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BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s health minister said Thursday that the European Union doesn't plan to order Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine but his country will hold talks with Russia on whether an individual order makes sense. The EU’s executive Commission…

IQUITOS, Peru (AP) — When Adriana Wong reached the field in the Amazon forest, she was confused. There were dozens of crosses planted in the red soil, but nothing to distinguish her father’s grave. “Are you sure my dad is…

Two young men who caused a sensation four years ago when they created their own gory zombie movie are back, this time in a documentary championed by a Hollywood luminary. The film chronicles their tenacious effort to see their silver screen dream come to fruition. Sam Suchmann and Mattie Zufelt both have Down syndrome. They scripted, produced and starred in 2016′s “Spring Break Zombie Massacre.” They are featured in the documentary released this week called “Sam & Mattie Make a Zombie Movie.” The film has the backing of Oscar-winning Hollywood producer Peter Farrelly, a mentor and friend.

Holocaust survivors are taking to social media to share their experiences of how hate speech paved the way for mass murder. They are doing this to counter the rise of online anti-Semitism during the pandemic and because studies have shown that younger generations lack even basic knowledge of the Nazi genocide. With short video messages recounting their stories, survivors are taking part in the #ItStartedWithWords campaign that launched Thursday. It aims to educate people about how the Nazis embarked upon an insidious campaign for years to dehumanize and marginalize Jews — well before death camps like Auschwitz, Treblinka and Sobibor were established to carry out murder on an industrial scale.

The traditional French Open schedule is being disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic for the second year in a row. Organizers say the clay-court Grand Slam tennis tournament will be delayed by one week because of surging virus cases in France. The French Open was scheduled to start on May 23 but will now get underway on May 30. The French tennis federation says the decision was taken in order to maximize chances the event will be played “in front of as many spectators as possible” in a safe environment. Last year’s tournament was pushed back to September because of the health crisis and crowds were limited to 1,000 per day.

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — Bosnia is seeing a rise in coronavirus infections among migrants and refugees living in its camps, as it struggles to cope with one of the Balkans' highest COVID-19 death and infection rates among the general population.…

The Toronto Blue Jays are set to become the first team in Major League Baseball history to play home openers in three different cities over three consecutive seasons. Bo Bichette, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and the Jays host the Angels on Thursday night at TD Ballpark in Dunedin, Florida, their spring training stadium. The Blue Jays played in Toronto in 2019. They held home games at their Triple-A site in Buffalo last year after the Canadian government barred them over coronavirus concerns. A limited-capacity crowd of about 1,300 is expected at TD Ballpark. The Cardinals, Mets and several other teams play their home openers.

Nepal’s “God of Sight” eye doctor renowned for his innovative and inexpensive cataract surgery for the poor is taking his work beyond the Himalayan mountains so there is no more unnecessary blindness in the world. Dr. Sanduk Ruit, who has won many awards and performed some 130,000 cataract surgeries, is aiming to expand his work globally. The new foundation has set the target of 500,000 cataract surgeries in less than five years in different parts of the world. At the latest free camp for the poor in southern Nepal, hundreds were fortunate enough to receive the surgery from Ruit who many compared him with god who has restored their eyesight and given them new lives.

Devin Booker scored 35 points, Chris Paul added 29 and the Phoenix Suns beat the Utah Jazz 117-113 in overtime Wednesday night in an entertaining matchup between the top two teams in the NBA. Booker had a couple of clutch mid-range jumpers to keep the Jazz behind and Paul made a 3-pointer with a minute left that pushed Phoenix ahead 114-108. Utah pulled to 114-112 on Mike Conley’s layup with 21 seconds left, but could never tie it. Paul hit two free throws with 7.8 seconds left to finally seal it and wrap up the season series with a game left. Phoenix has won seven in a row. Donovan Mitchell led Utah with 41 points.

As the COVID-19 pandemic killed more than a half-million Americans, it also quietly inflamed what was before it one of the country’s greatest public health crises: addiction. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that more than 88,000 people died of drug overdoses in the 12 months ending in August 2020. That's the highest number of overdose deaths ever recorded in a year. Huntington was once ground zero for the addiction epidemic. But after a hard-fought battle, the overdose rate plummeted. Until the pandemic arrived, and undid much of their hard work. 

BANGKOK (AP) — Shares were mostly higher in Asia on Thursday after a mixed close on Wall Street, where gains for several Big Tech stocks nudged the S&P 500 to a second record high in three days. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225…

U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland will visit Utah this week before submitting a review on national monuments in the state. Residents there have both staunchly supported establishing and increasing the size of national monuments, and fiercely rallied against them. Haaland is the latest Interior secretary tasked with making recommendations on where the boundaries lie. Her input comes after President Donald Trump's administration decided to downsize two national monuments in southern Utah. She's expected to submit a report to President Joe Biden after she meets with tribes and elected leaders at Bears Ears National Monument on Thursday.

The St. Louis Blues have lost seven in a row and are running out of time to salvage their season and make the playoffs. Less than two years since winning the Stanley Cup, the Blues face an uphill climb to even qualify for the NHL postseason. They're five points back of the final spot in the Western Division with 18 games to go. But 14 of those 18 games are against the top three teams in the West: Vegas, Colorado or Minnesota. Coach Craig Berube's team needs to find its game quickly or it will be lamenting another rough ending to a season.

Jill Biden is bringing a new focus to the cause of supporting America's military families. The first lady has announced the next chapter for a decade-old military family support program that she and then-first lady Michelle Obama led during the Obama administration. Jill Biden says the relaunched Joining Forces will focus on employment and entrepreneurship opportunities for military families, education for the more than 2 million children of enlisted parents and veterans, and the overall health and well-being of these families. Also on Wednesday, she visited the Military OneSource call center, a Defense Department operation that provides 24/7 support to service members and their families.

Tyler Naquin hit another leadoff home run and the high-scoring Cincinnati Reds kept rolling, backing Luis Castillo to rout the Pittsburgh Pirates 11-4 for their fifth straight win. The Reds have started a season 5-1 for the first time since 2016. They outscored the Pirates 30-8 in the three-game series sweep. Their 56 runs are the most in Reds franchise history through the first six games of a season. The 1976 Big Red Machine scored 51 en route to a second straight championship.  Naquin hit a leadoff homer for the second straight day. Nick Castellanos, Tyler Stephenson and Aristides Aquino also homered for the Reds.

Virginia has become the first Southern state to legalize marijuana. Lawmakers voted Wednesday to approve Gov. Ralph Northam’s proposed changes to a bill to allow adults in Virginia to possess and cultivate small amounts starting in July. Northam sent the bill back to lawmakers substantially changed from the version they sent him in February. The amendments lawmakers agreed to Wednesday would accelerate the timeline of legalization by about three years. It will be years before legal retail sales follow legalized possession. The legislation lays out a complex process of creating a new state agency to oversee the marijuana marketplace, with sales beginning in 2024.