Associated Press stories, Page 1945
U.S. jobless claims rise to 885,000 amid resurgence of virus
WASHINGTON — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose again last week to 885,000 as a resurgence of coronavirus cases threatens the economy’s recovery from its springtime collapse. The Labor Department said Thursday that the number of applications increased from 862,000 the previous week. It showed that nine...
French President Macron tests positive for covidVideo
PARIS — France’s Elysee Palace says President Emmanuel Macron has tested positive for the coronavirus. It says the president took a test “as soon as the first symptoms appeared.” The brief statement didn’t say what symptoms Macron experienced, but he would isolate for seven days and continue to work. It...
Russia can’t use its name or flag at next 2 Olympics
GENEVA — Russia will not be able to use its name, flag and anthem at the next two Olympics or at any world championships for the next two years after a ruling Thursday by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The Lausanne-based court halved the four-year ban proposed last year...
Reputed mobster admits assaulting ‘Real Housewives’ hubby
NEWARK, N.J. — A reputed mobster admitted assaulting the then-boyfriend and now husband of a former “Real Housewives of New Jersey” cast member in exchange for a deeply discounted lavish wedding reception. John Perna, 43, of Cedar Grove, N.J., pleaded guilty Wednesday to a federal charge of committing a violent...
Close but not yet: Deal near on covid economic aid bill
WASHINGTON — Congressional negotiators on the long-delayed $900 billion covid-19 economic relief package worked through a handful of remaining holdups Thursday as they labored to seal a final agreement for more help to businesses and the unemployed and new stimulus payments to most Americans. Top congressional leaders also finally acknowledged...
U.S. Joint Chiefs chairman meets with Taliban on peace talks
KABUL, Afghanistan — The top U.S. general held unannounced talks with Taliban peace negotiators in the Persian Gulf to urge a reduction in violence across Afghanistan, even as senior American officials in Kabul warned that stepped-up Taliban attacks endanger the militant group’s nascent peace negotiations with the Afghan government. Army...
This date in sports history: Dec. 17Video
1933 — The Chicago Bears win the first NFL championship with a 23-21 victory over the New York Giants. The Bears score the winning touchdown on a 36-yard play that starts with a short pass from Bronko Nagurski to Bill Hewitt, who then laterals to Bill Kerr for the score....
In ‘Ma Rainey,’ channeling the blues of August Wilson
NEW YORK — Like many of those involved in the making of “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” it’s not easy for Viola Davis to summarize what playwright August Wilson has meant to her except to answer, “Everything.” Davis’ first stage role was in Wilson’s “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone.” She made...
Alabama, Ohio State add 5-stars while preparing for championship gamesVideo
As Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson, Oregon, Notre Dame, Oklahoma and Florida prepared to play for conference championships, they signed top-10 recruiting classes for 2021 they hope to fuel their next title contenders. The most unusual college football season in memory brought the convergence Wednesday of the start of the early...
‘If not one thing, it’s another’: Storm rolls into Northeast
NEW YORK — A major snowstorm rolled into the Northeast on Wednesday at a key moment in the coronavirus pandemic, days after the start of the U.S. vaccination campaign and in the thick of a virus surge that has throngs of people seeking tests per day. Snow was falling from...
Chicago mayor apologizes to woman for wrongful police raid
CHICAGO — Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot apologized Wednesday to a social worker whose home was wrongly raided by police officers who did not allow the woman to put on any clothes before handcuffing her. A civilian review board is investigating the 2019 incident at Anjanette Young’s home of which Chicago’s...
Texas oilman’s Ansel Adams photo gets $988,000 at auction
DALLAS — A West Texas oilman’s mural-sized print of an Ansel Adams photo has sold for nearly $1 million at an auction. Sotheby’s New York, the auction house, said Tuesday that “The Grand Tetons and the Snake River, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming” sold for $988,000, a record price for...
Texas AG announces multistate lawsuit against Google
DALLAS — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Wednesday announced a multistate lawsuit against Google, accusing the search giant of “anti-competitive conduct” in the online advertising industry. Paxton said Google is using its “monopolistic power” to control pricing of online advertisements, fixing the market in its favor and eliminating competition....
For Northwestern, Big Ten title game vs. Ohio State comes after big turnaroundVideo
Pat Fitzgerald figures he will gain a few more gray hairs by the time No. 15 Northwestern steps on the field to face third-ranked Ohio State in the Big Ten championship game Saturday. As the Wildcats coach, it’s his job to figure out a way to contain the Buckeyes. And...
IS widow convicted in Charlie Hebdo, kosher market attacks
PARIS — The fugitive widow of an Islamic State gunman and a man described as his logistician were convicted Wednesday of terrorism charges and sentenced to 30 years in prison in the trial of 14 people linked to the January 2015 Paris attacks against the satirical Charlie Hebdo newspaper and...
Tom Cruise unleashes rant about social distancing on ‘Mission: Impossible’ set
LONDON — Tom Cruise has launched an expletive-laden rant at colleagues on the set of his latest “Mission: Impossible” movie, after he reportedly spotted two workers failing to respect social distancing rules. In audio released by the Sun tabloid, the 58-year-old Hollywood star can be heard warning that anyone caught...
High court agrees to hear NCAA athlete compensation case
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to review a court decision that the NCAA has said blurred “the line between student-athletes and professionals” by removing caps on education-related money certain football and basketball players can receive. The case will be argued in 2021 with a decision expected before...
Bitcoin surges past $20,000, erasing 3 years of deep losses
The price of bitcoin rose above $20,000 for the first time Wednesday, as the speculative digital currency topped its previous peak reached shortly after it became tradable on Wall Street three years ago this month. Like other instruments used to store value in times of uncertainty, bitcoin has benefited from...
Fed keeps rate near zero but sees brighter economy in 2021
The Federal Reserve said Wednesday that it will keep buying government bonds until the economy makes “substantial” progress — a step intended to reassure financial markets and keep long-term borrowing rates low indefinitely. The Fed also reiterated after its latest policy meeting that expects keep its short-term benchmark interest rate...
U.S. plans new charges in 1988 Lockerbie airline bombing
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department plans to unseal new charges in the coming days in connection with the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am jet that exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 people, according to a person familiar with the case. The bombing of Flight 103, whose victims included dozens...
ACC showdown: Notre Dame’s Book, Clemson’s Lawrence on center stageVideo
CLEMSON, S.C. — Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence, wearing a mask and standing on the sideline, watched his Notre Dame counterpart, Ian Book, rally the Fighting Irish to a dramatic victory last month. Lawrence is expected to play a major role in what happens in the rematch when the second-ranked Fighting...
U.S. angling to secure more of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine
WASHINGTON — U.S. officials say they’re actively negotiating for additional purchases of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine after passing up a chance to lock in a contract this summer since it was still unclear how well the shots would work. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and special adviser Dr. Moncef...
Arizona ties, sets records for virus deaths, hospital usage
PHOENIX — Arizona on Wednesday tied a previous record of coronavirus deaths in one day during the current virus surge while its available hospital bed capacity dropped to a record-low since the start of the pandemic. As the state’s vaccination program began to ramp up, the state Department of Health...
MLB reclassifies Negro Leagues as major league
NEW YORK (AP) — Willie Mays will add some hits to his record, Monte Irvin’s big league batting average should climb over .300 and Satchel Paige may add nearly 150 victories to his total. Josh Gibson, the greatest of all Negro League sluggers, might just wind up with a major...
Kenyan man charged with plotting 9/11-style attack on U.S.
NEW YORK — Federal authorities have unsealed an indictment charging a Kenyan man with trying to stage a 9/11-style attack on the United States on behalf of the terrorist organization al-Shabab. Cholo Abdi Abdullah, 30, who was arrested in the Philippines in 2019, was transferred to U.S. custody Tuesday on...
