Associated Press stories, Page 2123
As Trump pulls back from virus, Congress races to fill void
WASHINGTON — As President Donald Trump tries to moves on from the coronavirus, Congress is rushing to fill the void and prepare the country for the long fight ahead. Jolted by the lack of comprehensive federal planning as states begin to reopen, lawmakers of both parties, from the senior-most senators...
What’s new and notable in outdoor grills
Barbecue season couldn’t be more welcome this year. Grilling is a way to change things up and expand the menu and the view for those stuck at home because of the coronavirus. “Eating out” means the patio, yard or balcony, if you have one. There’s all kinds of stylish and...
Mixed feelings around hockey about holding NHL Draft earlyVideo
The NFL’s successful virtual draft and uncertainty surrounding the resumption of hockey this season have raised the possibility of an NHL Draft held before the Stanley Cup Final. After postponing its draft scheduled for June 26-27 in light of the coronavirus pandemic, the NHL is considering having it earlier in...
2 members of White House virus task force in quarantine
WASHINGTON — Two members of the White House coronavirus task force placed themselves in quarantine after contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19, another stark reminder that not even one of the nation’s most secure buildings is immune from the virus. Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for...
Barack Obama lashes out at President Donald Trump in call with supporters
WASHINGTON — Former President Barack Obama harshly criticized President Donald Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic as an “absolute chaotic disaster” during a conversation with ex-members of his administration, according to a recording obtained by Yahoo News. Obama also reacted to the Justice Department dropping its criminal case against Trump’s...
Last surviving player from ‘A League of Their Own’ team diesVideo
Mary Pratt, who played for the Rockford Peaches and Kenosha Comets in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, died. She was 101. Pratt died Wednesday. Her nephew, Walter Pratt, told The Patriot Ledger she passed away peacefully at a nursing home. Pratt pitched in the women’s league from 1943-47. The...
Elon Musk threatens to exit California over coronavirus restrictions
Tesla CEO Elon Musk threatened Saturday to pull the company’s factory and headquarters out of California in an escalating spat with local officials who have stopped the company from reopening its electric vehicle factory. On Twitter, Musk also threatened to sue over Alameda County Health Department coronavirus restrictions that have...
Documents show top White House officials buried CDC report on reopening communities
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The decision to shelve detailed advice from the nation’s top disease control experts for reopening communities during the coronavirus pandemic came from the highest levels of the White House, according to internal government emails obtained by The Associated Press. The files also show that after the AP...
Trump administration tightens visas for Chinese reporters
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is tightening visa guidelines for Chinese journalists in response to the treatment of U.S. journalists in China, as tensions flare between the two nations over the coronavirus. The Department of Homeland Security has issued new regulations, set to take effect Monday, that will limit visas...
Drug remdesivir being shipped to six states to help combat coronavirus
WASHINGTON — The federal government is sending supplies of the first drug that appears to help speed the recovery of some covid-19 patients to six states, where it will be distributed by health departments. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced Saturday that it is delivering 140 cases...
Wintry weather: Polar vortex brings rare May snow, low temps to Eastern US
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Mother’s Day weekend got off to an unseasonably snowy start in the Northeast on Saturday thanks to the polar vortex bringing cold air down from the north. Some higher elevation areas in northern New York and New England reported snowfall accumulations of up to 10 inches, while...
US approves new coronavirus antigen test with fast results
U.S. regulators have approved a new type of coronavirus test that administration officials have promoted as a key to opening up the country. The Food and Drug Administration on Saturday announced emergency authorization for antigen tests developed by Quidel Corp. of San Diego. The test can rapidly detect fragments of...
Belarus holds Victory Day parade, disregarding coronavirus concerns
MINSK, Belarus — The eastern European nation of Belarus held a full-fledged military parade Saturday to mark Victory Day, shrugging off safety concerns during the coronavirus pandemic that led Russia to curtail its own long-planned 75th anniversary observances. Tens of thousands of spectators lined the parade route as some 3,000...
Little Richard, flamboyant rock ‘n’ roll pioneer, dead at 87
NASHVILLE — Little Richard, the self-proclaimed “architect of rock ‘n’ roll” whose piercing wail, pounding piano and towering pompadour irrevocably altered popular music while introducing black R&B to white America, has died Saturday. He was 87. Pastor Bill Minson, a close friend of Little Richard’s, told The Associated Press that...
Lawns are the new wedding venue in the age of coronavirus
NEW YORK — Love in the age of coronavirus sometimes requires a lawn. Couples with dashed wedding plans due to lockdown restrictions have been tying the knot on those tidy green spreads instead, including at least one loaner. Danielle Cartaxo and Ryan Cignarella were supposed to get married in West...
Court halts ban on mass gatherings at Kentucky churches
FRANKFORT, Ky. — A federal court halted the Kentucky governor’s temporary ban on mass gatherings from applying to in-person religious services, clearing the way for Sunday church services. U.S. District Judge Gregory F. Van Tatenhove on Friday issued a temporary restraining order enjoining Gov. Andy Beshear’s administration from enforcing the...
‘It’s gone haywire’: When COVID-19 arrived in rural America
DAWSON, Ga. — The reverend approached the makeshift pulpit and asked the Lord to help him make some sense of the scene before him: two caskets, side by side, in a small-town cemetery busier now than ever before. Rev. Willard O. Weston had already eulogized other neighbors lost to COVID-19,...
Serbia protests EU description of Tesla as famous Croat
BELGRADE, Serbia — Serbia has protested to the European Union after one of its publications described inventor and electricity pioneer Nikola Tesla as a Croat. Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said on Saturday he has sent the protest note to Brussels after the EU’s Learning Corner site for children described Tesla...
Georgia man’s death raises echoes of US racial terror legacy
BRUNSWICK, Ga. — Many people saw more than the last moments of Ahmaud Arbery’s life when a video emerged this week of white men armed with guns confronting the black man, a struggle with punches thrown, three shots fired and Arbery collapsing dead. The Feb. 23 shooting in coastal Georgia...
Bison transfers planned for US park, Indian reservation
BILLINGS, Mont. — Hundreds of wild bison would be transferred from federal lands to a South Dakota American Indian Reservation and a North Dakota national park as a first step in the latest initiative to restore the burly animals to Western U.S. lands that they once roamed by the millions,...
Stuck on cruise ships during pandemic, crews beg to go home
MIAMI — Carolina Vásquez lost track of days and nights, unable to see the sunlight while stuck for two weeks in a windowless cruise ship cabin as a fever took hold of her body. On the worst night of her encounter with COVID-19, the Chilean woman, a line cook on...
White father, son charged with murder in Ahmaud Arbery case
BRUNSWICK, Ga. — The white father and son stood quietly Friday as the judge read murder and aggravated assault charges against them in the fatal shooting of a black man who was running through their Georgia neighborhood. In just a few minutes, their first court appearance was over. It was...
California Gov. Newsom formally endorses Biden for president
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Gov. Gavin Newsom formally endorsed Joe Biden for president on Friday, praising the former vice president for his “deep compassion and empathy” during a virtual high-dollar fundraiser in partnership with the Democratic National Committee. “I just couldn’t be more proud of you and the prospects of...
Some NBA practice facilities re-open; some teams to begin testing players for coronavirusVideo
MIAMI — The NBA took tiny steps toward a return to normalcy Friday, as a small number of practice facilities reopened for workouts and at least one team received permission from the league to test players and staff for the coronavirus. Meanwhile, NBA commissioner Adam Silver took part in a...
Taiwan baseball fans allowed inside stadium but sit apartVideo
NEW TAIPEI CITY, Taiwan — There were fans in the stands for baseball in Taiwan on Friday, albeit spaced far apart as a safeguard against the spread of the coronavirus. Up to 1,000 spectators are allowed at each ballpark in Taiwan, but they still are barred from bringing in food...
