When the Texans fired Gary Kubiak on Dec. 6—the day after a Thursday night loss, while 30 other teams were practicing for their Week 14 games—they got a head-start on the coaching search. Thus, they were able to make the first move on one of the prime candidates for the 2013-14 offseason: Penn State’s Bill O’Brien. MORE: Coaching rumors | Must-see Week 17 images | Power rankings O’Brien, who met with the Texans in the days after Christmas, is in place and the Texans have move forward on the first day of 2014....

Finland hopes to span that chasm. On Nov. 12 the Finns, who hold the European Union’s rotating presidency, will convene a foreign ministers’ meeting in Helsinki on the “Northern Dimension” agenda–a broad range of ecological and economic initiatives to allay the poverty of northwestern Russia. “Now is the time to make the Northern Dimension work,” says Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen. His laconic tone masks Finland’s deepening sense of urgency about its giant neighbor....

You know you’ve wondered that, too. MORE: Early Top 20 for 2016 | Looking ahead to Week 1 schedule That’s the sort of deep question Arkansas coach Bret Bielema ponders in the upcoming documentary “Being Bret Bielema.” Radio personality Bo Mattingly is behind the multi-part series that takes viewers behind the scenes with Bielema. It is scheduled to air in February. If the two trailers are an indication, it should be good stuff for not just Arkansas fans, but for those in the SEC and around the country....

On November 12, Hendrickson was climbing a tree stand when his firearm discharged, causing him to fall to the ground. He was transported to the hospital and he later made the decision to amputate part of his leg after doctors struggled to find a pulse in his foot. Doctors agreed amputation was the best path forward after they found some “very concerning spots” in his leg, according to a GoFundMe website....

Texas is currently gripped by drought, and according to the latest government map released on June 27 drought conditions have expanded and intensified for the third consecutive week. Forty-three percent of the state is currently facing extreme drought conditions, with 17 percent under “exceptional drought.” Prolonged extremely dry conditions impact plants, drying out the soil and inhibiting their growth, and causing them to not grow to the size they normally would....

However, defeating the Democrats solely because of their terrible performance will not be powerful or lasting. Republicans must defeat the Democrats because their values are wrong, and their policies simply can’t work. Defeating the Democrats on a strictly performance-based campaign allows the next cycle of Democrats to come along and claim the ideas and policies were right, but the personalities were incompetent. This has happened before. Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society” was a failure....

The contract has a $7,575,000 average annual value and goes through the 2026-27 season. Spurgeon, 29, set career highs in goals (14), assists (29), points (43) and games played (82) last season. He also set career highs in shots on goal (152) and hits (91). Spurgeon led the team in blocked shots (145) and ranked second in time on ice at 24:09 (17th in the NHL).

What Is Skin Cancer? Skin cancer, the abnormal growth of skin cells, most often develops on skin exposed to the sun. But this common form of cancer can also occur on areas of your skin not ordinarily exposed to sunlight. There are three major types of skin cancer—basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and melanoma. Causes of Skin Cancer Skin cancer begins in your skin’s top layer—the epidermis. The epidermis is a thin layer that provides a protective cover of skin cells that your body continually sheds....

As the hour neared midnight and only 2 percent of districts had reported in, observers had nothing to do but wait for the results of the caucus and speculate. “The integrity of the results is paramount,” wrote IDP Communications Director Mandy McClure in a statement. “We have experienced a delay in the results due to quality checks and the fact that the IDP is reporting out three data sets for the first time....

Man United needs more from Shaw The England international was not named in the Spurs squad for the north London derby with Arsenal and ahead of the game coach Pochettino explained his absence. “Bad luck yesterday in the training session, he twisted his knee. We need to assess him today and tomorrow,” he told Tottenham’s official website. “He’ll be out for a few weeks. We hope it’s not a big issue....

Whitsett represents parts of Detroit, a city that has been labeled a coronavirus “hot spot.” Recent data indicated 5,032 positive cases in Detroit with 196 deaths attributable to the virus reported in the city. Used primarily to treat malaria, hydroxychloroquine has been praised by President Donald Trump as a potential therapeutic for the virus. Sunday, Trump suggested taking the drug to prevent contracting the virus. “I’m not looking at it one way or the other,” Trump said, “but we want to get out of this....

MORE: U.S. vs. China photos | Breaking down the basketball roster The U.S. was awarded free throws on a technical foul on China, and both DeMar DeRozan and Jimmy Butler really wanted to take the shots. So they played “rock, paper, scissors” to decide. DeRozan beat Butler to take the shot, but missed the free throw. The U.S. was up by 32 at that point in the third quarter, so DeRozan probably wasn’t concerned whether he made the shot anyway....

DeMarcus Cousins is now a Golden State Warrior. The 27-year-old two-time All-NBA center agreed to a surprising one-year, $5.3 million deal with the NBA’s defending champions on Monday night, sending shockwaves across the league. MORE: NBA free agent tracker — See who goes where In theory, the addition of Cousins is an earth-shaking event. He averaged 25.2 points, 12.9 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game last season. He’s also turned himself into one of the more potent big man shooting threats, connecting on about a league average number of his attempts on nearly six of them per contest in recent years....

Earlier, Pompeo accused congressional Democrats of intimidation tactics for issuing a subpoena to the secretary. They wanted documents related to President Donald Trump’s communications with Ukraine, as well as depositions from department officials. “Secretary Pompeo was reportedly on the call when the President pressed Ukraine to smear his political opponent,” wrote Rep. Eliot L. Engel, Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Rep. Adam B. Schiff, Chairman of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and Rep....

“President [Donald] Trump is wrong that John Bolton didn’t say anything about the Trump-Ukraine Scandal at the time the President fired him. He said something to me,” said Engel, a New York Democrat, in a press release. Trump had earlier complained on Twitter that Bolton did not speak out about “this ’nonsense’ a long time ago, when he was very publicly terminated.” Engel’s announcement that Bolton had indeed communicated with his office regarding allegations stemming from the Ukraine scandal appears to contradict Trump’s objection....

“In our current climate of uncertainty, we believe the smartest approach is to take additional time to monitor how this situation unfolds so we can best position our party for a safe and successful convention,” Joe Solmonese, the CEO of the Democratic National Committee’s convention committee, said in a news release. The event was originally scheduled from July 13 to July 17 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin but will now be held the week of August 17....

The stack, a symbolic replication of legislation McConnell refuses to bring to a vote, was reportedly the brain child of Senator Debbie Stabenow. According to her office, it includes more than 300 bills about voter registration, background checks for firearm sales, domestic violence, climate change, minimum wage increases and other issues. The do-nothing strategy spearheaded by McConnell’s office seems intentional, Democrats claim. Back in September, McConnell promised to be a “grim reaper” to any and all progressive legislation....

Many observers watch Israel’s breakneck vaccination drive with admiration. But several powerful anti-Semites are using Israel’s unmatched efforts to protect its population from the pandemic as a basis for spreading a new blood libel against the Jewish state. Israel, its haters insist, is engaging in “vaccine apartheid.” Israel is “racist” for vaccinating its citizens—both Jewish and non-Jewish—before it vaccinates the Palestinians, who are governed by the Palestinian Authority. Representative Rashida Tlaib is one of the most powerful voices promoting this new blood libel....