Associated Press stories, Page 304
Kash Patel sworn in at White House as new FBI director, calls it the ‘greatest honor’
WASHINGTON — Kash Patel was sworn in Friday as the FBI director, calling the opportunity to lead the nation’s premier federal law enforcement agency the “greatest honor” of his life. Patel was confirmed by the Senate on Thursday by a 51-49 margin, with two Republican lawmakers, Susan Collins of Maine...
New York Yankees drop ban on beards, 49 years after it was imposed by owner George SteinbrennerVideo
TAMPA. Fla. — The New York Yankees dropped their ban on beards Friday, 49 years after it was imposed by owner George Steinbrenner, in a move aimed to improve player recruitment as the team tries to win its first World Series title since 2009. Current owner Hal Steinbrenner, son of...
Supreme Court won’t allow Trump to immediately fire head of whistleblower office
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday temporarily kept on the job the head of the federal agency that protects government whistleblowers, in its first word on the many legal fights over President Donald Trump’s second-term agenda. The justices said in an unsigned order that Hampton Dellinger, head of the...
4 Nations Face-Off shatters expectations as a hockey showcase. The Milan Olympics are up nextVideo
Canada won the 4 Nations Face-Off by beating the United States for the championship in an overtime thriller capped by Connor McDavid’s memorable goal that will be on highlight reels for decades to come. In the grand scheme of things, the NHL, its players and the sport of hockey all...
Pentagon says it will cut 5,400 probationary workers starting next week
WASHINGTON — The Defense Department said Friday it’s cutting 5,400 probationary workers starting next week and will put a hiring freeze in place. It comes after staffers from the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, were at the Pentagon earlier in the week and received lists of such employees, U.S....
Trump says he might take control of U.S. Postal Service. Here’s what to know
PHILADELPHIA — President Donald Trump on Friday said he might put the U.S. Postal Service under the control of the Commerce Department in what would be an executive branch takeover of the agency, which has operated as an independent entity since 1970. “We want to have a post office that...
Luigi Mangione draws crowd to court for first hearing since arraignment in UnitedHealthcare killing
NEW YORK — The defendant wore a bulletproof vest and shackles. A woman in the crowd wore a “Free Luigi” scarf. Outside, throngs of people cheered and chanted his name. So it went Friday at a pretrial hearing for Luigi Mangione, the man accused of gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian...
Singer of Canadian anthem at 4 Nations Face-Off changes lyric to protest Trump’s 51st state remarksVideo
The anthem singer who performed the Canadian anthem before the 4 Nations Face-Off championship game Thursday night changed a lyric in “O Canada” as a response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s repeated remarks about making the country the 51st state. Publicist Adam Gonshor in an email to the Associated Press...
Steve Bannon, accused of doing a straight-arm Nazi salute at CPAC, says it was just ‘a wave’
OXON HILL, Md. — Steve Bannon was accused of making a Nazi salute as he concluded a speech at a conservative gathering where President Donald Trump is slated to speak this weekend, but Bannon said Friday the gesture was merely a “wave.” Bannon, who once served as Trump’s chief strategist...
Trump spars with Maine’s governor at White House over transgender athletesVideo
President Donald Trump sparred with Maine’s Democratic governor during a meeting of governors at the White House on Friday, with Gov. Janet Mills telling the Republican president, “We’ll see you in court,” over his push to deny federal funding to the state over transgender athletes. Trump told the governor he...
New Jersey man convicted of attempted murder in stabbing of Salman Rushdie
MAYVILLE, N.Y. — A New Jersey man was convicted Friday of attempted murder for stabbing author Salman Rushdie multiple times on a New York lecture stage in 2022. Jurors, who deliberated for less than two hours, also found Hadi Matar, 27, guilty of assault for wounding a man who was...
Yearslong shortage of popular weight-loss and diabetes drugs is resolved, FDA says
Shortages of Ozempic and Wegovy that have been in place for more than two years have been resolved, as supplies of the popular diabetes and obesity treatments continue to improve, federal regulators said Friday. The drugmaker Novo Nordisk can meet present and future demand in the U.S., the Food and...
Judge extends temporary block to huge cuts in National Institutes of Health research funding
BOSTON — A federal judge on Friday extended a temporary block of the Trump administration’s drastic cuts in medical research funding that many scientists say will endanger patients and delay new lifesaving discoveries. U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley had issued a temporary restraining order earlier this month in response to...
Pope Francis isn’t out of danger but his condition isn’t life-threatening, medical team says
ROME — Pope Francis’ condition isn’t life-threatening, but he’s not out of danger, his medical team said Friday, as the 88-year-old pontiff marked his first week in a hospital with pneumonia on top of chronic bronchitis. Francis’ doctors delivered their first in-person update on the pope’s condition, saying that he...
European troops, U.S. support are part of emerging plan for Ukraine, but it faces many hurdles
LONDON — As the U.S. and Russia push ahead — so far without Ukraine at the table — on talks to end the war, political and military leaders in Europe are fleshing out details of a plan for European forces to help ensure Moscow doesn’t attack again. After months of...
Netanyahu decries release of wrong body as a ceasefire violation. Hamas pledges to investigate
JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed revenge Friday for what he described as a “cruel and malicious violation” of the ceasefire agreement after a body that Hamas released as part of the deal was found to not be that of an Israeli mother of two young boys, as...
Macron’s message to Trump: ‘You can’t be weak in the face of Putin’
PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron said that he intends to tell U.S. counterpart Donald Trump that it’s in the joint interest of Americans and Europeans not to “be weak” in the face of Russian leader Vladimir Putin amid U.S.-led negotiations to end the nearly three-year war in Ukraine. Macron...
Senate Republicans approve budget framework, pushing past Democratic objections after all-night vote
WASHINGTON — Republican senators pushed a $340 billion budget framework to passage early Friday, chugging through an all-night session and Democratic opposition in a step toward unleashing money the Trump administration says it needs for mass deportations and border security that top their agenda. The hours-long “vote-a-rama” rambled along in...
Federal judge allows Trump’s mass firings of federal workers to move forward
WASHINGTON — A federal judge in Washington has allowed President Donald Trump’s mass firings of federal workers to move forward. U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper decided Thursday he could not grant a motion from unions representing the workers to temporarily block the layoffs. He found that their complaint amounted to...
Crow is not the only thing they eat at a wild game dinner in rural Pennsylvania
PINE GROVE — The buffet line inside the fire hall in rural Northeast Pennsylvania was a familiar sight last weekend as a crowd of about 150 people heaped dinner onto their plates before sitting down to eat, hear a little live music and wait for the raffle. Aside from a...
Connor McDavid scores in OT to give Canada win over United States in 4 Nations Face-Off final
BOSTON — When they played “O Canada” for the second time, there were no American fans left in the arena to boo. Instead, the Canadian team stood at the blue line, arm in arm, player and coach, wearing their championship hats while the maple leaf flag was lowered behind the...
Germany’s Paul and Norway’s Ventura part of international leaderboard in Mexico OpenVideo
VALLARTA, Mexico — Six of the seven PGA Tour events this year had international winners, and the Mexico Open kept up with trend Thursday when Jeremy Paul of Germany, Kris Ventura of Norway and Harry Hall of England shared the lead at 7-under-par 64. Hall played early and handled the...
ESPN, Major League Baseball will end their national television deal after 2025 season
ESPN’s coverage of Major League Baseball games — at least in its current form — will conclude at the end of the 2025 season. ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro informed baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred on Thursday morning that the network was opting out of the final three years of its contract,...
Slide for Walmart pulls Wall Street from its record, and Dow drops 450Video
NEW YORK — A sharp slide for Walmart on Thursday helped pull Wall Street off of its record. The S&P 500 slipped 0.4% for its first drop after setting all-time highs in each of the last two days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 450 points, or 1%, and the...
Dr. Mehmet Oz holds millions from companies that he’d wield power over if confirmed, report shows
WASHINGTON — The wealth of Dr. Mehmet Oz, the celebrity heart surgeon nominated by President Donald Trump to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, has swelled in part from for-profit health care companies over which he’d wield significant power if confirmed, according to a newly filed government ethics...
