Associated Press stories, Page 1449
FAA: No more commercial astronaut wings, too many launching
Heads up, future space travelers: No more commercial astronaut wings will be awarded from the Federal Aviation Administration after this year. The FAA said Friday it’s clipping its astronaut wings because too many people are now launching into space and it’s getting out of the astronaut designation business entirely. The...
Pair of Notre Dame stars skipping Fiesta Bowl to prepare for NFL DraftVideo
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Kyren Williams and Kyle Hamilton, two junior star players for No. 5 Notre Dame, announced Friday they will not play in the Fiesta Bowl against No. 9 Oklahoma State so they can instead prepare for the 2022 NFL Draft. The two were Associated Press preseason first-team...
Virginia tabs Clemson offensive coordinator Tony Elliott as next football coachVideo
Virginia didn’t have to extend its search for a new football coach beyond the ACCe as the Cavaliers announced Friday they had tabbed longtime Clemson offensive coordinator Tony Elliott to fill their vacancy. Cavaliers athletic director Carla Williams announced Virginia was hiring Elliott, who will be introduced at a news...
Auburn hoops gets 4 years probation, 2-game suspension for coach Bruce PearlVideo
The NCAA has placed the Auburn men’s basketball program on four years probation for unethical conduct involving former associate head coach Chuck Person and imposed a two-game suspension on coach Bruce Pearl for failing to monitor his assistant and adequately promote compliance. An NCAA Committee on Infractions panel issued its...
Italy bishop tells children Santa doesn’t exist
A Roman Catholic diocese in Sicily publicly apologized to outraged parents after its bishop told a group of children that Santa Claus doesn’t exist. In a Facebook post and subsequent comments Friday, the diocese of Noto insisted that Bishop Antonio Stagliano didn’t mean to dash the dreams of the youngsters...
Stocks end higher, closing out best week since February
Technology companies led a rally on Wall Street that powered the S&P 500 to an all-time high and gave the index its best weekly gain since February. The S&P 500 rose 1%, enough to recoup its losses from a day earlier. The benchmark index closed higher four of the last...
Analysis: 7 teams who have let fans down bigtime in 2021
A year ago, the Seahawks and Steelers were heading toward the playoffs. So were the Saints, Browns and Bears. Now? Well, even if any of them stumbles into the postseason, the likelihood of doing any damage there is slim. Those five teams have been particular disappointments in 2021, and they’re...
Gaming while driving: Tesla allows it, Mercedes does recall
A few days after reports surfaced that Tesla allows drivers to play video games on dashboard touch screens while vehicles are moving, Mercedes-Benz has issued a U.S. recall for a simliar issue. The German automaker said in documents posted Friday by U.S. regulators that the issue affected 227 vehicles and...
Michael Nesmith, the Monkee for all seasons, dies at 78
LOS ANGELES — Michael Nesmith, the singer-songwriter, author, actor-director and entrepreneur who will likely be best remembered as the wool-hatted, guitar-strumming member of the made-for-television rock band The Monkees, has died at 78. Nesmith, who had undergone quadruple bypass surgery in 2018, died at home Friday of natural causes, his...
Explainer: Why U.S. inflation is so high, and when it may ease
WASHINGTON — Inflation is starting to look like that unexpected — and unwanted — houseguest who just won’t leave. For months, many economists had sounded a reassuring message that a spike in consumer prices, something that had been missing in action in the U.S. for a generation, wouldn’t stay long....
2021 in Books: ‘Everything feels very magnified’
A 22-year-old poet became a literary star. The enthusiasms of young people on TikTok helped revive Colleen Hoover’s “It Ends With Us,” and other novels released years earlier. Conservatives pushed to restrict the books permitted in classrooms at a time when activists were working to expand them. And the government...
U.S. consumer inflation up 6.8% in past year, most since 1982
WASHINGTON — Prices for U.S. consumers jumped 6.8% in November compared with a year earlier as surging costs for food, energy, housing and other items left Americans enduring their highest annual inflation rate in 39 years. The Labor Department also reported Friday that prices rose 0.8% from October to November...
U.K. opens door to Assange extradition to U.S. on spying charges
LONDON — A British appellate court opened the door Friday for Julian Assange to be extradited to the United States on spying charges by overturning a lower court decision that the WikiLeaks founder’s mental health was too fragile to withstand incarceration in America. The High Court in London ruled that...
Rastafari want more legal marijuana for freedom of worship
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Mosiyah Tafari banged on drums and chanted psalms with other Rastafari in a ballroom where the smoke of frankincense mixed with the fragrant smell of marijuana — which his faith deems sacred. The ceremony in Columbus, Ohio, marked the 91st anniversary of the coronation of the late...
Court won’t stop Texas abortion ban, but lets clinics sue
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday left in place Texas’ ban on most abortions, but ruled that clinics can sue over the state’s most restrictive abortion law in the nation. The court acted more than a month after hearing arguments over the law that makes abortion illegal after cardiac...
2 stars of ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ look back at a classic
NEW YORK — It was just another job for child actor Karolyn Grimes. She was 6 and had already done four movies by the summer of 1946 when filming began on “It’s a Wonderful Life.” The only thing she recalls about the biggest movie of her career was being delighted...
Uber helping detectives solve Florida ‘grandparent scams’
TAMPA, Fla. — Detectives in Tampa are asking Uber to help solve a “grandparent scam” that conned $10,000 from a 75-year-old man who was told his granddaughter needed the money to get out of jail. Uber also is helping the Hillsborough Sheriff’s Office find suspects in a long-running con that...
Report: Trump slammed Netanyahu for congratulating Biden
JERUSALEM — Former President Donald Trump earlier this year lashed out with profanity at Benjamin Netanyahu for congratulating President Joe Biden on his victory in the U.S. election, an Israeli newspaper reported Friday. Trump accused the former Israeli leader of disloyalty, saying he had helped Netanyahu in his own elections...
Al Unser, a 4-time winner of Indianapolis 500, dies at 82
Al Unser, one of only four drivers to win the Indianapolis 500 a record four times, died Thursday following a long illness. He was 82. Unser died at his home in Chama, New Mexico, with his wife, Susan, by his side, Indianapolis Motor Speedway said early Friday. He had been...
UN: Afghanistan’s economy is collapsing ‘before our eyes’
UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. humanitarian chief warned that Afghanistan’s economic collapse “is happening before our eyes” and urged the international community to take action to stop “the freefall” before it leads to more deaths. Martin Griffiths said in an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday that donor nations...
This date in sports history: Dec. 10
1939 — The Green Bay Packers register the first shutout in an NFL championship game by beating the New York Giants 27-0. 1961 — Billy Cannon of the Houston Oilers rushes for 216 yards, catches five passes for 114 yards and scores five touchdowns in a 48-21 victory over the...
Denver Broncos great Demaryius Thomas dies at 33
ATLANTA — Demaryius Thomas overcame a troubled childhood. He managed to shine as a receiver in Georgia Tech’s run-oriented offense. By the time his NFL career was over, he had earned five straight Pro Bowl honors and a Super Bowl ring with the Denver Broncos. The football world mourned Friday...
Senate passes bill easing way for debt limit increase
WASHINGTON — The Senate moved ahead Thursday with legislation that would create a one-time, fast-track process for raising the debt limit, overcoming a Republican filibuster and likely averting another last-minute rush to avoid a devastating federal default. The bill fits the two goals that Republican leader Mitch McConnell had set...
California adopts tough standards for trucks, lawn equipment
SACRAMENTO — Forget speeding tickets — California truck drivers will soon have to watch out for pollution tickets. State regulators on Thursday voted to crack down on heavy duty trucks weighing more than 14,000 pounds — those big semi-trailers that make up just 3% of all vehicles in California but...
Biden calls on leaders to end ‘backward slide’ of democracy
WASHINGTON — President Biden expressed alarm at a “backward slide” of democracy around the globe on Thursday, calling on fellow world leaders to work with him to bolster democratic institutions as his administration grows increasingly concerned about China’s and Russia’s push for global influence. Biden’s comments to more than 100...
