Associated Press stories, Page 302
Ohio State quality control coach on administrative leave amid university investigation
COLUMBUS — Ohio State defensive quality control coach Joe Lyberger has been on paid administrative leave for the last month while the university investigates him. Ohio State’s human resources department sent Lyberger a letter on Dec. 27 that noted he would be placed on leave immediately. The investigation is being...
Temple student hurt while celebrating Philadelphia Eagles win dies from his injuries
PHILADELPHIA — A college student who was hurt when he climbed a street pole and fell while Philadelphia Eagles fans celebrated the team’s victory in Sunday’s NFC championship game has died from his injuries. Temple University announced the death of Tyler Sabapathy, 18, in a statement posted Tuesday night on...
Former U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez gets 11 years in prison for taking bribes and acting as agent of Egypt
NEW YORK — Former U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez was sentenced Wednesday to 11 years in prison for accepting bribes of gold and cash and acting as an agent of Egypt — crimes his own lawyer said earned him the nickname “Gold Bar Bob.” U.S. District Judge Sidney H. Stein in...
Things to know about the Trump administration order on car and pickup fuel economy
DETROIT — Hours after being sworn in as the new U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy took aim at the main way the federal government regulates miles per gallon for cars and pickup trucks — also a principal way that it regulates air pollution and addresses climate change. Duffy ordered...
Movie Review: Bloody and witty, ‘Companion’ explores what humanity means in an AI-powered worldVideo
“Iris, wake up!” Early in “Companion,” lovely Iris and her nerdy-nice boyfriend Josh are driving to a secluded lake house for a stay with friends. Iris wakes from a nap and lovingly tells Josh she was dreaming about him. They reminisce about how they first met at the supermarket. All...
MLB average salary rose 2.9% to record $4.66 million last year
NEW YORK — The rate of increase for Major League Baseball’s average salary slowed to 2.9% last year to a record $4.66 million, according to the annual report of the players’ association. The average of $4,655,366 was up from $4,525,719 in 2023, which marked a 7% increase from 2022. After...
‘Remarkably poor judgment’: Wall Street Journal takes a critical eye to start of Trump’s 2nd term
Amid all of the enthusiasm in conservative media for President Donald Trump’s first week back in office, the Rupert Murdoch-owned Wall Street Journal has notably applied some brakes. The Journal has editorialized against Trump’s pardons of Jan. 6 rioters, called presidential appointee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “dangerous to public health,”...
While signing Laken Riley Act, Trump says he’ll send ‘worst’ criminal migrants to Guantanamo
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed the Laken Riley Act into law, giving federal authorities broader power to deport immigrants in the U.S. illegally who have been accused of crimes. He also announced at the ceremony that his administration planned to send the “worst criminal aliens” to a...
Trump’s orders take aim at critical race theory and antisemitism on college campuses
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is ordering U.S. schools to stop teaching what he views as “critical race theory” and other material dealing with race and sexuality or risk losing their federal money. A separate plan announced Wednesday calls for aggressive action to fight antisemitism on college campuses, promising to...
What is the Office of Personnel Management? Trump is relying on this agency to reshape government
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s new tool for reshaping the federal government is a relatively obscure agency, the Office of Personnel Management. The agency has offered millions of federal workers eight months of salary if they voluntarily choose to leave their jobs by Feb. 6. The unconventional plan shows both...
Trump White House rescinds memo freezing federal grants after widespread confusion
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s budget office on Wednesday rescinded a memo freezing spending on federal grants, less than two days after it sparked widespread confusion and legal challenges across the country. The Monday evening memo from the White House Office of Management and Budget sparked uncertainty over a crucial...
Ailing Harvey Weinstein begs to have #MeToo retrial sooner after judge sets April 15 date
NEW YORK — Harvey Weinstein begged a judge Wednesday to hold his #MeToo retrial as soon as possible, telling him “I don’t know how much longer I can hold on” with cancer, heart issues and harsh conditions at New York City’s Rikers Island jail complex. The disgraced movie mogul objected...
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. struggles to answer questions on Medicare, Medicaid at confirmation hearingVideo
WASHINGTON — In a contentious confirmation hearing to become the nation’s top health official, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. struggled to answer questions about Medicare and Medicaid, programs that affect tens of millions of Americans, or to provide details about how he would work to drive down health care costs. Kennedy...
Are we all aliens? NASA’s returned asteroid samples hold the ingredients of life from a watery world
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Asteroid samples fetched by NASA hold not only the pristine building blocks for life but also the salty remains of an ancient water world, scientists reported Wednesday. The findings provide the strongest evidence yet that asteroids may have planted the seeds of life on Earth and...
Hamas set to free 3 Israelis, 5 Thais in next hostage release, Israeli official says
JERUSALEM — An Israeli official said Wednesday that Hamas will release three Israelis, including two women and an 80-year-old man, and five Thai nationals in the next hostage release, slated for Thursday. The official named the Israel women as Arbel Yehoud, 29, Agam Berger, 19, and the man as Gadi...
Tax season has begun. Here’s when you’ll get your refund
NEW YORK — Tax season is underway, and the IRS expects 140 million people will file returns by April 15. The agency has also debuted a new online tool to help taxpayers check the status of any refund they may be entitled to. President Donald Trump this week offered all...
Jalen Hurts will try to become 4th starting QB to win Super Bowl after losing in his debut
Jalen Hurts bucked decades of history just by getting back to the Super Bowl after losing his first trip there as a starting quarterback. Now he will try to become the fourth quarterback to win the NFL’s ultimate prize as a starting quarterback after losing his first Super Bowl start....
After rebuke from legislative leaders, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis pledges to veto immigration bill
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis promised Wednesday to veto a sweeping immigration bill, in the latest escalation of a statehouse showdown between the governor and the state’s Republican legislative leadership, who have sparred over whose proposals would best carry out President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. The bill, which...
FireAid, with Billie Eilish and Lady Gaga, is the latest in a long line of massive benefit concerts
FireAid, featuring Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga, Sting, Red Hot Chili Peppers and others in a fundraiser for Los Angeles-area wildfire relief efforts, is the latest event to combine music and philanthropy. Thursday’s concerts at the Intuit Dome and Kia Forum in Inglewood, California, will be streamed on YouTube, Prime Video,...
Police: At least 30 people died in stampede at massive Maha Kumbh festival in India
PRAYAGRAJ, India — At least 30 people were killed and many more injured in a stampede at the world’s largest religious gathering early Wednesday, police said, as millions of pilgrims rushed to dip in sacred waters during the Maha Kumbh festival in northern India. Police officer Vaibhav Krishna in Prayagraj...
Where could the NFL hold an international Super Bowl? The pros and cons of potential hosts
LONDON — It’s a question Roger Goodell gets when he’s in London: Would the NFL stage a Super Bowl internationally? The usual answer is that America’s biggest sporting event is reserved for cities that have NFL franchises. But as the commissioner noted in October, “things change. It wouldn’t surprise me...
DeepSeek has rattled the AI industry. Here’s a quick look at other Chinese AI models
HONG KONG — The Chinese artificial intelligence firm DeepSeek has rattled markets with claims that its latest AI model, R1, performs on a par with those of OpenAI, despite using less advanced computer chips and consuming less energy. DeepSeek’s emergence has raised concerns that China may have overtaken the U.S....
U.S. children fall further behind in reading, make little improvement in math on national exam
WASHINGTON — America’s children have continued to lose ground on reading skills in the wake of the covid-19 pandemic and have made little improvement in math, according to the latest results of an exam known as the nation’s report card. The findings are yet another setback for U.S. schools and...
Frontier makes a second bid for Spirit with budget airlines struggling
NEW YORK — No-frills, budget airlines often lead the industry in customer complaints, according to government data, so if one were to disappear would it be missed by travelers? That is a question U.S. regulators will be asking after Frontier Airlines said Wednesday that it wanted to buy Spirit Airlines,...
After talking tough during campaign, Trump appears to ease up on China at start of presidency
WASHINGTON — On the campaign trail last year, President Donald Trump talked tough about imposing tariffs as high as 60% on Chinese goods and threatened to renew the trade war with China that he launched during his first term. But now that he’s back in the White House, Trump appears...
