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The organizers of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics have started 10 days of testing for the hockey and other indoor venues. A curling mixed doubles competition was held at the refashioned “Water Cube.” That was where the swimming events were held at the 2008 Olympics. Men’s hockey players drilled at the nearby National Indoor Stadium. Figure skating and speedskating venues will also be given a run-through during the April 1-10 test events. Only Chinese athletes are participating in the events because of the coronavirus pandemic.

NEW YORK (AP) — Who needs safety when the world's about to get back to normal? Risky stocks seen as nearly untouchable a year ago burst to the market's best performances during the first three months of 2021, headlining a…

PARIS (AP) — France's prime minister on Thursday defended new nationwide measures to combat a resurgent coronavirus in France that include closing schools for at least three weeks and putting in place a month-long domestic travel ban, saying the government…

Twenty years ago, the mayor of Amsterdam married four couples in City Hall as the Netherlands became the first country with legalized same-sex marriages. Today, same-sex marriage is legal in 28 countries worldwide, including most of Western Europe. Yet its spread has been uneven. The self-governing island of Taiwan is the only place in Asia to take the step; South Africa is the only African country to do so. Added together, the countries with same-sex marriage are home to about 1.2 billion people, roughly 15% of the world’s population. They include 16 countries in Western Europe, the United States, Canada, Costa Rica, five South American countries, Australia and New Zealand.

AMSTERDAM (AP) — A huge inflatable pink cake with candles spouting rainbow flames glided through Amsterdam's canals Thursday as the Dutch capital celebrated the 20th anniversary of the world's first legal same-sex marriages. But even as the city marked the…

A bill introduced by two U.S. Senators would require schools to share the profits they make from revenue-generating sports with that athletes that play those games. An Associated Press survey of Division I athletic directors found 69% said they would strongly oppose “being required to give college athletes a share of university revenue derived from sports.” Another 19.6% said they what somewhat oppose sharing athletic department revenue with athletes. Almost 77% of athletic directors said many fewer schools would be competitive in sports if schools had to share revenue with athletes and another 13% said somewhat fewer schools would be competitive.

The Tokyo Olympic torch relay has run into trouble after the governor of Osaka prefecture and the mayor of the city of Osaka asked that the relay going through the city be canceled with the games opening in less than four months. Osaka prefecture and two others have been selected to come under strict new measures to counter rising cases of COVID-19. Osaka Mayor Ichiro Matsui says “it's very unfortunate but I think we should call it off” because “people tend to gather and those places get crowded.” Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura echoed the mayor. He says ”I think the torch relay through the middle of Osaka should be canceled."

A new AP survey of athletic directors and conversations with ADs and conference commissioners during March Madness show concern about what would happen to women's college sports under proposals that would put more money in the pockets of some athletes. The most striking of the survey results released Thursday is that 94% of respondents say it would be somewhat or much more difficult to comply with Title IX gender equity rules if their school were to compensate athletes in football and men's basketball. More than 70% said some sports would lose funding or be cut. An AP count showed only 14% of Division I ADs are women.

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Africa is unlikely to meet its targets for vaccinating the continent against COVID-19 if supply delays from a key Indian manufacturer continue, the director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned Thursday. Dr.…

The Los Angeles County sheriff says detectives have determined what caused Tiger Woods to crash his SUV last month in Southern California but declined to release details, citing unspecified privacy concerns for the golf star. Woods suffered serious injuries in the Feb. 23 crash just outside Los Angeles. He is in Florida recovering from multiple surgeries. Sheriff Alex Villanueva on Wednesday said detectives have determined what caused the collision but claimed investigators need permission from Woods to release information about the crash. Woods previously named his yacht “Privacy.”  A police expert refuted Villanueva's privacy claims.

MADRID (AP) — Spain’s Madrid region halted COVID-19 vaccinations Thursday at health centers for four days so medical staff can rest over the Easter holiday, despite pleas from the national government not to halt the fight against surging infections. The…

Overwhelmed and underprepared, U.S. authorities are releasing migrant families on the Mexican border without notices to appear in immigration court or sometimes without any paperwork at all. U.S. immigration authorities say court notices often take hours to prepare and describes the move as a way to save time. The rapid releases ease pressure on the Border Patrol and its badly overcrowded holding facilities but shift work to Immigration and Customs and Enforcement, which enforces immigration laws within the United States. Migrants are now being told to report to ICE within 60 days.

Officials in the nation’s capital are watching the crowds as cherry blossom season begins in earnest. The distinctive white and pink petals reached full bloom last Sunday, about a week earlier than expected. It’s an event that normally brings in thousands of visitors and signals the unofficial start of Washington, D.C.’s, peak tourist and convention season. But Washington remains largely locked down with limitations on outdoor gatherings and all Smithsonian museums, plus the zoo, shuttered because of the coronavirus. The National Park Service stands poised to limit access to the Tidal Basin and its high concentration of cherry blossom trees if the crowds there grow too thick. 

BLANTYRE, Malawi (AP) — Malawi is vaccinating health care workers, the elderly and those with health conditions that put them at higher risk of severe COVID-19, using the AstraZeneca doses that arrived early in March. People are lining up to…

Joachim Löw’s explanations of what went wrong in the German national team’s latest humiliating loss have become a familiar ritual. The 2-1 loss to North Macedonia in World Cup qualifying followed other low points like an early exit at the 2018 World Cup and a 6-0 loss to Spain last year. Löw is trying to rebuild the team before he steps down after this year's European Championship but it hasn't worked. That is despite the German players mostly doing well for their clubs. Speculation is mounting about who will replace Löw. Recent results mean the new coach will have the advantage of low expectations.

NEW DELHI (AP) — There isn’t any room at Sion Hospital in India’s megacity, Mumbai - approximately all 500 beds reserved for COVID-19 patients are occupied. And with new patients coming in daily, a doctor said the hospital is being…

For much of college basketball, this March has represented a step forward on the path to normalcy. In Division III, however, the national tournaments were canceled. The top teams still had plenty to play for. The women's team at Hope College in Michigan extended its winning streak to a school-record 45 games and finished a second straight undefeated season. Randolph-Macon, the top-ranked men’s team, went unbeaten as well. And after their conference tournament was done, the Yellow Jackets beat Trine in one final game that pitted No. 1 vs. No. 2 from the D3hoops.com poll.