Candy maker Mars is giving a makeover to its six M&M's characters as a way to promote inclusivity. The company said that it will provide a modern take on the appearances of the characters — which Mars calls "lentils" — and give them more nuanced personalities. The lentils, which are ...

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — New York sportsbooks took more than $600 million worth of bets from phones or computers in the first two weeks of the activity being legal this month, according to figures posted Friday. The numbers posted by the New York State Gaming Commission show that the four ...

Stocks fell again on Wall Street Friday, capping off the worst weekly drop for the S&P 500 since the start of the pandemic. Investors have grown increasingly worried about rising inflation and how aggressive the Federal Reserve might be in raising interest rates to tamp it down. ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Chipmaker Intel said Friday it will invest $20 billion to build a new factory in Ohio, an attempt to help alleviate a global shortage of chips powering everything from phones to cars to home appliances while also signaling the giant company's commitment to manufacturing ...

RENO, Nev. (AP) — A federal appeals court will have to decide whether protecting historical tribal lands and a rare toad warrant blocking a major geothermal plant in Nevada as the nation tries to move away from fossil fuels amid a looming climate crisis. Ormat Technologies says it may ...

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — General Motors is poised to announce next week major electric-vehicle investments in Michigan, with plans to spend $6.5 billion and create up to 4,000 new jobs at two plants. The state's economic development board is expected to approve an incentives package Tuesday, ...

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A man suspected of stabbing a woman to death at a Los Angeles furniture store in a random killing was charged Friday with murder, prosecutors said. The charge filed against 31-year-old Shawn Laval Smith includes a special allegation that he used a deadly and dangerous ...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Napa wineries and others hard-hit by massive wildfires in California's wine country and elsewhere will soon be able to tap into the state's insurance plan of last resort, officials said Friday. Hundreds of farmers, ranchers, wine growers and other outdoor businesses ...

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Prosecutors in the trial of three former Minneapolis police officers on civil rights charges in George Floyd's killing asked the judge to open at least parts of a hearing Friday on the admissibility of some evidence. A jury was seated in a single day Thursday for Tou ...

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Fourth-generation corn and soybean farmer Jeff Frank doesn't feel rich, but simply based on the skyrocketing value of his land in northwest Iowa, it's an apt way to describe him, even if he laughs at the idea. He lives in the same nearly century-old house, grows ...

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City's fire commissioner said Friday that he will retire next month after more than seven years in the job and a career that spanned more than five decades and included stints in every rank in the department. Daniel Nigro led the nation's largest municipal fire ...

The University Park neighborhood of Los Angeles has a lot in common with urban areas across the U.S.: A dense population with lots of businesses and housing. A cluster of car dealerships. A row of restaurants. Schools and a community center. But nestled in the predominantly Latino community is ...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California's unemployment rate dipped a half-percentage point in December as the most populous state added 50,700 nonfarm jobs, accounting for more than a quarter of the nation's 199,000 new jobs for the month, according to new data released Friday. The state has ...

DENVER (AP) — Colorado, the U.S. government and a gold mining company have agreed to resolve a longstanding dispute over who's responsible for continuing cleanup at a Superfund site that was established after a massive 2015 spill of hazardous mine waste that fouled rivers with a sickly yellow ...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California would allow children age 12 and up to be vaccinated without their parents' consent under a proposal introduced Friday by a state senator who said youngsters "deserve the right to protect themselves" against infectious disease. Currently in California, ...

FORT COLLINS, Colo. (AP) — The boyfriend of slain cross-country traveler Gabby Petito admitted killing her in a notebook discovered near his body in a Florida swamp, the FBI announced Friday. It was the first time authorities squarely pinned the blame for Petito's death on Brian Laundrie, ...

COLLEYVILLE, Texas (AP) — In the final moments of a 10-hour standoff with a gunman at a Texas synagogue, the remaining hostages and officials trying to negotiate their release took "near simultaneous plans of action," with the hostages escaping as an FBI tactical team moved in, an official ...

Two former University of Michigan football stars who stand to receive as much as $500,000 each through the school's sexual abuse settlement with more than 1,000 students say the per-victim payouts should be much higher, pointing to a similar case at rival Michigan State. Dwight Hicks and Jon ...

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Louie Anderson, whose four-decade career as a comedian and actor included his unlikely, Emmy-winning performance as mom to twin adult sons in the TV series "Baskets," died Friday. He was 68. Anderson died at a hospital in Las Vegas of complications from cancer, said Glenn ...

NEW YORK (AP) — Meat Loaf, the heavyweight rock superstar loved by millions for his "Bat Out of Hell" album and for such theatrical, dark-hearted anthems as "Paradise By the Dashboard Light," "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad," and "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)," has died. He was ...