Associated Press stories, Page 1411
AP-NORC poll: Biden approval hits new low at 1-year mark
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden ends his first year in the White House with a clear majority of Americans for the first time disapproving of his handling of the presidency in the face of an unrelenting pandemic and roaring inflation, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center...
Healthy Titans RB Henry will see banged-up Bengals D-line
CINCINNATI — If Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry returns for the playoffs Saturday, he’ll be running into a Cincinnati Bengals defensive line that is already banged up. The Bengals had been relatively healthy until last week in the first-round playoff win over the Las Vegas Raiders. Stalwart defensive tackle...
Austrian parliament approves universal vaccine mandate
VIENNA — Austria’s parliament has voted to introduce a covid-19 vaccine mandate for adults from Feb. 1, the first of its kind in Europe. Lawmakers voted 137 to 33 Thursday evening to approve the mandate, which will apply to all residents of Austria aged 18 and over. Exempted from the...
McDonald’s expanding test of McPlant in U.S. stores
McDonald’s is expanding sales of its meatless McPlant burger to hundreds of locations. The company said the McPlant —— which it co-developed with plant-based protein company Beyond Meat —— will be sold at 600 stores in the San Francisco and Dallas areas starting Feb. 14. It’s a major expansion for...
Georgia DA asks for special grand jury in 2020 election probe
ATLANTA — The Georgia prosecutor looking into possible attempts to interfere in the 2020 general election by former President Donald Trump and others has asked for a special grand jury to aid the investigation. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis on Thursday sent a letter to Fulton County Superior Court...
Amazon heads to the mall with prototype clothing store
NEW YORK — First, Amazon competed with malls. Now, it’s moving inside one. The online retailing giant said Thursday that it plans to open a clothing store in a Southern California mall later this year. It’s the latest foray into brick-and-mortar for Amazon, which already sells more than 10% of...
New Mo Willems ‘Pigeon’ book to be released in September
NEW YORK — An imprint launched last week by Barnes & Noble has signed up one of the country’s top children’s author-illustrators, Mo Willems, best known for his “Pigeon” picture books. Willems has a five-book deal with Union Square Kids, including for “The Pigeon Will Ride the Roller Coaster!”, scheduled...
At 113, NAACP evolves for relevance on racial justice agenda
As the NAACP turns 113, look for its voice to grow louder on issues like climate change, the student debt crisis and the ongoing response to the coronavirus pandemic — while keeping voting rights and criminal justice reform at the forefront of its priorities. The nation’s oldest civil rights organization’s...
19-year-old woman sets record for solo global flight
BRUSSELS — Home! And no longer alone. The 19-year-old Belgian-British pilot Zara Rutherford set a world record as the youngest woman to fly solo around the world, touching her small airplane down in western Belgium on Thursday — 155 days after she departed. She made it count for herself, her...
Stampede at religious ceremony in Liberia kills 29 people
MONROVIA, Liberia — At least 29 people in Liberia, including 11 children and a pregnant woman, have died in a stampede of worshippers at a Christian ceremony in a densely populated area of the capital, Monrovia, officials said Thursday. The stampede erupted when a gang of thugs armed with knives...
Aiming to make CDC nimble, agency director has rankled many
From the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic, the top U.S. public health agency has been criticized as too slow to collect and act on new information. Now, increasingly, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is also being criticized for moving too fast. One year into Dr. Rochelle Walensky’s tenure...
U.S. jobless claims rise to 286,000, highest since October
WASHINGTON — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose to the highest level in three months as the fast-spreading omicron variant disrupted the job market. Jobless claims rose for the third straight week — by 55,000 to 286,000, highest since mid-October, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The four-week...
Russia accuses West of plotting ‘provocations’ in Ukraine
MOSCOW — Russia accused the West on Thursday of plotting “provocations” in Ukraine and disguising its alleged intentions by fomenting concerns about Moscow planning aggressive military action in the neighboring country. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova alleged that Ukrainian and Western claims of an imminent Russian attack on Ukraine...
Report on sexual abuse in German diocese faults retired pope
BERLIN — A long-awaited report on sexual abuse in Germany’s Munich diocese on Thursday faulted retired Pope Benedict XVI’s handling of four cases when he was archbishop in the 1970s and 1980s. The law firm that drew up the report said that Benedict strongly denies any wrongdoing. The findings, though,...
U.K. lawmaker says Johnson critics face government ‘blackmail’
LONDON — A lawmaker from Britain’s governing Conservatives accused the government on Thursday of blackmailing opponents of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, as the party’s internal rifts deepened. William Wragg, a Tory member of Parliament, said legislators calling for a challenge to Johnson’s leadership have faced “intimidation,” and urged them to...
NFL’s wild-card round TV ratings increase 21% over last yearVideo
TV ratings for the NFL’s wild-card round increased 21% over last year despite most of the games not being in doubt going into the fourth quarter. The six games averaged 30.5 million viewers, making it the second-highest average for the postseason’s opening weekend over the past six seasons. CBS and...
Voting bill collapses, Democrats unable to change filibusterVideo
WASHINGTON — Voting legislation that Democrats and civil rights leaders say is vital to protecting democracy collapsed Wednesday when two senators refused to join their own party in changing Senate rules to overcome a Republican filibuster after a raw, emotional debate. The outcome was a stinging defeat for President Joe...
Georgia QB Stetson Bennett announces he will return for 1 more yearVideo
ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett is returning for another season after leading the Bulldogs to their first national championship in 41 years. Bennett, who carried a flip phone and avoided social media during the 2021 season, made an exception to his policy by posting the words “One More...
Top-ranked Jon Rahm back in California desert after 2-year breakVideo
LA QUINTA, Calif. — Jon Rahm is back in the California desert for The American Express after a two-year break. It feels as though the top-ranked Spaniard never left his Arizona home. “I would say the demographic might be a little bit older here, but it pretty much is the...
New York City mayor says even he doesn’t feel safe on subway systemVideo
NEW YORK — After a woman was pushed to her death in front of a New York City subway train beneath Times Square over the weekend, Mayor Eric Adams acknowledged to reporters Tuesday that even he didn’t feel entirely safe riding the rails. The Democrat recounted when he rode the...
Eagles say Jalen Hurts will be their starting QB next seasonVideo
PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Eagles say Jalen Hurts will be the team’s starting quarterback in 2022. “We talk about Jalen and the growth he had, really as a first-year starter and second-year player, and leading this team to the playoffs,” general manager Howie Roseman said Wednesday, just three days after...
Chiefs keep leaning on Jerick McKinnon, other unsung playersVideo
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Jerick McKinnon probably shouldn’t have been surprised to spend all season buried on the Chiefs depth chart. The journeyman running back had been passed over plenty of times before. Start with those early years in Minnesota, when he backed up Adrian Peterson. An injury to the...
Foot feels fine as Derrick Henry preps for Titans’ playoff returnVideo
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Derrick Henry, the man who literally ran the Tennessee Titans to the AFC championship game two years ago, is ready to play again. The 2020 AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year says his surgically repaired right foot, fixed with a steel plate, feels no different than...
West Virginia lawmakers seek to ban school mask, testing requirements
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A group of Republican lawmakers in West Virginia is trying to pass a law forbidding mask mandates in K-12 schools and restricting districts from requiring covid-19 testing for people who don’t have symptoms. The “Public School Health Rights Act” would also prevent students or school employees from...
Browns’ Baker Mayfield has surgery, starts road to ‘true self’
CLEVELAND — Baker Mayfield has shifted into comeback mode. The Cleveland Browns quarterback had successful surgery Wednesday to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder, an injury that affected his play, led to a disappointing season and raised doubts about his future. Mayfield posted a video on social media...
