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PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The federal government says the oceanic whitetip shark will be listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act to help the species recover. The shark lives along the East Coast of the United States, off southern California and in international waters. Conservation group Defenders of Wildlife called on the government to list the species. Scientists say the sharks have declined by 80 to 90 percent in the Pacific Ocean since the 1990s. They've fallen 50 percent to 85 percent in the Atlantic Ocean since the 1950s. Conservationists blame commercial fishing and demand for their fins. A statement in the Federal Register about the listing of the shark says a threatened species is "not presently in danger of extinction, but is likely to become so in the foreseeable future."

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey's new Democratic governor ordered the state to rejoin a regional environmental pact on Monday, reversing a decision by former Republican Gov. Chris Christie. Gov. Phil Murphy signed an executive order to put New Jersey back in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. It mandates that the state Department of Environmental Protection and the Board of Public Utilities begin negotiations with the initiative's nine current member states to determine how the New Jersey should re-enter. The RGGI is a cap-and-trade program of nine New England and mid-Atlantic states whose aim is to reduce carbon emissions from power plants. The money it raises is distributed to participating states to finance clean energy programs. Christie had announced in 2011 that the state would leave the initiative, saying the pact didn't effectively reduce greenhouse emissions and amounted to a tax on utility customers. Murphy said Christie's decision led New Jersey to fall behind on the critical goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and mitigating the impacts of global climate change. By withdrawing from RGGI, Murphy said New Jersey has foregone an estimated $279 million in revenue that could have been realized by participating in the pact's carbon budget trading program. "New Jersey has not been a partner to our neighbor states in advancing the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions since pulling out of RGGI," Murphy said. "Pulling out of RGGI slowed down progress on lowering emissions and has cost New Jerseyans millions of dollars that could have been used to increase energy efficiency and improve air quality in our communities. With this executive order, New Jersey takes the first step toward restoring our place as a leader in the green economy."

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's attorney general says an investigation looking into two corruption allegations against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in its "final stretch." Speaking at a meeting of the Israel Bar Association Wednesday, Avichai Mandelblit says dozens of witnesses have been questioned in various countries as part of the probe. He says authorities will "not be afraid to take difficult decisions" if needed. One probe reportedly concerns allegations Netanyahu improperly received lavish gifts from Hollywood and business figures. Another is over secret talks with the publisher of a major Israeli newspaper in which Netanyahu allegedly requested positive coverage in exchange for reining in a free pro-Netanyahu daily. Netanyahu has denied wrongdoing and has dismissed the accusations as a witch hunt orchestrated by a hostile media.

BERLIN (AP) — A 20-year-old German man has been convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison for killing a child and a 22-year-old acquaintance. News agency dpa reported Wednesday that the Bochum state court chose to sentence the defendant as an adult, though it could have judged him under milder juvenile law. Marcel Hesse, through his lawyer, admitted during his trial to the two killings. In March, he allegedly lured a 9-year-old neighbor out of his home in the western city of Herne and then stabbed him. The discovery of the body prompted a three-day manhunt before Hesse turned himself in. Police later found the body of a former school friend of Hesse's at a nearby apartment, while pictures of the crimes, allegedly posted by Hesse, surfaced online. The motive remains unclear.

Monty McCutchen's father raised an interesting point not long ago, and it resonated right away with the former NBA referee who decided to hang up his whistle earlier this season. "He told me that no decision is real if it is easy," McCutchen said. McCutchen's move off the floor and into the NBA office was certainly not easy. But instead of calling a few games a week, McCutchen sees his job now as one where he could have a say in how they all get officiated. About a month into his job as an NBA vice president overseeing referee development and training, McCutchen is jumping in with both feet. He and fellow NBA executive Michelle Johnson are going to be instrumental in the league's plan to improve how players and referees get along. There's going to be more education, more studying, more explaining and more listening — and McCutchen truly believes it will work. "I'm invigorated by the people I'm working with, Michelle Johnson," McCutchen said. "I'm invigorated by the people in our office who work closely with referee operations. When you work with good people and you work for a good purpose, that invigorates our lives." Ask players and coaches who the best ref in the game was, and the majority of them would likely say McCutchen. His on-court retirement means this season's NBA Finals will be the first since 1985 where the refereeing corps for the series will not include either him, Joey Crawford or Danny Crawford — all recent retirees. "It would be disingenuous of me to say I did not miss it," McCutchen said. ___ ROOKIES EVERYWHERE The addition of two-way contracts seems to be helping more rookies get some NBA run. There's been 97 rookies on the floor already this season, the most since 1949-50 — the fourth season of the NBA. Roughly half of this season's rookies were undrafted. And 14 players taken in the 2017 draft have yet to make their NBA debut, including No. 1 overall pick Markelle Fultz of Philadelphia. Boston and Dallas have each used seven rookies. The Clippers and the Lakers have both played six. Minnesota and Washington are the exceptions, with no rookies yet to take the floor for either club this season. The Timberwolves have two rookies on the roster, with Amile Jefferson on a two-way and Justin Patton recovering from surgery. The Wizards' lone rookie is Devin Robinson, also on a two-way. ___ REMEMBERING HANK When Dwyane Wade got drafted in 2003, agent Henry Thomas was right at his side. Fitting. Wade never left Thomas' side, either. Thomas died Saturday, after battling health issues for years. He didn't have a huge stable of clients, but his impact was enormous in Miami — with Wade, Chris Bosh and Udonis Haslem all represented by Thomas for years. He meant so much to Wade and Haslem that when Thomas fell gravely ill last week, they both rushed to be at his bedside and missed games in the process. They did so with the blessing of the Cavaliers and Heat. ___ LOVE HURTS Kevin Love's broken hand means he will miss the All-Star Game for the second consecutive season because of injury. This won't make him feel any better, but he's in good company. The only other players in the last 20 years to miss two consecutive All-Star contests because of injuries are Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal. ___ THE WEEK AHEAD A game of note for each of the next seven days: — Miami at Cleveland, Wednesday: Dwyane Wade playing against Miami will always look strange. — Houston at San Antonio, Thursday: The Rockets scored 124 points against the Spurs back in December. — Portland at Toronto, Friday: A guard showdown, Lillard and McCollum versus Lowry and DeRozan. — Chicago at L.A. Clippers, Saturday: Both teams were written off early, but are clearly clicking now. — Charlotte at Phoenix, Sunday: No OT, please — the game should end shortly before the Super Bowl. — Washington at Indiana, Monday: First of three meetings this season between the East hopefuls. — Oklahoma City at Golden State, Tuesday: Thunder held the Warriors to 91 points earlier this season. ___ BOOGIE'S YEAR New Orleans' DeMarcus Cousins was having a year for the record books. Cousins tore his left Achilles' tendon last week, meaning his season will end with him averaging 25.2 points, 12.9 rebounds and 5.4 assists. That puts him in a most elite club. The only other NBA players to average at least 25 points, 12 rebounds and five assists in a season are Wilt Chamberlain (twice), Elgin Baylor, Charles Barkley, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson. ___ RECORD GONE Lance Stephenson no longer has the most points scored in New York boys high school basketball history. Joseph Girard III of Glens Falls High School passed Stephenson — who has followed JG3's exploits closely — on Tuesday night. Girard III now has 2,952 points, six more than Stephenson. Stephenson had been New York's record-holder since Feb. 15, 2009. He passed Sebastian Telfair for the mark, and before Telfair, the record-holder was Kenny Anderson. ___ STAT LINE OF THE WEEK James Harden, Houston: A Rockets-record 60 points, with 11 assists and 10 rebounds in Houston's win over Orlando on Tuesday night. It was the first 60-point triple-double in NBA history. ___ More AP basketball: https://apnews.com/tag/NBAbasketball

KEY WEST, Fla. (AP) — Authorities say two men have been arrested in the 2010 theft of a museum's 17th-century gold bar, valued at $550,000. A U.S. Department of Justice statement says 41-year-old Richard Steven Johnson, of Rio Linda, California, and 32-year-old Jarred Alexander Goldman, of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, were arrested Monday and charged with conspiring to steal and stealing the gold bar from the Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Museum in Key West. Both await arraignment. It wasn't known if they have lawyers. The 74.8-ounce (2.1-kilogram) bar was found in 1980 on a 1622 Spanish galleon wreck off the Florida Keys by the late shipwreck salvor Mel Fisher. Authorities say it hasn't been recovered. The artifact was long displayed in an acrylic museum case, allowing visitors to touch and lift it. ___ Online: Mel Fisher Maritime Museum, http://www.melfisher.org

All Times EST EASTERN CONFERENCE GP W L OT Pts GF GA Home Away Div Tampa Bay 49 34 12 3 71 175 125 17-5-1 17-7-2 9-3-1 Boston 48 29 11 8 66 157 119 16-6-4 13-5-4 10-1-2 Washington 49 29 15 5 63 150 138 18-7-1 11-8-4 8-4-3 Toronto 51 28 18 5 61 162 146 13-8-2 15-10-3 6-4-1 Pittsburgh 52 28 21 3 59 156 155 18-7-1 10-14-2 10-4-0 New Jersey 49 25 16 8 58 147 147 13-8-3 12-8-5 5-6-1 Columbus 50 27 19 4 58 133 140 16-8-1 11-11-3 8-5-2 Philadelphia 49 24 17 8 56 141 141 13-9-4 11-8-4 5-2-4 N.Y. Rangers 50 25 20 5 55 153 151 17-8-3 8-12-2 7-6-3 N.Y. Islanders 51 25 21 5 55 173 184 13-8-3 12-13-2 7-7-1 Carolina 50 23 19 8 54 139 155 11-7-4 12-12-4 6-5-3 Florida 48 20 22 6 46 136 159 11-8-3 9-14-3 6-4-1 Detroit 48 19 21 8 46 126 146 10-10-7 9-11-1 6-9-2 Montreal 49 20 23 6 46 129 156 12-10-5 8-13-1 9-6-2 Ottawa 48 15 24 9 39 125 168 9-11-5 6-13-4 5-8-3 Buffalo 50 14 27 9 37 115 166 6-13-3 8-14-6 3-5-2 WESTERN CONFERENCE GP W L OT Pts GF GA Home Away Div Vegas 48 32 12 4 68 164 128 19-3-2 13-9-2 11-1-1 Winnipeg 50 29 13 8 66 164 136 17-3-1 12-10-7 7-5-2 Nashville 47 29 11 7 65 145 123 16-4-3 13-7-4 10-3-2 St. Louis 51 30 18 3 63 148 130 17-10-0 13-8-3 7-4-1 Dallas 50 28 18 4 60 155 134 17-7-1 11-11-3 7-10-0 San Jose 49 26 16 7 59 145 138 14-7-3 12-9-4 12-2-3 Minnesota 50 27 18 5 59 147 142 17-4-4 10-14-1 8-8-0 Anaheim 51 25 17 9 59 144 142 14-9-3 11-8-6 8-5-5 Calgary 49 25 16 8 58 137 135 12-11-3 13-5-5 8-5-3 Colorado 48 27 18 3 57 157 139 18-7-1 9-11-2 7-6-1 Los Angeles 49 26 18 5 57 139 121 12-9-3 14-9-2 6-9-3 Chicago 49 23 19 7 53 146 136 12-10-3 11-9-4 5-7-2 Edmonton 49 22 24 3 47 135 157 11-13-1 11-11-2 10-2-0 Vancouver 49 19 24 6 44 127 159 8-13-3 11-11-3 5-9-1 Arizona 50 12 29 9 33 118 172 6-15-3 6-14-6 1-7-5 NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for overtime loss. Top three teams in each division and two wild cards per conference advance to playoffs. Monday's Games No games scheduled Tuesday's Games Minnesota 3, Columbus 2, SO Pittsburgh 5, San Jose 2 Florida 4, N.Y. Islanders 1 Anaheim 3, Boston 1 Carolina 2, Ottawa 1 New Jersey 3, Buffalo 1 Tampa Bay at Winnipeg, 8 p.m. Montreal at St. Louis, 8 p.m. Chicago at Nashville, 8 p.m. Los Angeles at Dallas, 8:30 p.m. Vegas at Calgary, 9 p.m. Colorado at Vancouver, 10 p.m. Wednesday's Games N.Y. Islanders at Toronto, 7:30 p.m. San Jose at Detroit, 8 p.m. Philadelphia at Washington, 8 p.m. Thursday's Games Toronto at N.Y. Rangers, 7 p.m. Montreal at Carolina, 7 p.m. St. Louis at Boston, 7 p.m. Florida at Buffalo, 7 p.m. Anaheim at Ottawa, 7 p.m. Philadelphia at New Jersey, 7 p.m. Vegas at Winnipeg, 8 p.m. Los Angeles at Nashville, 8:30 p.m. Tampa Bay at Calgary, 9 p.m. Dallas at Arizona, 9 p.m. Colorado at Edmonton, 9 p.m. Chicago at Vancouver, 10 p.m. Friday's Games Washington at Pittsburgh, 7 p.m. Detroit at Carolina, 7 p.m. San Jose at Columbus, 7 p.m. Vegas at Minnesota, 8 p.m.

DETROIT (AP) — The women's gymnastics coach at Michigan State University suddenly announced her retirement Tuesday, a day after she was suspended for what her boss described as her "passionate defense" of a sports doctor accused of sexually abusing female athletes for years. Kathie Klages has also been mentioned in lawsuits by two women who claim she brushed off complaints of abuse by Dr. Larry Nassar in the late 1990s. Klages is "extremely distressed" by the allegations and would never do anything to put athletes in "harm's way," her attorney, Shirlee Bobryk, said in a statement. "Out of respect to the university and the gymnastics program in particular, Ms. Klages believes it is in everyone's best interests for her to retire from her current position at MSU," Bobryk said. It's one of the biggest developments on campus since Nassar was fired by Michigan State in September and more than two dozen women and girls filed lawsuits against him. In two separate criminal cases, he's charged with sexually abusing a girl at his Lansing-area home and possessing child pornography. Nassar has pleaded not guilty and denied the assault allegations by female athletes in Michigan and elsewhere. He was also a longtime doctor with Indianapolis-based USA Gymnastics, which trains Olympians. Klages' suspension after 27 years as gymnastics coach was announced Monday without any elaboration from Michigan State. But the school shed more light Tuesday in a letter written by athletic director Mark Hollis, who acknowledged her retirement. Hollis explained to Klages that she was suspended because of what he had learned about her Sept. 12 meeting with her gymnasts. "You shared with the team your highly emotional sense of shock regarding the allegations against Dr. Nassar. That resulted in several student-athletes leaving the meeting feeling that they had received mixed messages," Hollis wrote. "Others felt confused about who they could or should speak with about the situation. While I acknowledge you provided student-athletes with information about reporting to the Office of Institutional Equity, your passionate defense of Dr. Nassar created an emotionally charged environment for the team," Hollis said. A message seeking comment about Hollis' letter wasn't immediately returned by Klages' attorney. Earlier, Bobryk said Klages will cooperate fully in any police investigation of Nassar or lawsuits against him. "Dr. Nassar was trusted by Ms. Klages to competently and ethically treat her team members. Had she ever received any information to cast doubt on the appropriateness of that trust in Dr. Nassar, she would have reacted immediately to protect her gymnasts," Bobryk said. ___ Follow Ed White at http://www.twitter.com/edwhiteap

NEW YORK (AP) — English winger Jack Harrison has been transferred from Major League Soccer's New York City FC to Manchester City, which is owned by the same parent company. NYC said Tuesday that Harrison, who made his debut for England's Under-21 team last year, has been lent to Middlesbrough of the second-tier League Championship through the end of this season. Harrison, who turned 21 in November, had 14 goals in 59 matches during two seasons with NYC, which is part of City Football Group.

AMERICAN LEAGUE Toronto 000 002 002—4 6 1 Boston 001 012 02x—6 11 1 Gaviglio, Oh (7), Tepera (8) and Maile; Rodriguez, Barnes (7), B.Johnson (9), Kimbrel (9) and C.Vazquez. W_Rodriguez 6-1. L_Gaviglio 2-1. Sv_Kimbrel (18). HRs_Toronto, Hernandez (8). Boston, Nunez (4), Martinez (18). ___ Chicago 000 000 001—1 5 2 Cleveland 205 200 00x—9 13 0 Lopez, Volstad (3), Avilan (4), Rondon (5), Fry (6), N.Jones (7), Soria (8) and Narvaez; Kluber, Beliveau (7), Marshall (8), B.Taylor (9) and Gomes. W_Kluber 8-2. L_Lopez 1-4. HRs_Chicago, Sanchez (3). Cleveland, Ramirez (17), Encarnacion (13). ___ Houston 000 020 001—3 7 0 New York 100 022 00x—5 8 1 Keuchel, McHugh (6) and Stassi; L.Severino, Dav.Robertson (8), A.Chapman (9) and Romine. W_L.Severino 8-1. L_Keuchel 3-7. Sv_A.Chapman (12). HRs_Houston, Stassi (5). ___ Los Angeles 001 000 000—1 7 0 Detroit 100 005 00x—6 9 0 Ohtani, Bedrosian (6), J.Johnson (6), Morris (8) and Maldonado; Fiers, Jimenez (8), Greene (9) and Greiner. W_Coleman 2-0. L_Bedrosian 1-1. ___ Minnesota 001 124 000— 8 11 0 Kansas City 270 000 11x—11 16 0 Romero, Slegers (2), Pressly (8) and B.Wilson; Keller, Oaks (4), B.Smith (5), Flynn (6), McCarthy (7), Hill (8), Herrera (9) and S.Perez. W_McCarthy 4-2. L_Romero 2-2. Sv_Herrera (12). HRs_Minnesota, Dozier (8), Adrianza (1). Kansas City, Moustakas (12), Soler (8), Dozier (1). ___ Tampa Bay 013 000 020—6 10 0 Oakland 000 000 000—0 1 4 Eovaldi, Font (7), Nuno (9) and Sucre; Manaea, Ramirez (6), Coulombe (8), Hatcher (9) and Lucroy. W_Eovaldi 1-0. L_Manaea 5-6. HRs_Tampa Bay, Refsnyder (2), Field (5). ___ INTERLEAGUE Washington 001 000 100—2 7 0 Baltimore 000 000 000—0 4 0 Scherzer, Doolittle (9) and P.Severino; Hess, M.Castro (7), Hart (8), Wright Jr. (9) and Sisco. W_Scherzer 9-1. L_Hess 2-2. Sv_Doolittle (13). HRs_Washington, Harper (18). ___ NATIONAL LEAGUE St. Louis 000 000 200—2 8 1 Milwaukee 000 010 20x—3 10 1 A.Reyes, Gant (5), Lyons (7), Tuivailala (7) and Kelly; Guerra, Jeffress (7), Hader (8), Knebel (9) and Kratz, Pina. W_Jeffress 5-0. L_Tuivailala 1-1. Sv_Knebel (5). HRs_St. Louis, Bader (5). Milwaukee, Yelich (7). ___ Cincinnati 000 402 001—7 12 0 Arizona 301 000 000—4 13 1 Romano, W.Peralta (6), Hughes (7), Garrett (7), R.Iglesias (8) and Barnhart; Corbin, Salas (7), Chafin (8), McFarland (9) and Murphy. W_Romano 3-6. L_Corbin 5-2. Sv_R.Iglesias (9). HRs_Cincinnati, Schebler (6), Duvall (10). Arizona, Goldschmidt (7), Murphy (7). ___ Chicago 100 000 000—1 9 1 Pittsburgh 110 000 00x—2 9 0 Hendricks, R.Rosario (6), Mazzoni (7), J.Wilson (7) and Contreras; Musgrove, Crick (8), F.Vazquez (9) and Cervelli. W_Musgrove 2-0. L_Hendricks 4-4. Sv_F.Vazquez (10). HRs_Pittsburgh, Harrison (2). ___ New York 000 100 111—4 9 1 Atlanta 000 000 100—1 5 0 Vargas, T.Peterson (6), Familia (8), Gsellman (9) and Plawecki; Teheran, Carle (8), S.Freeman (8), Socolovich (9) and Suzuki. W_Vargas 2-3. L_Teheran 4-3. Sv_Gsellman (2). HRs_Atlanta, Camargo (4). ___ San Francisco 020 220 010—7 11 0 Colorado 310 000 000—4 11 0 Holland, Moronta (6), Watson (7), S.Dyson (8), Strickland (9) and Posey; Gray, Musgrave (4), Oberg (6), McGee (8), Rusin (9) and Wolters. W_Holland 3-6. L_Musgrave 0-1. Sv_Strickland (11). HRs_Colorado, Arenado (11). ___ Miami 000 200 000—2 4 1 San Diego 000 100 002—3 6 0 Urena, Steckenrider (7), Barraclough (8), Ziegler (9) and Realmuto; Richard, Strahm (8) and Lopez. W_Strahm 1-2. L_Ziegler 0-5. HRs_Miami, Castro (3). San Diego, Reyes (4).

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Even in surrender, Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens is going out fighting. When he steps down Friday, the former Navy SEAL officer will be conceding political defeat amid allegations of sexual misconduct and campaign violations while still defiantly asserting that he's done nothing worthy of being forced out of office. He's even hinted at a possible political comeback, declaring during his resignation announcement Tuesday that "this is not the end of our fight." But political analysts say the man who had aspirations of becoming president could find a political revival challenging, especially in a #MeToo environment where he would be vulnerable to attack for allegedly taking a compromising photo of a woman during an extramarital affair in 2015. Greitens' resignation comes just two weeks after a speech in which he recalled his grueling SEAL training and asserted he would never stop fighting. But his departure was days in the making, as Greitens wrestled with mounting legal bills and the emotional pressures of defending against possible impeachment and a criminal trial. On Wednesday, St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner dismissed a felony charge accusing Greitens of tampering with computer data for providing his political fundraiser with the donor list of a veterans' charity he founded. The dropped charge was the result of a deal proposed Saturday by Greitens' defense attorneys offering his resignation in exchange, said Gardner spokeswoman Susan Ryan. The governor on Saturday also called Republican consultant Jeff Roe, who headed Greitens' aggressive public relations campaign, to inform Roe that he had decided to resign. Greitens' legal bills had grown to a couple of million dollars, and his campaign staffers also were facing legal bills because of subpoenas from a House investigation. Though Greitens had believed he could beat both a criminal charge and impeachment, "he couldn't see the end without an immense financial and personal price to pay," Roe told The Associated Press on Wednesday. Even though he's quitting amid scandal, some Greitens voters said they still like him. Retiree Wilma Nelson said she would be open to voting for Greitens again if he sought to re-enter politics. "I can't fault him for giving up. So much money, so much stress, such strain on his young family. You can't deal with such hate," said Nelson, of Platte City. Political science professor Jeremy Walling, of Southeast Missouri State University, said Greitens' pledge to keep fighting seemed to be "some face-saving." Walling said several factors would make a political revival tougher for Greitens than for other scandal-plagued politicians. He said Greitens lacks deep support among Missouri's Republican power brokers, and his acknowledged extramarital affair included claims of sexual misconduct. The allegations also extended to political fundraising violations. "I think a comeback is going to be kind of difficult for this guy," Walling said. Gardner, the St. Louis prosecutor, said her decision to drop the data-tampering charge against Greitens was no indication that she believed he was innocent. "I remain confident we have the evidence required to pursue charges against Mr. Greitens, but sometimes pursuing charges is not the right thing to do for our city or our state," said Gardner, a Democrat. Had the governor been convicted, Gardner said, it was unlikely that he would be sentenced to prison, given the type of charge he faced and the fact that he would be a first-time offender. Jim Martin, an attorney for Greitens, acknowledged reaching out to Gardner to resolve the issue. A St. Louis judge approved the agreement, which has seven stipulations, two of which are sealed and unavailable to the public. One of the open stipulations states that Greitens has agreed to release Gardner and everyone in her office from civil liability. Former Missouri Supreme Court Chief Justice Michael Wolff said the agreement between Greitens' attorneys and Gardner's office is highly unusual because it protects Gardner and her staff from being sued for their actions and because Greitens did not have to plead guilty to any lesser charge. "Here's a guy who gets to get out of a felony charge just by agreeing to quit his job," Wolff said. "Most people don't get this deal." Jean Paul Bradshaw II, a former U.S. attorney for western Missouri, said the agreement to drop the case represents a "fair resolution" because Greitens' resignation accomplished "the greatest public benefit" possible. The governor also was indicted on an invasion-of-privacy charge in February in St. Louis for allegedly taking the photo of the woman who had been his hairdresser during their affair in 2015, before he was elected. That charge was dropped earlier this month, but a special prosecutor is considering whether to refile it. Martin said he expected the remaining charge to be resolved soon, but he offered no details. "I think what folks need to know is it's now time to leave the governor alone and let him and his family heal," Martin said. Though Greitens had apparently decided to resign days earlier, he began the week as though he would continue his fight. On Monday, he spoke with attorney Catherine Hanaway about her legal defense of Greitens' campaign, which already had turned over thousands of documents to a House investigatory committee. On Tuesday morning, a Cole County judge ordered the campaign and a pro-Greitens group called A New Missouri to comply with a House subpoena seeking more records about potential coordination between the nonprofit organization, Greitens and his campaign. The judge said the names of any donors to A New Missouri could be redacted. House Speaker Todd Richardson said Wednesday that he didn't know whether the House still has the power or desire to enforce the subpoena now that Greitens is resigning. Hanaway described the judicial ruling as "pretty innocuous," adding that she did not think the order "had any effect on the decision" to resign. Roe said Greitens had been prepared for a two-stage fight. He was first focused on the invasion-of-privacy charge, which was dropped during jury selection. Greitens had hoped to be acquitted, which Roe said would have allowed him to mount a full defense against the potential House impeachment proceedings. But the specter of those charges being refiled hampered what Greitens could say and do on both fronts, Roe said. Roe also said it appeared likely that the House would vote to impeach Greitens, a step that would have prolonged his fight for several more months until a trial could be held on whether to remove him from office. "The human and financial toll was too great," Roe said. "And it was going to go on for too long." ___ Salter reported from St. Louis. Associated Press writers Blake Nelson in Jefferson City and John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas, contributed to this report.

STORRS, Conn. (AP) — Prosecutors have dropped a breach of peace charge filed against conservative commentator Lucian Wintrich after a confrontation with protesters last month during an appearance at the University of Connecticut. Wintrich, the White House correspondent for the right-wing website Gateway Pundit, was charged after grabbing a woman who took his notes from the lectern as he prepared to give a speech titled "It's OK To Be White." That woman, 35-year-old Catherine Gregory, of Willimantic, turned herself in Sunday to face charges of attempted larceny and disorderly conduct. Gregory, who is free on a $1,000 bond, is due in court on Wednesday. Wintrich, who had argued that he had every right to retrieve his property, tweeted on Monday that justice was finally being served.

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — An appeals court in Cambodia has for the second time denied a request for the release on bail of opposition leader Kem Sokha, who has been charged with treason. The Thursday court appearance in Phnom Penh by Kem Sokha, head of the Cambodia National Rescue Party, was his first since his arrest last September. His hearing was held behind closed doors and journalists and other onlookers were kept away. His prosecution by the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen is widely seen as part of a concerted effort to cripple the opposition ahead of a general election this year. Kem Sokha's lawyer, Choung Choungy, says the court cited concerns for his client's security in denying bail. The government has expressed fears of political protests by Kem Sokha's supporters.

PULLMAN, Wash. (AP) — Deandre Ayton scored 25 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and Allonzo Trier added 24 points as No. 9 Arizona beat cold-shooting Washington State 100-72 on Wednesday night to remain in first place in the Pac-12. Rawle Alkins scored 16 points for Arizona (19-4, 9-1 Pac-12), which has won seven games in a row. The Wildcats have lost just one time since Nov. 24. Robert Franks scored 25 points for Washington State (9-12, 1-8), which has dropped 13 in a row to Arizona. It was the Cougars' first home game since Jan. 13. Arizona shot 61 percent in the game, while Washington State managed just 41 percent, and was only up that high because of a late spurt. This one was over early. With the score tied at 20, Arizona went on a 25-5 run over the next seven minutes to build a 45-25 lead. Alkins hit three consecutive 3-pointers during that run, while the Cougars made just 2 of 14 field goals during one stretch. Arizona led 53-34 at halftime after holding the Cougars to three field goals in the final 12 minutes of the half. The Wildcats outshot the Cougars 67 percent to 33 percent in the first. Ayton scored the first seven points of the second half for Arizona, and the Wildcats used a 20-2 run to push their lead to 75-40. Washington State's shooting woes continued in the second as they went long stretches without a field goal. BIG PICTURE Arizona: The Wildcats have won 16 of their past 17 games, losing only at Colorado on Jan. 6. Trier and Ayton both came in averaging better than 19 points per game. Ayton also averages 10.7 rebounds. Washington State: The Cougars are shooting .386 from 3-point range and are third in the nation with 11.6 made 3-pointers per game. The Cougars came in with an all-time record of 7-129 against teams ranked in the Top 10. They have slumped since winning the Wooden Legacy early in the season, dropping seven of their previous eight games. UP NEXT Arizona plays at Washington on Saturday. Washington State hosts No. 25 Arizona State on Sunday. ___ More AP college basketball: www.collegebasketball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Tour captain Sam Warburton has been picked on the bench in a surprising selection by the British and Irish Lions for their match against the New Zealand Maori at Rotorua on Saturday. Coach Warren Gatland had indicated he would unveil a test-strength starting lineup to face the Maori, a week out from the series-opening test against New Zealand. But if the team Gatland announced on Thursday is his test lineup, it contains some surprises. Warburton has been struggling with an ankle injury on tour and played 68 minutes, scoring a try in the Lions' 23-22 loss to the Dunedin-based Highlanders on Tuesday. He still seems short of match fitness and Sean O'Brien has been selected ahead of Warburton on the openside flank. Ireland's Peter O'Mahony will captain the team from the blindside flank; the fourth captain the Lions will have used in five matches on tour after Warburton, Alun Wyn Jones and Ken Owens. "Peter is a proven captain with Munster who never takes a backward step and we believe that those leadership qualities will serve us well on Saturday against a quality and determined Maori All Blacks team," Gatland said. The Lions also sprung a surprise at flyhalf, naming Jonathan Sexton to combine with Ireland scrumhalf Conor Murray and leaving England No. 10 Owen Farrell on the bench. The backline otherwise looks a preview of the Lions' test lineup with Leigh Halfpenny at fullback, Anthony Watson and George North on the wings and Jonathan Davies and New Zealand-born England center Ben Te'o in midfield. In the forwards, hooker Jamie George will pack between props Tadhg Furlong and Mako Vunipola while George Kruis and Maro Itoje combine in the second row. Wales' No. 8 Taulupe Faletau joins a strong backrow with O'Mahony and O'Brien. Gatland has changed the entire starting 15 that lined up against the Highlanders, continuing the policy of sweeping rotation that he has used throughout the tour. "We were obviously disappointed with the loss against the Highlanders and realize that we need to improve in several areas including our discipline," Gatland said. "But we feel that overall we are building well towards the test matches. "Every game is a big challenge which is what we wanted and this is an experienced Lions team with eight of the starting 15 involved in the last test in Australia in 2013." The Lions beat Australia 2-1 in their last test series. ___ British and Irish Lions: Leigh Halfpenny, Anthony Watson, Jonathan Davies, Ben Te'o, George North, Johnny Sexton, Conor Murray; Taulupe Faletau, Sean O'Brien, Peter O'Mahony (captain), George Kruis, Maro Itoje, Tadhg Furlong, Jamie George, Mako Vunipola. Replacements: Ken Owens, Jack McGrath, Kyle Sinckler, Iain Henderson, Sam Warburton, Greig Laidlaw, Owen Farrell, Elliot Daly.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — One of Jason Day's goals at the start of the year was to stay at No. 1 for the entire calendar year. The year is not even two months old, and already he is facing his first big challenge. And not just from one player. Dustin Johnson, coming off a third-place finish at Pebble Beach, and Phoenix Open champion Hideki Matsuyama both have a mathematical chance to reach No. 1 in the world by winning the Genesis Open at Riviera. Johnson would need Day to finish around fourth or worse, while Matsuyama could reach the top only by winning and Day finishing about 25th or worse. Tiger Woods in 2009 was the last player to start and finish a year at No. 1. Rory McIlroy was the last player to stay at No. 1 for longer than a year, starting with his victory at the 2014 Bridgestone Invitational and ending when Jordan Spieth passed him with a runner-up finish in the 2015 PGA Championship. Just don't get the idea Day is consumed with the ranking. "I said earlier that a calendar year would be great to go No. 1, but I need to just focus on what I need to do because you can't really focus on staying No. 1," Day said. "The more you focus on the actual target itself, the more you attach yourself to it, you make mental errors out there, you get more frustrated, you do silly things on the golf course that you shouldn't be doing." Johnson also had a mathematical chance to get to No. 1 last week, but he would have had to win Pebble and have Day finish out of the top 50. Day tied for fifth. Johnson also had a chance at the PGA Championship last summer, but he missed the cut and Day was runner-up. Day doesn't have a lot of history at Riviera. The only reason he is playing is because of the tour's new "strength of field" regulation that requires most players to compete at an event they haven't been to in four years. His best finish is a tie for 62nd. He keeps reminding himself that he didn't have a great history at Bay Hill and The Players Championship, and he won them both last year. ___ DAVE MUSGROVE: The European Tour lost another legendary caddie when Dave Musgrove died Monday at age 74. Musgrove and Dave Renwick, who died last year, are the only caddies to work for three major champions. Musgrove was on the bag when Seve Ballesteros won his first British Open in 1979. He worked for Sandy Lyle when the Scot won the Open in 1985 and the Masters in 1988, and he was alongside Lee Janzen when he won his second U.S. Open title at Olympic Club in 1998. Musgrove renewed his partnership with Janzen in 2001 so that he could caddie in his 40th consecutive British Open. Among the many players paying tribute on Twitter was Lyle, who said, "We wrote history together at The Open, The Masters and The Players Championship. We'll miss your humour and your stories." ___ NICKLAUS TRIBUTE: The end of the Masters coincides with the start of Golf Channel's latest project, a three-part series on Jack Nicklaus. The Golf Films project is called "Jack," and it will air over three straight nights in prime time starting at 9 p.m. on April 9. It will feature nearly 100 interviews and hundreds of hours of archived film. "'Jack' is a project that Golf Films has spent years developing in order to comprehensively capture the career and legacy of golf's most accomplished champion," said Mike McCarley, president of golf for the NBC Sports Group. The first part will be the early part of his career, including the relationship with his father, meeting his wife and early success. The second part will look at the his playing career, highlighted by his 18 major championships. The final part looks at his legacy in the game, from the priority he placed on family to his golf course design and work with Nicklaus hospitals. It is being produced by Israel DeHerrera, who also produced the three-part series on Arnold Palmer that was broadcast in 2014. ___ RACE FOR MEXICO: The first World Golf Championships event is around the corner in Mexico City, and this week will start determining who gets there. The field will be determined by the top 50 in the world ranking after this week. Thomas Pieters (No. 47) and Shane Lowry (No. 51) are among those playing the Genesis Open at Riviera, which has the strongest field of the year so far. The tighter race is the FedEx Cup standings. The top 10 after the Honda Classic will be exempt. Hudson Swafford at No. 8 and Gary Woodland at No. 11 are separated by only 61 points with two weeks to go. Rod Pampling, currently No. 10, has not played in a WGC event since 2009. On the European Tour, Pablo Larrazabal is holding down the 10th spot. He has to stay there at the end of this week to make the Mexico field. Much like Chinese players in the HSBC Champions in Shanghai, the WGC-Mexico Championship is reserving a spot for the highest-ranked Mexican player. That would appear to go to Roberto Diaz, who lost in a playoff on the Web.com Tour last week in Colombia. That enabled Diaz to move from No. 719 to No. 462. He currently is 36 spots ahead of the next Mexican player, Rodolfo Cazuabon Jr. Among those playing the Web.com Tour event in Panama this week who could pass Diaz are Carlos Ortiz and Abraham Ancer. ___ BODY LANGUAGE: Hideki Matsuyama doesn't always look happy with his golf shots, even when they turn out well. Such was the case at the Phoenix Open, when the Japanese star would finish with one hand on the club only for the ball to finish in reasonable range for birdie, or his shoulders would slump and the ball would split the middle of the fairway. "Sometimes how you're playing and the results don't coincide," Matsuyama said. "So for me, when I do a one-handed finish, to me it's a missed shot. It's just the result was good." When he was jokingly asked if he did that to confuse the television announcers, Matsuyama smiled and said, "No. That would be fun." ___ DIVOTS: Jordan Spieth's nine PGA Tour victories have come at eight tournaments. The only place he repeated was the John Deere Classic. Tiger Woods did not win the same PGA Tour event until his 10th victory at the 1999 Western Open. ... The first team event on the PGA Tour since 1981 will have official prize money, but not world ranking points. The Official World Golf Ranking board denied a PGA Tour request to offer points at the Zurich Classic this year. ... Charles Howell III has had 46 finishes in the top 10 since his last PGA Tour victory at Riviera 10 years ago. ... Sahith Theegala of Pepperdine earned a spot in the Genesis Open with a 69 at Riviera on Monday to win the Genesis Open Collegiate Showcase. ___ STAT OF THE WEEK: Brandt Snedeker has earned $6,821,882 at Torrey Pines and Pebble Beach, or 21.7 percent of his career earnings. ___ FINAL WORD: "He's a rock star. And I can say that, because I know quite a few rock stars." — Country singer Jake Owen on Jordan Spieth.

In a story Jan. 28 about the shooting deaths of four people at a car wash, The Associated Press, relying on information from state police, misspelled the first name of one of the female victims. She was Cortney Snyder, not Courtney. A corrected version of the story is below: Police, family say jealous shooter killed 4 at car wash Family members of the victims of a shooting at a Pennsylvania car wash say the suspect was driven by jealousy By BRUCE SHIPKOWSKI Associated Press A shooter driven by jealousy opened fire and killed four people at a car wash early Sunday morning in Pennsylvania, while a woman hiding in the back of a pickup truck suffered only minor injuries, according to state police and family of the victims. Police said Timothy Smith, 28, was on life support and not expected to survive after suffering a gunshot wound to his head during the attack at Ed's Car Wash around 3 a.m. in Saltlick Township, a rural town about 55 miles (89 kilometers) southeast of Pittsburgh. Police said it was possible that the gunshot wound was self-inflicted. Armed with a semi-automatic rifle, a .308-caliber rifle and a handgun and wearing a body armor carrier without the ballistic panels inserted, police said Smith killed 27-year-old William Porterfield, 25-year-old Chelsie Cline, 23-year-old Cortney Snyder and 21-year-old Seth Cline. Police would not go into details about how Smith knew the victims, but Chelsie Cline's half-sister, Sierra Kolarik, told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that Smith had developed an obsession with Cline. Cline shared a meme on her Facebook page last week that read, "After this week, I rlly (sic) need to get taken out ... on a date or by a sniper either one is fine w me at this point." A Facebook friend of hers named Tim Smith replied, "I could do both." Porterfield's pregnant wife, Jenna Porterfield, 24, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that a state police investigator told her that Smith was a jealous former boyfriend of Cline. Porterfield said that she was told by family members of other victims that her husband and Cline had spent the past two days together after Cline ended a relationship with Smith. Porterfield said that she and her husband — who were married in November — had been "having some troubles" this month. "I'm not holding that against Will. We weren't fighting. We were fixing. And if he was with someone else while we were having problems, honestly, I don't care what he did. I'm not going to hold that against him," Porterfield told the newspaper. "I'd give anything to have him back." Smith was first to arrive at the scene and was parked on the side of the two-bay car wash when Porterfield and Cline arrived, police said. Smith shot them when they got out and walked to the side of the car wash, they said. Snyder and Seth Cline arrived at the same time and police said Smith opened fire on them. Another woman in the rear seat of the extended cab pickup truck only suffered injuries from broken glass. Police said Smith had several magazines for the semi-automatic rifle and the handgun. Cayleigh Myers said she was friends with Seth Cline, Chelsie Cline's half-sibling, and described the construction worker as "very outgoing, very funny and very smart." "You always had fun when you were around him," Myers said. "He would give his shirt off his back for you, anything, it didn't matter what it was, what time it was, if you need him, you could call him. He was everything." Ed Bukovac, who owns the car wash, told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that a neighbor called him around 4 a.m. Sunday and said something was wrong at his business. Bukovac said police were on the scene by the time he arrived and that he had few other details about what happened. A man who lives nearby told the newspaper that he heard about 30 gunshots over a span of several minutes. ___ This story has been corrected to change the number of fatalities to four, based on updated information from state police.

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr 23, 2018-- market research analysts forecast the to grow at a CAGR of over 5% during the period 2018-2022, according to their latest report. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180423006259/en/ Technavio has published a new market research report on the global potassium sulfate market from 2018-2022. (Graphic: Business Wire) Rising population in developing countries is a key trend that is expected to impact the market. The rising population in developing countries will lead to increased demand and consumption of food and drinks. This coupled with the rising per capita income will lead to an increase in demand for consumer goods, which in turn will lead to the growth of the market during the forecast period. This report is available at a USD 1,000 discount for a limited time only: Save more with Technavio. Buy2 reports and get the third for FREE: In this report, Technavio analysts highlight the rising middle-class population as a key factor contributing to the growth of the global potassium sulfate market: Rising middle-class population The growing middle-class is population is expected to drive the growth of the global potassium sulfate market. Numerous factors such as strong economic growth and increased urbanization are helping the middle-class population to grow. It is estimated that close to 54% of the middle-class population will originate from APAC by 2020. This will lead to an increase in demand for food which in turn, will lead to an increase in demand for potassium sulfate from the agriculture industry. According to a senior analyst at Technavio for research, “ Potassium sulfate or sulfate of potash is a premium quality nutrient required for the growth of high-value crops. SOP has superior qualities as compared to potassium chloride or muriate of Potash.” Looking for more information on this market? Technavio’s sample reports are free of charge and contain multiple sections of the report such as the market size and forecast, drivers, challenges, trends, and more. Global potassium sulfate market segmentation This market research report segments the based on processes (mannheim process, sulfate salts reaction, and salt-lake brine processing) and key regions (the Americas, APAC, and EMEA). APAC was the leading region for the global potassium sulfate market in 2017, accounting for a market share of close to 53%. APAC was followed by EMEA and the Americas. The Americas is the only geographic region which is expected to witness a slight increase in its market share during the forecast period. About Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focuses on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio’s report library consists of more than 10,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio’s comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. If you are interested in more information, please contact our media team at . View source version on businesswire.com:https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180423006259/en/ CONTACT: Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media & Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 www.technavio.com KEYWORD: INDUSTRY KEYWORD: MANUFACTURING CHEMICALS/PLASTICS SOURCE: Technavio Research Copyright Business Wire 2018. PUB: 04/23/2018 02:14 PM/DISC: 04/23/2018 02:14 PM http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180423006259/en

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Federal prosecutors decided Wednesday not to retry Sen. Bob Menendez on corruption charges that ended in a hung jury last fall, lifting the legal cloud hanging over the New Jersey Democrat as he gears up for re-election this year. Prosecutors filed a motion with the court on Wednesday to throw out the case after a judge threw out some of the counts last week. The first trial for Menendez and Florida eye doctor Salomon Melgen ended in a hung jury last November. Menendez, 64, was charged with trading his political influence for gifts and campaign donations from Melgen, 63. Both had denied the charges. Last week the judge threw out the bribery counts related to Melgen's campaign donations. Eleven charges remained before Wednesday's decision, including bribery, fraud and conspiracy. Defense lawyers had argued Melgen's donations had to be tied to specific acts by Menendez to be considered bribes. That's a higher standard than the one applied to gifts Melgen gave to Menendez over the years that are the basis for the bribery charges that remain. U.S. District Judge William Walls' ruling essentially overrode the jury, which couldn't reach a verdict after several days of deliberations in November. After the mistrial, several jurors said as many as 10 of the 12 panel members were in favor of acquittal, leading some experts to speculate the government wouldn't pursue a retrial.

CHICAGO (AP) — A Chicago masseuse is suing Marvel Comic's Stan Lee, accusing him of inappropriate behavior during two massages in 2017. Maria Carballo filed the lawsuit Monday seeking more than $50,000 in punitive damages and attorney fees from the 95-year-old comic book writer. The Chicago Tribune reports that Lee's attorney, Jonathan Freund, called the lawsuit "a shakedown" and says Lee denies the allegations. Carballo also filed a complaint with Chicago police, who are investigating. According to the complaint, Lee fondled himself during the first massage and moaned so much during the second that Carballo stopped the treatment. Lee stood up and angrily demanded Carballo keep massaging him. The complaint also says Carballo was massaging Lee with her feet when he grabbed her foot and touched it to his genitals. ___ Information from: Chicago Tribune, http://www.chicagotribune.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration's drive to wean poor people from government benefits by making them work has been slowed by a federal judge framing a fundamental question: Are poverty programs meant to show tough love or to help the needy? U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg in Washington last week halted Kentucky's first-in-the-nation experiment with Medicaid work requirements, ruling that the Trump administration glossed over potential coverage losses. He sent the state's plan back to federal authorities for a harder look. The debate goes well beyond Medicaid, the federal-state health program for low-income and disabled people. This spring, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing cabinet agencies to add or strengthen work requirements for programs including subsidized housing, food stamps and cash welfare. The government's biggest assistance program for low-income people — the Earned Income Tax Credit — is already designed to supplement earnings from work. Boasberg found that "medical assistance" is by law a "central objective" of Medicaid. While work requirements might be allowable if that's what a state wants, "there may be limits to how much (coverage) loss is too much," he wrote. Kentucky's Republican Gov. Matt Bevin wanted to impose work requirements on some 428,000 state residents who got Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act's expansion. Optional for states, the expansion passed under former President Barack Obama covers about 12 million people nationally, mainly adults. Kentucky expanded Medicaid under a Democratic governor. Bevin argues that the cost is unsustainable for his state, even with Washington paying at least 90 percent of the bill, because many more people signed up than initially expected. The state estimated that work requirements would save money, reducing the Medicaid rolls by about 95,000 people over five years. That number got the judge's attention. Boasberg ruled that the federal Health and Human Services department didn't dig deeply enough into the potential coverage losses. The department "paid no attention to that deprivation," he wrote, and "this oversight is glaring," amounting to rubber-stamping the state's request. Although state and federal officials contend that many people leaving Medicaid would find private coverage, Boasberg said there was no hard analysis, no "bottom-line estimate." The ruling seemed to catch the Trump administration unprepared. Seema Verma, head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, called it "disappointing." The administration may appeal, or it may re-run its evaluation of the Kentucky plan to meet the judge's concerns. Medicaid work requirements in a few other states are unaffected. However, the ruling may make it much harder to approve work requirements in states that have not expanded Medicaid. In such states, Medicaid recipients would face a high risk of losing health care because even paltry earnings could make them ineligible for continued coverage. Verma said the administration won't be deterred from nudging the poor to go to work. "We will continue to support innovative, state-driven policies that are designed to advance the objectives of the Medicaid program by improving health outcomes for thousands of low-income Americans," she said in a statement. Work improves health, the administration argues. The nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that about 60 percent of adults with Medicaid are already working, and among those not working, most either have health problems, are taking care of home or family or are students. Advocates for low-income people say they feel like a corner has been turned, even if the issue is far from settled. "What's particularly significant is that the judge basically said you have to look at the purpose of Medicaid, which is to provide coverage," said Judy Solomon of the nonprofit Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Work requirements "were outside the core objectives of the Medicaid program, and he basically said you can't ignore the core objectives." Others point out that the judge stopped short of deciding the merits of the case, focusing instead on problems with the process that HHS followed in approving Kentucky's request. Matt Salo, executive director of the nonpartisan National Association of Medicaid Directors, said work requirements may serve the purposes of Medicaid in some states, particularly if that helps convince conservative lawmakers to expand coverage to more uninsured people. "There's a broader issue at play here about maintaining political support and the sustainability of the program," said Salo. "Does the inability to do a work requirement lead to a scenario where Kentucky is going to get rid of the entire expansion?" So far that hasn't happened, but Bevin did cut Medicaid dental and vision coverage in response to the judge's ruling. The case is Stewart vs. Azar.

TOKYO (AP) — Charles Jenkins, a U.S Army deserter to North Korea who married a Japanese abductee and lived in Japan after their release, has died. He was 77. A group representing families of Japanese abductees to North Korea said Tuesday that Jenkins died the day before. Jenkins, of Rich Square, North Carolina, was found collapsed outside his home in Sado, northern Japan, rushed to a hospital and later pronounced dead. The cause of death wasn't released. Jenkins disappeared in January 1965 while patrolling along the Demilitarized Zone dividing North and South Korea. He came to Japan in 2004 to be with his wife Hitomi Soga, who was kidnapped to North Korea in 1978 but allowed to visit home in 2002 and stayed. The two met in North Korea and had two daughters.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sales of new U.S. homes jumped 4 percent in March, propelled by a surge of buying in the West. The Commerce Department says sales last month were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 694,000. The two prior months had their sales revised upward with the annual rate being 667,000 in February and 644,000 in January. For the first three months of the year, sales are running 10.3 percent higher than a year ago. The March increase was driven almost entirely by a 28.3 percent leap in sales in the West. New-home purchases rose slightly in the South, fell in the Midwest and plunged in the Northeast. The median sales price of a new home rose 4.8 percent from a year ago to $337,200.

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Yemeni security officials say the country's prime minister is preparing to flee after separatists seized the presidential palace in the southern port city of Aden in fierce battles overnight. The officials say fighters loyal to the so-called Southern Transitional Council fought all way to the gates of the Palace of Maashiq — Arabic for "lovers" — in the district of Crater in Aden. The palace is the seat of Yemen's internationally backed government. They say Prime Minister Ahmed Obaid Bin Daghar is to leave the country imminently. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity under regulations. The fighting in Aden first erupted on Sunday, when a deadline issued by the separatists for the government to resign expired. President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi has described the separatists' action as a "coup."

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on sexual misconduct allegations against President Donald Trump (all times local): 2:55 p.m. The White House is pushing back on sexual misconduct allegations against President Donald Trump, saying he has already denied them. Three women who previously accused Trump of sexual harassment shared their stories Monday on NBC's "Megyn Kelly Today." They're calling for a congressional investigation. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders says Trump "has addressed these accusations directly and denied all of these allegations." She says the people decided in November to elect him regardless. Jessica Leeds, Samantha Holvey and Rachel Crooks are among the women who have alleged harassment by Trump. The White House has called the claims false and "totally disputed in most cases." The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations has said the women should be heard. ___ 10:30 a.m. Three women who have previously accused President Donald Trump of sexual harassment are sharing their stories on NBC's "Megyn Kelly Today." Jessica Leeds, Samantha Holvey and Rachel Crooks on Monday told of alleged harassment by Trump spanning decades. The White House called the claims false and "totally disputed in most cases." It said "the timing and absurdity of these false claims speak volumes." One of the accusers, Rachel Crooks, called the White House statement "laughable." Crooks says of sexual misconduct: "I think politicians seem to be immune to this." The women, who first shared their stories before the November 2016 election, were holding a press conference later Monday to call for a congressional investigation into Trump's alleged behavior.

MELCROFT, Pa. (AP) — In a story Jan. 28 about the shooting deaths of four people at a car wash, The Associated Press, relying on information from state police, misspelled the first name of one of the female victims. She was Cortney Snyder, not Courtney. A corrected version of the story is below: The Latest: Victims' family says suspect driven by jealousy Family members of the victims of a shooting at a Pennsylvania car wash say the suspect was driven by jealousy MELCROFT, Pa. (AP) — The Latest on a fatal shooting outside a Pennsylvania car wash (all times local): 6:45 p.m. Family members of the victims of a shooting at a Pennsylvania car wash say the suspect was driven by jealousy. State police say 28-year-old Timothy Smith fatally shot four people at Ed's Car Wash around 3 a.m. in Saltlick Township, a rural town about 55 miles (89 kilometers) southeast of Pittsburgh. Twenty-seven-year-old William Porterfield, 25-year-old Chelsie Cline, 23-year-old Cortney Snyder and 21-year-old Seth Cline were all killed. Smith is on life support and not expected to survive after suffering a gunshot wound to his head. State police say it's possible the gunshot wound was self-inflicted. Authorities would not immediately say how Smith knew the victims but family members tell the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that Smith had developed an obsession with Chelsie Cline. ____ 4:45 p.m. State police say a man suspected of fatally shooting four people at a car wash in Pennsylvania is on life support. Authorities initially had said that five people had died in the shootings early Sunday in the Melcroft community of Saltlick Township, about 55 miles (89 kilometers) southeast of Pittsburgh. Another person was injured. But state police now say the suspect, Tim Smith, is on life support at a hospital. Authorities have identified the four people killed as 27-year-old William Porterfield, 25-year-old Chelsie Cline, 23-year-old Cortney Snyder and 21-year-old Seth Cline. Authorities say a woman who was injured survived by hiding in the back seat of a truck. A motive for the shooting remains under investigation. ____ 2:15 p.m. Family members say a domestic dispute spurred the shooting deaths of five people at a Pennsylvania car wash. But state police say they haven't yet confirmed that or a motive for the shootings that occurred early Sunday in the Melcroft community of Saltlick Township, about 55 miles (89 kilometers) southeast of Pittsburgh. WPXI-TV reports they spoke with family members. The victims were identified only as three men and two women in their 20s and 30s. Four of the victims were pronounced dead at the scene. Another died at a hospital. An injured person was hospitalized. His or her condition and identity is not yet known. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports a man who lives near the scene said he heard about 30 gunshots over a span of several minutes. ___ This story has been corrected to show that the TV station is WPXI-TV, not WXPI-TV. ___ 12:20 p.m. State police say three men and two women have been found dead in a shooting at a Pennsylvania car wash. The shooting occurred shortly before 3 a.m. Sunday in the Melcroft community of Saltlick Township, about 55 miles (89 kilometers) southeast of Pittsburgh. Police said Sunday they have no motive yet for the deadly shooting. Four of the victims were pronounced dead at the scene, while another died at a hospital. Two victims died inside a vehicle and two were found outside in the car wash's parking lot. An injured person was taken to a hospital. Authorities say it's not clear if that person was shot. Details on that person's condition were not immediately released. Authorities were trying to determine if the shooter was among those found at the scene. ___ 10:20 a.m. State police say at least five people were killed in a shooting at a Pennsylvania car wash. WPXI-TV reports the shooting occurred around 2:45 a.m. Sunday in Melcroft. Melcroft is about 55 miles (89 kilometers) southeast of Pittsburgh The victims were identified only as three men and two women. At least one other person was wounded and was taken to a hospital, but further details on that person's condition were not immediately released. Authorities were trying to determine if the shooter was among those found at the scene. A motive for the shooting remains under investigation.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — The Latest on the apparent assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's half brother in Malaysia (all times local): 5:50 p.m. Malaysian police say they have arrested a woman in connection with the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's half brother. Wednesday's statement says the woman was arrested at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. She was carrying Vietnamese travel documents. Kim Jong Un's half brother died Monday after suddenly falling ill at the airport. According to a Malaysian government official, Kim told medical workers before he died that he had been attacked with a chemical spray.

New York (AP) — Copper futures trading on the NY Merc Wed: (25,000 lbs., cents per lb.)

LAS VEGAS (AP) — An Arizona man named in court documents as a "person of interest" during the investigation of the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history said he had met the shooter one time and sold ammunition to him. Douglas Haig told The Associated Press on Tuesday that he had been contacted earlier by investigators in the case. Speaking at his suburban home in Mesa, Haig said he planned to hold a news conference later this week to answer questions about his name surfacing in the investigation. "I am the guy who sold ammunition to Stephen Paddock," Haig said without disclosing any details. Police say Paddock was the gunman and killed himself as officers converged on him. A law enforcement official told the AP in October that Paddock bought 1,000 rounds of tracer ammunition from a private seller he met at a Phoenix gun show. The official spoke anonymously because they weren't authorized to disclose case information. It was not immediately clear if that person was Haig. Records show Haig owns Specialized Military Ammunition LLC. The company's website says it sold tracer and incendiary ammunition but is now "closed indefinitely." Haig's name emerged by mistake Tuesday when court documents were released nearly four months after the shooting. The documents did not disclose why authorities considered Haig a person of interest. Police officials did not respond to telephone, text and email messages about Haig from AP. FBI and U.S. attorney's office spokeswomen in Las Vegas declined to comment. The documents show that early in the investigation, police believed Paddock must have had help. "Given the magnitude of the incident, it is reasonable to believe multiple suspects and months of planning were involved in this premeditated massacre," said one search warrant request submitted to a judge nine days after the shooting stopped. However, Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo released a preliminary report on Jan. 19 saying police and the FBI believe Paddock acted alone before he killed himself as police closed in. It did not answer the key question: What made Paddock stockpile a cache of assault-style weapons and fire for about 10 minutes out the windows of Mandalay Bay hotel-casino into a crowd of 22,000 people. Haig's name was blacked out in the more than 270 pages of search warrant records released by a Nevada judge to The Associated Press, but remained on one page of documents provided to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The newspaper published the name online. Clark County District Court Judge Elissa Cadish later ordered the full document not be published without redactions, but she acknowledged she couldn't order the newspaper to retract the name. Authorities previously said an unnamed person could face unspecified federal charges in shooting that also injured more than 800 other people. The warrants show that investigators found 23 rifles and a handgun in Paddock's 32nd-floor hotel suite and an adjoining room. Police also found five suitcases, five rifle cases, binoculars, a spotter scope, portable solar generator and 1,050 empty bullet casings. Police reported finding just $273 in cash in the room of the 64-year-old retired accountant who amassed a millionaire's fortune, owned homes in Reno and Mesquite, Nevada, and earned casino perks wagering thousands of dollars on high-stakes video poker. Authorities previously characterized Paddock as a gambler on a losing streak who was obsessed with cleanliness, may have been bipolar and was having difficulties with his live-in girlfriend. The name of Paddock's girlfriend, Marilou Danley, was not redacted from documents released Tuesday in response to a public records lawsuit filed by media companies including AP and the Review-Journal. Danley was in the Philippines at the time of the attack and is cooperating with investigators. She was initially considered a person of interest but authorities later said she is not likely to face criminal charges. Separately, Clark County District Court Judge Timothy Williams ruled Tuesday that the coroner in Las Vegas should release autopsy records of Paddock and the people killed by gunfire, with victims' names blacked out. Those documents were not immediately made public. County Coroner John Fudenberg later released a statement later promising victims' autopsy reports "as soon as possible." But Paddock's autopsy report was not final and would not be released until it is, the coroner said. Fudenberg maintains the records are confidential, and restricts release to families and to police investigating deaths. The coroner and county attorneys didn't immediately say whether they would appeal Williams' ruling to the Nevada Supreme Court. Margaret McLetchie, an attorney representing AP and the Review-Journal in the autopsies case, noted in court that Nevada state public records law does not directly address autopsies and that a deceased person has no legal right to privacy. In Nevada, records are public unless the law says otherwise, she said. ___ Associated Press writers Michael Balsamo in Los Angeles; Scott Sonner in Reno, Nevada; Anita Snow in Mesa, Arizona; Alina Hartounian in Phoenix and researcher Jennifer Farrar in New York contributed to this report.

NEW YORK (AP) — The 25th anniversary of Steven Spielberg's "Schindler's List" and the 35th anniversary of Brian De Palma's "Scarface" will be celebrated with reunion screenings at the Tribeca Film Festival. The New York festival announced Monday that Spielberg will join Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley and Embeth Davidtz for a post-screening conversation April 26 at the Beacon Theatre. The "Scarface" event will reunite De Palma, Al Pacino and Michelle Pfeiffer on April 19 at the Beacon Theatre. The festival will also host an anniversary screening of 1992's "In the Soup," an acclaimed independent film directed by Alexandre Rockwell. The largely forgotten release, starring Steve Buscemi and Seymour Cassel, has been restored following a Kickstarter campaign to repair the remaining, damaged print. Also slated for on-stage interviews at Tribeca are Bradley Cooper, Jamie Foxx, Spike Lee and Alec Baldwin. The festival runs April 18-29.

iBook charts for week ending April 22, 2018: (Rank, Book Title by Author Name, ISBN, Publisher : iBooks US Bestseller List - Paid Books 1. A Higher Loyalty by James Comey - 9781250192462 - (Flatiron Books) 2. The Fallen by David Baldacci - 9781538761373 - (Grand Central Publishing) 3. The Silent Corner by Dean Koontz - 9780345546784 - (Random House Publishing Group) 4. Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil de Grasse Tyson - 9780393609400 - (W. W. Norton & Company) 5. Come As You Are by Lauren Blakely - No ISBN Available - (Lauren Blakely Books) 6. After Anna by Lisa Scottoline - 9781250099679 - (St. Martin's Press) 7. Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell - 9781501154669 - (Atria Books) 8. I've Got My Eyes on You by Mary Higgins Clark - 9781501171697 - (Simon & Schuster) 9. Just One Look by Harlan Coben - 9781101146644 - (Penguin Publishing Group) 10. Here's to Us by Elin Hilderbrand - 9780316375153 - (Little, Brown and Company) (copyright) 2018 Apple Inc. ____

BARBERTON, Ohio (AP) — Authorities say an Ohio woman shot her husband multiple times earlier this year and dismembered his body. Forty-nine-year-old Marcia Eubank has been charged with murder in the death of 54-year-old Howard Eubank. Records don't show an attorney for her. The Summit County sheriff's office says in a release that deputies went to the couple's home in Coventry Township in suburban Akron on Saturday when the couple's adult son called about possible remains. The deputies found deteriorating remains tentatively identified as those of Howard Eubank. The release says investigators believe Eubank was killed earlier this year in a "domestic-related incident." Authorities say Marcia Eubank was arrested later Saturday in a store parking lot. A Barberton Municipal Court judge on Monday set bond for her at $1 million.

Used to be that Roger Federer simply could not win a match, let alone a championship, at major tournaments. That might be hard to imagine now that Federer owns 20 Grand Slam trophies. But you can look it up: He lost in the first round on three of his first four trips to Wimbledon, and three of his first five appearances at the French Open. So let's recall what Federer said at the All England Club on the day he collected his very first Grand Slam title, all the way back in July 2003. "I hope," Federer said, "it's not going to be my last." Seems silly nowadays, doesn't it? Because there he was, nearly 15 full years later, tears dotting his cheeks as he spoke to an adoring Australian Open crowd after beating 2014 U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 in Sunday's final in Melbourne. Holding his most recent prize, Federer declared, "The fairy tale continues." It's hard to decide what is most remarkable about Federer's career. Cilic's take? "The passion to compete, season after season, especially at this high level," said the man who has lost two of the last three Grand Slam finals to the Swiss maestro. "Also, being able to challenge himself, first physically and then mentally, as well, to be at the top almost every single week." The sheer volume of it all does stand out. Federer has won exactly 10 percent of the 200 major tournaments contested in the professional era. Before Federer started collecting his 20, the most any man managed to accumulate was the 14 for Pete Sampras; he now stands No. 3, behind Federer and Rafael Nadal with 16. There's also that constant work to evolve and improve, most notably during his recent renaissance by adding versatility to his backhand side with a flatter, more powerful shot than his long-preferred slice. And there's the longevity, which is particularly impressive in light of the recent injury woes for the younger members of tennis' elite: Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka. At 36½, Federer is now the second-oldest man to win a Grand Slam title in the Open era — Ken Roswell won Australia in 1972 at 37. And after going more than four years without a trophy, he's added three in the span of four appearances at majors (he skipped last year's French Open and sounds like someone contemplating doing so again in a few months' time). "I don't think age is an issue, per se. It's just a number," he said Sunday. "But I need to be very careful in my planning, really decide beforehand what are my goals, what are my priorities. I think that's what's going to dictate how successful I will be." Federer was asked how long he thinks he can continue playing at this level. "No idea. Honest, I don't know. I have no idea. I've won three Slams now in 12 months. I can't believe it myself," he said. "I just got to keep a good schedule, stay hungry, then maybe good things can happen." Take a look at the way Federer earned his sixth Australian Open championship, tying the men's record for most in history, to go along with his unprecedented eight Wimbledons, five U.S. Opens (tied for the most in the professional era) and one French Open. After letting a lead slip away and getting outplayed by Cilic the fourth set, Federer faced some danger in the opening game of the decider in the form of two break points. "Momentum," Cilic would say later, "was on my side." Right when nerves would figure to be most frayed, Federer was steadier. On the initial break chance there, Cilic got a look at a 104 mph second serve and dumped a forehand return into the net. On the next, Cilic pushed a forehand return wide off a 119 mph first serve up the "T," and Federer yelled out in Swiss German. Two points later, Federer conjured up a cross-court backhand winner that clipped the outside of a line to cap a 15-stroke exchange and grab that game. In the next, Cilic double-faulted twice and Federer took advantage, breaking en route to a 3-0 lead. And that was pretty much that. Federer was on his way, just like so many times before. "It's always very, very challenging to play him," Cilic observed. Wasn't always that way at the very beginning, actually. Yet it very much is, all these years later. ___ Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich ___ More AP tennis coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/apf-Tennis

Organizers of the North American bid to host the 2026 World Cup insist FIFA members have not expressed concern about President Donald Trump's harsh words about foreigners or the U.S. Justice Department prosecuting corrupt soccer officials. "Look, this is not geopolitics," new U.S. Soccer Federation President Carlos Cordeiro said Monday during a conference call. "We're talking about football and what fundamentally at the end of the day, what's the best interests of football and our footballing community, and we've had no backlash. We're very focused on the merits of our bid." A joint bid by the United States, Mexico and Canada was submitted to FIFA on Friday along with a proposal by Morocco. The 207 other members of the international soccer governing body will vote on June 13 in Moscow. Cordeiro, Mexican Football Federation President Decio de Maria and Canadian Soccer Association President Steven Reed spoke from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where they were meeting with members of the Association of South East Asian Nations, a subset of the Asian Football Confederation. A solo bid by the U.S. for the 2022 World Cup was favored going into the 2010 vote but lost to Qatar. FIFA then changed the vote rules to give the decision back to the entire membership, which chose hosts prior to 1986, when the choice started being made by the roughly two dozen members of its executive committee. "We believe that the member associations are going to judge us on the quality of the bids, on the merits of our bid, and that's it," Reed said. "We're very confident about what we're putting forward, and I don't think that we're concerned about politics." Sixty games would be played in the U.S. under the bid plan, including all from the quarterfinals on. Three cities were included from Mexico and Canada, and both of those nations would host 10 games. Holding a tournament in the U.S. would subject many of the documents generated to subpoena by U.S. federal prosecutors, who have secured numerous guilty pleas to corruption charges from soccer officials since 2015 and obtained convictions at trial last year against Juan Angel Napout, the former president of South American soccer's governing body, and Jose Maria Marin, the former president of Brazil's soccer federation. "We haven't had any of those concerns raised by any of the members that we've met so far," Cordeiro said. "The reforms that FIFA undertook some years ago I think were spot on and we feel very confident that ultimately the right decision will be made." Morocco's bid envisions spending almost $16 billion, including $3 billion to construct nine new stadiums, refurbish five others and build or renovate 130 training grounds. The North American bid proposed venues be selected from among 23 stadiums that exist or already are under construction, including three each in Mexico and Canada. Sixteen of the U.S. stadiums are sites of NFL teams. "The split of matches that we have proposed to FIFA frankly reflects the resources of the three countries," Cordeiro said. "We in the United States are blessed with some very substantial resources in terms of stadium infrastructure, of cities and so on, and that reflects the 60 matches that we have on the table. But at the end of the day there is a reason why FIFA have asked for or have encouraged joint bids and we do think that our joint bids taken together provide for a vastly superior bid than our competition." ___ AP Sports Writer Rob Harris contributed to this report.

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Scoreboard on Wednesday at the end of the T20 tri-series match between Zimbabwe and Pakistan at Harare Sports Club: Zimbabwe Cephas Zhuwao b Ashraf 24 Solomon Mire c Khan b Talat 94 Hamilton Masakadza b Khan 2 Tarisai Musakanda c Malik b Amir 33 Elton Chigumbura not out 5 Malcolm Waller not out 0 Extras: (1lb, 3w) 4 TOTAL: (for 4 wickets) 162 Overs: 20. Fall of wickets: 1-49, 2-82, 3-146, 4-161 Did not bat: Peter Moor, Tendai Chisoro, Chris Mpofu, Wellington Masakadza, Blessing Muzarabani. Bowling: Shoaib Malik 1-0-12-0, Mohammad Amir 4-0-25-1, Hasan Ali 4-0-37-0, Faheem Ashraf 4-0-24-1, Shadab Khan 3-0-28-1 (1w), Mohammad Nawaz 3-0-25-0, Hussain Talat 1-0-10-1 (2w) Pakistan Fakhar Zaman c Mpofu b Mire 47 Haris Sohail c Mire b Wellington Masakadza 16 Hussain Talat c Zhuwao b Mpofu 44 Sarfraz Ahmed not out 38 Shoaib Malik not out 12 Extras: (6w) 6 TOTAL: (for 3 wickets) 163 Overs: 19.1. Fall of wickets: 1-58, 2-95, 3-138 Did not bat: Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Nawaz, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Amir Bowling: Tendai Chisoro 4-0-38-0, Blessing Muzarabani 4-0-31-0 (1w), Chris Mpofu 3.1-0-31-1 (4w), Wellington Masakadza 4-0-30-1, Malcolm Waller 2-0-18-0, Solomon Mire 2-0-15-1 (1w) Toss: Pakistan. Result: Pakistan won by 7 wickets. Umpires: Langton Rusere, Zimbabwe, and Iknow Chabi, Zimbabwe TV umpire: Russell Tiffin, Zimbabwe. Match referee: Jeff Crowe, New Zealand.

CHICAGO (AP) — Futures trading on the Chicago Board of Trade Tuesday.: Settle WHEAT (5,000 bu ; cents per bushel) Mar 457 1-4 May 470 3-4 Jul 483 1-2 Sep 496 3-4 Dec 515 3-4 Mar 531 1-4 May 536 1-2 Jul 536 1-2 Sep 545 Dec 558 1-2 Mar 569 May 566 1-2 Jul 555 CORN (5,000 bu ; cents per bushel) Mar 361 1-2 May 369 3-4 Jul 377 1-2 Sep 384 3-4 Dec 393 1-2 Mar 401 3-4 May 406 3-4 Jul 411 Sep 407 1-4 Dec 409 1-4 Mar 416 May 419 1-2 Jul 424 1-2 Sep 424 1-4 Dec 413 3-4 Jul 421 3-4 Dec 419 1-2 OATS (5,000 bu ; cents per bushel) Mar 270 May 264 1-2 Jul 267 1-2 Sep 269 1-2 Dec 267 1-4 Mar 267 1-4 May 267 1-4 Jul 267 1-4 Sep 268 1-2 Dec 268 1-2 Jul 267 Sep 267 SOYBEANS (5,000 bu ; cents per bushel) Mar 1000 1-4 May 1011 1-4 Jul 1021 Aug 1022 1-4 Sep 1015 1-2 Nov 1013 1-2 Jan 1019 3-4 Mar 1020 3-4 May 1024 1-4 Jul 1029 3-4 Aug 1024 3-4 Sep 1013 3-4 Nov 1001 3-4 Jan 1006 1-2 Mar 1007 May 1014 1-2 Jul 1018 3-4 Aug 1011 1-4 Sep 1009 1-4 Nov 992 Jul 992 Nov 992 SOYBEAN OIL (60,000 lbs; cents per lb) Mar 33.08 May 33.28 Jul 33.49 Aug 33.55 Sep 33.60 Oct 33.60 Dec 33.74 Jan 33.83 Mar 33.92 May 34.02 Jul 34.14 Aug 34.11 Sep 34.08 Oct 33.73 Dec 33.70 Jan 33.81 Mar 34.02 May 34.03 Jul 34.23 Aug 34.23 Sep 34.23 Oct 34.23 Dec 34.23 Jul 34.23 Oct 34.23 Dec 34.23 SOYBEAN MEAL (100 tons; dollars per ton) Mar 340.50 May 343.90 Jul 345.80 Aug 344.70 Sep 343.20 Oct 340.20 Dec 340.90 Jan 341.20 Mar 342.10 May 343.50 Jul 345.10 Aug 344.70 Sep 343.50 Oct 339.10 Dec 338.90 Jan 339.60 Mar 340.60 May 340.60 Jul 342.10 Aug 342.10 Sep 342.10 Oct 342.10 Dec 343.30 Jul 343.30 Oct 343.30 Dec 343.30

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Apple is cooperating with U.S. government inquiries into its secret slowdown of older iPhones, further complicating its efforts to move past an issue that irked customers whose devices bogged down. The company acknowledged the probes after both The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg had reported the U.S. Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission were investigating how investors have been affected by Apple's handling of the situation. A software update released in 2016 began to slow down older iPhones when their batteries weakened to prevent them from abruptly turning off, but Apple didn't fully disclose what it was doing until December. Apple has since apologized for not being more forthcoming and is replacing batteries on older iPhones for $29, a $50 discount.

BALTIMORE (AP) — A Baltimore school police officer caught on video slapping and kicking a teen at a school while another officer stood by has accepted a plea deal. News media outlets report Anthony Spence entered an Alford plea on Tuesday to a second-degree assault charge, not admitting guilt, but acknowledging prosecutors have enough evidence to convict. Instead of facing jail time, Spence will get probation before judgment and 18 months of supervised probation. He must also resign from the school police force within 90 days. Documents show a witness to the March 1 encounter said a second officer, Saverna Bias, told Spence to hit the youth, and Spence then hit and kicked the teen. Spence's attorney, Warren Brown, says the student spat on Spence. Bias will go to trial on assault charges.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A judge has thrown out a 2016 California law allowing terminally ill people to end their lives after finding that the Legislature unconstitutionally approved it during a special session. State Attorney General Xavier Becerra asked an appeals court to block and reverse last week's decision by Riverside County Superior Court Judge Daniel Ottolia. The court denied the request to immediately block the ruling. But experts say Becerra has other legal options and could ask the state Supreme Court to weigh in to try to restore the law. For now, there are many questions on the impact of the ruling. Here are some of them: WHAT DID THE LAW ALLOW? Adults could obtain a prescription for life-ending drugs if a doctor determined they had six months or less to live. To ensure they didn't have a change of heart, patients had to make two verbal requests at least 15 days apart and submit a written request. California health officials reported 111 terminally ill people took drugs to end their lives in the first six months the law was in effect. Compassion & Choices, a national organization that supports the law and wants it reinstated, estimated that 504 Californians requested prescriptions in the law's first year. The next state report on the number of people who took the drugs is expected in July. WHAT DID THE JUDGE DECIDE? Ottolia didn't address the legal issue of whether it was proper to allow people to end their own lives. Rather, he found the law should not have been passed during a special session in 2015. Those who supported the measure say state lawmakers were justified in taking up the issue because the session was devoted to health-related topics. The appeals court that refused to block Ottolia's order has not yet considered the state's request to reverse the ruling. Ottolia on Wednesday rejected a request by Compassion & Choices to vacate his decision and scheduled a June 29 hearing on a similar request from the attorney general's office. What does all this mean for now? "We are in the world that we were before the law went into effect," said Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the law school at the University of California, Berkeley. WHAT HAPPENS TO THOSE WHO PLANNED TO USE THE LAW? Patients who have not obtained prescriptions for life-ending medications can't legally get them now, said Dr. Lonny Shavelson, whose practice was solely focused on those cases. Shavelson said he still is meeting with patients and taking their initial requests for drugs but not issuing prescriptions. And he said he can't guarantee their requests will count toward the required waiting period should the law be restored. Shavelson said patients who previously obtained prescriptions can take their medication if they choose to. But with the law not in effect, it's possible a medical examiner could declare the death a suicide, which could create challenges for family members claiming insurance payments. "I am spending a lot of time calming down really freaked-out patients," he said. COULD DOCTORS FACE PROSECUTION? Shavelson said he and his colleagues met recently and determined they were no longer in business because of the judge's ruling. Similarly, Kaiser Permanente halted the health network's end-of-life program. What would happen to a doctor who wrote a prescription? Experts said that's largely up to prosecutors and can vary by jurisdiction. Matt Valliere, executive director of the Patients' Rights Action Fund that wants the law thrown out, said he believes doctors who write prescriptions can and should be prosecuted for assisting in a suicide, which is a felony under California law. Kathryn Tucker, executive director of the End of Life Liberty Project, said she doubts prosecutors would go after doctors who continue to treat pre-existing patients. But she said she doesn't expect doctors to issue new prescriptions without greater legal certainty. CAN LAWMAKERS PASS ANOTHER LAW? It's possible for lawmakers to propose another measure, but it took years for the state's now-blocked law to be passed. A new proposal on such an emotional issue would not sail through the Legislature. Tucker said legal wrangling in the courts will likely take less time than another legislative push. "What's at stake is of a very time-sensitive nature," she said. Becerra's office asked the appeals court to consider the case on a quicker timeframe than the average appeal.

NEW YORK (AP) — Celebrities and activists have taken part in an evening of speeches and music in Manhattan billed as "The People's State of the Union." Monday's event was planned in response to President Donald Trump's first State of the Union address on Tuesday. It was held at The Town Hall, a historic venue founded as a meeting spot for suffragists more than 90 years ago. Speakers included Mark Ruffalo, Kathy Najimy, John Leguizamo and Democratic New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (dih BLAH'-zee-oh). Andra Day and Common sang their Grammy- and Oscar-nominated song "Stand Up for Something" from the film "Marshall." Hosts of the event included unions, organizers of the Women's March and Planned Parenthood.

PRAGUE (AP) — The Czech government is looking to back out of a deal that could give an Australian company the right to mine a huge deposit of lithium, a key component in electric batteries. Acting Prime Minister Andrej Babis says his industry and trade minister has been asked to find a way to make the memorandum of understanding, signed last year with European Metals Holdings, not legally binding. Babis said Wednesday he would prefer a Czech state-run company to explore the local deposit. Europe's biggest deposit of lithium was recently found in the northwestern part of the Czech Republic. EMH has had an exclusive license to explore for the element and was seeking permission to mine. It has been planning to open a mine at Cinovec, on the German border.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Police in Ohio's capital city say two officers who fatally shot a black man last summer followed department policy on using force. Columbus police on Wednesday announced the review board's findings about the conduct of officers Samuel James and Marc Johnson in the shooting of 30-year-old Kareem Ali Nadir Jones last July . Police say they spotted Jones walking between cars and behaving erratically, then fired when his behavior escalated into a perceived threat. Police say body camera video shows Jones reaching for a gun in his waistband. His sister has said she thinks Jones was trying to toss the gun. The officers weren't charged but face a lawsuit alleging the shooting was unjustified and they conspired to provide misleading information about what happened. The local police union has denied those allegations.

DALLAS (AP) — Darcy Kuemper picked up his ninth career shutout. He handed off the credit to his teammates with the Los Angeles Kings. Kuemper made 28 saves to help Los Angeles beat the Dallas Stars 3-0 on Tuesday night. "The guys made it so easy in front of me that it was just fun to go out there and play," he said. The 27-year-old Kuemper made his second straight start in place of Jonathan Quick, who is out with an upper-body injury. Kuemper got his second shutout and improved to 7-1-3 in his first season with Los Angeles. "I'm just excited for the opportunity to play a couple in a row," Kuemper said. Paul LaDue, Drew Doughty and Alec Martinez scored as Los Angeles (27-18-5) earned its second straight win. The Kings are among a group of playoff contenders with 59 points, one point behind Dallas. Ben Bishop made 39 saves for the Stars (28-19-4), who dropped their second straight game, but retained a tenuous one-point lead for the Western Conference's first wild card. "I think the desperation of playing a team ahead of us in the standings really brought the best out of us tonight," Kuemper said. "Against a line as scary as their top line is, we hardly gave them anything." Dallas star Jamie Benn did not record a shot on goal. Alexander Radulov, who came into the night with 16 points in nine games, and Tyler Seguin failed to connect on any of their eight shots. "I thought tonight we were the worst group of guys out there," Seguin said. The Stars have been outscored 7-1 in their last two games, including a 4-1 loss to Toronto right before the All-Star break. "The game before the break (Toronto) came in and checked us hard with no response, and today the same thing," Stars coach Ken Hitchcock said. "So the concern is how do we respond to getting played hard. Instead of getting excited and digging in, we go the other way." Dallas came up empty on each of its four power plays against the NHL's best penalty killers. "(Dustin Brown) does the job on the penalty kill, and he's done that all year," Kings coach John Stevens said. "He's critical to the success on the power play, taking a beating in net front." LaDue scored his first NHL goal just 3:05 into the game. Anze Kopitar skated from behind the net almost to the left point and passed across to LaDue in the right faceoff circle. He sent a wrist shot inside the left goalpost. "I kind of saw a spot open and just tried to shoot to that part of the net," LaDue said. "It ended up making it through a few sticks and into the net." Los Angeles increased its lead to 2-0 after Radulov was sent off for holding a stick in the second. Doughty's shot from above the right circle deflected in off Bishop as Stars defenseman Stephen Johns tried to prevent the puck from crossing the goal line. The Kings were unable to score during a four-minute power play midway through the second. Los Angeles stopped two Dallas power plays in the closing minutes of the period and the first minute of the third. Nine seconds after Brown left the penalty box, Martinez scored on a snap shot from the left circle. NOTES: Brown had 11 shots on goal. . Los Angeles has stopped 86 percent of opponents' power plays. ... Quick is on injured reserve. ... LaDue's goal was his first in 24 career games. His father, Jay, got to see the goal because the Kings' dads made the trip to Dallas. ... Stars D Dan Hamhuis played in his 1,000th career game. UP NEXT Kings: Visit Nashville on Thursday. Stars: Travel to Arizona for a game on Thursday.

LONDON (AP) — London fire commissioner says it will take weeks for high-rise building in inferno tragedy to be searched and 'cleared'

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr 23, 2018--Technavio’s latest market research report on the provides an analysis of the most important trends expected to impact the market outlook from 2018-2022. defines an emerging trend as a factor that has the potential to significantly impact the market and contribute to its growth or decline. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180423006201/en/ Technavio has published a new market research report on the global industrial potato graders market from 2018-2022. (Graphic: Business Wire) According to Technavio market research analysts, the global industrial potato graders market will grow at a CAGR of close to 5% during the forecast period. The increase in manual labor costs for grading potatoes is a major factor driving the market’s growth. Over the years, there has been an increase in wages and labor costs in various industries. Potato processing is considered a labor-intensive process as many small-scale manufacturers use manual methods for grading potatoes. Owing to the increase in wages, many potato processing firms are shifting their focus toward mechanizing their operations by installing industrial potato graders. This will help them reduce their overall processing costs and improve profitability. This report is available at a USD 1,000 discount for a limited time only: Save more with Technavio. Buy2 reports and get the third for FREE: In this report, Technavio highlights the adoption of PLC-based automation for potato grading as one of the key emerging trends driving the global industrial potato graders market: Adoption of PLC-based automation for potato grading The need for automation of various processes has been growing in the food industry. In industrial potato graders, automation is primarily used to reduce human intervention, improve potato grading efficiency, and ensure minimal errors. It also helps in increasing the grading speed and reducing operational costs. Automated systems use programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) developed by various companies for enhanced monitoring and process control during grading operations. According to a senior analyst at Technavio for research, “Many potato producers have started using automated potato graders for the smooth running of their production lines. For instance, in January 2017, Neumiller Farms installed a new PLC-based potato grading system in its potato grading facility in Illinois, US. Similarly, in May 2017, Atlantic Potato Distributors announced its plan to add an automated grading and bagging line to its potato-packing facility in New Brunswick, Canada.” Looking for more information on this market? Technavio’s sample reports are free of charge and contain multiple sections of the report such as the market size and forecast, drivers, challenges, trends, and more. Global industrial potato graders market segmentation This market research report segments the global by product (size graders and weight graders) and key regions (the Americas, APAC, and EMEA). The size graders product segment held a market share of over 78% in 2017 and is expected to grow further during the forecast period. Size graders are of two types, namely roller graders and screen graders. The demand for uniformly sized potatoes is increasing among potato processing industries to eliminate issues related to overcooking and undercooking. This is expected to lead to an increase in the market growth of industrial screen graders during the forecast period. EMEA held the largest share of the global industrial potato graders market in 2017, accounting for a market share of over 39%. Strategic alliances between potato processing companies and industrial potato grader vendors are increasing in EMEA. This is expected to drive the growth of the market in the region. About Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focuses on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio’s report library consists of more than 10,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio’s comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. If you are interested in more information, please contact our media team at . View source version on businesswire.com:https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180423006201/en/ CONTACT: Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media & Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 www.technavio.com KEYWORD: UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA CANADA ILLINOIS INDUSTRY KEYWORD: MANUFACTURING OTHER MANUFACTURING NATURAL RESOURCES AGRICULTURE RETAIL FOOD/BEVERAGE SOURCE: Technavio Research Copyright Business Wire 2018. PUB: 04/23/2018 01:37 PM/DISC: 04/23/2018 01:37 PM http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180423006201/en

HONOLULU (AP) — Every day, tourists flock to a downtown Honolulu palace for a glimpse of the way Hawaii's royal family lived, marveling at its gilded furniture, lavish throne room and grand staircase made from prized koa wood. But few know Iolani Palace — America's only royal residence — has relied in part on the generosity of a descendant of that family while the relic of the monarchy's rule now serves as a museum. Multimillionaire heiress Abigail Kinoiki Kekaulike Kawananakoa, considered by many to be Hawaii's last princess, has paid the palace's electric bills for the past six years. But the intensely private Native Hawaiian, whose $215 million fortune includes race horses and real estate, is no longer in a position to fund her pet charities, including the palace and various Native Hawaiian causes. A court struggle is playing out for the 91-year-old's fortune. Her longtime lawyer persuaded a judge to appoint him trustee, arguing a stroke over the summer left the heiress impaired. She claims she's fine, and has since fired that lawyer and married her girlfriend of 20 years. Since the court battle began, the electricity payments have stopped, Iolani Palace Executive Director Kippen de Alba Chu said. Officials who run the palace completed in 1882 have relied on a backup plan to pay the light bill and stay open. Also disrupted, according to court documents, were funds earmarked for a Native Hawaiian nursing student's scholarship and materials to repair a damaged crypt at the Royal Mausoleum, where members of Hawaiian royalty are buried. Over the years, Kawananakoa has used her money to fund protesters fighting a giant telescope on a mountain some Native Hawaiians consider sacred; to challenge a contentious Honolulu rail project; and to support the Merrie Monarch Festival, a prestigious hula competition. She also has donated items owned by King Kalakaua and Queen Kapiolani for public display, including Kalakaua's nearly 14-carat diamond pinky ring. Kawananakoa is the granddaughter of the late Prince David Kawananakoa, who was named an heir to the throne. She has no official title or real power in the state, but that doesn't matter to many Native Hawaiians, who see her as a link to when Hawaii was its own nation — before American businessmen, backed by U.S. Marines, overthrew the Hawaiian kingdom 125 years ago. "She was always called princess among Hawaiians because Hawaiians have acknowledged that lineage," said Kimo Alama Keaulana, assistant professor of Hawaiian language and studies at Honolulu Community College. "Hawaiians hold dear to genealogy. And so genealogically speaking, she is of high royal blood." Some note that Prince David has other living descendants and say the heiress is held up as the last tie to the monarchy simply because of her wealth. Kawananakoa's riches come from being the great-granddaughter of James Campbell, an Irish businessman who made his fortune as a sugar plantation owner and one of Hawaii's largest landowners. But Kawananakoa's supporters say she is the closest connection to the throne because, although they were already related, the prince's widow formally adopted her as a daughter. Last princess or not, Kawananakoa's inheritance wields tangible power — and some worry about it falling into the wrong hands. In July, her longtime attorney James Wright filed an emergency petition seeking to be named successor trustee to all of her trust assets, saying in court documents that Kawananakoa is "impaired as a result of an acute stroke." Two days later, a judge granted the request. In August, attorney Michael Lilly wrote a letter to the judge saying he now represents Kawananakoa and he strongly contests any contention she is incompetent. Lawyers for the heiress dispute she had a stroke, saying in court papers it was a transient ischemic attack, which has similar symptoms but caused no permanent damage. Wright's court filings also raise allegations that Veronica Gail Worth, Kawananakoa's 64-year-old wife, physically abused her. Neither Kawananakoa nor Worth responded to requests for comment from The Associated Press. However, Kawananakoa's attorney said in court papers the abuse claims are false and that Kawananakoa fell and "struck furniture, which caused the bruising, which is not uncommon at someone her age." A judge in September appointed a special master to independently investigate the heiress's mental capacity and the abuse allegations. Kawananakoa largely avoids airing her personal life, and some who know her say even her Oct. 1 wedding at the home of a retired state Supreme Court justice came as a surprise. But she has occasionally drawn attention over the years, including in 1993, when one of her horses won $1 million in New Mexico's All American Futurity. Five years later, furor erupted after Kawananakoa sat on a palace throne for a Life magazine photo shoot. She damaged some of its fragile threads, but repairs were made and the throne was returned to the palace throne room. Still, the uproar led to Kawananakoa's ouster as president of Friends of Iolani Palace, a position she held for more than 25 years. Some Hawaiians, such as well-known activist Walter Ritte, aren't interested in revering her genealogy or wealth. Hawaiians, especially those who live in poverty, can't relate to her, Ritte said. "She has given some money here and there," he said. "She could have done a lot more for Hawaiians." The court battle focusing on Kawananakoa's age and health has others reflecting on her as a final living reminder of Hawaii's monarchy and as a symbol of a proud Hawaiian national identity that has endured. "It is fair to say that Abigail Kawananakoa is the last of our alii," said Keaulana, using the Hawaiian word for royalty. "She epitomizes what Hawaiian royalty is — in all its dignity and intelligence and art." Palace officials will be watching the case. A hearing is tentatively scheduled for Feb. 8. ___ Associated Press researcher Rhonda Shafner in New York contributed to this report.

ASPEN, Colo. (AP) — It certainly wasn't the first time Iouri Podladtchikov had elicited gasps from a halfpipe crowd. This time, though, there was nothing to celebrate. A mere two weeks before he was to defend his Olympic title, the snowboarder called I-Pod bashed his face against the halfpipe and skidded lifelessly to the bottom. Though he was diagnosed with a broken nose and no brain or neck trauma, Sunday's injury at the Winter X Games still served as a stark reminder of the stakes involved in the beautiful, dangerous sport of professional snowboarding. "There's no doubt it's a risky game, especially at the highest level," said coach Bud Keene, who worked with Shaun White during the previous three Olympics. "We watch people like Shaun and Ayumu (Hirano) execute amazing, acrobatic runs, flawlessly and seemingly effortlessly. The truth is, they're putting the pedal down, and when you're punching it, there's a certain amount of hope that things will work out. "Modern halfpipe riding is a mixture of talent, strength and crazy." Seemingly no big name in the sport, which has grown exponentially since it was introduced to the Olympics in 1998, is immune to torn-up knees, broken wrists, busted ankles and, in the worst-case scenario, trauma to the head and neck. White is coming back from a gruesome injury that occurred when he slammed his face on the wall of a halfpipe in New Zealand last October. Eight years ago at Winter X, he slammed his head into the halfpipe during a training run but was still allowed to compete; he won on the way to his second Olympic title. Not everyone escapes unharmed. The two most high-profile cases involved Kevin Pearce, who suffered a traumatic brain injury in a 2009 training accident, and halfpipe skier Sarah Burke, who was killed in a training accident in 2012. I-Pod's wreck stands out not only because he is the defending Olympic champion who patented the Yolo Flip, which has become widely viewed as the toughest trick on the halfpipe, but because it came on a national telecast during the biggest contest this side of the Olympics, less than two weeks before the Pyeongchang Games are set to start. Podladtchikov laid motionless at the bottom of the nearly silent halfpipe for about 20 minutes while medical personnel stabilized his neck and placed him into the sled for a trip to the hospital. The rest of the riders, waiting at the top of the pipe, conceded it was jarring but said there was nothing to be gained by thinking about it too much. "I tried to block it out," said Jake Pates, who was the next to go after I-Pod was taken off. Remarkably, the level of risk and riding after the accident rose to levels nobody has seen in a halfpipe contest. Hirano, the defending Olympic silver medalist, won after becoming the first rider to land back-to-back 1440-degree spins in a contest. He was closely pursued by Australian Scotty James, who landed three double corks on his second-place run, capping it with a switch backside double cork 1260, a hugely difficult and technical trick that involves him both taking off and landing a two-flip jump while he's traveling backward. In the aftermath of I-Pod's injury, the question became why would they put themselves at risk so close to the Olympics? The answer is partly in the history and importance of the X Games, an ESPN production that brought snowboarding to the masses and without which, the sport wouldn't have grown as it has. "I had to do this," said Hirano, who won his first gold medal at the event. "I had to be here." Not present, however, was White, who came to the X Games to practice but withdrew to rest up before heading to South Korea this weekend to start his training there. It was a calculated move by the best-known figure in the sport, who is seeking to become the first three-time Olympic gold medalist in snowboarding. "That's why if you see any top competitor not doing it, it's because they don't want to risk injury," said White's coach, 2002 Olympic bronze medalist JJ Thomas. "This is a night event. Korea is a day event. The pipe is a lot harder (at night). It's big risk, big reward." It figures to keep getting more difficult and, therefore, more dangerous. The runs Hirano and James put down in Aspen, along with a massively difficult run that White used to score a 100 and win a qualifier in Snowmass a few weeks earlier, have set the bar for what it will take to win this Olympics. "When you're as capable as they are, and work as hard at it as they do, then once the bell rings, those injuries sort of melt away," Keene said, "and everybody's going for it."

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr 24, 2018--, a global procurement intelligence advisory firm, has announced the release of their ‘ .’ The insights and data in this report provide a strategic analysis of the supply markets, factors influencing purchasing decisions, procurement best practices, pricing models, supplier landscape, and an analysis of the supplier capability matrix for the . This report breaks down the data and analysis behind the procurement of machine tools and acts as an all-inclusive guide for making smart purchasing decisions. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180424006241/en/ Machine Tools Procurement Report. (Graphic: Business Wire) “The growth of end-user industries such as aerospace and automotive will influence the growth of the machine tools category,” says SpendEdge procurement analyst Tridib Bora. “Also, the rise in production facilities and the expansion of manufacturing plants will drive the growth of the market in the APAC region,” added Tridib. Looking for more insights from this report? SpendEdge sample reports are free of charge and provide insights that focus on cost-saving aspects of procurement and optimization of category spend. Procurement analysts at SpendEdge highlight the following top three market trends that are contributing to the growth of the Global Machine Tools Market: Increasing use of automation across different machine tools Rising focus on sustainability during procurement of machine tools Incorporation of 3D printing technology for machine tools manufacturing This report is available at USD 1000 discount for a limited time only: Increasing use of automation across different machine tools In the recent years, the machine tools category is shifting toward automation. The buyers in the market are increasingly adopting automated machine tools to reduce the spend on human resource. With the help of automation, the buyers can minimize their labor costs. Rising focus on sustainability during procurement of machine tools Globally, the buyers are focusing on the procurement of environmental-friendly machine to reduce the increasing carbon footprints. This facilitates synergies among the buyers and suppliers to reduce the overall carbon footprint. Incorporation of 3D printing technology for machine tools manufacturing The suppliers in the machine tools category are incorporating 3D printing technology for fabricating and manufacturing machine tools. This helps the suppliers improve the efficiency of buyers production process. to gain detailed insights into the current market trends. Get unlimited access to all our reports. Our Insights platform provides ready-to-use procurement research reports, latest supplier news, innovation landscape, markets insights, supplier tracking, and much more at the click of a button. We also reports to meet clients’ requirements. Related Reports: About SpendEdge SpendEdge shares your passion for driving sourcing and procurement excellence. We are a preferred procurement market intelligence partner for Fortune 500 firms and other leading companies across numerous industries. Our strength lies in delivering robust, real-time procurement market intelligence that helps sourcing and procurement professionals make informed decisions. These innovative procurement solutions help enterprises transform structural capabilities, improve execution efficiency, and fast-track time to savings. View source version on businesswire.com:https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180424006241/en/ CONTACT: SpendEdge Anirban Choudhury Marketing Consultant US: +1 630 984 7340 hello@spendedge.com KEYWORD: INDUSTRY KEYWORD: ENERGY UTILITIES MANUFACTURING ENGINEERING SOURCE: SpendEdge Copyright Business Wire 2018. PUB: 04/24/2018 03:31 PM/DISC: 04/24/2018 03:31 PM http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180424006241/en

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr 23, 2018--Healogics, the nation’s largest provider of advanced chronic wound care services, today announced that it has appointed Allan Woodward to serve as Chief Financial Officer. In this role, Woodward will be responsible for the planning and oversight of the financial strategy for the company, the ongoing development of appropriate control systems and all reporting measures. Woodward will report directly to the Chief Executive Officer, David Bassin. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180423006045/en/ Allan Woodward, Chief Financial Officer at Healogics, Inc. (Photo: Business Wire) “Allan’s extensive experience in financial leadership roles, combined with his knowledge of the healthcare industry makes him an invaluable asset to our team. We are thrilled to welcome him as our new CFO,” said Bassin. Over the course of his career, Allan has held several financial leadership roles in healthcare-based organizations. His most recent experience includes his service at eviCore Healthcare as the Senior Vice President of Finance and Strategy over the post-acute care and consumer engagement programs. He was responsible for all financial activities of the business unit, including the creation of financial structures for all product expansions and the development of alternative provider reimbursement initiatives. Woodward earned his MBA from the University of Missouri and his Bachelor of Science from Middle Tennessee State University. About Healogics Headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla., Healogics and its affiliated companies manage a network of 700 outpatient Wound Care Centers® across the United States and multiple locations in the United Kingdom. Healogics currently has more than 3,000 employees, including nearly 300 employed providers (Healogics Specialty Providers). In addition to the company’s network of outpatient Wound Care Centers, Healogics providers partner with over 400 skilled nursing facilities to care for patients with chronic wounds. More than 300,000 patients were treated by Healogics providers in 2017. For additional information, please visit Healogics.com. View source version on businesswire.com:https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180423006045/en/ CONTACT: Healogics, Inc. Leslie Niblock, 904-524-2695 Director, Corporate Communications Leslie.Niblock@healogics.com KEYWORD: UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA FLORIDA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: SENIORS WOMEN EDUCATION UNIVERSITY TECHNOLOGY DATA MANAGEMENT INTERNET SOFTWARE TELECOMMUNICATIONS HEALTH MANUFACTURING OTHER MANUFACTURING PROFESSIONAL SERVICES FINANCE HUMAN RESOURCES COMMUNICATIONS RESEARCH OTHER SCIENCE OTHER COMMUNICATIONS CONSUMER FAMILY SCIENCE GENERAL HEALTH MEN SOURCE: Healogics, Inc. Copyright Business Wire 2018. PUB: 04/23/2018 12:03 PM/DISC: 04/23/2018 12:03 PM http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180423006045/en

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve's first meeting under Jerome Powell's leadership will likely end Wednesday with an announcement that the Fed will resume its modest interest rate hikes. But investors will be most attuned to what Powell signals at his first news conference about whether and how he might steer the Fed's policymaking differently from his predecessor, Janet Yellen. Will he, for example, be inclined to step up the pace of Fed rate hikes? Powell hasn't yet tipped his hand. Speaking to Congress last month, the new chairman said his "personal outlook" on the economy had strengthened since December, when the Fed's policymakers collectively forecast three rate hikes for 2018, the same as in 2017. That comment helped send stocks tumbling because it suggested that the Fed might be about to accelerate the gradual pace it had pursued under Yellen. More aggressive rate increases would likely slow the economy and make stocks less appealing. Yet when he testified to Congress again two days later, Powell tempered his view: He stressed that the Fed still thinks it has room to maintain a moderate pace of rate hikes, in part to allow Americans' average wages, which have stagnated for years, to pick up. The impression was that he might not favor raising rates faster than Yellen did after all — at least not yet. That said, few doubt that the Fed will announce when its policy meeting concludes that it will resume raising rates, after having most recently done so in December. A healthy job market and a steady if unspectacular economy have given the Fed the confidence to think the economy can withstand further increases within a still historically low range of borrowing rates. The financial markets have been edgy for weeks, and Powell's back-and-forth comments have been only one factor. A sharp rise in wage growth reported in the government's January jobs report triggered fears that higher labor costs would lead to higher inflation and, ultimately, to higher interest rates. Stocks sank on the news. But subsequent reports on wages and inflation have been milder, and the markets appear to have stabilized. The February jobs report pointed to an unusually robust labor market: Employers added 313,000 jobs, the largest monthly gain in 1½ years. The unemployment rate remained at a 17-year low of 4.1 percent. Other measures of the economy, though, have been more sluggish. Consumer spending, the economy's primary fuel, has slowed this year and has led many economists to downgrade their forecasts for growth in the January-March quarter. Some now envision an annual growth rate of just 1.7 percent for the quarter. Forecasts for all of 2018, though, still predict an acceleration later this year, driven in part by the stimulative effect of the sweeping tax cuts President Donald Trump pushed through Congress in December and a budget agreement in January to raise government spending by $300 billion over two years. If economic growth does pick up and the job market remains healthy, the Powell Fed is viewed as likely to accelerate its rate hikes, from the three it projected in December to four this year. Even after five rate increases over the past 27 months, the Fed's benchmark rate remains in a still-low range of 1.25 percent to 1.5 percent, up from a record low near zero as recently as December 2015. The Fed's slighter higher key rate has, however, contributed to higher consumer loan rates, including for home mortgages. Some economists say they think Powell will try to demonstrate at the start of his tenure that he is serious about keeping inflation under control, a central responsibility for any Fed leader. "Powell will want to make sure he establishes his credentials as an anti-inflation chairman," said Sung Won Sohn, an economics professor at California State University, Channel Islands. Besides announcing its rate decision Wednesday, the Fed will update its quarterly forecasts, which will show its expectations for growth, unemployment, inflation and the expected pace of its rate increases over the next three years. Even if the Fed doesn't explicitly predict four rate hikes for 2018, it could effectively signal as much by upgrading its expectations for growth. The Fed's December estimate for economic growth in 2018, as measured by the gross domestic product, was 2.5 percent, an upgrade from its 2.1 percent forecast of three months earlier. Now, with the tax cuts and spending increases in place, might the Fed raise that growth forecast even further? In his news conference after the Fed's meeting ends, Powell will be able to shape perceptions of the central bank's likely direction under his stewardship. It won't be without risk. Any serious misstep could unnerve global financial markets. But Powell's testimony to Congress last month drew strong reviews. "Powell delivered a solid performance before Congress, worthy of William McChesney Martin," said David Jones, an economist who has written books on the Fed, referring to the longest-serving Fed chairman, whose tenure stretched from 1951 until 1970. The plain-spoken Martin once suggested that the Fed's key function was to take away the "punch bowl" just when the party is really warming up. "Powell is well-prepared for this job, and I think he will be a Martin-type guy who will describe the Fed's actions in plain, understandable terms," Jones said.

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — A 20-year-old who as a teenager used an "affluenza" defense regarding a drunken-driving wreck that killed four people is set to be released April 2. Ethan Couch has served almost two years in jail for a revoked probation and is to be freed from the Tarrant County Jail in Fort Worth, Texas. He's been serving a 720-day sentence after his 2016 probation revocation for attending a party where alcohol was served. Couch was 16 when the truck he was driving killed pedestrians in June 2013. A psychologist at his manslaughter trial blamed his actions on "affluenza," or irresponsibility due to family wealth. His mother, Tonya Couch, awaits trial on charges of hindering apprehension of a felon and money laundering after she fled to Mexico with Ethan in 2015. She's free on bond.

YORK, Pa. (AP) — A man who called police on a group of black women golfers accused of playing too slowly at a Pennsylvania golf club denied to dispatchers that he was acting out of racism. In one of two recordings of calls to police posted by the York Daily Record, the caller says the group was "holding everybody up" and one of the women had accused the Grandview Golf Club of racism. He said no weapons were involved "other than her mouth." The golf club in York apologized following the April 21 incident. The women were club members and described the experience as demeaning and discriminatory.

NEW YORK (AP) — Queens of the Stone Age frontman Joshua Homme has apologized for second time after a photographer said he kicked her camera while she photographed the band's concert. Homme says in a video posted to his band's Facebook page early Monday that he doesn't have any excuse or reason to justify what I did." Photographer Chelsea Lauren said on Instagram that she sought medical treatment after the camera smashed into her face from the kick Saturday night at a radio station's annual Christmas event. Video posted to social media shows Homme swinging his leg and connecting with the camera while playing guitar at the Forum near Los Angeles. Homme first apologized Sunday, saying he was "in a state of being lost in performance" and thought he was kicking lighting equipment. He says in the new video that he's "truly sorry and I hope you're OK." He adds, "I've made a lot of mistakes in my life ... I want to be a good man but I think last night I definitely failed at that." ____ Online: Homme's video apology: https://www.facebook.com/pg/QOTSA/posts/?ref=page_internal

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. (AP) — Authorities say two people have died after a tree branch fell on spectators during a fireworks display in western Illinois. The Rock Island County Sheriff's Office says the branch fell from a large oak tree outside the county courthouse in Rock Island around 9:40 p.m. Tuesday. Dozens were sitting near the tree watching the fireworks when the branch fell about 25 feet (8 meters) and crushed some of the spectators. Some of those who weren't hurt tried to lift the branch to free the people trapped beneath. Authorities said 61-year-old Daniel Mendoza Sr. of Rock Island was pronounced dead at the scene. Seventy-two-year-old Lawrence Anderson of Moline died at a hospital. Authorities have not provided the causes of death. Five other people were injured.

CLEVELAND (AP) — LeBron James scored 40 points as part of his third triple-double in four games and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Milwaukee Bucks 124-117 on Monday night as coach Tyronn Lue began his leave of absence to address health issues. Lue said Monday in a statement he been dealing with chest pains and loss of sleep, and that tests have offered no conclusion about what the issue is. Associate head coach Larry Drew will run the team in Lue's absence. James scored 17 points in the third quarter and finished with 12 rebounds and 10 assists for his 16th triple-double this season and 71st of his career. The four-time MVP took over in the third beginning with back-to-back 3-pointers. After not getting a foul called on a third attempt, he finished Cleveland's next possession with a massive dunk. He was fouled attempting another dunk and made both free throws the following time down. Milwaukee cut a 17-point lead to 117-109, but James drove the length of the floor for a dunk with just over a minute left. Cavaliers All-Star forward Kevin Love returned after missing six weeks because of a broken left hand and scored 18 points in 25 minutes. He sparked a 10-0 run in the second quarter with two 3-pointers Giannis Antetokounmpo had 37 points and went 11 for 11 at the foul line for Milwaukee, which is seventh in the Eastern Conference. Khris Middleton had 30 points, making 11 of 16 from the field. Milwaukee guard Jason Terry was given a Flagrant-1 foul for hitting Ante Zizic in the face with an open hand while the rookie center was putting up a shot in the lane. Zizic made both free throws, helping spark a run that built a double-figure lead. Lue, 40, led Cleveland to the 2016 NBA championship after taking over for David Blatt midway through that season. The Cavaliers (41-29) are third in the Eastern Conference and have endured roster shake-ups, injuries and other distractions as they try to reach the NBA Finals for the fourth straight time. No timetable has been given for when Lue will return. He missed the second half Saturday, the second time this season he left a game because he wasn't feeling well. Lue also sat out a game against Chicago at home in December. GOING OUT ON A HIGH NOTE The Cavaliers honored former Browns tackle Joe Thomas, who attended the game after holding a retirement press conference Monday. James embraced Thomas, who received a standing ovation in an on-court tribute during a timeout. TIP-INS Bucks: Antetokounmpo picked up his second foul at the 5:58 mark of the first quarter and went to the bench. He scored 10 points in the second, including a one-handed dunk off an alley-oop pass from Eric Bledsoe. ... C Tyler Zeller (sore ribs) missed his second straight game. Cavaliers: G Kyle Korver scored 12 points after missing Saturday's game because of a family matter. He's also been dealing with a sore right foot. ... Drew hopes F Tristan Thompson, who hasn't played since March 3 because of a sprained right ankle will return this week. ... Larry Nance Jr. (sore right hamstring), Rodney Hood (strained lower back) and Cedi Osman (strained left hip flexor) are also out. UP NEXT Bucks: Host Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday. Cavaliers: Host Toronto on Wednesday. ___ More AP basketball: https://apnews.com/tag/NBAbasketball

BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel is rejecting suggestions that an agreement to set up "transit centers" on the border with Austria, from which some asylum-seekers would be returned to other European countries, marks a turnaround in her migration policy. The agreement among Merkel's conservative bloc hinges on other countries taking back migrants they've previously registered, as well on as the chancellor's center-left coalition partners. Merkel said people would be kept in the new centers for 48 hours at most. Merkel refused to close Germany's borders as the migrant influx peaked in 2015 but has since significantly toughened her stance. She backed a wider but later-aborted proposal for border facilities over two years ago. Asked by ARD television Wednesday whether she has now become a "sealing-off chancellor," Merkel replied: "No. A clear no."

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Carson Wentz threw a touchdown pass a few plays after suffering an injury that could ruin a special season for the Philadelphia Eagles, and then stuck around to greet teammates and celebrate a division-clinching victory with them. It's always team-first for No. 11. Two sources familiar with the injury told The Associated Press that doctors believe Wentz tore his left anterior cruciate ligament in a 43-35 comeback win over the Rams on Sunday and will miss the rest of the season and playoffs. Wentz, a favorite in the NFL MVP race, will have an MRI on Monday to confirm the severity of the injury. Both people spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to release the information. After the game, Wentz's left knee was wrapped in a brace. He was driven in a cart up the tunnel at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and then hobbled to one of the team buses. "I don't know anything until we evaluate him (Monday)," Eagles coach Doug Pederson said. Wentz wrote on Twitter: "NFC East Champs! So proud of the resiliency of this team. Such a special group of men. And I greatly appreciate all the prayers! I know my God is a powerful one with a perfect plan. Time to just lean in to him and trust whatever the circumstances! #Proverbs3:5-6" Wentz was hurt late in the third quarter at Los Angeles. Backup Nick Foles rallied the Eagles (11-2) to a win that secured the NFC East title and put them in first place in the conference with three games remaining. "Everyone is really excited about the win but you have your starting quarterback go down, it's emotional," Foles said. "It's emotional for me. I work with him every day so I'm dealing with that." The Eagles have overcome several key injuries and now have to move forward without their most indispensable player. Nine-time Pro Bowl left tackle Jason Peters, return specialist/running back Darren Sproles, star linebacker Jordan Hicks and special-teams captain Chris Maragos already went down for the season. But they're not the franchise quarterback. "It (stinks) more so for Carson as a person and a friend and a teammate and what he puts into the game and his preparation," safety Malcolm Jenkins said. "But as a team we have all our goals in front of us." Wentz is the latest NFL star to go down in a season in which several high-profile players have been sidelined. Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman and safety Kam Chancellor, Texans defensive lineman J.J. Watt and quarterback Deshaun Watson, Giants receivers Odell Beckham Jr. and Brandon Marshall, Chiefs safety Eric Berry, Browns tackle Joe Thomas and Vikings running back Dalvin Cook and quarterback Sam Bradford each sustained season-ending injuries. After starting all 16 games as a rookie, Wentz made a giant leap this year. He passed for 3,296 yards, 33 TDs and only seven interceptions. Wentz again was spectacular against the Rams before he got hurt after getting hit hard as he scrambled into the end zone on a play that was called back because of holding. He stayed in the game and threw a 3-yard TD pass to Alshon Jeffery on fourth down four plays later, setting the franchise record for most TD passes in a season. "It shows how tough he is," Pederson said. Foles replaced Wentz the next drive after the Rams took a 35-31 lead. He led the Eagles to a pair of field goals on consecutive drives. Second-year pro Nate Sudfeld is Philadelphia's No. 3 quarterback. Wentz arrived in Philadelphia as the No. 2 pick in the 2016 draft out of North Dakota State. On Sunday, he outperformed Rams quarterback Jared Goff, the No. 1 pick in that draft. Despite the injury, Wentz celebrated the victory over the Rams (9-4) with teammates. "He's one of the leaders on the team. He was there congratulating and celebrating with everyone," Foles said. Foles, a third-round pick by former Eagles coach Andy Reid in 2012, is in his second stint in Philadelphia. He replaced an injured Michael Vick in 2013 and led the Eagles to an NFC East title during Chip Kelly's first season as coach. Foles tied an NFL record with seven TD passes in a game at Oakland in November 2013 and finished that season with 27 TDs and only two picks. The Eagles lost at home to New Orleans in the playoffs. Foles went to the Pro Bowl and was the offensive MVP. But Kelly traded Foles to St. Louis for Sam Bradford after the 2014 season. Foles spent a year with the Rams, a season with the Chiefs and returned to Philadelphia as a free agent this season. "I'm absolutely ready to go — need be," Foles said. "I prepare every day." ___ AP Sports Writer Bernie Wilson contributed to this report from Los Angeles. ___ For more NFL coverage: http://pro32.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL

BOSTON (AP) — Al Horford had 22 points and 14 rebounds, Marcus Smart made an impact in his first game since mid-March and the Boston Celtics beat the Milwaukee Bucks 92-87 on Tuesday night for a 3-2 lead in their first-round playoff series. Smart came off the bench and had nine points, five rebounds, four assists and three blocks in his first game since undergoing right thumb surgery. He played 25 minutes wearing a protective splint and had a key assist late from the bottom of a scrum beneath three Milwaukee players. Terry Rozier added 16 points and five assists for Boston. The home team has won all five games in the first-round series, and Game 6 is Thursday in Milwaukee. Khris Middleton led the Bucks with 23 points, Jabari Parker added 17 points and eight rebounds, and Giannis Antetokounmpo had a series-low 16 points with 10 rebounds and nine assists. The Celtics led by 16 before Milwaukee rallied to make it 74-70 with 7:33 left. Middleton scored later and was fouled to get Milwaukee within 84-79, but he failed to complete the three-point play. A few possessions later, Smart managed to squeeze out a pass to Horford with three Bucks draped over him, and Horford easily dropped in a layup to make it 86-79 with 28.1 seconds left. Milwaukee got within 87-84 after a layup by Eric Bledsoe, but the Celtics hit enough free throws the rest of the way to secure the win. The Bucks entered the game shooting an NBA playoff-best 54 percent from the field, but they hit just 37 percent for the game (32 of 87). Boston needed an energy boost after slow starts to Games 3 and 4, and Smart gave the Celtics exactly that. He checked in for the first time late in the first quarter. Less than a minute later, he deflected a pass and won a scramble on the floor for the loose ball. A few possessions later, he was helping protect the rim, getting his hand in to deny an alley-oop dunk attempt by Antetokounmpo. He was also active on the offensive end, helping drive the ball into the interior of Milwaukee's defense, like when he tossed an alley-oop to Horford late in the third quarter . TIP-INS Bucks: F John Henson missed his third straight game with back soreness. ... Scored 15 points in first quarter. It was low for a quarter in the series, excluding the Game 1 overtime period (eight points). Celtics: Finished with 18 turnovers. ... Outscored the Bucks 32-28 in the paint. DROUGHT AND A RUN The Celtics went without a field goal from Rozier's 3-pointer with 9:14 left in the third until Jaylen Brown hit from beyond the arc with 4:26 to go in the period. Boston's only points during the shooting slump came on a pair of free throws by Tatum with 6:36 left. It allowed Milwaukee to go on a 12-2 run, trimming Boston's lead to 58-52. STILL BEEFING Rozier and Eric Bledsoe got tangled up with 9:33 left in the third quarter. Rozier bumped Bledsoe near the baseline. Bledsoe responded with a hard shove. They then got face-to-face and had to be separated. Bledsoe was assessed a flagrant foul and Rozier was issued a technical foul. It was the continuation of some off-court chiding between the pair. Rozier called Bledsoe "Drew Bledsoe" when asked about him after Game 1. Bledsoe has since responded by saying "Who?" whenever he's asked about Rozier. ___ More NBA basketball: https://apnews.com/tag/NBAbasketball

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A lengthy shootout has rattled the Mexican resort city of La Paz as police and suspects exchanged extended rounds of gunfire. The prosecutor's office in the state of Baja California Sur reports there were no deaths, but says five people were arrested and 10 guns were confiscated. The office said Tuesday that the gunfight occurred after police came under fire from a house on Monday. Some of the suspects were wanted on murder, drug, weapons and other charges. Police found eight rifles and 65 ammunition magazines at the house. Baja California Sur was once a peaceful state home to the twin resorts of Los Cabos, but now has Mexico's second-highest murder rate, at 69 per 100,000 inhabitants.

NEW YORK (AP) — The Latest on the annual Nathan's Famous July Fourth hot dog eating contest. (all times local): 1 p.m. Defending champion Joey "Jaws" Chestnut chomped down a record 74 franks and buns to take home his 11th title at the annual Nathan's Famous July Fourth hot dog eating contest. The renowned competitive eater from San Jose, California, takes home the coveted Mustard Belt and surpassed the previous mark of 72 dogs and buns he downed last year. The heat wasn't a factor; the National Weather Service put the temperature at 83 degrees with a heat index of 91 degrees. Miki Sudo said after eating 37 dogs and buns that the heat may have slowed her down in winning the women's competition. That didn't stop the Las Vegas eater from easily beating out second-place finisher Mischelle Lesco of Tuscon, Arizona, who chowed down 28 wieners and buns. ___ 11 a.m. Miki Sudo (MIHK'-ee SOO'-doh) downed 37 franks to win her fifth straight title in the women's competition of the annual Nathan's Famous July Fourth hot dog eating contest. The Las Vegas competitor fell short of the 41 hot dogs she consumed last year but still beat out second-place finisher Michelle Lesco, of Tucson, Arizona. Lesco chowed down 28 wieners and buns. Thousands of attendees braved 83-degree temperatures and a heat index of 91 degrees to witness the annual July Fourth competition on the Coney Island boardwalk. Ten-time winner Joey "Jaws" Chestnut will confront 20 other men during the men's competition later Wednesday for the coveted Mustard Belt. Sudo was a fan favorite, drawing big cheers from the crowd during her performance, which was slightly delayed after she requested new water to soak her buns. ___ 12:05 a.m. It's frankly amazing. Chowdown champions will face off Wednesday at Nathan's Famous July Fourth hot dog eating contest, where the men's record stands at 72 frankfurters and buns in 10 minutes. Ten-time winner Joey "Jaws" Chestnut will confront 20 other men on New York's Coney Island boardwalk. He set the record last year. Miki Sudo (MIHK'-ee SOO'-doh) is seeking a fifth women's title in a row. The 19-woman field includes record-holder Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas. Sudo downed 41 franks and buns last year. Thomas' record is 45, but she managed 30 last year. The event attracts thousands of in-person spectators and is televised on ESPN. Last year, animal rights activists tried to unfold a banner amid the crowd. Five protesters were taken into custody for questioning and released.

All Times EDT EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division GP W L OT Pts GF GA Tampa Bay 72 49 19 4 102 260 202 Boston 71 45 17 9 99 239 184 Toronto 72 43 22 7 93 243 204 Florida 70 36 27 7 79 212 216 Montreal 73 26 35 12 64 182 232 Ottawa 71 26 34 11 63 197 244 Detroit 72 26 35 11 63 184 224 Buffalo 72 23 37 12 58 172 236 Metropolitan Division GP W L OT Pts GF GA Washington 72 41 24 7 89 225 214 Pittsburgh 72 41 26 5 87 237 218 Columbus 73 40 28 5 85 205 203 Philadelphia 73 37 25 11 85 218 215 New Jersey 72 37 27 8 82 217 215 Carolina 72 31 30 11 73 194 225 N.Y. Rangers 72 32 32 8 72 208 231 N.Y. Islanders 72 30 32 10 70 231 262 WESTERN CONFERENCE Central Division GP W L OT Pts GF GA Nashville 72 48 14 10 106 236 178 Winnipeg 72 43 19 10 96 240 189 Minnesota 72 41 24 7 89 224 206 Colorado 72 39 25 8 86 231 209 Dallas 73 38 27 8 84 209 197 St. Louis 72 39 28 5 83 201 193 Chicago 73 30 34 9 69 208 223 Pacific Division GP W L OT Pts GF GA Vegas 72 46 21 5 97 244 199 San Jose 72 40 23 9 89 219 199 Anaheim 73 37 24 12 86 206 197 Los Angeles 72 39 27 6 84 207 181 Calgary 73 35 28 10 80 202 217 Edmonton 72 31 36 5 67 201 231 Vancouver 72 25 38 9 59 186 236 Arizona 71 23 37 11 57 170 228 NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for overtime loss. Top three teams in each division and two wild cards per conference advance to playoffs. Sunday's Games Colorado 5, Detroit 1 Vegas 4, Calgary 0 Tampa Bay 3, Edmonton 1 Carolina 4, N.Y. Islanders 3 Philadelphia 6, Washington 3 Winnipeg 4, Dallas 2 St. Louis 5, Chicago 4, OT Anaheim 4, New Jersey 2 Monday's Games Columbus 5, Boston 4, OT Nashville 4, Buffalo 0 Florida 2, Montreal 0 Los Angeles at Minnesota, 8 p.m. Calgary at Arizona, 10 p.m. Tuesday's Games Columbus at N.Y. Rangers, 7 p.m. Dallas at Washington, 7 p.m. Pittsburgh at N.Y. Islanders, 7 p.m. Edmonton at Carolina, 7 p.m. Florida at Ottawa, 7:30 p.m. Philadelphia at Detroit, 7:30 p.m. Toronto at Tampa Bay, 7:30 p.m. Los Angeles at Winnipeg, 8 p.m. Colorado at Chicago, 8:30 p.m. Vancouver at Vegas, 10 p.m. New Jersey at San Jose, 10:30 p.m. Wednesday's Games Montreal at Pittsburgh, 7 p.m. Arizona at Buffalo, 7 p.m. Boston at St. Louis, 8 p.m. Anaheim at Calgary, 9:30 p.m. Thursday's Games N.Y. Rangers at Philadelphia, 7 p.m. Arizona at Carolina, 7 p.m. Florida at Columbus, 7 p.m. Tampa Bay at N.Y. Islanders, 7 p.m. Washington at Detroit, 7:30 p.m. Edmonton at Ottawa, 7:30 p.m. Toronto at Nashville, 8 p.m. Vancouver at Chicago, 8:30 p.m. Los Angeles at Colorado, 9 p.m. Vegas at San Jose, 10 p.m.

LONDON (AP) — A poetry collection by the late British writer Helen Dunmore has won the lucrative Costa book prize . "Inside the Wave" was published two months before the poet and novelist died of cancer last year at age 64 and reflects on the intertwined worlds of life and death. Author Wendy Holden, who chaired the judging panel, on Tuesday called the collection "life affirming and uplifting." Open to writers based in Britain and Ireland, the Costa prizes are awarded in five categories, with one chosen as the overall book of the year. Dunmore's poems beat four other finalists for the 30,000-pound ($42,000) prize: Gail Honeyman's debut novel "Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine"; Rebecca Stott's memoir "In the Days of Rain"; John McGregor's novel "Reservoir 13" and children's book "The Explorer" by Katherine Rundell.

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Automaker Volkswagen has suspended its head of external relations and sustainability in response to the controversy over experiments in which monkeys were exposed to diesel exhaust. The company said in a statement Tuesday that Thomas Steg was stepping away from his duties at his own request. The statement said the company was "drawing the first consequences" as it investigates the activities of EUGT, the entity backed by Volkswagen and other carmakers that commissioned the monkey experiment. The move follows a report in The New York Times that the now-disbanded EUGT commissioned the test to show how Volkswagen's diesel technology was succeeding in controlling emissions. But the test was done with a vehicle rigged to cheat on emissions tests. The practice was exposed in 2015, toppling then-CEO Martin Winterkorn.

NEW YORK (AP) — Serena Williams has launched a fashion collection soon after participating in her first major tennis tournament in 16 months, dressed in a black "warrior princess" catsuit, no less. But don't look for her French Open outfit among the athleisure, office and evening clothes on her new namesake website , the only place her duds are available. Following collaborations with HSN and Nike, Williams' "Serena" line includes an "S'' motif and comfortable price points. The letter adorns bralettes and high briefs, along with a T-shirt with the name of her childhood home, Compton. She says she hopes to inspire women to own their own "s'' words, like strong, sexy, sophisticated, sassy, smart, silly and spontaneous. Prices range from $40 for the logo T-shirt to $215 for a gold and black anorak jacket.

DETROIT (AP) — Mike Matheson scored his first goal of the season and the Florida Panthers won in overtime for the first time this season, taking a 2-1 decision from the Detroit Red Wings on Monday night. Matheson drove the rebound of a Nick Bjugstad shot into the net behind Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard at the 2:02 mark of the overtime period for the winner. Florida improved to 1-2 in OT, rallying from a 1-0 third-period deficit for the victory. Vincent Trocheck also scored for the Panthers, while Henrik Zetterberg scored for the Wings, who are 0-5 in overtime. Ending a 22-game goal drought, Zetterberg opened the scoring at the 18:27 mark of the first period. Panthers defenseman Matheson blocked Zetterberg's original shot, but the Detroit captain picked up the rebound and snapped a low shot through the pads of Florida goalie James Reimer. The Panthers tied the score during a third-period power play at the 10:11 mark. Florida center Jonathan Huberdeau went down after being cross-checked by Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall, but as he lay on the ice, Huberdeau slipped a pass back across the front of the net to Trocheck, whose quick shot banked into the Detroit net off the outstretched glove of Wings goalie Jimmy Howard. NOTES: Panthers C Aleksandr Barkov, who leads the team with eight multi-point games, returned to the lineup after missing Saturday's 7-3 loss to the Colorado Avalanche with an upper-body injury. ... Red Wings D/RW Luke Witkowski saw his first action since the conclusion of his 10-game NHL suspension for returning to the ice to rejoin a fight Nov. 9 against the Calgary Flames, and fought twice with Panthers C Micheal Haley, who leads the NHL with nine fighting majors. UP NEXT Panthers: In Chicago Tuesday to face the Blackhawks in the second game of their five-game road trip. Red Wings: Play the fourth game of a five-game homestand Wednesday against the Boston Bruins. ___ More AP NHL: www.apnews.com/tags/NHLhockey

MOSCOW (AP) — Now that President Vladimir Putin has overwhelmingly won re-election for another six years, some are wondering whether he will try to stay in power in Russia for life. Chinese leader Xi Jinping recently managed it, scrapping term limits — and was among the first world leaders to congratulate Putin on his victory Sunday. Leaders across the former Soviet Union also have guaranteed themselves lifetime presidencies. It wouldn't be that hard for Putin to follow suit. He would have to change Russia's constitution to get rid of term limits, but he has both houses of parliament at his service to rubber stamp it. Putin has faced this question before. In 2008, he had reached his limit of two four-year terms and couldn't run again. So he anointed loyal associate Dmitry Medvedev as his approved candidate for president, and Medvedev named Putin to the post of prime minister, where he continued to call the shots for the next four years. While president, Medvedev changed the constitution to extend presidential terms to six years instead of four. That paved the way for another 12 years of Putin after he returned to the presidency in 2012. When his new term expires in 2024, Putin may find a malleable successor and create a new role for himself to keep running Russia from behind the scenes. Experts say Putin is keeping all options open but probably won't make a decision until midway through his term. He has insisted on respecting the constitution, and said Sunday night he has no plans to change it — "yet." Whatever happens, he's not likely to do away with elections. Although he has stifled serious opponents, Putin likes elections because they give him democratic legitimacy in the West. He laughed off the option of taking a six-year break after 2024 before moving to reclaim the presidency in 2030. The 65-year-old leader responded to a reporter: "It's a bit ridiculous, let's do the math. Shall I sit here until I turn 100? No!"

MELCROFT, Pa. (AP) — The Latest on (all times local): 4 p.m. Police say the shooter in a deadly rampage at a Pennsylvania self-serve car wash has died. Trooper Robert Broadwater says in a statement that 28-year-old Timothy Smith was pronounced dead at a hospital just before 9 p.m. Sunday. Smith suffered an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head in the early Sunday shooting at Ed's Car Wash in Melcroft, a town about 55 miles (90 kilometers) southeast of Pittsburgh. He had been on life support. Friends say Smith was a jealous ex-boyfriend of 25-year-old victim Chelsie Cline. Also killed were 27-year-old William Porterfield, 23-year-old Courtney Snyder and 21-year-old Seth Cline. Another woman survived with minor injuries. Cline had recently gotten involved with Porterfield. Porterfield's father tells the Tribune Review his son had a run-in with the shooter in the hours before the killings. ___ 10:15 a.m. The father of one of four people gunned down by a woman's jealous ex-boyfriend says the shooter had an altercation with his son at a bar hours before the deadly rampage. Scott Porterfield tells the Tribune Review he's seen security footage from Tall Cedars lounge in Donegal, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southwest of Pittsburgh, that shows the shooter placing his hand on his son Billy Porterfield's shoulder early Sunday morning. He says a staff member asked Timothy Smith to leave. Police say Smith soon after shot and killed Porterfield and three others at a self-serve car wash. Twenty-five-year-old Chelsie Cline, 23-year-old Courtney Snyder and 21-year-old Seth Cline were killed, while another woman survived with minor injuries. Porterfield's wife says that Chelsie Cline became involved with Porterfield last week. ___ Information from: Tribune-Review, http://triblive.com

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon's police say they have detained a Syrian citizen who was a military commander with the Islamic State group in the central Syrian province of Homs. The Internal Security Forces said in a statement Tuesday that the man was detained earlier this month in the northern town of Zgharta after entering Lebanon illegally from Syria. It identified him as a Syrian citizen born in 1982 without giving his name. The statement said the IS fighter confessed to being "a military cadre" who took part in many battles in Syria including the capture of the historic town of Palmyra that the extremists held for months and destroyed some of its invaluable archaeological sites. IS carried out many deadly attacks in Lebanon in recent years that left scores dead.

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr 24, 2018--Revel Consulting today named Harshit (Harsh) Parikh as managing director to lead the firm’s rapidly growing technology services offering. The move comes on the heels of the full-service digital consultancy tapping David Overcash in 2017 as its first chief commercial officer. Parikh will report to Vikas Kamran, Revel’s CEO, and work closely with Overcash to integrate the firm’s ambitious strategies into its work with clients across multiple industries with new technology-backed solutions for digital strategy, transformation and experiences. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180424006218/en/ Harshit Parikh, Managing Director, Technology, Revel Consulting (Photo: Business Wire) “Harsh is a true leader who knows what it takes to build teams that can architect, implement and run comprehensive digital transformation initiatives, and we’re excited to have him on board,” said Kamran. “While large legacy firms struggle to reformat to meet today’s reality, Revel’s digital native status puts us on the fast track to becoming the industry’s premier full-service digital consultancy. Pairing Harsh’s deep technology expertise with the commercialization strategies we’re putting in place sends the signal that we’re not slowing down any time soon.” Parikh is a seasoned technology executive with nearly 20 years of experience leading large engineering teams, architecting complex technical solutions across multiple service offerings and platforms, and building and scaling geographically distributed teams to deliver them. “As Revel continues to expand its technology services and partnership strategy, we set our sights high in finding a leader with the perfect blend of operational, technical and client service expertise,” said Overcash. “Some called it an impossible dream, but when we found Harsh, we knew we wanted him on the team as we turn our mission into reality.” A true digital native, throughout his career, Parikh has advised clients on a diverse range of initiatives, including digital marketing, technology strategy & roadmap, enterprise solution architecture, CMS platforms, data platforms, commerce solutions, dev ops & custom development; and led several global, technology-driven digital transformation initiatives for Fortune 500 clients. His technical expertise includes building large scale distributed cloud native solutions on Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud, as well as platform solutions such as Adobe, Sitecore, Salesforce, Drupal/Aquia, Hippo and Contentful. Early in his career, Parikh held software development and technical architect roles at Microsoft and Accenture. Prior to joining Revel, Parikh spent the last 10 years with SapientRazorfish and held several key leadership positions, most recently as senior technology director for the company’s technology services offering. He also led SapientRazorfish’s Marketing Technology Capability Group for the firm’s West region, where his cross-functional team provided technology solutions for several of the company’s largest clients across the region, and headed up the technology disciplines for firm’s Seattle and Los Angeles offices. Previously he led the firm’s Sitecore practice nationally and was part of the Sitecore Partner Advisory Board. “Revel’s been digital since day one, which positions the firm to accelerate in today’s changing consulting market and makes it a powerful draw,” said Parikh. “Very few firms are digital natives, able to respond at the pace the market demands and put the right pieces in place to deliver the full set of solutions companies are looking for. I’m excited I can be part of Revel as the firm does just that.” About Revel Consulting Revel is a full-service digital consultancy led by thinkers, designers, storytellers and makers excited by the limitless opportunities each tomorrow brings. From its offices in Seattle and San Francisco, the firm develops innovative business models, designs powerful user experiences, activates seamless operations, and manages the technology platforms that bring true digital transformation to life. With empathy as its guiding principle, Revel’s human-centered business philosophy attracts and inspires people to create substantial value and achieve more together. To learn more, visit www.revelconsulting.com. View source version on businesswire.com:https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180424006218/en/ CONTACT: For Revel Consulting Sam Butler sam@35thAvenuePartners.com KEYWORD: UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA WASHINGTON INDUSTRY KEYWORD: TECHNOLOGY DATA MANAGEMENT NETWORKS PROFESSIONAL SERVICES CONSULTING COMMUNICATIONS MARKETING SOURCE: Revel Consulting Copyright Business Wire 2018. PUB: 04/24/2018 12:21 PM/DISC: 04/24/2018 12:21 PM http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180424006218/en

REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr 24, 2018--Nintendo’s dropping some fresh (and free!) new content for on Nintendo Switch tonight! After downloading a major new update (Version 3.0) to the Splatoon 2 game at 6 p.m. PT, players will have access to a huge amount of new content. This includes the addition of more than 100 pieces of new and returning gear, new songs, the introduction of a challenging new X Rank for the top-performing players in Ranked Battle, weapon balance adjustments and the return of Callie of the famous Squid Sisters. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180424005662/en/ X Rank is an extremely challenging Ranked Battle experience targeting the best-of-the-best players. (Photo: Business Wire) “As promised when the game was first announced, we are determined to provide players with new experiences and content in Splatoon 2,” said Doug Bowser, Nintendo of America’s Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “Through these regular updates, we are ensuring that both players old and new will log on to fun new experiences.” X Rank is an extremely challenging Ranked Battle experience targeting the best-of-the-best players. Players who are S+10 in the current Splatoon 2 ranking system will automatically be registered as X Rank after downloading the update. Players who are X Rank will battle for an X Power level. Once a month, 500 players with the highest X Power level for each of the four different Ranked Battle modes will be announced within SplatNet 2, a service of the Nintendo Switch Online app for mobile devices. X Power levels will be reset every month. During this reset, players whose X Power level ends up lower than a set threshold will rank down to S+9. This new system encourages players of all ranks to enjoy improving their play and maintaining their skills, as opposed to simply focusing on ranking up. The first X Power reset is currently scheduled for May 31, and any future resets will take place on the final day of that month. As part of these periodic resets, the rotation of eight selected stages in Ranked Battle (with two stages rotating every two hours), the addition of new weapons and the introduction of new stages will also occur. In fact, tonight will also see the return of the popular stage Camp Triggerfish, along with four additional weapons. In addition to X Rank, when Version 3.0 goes live this evening, this new update adds more than 100 pieces of gear – some new, some returning from the original Splatoon game – as well as new songs from Chirpy Chips, a popular in-game chiptune-style band featured in the first game. The update will also include some weapon balance adjustments, bug fixes and other changes. Fans of the Squid Sisters will need to sit down, as the software update also marks the long-awaited return of Callie. Once players meet a certain condition after downloading the update, Callie will appear in Tentakeel Outpost in Octo Canyon. As exciting as it is to see the Squid Sisters reunited, Callie will also offer recent multiplayer stats about the player’s character. For complete notes about Version 3.0 additions and instructions about how to download the updates, visit the official Nintendo customer support site. For more information about Splatoon 2, visit https://splatoon.nintendo.com/ or https://splatoonus.tumblr.com/. Check out ongoing Splatoon 2 Inkling Open tournament activity at https://e3.nintendo.com/splatoon-2-inkling-open/. Remember that Nintendo Switch features parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about other features, visit https://www.nintendo.com/switch/. About Nintendo: The worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Nintendo Switch ™ system and the Nintendo 3DS ™ family of portable systems. Since 1983, when it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System ™, Nintendo has sold more than 4.5 billion video games and more than 710 million hardware units globally, including Nintendo Switch and the Nintendo 3DS family of systems, as well as the Game Boy ™, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS ™ family of systems, Super NES ™, Nintendo 64 ™, Nintendo GameCube ™, Wii ™ and Wii U ™ systems. It has also created industry icons that have become well-known, household names, such as Mario, Donkey Kong, Metroid, Zelda and Pokémon. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo’s operations in the Americas. For more information about Nintendo, please visit the company’s website at https://www.nintendo.com/. Note to editors: Nintendo press materials are available at https://press.nintendo.com, a password-protected site. To obtain a login, please register on the site. View source version on businesswire.com:https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180424005662/en/ CONTACT: GOLIN Eddie Garcia, 213-335-5536 egarcia@golin.com or Rich George, 213-335-5554 rgeorge@golin.com KEYWORD: UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA WASHINGTON INDUSTRY KEYWORD: WOMEN ENTERTAINMENT ELECTRONIC GAMES TECHNOLOGY CONSUMER ELECTRONICS ONLINE RETAIL HARDWARE SOFTWARE AUDIO/VIDEO CHILDREN TEENS RETAIL MOBILE ENTERTAINMENT ONLINE CONSUMER MEN SOURCE: Nintendo Copyright Business Wire 2018. PUB: 04/24/2018 08:00 AM/DISC: 04/24/2018 08:01 AM http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180424005662/en

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 30, 2018--Safety, Income & Growth Inc. (NYSE:SAFE), the leading company focused on ground leases, announced it has originated a new ground lease on two office buildings, 100 & 200 Glenridge Point, in the Central Perimeter submarket of Atlanta, Georgia with repeat client Richmond Honan. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180530006386/en/ 100 Glenridge Point (Photo: Business Wire) The transaction marks the third time Richmond Honan has utilized a SAFE Ground Lease™ solution and represents SAFE’s fourth successful ground lease in Atlanta, GA. The ground lease features fixed annual rent escalations over 99 years with periodic CPI-based adjustments. The two adjacent Glenridge Point buildings are both five stories and total 185,000 sf. The property is well-located at the intersection of GA-400 and I-285, near three hospital systems, three MARTA transit stations, and multiple corporate headquarters. “We are building strong momentum in the Atlanta marketplace. The SAFE Ground Lease™ provides a low-cost, long-duration solution that continues to enable clients to unlock value and achieve better returns,” said Greg Camia, Senior Vice President in the Atlanta office. Safety, Income & Growth Inc. (NYSE: SAFE) is the first publicly traded company that focuses on acquiring, owning, managing and capitalizing ground leases. The Company seeks to provide safe, growing income and capital appreciation to shareholders by building a diversified portfolio of high quality ground leases. The Company, which is taxed as a real estate investment trust (REIT), is managed by its largest shareholder, iStar Inc. Additional information on SAFE is available on its website at www.safetyincomegrowth.com. View source version on businesswire.com:https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180530006386/en/ CONTACT: Client Contacts: Tim Doherty, 212-930-9433 Executive Vice President Head of Ground Lease Investments tdoherty@istar.com or Greg Camia, 678-339-2014 Senior Vice President Investments gcamia@istar.com or Investor Relations Contact: Safety, Income & Growth Inc. Jason Fooks, 212-930-9400 Vice President Investor Relations & Marketing investors@safetyincomegrowth.com KEYWORD: UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA GEORGIA NEW YORK INDUSTRY KEYWORD: REIT CONSTRUCTION & PROPERTY COMMERCIAL BUILDING & REAL ESTATE OTHER CONSTRUCTION & PROPERTY SOURCE: Safety, Income & Growth Inc. Copyright Business Wire 2018. PUB: 05/30/2018 04:30 PM/DISC: 05/30/2018 04:30 PM http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180530006386/en

SEOUL, South Korea--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 31, 2018--YJ Link Co., Ltd., a company specializing in the manufacturing of Board Handling Equipment in SMT Line and serving global corporations in 45 countries as their main clients, announced that they have developed the Smart Conveyor System through improvement of the operational system of individual facilities and network interface in line with the rapidly-changing SMT market due to Industry 4.0. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180531005051/en/ smart line system (Graphic: Business Wire) YJ facility, which composes the SMART SMT LINE, is connected to the line control PC through LAN communication, and the customer can convey PCB information and operational orders to each YJ facility through the line control PC. In addition, YJ smart facility, which enables the operator to monitor the status of the equipment in the line in realtime through the web server (mobile unit and PC, etc.), is being highlighted as the next-generation SMT solution to enhance customers' productivity and competitiveness. In particular, the company independently developed the microcontroller-based “MICOM (Embedded)” to provide full factory automation and fully-integrated management technology to customers. YJ smart facility, to which MICOM is applied, is a system capable of controlling motor and digital signals, and higher and more advanced equipment operation control with higher work efficiency through the application of a Graphical User Interface (GUI) for the facility interface. Core YJ smart facility technology, to which MICOM is grafted, can --automatically change models, --provide production history management and processing of an unlimited amount of data through LOG file, --provide realtime line monitoring for maintenance and repair of, and preventive services for, the facility, and --provide an environment for the establishment of a Manufacturing Execution System (MES)-linked integrated management system. Along with this, YJ Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) has been drawing extensive attention as the interests of countless customers throughout the world are being focused on smart factory. In addition to the PCB loader and unloader that compose the SMT LINE, YJ AGV also automatically inputs and releases the magazine rack by linking to the customer’s material warehouse. It increases the productivity of the customer’s manufacturing line by securing the operator resources. Meanwhile, YJ Link Co., Ltd. is also spreading its reputation as a socially-responsible corporation that safeguards the dreams of children under difficult circumstances through regular contributions to ChildFund Korea. View source version on businesswire.com:https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180531005051/en/ CONTACT: YJ Link Co., Ltd. Leon Kim sales@yjlink.com KEYWORD: ASIA PACIFIC SOUTH KOREA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: TECHNOLOGY HARDWARE OTHER TECHNOLOGY MANUFACTURING ENGINEERING OTHER MANUFACTURING SOURCE: YJ Link Co., Ltd. Copyright Business Wire 2018. PUB: 05/31/2018 03:00 AM/DISC: 05/31/2018 03:00 AM http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180531005051/en

CHITTAGONG, Bangladesh (AP) — Captain Mahmudullah held together the Bangladesh innings after Mominul Haque was dismissed for 176 to help the home side reach 467-7 at lunch on the second day of the opening test against Sri Lanka on Thursday. Mahmudullah was batting on 49 with Sunzamul Islam on 23 at the lunch break. Earlier, Rangana Herath inspired Sri Lanka get back into the game early in the morning session. The veteran left-arm spinner struck twice to dismiss Mominul and Mosaddek Hossain in the first seven overs of the day. Bangladesh resumed the day on 374-4. Mominul added just one run to his overnight tally while Mosaddek made 8. Mehidy Hasan then counterattacked to keep Sri Lanka frustrated, but was run out for 20 trying to score a third run.

NEW YORK (AP) — Law enforcement official tells AP that man had explosive device strapped on when it exploded in New York City subway .

NEW YORK (AP) — Standard and Poor's Stock Indexes for Monday Close Change MidCap 400 1888.20 Down 2.66 500 Stocks 2659.99 Up 8.49 100 Stocks 1176.45 Up 5.63

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — The Palestinian president has called the U.S. ambassador to Israel a "son of a dog," in an angry rant against the Trump administration. In a speech Monday, President Mahmoud Abbas pre-emptively rejected an expected White House peace proposal. He criticized the U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, the American plan to move its embassy to the city and the cutting off of hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees. He also condemned Ambassador David Friedman's close ties with the West Bank settler movement, describing him as a "son of a dog." "Some say wait for their plan," Abbas said. "What shall we wait for? No, we will not wait, and we will not allow that."

YOLA, Nigeria (AP) — Officials in Nigeria say gunmen have killed 15 people in an early-morning attack on a Catholic church, including two priests. The attack took place in Ayar-Mbalom, a community in Benue state. Terver Akase, a media aide to the Benue state governor, says the attackers also burned down 50 houses. President Muhammadu Buhari in a statement calls the violation of a place of worship "vile, evil and satanic" and an attempt to stoke religious conflict. Benue state in central Nigeria has seen a series of attacks in recent weeks, many linked to a long-running dispute between farmers and herdsmen. A few days ago 10 people were killed by alleged herdsmen in the state.

BC-TEN--French Open Results TEN--French Open Results PARIS (AP) — Results Wednesday from the French Open at Stade Roland Garros (seedings in parentheses): Men's Singles Second Round David Goffin (8), Belgium, def. Corentin Moutet, France, 7-5, 6-0, 6-1. Marco Cecchinato, Italy, def. Marco Trungelliti, Argentina, 6-1, 7-6 (1), 6-1. Pablo Carreno-Busta (10), Spain, def. Federico Delbonis, Argentina, 7-6 (0), 7-6 (2), 3-6, 6-4. Roberto Bautista-Agut (13), Spain, def. Santiago Giraldo, Colombia, 6-4, 7-5, 6-3. Novak Djokovic (20), Serbia, def. Jaume Antoni Munar Clar, Spain, 7-6 (1), 6-4, 6-4. Fernando Verdasco (30), Spain, def. Guido Andreozzi, Argentina, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2. Grigor Dimitrov (4), Bulgaria, def. Jared Donaldson, United States, 6-7 (2), 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 10-8. Matteo Berrettini, Italy, def. Ernests Gulbis, Latvia, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. Kei Nishikori (19), Japan, def. Benoit Paire, France, 6-3, 2-6, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. Gilles Simon, France, def. Sam Querrey (12), United States, 1-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4, 6-1. Damir Dzumhur (26), Bosnia-Herzegovina, def. Radu Albot, Moldova, 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 1-6, 7-5. Alexander Zverev (2), Germany, def. Dusan Lajovic, Serbia, 2-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2. Women's Singles First Round Simona Halep (1), Romania, def. Alison Riske, United States, 2-6, 6-1, 6-1. Second Round Katerina Siniakova, Czech Republic, def. Kateryna Kozlova, Ukraine, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-4. Barbora Strycova (26), Czech Republic, def. Ekaterina Makarova, Russia, 6-4, 6-2. Yulia Putintseva, Kazakhstan, def. Jennifer Brady, United States, 6-4, 6-3. Qiang Wang, China, def. Petra Martic, Croatia, 6-1, 6-1. Madison Keys (13), United States, def. Caroline Dolehide, United States, 6-4, 6-1. Naomi Osaka (21), Japan, def. Zarina Diyas, Kazakhstan, 6-4, 7-5. Mihaela Buzarnescu (31), Romania, def. Rebecca Peterson, Sweden, 6-1, 6-2. Elina Svitolina (4), Ukraine, def. Viktoria Kuzmova, Slovakia, 6-3, 6-4. Petra Kvitova (8), Czech Republic, def. Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino, Spain, 6-0, 6-4. Anett Kontaveit (25), Estonia, def. Alexandra Dulgheru, Romania, 7-5, 6-2. Caroline Wozniacki (2), Denmark, def. Georgina Garcia Perez, Spain, 6-1, 6-0. Men's Doubles First Round Lukasz Kubot, Poland and Marcelo Melo (1), Brazil, def. Marco Cecchinato, Italy and Marton Fucsovics, Hungary, 6-4, 7-5. Gregoire Jacq, France and Benjamin Bonzi, France, def. Scott Lipsky, United States and Tennys Sandgren, United States, 6-2, 6-4. Maximo Gonzalez, Argentina and Nicolas Jarry, Chile, def. Paolo Lorenzi, Italy and Mischa Zverev, Germany, 6-1, 6-2. Stephane Robert, France and Calvin Hemery, France, def. Donald Young, United States and Matthew Ebden, Australia, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (6). Marcel Granollers, Spain and Pablo Cuevas (11), Uruguay, def. Daniel Nestor, Canada and Jeremy Chardy, France, 7-5, 6-2. Steve Johnson, United States and Jack Sock, United States, def. Nicholas Monroe, United States and John-Patrick Smith, Australia, 7-6 (6), 6-4. Nicolas Mahut, France and Pierre Hughes Herbert (6), France, def. Robert Lindstedt, Sweden and Marcin Matkowski, Poland, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (6). Evgeny Donskoy, Russia and Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela, Mexico, def. Aisam Qureshi, Pakistan and Jean-Julien Rojer (7), Netherlands, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (5), 6-4. Leonardo Mayer, Argentina and Joao Sousa, Portugal, def. Constant Lestienne, France and Geoffrey Blancaneaux, France, 7-6 (3), 6-3. Santiago Gonzalez, Mexico and Marcelo Demoliner, Brazil, def. Roman Jebavy, Czech Republic and Andrei Vasilevski, Belarus, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (8), 7-6 (2). Feliciano Lopez, Spain and Marc Lopez (12), Spain, def. Andres Molteni, Argentina and Guillermo Duran, Argentina, 6-3, 6-4. Daniele Bracciali, Italy and Andreas Seppi, Italy, def. Philipp Petzschner, Germany and Maximilian Marterer, Germany, 2-6, 7-6 (6), 6-4. Guido Pella, Argentina and Diego Schwartzman, Argentina, def. Antonie Hoang, France and Ugo Humbert, France, 6-3, 6-3. Rajeev Ram, United States and Ivan Dodig (9), Croatia, def. Hans Podlipnik, Chile and Jackson Withrow, United States, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1. James Cerretini, United States and Marcelo Arevalo-Gonzalez, El Salvador, def. Jan-Lennard Struff, Germany and Ben Mclachlan (14), Japan, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (3), 6-3. Women's Doubles First Round Kristina Mladenovic, France and Timea Babos (1), Hungary, def. Shuai Zhang, China and Ajla Tomljanovic, Australia, 6-1, 6-4. Kveta Peschke, Czech Republic and Nicole Melichar (13), United States, def. Shuai Peng, China and Christina McHale, United States, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (3). Makoto Ninomiya, Japan and Eri Hozumi, Japan, def. Polona Hercog, Slovenia and Alison Van Uytvanck, Belgium, 6-0, 6-4. Yi-Fan Xu, China and Gabriela Dabrowski (5), Canada, def. Fiona Ferro, France and Tessah Andrianjafitrimo, France, 6-3, 6-1. Bethanie Mattek-Sands, United States and Latisha Chan (4), Taiwan, def. Virginie Razzano, France and Jade Suvrijn, France, 6-4, 6-1. Katerina Bondarenko, Ukraine and Aleksandra Krunic, Serbia, def. Abigail Spears, United States and Alicja Rosolska (15), Poland, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (2). Sorana Cirstea, Romania and Sara Sorribes Tormo, Spain, def. Elena Vesnina, Russia and Jelena Ostapenko (10), Latvia, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4. Svetlana Kuznetsova, Russia and Lucie Safarova, Czech Republic, def. Belinda Bencic, Switzerland and Marketa Vondrousova, Czech Republic, 6-2, 6-4. Ana Isabel Medina Garrigues, Spain and Arantxa Parra Santonja, Spain, def. Alison Riske, United States and Johanna Konta, Britain, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3). Zhaoxuan Yang, China and Hao-Ching Chan (8), Taiwan, def. Su-Wei Hsieh, Taiwan and Andrea Petkovic, Germany, 6-4, 6-4. Tatjana Maria, Germany and Heather Watson, Britain, def. Manon Arcangioli, France and Sherazad Reix, France, 6-3, 6-4. Renata Voracova, Czech Republic and Taylor Townsend, United States, def. Jessika Ponchet, France and Sara Cakarevic, France, 6-4, 6-1. Johanna Larsson, Sweden and Kiki Bertens (9), Netherlands, def. Alla Kudryavtseva, Russia and Veronika Kudermetova, Russia, 7-5, 6-2. Venus Williams, United States and Serena Williams, United States, def. Shuko Aoyama, Japan and Miyu Kato (14), Japan, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1. Darija Jurak, Croatia and Donna Vekic, Croatia, def. Coco Vandeweghe, United States and Ashleigh Barty (7), Australia, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4. Anastassia Rodionova, Australia and Nadiia Kichenok (16), Ukraine, def. Mandy Minella, Luxembourg and Anastasija Sevastova, Latvia, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5. Aliaksandra Sasnovich, Belarus and Ying-Ying Duan, China, def. Olga Savchuk, Ukraine and Ana Bogdan, Romania, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. Samantha Stosur, Australia and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Russia, def. Lidziya Marozava, Belarus and Lesley Kerkhove, Netherlands, 6-3, 6-4. Mixed Doubles First Round Matwe Middelkoop, Netherlands and Demi Schuurs, Netherlands, def. Michael Venus, New Zealand and Hao-Ching Chan (6), Taiwan, 6-3, 6-2.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump (all times local): 6:45 a.m. President Donald Trump is renewing his attack on the "fake news media" amid the widening controversy surrounding the ouster of his national security adviser and talk of Congress investigations of purported Russian meddling in the U.S. presidential election last year. Trump posted a pre-dawn message on his verified Twitter account Wednesday complaining, "The fake news media is going crazy with their conspiracy theories and blind hatred." He said, "This Russian connection non-sense is merely an attempt to cover-up the many mistakes made in Hillary Clinton's losing campaign." He added in the post that "@MSNBC & @CNN are unwatchable. @foxandfriends is great!" The latest tweet follows a pattern of social media messages that Trump has sent, chastising news organizations both during his campaign for the White House and in the more than three weeks since his inauguration. __ 6:30 a.m. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is likening President Donald Trump to Andrew Jackson, saying he's what the American people wanted when they elected him. The Kentucky Republican tells MSNBC's "Morning Joe" that voters "wanted a different kind of president." He adds that "I like what he's doing," particularly his emphasis on lessening government regulation of business. McConnell also said he considers Neil Gorsuch, the man Trump picked to replace the late Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court, to be "the single best circuit court judge in the nation." He did disagree with Trump, who has asserted that millions of illegal votes in the election caused him to lose the popular vote to Democrat Hillary Clinton. "There is voter fraud in the country," McConnell said. "But there is no evidence that there was significant enough vote fraud to affect the outcome of the election." __ 3:15 a.m. Just six days into his presidency, Donald Trump was informed his national security adviser had misled his vice president about contacts with Russia. Trump kept his No. 2 in the dark and waited nearly three weeks before ousting the aide, Michael Flynn, citing a slow but steady erosion of trust, White House officials said. Flynn was interviewed by the FBI about his telephone conversations with Russia's ambassador to the U.S., a sign his ties to Russia had caught the attention of law enforcement officials. But in the White House's retelling of Flynn's stunning downfall, his error was not that he discussed U.S. sanctions with the Russian before the inauguration — a potential violation of a rarely enforced law — but the fact that he denied it for weeks, apparently misleading Vice President Mike Pence and other senior Trump aides about the nature of the conversations. White House officials said they conducted a thorough review of Flynn's interactions, including transcripts of calls secretly recorded by U.S. intelligence officials, but found nothing illegal.

PHOENIX (AP) — Suns guard Isaiah Canaan has broken his left ankle in a gruesome injury against the Dallas Mavericks. The backup point guard's ankle gave way on a baseline drive to the basket in the final seconds of the first quarter Wednesday night. His foot was pointing in the wrong direction as he tumbled to the court, and there were groans from the crowd and looks of shock from his Phoenix teammates as trainers rushed to him. Canaan was loaded onto a stretcher and wheeled off the court. In his fifth NBA season, Canaan was signed by the Suns on Dec. 13 after being waived by Houston on Oct. 28. ___ More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/tag/NBAbasketball

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — The business of the House was resuming a day after a rifle-wielding attacker opened fire on Republican lawmakers practicing for a charity baseball game, critically wounding House GOP Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana and hitting aides and Capitol police. The assailant, who had nursed grievances against President Donald Trump and the GOP, fought a gun battle with police before he, too, was shot and later died. Colleagues said Scalise, who had been fielding balls at second base, dragged himself away from the infield, leaving a trail of blood before they rushed to his assistance. He was listed in critical condition Wednesday night at a Washington hospital, which said he will require several more operations. The shooter was identified as James T. Hodgkinson, a 66-year-old home inspector from Illinois who had several minor run-ins with the law in recent years and belonged to a Facebook group called "Terminate the Republican Party." Capitol Police officers who were in Scalise's security detail wounded the shooter, who was taken into custody. He later died of his injuries, Trump told the nation from the White House. "Everyone on that field is a public servant," Trump said, his tone somber, America's acrimonious politics set aside for the moment. "Their sacrifice makes democracy possible." After visiting Scalise Wednesday evening at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, Trump tweeted: "Rep. Steve Scalise, one of the truly great people, is in very tough shape - but he is a real fighter. Pray for Steve!" Lawmakers noted their good fortune in having armed protectors on hand — "Thank God," they exclaimed over and over — and said otherwise the shooter would have been able to take a huge deadly toll. Across the Potomac River in Washington, the shocking events left the Capitol horrified and stunned, and prompted immediate reflection on the current hostility and vitriol in American politics. Lawmakers called for a new dialogue on lowering the partisan temperature, and Trump urged Americans to come together as he assumed the role of national unifier for one of the first times in his presidency. Proceedings were canceled for the day in the House, and instead Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California issued their own calls for unity. "An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us," Ryan said, to prolonged applause. On Thursday House proceedings were to resume as usual, and lawmakers were returning to the Capitol in search of some semblance of normalcy. Shortly after the shooting, Bernie Sanders, the former candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, said on the Senate floor that the shooter apparently was a volunteer for his campaign last year. Sanders said he denounced the violence "in the strongest possible terms." Scalise, 51, the No. 3 House Republican leader, was first elected in 2008. The popular and gregarious lawmaker is known for his love of baseball and handed out commemorative bats when he secured the job of House whip several years ago. Texas Rep. Roger Williams said that one of his aides, Zack Barth, was shot but was doing well and expected to fully recover. Two Capitol Police officers sustained relatively minor injuries. A former congressional aide was hospitalized. The shooting occurred at a popular park and baseball complex in Alexandria, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, where Republican lawmakers and others were gathered for a morning practice about 7 a.m. They were in good spirits despite the heat and humidity as they prepared for the congressional baseball match that pits Republicans against Democrats. The popular annual face-off, which raises money for charity, is scheduled to go forward as planned Thursday evening at Nationals Park in Washington. Hodgkinson has been in the area since March, living out of his van, said local FBI Special Agent In Charge Tim Slater. Democratic former Alexandria Mayor Bill Euille said he had spoken often with the man on recent mornings at the nearby YMCA. Hodgkinson's apparent Facebook page included strong criticism of Republicans and the Trump administration. But Slater said authorities were still working to determine a motive and had "no indication" Hodgkinson knew about the ball practice ahead of time. The GOP lawmakers' team was taking batting practice when gunshots rang out and chaos erupted. Scalise was fielding balls at second base when he was shot, according to lawmakers present. Rep. Mo Brooks, an Alabama Republican, said his colleague "crawled into the outfield, leaving a trail of blood." "We started giving him the liquids, I put pressure on his wound in his hip," Brooks said. The gunman had a rifle and "a lot of ammo," said Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona, who was at the practice. Texas Rep. Joe Barton, still in his baseball uniform, told reporters that Scalise's security detail, Capitol Hill police and then Alexandria police returned fire in a battle that lasted as long as 10 minutes and included dozens of shots. "The security detail saved a lot of lives," he said. "It was scary." Lawmakers took cover in the dugout. Barton said his son, Jack, got under an SUV. Texas Rep. Mike Conaway described what sounded like an explosion, then lawmakers scattering off the field as police roamed in search of the gunman and engaged him. "The guy's down to a handgun, he dropped his rifle, they shoot him, I go over there, they put him in handcuffs," Conaway said, adding that if the shooter had "gotten inside the fence, where a bunch of guys were holed up in the dugout, it would have been like shooting fish in a barrel." Rep. Jeff Duncan of South Carolina said he had just left the practice and encountered the apparent gunman in the parking lot before the shooting. The man calmly asked which party's lawmakers were practicing and Duncan told him they were the Republicans. The man thanked him. The wounded Capitol Police officers were identified as David Bailey, who was treated for a minor injury, and Crystal Griner, who was shot in the ankle. Also wounded was former congressional aide Matt Mika, who now works for Tyson Foods in its Washington office. Mika's family said the lobbyist was shot multiple times and was in critical condition following surgery. The event raised questions about the security of members of Congress. While the top lawmakers, including Scalise, have security details, others do not and they regularly appear in public without protection. The last time a lawmaker was shot was when Democratic Rep. Gabby Giffords of Arizona was hit in the head and grievously injured while meeting with constituents at a supermarket parking lot in 2011. Following the Giffords shooting, lawmakers have held fewer open town halls and have been advised to increase security at such events. ___ Associated Press reporters Eric Tucker, Matt Barakat, Meghan Hoyer, Sarah Brumfield, Michael Biesecker, Mary Clare Jalonick, Ken Thomas, Vivian Salama, Stephen Ohlemacher, Alan Fram and Andrew Taylor in Washington and Alexandria, and Ed White in Detroit contributed to this report.

LLEIDA, Spain (AP) — Clashes have erupted between police and protesters in Spain's northeastern Catalan city of Lleida after a judicial ruling ordered the city's museum to return 44 pieces of religious art to the neighboring regional government of Aragon. Regional police cordoned off the area around Lleida Museum early Monday as technicians prepared to remove the disputed artwork. Several hundred people turned up to protest the transfer and there were brief scuffles and police baton charges as officers tried to move them further away from the museum. An Aragon provincial court had given till Monday for the museum to hand over the art — which was originally housed in the region's Sijena monastery — following a 2015 court ruling. Catalonia bought the art from nuns in 1983 but the court ruled the sale illegal.

TORONTO (AP) — Climate change will be on the agenda for this year's Group of Seven summit in Quebec despite Canada's difference of opinion with the Trump administration. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's personal representative for the summit said in an interview Wednesday that implementation of the Paris climate accord will be discussed even though U.S. President Donald Trump has pulled the U.S. out of the agreement. Peter Boehm said if countries agreed on everything, there wouldn't be a reason to meet. The June gathering of leaders from seven wealthy democracies will mark Trump's first trip to Canada. Gender equality and women's empowerment will also be major themes. Boehm is hosting a meeting with the representatives of each country in Waterloo, Ontario, and says Trump's representative is happy with Canada's focus.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Russia has deployed a cruise missile in violation of a Cold War-era arms control treaty, a Trump administration official says, a development that complicates the outlook for U.S.-Russia relations amid turmoil on the White House national security team. The Obama administration three years ago accused the Russians of violating the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty by developing and testing the prohibited cruise missile, and officials had anticipated that Moscow eventually would deploy it. Russia denies that it has violated the INF treaty. U.S. intelligence agencies have assessed that the missile became operational late last year, said an administration official, who wasn't authorized to publicly discuss the matter and demanded anonymity. The deployment may not immediately change the security picture in Europe, but the alleged treaty violation may arise when Defense Secretary Jim Mattis attends his first NATO meeting in Brussels on Wednesday. It also has stirred concern on Capitol Hill, where Sen. John McCain, the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, called on the Trump administration to ensure U.S. nuclear forces in Europe are ready. "Russia's deployment of nuclear-tipped ground-launched cruise missiles in violation of the INF treaty is a significant military threat to U.S. forces in Europe and our NATO allies," McCain, R-Ariz., said in a statement Tuesday. He said Russian President Vladimir Putin was "testing" Trump. Trump's White House is in a difficult moment, with no national security adviser following the forced resignation Monday night of Michael Flynn. He is accused of misleading Vice President Mike Pence about contacts with a Russian diplomat while President Barack Obama was still in office. Meanwhile, a U.S. defense official said Tuesday that a Russian intelligence-collection ship has been operating off the U.S. east coast, in international waters. The official was not authorized to discuss an intelligence matter and so spoke on condition of anonymity. The ship had made a port call in Cuba prior to moving north, where it has been monitored off the coast of Delaware, the official said. The New York Times, which was first to report the missile deployment, said the Russians have two battalions of the prohibited cruise missile. One is at a missile test site at Kapustin Yar and one was moved in December from the test site to an operational base elsewhere in the country. The State Department wouldn't confirm the report. It noted that last year it reported Russia was in violation of its treaty obligations not to possess, produce or flight-test a ground-launched cruise missile with a range of between 500 and 5,500 kilometers, or to possess or produce launchers for such missiles. "The administration is undertaking an extensive review of Russia's ongoing INF treaty violation in order to assess the potential security implications for the United States and its allies and partners," State Department spokesman Mark Toner said. John Tierney, executive director of the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, said strategic stability on the European continent is at stake. "If true, Russia's deployment of an illegal ground-launched cruise missile represents a very troubling development and should be roundly condemned," Tierney said. Sen. Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican, sees little reason for the U.S. to continue adhering to the INF treaty, in light of Russia's violations. He has recommended building up U.S. nuclear forces in Europe, which currently include about 200 bombs that can be delivered by aircraft. The U.S. withdrew land-based nuclear-armed missiles from Europe as part of the INF deal. The treaty has special significance in the recent history of arms control agreements. Signed in December 1987 by President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, it has been credited with helping accelerate an end to the Cold War and lessening the danger of nuclear confrontation. It stands as the only arms treaty to eliminate an entire class of U.S. and Russian weapons — nuclear and conventional ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles of intermediate range. The Obama administration had argued for maintaining U.S. compliance with the treaty while urging the Russians to halt violations. At the same time, the Pentagon developed options to counter Russian cruise missile moves, some of which would have involved bold military action. At his Senate confirmation hearing in February 2014, Ash Carter, who headed the Pentagon until last month, said disregard for treaty limitations was a "two-way street," opening the way for the U.S. to respond in kind. He called Russia's violations consistent with its "strategy of relying on nuclear weapons to offset U.S. and NATO conventional superiority."

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Latest on the court order that rapper Meek Mill be released from jail on bail (all times local): 6:55 p.m. Rapper Meek Mill is out of jail after being held behind bars for five months for probation violations. Mill took off in a helicopter shortly before 7 p.m. Tuesday from the prison outside of Philadelphia. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Tuesday directed a Philadelphia judge who had jailed him to immediately issue an order freeing him on bail while he appeals decade-old drug and gun violations. Mill was sentenced in November to 2 to 4 years in prison for violating probation. A team of lawyers and public relations consultants had waged an all-out battle to get him freed on bail. Philadelphia's district attorney believes Mill should get a new trial because of questions raised about the credibility of his arresting officer. ___ 4:30 p.m. Pennsylvania's highest court has ordered a judge to free rapper Meek Mill on bail while he appeals decade-old gun and drug convictions. The Supreme Court directed a Philadelphia judge who had jailed him to immediately issue an order releasing him on unsecured bail. Mill was sentenced in November to 2 to 4 years in prison for violating probation. Mill issued a statement saying his five months in jail have been "a nightmare" and thanking all his supporters. A team of lawyers and public relations consultants had waged an all-out battle to get him freed on bail. Prosecutors say they believe Mill should get a new trial because of questions raised about the credibility of his arresting officer.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A nuclear reactor investment firm that once hired Michael Flynn as a security adviser is denying a report from a congressional whistleblower that Flynn sent text messages during President Donald Trump's inauguration saying the company's Mideast reactor project was "good to go" and that U.S. sanctions hobbling the project would be "ripped up." A senior scientist with ACU Strategies informed the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight committee that phone records showed no communications by Flynn, then Trump's national security adviser. Last week, Maryland Democrat Rep. Eljjah Cummings said the whistleblower's account raised concerns about the blurring of Flynn's private and public interests and his efforts to reel back financial sanctions against Russia. ACU's plan to build reactors across the Mideast had been stymied by those sanctions.

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) -- A new case of the measles has been verified in Kaohsiung and over 100 people are believed to have come in contact with the victim, announced the Kaohsiung Department of Health on Tuesday (April 24), according to a CNA report. The latest confirmed case of the measles is a 24-year-old man, according to the city's Department of Health. After coming into contact with an infected person in early April, he had received a measles, mumps, rubella vaccination (MMR) vaccination on April 5. However, on April 15 he developed symptoms of an upper respiratory infection and then developed a fever on April 18, when he sought treatment at the hospital. He was officially diagnosed with the disease yesterday. Since he was infected, there are believed to be a total of 129 people who have come in contact with the victim, and they will be closely monitored until May 7, when the incubation period for the disease should end. The total number of people being monitored for infection in Kaohsiung now stands at 1,069. That brings the total number of confirmed cases of the measles in Taiwan this year to 23, including 16 domestic infections and 7 from overseas, according to CDC statistics.

DETROIT (AP) — Detroit Tigers pitching prospect Franklin Perez is expected to miss at least three months with a right lat strain. The Tigers say Perez was injured in a minor league game Sunday. There is no surgery recommended at this point, but the recovery is expected to take a minimum of 12 weeks. Perez, a 20-year-old right-hander, was acquired by Detroit in the trade that sent Justin Verlander to Houston last season. Perez went 6-3 with a 3.02 ERA across two levels of the minors last year. He made 10 starts at Class A and six at Double-A. Baseball America tabbed Perez as Detroit's top prospect this offseason. The rebuilding Tigers aren't expected to contend this year, but Perez figured to be a prospect to watch, no matter where in Detroit's system he ended up pitching. ___ More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball

LONDON (AP) — When Thiago Silva moved to Russia more than a decade ago, tuberculosis nearly derailed his career. This year, the Brazil defender will be back in the country playing at the World Cup. The 33-year-old Silva joined Dynamo Moscow in 2005 but soon felt chest pain that needed to be checked out. It was found to be tuberculosis, which put him in the hospital for five months. Russian doctors even considered removing part of his lungs. "That would have ended my career, I needed guardian angels to take me away," Silva said this week at the Brazilian team's training camp in London. "I was a bit overwhelmed in a friendly we played against Russia this year. It is different for me to play there. I hope I can erase that by lifting the World Cup trophy." Silva, who now plays for Paris Saint-Germain alongside Brazil teammate Neymar, never played a match for Dynamo but ended up being the captain of his national team at the last World Cup. In Russia, though, Silva may struggle to find a starting position under coach Tite. Another PSG player, Marquinhos, and Inter Milan defender Miranda have started most of Brazil's matches in the last two years. When Silva had his health issues in 2005, it was Dynamo coach Ivo Wortmann who stopped the defender from having surgery on his lungs. "I knew Thiago from Brazil, took him to Porto B and approved his transfer to Russia," Wortmann, who is also Brazilian, told The Associated Press. Silva's mother, Angela, and his wife, Isabelle, also thought the surgery was unnecessary. "I told them no one would open my husband up and end his dream," Isabelle said. "I am not a doctor, but no one believed he should go through surgery. "To see him wearing the Brazil shirt is a victory for us all, especially those that know him from those days." Silva recovered and signed again to play for Wortmann, this time at Brazilian club Fluminense. "When Thiago arrived I said he would play, be one of the best, go to a World Cup and win it," Wortmann said. "Tite makes the captaincy go around, so we never know who the captain will be. But if Brazil reaches the final and wins it, there is no one better than Thiago to lift it. His perseverance is an example to us all." Silva is just happy to be part of the team. "If I get to wear the badge again it will be a great honor," Silva said. "But if I don't I will try to lead in the same way."

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — The New Hampshire Lottery says it won't appeal a judge's ruling that allows a woman who won a Powerball jackpot worth nearly $560 million to keep her identity private. The lottery said in a statement Monday that rather than appeal it believes the state Legislature should take up any possible changes in laws affecting the lottery. The woman signed her ticket after the Jan. 6 drawing. She then learned that she could have shielded her identity by writing the name of a trust. Lawyers said she was upset after learning she was giving up her anonymity by signing the ticket, which the lottery commission acknowledged isn't spelled out on the ticket, but is detailed on its website. She sued the state lottery commission to stay anonymous.

All Times EST EASTERN CONFERENCE GP W L OT Pts GF GA Home Away Div Tampa Bay 49 34 12 3 71 175 125 17-5-1 17-7-2 9-3-1 Boston 47 29 10 8 66 156 116 16-5-4 13-5-4 10-1-2 Washington 49 29 15 5 63 150 138 18-7-1 11-8-4 8-4-3 Toronto 51 28 18 5 61 162 146 13-8-2 15-10-3 6-4-1 New Jersey 49 25 16 8 58 147 147 13-8-3 12-8-5 5-6-1 Columbus 49 27 19 3 57 131 137 16-8-0 11-11-3 8-5-2 Pittsburgh 51 27 21 3 57 151 153 17-7-1 10-14-2 10-4-0 Philadelphia 49 24 17 8 56 141 141 13-9-4 11-8-4 5-2-4 N.Y. Rangers 50 25 20 5 55 153 151 17-8-3 8-12-2 7-6-3 N.Y. Islanders 51 25 21 5 55 173 184 13-8-3 12-13-2 7-7-1 Carolina 50 23 19 8 54 139 155 11-7-4 12-12-4 6-5-3 Florida 48 20 22 6 46 136 159 11-8-3 9-14-3 6-4-1 Detroit 48 19 21 8 46 126 146 10-10-7 9-11-1 6-9-2 Montreal 49 20 23 6 46 129 156 12-10-5 8-13-1 9-6-2 Ottawa 48 15 24 9 39 125 168 9-11-5 6-13-4 5-8-3 Buffalo 50 14 27 9 37 115 166 6-13-3 8-14-6 3-5-2 WESTERN CONFERENCE GP W L OT Pts GF GA Home Away Div Vegas 48 32 12 4 68 164 128 19-3-2 13-9-2 11-1-1 Winnipeg 50 29 13 8 66 164 136 17-3-1 12-10-7 7-5-2 Nashville 47 29 11 7 65 145 123 16-4-3 13-7-4 10-3-2 St. Louis 51 30 18 3 63 148 130 17-10-0 13-8-3 7-4-1 Dallas 50 28 18 4 60 155 134 17-7-1 11-11-3 7-10-0 San Jose 48 26 15 7 59 143 133 14-7-3 12-8-4 12-2-3 Calgary 49 25 16 8 58 137 135 12-11-3 13-5-5 8-5-3 Colorado 48 27 18 3 57 157 139 18-7-1 9-11-2 7-6-1 Los Angeles 49 26 18 5 57 139 121 12-9-3 14-9-2 6-9-3 Minnesota 49 26 18 5 57 144 140 17-4-4 9-14-1 8-8-0 Anaheim 50 24 17 9 57 141 141 14-9-3 10-8-6 8-5-5 Chicago 49 23 19 7 53 146 136 12-10-3 11-9-4 5-7-2 Edmonton 49 22 24 3 47 135 157 11-13-1 11-11-2 10-2-0 Vancouver 49 19 24 6 44 127 159 8-13-3 11-11-3 5-9-1 Arizona 50 12 29 9 33 118 172 6-15-3 6-14-6 1-7-5 NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for overtime loss. Top three teams in each division and two wild cards per conference advance to playoffs. Monday's Games No games scheduled Tuesday's Games Florida 4, N.Y. Islanders 1 Carolina 2, Ottawa 1 New Jersey 3, Buffalo 1 Minnesota at Columbus, 7 p.m. San Jose at Pittsburgh, 7 p.m. Anaheim at Boston, 7 p.m. Tampa Bay at Winnipeg, 8 p.m. Montreal at St. Louis, 8 p.m. Chicago at Nashville, 8 p.m. Los Angeles at Dallas, 8:30 p.m. Vegas at Calgary, 9 p.m. Colorado at Vancouver, 10 p.m. Wednesday's Games N.Y. Islanders at Toronto, 7:30 p.m. San Jose at Detroit, 8 p.m. Philadelphia at Washington, 8 p.m. Thursday's Games Toronto at N.Y. Rangers, 7 p.m. Montreal at Carolina, 7 p.m. St. Louis at Boston, 7 p.m. Florida at Buffalo, 7 p.m. Anaheim at Ottawa, 7 p.m. Philadelphia at New Jersey, 7 p.m. Vegas at Winnipeg, 8 p.m. Los Angeles at Nashville, 8:30 p.m. Tampa Bay at Calgary, 9 p.m. Dallas at Arizona, 9 p.m. Colorado at Edmonton, 9 p.m. Chicago at Vancouver, 10 p.m. Friday's Games Washington at Pittsburgh, 7 p.m. Detroit at Carolina, 7 p.m. San Jose at Columbus, 7 p.m. Vegas at Minnesota, 8 p.m.

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — A white Texas police officer says he regrets asking a mother why she didn't teach her son not to litter during the December arrest of the black woman and her two teenage daughters. Fort Worth police officer William Martin spoke publicly for the first time Wednesday in his appeal of a 10-day suspension for excessive force in the incident that was viewed millions of times after a cellphone video was posted on social media. Martin, who has already served the suspension, defended his physical actions, including use of force. Police responded after a neighbor allegedly choked Craig's young son after seeing him litter. Martin is seen wrestling Jacqueline Craig and one of her daughters to the ground before arresting them and another daughter. Charges against them were later dropped.

Juli Inkster has been selected U.S. captain for the Solheim Cup for a record third time. Inkster has led the Americans to victory over Europe in 2015 in Germany and last year in Iowa. Another victory in 2019 in Scotland would make Inkster the first Solheim Cup captain with a 3-0 record. Catriona Matthew of Scotland previously was selected European captain for the matches that will be played in September 2019. Inkster's first time as captain was in 2015, and her U.S. team staged the largest comeback in Solheim Cup history. Next year's Solheim Cup will be at Gleneagles, where Europe won the Ryder Cup in 2014. The Americans lead the series 10-5.

DUBLIN, Ohio (AP) — The two biggest figures at the Memorial, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods, managed to carve out some private time at the back of the 10th tee amid a mass of people Wednesday at Muirfield Village. Some of it was just catching up. The two most prolific winners of major championship had not seen each other since April at the Masters. And the tournament host had some encouraging words. Nicklaus complimented Woods on his swing, and then told him what Woods has felt for the last few months. "He was saying that my swing is starting to look a little bit better," Woods said. "And I said, 'Yeah, I'm really not that far away,' and he totally agreed. He just kept urging me to be patient with it because he could see that I've made some pretty big strides this year, and not far away from putting it all together." The Memorial presents such an opportunity. Woods has won at the course Jack built a record five times. The most recent victory was in 2012, when he took command from behind the 16th green by turning a potential bogey into a chip-in birdie that Nicklaus still thinks is one of the best shots he ever saw. The most recent appearance? That's different. Woods last played the Memorial in 2015. In the last few months before a series of back surgeries, Woods shot 85 in the third round, the worst score of his career. Because an uneven number of players made the cut, Woods teed off Sunday morning as a single and shot 74. "I tried, and unfortunately on this golf course, hitting it as bad as I did, it just wasn't good enough," Woods said. As for playing as a single? Woods smiled. "I didn't want to have anyone watch me play the way I was playing," he said. Rory McIlroy was standing at the side of the room as Woods spoke, listening to a player with 90 victories worldwide talking about the time he signed his name to an 85 on his scorecard. McIlroy recalled his highest round at 83 in the South African Open in 2007, his seventh tournament as a pro. McIlroy climbed the steps to the stage as Woods was leaving and said to him, "Aside from your 85, you have won here five times." Those are the memories Woods hopes to draw from when the Memorial begins Thursday on a Muirfield Village course in its usual mint condition. The tournament is two weeks before the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, and it has the kind of field that makes it feel like a mini-major. Only two players from the top 10 in the world are missing: Jon Rahm and U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka. Justin Rose is coming off a victory at Colonial, his ninth consecutive year with a victory somewhere in the world. Justin Thomas is making his debut at No. 1 in the world, an achievement that doesn't come with a trophy but one that meant enough to him that he stayed up later than usual when he got home after The Players Championship to see the world ranking page with his name at the top. He took a screen shot. "Seeing every golfer in the world behind my name is a pretty fun thing," Thomas said. Dustin Johnson, who doesn't appear to be concerned with much in life, conceded he was eager to get back the No. 1 ranking he held for 15 months. This is his first tournament since he lost the No. 1 spot to Thomas. Nicklaus was around the first and 10th tee boxes during the pro-am to greet them all, a list that includes Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler. Woods has made strides since his return from a fourth back surgery, including a runner-up finish at the Valspar Championship in March, and an exciting charge at Bay Hill that ended with a tee shot out of bounds on the 16th hole. Nicklaus suggested on Tuesday that Woods has to learn anew how to win because it has been five years since his last victory. McIlroy understood what he meant, having gone 18 months between victories until he won the Arnold Palmer Invitational. McIlroy started this year with good chances at Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and then he broke through at Bay Hill. "As long as you put yourself in contention more and more and keep knocking on the door, sooner or later you're going to step through," McIlroy said. "And then with that, experience will do great things for you going forward." Woods hasn't been within five shots of the lead going into Sunday since Bay Hill. He never got going at the Masters or at Quail Hollow, and while he had a season-best 65 in the third round at The Players Championship, he still was 11 shots out of the lead. The idea this week is to get in range. "The last few times that I've had a chance, I've felt very comfortable," he said. "Hopefully I can just shoot the low round when I need it."

NEW YORK (AP) — Pop star Madonna has lost her battle to prevent an auction of her personal items, including a love letter from her ex-boyfriend, the late rapper Tupac Shakur, a pair of worn panties and a hairbrush containing her hair. Last year, a judge ordered Gotta Have It! Collectibles to pull the items from its impending rock 'n' roll-themed auction after the Material Girl sought an emergency court order. In a decision revealed Monday, the judge dismissed the case on grounds the statute of limitations to recover the items had passed. The auction house told The New York Times it had done due diligence on the items and was confident Madonna had no claim. The company says the auction will be in July. Starting bid for the Tupac letter is $100,000. ___ Information from: The New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com

NEW YORK (AP) — Hundreds of public school teachers in New York City have landed tickets to the hottest show on Broadway. Some 400 teachers from schools in all five boroughs will attend Wednesday night's performance of the sold-out, Tony Award-winning musical "Hamilton." The teachers were selected by the city's Department of Education and via a lottery held by Teach For America-New York, a nonprofit educational organization. Barclays is also involved in the performance for educators through a partnership with the organization and the Education Department. The Broadway show's organizers hope the musical's message of diversity and inclusiveness will resonate with educators and their students. The teachers going to the show are educators who teach a variety of subjects in schools across the city.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is delaying implementation of an Obama-era clean water rule by another two years to give the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers more time to do away with it. The move Wednesday follows a Supreme Court ruling last week that legal challenges to the Waters of the U.S. rule be decided in federal district courts. That will result in the lifting of a stay issued by an appeals court blocking the 2015 rule from going into effect. By moving the effective date to 2020, the administration buys itself more time to issue a replacement. The rule expanded the definitions under which wetlands and small waterways are regulated under the Clean Water Act — prompting opposition from agribusiness, mining and industry groups.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump will herald a robust economy and push for bipartisan congressional action on immigration in Tuesday's State of the Union address, as he seeks to rally a deeply divided nation and boost his own sagging standing with Americans. The speech marks the ceremonial kickoff of Trump's second year in office and is traditionally a president's biggest platform to speak to the nation. However, Trump has redefined presidential communications with his high-octane, filter-free Twitter account and there's no guarantee that the carefully crafted speech will resonate beyond his next tweet. Still, White House officials are hopeful the president can use the prime-time address to Congress and millions of Americans watching at home to take credit for a soaring economy. Though the trajectory of lower unemployment and higher growth began under his predecessor, Trump argues that the tax overhaul he signed into law late last year has boosted business confidence and will lead companies to reinvest in the United States. Considering the strength of the economy, Trump will step before lawmakers Tuesday night in a remarkably weak position. His approval rating has hovered in the 30s for much of his presidency and at the close of 2017, just 3 in 10 Americans said the United States was heading in the right direction, according to a poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. In the same survey, 67 percent of Americans said the country was more divided because of Trump. It's unlikely Trump will be able to rely on a robust legislative agenda to reverse those numbers in 2018. Congress has struggled with the basic function of funding the government, prompting a brief government shutdown earlier this month that was resolved only with a short-term fix that pushed the spending deadline to Feb. 8. Against the backdrop of the spending fight, Republicans and Democrats are also wrestling with the future of some 700,000 young immigrants living in the United States illegally. Trump has vowed to protect the so-called Dreamers from deportation, but is also calling for changes to legal immigration that are controversial with both parties. "We're going to get something done, we hope bipartisan," Trump told reporters Monday, before giving his speech a practice run-through in the White House map room. "The Republicans really don't have the votes to get it done in any other way. So it has to be bipartisan." Though Democrats are eager to reach a resolution for the young immigrants, the party is hardly in the mood to compromise with Trump ahead of the midterm elections. Lawmakers see Trump's unpopularity as a key to their success in November, and are eager to mobilize Democratic voters itching to deliver the president and his party a defeat at the ballot box. Seeking to set the tone for their election-year strategy, party leaders have tapped Massachusetts Rep. Joe Kennedy, the grandson of Robert F. Kennedy, to deliver a post-speech rebuttal aimed at casting Democrats, not Trump, as champions of the middle class. Democrats are also looking to make their mark in other ways. A handful of lawmakers are planning to boycott the president's remarks. And several Democratic women plan to wear black to protest sexual harassment, an issue that has tarnished several lawmakers in both parties. Trump himself has been accused of assault or harassment by more than a dozen women, accusations he has denied. The Wall Street Journal reported this month that the president's lawyer arranged a payment to a porn star, Stormy Daniels, to prevent her from talking about her alleged encounter with the future president. First lady Melania Trump, who has largely stayed out of the spotlight following those allegations, will attend Tuesday's address, according to the White House. She'll be joined in the audience by several guests whose stories amplify the president's agenda, including an Ohio welder who the White House says will benefit from the new tax law and the parents of two Long Island teenagers who were believed to have been killed by MS-13 gang members. ___ Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC

All Times EST EASTERN CONFERENCE GP W L OT Pts GF GA Tampa Bay 50 34 13 3 71 176 128 Boston 48 29 11 8 66 157 119 Washington 49 29 15 5 63 150 138 Toronto 51 28 18 5 61 162 146 Pittsburgh 52 28 21 3 59 156 155 New Jersey 49 25 16 8 58 147 147 Columbus 50 27 19 4 58 133 140 Philadelphia 49 24 17 8 56 141 141 N.Y. Rangers 50 25 20 5 55 153 151 N.Y. Islanders 51 25 21 5 55 173 184 Carolina 50 23 19 8 54 139 155 Florida 48 20 22 6 46 136 159 Detroit 48 19 21 8 46 126 146 Montreal 50 20 24 6 46 130 159 Ottawa 48 15 24 9 39 125 168 Buffalo 50 14 27 9 37 115 166 WESTERN CONFERENCE GP W L OT Pts GF GA Vegas 48 32 12 4 68 164 128 Winnipeg 51 30 13 8 68 167 137 Nashville 48 29 12 7 65 146 125 St. Louis 52 31 18 3 65 151 131 Dallas 50 28 18 4 60 155 134 San Jose 49 26 16 7 59 145 138 Minnesota 50 27 18 5 59 147 142 Anaheim 51 25 17 9 59 144 142 Calgary 49 25 16 8 58 137 135 Colorado 48 27 18 3 57 157 139 Los Angeles 49 26 18 5 57 139 121 Chicago 50 24 19 7 55 148 137 Edmonton 49 22 24 3 47 135 157 Vancouver 49 19 24 6 44 127 159 Arizona 50 12 29 9 33 118 172 NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for overtime loss. Top three teams in each division and two wild cards per conference advance to playoffs. Monday's Games No games scheduled Tuesday's Games Minnesota 3, Columbus 2, SO Pittsburgh 5, San Jose 2 Florida 4, N.Y. Islanders 1 Anaheim 3, Boston 1 Carolina 2, Ottawa 1 New Jersey 3, Buffalo 1 Winnipeg 3, Tampa Bay 1 St. Louis 3, Montreal 1 Chicago at Nashville, 8 p.m. Los Angeles at Dallas, 8:30 p.m. Vegas at Calgary, 9 p.m. Colorado at Vancouver, 10 p.m. Wednesday's Games N.Y. Islanders at Toronto, 7:30 p.m. San Jose at Detroit, 8 p.m. Philadelphia at Washington, 8 p.m. Thursday's Games Toronto at N.Y. Rangers, 7 p.m. Montreal at Carolina, 7 p.m. St. Louis at Boston, 7 p.m. Florida at Buffalo, 7 p.m. Anaheim at Ottawa, 7 p.m. Philadelphia at New Jersey, 7 p.m. Vegas at Winnipeg, 8 p.m. Los Angeles at Nashville, 8:30 p.m. Tampa Bay at Calgary, 9 p.m. Dallas at Arizona, 9 p.m. Colorado at Edmonton, 9 p.m. Chicago at Vancouver, 10 p.m. Friday's Games Washington at Pittsburgh, 7 p.m. Detroit at Carolina, 7 p.m. San Jose at Columbus, 7 p.m. Vegas at Minnesota, 8 p.m.

LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Theo Walcott scored his first goals for Everton in a 2-1 Premier League victory over Leicester on Wednesday. The former Arsenal winger's first-half double put the home side in control before Jamie Vardy's penalty ensured a nervous finish for the hosts. The victory provided some respite for Everton, which had slipped to within five points of the relegation zone after failing to win its previous six league games. Leicester's lack of potency in attack could be attributed to the absence of Riyad Mahrez, who reportedly did not train Tuesday after being the subject of a bid from Premier League leader Manchester City. However, there was no excuse for Leicester's defensive frailties, with Everton taking full advantage. Cuco Martina poached the ball from his opposing full back Ben Chilwell on the edge of the Leicester box, allowing Gylfi Sigurdsson to square for Walcott, who finished neatly from close range to give Everton the lead after 25 minutes. Walcott, who had made just six Premier League appearances for Arsenal this season before joining Everton earlier in January, continued his fine start with the Toffees when he doubled the lead six minutes before the break. Wayne Rooney's cross to the back post was headed back across goal by Michael Keane, with Walcott timing his arrival perfectly to volley past Kasper Schmeichel. Leicester pulled a goal back in the 71st when Vardy converted from the spot after Rooney tugged back Wilfried Ndidi, but Everton held on for the win. Leicester, which hadn't conceded in its three previous league games, drops to eighth in the table with 34 points, three clear of Everton which stays ninth. There was an additional boost for Everton as full back Seamus Coleman made his first Premier League appearance for 319 days having recovered from a double fracture of his leg.