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Heinicke lifts Falcons with clean play at quarterback in 29-10 win to cool Colts’ playoff hopes

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:36:22 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — Taylor Heinicke provided the turnover-free leadership at quarterback Atlanta has sought all season, passing for 229 yards and a touchdown to lead the Falcons to a 29-10 victory over the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.The Falcons (7-8) benched Desmond Ridder this week for the second time this season following two straight losses, providing an opportunity for Heinicke to boost the team’s fading playoff hopes.Heinicke delivered, completing 23 of 33 passes, including a 24-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Pitts. Tyler Allgeier added a 31-yard touchdown run. The Falcons’ 29 points set a season high.The Colts (8-7) had won five of six to move into a first-place tie in the AFC South but struggled offensively after opening the game with a long drive capped by Jonathan Taylor’s 1-yard scoring run.Gardner Minshew faced frequent pressure from the Falcons’ pass rush, including on an incomplete fourth-down pass from the Atlanta 38 with about 10 minutes remaining. The Col...

Geno Smith rallies Seahawks with 2 TDs in fourth to beat Titans 20-17

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:36:22 GMT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Geno Smith threw his second touchdown pass of the fourth quarter on a 5-yarder to Colby Parkinson with 57 seconds left and the Seattle Seahawks kept their playoff hopes alive by beating the Tennessee Titans 20-17 Sunday for their second straight victory.The Seahawks (8-7) still need to win out and get some help to clinch their second playoff berth in three seasons. They started slowly after beating Philadelphia on Monday night and traveling cross country for the early kickoff. Smith, who missed the past two games with an injured groin, gave the Seahawks their first lead at 13-10 when he found DK Metcalf in the left corner for an 11-yard TD with 12:10 left.Derrick Henry put Tennessee back up 17-13 with a 2-yard TD run with 3:21 left. Smith responded by driving the Seahawks 75 yards over 14 plays for the win. Tennessee had a final chance. But Boye Mafe led Seattle with two sacks, including one to start the Titans’ last drive. Ryan Tannehill hit Colton Dow...

Ratcliffe wants struggling Man United back at the top of English and European soccer

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:36:22 GMT

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe has finally got his hands on Manchester United after securing a stake of up to 25% in the Premier League club. Ratcliffe’s interest in sports — and soccer in particular — is long-standing. The 71-year-old owner of petrochemicals giant INEOS has been a United fan since childhood, and supporters will like his stated ambitions.“We all want to see Manchester United back where we belong, at the very top of English, European and world football,” Ratcliffe said Sunday after a deal, subject to Premier League approval, was confirmed following lengthy negotiations with the Glazer family, United’s American owners. The announcement comes after moves elsewhere in European soccer that could have seen Ratcliffe take control of one of United’s main Premier League rivals as recently as last year. Ratcliffe, one of the richest people in Britain, had initially looked to buy the Glazers’ controlling stake of around 69%, but eventually a...

Report: Alexandria’s Potomac Yard entertainment district would create 30,000 jobs

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:36:22 GMT

A newly released economic study is providing more insight into what the arena plan in Alexandria’s Potomac Yard might look like if the Washington Capitals and Wizards move.The Alexandria Economic Development Partnership in Virginia hired the economists to conduct an impact analysis to assess the economic and fiscal impacts of the development at Potomac Yard.The study reveals the proposed entertainment district would generate nearly 30,000 permanent jobs and generate nearly $8 billion for the Commonwealth.The new arena for the Caps and Wizards would cost taxpayers $1.35 billion in state issued bonds. However, extra revenue raised by business in the arena district would pay off those bonds.A memo on the plan from the Alexandria Economic Development Partnership said that the entertainment district is projected to generate “roughly 2.5 times the economic output of what would otherwise be built based on current development plans.”The plan particularly focused on the dif...

Bills show they’ve learned from past mistakes to improve playoff hopes by beating Chargers

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:36:22 GMT

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Question the Buffalo Bills for nearly losing to the fading, in-transition Los Angeles Chargers.What can also be true is this being the type of slow-starting, turnover-filled outing the Bills would have lost two months ago.That Buffalo found a way in pulling out a final-minute 24-22 win could well be a testament for a team gaining experience from its past.Whatever was missing in style points was made up by Buffalo (9-6) winning its third straight and fourth of five to continue solidifying its bid for a fifth straight playoff berth. The Bills also maintained an outside chance at winning a fourth consecutive AFC East title, with a season-ending showdown looming at division-leading Miami.“It’s not easy to win. It’s not easy to win by a lot each and every week,” quarterback Josh Allen said, a week after Buffalo’s 31-10 rout of Dallas. “I’m just fortunate that we found a way.”The familiarity of so much that went wrong during the Bills past struggles was apparent ...

Beijing enfrenta la ola de frío más larga de su historia moderna

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:36:22 GMT

(CNN) — Beijing vivió la ola de frío más prolongada desde que comenzaron los registros en 1951, al tiempo que las gélidas temperaturas y las nevadas en la capital de China y otros lugares empiezan a remitir.La temperatura registrada en la estación meteorológica de Nanjiao, en Beijing, alcanzó los cero grados centígrados la tarde de este domingo por primera vez en semanas, informó el medio estatal Beijing Daily.Rescatistas de China enfrentan temperaturas bajo cero mientras luchan por encontrar a los sobrevivientes del terremoto más letal en el país en casi una década“Desde que la temperatura cayó por primera vez por debajo de los cero grados el 11 de diciembre, la temperatura había permanecido por debajo de esa línea durante más de 300 horas”, reportó el medio.Una fuerte ola de frío se extendió por la mayor parte de China este mes, llevando al límite la capacidad de calefacción de algunas ciudades del norte del país.En la provincia central china de Henan se han prod...

Denver weather: Over 300 flights delayed at DIA on Christmas Eve

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:36:22 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) -- Sunday is a Pinpoint Weather Alert Day, with the snowy and cold conditions creating potentially slick and dangerous travel conditions.These conditions not only caused problems for people driving to their destinations ahead of Christmas Day but also caused delays and cancellations for people at Denver International Airport. Denver weather: How much snow fell in Colorado on Christmas Eve? Conditions at Denver International AirportAs of 3 p.m., there were 306 delays for flights coming into or departing from DIA, as well as 20 cancellations, according to FlightAware.A majority of the delays and cancellations were for Southwest Airlines flights, with 15 of the canceled flights and 157 of the delays coming from the airline.Road conditionsAccording to Pinpoint Meteorologist Greg Perez, travel conditions for areas along the foothills and into the high country will be especially impacted.As of 11:42 a.m., there were no road closures reported by the Colorado Department of T...

At least 68 killed in central Gaza in airstrike, adding to weekend’s bloodshed

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:36:22 GMT

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza (AP) — At least 68 people were killed by an Israeli strike in central Gaza, health officials said Sunday, while the number of Israeli soldiers killed in combat over the weekend rose to 15.Associated Press journalists at a nearby hospital watched frantic Palestinians carry the dead, including a baby, and wounded following the strike on the Maghazi refugee camp east of Deir al-Balah. One bloodied young girl looked stunned while her body was checked for broken bones.The 68 fatalities include at least 12 women and seven children, according to early hospital figures.“We were all targeted,” said Ahmad Turokmani, who lost several family members including his daughter and grandson. “There is no safe place in Gaza anyway.”Earlier, the Health Ministry in Gaza gave the death toll as 70. The Israeli military had no immediate comment.As Christmas Eve fell, smoke rose over the besieged territory, while in the West Bank Bethlehem was hushed, its holiday celebrations called off....

Police are searching for a suspect after a deadly shooting at a mall in Ocala

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:36:22 GMT

(CNN) — Police continue to search for the person suspected of opening fire inside an Ocala, Florida, mall, on Saturday, killing one person and wounding another on one of the busiest shopping days of the year.Ocala Police Chief Mike Balken on Saturday said police believe the shooting was a targeted act of violence. One man – identified as 40-year-old David Nathaniel Barron – was found dead from gunshot wounds in a common area inside the mall, police said, while a woman wounded in the leg is expected to survive.The suspect fled the mall on foot after the shooting, police said Saturday, and Balken described him as a Black man wearing black pants, a hoodie and a black mask.The incident unfolded at the Paddock Mall just two days before Christmas, on a day analysts expected to be second only to Black Friday thanks to consumers doing their last-minute shopping – further underscoring how pervasive gun violence has become in America as it seeps into nearly every venue of day-to-da...

Why is Christmas abbreviated as 'Xmas'?

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 12:36:22 GMT

CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WBOY) — Have you ever seen a decoration or a sign labeled as "Xmas" instead of "Christmas" and wondered why? There's an answer for that, and it's a bit older than you may think.Contrary to popular belief, Xmas is not a way of shortening the word to save space nor is it an attempt to remove "Christ" from the word — quite the opposite actually.According to Dictionary.com, the use of Xmas first started in the mid-1500s as just another way of writing it. X wasn't meant to be read in the "ecks" way we say it in English today but was rather meant to be read in its Greek form, "chi." Chi is the first letter of the Greek word Χριστός (Christos), which translates to (Jesus) Christ. How to help prevent suicides during the holidays X was adopted as a way of representing Christ across languages, considering all of the ways it can be written. Other less common abbreviations using this style are Xpian and Xtian, which both represent the word Christian.Even in its first marked...