Associated Press stories, Page 686

PORTLAND, Maine — Megan Michaud and her family of five lost power for three days after a powerful storm throttled her home state of Maine, and a new challenge is creeping up on her: It’s almost time for Christmas. “This morning, my second grader told me, ‘It’s five days until...

DETROIT — Right-hander Jack Flaherty and the Detroit Tigers have finalized a $14 million, one-year contract in a deal that allows the 28-year-old right-hander to earn an additional $1 million in performances bonuses with a franchise that has invested a lot in improving next season. “There’s a lot of belief...

The early signing period in college football opened Wednesday with some five-star drama. Georgia likely locked up the top recruiting class by flipping an in-state blue-chip player away from Florida State; the consensus No. 1 recruit in the country had Ohio State coach Ryan Day literally sighing with relief; and...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Trevor Lawrence was in the facility but still in the NFL’s concussion protocol Wednesday, leaving the Jacksonville Jaguars preparing to play without their star quarterback for the first time in three seasons. Coach Doug Pederson said Lawrence is “progressing well” but declined to speculate on Lawrence’s chances...

Rite Aid has been banned from using facial recognition technology for five years over allegations that its surveillance system was used incorrectly to identify potential shoplifters, especially Black, Latino, Asian or female shoppers. The settlement with the Federal Trade Commission addresses charges that the struggling drugstore chain didn’t do enough...

WHEELING, W.Va. — A self-proclaimed white supremacist was sentenced to more than six years in federal prison Wednesday for making online threats toward the jury and witnesses at the trial of a man who killed 11 congregants at a Pittsburgh synagogue. Hardy Carroll Lloyd, 45, of Follansbee, West Virginia, was...

MIAMI — The United States freed a close ally of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in exchange for the release of 10 Americans imprisoned in the South American country and the return of a fugitive defense contractor known as “Fat Leonard” who is at the center of a massive Pentagon bribery...

Toyota Motor Co. said Wednesday it is recalling 1 million vehicles over a defect that could cause airbags not to deploy, increasing the risk of injury. The recall covers a range of Toyota and Lexus vehicles with model years from 2020 to 2022. Included in the recall are Toyota Avalons,...

Ever since the nation’s highest court ended abortion rights more than a year ago, vaguely worded bans enacted in some Republican-controlled states have caused bewilderment over how exceptions should be applied. Supporters have touted these exemptions, tucked inside statutes restricting abortion, as sufficient enough to protect the life of the...

MILWAUKEE — President Joe Biden said it’s “self-evident” that Donald Trump is an insurrectionist for trying to overturn his 2020 election loss but stopped short of commenting on a Colorado legal case that would bar him from the state’s ballot. The Democratic president made the comments about his likely Republican...

WASHINGTON — Lawyers for former President Donald Trump urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to stand down from a dispute over whether he can be prosecuted on charges he plotted to overturn the 2020 election results. Special counsel Jack Smith’s team last week urged the nation’s high court to...

DENVER — Former President Donald Trump’s bid to win back the White House is now threatened by two sentences added to the U.S. Constitution 155 years ago. The Colorado Supreme Court on Tuesday barred Trump from the state’s ballot under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which prohibits anyone who...

PHILADELPHA — A man accused of slashing people with a large knife while riding a bicycle on a trail in Philadelphia in recent weeks has been formally charged in the cold-case rape and slaying of a medical student that occurred among a series of high-profile sexual assaults in a large...

Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach are officially married, their representative told The Associated Press Wednesday. The two filmmakers have been together for 12 years, have two children and collaborated on many films, including “Barbie,” which they co-wrote and Gerwig directed. They met on Baumbach’s “Greenberg” and went on to work...

NEW YORK — A federal judge has ordered the public disclosure of the identities of more than 150 people mentioned in a mountain of court documents related to the late-financier Jeffrey Epstein, saying that most of the names were already public and that many had not objected to the release....

FRISCO, Texas — Redshirt freshman Owen McCown recovered from a shaky beginning to his first start of the year to complete 22 of 31 passes for 251 yards and two touchdowns as UTSA rallied from a two touchdown deficit to beat Marshall, 35-17, in the Frisco Bowl on Tuesday night....

MENANDS, N.Y. — Kaine is a big, buoyant dog looking for a home. But lately, he’s spending a lot of time at the office. Animal shelters around the U.S. are bursting at the seams amid the rising cost of living, so the gray and white 7-year-old has been staying in...

MIAMI — The Biden administration has released a close ally of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in a swap for jailed Americans, the Associated Press has learned. Alex Saab, who was arrested on a U.S. warrant for money laundering in 2020, was released from custody Wednesday. In exchange, Maduro will free...

SANTA FE, N.M. — Like Christmas trees, Santa and reindeer, the poinsettia has long been a ubiquitous symbol of the holiday season in the U.S. and Europe. But now, nearly 200 years after the plant with the bright crimson leaves was introduced north of the Rio Grande, attention is once...

SEOUL, South Korea — The United States flew long-range bombers for joint drills with South Korea and Japan on Wednesday in a show of force against North Korea, days after the North performed its first intercontinental ballistic missile test in five months. The trilateral training off South Korea’s southern island...

Hidden inside the foundation of popular artificial intelligence image-generators are thousands of images of child sexual abuse, according to a new report that urges companies to take action to address a harmful flaw in the technology they built. Those same images have made it easier for AI systems to produce...

PHILADELPHIA — A news helicopter has crashed in a forest in New Jersey, killing the pilot and photographer on board, the television station said. “A pilot and a photographer from our news team were in the helicopter when it went down while returning from an assignment at the Jersey Shore”...

A federal judge is ordering Republican Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania to turn over more than 1,600 texts and emails to FBI agents investigating efforts to keep President Donald Trump in office after his 2020 election loss and illegally block the transfer of power to Democrat Joe Biden. The ruling,...