Associated Press stories, Page 1877
White House still planning holiday parties, despite warnings
WASHINGTON — Public health officials are sounding alarms and urging Americans not to travel and limit gatherings this holiday season amid a new surge in coronavirus cases. But that isn’t stopping the White House from planning a host of festivities, including holiday parties, which kicked off Monday with the arrival...
Suspect arrested in fatal stabbings at California church
SAN JOSE, Calif. — A suspect has been arrested in connection with the fatal stabbings of two people and the wounding of three others at a church in California’s Silicon Valley that was being used as a homeless shelter, police said Monday. “We have one suspect in custody for last...
GM flips to California’s side in pollution fight with Trump
DETROIT — General Motors says it will no longer support the Trump administration in legal efforts to end California’s right to set its own clean-air standards. CEO Mary Barra said in an letter Monday to environmental groups that GM will pull out of the lawsuit, and it urges other automakers...
Gun-toting congresswoman-elect may carry Glock at Capitol
WASHINGTON — A firearms-toting congresswoman-elect who owns a gun-themed restaurant in Rifle, Colorado, has already asked Capitol Police about carrying her weapon on Capitol grounds, her office has acknowledged. If she does so, she apparently won’t be alone. The practice is allowed for lawmakers, with some limitations, under decades-old congressional...
Biden signals shift from Trump with national security picks
WASHINGTON — President-elect Joe Biden is moving to fill out his national security team with a raft of appointments to top positions that signal his intent to repudiate the Trump administration’s “America First” doctrine. The six picks announced on Monday, almost all of them alumni of the Obama administration, represent...
Bruce, the last ‘Jaws’ shark, docks at the Academy MuseumVideo
Bruce, the fiberglass shark made from the “Jaws” mold, is ready for his close-up. The 1,208 pound, 25-foot-long, 45-year-old shark, famous for being difficult to work with on the set of Steven Spielberg’s classic thriller, on Friday was hoisted up in the air above the main escalator of the new...
NBA players hailed by pope at Vatican for demanding justice
Pope Francis lauded a delegation of NBA players who met with him at the Vatican on Monday as “champions” and said he supported their work on addressing social injustice. Five players — Marco Belinelli, Sterling Brown, Jonathan Isaac, Kyle Korver and Anthony Tolliver — were joined by NBA players’ union...
EU, U.K. still have ‘fundamental’ differences in trade talks
BRUSSELS — With the European Union’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier in quarantine, trade talks with the United Kingdom continued by videoconference this week, though the optimism expressed last week seemed to have faded. Barnier stressed on Monday that negotiators were running out of time to make a Jan. 1 deadline...
Employers start sending workers shopping for health coverage
Instead of offering one or more options, some companies are turning health insurance shopping over to employees. A federal rule change last year stoked this new approach. It allows employers to reimburse workers for coverage they bought without paying a tax penalty. The concept sends employees to individual insurance markets...
Wisconsin presidential recount in 4th day, with few changes
MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin’s partial presidential recount entered its fourth day Monday, with very few changes in vote totals as President Donald Trump’s attorneys appeared to be focused on a legal challenge seeking to toss tens of thousands of ballots, including the one cast by an attorney for the campaign....
Boris Johnson to end England’s coronavirus lockdown
LONDON — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says shops, hairdressers, beauty salons and gyms in England will reopen and some fans will be allowed back into sports stadiums when a four-week lockdown comes to an end next week. Johnson confirmed to lawmakers Monday the government will lift the stay-at-home instruction...
Man leaves $3K tip for a beer as Cleveland restaurant closes for virus
A customer left a $3,000 tip for a single beer as a restaurant voluntarily closed because of the covid-19 pandemic. The man walked in Sunday, ordered the beer and asked for the check, which came to $7.02, Nighttown owner Brendan Ring wrote on Facebook. Ring said the man wished him...
Bad Bunny tests positive for covid-19 after no-show at AMA
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Reggaeton superstar Bad Bunny has tested positive for covid-19, his representative said Monday. The announcement came a day after the musician won favorite male Latin artist and favorite Latin album for “YHLQMDLG” at the American Music Awards. Bad Bunny, whose real name is Benito Martínez...
Pope Francis’ book explores George Floyd, virus skeptics
ROME — Pope Francis is supporting demands for racial justice in the wake of the U.S. police killing of George Floyd and is blasting covid-19 skeptics and the media that spread their conspiracies in a new book penned during the Vatican’s coronavirus lockdown. In “Let Us Dream,” Francis also criticizes...
GM to recall 7M vehicles globally to replace Takata air bags
General Motors will recall about 7 million big pickup trucks and SUVs worldwide to replace potentially dangerous Takata air bag inflators. The move came Monday after the U.S. government told the automaker it had to recall 6 million of the vehicles in the U.S. The recall will cost the Detroit...
Stocks rise on Wall Street on latest hopes for coronavirus vaccine
Stocks closed higher on Wall Street on Monday after investors received several pieces of encouraging news on covid-19 vaccines and treatments, tempering concerns over rising virus cases and business restrictions. The benchmark S&P 500 index rose 0.6%, led by banks, industrial companies and other businesses that have been beaten down...
China tests millions after coronavirus flareups in 3 cities
Chinese authorities are testing millions of people, imposing lockdowns and shutting down schools after multiple locally transmitted coronavirus cases were discovered in three cities across the country last week. As temperatures drop, widescale measures are being enacted in Tianjin, Shanghai and Manzhouli, even though the number of new cases remains...
New Zealand leader Ardern offers virus know-how to Joe Biden
WELLINGTON, New Zealand — New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Monday became the latest world leader to congratulate President-elect Joe Biden on his election victory, saying she offered to share her nation’s expertise on dealing with the coronavirus. Ardern said the tone of the 20-minute phone call was warm...
Patrick Mahomes hits Travis Kelce in last minute, Chiefs edge Raiders
LAS VEGAS — Even after Jason Witten’s touchdown put the Las Vegas Raiders ahead with 1 minute, 43 seconds to play, the mood on the Kansas City Chiefs’ sideline was calm and cool. Not much can stop the Super Bowl champs lately. Not when they have the quarterback who makes...
Schools’ Thanksgiving lessons jettison Pilgrim hats, welcome truth
BOSTON — A friendly feast shared by the plucky Pilgrims and their native neighbors? That’s yesterday’s Thanksgiving story. Students in many U.S. schools are now learning a more complex lesson that includes conflict, injustice and a new focus on the people who lived on the land for hundreds of years...
Yusef Salaam of Central Park Five penning memoir on his wrongful imprisonment
NEW YORK — One of the five teens wrongly imprisoned for the assault on a Central Park jogger has a memoir coming out in the spring. Grand Central Publishing announced Monday that it had acquired Yusef Salaam’s “Better, Not Bitter: Living On Purpose in The Pursuit of Racial Justice.” The...
French ex-President Sarkozy’s trial for corruption suspended
PARIS — The trial of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy for corruption and influence peddling was suspended Monday less than two hours after it started, to allow a medical report on one of the defendants. Sarkozy is accused of having tried to illegally obtain information from a magistrate about an...
Third major covid-19 vaccine shown to be effective — and cheaper
LONDON — Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca said Monday that late-stage trials showed its coronavirus vaccine was up to 90% effective, giving public health officials hope they may soon have access to a vaccine that is cheaper and easier to distribute than some of its rivals. The results are based on interim...
Tourists few, N.Y. gift shops struggle but don’t lose (heart)
NEW YORK — In souvenir shops from Times Square to the World Trade Center, shelves full of T-shirts and trinkets still (heart) New York. But the proprietors wonder when their customers will, again. The coronavirus pandemic has taken a voracious bite out of a slice of New York life as...
Speedboat taking migrants to Greece partially sinks; 1 dead
ATHENS, Greece — A speedboat that appeared to have been smuggling migrants to the Greek island of Rhodes from nearby Turkey partially sank before reaching land, leaving one person dead, Greece’s coast guard said Monday. The coast guard said it received information about the speedboat near the northwestern coast of...
