Associated Press stories, Page 972

KYIV, Ukraine — Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy are each courting major allies on Thursday, seeking to prop up their efforts in a war whose fortunes have tilted toward Ukraine in recent days. In Uzbekistan’s ancient Samarkand, Putin was hoping to break through his international isolation...

Roger Federer is retiring from professional tennis at age 41 after a series of knee operations, closing a career in which he won 20 Grand Slam titles, finished five seasons ranked No. 1 and helped create a golden era of men’s tennis with rivals Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. Federer...

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said Thursday a tentative railway labor agreement has been reached, averting a potentially devastating strike before the pivotal midterm elections. He said the tentative deal “will keep our critical rail system working and avoid disruption of our economy.” The Democratic president believes unions built the...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday flew two planes of immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard, escalating a tactic by Republican governors to draw attention to what they consider to be the Biden administration’s failed border policies. Flights to the upscale island enclave in Massachusetts were part of an...

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A federal appeals court ruling Wednesday revives unsettled lawsuits against Ohio State University over decades-old sexual abuse by the late team doctor Richard Strauss. A district judge in Columbus had dismissed most of the unsettled cases, acknowledging that hundreds of young men were abused but agreeing with...

WATERBURY, Conn. — A lawyer for conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ Infowars empire acknowledged on the witness stand Wednesday that the show and website spread falsehoods about the Sandy Hook school shooting. “I don’t think that we disagree that there were false statements made,” Brittany Paz testified at a civil trial...

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Baltimore prosecutors asked a judge on Wednesday to vacate Adnan Syed’s conviction for the 1999 murder of Hae Min Lee — a case that was chronicled in the hit podcast “Serial.” Baltimore’s state’s attorney filed a motion in circuit court, saying a lengthy investigation conducted with the...

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Nearly one in five U.S. adults bet money on sports over the past year, according to a survey released Wednesday. The report from the Pew Research Center shows that 19% of adults surveyed said they had wagered on sports. The most common way they did so...

OMAHA, Neb. — Members of one union rejected a tentative deal with the largest U.S. freight railroads Wednesday, while two ratified agreements and three others remained at the bargaining table just days ahead of a strike deadline, threatening to intensify snarls in the nation’s supply chain that have contributed to...

Border clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan have killed 155 troops on both sides in the largest outbreak of fighting between the neighbors and longtime adversaries in nearly two years, fueling fears of even bigger hostilities. Here is a look at the decades-long conflict between the two countries, and the latest...

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Attorneys for Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz suddenly and surprisingly rested their case Wednesday after calling only a fraction of their expected witnesses, leading to a shouting match after the judge accused them of a lack of professionalism. Cruz’s attorneys had told the judge and prosecutors...

BEIRUT — A woman accompanied by activists and brandishing what she said was a toy pistol broke into a Beirut bank branch on Wednesday, taking $13,000 from her trapped savings. Sali Hafez told the local Al-Jadeed TV that she needed the money to fund her sister’s cancer treatment. She said...

Jim Beam plans to ramp up bourbon production at its largest Kentucky distillery to meet growing global demand in a more than $400 million expansion to be powered by renewable energy. The project will increase capacity by 50% at the Beam plant in Boston, Kentucky, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions...

DETROIT — When it came time to showcase its electric Chevrolet Equinox SUV to the public this year, General Motors decided against doing so at the big Detroit auto show, as it typically would have done in the past. Instead, it unveiled the Equinox six days earlier. GM’s decision symbolized...