Associated Press stories, Page 50
NFL eyes Asia as next destination as it bolsters its ties with Dublin
DUBLIN — The NFL wants to expand its slate of international games to Asia, Commissioner Roger Goodell said Saturday without specifying any countries. Goodell’s comment at an event in Dublin could indicate the league is ready to stage a game in the Middle East and it comes a day after...
FBI fires agents photographed kneeling during 2020 racial justice protest, AP sources say
WASHINGTON — The FBI has fired agents who were photographed kneeling during a racial justice protest in Washington that followed the 2020 death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers, three people familiar with the matter said Friday. The bureau last spring had reassigned the agents but...
Florida’s Aleksander Barkov could miss season after knee surgery
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Florida captain Aleksander Barkov could miss the entire regular season because of a knee injury, a major blow to the Panthers and their quest to win a third consecutive Stanley Cup. Barkov got hurt Thursday in his first official practice of training camp and was undergoing...
Commanders stars Jayden Daniels and Terry McLaurin out against the Falcons with injuries
ASHBURN, Va. — The Washington Commanders will be without offensive star players Jayden Daniels and Terry McLaurin against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, coach Dan Quinn said. Daniels’ knee injury has not progressed enough for the doctors to clear him, Quinn said Friday. The Commanders’ franchise quarterback was also out...
In Ireland, Aaron Rodgers talks Guinness and NFL international growth
MAYNOOTH, Ireland — Aaron Rodgers was dressed in black, appropriately, to field questions about Guinness. The Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback spoke to the international media Friday at a resort hotel where the team is staying ahead of Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings. Can’t avoid the Guinness questions in Ireland, it...
James Franklin hopes new weapons, retooled ‘D’ will help No. 3 Penn State beat No. 6 Oregon
UNIVERSITY PARK — James Franklin didn’t think his team was equipped to beat Oregon in the Big Ten championship game last season. Things are different now. The No. 3 Nittany Lions have spent the nine months since their 45-37 loss to the Ducks in the conference title game retooling their...
Jason Myers boots FG on final play, lifting Seahawks over Cardinals
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Jason Myers made a 52-yard field goal as time expired, Sam Darnold threw for 242 yards and a touchdown and the Seattle Seahawks withstood a late rally by Kyler Murray and the Cardinals to beat Arizona, 23-20, on Thursday night. The Seahawks blew a 14-point fourth-quarter lead...
Ravens face Chiefs in high-stakes showdown with both at 1-2
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — If anyone can commiserate with the Kansas City Chiefs on the difficult start they’ve endured this season, it just might be their opponent on Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium: the Baltimore Ravens. Two of the best teams in the AFC. Two teams accustomed to playing for the...
Hegseth abruptly summons top military commanders to a meeting next week in Virginia
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has summoned the military’s top officers — hundreds of generals and admirals — to a base in northern Virginia for a sudden meeting next week, according to three people familiar with the matter. The directive did not offer a reason for the gathering next...
Instagram’s ‘deliberate design choices’ make it unsafe for teens despite Meta promises, report finds
Despite years of congressional hearings, lawsuits, academic research, whistleblowers and testimony from parents and teenagers about the dangers of Instagram, Meta’s wildly popular app has failed to protect children from harm, with “woefully ineffective” safety measures, according to a new report from former employee and whistleblower Arturo Bejar and four...
Amazon to pay $2.5 billion to settle FTC allegations it duped customers into enrolling in Prime
SEATTLE — Amazon has reached a historic $2.5 billion settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, which said the online retail giant tricked customers into signing up for its Prime memberships and made it difficult for them to cancel after doing so. The Seattle company will pay $1 billion in civil...
Israeli strikes kill at least 17 Palestinians in Gaza as leaders ramp up pressure for a ceasefire
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israel struck houses and tents in central and southern Gaza on Thursday, crushing families inside and killing at least 17 Palestinians, including 10 children and three women, local health officials said, as international pressure for a ceasefire continued to grow. On the sidelines of the...
Palestinian president: Hamas will have no role in governing postwar Gaza
UNITED NATIONS — The Palestinian president, speaking over video after the United States revoked his visa, told world leaders Thursday that his people “reject” the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and pledged that the militant group would have no role in governing Gaza after war ends and must hand over...
Ireland is home turf for Rooney family as Steelers lead NFL into Dublin game
DUBLIN — No trip to Newry was complete for late Pittsburgh Steelers chairman Dan Rooney until he stopped by the Whitegates community center that he helped get off the ground in the 1990s. “Always visited for half an hour for a cup of tea with the people,” recalled local businessman...
Starbucks to close hundreds of stores, lay off 900 workers as part of turnaround plan
Starbucks said Thursday it’s closing hundreds of U.S. and Canadian stores and laying off 900 nonretail employees as it focuses more of its resources on a turnaround. The Seattle coffee giant said store closures would start immediately. The company wouldn’t give a number of stores that are closing, but it...
U.S. economy expanded at a surprising 3.8% pace in significant upgrade of 2nd quarter growth
WASHINGTON — An uptick in consumer spending helped the U.S. economy expand at a surprising 3.8% from April through June, the government reported in a dramatic upgrade of its previous estimate of second-quarter growth. U.S. gross domestic product — the nation’s output of goods and services — rebounded in the...
U.S. home sales remained sluggish in August despite late-summer mortgage rate slide
Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes remained sluggish in August, even as a late-summer slide in mortgage rates brought home loan borrowing costs to a 10-month low. Existing home sales slipped 0.2% last month from July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4 million units, the National Association of...
How to navigate social media trends without derailing your budget
NEW YORK — Did you buy a new pink dress to watch the Barbie movie, only to never wear it again? An Oura ring because your favorite TikTok influencer had it? A new pair of baggy jeans because ’90s fashion is making a comeback? Niche trends fueled by social media...
Gaza-bound flotilla says it was attacked by drones; Italy and Spain send help
ATHENS, Greece — Activists in a flotilla seeking to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza said Wednesday that some of their boats were attacked by drones south of Greece, prompting Spain and Italy to send navy vessels for possible rescues. The Global Sumud Flotilla said it was attacked during the night...
White House budget office tells agencies to draft mass firing plans ahead of potential shutdown
WASHINGTON — The White House is telling agencies to prepare large-scale firings of federal workers if the government shuts down next week. In a memo released Wednesday night, the Office of Management and Budget said agencies should consider a reduction in force for federal programs whose funding would lapse next...
Trump is hosting Turkey’s Erdogan at the White House as the U.S. considers lifting ban on F-35 sales
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump will hold talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the White House on Thursday as the Republican leader has indicated that the U.S. government’s hold on sales of advanced fighter jets to Ankara may soon be lifted. During Trump’s first term, the United States...
Paris court rules former President Sarkozy will have to go to prison even if he appeals
PARIS — A Paris court sentenced former French President Nicolas Sarkozy to 5 years in prison and — in a major surprise — said he’ll be incarcerated even if he appeals, after finding him guilty Thursday in his trial for alleged illegal campaign financing by Libya. Sarkozy said he was...
Rihanna and A$AP Rocky welcome 3rd child, Rocki
LOS ANGELES — Rihanna and A$AP Rocky have announced the birth of their third child, a girl. Rihanna announced the birth of Rocki Irish Mayers in an Instagram post Wednesday. The post featured one photo of the multihyphenate, 37, with the baby and another photo of baby shoes. It was...
Analysis: Ryder Cup has power to divide — or unite — during fraught, fragile time in U.S.Video
FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — Often sports, at their best, are the purest form of competition. They offer a chance to pick winners and losers in showdowns between rival teams, countries, sometimes even worldviews, in an arena where the games are played for high stakes but, ultimately, not for life and death....
Vikings-Steelers game gives thriving Brian Flores a reflection of gratitudeVideo
EAGAN, Minn. — Brian Flores found the perfect pit stop for his coaching career in Pittsburgh. Regardless of where this track winds up, he has clearly been enjoying the ride with Minnesota since then. The third-year defensive coordinator of the Vikings gets the chance this weekend to catch up with...
