Associated Press stories, Page 2165
Rights groups, athletes ask NCAA to move tourney from IdahoVideo
BOISE, Idaho — Groups that advocate for civil rights and women’s rights have joined notable athletes in asking the NCAA to move 2021 men’s basketball tournament games out of Idaho after the state passed a law banning transgender women from competing in women’s sports. A letter sent Wednesday and signed...
Fed to keep buying bonds and sees no rate hike through 2022
WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve says it will keep buying bonds to maintain low borrowing rates and support the U.S. economy in the midst of a recession. And it says nearly all the Fed’s policymakers foresee no rate hike through 2022. The Fed has cut its benchmark short-term rate to...
Ex-judge says push to dismiss Flynn case is abuse of power
WASHINGTON — A former federal judge appointed to review the Justice Department’s motion to dismiss criminal charges against President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn said there was evidence of a “gross abuse” of prosecutorial power and that the request should be denied. Former U.S. District Judge John...
‘Stop the pain,’ a brother of George Floyd tells Congress
WASHINGTON — Philonise Floyd challenged Congress on Wednesday to “stop the pain” so that his brother George wouldn’t be just “another name” on a growing list of those killed during interactions with police. Floyd’s appearance before a House hearing came a day after funeral services for his bother, the 46-year-old...
‘Legendary’ heralds loud, proud ball culture
FX’s fictionalized hit show “Pose” introduced many to the underground world of ballroom culture, in which historically black and Latino LGBT youths compete in elaborate performances on a runway. Now “Legendary” on HBO Max is serving up real ballroom battles to the mainstream, with competitors in eight “houses” vying to...
Facing electoral headwinds, Trump brings back his 2016 team
As anyone who has ever heard him speak knows, President Donald Trump loves to relive 2016. He recycles old attack lines once aimed at Hillary Clinton. He recounts the drama of election night, complete with impersonations of stunned news anchors putting state after state (Pennsylvania! Wisconsin!) in the Republican’s column....
Minneapolis police chief takes on union, promises reform
The Minneapolis Police Department will withdraw from police union contract negotiations, Chief Medaria Arradondo said Wednesday as he announced the first steps in what he said would be transformational reforms to the agency in the wake of George Floyd’s death. Arradondo said a thorough review of the contract is planned....
Police: Officer shot, wounded man with box cutter in Philadelphia
An officer shot and wounded a man officials said was armed with a box cutter in north Philadelphia, police said. Police said the female officer was at a property in the city’s Olney section when a 22-year-old man attacked her with a box cutter. The officer tried to get away...
HBO Max removes ‘Gone With the Wind,’ will add historical contextVideo
HBO Max has temporarily removed “Gone With the Wind” from its streaming library in order to add historical context to the 1939 film long criticized for romanticizing slavery and the Civil War-era South. Protests in the wake of George Floyd’s death have forced entertainment companies to grapple with the appropriateness...
Strange case of 2 kids who vanished in Idaho takes grim turnVideo
BOISE, Idaho — It was the extended family who grew suspicious first, and then at their urging, local police: Seven-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow and his 17-year-old sister Tylee Ryan hadn’t been seen in far too long, and their mother wouldn’t give a straight answer about where they were. Soon strangers...
What makes an American a patriot? Spike Lee has some answersVideo
Spike Lee was just 10 when Muhammad Ali, in 1967, refused to be drafted into the Vietnam War. It wasn’t his fight, Ali said then. The Vietnamese “never lynched me.” Ali’s stand, and the subsequent vitriol that came his way, made an enormous impression on Lee. His latest film, “Da...
AP sources: MLB players cut to 89 games, want prorated money
NEW YORK — Baseball players moved toward teams but remained far apart economically in their latest proposal for starting the pandemic-delayed season, adamant they receive full prorated salaries while offering to cut the regular season to 89 games. The proposal by the players’ association, given to Major League Baseball electronically...
Eastern Pennsylvania fireworks explosion kills 1, injures another
COOPERSBURG — The explosion of two tractor-trailers filled with fireworks, killing one person and injuring another, is under investigation, officials said Wednesday. Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents joined state investigators at the scene in eastern Pennsylvania to comb through the trailers and a building that were destroyed by the...
U.S. military rethinking links to Confederate Army symbols
WASHINGTON — The U.S. military is rethinking its traditional connection to Confederate Army symbols, mindful of their divisiveness at a time the nation is wrestling with questions of race after the death of George Floyd in police hands. Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy, both former Army...
Confederate monument in Virginia covered with trash bagsVideo
PORTSMOUTH, Va. — Protesters in Portsmouth, Va., covered a Confederate monument in the city with trash bags and sheets Wednesday, several hours after the city’s council members had a meeting to figure out ways to relocate it. A white sheet that read “BLM” covered the fence in front of the...
Ford, VW to collaborate on vans, pickup, electric vehicleVideo
DEARBORN, Mich. — Ford and Volkswagen will each offer a small city van, a larger cargo van, a small pickup truck and an electric vehicle as part of their global alliance announced last year. The companies announced some details of what the venture will yield Wednesday, with the city van...
Grammys make awards changes, address conflicts of interest
The Recording Academy is making changes to several Grammy Awards categories, including the often-debated best new artist title, and having nomination review committee members sign disclosure forms to prevent conflicts of interest. The new rules announced Wednesday will affect the 63rd annual Grammy Awards, which will air live on Jan....
Russia detains managers of plant that spilled fuel in ArcticVideo
MOSCOW — Russian authorities have detained three top managers of an Arctic power plant that leaked 20,000 tons of diesel fuel into the ecologically fragile region. Plant director Pavel Smirnov, chief engineer Alexei Stepanov and his deputy, Yuri Kuznetsov, have been detained on suspicion of violating environmental regulations, the spokeswoman...
Stocks slide on glum growth forecast, eye Fed decisionVideo
BANGKOK — World shares turned lower on Wednesday after a downbeat forecast for the global economy and as investors awaited the outcome of a Federal Reserve policy meeting. Markets in Europe and Wall Street futures shed their gains and were largely down for the day after the Organization for Economic...
4 ‘Vanderpump’ regulars ousted over slurs, racial profiling
Four cast members are not returning for another season of Bravo’s “Vanderpump Rules” — two over their racist social media posts, and the others after they racially profiled a coworker. Bravo released a statement Tuesday confirming that Stassi Schroeder, Kristen Doute, Max Boyens and Brett Caprioni would not return to...
Pennsylvania GOP seeks to dismantle Wolf’s shutdown
A Republican proposal that aims to force Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf to end the pandemic disaster declaration occupied the Legislature for hours on Tuesday, but its legal impact was disputed. Senate Republicans said the state law that gave Wolf the ability to issue the March 6 declaration also gives lawmakers...
‘He is going to change the world’: Funeral held for George Floyd
HOUSTON — George Floyd was fondly remembered Tuesday as “Big Floyd” — a father and brother, athlete and neighborhood mentor, and now a catalyst for change — at a funeral for the black man whose death has sparked a global reckoning over police brutality and racial prejudice. More than 500...
Video shows prison guard mocking George Floyd killing
FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP, N.J. — A corrections officer who participated in a counterprotest to a Black Lives Matter demonstration in New Jersey in which people reenacted the death of George Floyd was suspended after the video was widely shared on social media. In the video, protesters march along a street Monday...
Body camera: Dying man pleads ‘save me’ during Taser arrest
AUSTIN, Texas — A black man died in custody last year after sheriff’s deputies in Texas repeatedly used stun guns on him, despite his pleas that he was sick and couldn’t breathe, according to recently released police video and documents. Williamson County deputies attempted to pull 40-year-old Javier Ambler over...
‘Cops,’ on air for 33 seasons, dropped by Paramount Network
LOS ANGELES — After 33 seasons on the air, “Cops” has been dropped by the Paramount Network as protests against police proliferate around the world. “Cops is not on the Paramount Network and we don’t have any current or future plans for it to return,” a spokesperson for the cable...
