World champion Francesco Bagnaia will start from pole position for the fourth time in seven races this season after topping the qualifying session for the...

Georgia has moved up to No. 1 in the College Football Playoff rankings, nudging past Ohio State, with third-place Michigan and fourth-place Florida State holding their spots in the top four

David Stearns has secured the title of the highest-paid general manager in MLB history, a testament to the Mets' belief in his potential to lead them to multiple World Series victories.

Cornerback Jaylon Johnson insists he is not worried about his future with the Chicago Bears and hopes to remain with the team beyond next season

Key quotes on Wednesday during the build-up to this weekend's...

For the second straight day, a video review overturned a call at home plate and had a significant impact on a game’s outcome

Central Coast Mariners have come a long way since their flirtation with Usain Bolt and fast fame five years ago, culminating in a "David v...

The Washington Commanders have traded Montez Sweat to the Chicago Bears for a 2024 second-round pick and Chase Young to the San Francisco 49ers for a third-rounder, according to a person with knowledge of both moves

Here are the AP’s latest coverage plans, top stories and promotable content. All times EDT. For up-to-the minute information on AP’s coverage, visit Coverage Plan. —————————- TOP STORIES —————————- TITLE-42-IMMIGRATION-ASYLUM — The U.S. turned the page on pandemic-era immigration restrictions with relative calm at its border with Mexico as migrants adapted to strict new rules aimed at discouraging illegal crossings and awaited the promise of new legal pathways for entering the country. By Valerie Gonzalez, Elliot Spagat and Giovanna Dell'Orto. SENT: 910 words, photos. ELECTION 2024-IOWA — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former President Donald Trump will share the spotlight in Iowa, providing a chance to sway influential conservative activists and contrast their campaign styles in Republicans’ leadoff voting state. By Thomas Beaumont and Michelle L. Price. SENT: 890 words, photos. UPCOMING: 990 words after noon event with DeSantis; Trump rally at 8 p.m. CONGRESS-DEBT LIMIT — One outcome is clear as Washington reaches for a budget deal to end the debt ceiling standoff: The ambitious COVID era of government spending is giving way to a new focus on stemming deficits. It’s a turnaround from just a few years ago, when Congress passed trillions in emergency aid to halt the pandemic and rebuild the U.S. economy. By Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro. SENT: 1,090 words, photos. CENSUS-CHALLENGES-BIG-CITIES — Some of the largest U.S. cities challenging their 2020 census numbers aren’t getting the results they hoped for from the U.S. Census Bureau — an effort by Memphis to increase its official population resulted in three people being subtracted from its count during an initial appeal. By Mike Schneider. SENT: 770 words, photos. SCABBY-THE-RAT — For decades, a giant, inflatable rat with beady eyes, sharp teeth and a pustule-covered belly has been looming over union protests, drawing attention to construction sites or buildings with labor disputes. Over the decades, Scabby the Rat has become an icon at the site of labor disputes and weathered multiple legal challenges. Now Scabby’s challenge is staying relevant in the age of new technology and social media. By Mae Anderson. SENT: 1,090 words, photos, video. This story moved as the Sunday spotlight. G7-JAPAN-FINANCE — The Group of Seven’s top financial leaders united Saturday in their support for Ukraine and their determination to enforce sanctions against Russia for its aggression. By Business Writer Ellen Kurtenbach. SENT: 890 words, photos. ————————————————————————— SPOTLIGHTING VOICES ————————————————————————— BBC-BLACK COLLEGE WORLD SERIES - Players convened in Alabama’s capital city for the Black College World Series seeking a championship and just maybe a pro shot. The event comes at a time when only 6.2% of players on MLB’s opening day rosters were Black and none came from HBCUs. UPCOMING: 600 words, photos. ————————————————————————— RUSSIA UKRAINE WAR ————————————————————————— RUSSIA-UKRAINE-WAR — Ukrainian military commanders say their troops recaptured more territory from Russian forces at the scene of the war’s longest and bloodiest battle, for the eastern city of Bakhmut. It wasn’t clear if this marked the start of Kyiv’s long-expected counteroffensive. SENT: 940 words, photos. —————————- MORE NEWS —————————- FBN-COMMANDERS SALE — A group led by Josh Harris that includes Magic Johnson has agreed to buy the NFL’s Washington Commanders from longtime owner Dan Snyder and his family. SENT: 530 words, photos, audio. FATAL-SHOOTING-ABORTION — A man who didn’t want his girlfriend to get an abortion fatally shot her during a confrontation in a Dallas parking lot, police say. SENT: 330 words, photos. MAYOR MISSING TEXTS-SETTLEMENT — The city of Seattle will pay $2.3 million to settle a lawsuit brought by employees who helped reveal that thousands of then-Mayor Jenny Durkan’s text messages had been deleted in 2020 amid protests over George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police. SENT: 600 words. PHOTO-GALLERY-EUROVISION — The Eurovision Song Contest field has been narrowed to the 26 acts who will sing their hearts out for a chance at glory and national bragging rights. SENT: 300 words, photos. SCI-LAUNCH TO JUPITER — A crucial radar antenna on a spacecraft bound for Jupiter is no longer jammed. Flight controllers in Germany freed the antenna after nearly a month of effort. SENT: 230 words, photo. DANGEROUS AIR BAGS — A Tennessee company could be heading for a legal battle with U.S. auto safety regulators after refusing a request that millions of potentially dangerous air bag inflators be recalled. SENT: 770 words photo, audio. ———————————————————— WASHINGTON/POLITICS ———————————————————— ELECTION 2023-KENTUCKY-SECRETARY OF STATE — Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams won bipartisan praise for expanding voter access during the COVID-19 pandemic. He now must persuade Republican primary voters who have been bombarded for years with false claims about rigged elections. SENT: 1,080 words, photos. ELECTION CONSPIRACIES-VOTER ROLLS — Virginia’s top election official says she plans to withdraw the state from a bipartisan effort aimed at ensuring accurate voter lists and combating fraud. SENT: 680 words, photos. KARI-LAKE-ELECTION — A judge is hearing arguments over whether to dismiss the only surviving legal claim in Republican Kari Lake’s challenge of her loss to Democrat Katie Hobbs in the Arizona governor’s race. SENT: 540 words, photos. —————————- NATIONAL —————————- TRIBES-BORDER-CROSSING — The Pascua Yaqui Tribe has drafted regulations in an effort to formalize the border-crossing process for their relatives in Mexico coming to their reservation in Arizona. Like dozens of Native American nations across the U.S., the Pascua Yaqui Tribe was sliced in two by modern-day international borders. When deer dancers and musicians living in Sonora, Mexico, make the trip into the U.S. for ceremonies, they may be detained or have their cultural objects confiscated. SENT: 920 words, photos. BUFFALO-SUPERMARKET-SHOOTING — It’s hard for Jamari Shaw, 16, to have fun at the park with his younger brothers in their East Buffalo neighborhood. He’s too busy scanning for danger, an aftereffect of a gunman’s attack that killed 10 Black people at a local grocery store. SENT: 700 words, photos. PACIFIC NORTHWEST-HEAT WAVE — Temperatures are expected to start climbing significantly Saturday in parts of the Pacific Northwest as an early heat wave takes hold, possibly breaking records and worsening wildfires already burning in western Canada.. SENT: 670 words, photos, audio. NORTH-CAROLINA-ABORTION — North Carolina’s Democratic governor will veto legislation that would ban nearly all abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy, capping a week of attempting to generate enough opposition to block the Republican measure he said is much more restrictive than meets the eye. SENT: 290 words, photos. HANDGUNS-YOUNG ADULTS-EXPLAINER — A judge’s ruling striking down a federal law that bans licensed federal firearms dealers from selling handguns to young adults under 21 is the latest example of how a landmark Supreme Court decision is transforming the legal landscape around firearms. SENT: 1,110 words, photo. REL-PITTSBURGH-SYNAGOGUE-SHOOTING — The head of security for Pittsburgh’s Jewish community says there has been an “uptick in hate speech” on the internet in the early stages of the trial of the man accused of killing 11 worshippers at a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018. SENT: 790 words, photos. PRO-DEMOCRACY ACTIVISTS-CHINA — A Boston man has been accused of working with Chinese government officials to keep tabs on Chinese activists and dissidents in the area. SENT: 540 words. ————————————— INTERNATIONAL —————————————- VATICAN-HERCULES-RESTORED — Vatican Museum restorers are working to remove centuries of grime from the largest known bronze statue of the ancient world: the gilded Hercules Mastai Righetti. The 13-foot-tall (four-meter-tall) figure of the half-human Roman god has stood in the same niche for more than 150 years. It has barely garnered notice among other antiquities because of the dark coating it had acquired. SENT: 560 words, photos. ————————————————— HEALTH/SCIENCE ————————————————— MED-MENOPAUSE DRUG — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new type of drug to treat hot flashes caused by menopause. SENT: 270 words, photo, audio. ————————————————— BUSINESS/ECONOMY ————————————————- TWITTER-NEW-CEO-INTERVIEW — Elon Musk has announced that NBC Universal’s Linda Yaccarino will serve as the new CEO of Twitter. Yaccarino is a longtime advertising executive credited with integrating and digitizing ad sales at NBCU. Her challenge now will be to woo back advertisers that have fled Twitter since Musk acquired it last year for $44 billion. SENT: 560 words, photo. FEDERAL-RESERVE-INFLATION — Federal Reserve governor Philip Jefferson has said that inflation remains too high and there has been “little progress” made toward bringing it down to the central bank’s 2% target, a pessimistic assessment given signs in a report earlier this week that price increases might be slowing. SENT: 590 words, photo. —————————————- ENTERTAINMENT —————————————- MUSIC-REVIEW-JONAS BROTHERS — Married with kids, the Jonas Brothers are all about love on their new album ‘The Album,” where every lyric hides a nudge to their homes. The brother pop trio bring that carefree vibe they are known for with experimentation into new genres that make it more special and fresh. The Associated Press’ Martina Rebecca Inchingolo writes in a review that the brothers, who broke hearts all over the world as they said, ‘I do,’ reflect in the album about fatherhood and sibling dynamics. SENT: 400 words, photo. ————————— SPORTS ————————— BKN—LAKERS ADVANCE — LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers never trailed in their third home victory over Golden State in seven days. They’re also the first team since 2014 to eliminate Stephen Curry’s Warriors from the playoffs before the NBA Finals. And now they’re in the Western Conference finals. UPCOMING: 750 words, photos by 6 a.m. With BKN-WARRIORS-LAKERS — The Los Angeles Lakers eliminated the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors with a 122-101 victory in Game 6 of their second-round series (sent). BKN—HEAT ADVANCE — Inside the Miami Heat locker room, now officially halfway to the season’s ultimate goal, Erik Spoelstra stepped onto the NBA championship logo on the center of the floor and gathered his team around him. “There’s been nothing about this season that’s been easy,” Spoelstra said. He’s right, and the Heat aren’t complaining about that, either — since this anything-but-easy season is still going. UPCOMING: 710 words, photos by 6 a.m. With BKN--KNICKS-HEAT — Jimmy Butler scores 24 points, Bam Adebayo added 23 and the Miami Heat are headed back to the Eastern Conference finals after topping the New York Knicks 96-92 (sent). BKL—MERCURY-GRINER — Brittney Griner returned to game action for the first time since a nearly 10-month detainment in Russia on drug-related charges ended with a prisoner swap in December. The seven-time All-Star, who missed the entire 2022 season because of the detainment, finished with 10 points and three rebounds for the Phoenix Mercury in a WNBA preseason game against the Los Angeles Sparks. SENT: 620, photos. —————————- HOW TO REACH US —————————- At the Nerve Center, Vincent K. Willis can be reached at 800-845-8450 (ext. 1600). For photos, ext. 1900. For graphics and interactives, ext. 7636. Expanded AP content can be obtained from AP Newsroom. For access to AP Newsroom and other technical issues, contact apcustomersupport@ap.org or call 844-777-2006. Read More Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Zelenskyy to meet with Pope Francis at Vatican in Rome visit Vatican experts uncovering gilded glory of Hercules statue struck by lightning Census Bureau rejects many big-city challenges that claimed the 2020 headcount missed their people

Sam Reinhart scored for the fifth consecutive game and the Florida Panthers beat the San Jose Sharks 3-1 on Tuesday night

By Steve Keating TORONTO After being hit with a couple of LIV Golf bombshells, COVD-19 and even forest

Pep Guardiola insisted revenge was not his motivation as he prepares Manchester City for their Champions League semi-final rematch with Real Madrid. City were beaten in heartbreaking fashion by the Spanish giants in the last four a year ago and have a chance to make amends this term. The first leg of their latest encounter takes place at the Bernabeu on Tuesday and Guardiola is focusing on the game in hand rather than looking back 12 months. The City manager said: “It was tough but we made an exceptional first game in Manchester and played a really good game here. “In general it was a good performance but it was not enough. You congratulate them and accept it and now one year later we are here. “We are not here for revenge. It is another opportunity. One day we will get it. We will get to the final and win it. “It didn’t happen last season as we played Real Madrid and in this competition they know exactly what they have to do.” Guardiola admitted, however, last season’s loss was hard to stomach at the time. City controlled the tie in the second leg and looked on course for the final, leading 1-0 on the night and 5-3 on aggregate heading into injury time. We are not here for revenge. It is another opportunity. One day we will get it. We will get to the final and win it. Pep Guardiola Yet they dramatically capitulated, conceding twice in quick succession and going on to lose in extra time. It added to the catalogue of near misses experienced by the club since Guardiola took charge in 2016, which includes defeat in the 2021 final. Guardiola said: “Seven years ago we wanted to win the Champions League. Last season it was (like) the end of the world but here we are again. “Being stable is the most important thing. The important thing is we are trying to get better every year. “We were prepared last year too. We are the same manager, mainly the same players but completely different games. “The difference is the second leg is at home and everything will be decided in Manchester.” Unlike Guardiola, midfielder Rodri admitted revenge was on his mind. The Spain midfielder said: “Football gives you the option to have revenge. “We have the philosophy you can always learn from past experiences. We did a great two games but football is like this and we didn’t go through. “We will fight again. We will try to learn from what we did bad in that moment.” City are without defender Nathan Ake after the Netherlands international suffered a calf injury in Saturday’s Premier League victory over Leeds. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Dwight McNeil bags brace as Everton ease past Brighton in battle against PL drop Alex Sanderson confirms interest in bringing Luke Cowan-Dickie to Sale Sharks Lionel Messi cherishes ‘special honour’ after winning Laureus award in Paris