Associated Press stories, Page 236

NEW YORK — Macy’s will close 150 stores over the next three years and 50 by the end of 2024, the department store said Tuesday after posting a fourth quarter loss and declining sales. At the same time the company signaled a pivot to luxury. It said it would open...

TALLINN, Estonia — Vladimir Kara-Murza could only laugh when officials in Penal Colony No. 6 inexplicably put a small cabinet in his already-cramped concrete cell, next to a fold-up cot, stool, sink and latrine. That moment of dark humor came because the only things he had to store in it...

JERUSALEM — Israel and Hamas on Tuesday played down chances of an imminent breakthrough in talks for a cease-fire in Gaza, after U.S. President Joe Biden said Israel has agreed to pause its offensive during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan if a deal is reached to release some hostages....

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump won the Michigan primaries on Tuesday, further solidifying the all-but-certain rematch between the two men — yet early results from the state were highlighting some of their biggest political vulnerabilities ahead of the November general election. A vigorous “uncommitted” campaign...

MANHATTAN, Kan. — Tylor Perry scored 29 points and made six 3-pointers, Cam Carter added 19 points and Kansas State let a 25-point lead slip away before beating West Virginia 94-90 in overtime on Monday night. Kansas State (17-11, 7-8 Big 12 Conference) set an NCAA single-season record with its...

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — With his coach and general manager set to address reporters — and likely his employment situation — at the NFL scouting combine Tuesday, Russell Wilson reiterated over the weekend that he hopes to return to the Denver Broncos in 2024. Wilson said he still aims to win...

The offensive artistry of Auston Matthews has reached the point where even hyperbole seems almost plausible. “Everything he’s shooting,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said recently, “is going in the net.” It sure does feel that way. With 52 tallies through 56 games, the Toronto Maple Leafs’ goal-scoring marvel is on...

The Mid-American Conference is inviting UMass to join as a full member, starting in 2025, a person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press on Monday. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because neither the school nor the MAC had confirmed the move. The person...

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Spring training Sho-time starts Tuesday with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Shohei Ohtani will make his exhibition debut with the Dodgers when he serves as the designated hitter for Los Angeles on Tuesday against the Chicago White Sox. Los Angeles has been taking it slowly with the two-way...

All signs point toward Anthony Kim ending his 12-year absence by playing the LIV Golf event in Saudi Arabia, with the latest indication a video tease from Greg Norman on Monday. Kim was a raw talent who broke the country club image in golf with his belt buckles and bling,...

NEW YORK — Prosecutors in Donald Trump’s New York hush-money criminal case asked a judge Monday to impose a gag order on the former president ahead of next month’s trial, citing what they called his “long history of making public and inflammatory remarks” about people involved in his legal cases....

WASHINGTON — Donald Trump appears close to invincible in the Republican primaries and caucuses, but despite his commanding victories, the front-runner’s strength among general election voters remains unclear. AP VoteCast shows that Trump, the former president, has galvanized the core of the GOP electorate in Iowa, New Hampshire and South...

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — The Pittsburgh Penguins will begin a crucial four-game western road trip without forward Bryan Rust. The 31-year-old Rust stayed behind in Pittsburgh while dealing with an upper-body injury suffered in the third period of a 7-6 win over Philadelphia on Sunday. Reilly Smith replaced Rust on...

Texas rose to its highest ranking in more than a year in the Associated Press Top 25 women’s basketball poll Monday after another week of shakeups among the top teams. The Longhorns moved up two spots to No. 3 after four of the top seven teams lost at least one...

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is sending the nation’s top health official to Alabama on Tuesday for discussions with patients and doctors about the controversial court ruling that upended in vitro fertilization treatment in the state. The ruling by the Republican-controlled Alabama Supreme Court has unexpectedly propelled the issue of...

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — José DeLeón, a major league pitcher for 13 seasons who led the National League in strikeouts for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1989, has died. He was 63. Los Leones del Escogido, DeLeón’s team in the Dominican Winter League, said he died Sunday evening at...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — An older U.S. couple whose catamaran was hijacked last week in the Caribbean by three escaped prisoners were presumed dead and likely were thrown into the ocean, police said Monday. The accounts by police in Grenada and in St. Vincent and the Grenadines were a...

CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Bengals placed the franchise tag on receiver Tee Higgins, which likely will keep him with the team at least one more season, the team said Monday. If the Bengals can’t reach a long-term agreement with the 25-year-old Higgins before July 15, he’ll play the 2024 season...

HAMPTON, Ga. — Daniel Suarez knows he will return to Atlanta Motor Speedway as a playoff contender Sept. 8. Suarez also can count on retaining his spot on Trackhouse Racing’s team when the NASCAR Cup Series makes its 2025 stops in Atlanta. The popular driver from Monterrey, Mexico, ended speculation...

Now it is Houston’s turn at the top of the Associated Press Top 25 men’s college basketball poll. The Cougars moved to No. 1 for the first time this season in Monday’s latest poll, climbing one spot to end the six-week stay of reigning national champion Connecticut. Houston (24-3) became...

LOS ANGELES — A former FBI informant charged with fabricating a multimillion-dollar bribery scheme involving President Joe Biden’s family must remain behind bars while he awaits trial, a judge ruled Monday, reversing an earlier order releasing the man. U.S. District Judge Otis Wright II in Los Angeles ordered Alexander Smirnov’s...

PORTLAND, Maine — The organizers of the longest sled dog race in the eastern United States said Monday they are canceling the event because of a lack of snow on the ground. The Can-Am Crown International Sled Dog Races have taken place in northern Maine for more than three decades,...

xCOLUMBUS, Ohio — An Ohio commission awarded bids to frack oil and gas under state parks Monday, despite statewide backlash and an ongoing investigation into possibly fraudulent support. The Ohio Oil and Gas Land Management Commission granted the mineral rights to several oil and gas companies, allowing them to frack...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Married people in West Virginia could be charged with certain sexual assault acts against their spouses for the first time under a controversial bill passed`Monday by West Virginia’s Republican-dominated Senate. The bill, sponsored by former prosecuting attorney Republican Sen. Ryan Weld of Brooke County, would remove marriage...