Associated Press stories, Page 1223
Russians try to subdue Ukrainian towns by seizing mayors
KYIV, Ukraine — Not long after Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine, soldiers broke down the office door of Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov. They put a bag over his head, bundled him into a car and drove him around the southern city for hours, threatening to kill him. Fedorov, 34, is...
College basketball preview: NCAA portal chaos puts pressure on hoops coaches in lower levelsVideo
There is growing fear among college basketball coaches at the lower levels of the sport, the vast majority of whom do not make seven-figure salaries, fly around the country in private jets or hang out with rich and famous boosters and fans. It’s a fear that comes with success. It...
College basketball preview: Loaded No. 8 UCLA tops resurgent Pac-12 ConferenceVideo
UCLA’s bid to reach consecutive Final Fours fell short last season in a rash of injuries and a tough Sweet 16 matchup. With two of the Pac-12’s best players back and a sterling freshman class, the No. 8 Bruins have their sights set on a second Final Four in three...
Powerball prize up to $1.5 billion, 3rd-largest ever in U.S.
DES MOINES, Iowa — The bad news is that no one won Wednesday night’s huge $1.2 billion Powerball jackpot. The good news is that means the prize has grown even larger to $1.5 billion ahead of the next drawing Saturday night. That is the third-largest lottery prize in U.S. history....
NCAA transfer portal causing ripple effect across college hoops recruitingVideo
Eric Musselman has been one of the nation’s best at dipping into the transfer portal at Arkansas and at his previous stop in Nevada. Musselman is still adept at landing elite high school recruits — his 2022 class was second nationally — but adding quality transfers was a big part...
SEC’s 6 new men’s basketball coaches prepare for a grindVideo
Mike White has an advantage over about a third of the other men’s basketball coaches in the SEC this season. He may be in a new place, but the Georgia coach is at least in the same conference. That should give White, who moved on from Florida after last season,...
College basketball preview: Indiana picked as team to beat in Big Ten season of changeVideo
It’s a season of change in the Big Ten. Indiana is the preseason choice to win the championship after finishing ninth last season. Wisconsin is picked ninth after sharing the title with Illinois. Purdue will enter the season outside the Associated Press Top 25 after appearing in six of the...
Cristian Javier, 3 Astros relievers pitch 2nd no-hitter in World Series history
PHILADELPHIA — Knocked around the night before, Cristian Javier and the Houston Astros desperately needed to figure how to keep Bryce Harper and the Phillies in the ballpark. How about a no-hitter? Would that do? Javier and Houston’s bullpen combined on just the second no-hitter in World Series history, silencing...
University makes new review of Doug Mastriano’s doctoral research
HARRISBURG — A Canadian university that granted a doctorate in history to Doug Mastriano nearly a decade before he became the Republican nominee for governor of Pennsylvania is investigating a fresh complaint about his work that makes multiple allegations of academic fraud in his recently public dissertation. University of New...
Biden implores voters to save democracy from lies, violenceVideo
WASHINGTON — After weeks of reassuring talk about America’s economy and inflation, President Joe Biden turned Wednesday night to a darker, more urgent message, warning in the final days of midterm election voting that democracy itself is under threat from former President Donald Trump’s election-denying lies and the violence he...
North Korea continues missile barrage with test over Japan
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea continued its barrage of weapons tests on Thursday, with Japan saying missiles were shot over its northern territory and South Korea saying it detected at least two missiles shot toward its eastern waters. The launches are the latest in a series of North Korean...
Philadelphia Councilman Kenyatta Johnson, wife, acquitted of fraud charges
PHILADELPHIA — A Philadelphia City Council member and his wife have been acquitted of corruption charges in federal court. Jurors deliberated for five days before finding Councilman Kenyatta Johnson and his wife, Dawn Chavous, not guilty Wednesday in their second trial on honest services wire fraud charges. The Philadelphia Inquirer...
CBS, Les Moonves must pay $30.5 million for insider trading
NEW YORK — CBS and its former president, Leslie Moonves, will pay $30.5 million as part of an agreement with the New York attorney general’s office, which says the network’s executives conspired with a Los Angeles police captain to conceal sexual assault allegations against Moonves. Under the deal announced Wednesday...
Psychedelic ‘magic mushroom’ drug may ease some depression
The psychedelic chemical in “magic mushrooms” may ease depression in some hard-to-treat patients, a preliminary study found. The effects were modest and waned over time but they occurred with a single experimental dose in people who previously had gotten little relief from standard antidepressants. The study is part of a...
Woman testifies that husband wanted 8 Ohio family members killed
WAVERLY, Ohio — A woman who helped plan the 2016 slayings of eight members of another family, a crime that shook rural southern Ohio and stymied investigators for over two years, says the massacre was her husband’s idea. Angela Wagner made the claim while testifying Tuesday at the murder trial...
Trump lawyers who fought election results saw Justice Clarence Thomas as keyVideo
WASHINGTON — Lawyers who aided former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election regarded an appeal to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas as “key” to their chances of success, according to emails provided to congressional investigators and made public Wednesday. The email exchange from Dec....
UN: Russian invasion has uprooted 14 million Ukrainians
UNITED NATIONS — Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has driven some 14 million Ukrainians from their homes in “the fastest, largest displacement witnessed in decades,” sparking an increase in the number of refugees and displaced people worldwide to more than 103 million, the U.N. refugee chief said Wednesday. Filippo Grandi, who...
Booker Prize winner lets ghosts of Sri Lanka’s past speak
LONDON — Shehan Karunatilaka wrote his Booker Prize-winning novel “The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida” to give voice to Sri Lanka’s dead. He hoped the ghosts of the country’s bloody past could speak to its troubled present. When the book became a finalist for the 50,000-pound ($58,000) fiction award this...
Stocks fall after Fed says it’s too soon to pause rate hikes
Stocks fell sharply after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled that interest rates will need to go even higher than previously thought in order to tame the worst inflation in decades. The Fed also raised its benchmark rate by three-quarters of a percentage point Wednesday, its fourth consecutive hike of...
Going to win $1.2B Powerball prize? Consider not taking cash
DES MOINES, Iowa — Think you’re a sure bet for Wednesday night’s estimated $1.2 billion Powerball jackpot? If so, you need to decide whether to take cash, which would actually pay out $596.7 million, or choose the $1.2 billion annuity option that is twice as large but is paid out...
Musk: People banned from Twitter won’t be restored for weeks
NEW YORK — Elon Musk said Wednesday that Twitter will not allow anyone who has been kicked off the site to return until it sets up procedures on how to do that, a process that will take at least a few weeks. That would mean people banned from the site...
Parkland school killer formally sentenced to life in prison
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz formally received a sentence of life without parole Wednesday after families of his 17 slain victims spent two days berating him as evil, a coward, a monster and a subhuman. Cruz, shackled and in a red jail jumpsuit, watched Judge Elizabeth...
What are the 500 best albums? Rolling Stone has an answer
NEW YORK — Is Fleetwood Mac’s landmark album “Rumours” better than “To Pimp a Butterfly” by Kendrick Lamar? Should “Tapestry” by Carole King be ranked higher or lower than “Thriller” by Michael Jackson? Rolling Stone magazine has some answers in a new book that’s sure to spark conversations — “The...
Deshaun Watson to start vs. Texans after suspension, GM says
BEREA, Ohio — Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson will start on Dec. 4 in Houston — against his former team — when his 11-game suspension ends, general manager Andrew Berry said Wednesday. Watson, who played four seasons with the Texans, was suspended in August when he settled with the league...
Dan and Tanya Snyder hire firm to explore sale of Commanders
The NFL’s Washington Commanders could soon be for sale, after owners Dan and Tanya Snyder said they have hired Bank of America Securities to “consider potential transactions.” The team announced the surprising decision Wednesday to enlist the investment bank’s services. Asked if the Snyders were considering selling part or all...
