Associated Press stories, Page 598
Toxic: How the search for the origins of covid-19 turned politically poisonous
BEIJING — The hunt for the origins of covid-19 has gone dark in China, the victim of political infighting after a series of stalled and thwarted attempts to find the source of the virus that killed millions and paralyzed the world for months. The Chinese government froze meaningful domestic and...
Security forces kill 11 militants in northwest region bordering Afghanistan, Pakistani military says
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Pakistani security forces killed eleven militants in two raids Monday targeting their hideouts in the volatile northwest region bordering Afghanistan, the military aid in a statement. Ten militants were killed in the first raid in Dera Ismail Khan district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. This came a day...
Trump tried to ‘corrupt’ the 2016 election, prosecutor alleges as hush money trial gets underwayVideo
NEW YORK — Donald Trump tried to illegally influence the 2016 presidential election by preventing damaging stories about his personal life from becoming public, a prosecutor told jurors Monday at the start of the former president’s historic hush money trial. “This was a planned, long-running conspiracy to influence the 2016...
Vice President Harris announces final rules mandating minimum standards for nursing home staffing
The federal government is for the first time requiring nursing homes to have minimum staffing levels after the covid-19 pandemic exposed grim realities in poorly staffed facilities for older and disabled Americans. Vice President Kamala Harris announced the final rules on Monday before a trip to La Crosse, Wisconsin, where...
Israeli military intelligence chief resigns over his role in failing to prevent Oct. 7 attack
TEL AVIV, Israel — The head of Israeli military intelligence resigned on Monday because of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, becoming the first senior figure to step down over his role in the stunning failure to anticipate or quickly respond to the deadliest assault in Israel’s history. Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva’s...
Biden marks Earth Day by announcing $7 billion in federal solar power grants
TRIANGLE, Virginia — President Joe Biden marked Earth Day by announcing $7 billion in federal grants for residential solar projects serving 900,000-plus households in low- and middle-income communities — while criticizing Republicans who want to gut his policies to address climate change. The Democrat seeking reelection this year took aim...
Shohei Ohtani passes Hideki Matsui for most MLB homers by Japanese-born player
LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani made another piece of baseball history Sunday when he surpassed a mark set by one of his heroes. The Los Angeles Dodgers slugger crushed his 176th career homer in the third inning, breaking Hideki Matsui’s record for the most home runs hit by a Japanese-born...
Victor Wembanyama up for 2 NBA year-end awards
Nikola Jokic is one step closer to winning a third MVP award in the last four seasons. Victor Wembanyama is surely on his way to a trophy — or maybe two. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander might get a couple of his own as well. The NBA revealed the finalists for most of...
Matt Rempe, Rangers’ 4th line comes through vs. Capitals
NEW YORK — Matt Rempe and the New York Rangers’ fourth line made their presence felt in the opener of their first-round series against the Washington Capitals on Sunday. Jimmy Vesey had a goal and an assist, home-crowd favorite Rempe also scored and Barclay Goodrow had two assists in the...
Mary J. Blige, Cher, Ozzy Osbourne, A Tribe Called Quest and Foreigner get into Rock Hall
NEW YORK — Mary J. Blige,Cher, Foreigner, A Tribe Called Quest, Kool & The Gang and Ozzy Osbourne have been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, a class that also includes folk-rockers Dave Matthews Band and singer-guitarist Peter Frampton. Alexis Korner, John Mayall and Big Mama Thornton...
Scottie Scheffler builds 5-shot lead at Hilton Head; rain forces Monday finishVideo
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. — Turns out only the rain can stop Masters champion Scottie Scheffler. Scheffler holed a difficult pitch for eagle on his second hole Sunday and turned the RBC Heritage into another rout. A storm system with heavy rain stopped play for 2 1/2 hours, forcing a...
Reddick steals win at Talladega for Michael Jordan as McDowell crashes at the lineVideo
So much for Michael Jordan being a jinx at the race track. The Basketball Hall of Famer celebrated as if he was still on the court after Tyler Reddick stole a NASCAR Cup victory at Talladega Superspeedway, speeding across the line after front-runner Michael McDowell — swerving back and forth...
Nelly Korda ties LPGA Tour record with 5th straight victory, wins Chevron Championship for 2nd majorVideo
THE WOODLANDS, Texas — Nelly Korda etched her name in the LPGA Tour record books Sunday, winning her record-tying fifth straight tournament with a two-stroke victory in the Chevron Championship for her second major title. Korda joins Nancy Lopez (1978) and Annika Sorenstam (2004-05) as the only players to win...
Terry Anderson, AP reporter abducted in Lebanon and held captive for years, dies at 76
LOS ANGELES — Terry Anderson, the globe-trotting Associated Press correspondent who became one of America’s longest-held hostages after he was snatched from a street in war-torn Lebanon in 1985 and held for nearly seven years, has died at 76. Anderson, who chronicled his abduction and torturous imprisonment by Islamic militants...
Republicans’ defense of the ‘Biden 16’ House districts starts with Pennsylvania’s primary election
NEW HOPE — Mark Houck makes a potent appeal to conservative Republicans in this corner of eastern Pennsylvania when he describes his arrest and subsequent acquittal on federal charges that he pushed a Planned Parenthood volunteer outside a Philadelphia abortion clinic. The account has become a staple of Houck’s first-time...
Young brother, sister dead, several hurt when vehicle crashes into Michigan birthday partyVideo
BERLIN TOWNSHIP, Mich. — A young brother and sister died and several people were injured, some of them seriously, when a vehicle driven by a suspected drunken driver crashed into a young child’s birthday party Saturday at a boat club, a Michigan sheriff said. An 8-year-old girl and her 5-year-old...
Earth Day: How a grocery shopper takes steps to avoid ‘pointless plastic’
ALBANY, N.Y. — Nature wraps bananas and oranges in peels. But in some modern supermarkets, they’re bagged or wrapped in plastic too. For Judith Enck, that’s the epitome of pointless plastic. The baby food aisle is similarly distressing for her, with its rows and rows of blended fruits, vegetables and...
Ryan Garcia knocks Devin Haney down 3 times, hands his amateur rival his first pro lossVideo
NEW YORK — Ryan Garcia’s behavior leading up to his bout against Devin Haney seemed so erratic that some people thought he shouldn’t be allowed to fight at all. Think of the performance they would have missed. Garcia knocked Haney down three times and handed the WBC super lightweight champion...
Key players: Who’s who at Donald Trump’s hush money criminal trial
NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s hush money criminal trial shifts to opening statements Monday, followed by the start of witness testimony. A jury of seven men and five women, plus six alternates, was picked last week. The trial centers on allegations the former president falsified his company’s internal records to...
Jayson Tatum triple-double, 3s lead Celtics past Jimmy Butler-less Heat in playoff openerVideo
BOSTON — Jayson Tatum notched his first career playoff triple-double with 23 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists to lead the Boston Celtics past the Miami Heat 114-94 on Sunday to open their first-round playoff series. Derrick White added 20 points and four assists for Boston, which finished with six...
Woman, 18, dies after being shot at Delaware State University; campus closed
DOVER, Del. — An 18-year-old woman died Sunday after she was shot on the campus of Delaware State University, authorities said. Dover police said officers responded at about 1:40 a.m. to a report of shots on the campus. Police said an 18-year-old Wilmington woman who was not a registered student...
Israeli strikes on southern Gaza city of Rafah kill 22, mostly children, as U.S. advances aid packageVideo
RAFAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli strikes on the southern Gaza city of Rafah overnight killed 22 people, including 18 children, health officials said Sunday, as the United States was on track to approve billions of dollars of additional military aid to Israel, its close ally. Israel has carried out near-daily...
Biden sees a $35 price cap for insulin as a pivotal campaign issue. It’s not that clear-cut
WASHINGTON — Rarely a day goes without President Joe Biden mentioning insulin prices. He promotes a $35 price cap for the medication for Americans on Medicare — in White House speeches, campaign stops and even at non-health care events around the country. His reelection team has flooded swing-state airwaves with...
When it comes to government planes and political trips, who pays for a president’s campaign travel?
WASHINGTON — It’s no simple matter to move the commander in chief from point A to B, and it’s even more complicated when the president is seeking a second term. President Joe Biden recently spent three days in Pennsylvania, a pivotal state in the 2024 campaign, and he plans to...
Crush of lawsuits over voting in multiple states creates a shadow war for the 2024 election
CHICAGO — As President Joe Biden and Donald Trump step up their campaigning in swing states, a quieter battle is taking place in the shadows of their White House rematch. The Republican National Committee, newly reconstituted under Trump, has filed election-related lawsuits in nearly half the states. Recent lawsuits over...
