A few years from now, Brandt Clarke might be able to brag he took the Auston Matthews path to the NHL by playing in Europe during his draft year.
“He kind of went over voluntarily,” Clarke said. “I went over out of desperation.”
BERLIN (AP) — German lawmakers on Wednesday approved a proposal by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government to mandate uniform restrictions in areas where the coronavirus is spreading too quickly, among them closures and a nighttime curfew.
As parliament's lower house debated the plan, thousands of protesters gathered on a nearby street. Police ended the demonstration after participants ignored coronavirus restrictions.
NEW YORK (AP) — Despite thousands of years of humans working the soil, there are still things to learn. Just ask Farmer Lee Jones about the beet leaves.
The Ohio-based farmer had planted too many beets and the surplus was dumped in a pile in a cooler. He returned later to find that when he dug below the first layer, to where the beets got no light exposure, beautiful leaves were growing out of the vegetable in the dark.
Stocks were mostly higher in early trading Wednesday as investors continued to work through company earnings reports and closely watch the bond market.
The S&P 500 index was up 0.2% after briefly starting the day in the red, as of 9:50 a.m. Eastern. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.3% and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.1%.
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Since the coronavirus pandemic struck Spain, a glass pane has separated Xavier Antó and Carmen Panzano for the first prolonged period of the couple’s 65-year marriage.
Antó, age 90, appears three or four times a week at the street-level window that looks into the Barcelona nursing home where his 92-year-old wife lives, which closed to visitors more than a year ago to protect residents from COVID-19.
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese residents with tickets to the Tokyo Olympics may not know until weeks before the games open if they'll be allowed to attend.
Fans from abroad have already been barred, and on Wednesday organizing committee president Seiko Hashimoto said a decision on venue capacity — or if there will be any fans at all, or just empty venues — may not be made until June. She had previously promised that decision for this month.
BERLIN — German lawmakers have approved a proposal by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government to mandate uniform restrictions in areas where the coronavirus is spreading too quickly.
The legislation to apply an “emergency brake” consistently in areas with high infection rates is intended to end the patchwork of measures that has often characterized the pandemic response across highly decentralized Germany’s 16 states.
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia's navy is searching for a submarine that went missing north of the resort island of Bali with 53 people on board, the military said Wednesday.
Military chief Hadi Tjahjanto said the KRI Nanggala 402 was participating in a training exercise when it missed a scheduled reporting call.
The submarine is believed to have disappeared in waters about 60 miles (95 kilometers) north of Bali, he said.
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — An upcoming international peace conference that was meant to move Afghanistan's warring sides to a power-sharing deal and ensure an orderly U.S. exit from the country has been postponed, its sponsors announced Wednesday. They cited a lack of prospects for meaningful progress.
PARIS (AP) — The guilty verdict in the trial over George Floyd's death was not just celebrated in America. It signaled hope for those seeking racial justice and fighting police brutality on the other side of the Atlantic, where Black Lives Matter has also become a rallying cry.
But the fight is far from over, activists in Europe said Wednesday.
IDLIB, Syria (AP) — Syria's last rebel-held enclave received its first batch of COVID-19 vaccines Wednesday, with a refrigerated truck offloading over 50,000 United Nations-secured jabs in the overcrowded province.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — SpaceX on Wednesday bumped its next astronaut launch by a day because of dangerously high waves and wind offshore.
Liftoff is now scheduled for early Friday morning from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, when better weather is expected.
NEW YORK (AP) — It looks like something to celebrate: small businesses posting “Help Wanted” signs as the economy edges toward normalcy. Instead, businesses are having trouble filling the jobs, which in turn hurts their ability to keep up with demand for their products or services.
MOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday sternly warned the West against encroaching further on Russia's security interests, saying Moscow's response will be “quick and tough” and make the culprits feel bitterly sorry for their action.
The new season of spring shows has begun, and viewership is way up by all accounts.
We’re not talking about screens, which we’ve all been glued to during the pandemic. Less noticed is another trend: people tuning in to nature for quieter, real-life, high-stakes drama.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The process of making fine whiskey involves aging spirits to a golden brown, but a bourbon producing giant is going green along the way.
Beam Suntory, producer of top-selling Jim Beam and Maker's Mark, both crafted in Kentucky, said Wednesday it wants to cut its companywide greenhouse gas emissions and water usage in half by 2030. The company's more ambitious goal is to remove more carbon than is emitted from its operations and among its supplier base by 2040.
NEW YORK (AP) — When a killer whale slowly circled back toward wildlife photographer Brian Skerry in the middle of the ocean after discarding the giant sting ray it was devouring, panic is not what came to mind: “Part of my brain is thinking, ‘I can’t believe what I’m seeing,’” recalled Skerry. “'Don’t screw it up.'”
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — There was quiet, just for a moment, as hundreds of people standing in the intersection at 38th Street and Chicago Avenue crowded in to listen to the news.
“They’re announcing the verdict!” someone shouted, calling for silence.
LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Wednesday that he did nothing wrong when he exchanged text messages with a wealthy industrialist and promised he would “fix” the tax rules for him.
Don’t worry, this article won’t tell you to forgo every face scrub and cappuccino that calls your name and only spend money on survival needs. Of course, you should treat yourself and practice self-care, particularly during a nightmarish pandemic.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Anthem delivered a better-than-expected first quarter and pushed its 2021 forecast past expectations, as growing enrollment and a pharmacy benefits business lifted the health insurer.
The Blue Cross-Blue Shield insurer said Wednesday that it now expects full-year earnings to come in at greater than $25.10 per share after starting 2021 with a forecast that fell well short of Wall Street projections.
HOUSTON (AP) — The streets of Houston’s Third Ward, a historically Black neighborhood where George Floyd grew up, echoed with screams filled with the word “justice” in the moments after white former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of murder.
N'DJAMENA, Chad (AP) — Rebels in Chad threatened to depose the son of the country's slain president after he was named interim leader of the strategic central African nation, raising the specter Wednesday of a potentially violent power struggle.
It was not certain how close the rebel column was to N'Djamena, the capital city of 1 million people, or whether the military would remain loyal to Mahamat Idriss Deby following his father's sudden death after three decades in power.
LONDON (AP) — European Union officials unveiled proposals Wednesday for reining in high-risk uses of artificial intelligence such as live facial scanning that could threaten people's safety or rights.
MOSCOW (AP) — Two close associates of Alexei Navalny were detained Wednesday ahead of protests planned to support the imprisoned Russian opposition leader, who has been on a hunger strike since March 31.
Navalny's team called for nationwide protests after reports about the politician's health deteriorating in prison. Russian authorities have stressed that the demonstrations were not authorized and warned against participating in them.
LONDON (AP) — Queen Elizabeth II has expressed her thanks for all the “support and kindness” shown following the death of her husband, Prince Philip.
In a statement Wednesday posted on social media on her 95th birthday and which she personally signed off as Elizabeth R, the monarch said it has been “a comfort” to “see and to hear all the tributes to my husband" from within the U.K., the Commonwealth and around the world.
LONDON (AP) — After the aborted attempt to form a European Super League, Liverpool owner John Henry attempted to regain the trust of fans with an apology video on Wednesday.
The same public contrition was yet to come from all six of the Premier League clubs who faced two days of fury from their supporters for deciding — briefly — to abandon the UEFA system to join a largely closed breakaway European competition.
LONDON (AP) — Households in Britain, especially poorer ones, are far more likely to have suffered a severe income shock during the coronavirus pandemic over the past year than their counterparts in France and Germany, a well-respected British-based think tank said Wednesday.
The Resolution Foundation also said that households in the U.K. are also more likely to have run up more debt in response to the financial shockwaves emanating from the pandemic.
Tax season will be coming to a close later than usual this year, due to the May 17 extended deadline. Until that time, you might hear advertisements from car dealerships urging you to bring in your refund or pandemic stimulus check to buy a new car. Given that the average tax refund issued in 2020 was $2,741, according to the IRS, it is a solid amount that people often use to make major purchases.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A South Korean court on Wednesday rejected a claim by victims of Japanese wartime sexual slavery and their relatives who sought compensation from Japan's government.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden said the conviction of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin in the killing of George Floyd “can be a giant step forward” for the nation in the fight against systemic racism. But he declared that "it's not enough.”
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Wednesday donated a religious offering to a Tokyo shrine viewed by China and both Koreas as a symbol of wartime aggression, though he avoided a visit.
Suga’s offering of “masakaki” leaves at Yasukuni Shrine was his second since taking office in September.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Columbus police shot and killed a teenage girl who swung at two other people with a knife Tuesday, according to bodycam footage from the officer who fired the shots just minutes before the verdict in George Floyd’s killing was read.
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union reached a tentative climate deal that is intended to make the 27-nation bloc climate-neutral by 2050, with member states and parliament agreeing on new carbon emissions targets on the eve of a virtual summit hosted by U.S. President Joe Biden.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic lawmakers are unveiling legislation that would invest $25 billion to convert the nation’s fleet of gasoline- and diesel-powered school buses to electric vehicles, aiming at a component of President Joe Biden’s $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan to improve children’s health.
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Kate Schneider from Ireland has been named the new Mrs. World after the reigning titleholder resigned following an on-stage fracas in which she pulled the crown off the head of the winner of the Mrs. Sri Lanka beauty pageant, organizers said.
Mrs. World Inc. said it has received the resignation of Caroline Jurie and that the first runner-up, Mrs. Ireland Kate Schneider, therefore will be the new Mrs. World 2020.