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Springboks gamble by calling up flyhalf Pollard for injured hooker Marx at the Rugby World Cup

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:02:53 GMT

BORDEAUX, France (AP) — South Africa called up flyhalf Handre Pollard to replace injured hooker Malcolm Marx at the Rugby World Cup on Sunday, leaving the Springboks with a front-row gamble for their title defense in France.While Pollard’s addition gives South Africa the No. 10 who guided it to World Cup victory four years ago, there is just one specialist hooker in the squad in Bongi Mbonambi.Instead of calling another front-rower in after Marx’s tournament-ending knee injury, Springboks coach Jacques Nienaber said he was confident he would be able to lean on two loose forwards in Deon Fourie and Marco van Staden to step in as hookers for the rest of the tournament.Both of them have played in that position previously in their careers, but both came to the World Cup as flankers.Fourie came off the bench to replace Mbonambi at hooker in South Africa’s 76-0 win over underdog Romania at the World Cup earlier Sunday in Bordeaux. Van Staden, who started the game as a fl...

Colts QB Anthony Richardson ruled out for the game with a concussion against Texans

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:02:53 GMT

HOUSTON (AP) — Indianapolis quarterback Anthony Richardson sustained a concussion Sunday against the Houston Texans. Richardson was taken to the locker room early in the second quarter to be evaluated and the team later announced that he was out with a concussion. Richardson ran for two touchdowns in the first quarter to help the Colts build a 14-7 lead. He went to the medical tent after a drive to start the second quarter and was soon escorted to the locker room.It was unclear when he was injured, but he left after a series where he didn’t appear to take any big hits.Richardson, the fourth overall pick in the draft, was 6 of 10 for 56 yards passing. His touchdown runs were for 18 and 15 yards. He was replaced by Gardner Minshew. ___AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nflSource

Kuss secures Spanish Vuelta victory to become first American to win a Grand Tour race in a decade

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:02:53 GMT

MADRID (AP) — A decade later, the United States has a Grand Tour winner again.Sepp Kuss won the Spanish Vuelta on Sunday to become the first American to win one of cycling’s top races since Chris Horner earned the Vuelta victory in 2013. The other Grand Tour events are the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France.Kuss had effectively secured the victory ahead of Sunday’s largely ceremonial stage, when rivals in the Spanish capital respected his lead and did not launch any attacks as per cycling tradition. It was a surprising victory for Kuss, who entered the race in a supporting role to his Jumbo-Visma teammates Jonas Vingegaard — the two-time Tour de France winner — and Primoz Roglic, a three-time Vuelta winner.Vingegaard and Roglic finished second and third overall, respectively, capping a dominant performance and a historic treble for Jumbo-Visma, which swept all three Grand Tour events this year. Roglic won the Giro d’Italia in May and Vingegaard repeated as Tour de France champion ...

Fiji beats Australia for the first time in 69 years at Rugby World Cup

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:02:53 GMT

SAINT-ETIENNE, France (AP) — Fiji defeated Australia 22-15 for the first time in 69 years and sent a jolt of joy rippling through the Rugby World Cup on Sunday.The Fijians had to win to stay in the hunt for their first quarterfinal in 16 years, and lived to fight on while putting the heat back on Wales and Australia, who meet next Sunday. One of the trio won’t make it out of Pool C.Famed for being rugby’s greatest ad-libbers, Fiji put the razzle-dazzle away and won in a very un-Fijian traditional way: Strong set-piece, breakdown domination, hard yards by the forwards, brick-wall defense, and relentless commitment for 80 minutes.The Fijians were disciplined, composed and clinical in a heavily defensive game of few chances.This result was not on the scale of Japan beating South Africa in 2015 or that much of an upset. This result was coming. Fiji crushed the Pacific Nations Cup. It pushed France close and toppled England at Twickenham in the warmups, then would have beaten...

American forward Balogun’s 1st goal for Monaco not enough as Lorient earns 2-2 draw

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:02:53 GMT

PARIS (AP) — United States forward Folarin Balogun’s first goal for Monaco was not enough as the league leader conceded a last-gasp equalizer in a 2-2 draw at Lorient on Sunday.Monaco is only one point ahead of Brest, which moved up to second place after rallying to win 2-1 at Reims. Midfielder Pierre Lees-Melou grabbed the winner in the 56th minute.Balogun scored in the 69th after Aleksandr Golovin picked him out in the penalty area and he held off a defender before finishing with his left foot.The 22-year-old Balogun joined Monaco from Premier League side Arsenal for 40 million euros ($43.6 million), after scoring 21 league goals in the first division last season on loan to Reims. But Romain Faivre equalized for Lorient in the seventh minute of injury time.After Benin striker Aiyegun Tosin fired Lorient ahead in the second minute with his first goal for the club, Golovin equalized in the 17th with midfielder Youssouf Fofana setting him up. Former Manchester City defender Ben...

POLL ALERT: No. 13 Alabama is out of the top 10 for the first time since 2015; Georgia remains No. 1

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:02:53 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — POLL ALERT: No. 13 Alabama is out of the top 10 for the first time since 2015; Georgia remains No. 1.Source

Una muerte ‘triste y horrible’ para un oso hambriento cuyos intestinos quedaron bloqueados por basura

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:02:53 GMT

(CNN) — Los funcionarios de vida silvestre de Colorado tuvieron que sacrificar a un oso enfermo después de recibir múltiples llamadas de residentes preocupados en Telluride, Colorado.Durante una necropsia los funcionarios de vida silvestre hallaron algo inquietante dentro del oso.“Había todas estas toallas de papel, toallitas, materiales tipo bolsas de plástico y contenido de alimentos no digeribles”, dijo John Livingston, portavoz de Parques y Vida Silvestre de Colorado. “El contenido era basura… no pudo avanzar hasta el intestino inferior”.Todo lo cual prohibía al oso negro macho absorber los nutrientes adecuados.“Un oso como este pesa alrededor de 180 kilos y tiene mucha grasa”, dijo Livingston a CNN, lo que significa que el mamífero posiblemente habría padeció hambre durante meses antes de morir.“Estar comiendo y comiendo y no poder descomponer nada de esa comida habría sido una forma realmente triste y horrible para que ese ...

UAW strike day 3: Talks continue with ‘slow’ progress, Fain says

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:02:53 GMT

Talks between the Detroit Three automakers and the United Auto Workers continued Sunday with 12,700 workers at three plants still walking picket lines.UAW President Shawn Fain appeared on MSNBC Sunday morning and “Face the Nation” on CBS after NBC reported that President Joe Biden is sending a team to Detroit early this week to help resolve the strike.“The good thing that I see in all this is our members are out there manning the picket lines with our allies, and this really to me isn’t about the president or the former president … this is about working-class people standing up,” Fain said on MSNBC.He added “progress is slow” in the talks, but the union and General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Stellantis NV are meeting Sunday.“I don’t really want to say we’re closer,” he said.The union is seeking significant wage increases, an end to a tiered wage system and cost-of-living adjustments, among other demands. Spe...

‘Nun 2’ conjures another $14.7M

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:02:53 GMT

NEW YORK — “The Nun 2” and “A Haunting in Venice” virtually tied for the No. 1 spot in U.S. and Canadian theaters over the weekend, with a slight edge carrying the horror sequel over the Hercule Poirot mystery, according to studio estimates Sunday.In its second weekend of release, Warner Bros.’ “The Nun 2,” a spinoff from the studio’s lucrative “Conjuring” franchise, grossed $14.7 million. If numbers hold, that will give “The Nun 2” (up to $56.5 million total and $158.8 million worldwide) the top spot at the box office for the second straight week.Very close behind was “A Haunting in Venice,” Kenneth Branagh’s third Agatha Christie adaptation following 2017’s “Murder on the Orient Express” and 2022’s “Death on the Nile.” It opened with $14.5 million.Final box-office figures will be released Monday.After the successful run of “Murder on the Orient Expres...

Ticker: Bay State job gains up in August; Google paying $93M over location data 

Published Sun, 23 Feb 2025 12:02:53 GMT

Massachusetts employers added 15,400 jobs in August while the statewide unemployment rate hovered at a near-historic low, state labor officials announced.Total employment bounced up to 3,788,700, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development announced Friday, which is the highest level in years. Employers added considerably more jobs in August than they did in July, which had a revised gain of 4,600.The biggest month-over-month increases occurred in government (6,500 jobs added), education and health services (3,500 jobs added) and leisure and hospitality (2,100 jobs added).The statewide unemployment rate, which is based on a different survey than jobs numbers, ticked up one-tenth of a percentage point to 2.6% in August, officials said.Google paying $93M over location dataGoogle has settled for $93 million with California, resolving allegations that the company used location data without informed consent, violating California’s consumer protection laws.The settlement...