Biden threatens: No gas pipeline if Russia invades Ukraine

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a flurry of diplomacy across two continents, President Joe Biden met with Germany’s new leader Monday and vowed the crucial Nord Stream 2 Russia-to-Germany gas pipeline will be blocked if Russia further invades Ukraine. Russia's Vladimir Putin retorted that the U.S. and its allies are the only ones talking invasion.

Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron met for more than five hours in Moscow at the same time Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke at the White House in efforts to defuse the crisis before armed conflict breaks out. Russia has massed thousands of troops at the Ukraine border, adding military might almost daily.

The White House has expressed increasing alarm about the prospects of war, and Biden has been looking to solidify support among European allies for economy-jarring sanctions against Russia if it attacks.

“If Russia invades, that means tanks and troops crossing the border of Ukraine again, then there will be no longer a Nord Stream 2,” Biden said. “We will bring an end to it."

That would hurt Russia economically but also cause supply problems for Germany. Construction of the pipeline has been completed, but it is not yet operating.

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Supreme Court sides with GOP in Alabama election map case

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday put on hold a lower court ruling that Alabama must draw new congressional districts before the 2022 elections to increase Black voting power. The high court order boosts Republican chances to hold six of the state’s seven seats in the House of Representatives.

The court’s action, by a 5-4 vote, means the upcoming elections will be conducted under a map drawn by Alabama’s Republican-controlled legislature that contains one majority-Black district, represented by a Black Democrat, in a state in which more than a quarter of the population is Black.

A three-judge lower court, including two judges appointed by former President Donald Trump, had ruled that the state had likely violated the federal Voting Rights Act by diluting the political power of Black voters by not creating a second district in which they made up a majority, or close to it.

Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Samuel Alito, part of the conservative majority, said the lower court's order for a new map came too close to the 2022 election cycle.

Chief Justice John Roberts joined his three more liberal colleagues in dissent.

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US-born freeskier Gu wins Olympic big air gold for China

BEIJING (AP) — American-born Eileen Gu of China cranked out the first 1620 of her career on her final jump, stunning Tess Ledeux of France and earning the first of what she hopes will be three gold medals at the Beijing Olympics in women’s freestyle big air Tuesday.

With tennis player Peng Shuai watching from the stands, the skier nicknamed “Snow Princess” delivered on the immense hype to perform in her adopted home country. She is a medal favorite in big air, slopestyle and halfpipe — no action-sport athlete has ever reached the podium in all three.

Her first attempt at gold came down to the last round.

Ledeux is the only other woman to ever land a 1620 — 4 1/2 spins — in competition, and she stomped one out with a slight wobble on the landing in Round 1.

Gu hinted after qualifying Monday that she might be able to match Ledeux. With everything on the line, she did.

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Shiffrin's next chance, halfpipe qualifying highlight Day 4

BEIJING (AP) — Mikaela Shiffrin will have to rebound quickly. Her next chance at a medal is the slalom, but that's a top event for rival Petra Vlhova.

The showdown between those two Alpine skiing stars highlights Day 4 of the Beijing Games, which also includes qualifying runs for Shaun White and Chloe Kim, the start of snowboardcross coverage and the first curling medals of these Olympics.

Here are some things to watch (all times Eastern):

SLALOM SHOWDOWN

Shiffrin won the slalom at the 2014 Games and is a four-time world champion in the event. Vlhova, however, has a big lead in the World Cup slalom standings this season, after Shiffrin was slowed by contracting the coronavirus.

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Peng Shuai watches Gu win Olympic gold in freeski big air

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai sat with International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach and watched American-born Chinese freeskier Eileen Gu win gold at the women's big air event Tuesday.

Peng appeared a day after delivering a controlled interview in Beijing that touched on sexual assault allegations she made against a former high-ranking member of China’s ruling Communist Party. Her answers — delivered in front of a Chinese Olympic official — left unanswered questions about her well-being and what exactly happened.

Bach said he and Peng spoke with athletes at the Big Air Shougang venue for about 30 minutes, and the pair was seen together in the stands.

Bach said Peng told him that she was going into quarantine later Tuesday and planned to exit the closed Olympic coronavirus bubble. He was not sure if she planned to return for any more Olympic events.

Peng's interview with French sports newspaper L’Equipe and an announcement that Bach met Peng for dinner this weekend seemed aimed at allaying sustained international concerns about the three-time Olympian and former No. 1-ranked tennis doubles player. Fears for Peng’s safety have threatened to overshadow the Winter Olympics in Beijing.

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White House: Top scientist resigns over treatment of staff

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden's top science adviser Eric Lander resigned Monday, hours after the White House confirmed that an internal investigation found credible evidence that he mistreated his staff, marking the first Cabinet-level departure of the Biden administration.

An internal review last year, prompted by a workplace complaint, found evidence that Lander, the director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and science adviser to Biden, bullied staffers and treated them disrespectfully. The White House rebuked Lander over his interactions with his staff, but initially signaled Monday that he would be allowed to remain on the job, despite Biden’s Inauguration Day assertion that he expected “honesty and decency” from all who worked for his administration and would fire anyone who shows disrespect to others “on the spot.”

But later Monday evening, press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden had accepted Lander’s resignation with “gratitude for his work at OTSP on the pandemic, the Cancer Moonshot, climate change, and other key priorities.”

Lander, in his resignation letter, said, “I am devastated that I caused hurt to past and present colleagues by the way in which I have spoken to them.”

“I believe it is not possible to continue effectively in my role, and the work of this office is far too important to be hindered,” he added.

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Governors in 4 states plan for end to school mask mandates

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — The governors of four states announced plans Monday to lift statewide mask requirements in schools by the end of February or March, citing the rapid easing of COVID-19′s omicron surge.

The decisions in Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey and Oregon were announced as state and local governments grapple with which virus restrictions to jettison and which ones to keep in place. The changes also come amid a growing sense that the virus is never going to go away and Americans need to find a way to coexist with it.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy called the move “a huge step back to normalcy for our kids” and said individual school districts will be free to continue requiring masks after the state mandate ends March 7.

Meanwhile, California announced plans to end its indoor masking requirement for vaccinated people next week, but masks will still be the rule for schoolchildren in the nation's most populous state.

The four states are among a dozen with mask mandates in schools, according to the nonpartisan National Academy for State Health Policy. New Jersey’s requirement has been in place since classes resumed in person in September 2020.

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Exclusive: MLB, players stop drug testing during lockout

NEW YORK (AP) — Drug testing in Major League Baseball has stopped, a casualty of the sport’s lockout that started Dec. 2.

Testing for steroids was halted for the first time in nearly 20 years due to the expiration of the sport’s drug agreement between management and the players' association, two people familiar with the sport’s Joint Drug Program told The Associated Press. The people spoke on condition of anonymity Monday because no public announcement was made.

When they negotiated the 2017-21 drug agreement, the sides included a provision that states “the termination date and time of the program shall be 11:59 p.m. ET on Dec. 1, 2021.” That matched the expiration of the five-year labor contract.

“It should be a major concern to all those who value fair play,” Travis Tygart, chief executive officer of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, said Monday.

MLB and the union declined comment on the halt.

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What to watch out for when Oscar noms are announced Tuesday

NEW YORK (AP) — It's time again to celebrate Hollywood's grandest ambitions and most daring risk takers.

No, I'm not talking about “Jackass Forever.”

On Tuesday morning, nominations to the 94th annual Academy Awards will be announced. Nominations are occurring a little later than usual. To make way for the Olympics, the Oscars are to be held March 27.

And for the second straight year, the Oscars will unfold during the pandemic. The industrial complex of parties, galas and little gold statuettes known as “awards season” has again gone largely virtual, sapping the season of some of it usual buzz. The Oscars' typical opening act — the Golden Globes — were much reduced and untelevised this year.

But the Oscar nominations, which will be announced Tuesday beginning at 8:18 a.m. EST by presenters Tracee Ellis Ross and Leslie Jordan, will try to again seize the spotlight after a year of profound change for the industry and a still-unfolding recovery for movie theaters. Nominations will be broadcast live on Oscar.com, Oscars.org, the academy's social media accounts and on ABC's “Good Morning America.”

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John Vinocur, Paris-based columnist and editor, dies at 81

NEW YORK (AP) — John Vinocur, a much-respected foreign correspondent for The New York Times and The Associated Press and later executive editor and columnist at the International Herald Tribune in Paris, has died, his family announced. He was 81.

Vinocur died in Amsterdam on Sunday while staying with his companion, Jacqueline Schaap, the Times reported, quoting Vinocur's son, James. The cause was complication from sepsis.

Among the best-known bylines in the Times and the Herald Tribune from Europe, known for captivating writing and a thorough grasp of the continent's politics, Vinocur was a fixture of the journalistic community in Paris, where he lived for decades. He covered such historic events as the attack on the Israeli Olympic athletes and the convulsions that shook Europe with the fall of the Berlin Wall.

“He loved news and got this little sparkle in his eye when he sensed a good story. He was a true newsman," recalled Maria Sanminiatelli, a senior AP editor in New York who worked with Vinocur in the 1990s at the Herald Tribune. Vinocur was the paper's editor from 1986-1996.

“John Vinocur was a master of descriptive prose and was probably among the two or three best writers in AP in the last three generations," said Robert Reid, senior managing editor at Stars and Stripes who was a colleague of Vinocur's at AP. “He managed to write with color, wit, accuracy and authority. Most writers are lucky if they can master one of those characteristics. “

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