Associated Press stories, Page 1392
MLB, players stop drug testing during lockout
NEW YORK — Major League Baseball has stopped testing players for steroids for the first time in nearly 20 years due to the expiration of the sport’s drug agreement, two people familiar with the sport’s Joint Drug Program told The Associated Press. The people spoke on condition of anonymity Monday...
Muscogee dismayed by nearly naked statue of Georgia ancestor
ATLANTA — There’s a problem with putting someone on a pedestal: Exposed on all sides, a hero to some can be seen as a traitor to others. Atlanta plans to install a statue of a Native American man atop a 110-foot column in its new Peace Park, where it will...
Review: The long-delayed ‘Death on the Nile’ runs agroundVideo
Kenneth Branagh’s Agatha Christie adaptation “Death on the Nile” begins with a flashback to the trenches of World War I before shifting to 1930s London two decades later, but that’s nothing compared to the time that’s passed since Branagh’s preceding 2017 whodunit “Murder on the Orient Express.” That film, which...
Florida enters AP women’s hoops poll; South Carolina No. 1
Florida coach Kelly Rae Finley has the Gators playing their best basketball in years, with wins over four ranked teams in their past five games. Buoyed by that success, the Gators jumped into The Associated Press women’s basketball poll at No. 19 on Monday, the team’s first ranking since 2016....
Black colleges alarmed by bomb threats, but undeterred
From her office in Birmingham, Alabama, DeJuana Thompson looks across the street and sees a daily reminder of terror. Her window overlooks the 16th Street Baptist Church, where a bomb in 1963 killed four young Black girls. “Living in the era of bomb threats is not new to people of...
Temple professor asks court to reinstate lawsuit against FBI
A Temple University physicist who was charged with sharing scientific technology with China only for the case to collapse before trial and be dismissed by the Justice Department asked a federal appeals court on Monday to reinstate his lawsuit against the U.S. government. Lawyers for Xiaoxing Xi and his wife...
Auburn, Gonzaga stay 1-2 in AP Top 25; Texas Tech up to 9th
Auburn remained No. 1 in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll for the third straight week, while Texas Tech cracked the top 10 and Murray State joined the rankings for the first time in nearly seven years. Bruce Pearl’s Tigers earned 48 of 61 first-place votes to stay ahead...
Ukraine crisis talks move to Moscow and Washington
MOSCOW — International efforts to defuse the standoff over Ukraine intensified Monday, with French President Emmanuel Macron holding talks in Moscow and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Washington to coordinate policies as fears of a Russian invasion mounted. The buildup of an estimated 100,000 Russian troops near Ukraine has fueled...
Bicyclist falls to her death from rising Florida drawbridge
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A bicyclist fell to her death when a drawbridge connecting Palm Beach to the Florida mainland began rising before she could reach the other side. A bystander tried to pull her to safety but lost his grip, officials said. The woman was walking her bicycle...
For food lovers, Valentine’s Day is a time for indulgences
Pandemic Valentine’s Day No. 2… are we having fun yet? Some folks will be heading to restaurants for romantic, socially distanced dinners (oh, life these days is filled with oxymorons). But many of us will be hunkering down at home, celebrating our partnerships (or friends or roommates) as best we...
Cyclone kills 20 in Madagascar but quickly weakens on land
ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar — Cyclone Batsirai is blamed for the deaths of 20 people in Madagascar and for making more than 55,000 people homeless victims after slamming into the island’s eastern coast, officials said Monday. The tropical storm weakened quickly as it moved southwest across the island, missing the capital Antananarivo...
Iraqi lawmakers fail to elect new president amid boycott
BAGHDAD — Iraqi lawmakers failed to elect a new head of state Monday, as key factions foiled the attempt by boycotting the parliament session. A two-thirds quorum of the legislature’s 329 members is required for an electoral session. Monday’s vote could not be held as lawmakers, many of them allied...
Taylor Greene faces GOP challengers in changing Ga. district
HIRAM, Ga. — In her pitch to voters, Jennifer Strahan introduces herself as a mother, a Christian and a conservative. She usually skips over the fellow Republican she hopes to topple later this spring: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. That’s because virtually everyone in this northwest Georgia congressional district already has...
White House: Top scientist resigns over treatment of staff
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s top science adviser Dr. Eric Lander resigned Monday, hours after the White House confirmed that an internal investigation found credible evidence that he mistreated his staff. An internal review last year, prompted by a workplace complaint, found evidence that Lander, the director of the Office...
Peng Shuai emerges at Olympics, gives controlled interview
BEIJING — Nothing to see here, move on. That was the message that Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai delivered Monday in a controlled interview in Beijing that touched on sexual assault allegations she made against a former high-ranking member of China’s ruling Communist Party. Her answers — delivered in front...
Miserable day on slopes for American stars Mikaela Shiffrin, Red Gerard
BEIJING — It was a miserable day on the mountains outside Beijing for American stars Mikaela Shiffrin and Red Gerard. Shiffrin’s opening race in the Beijing Olympics ended quickly with a rare mistake and a rare DNF — Did Not Finish. Favored to defend her gold medal in the giant...
Canada, ROC women mask up on Olympic ice amid covid concerns
BEIJING — It’s hard enough facing a deep and talented hockey powerhouse such as Canada in normal circumstances. Try doing it wearing a mask, Russian forward Alexandra Vafina joked. “Against Canada with the mask on? It was an experience,” she said following a 6-1 loss in a Group A preliminary...
Biden task force releasing report to strengthen labor unions
A Biden administration task force on organized labor is issuing a set of recommendations that could make it easier for federal workers and contractors to unionize. The report submitted to President Joe Biden included 70 distinct policy proposals, according to a release by the White House. Biden created the task...
Spotify CEO says canceling Joe Rogan isn’t ‘the answer’
Joe Rogan has put Spotify in a tough spot, but the streaming giant is not ready to part ways with the popular podcast host despite intense criticism over his anti-coronavirus vaccine comments and use of racial slurs. Spotify CEO Daniel Ek also said in a message to employees Sunday that...
Frontier bids $2.9 billion for rival budget airline Spirit
Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines are proposing to combine in a $2.9 billion deal that would create a larger discount airline to compete against the nation’s dominant carriers and, they say, promote lower fares. Both are ultra-low-cost carriers that tempt travelers with rock-bottom prices for no-frills service but often generate...
Saints’ Alvin Kamara arrested on battery charge in Las Vegas
LAS VEGAS — New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara was arrested on a battery charge Sunday in Las Vegas after being accused of injuring someone at a nightclub on the eve of the Pro Bowl. After playing and making four catches for 23 yards for the NFC in the...
USA Luge’s men’s program looks to the future after OlympicsVideo
BEIJING — USA Luge’s Chris Mazdzer had X-rays on his aching right foot a few days ago, and the results were as expected. It’s still broken. With that, it became official: The U.S. men’s luge team was never fully healthy at any point this season. There were no medals for...
Shirley Cuban, mother of Mavericks owner and Mt. Lebanon native Mark Cuban, dies
DALLAS — Shirley Cuban, the mother of Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, has died, her son Brian Cuban said. She was 84. Cuban died Friday in the suburban Pittsburgh home where she and her husband, Norton, raised sons Mark, Brian and Jeff, The Dallas Morning News reported. Brian Cuban said...
Defending Olympic champ Mikaela Shiffrin out of giant slalomVideo
BEIJING — Defending Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin missed a gate early in the first run of the giant slalom at the Beijing Games on Monday and was disqualified from the event. Coming around a left-turn gate, she lost control, slid and fell on her side. The 26-year-old Shiffrin still could...
NASCAR scores win with successful exhibition race inside LA ColiseumVideo
LOS ANGELES — Joey Logano won the exhibition Busch Light Clash on a temporary quarter-mile track built inside Memorial Coliseum for a made-for-TV spectacular intended to hype NASCAR’s upcoming season. NASCAR moved the Clash to Los Angeles from Daytona International Speedway, its only home since its 1979 inception, as part...
