Associated Press stories, Page 586

Penn State, James Madison, Villanova and Washington State will play in the inaugural Women’s Basketball Invitational Tournament as the No. 1 seeds after just missing the NCAAs. The NCAA is sponsoring this tournament, an equivalent to the men’s NIT. In the past, the secondary women’s tournament was the WNIT and...

McALLEN, Texas — Texas’ plan to arrest migrants who cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally is on hold while the Supreme Court considers a challenge to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s latest move over immigration. The nation’s highest court put the law on pause over a lawsuit led by the Justice Department,...

The lack of excitement many Americans feel about a presidential rematch has heightened interest in alternatives to the major-party candidates, none more so than Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose famous name has helped him build buzz for his independent bid. Kennedy is a huge longshot to win Electoral College votes,...

NEW YORK — How much does it cost to feel special? At Chuck E- Cheese, the family entertainment and pizza chain, the price is $7.99, $11.99 or $29.99 per month. At the other end of the spectrum, the founder of a shopping app called Long Story Short wants to charge...

Spring is almost here — officially, at least. The vernal equinox arrives on Tuesday, marking the start of the spring season for the Northern Hemisphere. But what does that actually mean? Here’s what to know about how we split up the year using the Earth’s orbit. What is the equinox?...

RAFAH, Gaza Strip — Famine is “imminent” in northern Gaza, where 70% of people are experiencing catastrophic hunger, according to a report Monday that warned escalation of the war could push half of Gaza’s total population to the brink of starvation. The report, by the international community’s authority on determining...

President Vladimir Putin sealed his control over Russia for six more years on Monday with a predetermined landslide in an election that followed the harshest crackdown on the opposition and free speech since Soviet times. While the result was never in doubt, Russians attempted to defy the inevitable outcome, heeding a...

LEVITTOWN — A man faces murder charges in Pennsylvania and carjacking and weapons charges in New Jersey after allegedly killing three family members, carjacking vehicles in both states and evading law enforcement for hours as police mobilized in two states, authorities said Sunday. Andre Gordon Jr., 26, is charged in...

Undefeated South Carolina is the top overall seed in the women’s NCAA Tournament. The Gamecocks are looking to become the 10th women’s basketball team to go undefeated for an entire season. They had a chance last season before falling just short against Caitlin Clark and Iowa in the Final Four....

Defending champion Connecticut, along with Houston, Purdue and North Carolina, are the top seeds in a March Madness bracket that started going haywire even before the pairings came out Sunday. Of the four top seeds, only UConn heads into the tournament coming off a win. That played into the Huskies...

MINNEAPOLIS — Terrence Shannon Jr. scored 34 points on 15-for-17 shooting from the free-throw line, helping 13th-ranked Illinois past Wisconsin, 93-87, in Big Ten Tournament championship game on Sunday. Marcus Domask added 26 points, eight assists and seven rebounds, and Dain Dainja had nine points and seven rebounds for the...

NASHVILLE — Florida center Micah Handlogten broke his lower left leg in the opening minutes of the Southeastern Conference Tournament final Sunday and was taken off the court on a stretcher to a hospital. Coach Todd Golden said he feels for Handlogten after the Gators lost 86-67 to No. 12...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Johni Broome scored 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as No. 12 Auburn won the Tigers’ third SEC Tournament championship by beating Florida, 86-67, on Sunday in a game marred by a gruesome injury to Gators center Micah Handlogten. The Tigers (27-7) avoided the upset bug that...

NEW YORK — Judge Juan M. Merchan looked across his high-ceilinged courtroom, facing the defendant in a complicated case. Not the one everyone knows about. Yes, Merchan could become the first judge ever to oversee a former U.S. president’s criminal trial: Donald Trump’s hush money case. But on a recent...

LEVITTOWN, Pa. — A man faces murder charges in Pennsylvania and carjacking and weapons charges in New Jersey after allegedly killing three family members, carjacking vehicles in both states and evading law enforcement for hours as police mobilized in two states, authorities said Sunday. Andre Gordon Jr., 26, is charged...

WASHINGTON — As Salvatore LoGrande fought cancer and all the pain that came with it, his daughters promised to keep him in the white, pitched roof house he worked so hard to buy all those decades ago. So, Sandy LoGrande thought it was a mistake when, a year after her...

LONDON — Vaughan Gething’s election as the next leader of Wales marks a milestone: For the first time, none of the U.K.’s four main governments is led by a white man. It’s a striking moment in a country still grappling with racism and the legacy of empire. Prime Minister Rishi...

TEL AVIV, Israel — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu railed Sunday against growing criticism from the United States against his leadership amid the devastating war with Hamas, saying the pressure won’t stop Israel from achieving “total victory.” In recent days, top officials from the U.S., Israel’s staunchest ally which has...

The story of March Madness figures to look a lot like the story of the regular season that led up to it: a healthy cross-section of very good teams, few dominant ones and no strong consensus on who’s the best bet to be cutting down nets at the Final Four...

CAIRO — The European Union on Sunday announced a 7.4 billion-euro ($8 billion) aid package for cash-strapped Egypt as concerns mount that economic pressure and conflicts in neighboring countries could drive more migrants to European shores. The deal, which drew criticism from rights groups over Egypt’s human rights record, is...