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Chargers start strong, show fight under interim coach Giff Smith before another heartbreaking loss

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:00:45 GMT

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — When the Chargers recovered Buffalo’s fumble on a punt return and punched it into the end zone four plays later to take a 10-0 lead early in the second quarter Saturday night, SoFi Stadium’s large contingent of Buffalo snowbirds fell silent — and the often-outnumbered home fans roared.Giff Smith’s career as the Chargers’ interim head coach was off to an auspicious start in those heady moments. Although it ultimately didn’t last against a playoff-contending Bills team, the longtime assistant was proud of his turmoil-plagued team even after Buffalo rallied for a 24-22 victory on a last-minute field goal.“I think the team responded to the message that the organization and the staff had,” Smith said. “There’s not moral victories in any of this, but they really achieved fighting for each other, and what that feels like.”The injury-plagued Chargers (5-10) were competitive and occasionally impressive while playing eight days afte...

Josh Allen accounts for 3 touchdowns as Bills escape with 24-22 victory over Chargers

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:00:45 GMT

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Josh Allen continues to reach milestones in his sixth NFL season, but he’s more concerned about getting the Buffalo Bills back into the playoffs.Allen did his part Saturday night by rushing for two TDs and throwing for one, but it took a 29-yard field goal by Tyler Bass with 28 seconds remaining for the Bills to escape with a 24-22 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers.Allen became the first player in NFL history with four consecutive seasons of 40 combined touchdowns and the second quarterback to reach 50 career rushing scores.“It’s tough because when you’re playing a team with nothing to lose, that’s a dangerous team. We gutted it out and we found a way,” said Allen, who completed 15 of 21 passes for 237 yards with an interception. “This is our playoffs. It didn’t matter how we get them done, just get them done.”The Bills (9-6) have won four of their last five. Buffalo’s playoff chances got some help earlier in the day when Pittsburgh bea...

Smith and Hakanpaa score in the final 15 seconds to lift the Stars over the Predators 3-2

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:00:45 GMT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Craig Smith and Jani Hakanpaa scored in the final 15 seconds, rallying the Dallas Stars to a 3-2 victory over the Nashville Predators on Saturday.Evgeni Dadonov also scored in the third period as Dallas improved to 5-0-1 in its last six games. Scott Wedgewood made 19 saves.The Stars became the first team in NHL history to secure a victory after scoring a tying and go-ahead goal in the final 15 seconds of regulation.Michael McCarron and Colton Sissons scored for Nashville in the second. Juuse Saros made 31 stops.PANTHERS 4, GOLDEN KNIGHTS 2SUNRISE, Fla. (Ap) — Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Reinhart scored power-play goals 1:59 apart in the third period, and Florida went into its Christmas break by topping Vegas in a rematch of last season’s Stanley Cup Final.Sam Bennett and Gustav Forsling also scored for Florida, and Matthew Tkachuk, Aleksander Barkov and Brandon Montour each finished with two assists. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 23 shots.Mark Stone and Pavel Dorofey...

Quinton Byfield scores twice, Kings halt hot Flames, 5-3

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:00:45 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Quinton Byfield scored twice, Trevor Moore got his team-leading 16th goal, and the Los Angeles Kings defeated the Calgary Flames 5-3 on Saturday night.Alex Laferriere and Pierre-Luc Dubois also scored, Cam Talbot made 29 saves, and the Kings avoided their first three-game losing streak on home ice.Blake Coleman had two goals and Rasmus Andersson also scored for the Flames, who had won three straight and picked up a point in five straight. Jacob Markstrom allowed four goals on 33 shots.Los Angeles took charge in the second period on goals by Laferriere and Moore, which characterized a return to aggressive and direct offense after a poor run with four losses in six games.Laferriere put in Drew Doughty’s pass off his skate for a 3-2 lead at 6:28 of the second, and Moore beat Markstrom over the goalie’s right shoulder midway through the period for a two-goal lead.Those scores came after Coleman tied it up short-handed off the rush. He had poke checked the puck away fr...

MacKinnon gets assist to extend point streak to 18 games, Avs cruise to 4-1 win over Coyotes

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:00:45 GMT

DENVER (AP) — Nathan MacKinnon extended his point streak to 18 games with an assist, Alexandar Georgiev stopped 24 shots and the Colorado Avalanche cruised to a 4-1 victory over the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday night.Bowen Byram opened the scoring in the first period before Colorado pulled away in the second behind goals from Valeri Nichushkin, Josh Manson and Fredrik Olofsson. “The second period is a template of how we should and want to play,” said Avalanche coach Jared Bednar, whose team has won three of four heading into the NHL’s holiday break. ”Might have been our most complete period of the year.”MacKinnon’s 18-game point streak is the second-longest for Colorado since the franchise relocated from Quebec to Denver in 1995-96. He trails only Paul Stastny, who compiled a 20-game run in 2006-07.It was also MacKinnon’s 25th point in December. He’s three away from matching the franchise record for a single month set by Peter Stastny in February 1981. Colorado still has three ...

AP PHOTOS: Spanish tapestry factory, once home to Goya, is still weaving 300 years after it opened

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:00:45 GMT

MADRID (AP) — Spain’s Royal Tapestry Factory has been decorating the walls and floors of palaces and institutions for more than 300 years.Located on a quiet, leafy street in central Madrid, its artisans work with painstaking focus on tapestries, carpets and heraldic banners, combining the long wisdom of the craft with new techniques.The factory was opened in 1721 by Spain’s King Felipe V. He brought in Catholic craftsmen from Flanders, which had been part of Spain’s empire, to get it started.Threads and wool of all colors, bobbins, tools and spinning wheels are everywhere. Some of the original wooden machines are still in use.The general director, Alejandro Klecker de Elizalde, is proud of the factory’s sustainable nature.“Here the only products we work with are silk, wool, jute, cotton, linen,” he said. “And these small leftovers that we create, the water from the dyes, or the small pieces of wool, everything is recycled, everything has a double, a second use.”The factory als...

Rarest insect in the world now on display at San Diego Zoo

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:00:45 GMT

SAN DIEGO (KSWB) -- Visitors to the San Diego Zoo are in for a real treat as they now have a chance to view the rarest insect in the world.San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance’s entomology team and Australia’s Melbourne Zoo have been working together for over a decade to help sustain populations of the critically endangered Lord Howe Island stick insect. San Diego Zoo Safari Park works to protect heart of 51-year-old gorilla For the first time in North America, you can now view the rare insects in a specialized habitat at the zoo's Wildlife Explorers Basecamp, the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance announced this week. The Lord Howe Island stick insect breeding program at the San Diego Zoo works to help sustain populations of the rarest insect in the world. Previously thought to be extinct on the Lord Howe Island Group -- a cluster of volcanic islands in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand -- and rediscovered in 2001, two pairs were taken to the Melbourne Zoo for breeding to ...

Holiday travel in full swing across San Diego

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:00:45 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- The holiday travel season is in full swing as San Diegans head out of town for Christmas.The Saturday before Christmas and next Saturday are expected to be the busiest days of the holiday season, with 80,000 people traveling through the airport each day. So if you happen to be one of the many people traveling during that time -- plan ahead. More than 700K fliers expected at San Diego Airport during holiday travel week The San Diego International Airport expects to see more than 700,000 people arriving and departing during the holiday travel week.Saturday, Dec. 23, and Dec. 30 are expected to be the busiest travel days of the holiday week. The airport anticipates approximately 80,000 people will travel through San Diego each day. Record holiday travel in SoCal expected to cap the year: When roads, airports will be the busiest On Saturday, Josh Corerra was one them. “I was here a couple of hours early just for anticipation for the traffic, I figured traffic would be r...

Furnace explosion at Chinese-owned nickel plant in Indonesia kills 13

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:00:45 GMT

PALU, Indonesia (AP) — A smelting furnace exploded Sunday at a Chinese-owned nickel plant on Indonesia’s Sulawesi island, killing at least 13 workers and injuring dozens of others, police and a company official said.It was the latest of a series of deadly accidents at nickel smelting plants in Indonesia that are part of China’s ambitious transnational development program known as the Belt and Road Initiative.Nickel is a key component in global battery production for electric vehicles.At least five Chinese and eight Indonesian workers died when the furnace suddenly exploded while they were repairing it, said Central Sulawesi police chief Agus Nugroho.The blast was so powerful it demolished the furnace and damaged parts of the side walls of the building, said Nugroho, adding that about 38 workers were hospitalized, some in critical condition. Authorities are working to determine whether negligence by the company led to the deaths, Nugroho said.The accident occurred at PT I...

Iran Summons Russian envoy over statement on Persian Gulf disputed islands

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:00:45 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran summoned Russia’s charge d’affaires after Moscow and Arab countries released a joint statement earlier this week challenging Iran’s claim to disputed islands in the Persian Gulf, state media reported Sunday.Iran’s official IRNA news agency said the Russian envoy was summoned on Saturday and handed a note to deliver to Moscow in which Tehran protested the statement the 6th Arab-Russian Cooperation Forum issued in Morocco that called for a peaceful solution to resolve the conflict between Iran and the United Arab Emirates over the islands.Earlier on Saturday, Iran’s foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian told his Russian counterpart over the phone that “respecting countries’ sovereignty and integrity is among basic principles in the ties between nations,” IRNA said in a separate report.This marked the second time this year that Iran has called for a Russian envoy in protest over comments on the disputed islands. Tehran summon...