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QBs Watson, Howell have solid starts, Brissett has TD run in Commanders’ 17-15 win over Browns

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:44:03 GMT

Cleveland Browns wide receiver Elijah Moore runs against the Washington Commanders during the first half of a preseason NFL football game on Friday, Aug. 11, 2023, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/David Richard)(AP/David Richard) Cleveland Browns wide receiver Elijah Moore runs against the Washington Commanders during the first half of a preseason NFL football game on Friday, Aug. 11, 2023, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/David Richard)(AP/David Richard) CLEVELAND (AP) — Deshaun Watson feels like he’s finally back to being himself.Everything that prevented him from playing like an elite quarterback in 2022 — the long layoff, a lengthy suspension — has been shaken free.“I’m not thinking about no rust,” he said. “That wa...

Baker Mayfield throws a TD pass in his bid to follow Tom Brady as the Buccaneers’ starting QB

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:44:03 GMT

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Baker Mayfield continued his bid to follow Tom Brady as Tampa Bay’s starting quarterback and jumpstart his career with a solid, if not overly impressive preseason debut for the Buccaneers in a 27-17 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Friday night.The 2018 No. 1 overall pick is competing with Kyle Trask for the starting job that opened when Brady retired after last season.Mayfield, who played without six starters on offense, including three veteran linemen and receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, was 8 of 9 for 63 yards and one touchdown over five series against a mix of Pittsburgh starters and reserves. Trask, a 2021 second-round draft pick who appeared in just one regular-season game in two years as the No. 3 quarterback behind Brady and Blaine Gabbert, was sacked three times while going 6 of 10 for 99 yards with one interception.Steelers starter Kenny Pickett, who worked one series, completed six of seven passes for 70 yards on a 10-play, 83-yard drive and fin...

Dodgers beat Rockies 6-1 behind Lynn for 6th straight victory and improve to 10-1 in August

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:44:03 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Lance Lynn won his third consecutive start with the surging Los Angeles Dodgers and Freddie Freeman drove in two runs Friday night in a 6-1 victory over the Colorado Rockies.Amed Rosario grounded into a fielder’s choice for the go-ahead RBI in the fifth inning and the Dodgers scored four more in the sixth. The NL West leaders took their sixth game in a row, equaling their season-high winning streak accomplished four times. Los Angeles improved to 10-1 in August.Lynn (9-9) allowed just an unearned run and four hits in five innings. The right-hander struck out nine and walked one to improve to 3-0 in three starts since being acquired from the Chicago White Sox shortly before the Aug. 1 trade deadline. Mookie Betts doubled leading off the fifth and went to third on Freeman’s flyout. Austin Gomber (9-9) hit Will Smith with a pitch before Rosario grounded to third, scoring Betts for a 2-1 lead while Smith was out at second. Rosario was caught stealing second to e...

Russell Wilson throws TD pass before Cardinals mount comeback to beat Broncos 18-17

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:44:03 GMT

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Denver’s Russell Wilson capped a lengthy preseason outing with a touchdown pass to Jerry Jeudy before the Arizona Cardinals rallied for an 18-17 victory Friday night.Cardinals third-string quarterback David Blough led the winning drive, hitting Brian Cobbs for an 18-yard touchdown pass with two seconds left to pull within 17-16. Arizona then converted its 2-point attempt when Emari Demercado pushed the pile and fell into the end zone.Wilson — who played most of the first half — completed 7 of 13 passes for 93 yards and also absorbed several big hits, including a sack by Dennis Gardeck. The nine-time Pro Bowl selection didn’t have much time to throw, particularly in the first quarter, but ended his outing on a good note after finding a wide-open Jeudy over the middle for a 21-yard touchdown strike on fourth down with 6:54 left in the second.It was Wilson’s first game action since first-year Denver coach Sean Payton got into hot water for defen...

Rodríguez hits 3-run homer, Mariners beat Orioles 9-2 for 8th straight win

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:44:03 GMT

Seattle Mariners' Julio Rodríguez reacts after hitting an RBI double against the Baltimore Orioles during the sixth inning of a baseball game Friday, Aug. 11, 2023, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)(AP/Lindsey Wasson) Seattle Mariners' Julio Rodríguez reacts after hitting an RBI double against the Baltimore Orioles during the sixth inning of a baseball game Friday, Aug. 11, 2023, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)(AP/Lindsey Wasson) SEATTLE (AP) — Julio Rodríguez hit a three-run homer and the Seattle Mariners won their eighth straight game Friday night as Luis Castillo and three relievers combined on a four-hitter in a 9-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.Cal Raleigh launched an early two-run shot and Ty ...

New fire prompts Friday night evacuation on Maui. Follow live updates

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:44:03 GMT

By REBECCA BOONE (Associated Press)Follow live updates about wildfires that have devastated parts of Maui in Hawaii this week, destroying a historic town and forcing evacuations. The National Weather Service said Hurricane Dora, which passed south of the island chain, was partly to blame for strong winds that initially drove the flames, knocking out power and grounding firefighting helicopters.Police say a new fire burning on the Hawaii island of Maui has triggered the evacuation of a community to the northeast of the area that burned earlier this week.The fire prompted the evacuation of people in Kaanapali in West Maui on Friday night, the Maui Police Department announced on social media. No details of the evacuation were immediately provided. Traffic was halted earlier after some people went over barricaded, closed-off areas of the disaster zone and “entered restricted, dangerous, active investigation scenes,” police said.In an earlier post on Facebook Friday, police s...

Russian Orthodox priests face persecution from state and church for supporting peace in Ukraine

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:44:03 GMT

ANTALYA, Turkey (AP) — Standing in an old Orthodox church in Antalya with a Bible in one hand and a candle in the other, the Rev. Ioann Koval led one of his first services in Turkey after Russian Orthodox Church leadership decided to defrock him following his prayer for peace in Ukraine. Last September, when President Vladimir Putin ordered a partial mobilization of reservists, Moscow Patriarch Kirill required his clergymen to pray for victory. Standing in front of the altar and dozens of his parishioners in one of Moscow’s churches, Koval decided to put the peace above the patriarch’s orders.“With the word ‘victory’ the prayer acquired a propagandistic meaning, shaping the correct thinking among the parishioners, among the clergy, what they should think about and how they should see these hostilities,” Koval said. “It went against my conscience. I couldn’t submit to this political pressure from the hierarchy.”In the prayer he recited multiple times, the 45-year-ol...

New fire prompts evacuation as survivors of Maui’s wildfires return after death toll rises to 67

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:44:03 GMT

LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — A new fire burning on the Hawaii island of Maui on Friday night triggered the evacuation of a community to the northeast of the area that burned earlier this week, police said.The fire prompted the evacuation of people in Kaanapali in West Maui, the Maui Police Department announced on social media. No details of the evacuation were immediately provided.Traffic was halted earlier after some people went over barricaded, closed-off areas of the disaster zone and “entered restricted, dangerous, active investigation scenes,” police said.The number of confirmed deaths from the Maui wildfires this week has increased to 67.Maui residents had already started returning to their neighborhoods to find blackened hulks of burned-out cars, the pavement streaked with melted and then rehardened chrome. Block after block of flattened homes and businesses. Incinerated telephone poles, and elevator shafts rising from ashy lots where apartment buildings once stood. A truck bed ful...

In deadly Maui wildfires, communication failed. Chaos overtook Lahaina along with the flames

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:44:03 GMT

WAILUKU, Hawaii (AP) — In the hours before a wildfire engulfed the town of Lahaina, Maui County officials failed to activate sirens that would have warned the entire population of the approaching flames and instead relied on a series of sometimes confusing social media posts that reached a much smaller audience.Power and cellular outages for residents further stymied communication efforts. Radio reports were scarce, some survivors reported, even as the blaze began to consume the town. Road blocks then forced fleeing drivers onto one narrow downtown street, creating a bottleneck that was quickly surrounded by flames on all sides. At least 67 people have been confirmed dead so far. The silent sirens have raised questions about whether everything was done to alert the public in a state that possesses an elaborate emergency warning system for a variety of dangers including wars, volcanoes, hurricanes and wildfires.Hector Bermudez left his apartment at Lahaina Shores shortly after 4:30 p...

A cherished weekend flea market in the Ukrainian capital survives despite war

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:44:03 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The Pochaina neighborhood in the Ukrainian capital comes alive every weekend as hundreds of people flock to its famous flea market, looking for finds.Antique-hunters, collectors and many others look over seemingly endless rows of trinkets and time-worn wares. It’s a dizzying array that includes Soviet-era relics such as decorative medals, ceramics with communist leaders’ portraits, Cold War-era gas masks and military uniform items.Despite Ukraine’s ban on Soviet and Nazi symbols adopted in 2015 as a part of the country’s effort to distance itself from its totalitarian past, vendors, buyers and law enforcement all seem undisturbed by such historic relics being openly sold.“It’s purely business, there are no (USSR) sympathizers around here. Items like this are in high demand,” says Kristian Zander, a 49-year-old market vendor, pointing at the “Buying USSR relics” sign at his stand. On display are kitchenware and utensils, hunting knives, Soviet badges and bottle o...