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Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson has been sued by four more women who accuse him of sexual assault and harassment. The lawsuits were filed Thursday night. They came hours after the NFL said it was investigating earlier allegations by three massage therapists who said the 25-year-old quarterback sexually assaulted them during massages. Watson has broadly denied that he acted inappropriately. He said in a Tuesday statement that he looks forward to clearing his name. His attorney on Friday called the claims “meritless.” The women are all represented by Houston lawyer Tony Buzbee. At a Friday news conference, Buzbee said he expects to file more lawsuits and his firm is vetting additional claims from women.

Rick Pitino’s return to the NCAA Tournament is not some feel-good tale of redemption, no matter how others might try to portray it. Same goes for all those other coaches and players who got second, third, even fourth chances to make up for their transgressions _ or, even worse, have them shoved under a rug that no one is ever supposed to go looking for. The bottom line: Just because you have a penchant for winning, that doesn’t make you a winner.

Kentucky All-American Rhyne Howard can see the San Antonio River Walk bustling with life from the window of her hotel overlooking the city's iconic tourist destination. Hundreds of people _ a high percentage not wearing masks _ enjoying the restaurants, bars and shops lining the river. Such is life in Texas, where the governor has lifted his previous mask order and thrown open business “100 percent” if they so choose. Things are starting to loosen up. People are getting out, even as many businesses are still requiring customers to wear masks.

There are no Ivy League teams in the college basketball postseason. The conference didn’t play this season because of the coronavirus pandemic. But the league is still being represented in the NCAA Tournament on both the men’s and women’s sides. Some of the nation’s top teams have Ivy grad transfers making significant contributions, which is another indication of how much the conference has improved in recent years on the basketball court.

A woman who currently works in the office of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has told The New York Times that he looked down her shirt and made suggestive remarks to her and another aide. Alyssa McGrath said in a story published Friday that Cuomo called her beautiful in Italian and asked why she wasn’t wearing a wedding ring. McGrath is the first current aide to come forward publicly on the mounting allegations of sexual misconduct. A lawyer for Cuomo tells the Times that the governor has indeed used Italian phrases like “ciao bella" and greeted people with hugs and a kiss and dismissed the behavior as unremarkable if old-fashioned.

Justin Smith had 29 points and 13 rebounds, and Arkansas shut down high-scoring Colgate to open the NCAA Tournament with an 85-68 win. The 14th-seeded Raiders had upset pickers out of their seats early in the South Region opener with a slew of 3-pointers and a 16-2 run to go up 14. The No. 3 Razorbacks restored some bracket order with a 19-0 run spanning halftime and scored 10 straight points late to start pulling away. The Razorbacks, at times, just snatched the ball right out of the Raiders’ hands to set up shots in transition, scoring 34 points off Colgate’s 22 turnovers. 

A western Michigan restaurant owner has been ordered to jail until she pays $7,500 and closes her business. A judge says Marlena Pavlos-Hackney has put the public at risk during the coronavirus pandemic and defiantly refused to follow orders. She owns Marlena’s Bistro and Pizzeria in Holland. Investigators say Pavlos-Hackney was ignoring caps on restaurant capacity and wasn’t enforcing mask rules. Her food license was suspended Jan. 20, but the eatery remained open. Pavlos-Hackney’s attorney says she could immediately pay $7,500 and close the restaurant. Police arrested Pavlos-Hackney on Friday morning and detained her in Ingham County jail.

New York prosecutors have met for an eighth time with former Donald Trump personal attorney Michael Cohen as part of a criminal investigation of the former president's finances. Cohen met with investigators Friday at the Manhattan District Attorney's Office amid a swirl of new activity in the case. Prosecutors are examining whether Trump or his businesses lied about the value of assets. Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. recently obtained eight years of Trump’s tax records after a lengthy legal battle. Cohen was released to home confinement last year after serving federal prison time for tax evasion and campaign finance violations.

BRUSSELS (AP) — Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said Friday that the country faces a few “crucial weeks” as the number of coronavirus infections rise, and that the government has decided to pause its plans to gradually ease restrictions.…

Patrick Ewing and Georgetown are back in the NCAA Tournament. The 7-footer who helped the Hoyas win one national championship and reach two other finals in the 1980s is now coaching at his alma mater. Georgetown is a No. 12 seed and will play No. 5 Colorado in the East Region on Saturday. This is Ewing's fourth season and he is embracing carrying on the legacy of his coach at Georgetown, John Thompson. Ewing's team entered last week's Big East Tournament with a losing record but won the title to earn a trip to the NCAAs for the first time since 2015. 

The billions of dollars the NFL will be getting from broadcast partners over the next dozen years might seem like Monopoly money to fans. Then again, without that lifeblood, the NFL likely wouldn’t dominate as America’s most popular sport. The NFL negotiated 11-season deals — the league has an opt out after seven years — that will bring in $113 billion beginning in 2023. The contracts include a streaming service receiving pretty much equal treatment as Amazon Prime Video will be the home of “Thursday Night Football.”

Countries across Europe are resuming vaccinations with the AstraZeneca shot, as leaders sought to reassure their populations it is safe following brief suspensions that cast doubt on a vaccine that is critical to ending the coronavirus pandemic. France’s prime minister rolled up his sleeve to get the shot Friday and Britain’s planned to, as did a handful of other senior politicians across the continent. Inoculation drives in Europe have repeatedly stumbled and several countries are now reimposing lockdowns as infections rise in many places. The suspensions came after reports of blood clots in some recipients of the vaccine. On Thursday, the European Medicines Agency said that the vaccine doesn’t increase the overall incidence of blood clots.

Two more journalists have been detained in Myanmar, part of the junta’s intensifying efforts to choke off information about resistance to last month’s coup. Mizzima News reported that one of its former reporters and a journalist from the BBC’s Burmese-language service were detained by men who appeared to be plainclothes security agents. Than Htike Aung and Aung Thura were taken outside a court in the capital of Naypyitaw. The journalists were there to cover legal proceedings against Win Htein, a detained senior official from the National League for Democracy, the party that ran the country before the takeover. The coup reversed years of slow progress toward democracy after five decades of military rule.