Associated Press stories, Page 1318
U.S. drone company Zipline starts delivering medicine in Japan
Zipline, an American company that specializes in using autonomously flying drones to deliver medical supplies, has taken off in Japan. They’re flying, starting Thursday, across the tiny Goto Islands, off the western coast of Kyushu, in southwestern Japan, delivering to pharmacies and hospitals. Other parts of Japan may follow, including...
Rates for measles, other vaccinations dip for kindergartners
A smaller portion of U.S. children got routine vaccinations required for kindergarten during the pandemic, government researchers said Thursday, raising concerns that measles and other preventable diseases could increase. Rates were close to 94% for measles, whooping cough and chickenpox vaccinations for the 2020-21 school year. That was down 1%...
Fewest Americans collecting jobless aid since 1970
Applications for unemployment benefits inched down last week as the total number of Americans collecting aid fell to its lowest level in more than 50 years. Jobless claims fell by 2,000 to 184,000 last week, the Labor Department said Thursday. The four-week average of claims, which levels out week-to-week volatility,...
CNN’s streaming service shutting down a month after launch
CNN is shutting down its CNN+ streaming service less than a month after its launch, a spectacular flameout for a venture that had attracted stars such as Chris Wallace and Alison Roman and was seen as a way to attract a new generation of news consumers. It had started March...
Janet Yellen says new $500M is ‘only the beginning’ of Ukraine aid
The United States is providing an additional $500 million in financial assistance to Ukraine to help the beleaguered country sustain salaries, pensions and other government programs while it fends off Russia’s invasion. “We plan to deploy this direct aid to Ukraine as soon as possible, to be used on the...
Bird flu drives free-range hens indoors to protect poultry
Is it OK for free-range chickens to not range freely? That’s a question free-range egg producers have been pondering lately as they try to be open about their product while also protecting chickens from a highly infectious bird flu that has killed roughly 28 million poultry across the country. The...
Elon Musk says he has $46.5B in financing ready to buy Twitter
Elon Musk says he has lined up $46.5 billion in financing to buy Twitter, and he’s trying to negotiate an agreement with the company. Last week, Musk announced an offer to buy the social media company for $54.20 per share, or about $43 billion. At the time, he did not...
2 months after Brittney Griner’s arrest, mystery surrounds her case
For another person in another country at another time, the case might have been a minor matter: an American citizen detained at an airport for allegedly possessing a cannabis derivative legal in much of the world. But the circumstances for Brittney Griner couldn’t have been worse. Griner, a WNBA All-Star...
U.S. to welcome Ukraine refugees but no longer through Mexico
The Biden administration is making it easier for refugees fleeing Russia’s war on Ukraine to come to the United States from Europe while trying to shut down an informal route through northern Mexico that has emerged in recent weeks. A program announced Thursday will streamline refugee applications for Ukrainians and...
Biden announces heavy artillery, other weapons for Ukraine
President Joe Biden on Thursday announced an additional $800 million in military aid to help Ukraine fight back in its strong but increasingly difficult battle against the Russian invasion, but he also warned that Congress will need to approve even more assistance if the U.S. is to keep up its...
Ford recalls over 650K trucks; windshield wipers can fail
Ford is recalling more than 650,000 pickup trucks and big SUVs in the U.S. because the windshield wipers can break and fail. The recall covers certain F-150 pickups, and Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator SUVs from the 2020 and 2021 model years. Also included are F-250, 350, 450 and 550...
Many say Biden not tough enough on Russia: AP-NORC poll
WASHINGTON — Many Americans still question whether President Joe Biden is showing enough strength in response to Russia’s war against Ukraine, even as most approve of steps the U.S. is already taking and few want U.S. troops to get involved in the conflict. A poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center...
Trump-backed hopeful, 2 others booted off Tennessee GOP ballot
NASHVILLE — Tennessee Republican officials have removed three congressional hopefuls from the GOP primary ballot, including one candidate backed by former President Donald Trump. The late Tuesday night decision by the Tennessee Republican Party was a long awaited result of months of debate over Morgan Ortagus, Trump’s former State Department...
Feeling ‘right,’ ‘safe,’ people greet cannabis sales in NJ
Michael Barrows wore his Grateful Dead T-shirt and Jerry Garcia face mask for opening day of recreational marijuana sales in New Jersey on Thursday, one of dozens of people who lined up before dawn to join the celebratory scene. “It’s pretty amazing, exciting and if I get pulled over on...
Gaza violence intensifies as Jerusalem clashes resume
Israel’s air force and Palestinian militants traded fire across the Gaza frontier early Thursday as clashes erupted again at Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site, worsening an escalation that has been eerily similar to the lead-up to last year’s Israel-Gaza war. The Gaza violence, fueled by the unrest between Israeli police...
13 Nassar victims seeking $130M from FBI over bungled probe
Thirteen sexual assault victims of Larry Nassar are seeking $10 million each from the FBI, claiming a bungled investigation by agents led to more abuse by the sports doctor, lawyers said Thursday. It’s an effort to make the government responsible for assaults that occurred after July 2015. The Justice Department’s...
Biden drug control plan stresses harm reduction, treatment
President Joe Biden is sending his administration’s first national drug control strategy to Congress as the U.S. overdose death toll hit a new record of nearly 107,000 during the past 12 months. The strategy, released Thursday, is the first national plan to prioritize what’s known as harm reduction, said White...
Florida Legislature votes to strip Disney self-government
The Florida House of Representatives on Thursday gave final passage to a bill that would dissolve Walt Disney World’s private government, handing Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis a victory in his feud with the entertainment giant over its opposition to a measure that critics have dubbed the ” Don’t Say Gay...
Michigan lawmaker’s forceful speech rebuts ‘grooming’ attackVideo
LANSING, Mich. — Republican Sen. Lana Theis opened a Michigan Senate session with an invocation by claiming children are being attacked by “forces” that want to indoctrinate them with ideas their parents do not support. Three Democrats walked out of last week’s meeting to protest her apparent reference to how...
Jay Wright resigns as Villanova coach; Kyle Neptune takes over
PHILADELPHIA — Jay Wright shocked college basketball Wednesday night with his immediate resignation at Villanova, the Big East program he led to two national championships and four Final Fours in a Hall of Fame career. The 60-year-old Wright guided Villanova to titles in 2016 and 2018 and just led the...
2 schools, 6 sets of sports teams: NCAA gives OK to merger
HARRISBURG — Sports teams at six state-owned Pennsylvania universities will still compete against each other despite merging into two umbrella institutions, the State System of Higher Education announced Wednesday. The decision by the NCAA Division II Membership Committee pertains to sports in Division II at Bloomsburg, Lock Haven, Mansfield, California,...
Parachute demo at Nats Park causes brief Capitol evacuationVideo
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Capitol was briefly evacuated Wednesday evening when police identified an aircraft that they said posed “a probable threat” — but the plane was actually carrying members of the U.S. Army Golden Knights, who then parachuted into Nationals Park for a pregame demonstration. The alert from the...
Fox Sports makes Easter Sunday a NASCAR ratings success
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Dirt will be back on NASCAR’s schedule next year and likely on Easter Sunday again if Fox Sports has its way. NASCAR delivered the most-watched race at Bristol Motor Speedway since 2016 on Sunday night when an average 4,007,000 viewers tuned in as the Cup Series raced...
Coordinator changes spice up spring practices at Big Ten schoolsVideo
MADISON, Wis. — During an offseason in which more than one out of every five Football Bowl Subdivision programs changed head coaches, the Big Ten was the lone conference that didn’t see a single move. But that doesn’t mean the league stood pat. While all 14 Big Ten members returned...
Duke’s Paolo Banchero declares for NBA DraftVideo
Duke’s Paolo Banchero is leaping to the NBA after one season as a candidate to be the No. 1 overall draft pick. The 6-foot-10, 250-pound freshman announced his decision in a social media video Wednesday, with the school saying he planned to hire an agent. “It has always been a...
