Associated Press stories, Page 344
Estimated 24.6 million TV viewers watched inauguration coverage, fewest since 2013
NEW YORK — An estimated 24.6 million television viewers watched President Donald Trump’s second inauguration, the smallest audience for the quadrennial ceremony since Barack Obama’s second inauguration in 2013. The Nielsen Company said Tuesday that viewership was down from Joe Biden’s 2021 inauguration, which reached 33.8 million, and Trump’s first...
Trump administration directs all federal DEI staff be put on paid leave
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump ‘s administration is directing that all federal diversity, equity and inclusion staff be put on paid leave, and that agencies develop plans to lay them off, according to a memo Tuesday from the Office of Personnel Management. The memo follows an executive order Trump signed...
Warnings for dangerous wind extended in Southern California as new wildfires break outVideo
LOS ANGELES — Forecasters warned that dangerous winds will buffet Southern California for at least two more days as new wildfires broke out on Tuesday, a pair of major Los Angeles-area blazes burned for a third week, and officials made preparations to protect scorched neighborhoods from toxic ash runoff ahead...
U.S. border patrol agent fatally shot in Vermont near Canada
Authorities on Tuesday were investigating a fatal shooting of a U.S. Border Patrol agent that also left a suspect dead and another injured on a Vermont highway near Canada, authorities said. Agent David Maland was killed Monday afternoon after a traffic stop, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson said...
Coaches say interviewing during NFL playoffs isn’t distraction
Only the coordinators who interviewed for head coaching jobs before playoff games know if those conversations with other teams were a distraction. It won’t stop people from speculating about it. The NFL’s hiring process became a hot topic after the Detroit Lions were knocked out of the playoffs. The Lions...
Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia, Billy Wagner elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
NEW YORK — Ichiro Suzuki became the first Japanese player chosen for baseball’s Hall of Fame, falling one vote shy of unanimous when he was elected Tuesday along with CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner. Suzuki received 393 of 394 votes from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Sabathia was on...
Pete Hegseth’s former sister-in-law alleges abuse against 2nd wife in affidavit to Senate
WASHINGTON — Senators vetting the nomination of Pete Hegseth for defense secretary received an affidavit Tuesday from a former sister-in-law alleging that the onetime Fox News host was abusive to his second wife, to the point where she feared for her safety. Hegseth denies the allegations. The sister-in-law, Danielle Hegseth,...
Trump highlights partnership investing $500 billion in AIVideo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Tuesday talked up a joint venture investing up to $500 billion for infrastructure tied to artificial intelligence by a new partnership formed by OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank. The new entity, Stargate, will start building out data centers and the electricity generation needed for the...
Trudeau says Canada will respond to U.S. tariffs as Ontario’s premier says Trump ‘declared war’
TORONTO — Canada’s outgoing prime minister and the leader of the country’s oil rich province of Alberta are both confident Canada can avoid the 25% tariffs President Donald Trump says he will impose on Feb. 1. Justin Trudeau and Danielle Smith will argue that Canada is the energy super power...
Lack of Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele means slow PGA start
A new season in any sport is ripe with optimism and enthusiasm, and that’s how PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan sounded when he delivered a year-end video message that promised innovation and excitement. “Everything is on the table,” Monahan said just over a month ago. Unfortunately, the table included ravioli...
At inaugural prayer service, bishop pleads for Trump to ‘have mercy’ on LGBTQ+ people and migrantsVideo
WASHINGTON — At the inaugural prayer service, the Right Rev. Mariann Budde, the Episcopal bishop of Washington, made a direct appeal to President Donald Trump to have mercy on the LGBTQ+ community and undocumented migrant workers. Referencing Trump’s belief that he was saved by God from assassination, Budde said, “You...
Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, 4 others have carried Chiefs to 7 straight AFC title gamesVideo
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Five years ago, after the Kansas City Chiefs had just rallied to beat the San Francisco 49ers in their first Super Bowl appearance in five decades, Chris Jones settled behind a dais and was asked about what the future held for him. Now a three-time All-Pro...
Garth Hudson, master instrumentalist and last surviving member of The Band, dies at 87
NEW YORK — Garth Hudson, the Band’s virtuoso keyboardist and all-around musician who drew from a unique palette of sounds and styles to add a conversational touch to such rock standards as “Up on Cripple Creek,” “The Weight” and “Rag Mama Rag,” has died at age 87. Hudson was the...
Ohio State celebrates and gets ready for all the changes coming to college football in 2025
ATLANTA — The early betting favorite to win next year’s national championship: Ohio State. The question nobody can really answer at this time: What sort of sport will the Buckeyes or anyone else return to when they kick it off again seven months from now. A program that won the...
States sue to stop Trump’s order blocking birthright citizenship
Attorneys general from 18 states sued Tuesday to block President Donald Trump’s move to end a decades-old immigration policy known as birthright citizenship guaranteeing that U.S.-born children are citizens regardless of their parents’ status. Trump’s roughly 700-word executive order, issued late Monday, amounts to a fulfillment of something he’s talked...
Fire chief fatally shot while helping a couple whose car struck a deer in Alabama
CHAMBERS COUNTY, Ala. — A man fatally shot a fire battalion chief and wounded the driver of a car that hit a deer in rural Alabama, authorities said. The Coweta County fire department is mourning the death of James Bartholomew Cauthen, 54, remembering him as “an amazing, hard-working man with...
AP Top 25: Ohio State, Notre Dame are 1-2 in final poll; Penn State finishes 5th
Ohio State was No. 1 in the final Associated Press Top 25 college football poll of the season Tuesday after beating Notre Dame for its first national championship since 2014. The Buckeyes (14-2) received every first-place vote following their mostly dominant run through the College Football Playoff. The Irish (14-2)...
Iraqi lawmakers pass a bill that critics say legalizes child marriage
BAGHDAD — Iraq’s parliament passed three divisive laws Tuesday, including amendments to the country’s personal status law that opponents say would, in effect, legalize child marriage. The amendments give Islamic courts increased authority over family matters, including marriage, divorce and inheritance. Activists argue that this undermines Iraq’s 1959 Personal Status...
Trump pardons upend massive Jan. 6 prosecution by freeing rioters and dismissing cases
WASHINGTON — Rioters locked up for their roles in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack were released while judges began dismissing dozens of pending cases Tuesday after President Donald Trump’s sweeping grant of clemency to all 1,500-plus people charged in the insurrection that shook the foundation of American democracy. With the...
Trevor Noah is tapped to once again host the Grammy Awards
The Grammy Awards are sticking with their man: Trevor Noah will host the show for the fifth consecutive time, the Grammys announced Tuesday. The comedian, best known for hosting Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” from 2015 to 2022, will once more be front and center Feb. 2, when the awards...
Supreme Court rejects GOP-backed Montana case based on controversial election law theory
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Tuesday turned back an election law case out of Montana that relied on a controversial legal theory with the potential to change the way elections are run across the country. The high court declined to hear the case in a brief order without explaining...
Pennsylvania row officers sworn in, marking 1st time Republicans hold all 3 offices
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s three statewide row officers were sworn in to new four-year terms on Tuesday, joining Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro in Harrisburg and marking the first time that all three offices were filled at the same time by elected Republicans. Treasurer Stacy Garrity and Auditor General Tim DeFoor embarked...
Frigid storm drops rare snow on Houston and New Orleans as Florida readies plows in the PanhandleVideo
NEW ORLEANS — A rare frigid storm charged through Texas and the northern Gulf Coast on Tuesday, blanketing New Orleans and Houston with snow, closing highways, grounding nearly all flights and canceling school for millions of students more used to hurricane dismissals than snow days. The storm prompted the first...
Trump wants to pull the U.S. out of the World Health Organization again. Here’s what may happen next
WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump used one of the flurry of executive actions that he issued on his first day back in the White House to begin the process of withdrawing the U.S. from the World Health Organization for the second time in less than five years — a...
Palestinians confront a landscape of destruction in Gaza’s ‘ghost towns’
RAFAH, Gaza Strip — Palestinians in Gaza are confronting an apocalyptic landscape of devastation after a ceasefire paused more than 15 months of fighting between Israel and Hamas. Across the tiny coastal enclave, where built-up refugee camps are interspersed between cities, drone footage captured by The Associated Press shows mounds...
