Associated Press stories, Page 405
Democrats’ crisis of the future: the biggest states that back them are shrinking
With America’s population shifting to the South, political influence is seeping from reliably Democratic states to areas controlled by Republicans. Coming out of a presidential election where they lost all seven swing states, Democrats are facing a demographic challenge that could reduce their path to winning the U.S. House of...
Trump’s outsider Cabinet picks are rapidly gaining support for confirmation
WASHINGTON — One by one, all the president-elect’s men, and women, are falling into place in his Cabinet. While Defense Secretary pick Pete Hegseth’s nomination was teetering toward collapse just weeks ago, he now appears on track for confirmation after a fiery Senate hearing that focused on his drinking, views...
How much is TikTok worth and who could buy it?
NEW YORK — The supremely popular TikTok could be banned on Jan. 19 under a federal law that forces the video sharing platform to divest itself from its China-based parent company, ByteDance, or shut down its U.S. operations. Several parties have expressed interest in buying the platform, but ByteDance has...
Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin launches massive New Glenn rocket on 1st test flight and reaches orbit
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Blue Origin launched its massive new rocket on its first test flight Thursday, sending up a prototype satellite to orbit thousands of miles above Earth. Named after the first American to orbit Earth, the New Glenn rocket blasted off from Florida, soaring from the same pad...
Roberts scores 22 points to lead No. 10 Houston to 70-54 win over West VirginiaVideo
HOUSTON — J’Wan Roberts scored a season-high 22 points, L.J. Cryer added 18 and No. 10 Houston beat West Virginia, 70-54, on Wednesday night for its ninth straight win. Roberts had 17 points in the first half on 8-of-10 shooting. Emanuel Sharp, who finished with 14 points, added 12 as...
Speaker Johnson removes chair of powerful House Intelligence CommitteeVideo
WASHINGTON — House Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday removed the GOP chairman of the powerful House Intelligence Committee, who was a vocal supporter of assistance for Ukraine and held other views that put him at odds with President-elect Donald Trump. Johnson told reporters late Wednesday that Rep. Mike Turner, an...
Penn State drops 4th in row, falls to red-hot Michigan State
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Frankie Fidler had a season-high 18 points and Jaden Akins scored 16, leading No. 12 Michigan State to a 90-85 victory over Penn State on Wednesday night. The Spartans (15-2, 6-0 Big Ten) have won 10 straight for the first time since the 2018-19 season, the...
Biden warns in farewell address that an ‘oligarchy’ of ultrarich in U.S. threatens future of democracyVideo
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden used his farewell address to the nation Wednesday to deliver stark warnings about an “oligarchy” of the ultra-wealthy taking root in the country and a “tech-industrial complex” that is infringing on Americans’ rights and the future of democracy. Speaking from the Oval Office as he...
Trump adviser says president-elect exploring options to ‘preserve’ TikTok
Trump’s pick for national security adviser, Florida Rep. Mike Waltz, said in an interview on Wednesday that the president-elect is exploring options to “preserve” TikTok. Waltz made the comment when Fox News anchor Bret Baier asked him about a report from The Washington Post that said Trump was considering an...
Lions’ investments in running game paying off as they prep for CommandersVideo
ALLEN PARK, Mich. — The Detroit Lions were built to run. Detroit’s longest-tenured players, offensive tackle Taylor Decker and center Frank Ragnow, were first-round picks in 2016 and 2018. In general manager Brad Holmes’ first draft with the Lions in 2021, he selected two-time All-Pro tackle Penei Sewell with the...
Bills brace for playoff test of stopping Ravens’ Derrick HenryVideo
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Bills coach Sean McDermott joked that Buffalo could use five 300-pound linebackers in assessing what it might take to stop Baltimore’s Derrick Henry. Linebacker Terrel Bernard was a little more realistic Wednesday, saying it’s going to require all 11 defenders swarming the running back. Even quarterback...
Colts will play in the NFL’s 1st regular-season game in BerlinVideo
The Indianapolis Colts will play in the first regular-season game in Berlin. The NFL announced Wednesday that the 2025 Berlin game will be played at Olympic Stadium. The Colts’ opponent and date of game will be announced later. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the Seattle Seahawks in Munich in 2022...
Jayden Daniels to Terry McLaurin connection has blossomed for the CommandersVideo
ASHBURN, Va. — When the Washington Commanders had to have it — fourth down, trailing in the fourth quarter of a playoff game — Jayden Daniels found Terry McLaurin in the end zone for a touchdown. That moment marked the pinnacle of the rapport between the dynamic rookie quarterback and...
Fox will stream next month’s Super Bowl on Tubi for free
LOS ANGELES — Fox will stream the Super Bowl on Tubi for the first time, giving streamers and cord cutters a chance to watch the big game on Feb. 9 for free. Tubi was acquired by Fox Corporation in 2020. It is a free, ad-supported streaming service. It is the...
Veterans Hopkins, Brown provide big boost to Chiefs wide receiver groupVideo
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs traded for DeAndre Hopkins midway through the season, when the two-time defending Super Bowl champs had lost wide receivers Marquise Brown and Rashee Rice to injuries, and the hope was that the three-time All-Pro could help to stabilize a position group that...
Quinn Ewers declares for NFL Draft; Arch Manning era begins at Texas
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas junior quarterback Quinn Ewers declared for the NFL Draft on Wednesday, ending a Longhorns career in which he led the program to a Big 12 championship and twice to the College Football Playoff but was not always embraced by a fan base eagerly waiting for Arch...
Urban Meyer joins Nick Saban in College Football HOF’s Class of 2025; former Steelers QB Terry Hanratty, WVU’s Steve Slaton also elected
Urban Meyer will join Nick Saban in the 2025 College Football Hall of Fame class, and Michael Vick and Michael Strahan are among the former players who will be inducted. The National Football Foundation announced Saban’s selection last week and the rest of the 18-player, four-coach class on Wednesday. Saban...
March Madness will pay women’s teams under a new structure approved by NCAA
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Women’s basketball teams finally will be paid for playing games in the NCAA Tournament each March just like the men have for years under a plan approved Wednesday at the NCAA convention. The unanimous vote by NCAA membership was the final step toward a pay structure for...
Browns name Tommy Rees offensive coordinator
CLEVELAND — Tommy Rees went from being a ball boy for the Browns to running their offense. Cleveland coach Kevin Stefanski hired Rees as his offensive coordinator Wednesday, promoting him after firing Ken Dorsey following a season in which the Browns went 3-14 and averaged a league-low 15.2 points. Rees...
2 Philadelphia men plead guilty to killing SWAT officer in 2020 as police served murder warrant
PHILADELPHIA — Two men pleaded guilty Wednesday to murder and racketeering charges in the March 2020 shooting death of a Philadelphia police officer. Hassan Elliott, 26, and Khalif Sears, 23, admitted killing SWAT Cpl. James O’Connor IV, as police sought to arrest them in a 2019 homicide. As police climbed...
Pam Bondi claims she won’t play politics as attorney general but doesn’t rule out probes of Trump foesVideo
WASHINGTON — Pam Bondi, Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general, sought to reassure Democratic senators Wednesday that her Justice Department would not prosecute anyone for political purposes but also refused to rule out the potential for investigations into adversaries of the Republican president-elect. Her often-testy confirmation hearing centered on concerns...
Vivek Ramaswamy, an Ohio native, is interested in filling Vance’s old Senate seat
Former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has expressed interest in the Ohio U.S. Senate seat that was vacated by Vice President-elect JD Vance, a person with direct knowledge of the biotech entrepreneur’s wishes told The Associated Press. The 39-year-old from Cincinnati has assumed a leading role with billionaire Elon Musk...
U.S. government sues Southwest Airlines and fines Frontier for chronically delayed flights
The Transportation Department is stepping up enforcement of persistent flight delays with a lawsuit against Southwest Airlines and a fine against Frontier Airlines. The agency said the U.S. District Court lawsuit it filed in California on Wednesday alleges that Southwest illegally operated chronically delayed flights and disrupted passengers’ travel plans....
Browns sued by city over possible move from Cleveland to proposed domed stadium in suburbs
CLEVELAND — Cleveland’s fight to keep the Browns from moving from downtown and into a proposed dome in the suburbs has taken yet another legal turn. The city has filed a lawsuit to stop the NFL team from leaving Cleveland’s lakefront when its stadium lease expires after the 2028 season....
Trump and Biden both claim credit for Gaza ceasefire deal
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump are both claiming credit for Israel and Hamas agreeing to a ceasefire deal in Gaza after the White House brought Trump’s Middle East envoy into negotiations that have dragged on for months. Trump wasted no time in asserting he was the...
