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TikTok names exec at Chinese parent ByteDance as new CEO

Video app TikTok said Friday that its new CEO is Shouzi Chew, the new CFO of its Chinese parent company, ByteDance. He is based in Singapore, where TikTok has an office. Vanessa Pappas, based in Los Angeles, has been interim head of TikTok since Kevin Mayer, a former top Disney executive who lasted just a few months in the role as head of TikTok, resigned in August 2020. Pappas will become COO. The Biden administration has put Trump-era efforts to ban TikTok or force its sale on hold while it conducts a new review of national security threats posed by Chinese technology companies.

EXPLAINER: English soccer leads social media racism boycott

There will be no goal clips or even title celebrations. Soccer leagues, clubs and players in England are set to start four days of silence across Twitter, Facebook and Instagram in a protest against racist abuse on social media. The protest has been adopted more widely. FIFA and UEFA also said they wouldn’t post online across the four days. Such is the anger across the game that it means Manchester City could clinch the Premier League trophy on Sunday and not celebrate it on social media.

Kansas hires Buffalo's Lance Leipold as football coach

Kansas has hired Buffalo's Lance Leipold as its next football coach. The Jayhawks are turning over one of college football’s worst programs to a longtime Division III coach with Midwestern roots. Leipold signed a six-year contract and takes over for Les Miles. Miles, who won a title at LSU, parted with the Jayhawks after two losing seasons amid allegations of sexual harassment dating to his time with the Tigers. Leipold won six Division III national titles in eight seasons before going to the Bulls, where he was 37-33 the past six years.

Eyeing 2024, Pence says he'll push back on 'liberal agenda'

Former Vice President Mike Pence is positioning himself for a possible return to elected office. Pence told an audience in early-voting South Carolina that he will spend the coming months “pushing back on the liberal agenda” he says is wrong for the country. Pence's choice of South Carolina for his post-administration debut Thursday gives him exposure for a potential 2024 presidential bid. The state holds the first presidential primaries in the South, and candidates of both major parties typically spend more than a year in the state ahead of those votes. Pence spoke to an audience at a dinner sponsored by a conservative Christian nonprofit organization.

US wages and benefits jump as economy reopens

Wages and benefits grew quickly for U.S. workers in the first three months of the year, a sign that businesses are starting to offer higher pay to fill newly-opened jobs. U.S. workers’ total compensation rose 0.9% in the January-March quarter, the largest gain in more than 13 years, the Labor Department said Friday. That’s up from 0.7% in the final three months of last year. Still, the increase is just barely above 0.8% gains in two quarters in 2018. 

3D-printed home in Dutch city expands housing options

EINDHOVEN, Netherlands (AP) — Elize Lutz and Harrie Dekkers' new home is a 94-square meter (1,011-square foot) two-bedroom bungalow that resembles a boulder with windows. The curving lines of its gray concrete walls look and feel natural. But they are…

Rookie manager Wayne Rooney mired in relegation battle

Wayne Rooney the player found ways to score. Wayne Rooney the manager has hit a wall. The former Manchester United striker finds himself in a relegation battle in England’s second division as Derby's losses pile up. The club that Rooney took over first on an interim basis as player-coach and then permanently in January upon his retirement has only one win from its last 13 games. The Rams have lost five in a row and are dangerously close to being dropped to the third division. With two games to play Derby sits just above the relegation zone. Derby plays at Swansea on Saturday.

NFL Draft: Irish LB; Big 12's best; 'Bama DT still on board

One of the best linebackers in college football, the top defensive tackles and the consensus best safety available are all still on the board heading into the second day of the NFL draft. The first round was dominated by quarterbacks, the Southeastern Conference and Alabama. The Big 12 and the Fighting Irish were shut out of the first 32 picks but that is likely to change quickly when Round 2 begins. Notre Dame's Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah was maybe the most surprising player to slip out of the first round. He won the Butkus Award as the nation's top linebacker.

Virus surge, vaccine shortages spread beyond India's borders

India has tried to fight skyrocketing coronavirus infections by increasing its production of vaccines and banning their export, cutting off supplies to neighbors such as Bangladesh and Nepal as they struggle with surges of their own. These nations have imposed lockdowns as residents of big cities flee to the countryside. Some are also turning to China and Russia for vaccines in a desperate effort to deal with a pandemic that is becoming bigger and deadlier across South Asia. Although new, more transmissible variants appear to be partly behind the surge, experts say other factors are contributing, including large holiday gatherings and fatigue with social distancing and mask wearing.

'We did it!': Minnesota exults at Census win at NY's expense

Minnesotans spent 18 months worrying over whether the 2020 Census would finally cost them a precious seat in Congress, expecting to lose one to faster-growing competitors in the South and West even if they found and counted every last soul in the state. Turns out they could have spared the concern. In Minnesota — a state that’s long seen itself as above average — residents voluntarily returned their census forms at the highest rate in the nation. Their dedication likely saved the day, and many took to social media to exult. As one wrote: “Never try and defeat Minnesota in a paperwork contest.”

Counting the costs of America's 20-year war in Afghanistan

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…

Key piece of Biden's $1.8T families plan expires after 2025

President Joe Biden couldn’t get everything he wanted into his own $1.8 trillion families plan. His proposed child tax credit is set to expire after 2025. It would provide parents with $300 a month for each child under 6 and $250 a month for older children. Democratic lawmakers are pushing hard to make the credit a permanent policy, but the administration said the annual costs were too high. Biden is embracing a dramatic shift from four decades of politics in which presidents focused more on containing government than expanding it. But the resistance to making the child tax credit permanent is a sign that there are some limits. 

Carper urges tough US rules barring gas-powered cars by 2035

A top Senate Democrat is urging U.S. anti-pollution standards that would follow a deal brokered by California with five automakers and then set targets to end sales of new gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035. That's a goal that appears to reach farther than President Joe Biden’s climate plan. In a letter sent late Thursday to the Environmental Protection Agency, Delaware Sen. Tom Carper says the administration must move forcefully in the auto sector to achieve Biden’s plan of slashing America’s greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030. California's framework deal would cut greenhouse gas emissions by 3.7% per year from 2022 through 2026 and raise fuel economy requirements by a like amount.

Mapping the Afghan war, while murky, points to Taliban gains

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Trying to map the long war in Afghanistan has become an increasingly challenging task ahead of the planned withdrawal of all U.S. forces. Since the U.S.-led invasion of 2001 and subsequent overthrow of Afghanistan's…

Inbee Park tied for lead at LPGA event in Singapore

Hee Young Park birdied her final hole to move into a tie for the lead with Inbee Park at the HSBC Women’s World Championship at Sentosa Golf Club. Hee Young Park shot 68 and No. 2-ranked Inbee Park shot 69 for two-round totals of 11-under 133. Hyo Joo Kim was two strokes behind in a tie for third with Lin Xiyu. Former Women’s PGA champion Hannah Green shot 66 and now has 14 consecutive rounds under par.

India cases up as scientists appeal to Modi to release data

Indian scientists have appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to publicly release virus data that would allow them to save lives as coronavirus cases climbed again, prompting the army to open its hospitals in a desperate bid to control a massive humanitarian crisis. India’s pandemic response has been marred by insufficient data and the online appeal — signed by over 350 scientists Friday afternoon — asks government to release data about the sequencing of virus variants, testing, recovered patients and how people were responding to vaccines. Meanwhile, families continued to flood social media and messaging apps with pleas for help: oxygen, beds, medicines, intensive care units and wood for funeral pyres. India has set a daily global record for more than a week. 

Betting millions on QBs who can turn clubs around on a dime

Following the highest-scoring season in league history, the NFL draft proved its clubs are more committed than ever to keep lighting up the scoreboard. The first three players selected were quarterbacks, the next three receivers and the lion's share of the rest of the first 32 picks were designed to help or hinder those first two groups from playing pitch and catch. Not surprising, Alabama and the SEC dominated the selections and the day's hottest rumor was about Aaron Rodgers, a quarterback who was drafted 15 years ago and may want out of Green Bay.  

Beyond the pandemic: London votes for a mayor during crisis

Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic have hit London in a perfect storm. In 2021, the city has fewer people, fewer businesses, starker divisions and tougher choices than anyone could have expected. On May 6, Londoners will elect a mayor, whose performance will help determine whether this is a period of decline for Europe’s biggest city — or a chance to do things better. Mayor Sadiq Khan of the Labour Party, who is favored to win re-election, says his top priority is preserving jobs threatened by the economic blow of the pandemic. Rival Shaun Bailey of the Conservatives says his top priority is reducing crime. Whoever wins will face the challenge of leading London's fight back from its biggest shock for generations.

Jets draft BYU QB Wilson, trade up to take USC G Vera-Tucker

The New York Jets selected BYU quarterback Zach Wilson with the No. 2 overall pick in the NFL draft. Wilson had been linked to the Jets for the last few months and New York made him the newest face of a frustrated franchise that has gone 10 seasons without making the playoffs and 52 without reaching the Super Bowl. The Jets also traded up from No. 23 and acquired the No. 14 pick from Minnesota to select USC offensive lineman Alijah Vera-Tucker and give Wilson a protector up front on New York's offensive line.

Packers GM: 'We are not going to trade Aaron Rodgers'

Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst says he can’t envision any scenario in which he’d deal quarterback Aaron Rodgers. ESPN reported Thursday that Rodgers doesn’t want to return to the Packers. Gutekunst responded to the report by saying that “we are committed to Aaron in 2021 and beyond.” The 49ers asked the Packers about Rodgers but were turned away and wound up picking quarterback Trey Lance with the third overall pick.

NFL draft: Players selected in the first round

Quarterbacks Trevor Lawrence of Clemson and Zac Wilson of BYU were the first two players off the board, as expected, in the NFL draft. The San Francisco 49ers made it three straight QBs with North Dakota State's Trey Lance before Florida's Kyle Pitts became the highest selected tight end at No. 4 to Atlanta. Seven offensive players went off the board before a defensive player went and four quarterbacks were taken in the first 11 picks.