Associated Press stories, Page 1788
Biden opens sign-up window for uninsured in time of covidVideo
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Thursday ordered government health insurance markets to reopen for a special sign-up window, offering uninsured Americans a haven as the spread of covid-19 remains dangerously high and vaccines aren’t yet widely available. Biden signed an executive order directing the HealthCare.gov insurance markets to take...
Chiefs, Bucs ride (mostly) covid-clear season to Super Bowl
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs had a pretty good idea what kind of covid-19 protocols they would have to wade through in defense of their Super Bowl championship the moment they finally gathered for in-person training camp. One of their own helped to devise them. It was...
Cemetery apologizes after Black deputy is denied burial
The board of a Louisiana cemetery that denied burial to a Black sheriff’s deputy is holding an emergency meeting Thursday to remove a whites-only provision from its sales contracts. Board President H. Creig Vizena said he was stunned and ashamed to learn that the family of Allen Parish Sheriff’s Deputy...
Whitmer: Holding back federal virus aid ‘cruel and reckless’
LANSING, Mich. — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Thursday that she will not cede her authority to issue certain covid-19 restrictions, calling Republicans’ attempt to hold back federal pandemic relief funding unless she changes course “cruel and reckless.” The Democratic governor urged GOP lawmakers to “shift their perspective to looking forward”...
Virus variant from South Africa detected in U.S. for 1st time
COLUMBIA, S.C. — A new coronavirus variant identified in South Africa has been found in the United States for the first time, with two cases diagnosed in South Carolina, state health officials said Thursday. The two cases don’t appear to be connected, nor do the people have a history of...
AP Source: QB Deshaun Watson requests trade from Houston Texans
HOUSTON — Star quarterback Deshaun Watson has requested a trade from the Houston Texans, a person familiar with the move told the Associated Press. The person was not authorized to speak publicly about the request and spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity Thursday. Watson has a no-trade...
By Sea of Galilee, archaeologists find ruins of early mosque
TIBERIAS, Israel — Archaeologists in Israel say they have discovered the remnants of an early mosque — believed to date to the earliest decades of Islam — during an excavation in the northern city of Tiberias. This mosque’s foundations, excavated just south of the Sea of Galilee by the Hebrew...
Panel overturns 4 Facebook content takedowns in first ruling
LONDON — Facebook’s quasi-independent oversight board issued its first rulings Thursday, overturning four out of five decisions by the social network to take down questionable content. The social media giant set up the oversight panel to rule on thorny issues about content on its platforms, in response to furious criticism...
N.Y. nursing home virus deaths were undercounted, AG says
ALBANY, N.Y. — New York may have undercounted covid-19 deaths of nursing home residents by as much as 50%, the state’s attorney general said in a report released Thursday. Attorney General Letitia James has, for months, been examining discrepancies between the number of deaths being reported by the state’s Department...
Apple to crack down on tracking iPhone users in early spring
Apple says it will roll out a new privacy control in the spring to prevent iPhone apps from secretly shadowing people. The delay in its anticipated rollout aims to placate Facebook and other digital services that depend on such data surveillance to help sell ads. Although Apple didn’t provide a...
New home sales rise in December after sharp November drop
Sales of new homes rose 1.6% in December after a big decline in November that was even worse than previously thought. The increase last month pushed sales of new homes to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 842,000, the Commerce Department reported Thursday, though that was fewer than analysts had...
Pelosi denounces GOP leaders over Georgia lawmaker’s posts
WASHINGTON — Speaker Nancy Pelosi intensified pressure Thursday on House Republican leaders for their handling of a controversial GOP freshman, denouncing them for placing a lawmaker who Pelosi says has “mocked the killing of little children” on the chamber’s education committee. Pelosi’s comments focused on Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.,...
Stocks claw back some lost ground; GameStop swings wildly
Stocks closed broadly higher Thursday on Wall Street, helping the market recoup some of its losses a day after its biggest pullback in nearly three months. Investors continued to closely watch the wild swings in GameStop, AMC and several other stocks which have become targets for hordes of online investors...
U.S. economy shrank 3.5% in 2020 after growing 4% last quarterVideo
WASHINGTON — Stuck in the grip of a viral pandemic, the U.S. economy grew at a 4% annual rate in the final three months of 2020 and shrank last year by the largest amount in 74 years. For 2020 as a whole, a year when the coronavirus inflicted the worst...
Tom Brokaw: Journalists should get out of power centers
NEW YORK — If Tom Brokaw has one piece of advice to leave for television journalists upon his retirement, it’s to get out to more of the country —and not just to visit. The Capitol insurrection is but one example of a story that might not have seemed as much...
Interest continues to grow in inaugural poet Amanda Gorman
Within hours of Amanda Gorman’s reading of the inaugural poem last week, bookstores were hearing from their customers. “Hopefully this will be a bridge that brings a lot of people to poetry,” says Mike Wysock, who manages The Book Stall in Winnetka, Illinois. Interest in the 22-year-old Gorman and demand...
Here’s why it’s hard to make coronavirus vaccines and boost supplies
With demand for covid-19 vaccines outpacing the world’s supplies, a frustrated public and policymakers want to know: How can we get more? A lot more. Right away. The problem: “It’s not like adding more water to the soup,” said vaccine specialist Maria Elena Bottazzi of Baylor College of Medicine. Makers...
U.S. jobless claims drop; still at 847,000 as pandemic rages
WASHINGTON — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell but remained at a historically high 847,000 last week, a sign that layoffs keep coming as the coronavirus pandemic continues to rage. Last week’s claims dropped by 67,000, from 914,000 the week before, the Labor Department said Thursday. Before...
Partygoers fined for flouting covid rules on Thai island
BANGKOK, Thailand — More than a hundred participants in a party in a bar on a popular Thai island, including 89 foreigners, received suspended jail terms and fines Thursday for breaking national coronavirus restrictions. Police arrested the 109 partygoers in a raid Tuesday night on the Three Sixty Bar on...
In duel over GameStop, small investors cause Wall Street elite to lose billions
Across most of America, GameStop is just a place to buy a video game. On Wall Street, though, it’s become a battleground where swarms of smaller investors see themselves making an epic stand against the 1%. The funds serving the financial elite are starting to walk away in defeat. Big...
N.C. man hits 2 deer with new car, then he hits $2M in lottery
LELAND, N.C. — An unlucky start to a North Carolina man’s day turned upside down when he discovered he won a $2 million lottery prize hours after hitting two deer with his new car. Anthony Dowe, of Leland, had an accident on his way to work, the North Carolina Education...
Poland: Near-total abortion ban takes effect amid protests
WARSAW, Poland — A near-total ban on abortion has taken effect in Poland and triggered a new round of nationwide protests three months after a top court ruled that the abortion of congenitally damaged fetuses is unconstitutional. Led by a women’s rights group, Women’s Strike, people poured onto the streets...
In Wyoming, Cheney faces blowback for vote to impeach Trump
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — When Liz Cheney, the third-ranking Republican in the House of Representatives, decided to vote to impeach a president from her own party, she knew she’d cause some waves. She might not have expected the seismic impact at home. But Cheney’s vote against Donald Trump has put her...
New Biden health care orders begin to unspool Trump policies
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is set to take his first steps to reverse Trump administration health care policies. The White House said Biden plans on Thursday to sign orders on a range of issues including getting more Americans covered and removing curbs on abortion counseling. The most concrete short-term...
This date in sports history: January 28
1901 — The American League is founded. The league plans for a 140-game schedule, set player rosters at 14 and recognizes the Players Protective Association, the players’ union. 1943 — Max Bentley of the Chicago Black Hawks has four goals and three assists in a 10-1 rout of the New...
