Associated Press stories, Page 1758

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Sasha Stefanovic led a balanced attack with 15 points, Trevion Willilams had a double-double and Purdue held off rusty Penn State, 80-72, on Sunday. It was Purdue’s first home game since Christmas Day and the first game for Penn State since Dec. 30 after four conference...

WASHINGTON — Members of President Donald Trump’s failed presidential campaign played key roles in orchestrating the Washington rally that spawned a deadly assault on the U.S. Capitol, according to an Associated Press review of records, undercutting claims the event was the brainchild of the president’s grassroots supporters. A pro-Trump nonprofit...

MOSCOW — Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was arrested Sunday at a Moscow airport as he tried to enter the country from Germany, where he had spent five months recovering from nerve agent poisoning that he blames on the Kremlin. Navalny’s detention at passport control in Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport was...

LOS ANGELES — Phil Spector, the eccentric and revolutionary music producer who transformed rock music with his “Wall of Sound” method and who later was convicted of murder, has died. He was 81. California state prison officials said he died Saturday of natural causes at a hospital. Spector was convicted...

Police and National Guard troops stood sentry at newly fortified statehouses Sunday ahead of demonstrations planned for the leadup to President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, as authorities worked to deter a repeat of the recent riot that overran the U.S. Capitol. A few protesters were starting to gather in some cities,...

DES MOINES, Iowa — Lottery players have another chance to win big next week since there were no winners of the top prize for both the Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots in their most recent drawings. The Powerball jackpot grew to an estimated $730 million after no one matched all...

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Taron Johnson could’ve kept running into next week on a 101-yard interception that carried the Buffalo Bills to their first AFC championship game appearance in 26 years. Johnson’s pick-6 of Lamar Jackson’s pass with 41 seconds remaining in the third quarter secured a 17-3 win over...

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Aaron Rodgers made sure he’d play an NFC championship game at home for the first time in his Hall of Fame-caliber career. Rodgers threw two touchdown passes and also ran for a score as the top-seeded Green Bay Packers defeated the Los Angeles Rams, 32-18, in...

NEW ORLEANS — Drew Brees periodically discusses his long, extraordinary NFL journey in terms of fate and destiny. The New Orleans Saints quarterback says, for example, that his career-threatening throwing shoulder injury at the end of the 2005 season was meant to be. It precipitated his departure from the Chargers...

CLEVELAND — Joel Bitonio’s neighbors set off fireworks late Sunday night after the Cleveland Browns stunned the Pittsburgh Steelers in the wild-card game. The loud bangs signified something more for the Pro Bowl guard — a second chance. Cleveland’s longest-tenured player, Bitonio was activated from the covid-19 list Friday after...

ORLANDO, Fla. — Loews Hotels said Saturday it has canceled an upcoming fundraiser for U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, the latest fallout for the Republican lawmaker after the U.S. Capitol uprising. The Republican senator from Missouri helped staged an Electoral College challenge the day President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the U.S....

WASHINGTON — In his first hours as president, Joe Biden plans to take executive action to roll back some of the most controversial decisions of his predecessor and to address the raging coronavirus pandemic, his incoming chief of staff said Saturday. The opening salvo would herald a 10-day blitz of...

Police have arrested a man with a handgun and 500 rounds of ammunition at a checkpoint in Washington set up ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration. Wesley Allen Beeler of Front Royal, Virginia, was charged with carrying a pistol without a license after being stopped at the checkpoint near the...

WASHINGTON — By the busload and planeload, National Guard troops were pouring into the nation’s capital on Saturday, as governors answered the urgent pleas of U.S. defense officials for more troops to help safeguard Washington even as they keep anxious eyes on possible violent protests in their own states. Military...

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial is likely to start after Joe Biden’s inauguration, and the Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, is telling senators their decision on whether to convict the outgoing president over the Capitol riot will be a “vote of conscience.” The timing for the trial, the first...

President-elect Joe Biden says “science will always be at the forefront of my administration,” and he is elevating the post of science adviser to Cabinet level, a White House first. Biden, who introduced his team Saturday, said the scientists “will ensure everything we do is grounded in science, facts and...

LOS ANGELES — Even after canceling the Tournament of Roses parade during the summer and scaling back the pregame festivities normally associated with the Rose Bowl, David Eads and his staff were still preparing for a College Football Playoff semifinal on New Year’s Day to be played at the picturesque...

DES MOINES, Iowa — One of the largest jackpots in U.S. history will grow even larger since there was no winner for Friday’s drawing of the Mega Millions’ $750 million top prize. The numbers were 3, 11, 12, 38, 43, with a Mega Ball of 15 and would have marked...

WASHINGTON — Michael White’s long-anticipated trip to Iran was already a disappointment. The love interest he’d gone to visit had stopped seeing him and he’d idled away hours in his hotel room by himself. Then it got much worse. On his final day, the car he and his tour guide...

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — The Trump administration early Saturday carried out its 13th federal execution since July, an unprecedented run that concluded just five days before the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden — an opponent of the federal death penalty. Dustin Higgs, convicted in the killings of three women in...

TRENTON, N.J. — New Jersey this week made millions of people eligible to get the covid-19 vaccine, including smokers, a move that prompted gripes about them skipping to the front of the inoculation line. Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy made people 65 and older and those 16 and older with medical...