Ingested Articles

Martin Truex Jr. has won his first career Truck Series race with a dominating run on the dirt at Bristol Motor Speedway. It was only the third career Truck Series start of Truex's career and first in 15 years. Truex was one of seven Cup drivers entered in the Truck Series race to gain experience for the main event. It was a Monday doubleheader because flooding at the race track postponed the first Cup race on dirt since 1970 by a day. 

Texas coach Vic Schaefer knows the disappointment of coming close to more milestones in his career only to be derailed by South Carolina and coach Dawn Staley. Schaefer will have to battle through the Gamecocks once again if he hopes to keep the Longhorns' stunning women's NCAA Tournament run going when the teams meet Tuesday night in the Hemisfair Region for a spot in the Final Four. The Longhorns have ousted third-seed UCLA and second-seed Maryland to advance. But the former Mississippi State coach is 0-4 against Staley in SEC Tournament title games and lost to her team in the 2017 national championship final. 

Laurie Metcalf is just as amused by her character Jackie on “The Conners” (and before that, “Roseanne,") as viewers. She says when she first landed the role in 1988, she came from theater and had no TV experience. The character, with her varying career ventures, strong opinions, meddling and failed relationships keeps her entertained. Metcalf is content with Jackie being “the weirdo B storyline” in an episode, because she's good in small doses. “The Conners” just wrapped its third season and the cast is waiting to learn whether they will be renewed for a fourth. Metcalf is getting ready to head to New York to film a movie co-starring and directed by Ray Romano. 

The Biden administration is extending a federal moratorium on evictions of tenants who've fallen behind on rent during the coronavirus pandemic. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday moved to continue the pandemic-related protection, which had been scheduled to expire on Wednesday. The moratorium is extended through the end of June. The moratorium initially was put in place last year. It provides protection for renters out of concern that having families lose their homes and move into shelters or share crowded conditions with relatives or friends during the pandemic would further spread the virus. In February, President Joe Biden extended a ban on housing foreclosures to June 30.

CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky is making an impassioned plea to Americans not to let their guard down in the fight against COVID-19. She warned on Monday of a potential “fourth wave” of the virus. She's speaking of a “recurring feeling ... of impending doom.” During a White House briefing, Walensky grew emotional as she reflected on her experience treating COVID-19 patients who are alone at the end of their lives. Walensky spoke hours before President Joe Biden was to address the nation on the vaccination effort. She spoke of hope but added, "Right now, I’m scared.” 

Final Four appearances are up for grabs Tuesday as the NCAA Tournament holds its remaining regional finals in the men's and women's divisions. The men's regional finals have unbeaten Gonzaga facing Southern California and UCLA taking on Michigan. UCLA is seeking to become the first team to go from the First Four to the Final Four since VCU in 2011. The women's regional final matchups have Stanford battling Louisville and South Carolina meeting Texas.

A graphic novel for children that was a spin-off of the wildly popular “Captain Underpants” series is being pulled from library and book store shelves after its publisher said it “perpetuates passive racism.” The book under scrutiny is 2010′s “The Adventures of Ook and Gluk” by Dav Pilkey, who has apologized, saying it “contains harmful racial stereotypes” and is “wrong and harmful to my Asian readers.” The book follows about a pair of friends who travel from 500,001 B.C. to 2222, where they meet a martial arts instructor who teaches them kung fu and they learn principles found in Chinese philosophy.

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal from Kentucky’s attorney general, who wants to be allowed to defend a restriction on abortion rights that lower courts had struck down. The underlying issue in the case, to be heard in the fall, is a blocked Kentucky law that abortion rights supporters say would have effectively banned a standard abortion method in the second trimester of pregnancy. But the issue before the court is whether Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron can intervene in the case, after rulings from a trial court and appellate panel and Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s decision to drop the case.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — The European Union’s home affairs commissioner on Monday stressed the need for solidarity among the bloc’s member states in tackling migration, and called on Turkey to resume accepting the return of people whose asylum applications are…

PARIS (AP) — A French pharmaceutical company on Monday was ordered to pay hundreds of millions of euros in damages and fines for its role in one of the nation’s biggest modern health scandals, with a Paris court finding the…

HAVANA (AP) — Uncomfortable, wasteful, tough, rustic. All are descriptions heard about the old Russian-built Lada cars cruising the roads in Cuba, where it is common to see a driver standing next to the raised hood of one pondering what…

For many Americans, the scenes unfolding at the U.S.-Mexico border are visceral and jarring. A 7-year old girl from Honduras walking in the darkness to keep up with strangers she met on the perilous journey from northern Mexico to Texas.…

BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel has blamed her country's difficulties during the coronavirus pandemic — from the slow vaccine rollout to the back-and-forth over lockdown rules — partly on “a tendency toward perfectionism” and called for greater flexibility…

A new strategy for women's soccer in Europe says independent teams should have a place beside storied names from men’s soccer that are fueling rapid development. Clubs such as Fortuna Hjørring and Glasgow City don't have men’s teams and are currently a fixture in the UEFA Women’s Champions League. The competition figures to get only tougher for the independents after Juventus and Real Madrid bought into women’s soccer in recent years. Creating new women's clubs is one of six key goals in a strategy published Monday by the European Club Association. 

Celebrity birthdays for the week of April 4-10: April 4: Actor Craig T. Nelson is 77. Actor Christine Lahti (“Chicago Hope”) is 71. Singer Steve Gatlin of the Gatlin Brothers is 70. Actor Mary-Margaret Humes (“Dawson’s Creek,” ″History of the…