Associated Press stories, Page 41
One Tech Tip: Up your Christmas shopping game with AI tools
Shopping assistant chatbots were a novelty a year ago. Now, they’re everywhere. After rolling out AI-powered assistants, online retailers and tech companies have been adding more artificial intelligence features to make online shopping easier and more convenient. The latest crop of AI-powered shopping services and tools made their debut in...
Putin says there are points he can’t agree to in the U.S. proposal to end Russia’s war in Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin says some proposals in a U.S. plan to end the war in Ukraine are unacceptable to the Kremlin, indicating in comments published Thursday that any deal is still some ways off. President Donald Trump has set in motion the most intense diplomatic push to stop the...
Hearing in Luigi Mangione’s state murder case sheds new light on his arrest
NEW YORK — Minutes after police approached Luigi Mangione in a Pennsylvania McDonald’s, he told an officer he didn’t want to talk, according to video and testimony at a court hearing Thursday for the man charged with killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Although some video and accounts of police interactions...
Admiral says there was no ‘kill them all’ order in boat attack, but video alarms lawmakersVideo
WASHINGTON — A Navy admiral commanding the U.S. military strikes on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean told lawmakers Thursday that there was no “kill them all” order from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, but a stark video of the attack left grave questions as Congress scrutinizes the campaign that...
Decades-old palm trees in Rio de Janeiro flower for the 1st — and only — time
RIO DE JANEIRO — Towering talipot palms in a Rio de Janeiro park are flowering for the first and only time in their lives, decades after famed Brazilian landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx introduced them in the 1960s. Towards the end of its life — which can span between 40...
Steve Cropper, guitarist and member of Stax Records’ Booker T and the M.G.’s, dies at 84Video
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Steve Cropper, the lean, soulful guitarist and songwriter who helped anchor the celebrated Memphis backing band Booker T. and the M.G.’s at Stax Records and co-wrote the classics “Green Onions,” “(Sittin’ on) the Dock of the Bay” and “In the Midnight Hour,” has died. He was...
Browns QB Deshaun Watson returns to practice for 1st time in more than a yearVideo
BEREA, Ohio — Deshaun Watson was set to practice for the first time this year with the Cleveland Browns on Wednesday, opening the 21-day window for the quarterback to return to the lineup. His practice time will not count against the 53-player active roster. Watson is eligible to be activated...
West Virginia men use pair of 14-0 runs to blow past Coppin State
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Honor Huff and Chance Moore each scored 17 points to lead West Virginia’s 91-49 rout of Coppin State on Wednesday night. Huff hit three 3-pointers in a 4-minute stretch late in the first half, giving the Mountaineers a 40-26 lead. The Eagles scored the last six points...
Vocal Jeffrey Epstein accuser is urging judges to unseal his court records
NEW YORK — One of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell ‘s most vocal accusers urged judges on Wednesday to grant the Justice Department’s request to unseal records from their federal sex trafficking cases, saying “only transparency is likely to lead to justice.” Annie Farmer weighed in through her lawyer, Sigrid...
Pentagon knew boat attack left survivors but still launched a follow-on strike
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon knew there were survivors after a September attack on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean Sea and the U.S. military still carried out a follow-up strike, according to two people familiar with the matter. The rationale for the second strike was that it was needed...
Ravens reach a 3-year contract extension with TE Mark Andrews
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — The Baltimore Ravens agreed to a three-year contract extension with Mark Andrews on Wednesday, days after the tight end became the franchise’s career leader in receptions. Baltimore was facing some significant decisions after this season, with the 30-year-old Andrews and fellow tight ends Isaiah Likely and...
Colts’ Daniel Jones turns to college friends for help with injured leg
INDIANAPOLIS — Indianapolis Colts quarterback Daniel Jones is getting a little more help from his friends. Seven years after two teammates created a special pad to protect Jones’ fractured collarbone, the same duo has done it again, this time to fit over Jones’ injured lower left leg. Jones said Wednesday...
Trump targets Minnesota’s Somali community with harsh words, policies
MINNEAPOLIS — Recent statements by President Donald Trump and top administration officials disparaging Minnesota’s large Somali community have focused renewed attention on the immigrants from the war-torn east African country and their descendants. Trump on Tuesday said he did not want Somalis in the U.S. because “they contribute nothing.” The...
A dozen former FDA leaders lambaste claims by the agency’s current vaccine chief
WASHINGTON — A dozen prior leaders of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration — appointed by Republicans and Democrats alike — issued a scathing denunciation of new FDA assertions casting doubt on vaccine safety. The former officials say the agency’s plans to revamp how life-saving vaccines for flu, covid-19 and...
Blue-chip prospects make surprising choices on signing day
The changing landscape of college football means the nation’s premier recruits are no longer signing with the same handful of programs. That became particularly apparent this week when the nation’s top-ranked prospect landed in Vanderbilt of all places. Vanderbilt parlayed the first 10-win season in school history into a recruiting...
ACC emphatically pushes for No. 12 Miami, league champ to get CFP bids
ACC commissioner Jim Phillips is pushing for No. 12 Miami to earn a bid to the College Football Playoff along with the winner of the league championship game between No. 16 Virginia and Duke. That comes with the ACC facing at least the chance of being squeezed out of the...
Trump proposal would weaken vehicle mileage rules that limit air pollution
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced a proposal to weaken vehicle mileage rules for the auto industry, loosening regulatory pressure on automakers to control pollution from gasoline-powered cars and trucks. The plan, if finalized next year, would significantly reduce fuel economy requirements, which set rules on how far...
A line was crossed: Eagles coordinator Kevin Patullo speaks out after his family home was vandalized
PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo said a “line was crossed” when his New Jersey home was vandalized because the incident stretched beyond football and into his personal life. Patullo’s home was vandalized with eggs over the weekend in the wake of the Eagles’ loss on Black Friday...
Doctor who sold ketamine to ‘Friends’ star Matthew Perry gets 2.5 years in prison
LOS ANGELES — A doctor who pleaded guilty to selling ketamine to Matthew Perry in the weeks before the “Friends” star’s overdose death was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison on Wednesday. Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett handed down the sentence plus two years of probation to 44-year-old Dr. Salvador...
Pentagon watchdog finds Hegseth’s use of Signal posed risk to U.S. personnel
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon’s watchdog found that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth put U.S. personnel and their mission at risk when he used the Signal messaging app to convey sensitive information about a military strike against Yemen’s Houthi militants, two people familiar with the findings said Wednesday. Hegseth, however, has the...
Massive power outage hits Cuba’s western region after transmission line fails
HAVANA — A blackout hit Havana and the rest of the western half of Cuba on Wednesday, leaving millions of people without power on an island struggling with chronic outages blamed on a crumbling electric grid. Lázaro Guerra, general director of the Ministry of Energy and Mines, said the massive...
Israel receives remains of possible hostage and plans to reopen Gaza crossing into Egypt
JERUSALEM — Israel received remains of what could be one of the last hostages in Gaza on Wednesday and said it will begin allowing Palestinians to leave the war-torn territory through a border crossing with Egypt. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said an attack by militants earlier in the day...
Billionaire spacewalker is back before the Senate seeking NASA’s top job
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Billionaire spacewalker Jared Isaacman urged senators on Wednesday to take swift action on his bid to lead NASA, after being yanked and then renominated by President Donald Trump. Isaacman appeared before the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee in Washington eight months after his first nomination hearing....
What to know about the hepatitis B shot — and why Trump officials are targeting it
NEW YORK — A federal vaccine advisory committee this week is expected to discuss whether newborns should still get the hepatitis B vaccine — the first shot found to prevent cancer. Federal health recommendations now suggest that all babies be vaccinated against the liver infection in their first day of...
Hong Kong high-rise fire death toll rises to 159 as authorities arrest 6 over failed fire alarms
HONG KONG — The death toll of Hong Kong’s high-rise apartment blaze rose to 159 on Wednesday, as authorities arrested six people on suspicion of deactivating some fire alarms during maintenance work at the housing complex. The youngest person who died in the fire was a 1-year-old, police said. The...
