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NFL picks: A showdown of perhaps the league’s top two teams in Philadelphia, plus can anybody in the AFC separate from the pack?

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:45:14 GMT

Around the AFCTight race so far. The four teams atop the AFC each have three losses, making for a tight race for the top seed six weeks from the end of the season. Baltimore is 9-3 and has this week off. Kansas City, Jacksonville and Miami are all 8-3 and playing this weekend. Rev up the engines. It’s going to be a terrific battle for the No. 1 seed, which comes with a bye through the Wild Card round to the Divisional round.Jags in control. Obviously the Jags are one of those top four teams, thanks to a narrow win over Houston last weekend that gave them a two-game lead in the AFC South. Since a 1-2 start – including a blowout loss to the Texans – the Jags have won seven of their past eight. They’re getting quality play from a bunch of players, but not many better than edge Josh Allen, who’s up to 12 sacks on the season now. If he gets to 17, he’ll match his total from the past three years combined. Not bad for the 2019 first-rounder in a contract year.Rodgers’ World. The Jets opene...

Review: ‘Renaissance’ concert film is a love letter from Beyonce to Beyonce

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:45:14 GMT

“Renaissance: A Film by Beyonce” isn’t so much a concert film as it as a concert tour documentary, one that takes viewers behind the scenes to see what it’s like for one of the biggest stars in the world to be in the center of such a massive road show.“You see the show and it’s beautiful,” Beyonce says early in the film. “But I am more interested in people seeing the process.”Not coincidentally, the actual performance scenes, as impressive as they often are, come across as secondary to the glimpses of Beyonce hanging out with her family, rehearsing with the dancers and sharing her thoughts on a variety of subjects, all of which revolve around the megastar herself.The end result is a love letter from Beyonce to Beyonce, who — as the writer, director and producer of the film — meticulously controlled every little detail that went into “Renaissance.” She uses the platform to underscore, again and again, that ...

Mailbag: Which Pac-12 teams are set for success in the Big Ten and Big 12, Trent Bray’s bar, Pac-12 refs and more

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:45:14 GMT

The Hotline mailbag publishes each Friday. Send questions to [email protected] and include ‘mailbag’ in the subject line. Or hit me on Twitter: @WilnerHotline.Please note: Some questions have been edited for clarity and brevity.Which departing Pac-12 schools will have success in their new conference and which will struggle? — @CamKodeGreat question, and let’s start with this: The Hotline will dive deep into the Big 12, Big Ten and ACC states-of-play once following the 2023 postseason.We’ll project the conference races, examine the schedules, the quarterback depth and more — everything Hotline readers want to know about those conferences in 2024.But first, the transfer portal, NFL Draft decisions and coaching changes need to play themselves out.There’s no way to project the trajectory of next season, in any conference, before knowing the depth charts and coaching staffs.The month-long window for transfers officially opens Monday, although the r...

Leaning Italian tower – no, not that one – in danger of collapse

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:45:14 GMT

By Julia Buckley | CNNIt’s the ‘leaning tower’ that has stood tipsily – but steadily – for nearly 1,000 years. But now, the days of the Garisenda tower in Bologna, Italy, could be numbered. Following investigations last month, the city is instigating a civil protection plan for the “sudden and unexpected collapse of the tower,” which has dominated the Bologna skyline since the 12th century.A protective metal cordon will be erected to “contain debris resulting from a possible collapse, to reduce the vulnerability of surrounding buildings and the exposure to the population, as well as blocking access to the off-limits area,” the city council said in a statement.The cordon will be fixed into the ground, and will include specially designed rockfall protection nets, also made of metal and also anchored to the ground.The warning of a possible collapse was issued in a 27-page report, shared with CNN, by the scientific committee which has monitored the site since 2019.It puts the site on “h...

The 10 most expensive reported home sales in Los Gatos the week of Nov. 20

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:45:14 GMT

A house that sold for $5.1 million tops the list of the most expensive residential real estate sales in Los Gatos in the past two weeks.In total, 10 residential real estate sales were recorded in the area during the past two weeks, with an average price of $2.3 million. The average price per square foot ended up at $1,098.The prices in the list below concern real estate sales where the title was recorded from the week of November 13 to the week of Nov. 26 even if the property may have been sold earlier.10. $525K, condominium in the 400 block of Alberto WayThe sale of the condominium in the 400 block of Alberto Way, Los Gatos, has been finalized. The price was $525,000, and the condominium changed hands in November. The condominium was built in 1978 and has a living area of 768 square feet. The price per square foot was $684. The condominium features one bedrooms and one bathrooms.9. $650K, single-family residence in the 17500 block of Comanche TrailThe 1,008 square-foot detached hou...

Unpredictable Bay Area weather now likely to stay mostly dry through weekend

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:45:14 GMT

In their initial analysis, weather forecasters anticipated a decent amount of rain might fall upon the Bay Area as the weekend beckoned.Related ArticlesWeather | Brief break from rain expected Thursday, but the Bay Area could escape most of the weekend storm system Weather | Tracking map: Where it’s raining in the Bay Area Weather | Bay Area rain showers could last into Wednesday morning Weather | UC Santa Cruz researchers build AI to prevent drownings Weather | Post-Thanksgiving weekend could see dropping temperatures, harsh waves on the Bay Area coast Now, they anticipate barely a blip of the wet stuff, if any does fall at all.Call it a slump as far as forecasts go. In mid-November, a forecast that several systems would bring significant rain wound up bringing considerably less.“Yeah, things have not been going as predicted,” National Weather Service meteorologist Matt Mehle said Frid...

US prosecutors say plots to assassinate Sikh leaders in California and New York were part of a campaign of planned killings

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:45:14 GMT

NEW YORK  — A foiled plot to assassinate a prominent Sikh separatist leader in New York, just days after another activist’s killing, was meant to precede a string of other politically motivated murders in the United States and Canada, according to U.S. prosecutors.In electronic communications and audio and video calls secretly recorded or obtained by U.S. law enforcement, organizers of the plot talked last spring about plans to kill someone in California and at least three other people in Canada, in addition to the victim in New York, according to an indictment unsealed Wednesday.The goal was to kill at least four people in the two countries by June 29, and then more after that, prosecutors contend.After Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh activist who had been exiled from India, was shot and killed outside a cultural center in Surrey, British Columbia, on June 18, one of the men charged with orchestrating the planned assassinations told a person he had hired as a hitman that he shou...

Walmart joins exodus of advertisers from Musk’s X

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:45:14 GMT

By Nathaniel Meyersohn | CNNWalmart confirmed on Friday that it is pausing its advertising on X, the social media platform owned by Elon Musk and formerly known as Twitter.“We aren’t advertising on X as we’ve found other platforms to better reach our customers,” a Walmart spokesperson said.Reuters first reported Walmart’s move.This is a developing story and will be updated.Related ArticlesNational News | Cybertruck launches with a higher price, many challengers National News | Musk lashes out at advertisers fleeing troubled platform National News | Striking Swedish workers getting under Elon Musk’s skin National News | Democrats accuse Twitter of profiting off Hamas propaganda National News | Paris Hilton’s media company suspends ads on Musk’s Twitter

Taylor Swift’s fierce response to Joe Alwyn marriage rumor sparks questions about her future with Travis Kelce

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:45:14 GMT

As Taylor Swift’s romance with Travis Kelce appears to grow ever more serious, her longtime publicist Tree Paine made what’s been called an unusual move Thursday to fiercely denounce one of the many online rumors that tend to percolate about the singer — this one alleging that she had a secret “marriage”-like ceremony with her last serious boyfriend, Joe Alwyn, before their shock split earlier this year.The secret ceremony claim was made by a writer on the infamous gossip account Deuxmoi, and it was vehemently slammed by Paine on Thursday. The rep no doubt was speaking on Swift’s behalf when she said on social media, “Enough is enough with these fabricated lies.”“There was NEVER a marriage ceremony of ANY kind. This is an insane thing to post,” Paine said before accusing Deuxmoi of causing “pain and trauma” with such claims.While Deuxmoi promptly apologized to Swift, the site’s writer wasn’t so contr...

Fed’s Powell notes inflation is easing but downplays discussion of interest rate cuts

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 00:45:14 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Inflation is slowing steadily, but it’s too early to declare victory or to discuss when the Federal Reserve might cut interest rates, Chair Jerome Powell said Friday. Speaking at Spelman College in Atlanta, Powell noted that consumer prices, excluding volatile food and energy costs, rose at just a 2.5% annual rate in the past six months. That’s not far above the Fed’s 2% inflation target. Still, more progress is needed, Powell said. He added, “It would be premature to conclude with confidence” that the Fed has raised its benchmark interest rate high enough to fully defeat inflation. Nor is it time to “speculate on when policy might ease,” Powell said, referring to the possibility of cuts in the Fed’s benchmark interest rate, which affects many consumer and business loans. Instead, he said, the Fed’s interest-rate-setting committee “is moving forward carefully” — phrasing that analysts consider a signal that the central bank...