Why is this even a thing? after years of writing '%' as 'percent' as the symbol was strictly for forbidden in most cases, after years of a whole world working and publishing in that format, now they say: "never mind, it's ok now".
Akin to E&Y (Ernst & Young) changing their logo just for the sake of appearing to be a dynamic organization. In AP's case, it's probably also to render previous issues obsolete and unsellable.