Trump pardons

Strawberry

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has pardoned former New York Mets star Darryl Strawberry on past tax evasion and drug charges.

Strawberry, an eight-time All-Star, struggled with legal and personal issues after his baseball career. He pleaded guilty to tax evasion in 1995 and went to prison on drug-related charges. A White House official said Trump approved the pardon, highlighting Strawberry’s Christian faith and longtime, post-career sobriety.

Strawberry expressed gratitude on Instagram. He emphasized that it wasn’t about politics. Strawberry played for the Mets, Yankees, Dodgers, and Giants from 1983 to 1999. He was 1983 National League Rookie of the Year and was on four World Series-winning teams with the Mets and Yankees.

DNA researcher

Watson dies

(AP) — Scientist James Watson, who shared a Nobel prize for helping discover the double-helix shape of the DNA molecule, has died. He was 97.

His death was announced by his former research lab. Watson also helped guide efforts to map the human genome.

But he was widely condemned for racist remarks later on and left his job as chancellor of the prestigious Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York.

Watson shared a 1962 Nobel Prize with collaborator Francis Crick and scientist Maurice Wilkins for discovering in 1953 that DNA was shaped like a long, gently twisting ladder. Knowing the structure of DNA was key to figuring out how the genetic material works.

Stocks wind

up mixed

NEW YORK (AP) — Stock indexes wound up mixed on Wall Street but still clocked their first weekly loss in the last four. The S&P 500 edged up 0.1% Friday after spending most of the day in the red.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2%, and the Nasdaq composite slipped 0.2%. Quarterly reports from U.S. companies were a key focus. Payments company Block, which operates the Square and Cash App businesses, sank after turning in results that fell short of forecasts.

Exercise equipment maker Peloton jumped after its results beat estimates. Treasury yields held steady in the bond market.

Lamar leads

nominations

NEW YORK (AP) — Kendrick Lamar leads the 2026 Grammy Award nominations. Lady Gaga, Jack Antonoff and Canadian record producer and songwriter Cirkut follow Lamar with seven nominations each announced Friday.

All four are nominated in the song, record and album of the year categories. In the best new artist category, global girl group Katseye, Olivia Dean, The Marias, Addison Rae, sombr, Leon Thomas, Alex Warren and Lola Young will all go head-to-head.

There are a number of first-time nominees as well this year including Tate McRae, Zara Larsson and PinkPantheress. The 2026 Grammy Awards will air Feb. 1 live on CBS and Paramount+ from the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.