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NFL Notes: How the Patriots learned Christian Gonzalez is a budding star

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:11:40 GMT

Late in the first half of their loss to Miami in Week 2, the Patriots’ defensive staff approached rookie Christian Gonzalez with a laughable task: shadow 7-time Pro Bowler, 4-time All-Pro and likely future Hall of Fame wideout Tyreek Hill.At the time, Gonzalez was the only healthy cornerback atop their depth chart. The Dolphins led 10-3 and were about to open a 2-minute drill. That drive eventually finished with a touchdown, one Miami scored by pulling Hill away from Gonzalez and pitting him against safety Kyle Dugger.The Pats then trotted into their locker room, frustrated by their 14-point deficit; a starkly different feeling than what Gonzalez’s teammates experienced upon hearing his new assignment.“I was like, ‘Oh, here we go,'” Dugger remembered. “Because I know how talented (Gonzalez) is.”“Honestly, it was a no-flinch situation,” said Pats safety Jalen Mills. “All right, let’s do this. He knows what he’s h...

Ukraine aid is dropped from government funding bill. That raises questions about future US support

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:11:40 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional supporters of Ukraine say they won’t give up after a bill to keep the federal government open excluded President Joe Biden’s request to provide more security assistance to the war-torn nation.Still, many lawmakers acknowledge that winning approval for Ukraine assistance in Congress is growing more difficult as the war between Russia and Ukraine grinds on. Republican resistance to the aid has been gaining momentum in the halls of Congress. Voting in the House this past week pointed to the potential trouble ahead. Nearly half of House Republicans voted to strip $300 million from a defense spending bill to train Ukrainian soldiers and purchase weapons. The money later was approved separately, but opponents of Ukraine support celebrated their growing numbers.Then, on Saturday, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., omitted additional Ukraine aid from a measure to keep the government running until Nov. 17. In doing so, he closed the door on a ...

The UK defense secretary suggests British training of Ukrainian soldiers could move into Ukraine

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:11:40 GMT

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s new defense secretary has suggested that British military training of Ukrainian soldiers, which currently takes place in U.K. bases, could move into western Ukraine.In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph, Grant Shapps said he was in discussion with the British army about “eventually getting the training brought closer and actually into Ukraine as well.”However, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was quick to rule out speculation that British forces were being deployed to Ukraine imminently. Shapps’ suggestion was not for the “hear and now,” Sunak told reporters, but a possibility “for the long term.”“There are no British soldiers that will be sent to fight in the current conflict. That’s not what’s happening,” Sunak said.More than 23,500 recruits from Ukraine have received combat training in army bases across the U.K. since the start of 2022, receiving instruction on skills including weapons handling and battlefield first aid. Earlier this year Britain’...

Nigeria’s leader increases wages to avert a strike that could shut down the government

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:11:40 GMT

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Nigeria’s leader increased the wages of some government workers in last-minute efforts to appease labor unions whose planned strike this week could shut down government offices in all sectors of Africa’s largest economy.Low-grade workers will in the next six months be paid an additional 25,000 naira ($32) a month, President Bola Tinubu said Sunday in a nationwide broadcast to mark Nigeria’s 63rd independence anniversary. The increase expected to take effect this month takes the minimum wage to 55,000 naira ($71), still far below the 200,000 naira ($258) the unions had requested. The labor unions did not immediately comment on Tinubu’s announcement. The unions representing Nigeria’s government workers announced they will go on an indefinite strike starting Tuesday to protest the government’s austerity measures. In office since May 29, Tinubu’s policies aimed at fixing Nigeria’s ailing economy have more than doubled the cost of living for more than 21...

A populist ex-premier who opposes support for Ukraine leads his leftist party to victory in Slovakia

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:11:40 GMT

PRAGUE (AP) — A populist former prime minister and his leftist party have won early parliamentary elections in Slovakia, staging a political comeback after campaigning on a pro-Russian and anti-American message, according to almost complete results.Former Prime Minister Robert Fico and the leftist Smer, or Direction, party had 22.9% of the votes, the Slovak Statistics Office said early Sunday after counting 99.98% of the votes from some 6,000 polling stations. Saturday’s election was a test for the small eastern European country’s support for neighboring Ukraine in its war with Russia, and the win by Fico could strain a fragile unity in the European Union and NATO.Fico, 59, has vowed to withdraw Slovakia’s military support for Ukraine in Russia’s war if his attempt to return to power succeeds. The country of 5.5 million people created in 1993 following the breakup of Czechoslovakia has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine since Russia invaded last February, donating arms and op...

One in hospital following shooting in Scarborough

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:11:40 GMT

One person is in hospital following a shooting in the Warden and Finch East Avenues area of Scarborough on Sunday morning.Police responded to reports at approximately 3:50 a.m. of gunshots heard in the area.One victim, and adult male, was located with gunshot wounds and was transported to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.Any suspect descriptions are unknown at this time and anyone with information is asked to contact police.

APD: 1 dead in north Austin homicide; investigation began as crash call

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:11:40 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Austin Police Department is investigating a homicide in north Austin that began as a crash call on the Interstate 35 frontage road. At 6 p.m. Saturday, APD responded to a crash call in the 8800 block of South Interstate 35 Frontage Road, which is near Rundberg Lane. Officers found a vehicle with a person inside who had injuries "not consistent with a crash." Because of this, an APD public information officer said the homicide unit was called. The person died at the scene. Police said one vehicle was involved, and it crashed into a guardrail. APD said this was an isolated incident, and there was no threat to the public.

Avalanche Journal: Digging into Nathan MacKinnon’s diagnosis of what went wrong last year

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:11:40 GMT

One particularly revealing answer from Nathan MacKinnon on media day was technically about the long offseason, and his excitement for the coming season with the Avalanche.The interesting part was really a diagnosis of last season, and a look at the evolution of a franchise firmly within a window to compete for championships.“I just don’t think we had the team to win last year,” MacKinnon said. “When you’re in it, you always believe. But yeah, (the longer offseason) has been great. I think we’re very motivated. It just felt like we never really had it last year all season. I know we won the division, but it took some teams falling off and we got really hot, but it just didn’t feel like we really had it. I think we’re all very motivated this year to get our standards back to where we need to be to win. You have to be pretty near perfect to get the job done.”It feels like a rare thing to hear one of the best players in the world say his defending Stanley Cup champions “didn’t have it.”...

Once a feared dynamic duo, Avalanche forwards Nathan MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin could rekindle their QMJHL magic

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:11:40 GMT

Cam Russell grew up in Cole Harbour, a Nova Scotia town now famous in the hockey world for producing two of the sport’s best players from the 21st century, Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon.Russell played nearly 400 games in the NHL, including his final 35 with the Colorado Avalanche. He returned to his native province, and is in his 16th season as general manager of the Halifax Mooseheads, the QMJHL club about 20 minutes west of Cole Harbour.The crowning achievement of Russell’s time in Halifax came 10 years ago, when MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin led the Mooseheads to the franchise’s first QMJHL title and the Memorial Cup, the champion of all three major Canadian junior leagues.Russell had a chance to relive some of those memories when the Mooseheads raised MacKinnon’s No. 22 jersey to the rafters on Sept. 22 at Scotiabank Centre. MacKinnon and Drouin are staging their own 10-year reunion of sorts with the Avalanche.The Avs signed Drouin to a one-year, $825,000 contract this offs...

Charlie Blackmon, already on “Mount Rushmore of Rockies,” gets chance to pad Colorado legacy in 2024

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:11:40 GMT

The beard, the mullet, the eyeblack, the I don’t wanna lose your love, toniiiiight. The six-for-six hit show in 2014. The batting crown in ’17. The historic 15-hit series in ’19. Flirting with .400 in ’20. A left-handed linchpin of the Rockies’ only back-to-back playoff teams in the time in-between.As he’s built himself into a Colorado icon, Charlie Blackmon’s posted plenty of signature moments along the way. And now, he’s got another summer to pad his legacy as one of the all-time Rockies.On Friday, Blackmon signed a one-year, $13 million extension with $2 million in incentives, keeping the 37-year-old in purple pinstripes through 2024. The deal sets up what might be Chuck Nazty’s final chapter — or maybe not, considering Blackmon’s tendency to defy baseball odds.“Once he broke Juan Pierre’s short-season record for hits a few months after being drafted, it was pretty obvious he was going to eclipse any expectat...