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Beyond the pandemic: London tourism braces for slow recovery

The pandemic has dealt a blow to London’s tourism industry, which employs one in seven of the capital’s workers. Even top attractions like the Tower of London have struggled as COVID-19 curtailed international tourism. After enduring three national lockdowns, attractions and hospitality businesses in London are making tentative plans to reopen from mid-May. But deep uncertainty about the coronavirus remains. With quarantine requirements and travel restrictions still in place everywhere and Europe battling a new surge of infections, many are bracing for another bleak year. Industry experts are confident tourists will return eventually, but a big question mark is whether business travel will ever be the same again. 

Gonzaga's bid for a perfect season moves on to Final Four

Gonzaga’s countdown to perfection has ticked to two. The Bulldogs are back in the Final Four, two wins from becoming the first undefeated team since the 1976 Indiana Hoosiers. And, after all those upsets, the March Madness apex in the Hoosier State will be a high-seeded affair. Gonzaga is a No. 1 seed. So is Baylor. Houston, a 2. UCLA is an 11, but it's also the all-time leaders in national championships. There also will be a trip down Southwest Conference memory lane on the Texas side of the bracket.

Suns turn away late Hawks rally for a 117-110 victory

Devin Booker scored 21 points, Dario Saric added 20 and the Phoenix Suns held on in the final minutes to beat the Atlanta Hawks 117-110 on Tuesday night. The Suns have won six of their past seven games, while the Hawks have dropped four of five. Phoenix’s Jae Crowder added 19 points and made 5 of 8 of his 3-point attempts. Bogdan Bogdanovic led Atlanta with 22 points and Trae Young had 19 points and 13 assists.

Betts hits 2 HRs in final spring training game of the year

Mookie Betts put an exclamation point on the exhibition season. In the final spring training game of the year, Betts hit two home runs Tuesday night and the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Los Angeles Angels 6-4. The star outfielder had only one RBI this spring before connecting at Dodger Stadium for his first two homers. Elsewhere, former All-Star pitcher Mike Soroka took a big step toward getting back on a regular-season mound. Soroka worked two innings and gave up a run for the Atlanta Braves in his 2021 debut in his comeback from a torn Achilles tendon.

Stanford rallies to beat Louisville 78-63, reach Final Four

Lexie Hull scored 21 points and Stanford reached the Final Four by rallying for a 78-63 victory over Louisville. Next up for the top-seeded Cardinal is South Carolina on Friday night in a rematch of the 2017 national semifinals. UConn and Arizona meet in the other national semifinal. Stanford trailed by 12 midway through the third quarter before scoring 13 consecutive points to take its first lead since early in the game.

Next slide, please: Inside wonky White House virus briefings

WASHINGTON (AP) — No matter how encouraging Andy Slavitt's news is at the government’s coronavirus briefings, he can always count on next-up Dr. Rochelle Walensky to deliver a downbeat. After the tumultuous briefings of the Trump era — when top…

Australia to build guided missiles to boost defense capacity

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Australia announced Wednesday it would begin building its own guided missiles in close collaboration with the U.S. as it seeks to boost its defense capabilities. The news comes amid growing unease in the Pacific region…

1st-timer Arizona joins mainstays in women's NCAA Final Four

Adia Barnes will part of a couple of firsts in the women's NCAA Final Four. She has taken her alma mater Arizona there for the first time in program history. With Barnes and South Carolina's Dawn Staley, this will be first Final Four with two teams coached by Black women. Arizona plays its first national semifinal game against 11-time national champion UConn. The Huskies are making their 13th consecutive Final Four appearance and record 21st overall. The Gamecocks, the 2017 national champions, play No. 1 overall seed Stanford in the other semifinal game Friday night in the Alamodome in San Antonio.

South Carolina drubs Texas 62-34 to reach Final Four

Zia Cooke scored 16 points and South Carolina used its stifling defense to advance to the Final Four for the third time, shutting down Texas for a 62-34 victory. Top-seeded South Carolina blocked 14 shots, nine by Laeticia Amihere, and held No. 6 Texas to 23% shooting. The Longhorns were outscored 10-0 in the fourth quarter. Destanni Henderson and Victaria Saxton each scored 12 for the Gamecocks, and Amihere also had 10 points and eight rebounds.

Barty, Medvedev rise to challenge on tough day at Miami Open

Aryna Sabalenka clearly labored in the final set of her match. Frances Tiafoe seemed to barely have the energy needed to reach the post-match handshake. Conditions were tough at the Miami Open. The top seeds, however, were up to the challenge. World No. 1 Ash Barty of Australia won the final nine points to finish off the seventh-seeded Sabalenka in a three-set women’s quarterfinal Tuesday, while men’s top-seeded Daniil Medvedev of Russia reached the quarters with a straight-set win over Tiafoe. Sebastian Korda of the U.S. made the quarterfinals.

2 ex-Texas sheriff deputies indicted in Black man's death

Prosecutors say two former Texas sheriff deputies have been indicted on manslaughter charges in the March 2019 death of a 40-year-old Black man named Javier Ambler. The announcement Tuesday comes two years after Ambler's death was filmed by the police reality TV series “Live PD." The former postal worker was shocked repeatedly with a stun gun after being pulled over in suburban Austin for allegedly failing to dim his headlights to oncoming traffic. Former Williamson County Sheriff’s Deputies James Johnson and Zachary Camden are both charged with second-degree manslaughter. Bail was set at $150,000. 

Quite a show: Zags stay undefeated with 85-66 win over USC

Gonzaga got on a roll and put on a show, moving to 30-0 on the season and cruising into the Final Four with an 85-66 victory against Southern California. Drew Timme scored 23 points to help the top-seeded and top-ranked Bulldogs become the third team to bring an undefeated record into the Final Four since the bracket expanded to 64 teams in 1985. The last team to go undefeated was Indiana in 1976. On Saturday in the national semifinals, the Bulldogs will face the winner of a later Elite Eight matchup between UCLA and Michigan.

Analysis: Triple-doubles no longer a rarity in the NBA

It’s the 3-point era in the NBA. The massive-salary era. The LeBron James era. It’s also the triple-double era. If it seems like triple-doubles are happening more often than ever, that’s because they are — by a huge margin. On average, the NBA has seen someone put up at least 10 of this, 10 of that and 10 of those in one out of every seven games this season. That rate is up 47% over last season, plus represents a staggering 700% increase over how often they happened just nine years ago. And they happen with such regularity now that they barely seem like a big deal anymore.

COLUMN: Bristol avoided the mess most feared for a dirt race

Bristol Motor Speedway hosted NASCAR’s first Cup Series race since 1970 and by most measures it was a success. There were plenty of concerns in the buildup to the anticipated event, but it ran without a problem on Monday. Speedway Motorsports has already said the 2022 race at Bristol will again be on dirt. 

Official collapses, wheeled off court on stretcher

Official Bert Smith collapsed on the floor early in the Elite Eight game between Gonzaga and Southern California and had to be taken off the court on a stretcher. Smith had just set up on the baseline as the Trojans were moving onto offense when he collapsed and hit his head on the floor. He stayed down for about five minutes, and then was able to stand up and move to a nearby stretcher. He was alert and sitting up with his arms crossed as he was taken off the court. In a statement, NCAA spokesman David Worlock said Smith is stable and won’t be transported to a hospital.

2 members of Salt Lake City's 'Real Housewives' arrested

Two members of “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” reality television show have appeared in court after being arrested on federal fraud charges related to a telemarketing scheme. Authorities announced that Jennifer Shah and Stuart Smith were arrested Tuesday in Utah on charges unsealed in New York City. Manhattan U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said Shah portrays herself as a wealthy and successful businessperson on television while Smith is cast as her first assistant. But Strauss says their “so-called business opportunities” they pushed on their victims were actually fraud schemes motivated by greed. Shah’s attorney Sam Meziani declined comment as he exited the court with Shah, who remained silent.

Lawsuit targets Virginia's policies on transgender students

A faith-based conservative group has filed a lawsuit challenging Virginia's new state guidelines on the treatment of transgender students in public schools. The lawsuit alleges that the policies violate parental child-rearing rights and students’ rights to freely exercise their religion. It was filed Tuesday by The Family Foundation of Virginia and a parent from Hanover County. It asks the court to send the model policies back to the state Department of Education to revise them. The suit alleges that the department failed to adequately respond during a public comment period to complaints that the policies violate the constitutional rights of students, teachers and parents. 

NCAA President to meet with protesting basketball players

NCAA President Mark Emmert is planning to meet this week with a group of basketball players who used a social media campaign at the start of March Madness to protest rules banning athletes from earning money from their names, images and likenesses. Emmert is scheduled to hold a video conference call with Michigan's Isaiah Livers, Iowa's Jordan Bohannon and Rutgers' Geo Baker on Thursday ay 9 a.m. EDT, a spokesman for the players said. The three players used the Twitter hashtag #NotNCAAProperty to raise awareness of what they believe are inequities in college sports two days before the men's basketball tournament started in Indianapolis. 

GOP governors ignore Biden's latest plea on mask mandates

President Joe Biden’s pleas for states to stick with mask mandates to slow the spread of the coronavirus are being largely ignored. Several Republican governors are staying on track to drop the requirement in their states. On Monday, Biden and the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said this is no time to relax safety measures. In a call on Tuesday with governors, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky buttressed that message by citing national COVID-19 trends. She said the seven-day average of 61,000 new COVID-19 cases per day is up 13%, and the seven-day average of deaths is up 6%.

White Sox slugger Jiménez has surgery for torn pectoral

Chicago White Sox outfielder Eloy Jiménez was having surgery Tuesday to repair a ruptured left pectoral tendon, and general manager Rick Hahn says the slugger still is expected to miss five to six months. Hahn says the timeline hasn’t changed, though he left the door open for Jiménez to return sooner. Jiménez was hurt last week in a spring training game against Oakland when he tried to make a leaping grab at the wall on a home run ball. The injury led to more questions about whether he is better suited for designated hitter than left field, where he has gotten hurt a couple times since his big league debut in 2019.

Column: Bennett looks at his arm to lean on father's advice

Texas A&M junior Sam Bennett makes his PGA Tour debut this week at the Valero Texas Open. He only wishes his father could be there to watch. Mark Bennett was diagnosed with Alzheimer's about seven years and now cannot put together a sentence. Bennett says the last time his father could speak to him, he told him, “Don't wait to do something.” His father wrote it out, and that handwritten note became a tattoo on Bennett's left arm. He looks at it before hitting every shot. Bennett earned his spot in the Texas Open by winning the Cabo Collegiate.

Jones, Smith, Harris reconnect at Alabama's pro day No. 2

DeVonta Smith was there for quarterback Mac Jones once again. This time it was at Alabama’s second pro day. The Heisman Trophy-winning wide receiver seemed to have little left to prove for NFL teams on the field, but showed up to help Jones. The QB threw a series of different routes, including some deep balls, to players like favored targets Smith and tailback Najee Harris in his second outing before NFL personnel that included several head coaches and general managers. Smith was a late addition to the target list, though he’s already regarded as a likely top-10 pick.

'Major' pain: Biden's dog involved in 2nd biting incident

President Joe Biden’s dog Major on Monday was involved in his second biting incident this month. The White House says the dog "nipped someone while on a walk,” adding that the dog “is still adjusting to his new surroundings.” The first lady's office says the person was seen by the White House Medical Unit “out of an abundance of caution” and “returned to work without injury." The german shepherd and his sibling, Champ, returned to the White House just last week after causing a minor injury to an employee of the U.S. Secret Service.