Associated Press stories, Page 2151
Disney to roll out new reservation system when parks reopen
When Walt Disney World reopens its Florida theme parks next month after shutting down during the coronavirus pandemic, they’ll be introducing a new reservation system. The company announced Friday that the new Disney Park Pass System will operate through disneyworld.com on either a desktop or mobile device, and registration through...
Twins remove statue of ex-owner Calvin Griffith over racist remarks
MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Twins on Friday announced they removed a statue of former owner Calvin Griffith at Target Field, citing racist remarks he made in 1978. Griffith’s statue was one of several installed when the team opened the ballpark in 2010. Its removal came on Juneteenth, the traditional commemoration...
Wall Street ends a sluggish day lower, still up for the week
NEW YORK — Wall Street careened through all the forces that have pushed and pulled it through the week, at first rising on Friday amid hope for the economy and then falling on worries about worsening coronavirus levels in some states, all before ending with modest losses. The S&P 500...
Gov. Wolf loosens restrictions in last of Pa.’s counties except Lebanon
Parts of Pennsylvania that were among the hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic will move next week into the less restrictive “green” zone for reopening businesses and restarting group activities, the Wolf administration announced Friday. The 12 counties going from yellow to green under Gov. Tom Wolf’s color-colored reopening system...
Canada approves plan to play hockey in country amid pandemic
Canada has approved the NHL’s return-to-play proposal that could lead to one or more cities north of the border serving as host sites for the league’s 24-team playoff format. Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland announced Friday that the nation’s top public health officer, and health officials in Alberta, British Columbia...
Tulsa mayor sets curfew around site of Trump’s weekend rallyVideo
TULSA, Okla. — The mayor of Tulsa has declared a civil emergency and set a curfew for the area around the arena where President Donald Trump plans to hold a campaign rally this weekend. In his executive order establishing a curfew around the BOK Center from 10 p.m. to 6...
Putin orders officials to fully clean Arctic fuel spill area
MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his government Friday to fully repair environmental damage from a massive fuel leak in the Arctic. A power plant in the Siberian city of Norilsk leaked 20,000 tons of diesel fuel into the ecologically fragile region, the worst such accident in decades. Putin...
Washington D.C. announces phase 2 reopening starting Monday
WASHINGTON — The nation’s capital is moving ahead with the second phase of its reopening Monday, as city officials credited months of social restrictions with blunting an anticipated spike in COVID-19 infections. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced that playgrounds, libraries, gyms and nail salons in Washington, D.C., will be able to...
AP-NORC poll: Majority of Americans support police protestsVideo
NEW YORK — Ahead of the Juneteenth holiday weekend’s demonstrations against systemic racism and police brutality, a majority of Americans say they approve of recent protests around the country. Many think they’ll bring positive change. And despite headline-making standoffs between law enforcement and protesters in cities nationwide, the poll from...
Google loses appeal against $56 million fine in France
PARIS — France’s highest administrative court has upheld a fine of $56 million Google was ordered to pay for not being “sufficiently clear and transparent” with Android users about their data protection options. Google was first slapped with the fine in January 2019, the first penalty for a U.S. tech...
Officer involved in Breonna Taylor shooting to be firedVideo
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville’s mayor said Friday that one of three police officers involved in the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor will be fired. Mayor Greg Fisher said interim Louisville police Chief Robert Schroeder has started termination proceedings for Officer Brett Hankison. Two other officers remain on administrative reassignment while...
Sheriff’s office: 6 killed in fiery head-on crash in Kansas
LAWRENCE, Kan. — Six people were killed and one was seriously injured in a fiery head-on crash on a northeast Kansas highway, authorities said. The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office said the crash happened around 6:40 p.m. Thursday when a Ford Fusion and another vehicle collided on U.S. 40 southwest of...
Belmont sets pace for Triple Crown, with Tiz the Law favored
It has been 17 years since Jack Knowlton and his Sackatoga Stable pals rode yellow school buses to the Belmont Stakes. It was a rollicking party on wheels for the group that came to watch their colt, Funny Cide, try to sweep the Triple Crown. It didn’t happen that day....
Germany, France, UK press Iran to provide atomic site access
BERLIN — The board of the United Nations’ atomic watchdog agency on Friday adopted a resolution calling for Iran to provide inspectors access to sites where the country is thought to have stored or used undeclared nuclear material, the Russian representative said. Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s ambassador to international organizations in...
Pennsylvania’s jobless rate slides back from pandemic peak
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s unemployment began sliding down from its pandemic peak in May, even clocking in at below the national rate as payrolls grew by almost 200,000, the state said Friday. Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate was 13.1% in May, down 3 percentage points from April’s adjusted rate, the state Department of...
‘Chariots of Fire,’ ‘Lord of the Rings’ actor Ian Holm dies
LONDON — Ian Holm, an acclaimed British actor whose long career included roles in “Chariots of Fire” and “The Lord of the Rings” has died. He was 88. Holm died peacefully Friday morning in a hospital, surrounded by his family and carer, his agent, Alex Irwin, said in a statement....
U.S. in mind, UN body to report on racism after Floyd killing
GENEVA — The U.N.’s top human rights body voted unanimously Friday to commission a U.N. report on systemic racism and discrimination against black people while stopping short of ordering a more intensive investigation singling out the United States after the death of George Floyd at the hands of police sparked...
Atlanta police call out sick over charges in fatal shootingVideo
ATLANTA — Atlanta police officers called out sick to protest the filing of murder charges against an officer who shot a man in the back, while the interim chief acknowledged members of the force feel abandoned amid protests demanding massive changes to policing. Interim Chief Rodney Bryant told The Associated...
Twitter flags Trump’s tweet of doctored ‘racist baby’ videoVideo
LONDON — Twitter has slapped another label on a tweet by President Donald Trump, this time warning that a video he shared was doctored and escalating the social media company’s crackdown on one of its most widely followed users. After Trump tweeted the video late Thursday, Twitter took the rare...
Bank of England apologizes for past links to slavery
LONDON — The Bank of England has apologized for the links some of its past governors had with slavery, as a global anti-racism movement sparked by the death of George Floyd forces many British institutions to confront uncomfortable truths about their pasts. The central bank called the trade in human...
BMW to drop 6,000 jobs through turnover, early retirement
FRANKFURT, Germany — Automaker BMW says it will drop 6,000 jobs through early retirements and turnover, as the auto industry adjusts to a sharp drop in demand due to the coronavirus outbreak. The Munich-based maker of the X5 SUV and 3-Series sedan said Friday that it had agreed on the...
Raven-Symoné posts wedding photos, ‘I love you’ to new wife
Raven-Symoné says she’s single no longer. “I got married to a woman who understands me from trigger to joy, from breakfast to midnight snack, from stage to home,” Raven-Symoné wrote in a post Thursday that included a photo of her embracing Miranda Maday. “I love you Mrs. Pearman-Maday!” wrote Raven-Symoné,...
Billie Eilish gets 3-year restraining order against trespasser
A judge has extended to three years a restraining order taken out by Billie Eilish against a man who repeatedly appeared at her Los Angeles home. In a hearing, Superior Court Judge Dianna Gould-Saltman agreed to the extension of the May 11 order preventing 24-year-old Prenell Rousseau of Farmingville, N.Y.,...
New solo version of Aretha song about race, faith released on JuneteenthVideo
A never-before-heard solo version of the late Aretha Franklin’s riveting and powerful collaboration with Mary J. Blige about faith and race, 2006’s “Never Gonna Break My Faith,” has arrived on Juneteenth. Sony’s RCA Records, RCA Inspiration and Legacy Recordings released the song Friday, aligning with the holiday celebrating the day...
NCAA expands ban, joins SEC in targeting Confederate flagVideo
The NCAA on Friday expanded its policy banning states with prominent Confederate symbols from hosting its sponsored events, one day after the SEC made a similar declaration aimed at the Mississippi state flag. The current NCAA ban, in place since 2001, prevents states from hosting what the NCAA calls predetermined...
