Associated Press stories, Page 789
Republican faction seeks to keep courts from interpreting Ohio’s new abortion rights amendment
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Four Ohio Republican state lawmakers are seeking to strip judges of their power to interpret an abortion rights amendment after voters opted to enshrine those rights in the state’s constitution this week. Republican state Reps. Jennifer Gross, Bill Dean, Melanie Miller and Beth Lear said in a...
Moody’s lowers U.S. credit outlook, though keeps triple-A rating
WASHINGTON — The credit rating agency Moody’s Investors Service lowered its outlook on the U.S. government’s debt on Friday to “negative” from “stable,” citing the cost of rising interest rates and political polarization in Congress. Moody’s retained its top triple-A credit rating on U.S. government debt, though it is the...
Hollywood actors union board votes to approve the deal with studios that ended the strike
Board members from Hollywood’s actors union voted Friday to approve the deal with studios that ended their strike after nearly four months. Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists’ executive director and chief negotiator, announced at an afternoon news conference that it was approved with 86%...
Spotlight on QBs Joe Burrow, C.J. Stroud as Bengals meet Texans
Joe Burrow and C.J. Stroud have some common ground beyond being NFL quarterbacks at the center of Sunday’s matchup between the Cincinnati Bengals and Houston Texans. Call it the “Buckeye Bond.” An Ohio native, Burrow spent three years at Ohio State and earned a degree but didn’t play much football....
This time, Browns and Ravens should have starting QBs to face off
The Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns have relied on a similar formula for success this season: a star quarterback paired with one of the league’s top defenses. Lamar Jackson has been healthy and played every game so far. Deshaun Watson hasn’t — but he’s expected to be on the field...
Bengals WR Tee Higgins, DE Sam Hubbard out; WR Ja’Marr Chase is questionable
CINCINNATI — Cincinnati Bengals receiver Tee Higgins is out for Sunday’s game against the Houston Texans, and receiver Ja’Marr Chase is questionable because of injuries. Defensive end Sam Hubbard (ankle) also was listed as out for the game on Friday’s injury report. Higgins, who had eight catches for a season-high...
Browns rookie Dawand Jones out with injury; team will be without both starting tackles versus Ravens
CLEVELAND — Cleveland Browns starting rookie right tackle Dawand Jones will miss Sunday’s game at Baltimore with shoulder and knee injuries, further depleting the offensive line as it gets ready to face one of the NFL’s top defenses. Jones missed his third straight practice Friday and was ruled out by...
Big Ten bans Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh less than 24 hours before Penn State game
STATE COLLEGE — The Big Ten Conference banned Jim Harbaugh from coaching at Michigan’s three remaining regular-season games on Friday, escalating an extraordinary confrontation with college football’s winningest program over a sign-stealing scheme that has rocked the sport. The school delivered on its promise to fight back in court a...
5.0 magnitude quake strikes Dominican Republic near border with Haiti
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A 5.0 magnitude earthquake struck the northwest Dominican Republic on Friday near the border with Haiti. The tremor occurred at a depth of 12 miles just west-northwest of Las Matas de Santa Cruz, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Officials in the Dominican Republic said...
Iranian-born Norwegian man is charged over deadly Oslo Pride attack in 2022
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — A Norwegian citizen originally from Iran was charged Friday with aggravated terrorism for the 2022 deadly shooting ahead of an LGBTQ festival in the nightlife district of the capital, Oslo. Two people were killed and nine seriously wounded in the shooting at three locations, chiefly outside the...
SZA leads 2024 Grammy nominations as women outpace men in leading categories
LOS ANGELES — Killing her ex? That’s a bad idea. Writing “Kill Bill” and releasing her critically acclaimed sophomore album “SOS” earlier this year? That was a great one. SZA is the lead contender for the 66th Grammy Awards, with nine nominations announced Friday. “Kill Bill,” her revenge anthem cloaked...
Cabbage Patch Kids, NERF, baseball cards make Toy Hall of Fame
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Fans have pushed the Fisher-Price Corn Popper into the National Toy Hall of Fame, elevating it from perpetual finalist to 2023 inductee, alongside baseball cards, Cabbage Patch Kids and NERF foam toys, the hall announced Friday. But Barbie’s kind-of boyfriend, Ken? He was left out, despite having...
2024 Grammy nomination snubs and surprises: No K-pop, little country and regional Mexican music
LOS ANGELES — With new categories, SZA, and “Barbie” — there’s a lot to discuss regarding the 2024 Grammy Award nominations. Who didn’t make the cut? What were the best surprises of all? Let’s take a look. New blood? There’s a lot to love about the nominations for the 66th...
Groups linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State take root on the coast of West Africa
ATACORA, Benin — The insurgents pressured Zackari to join their movement, and he turned them down. Now he’s frightened of their revenge. He has been on the run from the jihadi fighters for more than a year. They regularly call the 33-year-old, warning: “We haven’t forgotten about you.” Groups linked...
The great grift: Covid-19 aid thieves bought fancy cars, a Pokemon card — even a private island
YANKEETOWN, Fla. — A freshwater spring bubbles amid the mangroves, cabbage palms and red cedars on Sweetheart Island, a two-acre uninhabited patch of paradise about a mile off the coast of this little Gulf Coast town. Pelicans divebomb nearby into the cool waters of Florida’s Withlacoochee Bay and the open...
Author Philip Pullman honored in Oxford, tells fans when to expect his long-awaited next book
OXFORD, England — Fans of Philip Pullman have been waiting almost five years for the final instalment in the author’s sextet of books about his intrepid heroine Lyra and her adventures in multiple worlds. They won’t have to wait too much longer. Pullman says he has written 500 pages of...
Palestinian evacuees say thousands of people sheltering at Shifa hospital have fled after strikes
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Thousands of Palestinians on Friday fled from around Gaza City’s main hospital after a series of strikes that staff blamed on Israel hit in and around several hospitals overnight. They joined a growing exodus of people toward the south amid intensified fighting as Gaza officials...
West Virginia visits No. 17 Oklahoma in Big 12 showdown
NORMAN, Okla. — Oklahoma believes it still has plenty to play for, despite dropping out of first place in the Big 12 and likely falling out of the race for a College Football Playoff berth. The 17th-ranked Sooners won their first seven games before close losses to Kansas and Oklahoma...
College football’s top defenses to square off when No. 2 Michigan visits No. 9 Penn StateVideo
STATE COLLEGE — As their teammates filed out of practice earlier this week, Penn State defensive ends Adisa Isaac, Chop Robinson and Dani Dennis-Sutton lingered at the far end of the facility. The ninth-ranked Nittany Lions’ most disruptive defenders stutter-stepped and bull-rushed their way around and through assistant coaches, putting...
U.S. childhood vaccination exemptions reach their highest level ever
NEW YORK — The proportion of U.S. kindergartners exempted from school vaccination requirements has hit its highest level ever, 3%, U.S. health officials said Thursday. More parents are questioning routine childhood vaccinations that they used to automatically accept, an effect of the political schism that emerged during the pandemic around...
Former Arizona senator reports being molested while running in Iowa
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa — A former United States senator from Arizona has said she was molested while jogging along the Missouri River in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Martha McSally described the attack on Wednesday morning in a video she posted online. “A man came up behind me and he engulfed me...
Election offices are sent envelopes with fentanyl or other substances. Authorities are investigatingVideo
WASHINGTON — Authorities were hunting Thursday for whoever sent suspicious letters — including some containing fentanyl — to elections offices in at least five states this week, delaying the counting of ballots in some local races in the latest instance of threats faced by election workers around the country. The...
FBI offers $10,000 reward for info leading to capture of Jan. 6 attack fugitive from New Jersey
HELMETTA, N.J. — After two days of searching for a suspect in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol who fled as federal agents approached his home, the FBI on Thursday offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the capture of the New Jersey man. The agency said...
Man accuses riverboat co-captain of assault during Alabama riverfront brawl
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A Black riverboat co-captain at the center of an Alabama riverfront brawl that drew national attention has been accused of misdemeanor assault in the melee by one of the white boaters charged in the fight. Court records show one of the white men accused of assaulting the...
Out of nowhere, Keaton Mitchell has given the Ravens yet another running threatVideo
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Keaton Mitchell has become a bit of a celebrity after his breakout performance for the Baltimore Ravens last week. His father — who, like Mitchell, went undrafted before reaching the NFL — apparently is trying to keep him grounded. “He told me, ‘You have the 24-hour...
