious services in areas hit hard by the coronavirus is a “good decision” that guarantees constitutional protections for the...
Derek Culver leads No. 15 West Virginia past Western Kentucky
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — West Virginia rallied from a 10-point second-half deficit against Western Kentucky and had to hold off a frenzied comeback down the stretch to win the Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic. The 15th-ranked Mountaineers (3-0) led 66-57 with just under three minutes to play before Western Kentucky...
Japan spacecraft carrying asteroid soil samples nears home
A Japanese spacecraft is nearing Earth after a yearlong journey home from a distant asteroid with soil samples and data that could provide clues to the origins of the solar system, a space agency official said Friday. The Hayabusa2 spacecraft left the asteroid Ryugu, about 180 million miles from Earth,...
Danish Mayfly named 2021 insect of the year
BERLIN — The Danish Mayfly was selected Friday by an international group of entomologists and others as the Insect of the Year for 2021, but it won’t have long to celebrate its 15 minutes of fame. The insect, whose scientific name is Ephemera danica, only has a few days to...
U.S. women beat Netherlands in World Cup rematch
BREDA, Netherlands — Rose Lavelle scored against the Netherlands again, Kristie Mewis scored in her first appearance for the United States in six years and the U.S. women won a rematch of last year’s World Cup final by the same score, 2-0, on Friday. The older sister of starter Sam...
Ohio elections chief certifies 2020 general election results
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio’s elections chief certified results on Friday of a 2020 election that he said was almost flawlessly executed despite the pandemic, raising concern that President Donald Trump’s allegations of widespread fraud could be undercutting voter confidence in the process. Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s certification delivered...
Temporary U.S. Pentagon chief makes rare visit to Somalia
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon’s acting defense secretary has made a rare visit to Somalia, a conflict-plagued nation in the Horn of Africa where American forces have been assisting in the fight against al-Qaida affiliate al-Shabab. In a brief statement, the Pentagon said Christopher Miller, who was installed as acting defense...
Hyundai, Kia fined for delaying U.S. engine failure recalls
Hyundai and Kia must pay $137 million in fines and safety improvements because they moved too slowly to recall over 1 million vehicles with engines that can fail. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced the penalties on Friday. They resolve a three-year government probe into the companies’ behavior involving...
Trump administration moves ahead on gutting bird protections
The Trump administration moved forward Friday on gutting a longstanding federal protection for the nation’s birds, over objections from former federal officials and many scientists that billions more birds will likely perish as a result. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published its take on the proposed rollback in the...
Belarus president plans to leave job under new constitution
KYIV, Ukraine — The president of Belarus said Friday that he would not remain in the post he has held for more than 26 years if his country adopts a new constitution. However, President Alexander Lukashenko did not describe the amendments he is seeking or give a timeline for when...
U.S. Circuit Court rejects Trump appeal over Pennsylvania votes
President Donald Trump’s legal team suffered yet another defeat in court Friday as a federal appeals court in Philadelphia roundly rejected its latest effort to challenge the state’s election results. Trump’s lawyers vowed to appeal to the Supreme Court despite the judge’s assessment that the “campaign’s claims have no merit.”...
6th Arizona state lawmaker tests positive for covid
PHOENIX — A sixth member of the Arizona Legislature has confirmed he tested positive for covid-19. Rep. Andrés Cano, a Democrat, announced on social media Wednesday that he is not symptomatic and is in isolation. “Covid-19 cases are spiking throughout our Nation, and nobody is immune — even when precautions...
Trump may be coming to terms with loss he won’t acknowledge
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump still won’t bring himself to concede the election he decisively lost to President-elect Joe Biden. But he’s now acknowledging he will leave the White House if Biden’s win is affirmed by the Electoral College, which is firmly on track to do just that in a...
Jerry Seinfeld digs into 45 years of his jokes for new book
LOS ANGELES — Forget the high-performance sports cars, the luxury Rolls-Royces and all those other classic automobiles in which Jerry Seinfeld ushers his fellow comics to the diner on television’s “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.” The most valuable things Seinfeld owns are the thousands of pieces of paper — yellow,...
Ohio elections chief certifies 2020 general election results
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio’s state elections chief certified the results of the November general election on Friday, awarding the state’s 18 electoral votes to President Donald Trump. Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose said the state produced an extraordinary level of access for voters, setting records with nearly 6 million...
Northern Ireland police to pay damages to journalists over arrests
LONDON — Police in Northern Ireland have agreed to pay damages to two journalists who were arrested on suspicion of stealing confidential documents after working on a documentary about an unsolved mass killing, lawyers said Friday. Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey worked on “No Stone Unturned,” a 2017 documentary by...
Ohio’s oldest death-row inmate likely died from Coronavirus
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The oldest inmate on Ohio’s death row has died, and a prison spokeswoman said it was likely due to the coronavirus. James Frazier, 79, died Nov. 19 at the prison system’s Franklin Medical Center in Columbus, according to Cleveland.com. In recent months, his attorneys had sought to...
Top California air, climate regulator hopes to run Biden EPA
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Over four decades, Mary Nichols has been the regulator behind some of the nation’s most ambitious climate policies and, in recent years, she’s been their staunchest defender against President Donald Trump’s effort to dismantle them. With Joe Biden heading to the White House, Nichols hopes she is...
Stocks rise on Wall Street; S&P 500 closes at record high
NEW YORK — The S&P 500 is closing a shortened session at a record high Friday as investors continue to look forward to the distribution of a covid-19 vaccine and relief for the economy. The benchmark index rose 0.2%, led by gains in technology companies, and closed at an all-time...
New cardinals quarantine in pope’s hotel ahead of ceremony
ROME — The Vatican’s Santa Marta hotel was built to sequester cardinals during papal elections. It’s now sequestering soon-to-be cardinals in town for this weekend’s ceremony to get their red hats: A handful are in protective coronavirus quarantine, confined to their rooms on Vatican orders and getting meals delivered to...
Minnesota tribes file to halt pipeline approval due to virus
ST. PAUL, Minn — Two Native American tribes in northern Minnesota are asking state regulators to stop the imminent construction of Enbridge Energy’s Line 3 crude oil pipeline replacement, saying it would increase the risk of coronavirus infections spreading. The Red Lake and White Earth Bands of Chippewa filed a...
U.S. colleges mull new virus protocols for students’ return
COLCHESTER, Vt. — St. Michael’s College managed to keep coronavirus cases at bay for almost two months this fall with students tested upon arrival and once every three weeks. But in mid-October, cases at the small Vermont school started to climb. The outbreak was linked to an ice rink more...
Iran scientist linked to military nuclear program killed
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — An Iranian scientist named by Israel as the leader of the Islamic Republic’s disbanded military nuclear program was killed Friday in an ambush on the outskirts of Tehran, authorities said. Iran’s foreign minister alleged the killing of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh bore “serious indications” of an Israeli...
