Associated Press stories, Page 1678

CLEVELAND — NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell will be leaving his man cave to announce this year’s rookie draft class within shouting distance of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The league announced some its plans for this year’s three-day event in Cleveland, which will include some of the prospects...

ATLANTA — A conservative Georgia congressman and acolyte of former President Donald Trump has announced his bid to unseat the Republican secretary of state who angered Trump and his allies for refusing to help overturn the November election results. Rep. Jody Hice, a Tea Party favorite, is the first major...

BRUSSELS — The European Union on Monday imposed sanctions on 11 officials in Myanmar, mostly top military officers, accused of involvement in last month’s coup and the violent crackdown on peaceful protesters that followed. Ten of the 11 targeted with asset freezes and travel bans are senior members of the...

BUDAPEST, Hungary — Hungary has issued initial approval to two more covid-19 vaccines from outside the European Union’s common procurement program, officials said Monday, further expanding the national supply of jabs that has given the country one of the highest vaccination rates in the 27-member bloc. The Hungarian medicines regulator...

MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin said he will get a coronavirus vaccine shot on Tuesday, several months after widespread vaccination has started in Russia. Kremlin opponents have criticized Putin for not getting vaccinated amid a comparatively slow rollout of the shot in Russia, arguing that his reluctance is fueling the...

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court said Monday it will consider reinstating the death sentence for Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, presenting President Joe Biden with an early test of his opposition to capital punishment. The justices agreed to hear an appeal filed by the Trump administration, which carried out executions...

Several freshmen showed no jitters on the opening day of the women’s NCAA Tournament. In fact, they embraced the bright lights of the Big Dance. It came as no surprise that Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, the nation’s leading scorer during the regular season, began a run of impressive performances in the...

SAN ANTONIO — Once West Virginia started running, the Mountaineers couldn’t be stopped. Kysre Gondrezick scored seven of her 26 points in a game-breaking 16-0 run to close the third quarter and No. 17 West Virginia raced past Lehigh, 77-53, in the opening round of the women’s NCAA Tournament on...

In any other college basketball season, four upsets in the eight second-round games played at the NCAA Tournament would be a sign that something big is brewing. Were those the opening shots in the long-rumored mid-major revolution? Have enough talented kids and smart coaches finally taken up residence at programs...

BERLIN — German authorities are expected to extend lockdown measures again on Monday and possibly tighten some restrictions as they face a steady rise in new coronavirus infections. Chancellor Angela Merkel and the country’s 16 state governors, who in highly decentralized Germany are responsible for imposing and lifting restrictions, are...

BRUSSELS — Britain and the United States say they have taken joint action with the European Union and Canada to impose sanctions on senior Chinese officials over human rights abuses in China’s far western Xinjiang region. British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the measures were part of “intensive diplomacy” by...

Shortly after his mother was killed in the Atlanta-area shootings, Randy Park launched a GoFundMe page asking for $20,000 to pay for funeral expenses. By Sunday, the donations were approaching $3 million. With many people seeking a way to support the families of the dead, Park’s page and others have...

NEW YORK — The new head of the Small Business Administration says she expects to make changes at the agency that she says will enable it to further help small companies devastated by the covid-19 pandemic. In an interview with The Associated Press on Friday, two days after she was...

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Pointing to over 1,000 arrests in one of the nation’s top party spots, Miami Beach officials warned Sunday that the unruly spring break crowd gathering by the thousands, fighting in the streets, destroying restaurant property and refusing to wear masks has become a serious threat to...

LONDON — AstraZeneca’s covid-19 vaccine provided strong protection against sickness and eliminated hospitalizations and deaths from the disease across all age groups in a late-stage study in the United States, the company announced Monday. AstraZeneca said its experts did not identify any safety concerns related to the vaccine, including finding...

INDIANAPOLIS — Oral Roberts pulled off yet another upset to become just the second No. 15 seed in NCAA Tournament history to advance to the round of 16 with an 81-78 victory over Florida on Sunday night. Kevin Obanor and Max Abmas carried the Golden Eagles out of an 11-point...

U.S. Rep. Tom Reed, a Republican from western New York who was accused last week of rubbing a female lobbyist’s back and unhooking her bra without her consent in 2017, apologized to the woman on Sunday and announced that he will not run for reelection next year. Reed, 49, said...

INDIANAPOLIS — Buddy Boeheim kept shooting, carrying his Hall of Fame father and 11th-seeded Syracuse back into the Sweet 16. The Orange, a top program for four decades under Jim Boeheim, once again showed they’re just as dangerous as an NCAA Tournament afterthought. “To win two games and be doubted...

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Bill and Esther Ilnisky spent nearly seven decades together as Christian ministers and missionaries, working in the Caribbean and Middle East before preaching for 40 years in Florida. They complemented each other — he the bookworm, she outgoing and charismatic. One without the other seemed unthinkable....

HAMPTON, Ga. — Ryan Blaney knew he had to let Kyle Larson go. Patience was the key, especially on a day when Larson looked unbeatable. In the end, Larson faded on an battered set of tires, and Blaney raced by him for an improbable victory Sunday. “I was not going...

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — When Matt Jones won his first PGA Tour title seven years ago, he needed a 45-foot birdie putt just to get into a playoff and a 40-yard chip-in to take the victory. This win was far less dramatic, yet just as meaningful. It got him...

MIAMI — Serena Williams is the latest Grand Slam champion to withdraw from the Miami Open. Williams pulled out Sunday, citing recent oral surgery. Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer announced earlier they would skip the tournament, which begins Tuesday. Williams, who lives in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., has...