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What’s next for Justin Fields? Is Matt Eberflus’ job safe? 5 big questions facing the Chicago Bears.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:24:27 GMT

Admittedly, it wasn’t pretty. The Chicago Bears’ 16-13 escape act against the stumbling Carolina Panthers won’t soon be submitted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It was an ugly game, low on big-play splashes. But for a last-place team looking to find its winning formula in close games, the Bears left Soldier Field on Thursday night with understandable satisfaction.“For us in this locker room and with everything we’ve been going through all year, we really needed this,” running back D’Onta Foreman said. “It means a lot. We’ve been in a lot of close games where one play, two plays didn’t go our way. The way we finished tonight was great.”With seven games remaining, the 3-7 Bears are intent on creating some sort of meaningful momentum. They will have to compile a lot more convincing evidence over the next two months to establish themselves as a team on the rise.The Bears will have to continue winning games they are sup...

Column: Unlike most former Chicago Cubs managers, David Ross has kept most of his thoughts on firing to himself

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:24:27 GMT

Former Chicago Cubs manager Dale Sveum was fired by Theo Epstein in 2013 over beers in the Newport Bar, a combination tavern/laundromat at which the bartender watched it play out like a reality show.Sveum faced reporters outside Wrigley Field when the news was announced the next day, saying: “Two weeks ago, I never would have imagined this was going to happen.”Joe Maddon and Epstein announced their amicable divorce at Busch Stadium on the final day of the 2019 season, holding a news conference to feed a no-hard-feelings narrative no one was buying. Jim Riggleman stood in a corner of the home clubhouse at Wrigley Field after being fired on the final day of the 1999 season and answered wave after wave of questions for 45 minutes. He admitted he let the “little things” fester, such as allowing Sammy Sosa’s entourage free access to the clubhouse.Don Zimmer invited beat writers into his Manhattan hotel room when the Cubs fired him in 1991 and told them to cl...

Andover teachers continue to battle for new contract as Monday looms

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:24:27 GMT

With the start of a new school week edging closer, Andover teachers remain on strike and face “many unresolved” issues as their battle with the School Committee for a new contract persists.Sunday marks the third day that the Andover Education Association meets with the School Committee and a state-appointed mediator since 95% of the union voted to authorize an “open-ended strike.”If an agreement is not met by the end of Sunday, school will continue to be canceled, following an initial day off Friday due to the strike.Under state law, it is illegal for public employees like teachers to go on strike.As a result, the Commonwealth Employment Relations Board has ordered Andover educators to immediately return to school. It has also appointed a mediator to work with both sides.“While we can report that we are making progress, many significant issues remain unresolved,” the Andover Education Association stated in a Saturday update. The union said one of the biggest gaps with the School Com...

‘The Marvels’ melts down at the box office, marking a new low for the MCU

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:24:27 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Since 2008’s “Iron Man,” the Marvel machine has been one of the most unstoppable forces in box-office history. Now, though, that aura of invincibility is showing signs of wear and tear. The superhero factory hit a new low with the weekend launch of “The Marvels,” which opened with just $47 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.The 33rd installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a sequel to the 2019 Brie Larson-led “Captain Marvel,” managed less than a third of the $153.4 million its predecessor launched with before ultimately taking in $1.13 billion worldwide. Sequels, especially in Marvel Land, aren’t supposed to fall off a cliff. David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Research Entertainment, called it “an unprecedented Marvel box-office collapse.”The previous low for a Walt Disney Co.-owned Marvel movie was “Ant-Man,” which bowed with $57.2 million in 2015. Otherwise, you have to go outside the Disney MCU to find such a slow start f...

Jury reaches verdict, Peter Nygard found guilty on four counts of sexual assault

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:24:27 GMT

A jury has reached a verdict in the sexual assault case against Peter Nygard, finding him guilty of four counts of sexual assault. The jury found Nygard not guilty of one count of sex assault and not guilty of unlawful confinement.Jurors reached their verdict on their fifth day of deliberation following a six-week trial.Nygard, the 82-year-old founder of a now-defunct women’s fashion company, had pleaded not guilty to five counts of sexual assault and one count of forcible confinement in alleged incidents ranging from the 1980s to mid-2000s.Five complainants testified that they were invited to Nygard’s Toronto headquarters under pretences ranging from tours to job interviews, with all encounters ending in a top-floor bedroom suite where they alleged they were sexually assaulted.Nygard testified in his own defence and denied all five of the women’s allegations, saying he didn’t recall meeting or interacting with four of them.More to come.

US military says 5 crew members died when an aircraft crashed over the Mediterranean

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:24:27 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Five U.S. servicepeople were killed when a military aircraft crashed over the eastern Mediterranean Sea during a training mission, U.S. European Command said Sunday.The aircraft crashed on Friday evening. EUCOM said all five crew members were killed when it went down “during a routine air refueling mission as part of military training.” The military initially first announced the crash on Saturday and said that the cause is under investigation, but there are no indications of any hostile activity involved. It said on Sunday that “search and rescue efforts began immediately, including nearby U.S. military aircraft and ships.”European Command said that out of respect for the families of the service members and in line with Department of Defense policy, the identities of the crew members are being withheld until 24 hours after next of kin notifications are completed.It wasn’t immediately clear what military service the aircraft belonged to. The Air Force has sent additiona...

CP NewsAlert: Jury finds Peter Nygard guilty on four counts of sexual assault

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:24:27 GMT

TORONTO — Former fashion mogul Peter Nygard has been found guilty of four counts of sexual assault, but acquitted of a fifth count plus a charge a forcible confinement. The jury at his trial in Toronto handed down the verdict on their fifth day of deliberations following a six-week trial. More comingXXXThe Canadian Press

Bayern Munich reports record revenues of $913 million

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:24:27 GMT

MUNICH (AP) — Bayern Munich has emerged from the turmoil caused by the coronavirus pandemic in good financial health after reporting record total revenues of 854.2 million euros ($913 million) for the 2022-23 season.The previous record was 750.4 million euros ($802 million) from 2018-19.Bayern chief financial officer Michael Diederich said this “equates to an increase of around 30%” from the previous year and called it “an extraordinary achievement.”Bayern had posted record revenues every year from 2015 until the coronavirus pandemic influenced a downturn in 2020. Diederich said the group’s net profit rose to 35.7 million euros ($38 million), an increase of 23 million euros compared to the previous season.“Everything we earn is invested in sport,” Diederich said. “For us, it’s always first and foremost about sport. Our claim remains to be top both domestically and internationally. Our most important return on investment is titles.”Bayern has won an unprecedented 11 strai...

Translations of Vietnamese fiction and Egyptian poetry honored by translators assocation

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:24:27 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — English-language editions of a Vietnamese novel set everywhere from Saigon to Paris and of the latest publication of poetry by Egypt’s Iman Mersal are this year’s winners of National Translation Awards.The awards were announced Sunday by the American Literary Translators Association.Thuân’s novel “Chinatown,” translated from the Vietnamese by Nguyễn An Lý, won in the category for prose. The poetry prize was given to Mersal’s “The Threshold,” translated from the Arabic by Robyn Creswell. The winning translators will each receive $4,000. “ALTA is incredibly proud to recognize Nguyễn An Lý and Robyn Creswell for their masterful translations from Vietnamese and Arabic respectively, in this the 25th year of the National Translation Award,” Elisabeth Jaquette, executive director of the translators association, said in a statement. Previous winners include Peter Constantine’s translation from the Russian of stories by Anton Chekhov, Martin Aitk...

Attacks by Lebanon’s Hezbollah group wound 7 Israeli troops, 10 others along border with Israel

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 11:24:27 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Attacks by Lebanon’s Hezbollah group Sunday wounded seven Israeli troops and 10 other people, Israel’s military and rescue services said. The clashes came as skirmishes between the Iran-backed group and Israeli military continue to intensify along the Lebanon-Israel border, threatening to escalate into another front in the Mideast’s latest war. The Israeli military said in a statement that “seven IDF soldiers were lightly injured as a result of the mortar shell launches in the area of Manara in northern Israel earlier today.” Israeli rescue services did not identify the location or provide information about the 10 others wounded by rocket blasts and shrapnel, but said two of them were in critical condition. The Israeli military said they identified 15 launches from Lebanon over the past hour and their defense systems intercepted four of them. The rest fell into open areas.Hamas’ military wing, meanwhile, claimed responsibility for shelling the nort...