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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.

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.

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. 

Major League Baseball says nine teams have had 85% of players, coaches and others with Tier 1 access receive their final dose of the coronavirus vaccine, allowing those clubs to ease some health and safety protocols. Four of those teams have already begun relaxing some protocols after 85% or more of Tier 1 individuals reached full vaccination. Another five teams have surpassed the 85% threshold for vaccine injections within the past two weeks and can ease standards once that waiting period passes. The league also says 81% of Tier 1 individuals are considered partially or fully vaccinated. 

The Biden administration says it will begin work to address the risks of flooding and soil erosion from unfinished sections of the wall on the U.S. border with Mexico. It also began providing answers on how it will use unspent money from shutting down one of President Donald Trump’s signature domestic projects. The Defense Department says it will use unobligated money for military construction projects for its initial purpose. The repair work will take place in Texas' Rio Grande Valley and in San Diego. Officials in Texas have expressed alarm about flooding risks during the hurricane season from breaches in a levee system.

Leicester’s bid for Champions League soccer has suffered a minor setback after having to settle for a 1-1 draw with 10-man Southampton in the English Premier League. Jonny Evans’ 68th-minute header earned third-place Leicester a point on the south coast following James Ward-Prowse’s penalty opener for the battling hosts. Saints played for 80 minutes a man down after Jannik Vestergaard was sent off for bringing down Jamie Vardy on the edge of the hosts’ 18-yard box. Brendan Rodgers’ team was unable to take full advantage of the early dismissal and the result moved the Foxes eight points clear of fifth-placed West Ham in the race for European football. A dogged Southampton extended its distance from the relegation zone to 10 points.

Stocks gave back some of their recent gains Friday, though the market still closed out April with its biggest monthly gain so far this year. The S&P 500 fell 0.7% as investors backed away from technology, financial and communication stocks.…

NEW YORK (AP) — Big Tech stocks are flexing their enormous strength again, after getting knocked around a bit earlier this year. Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Google's parent company and Facebook all gave profit reports this week that blew past investors'…

The Kentucky Derby is back in its traditional spot on the sports calendar — the first Saturday in May. After getting postponed until September last year because of the pandemic, it returns with about 45,000 fans in attendance — some 100,000 less than usual. Essential Quality is the early 2-1 favorite in a field of 19 horses. The 147th edition could be one of several firsts. A Black jockey could win for the first time in 119 years and a female trainer could win for the first time. Bob Baffert, a six-time winner, goes for his record seventh, albeit with a 15-1 shot.