Associated Press stories, Page 344
Saudi crown prince says kingdom intends to invest $600 billion in U.S. during call with Trump
Saudi Arabia’s crown prince said the kingdom wants to invest $600 billion in the United States over the next four years, comments that came after President Donald Trump put a price tag on returning to the kingdom as his first foreign trip. Trump’s 2017 trip to Saudi Arabia upended a...
LeBron James picked for 21st straight All-Star Game, extending NBA recordVideo
LeBron James is extending his All-Star records. The NBA revealed the starters — some of them, anyway — for the revamped All-Star Game on Thursday night, and there wasn’t much in the way of surprises. James is now officially an All-Star for the 21st year. The other starters: — New...
NBA still talking about expanding its footprint in Europe, Adam Silver saysVideo
PARIS — The NBA is still exploring ways to expand its role in European basketball, and those talks with FIBA and other stakeholders will continue, commissioner Adam Silver said Thursday. That means there’s no deal yet. But Silver, speaking before the start of the NBA Paris Games between San Antonio...
Pete Hegseth told senator he paid $50,000 to woman who accused him of 2017 sex assault
WASHINGTON — Pete Hegseth, President Donald Trump’s nominee for defense secretary, paid $50,000 to the woman who accused him of sexual assault in 2017, according to answers he provided to a senator during his confirmation process that The Associated Press has obtained. The written answers were provided to Massachusetts Democratic...
Ichiro Suzuki wants to have a drink with writer who left him off Hall of Fame ballotVideo
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — Ichiro Suzuki wants to raise a glass with the voter who chose not to check off his name on the Hall of Fame ballot. “There’s one writer that I wasn’t able to get a vote from,” he said through a translator Thursday, two days after receiving 393...
Head of West Virginia gun lobby appointed to replace lawmaker-elect arrested for making threats
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The president of West Virginia’s largest gun-lobbying group has been appointed to fill the seat of a lawmaker-elect who was ousted while confined to his house on charges related to terroristic threats against his colleagues. Ian Masters, a Gerrardstown lawyer and president of the West Virginia Citizens...
FEMA faces shakeup under Trump while it wrestles with disasters on both coasts
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is preparing to reshape the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which has been on the frontlines of responding to recent wildfires in California and last year’s hurricane in North Carolina. He spoke at length about the issue with congressional Republican leaders on Tuesday, discussing whether the...
Jurickson Profar agrees to $42M, 3-year contract with Braves, a year after getting $1M deal with PadresVideo
ATLANTA — Jurickson Profar agreed to a $42 million, three-year contract with the Atlanta Braves on Thursday, less than a year after the outfielder got a $1 million deal from the San Diego Padres with spring training already underway. Profar revived his career with the Padres last year when he...
CNN announces layoffs as part of a further shift to digital business
CNN announced a restructuring Thursday that includes some 200 layoffs, an accelerated pivot to digital operations and new TV roles for personalities such as Wolf Blitzer, Jake Tapper and Audie Cornish. It’s the boldest revamp yet in the 18-month tenure of CEO Mark Thompson, a former chief executive at The...
Wisconsin man accused of setting fire to congressman’s office over TikTok ban charged with arson
MADISON, Wis. — Prosecutors charged a Wisconsin man who allegedly told police he tried to burn down a congressman’s office because he was upset with the federal TikTok ban with multiple counts on Wednesday, including arson. Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney filed a complaint against 19-year-old Caiden...
Trump orders release of JFK, RFK and MLK assassination records
DALLAS — President Donald Trump has ordered the release of thousands of classified governmental documents about the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy, which has fueled conspiracy theories for decades. The executive order Trump signed Thursday also aims to declassify the remaining federal records relating to the assassinations of...
S&P 500 climbs to a record as bond market stays calmVideo
NEW YORK — Stocks rose to a record Thursday as Wall Street regained some of the momentum that catapulted it to 57 all-time highs last year. The S&P 500 rose 0.5% to surpass its all-time high set early last month after coming close the day before. It was the seventh...
Trump revokes protections for former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and top Iran aide
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has revoked government security protection for former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his top aide, Brian Hook, who have faced threats from Iran since they took hard-line stances on the Islamic Republic during Trump’s first administration. A congressional staffer and a person familiar with...
Senate confirms John Ratcliffe to lead CIA, giving Trump his 2nd Cabinet memberVideo
WASHINGTON — The Senate on Thursday confirmed John Ratcliffe as CIA director, giving President Donald Trump the second member of his new Cabinet. Ratcliffe was director of national intelligence during Trump’s first term and is the first person to have held that position and the top post at the CIA,...
Man who took a U.S. Capitol tour with a gun in his possession is arrested, police say
WASHINGTON — A man who entered the U.S. Capitol with a handgun in his possession and took a tour of the building faces weapons charges, police said Thursday. The 27-year-old Massachusetts man was arrested Tuesday after Capitol police officers found him leaving the Library of Congress and walking toward his...
Oscar nominations snubs and surprises, from Daniel Craig to Selena Gomez
PARK CITY, Utah — In one of the more wide-open Oscar fields in recent history, there were plenty of nominations surprises Thursday. Not too long ago, it seemed that people like Angelina Jolie and Nicole Kidman were destined for best actress nominations, while general audience disinterest in the young Donald...
Louisiana law requiring Ten Commandments to be displayed in classrooms is back in court
As Louisiana public schools remain in limbo over a new law requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in classrooms — caught between the state releasing guidelines for districts to comply with the mandate that took effect this year and opponents threatening to sue if any such posters are hung...
Sean McVay wants to know QB Matthew Stafford’s status for next year with Rams ‘sooner than later’
LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay says he would like to know “sooner than later” about Matthew Stafford’s status for next season. McVay provided no updates on his veteran quarterback’s plans for the coming year when the coach held his end-of-season news conference Thursday, but McVay sounded...
From ‘The Brutalist’ to ‘Wicked,’ where to watch this year’s top awards movies
The 2025 movie awards season is in full swing but figuring out where to watch everything can be overwhelming. Are they streaming? For free? In theaters? Only in Los Angeles and New York? Take one of the big winners of the Golden Globes, “The Brutalist,” a film that’s been dominating...
Purdue Pharma and owners to pay $7.4 billion in settlement to lawsuits over the toll of OxyContin
Members of the family who own OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma, and the company itself, agreed to pay up to $7.4 billion in a new settlement to lawsuits over the toll of the powerful prescription painkiller, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced Thursday. The deal, agreed to by Purdue Pharma,...
Costco successfully defends its diversity policies as other U.S. companies scale theirs back
NEW YORK — Costco shareholders rejected a proposal urging the wholesale club operator to evaluate any risks posed by its diversity, equity and inclusion practices. According to preliminary results shared by Costco executives at its annual meeting Thursday, more than 98% of shares voted against the proposal. The National Center...
Australian Open: Madison Keys upsets Iga Swiatek, will face Aryna Sabalenka in the final
MELBOURNE, Australia — When Madison Keys finally finished off her 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (10-8) upset of No. 2 Iga Swiatek in a high-intensity, high-quality Australian Open semifinal on Thursday night, saving a match point along the way, the 29-year-old American crouched on the court and placed a hand on her...
The Associated Press announces 5 NFL MVP finalists
Josh Allen, Saquon Barkley, Joe Burrow, Jared Goff and Lamar Jackson are finalists for the Associated Press 2024 NFL Most Valuable Player award. Barkley, Burrow and Jackson also are finalists for Offensive Player of the Year, and Burrow is also in the running for Comeback Player of the Year. The...
More Americans file for unemployment benefits last week, continuing claims highest in 3 years
Jobless claims applications ticked up modestly last week, but the total number of Americans collecting unemployment benefits rose to their highest level in more than three years. Applications for jobless benefits rose by 6,000 to 223,000 for the week ending January 18, the Labor Department said Thursday. Analysts were expecting...
Thai LGBTQ+ couples register marriages as law gives them equal status
BANGKOK — LGBTQ+ couples in Thailand made Thursday a life-changing occasion, registering their marriages legally on the first day a law took effect granting them the same rights as heterosexual couples. The enactment of the Marriage Equality Act makes Thailand the first country in Southeast Asia and the third place...
