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Russia defends foreign navy limits amid buildup near Ukraine

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia insisted Tuesday that it has the right to restrict foreign naval ships' movement off Crimea, rejecting international criticism amid Western worries about a Russian troops buildup near Ukraine. Ukraine last week protested the Russian move to…

Andre Odom went from scouting players to representing them

Andre Odom worked as a graduate assistant at Temple after his college football career ended and eventually landed a job as a scouting assistant with the Chicago Bears before he transitioned to representing players instead of evaluating them.  He made the right move. When NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell steps to the podium next Thursday night in Cleveland to announce the first-round draft picks, two of Odom’s clients — Florida tight end Kyle Pitts and Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons — could be picked in the top 10. Another client, Penn State defensive end Jayson Oweh, also could go in the first round.

US takes steps to protect electric system from cyberattacks

The Biden administration is taking steps to protect the country’s electric system from cyberattacks through a new 100-day initiative combining federal government agencies and private industry. The initiative was announced Tuesday by the Energy Department. It encourages owners and operators of power plants and electric utilities to bolster their capabilities for identifying cyber threats to their networks. It includes concrete milestones for them to put into use technologies so they can spot and respond to intrusions in real time. The effort underscores the heightened concern about the prospects for cyberattacks that disrupt the nation’s power supply. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm says it's up to government and industry “to prevent possible harms.”

Facebook prepares for Chauvin verdict by enforcing its rules

Facebook is stepping up the enforcement of its rules ahead of the verdict in former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin’s murder trial in George Floyd’s death. The social media giant is stepping up its content-moderation efforts. It says it wants to protect peaceful protests and limit content that could lead to civil unrest or violence. Steps it’s taking include identifying and removing calls to bring arms to areas in Minneapolis, which it has temporarily deemed to be a high-risk location and removing material that “praises, celebrates or mocks George Floyd’s death.”

Canceled combine a bummer but invite still a golden ticket

The NFL scouting combine has become a capstone to many a college football career. But this year's gathering was canceled over COVID-19 concerns. That left prospects with the pro days on their campuses to show off for scouts. Even though the combine didn't happen this year an invitation to the gathering was still considered a golden ticket for the 323 players who were “invited” to the reimagined combine that was based on 103 pro days spread across six weeks this spring.

On Basketball: Stephen Curry shooting his way into history

Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors is on a shooting run like perhaps none other in NBA history. He has 78 3-pointers in his last 11 games, the most ever in such a span. His numbers are comparable to the season in which he was the unanimous NBA MVP. And he's just done something that no player, age 33 or older, in NBA history has ever accomplished by scoring at least 30 points in 11 consecutive games.

Black Pumas, Machine Gun Kelly to perform at NFL draft

Grammy Award nominated rock & soul duo Black Pumas and Cleveland’s own Machine Gun Kelly will perform at next week’s NFL draft. The league announced its musical acts for the second and third days of the draft, which is back on the road after being all virtual last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. A massive stage has been constructed near FirstEnergy Stadium and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame to host the three-day event from April 29 to May 1. Black Pumas will perform after the third round is completed on April 30. Machine Gun Kelly will close the festivities the following day.

Balancing act: Dutch PM eases lockdown amid infection rise

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Dutch caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced a significant easing in his country's months-long coronavirus lockdown Tuesday, calling it a delicate balancing act as infections remain stubbornly high. The decision to cautiously relax restrictions reflects…

North Carolina won't pass bill to ban youth trans procedures

A top North Carolina GOP lawmaker will not advance a proposal seeking to limit medical treatments for transgender people under 21. The measure put forward by three Republicans earlier this month would have prohibited doctors from providing gender-confirming hormone treatment, puberty blockers or surgery to minors and young adults. State employees would have been required to tell parents if their child expressed desire to be treated in a way that is incompatible with the gender they were assigned at birth. LGBTQ advocates are glad the bill will not go forward but worry about the harm it has already done.

Ex-Jack Daniel's distiller to make new whiskey in Tennessee

The former top distiller at Jack Daniel’s is opening a new distillery near the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee. Former Jack Daniel’s master distiller Jeff Arnett and several partners on Tuesday announced the plan to open Company Distilling in Tennessee. Later this year, they will open a 4,000-square-foot tasting room and restaurant in Townsend. A 20,000-square-foot main distillery in Alcoa and a tasting room in Thompson Station, closer to Nashville, will follow next year. The distillery will make straight bourbon whiskey finished with maple wood. Arnett left Jack Daniel's late last year after a nearly 20-year stint with the powerhouse whiskey maker. 

Daily Mail owner files antitrust suit against Google in US

The owner of the Daily Mail website is suing Google, saying the tech company’s dominance in online advertising has harmed its business. The suit, filed Monday in federal court in New York, says Google punishes publishers’ search results if they don’t sell enough ad space through Google. Federal and state antitrust authorities have sued Google. The Justice Department alleges that Google abuses its dominance in online search and advertising. A West Virginia newspaper company, HD Media, also sued Google and Facebook in January. Google said the Daily Mail's claims are inaccurate and it will defend itself against them.

Johnson & Johnson Q1 profit, sales jump, beat Street views

Big jumps in sales of prescription drugs and medical devices helped Johnson & Johnson boost first-quarter profit nearly 7%, blowing past Wall Street forecasts. The health care giant on Tuesday raised and narrowed its 2021 financial forecasts. It reported a small drop in consumer health sales versus 2020’s first quarter, when consumers stocked up on over-the-counter medicines as the coronavirus pandemic set in and lockdowns began. Meanwhile, European safety monitors said their review of a handful of blood clots in people receiving J&J's vaccine found it's a very rare risk that's outweighed by the vaccine's benefits. The US review of the clots continues.

Pakistani Parliament debates whether to expel French envoy

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A lawmaker from Pakistan's ruling party Tuesday kicked off a debate on whether the French ambassador should be expelled over the publication in France of controversial cartoons depicting Islam’s Prophet Muhammad. The resolution from Amjad Ali,…

Negotiators see signs of progress in Iran nuclear talks

BERLIN (AP) — Diplomats working in Vienna on a solution to bringing the United States back into the nuclear deal with Iran and world powers are taking a break from talks to consult with their leaders amid continued signs of…

EU agency links J&J shot to rare clots, says odds favor use

The European Union’s drug regulatory agency says it found a “possible link” between Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine and extremely rare blood clots and that a warning should be added to the label. But experts at the agency reiterated that the vaccine’s benefits outweigh the risks. The European Medicines Agency announced its findings Tuesday after a very small number of vaccine recipients in the United States were reported to have developed blood clots. The agency said a warning about the blood clots should be added to labels for the Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine and that these rare blood disorders should be considered “very rare side effects of the vaccine.”

Oscar predictions: Can anything beat 'Nomadland'?

Ahead of Sunday’s 93rd Academy Awards, Associated Press Film Writers Jake Coyle and Lindsey Bahr share their predictions for a ceremony that is forging on in the midst of the pandemic. BEST PICTURE The Nominees: “The Father,”“Judas and the Black…

Steelers sign coach Mike Tomlin to 3-year contract extension

Mike Tomlin is sticking with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The club announced its longtime coach has signed a contract extension that runs through the 2024 season. Tomlin is 145-78-1 in 14 years with the Steelers with one Super Bowl victory. The deal means Tomlin will likely be part of the process whenever quarterback Ben Roethlisberger opts to retire. The 39-year-old Roethlisberger is returning for the 2021 season but the team has no heir apparent in place.

Bush criticizes GOP isolationism, anti-immigration rhetoric

George W. Bush says the Republican Party he served as president has become “isolationist, protectionist and, to a certain extent, nativist.” Bush says he’s especially concerned about anti-immigration rhetoric. Bush says America “is a beautiful country” but not "when we condemn, call people names and scare people about immigration.” Bush told NBC his new book, “Out of Many, One: Portraits of America’s Immigrants,” aims to ”elevate the discourse.” Bush was in New York on Tuesday to preside over a naturalization ceremony. Bush did not mention former President Donald Trump, who aggressively curbed legal and illegal immigration and sought to build a wall at the southwest border with Mexico to keep out migrants.

Pandemic puts tulips, bluebells, cherry blossoms in hiding

There is no stopping flowers when they bloom, blossoms when they burst. Unfortunately, there is stopping people to enjoy them these days. From Japan’s cherry blossom trees, to the endless Keukenhof tulip fields in the Netherlands, to the riot of purple bluebells in the Hallerbos south of Brussels, everything looks its best this spring when visiting conditions are at its worst. The second year in a row efforts are being made to keep people away from the joys of nature. 

Laschet wins battle to lead Merkel's bloc in German election

BERLIN (AP) — Armin Laschet, the governor of Germany’s most populous state, emerged victorious Tuesday from a bruising power struggle and became the candidate of Angela Merkel’s center-right bloc to succeed the longtime chancellor in the country's September election. Laschet,…

UEFA president urges Super League owners to reverse decision

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has directly appealed to the owners of English clubs in the Super League project to change their minds out of respect for soccer fans. Ceferin both cajoled and criticized the six-club English group made up of American billionaires, Arab royalty and a Russian oligarch. They launched the Super League plan in alliance with three clubs from each of Italy and Spain. Ceferin says “you made a huge mistake.” He says it doesn't matter if they acted out of “arrogance, flippancy or complete ignorance of England’s football culture.” The UEFA president says there's time to change their minds.

Russia's feared prisons follow system from Soviet Gulag era

MOSCOW (AP) — Some Russian prisons might be mistaken for vacation destinations based on their nicknames, with animal appellations that include the Black Dolphin and the Polar Owl. But a hunger strike by jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny cast…

40,000 displaced in north Mozambique after assault on Palma

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Some 40,000 displaced and urgently needing food, work suspended on a multi-billion-dollar gas investment, and scores of dead still being counted. The damage caused by Mozambique's extremist rebels in their deadly assault on the northeastern town of…