ROME (AP) — Coach Steve Borthwick is confident England will hit the ground running in the Six Nations. England starts its campaign on Saturday against Italy in Rome at a high state of readiness, according to Borthwick, thanks to the competitiveness of its clubs. Six English clubs have reached the last 16 of the European Cup, and the English Premiership …

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Jordan Love’s ability to lead the NFL’s youngest team to the divisional playoffs in his first year as a starter has the Green Bay Packers eager to work out a long-term extension with him. After the Packers traded four-time MVP quarterback Aaron Rodgers to the New York Jets, Love agreed to terms on a one-year …

Patrick Mahomes is chasing Tom Brady. Brock Purdy is playing in the shadow of Joe Montana. Winning the Super Bowl would be another major step for either quarterback. Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs seek to become the first team in 19 years to win back-to-back Super Bowls when they take on Purdy and the San Francisco 49ers in Las …

ROME (AP) — Street artist Maupal, whose cartoon-like depictions of Pope Francis as a “Super Pope” have graced buildings around the Vatican for a decade, got an official stamp of approval on Thursday when he appeared at a Vatican news conference. Maupal, in life Mauro Pallotta, designed a series of posters to illustrate Francis’ 2024 Lenten message, which this year …

The AP Top 25 men’s college basketball poll is back every week throughout the season! Get the poll delivered straight to your inbox with AP Top 25 Poll Alerts. Sign up here. Columbia Lions (10-7, 1-3 Ivy League) at Harvard Crimson (10-7, 1-3 Ivy League) Boston; Friday, 7 p.m. EST BOTTOM LINE: Harvard hosts the Columbia Lions after Malik Mack …

Amazon on Thursday reported better-than-expected revenue and profits for the fourth quarter, driven by strong consumer spending during the holiday shopping season. The Seattle-based e-commerce company said it earned $170 billion in revenue and $10.6 billion in profits during the last three months of 2023, beating expectations from analysts surveyed by FactSet. In a statement, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy called …

Residents of eastern Ohio can now get an up-close view in newly released videos of the twin toxic towers of fire that forced them from their homes last February after officials decided to blow open five tank cars filled with vinyl chloride they worried might explode days after a Norfolk Southern train derailed. The National Transportation Safety Board released more …

BERLIN (AP) — Austrian prosecutors have appealed a court decision that a man who kept his daughter captive for 24 years and raped her thousands of times, fathering seven children with her, can be moved from psychiatric detention to a regular prison. Ferdinand Schuster, a spokesperson for the state court in Krems, on Thursday confirmed a report by broadcaster ORF …

RENTON, Wash. (AP) — There wasn’t anything personal with John Schneider’s heavy rooting interest for the AFC championship game last weekend and wanting to see Kansas City, and not Baltimore, in the Super Bowl. The Seattle Seahawks general manager was simply thinking about the future of his organization and the desire to finally get an interview with Mike Macdonald. It …

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — The January transfer window closed on Thursday with the Premier League’s spending power considerably down on previous years. Based on reported fees, top-flight clubs in England spent around $120.55 million on signings, not including loan deals. A year ago, Chelsea’s $357 million mid-season spree was part of a league record outlay of around $831 million. Figures …