Associated Press stories, Page 882
Meta takes aim at Twitter with the launch of rival app Threads
LONDON — Meta unveiled an app to rival Twitter on Thursday, appearing to target users looking for an alternative to the social media platform owned — and frequently changed — by Elon Musk. Called Threads, the new offering is billed as a text-based version of Meta’s photo-sharing app Instagram that...
The world’s tallest flagpole. A tiny Maine town. An idea meant to unite people is dividing them
COLUMBIA FALLS, Maine — Lobster boat engines rumble to life in quiet coves. Lumberjacks trudge deep into the woods. Farmers tend expanses of wild blueberries. Maine’s Down East region is where the sunlight first kisses the East Coast of the United States each day, where the vast wilderness and ocean...
Retailers, beware: Resumption of student loan payments could lead some buyers to pull back
WASHINGTON — The reprieve is over. Just as the American economy is struggling with high inflation and interest rates, the coming resumption of student loan payments poses yet another potential challenge. The suspension of federal student loan payments, which took effect at the height of the pandemic in 2020, expires...
ThunderShirts, dance parties and anxiety meds can help ease dogs’ July Fourth dread
PHOENIX — On the Friday before the Fourth of July, more than a dozen dog owners waited in triple-digit temperatures in south Phoenix to get into a microchipping event inside a shelter. It didn’t hurt that Maricopa County was offering a discount. But, several were there because they knew having...
In a polarized U.S., how to define a patriot increasingly depends on who’s being asked
Millions of Americans will attend parades, fireworks and other Independence Day events on Tuesday, celebrating the courage of the nation’s 18th century patriots who fought for independence from Great Britain and what they considered an unjust government. Those events also will honor the military and those who sacrificed in other...
The American flag wasn’t always revered as it is today. At the beginning, it was an afterthought
PHILADELPHIA — In the bedroom of the Betsy Ross House, a reconstruction of where the upholsterer worked on her most famous commission, a long flag with a circle of 13 stars hangs over a Chippendale side chair and extends across the floor. Over the weeks in 1776 needed to complete...
NASCAR thinking big after exciting finish to Cup Series’ 1st street race in its 75th season
CHICAGO — Moments after NASCAR’s daring adventure was over — a soggy day in downtown Chicago rescued by a compelling Cup Series race — they were all thinking big. Shane van Gisbergen pondered a move from Australia’s Supercars to a regular NASCAR ride. Justin Marks contemplated the promising future of...
5 dead in Philadelphia-area shooting spree that’s nation’s worst violence yet around July 4Video
PHILADELPHIA — A 40-year-old man with a rifle, a pistol, a bulletproof vest, extra magazines and a police scanner fatally shot four men in a Philadelphia neighborhood and chased and killed a fifth man inside a house, police said. A 2-year-old boy and a 13-year-old were also wounded in the...
Maternal deaths in the U.S. more than doubled over two decades. Black mothers died at the highest rate
Maternal deaths across the U.S. more than doubled over the course of two decades, and the tragedy unfolded unequally. Black mothers died at the nation’s highest rates, while the largest increases in deaths were found in American Indian and Native Alaskan mothers. And some states — and racial or ethnic...
Churchill Downs extends trainer Bob Baffert’s ban through 2024
Churchill Downs is extending Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert’s suspension through 2024, keeping the two-time Triple Crown winner from entering horses in the Kentucky Derby and other races for an additional year. Churchill Downs Inc. announced Monday it was continuing Baffert’s ban at least through the 2024 calendar year,...
Price of a stamp rises to 66 cents, the second hike this year and the 5th increase since 2019
NEW YORK — Stamps prices are on the rise, again — one of several changes the U.S. Postal Service is rolling out this month. Starting Sunday, the cost of the first-class “forever” stamps will jump from 63 to 66 cents. The latest price comes just months after forever stamps climbed...
Fright over crack on North Carolina ride serves as reminder of risks at amusement parksVideo
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A visible crack in the support beam of a North Carolina roller coaster served as a reminder of the risks that sometimes arise with amusement park rides, particularly as families and adrenaline junkies flock to the attractions throughout the summer. Video footage of the Charlotte-based Carowinds’ popular...
A Texas man who went missing as a teen in 2015 has been found alive, his family and police say
HOUSTON — A Texas man who went missing as a teenager in 2015 after last being seen walking his dogs in Houston has been found alive, his family and police said Monday. Police and firefighters found Rudolph “Rudy” Farias IV around 10 p.m. Thursday after getting a call of a...
Arkansas governor names state GOP chairman, former federal prosecutor to Supreme Court seat
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Monday named state Republican Party chairman and former federal prosecutor Cody Hiland to the Arkansas Supreme Court, giving it a conservative majority as justices prepare to take up a challenge to her education overhaul. Hiland was appointed to fill the vacancy...
Sofia Kenin surprises Coco Gauff in a highlight-filled, all-U.S. match at WimbledonVideo
WIMBLEDON, England — Sofia Kenin surprised Coco Gauff at a Grand Slam tournament again by beating her 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 in the first round of Wimbledon in a back-and-forth matchup Monday between two American women who both have reached No. 4 in the rankings and been to a major final....
The aftermath of mass shootings infiltrates every corner of survivors’ lives
CHICAGO — More than a year after 11-year-old Mayah Zamora was airlifted out of Uvalde, Texas, where she was critically injured in the Robb Elementary school shooting that killed 19 children and two teachers, the family is still reeling. Knocks on the door startle Mayah into a panic. The family...
North American trade pact on 3rd anniversary: Optimism rising for U.S., Mexican workers
WASHINGTON — To President Donald Trump, America’s trade relationship with Mexico was intolerable. He seethed over the U.S. trade deficit and the shuttered factories in America’s heartland. “No longer,” he vowed six years ago, “are we going to allow other countries to break the rules, to steal our jobs and...
PGA Tour sending 2 executives to Senate hearing as LIV cites conflicts
WASHINGTON — Two leading figures for the PGA Tour have agreed to testify next week before a Senate panel reviewing the tour’s surprise agreement with the Saudi backers of LIV Golf. The panel will have to wait to hear from LIV CEO Greg Norman and Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of...
Rose Leslie, Kit Harington welcome their 2nd child, a daughter
LONDON — Actors Rose Leslie and Kit Harington have welcomed their second child. A publicist for Harington confirmed Monday that the couple, who famously met on the set of “Game of Thrones” and are now both 36, have added a daughter to their family. Further details weren’t immediately available. In...
A year of fighting between Israel and the Palestinians just escalated. Is this an uprising?
TEL AVIV, Israel — Airstrikes targeting Palestinian militants in a crowded residential area. Armored bulldozers plowing through narrow streets, crushing cars and piling up debris. Protesters burning tires. A mounting death toll. Israel’s large-scale military raid into the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank on Monday had undeniable...
Leon Gautier, last member of French D-Day military commando unit, dies at 100
PARIS — Leon Gautier, the last surviving member of an elite French unit that joined U.S. and other Allied forces in the D-Day invasion to wrest Normandy from Nazi control, has died. He was 100. The death was announced Monday by Romain Bail, the mayor of Ouistreham, an English Channel...
What to know about a new women’s hockey league launching in January
Jayna Hefford gets goosebumps thinking about what it will be like when the puck drops in January on a new women’s hockey league featuring the world’s best players. The stage is set for that after a new ownership group bought out the Professional Hockey Federation and members of the Professional...
Kevin Spacey’s accuser describes Oscar-winning actor as ‘slippery, snaky, difficult person’
LONDON — One of Kevin Spacey ‘s accusers described the Oscar-winning actor in a London court Monday as a “slippery, snaky” predator whom good-looking young men were warned to avoid. The man, who worked with Spacey when he came to the British capital’s Old Vic Theatre in the early 2000s,...
Roger Federer will be celebrated at Wimbledon
WIMBLEDON, England — Roger Federer will be back on Centre Court at Wimbledon on Tuesday. No, not to compete: He’ll be feted for his record-setting career at the grass-court Grand Slam tournament. Federer, who announced his retirement last year, won eight of his 20 Grand Slam singles championships at the...
Car crashes into New Hampshire restaurant, injures dozens, pins man in bathroom
LACONIA, N.H. — A car crashed into a busy New Hampshire restaurant and injured more than a dozen patrons inside, authorities said. The vehicle struck the Looney Bin Bar & Grill a little after 12:40 p.m. Sunday and came to a stop well inside, pinning one man inside the bathroom,...
