777 game

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Turkey on Thursday for talks focused on a critical aspect of establishing stability in Syria: clashes in the north of the country between U.S.-backed Kurdish forces and Turkey-backed rebels. Blinken met President Tayyip Erdogan at Ankara’s Esenboga Airport after visiting Jordan on his first trip to the region since Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government was ousted on Sunday. Erdogan and Blinken discussed the latest developments in Syria, with Erdogan calling on the international community to work together for the reconstruction of institutions in Syria, the Turkish presidency said in a statement. Erdogan also told Blinken that Turkey would take preventive measures in Syria for its national security against all organisations it deems as terrorists, the statement said, adding that Ankara would not allow any weakness in the fight against Islamic State. Blinken noted the shared interest of the U.S. and Turkey in supporting a Syrian-led political transition to an accountable and inclusive government, U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement. He emphasised the need to ensure the coalition to defeat Islamic State can continue to execute its critical mission, Miller also said. Blinken will meet Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Friday. NATO allies Washington and Ankara supported Syrian rebels during the 13-year civil war, but their interests notably clashed when it came to one of the rebel factions – the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. The SDF is the main ally in a U.S. coalition against Islamic State militants. It is spearheaded by the People’s Protection Units (YPG), which Ankara sees as an extension of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants that it outlaws and who have fought the Turkish state for 40 years. Before arriving in Ankara, Blinken said the PKK is an “enduring threat” to Turkey. “At the same time ... we want to avoid sparking any kinds of additional conflicts inside of Syria at a time when we want to see this transition to an interim government and to a better way forward,” he said. Syria is also expected to top the agenda of Blinken’s talks with Fidan, a Turkish official said on condition of anonymity, adding Ankara is ready to support Syria as a safe and stable place governed by an inclusive government. NORTHERN SYRIA Earlier this week, Turkish-backed forces seized the northern city of Manbij from the U.S.-backed SDF, which then headed east of the Euphrates River. A Syrian opposition source told Reuters the U.S. and Turkey had reached an agreement on the withdrawal. A Turkish defence ministry official said on Thursday the advance on Manbij aimed to “clear terrorism”. The official warned about unspecified efforts to provide cover for the PKK by flagging risks related to Islamic State, adding that Ankara has told Washington that one terrorist group cannot be used to eliminate another. Blinken said on Monday that Islamic State will try to use this period to re-establish capabilities in Syria, but the United States is determined not to let that happen. Some SDF fighters also withdrew from Tel Refaat and parts of Aleppo to the west in the early days of the lightning rebel offensive that swept south across the country. Turkey also directly targeted the YPG in recent days with its intelligence agency destroying 12 trucks loaded with missiles and heavy weapons in northeast Syria.US billionaire Elon Musk, owner of social media platform X, has criticised Australia's proposed law to ban social media for children under 16 and fine social media platforms of up to A$49.5 million ($32 million) for companies for systemic breaches. Australia's centre-left government on Thursday introduced the bill in parliament. It plans to try an age-verification system to enforce a social media age cut-off, some of the toughest controls imposed by any country to date. "Seems like a backdoor way to control access to the Internet by all Australians," Musk, who views himself as a champion of free speech, said in a reply late on Thursday to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's post on X about the bill. Several countries have already vowed to curb social media use by children through legislation, but Australia's policy could become one of the most stringent with no exemption for parental consent and pre-existing accounts. France last year proposed a ban on social media for those under 15 but allowed parental consent, while the US has for decades required technology companies to seek parental consent to access the data of children under 13. Musk has previously clashed with Australia's centre-left Labor government over its social media policies and had called it "fascists" over its misinformation law. In April, X went to an Australian court to challenge a cyber regulator's order for the removal of some posts about the stabbing of a bishop in Sydney, prompting Albanese to call Musk an "arrogant billionaire". (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.) Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the worldBrowns vs. Steelers: Live updates and highlights from Week 12

LOS ANGELES — The first day, Kamari Ramsey didn’t speak much. Didn’t speak at all, really. Anthony Brown had trained plenty of high school athletes before, a group with natural attention spans as thin as the blades of grass under their cleats, and Brown could only assume the worst from a kid who wouldn’t even glorify him with a response. “Is he really paying attention to me,” Brown wondered as he set up a cone drill. Ramsey didn’t speak much. He, Brown came to find, was simply observing. They ran through an exercise, out there a few years back at Valencia Park in Santa Clarita, focused on placing power on the big toe and moving with quick feet. Brown, a highly regarded defensive backs trainer in Southern California, plopped into a chair to listen to the pat-pat-pat of his athletes’ feet. Ramsey, the future USC safety, did it perfectly. Exactly as Brown explained. And there, observing Ramsey right back, Brown found himself wondering why in the heck he even needed to train the kid. “The way he listens – see, people just think he’s quiet,” Brown said of Ramsey, who he’s worked with for years since. “But he’s listening to what’s going on, and that’s crazy. A lot of football players don’t have that. A lot of football players want to finish a coach’s sentence.” “That’s the most beautiful thing,” Brown continued, “about this young man.” D’Anton Lynn didn’t speak much either, growing up in Celina, Texas. It was a town dominated by football, where D’Anton’s father Anthony had left a lasting legacy as a running back at Celina High, and Lynn knew from the earliest of ages that he wanted to follow in the footsteps, childhood friend Breck Holman said. So Lynn didn’t party. Didn’t smoke. Didn’t drink. And he didn’t talk, until you got to know him, Holman remembered, Lynn an analytical defensive back whose best attribute was his mind. And he found a hand-in-glove fit with Ramsey, in the 35-year-old Lynn’s first year as a coordinator last season at UCLA, the young safety a staple of a defensive turnaround. When USC head coach Lincoln Riley hired Lynn across town, Ramsey was stunned. Is this real ? he texted his father at the start of December, when the news broke . A few weeks later, Ramsey followed, transferring to USC for a comfortability in Lynn deeper than football: Their personalities, in many ways, are one and the same. “Kamari really liked that he had a coach,” his sister, Staci, reflected in the winter, “that could understand him.” This year at USC has been just Lynn’s second as a coordinator in collegiate football. He was the figurehead of a full-scale defensive change in system, staff and philosophy. And he’s largely lived up to the billing heading into a reunion with UCLA this weekend, pulling together a 43rd-ranked defense that’s often performed greater than the sum of its parts. The most important piece in the foundation, ultimately, has been the connection with Ramsey. “It meant a ton to me, especially,” Lynn said Tuesday, of Ramsey following him. “Just having him here, I feel like, jump-started this entire thing.” The stats don’t necessarily explode, but tell enough of a story. The 6-foot-204-pound Ramsey, in eight games, is fourth on the team with 43 tackles. His two sacks are tied for the program lead on a struggling pass-rush. His five pass deflections are a team high. More important, though, has been the redshirt sophomore’s clutch playmaking, honed by years of quick-reaction footwork drills with Brown and an innate ability to read the game that’s reflected in Lynn’s own steel-eyed stare. Through the eight games Ramsey’s played in, USC has come up with a timely total of 78 third and fourth-down stops, the most apparent feather in Lynn’s cap from this 2024 unit. Ramsey has accounted for 18% of them either via tackle or pass-breakup, according to a game-by-game review from the Southern California News Group. “Some people just get ball,” Lynn said of Ramsey, back in fall camp, “and he’s a guy who just understands ball. There’s certain things that we don’t need to teach him that he just naturally gets.” There is no secret here. Brown knew Ramsey was a “Sunday kid,” as he says frequently, not long after that first session. Sierra Canyon head coach Jon Ellinghouse knew Ramsey was special exactly five minutes into watching him move, his first practice his freshman year. After two days of working with him with the Trailblazers, then-Sierra Canyon defensive backs coach Jarrad Page – a former safety with UCLA and the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs – came home and told his wife that there was a safety he was coaching that was “it.” “Like, he reminds me of myself,” Page remembered telling her, “but, like, better.” The key, there, was that Ramsey processed the game “three or four steps” ahead of everyone else, Page recalled. He grew up playing chess, a bright mind originally committed to Stanford before flipping to UCLA. Similar to Lakers mogul LeBron James, who’s often lauded for having a photographic memory to remember specific mid-game plays dating years, Ramsey can explain up to 30 variables he evaluates mid-process on any given play, Page said. “That’s the difference on how he ends up all over the place,” Page said, “and can seemingly seem like he’s reacting quicker than everyone else.” “He’s starting with more information,” Page continued, a few words later, “the way he plays the game.” It allowed coaches in high school, as Page recalled, to trust Ramsey with gray areas in schemes. They didn’t have to instruct him to stick with one particular assignment. He had freedom. And he has the same freedom at USC, a player who’s perhaps more familiar than anyone with Lynn’s principles but has shone in read-and-react situations throughout 2024. Ramsey never envisioned leaving UCLA, his father, Stacy, told the Southern California News Group this past winter. But if he stayed a Bruin, he’d be on his third coordinator in three years of college football. His move to USC, high school coach Ellinghouse said, wasn’t about NIL opportunity. Wasn’t about flash. It was about Lynn, a man he trusted and who trusted in him. “I mean, he has, like, this mad-scientist thing,” Ramsey grinned Wednesday, asked if he agreed he and Lynn had matching personalities. “Like, a way of how he thinks football, and how he looks at the game”.” And if Lynn is USC’s mad scientist, Ramsey is his lab assistant, two minds cut from the same cloth.The Detroit Lions have equaled the franchise record for most consecutive victories and stand alone atop the NFC standings. They still have plenty of obstacles to clear to remain at that perch. Even the NFC North remains up for grabs and they'll try to create a little more separation when they host the Green Bay Packers on Thursday night. The Lions (11-1), who have won 10 straight, haven't been able to shake free from Minnesota (10-2) or Green Bay (9-3). Detroit will host Minnesota, which has won five straight, in the regular-season finale next month. The Packers have remained in contention by winning seven of their last eight, with the only loss coming at the hands of the Lions. Detroit opened up a 21-point lead early in the third quarter and held on for a 24-14 victory. Lions coach Dan Campbell says the fun really begins now. "The best part of all of this -- we're in playoff football right now, that's where we're at," he said. "We're in December, and our schedule says that. Man, we play tough opponent after tough opponent -- we've got plenty coming up. So, man, this is the type of stuff that you live for and it's also the type of stuff that gets you ready for the tournament. "So, yeah, we're a resilient bunch and nothing's going to change that. We've just got to worry about the one in front of us." Detroit is coming off a 23-20 win over Chicago on Thanksgiving Day in which it nearly blew a 16-point lead. The Bears' poor clock management cost them an opportunity to send the game into overtime and led to coach Matt Eberflus' firing. The Lions have been hit with a wave of injuries, particularly on the defensive side. They signed four players over the past week to fortify their depth. "I know the elephant in the room is all the injuries that have happened with us on the defensive side," defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn said. "Our personnel staff does a really good job of acquiring players that fit exactly who we are. I would say this, it's not the playbook that's the most important thing for these guys to come in and learn. It's the style of play that we have and that's easy to learn." Jared Goff has thrown for six touchdowns and zero interceptions in the past three games after tossing five picks against the Houston Texans on Nov. 10. The Packers also played on Thanksgiving, defeating Miami 30-17. Green Bay opened up a 24-3 halftime lead as Jordan Love threw two touchdown passes to Jayden Reed. Now the Packers face a Detroit team that has defeated them in five of the last six meetings. "With most good teams, they play the game the right way," Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur said. "Certainly, Detroit's been doing that for a couple years now. That's who they are and that's who we are as well. It should be a great game on Thursday night." The Packers might have to win via a shootout, considering the Lions are averaging a league-best 31.9 points per game (Green Bay ranks eighth at 26.5). Stopping the running game will be key, according to LaFleur. "They're two very dynamic backs. (David) Montgomery, he's going to beat you up physically and the other guy (Jahmyr Gibbs), you've got to try to corral because he can take it the distance," he said. "Jared (Goff) is playing at an MVP level, so they've got a really potent offense." Lions offensive tackle Taylor Decker (knee) and three defensive linemen -- DJ Reader (shoulder), Josh Paschal (knee) and Levi Onwezurike (hamstring) -- didn't practice on Tuesday. Offensive guard Elgton Jenkins (knee), Linebacker Edgerrin Cooper (hamstring) and cornerback Corey Ballentine (knee) missed the Packers' practice. --Field Level MediaOct 30, 2024; New York, New York, USA; New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge (99) reacts after hitting a two-run home run during the first inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers in game five of the 2024 MLB World Series at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images/ File Photo New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge was named winner of the American League's Most Valuable Player award on Thursday in a unanimous vote. Judge, who led Major League Baseball in a slew of categories, beat out Juan Soto, a free agent who spent the 2024 season with the Yankees, and Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. for his second MVP award, having won in 2022. "I want to congratulate Aaron on earning this distinguished honor, and I couldn’t be happier for such an amazing person and leader," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said in a statement. "After having a front row seat for his 2022 MVP performance, I really couldn’t envision a player having a better and more complete baseball season. But that’s exactly what he accomplished in 2024. "I'm beyond fortunate to be able to manage Aaron, and I look forward to watching him further cement his legacy as one of this generation’s greatest players." Judge, who led MLB in homers, RBIs, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and walks, received all 30 first-place votes in balloting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Judge is the 17th multiple MVP winner in the American League. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you. Read 3 articles and stand to win rewards Spin the wheel now

Thanksgiving Travel Latest: Airport strike, staff shortages and weather could impact holiday travel

CINCINNATI (AP) — The Cincinnati Bengals have found all manner of ways to lose close games this season. Sunday's 44-38 loss to AFC North rival Pittsburgh can be blamed on a defense that missed tackles and allowed 520 yards of offense, and three turnovers by Joe Burrow. It's become a familiar story in this disappointing season. Cincinnati (4-8) keeps scoring lots of points but can't close out games. Seven of the Bengals’ eight losses this year have been by one score. Burrow has stopped talking about the possibility of going on a run and making the playoffs. He'd just like to win another game or two. “Playoffs are the furthest thing from my mind,” the fifth-year quarterback said. “You never know what can happen, so I’ll keep putting one foot in front of the other and try to be the best player I can be for the rest of the season, week in and week out.” The Bengals allowed Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson to throw for a season-high 414 yards and three touchdowns. After Wilson threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown, the Steelers (9-3) scored on seven of their last nine possessions. They didn't punt until early in the fourth quarter. Burrow lost two fumbles and threw an interception. “We haven’t done enough to earn the win,” coach Zac Taylor said. “It’s a simple as that. It’s nobody else’s fault but our own. We haven’t earned it.” What’s working Turnovers aside, Burrow had another strong game, finishing with 28 for 38 for 309 yards with three touchdowns. Burrow is having a great season statistically, and he hasn't hidden his disappointment and frustration about Cincinnati's narrow losses. ... WR Ja'Marr Chase had a touchdown catch to bring his league-leading total to 13. What needs help The defense missed tackles and couldn't hold off the Steelers, even with Burrow keeping the game close. It didn’t help that LB Logan Wilson (knee) and DT Sheldon Rankins (illness) had to sit out. The Bengals have allowed 34 or more points six times, including in four of the past five games. Cincinnati became the first NFL team to lose four games in a season in which it scored 33 points or more. Stock up RB Chase Brown has been dependable as the featured back since Zack Moss went down with a neck injury. He rushed for 70 yards and a touchdown against the Steelers. He also had three catches for 30 yards. The second-year back has 677 yards rushing and six TDs. “He’s really coming along, improving his game every single week,” Burrow said. “Pass game, run game, running hard, understanding his protection responsibilities. He’s a guy that practices hard, plays hard, and a guy you can count on.” Stock down The Bengals' coaching staff. Something has got to give. There was no excuse for the defense to play this badly after a bye week. The unit gave up 500-plus yards for the second time this season. Injuries None were reported in the game. Key number 30.3 — The average points per game by the Bengals against teams with a .500 or better record this season. They are 0-7 in those games. Next steps The Bengals will try to regroup before facing the Dallas Cowboys (5-7) next Monday night. AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFLNFL NOTES

Stock market today: Wall Street’s rally stalls as Nasdaq pulls back from its record