Associated Press stories, Page 326
After brief opt out, Gerrit Cole says he always intended to stay with Yankees
TAMPA, Fla. — Gerrit Cole says he always intended to remain with the New York Yankees. The 34-year-old former Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander exercised his right to opt out of his contract on the third day after the World Series, giving up $144 million over four years and starting a two-day...
World Cup of Hockey is set to return in 2028, NHL and NHLPA say
MONTREAL — The World Cup of Hockey is returning in 2028, setting the stage for the sport to get on a routine of international competitions with the world’s best players every other year. The NHL and NHL Players’ Association unveiled plans Tuesday to host a tournament officials hope to stage...
Quick return to Torrey Pines brings familiar setting with a lot more of golf’s best playersVideo
SAN DIEGO — The corporate boxes around the 18th green at Torrey Pines are just like they were three weeks ago except for the color — black instead of blue — and the logo. The rough is thicker from recent rain. Otherwise, the South Course looks to be every bit...
Kadarius Toney charged with assaulting woman
DOUGLASVILLE, Ga. — NFL wide receiver Kadarius Toney was charged with assaulting a woman in Georgia and preventing her from calling for help. Toney, 26, was arrested and booked into the Douglas County Jail on Feb. 6 on charges of aggravated assault and obstructing or hindering an emergency call, according...
Monty the giant schnauzer wins Westminster dog showVideo
NEW YORK — This time, the giant schnauzer went the full Monty. After coming close in the last two years, Monty the giant schnauzer won the top prize at the Westminster Kennel Club dog show Tuesday night, leaving handler and co-owner Katie Bernardin almost too emotional to speak. “He always...
Judge clears way for Trump’s plan to downsize federal workforce with deferred resignation program
WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Wednesday cleared the way for President Donald Trump ’s plan to downsize the federal workforce with a deferred resignation program. It was a significant legal victory for the Republican president after a string of courtroom setbacks. “This goes to show that lawfare will not...
NCAA committee recommends flag football as emerging sport for women amid growing popularityVideo
INDIANAPOLIS — The NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics has recommended that Divisions I, II and III sponsor legislation to add flag football to the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women program. The committee’s recommendation Wednesday gives all three divisions an opportunity to sponsor legislation that would move the fast-growing sport through...
4 Nations is another chance for Jack Eichel to show elite status
BROSSARD, Quebec — Jack Eichel is not the most well-known American in hockey. He’s not even the most famous center from his country, thanks to captain Auston Matthews and his star power. He’s just the United States’ best and most important player, less than two years removed from keying the...
Ohio State is hiring former Lions coach Matt Patricia as defensive coordinator, AP source saysVideo
Ohio State is hiring former Detroit Lions coach Matt Patricia as defensive coordinator, according to a person familiar with the situation. The person spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity Wednesday because the agreement had not been announced. Ohio State coach Ryan Day, who led the Buckeyes to...
House Republicans introduce blueprint to extend $4.5 trillion in tax cuts and lift debt ceilingVideo
WASHINGTON — House Republicans released a budget plan Wednesday that sets the stage for advancing many of President Donald Trump’s top domestic priorities, providing for up to $4.5 trillion in tax cuts and a $4 trillion increase in the debt limit so that the U.S. can continue financing its bills....
NASCAR’s lone Black Cup driver, Bubba Wallace, ‘couldn’t care less’ if Trump attends Daytona 500
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla — Bubba Wallace said he “couldn’t care less” if Donald Trump attends the Daytona 500 on Sunday, nearly five years after the president accused the NASCAR Cup Series’ only Black full-time driver of perpetrating “a hoax ” when a crew member found a noose in the team...
King Charles gets QB lesson at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
LONDON — King Charles III learned how to throw an American football like a quarterback. Thankfully, there was no tush push. The 76-year-old monarch visited Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in north London as part of a community event sponsored by the Premier League club and the NFL on Wednesday. The king...
UNLV senior offensive lineman Ben Christman dies
LAS VEGAS — UNLV senior offensive lineman Ben Christman, who transferred after last season from Kentucky, has died, the university announced. Christman, who was 21, was found dead in an off-campus apartment on Tuesday morning. The university said it didn’t have other details and a cause of death would later...
Former Pirates OF Michael A. Taylor agrees to 1-year deal with White SoxVideo
CHICAGO — Center fielder Michael A. Taylor and the Chicago White Sox have agreed to a $1.95 million, one-year contract. Chicago announced the agreement Wednesday. Taylor spent last season with the Pittsburgh Pirates, batting .193 with five home runs, 21 RBIs and a .543 OPS in 113 games. He struck...
Trump’s halt of U.S. law banning business bribes abroad raises specter of a ‘Wild West’ of dealmaking
NEW YORK — To its fans, it’s an undeniable force for good in a corrupt world, a groundbreaking anti-bribery statute that has brought powerful businessmen to heel for secretly paying off foreign government officials to win contracts abroad. To detractors, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act unfairly hobbles American companies while...
U.S. defense chief suggests Ukraine should abandon hope of winning all territory back from Russia
BRUSSELS — U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Wednesday that NATO membership for Ukraine was unrealistic and suggested Kyiv should abandon hopes of winning all its territory back from Russia and instead prepare for a negotiated peace settlement to be backed up by international troops. Hours later, President Donald Trump...
Movie review: Bridget Jones is middle-aged now. And we still love her, just as she isVideo
It is a truth universally acknowledged, as Bridget Jones herself might write in her diary, that at the end of any Bridget Jones movie, our heroine has triumphed over all doubts and obstacles and is finally happy. With a man. Well, so far, with one particular man: Mark Darcy, the...
Movie review: Marvel treads water with ‘Captain America: Brave New World’Video
Celebrate Valentine’s Day this year with “Captain America: Brave New World,” a highly processed, empty calorie, regret-later candy of a movie. We’re nearing the end of Phase Five of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with predictable and underwhelming returns. “Captain America: Brave New World” feels like it’s just treading water, wasting...
12 times ‘Saturday Night Live’ made a cultural bang over the past 50 yearsVideo
NEW YORK — “Saturday Night Live” was built with a cast of young no-names performing countercultural comedy. Fifty years later, it is firmly part of the culture, dictating mainstream comedy instead of throwing spitballs from the margins. The show has become an incubator of talent — think Will Ferrell, Chris...
As DOGE hammers away at the U.S. government, Republicans stir with quiet objections
WASHINGTON — Republican Sen. Katie Britt has been working to make sure the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency doesn’t hit what she called “life-saving, groundbreaking research at high-achieving institutions,” including her state’s beloved University of Alabama. Kansas GOP Sen. Jerry Moran is worried that food from heartland farmers would...
Lawsuit describes Musk’s DOGE teams overseeing the ending of hundreds of USAID programs abroad
WASHINGTON — Newly filed affidavits of U.S. Agency for International Development workers describe a lieutenant of Trump ally Elon Musk and other outsiders directing the immediate termination of hundreds of American aid and foreign assistance programs abroad this week, without required documentation or justification. Other affidavits described some agency employees...
Trump upends US Ukraine policy and says he and Putin have agreed to begin negotiations on ending war
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump upended three years of U.S. policy toward Ukraine on Wednesday, saying that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to begin negotiations on ending the war following a dramatic prisoner swap. Trump said in a social media post that he and Putin held a...
Senate confirms Gabbard as Trump’s director of national intelligence after Republicans fall in line
WASHINGTON — The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Tulsi Gabbard as President Donald Trump’s director of national intelligence after Republicans who had initially questioned her experience and judgment fell in line behind her nomination. Gabbard was an unconventional pick to oversee and coordinate the country’s 18 different intelligence agencies, given her...
Education Department rescinds Biden memo that threatened to upend college NIL payments
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Education Department is scrapping last-minute guidance issued by the Biden administration that threatened to upend colleges’ plans to pay athletes for their name, image and likeness by making those payments subject to federal Title IX rules. In a move that was largely expected, President Donald Trump’s...
Eagles’ roster overhaul between 2 Super Bowl titles is NFL rarity
NEW ORLEANS — Seven years after Doug Pederson and Nick Foles delivered Philadelphia its first Super Bowl title, Nick Sirianni and Jalen Hurts did it again with a 40-22 win over Kansas City in Super Bowl 59. Winning multiple titles in that short a time period is far from rare...
