Associated Press stories, Page 359
Latest NFL season highlights financial risks for sports betting companies when so many favorites win
NEW YORK — It’s been a tough football season for sports books. FanDuel and its key rival DraftKings have both showed investors that the house can indeed lose, or at least lose more than anticipated. Flutter Entertainment, which operates FanDuel and dominates the sports betting industry with a market value...
An earthquake registering 3.7 magnitude hits west of San Francisco in the Pacific Ocean
SAN FRANCISCO — An earthquake registering a magnitude of 3.7 shook part of the San Francisco Bay Area and people reported feeling a quick jolt. There were no immediate reports of injuries or major property damage. The United States Geological Survey said the earthquake was detected at 7:02 a.m. Friday...
Eagles QB Jalen Hurts clears concussion protocol, will start wild-card game against Green Bay
PHILADELPHIA — Jalen Hurts has cleared the NFL concussion protocol and will start for the Philadelphia Eagles in their NFC wild-card game Sunday against Green Bay. The Eagles quarterback hasn’t played since he suffered a concussion and left a Dec. 22 game early against Washington. Coach Nick Sirianni said Friday...
Browns QB Deshaun Watson reinjures Achilles, has surgery and will miss ‘significant’ time in 2025
CLEVELAND — Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson had surgery after rupturing his Achilles tendon for the second time in three months and could miss the entire 2025 season. The team said Watson, who has played in just 19 games in three seasons with Cleveland due to an NFL suspension and...
Former Georgia quarterback Carson Beck says he has committed to Miami for 2025 season
CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Carson Beck has pushed his NFL plans back a year and is committed to play next season at Miami, making the announcement known Friday and becoming another huge transfer portal acquisition for the Hurricanes. Beck, the now-former Georgia quarterback, delivered the news on social media with...
Lamar Jackson repeats, Ja’Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson are unanimous choices for AP All-Pro
Lamar Jackson beat out Josh Allen, and Ja’Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson are unanimous choices for The Associated Press 2024 NFL All-Pro Team. Saquon Barkley received 48 of 50 first-place votes and Patrick Surtain II got 49 from a nationwide panel of media members who regularly cover the league. “Wow,...
Biden lets 800,000 Venezuelans and Salvadorans stay 18 months as Trump readies immigration crackdown
MIAMI — About 600,000 Venezuelans and more than 200,000 Salvadorans already living in the U.S. can legally remain another 18 months, the Department of Homeland Security said Friday, barely a week before President-elect Donald Trump takes office with promises of hardline immigration policies. The decisions mark the Biden administration’s latest...
Los Angeles landmarks from film and TV damaged by wildfires
The high school where Brian De Palma brought Stephen King’s “Carrie” to life, Will Rogers’ ranch house and a motel owned by William Randolph Hearst are among some of the famous structures that have been damaged or destroyed by the California wildfires. Los Angeles is a town full of landmarks,...
Greenland’s leader says his people don’t want to be Americans as Trump covets territory
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — The prime minister of Greenland said Friday that the people of his mineral-rich Arctic territory do not want to be Americans, but he said he understood the U.S. interest in the island given its strategic location and he is open to greater cooperation with the United States....
Family of former Leicester owner files $2.6 billion fatal accident claim after helicopter crash
MANCHESTER, England — The family of former Leicester soccer club owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha has filed the largest fatal accident claim in English history after the Thai billionaire died in a helicopter crash in 2018, representatives said Friday. The High Court claim brought against helicopter manufacturer Leonardo S.p.A. was valued at...
TikTok could be banned this month. Here’s what users can do to prepare
TikTok has cemented itself as a quintessential entertainment app, offering everything from funny skits and makeup tutorials to social commentary and news. The platform, though, could vanish from U.S. app stores by Jan. 19 if the Supreme Court does not step in to block a federal law that forces TikTok...
Who is Joseph Aoun, a low-profile army chief who is now Lebanon’s president?
BEIRUT — Lebanon’s new president and former army commander Joseph Aoun has maintained a low profile. Those who know him say he is no-nonsense, kind and averse to affiliating himself with any party or even expressing a political opinion — a rarity for someone in Lebanon’s fractured, transactional political system....
Plane crash-lands and bursts into flames in Kenya, killing 3 on the ground
NAIROBI, Kenya — A light aircraft crash-landed Friday in Kenya ‘s coastal Malindi County, killing three people on the ground, a local police official said. The three fatalities included a motorcycle taxi driver who was killed when the plane burst into flames on impact in the town of Kwachocha along...
Canada’s Liberal Party to decide on March 9 who will succeed Trudeau as prime minister
TORONTO — Canada’s governing Liberal Party will announce the country’s next prime minister on March 9 after a leadership vote that follows the resignation of Justin Trudeau this week, party leaders said late Thursday. Trudeau remains prime minister until a new leader is chosen. The front runners for the Liberal...
Earth records hottest year ever in 2024 and the jump was so big it breached key threshold
Earth recorded its hottest year ever in 2024, with such a big jump that the planet temporarily passed a major climate threshold, several weather monitoring agencies announced Friday. Last year’s global average temperature easily passed 2023’s record heat and kept pushing even higher. It surpassed the long-term warming limit of...
Honda Civic hybrid, Ford Ranger and Volkswagen ID. Buzz win 2025 North American vehicle awards
DETROIT — The Honda Civic hybrid won the 2025 North American Car of the Year award, while the Ford Ranger took the crown for the truck honors, and Volkswagen ID. Buzz won the utility award. The honors, announced Friday morning during an Automotive Press Association event kicking off the North...
U.S. added a strong 256,000 jobs in December as unemployment rate dipped to 4.1%
U.S. hiring picked up unexpectedly in December as employers added a strong 256,000 jobs, another sign of the economy’s resilience in the face of high interest rates. The Labor Department reported Friday that job growth was up last month from 212,000 in November. For all of 2024, the economy added...
Constellation buying Calpine in $26.6 billion deal that would join 2 huge U.S. power companies
Constellation is buying power natural gas and geothermal power provider Calpine for $16.4 billion, joining together two of the country’s biggest power companies. The transaction includes 50 million shares of Constellation stock, $4.5 billion in cash and the assumption of approximately $12.7 billion of Calpine debt. When accounting for cash...
Kremlin welcomes the possibility of a meeting between Trump and Putin
The Kremlin has welcomed U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s readiness to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a senior Moscow official said Friday. Russia attaches no conditions to the possibility of face-to-face talks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters during a conference call. Trump said Thursday that “Putin wants to meet”...
Bodies found after gas explosion causes coal mine to collapse in southwest Pakistan
QUETTA, Pakistan — At least three miners have died after a methane gas explosion caused a coal mine to collapse in a remote area of southwest Pakistan, officials said Friday, as authorities launched an operation to rescue nine other missing workers. Abdul Ghani, a mines inspector, said the blast happened...
Judge will weigh holding Giuliani in contempt of court after jury’s $148 million defamation award
WASHINGTON — A federal judge is set to hear arguments Friday on whether to hold Rudy Giuliani in contempt of court for continuing to spread lies about two Georgia election workers after they secured a $148 million defamation judgment against him. Plaintiffs’ attorneys have asked U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell...
Trump gets no-penalty sentence in his hush money case, while calling it ‘despicable’
NEW YORK — President-elect Donald Trump was sentenced Friday to no punishment at all in his hush money case, an outcome that cements his historic conviction while letting him return to the White House unencumbered by the threat of a jail term or a fine. With Trump appearing by video...
Americans have dimmer view of Biden than they did of Trump or Obama as term ends, AP-NORC poll finds
WASHINGTON — As Joe Biden prepares to leave office, Americans have a dimmer view of his presidency than they did at the end of Donald Trump’s first term or Barack Obama’s second, a new poll finds. Around one-quarter of U.S. adults said Biden was a “good” or “great” president, with...
Biden to deliver a capstone address on his foreign policy legacy as he makes way for Trump’s return
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden plans to deliver a capstone address Monday on his foreign policy legacy, according to the White House. The outgoing president is expected to use his address at the State Department to highlight his administration’s efforts to expand NATO, rally dozens of allies to provide Ukraine...
LA area’s 2 biggest blazes burn at least 10,000 structures, while new fire leads to more evacuations
LOS ANGELES — The two biggest wildfires ravaging the Los Angeles area have killed at least 10 people and burned more than 10,000 homes and other structures, officials said as they urged more people to heed evacuation orders after a new blaze ignited and quickly grew. The Kenneth Fire started...
