Associated Press stories, Page 718
U.S. is imposing more than 500 new sanctions on Russia’s war machine, indicts Russian businessmen
WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department plans to impose more than 500 new sanctions on Russia and its war machine on Friday as the U.S. vows to keep up its financial pressure on Moscow with the war entering its third grueling year. The sanctions represent the largest single tranche of penalties...
Erik van Rooyen opens with a 63 in bid to win again in Mexico
VALLARTA, Mexico — Erik van Rooyen made two eagles Thursday on his way to an 8-under-par 63 for a one-shot lead in the Mexico Open at Vidanta, a strong start in his bid to win a second PGA Tour title in Mexico in the last four months. Van Rooyen hit...
New college football game blocks users from adding players who reject NIL opt-in
Gamers will be blocked from manually adding players to EA Sports’ new college football game who decide not to accept an offer to have their name, image and likeness used in it, the video-game developer said Thursday. EA Sports revealed the safeguard in its announcement that it has begun reaching...
Mexico president denies report of allegations that close associates took drug money during campaign
MEXICO CITY — Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador denied allegations contained in a U.S. media report published Thursday about a U.S. inquiry into accusations that people close to him took money from drug traffickers shortly before his 2018 election and again after he was president. The New York Times...
Former AL batting champion Tim Anderson agrees to 1-year deal with Marlins
MIAMI — Former AL batting champion Tim Anderson agreed to a one-year contact Thursday with the Miami Marlins, according to multiple reports. The deal for the shortstop is pending a physical and is worth $5 million, according to ESPN. Anderson is Miami’s first big free-agent addition of the offseason. The...
NCAA provides glimpse into process of choosing teams for March Madness
PHOENIX — Selection Sunday also happens to be the biggest complaint day on the sports calendar. How could they leave my team out? Why is mine playing that far away? You seriously gave (my favorite team) a No. 8 seed instead of 6? Settle down. Selecting, seeding and bracketing the...
Gabby Douglas pulls out of 1st meet in 8 years with covid
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Gabby Douglas’ return to competition is going to have to wait. The 2012 Olympic gymnastics champion pulled out of this weekend’s Winter Cup in Louisville, Ky., after posting on social media that she had tested positive for covid-19. The 28-year-old Douglas was planning to compete in three...
Private lander touches down on the moon but sending weak signalVideo
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A private lander on Thursday made the first U.S. touchdown on the moon in more than 50 years, but managed just a weak signal back until flight controllers scrambled to gain better contact. Despite the spotty communication, Intuitive Machines, the company that built and managed the...
New York AG says she’ll seize Donald Trump’s property if he can’t pay $454 million civil fraud debt
NEW YORK — Donald Trump could be at risk of losing some of his prized properties if he can’t pay his staggering New York civil fraud penalty. With interest, he owes the state nearly $454 million — and the amount is going up $87,502 each day until he pays. New...
Tiger Woods’ son shoots 86 in pre-qualifier for PGA Tour event
HOBE SOUND, Fla. — The PGA Tour will have to wait for the 15-year-old son of Tiger Woods. In a pre-qualifier Thursday, Charlie Woods took a 12 on one hole and shot 86. Woods didn’t make a birdie at Lost Lake Golf Club, one of four pre-qualifier sites for the...
Ex-FBI source accused of lying about Bidens and having Russian contacts is returned to U.S. custody
LAS VEGAS — A former FBI informant accused of lying about multimillion-dollar bribery allegations against President Joe Biden and his son Hunter and purportedly having links to Russian intelligence was again taken into custody Thursday, two days after a judge said he could be freed ahead of trial, his attorneys...
Texas school legally punished Black student over hairstyle, judge saysVideo
ANAHUAC, Texas — A Black high school student’s monthslong punishment by his Texas school district for refusing to change his hairstyle does not violate a new state law that prohibits race-based hair discrimination, a judge ruled on Thursday. Darryl George, 18, has not been in his regular Houston-area high school...
Southland Conference suspends 8 players for postgame brawl between A&M-Commerce and Incarnate WordVideo
FRISCO, Texas — Four players from Texas A&M-Commerce and four from Incarnate Word were suspended by the Southland Conference for “flagrant unsportsmanlike actions” when a brawl broke out during postgame handshakes after an overtime game. It was still unclear what led to the melee after Commerce’s 76-72 road victory Monday...
Embattled punter Matt Araiza signs with Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs are signing punter Matt Araiza, who was dropped from a lawsuit in December that had been filed by a woman who alleged she was raped by San Diego State football players in 2021. The signing was announced by Araiza’s agent, Joe Linta, and confirmed a short...
SEC fines LSU $100K for fans storming court vs. No. 17 Kentucky
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The SEC fined LSU $100,000 in connection with fans running onto the court after the Tigers’ victory over No. 17 Kentucky, the league announced Thursday. Tyrell Ward’s basket as time expired gave LSU a 75-74 win Wednesday night and prompted the court-storming. Safety risks associated with court-storming...
Dueling pro-Trump factions in Michigan throw the swing state’s Republicans into disarray
WATERFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. — The Michigan Republican Party was deep in debt when a longtime party donor who had given more than $1 million over the past decade asked for a meeting with its chairwoman. Kristina Karamo turned down the donor. Her reasoning, according to two people familiar with the...
Home sales rose in January as easing mortgage rates, more homes for sale enticed homebuyers
LOS ANGELES — Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes rose in January as homebuyers were encouraged by easing mortgage rates and a modest pickup in properties on the market. Existing home sales rose 3.1% last month from December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4 million, the National Association...
Los Angeles woman was arrested in Russia on charges of treason. Here’s what we know
Russia’s main domestic intelligence agency has arrested a woman with dual U.S. and Russian citizenship on charges of treason, accusing her of collecting money for the Ukrainian military. The Federal Security Service said in a statement early Tuesday that the Los Angeles resident was arrested in the Ural Mountains city...
Home chef Ella Mills offers some plant-based recipes for anyone tempted by a healthier way to eat
Ella Mills knows we all want to eat healthier. But the English food writer and businesswoman also knows we’re busy and we want everything to taste good. And she understands many of us are nervous about the idea of committing to no meat. “I know I used to think eating...
Mother of Kremlin critic Navalny says she’s resisting pressure to agree to secret burial
MOSCOW — The mother of Russia’s top opposition leader Alexei Navalny said Thursday that she has seen her son’s body and that she is resisting strong pressure by authorities to agree to a secret burial outside the public eye. Speaking in a video statement from the Arctic city of Salekhard,...
Israeli strikes in Gaza kill 48 as fears mount over humanitarian crisis and West Bank violence
RAFAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli strikes killed at least 48 people in southern and central Gaza overnight, half of them women and children, health officials said Thursday, as European foreign ministers and U.N. agencies called for a cease-fire, with alarm rising over the worsening humanitarian crisis and potential starvation in...
Cellular outages strike the nation
A number of Americans are dealing with cellular outages on AT&T, Cricket Wireless, Verizon, T-Mobile and other service providers, according to data from Downdetector. AT&T had more than 73,000 outages around 9:30 a.m. ET, in locations including Houston, Atlanta and Chicago. The outages began at approximately 3:30 a.m. ET. The...
New York AG says she’ll seize Donald Trump’s property if he can’t pay $454 million civil fraud debt
NEW YORK — Donald Trump could be at risk of losing some of his prized properties if he can’t pay his staggering New York civil fraud penalty. With interest, he owes the state nearly $454 million — and the amount is going up $87,502 each day until he pays. New...
An online dump of Chinese hacking documents offers a rare window into pervasive state surveillance
Chinese police are investigating an unauthorized and highly unusual online dump of documents from a private security contractor linked to the nation’s top policing agency and other parts of its government — a trove that catalogs apparent hacking activity and tools to spy on both Chinese and foreigners. Among the...
Biden calls Putin a ‘crazy SOB’ and takes aim at Trump during fundraiser for 2024 election
SAN FRANCISCO — During a fundraiser for his reelection campaign Wednesday night, President Joe Biden called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “crazy SOB” and took aim at former President Donald Trump’s comments comparing himself to the Russian opposition leader who died last week in an Arctic prison. Biden was talking...
