Associated Press stories, Page 1313
Russia releases U.S. Marine vet as part of prisoner exchange
WASHINGTON — Russia and the United States have carried out a dramatic prisoner exchange, trading a Marine veteran jailed in Moscow for a convicted Russian drug trafficker serving a long prison sentence in America, both countries announced Wednesday. The surprise deal involving Trevor Reed, an American jailed for nearly three...
Court says U.K.’s nursing home covid-19 policy was illegal
LONDON — A British court ruled Wednesday that the government’s decision to discharge hospital patients into nursing homes without testing them for covid-19, which led to thousands of deaths early in the pandemic, was illegal. Two High Court judges said the policy from March and April 2020 was unlawful because...
Researchers: Covid, Israel-Gaza war fueled antisemitism
JERUSALEM — The coronavrius pandemic and Israel’s overwhelming force during the Gaza war helped fuel a worldwide spike in antisemitism last year, Israeli researchers reported on Wednesday. The prominence of political extremism and the reach of social media also may have intensified the ancient phenomenon of scapegoating Jews in recent...
Los Angeles sheriff investigates how reporter obtained leaked videoVideo
LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles County sheriff on Tuesday disputed allegations he orchestrated a cover-up of an incident where a deputy knelt on a handcuffed inmate’s head and said a Los Angeles Times reporter who used leaked documents and video to first report on the case is part of...
Billions in surplus have Pennsylvania lawmakers thinking business tax cut
HARRISBURG — Hundreds of millions of dollars in business profit tax cuts passed the Republican-majority state House on Tuesday, and Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf said he was optimistic a final deal can be struck in the coming months. Lawmakers voted overwhelmingly for a bill that would reduce the corporate net...
House Jan. 6 committee wants to hear from Kevin McCarthy after new audioVideo
WASHINGTON — The House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol is redoubling its efforts to have GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy appear for an interview amid new revelations concerning his private conversations about the deadly attack, the chairman said Tuesday. Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said the panel...
Delta to begin paying flight attendants during boarding
Delta Air Lines, which is facing another attempt to unionize its flight attendants, will begin paying cabin crews during boarding, a first for a major U.S. airline. Across the airline industry in the United States, hourly pay for flight attendants starts when all the passengers are seated and the plane’s...
NCAA President Mark Emmert stepping down no later than 2023Video
INDIANAPOLIS — NCAA President Mark Emmert is stepping down after 12 tumultuous years of leading an association that has become marginalized while college sports has undergone massive changes and been besieged by political and legal attacks. NCAA Board of Governors Chairman John DeGioia announced the move Tuesday and said it...
Nuclear chief: Russia’s Chernobyl seizure risked accidentVideo
CHERNOBYL, Ukraine — Thirty-six years after the world’s worst nuclear disaster, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said Tuesday that Russian troops risked causing an accident with their “very, very dangerous” seizure of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine. Standing under an umbrella during a rain shower...
Tech stocks slump again; Nasdaq has worst loss since 2020
NEW YORK — Stocks closed broadly lower Tuesday on Wall Street, weighed down by sharp declines in Big Tech stocks that also left the Nasdaq with its worst drop since September 2020. Investors are busy reviewing the latest round of corporate earnings and are facing a particularly heavy week with...
Explainer: Covid-19 pills must be taken within 5 days of symptoms
Newly infected covid-19 patients have two treatment options that can be taken at home. But that convenience comes with a catch: The pills have to be taken as soon as possible once symptoms appear. The challenge is getting tested, obtaining a prescription and starting the pills in a short window....
U.S. preps for even busier border amid lifting of health order
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration released a plan Tuesday to deal with an expected increase in already high numbers of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border because of the planned lifting of a public health order that has kept people from seeking asylum — and that Republican and some Democratic lawmakers...
Will Musk’s hands-off ideal for Twitter have broad appeal?
Coming up with $44 billion to buy Twitter was the easy part for Elon Musk. Next comes the real challenge for the world’s richest person: fulfilling his promise to make Twitter “better than ever” as a lightly regulated haven for free speech. His vision for improving the 16-year-old company leans...
Wisconsin’s GOP-ordered election investigation will continue
MADISON, Wis. — The Republican-ordered investigation into the 2020 election in Wisconsin that was supposed to wrap up this week will continue just as Donald Trump urged, but with no more taxpayer money to pay for it, the state’s top Republican said Tuesday. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos’ announcement that the...
Gaudreau? Matthews? Shesterkin? NHL MVP race at least 7 deep
Auston Matthews leads the NHL in goals, Connor McDavid has the most points and Igor Shesterkin has been the best goaltender in the league. It’s entirely possible none of them wins the Hart Trophy as MVP. Matthews, McDavid and Shesterkin are among the front-runners, but the pool of candidates goes...
CDC estimates 3 in 4 kids have had coronavirus infections
NEW YORK — Three out of every four U.S. children have been infected with the coronavirus and more than half of all Americans had signs of previous infections, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researchers estimated in a report Tuesday. The researchers examined blood samples from more than 200,000 Americans...
Suspended Somerset County DA faces new charges in unrelated case
SOMERSET — A suspended western Pennsylvania prosecutor facing charges in a sexual assault case has now been charged in an unrelated assault almost a year ago. Jeffrey Thomas, 36, Somerset County’s elected district attorney, was jailed Monday on charges of simple assault, reckless endangerment and harassment after state police alleged...
1st NIL draft class could have long-lasting impact on NFL
INDIANAPOLIS — Desmond Ridder spent the days leading up to last year’s NFL draft preparing for his final college season and awaiting the birth of his first child. The veteran quarterback returned to campus hoping to improve his draft stock, increase his potential future earnings and lead Cincinnati to the...
Activist’s self-immolation stirs questions on faith, protest
Wynn Bruce, a 50-year-old climate activist and Buddhist, set himself on fire in front of the U.S. Supreme Court last week, prompting a national conversation about his motivation and whether he may have been inspired by Buddhist monks who self-immolated in the past to protest government atrocities. Bruce, a photographer...
Vice President Kamala Harris positive for covid-19, Biden not ‘close contact’
WASHINGTON —Vice President Kamala Harris tested positive for covid-19 on Tuesday, the White House announced, underscoring the persistence of the highly contagious virus even as the U.S. eases restrictions in a bid to return to pre-pandemic normalcy. Harris press secretary Kirsten Allen said neither President Joe Biden nor first lady...
Wimbledon defends ‘agonizing decision’ to ban Russians
Two All England Club officials defended during a news conference Tuesday the “intensely tough and agonizing decision” to bar players from Russia and Belarus from Wimbledon this year because of the invasion of Ukraine. Citing the club’s “responsibility to play our part in limiting the possibility of Wimbledon being used...
AP source: Penn State finalizing deal to make BC’s Kraft AD
Penn State is working to finalize a deal with Boston College athletic director Patrick Kraft to replace the retiring Sandy Barbour and become the school’s next AD. A person with knowledge of the negotiations told The Associated Press that the school and Kraft were closing in on an agreement. The...
Coach retirements, NIL create new college basketball world
It wasn’t hard to spot Roy Williams during his first year of retirement. He visited arenas across the country for games, including every step of North Carolina’s wild ride to the NCAA championship game against Kansas, a matchup of two programs he once coached. But he was cheering from ticketed...
Biden pardons former Secret Service agent, 2 others
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden has granted the first three pardons of his term, providing clemency to a Kennedy-era Secret Service agent convicted of federal bribery charges that he tried to sell a copy of an agency file and to two people who were convicted on drug-related charges but went...
Mississippi protesters call for end to Confederate holiday
TUPELO, Miss. — On a day that many state and local government offices were closed for Confederate Memorial Day in Mississippi, protesters on Monday said the state needs to stop commemorating the Confederacy. Several members of Indivisible Northeast Mississippi held signs denouncing the holiday in front of a Confederate monument...
