Associated Press stories, Page 307

NEW YORK — Former President Donald Trump says he is eager to debate President Joe Biden, even if the debates are sponsored by the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates. And he says he is open to debating a single Republican rival if a serious challenger emerges after the New Hampshire...

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden joined his wife, first lady Jill Biden, on Friday for a Christmas season visit to Children’s National Hospital to meet young patients and their families. The first lady read the children “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” as the president waved and flashed smiles at the...

ROME — The Vatican next year will publish a collection of never-before-seen homilies delivered by the late Pope Benedict XVI during his private Sunday Masses, most of them penned during his 10-year retirement, officials said Saturday. The consecrated women who tended to Benedict during his pontificate and retirement recorded the...

PRAGUE — The Czech Republic came to a standstill at noon Saturday as people across the country observed a minute of silence for the victims of its worst mass killing that left 14 dead and questions about the shooter’s motive. National flags on public buildings flew at half-staff and bells...

Standing on a portable stage erected at home plate of the Milwaukee Brewers ballpark, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers recently praised the professional baseball team as an “essential part” of the state’s “culture and identity” and “economic success.” With fanfare, Evers then signed off on $500 million in public aid for...

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — At various times this season, the Miami Dolphins and the Dallas Cowboys have looked like contenders or pretenders. Both teams are 10-4, have offenses and defense ranked near the top of the league and have taken care of lesser competition — sometimes winning by eye-popping margins....

INDIANAPOLIS — Indianapolis Colts receiver Michael Pittman Jr. did not appreciate the violence of a hit he took from Pittsburgh Steelers safety Damontae Kazee until he saw video of the play. Pittman, the Colts’ leading receiver, cleared the concussion protocol Friday and was listed as questionable for Sunday’s game at...

TAMPA, Fla. — Haynes King threw a touchdown pass and ran for another score and Georgia Tech overcame a 14-point deficit to beat UCF, 30-17, in the Gasparilla Bowl on Friday night. King went 7 for 13 for 87 yards and ran for 89 yards on 12 carries. Jamal Haynes...

BRIGHTON, Colo. — Two Denver-area paramedics were convicted Friday for giving a fatal overdose of the sedative ketamine to Elijah McClain in 2019 — a jury verdict that experts said could have a chilling effect on first responders around the country. The case involving the 23-year-old Black man’s death was...

LOS ANGELES — Charlie Sheen’s neighbor was arrested after being accused of assaulting the actor in a Malibu, Calif., home this week, authorities said. Electra Schrock was accused of assault with a deadly weapon, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement Friday. She was also accused of...

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Veteran kicker Mason Crosby signed Friday with the New York Giants, who have been hit hard by injuries at the position. Cade York was expected to kick for the Giants in Monday’s game at Philadelphia but instead he was placed on injured reserve with a quad...

BEREA, Ohio — Cleveland Browns starting linebacker Anthony Walker Jr. had arthroscopic knee surgery, knocking him out of Sunday’s game at Houston and putting his playing status in question as Cleveland aims for a playoff berth. The team said Friday that Walker, one of the captains, had the procedure Thursday,...

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court said Friday that it will not immediately take up a plea by special counsel Jack Smith to rule on whether former President Donald Trump can be prosecuted for his actions to overturn the 2020 election results. The issue will now be decided by the U.S....

There were jitters, of course. Considering all that happened, how could there not be? When Simone Biles walked onto the floor at a suburban Chicago arena in late July for her first gymnastics competition in two years, she knew plenty of people were wondering how it was going to go....

The Florida State board of trustees on Friday cleared the way for a lawsuit against the Atlantic Coast Conference, challenging a contract that binds the school to the league for the next 12 years and creating a potential path to leave without paying more than $500 million in penalties. “I...

LOS ANGELES — Prized free-agent pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto and the Los Angeles Dodgers have agreed to a $325 million, 12-year contract, according to multiple reports. Yamamoto is set to join Japanese countryman Shohei Ohtani with the Dodgers, who signed the two-way superstar to a record $700 million, 10-year deal last...

Donald Trump pressured two election officials not to certify 2020 vote totals in a key Michigan county, according to a recording of a post-election phone call disclosed in a new report by The Detroit News. The former president’s 2024 campaign neither confirmed nor denied the recording’s legitimacy, insisting in a...

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it has seized “thousands of units” of counterfeit Ozempic, the diabetes drug widely used for weight loss, that had been distributed through legitimate drug supply sources. The FDA and the drug’s maker, Novo Nordisk, are testing the shots. They do not yet have...

The holidays, a time where families and friends can get together to talk, to laugh — or get into screaming arguments. There are plenty of reasons togetherness can turn into tension — maybe that cousin you mostly love has that one opinion on politics or world events you just can’t...

NEW YORK — Retailers are stepping up sales and other enticements in the final days before Christmas to lure shoppers who’ve been waiting for the best deals, or who didn’t have the time or the urge to wrap up gift-buying early. Incentives to spend last minute are an extension of...

PRAGUE — People in the Czech capital were trying to come to grips Friday with the worst mass shooting in the country’s history that left 14 dead and dozens wounded inside a university building. The shooter is also believed to have killed his father earlier in the day and a...

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is making thousands of people who were convicted of use and simple possession of marijuana on federal lands and in the District of Columbia eligible for pardons, the White House said Friday, in his latest round of executive clemencies meant to rectify racial disparities in...

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration released its highly anticipated proposal for doling out billions of dollars in tax credits to hydrogen producers Friday, in a massive effort to build out an industry that some hope can be a cleaner alternative to fossil fueled power. The U.S. credit is the most...