Ingested Articles

From a betting standpoint, Saturday's Kentucky Derby could be wide open. Essential Quality will be the favorite and seems like the best horse on paper, plus comes in with a perfect career record of 5 for 5. Even with a horse that good, there are plenty of other contenders. And if Known Agenda can handle the inside post, something that will scare many bettors away, he might just be the one to prevail in the Run for the Roses.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — America’s longest war, the two-decade-long conflict in Afghanistan that started in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, killed tens of thousands of people, dogged four U.S. presidents and ultimately proved unwinnable despite…

It's official: America and NATO have begun their final withdrawal from Afghanistan ending America's ‘forever war" after nearly 20 years. In mid-April, President Joe Biden had announced the final withdrawal would begin May 1. Diplomatic and military officials say the packing up began almost one month ago. The last 2,500-3,500 U.S. troops and about 7,000 allied forces will be gone by Sept. 11 at the latest, although Western diplomats in Kabul say July 4 is the goal. 

Devin Booker scored 31 points, Mikal Bridges added 18 and the Phoenix Suns pulled into a tie for the top spot in the Western Conference by beating the Utah Jazz 121-100 on Friday night. Two nights after clinching their first postseason spot in 11 years, the Suns kept rolling and never trailed after the opening minutes. Booker shot 13 of 19 from the field. Chris Paul added 12 points and nine assists. Deandre Ayton had 11 points and nine rebounds. Utah was playing without their All-Star backcourt of Mike Conley and Donovan Mitchell. The Jazz were led by Bojan Bogdanovic, who scored 22 points.

Shane Bieber struck out 11, setting a major league record in the process and pitching the Cleveland Indians past the Chicago White Sox 5-3. Bieber fanned at least eight in his 18th straight game, breaking a tie for the mark set by Hall of Famer Randy Johnson in 1999-2000. Bieber gave up three runs and seven hits, walking one in six innings. The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner has fanned 68 in six starts this year — he's struck out at least 11 in five of those games. José Ramirez homered and drove in three runs for Cleveland. Dallas Keuchel took the loss.

India has opened vaccinations to all adults in hopes of taming a monstrous spike in COVID-19 infections. The move on Saturday launches a huge inoculation effort that is sure to tax the limits of the federal government, the country’s vaccine factories and the patience of its 1.4 billion people. The world’s largest maker of vaccines is still short of critical supplies — the result of lagging manufacturing and raw material shortages. Those factors delayed the rollout in several states. Only a fraction of India’s population will likely to be able to afford the prices charged by private hospitals for the shot. That means states and the federal government will be saddled with immunizing 900 million Indian adults.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says President Joe Biden plans to veer from the approaches of his two most recent predecessors as he tries to stop North Korea’s nuclear program, rejecting both Donald Trump’s deeply personal effort to win…

The Denver Broncos wrapped up the second day of the NFL draft by using a compensatory pick to take Ohio State linebacker Baron Browning with the 105th overall pick. It was a big day for the Buckeyes in a draft held in Cleveland. Ohio State had five players selected in the second and third rounds for a total of six through three rounds. That was still not enough to catch Alabama for the most players selected. The Tide had eight of the first 38 players taken, but did not add another after that.

Jaylen Brown hit a 3-pointer with 16.7 seconds remaining in overtime, Jayson Tatum scored a career-high 60 points and the Boston Celtics rallied from a 32-point deficit to beat the San Antonio Spurs 143-140.  Brown finished with 17 points, Marcus Smart had 10 points and 12 assists, and Aaron Nesmith had 16 points and six rebounds for Boston. DeMar DeRozan had 30 points and 14 assists for the Spurs. Dejounte Murray and Lonnie Walker IV finished with 24 points each, and Jakob Poeltl finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Not much changed on the second night of the NFL draft. The SEC remained the conference of choice with 29 players selected overall. Quarterbacks went in clusters, too. Not like 1-2-3 as happened in the opening round. The second round concluded with Florida's Kyle Trask going to Tampa Bay perhaps as the heir to Tom Brady in a decade or so. Then Texas A&M's Kellen Mond was chosen in the second spot of the third round by Minnesota and Stanford's Davis Mills went in the next slot to Houston. 

Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Kole Calhoun, who playfully fist-bumped a teenaged fan after being outreached for a foul ball last weekend, is expected to miss six to eight weeks because of an injured left hamstring. Calhoun underwent a procedure Friday to remove a tendon in his hamstring, the team said. He suffered the injury while stealing third base in a 5-1 victory over San Diego on Tuesday. Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen said NFL players have had the same operation as Calhoun, but was unsure if a baseball player had undergone the same procedure. The 33-year-old Calhoun is hitting .292 with two home runs and five RBIs.

Afghan officials say the death toll in a suicide truck bombing that struck a guest house in eastern Logar province has risen to at least 21 with as many as 90 other wounded. The Interior Ministry says the attack happened on Friday night in Pul-e-Alam, the capital of Lugar province. No one has immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing and there was no indication why the guest house was targeted. The attack came on the eve of the official date set for the start of the final withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops from Afghanistan. The Taliban have demanded an earlier pullout, There are no American or NATO forces in Logar province.

The Army said Friday that it has now taken disciplinary action against 21 officers and non-commissioned officers at Fort Hood, Texas, in connection with death last year of Spc. Vanessa Guillén, who was missing for about two months before her remains were found. The punishments, which include firing six senior commanders, are the latest Army moves in response to Guillén’s disappearance and death, which brought to light widespread leadership failures at a base that had high rates of sexual assault, harassment, drug use and other problems.

Police say a fire in a hospital in western India has killed at least 15 COVID-19 patients. Police say 50 other patients at the Welfare Hospital in Bharuch, a town in Gujarat state, were rescued by hospital workers and firefighters early Saturday. The fire broke out in a COVID-19 ward on the ground floor and was extinguished within an hour. The cause of the fire is being investigated. On April 23, a fire in an intensive care unit killed 13 COVID-19 patients in the Virar area on the outskirts of Mumbai.

Keegan Bradley and Sam Burns are tied for the lead in the Valspar Championship. They got to the top in different ways. Burns kept piling up birdies at Innisbrook until he had a 63, the low round of the week. Bradley saw a good round turn into a great one by holing out from 100 yards for eagle on his final hole. They were four shots clear of Max Homa, Lucas Glover and Charley Hoffman. Phil Mickelson bogeyed his last hole to miss the cut by one. Dustin Johnson was nine back, and Justin Thomas was 10 behind.

A long-shot bid to pass legislation that would make the District of Columbia the nation’s 51st state is stalling in the Senate. Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia said Friday that he opposes unilateral action by Congress to make the nation’s capital a state. He said it needs to be done through a constitutional amendment. Earlier this month, the House approved a bill strictly along party lines to make the District of Columbia a state with one representative and two senators. Manchin's rejection shows the effort doesn't have the support of all Democrats in an evenly divided Senate. The bill appears stalled for now.

Prosecutors are asking a judge to give Derek Chauvin a penalty that’s more severe than state guidelines call for when he is sentenced in June for George Floyd's death. In documents filed Friday, prosecutors said many factors warrant a tougher sentence, including that Floyd was particularly vulnerable and that Chauvin abused his authority as a police officer. But defense attorney Eric Nelson opposed a tougher sentence, saying the state has failed to prove that aggravating factors existed when Chauvin arrested Floyd on May 25. Chauvin will be sentenced June 25. He was convicted last week of murder and manslaughter. 

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House said Friday that President Joe Biden plans to veer from the approaches of his two most recent predecessors as he tries to stop North Korea’s nuclear program, rejecting both Donald Trump’s deeply personal effort…