Associated Press stories, Page 23
Blue Jays and free-agent pitcher Dylan Cease agree to $210 million, 7-year deal, AP source says
Free-agent pitcher Dylan Cease and the Toronto Blue Jays have agreed to a $210 million, seven-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Wednesday night. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the deal was pending a physical and had not...
A welcome form of inflation: Balloons take shape for Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
NEW YORK — Giant balloons got into shape Wednesday for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade as crews inflated the giant characters on the streets of New York City. The parade kicks off Thursday morning, with dozens of huge balloons set to take to the skies. Floats, entertainers, marching bands and...
Canada’s prime minister announces supports for lumber, steel sectors hit by U.S. tariffs
TORONTO — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Wednesday new supports for the steel and lumber industries hit hard by U.S. tariffs. U.S. President Donald Trump has imposed 50% tariffs on steel and softwood lumber, long subject to U.S. tariffs, is currently taxed at 45% after the Trump administration’s hike...
Under a cloud, the Olympic flame begins its journey to the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics
ANCIENT OLYMPIA, Greece — The Olympic flame began its journey Wednesday to the Milan Cortina Winter Games — missing a little of its usual magic. Bad weather lashing western Greece forced organizers to move the torch-lighting ceremony indoors, from Olympia’s ancient stadium and temples to a nearby museum. The flame...
2 National Guard members shot in an ambush attack just blocks from the White HouseVideo
WASHINGTON — Two West Virginia National Guard members who deployed to the nation’s capital were shot Wednesday just blocks from the White House in a brazen act of violence that the mayor described as a targeted attack. FBI Director Kash Patel and Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said they were hospitalized...
Soldiers in Guinea-Bissau appear on state TV saying they have seized power
BISSAU, Guinea-Bissau — Soldiers in Guinea-Bissau appeared on state television saying they have seized power in the country, following reports of gunshots near the presidential palace on Wednesday, three days after national elections were held. “The High Military Command for the reestablishment of national and public order decides to immediately...
New prosecutor won’t pursue charges against Trump and others in Georgia election interference case
ATLANTA — A judge on Wednesday dismissed the Georgia election interference case against President Donald Trump and others after the prosecutor who recently took over the case said he would not pursue the charges. Pete Skandalakis, the executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, took over the case...
Layoffs are piling up, raising worker anxiety. Here are some companies that have cut jobs recently
NEW YORK — It’s a tough time to be looking for a job. Amid wider economic uncertainty, some analysts have said that businesses are at a “no-hire, no fire” standstill. That’s caused many to limit new work to only a few specific roles, if not pause openings entirely. At the...
Sellers in other countries struggle to maintain U.S. customers as holiday shopping season starts
NEW YORK — At Fleece & Harmony, a woolen mill and yarn shop in bucolic Belfast, Prince Edward Island, in Canada, owner Kim Doherty used to be able to send yarn skeins to U.S. customers across the border with little fanfare. The yarn orders usually met an import tax exemption...
3 arrested in Hong Kong, as a high-rise fire leaves at least 44 dead and 279 reported missing
HONG KONG — Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in years burned through the night, leaving at least 44 people dead and 279 reported missing with rescuers still pulling residents from blazing high-rise apartment buildings into the morning. Several local media outlets reported that police had arrested three men on suspicion of...
Health care plan circulated by the White House runs into familiar GOP divisions
WASHINGTON — A health care proposal circulated by the White House in recent days is running into the reality of Republican divisions on the issue — a familiar struggle for a party that has been trying to scrap or overhaul the Affordable Care Act for the past 15 years. The...
DACA recipients are being arrested despite deportation protection
McALLEN, Texas — Yaakub Vijandre was preparing to go to work as a mechanic when six vehicles appeared outside his Dallas-area home. Federal agents jumped out, one pointed a weapon at him, and they took him into custody. Vijandre is a recipient of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, the Obama-era...
Kilauea displays lava fountains for the 37th time since its eruption began last year
HONOLULU — The on-and-off eruption that’s been dazzling residents and visitors on Hawaii’s Big Island for nearly a year resumed Tuesday as Kilauea volcano sent fountains of lava soaring 400 feet into the air. The molten rock was confined within Kilauea’s summit caldera inside Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, the U.S....
Kremlin confirms U.S. envoy’s visit as talks on ending war in Ukraine gain momentum
A senior Kremlin official confirmed Wednesday that U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff is set to visit Moscow next week as efforts to find a consensus on ending the nearly four-year war between Russia and Ukraine pick up speed. But Yuri Ushakov, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, insisted that...
Israel returns 15 more Palestinian bodies to Gaza as first phase of ceasefire nears end
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Hospital officials in Gaza said Wednesday that Israel handed over 15 more Palestinian bodies, completing the latest swap of the ceasefire as the first phase of the agreement nears a conclusion and officials convened to discuss moving to the second. It came a day after...
Frustrated by missing mail, one American took the Postal Service to court
HARTFORD, Conn. — As a general rule, it’s difficult to sue the U.S. Postal Service for lost, delayed or mishandled mail. But a case before the U.S. Supreme Court involving a Texas landlord who alleges her mail was deliberately withheld for two years is looking to challenge that, in a...
National Parks to raise fees for millions of international tourists to popular sites
WASHINGTON — The National Park Service said Tuesday it is going to start charging the millions of international tourists who visit U.S. parks each year an extra $100 to enter some of the most popular sites, while leaving them out of fee-free days that will be reserved for American residents....
Josh Reed scores 17 for Penn State in win over Boston University
UNIVERSITY PARK — Josh Reed scored a season-high 17 points for Penn State in a 96-87 win over Boston University on Tuesday night. Reed shot 5 of 6 from the field and was perfect on six attempts from the free-throw line and grabbed eight rebounds. All four other starters for...
Bears QB Caleb Williams maintaining focus after beating Steelers
LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Caleb Williams’ quest for better passing accuracy took a different turn Sunday in the Chicago Bears’ 31-28 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. And Williams sees the need for improvement Friday when the Bears (8-3) test their offense against the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles (8-3)....
Americans eye Thanksgiving travel weather after Texas tornadoes, snow and rain elsewhereVideo
CYPRESS, Texas — Kenny Beck surveyed the damage Tuesday to his family’s two-story home after at least two tornadoes tore through the Houston area, damaging over 100 homes at the start of a busy Thanksgiving travel week that has Americans closely eyeing the weather. “Half my roof on the back...
Report: U.S. envoy coached Putin aide on how Russian leader should pitch Trump on Ukraine peace plan
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s chief interlocutor with the Russian government last month advised a senior aide to Vladimir Putin on how the Russian leader should go about pitching the U.S. president on a peace plan aimed at bringing an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine, according to a transcript...
Bengals QB Joe Burrow excited for long-awaited return, Thanksgiving stage vs. RavensVideo
CINCINNATI — Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow confirmed Tuesday that he’ll be returning on Thanksgiving night to start against the Baltimore Ravens. Burrow had surgery to repair a turf toe injury Sept. 19 and is making his return nearly a full month ahead of schedule. “We pushed it within the...
Judge gives Justice Department a day to detail Ghislaine Maxwell trial materials to be released
NEW YORK — A federal judge in Manhattan is demanding more information from the Justice Department as he weighs its request to unseal records from the sex trafficking case against Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime confidante Ghislaine Maxwell. Judge Paul A. Engelmayer on Tuesday ordered the Justice Department to tell him what...
PGA Tour has fewer cards, smaller fields, but big changes still to come
ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — Sunday at Sea Island was supposed to be looked upon as doomsday for so many PGA Tour players who left the final event of the PGA Tour season without a full card. This was the year the tour eliminated 25 cards, raising the bar to...
Bills provide QB Josh Allen another veteran option by signing receiver Brandin Cooks
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — The Buffalo Bills provided Josh Allen and their inconsistent passing attack yet another veteran option by signing free agent wide receiver Brandin Cooks on Tuesday. Cooks joins the Bills after the New Orleans Saints granted the player’s wish by waiving him last week. And his signing...
