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Hughes kicks 54-yard field goal as time expires, Appalachian State tops Louisiana-Monroe 41-40

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:50:36 GMT

MONROE, La. (AP) — Michael Hughes kicked a 54-yard field goal as time expired to lift Appalachian State to a walk-off 41-40 win over Louisiana-Monroe in the Sun Belt Conference opener for both schools Saturday night. Joey Aguilar threw for 335 yards and three touchdowns and set up the game winner by hitting Kaedin Robinson with three straight completions, two for 14 and a third for 16 yards to reach the ULM 37 yard line for a game-winning kick that flew right down the middle. Louisiana-Monroe took a 14-0 first-quarter lead but Appalachian State answered with a 52-yard Aguilar-to-Christian Horn touchdown, and on the Warhawks first play from scrimmage following the ensuing kickoff, Tyrek Funderburk added a 23-yard pick six to make it 14-14 at intermission.Hughes hit a 28-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter to get the Mountaineers within two, 40-38.Aguilar had two passes picked off and fumbled. Nate Noel carried 18 times for 109 yards and Aguilar added 49 yards on seven carries...

McKinney accounts for 3 TDs to help Eastern Kentucky beat North Alabama 33-22

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:50:36 GMT

FLORENCE, Ala. (AP) — Parker McKinney passed for two touchdowns and ran for another, Joshua Carter had 138 yards rushing and a TD and Eastern Kentucky never trailed Saturday night in its 32-22 win over North Alabama. McKinney completed 14 of 21 passes for 256 yards with two interceptions. The redshirt senior hit Hunter Brown down the left sideline for a 60-yard gain on the first play from scrimmage and a few plays later his 8-yard touchdown run opened the scoring with 13:08 left in the first quarter. After a North Alabama punt, the Colonels went 86 yards in just six plays, capped when McKinney stepped up in the pocket and rolled right before throwing a strike to a wide-open Jaden Smith at the 10 and he raced the rest of the way for a 46-yard touchdown to make it 14-0 about 5 minutes later. McKinney lobbed a perfectly placed ball up the right sideline to Bradon Sloan on a wheel route for a 44-yard touchdown that gave Eastern Kentucky (2-3, 1-0 United Athletic Conference) a 28-7 lead ...

No. 12 Alabama beats Mississippi State for 16th straight time, 40-17 in Starkville

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:50:36 GMT

STARKVILLE, Miss. (AP) — Jalen Milroe was efficient at quarterback for No. 12 Alabama and the Crimson Tide scored touchdowns off two first-half interceptions in a 40-17 victory over Mississippi State on Saturday night.Milroe completed his first eight passes and ended up 10 of 12 for 164 yards. He ran 11 times for 69 yards and two touchdowns — opening the scoring on a 53-yard scamper — to help Alabama (4-1, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) to its 16th straight victory over the Bulldogs (2-3, 0-3).Mississippi State’s Will Rogers was 15 of 26 for 107 yards and a touchdown with three interceptions.Chris Braswell returned one of Rogers’ interceptions 28 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter. With Mississippi State trailing 24-10 in the final seconds of the first half, Rogers threw his second and gave Alabama a short field that MIlroe took advantage of to score of the second of his touchdown runs.Mississippi State cut it to 17-10 in the first half, then was outscored 23-7.Rogers...

US shutdown averted, White House prepares to fight for Ukraine aid

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:50:36 GMT

With minutes to spare, President Joe Biden signed a stopgap funding bill Saturday to avert a shutdown and keep the government open for 45 days.In doing so, he capped a chaotic 24 hours that riveted much of Washington but left one of the White House’s top priorities, aid for Ukraine, in serious jeopardy.Like others in the nation’s capital, the Biden White House had been caught off guard Saturday morning when Speaker Kevin McCarthy abruptly reversed course and announced that he would bring a clean, stop gap bill to fund the government through November 17, 2023.But aides weren’t terribly surprised. They had assumed the government shutdown showdown would end this way at some point — with the main question being whether McCarthy would take his lumps before or after the funding deadline.They weren’t displeased with the outcome either. The bill didn’t just fund the government, it also included $16 billion in disaster relief and, as one White House official noted, avoids “any version of the...

India’s devastating monsoon season is a sign of things to come, as climate and poor planning combine

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:50:36 GMT

BENGALURU, India (AP) — Sanjay Chauhan witnessed monsoon rains lash down over his home and farm in the Indian Himalayas this year with a magnitude and intensity he’s never experienced before.“Buildings have collapsed, roads are broken, there were so many landslides including one that has destroyed a large part of my orchard,” said the 56-year-old farmer, who lives in the town of Shimla in Himachal Pradesh. “I have not seen anything like this.”The devastation of this year’s monsoon season in India, which runs from June to September, has been significant: Local government estimates say that 428 people have died and Himachal Pradesh suffered over $1.42 billion worth in property damage since June. Human-caused climate change is making rain more extreme in the region and scientists warn Himalayan states should expect more unpredictable and heavy seasons like this one. But the damage is also exacerbated by developers paying little mind to environmental regulations and bu...

Rishi Sunak needs to rally his flagging Conservatives. He hopes a dash of populism will do the trick

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:50:36 GMT

LONDON (AP) — U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak heads to the governing Conservative Party’s annual conference on Sunday facing a triple challenge: Cheer up a party that’s trailing in opinion polls, sideline rivals who are eyeing his job and persuade the voting public that a party in power for 13 years deserves another term in office.Sunak’s arsenal includes a package of populist measures — such as slowing moves to phase out fossil fuels — designed to win back voters who have rejected the Conservatives over Britain’s stagnating economy, cost-of-living crisis and waves of strikes that have intermittently shut down doctors’ offices, schools and train services.“Public services are crumbling, the economy’s not responding and (the Conservatives) haven’t met some of the pledges they’ve made, so you’d expect them to be pretty downhearted,” said Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London. He said that in response, the party is “doubling down on the populism....

Abundant Sunshine and Summer-Level Temps Ahead; Big Temperature Drop For Next Weekend

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:50:36 GMT

New York City began drying out Saturday after being soaked by one of its wettest days in decades, as city dwellers dried out basements and traffic resumed on highways, railways and airports that were temporarily shuttered by Friday’s severe rainfall.CONTINUE READING

Britain seeks to train military inside Ukraine, UK defense chief says

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:50:36 GMT

LONDON — Britain is in talks to move more training and production of military equipment into Ukraine, U.K. Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said.In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph, which took place following a briefing with Chief of the General Staff Patrick Sanders on Friday, Shapps said he had been “talking today about eventually getting the training brought closer and actually into Ukraine as well.”“Particularly in the west of the country, I think the opportunity now is to bring more things ‘in country,’ and not just training but also we’re seeing [U.K. defense firm] BAE, for example, move into manufacturing in country,” he said.“I’m keen to see other British companies do their bit as well by doing the same thing. So I think there will be a move to get more training and production in the country,” Shapps said.The U.K. and other NATO members have so far avoided setting up a military presence in Ukraine to reduce the risk of a direct conflict between...

Wopke Hoekstra hearing: Live updates as incoming EU climate chief faces grilling in European Parliament

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:50:36 GMT

Wopke Hoekstra, the former Dutch foreign minister nominated to be the EU’s commissioner for climate action, faces tough questioning at a hearing on Monday in the European Parliament, where left-leaning MEPs have raised major reservations on his candidacy. Hoekstra, who has little experience in green policymaking, was put forward by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to take over the climate portfolio after Frans Timmermans stepped down from the EU executive to run in the Dutch election set for November.While EU Environment Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius told POLITICO that Hoekstra is “definitely” suited for the job, Mohammed Chahim, vice president of the center-left Socialists & Democrats in the Parliament, said: “We’re not very keen on him.”Timmermans, an S&D member, resigned as executive vice president responsible for the European Green Deal in August. Von der Leyen decided to split off the climate-action portion ...

A populist, pro-Russia ex-premier leads a leftist party to win in Slovakia’s parliamentary elections

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:50:36 GMT

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — A populist former prime minister and his leftist party won 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 led with 22.9%, the Slovak Statistics Office said early Sunday after completing the count of 99.98% of the votes from some 6,000 polling stations. The election Saturday 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, vowed to withdraw Slovakia’s military support for Ukraine in Russia’s war if his attempt to return to power succeeded.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 ...