Associated Press stories, Page 1235

BANGKOK — Thailand’s health minister kicked off a marijuana giveaway Friday, handing out the first 100 seedlings of a planned distribution of 1 million plants a day after the country legalized cultivation and possession of the drug. Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who has been the driving force behind legalization, presided...

LARGO, Fla. — A man found dead in a Florida lake while searching for Frisbees and other flying discs was missing three limbs after a likely encounter with alligators, police said Friday. Largo Police Department spokeswoman Megan Santo said in an email that the medical examiner’s final report on the...

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s foreign ministry on Friday said authorities were trying to trace and arrest suspects who this week desecrated a Hindu temple located at a home in the country’s port city of Karachi, drawing condemnation from India. In a statement, the ministry said that investigations were still underway, and...

The American Athletic Conference announced an agreement Friday with Cincinnati, Houston and UCF that paves the way for the schools to join the Big 12 in 2023. The three schools announced in September they had accepted invitations to join the Big 12, which moved quickly to a rebuild its membership...

The U.S. Open returns to its roots at The Country Club, a location steeped in history. It is one of the five founding clubs of the U.S. Golf Association. Its first U.S. Open in 1913 is what first put golf on the front pages of American newspapers when 20-year-old amateur...

A West Virginia man accused of fatally shooting three co-workers at a western Maryland machine shop remained under police guard at a hospital Friday, but authorities said a Maryland state trooper injured in a shootout with the suspect was treated and released. The 25-year veteran of the Maryland State Police...

HARRISBURG — A roadside historical marker installed less than a year ago to honor a gay rights pioneer has been removed after a state senator raised concerns with Pennsylvania’s state history agency about the man’s 30-year-old memories of an early sexual encounter with another boy. The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum...

NEW YORK — Small businesses that depend on outdoor crowds and free-spending tourists aren’t sure what to expect this summer. Consumers likely have a lot of pent-up demand after more than two years of the pandemic. But they’re also facing some significant financial headwinds because of the highest inflation in...

PORTLAND, Maine — Federal authorities spent the past few years analyzing rules for the shipping industry and are now close to releasing fresh guidelines to help protect a vanishing species of whale. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has been reviewing the speed regulations it uses to protect North Atlantic...

WASHINGTON — The social media posts are of a distinct type. They hint darkly that the CIA or the FBI are behind mass shootings. They traffic in racist, sexist and homophobic tropes. They revel in the prospect of a “white boy summer.” White nationalists and supremacists, on accounts often run...

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is lifting its requirement that international air travelers to the U.S. take a covid-19 test within a day before boarding their flights, easing one of the last remaining government mandates meant to contain the spread of the coronavirus. A senior administration official said the mandate...

AUSTIN, Texas — A decades-long search by a Florida woman and her extended family linked to an unsolved murder case has resulted in the woman finally finding her missing granddaughter, now grown with no previous knowledge of her tragic history, officials said Thursday. Meanwhile, the mystery behind who brutally killed...

NEW YORK — Mikhail Sergachev scored his second goal of the game with 1 minute, 50 seconds remaining to break a tie and lead the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 3-1 victory over the New York Rangers on Thursday night for a 3-2 lead in the Eastern Conference final. Brandon...

AUSTIN, Texas — Police waited for protective equipment as they delayed entering the Texas elementary school where a gunman inside killed 19 children and two teachers, even as they became aware that some victims needed medical treatment, according to records obtained by The New York Times. The details published Thursday...

TORONTO — Wyndham Clark started the week with a late charge to play his way into the U.S. Open in a qualifier, and then he stayed hot Thursday in the RBC Canadian Open for a 7-under-par 63 to take the first-round lead. Clark opened with five birdies in nine holes...

ASHBURN, Va. — The NFL’s Washington Commanders once again find themselves at the center of an off-the-field issue that has nothing to do with football, dealing another blow to their rapidly sagging reputation as one of the most dysfunctional franchises in professional sports. The fallout from the latest misstep requiring...

IRWINDALE, Calif. — Bottles of the popular Sriracha hot sauce could be hard to find on store shelves this summer. Southern California-based Huy Fong Inc., told customers in an email earlier this year that it would suspend sales of its famous spicy sauce over the summer because of a shortage...

DENVER — There were quite a few big names missing from the ice for the Colorado Avalanche’s practice Thursday: Captain Gabriel Landeskog, defensemen Devon Toews and Josh Manson, forward Andre Burakovsky. No need for concern, though. Just a maintenance day for that particular group of Avalanche players as they rest...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — When Rich Strike bolted into horse racing’s spotlight in a little over two minutes with his upset Kentucky Derby victory, he shared the stage with his handler, who long has toiled in the shadows constantly tending to the champion colt. Rich Strike’s attention stems from winning as...

SMITHSBURG, Md. — An employee opened fire at a manufacturing business in rural western Maryland on Thursday, killing three coworkers before the suspect and a state trooper were wounded in a shootout, authorities said. Washington County Sheriff Doug Mullendore said that three victims were found dead at Columbia Machine Inc....

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A prosecutor filed a second-degree murder charge Thursday against the Michigan police officer who killed Patrick Lyoya, a Black man who was on the ground when he was shot in the back of the head following an intense physical struggle recorded on a bystander’s video. Kent...

HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania state lawmakers are advancing proposed new limits on fireworks in response to growing complaints after a 5-year-old state law greatly liberalized their sales and use. The House of Representatives voted 160-38 on Wednesday for legislation that would restrict their use to 10 a.m.-10 p.m. except during July...