Associated Press stories, Page 661
N.C. State keeps magical March Madness run alive with 67-58 win over MarquetteVideo
DALLAS — DJ Horne scored 19 points, and N.C. State kept its magical NCAA Tournament run alive, beating Marquette, 67-58, on Friday night to reach the Elite Eight for the first time since 1986. Casey Morsell added 15 points, and Mohamed Diarra had 11 points and 15 rebounds for the...
Tony Finau matches his career low and sets the target at the Houston OpenVideo
HOUSTON — Tony Finau matched his career low on the PGA Tour with an 8-under-par 62 on Friday, taking a two-shot lead into the weekend with hopes of winning back-to-back — 16 months apart — in the Houston Open. Scottie Scheffler saw his streak of 28 rounds under par end...
Caitlin Clark thrilled by US national team training camp invite. If Iowa isn’t in the Final FourVideo
Caitlin Clark is thrilled to be invited to participate in USA Basketball training camp at the Final Four. Her focus, though, is purely on getting Iowa to Cleveland for a chance at a national championship. “You always want to grow up and be on the Olympic team, but, lucky for...
Illinois’ Elite Eight run led by Terrence Shannon Jr., who faces rape charge, isn’t talking to mediaVideo
BOSTON — Illinois’ season could have ended up a lot different. The Illini opened the season thriving behind Terrence Shannon Jr., who established himself as one of the premier scorers in the nation. And then they were thrust into uncertainty in December when Shannon was charged with rape or an...
Hijab-wearing players in women’s NCAA Tournament hope to inspire othersVideo
N.C. State’s Jannah Eissa and UC Irvine’s Diaba Konate are bringing visibility and inspiration to some Muslim women by wearing hjiabs while they play basketball. They aren’t the first women to do it in NCAA Tournament play, but with record viewership and attendance they are certainly getting noticed. “Representation really...
EPA sets strict emissions standards for heavy-duty trucks, buses
WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday set strict emissions standards for heavy-duty trucks, buses and other large vehicles, an action that officials said will help clean up some of the nation’s largest sources of planet-warming greenhouse gases. The rules, which take effect for model years 2027 through 2032,...
Oakland Athletics fans boycott home opener outside stadium in protest of Las Vegas moveVideo
OAKLAND, Calif. — Many fans at the Oakland Coliseum were still hanging out in the parking lot when Alex Wood delivered the first pitch of the season for the Athletics against the Cleveland Guardians. And they had no intention of going into the stadium. In protest of the A’s planned...
AP mock NFL draft 2.0: Quarterbacks and wide receivers are the top 6 picks
Caleb Williams will visit the Chicago Bears next week to meet more coaches, undergo medical testing and get more familiar with his future team. Williams going to the Bears at No. 1 is easy. Predicting the rest of the first round of the NFL draft is the challenge. Will Washington...
MLB’s percentage of international-born players drops slightly to 27.8%, lowest since 2016
NEW YORK — The percentage of Major League Baseball players born outside the 50 states dipped slightly to 27.8%, its lowest level since 2016. There were 264 players from 19 nations and territories outside of the 50 states among 949 players on opening day active rosters and injured, restricted and...
A tropical cyclone makes landfall in northern Madagascar, killing 18 people
ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar — A tropical cyclone that swept across Madagascar has killed 18 people and left four missing after making landfall on the north of the Indian Ocean island nation earlier this week, authorities said on Friday. The storm has also caused severe flooding that partly submerged entire villages, displaced...
Louis Gossett Jr., 1st Black man to win supporting actor Oscar, dies at 87
LOS ANGELES — Louis Gossett Jr., the first Black man to win a supporting actor Oscar and an Emmy winner for his role in the seminal TV miniseries “Roots,” has died. He was 87. Gossett’s first cousin Neal L. Gossett told The Associated Press that the actor died Thursday night...
Biden says he’s working to secure release of Wall Street Journal reporter held for a year in Russia
NEW YORK — On the one-year anniversary of the Russian detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, President Joe Biden said the U.S. is working every day to secure his release. “Journalism is not a crime, and Evan went to Russia to do his job as a reporter —...
Magnitude 2.8 earthquake shakes southern Illinois; no damage or injuries reported
GERMANTOWN, Ill. — An earthquake of magnitude 2.8 has been reported in southern Illinois, near the Missouri state line, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. The earthquake was detected about 6:55 p.m. Thursday north of Germantown, about 40 miles east of St. Louis, at a depth of just over 14 miles....
Thai court acquits dozens of protesters who shut down Bangkok’s airports in 2008
BANGKOK — A Thai court on Friday acquitted nearly 70 people of all charges related to mass protests that shut down Bangkok’s two airports in 2008 for about 10 days. The ruling by the Bangkok Criminal Court was the second this year finding that the protesters, who opposed a government...
Russia launches barrage of 99 drones and missiles on Ukraine’s energy system, officials say
KYIV, Ukraine — Moscow launched a large-scale attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure Friday, with a mass barrage of 99 drones and missiles hitting regions across the country, Ukraine’s armed forces said. Air raid warnings rang out across the country, with 10 Ukrainian regions coming under fire, the country’s Interior Minister,...
5 dead, over 100 hospitalized from recalled Japanese health supplements
TOKYO — Five people who took a Japanese health supplement have died and more than 100 have been hospitalized as of Friday, a week after a pharmaceutical company issued a recall of the products, officials said. Osaka-based Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co. came under fire for not going public quickly with problems...
Illinois finishes off Iowa State to earn Elite Eight date with UConn
BOSTON — Terrence Shannon Jr. scored 29 points and Illinois reached the Elite Eight for the first time since 2005, beating Iowa State, 72-69, in an East Region semifinal on Thursday night. Shannon had 20 points in the first half for the third-seeded Illini (29-8), who never trailed. He broke...
Alabama knocks off top-seeded North Carolina to reach Elite Eight for 2nd time
LOS ANGELES — Grant Nelson converted a go-ahead three-point play with 38 seconds remaining, and Alabama beat top-seeded North Carolina, 89-87, on Thursday night to reach the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament for the second time in school history. Nelson finished with a season-high 24 points, 19 in the...
Top-seeded Houston preps for Duke in Sweet 16 matchup
DALLAS — Houston is home in the Lone Star State, playing as a No. 1 seed in the South Region and in the Sweet 16 for the fifth NCAA Tournament in a row. With All-America point guard Jamal Shead, big man J’Wan Roberts and coach Kelvin Sampson, the Cougars are...
For Gonzaga, Sweet 16 means guarding Purdue’s Zach Edey — again
DETROIT — For most teams, facing a 7-foot-4, 300-pound force of nature like Zach Edey is uncharted territory. Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, for the Gonzaga Bulldogs, Edey is no mystery to them. Twice over the past 16 months, the Zags have faced Edey and Purdue, and twice they have lost...
Top-seeded UConn blows through another opponent, beating San Diego State to reach Elite EightVideo
BOSTON — Stephon Castle had 16 points and 11 rebounds for top-seeded UConn, and the defending NCAA champion advanced to the Elite Eight with another double-digit victory, beating San Diego State, 82-52, on Thursday night in a rematch of last year’s title game. Cam Spencer scored 18 points, and Tristen...
Clemson upsets No. 2 Arizona, reaches Elite Eight for 1st time since 1980Video
LOS ANGELES — When Clemson has encountered rough stretches this season, coach Brad Brownell has told his team, “We’re built for this, we can handle this.” In their biggest game of the season Thursday night, the Tigers proved their coach correct. Chase Hunter scored 18 points, and Clemson advanced to...
Alex Murdaugh’s lawyers say FBI agent’s mention of Joran van der Sloot led to failed polygraph test
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Lawyers for Alex Murdaugh said an FBI agent conducting a polygraph test that the agency said the convicted killer flunked asked odd questions and confided he had just examined the notorious Dutch killer of an Alabama teen, throwing the results off. The name-check of Joran van der...
Biden’s fundraiser with Obama and Clinton nets a record $25 million, his campaign says
NEW YORK — A fundraiser for President Joe Biden on Thursday in New York City that also stars Barack Obama and Bill Clinton is raising a whopping $25 million, setting a record for the biggest haul for a political event, his campaign said. The eye-popping amount was a major show...
Biden OKs $60M in aid after Baltimore bridge collapse as governor warns of ‘very long road ahead’
BALTIMORE — Maryland Gov. Wes Moore warned Thursday of a “very long road ahead” to recover from the loss of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge as the Biden administration approved $60 million in immediate federal aid after the deadly collapse. Massive barges carrying cranes streamed toward the site to begin...
