Associated Press stories, Page 1937
Coronavirus dampens Christmas joy in Bethlehem and elsewhere
BETHLEHEM, West Bank — A stream of marching bands joyously paraded through Bethlehem on Thursday, but few people were there to greet them as the coronavirus pandemic and a strict lockdown dampened Christmas Eve celebrations in the traditional birthplace of Jesus. Similar subdued scenes were repeated across the world as...
Presidential election hostilities may fuel fight over Pa. courts
HARRISBURG — The angst, anger and hostility over Pennsylvania’s presidential election result will flow past New Year’s Day. Republicans who control the state Legislature could use the first weeks of 2021 to fast-track a constitutional amendment that would remake the Democratic-majority state Supreme Court after Republicans and President Donald Trump...
‘We are struggling’: A bleak Christmas for America’s jobless
NEW YORK — Last Christmas, Shanita Matthews cooked up a feast for her family of three: Roast chicken, barbecue spareribs, spinach, macaroni and cheese. This year? They’ll stick with tuna fish and crackers, among the few items she can afford at the supermarket. “We’re not really doing Christmas — I...
House Republicans block $2,000 virus checks despite Trump demand
WASHINGTON — House Republicans shot down a Democratic bid on Thursday to pass President Donald Trump’s longshot, end-of-session demand for $2,000 direct payments to most Americans before signing a long-overdue covid-19 relief bill. The made-for-TV clash came as the Democratic-controlled chamber convened for a pro forma session scheduled in anticipation...
U.K., EU reach post-Brexit trade deal
BRUSSELS — Britain and the European Union have struck a provisional free-trade agreement that should avert New Year’s chaos for cross-border commerce and bring a measure of certainty to businesses after years of Brexit turmoil. The breakthrough came Thursday with just over a week to go until the U.K.’s split...
This date in sports history: Dec. 24Video
1950 — Cleveland’s Otto Graham throws four touchdown passes, despite icy footing in Municipal Stadium, and Lou Groza kicks a 16-yard field goal with 28 seconds left to give the Browns a 30-28 victory over the Los Angeles Rams and the NFL title in their first year in the league....
Top-ranked Rams defense not bothered by only 2 Pro Bowl picksVideo
LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Rams have the NFL’s No. 1 total defense, No. 1 pass defense and No. 2 rushing defense. Aaron Donald’s group is second in the NFL in sacks and third-down conversion percentage, third in points allowed and fifth in takeaways. By almost any collective measure,...
Browns to face Jets team that finally has achieved liftoff
CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Browns are heading back to the New York area for their second visit around Christmastime. There won’t be any holiday-season sightseeing in Manhattan this time, either. And suddenly, it doesn’t look like it’s going to be any kind of vacation. After shocking the Los Angeles Rams,...
Penn State starts fast, fades quickly against No. 18 IllinoisVideo
STATE COLLEGE — Illinois coach Brad Underwood isn’t going to change his mind or his tune all season, especially if Ayo Dosunmu keeps playing like this. Dosunmu scored 21 of his 30 points in the second half to lead the No. 18 Fighting Illini past Penn State, 98-81, on Wednesday...
A child so sick his parents feared the worst, now they urge changeVideo
MONTPELIER, Idaho — Kale Wuthrich watched doctors surround his son in the emergency room, giving him fluids though IV tubes, running a battery of tests and trying to stabilize him. He was enveloped by the confusion and fear that had been building since his 12-year-old suddenly fell ill weeks after...
Trump pardons former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, Roger Stone
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Wednesday issued pardons and sentence commutations for 29 people, including former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in-law, in the latest burst of clemency in his final weeks at the White House. The actions bring to nearly 50 the...
Georgia Southern runs over Louisiana Tech in New Orleans BowlVideo
NEW ORLEANS — Shai Werts had three touchdown runs and threw a 65-yard scoring pass to help Georgia Southern beat Louisiana Tech, 38-3, in the New Orleans Bowl on Wednesday. Werts, who missed the Eagles’ last two regular-season games because of a shoulder injury, scored one of his touchdowns on...
Winter storm in Dakotas, Minnesota make travel frightfulVideo
FARGO, N.D. — A storm that began with snow, strong winds and bitter cold into the eastern Dakotas and western Minnesota early Wednesday was making travel treacherous and grounded flights on one of the most anticipated air travel days since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Blizzard warnings were posted...
OKC-Houston game postponed, Harden out after covid violationVideo
HOUSTON — The James Harden soap opera in Houston now comes with a canceled season opener. Houston’s opener against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night was scrapped after coronavirus cases and Harden’s violation of the NBA’s covid-19 protocols left the Rockets without the league-mandated eight players available. It was...
Studies find having covid-19 may protect against reinfection
Two new studies give encouraging evidence that having covid-19 may offer some protection against future infections. Researchers found that people who made antibodies to the coronavirus were much less likely to test positive again for up to six months and maybe longer. The results bode well for vaccines, which provoke...
Erie man wounded in deadly gun range shooting now out of hospital
ERIE — A man shot and wounded by his friend in an apparently unprovoked attack at a western Pennsylvania gun range has been released from a hospital, authorities said. It’s still not known what sparked the shooting, which began around 2 p.m. Tuesday while Robert A. Eppley, 26, of North...
British model, fashion muse Stella Tennant dies at 50
LONDON — Stella Tennant, the aristocratic British model who was a muse to designers such as Karl Lagerfeld and Gianni Versace, died suddenly at the age of 50, her family said Wednesday. Tennant, the granddaughter of a duke, rose to fame in the 1990s while walking the runway for Versace,...
Baltimore building explosion injures 23, traps workersVideo
BALTIMORE — An explosion in a high-rise building in Baltimore injured 23 people Wednesday and temporarily trapped a window washing crew on dangling scaffolding. Twenty-one of the victims were brought to area hospitals following the explosion, which caused a partial roof collapse. The city’s fire department tweeted that at least...
Review: Pixar’s ‘Soul’ joins mid-life crisis, jazz fantasia
Pete Docter’s “Soul” features stairway-to-heaven visions of the afterlife, a pre-birth “before” realm where souls are glowing turquoise orbs and an in-between spiritual realm trafficked by some kind of psychedelic pirate. And yet, kind of magically, it’s about “just regular old living.” Pixar may have started simple with talking toys,...
Video released in Ohio police shooting of Black man holding phone
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Body camera footage released Wednesday shows Andre Hill, a 47-year-old Black man, emerging from a garage and holding up a cellphone in his left hand seconds before he is fatally shot by a Columbus police officer. About six seconds pass between the time Hill is visible in...
Covid relief bill morphs into a test of GOP loyalty to Trump
Threatening to tank Congress’ massive covid relief and government funding package, President Donald Trump’s demand for bigger aid checks for Americans confronts Republicans traditionally leery of such spending with an uncomfortable test of allegiance. On Thursday, House Democrats who also favor $2,000 checks will all but dare Republicans to break...
Trump vetoes defense bill, setting up possible override voteVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Wednesday vetoed the annual defense policy bill, following through on threats to veto a measure that has broad bipartisan support in Congress and potentially setting up the first override vote of his presidency. The bill affirms 3% pay raises for U.S. troops and authorizes...
Trump’s threat plunges covid talks – and GOP – into tumult
The video message that plunged Washington into chaos was filmed in secret. President Donald Trump stood in the White House’s Diplomatic Reception Room, holiday garland and gleaming ornaments draped on the fireplace behind him, and spoke into the camera not to deliver warm Christmas wishes, but to threaten to detonate...
Behind the screen: How networks have adjusted to airing NFL
Fred Gaudelli wasn’t worried if NBC could successfully air “Sunday Night Football” games in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. His bigger concern was if the NFL could make it through the season. So far, both things have happened. Even though games may look the same, most of the processes...
Writing off more of that 3-martini lunch is causing a stir
Stuffed into the new emergency relief package is a morsel that President Donald Trump has long had on the buffet of his economic wish list: restoring full tax breaks for restaurant business meals. But experts say it’s scant immediate help for an industry reeling from the pandemic, while critics deride...
