Associated Press stories, Page 1341
NFL makes adjustments to Rooney Rule to aid minority hiring
PALM BEACH, Fla. — To ensure more opportunities for diverse candidates, the NFL has added requirements on the hiring of offensive assistant coaches and women in general. The moves announced Monday at the owners meeting include adjustments to the Rooney Rule adopted in 2003 and amended frequently in attempts to...
Walmart to end cigarette sales in some stores
NEW YORK — Walmart will no longer sell cigarettes in some of its stores though tobacco sales can be a significant revenue generator. Wall Street Journal was the first to report the development Monday. It noted some stores in California, Florida, Arkansas and New Mexico were on the list, citing...
Biden says remark on Putin’s power was about ‘moral outrage’Video
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said Monday that he would make “no apologies” and wasn’t “walking anything back” after his weekend comment that Russian President Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power.” The president also insisted he’s not calling for regime change in Moscow. “I was expressing the moral outrage that...
Will Smith apologizes: ‘I was out of line and I was wrong’
LOS ANGELES — The day after slapping Chris Rock on the Oscars stage and upending the 94th Academy Awards, Will Smith issued an apology to the comedian, to the academy and to viewers at home, saying he was “out of line” and that his actions are “not indicative of the...
Column: NASCAR must reveal Brad Keselowski’s massive infraction
AUSTIN, Texas — There is a problem with NASCAR and its sport-transforming new racecar. We know NASCAR found that RFK Racing had made an illegal modification to a vendor-supplied spec part for the car. NASCAR then buried Brad Keselowski and his team with season-crippling penalties apparently to make it crystal...
High court to hear case about Andy Warhol art, Prince photo
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court agreed Monday to review a copyright dispute involving works of art by the artist Andy Warhol that were based on a photograph of the musician Prince. A lower court had at first said the artwork created before Warhol’s 1987 death was “fair use” of the...
Biden’s budget plan: Higher taxes on rich, lower deficits
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden announced a budget blueprint Monday that calls for higher taxes on the wealthy, lower federal deficits, more money for police and greater funding for education, public health and housing. In essence, it tries to tell voters what a diverse and at times fractured Democratic Party...
Judge: Trump likely committed crimes related to election
WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Monday asserted it is “more likely than not” that former President Donald Trump committed crimes in his attempt to stop the certification of the 2020 election, ruling to order the release of more than 100 emails from Trump adviser John Eastman to the committee...
Pennsylvania interstate remains closed after deadly pileupVideo
POTTSVILLE — A stretch of an interstate highway in Pennsylvania remained shuttered Tuesday, a day after at least three people were killed and more than a dozen others injured when tractor-trailers and other vehicles lost control and slammed into each other during a snow squall. Interstate 81 north remained closed...
Russia shifts focus to try to grind Ukraine’s army in east
KYIV, Ukraine — With its aspirations for a quick victory dashed by a stiff Ukrainian resistance, Russia has increasingly focused on grinding down Ukraine’s military in the east in the hope of forcing Kyiv into surrendering part of the country’s territory to possibly end the war. The bulk of the...
Final Four has a blue tint with power programs
Coach K’s final chapter will have a distinctly blue tint. Two weeks of upsets and underdogs in the books, the Final Four is down to four blue blood programs: Kansas, Duke, North Carolina and Villanova. Kansas faces Villanova, then it’s Duke-Carolina for the first time in the NCAA Tournament in...
Heineken to pull its beer out of Russia
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Dutch brewing giant Heineken says it is pulling out of Russia amid Moscow’s ongoing war against Ukraine. The company said Monday that its business in Russia “is no longer sustainable nor viable in the current environment. As a result, we have decided to leave Russia.” It...
G7 reject paying for Russian energy in rubles
BERLIN — Germany’s energy minister says the Group of Seven major economies have agreed to reject Russia’s demand to pay for Russian energy imports in rubles. Robert Habeck told reporters Monday that “all G-7 ministers agreed completely that this (would be) a one-sided and clear breach of the existing contracts.”...
Tesla seeks 2nd stock split in less than 2 years
NEW YORK — Shares of Tesla rose sharply Monday after the electric car maker announced its second stock split in less than two years. The company said in a regulatory filing, and also in a tweet, that it plans to make a request at its upcoming annual shareholders meeting to...
Ukrainians claim to retake ground ahead of latest talks
LVIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian forces claimed to have retaken a Kyiv suburb and an eastern town from the Russians in what is becoming a back-and-forth stalemate on the ground, while negotiators began assembling for another round of talks Tuesday aimed at stopping the fighting. Ahead of the talks, to be...
Arab, U.S. top diplomats in Israel as Mideast dynamic shifts
SDE BOKER, Israel — Israel on Monday hosted the foreign ministers of four Arab nations and the United States in a bid to strengthen its position in a rapidly shifting Middle East. The gathering brought together the top diplomats from all but one of the Arab countries that have normalized...
Will Smith dances with family after Oscar win, shocking slap
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Will Smith gleefully danced with his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, and their family at the Vanity Fair Oscar party, waving his best actor trophy in the air like he just didn’t care as he rapped along to a mash-up of his own songs, from “Gettin’ Jiggy...
Christian Pulisic has hat trick in 5-1 win, U.S. on brink of World CupVideo
ORLANDO, Fla. — Christian Pulisic scored his first international hat trick, leading the United States to the brink of returning to the World Cup with a 5-1 rout of Panama on Sunday night. Pulisic converted two penalty kicks during a four-goal burst in the first half that also saw Paul...
Duke-Carolina, Kansas-Nova set for epic Final Four showdownsVideo
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski refused to let his players ponder the possibility of facing North Carolina for the first time in the NCAA Tournament after the Blue Devils had punched their Final Four ticket with a win over Arkansas. They have no choice but to think about it now. The...
Ross Chastain bangs Trackhouse Racing into 1st victory lane
AUSTIN, Texas — Ross Chastain bumped and banged his way around the final overtime lap at Circuit of the Americas on Sunday for his first career Cup win and upstart NASCAR team Trackhouse Racing’s first trip to victory lane. Trackhouse is owned by former NASCAR driver Justin Marks and entertainer...
North Carolina crushes Saint Peter’s; Duke next in Final Four
PHILADELPHIA — America’s favorite underdog, Saint Peter’s, shouldn’t feel all that bad. North Carolina has crushed lots of dreams over the decades. The Tar Heels ended all hope of a March Madness miracle in the early going Sunday, getting 20 points and 22 rebounds from Armando Bacot in a wire-to-wire...
Dollywood closes free-fall ride after Florida death
PIGEON FORGE, Tenn. — Dollywood amusement park in Tennessee said Sunday it has temporarily closed a ride developed by the same maker of a free-fall ride from which a teen dropped to his death at a Florida attraction. Dollywood told The Associated Press it was saddened to hear about the...
Hook em! Scottie Scheffler wins Match Play and goes to No. 1Video
AUSTIN, Texas — Scottie Scheffler is the hottest player in golf and now has the ranking to prove it. Six weeks after his first PGA Tour victory, Scheffler won the Dell Technologies Match Play for his third title in his last five starts, this one enough to move him to...
Villanova’s Justin Moore has torn Achilles tendon
VILLANOVA — Villanova guard and second-leading scorer Justin Moore will undergo surgery this week for a torn Achilles tendon, a brutal blow for the Wildcats ahead of their Final Four game with Kansas. Moore was a second-team All-Big East selection this season. The 6-foot-4 guard averaged 34.4 minutes, 14.8 points...
NFL owners not likely to make as much news as free agency
PALM BEACH, Fla. — There’s virtually no chance NFL owners will be competing during their meetings this week with the stream of big news made by trades and in free agency thus far this year. Nor are they likely to try. The headlines generated by the movement of star players...
