Associated Press stories, Page 299
Flyers fire coach John Tortorella in midst of another losing season
The Philadelphia Flyers fired coach John Tortorella on Thursday with nine games left in another losing season for a franchise that hasn’t been in the playoffs since 2020. The Flyers are last in the Metropolitan Division at 28-36-9 for 65 points under the notoriously brusque Tortorella. The Flyers suffered their...
North Korea sent 3,000 more troops to Russia, according to South’s assessment
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea sent around 3,000 additional troops to Russia in January and February in continued support for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine, South Korea’s military said Thursday in its latest assessment. The South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korea has also been sending...
‘Avengers: Doomsday’ cast includes Hemsworth’s Thor, Mackie’s Cap, Fantastic Four and original X-Men
LOS ANGELES — Chris Hemsworth’s Thor, Anthony Mackie’s Captain America, Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes, Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man and Tom Hiddleston’s Loki are all back in the Avengers ensemble, where they’ll be joined by several of cinema’s original X-Men. The five veterans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe are in the cast...
A Venus flytrap wasp? Scientists uncover an ancient insect preserved in amber that snatched its prey
NEW YORK — An ancient wasp may have zipped among the dinosaurs, with a body like a Venus flytrap to seize and snatch its prey, scientists reported Wednesday. The parasitic wasp’s abdomen boasts a set of flappy paddles lined with thin bristles, resembling “a small bear trap attached to the...
States move to ban or restrict use of synthetic dyes used in candies and cereal
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Synthetic dyes used to make brightly colored cereals, drinks and candies are coming under scrutiny in states across the country, where lawmakers say the federal government has stalled in taking action despite evidence of harmful effects. West Virginia, which ranks at the bottom in the U.S. for...
Trump says Signal chat isn’t ‘really an FBI thing.’ The FBI has a long history of such inquiries
WASHINGTON — FBI Director Kash Patel was not part of a Signal chat in which other Trump administration national security officials discussed detailed attack plans, but that didn’t spare him from being questioned by lawmakers this week about whether the nation’s premier law enforcement agency would investigate. Patel made no...
The White House says nothing classified was shared on Signal. Democrats say that strains credulity
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration struggled Wednesday to stem the fallout from revelations that top national security officials discussed sensitive attack plans over a messaging app and mistakenly added a journalist to the chain. The White House said the information shared through the publicly available Signal app with Jeffrey Goldberg,...
Kansas measles cases double to 23 and new Ohio outbreak sickens 10
A measles outbreak in Kansas doubled in less than a week to 23 cases and has “a possible link” to outbreaks in Texas and New Mexico that have sickened more than 370, the state health department said Wednesday. And health officials in Ohio say a single case identified in Ashtabula...
Congressional Republicans target PBS, NPR funding in contentious hearingVideo
WASHINGTON — A House Republican pushing the Trump administration’s government efficiency efforts called for dismantling and defunding the nation’s public broadcasting system following a contentious hearing Wednesday featuring the heads of PBS and NPR. “We believe that you all can hate us on your own dime,” said Georgia Rep. Marjorie...
Turkish student at Tufts University detained, video shows masked people handcuffing herVideo
SOMERVILLE, Mass. — A Turkish national and doctoral student at Tufts University has been detained by U.S. Department of Homeland Security agents without explanation, her lawyer said Wednesday. Rumeysa Ozturk, 30, had just left her home on Tuesday night in Somerville when she was stopped, lawyer Mahsa Khanbabai said in...
Calipari embraces new Cinderella role with 10th seeded Arkansas in Sweet 16
SAN FRANCISCO — In an NCAA Tournament sorely lacking in Cinderella stories, coach John Calipari has the unusual role of being the closest thing to it. After routinely taking powerhouse teams in his first decade at Kentucky to the Sweet 16 and beyond, Calipari has surprisingly done the same in...
Players rocking T-shirts are everywhere in March Madness. Why? ‘It’s part of that dripper vibe’
Mouhamed Dioubate would love to tell you he had a good, practical reason to start rocking a compression shirt underneath his Alabama jersey. That it keeps his arms warm. That he loves the way it feels. That it’s a tribute to the old school days of Patrick Ewing and Chris...
Social Security Administration backtracks on some ID requirements after backlash
WASHINGTON — The Social Security Administration is partially backtracking on a plan that would require all new and existing beneficiaries to travel to a Social Security field office to verify their identity. The Social Security Administration on Wednesday said that people applying for Social Security Disability Insurance, Medicare, or Supplemental...
Now with Arizona, Caleb Love takes on Duke again
NEWARK, N.J. — He’s back. If there’s a single player Duke or any of its fans would love to not run into when the stakes are this high, Caleb Love would be that player. Love used to play for Duke’s biggest rival, North Carolina. Now he plays for Duke’s next...
Copper prices have soared as the U.S. threatens tariffs on the metal and China boosts its economy
NEW YORK — Copper prices have hit record highs as an ongoing trade war between the U.S. and its key trading partners threatens to squeeze supplies of the vital metal. Buyers in the U.S. have been stocking up on copper ahead of potential tariffs. Future prices for the base metal’s...
Appeals court won’t halt order barring Trump administration from deportations under wartime law
WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court refused Wednesday to lift an order barring the Trump administration from deporting Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador under an 18th century wartime law. A split three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit wouldn’t block a March 15...
Trump places 25% tariff on imported autos, expecting to raise $100 billion in tax revenues
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Wednesday he was placing 25% tariffs on auto imports, a move the White House claims would foster domestic manufacturing but could also put a financial squeeze on automakers that depend on global supply chains. “This will continue to spur growth,” Trump told reporters. “We’ll...
West Virginia hires Ross Hodge of North Texas as men’s basketball coachVideo
West Virginia hired Ross Hodge of North Texas as its men’s basketball coach Wednesday. The 44-year-old Hodge replaces Darian DeVries, who left after one season for Indiana. Hodge agreed to a five-year deal. Terms of the contract weren’t immediately disclosed. “Ross Hodge is a proven winner and leader who has...
4 American soldiers who went missing in Lithuania have died, NATO leader says
WARSAW, Poland — NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Wednesday that four U.S. soldiers who went missing while training in Lithuania have died, but that he did not yet know the details. A U.S. official would say only that the four soldiers were involved in a training accident. The official, who...
Will Smith gets a street named in the Philadelphia neighborhood where he was born and raised
PHILADELPHIA — In West Philadelphia where he was born and raised, now there’s a street called Will Smith Way. Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker and city leaders honored the Oscar and Grammy winner on Wednesday, renaming a street next to Smith’s old high school. “Philly, I love you. I am yours....
Democrats take hope from upset win in GOP-leaning Pa. state Senate district
MANHEIM — Democrat James Andrew Malone narrowly won a special election for a Pennsylvania state Senate seat in Republican-leaning suburbs and farming communities, scoring an upset in a district that a Democrat hasn’t represented in the chamber for 136 years. Malone’s victory over Republican Josh Parsons in Tuesday night’s election...
NFL competition committee proposes moving touchback to 35 and making dynamic kickoff permanent
The NFL competition committee is recommending making the dynamic kickoff rule permanent and moving touchbacks to the 35-yard line in hopes of generating even more returns. The competition committee released several potential rule changes for 2025 on Wednesday, including an expansion of instant replay that will be considered next week...
30 years after music icon Selena’s murder, Yolanda Saldívar is up for parole
Thirty years ago, music legend Selena Quintanilla-Pérez was killed by her fan club’s president, Yolanda Saldívar. For the last three decades, Saldívar has served her life sentence in Texas. Now 64, Saldívar has a petition for parole under review, according to Texas Department of Criminal Justice online records. On Sunday,...
Motorcyclist who disappeared into huge Seoul sinkhole found dead after overnight searchVideo
SEOUL, South Korea — A motorcyclist who fell into a cavernous sinkhole that opened on a Seoul street was found dead after an overnight search, officials in South Korea’s capital said Tuesday. The roughly 20-meter-wide, 20-meter-deep sinkhole appeared at an intersection in the Myeongil-dong neighborhood in eastern Seoul on Monday...
Trump asks Supreme Court for OK to cut teacher-training money as part of anti-DEI push
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is at the Supreme Court with a new emergency appeal Wednesday, this time seeking approval to go ahead with cuts of hundreds of millions of dollars for teacher training. A federal judge in Boston temporarily blocked the cuts, finding they were already affecting training programs...
