Associated Press stories, Page 2023
U.S. astronauts pack up for rare splashdown in SpaceX capsule
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Two U.S. astronauts about to make the first splashdown return in 45 years said Friday they’ll have seasick bags ready to use if needed. SpaceX and NASA plan to bring Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken back Sunday afternoon in the company’s Dragon capsule, aiming for the...
Belichick mum on plans for QB position as camp nearsVideo
BOSTON — Like all NFL teams, the New England Patriots face a variety of unknowns heading into a 2020 season in the midst of the ongoing pandemic. So it’s no surprise Bill Belichick is being coy about his expectations for the quarterback position as his team prepares for the start...
Vagabond Blue Jays stuck on the road with no one to playVideo
Toronto general manager Ross Atkins says life has been difficult for the vagabond Blue Jays at the beginning of a baseball season like no other. The Blue Jays haven’t had a real home game yet and still don’t have a stadium fit to host them. They played twice as the...
Peters Township native Todd takes 2-stroke lead at WGC in MemphisVideo
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Brendon Todd’s putter is more than making up for any lack of power off the tee at the World Golf Championship. The Peters Township native shot a 5-under-par 65 on Friday and grabbed a two-stroke over Rickie Fowler lead through 36 holes of the FedEx St. Jude...
AP Source: ESPN tabs Levy, Griese and Riddick for MNF booth
Steve Levy, Brian Griese and Louis Riddick will be the new announce team for ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” according to a person familiar with the decision. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Friday because the network has not announced its decision. ESPN biographer Jim Miller...
Pennsylvania to cover cost of stamps for ballots in election
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania will foot the cost of postage for voters to mail in ballots in November’s general election, officials said Friday, a move that Gov. Tom Wolf has made a priority as the coronavirus pandemic unexpectedly fueled high interest in voting by mail under a new state law. The...
Spirit Airlines warns of layoffs, ExpressJet’s fate in doubt
Spirit Airlines has warned up to 30% of its employees that they will lose their jobs in October, and regional carrier ExpressJet’s future is in doubt after losing a key contract as the virus pandemic continues to hammer the airline industry. Spirit is the latest airline to deliver layoff warnings...
U.S. officials seek limits on ‘habitat’ for imperiled species
BILLINGS, Mont. — The Trump administration is proposing to define what land and water can be declared as “habitat” for imperiled plants and animals — potentially excluding areas that species could use in the future. The proposal to be announced Friday and obtained in advance by The Associated Press would...
Cardinals-Brewers game off after St. Louis positives
NEW YORK — The coronavirus forced another change in Major League Baseball’s schedule, bringing the league’s total to eight teams affected in the first nine days of the season. Friday’s game between St. Louis and Milwaukee was postponed after two Cardinals players tested positive for the coronavirus. The league announced...
Players, coaches kneel before NBA’s re-opening night
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Black players were next to white players. Coaches from one team were next to their compatriots from the opposing side. Many locked arms with the man next to them, some shut their eyes tightly, a few including LeBron James briefly raising a fist into the...
Twitter permanently bans former KKK leader David Duke
Former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke has been banned from Twitter for breaking the social media platform’s site’s rules forbidding hate speech. The company said Friday that Duke’s account “has been permanently suspended for repeated violations of the Twitter rules on hateful conduct.” It didn’t specify what exactly Duke...
Doctors try pressurized oxygen chambers in covid fight
As a New York University medical researcher who works once a week in an emergency room, Dr. David Lee had the luxury of time to think like a scientist while also treating coronavirus patients whose lungs kept giving out. In every case, he saw the same thing: Their blood was...
U.S. consumer spending up 5.6%, but virus could stall gains
WASHINGTON — American consumers increased their spending in June by a solid 5.6%, helping regain some of record plunge that occurred after the coronavirus struck hard in March and paralyzed the economy. But the virus’ resurgence in much of the country could impede further gains. Last month’s rise in consumer...
Game On: NHL restart a small step toward return to normalcy
TORONTO — NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman took a short break from watching the final few exhibition games Thursday to ponder the significance of awarding the Stanley Cup some two months from now — should all go as planned. The magnitude of the task it took to simply reach the cusp...
Sleepy lions, empty bars, lost jobs: A world without tourism
PARIS — With no American visitors to show around the D-Day beaches or the Loire Valley’s chateaux, and no work on the immediate horizon, Paris tour guide Linda Zenou frets about how she’ll pay off a loan and continue to care for her ailing mother in the achingly lean months...
Judge bans lawyers from identifying Epstein abuse victims
NEW YORK — The judge presiding over the criminal case against a British socialite charged with recruiting teenage girls for financier Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse said Friday that her attorneys are not permitted to publicly identify accusers even if they’ve spoken in a public forum. “Not all accusations or...
‘Into the Wild’ bus likely lands a home at Fairbanks museum
An infamous bus appears headed to a new home at a museum in Fairbanks after being removed from Alaska’s backcountry to deter people from making dangerous, sometimes deadly treks to visit the site where a young man documented his demise in 1992. The state Department of Natural Resources said Thursday...
Exxon lost $1B in second quarter as oil use dries up
NEW YORK — Exxon lost $1.1 billion in the second quarter, its economic pain deepening as the pandemic kept households on lockdown, diminishing the need for oil around the world. The Irving, Texas-based oil giant brought in $32.6 billion in revenue during the second quarter, less than half of what...
Indian police say tainted liquor kills at least 21 people
NEW DELHI — Indian police said Friday that at least 21 people have died in a northern state over the past three days after drinking tainted alcohol. The police chief for Punjab state, Dinkar Gupta, said the first five deaths were reported on Wednesday night in two villages in Amritsar...
Hong Kong government postpones elections, citing coronavirusVideo
HONG KONG — Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said Friday that the government will postpone highly anticipated legislative elections, citing a worsening coronavirus outbreak in the semi-autonomous Chinese city. The Hong Kong government is invoking an emergency regulations ordinance in delaying the elections. Lam said the government has the support...
Supreme leader says Iran won’t negotiate with U.S.
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Friday his country will not negotiate with the United States because America would only use talks for propaganda purposes. The Trump administration has said it is willing to talk with Iran “with no preconditions,” but that the U.S. will continue...
1 Marine dead, 2 injured, 8 missing after vehicle accident
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — One Marine has died, two injured and eight others were missing after an amphibious assault vehicle accident off the coast of southern California, the Marines said early Friday. The accident happened Thursday and search and rescue efforts were underway Friday morning with support from the Navy...
Trump, GOP suggest temporary fix for $600 jobless benefitVideo
WASHINGTON — The White House and some of its Republican allies in the Senate are signaling they want to extend, at least temporarily, a $600-per-week expanded jobless benefit that has helped keep families and the economy afloat during the covid-19 pandemic. The move looks to be too little, too late...
Ellen DeGeneres apologizes to show’s staff amid workplace inquiry
LOS ANGELES — Ellen DeGeneres apologized to the staff of her daytime TV talk show amid an internal company investigation of complaints of a difficult and unfair workplace. “On day one of our show, I told everyone in our first meeting that ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show’ would be a place...
Amid the pandemic, Big Tech reports mixed earningsVideo
Big Tech companies reported mixed quarterly earnings on Thursday, a day after their top executives faced a tough congressional grilling over their market power and alleged monopolistic practices. All four were affected by the pandemic, although in strikingly different ways. Google and Facebook reported slowing growth in the April-June quarter...
