Associated Press stories, Page 1644
South Africa returns to stricter lockdown, coronavirus ‘surging’
CAPE TOWN, South Africa — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced Sunday that his country will return to stricter lockdown measures in the face of a sharp rise in covid-19 cases that indicate the virus is “surging again” in Africa’s worst-affected nation. Positive cases in South Africa in the past...
Kokrak gets 2nd win quicker, overcoming Spieth at ColonialVideo
FORT WORTH, Texas — Jason Kokrak played in 233 PGA Tour events before getting his first victory. The big hitter didn’t have to wait nearly as long to win again, though this one might have been harder because he had to overcome a local favorite at Colonial. Kokrak shot an...
U.S. loses 2-1 at Switzerland ahead of Nations League semiVideo
Steven Zuber scored after failed clearances by Sergiño Dest and Tim Ream in the 63rd minute, and Switzerland beat the United States 2-1 on Sunday night at St. Gallen to stop the Americans’ nine-game unbeaten streak. Sebastian Lletget put the 20th-ranked U.S. ahead in the fifth minute, but Ricardo Rodriguez...
Helio Castroneves wins Indianapolis 500 for 4th timeVideo
INDIANAPOLIS — Written off as too old to race full-time, too old for a fourth Indianapolis 500 win, Helio Castroneves at long last joined that exclusive club in a popular victory for the old guys. Then Spiderman scaled the Indianapolis Motor Speedway fence for his trademark victory celebration at the...
Netanyahu could lose PM job as rivals attempt to join forcesVideo
JERUSALEM — A former ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said he would seek to form a coalition government with the Israeli leader’s opponents, taking a major step toward ending the rule of the longtime premier. The dramatic announcement by Naftali Bennett, leader of the small hardline Yamina...
Tulsa Race Massacre centennial events proceed amid hiccups
TULSA, Okla. — Joi McCondichie is a native of this city, but her life and career in public education kept her away from home for decades. When she returned to Tulsa from Los Angeles with her then-teenage son, she moved into a home just off of the Osage Prairie Trail...
More states ease lingering virus rules as vaccine rates rise
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Just in time for Memorial Day weekend, more U.S. cities and states are shrugging off lingering covid-19 restrictions as vaccination rates rise and the number of infections falls. Massachusetts lifted a mask requirement Saturday, a day after New Jersey dropped its mandate. In New York City and...
‘Hooked on a Feeling’ singer B.J. Thomas dies at 78
B.J. Thomas, the Grammy-winning singer who enjoyed success on the pop, country and gospel charts with such hits as “I Just Can’t Help Believing,” “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head” and “Hooked on a Feeling,” has died. He was 78. Thomas, who announced in March that he had been diagnosed...
In South Florida, shootings usher in bloody holiday weekend
HIALEAH, Fla. — Violence ushered in the Memorial Day weekend in South Florida, when gunmen indiscriminately sprayed bullets into crowds at two Miami venues. Two people died and at least 20 others were injured early Sunday morning during a shooting outside a banquet hall, about a day after a drive-by...
Pastrnak has hat trick as Bruins blast Islanders 5-2
A six-day layoff in between games did nothing to slow the Boston Bruins and David Pastrnak. Pastrnak got his second career playoff hat trick and the Bruins opened the second round of the playoffs with a 5-2 win over the New York Islanders on Saturday night. “I think our guys...
Canadiens beat Maple Leafs 3-2 in OT to force Game 7
MONTREAL (AP) — Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored at 15:15 of overtime and the Montreal Canadiens beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 on Saturday night to force Game 7 in the first-round series. Corey Perry and Tyler Toffoli also scored and Carey Price made 41 saves in front of the first Canadian...
Small plane crashes into Tennessee lake; 7 believed dead
SMYRNA, Tenn. — A small jet carrying seven people crashed into a Tennessee lake on Saturday, and authorities indicated that no one on board survived. The Cessna C501 crashed into Percy Priest Lake near Smyrna after taking off from a nearby airport about 11 a.m., the Federal Aviation Administration said...
Chinese cargo spacecraft docks with orbital station
BEIJING — An automated spacecraft docked with China’s new space station Sunday carrying fuel and supplies for its future crew, the Chinese space agency announced. Tianzhou-2 spacecraft reached the Tianhe station eight hours after blasting off from Hainan, an island in the South China Sea, China Manned Space said. It...
CDC data indicate U.S. is on track for July 4 vaccination target
The United States is on track to reach a goal calling for 70% of adults to have received at least one dose of a covid-19 vaccine by July 4, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. New data released Saturday indicates that more that half of all adults...
Rafael Nadal’s magic French Open numbers are 14 and 21
Go back, for a moment, to May 8, 2005, when Rafael Nadal was still just 18 and yet to appear in a French Open, let alone win one. After collecting his first trophy on the red clay of Rome — which had been preceded by his first trophy on the...
Resurgent Jordan Spieth 3rd-round leader at ColonialVideo
FORT WORTH, Texas — Jordan Spieth knows how to finish right out of the rough, and he still had the lead after three rounds at Colonial. After hitting his final drive Saturday into the thick grass on an incline right of the No. 18 fairway, Spieth recovered with an approach...
Chelsea beats Manchester City to win Champions LeagueVideo
PORTO, Portugal — As Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta cradled the European Cup before thrusting it into the air to the backdrop of fireworks, Pep Guardiola and his distraught Manchester City players stood way behind the winner’s rostrum and looked on in anguish. Champions League glory once again for Chelsea, nine...
MLB reaches 2 million total runs; Twins’ Donaldson scores it
MINNEAPOLIS — Josh Donaldson of the Minnesota Twins scored the 2 millionth run in Major League Baseball history on Saturday, trotting home in the first inning on a ground-rule double by Nelson Cruz against Kansas City. The Elias Sports Bureau confirmed Donaldson touched the plate for the milestone mark. The...
Postal Service looks to raise first-class stamp to 58 cents
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Postal Service wants to raise rates on first-class stamps from 55 cents to 58 cents as part of a host of price hikes and service changes designed to reduce debt for the beleaguered agency. The request for the changes, which would take effect Aug. 29, was...
Buzzing again: Indy 500 is biggest sports event of pandemic
INDIANAPOLIS — The milk is on ice, celebrities are in the house and Indianapolis Motor Speedway is buzzing again both with the roar of engines and the largest crowd at a sporting event since the start of the pandemic. The Indianapolis 500 will welcome a sold-out 135,000 spectators Sunday —...
Gavin MacLeod, ‘Love Boat’ captain, dies at 90
LOS ANGELES — Gavin MacLeod, the veteran supporting actor who achieved stardom as Murray Slaughter, the sardonic TV news writer on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” before going on to even bigger fame as the cheerful Capt. Stubing on “The Love Boat,” has died. He was 90. MacLeod died early...
Black fear of Tulsa police lingers 100 years after massacre
TULSA, Okla. — There’s been undeniable progress in the relationship between the Tulsa police and the city’s Black community in the past 100 years. Then again, it’s hard to imagine it could have gotten worse. Complaints about police bias and a lack of enough minority officers remain. But the police...
Trump looms large in Pennsylvania’s GOP primaries in 2022
HARRISBURG — With Pennsylvania’s wide-open races for governor and U.S. Senate taking shape, Republican candidates with strong ties to Donald Trump are running and considered strong contenders for the party’s nominations — a powerful sign of the former president’s enduring popularity within the GOP. Within a few days of each...
Open-wheel racing at peace 25 years after CART/IRL split
INDIANAPOLIS — Michael Andretti hears the line repeatedly. Yes, he’s led more Indianapolis 500 laps than any driver who never reached victory lane. He also knows it’s a title that could have been avoided if the Championship Auto Racing Teams series and the Indy Racing League hadn’t parted ways in...
Hendrick eyes all-time Cup Series win record at Charlotte
CONCORD, N.C. — Those who’ve been around Hendrick Motorsports over the past few years know all about the record. It’s impossible not to. Car owner Rick Hendrick has made no secret to his employees about how badly he wants to surpass Petty Enterprises for the most Cup Series wins in...
