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The games during the first week of the NCAA Tournament have still brought madness. But it’s a much quieter version. Restrictions due to the pandemic have limited crowds. Despite the restrictions, despite the lack of fans, the quiet atmospheres and being separate from friends and family, the joy is still there. Georgia Tech students roared inside Hinkle Fieldhouse until getting silenced by Loyola Chicago. Same with the hundreds of Grand Canyon students who were on hand for the first round matchup against Iowa. Coaches and players say it's different, but they are happy to be playing.

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkey’s weekly regional COVID-19 figures keep increasing and deaths rising as the country maintains more relaxed restrictions for now. The country's official death toll in the pandemic climbed to 30,061 Sunday, when the government reported 102 new…

WASHINGTON (AP) — A North Korean citizen was taken into U.S. custody on Saturday after being extradited from Malaysia to face money laundering charges, making him the first North Korean extradited to the U.S. to face trial. Mun Chol Myong…

As migrants surge at the U.S.-Mexico border, President Joe Biden’s administration has been caught on its heels and is now scrambling to manage a humanitarian and political challenge that threatens to overshadow its ambitious agenda. The White House dispatched Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to four Sunday news shows in an effort to stress that it was working to get things under control. Administration officials say Biden inherited an untenable situation that resulted from what they saw was President Donald Trump’s undermining and weakening of the immigration system. Images and stories from the border have begun to dominate the headlines, distracting from the White House’s efforts to promote the recently passed $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill. 

Lawmakers and advocates say if the suspect in the  deadly Atlanta-area shootings had been forced to wait before getting a gun, he might not have acted on his impulse. Police say the suspect legally bought a 9 mm handgun not long before the attack, which spread fear and anger through Asian American communities nationwide. Within hours, authorities say, he had killed eight people, seven of them women and six of Asian descent, in a rampage targeting massage businesses. Georgia and some other states are looking to create or expand waiting periods. But gun rights groups are opposed, and the legislation may face an uphill battle.

Local bars and halls run by Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion posts have fallen on hard times during the coronavirus pandemic. Organizers say many risk permanent closure after states ordered them, like other bars and halls, to shutter last spring. Local veterans groups argue that their facilities aren’t simply private watering holes and should have been allowed to reopen sooner. In New Bedford, Massachusetts, VFW Post 3260 dissolved and sold off its hall during the pandemic. Post leaders say the group fell victim to years of declining membership and a facility it simply couldn’t maintain with no revenue coming in.

Iran has made threats against an Army base in the nation's capital and against the Army’s vice chief of staff. That's according to two senior U.S. intelligence officials who weren't authorized to publicly discuss national security matters and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The threats are one reason the Army has pushed for more security around Fort McNair, which sits alongside Washington's bustling Waterfront District. City leaders are fighting the Army’s plan to add a wide buffer zone from the shore of the Washington Channel. That plan would cut off access to as much as half the width of the busy waterway. 

Manuel Feller won the season-ending World Cup slalom on Sunday by rising from sixth place after the first run. First-run leader Marco Schwarz lost speed in a difficult section of gates and dropped to sixth place. Schwarz already took the season-long slalom title. Feller benefited from his Austrian teammate’s error and finished 0.08 seconds ahead of Clément Noël of France. Alexis Pinturault placed third, 0.11 behind Feller. It ended Pinturault's season in style one day after winning a giant slalom to secure his first overall World Cup title.

The coronavirus pandemic that forced the cancellation of last year's NCAA Tournament returned with a vengeance. Virginia Commonwealth was informed that multiple players had tested positive for COVID-19 during their pregame meal, forcing the Rams to miss their first-round game against Oregon and go straight into quarantine. VCU coach Mike Rhoades says, “It just stinks.” There were a few surprises on Saturday: Tiny Abilene Christian, a 14 seed, took down Texas when Joe Pleasant — a 58.8% free-throw shooter — canned two from the line with 1.2 seconds left. And defending champion and fourth-seeded Virginia got clipped by No. 13 Ohio.

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkish police on Sunday detained a prominent pro-Kurdish party politician who was staging a days-long protest in parliament. He was released after questioning several hours later. Omer Faruk Gergerlioglu, from the Peoples’ Democratic Party, or HDP, refused…

An aggressive second run lifted teenager Alice Robinson ahead of Mikaela Shiffrin to win a giant slalom that ended the women’s World Cup ski season. Robinson had been fourth-fastest in the opening run trailing Shiffrin by 0.77 seconds. Robinson turned it into a victory by 0.28 seconds at Lenzerheide. It was the 19-year-old New Zealander’s third win in giant slalom on the World Cup circuit. Petra Vlhova ended her tiring season with an 11th-place finish one day after being crowned the overall World Cup champion.

In China, the problem doesn’t seem to be a shortage of vaccine. Rather, with the COVID-19 outbreak largely under control at home, not enough people want to get the shot. Chinese health officials appealed to the public Sunday to get inoculated. China has a much lower rate of vaccination than many other countries. Chinese officials want to get enough people vaccinated to achieve herd immunity. Health officials also said that with vaccination not a guarantee against infection they will still require anyone arriving in China to quarantine for 14 days, even if they have received a vaccine. 

Several Myanmar police officers who fled to India after they said they defied army orders to shoot opponents of last month’s coup are urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to not repatriate them and provide them asylum on humanitarian grounds. Indian villagers in Mizoram state have given shelter to 34 police personnel and one firefighter. Estimates say hundreds from Myanmar have entered India, but officials haven’t disclosed any official figures. Myanmar wants India to return the police officers. India’s Home Ministry has told four of its border states to prevent refugees from entering India except on humanitarian grounds.

Shaka Smart pulled off one of the most memorable Cinderella runs in NCAA Tournament history, taking VCU from the First Four to the Final Four in 2011. But as Texas coach, Smart is 1-3 in three tournament appearances during his six seasons. Twice his Longhorns have been knocked out in the first round by mid-majors with improbable last-second finishes. Texas was bounced from the NCAA Tournament as a No. 3 seed Saturday night, 53-52 by Abilene Christian, in a turnover-filled performance that left the Longhorns stunned. A lot of Texas fans think Smart has been a disappointment in Austin, and wonder if he’s worth the $3.2 million salary. Longhorns guard Matt Coleman defended his coach after the painful loss.

Abilene Christian and its frantic, havoc-causing defense bounced coach Shaka Smart and Texas out of the NCAA Tournament in the first round yet again, as the 14th-seeded Wildcats stunned the third-seeded Longhorns 53-52. Joe Pleasant, a 58.8% foul shooter on the season, made a pair of free throws with 1.2 seconds left, and the Wildcats took down their in-state rivals in the first meeting between the schools. The Wildcats caused all kinds of headaches for the bigger, more talented Longhorns and got just enough offense to pull off their first NCAA Tournament victory in their second appearance. Abilene Christian will face No. 11 seed UCLA in the second round Monday. Andrew Jones scored 13 points for Texas.

Giancarlo Stanton is picking up where he ended the postseason last year. That's means healthy and hard hitting for the New York Yankees. The slugger homered in each of his first five playoff games in 2020, a stretch that brought flashbacks of his spectacular 2017 NL MVP season and hopes that several injury-impacted years were behind him. Stanton is 7 for 21 during spring training with two doubles and a homer that had an exit velocity of 115 mph. The Yankees open the regular season April 1 at home against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Johnny Juzang scored 27 points in his second big game of the NCAA Tournament, helping No. 11 seed UCLA beat sixth-seeded BYU 73-62 to advance in the East Region. Jules Bernard added 16 points and Jaime Jaquez Jr. had 13 for the Bruins. They'll face No. 14 seed Abilene Christian for a spot in the Sweet 16. Alex Barcello led the Cougars with 20 points while Brandon Averette finished with 15. UCLA got its first win in regulation since handling Utah on Feb. 25. The Bruins survived a scare from Michigan State in the First Four.

Virginia’s unusual title defense ended with another upset loss in the NCAA Tournament, falling 62-58 to Jason Preston and Ohio. Some familiar problems showed up again for the fourth-seeded Cavaliers, who struggled to score during a key stretch in the second half and shot 35% from the field for the game. Virginia became the first No. 1 seed to drop its opening game in the NCAA Tournament when it lost to UMBC in 2018, but it used the setback as motivation in its run to the championship in 2019. Last year’s NCAA Tournament was canceled because of the pandemic, delaying the Cavaliers’ title defense.

Corey Kispert scored 15 of his 23 points by halftime and No. 1 overall seed Gonzaga beat Norfolk State 98-55 on Saturday night to open play in the NCAA Tournament. Anton Watson added 17 points off the bench for the unbeaten Bulldogs. Kispert made 8 of 12 shots and 6 of 9 3-pointers. The Zags shot 55.7% and made 14 of 27 3-pointers against the 16th-seeded Spartans. Devante Carter and Kyonze Chavis each scored 12 points to lead Norfolk State, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champions who earned this matchup by beating Appalachian State in the First Four.

Chances are, you can fit Colorado’s entire NCAA Tournament history on the back of an old Patrick Ewing jersey. And now Ewing is part of that history, too. The Buffaloes used an early 3-point barrage to parlay their highest seeding ever at March Madness into a first-round win over one of the biggest names in the game — a 96-73 thumping of Georgetown, the program Ewing once starred for and now coaches. Led by freshman Jabari Walker’s 5-for-5 shooting clinic from 3-point range, the fifth-seeded Buffs made 16 3-pointers and shot 64% from long range.

Eric Ayala scored 23 points and 10th-seeded Maryland moved into the second round of the NCAA Tournament with a 63-54 victory over UConn on Saturday night. UConn was held to just 32% shooting to waste a strong night on the boards. The Terrapins were outrebounded by the physical Huskies but used a strong defensive effort to pull off the win. James Bouknight had 15 points and Jalen Gaffney scored 12 for the Huskies, who were back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2016.  

Herb Jones scored 20 points to help Alabama pull away from Iona and coach Rick Pitino for a 68-55 victory in the NCAA Tournament. Jones had a steal and layup to highlight an 11-0 run to give the second-seeded Crimson Tide breathing room. Pitino was taking his fifth school to the tournament and came in as a 15 seed against the SEC champs. The Gaels stayed close for 30 minutes. Isaiah Ross led them with 19 points. Alabama moves on to face 10th-seeded Maryland in the second round.

Christian Bishop made both ends of a one-and-one with 16 seconds left to give fifth-seeded Creighton the lead and the Bluejays hung on to beat 12th-seeded UC Santa Barbara 63-62 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Creighton advanced to face 13th-seeded Ohio in the West Region on Monday. Bishop was fouled by Amadou Sow on the floor after grabbing an offensive rebound and went to the line with the Gauchos up 62-61. The junior came into the game making 57%, but dropped in both barely touching the rim. Creighton continues a turbulent season in which coach Greg McDermott was suspended for racially insensitive language.