Associated Press stories, Page 505
U.S. is more hands-off than usual in the Middle East, as it fears making things worse
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is taking a more hands-off approach than usual during a week of dramatic escalation between Israel and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, with top U.S. officials holding back from full-on crisis diplomacy for fear of making matters worse. The public restraint follows explosions of the militant...
What to know about Mark Robinson, the embattled Republican nominee for North Carolina governor
Republican Mark Robinson’s campaign for governor in North Carolina has been rocked by a CNN report that he posted racist and explicit messages on a pornography web site message board more than a decade ago. Some in his party fear the allegations could threaten Donald Trump’s standing in a state...
Israeli strike on school kills at least 22 people, Gaza Health Ministry says
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — An Israeli strike on a school in northern Gaza on Saturday killed at least 22 people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, while the Israeli army said it targeted a Hamas’ command center in what used to be a school. Another 30 were wounded in...
Zelenskyy hopes for quick U.S. action as more arms depots are hit in Russia
KYIV, Ukraine — A massive Ukrainian drone attack set multiple Russian arms depots ablaze, including one deep inside the country, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed for quick action from the United States to send more weapons ahead of his visit to the White House with a multi-point “victory plan.”...
‘The West Wing’ cast visits the White House for a 25th anniversary party
WASHINGTON — With President Joe Biden away from the White House, it was left Friday to another man with Oval Office experience to stand at the front of the Rose Garden and give a rousing call to service. Martin Sheen and others from the cast of “The West Wing,” the...
Analysis: Injuries already piling up, forcing teams to turn to the next man up
The next man up sees plenty of action in the NFL. Injuries already are accruing across the league, knocking out several star players and forcing teams to turn to backups and reserves. Everyone has to be ready because “one play away” is more reality than a cliche in football. The...
Journeyman ties 36-hole record at Wentworth to lead by 2; McIlroy 4 shots backVideo
VIRGINIA WATER, England — Three weeks ago, Matthew Baldwin was laughing at himself for mishitting a drive so badly that the ball went between his legs and advanced just a yard in front of the tee markers. On Friday, the No. 363-ranked journeyman from England was the second-round leader by...
Vincent’s ace and Kozuma’s clutch putts lead Iron Heads to victory over Koepka’s Smash in LIV finaleVideo
CARROLLTON, Texas — Scott Vincent made a hole-in-one that sparked a rally for the lowly Iron Heads, and Jinichiro Kozuma finished it off with two clutch putts to eliminate the Smash team of Brooks Koepka and advance to the semifinals of the LIV Golf Team Championship on Friday. HyFlyers defeated...
Vikings clear Jefferson to play but rule out Addison, Pace and Turner against TexansVideo
EAGAN, Minn. — Justin Jefferson maintained confidence he would play this week despite the bruised quadriceps that forced him out of the previous game. The Minnesota Vikings agreed with their star wide receiver. After practicing Friday without restriction, Jefferson was cleared to play Sunday against Houston. “He has done a...
‘She should be alive’ — Harris spotlights woman’s death to blast abortion bans
ATLANTA — Kamala Harris blasted Donald Trump as a threat to women’s freedoms and their very lives, warning in a speech in the battleground state of Georgia on Friday that Republicans would continue to choke off access to abortion if he returns to the White House. The Democratic vice president’s...
A trio of NASCAR stars in danger of playoff elimination at Bristol cutoff race
The first elimination race of NASCAR’s playoffs has a three-time Daytona 500 winner and a pair of former Cup Series champions in danger of being bumped from title contention Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway. The trio also happen to be among NASCAR’s biggest stars in a 16-driver playoff field...
North Carolina’s governor vetoes private school vouchers and immigration enforcement orders
RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed legislation Friday that allocates several hundred million dollars to an expanded private school voucher program and orders sheriffs to cooperate with federal immigrant agents looking for people in the country illegally who have been brought into county jails. Cooper’s veto was...
Appeals court revives challenge to Biden’s Medicare drug price reduction program
NEW ORLEANS — A constitutional challenge to the Biden administration program enabling Medicare to negotiate lower prices for widely used prescription drugs was revived by a federal appeals court in New Orleans in a 2-1 decision Friday. Congress created the program as part of the Inflation Reduction Act passed in...
Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani becomes 1st member of 50-50 club in styleVideo
LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani keeps showing a flair for the dramatic during his historic first season with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Japanese superstar became the only player in major-league history with 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases, doing so with a slew of firsts. Ohtani had the...
Joel Embiid signs 3-year, $193M contract extension with 76ersVideo
PHILADELPHIA — Already an NBA MVP and an Olympic gold medalist, All-Star center Joel Embiid now has until the end of the decade to try to win his first NBA championship with the Philadelphia 76ers. With another maximum contract secured, Embiid wants to chase that title in Philly — and...
Georgia State Election Board approves rule requiring hand count of ballots
ATLANTA — Georgia’s State Election Board on Friday voted to approve a new rule that requires poll workers to count the number of paper ballots by hand. The board voted 3-2 to approve the rule, going against the advice of the state attorney general’s office, the secretary of state’s office...
Were warning signs ignored? Things to know about this week’s testimony on the Titan sub disaster
Last year, five people hoping to view the Titanic wreckage died when their submersible imploded in the Atlantic Ocean. This week, a Coast Guard panel that’s investigating the Titan disaster listened to four days of testimony that has raised serious questions about whether warning signs were ignored. The panel plans...
AI may breathe new life into Three Mile Island to supply power to Microsoft’s data centers
HARRISBURG — The owner of the shuttered Three Mile Island nuclear power plant said Friday that it plans to restart the reactor under a 20-year agreement that calls for tech giant Microsoft to buy the power to supply its data centers with carbon-free energy. The announcement by Constellation Energy comes...
Secret Service report details communication failures preceding July assassination attempt on Trump
WASHINGTON — Communication breakdowns with local law enforcement hampered the Secret Service’s performance ahead of a July assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, according to a new report that lays out a litany of missed opportunities to stop a gunman who opened fire from an unsecured roof. A five-page...
Colorado supermarket shooter was sane when he killed 10 people, prosecutor says
BOULDER, Colo. — A mentally ill man carefully amassed the guns and ammunition to kill as many people as possible before pursuing and fatally shooting 10 people at a Colorado supermarket in 2021, proving he knew exactly what he was doing, a prosecutor told jurors Friday. Ahmad Alissa’s decision to...
Music Review: Katy Perry returns with the uninspired and forgettable ‘143’
Katy Perry’s new album title, “143,” is code for “I love you,” based on the number of letters in each word of the phrase. She may love us, but the album is more like 144 — “I made mush.” Perry’s first LP since 2020’s lackluster “Smile” is just as lackluster,...
In-person voting begins for U.S. presidential contest, kicking off the sprint to Election Day
MINNEAPOLIS — In-person voting for this year’s presidential election began Friday, a milestone that kicked off a six-week sprint to Election Day after a summer of political turmoil. Voters lined up to cast their ballots in Minnesota, South Dakota and Virginia, the states with the first early in-person voting opportunities....
Brazil drought punishes coffee farms and threatens to push prices even higher
CACONDE, Brazil — Silvio Almeida’s coffee plantation sits at an ideal altitude on a Brazilian hillside, whose clay-rich soil does well at retaining moisture from rainfall and a nearby reservoir. Lately, though, water is scarce on Almeida’s modest farm in Caconde, a town in one of Sao Paulo state’s key...
U.S. will let more people take methadone at home
The first big update to U.S. methadone regulations in 20 years is poised to expand access to the life-saving drug starting next month, but experts say the addiction treatment changes could fall flat if state governments and methadone clinics fail to act. For decades, strict rules required most methadone patients...
JoJo was a teen sensation. At 33, she’s found her voice again
Joanna Levesque shot to stardom at 13. Two decades later, “JoJo” — as she’s better known — has written a memoir and says the song responsible for her meteoric rise, “Leave (Get Out),” was foreign to her. In fact, she cried when her label told her they wanted to make...
