Associated Press stories, Page 1621

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is plunging into the next phase of his administration with the steady approval of a majority of Americans, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The survey shows Biden is buoyed in particular by the public’s broad backing...

LONDON — In England, it’s going to be time to hug again. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to give the go-ahead for that much-missed human contact when he announces the next round of lockdown easing later Monday in the wake of a sharp fall in new coronavirus infections....

BUCHAREST, Romania — U.S. President Joe Biden will join a meeting by video link of presidents of countries on NATO’s eastern flank being held Monday in the Romanian capital, according to the offices of the Romanian and Polish presidents. The presidents gathering represent the so-called Bucharest Nine, a group of...

JERUSALEM — Hamas militants fired dozens of rockets into Israel on Monday, including a barrage that set off air raid sirens as far away as Jerusalem, after hundreds of Palestinians were hurt in clashes with Israeli police at a flashpoint religious site in the contested holy city. The rocket fire...

They share Roman Catholicism as a faith and California as their home base. Yet there’s a deep gulf between Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco and Bishop Robert McElroy of San Diego in the high-stakes debate over whether politicians who support abortion rights should be denied Communion. Cordileone, who has...

WOODLAWN, Md. — A Maryland man who neighbors said had a long history of aggression went on a rampage over the weekend, shooting or stabbing three people to death and setting his home on fire before responding officers fatally shot him, police said Sunday. A news release from the Baltimore...

Frankie Brothers walked into the grandstand at Pimlico Race Course in the late 1980s and early ’90s with his head on a swivel. “I always made sure I knew where the exit was because if somebody dropped a cigarette or something like that, that place would’ve went up in flames,”...

LONDON — An investigative report by British media said Sunday that Queen Elizabeth II’s cousin, Prince Michael of Kent, was willing to use his royal status for personal profit and to seek favors from Russian President Vladimir Putin. The undercover investigation by the Sunday Times and Channel 4 saw reporters...

DARLINGTON, S.C. — Martin Truex Jr. powered his way around Darlington Raceway, sweeping both stages and leading the final 105 laps Sunday. Kyle Larson cut into Truex’s often large lead over the final 30 laps, coming as close as two car-lengths down the stretch. But the Joe Gibbs Racing driver...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Rory McIlroy found his comfort zone at Quail Hollow and left with a trophy he badly needed. McIlroy closed with a 3-under-par 68 and made it tough on himself at the end Sunday, driving into the hazard left of the 18th fairway and needing two putts from...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The U.S. Navy announced Sunday it seized an arms shipment of thousands of assault weapons, machines guns and sniper rifles hidden aboard a ship in the Arabian Sea, apparently bound for Yemen to support the country’s Houthi rebels. An American defense official told The Associated...

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Coach Rick Tocchet won’t return for a fifth season with the Arizona Coyotes, the team announced Sunday, saying the sides “mutually agreed to part ways.” The move comes after the Coyotes missed the playoffs for the seventh time in eight seasons. “After meeting with Rick, we have...

COLUMBUS, Ohio — John Tortorella is out as coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets after six seasons. General manager Jarmo Kekalainen said in a statement Sunday that parting ways with the winningest coach in franchise history was a mutual decision. The 62-year-old Tortorella was in the last year of his...

WELDON SPRING, Mo. — A hiker was accidentally shot by a turkey hunter Saturday in the St. Louis area, authorities said. The shooting happened on the Lewis and Clark Trail in the Weldon Spring Conservation Area around 12:30 p.m. Saturday, St. Charles County Police Department spokeswoman Val Joyner said. “It...

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — A gunman opened fire at a birthday party in Colorado, slaying six adults before killing himself Sunday, police said. The shooting happened just after midnight in a mobile home park on the east side of Colorado Springs, police said. Officers arrived at a trailer to find...

Cicadas, red-eyed bugs singing loud sci-fi sounding songs, can seem downright creepy. Especially since the trillions of them coming this year emerge from underground only every 17 years. But they’re not monsters or a plague of locusts. Once you get to know them, scientists say you can appreciate the wonder...

Joyous reunions among vaccinated parents and children across the country marked this year’s Mother’s Day, the second one celebrated during the coronavirus pandemic. Some families separated by worries of transmitting the virus saw each other for the first time in over a year, emboldened by their vaccinations. Jeanie Codianni of...

KABUL, Afghanistan — Grieving families buried their dead Sunday following a horrific bombing at a girls’ school in the Afghan capital that killed 50 people, many of them pupils between 11 and 15 years old. The number of wounded in Saturday’s attack climbed to more than 100, said Interior Ministry...

WASHINGTON — Allegiance to a lie has become a test of loyalty to Donald Trump and a means of self-preservation for Republicans. Trump’s discredited allegations about a stolen election did nothing to save his presidency when courtrooms high and low, state governments and ultimately Congress — meeting in the chaos...