Associated Press stories, Page 2059
With a pen stroke, Mississippi drops Confederate-themed flag
JACKSON, Miss. — With a stroke of the governor’s pen, Mississippi is retiring the last state flag in the U.S. with the Confederate battle emblem — a symbol that’s widely condemned as racist. Republican Gov. Tate Reeves signed the historic bill on Tuesday afternoon that takes the 126-year-old state flag...
What rust? PGA Tour players going low in return to competitionVideo
Three tournaments is hardly a reasonable sample size. Even so, the numbers have been jarring since the PGA Tour returned to competition. Mackenzie Hughes opened with a 60 at the Travelers Championship. Rory McIlory twice has posted rounds of 63, and he still hasn’t cracked the top 10 in the...
Garrett Rolfe, ex-Atlanta officer who killed Rayshard Brooks, granted bond
ATLANTA — A judge on Tuesday ruled that the former Atlanta police officer who fatally shot Rayshard Brooks can be free on bond while his case is pending. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Jane Barwick set a bond of $500,000 for Garrett Rolfe, who faces charges including felony murder in...
Former MLB MVPs believe time has come to remove Landis’ name from awardVideo
NEW YORK — Something still bothers Barry Larkin about his MVP award. The other name engraved on the trophy: Kenesaw Mountain Landis. “Why is it on there?” said Larkin, the Black shortstop voted National League MVP in 1995 with the Cincinnati Reds. “I was always aware of his name and...
Facebook bans violent ‘boogaloo’ groups, not the term itself
OAKLAND, Calif. — Facebook has banned an extremist anti-government network loosely associated with the broader “boogaloo” movement, a slang term supporters use to refer to a second Civil War or a collapse of civilization. But the platform didn’t try to name the group, underscoring the difficulty of grappling with an...
Philadelphia to keep some virus restrictions as cases rise
HARRISBURG — Philadelphia is bringing a halt to its plans to allow indoor dining, bars, gyms and fitness centers to reopen, with officials saying Tuesday that the city is seeing rising case covid-19 counts and could be affected by a growing epidemic elsewhere in the country. The city’s health commissioner,...
Wall Street tacks more onto its best quarter since 1998
Wall Street capped its best quarter since 1998 Tuesday with more gains, a fitting end to a stunning three months for investors as the market screamed back toward its record heights after a torrid plunge. The S&P 500 climbed 1.5%, bringing its gain for the quarter to nearly 20%. That...
Unique softball league ready to hit field in AugustVideo
CHICAGO — Victoria Hayward would have been in Japan right about now, preparing for the Olympics as captain of Canada’s softball team. The coronavirus pandemic pushed the Summer Games back a year. But she won’t have to wait much longer to get back on the field. Hayward is one of...
No smoking, drinking or eating as Atlantic City casinos openVideo
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Atlantic City tried Prohibition once before. It worked so well that Nucky Johnson, the legendary politician and racketeer, built a Boardwalk empire immortalized on HBO nearly a century later. It also tried banning smoking, too. That lasted for 20 days as smokers stayed away, sending casino...
Puerto Rico to demand covid-19 test results from passengers
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Puerto Rico’s governor on Tuesday announced strict new rules for all passengers flying into Puerto Rico in a bid to curb coronavirus cases as officials blame recent outbreaks on those who flew to the U.S. territory and were infected. Starting July 15, all passengers have...
Fauci: U.S. ‘going in wrong direction’ in coronavirus outbreakVideo
WASHINGTON — The nation’s top infectious disease specialist warned Tuesday that the United States could see up to 100,000 new cases per day of the virus that causes covid-19 if the nation does not take steps to control the pandemic. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy...
N.Y. adds states to quarantine list, sends monitors to New York CityVideo
ALBANY, N.Y. — New York is urging travelers from eight additional states to self-quarantine for 14 days as it awaits a decision on the reopening of indoor dining in New York City. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a Tuesday television interview that he plans to send state police and health...
Supreme Court lifts ban on state aid to religious schooling
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Tuesday made it easier for religious schools to obtain public funds, upholding a Montana scholarship program that allows state tax credits for private schooling. The court’s 5-4 ruling, with conservatives in the majority, came in a dispute over a Montana scholarship program for private...
Carl Reiner, beloved creator of ‘Dick Van Dyke Show,’ dies
NEW YORK — Carl Reiner, the ingenious and versatile writer, actor and director who broke through as a “second banana” to Sid Caesar and rose to comedy’s front ranks as creator of “The Dick Van Dyke Show” and straight man to Mel Brooks’ “2000 Year Old Man,” has died, according...
EU reopens its borders to 14 nations but not to U.S. tourists
BRUSSELS — The European Union announced Tuesday that it will reopen its borders to travelers from 14 countries, but most Americans have been refused entry for at least another two weeks due to soaring coronavirus infections in the U.S. Travelers from other big countries like Russia, Brazil and India will...
Toronto mayor wants masks mandatory, citing U.S. problems
TORONTO — The mayor of Canada’s largest city is asking the Toronto city council to make masks mandatory in public indoor spaces. “You have told us you don’t want to see a repeat of what you see when you turn on your TV and see reports from the United States,”...
Confederate flag losing prominence 155 years after Civil War
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Long a symbol of pride to some and hatred to others, the Confederate battle flag is losing its place of official prominence 155 years after rebellious Southern states lost a war to perpetuate slavery. Mississippi’s Republican-controlled Legislature voted Sunday to remove the Civil War emblem from the...
India bans TikTok, other Chinese apps amid border standoff
NEW DELHI — Indian TikTok users awoke Tuesday to a notice from the popular short-video app saying their data would be transferred to an Irish subsidiary, a response to India’s ban on dozens of Chinese apps amid a military standoff between the two countries. The quick workaround showed the ban...
Changes in military recruiting may endure after pandemicVideo
WASHINGTON — With his Army recruiting office shuttered because of the coronavirus, Staff Sgt. Anthony Holt has had to be creative to meet his enlistment goals. Using social media is one way. Signing up the grocery delivery guy is another. Holt asked the man how he ended up with the...
Kim Kardashian West sells stake in beauty brand for $200M
Kim Kardashian West is selling a stake in her beauty brand for $200 million, in a deal that values the TV reality star’s three-year-old business at $1 billion. The buyer is Covergirl owner Coty Inc., which will get a 20% stake in KKW Beauty. Coty seems to be enamored with...
AP sources: White House aware of Russian bounties in 2019
Top officials in the White House were aware in early 2019 of classified intelligence indicating Russia was secretly offering bounties to the Taliban for the deaths of Americans, a full year earlier than has been previously reported, according to U.S. officials with direct knowledge of the intelligence. The assessment was...
China forces birth control on Uighurs to suppress populationVideo
The Chinese government is taking draconian measures to slash birth rates among Uighurs and other minorities as part of a sweeping campaign to curb its Muslim population, even as it encourages some of the country’s Han majority to have more children. While individual women have spoken out before about forced...
GOP lawmakers urge action after Russia-Afghanistan briefingVideo
WASHINGTON — Eight Republican lawmakers attended a White House briefing Monday about explosive allegations that Russia secretly offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants for killing American troops in Afghanistan — intelligence the president himself was said to have not been fully read in on. Members of Congress in both parties called...
Organizational depth, creativity will be important for MLB teamsVideo
PHOENIX — The Minnesota Twins shuffled their on-field staff to protect the health of some of their older coaches. A trio of players, including Diamondbacks pitcher Mike Leake and Nationals slugger Ryan Zimmerman, announced they won’t be playing in the upcoming 60-game season. As MLB lurches toward a late-July start...
Arizona shuts bars, theaters, gyms, parks amid coronavirus resurgenceVideo
PHOENIX — In an effort to stop a massive surge in new coronavirus cases, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey ordered bars, nightclubs, gyms, movie theaters and water parks around the state to be closed for at least 30 days starting Monday night. The Republican governor also ordered public schools to delay...
