Associated Press stories, Page 1763
U.S. jobless claims rise to 861,000 as layoffs stay high
WASHINGTON — The number of Americans applying for unemployment aid rose last week to 861,000, evidence that layoffs remain painfully high despite a steady drop in the number of confirmed viral infections. Applications from laid-off workers rose 13,000 from the previous week, which was revised sharply higher, the Labor Department...
Naomi Osaka eyes 4th Slam title in Australian Open final vs. Jennifer Brady
Whether or not Naomi Osaka claims the Australian Open championship — and make no mistake, she will be expected to win — this much seems certain: Tennis has a new dominant force. Sure, it’s clearly possible that Osaka could be beaten by the 22nd-seeded American Jennifer Brady in the title...
AP source: Eagles send Carson Wentz to Colts for draft picks
PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Eagles have agreed to trade Carson Wentz to the Indianapolis Colts, according to a person familiar with the deal. The Eagles will receive a third-round pick in this year’s draft and a conditional second-round pick in 2022 that can turn into a first-round pick if Wentz...
Longtime editor Genevieve Young left legacy in publishing
NEW YORK — Genevieve Young was a publishing editor with a long and diverse legacy. She entered the business in the early 1950s, when there were few female editors and even fewer Asians. She worked with authors ranging from Herman Wouk to Betty Rollin and played a key role in...
NFL increases salary cap minimum to $180 million
The NFL has increased the salary cap to a minimum of $180 million for the 2021 season. The league and the NFL Players Association had previously set a minimum of $175 million because of revenue losses incurred during the coronavirus pandemic. In a memo sent to clubs Thursday and obtained...
Myanmar protests focus on junta’s economic support
YANGON, Myanmar — State railway workers in Myanmar continued to strike Thursday despite a police rampage the previous night targeting them in a sign of the military junta’s concern over growing civil disobedience by public workers protesting the coup. Three-quarters of the country’s civil servants are on strike, all private...
German police crack down on Berlin organized crime families
BERLIN — Hundreds of German police and other investigators raided more than 20 buildings in Berlin and the surrounding state of Brandenburg early Thursday in a crackdown on two feuding organized crime families, authorities said. Two people, a 44-year-old and a 22-year-old, were arrested, police said. No names were given...
NASA rover lands on Mars to look for signs of ancient lifeVideo
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A NASA rover streaked through the orange Martian sky and landed on the planet Thursday, accomplishing the riskiest step yet in an epic quest to bring back rocks that could answer whether life ever existed on Mars. Ground controllers at the space agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory...
Dance teacher featured on ‘Dance Moms’ accused of sex abuse
ORLANDO, Fla. — A dance instructor who appeared on Lifetime’s “Dance Moms” is accused of sexually abusing girls at an Orlando dance studio. Kevin Cosculluela, 25, pleaded not guilty following his arrest in December on charges of sexual activity with a 16- or 17-year-old child, solicitation of a minor, lewd...
Even without listening, U.S. lives in Rush Limbaugh’s media world
NEW YORK — You didn’t have to like or even listen to Rush Limbaugh to be affected by what he did. Conservative talk radio wasn’t a genre before him. Without Limbaugh, it’s hard to imagine a Fox News Channel, or a President Donald Trump, or a media landscape defined by...
U.S. life expectancy drops a year in pandemic, most since WWII
Life expectancy in the United States dropped a staggering one year during the first half of 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic caused its first wave of deaths, health officials are reporting. Minorities suffered the biggest impact, with Black Americans losing nearly three years and Hispanics, nearly two years, according to...
Some power restored in Texas but water woes persist
AUSTIN, Texas — Power was restored to more homes and businesses in Texas on Thursday after a deadly blast of winter this week overwhelmed the electrical grid and left millions shivering in the cold. But the crisis was far from over, with many people still in need of safe drinking...
China defends use of Twitter, Facebook in virus campaign
BEIJING — The Chinese government defended its use of Twitter and Facebook on Thursday, following a report that it had used its growing social media presence to spread disinformation about the origins of the covid-19 pandemic. When asked about the report, the Foreign Ministry’s top spokesperson, Hua Chunying, didn’t directly...
2 Belarusian journalists sent to prison for covering protest
KYIV, Ukraine — A court in Belarus on Thursday sent two female journalists to prison on charges of violating public order after they covered a protest against the nation’s authoritarian president. The court in the Belarusian capital of Minsk handed two-year sentences to Katsiaryna Bakhvalava, 27, who goes by the...
Spain: Dozens arrested in fresh riots over rapper’s jailing
MADRID — More than 50 people were arrested and dozens injured during a second night of protests that turned violent in several Spanish cities. The protests were sparked by the imprisonment of a rapper who had insulted the monarchy and praised terrorism. The protests began peacefully late Wednesday in dozens...
This date in sports history: Feb. 18
1928 — At Moritz, Switzerland, Sonja Henie becomes the youngest Olympic figure skating champion. At 15 years and 315 days, easily beats Austria’s Fritzi Burger and American Beatrix Loughran. 1932 — Sonja Henie wins her sixth straight World Figure Skating title. 1944 — One day after playing in a high...
Indianapolis art museum chief quits amid ‘white audience’ job posting flap
INDIANAPOLIS — The president of the The Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields resigned on Wednesday, days after the institution apologized for posting a job listing seeking a new director who would maintain the museum’s “traditional, core, white art audience.” The museum’s board of trustees and board of governors said...
Feds arrest UCLA student accused of sitting in Mike Pence’s chair
LOS ANGELES — A Los Angeles college student and self-described fascist was arrested after he sat in former Vice President Mike Pence’s chair in the Senate chambers during the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, authorities said. Officials say Christian Secor — a 22-year-old student at the University of California, Los...
More deadly storms coming so prepare better, experts sayVideo
WASHINGTON — Deadly weather will be hitting the U.S. more often, and America had better get better at dealing with it, experts said Wednesday as Texas and other states battled winter storms that blew past the worst-case planning of utilities, governments and millions of shivering citizens. The storms this week...
Demi Lovato reveals she has brain damage from overdose in 2018Video
LOS ANGELES — Demi Lovato’s drug overdose in 2018 resulted in the singer having three strokes and a heart attack, leaving her with physical limitations that still affect her. Lovato reveals publicly for the first time details about the near-fatal incident in “Demi Lovato: Dancing With the Devil,” a four-part...
Authorities: Florida men posed as U.S. marshals to avoid wearing masks
DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla. — Two men are accused of pretending to be federal marshals and flashing phony credentials to get out of wearing facial coverings at a South Florida resort hotel. When the staff at the Wyndham Deerfield Beach Resort asked Walter Wayne Brown Jr., 53, and Gary Brummett, 81,...
Ex-Texas mayor says residents should ‘fend for themselves’
DALLAS — The now former mayor of a West Texas town says he had already turned in his resignation when he wrote a Facebook post saying it was not the local government’s responsibility to help those suffering in the cold without power. In his typo-ridden post made Tuesday morning, Tim...
Rafael Nadal, Ash Barty upset at Australian Open
MELBOURNE, Australia — Top-ranked Ash Barty built a big lead in the Australian Open quarterfinals before her opponent took a medical timeout and left the court. More than an hour later, it was Barty heading abruptly for the exit, upset 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 on Wednesday by 25th-seeded Karolina Muchova of...
Indians saves leader Cody Allen retires at 32
CLEVELAND — Cody Allen, the Cleveland Indians’ career saves leader and an underappreciated closer for the team, retired at age 32. The Indians announced Allen’s retirement Wednesday on Twitter, posting: “From a 23rd round draft pick to the franchise saves (leader). Congrats on a great career, Cody.” Allen spent seven...
Arizona woman charged in Capitol melee says Proud Boys recruited her
BELLE PLAINE, Kan. — An Arizona woman charged in the Jan. 6 onslaught of the U.S. Capitol bragged in a Snapchat video that she was recently recruited by a Kansas City chapter of the Proud Boys, a neofascist organization that describes itself as “Western chauvinists” and has long forbidden female...
