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Joe Burrow threw three touchdown passes to Tee Higgins, including a game-winning scoring strike with 1:07 left in overtime, to give the host Cincinnati Bengals an electrifying 30-24 win over the Denver Broncos on Saturday. Cade York could have given Cincinnati (8-8) the win with 2:43 to go in the extra session, but his 33-yard field-goal attempt hit the left upright. The Bengals' defense buckled down, though, forcing Denver to go three-and-out to get Burrow, Higgins and the rest of the offense back out on the field. Cincinnati proceeded to go 63 yards in five plays, with Higgins' 3-yard TD catch giving the Bengals their fourth straight victory. Higgins finished with 11 catches for 131 yards. Marvin Mims Jr. forced overtime by hauling in a 25-yard score on fourth-and-1 to draw the Broncos (9-7) even at 24 with eight seconds left in regulation. Burrow had put Cincinnati in front by plunging into the end zone from 1 yard out just 1:21 earlier. Burrow completed 39 of 49 passes for 412 yards and the three touchdowns while Ja'Marr Chase had nine catches for 102 yards and set a single-season franchise record for receptions. He now has 117. Tight end Mike Gesicki played a key role in the Cincinnati passing game, grabbing a season-high 10 catches for 86 yards. Rams 13, Cardinals 9 Cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon intercepted a pass in the end zone with 37 seconds left to preserve Los Angeles' win over Arizona in Inglewood, Calif. Witherspoon made a diving catch after the ball bounced high off the helmet of Arizona tight end Trey McBride on the pass attempt by Kyler Murray. The Rams (10-6), who lead the NFC West by one game, have won five straight, while the Cardinals (7-9) have lost five of their last six. Los Angeles could clinch a playoff berth on Sunday depending on the outcome of other games. Matthew Stafford threw for 189 yards while completing 17 of 32 pass attempts without a touchdown or interception. Puka Nacua finished with 10 receptions for 129 yards. Murray was 33 of 48 for 321 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. McBride made 12 catches for 123 yards to surpass 1,000 yards for the first time in his three NFL seasons. Chargers 40, Patriots 7 Justin Herbert passed for 281 yards and a season-high three touchdowns and Los Angeles clinched an AFC playoff berth with a dominating victory over New England in Foxborough, Mass. Ladd McConkey caught eight passes for 94 yards and two touchdowns and Derwin James had two sacks and a fumble recovery for the Chargers (10-6), who are playoff-bound in Jim Harbaugh's first season as coach. Derius Davis also had a scoring catch, J.K. Dobbins rushed for 76 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries and Cameron Dicker booted four field goals.Herbert completed 26 of 38 passes as the Chargers improved to 3-12 all-time in Foxborough, including playoffs. Drake Maye completed 12 of 22 passes for 117 yards and one touchdown for New England (3-13), which lost its sixth consecutive game. DeMario Douglas caught a scoring pass for the Patriots. -Field Level Media
Just about everyone dreams about cars they wish they could own, and there’s no better time than the holidays to make a list of vehicles you’d love to have in your driveway. The car pros at Edmunds rounded up five of their favorite dream-worthy vehicles. But rather than just list the most outlandish and expensive exotics, they focused on highlighting models that are expensive but not so pricey that it’d be completely unrealistic for you to own one one day. The vehicles are ordered in ascending order of price and include destination fees. Ford F-150 Raptor R Off-road trucks look fantastic and are extremely capable. What truck enthusiast wouldn’t have one topping their wish list? The king of the hill for 2025 is the F-150 Raptor R. The regular Raptor is already impressive, and the R takes it to the next level with a bonkers 720-horsepower supercharged 5.2-liter V8 engine, upgraded Fox dual-value shock absorbers, and massive 37-inch all-terrain tires. An R-specific grille and hood are also part of the R’s upgrades. Thankfully, the Raptor R isn’t all bark and bite. It also has plenty of features to make it a livable truck for daily driving. Standard features include leather upholstery, cooling front seats, a premium sound system, and a surround-view camera to help make this big truck easier to park. Starting Price: $112,825 Mercedes-Benz S-Class Few sedans can match the Mercedes-Benz S-Class for opulence, luxury and prestige. This grand sedan showcases nearly every luxury, technology and performance innovation that Mercedes-Benz has concocted. Everything you touch inside is likely covered in leather, heated, or bathed in disco-worthy ambient light. A novel could be written about all of the S-Class’ luxury and comfort features, but one of the most notable is the E-Active Body Control system. It scans the road surface ahead and adjusts the suspension to deliver the best ride possible. The S-Class also boasts an extensive list of advanced safety features and has an augmented reality head-up display that projects images that appear to float in front of the car. For the ultimate S-Class, get the 791-horsepower AMG S 63 E Performance model. Starting Price: $118,900 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 Who needs a European exotic car when the Corvette ZR1 is just as capable? A sports car fanatic’s wish list wouldn’t be right without the ZR1. The new Corvette hit a record-setting top speed of 233 mph, making it the fastest car ever built by an American automaker and the fastest current production car priced under $1 million, according to Chevrolet. The top speed record was possible thanks to the ZR1’s turbocharged 5.5-liter V8 engine that cranks out a staggering 1,064 horsepower. Its carbon-fiber aero package kept it glued to the track by generating over 1,200 pounds of downforce at top speed. Chevrolet also says the ZR1 can accelerate through the quarter mile in less than 10 seconds. We expect the Corvette ZR1 to go on sale in early 2025. Estimated starting price: $150,000 Cadillac Escalade-V Does your wish list include a big and powerful SUV? If it does, the Escalade-V should top it. The big Caddy roars like a muscle car thanks to its supercharged 6.2-liter V8 that churns out 682 horsepower and helps it hit 60 mph in just 4.4 seconds. The Escalade-V also boasts enormous 24-inch wheels and large Brembo brakes that help bring the three-ton SUV to a stop. But the Escalade-V isn’t only about brute power. It also has three rows of seating, plenty of cargo space and offers impressive tech like Super Cruise, a hands-free highway driving system, and an enormous 55-inch curved display that spans the dashboard. Starting Price: $161,990 Lucid Air Sapphire What if we told you there was a car that could outpace almost anything on a drag strip, keep up with high-end sports cars on a racetrack, and be comfortable enough for daily errands? Well, if that sounds amazing, add the Air Sapphire to your dream list. The Air Sapphire is a high-performance electric luxury sedan made by Lucid, an electric vehicle startup. It’s one of the most powerful production cars in the world, producing an astonishing 1,234 horsepower from its three electric motors. Lucid says it has a top speed of 205 mph and can rocket to 60 mph in a mind-numbing 1.9 seconds. You can adjust the vehicle’s setting for exceptional track performance or simply provide a comfortable ride around town. Starting price: $250,500 Edmunds says Even if you can’t afford any of these vehicles, you can still picture one sitting in your driveway or imagine yourself cruising around town in it. And who knows, maybe holiday magic will give you the opportunity to own one in the future. ____ This story was provided to The Associated Press by the automotive website Edmunds. Michael Cantu is a contributor at Edmunds.
Suriname rules out state funeral for ex-dictator and fugitive Desi Bouterse
Neal Maupay: Whenever I’m having a bad day I check Everton score and smile
Everton striker Neal Maupay has sparked outrage among Toffees fans by taking a swipe at his parent club in a post on social media. Maupay also had a dig at Everton when he departed on loan to Marseille in the summer and his latest taunt has further angered the Premier League club’s supporters. The 28-year-old said on X after Sean Dyche’s side had lost 2-0 to Nottingham Forest at Goodison Park on Sunday: “Whenever I’m having a bad day I just check the Everton score and smile.” Whenever I’m having a bad day I just check the Everton score and smile 🙂 — Neal Maupay (@nealmaupay_) December 29, 2024 Former boxer Tony Bellew was among the Toffees’ supporters who responded to Maupay, with the ex-world cruiserweight champion replying on X with: “P****!” Maupay endured a miserable spell at Everton, scoring just one league goal in 29 appearances after being signed by the Merseysiders for an undisclosed fee in 2022. He departed on a season-long loan to his former club Brentford for the 2023-24 season and left Goodison for a second time in August when Marseille signed him on loan with an obligation to make the deal permanent. After leaving Everton in the summer, Maupay outraged their fans by posting on social media a scene from the film Shawshank Redemption, famous for depicting the main character’s long fight for freedom. We do not moderate comments, but we expect readers to adhere to certain rules in the interests of open and accountable debate.
TBILISI, Goergia — Former soccer player Mikheil Kavelashvili was formally inaugurated as president of Georgia on Sunday, cementing the ruling party's grip in what the opposition calls a blow to the country's EU aspirations and a victory for former imperial ruler Russia. Outgoing pro-Western Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili said Sunday morning that she would vacate her residence at the Orbeliani Palace in Tbilisi, but insisted she was still the legitimate office holder. "I will come out of here, come out to you and be with you. ... This presidential residence was a symbol as long as there was a president here who was legitimate. I bring legitimacy with me," Zourabichvili told a crowd of supporters outside the palace. She called Kavelashvili's inauguration a "parody." Kavelashvili, 53, who was the only candidate on the ballot, easily won the vote earlier in December given the Georgian Dream party's control of a 300-seat electoral college that replaced direct presidential elections in 2017. It is made up of members of Parliament, municipal councils and regional legislatures. In his speech Sunday, Kavelashvili promised to be "everyone's president, regardless of whether they like me or not." He called for the nation to unite behind him around "shared values, the principles of mutual respect, and the future we should build together." Georgian Dream retained control of Parliament in the South Caucasus nation in an Oct. 26 election that the opposition alleges was rigged with Moscow's help. The party has vowed to continue pushing toward accession in the European Union but also wants to "reset" ties with Russia. Georgia's outgoing president and main pro-Western parties have boycotted the post-election parliamentary sessions and demanded a rerun of the ballot. In 2008 Russia fought a brief war with Georgia, which led to Moscow's recognition of two breakaway regions as independent, and an increase in the Russian military presence in South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Critics have accused Georgian Dream — established by Bidzina Ivanishvili, a shadowy billionaire who made his fortune in Russia — of becoming increasingly authoritarian and tilted toward Moscow, accusations the ruling party has denied. The party recently pushed through laws similar to those used by the Kremlin to crack down on freedom of speech and LGBTQ+ rights. Georgian Dream's decision last month to suspend talks on their country's bid to join the EU added to the opposition's outrage and galvanized protests. Protesters in front of the parliament building on Sunday held red cards, in reference to Kavelashvili's career in soccer. "Because today our president is a footballer, we are showing him a red card. The next step will be sending him off the pitch. The Georgian people will definitely do this, because it was a circus that they have held today in the parliament," protester Sofia Shamanidi told The Associated Press. Outgoing president demands new elections Zourabichvili, 72, was born in France to parents with Georgian roots and had a successful career with the French Foreign Ministry before President Mikheil Saakashvili named her Georgia's top diplomat in 2004. Constitutional changes made the president's job largely ceremonial before Zourabichvili was elected by popular vote with Georgian Dream's support in 2018. She became sharply critical of the ruling party, accusing it of pro-Russia policies, and Georgian Dream unsuccessfully tried to impeach her. Zourabichvili has rejected government claims that the opposition was fomenting violence. "We are not demanding a revolution," she told The Associated Press. "We are asking for new elections, but in conditions that will ensure that the will of the people will not be misrepresented or stolen again. Who is the new president? Georgia's opposition has mocked Kavelashvili for lacking higher education. He was a striker in the English Premier League for Manchester City and played for several clubs in the Swiss Super League. He was elected to Parliament in 2016 on the Georgian Dream ticket, and in 2022 co-founded the People's Power political movement, which was allied with Georgian Dream and become known for its strong anti-Western rhetoric. Kavelashvili was one of the authors of a controversial law requiring organizations that receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as "pursuing the interest of a foreign power," similar to a Russian law used to discredit critical organizations. The EU, which granted Georgia candidate status in December 2023 on condition that the country meets the bloc's recommendations, put its accession on hold and cut financial support in June following approval of the "foreign influence" law. How did protests unfold? Thousands of demonstrators converged on the parliament building every night after the government announced the suspension of EU accession talks on Nov. 28. Riot police used water cannons and tear gas almost daily to disperse and beat scores of protesters, some of whom threw fireworks at police officers and built barricades on the capital's central boulevard. Hundreds were detained and over 100 treated for injuries. Several journalists were beaten by police and media workers accused authorities of using thugs to deter people from attending anti-government rallies, which Georgian Dream denies. The crackdown has drawn strong condemnation from the United States and EU officials.British Columbia business owner Joe Chaput will spend $5,500 a month on security guards during the holiday season and plans on upgrading his store’s video camera system for around $5,000 more. He’s not selling luxury brands or expensive jewels. Chaput sells cheese, and at Christmas, cheese is a hot commodity. He is the co-owner of specialty cheese store les amis du Fromage, with two locations in Vancouver. While cheeselifting is rare in their Kitsilano store, the outlet in East Vancouver is hit in waves, with nothing happening for a month, then three of four people trying to steal their inventory within a week. “Sometimes, you miss it. Sometimes, you catch it. The way shoplifters behave ... they tend to gravitate toward expensive things,” said Chaput. Expensive cheese is on shoplifters’ Christmas list, he said. “They tend to do the classic examples of staying away from customer service and trying to go to a different part of the store so they can be left alone to steal.” Chaput isn’t alone. Police say food-related crimes on are the rise in Canada and as prices climb for items such as cheese and butter, they become lucrative on the black market for organized crime groups, not to mention theft for local resale. Sylvain Charlebois, the director of Dalhousie University’s Agri-food Analytics Lab, said a black market tends to emerge as soon as food prices surge. “Organized crime will steal anything (if) they know they can sell it and so, they probably would have known who their clients are before even stealing anything at all, and that’s how a black market is organized,” said Charlebois. He said he believes there are two categories of people shoplifting — those who do so out of desperation because they can’t afford the food, or organized criminals, profiting from sales on the black market. Mounties in North Vancouver made cheesy headlines when they ran into a man with a cart of stolen cheese in the middle of the night in September. The cheese, valued at $12,800, was from a nearby Whole Foods Store. While the cheese was recovered, it had to be disposed of because it hadn’t been refrigerated. Const. Mansoor Sahak, with the North Vancouver RCMP, said officers believe cheese is targeted because it’s “profitable to resell.” “If they are drug addicts, they will commit further crimes with that or feed their drug habits. It’s a vicious cycle,” said Sahak. Sahak said meat is also a top target for grocery thieves, with store losses sometimes in the thousands. “So, we’re not surprised that this happened,” said Sahak. Police in Ontario have been chasing down slippery shoplifters going after butter. Scott Tracey, a spokesman with Guelph Police Service, said there have been eight or nine butter thefts over the last year, including one theft last December worth $1,000. In October, two men walked into a local grocer and filled their carts with cases of butter valued at $936, and four days later a Guelph grocer lost four cases valued at $958. Tracey said he has looked at online marketplaces and found listings by people selling 20 or 30 pounds of butter at a time. “Clearly, somebody didn’t accidentally buy 30 extra pounds of butter. So, they must have come from somewhere,” said Tracey, “I think at this point it appears to be the black market is where it’s headed.” He said the thefts seem to be organized, with two or three people working together in each case. Police in Brantford, Ont., are also investigating the theft of about $1,200 worth of butter from a store on Nov. 4. Charlebois said retailers could invest in prevention technologies like electronic tags, but putting them on butter or cheese is rare. He said up until recently grocery store theft has been a “taboo subject for many years.” Stores didn’t wanted to talk about thefts because they didn’t want to alarm people but now they feel they need to build awareness about what is “becoming a huge problem,” said Charlebois. Chaput, the cheese store owner, said he had been running the East Vancouver store for 15 years while managing the store in Kitsilano for 30 years, and he loves his customers. “It’s really one of the best parts of our businesses, seeing familiar faces and making new customers. It’s why we come to work, really. Partly it’s the cheese, and partly it’s the people,” said Chaput. He said his strategy to combat would-be thieves is to give them extra customer service to make it harder for them to steal. He admits, however, that the shoplifting causes him stress. “It’s challenging. You’re busy trying to run your business day to day and take care of customers and take care of employees. Having to deal with criminals, just kind of scratches away. It can be a bit exhausting,” said Chaput.
Firefighters and passengers hurt after train hits fire truck on crossingDirector Chandrakant Singh’s Film ‘Kya Masti Kya Dhoom’ to Premiere on Waves OTT Platform
As a legitimate national championship contender, No. 6 Florida knows better than to throw a parade over its undefeated start in nonconference play. That's why the Gators (12-0) aren't overlooking Sunday's game against Stetson in Gainesville, Fla., in the team's final tune-up before diving into its Southeastern Conference slate. "It's a great start, but it's just a start," Florida coach Todd Golden said. "When we get back, we're gonna treat it like we're 0-0 in that we've got a new season ahead of us." The Gators have not played since last Saturday, when they throttled visiting North Florida 99-45. Will Richard led all scorers with a career-high 26 points. Richard struggled with his shot during the season's early weeks but has found his form as of late. He's hit 17 of 22 attempts (77.3 percent) from the floor -- including 9 of 13 from 3-point range -- while scoring 48 points over his last two games. Regardless of how he's shooting, Richard can energize Florida in other ways. His 2.2 steals per game lead the team, and Golden said the senior guard has blossomed into a leader for a program trying to reach its first Final Four in 11 seasons. "The maturity that he's shown this year is not allowing offense to affect defense and rebounding," Golden said. "He's been very consistent in those (areas) all year, and it's just a matter of time before he starts shooting the ball better." Richard's 14 points per game rank third on the Gators behind fellow guards Walter Clayton Jr. (17.6) and Alijah Martin (14.9). Sunday's contest against the Hatters (2-10) will be Florida's last gimme game for a while. The Gators open SEC play with three straight tests against teams currently ranked in the Top 25. They'll visit No. 10 Kentucky and host top-ranked Tennessee before traveling to face No. 23 Arkansas. "I think the team realizes what the potential is and what's in front of us and what arena we're in in terms of competing to play for a national championship," Golden said. Florida will be Stetson's third SEC opponent this season. The Atlantic Sun conference member lost 85-64 at Oklahoma on Nov. 16 and fell 99-53 at LSU on Dec. 17. The loss to the Tigers marked the Hatters' 10th straight defeat, but Stetson snapped its skid with a 103-77 home win over Fort Lauderdale of the NCCAA last Sunday. Mekhi Ellison scored 25 points in the victory to boost his team-leading scoring average to 14.2 points per game. Fellow guard Jamie Phillips Jr. chips in 10.9 points per contest, while forwards Jordan Wood (12.2) and Josh Massey (10.8) round out the Hatters' double-digit scorers. Tristan Gross netted 11 points on Sunday and has experience leading Stetson against elite competition. He is the lone returning starter from the team's first-ever NCAA Tournament game last season, a 91-52 first-round loss against top seed and eventual champion UConn. The sophomore guard knows he has to set the example this season for a program with nine new players. "I have to bring that expectation from last year," Gross told the Daytona Beach News-Journal after the Hatters' season opener on Nov. 4. "... We have to play together. We have to play hard. We can't come in lackadaisical and not respecting our opponent. That's the thing we have to bring every night." --Field Level Media