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2023 NFL draft superlatives: Best pick, biggest gamble, most improved division and more

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:38:35 GMT

The NFL draft is always a whirlwind. For the Ravens, it was even wilder than usual.On Thursday, news trickled out that quarterback Lamar Jackson agreed to a five-year deal, ending a contract standoff that lasted two seasons and threatened to overshadow a third. Hours later, they made their first pick, taking Boston College wide receiver Zay Flowers at No. 22 overall.In total, 259 picks were made across three days in Kansas City. As always, some stood out more than others. Let’s make sense of it all and hand out some awards:Best pick: Colts take Florida QB Anthony RichardsonIndianapolis landed the most athletic quarterback in NFL scouting combine history, and it didn’t even need to trade up to do it.Sure, there are enough flaws in Richardson’s game that made him the third quarterback off the board, but there’s a chance the Florida product ends up with the best career of them all. At 6 feet 4 and 244 pounds with a rocket arm and the speed of a wide receiver (he...

Trump dominates presidential polls after arrest as DeSantis slips amid Disney row

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:38:35 GMT

Former President Donald Trump’s support among Republicans has only improved since Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg arrested him for 34 felonies and other legal concerns grow more pressing.According to a CBS News/YouGov survey of over 2,300 American adults released early this week, the 45th president leads among conservatives when they are asked either who they might consider backing or who they would vote for if the election were held today.“He not only has majority vote support right now, but a massive amount of consideration on top of that, extending beyond his current voters to those who say they might still back him. Trump also wins the votes of a higher percentage of those considering him than anyone else,” pollsters wrote.Trump’s lead has not suffered but instead grown following multiple legal entanglements, including the recent start of civil rape and defamation proceedings in New York, or after the addition of other well known Republicans, and he polls at a full 58% support.The next...

Canada’s Wonderland reopens this Friday: The new rides, and what you need to know

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:38:35 GMT

Canada’s Wonderland will reopen to the public for the start of its season on Friday with hopes that two new and exciting rides will attract crowds of eager rollercoaster enthusiasts.Opening day will kick off at 10 a.m. until 8 p.m. on May 5.The theme park announced two new rides — the Tundra Twister and Snoopy’s Racing Railway.A spokesperson confirmed that the rides will not debut just yet as they’re still under construction, but Canada’s Wonderland hopes to have them ready later in May.Tundra TwisterThe Tundra Twister mechanical marvel is the world’s only attraction of its kind and promises a unique thrill experience. Photo: Canada’s Wonderland.Described as the only one of its kind in the world, the Tundra Twister is a “giant looping ride with rotating gondola arms that will have guests spinning, twisting and twirling 360 degrees, upside-down, at heights of 47 metres and speeds of 75 km/h.”“We’re proud to offer such ...

Dissident pulled off plane by Belarus gets 8 years in prison

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:38:35 GMT

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A court in Belarus convicted a dissident journalist who was arrested after being pulled off a commercial flight that was diverted to the country and sentenced him Wednesday to eight years in prison. Raman Pratasevich’s dramatic arrest in May 2021 elicited outrage in the West, with some leaders saying the plane’s diversion was tantamount to state-sponsored hijacking.Belarusian flight controllers ordered the Ryanair jetliner traveling from Greece to Lithuania to land in Minsk, telling the crew there was a bomb threat against the flight. No explosives were found on board once the airliner was on the ground, but Pratasevich, a Belarusian citizen who lived in exile at the time, was detained. His Russian girlfriend was also arrested. The plane then was allowed to continue on to Vilnius, Lithuania’s capital. In response to the forced diversion, several Western countries imposed a raft of new sanctions and barred their planes from flying over Belaru...

Colombia’s Petro in Spain to boost peace plan, investment

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:38:35 GMT

MADRID (AP) — Colombian President Gustavo Petro began a state visit to Spain on Wednesday to seek support for his peace plan for the South American country, and to discuss economic investment and migration policy.Spanish King Felipe VI and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez greeted Petro in Madrid. He is scheduled to address lawmakers at Spain’s Parliament and to attend a state dinner hosted by the Spanish royals.Sánchez, Spain’s Socialist leader, is a backer of Petro, an ex-rebel who became Colombia’s first leftist president last year.One of the main topics on his agenda is his peace process with the National Liberation Army (ELN), a guerrilla organization still active after the dissolution of FARC, a group which spent decades pursuing rebellion. Last week, ELN militants killed nine Colombian soldiers in an attack, complicating efforts by Petro to negotiate a lasting peace.The Colombian leader seeks Spain’s full support for his plan, which he will likely explicitly obtain from Sánc...

Fire rages at Russian oil depot; Zelenskyy visits Finland

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:38:35 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A massive blaze broke out at an Russian oil depot, local officials said Wednesday, while the Kremlin’s forces used 26 Iranian-made drones in another nighttime attack on Ukraine as the war stretched into its 15th month.The developments came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made an unannounced visit to the Finnish capital, Helsinki, for a one-day summit with Nordic leaders, as he pushes Ukraine’s Western allies to provide Kyiv with more military support.The Nordic countries have been among Ukraine’s strongest backers. “The war is … a turning point for our entire continent,” said Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, one of the summit attendees. “Here in the north, we have a more unpredictable and aggressive Russian neighbor, and it is important that we discuss together how to face this new situation.”The oil depot erupted in flames in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region, located east of the Russian-held Crimean Peninsula, according to Kra...

12 die in explosion, helicopter crash during Chinese holiday

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:38:35 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — At least nine people were killed in an explosion at a Chinese petrochemical plant and three others died in a helicopter crash during the country’s May Day holiday.Rescuers recovered the bodies of the nine workers killed in the explosion Monday at the Zhonghua Group plant in an industrial zone in the city of Liaocheng in the northern province of Shandong. One person remained missing and another was hospitalized with injuries, the zone’s management committee said in a notice Wednesday. An interdepartmental task force has been set up to investigate the cause of the blast, the committee said. On Tuesday afternoon, a small civilian-use helicopter crashed outside the northwestern city of Xi’an, killing all three people on board, state media reported. No information was given on the identities of the victims or the cause of the crash. Meanwhile, two earthquakes in the country’s southwest on Tuesday and Wednesday caused minor damage and slightly injured 10 people....

Turkish singer sentenced over joke on religious schools

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:38:35 GMT

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A court in Istanbul on Wednesday handed Turkish pop singer Gulsen a 10-month suspended sentence after convicting her of “inciting hatred and enmity” over a joke about Turkey’s religious schools, Turkey’s state-run news agency reported.The singer-songwriter was briefly jailed last year for the joke she made during a concert, when she quipped that the “perversion” of one of her musicians came from attending a religious school.The 46-year-old singer, whose full name is Gulsen Colakoglu, was jailed for five days and later spent 15 days under house arrest despite having apologized for any offense she caused religious school graduates.The court on Wednesday found her guilty of the charge and initially sentenced her to one year in prison, Anadolu Agency reported. The court later reduced the sentence, citing her “respectful stance” during the trial. Gulsen will face prison if she reoffends within the next five years. There was no immediate comment from the singer...

S. Korean, Japanese officials meet ahead of leaders’ summit

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:38:35 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Senior South Korean and Japanese officials on Wednesday discussed strengthening relations and coordinating responses to North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats in a meeting in Seoul ahead of a summit between the countries’ leaders.South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol will host on Sunday Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in their second summit since March. The two U.S. allies have been working to repair relations strained by historical grievances and tighten security cooperation to cope with North Korean nuclear threats. The talks between South Korean National Security Adviser Cho Tae-yong and his Japanese counterpart, Takeo Akiba, were focused on the trilateral security cooperation with Washington and encouraging further global efforts to stem North Korean attempts to evade U.N. Security Council sanctions to fund its nuclear arms program.Cho and Akiba also discussed facilitating the economic and cultural exchanges and aligning their broader strategies...

Indian no-frills air carrier Go First files for bankruptcy

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:38:35 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — No-frills Indian air carrier Go First filed for bankruptcy and suspended its flights for three days starting Wednesday, causing hardships for thousands of fliers.A statement on the carrier’s website on Tuesday said the cancellations were caused by operational reasons. “A full refund will be issued to the original mode of payment shortly,” the statement said.In a message to employees on Tuesday, airline chief Kaushik Khona said Pratt & Whitney had failed to supply it with replacements for faulty aircraft engines, the Press Trust of India news agency said. Pratt and Whitney, an American aerospace manufacturer with global operations, had no immediate comment. Khona said the carrier was doing everything possible to navigate the situation with utmost care and concern for all staff.Go First had an average of 30,000 daily domestic flyers in March, so the disruption in flights is expected to affect about 90,000 passengers, media reports said.The airline is owned b...