Associated Press stories, Page 2040
Israel to shut down on weekends in response to virus surgeVideo
JERUSALEM — Israel announced sweeping new restrictions Friday in response to a new surge in coronavirus cases, including weekend closures of many businesses and limiting restaurants to takeout and delivery. The government announced the restrictions after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said “interim steps” were needed to avoid another general lockdown....
Pentagon bans Confederate flag in way to avoid Trump’s wrath
After weeks of wrangling, the Pentagon is banning displays of the Confederate flag on military installations, in a carefully worded policy that doesn’t mention the word ban or that specific flag. The policy, laid out in a memo released Friday, was described by officials as a creative way to bar...
China moves rocket into place for upcoming Mars missionVideo
BEIJING — China has moved a rocket into position to launch a rover to Mars in one of three upcoming missions to the red planet, one from the United States and another by the United Arab Emirates. The Long March-5 carrier rocket is China’s heaviest-lift launch vehicle and has been...
Military medics deploy in California, Texas as coronavirus surges
Teams of military medics were deployed in Texas and California to help hospitals deluged by coronavirus patients, as Miami area authorities began stepping up enforcement Friday of a mask requirement — echoing efforts in many parts of the world to contain surging infections. In California, military doctors, nurses and other...
Chicago plan would have kids in classrooms 2 days per week
CHICAGO — Most Chicago children would return to the classroom two days a week and spend the other three days learning remotely once the school year begins under a tentative plan outlined Friday by officials from the nation’s third-largest school district. Chicago Public Schools officials called the proposed hybrid approach...
Queen makes veteran a knight at 100 — no kneeling requiredVideo
LONDON — In the end, Sir Tom didn’t need to rise. On a day infused with emotion, Queen Elizabeth II tapped the blade of a sword once owned by her father on the slender shoulders of 100-year-old Tom Moore, making a hero of a nation a knight of the realm...
Germany: Black Forest fugitive held after 5 days on the run
BERLIN — A man who disarmed four officers at gunpoint in southwestern Germany before fleeing into the Black Forest has been arrested after five days on the run, police said Friday. Four firearms were seized, police said in a brief statement, without giving further details of what happened. Hours earlier,...
Person in custody in killing of tech CEO who was found dismembered
NEW YORK — A person was taken into police custody Friday in the killing of a 33-year-old tech entrepreneur found dismembered inside his luxury Manhattan condo, two law enforcement officials said. The person in custody had worked as Fahim Saleh’s personal assistant, the officials told The Associated Press. The officials...
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg says cancer has returned, but won’t retireVideo
WASHINGTON — Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said Friday she is receiving chemotherapy for a recurrence of cancer, but has no plans to retire from the Supreme Court. The 87-year-old Ginsburg, who spent time in the hospital this week for a possible infection, said her treatment so far has succeeded in...
June jobless rate slid down in Pennsylvania, payrolls jumped
Pennsylvania’s unemployment slid a bit down in June after hitting a pandemic peak in April, but it was well above the national rate even as payrolls rebounded by more 230,000, the state reported Friday. Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate was 13% in June, down four-tenths of a percentage point from May’s adjusted...
3M files lawsuits for price gouging of N95 masksVideo
MAPLEWOOD, Minn. — The leading manufacturer of N95 masks in the United States says it has investigated 4,000 reports of fraud, counterfeiting and price gouging in connection with the product and has filed 18 lawsuits. 3M, based in Maplewood, is among the largest global producers of the N95 mask, which...
France delays retirement reform that caused mass strikes
PARIS — France’s government is delaying a divisive overhaul of the country’s retirement system until at least the end of the year because of the economic crisis unleashed by the pandemic. Prime Minister Jean Castex announced after meeting with unions Friday that the pension reform “will be maintained.” But he...
Princess Beatrice marries in private ceremony at Windsor
LONDON — Buckingham Palace says that Princess Beatrice has got married in a private ceremony, with her grandmother Queen Elizabeth II in attendance. Beatrice married Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi Friday morning at The Royal Chapel of All Saints at Royal Lodge, Windsor. The monarch, the Duke of Edinburgh and other close...
Austin Meadows joins Tyler Glasnow as Rays’ only known coronavirus cases
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Tampa Bay outfielder Austin Meadows has been placed on the injured list after testing positive for the coronavirus, the Rays announced Thursday night. Left-handed reliever Aaron Loup was added to the 40-man roster in place of Meadows, who was a first-time All-Star and batted .291 with...
U.S. official visits Portland, calls protesters ‘anarchists’Video
PORTLAND, Ore. — The head of the Department of Homeland Security visited Portland, Oregon, on Thursday, just hours after issuing a scathing statement that called the protesters who have taken to the streets every night for nearly two months “violent anarchists” and a “violent mob” that have kept the liberal...
CDC extends U.S. ban on cruise ships through September
WASHINGTON — Federal health officials are extending the U.S. ban on cruise ships through the end of September as coronavirus infections rise in most U.S. states, including Florida. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Thursday that it was extending a no-sail order that had been scheduled to expire...
Tony Finau leads Memorial at 66 as Tiger Woods has quiet return to golfVideo
DUBLIN, Ohio — Tiger Woods was back on the PGA Tour for the first time in five months Thursday and saw Muirfield Village like never before. It was practically empty. Woods opened with a 10-foot birdie and there was silence. He finished with a 15-foot birdie for a 1-under-par 71,...
Gov. Wolf yanks virus funding from rebellious Lebanon County
HARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Wolf followed through on his threat to yank covid-19 funding from a county that defied his shutdown orders, while his administration targeted bars, restaurants and large gatherings statewide Thursday in an effort to prevent a wider resurgence of the virus that officials say could jeopardize students’...
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp sues to end cities’ defiance on mask rulesVideo
ATLANTA — Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is suing Atlanta’s mayor and city council to block the city from enforcing its mandate to wear a mask in public and other rules related to the covid-19 pandemic. Kemp and Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, in a suit filed in state court late...
Report: 15 former employees accuse Washington NFL team of sexual harassmentVideo
The Washington Post reported Thursday that 15 female former employees of the city’s NFL franchise said they were sexually harassed during their time with the team. In a statement, the team said it takes issues of employee conduct seriously and added, “While we do not speak to specific employee situations...
Pennsylvania casino revenues down 18%, hammered by pandemic
HARRISBURG — Pandemic-related shutdowns in Pennsylvania, the nation’s No. 2 commercial gambling state, helped knock casino revenue down by 18%, state regulators reported Thursday, and it would have been much worse without the advent of online gambling and sports betting. Revenue from regulated gambling in Pennsylvania shrank to $2.7 billion...
Baseless Wayfair child-trafficking theory spreads online
CHICAGO — The baseless conspiracy theory took off after an anonymous user posed a bizarre question in an internet chatroom: What if retail giant Wayfair is using pricey storage cabinets to traffic children? Self-proclaimed internet sleuths quickly responded by matching up the names of Wayfair products to those of missing...
EU court cancels U.S. data-sharing pact over snooping concerns
The European Union’s top court ruled Thursday that an agreement that allows thousands of companies — from tech giants to small financial firms — to transfer data to the United States is invalid because the American government can snoop on people’s data. The ruling to invalidate Privacy Shield will likely...
U.S. counts 342 child inflammatory syndrome cases
ATLANTA — An official with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the most recent count shows 342 U.S. children and teens have developed a serious inflammatory condition linked to covid-19 infections. Dr. Ermias Belay presented the data Thursday during a CDC online call for physicians. Belay says that...
NCAA: Test all athletes for covid-19 within 72 hours of game
The NCAA says college football players should be tested for covid-19 at least 72 hours before a game, players with high-risk exposures to the coronavirus should be quarantined for 14 days and everybody on the sideline should wear a mask. The nation’s largest governing body for college sports on Thursday...
