Associated Press stories, Page 996
Court blocks covid-19 vaccine mandate for U.S. government workers
NEW ORLEANS — President Joe Biden’s order that federal employees get vaccinated against covid-19 was blocked Thursday by a federal appeals court. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans rejected arguments that Biden, as the nation’s chief executive, has the same authority as the CEO of a...
Rory McIlroy powers his way to another win in Match PlayVideo
AUSTIN, Texas — Rory McIlroy had every reason to love the long ball Thursday. Taken to the 18th hole in the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, McIlroy unleashed the shot of the tournament. He smashed a drive on the 375-yard closing hole so magnificently that it pitched on the green and...
Surge in eating disorders spurs state legislative action
DENVER — Stranded at home amid pandemic lockdowns in spring 2020, Emma Warford stumbled down a social media rabbit hole in her quest to get in shape. Viral 28-day fitness challenges. YouTubers promising “hourglass abs.” Diet videos where slim-stomached influencers peddled calorie-tracking apps. Warford, then a 15-year-old starting volleyball player,...
Disney World reaches union deal with minimum $18 hourly wage
ORLANDO, Fla. — Unions for service workers at Walt Disney World reached a tentative deal with the company on Thursday that would raise the starting minimum wage from $15 to $18 an hour in a pact that could set the basement for starting pay throughout central Florida’s sprawling tourism industry....
Soundtrack of this year’s March Madness begins with ‘CLANK!’Video
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Folks across the country watching the first round of the NCAA Tournament last week thought it rightfully funny when they saw a couple of stadium workers scurry up a ladder and place a construction level across the rim. Turns out Iowa State players, puzzled by their...
Autism now more common among Black, Hispanic kids in U.S.
NEW YORK — For the first time, autism is being diagnosed more frequently in Black and Hispanic children than in white kids in the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday. Among all U.S. 8-year-olds, 1 in 36 had autism in 2020, the CDC estimated. That’s up...
Sloppy racing could make it tough for NASCAR road ringersVideo
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The NASCAR field Sunday will be stacked with two former Formula One world champions, an IndyCar driver and a sports car star who has a 24 Hours of Le Mans win on his resume. What can these so-called ringers expect on the road course at Circuit of...
Track bans transgender athletes, tightens rules for Caster SemenyaVideo
Track and field banned transgender athletes from international competition Thursday, while adopting new regulations that could keep Caster Semenya and other athletes with differences in sex development from competing. In a pair of decisions expected to stoke outrage, the World Athletics Council adopted the same rules as swimming did last...
Blackhawks won’t wear Pride jerseys, citing new Russian lawVideo
The Chicago Blackhawks, who have a Russian player, have decided against wearing special warmup jerseys to commemorate Pride night, citing an anti-gay Kremlin law that could imperil Russian athletes when they return home. The Blackhawks, who also have two players with connections to Russia, will not wear the jerseys before...
Democrats, marchers press gun violence debate at Pa. Capitol
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Anti-gun violence advocates rallied Thursday and packed into a friendly legislative hearing in Pennsylvania, where a politically divided government has fought firearms policy to a virtual standstill for decades, and rising gun violence has gripped the state’s largest city. The March For Our Lives at the state...
Skeptical U.S. lawmakers grill TikTok CEO over safety, content
WASHINGTON — U.S. lawmakers grilled the CEO of TikTok over data security and harmful content Thursday, responding skeptically during a tense committee hearing to his assurances that the hugely popular video-sharing app prioritizes user safety and should not be banned. Shou Zi Chew’s rare public appearance came at a crucial...
Pentagon: Budget readies U.S. for possible China confrontation
WASHINGTON — The U.S. military must be ready for possible confrontation with China, the Pentagon’s leaders said Thursday, pushing Congress to approve the Defense Department’s proposed $842 billion budget, which would modernize the force in Asia and around the world. “This is a strategy-driven budget — and one driven by...
Ukraine president visits front-line areas as new phase nears
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine’s president on Thursday made his third visit in two days to areas that have felt the brunt of Russia’s war, with a trip to the southern Kherson region that was retaken from the Kremlin’s forces, and as a senior Kyiv commander hinted that a brewing Ukrainian...
New Starbucks CEO plans to work in stores monthly
Starbucks’ new CEO Laxman Narasimhan says he plans to work a half-day shift once a month in one of the company’s stores in an effort to stay close to the company’s culture and customers. Narasimhan, who took the reins as CEO earlier this week, said in a letter to Starbucks’...
Idaho hospital stops baby delivery in part due to politics
A rural hospital in northern Idaho will stop delivering babies or providing other obstetrical care, citing a shifting legal climate in which recently enacted state laws could subject physicians to prosecution for providing abortions, among other reasons. Bonner General Health in Sandpoint will discontinue obstetrical services in mid-May. It also...
Pa. woman gets 3 years in prison for entering Nancy Pelosi’s office during Jan. 6 Capitol riot
WASHINGTON — A Pennsylvania woman linked to a far-right extremist movement was sentenced on Thursday to three years in prison for storming the U.S. Capitol, where she invaded then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office with other rioters. Riley June Williams, 23, of Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, was charged but not convicted of helping...
Ohio toxic train derailment upends school baseball, track
EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — On the surface, everything looks normal. There’s the East Palestine High School baseball team learning the finer points of baserunning at one edge of Reid Memorial Stadium. At the other, a handful of sprinters dart through the mild March air, the blue parachutes attached to their...
Sen. Fetterman expected back ‘soon,’ no certain timeline yet
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman’s office said Thursday that he is expected to return soon to the chamber, although Democratic leaders are giving no timeline five weeks after he sought inpatient treatment for clinical depression. Fetterman, 53, was weeks into his service in Washington and still recovering from the...
NYPD officer rappels down building to stop man from jumping
NEW YORK — A police officer rappelled down a Manhattan skyscraper to stop a man — who was facing financial fraud charges — from jumping out of a 31st-floor window. The daring arrest happened after federal agents went to the man’s apartment near Carnegie Hall on Wednesday morning to take...
South Carolina comptroller to resign after $3.5B error
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Embattled South Carolina Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom will resign next month after a $3.5 billion accounting error in the year-end financial report he oversaw. The state’s top accountant will leave the elected post he has held for 20 years on April 30, according to a copy of...
Police: Driver veered into Baltimore highway work zone, killing 6 workers
WOODLAWN, Md. — New details are emerging about a crash along the Baltimore beltway Wednesday that left six construction workers dead after a driver lost control of her vehicle, which went careening into a work zone, according to Maryland State Police. Lisa Adrienna Lea, 54, was identified as the driver...
Ford says EV unit losing billions, should be seen as startup
DETROIT — Ford Motor Co.’s electric vehicle business has lost $3 billion before taxes during the past two years and will lose a similar amount this year as the company invests heavily in the new technology. The figures were released Thursday as Ford rolled out a new way of reporting...
Russia’s security chief blasts West, dangles nuclear threats
MOSCOW — A top Russian security official warned Thursday about the rising threat of a nuclear war and blasted a German minister for threatening Russian President Vladimir Putin with arrest, saying that such action would amount to a declaration of war and trigger a Russian strike on Germany. Dmitry Medvedev,...
What made Beethoven sick? DNA from his hair offers clues
NEW YORK — Nearly 200 years after Ludwig van Beethoven’s death, researchers pulled DNA from strands of his hair, searching for clues about the health problems and hearing loss that plagued him. They weren’t able to crack the case of the German composer’s deafness or severe stomach ailments. But they...
Pro-labor? Biden aims to prove it with unionized 2024 staff
WASHINGTON — Joe Biden likes to say he’s the most pro-union president in U.S. history. When he announces his expected reelection campaign in the coming weeks, he’ll get the chance to prove it to his own staffers. Workers on his 2024 campaign will be unionized, political allies say, making him...
