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Diddy made music a priority over businesses to create ‘The Love Album – Off the Grid’

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 06:22:30 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — If Sean “Diddy” Combs had a choice, the self-proclaimed serial entrepreneur would be hunkered down in a recording studio rather than running his many successful businesses.But for more than a decade, Diddy put creating albums on hold. He credits a late-night dream a couple years ago with waking him up from his musical slumber.“I stepped away for a little bit, went through a lot of things in life, and then got that call one day from God. She was like, ‘It’s time,’” he recalled in a recent interview. The three-time Grammy winner said the soft voice he heard instantly motivated him to refocus his attention back to making his own music again.On Friday, Diddy will release his new album called “The Love Album – Off the Grid.” His fifth studio project features nearly 30 guests including Mary J. Blige, Justin Bieber, H.E.R., Babyface, John Legend, Busta Rhymes, Summer Walker, Teyana Taylor, Coco Jones and Jazmine Sullivan. The album’s lead single “Anothe...

No. 10 Alabama hits road against USF, eager to rebound from 1st loss of season

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 06:22:30 GMT

No. 10 Alabama (1-1) at South Florida (1-1), 3:30 p.m. ET (ABC)Line: Alabama by 31 ½, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.Series record: Alabama leads 1-0.WHAT’S AT STAKE?Alabama looks to rebound after faltering late in a 34-24 loss at home to Texas last week. The Crimson Tide are 13-1 following a regular-season loss since 2008. Although they haven’t dropped consecutive regular season games during that stretch, the Crimson Tide did follow a defeat to rival Auburn with a loss to Oklahoma in the 2014 Sugar Bowl. The Crimson Tide has outscored opponents 460 to 160 in those 14 games following a regular season loss. South Florida is two games into a rebuild under first-year coach Alex Golesh, who was offensive coordinator at Tennessee when the Volunteers beat Alabama 52-49 last season.KEY MATCHUPPorous USF defense that’s shown signs of improvement vs. Jalen Milroe-led Alabama offense eager to rebound from last week’s home loss to Texas. The Bulls forced five turnovers en route to...

Rookie QBs Stroud and Richardson both look for their first NFL win as Texans host Colts

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 06:22:30 GMT

HOUSTON (AP) — C.J. Stroud and Anthony Richardson are good friends who have known each other since high school.“I love C.J.,” Richardson said.“That’s my guy,” Stroud said. “I love him to death.”On Sunday, the two quarterbacks will put aside those warm feelings when Stroud leads the Houston Texans against Richardson and the Indianapolis Colts.“I’m rooting for him and I hope that everything in his career goes well, except for when he plays the Texans,” Stroud said with a laugh.Both rookies will be looking for their first win Sunday after the Texans lost 25-9 to the Ravens in their opener and Indianapolis was defeated 31-21 by Jacksonville.Despite the losses, both quarterbacks did some good things in their NFL debuts after Stroud was taken second overall in this year’s draft and Richardson was selected two picks later.Stroud completed 28 of 44 passes for 242 yards and Richardson was 24 of 37 for 223 yards with a touchdown and ran for another score.Indianapolis coach Shane Steichen said...

Deion Sanders and No. 18 Colorado move from one rival to next as Buffaloes host Colorado State

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 06:22:30 GMT

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — No need to school Deion Sanders on the importance of rivalry games. He's received a pro-level education on their value.Fresh off a win over longtime rival Nebraska last weekend, the coach of No. 18 Colorado leads the Buffaloes (2-0) into another one Saturday night at sold out Folsom Field against in-state adversary Colorado State (0-1). Prime effect: 8.7M viewers watched Colorado defeat Nebraska Sanders isn't interested in history lessons or added hype. He quickly pointed out that when he played for the Atlanta Falcons during his Hall of Fame career, they had the New Orleans Saints as a prime rival. And when he played for the Dallas Cowboys, well, they had the entire league.“This isn’t my first rodeo when it comes to that,” Sanders said. “It’s always some type of adversity that you have against someone in close proximity of you."Sanders has respect for the program at Colorado State (0-1), a team coming off a bye after a 50-24 loss to another Pac-12 school, Wa...

Hunter Biden indicted on gun charges

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 06:22:30 GMT

President Joe Biden’s son is under indictment.On Thursday, a Delaware grand jury charged Hunter Biden with illegally owning a gun as a drug user. He is also charged with lying on a form when he allegedly bought the gun.Thursday’s move is a major escalation in the Justice Department’s probe of Hunter Biden, heightening both his legal jeopardy and his father’s political peril. The courtroom fight will play out in tandem with a Republican impeachment inquiry into the president that is scrutinizing his son’s business dealings.

Hurricane Lee lashing Bermuda before striking coastal New England and Atlantic Canada

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 06:22:30 GMT

(CNN) — Hurricane Lee was unleashing strong winds on Bermuda Thursday, ahead of a track which will bring heavy rain, wind and coastal flooding from the massive storm to coastal New England and Atlantic Canada Friday and through the weekend.After days of uncertainty, there’s little time left for Lee’s track to change considerably, and confidence has grown now that the hurricane has completed its long-awaited northward turn and begun to pick up its pace.Lee is expected to track far enough away from the East Coast to avoid delivering a substantial blow to a more widespread and inland area of New England, but will still affect the coast ahead of a weekend landfall somewhere between northeast Maine and the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.Lee was about 230 miles west-southwest of Bermuda as of Thursday afternoon and was churning with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph – a Category 1 hurricane – according to the National Hurricane Center. An island-wide tropical storm warnin...

Healey Bill Pours $250 Million More Into Shelter Crisis

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 06:22:30 GMT

Gov. Maura Healey on Wednesday proposed using nearly $300 million in one-time funds to infuse the state’s strained emergency assistance shelter system and close a tax revenue shortfall.Healey filed a more than $2 billion budget to close the state’s books on fiscal year 2023 and direct new spending into the shelter state of emergency.Her spending plan would pull $250 million from a state account known as the “transitional escrow fund” and put it toward the escalating emergency shelter crisis, which in recent weeks has become a focal point as Massachusetts works to assist a record number of people in need.Healey said that money would allow the state to continue to provide services to families during fiscal year 2024 “as we work toward longer-term solutions,” plus provide communities and school districts with needed support to enroll new arrivals.“As you know, the demand for emergency shelter by families experiencing homelessness in M...

Bed bugs are a pest to deal with for Las Vegas hotels

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 06:22:30 GMT

Sean Hemmersmeier | Las Vegas Review-Journal (TNS)Las Vegas hosts millions of visitors every year either for business, pleasure or a bit of both, but no visitor is looking for bed bugs although they can pop up in hotel rooms across the valley.Nathan Morgan said he was bitten by bed bugs while staying at the Excalibur for a few days with friends while vacationing in Las Vegas from Tacoma, Washington in June. He said he chose the Excalibur because it was cheaper than other options.“No one expects to have bed bugs, you expect to sleep safely,” Morgan said.Morgan shared an email with the Las Vegas Review-Journal from an Excalibur staff member showing that a test from a pest control company confirmed that bed bugs were present and the hotel offered a refund of resort fees. Morgan estimated the fees refunded were $158 but another $400 in booking fees didn’t get refunded, he said.MGM Resorts International, which manages the Excalibur and 13 other properties in Las Vegas, said through a spo...

Maria Bamford reveals it all: The State Fair, suicide, comedy, sex and money

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 06:22:30 GMT

Chris Hewitt | (TNS) Star TribuneReview: Her memoir has hilarious jokes and compassionate insight into mental illness.Maria Bamford’s memoir is called “Sure, I’ll Join Your Cult,” but the comedian, actor and Duluth, Minnesota native easily could have called it “Let’s Talk About Everything.”Bamford’s humor has always been personal, and that’s true of her very funny, very frank book, subtitled “A Memoir of Mental Illness and the Quest to Belong Anywhere.” In it, the star of “Lady Dynamite” and voice-over artist on “BoJack Horseman” and dozens of other shows tells us: how often she and her husband have sex, her fee for stand-up gigs, what bugged her about her late parents and how she views religion — in addition to detailing experiences with groups from her childhood Suzuki violin lessons to Debtors Anonymous to eating-disorder clinics.Expanding on themes she discussed in a now-famous New York Tim...

Death toll soars to 11,300 in flooding in Libya’s coastal city of Derna, Libyan Red Crescent says

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 06:22:30 GMT

By SAMY MAGDY and YOUSEF MURAD (Associated Press)DERNA, Libya (AP) — The death toll in Libya’s coastal city of Derna has soared to 11,300 as search efforts continue following a massive flood fed by the breaching of two dams in heavy rains, the Libyan Red Crescent said ThursdayMarie el-Drese, secretary-general of aid group, told The Associated Press by phone that a further 10,100 are reported missing in the Mediterranean city. Health authorities previously had put the death toll in Derna at 5,500.The flooding swept away entire families on Sunday night and exposed vulnerabilities in the oil-rich country that has been mired in conflict since a 2011 uprising that toppled long-ruling dictator Moammar Gadhafi. Here’s a look at the latest developments.Daniel, an unusually strong Mediterranean storm, caused deadly flooding in towns across eastern Libya, but the worst-hit was Derna. As the storm pounded the coast Sunday night, residents said they heard loud explosions when ...