Associated Press stories, Page 1026
Mass protests erupt in Israel after Netanyahu fires defense chiefVideo
JERUSALEM — Tens of thousands of Israelis poured into the streets of cities across the country on Sunday night in a spontaneous outburst of anger after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu abruptly fired his defense minister for challenging the Israeli leader’s judicial overhaul plan. Protesters in Tel Aviv blocked a main...
Ukraine demands emergency UN meeting over Putin nuclear plan
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine’s government on Sunday called for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council to “counter the Kremlin’s nuclear blackmail” after Russian President Vladimir Putin revealed plans to station tactical atomic weapons in Belarus. One Ukrainian official said that Russia “took Belarus as a nuclear hostage.” Further...
‘John Wick: Chapter 4’ comes out blazing with $73.5M
NEW YORK — “John Wick: Chapter 4,” the fourth installment in the Keanu Reeves assassin series, debuted with a franchise-best $73.5 million at the box office, according to studio estimates Sunday. The Lionsgate film, starring Reeves as the reluctant-but-not-that-reluctant killer John Wick, exceeded both expectations and previous opening weekends in...
Actor Jonathan Majors arrested on assault charge in New York
NEW YORK — The actor Jonathan Majors was arrested Saturday in New York on charges of strangulation, assault and harassment, authorities said. On Sunday, an attorney for Majors said there’s evidence that he is “entirely innocent.” New York City police said that Majors, star of the recently released “Creed III”...
Planets on parade: 5 will be lined up in night sky this week
NEW YORK — Keep an eye to the sky this week for a chance to see a planetary hangout. Five planets — Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Uranus and Mars — will line up near the moon. Where and when can you see them? The best day to catch the whole group...
Protests erupt in New York City — for ‘The Joker’
NEW YORK — Throngs of protesters gathered at the courthouse steps, chanting for freedom for their embattled hero. Police kept watch as passions flared and voices roared. Squad cars and television trucks encircled the commotion. It’s a scene New York City authorities have been bracing for as prosecutors consider an...
Trump, facing potential indictment, holds defiant Waco rally
WACO, Texas — Facing a potential indictment, Donald Trump took a defiant stance at a rally Saturday in Waco, disparaging the prosecutors investigating him and predicting his vindication as he rallied supporters in a city made famous by deadly resistance against law enforcement. With a hand over his heart, Trump...
Biden’s Justice Dept. keeps hard line in death row cases
CHICAGO — Rejon Taylor hoped the election of Joe Biden, the first U.S. president to campaign on a pledge to end the death penalty, would mean a more sympathetic look at his claims that racial bias and other trial errors landed him on federal death row in Terre Haute, Indiana....
Daunting recovery underway in tornado-devastated Mississippi
ROLLING FORK, Miss. — Help began pouring into one of the poorest regions of the U.S. after a deadly tornado wrought a path of destruction in the Mississippi Delta, even as furious new storms Sunday struck Georgia, where two tigers briefly escaped their badly damaged safari park. At least 25...
NFL to vote on changes to punts, kickoffs for safety
The NFL will consider significant changes to the kicking game with the competition committee proposing that the league adopt the college rule that allows touchbacks on fair catches of kickoffs and moving the touchback spot on punts to the 25-yard line. NFL executive Troy Vincent said Friday that the competition...
Gonzaga’s Drew Timme ends storied career in loss to UConn
LAS VEGAS — Gonzaga was down 10 points early in the second half Saturday night in the West Region final against UConn, but Julian Strawther had just secured a defensive rebound, and perhaps the Bulldogs had a run in them. But then came a whistle. Zags forward Drew Timme had...
UConn routs Gonzaga for first Final Four in 9 years
LAS VEGAS — Jordan Hawkins scored 20 points and UConn overwhelmed its fourth straight NCAA Tournament opponent, earning its first trip to the Final Four in nine years with an 82-54 blowout of Gonzaga on Saturday night. The Huskies (29-8) have felt right at home in their first extended March...
Biden’s pick to lead FAA withdraws amid shaky Senate support
WILMINGTON, Del. — President Joe Biden’s choice to run the Federal Aviation Administration has withdrawn his nomination, a setback for the administration that comes after Denver International Airport CEO Phillip Washington appeared to lack enough support in the closely divided Senate. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg confirmed Washington’s withdrawal in a...
FAU holds off Nowell and K-State to reach 1st Final FourVideo
NEW YORK — Alijah Martin, Vlad Goldin and ninth-seeded Florida Atlantic became the first and lowest-seeded team to reach this year’s Final Four as the Owls withstood another huge game by Kansas State’s Markquis Nowell to beat the Wildcats, 79-76, on Saturday night. FAU (35-3), making just its second appearance...
Latrobe grad Bryce Butler scores 32, but West Liberty loses in D-II national championshipVideo
EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Will Yoakum scored 31 points, Dallas Graziani added 24 points, nine assists and three steals and top-ranked Nova Southeastern beat West Liberty, 111-101, on Saturday to win the first NCAA Division II national championship in program history. “They’re special,” Nova Southeastern coach Jim Crutchfield said, “because they’re...
Bank failures and rescue test Yellen’s decades of experience
WASHINGTON— Working against the clock to stop a developing banking crisis, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen had until sunset on Sunday, March 12, to come up with a plan to calm the U.S. economy. She quickly turned to someone who had been through the fire before, and on a much larger...
Push to expand voting rights in U.S. for those held in jails
CHICAGO — The voting precinct could have been any one of hundreds throughout Chicago, except that these voters in the first round of the mayoral election were all wearing the same beige smocks. And the security at this polling place wasn’t intended to keep disrupters and campaigners out, but the...
Idaho governor signs firing squad execution bill into law
BOISE, Idaho — Republican Idaho Gov. Brad Little has signed into law a bill allowing firing squads to execute death row inmates when lethal injection drugs are unavailable, making Idaho the fifth U.S. state to allow the execution method. The new law, which takes effect in July, will give the...
Pope expands sex abuse law, reaffirms adults can be victims
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis on Saturday updated a 2019 church law aimed at holding senior churchmen accountable for covering up sexual abuse cases, expanding it to cover lay Catholic leaders and reaffirming that vulnerable adults and not just children can be victims of abuse when they are unable to...
Biden’s moves on Alaska drilling, TikTok test young voters
TEMPE, Ariz. — Recent moves by President Joe Biden to pressure TikTok over its Chinese ownership and approve oil drilling in an untapped area of Alaska are testing the loyalty of young voters, a group that’s largely been in his corner. Youth turnout surged in the three elections since Donald...
Creighton ends Princeton’s March Madness run
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Creighton coach Greg McDermott understood what his team needed to do if it wanted to make school history. Ryan Kalkbrenner, the Big East’s two-time defensive player of the year, had to use his 7-foot-1 frame to overwhelm Princeton’s defense. And 3-point specialist Baylor Scheierman needed to show...
Texas blows out Xavier for spot in NCAA Elite Eight
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Rodney Terry stopped on the way to the Texas locker room after his team knocked out Xavier for a spot in the Elite Eight, the interim coach fulfilling a fan’s wish for a photograph by flashing that all-too-familiar “Hook ‘em Horns” sign. “Go get that job,...
Pennsylvania chocolate plant blast kills 3, leaves 5 missing
WEST READING, Pa. — An explosion at a chocolate factory in Pennsylvania on Friday killed three people and left five people missing, authorities said. One person was pulled alive from the rubble overnight. Rescue crews using dogs and imaging equipment continued to search through the rubble Saturday — hours after...
Coroner: 23 dead in tornado that ripped through Mississippi and Alabama
ROLLING FORK, Miss. — Powerful tornadoes tore through parts of the Deep South on Friday night, killing at least 23 people in Mississippi, obliterating dozens of buildings and leaving an especially devastating mark on a rural town whose mayor declared, “My city is gone.” The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency said...
Miami beats No. 1 seed Houston; all four top NCAA seeds outVideo
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Nijel Pack and Miami hit shots from near and far against the stingiest defense in the country to beat Houston, 89-75, on Friday night in the Sweet 16, leaving the NCAA Tournament without a single No. 1 seed among its final eight teams for the first...
