Human rights and civil liberties
FILE - China's Peng Shuai waves after losing to Canada Eugenie Bouchard in their first round match at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia on Jan. 15, 2019. Out of public view for almost three weeks, Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai appeared Sunday, Nov. 21, 2021 in a live video call with International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
IOC call with Chinese tennis star Peng raises more questions

By Stephen Wade Nov. 22, 2021 03:39 AM EST

FILE - China's Peng Shuai serves to Japan's Nao Hibino during their first round singles match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, on Jan. 21, 2020. China's Foreign Ministry is sticking to its line that it isn't aware of the controversy surrounding tennis professional Peng Shuai, who disappeared after accusing a former top official of sexually assaulting her. A ministry spokesperson said Friday that the matter was not a diplomatic question and that he was not aware of the situation. (AP Photo/Andy Brownbill, File)
Tennis players take on Communist Party: Where is Peng Shuai?

By Stephen Wade Nov. 20, 2021 02:14 AM EST

FILE - Peng Shuai, of China, returns a shot to Maria Sakkari, of Greece, during the second round of the US Open tennis championships on ug. 29, 2019, in New York. China's Foreign Ministry is sticking to its line that it isn't aware of the controversy surrounding tennis professional Peng Shuai, who disappeared after accusing a former top official of sexually assaulting her. A ministry spokesperson said Friday that the matter was not a diplomatic question and that he was not aware of the situation. (AP Photo/Michael Owens, File)
Column: Where is Peng Shuai? Why isn't the IOC speaking out?

By Paul Newberry Nov. 19, 2021 03:27 PM EST

President Joe Biden shakes hands with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as they meet in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Biden: US may not send top dignitaries to Beijing Olympics

Nov. 18, 2021 02:36 PM EST

FILE - Then Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli is seen during a meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, Wednesday, March 16, 2016. Chinese authorities have squelched virtually all online discussion of sexual assault accusations apparently made by a Chinese professional tennis star against the former top government official, showing how sensitive the ruling Communist Party is to such charges. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)
Doubts over China tennis star's email raise safety concerns

By Huizhong Wu Nov. 18, 2021 07:29 AM EST

FILE - The logos for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics are seen during an exhibit at a visitors center at the Winter Olympic venues in Yanqing on the outskirts of Beijing, Feb. 5, 2021. Leading sponsors of the Beijing Winter Olympics should explain publicly why they remain silent about alleged human rights abuses in China with the Games opening there in just under three months, Human Rights Watch said Friday, Nov. 12, 2021 in a statement. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
Sponsors asked to defend support for Beijing Winter Olympics

By Stephen Wade Nov. 11, 2021 08:44 PM EST

FILE - In this Feb. 3, 2021, file photo, exile Tibetans use the Olympic Rings as a prop as they hold a street protest against the holding of 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing in Dharmsala, India. A global trade union body has joined a long list human-rights advocates in challenging the propriety of China holding the 2022 Winter Olympics, and has singled out the International Olympic Committee for acquiescing in the face of alleged genocide and crimes against humanity reportedly taking place China. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia, File)
Beijing Olympics get 'gold for repression' in labor report

By Stephen Wade Nov. 09, 2021 12:16 AM EST

Volunteers hold the Olympic torch and the frame on stage during a welcome ceremony for the Frame of Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, held at the Olympic Tower in Beijing, Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2021. A welcome ceremony for the Olympic flame was held in Beijing on Wednesday morning after it arrived at the Chinese capital from Greece. While the flame will be put on display over the next few months, organizers said a three-day torch relay is scheduled starting February 2nd with around 1200 torchbearers in Beijing, Yanqing and Zhangjiakou. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Olympic flame arrives in Beijing amid boycott calls

Oct. 20, 2021 02:18 AM EDT

The Olympic Flame burns at the cauldron in front of ancient Parthenon temple atop of the Acropolis hill in Athens, Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021. The flame will be transported by torch relay to Beijing, China, which will host the Feb. 4-20, 2022 Winter Olympics.(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Rights activists urge boycott of Beijing Winter Olympics

By Nicholas Paphitis Oct. 19, 2021 03:45 AM EDT

Greek actress Xanthi Georgiou, right, playing the role of the High Priestess, holds the torch during the lighting of the Olympic flame at Ancient Olympia site, birthplace of the ancient Olympics in southwestern Greece, Monday, Oct. 18, 2021. The flame will be transported by torch relay to Beijing, China, which will host the Feb. 4-20, 2022 Winter Olympics. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
Protestors disrupt flame lighting for Beijing Winter Games

By Nicholas Paphitis And Thanassis Stavrakis Oct. 18, 2021 05:37 AM EDT

Actresses perform during the final rehearsal for the lighting of the Olympic flame at Ancient Olympia site, birthplace of the ancient Olympics in southwestern Greece, Sunday, Oct. 17, 2021. The flame will be transported by torch relay to Beijing, China, which will host the Feb. 4-20, 2022 Winter Olympics. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Weather, protest cloud Beijing flame-lighting rehearsal

By Nicholas Paphitis Oct. 17, 2021 07:03 AM EDT

A tourist snaps pictures of Uyghur performers at the front gate of the remodeled city center of Kashgar in China's far west Xinjiang region, during the welcome ceremony of a state tour for foreign media on April 19, 2021. Four years after Beijing's brutal crackdown on largely Muslim minorities native to Xinjiang, Chinese authorities are dialing back the region's high-tech police state and stepping up tourism. But even as a sense of normality returns, fear remains, hidden but pervasive. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
IOC VP: Chinese human rights not a concern before 2022 Games

Oct. 14, 2021 03:07 AM EDT

Residents wearing masks pass by a countdown clock for the Beijing Winter Olympic Games at the Wangfujing retail street in Beijing Sunday, Oct. 3, 2021. When the International Olympic Committee awarded Beijing the 2008 Summer Olympics, it said the Games would improve human rights and civil liberties in China. There is no such lofty talk this time with Beijing's 2022 Olympics - the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Games - opening in just four months on Feb. 4. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
Beijing Olympics open in 4 months; human rights talk absent

By Stephen Wade Oct. 04, 2021 11:14 AM EDT

Supporters of Haifa attend a group E Europa Conference League soccer match between 1. FC Union Berlin and Maccabi Haifa FC in Berlin, Germany, Thursday, Sept. 30, 2021. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)
Haifa fans face antisemitic abuse in Berlin's Olympiastadion

By Ciarán Fahey Oct. 01, 2021 05:43 AM EDT

FILE - In this Feb. 3, 2021, file photo, exile Tibetans use the Olympic Rings as a prop as they hold a street protest against the holding of 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing in Dharmsala, India. Some of the world’s largest broadcasters including American network NBC are being asked to cancel plans to cover the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing over alleged human rights abuses in the country. The Games open on Feb. 4. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia, File)
Broadcasters urged to cancel plans to cover Beijing Olympics

By Stephen Wade Sep. 07, 2021 11:26 PM EDT

FILE - In this Saturday, Sept. 7, 2013 file photo, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge shows the name of the city of Tokyo elected to host the 2020 Summer Olympics in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The International Olympic Committee on Sunday, Aug, 29, 2021 says Jacques Rogge who led the organization as president for 12 years, has died. He was 79. (Fabrice Coffrini/Pool photo via AP, file)
Jacques Rogge, IOC president for 12 years, dies at 79

By Chris Lehourites Aug. 29, 2021 12:29 PM EDT

Stern, Catchings, Cash inducted into Women’s Basketball Hall

By Al Lesar Aug. 21, 2021 08:26 PM EDT
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — What David Stern did for the sport of basketball transcended any gender bias and opened a whole new world for women in the game. ...

FILE - In this June 21, 2021, file photo, Tokyo 2020 President Seiko Hashimoto listens to International Paralympic Committee (IPC) President Andrew Parson, on a screen, during a five-party online meeting at Harumi Island Triton Square Tower Y in Tokyo. The opening next week of the Paralympic Games in Tokyo is being used as a stage to launch a human rights movement aimed at the world’s 1.2 billion people with disabilities.(Rodrigo Reyes Marin/Pool Photo via AP, File)
'WeThe15' stresses rights of 1.2 billion with disabilities

By Stephen Wade Aug. 18, 2021 06:04 PM EDT

AP Sportlight

By The Associated Press Aug. 17, 2021 10:00 AM EDT
Aug. 18 1923 — Helen Mills, 17, ends Molla Bjurstedt Mallory’s domination of the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association championships and starts her...

AP-Sportlight-Week Ahead

By The Associated Press Aug. 12, 2021 12:09 PM EDT
Aug. 17 1933 — Lou Gehrig of the New York Yankees plays his 1,308th straight game to break Everett Scott’s record of 1,307. ...