Associated Press stories, Page 8
Pope blasts ‘tyrants’ ravaging the Earth during his visit to CameroonVideo
BAMENDA, Cameroon — Pope Leo XIV blasted the “handful of tyrants” who are ravaging Earth with war and exploitation, as he preached a message of peace Thursday in the epicenter of a separatist conflict considered one of the world’s most neglected crises. Leo traveled to the western Cameroon city of...
Justice Jackson chides Supreme Court conservatives over ‘oblivious’ pro-Trump emergency orders
WASHINGTON — Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson has delivered a sustained attack on her conservative colleagues’ use of emergency orders to benefit the Trump administration, calling the orders “scratch-paper musings” that can “seem oblivious and thus ring hollow.” The court’s newest justice, Jackson delivered a lengthy assessment of roughly...
Gatorade, inventor of the sports drink, is getting a rebrand targeting non-athletes
Sixty years after it invented sports drinks, Gatorade is making a surprising pivot: It’s no longer focusing primarily on athletes. PepsiCo, Gatorade’s parent company, said Thursday that the brand wants to broaden its reach to non-athletes who are looking for ways to hydrate, whether they’re on a long flight, going...
Astronomers measure the mind-blowing power and speed of black hole jets for 1st time
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — For the first time, scientists have measured the instantaneous mind-blowing power of jets blasting from a black hole. The jet power from this relatively close black hole-star system is equivalent to 10,000 suns, an international research team reported Thursday. They also tracked the jet speed: roughly...
Nature puts heat on blast as scorching temperatures take aim at eastern U.S.
SEASIDE PARK, N.J. — A long-lasting weather pattern is poised to blast hot air like a furnace across the eastern United States, with the unusual heat wave threatening to shatter record high temperatures Wednesday in big cities including New York, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. In the nation’s capital, forecasters were...
Floodwaters inundate Wisconsin streets, trapping drivers, as Midwest rebuilds after storms
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Floodwaters from record rainfall in Wisconsin inundated streets Wednesday, trapping drivers and forcing officials to close sections of a highway, as other Midwestern states worked to rebuild after storms. Cars were stranded in high floodwater on a highway in Milwaukee and video shared by the Milwaukee...
NCAA urges further study of change that would start eligibility at graduation or age 19
INDIANAPOLIS — The NCAA confirmed Wednesday it is exploring a move to an age-based eligibility model that would give athletes a window of five years to compete in Division I starting immediately after their high school graduation or 19th birthday, whichever comes first. The Division I Cabinet discussed the possibility...
LIV Golf leader says the show will go on amid reports of Saudi funding uncertainty
LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil sought to quell speculation about the league’s financial future Wednesday evening with a memo to his staff that said the 2026 season will continue as planned without interruption and “at full throttle.” The memo, a copy of which was sent to The Associated Press, followed...
Reports: Likelihood of NFL replacement refs enters new stage
NEW YORK — The NFL’s process of hiring replacement referees has reached another stage, according to a memo sent to teams. ESPN and The Athletic reported Wednesday that several replacement officials have completed hiring steps including background checks and will soon progress to undergoing physical exams. Training sessions with NFL...
California attorney who tried to help overturn 2020 election loses law license
SAN FRANCISCO — A California attorney who aided President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results has lost his license to practice in the state. The California Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered John Eastman disbarred and his name stricken from the state roll of attorneys. It caps...
2 men plead not guilty in alleged Islamic State-inspired bomb attempt outside New York mayor’s home
NEW YORK — Two men pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges they brought homemade bombs to an anti-Islam protest outside New York City’s mayor’s home in a failed attempt at a terror attack inspired by the Islamic State group. Emir Balat, 18, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, entered the pleas during...
Hilton Head a time to exhale and move on from the Masters
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. — Two golf tournaments separated by one week and 150 miles (240 kilometers) could not be any more different. The Masters is the first major of the year, a high-stress test at Augusta National that requires full attention on just about every shot because of the...
Homeland Security worker and another woman are killed in a series of Atlanta-area attacks
ATLANTA — An Atlanta man has been charged in a string of attacks over a matter of hours that left two women dead and a man in critical condition, drawing the Trump administration’s attention after one of the victims was identified as a Department of Homeland Security employee who was...
Wall Street hits a record as S&P 500 continues its 2-week rally on hopes for the Iran war
NEW YORK — The stock market hit a record Wednesday after adding to its two-week rally built on hopes the war with Iran won’t create a worst-case scenario for the global economy. Whether Wall Street is correct to have so much hope for peace and whether stocks should be the...
Data center boom meets resistance in Maine as lawmakers pass yearlong freeze
PORTLAND, Maine — Maine is set to impose the nation’s first statewide moratorium on energy-hungry data centers in a sign of growing political opposition to tech giants’ massive structures that have stoked fears about blackouts, rising electricity bills and voracious water needs. The legislation arose in a state that isn’t...
Senate Republicans reject effort to halt Iran war, but some eye future war powers votesVideo
WASHINGTON — The Republican-led Senate on Wednesday rejected the latest Democratic attempt to halt President Donald Trump’s war in Iran, turning aside a resolution that would require the U.S. to withdraw forces from the conflict until Congress authorizes further action. The 47-52 vote was the fourth time this year that...
Jury finds that Ticketmaster and Live Nation had an anticompetitive monopoly over big concert venues
NEW YORK — A jury found Wednesday that entertainment giant Live Nation, which hosts tens of thousands of concerts a year, and its Ticketmaster subsidiary had a harmful monopoly over big venues. The ruling, in a lawsuit brought by dozens of states, won’t immediately bring relief for concertgoers who have...
Playoff party time in Philadelphia! Flyers, fans rejoice at long-awaited return to postseason
PHILADELPHIA — Flyers fans could have been excused for thinking they entered some kind of time warp as they grabbed their “Let’s Go Flyers” rally towels on their way into the arena. The Grateful Dead cover band Splintered Sunlight jammed out to hits from the 1970s and graybeards old enough...
Camp Mystic security guard says an early evacuation order could have saved lives
AUSTIN, Texas — The security guard at Camp Mystic the night of last year’s deadly flood acknowledged Wednesday that if a general evacuation order came early in the storm, lives could’ve been saved. Glenn Juenke, who helped move some girls to a two-story building before getting trapped inside a cabin...
MLB celebrates Jackie Robinson Day as every player wears No. 42 on anniversary of his historic debut
LOS ANGELES — Major League Baseball will honor Jackie Robinson on Wednesday, when every player, coach and umpire will wear his No. 42 to mark the 79th anniversary of the infielder breaking the sport’s color barrier. Robinson debuted for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947. He went on to...
Sexual abuse allegations are spurring calls for a broader reckoning in Congress
WASHINGTON — Resignations came quickly this week from two congressmen accused of sexual misconduct toward staff members. Yet for many of the women of Capitol Hill, the moment of accountability was years in the making — and far from enough. Reps. Eric Swalwell, a California Democrat, and Tony Gonzales, a...
Walmart is repackaging its Great Value brand to reflect changing consumer habits
NEW YORK — Walmart is redesigning the packaging of its Great Value products to help customers instantly spot whether a bag of spicy chips is gluten-free or how much protein is packed into a serving of chicken nuggets. Encompassing 10,000 different products, Great Value is Walmart’s biggest store brand and...
Typhoon flipped over cars and ripped away roofs on U.S. islands in the Pacific Ocean
The super typhoon in the Pacific Ocean that hammered the Northern Mariana Islands flipped over cars, toppled utility poles and ripped away tin roofs. So far, there have been no reports of deaths. Authorities were just beginning to assess the damage left behind by Super Typhoon Sinlaku, which first hit...
A reimagined ‘Cats’ on Broadway features a special cat — an actor from the original 1980s musical
NEW YORK — A DJ with a high-top fade and a crate of vinyl records begins “Cats: The Jellicle Ball” on Broadway. He picks out two LP sleeves, blowing off dust, before settling on a familiar cover with a pair of glowing yellow cat eyes against a black background —...
Prosecutors seek access to Federal Reserve building as Trump threatens to fire Powell
WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors made an unannounced visit this week to a construction site at Federal Reserve headquarters that is the focus of an investigation into a $2.5 billion renovation project, according to two people familiar with the visit. Two prosecutors and an investigator from U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office...
