The Guard, investing $32 million in Earnhardt, according to Hendrick Motorsports, is Dale Jr.’s lead sponsor for 20 races in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series. In addition to the Guard’s sponsorship of the Earnhardt’s No. 88 car, the Guard also spends $12 million on IndyCar’s Graham Rahal. Overall, the Guard spends 27 percent of its $120 million marketing budget on two key motorsports sponsorships. Wednesday’s announcement follows a May 8 Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs subcommittee meeting on financial and contract oversight where two members of the committee blasted Maj....

This is the third year of the NCAA’s early signing period; previously, athletes had to wait until February to put pen to paper. Many still will delay their decision until the turn of the calendar, but the early signing period still can go a long way in determining which schools will pull in the top classes. Over the course of early signing period, we’ll see which coaches get their classes off to strong starts, and which will face an uphill climb after losing out their targets....

“We are going to recruit an unbelievable class this year,” Fisher said at the time. The national early signing period, which starts Wednesday and runs through Friday, looks like it will back him up and then some. Alabama has long dominated recruiting rankings under Nick Saban, and Georgia has recently made it a two-team battle for the No. 1 class in recent years under Kirby Smart. But this year, it looks like it will be a three-way race for No....

Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement Thursday. The 28-year-old Cabrera has spent most of his career at shortstop but has played 162 games at second base - his likely position in Washington - most recently in 2009. Third baseman Ryan Zimmerman is out with a strained right hamstring, and regular second baseman Anthony Rendon has shifted over to third. Cabrera is in the last year of a three-year contract and with top prospect Francisco Lindor at Triple-A Columbus, Cleveland had the flexibility to make the move....

The military exercise was organized before Russia invaded Ukraine. The purpose of the drill is to see how Norway would manage its reinforcements in line with Article 5 of the NATO treaty, which says an attack against one alliance member is considered an attack against all of them. More than two weeks ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched what he called a “special military operation” against Ukraine, and his invading forces are drawing closer to the capital city of Kyiv while encountering fierce resistance across the country....

Blinken made the remarks in Brussels, Belgium, on Friday where he is meeting with NATO foreign ministers and the alliance’s Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine enters its ninth day. “Ours is a defensive alliance,” Blinken said. “We seek no conflict. But if conflict comes to us we are ready for it and we will defend every inch of NATO territory.” “At the same time, as the secretary-general says, we’re preparing for NATO’s future and the events of the last few weeks, as they continue, will further inform that future,” Blinken said....

Jens Stoltenberg, NATO’s secretary general, said at a press conference that several allies will be deploying chemical, nuclear and biological defenses to “reinforce our existing and new battle groups,” Olivia Gazis of CBS posted on Twitter. The decisions come as the Russian invasion enters its second month. The war has put NATO in a difficult position, as it is making efforts to help the Ukrainians but does not want to indicate to Russia that it intends to join the war....

The Natural England [NE] 2020-21 report produced by Prospect trade union, warned that years of funding cuts as well as staff feeling they were underpaid has meant that the government has a long way to go if it is to meet its wildlife targets. Natural England is sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and is responsible for protecting the country’s most valuable habitats. The report said: “Public awareness of the plight of biodiversity and fragility of our landscapes has finally come to the fore, and Natural England is eager and brimming with ideas to get on and make England a better place....

The Navy’s decision to remove the officers followed “a formal command investigation,” Lieutenant Commander Paul Newell, a spokesman for Navy Expeditionary Combat Command, told Newsweek. “The investigation remains open, and we do not intend to take further disciplinary action,” he said, declining to provide additional information on the firings. The relieved officers, who oversaw a unit providing military construction services, have been re-assigned to the Navy’s Region Mid-Atlantic, said Newell....

In some places the land remains indelibly scarred from warfare, while buildings carry bullet holes from long-forgotten battles, and memorials commemorate the lives lost between 1939 and 1945. Unexploded bombs are still uncovered today, forcing the evacuation of residents as specialists are called in to diffuse them. Another piece of weaponry was recently discovered, after a German sub-machine gun thought to be from World War II was detected by magnet fishers....

MILWAUKEE — The horrendous start of the Milwaukee Bucks without Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has furnished convincing fuel for those who have long contended that the 7-2 center was a one-man team. The Bucks were so bad, in fact, in losing eight of their first nine games of the season that even the headline writers in rival cities were having fun at their expense. In Los Angeles, for example, the Times ran the following headline after the Lakers had drubbed the Bucks:...

NBA Pick of the Day - Minnesota Timberwolves @ Brooklyn Nets Brooklyn Nets fans will get their first chance this season to watch rookie Andrew Wiggins in-person on Wednesday night as the Minnesota Timberwolves come to town. Following the offseason trade that sent Kevin Love to Cleveland, it’s fair to assume this matchup will be one-sided. AccuScore has the Nets as solid 59.5 percent favorites to win. Brooklyn has a 65 percent chance of covering the 5....

Ahead of All-Star weekend (Feb. 14-16 in Chicago), the NBA will hold its third All-Star Draft after last year’s battle between LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Both players once again dominated the fan vote in their respective conferences, giving the United Center crowd a Team LeBron vs. Team Giannis rematch. So, how exactly does this thing work? Here are all the details you need to know ahead of the 2020 NBA All-Star Draft, including how to watch it live on TV and stream online, plus full player pools for the Eastern and Western Conferences....

Sporting News has all the information you need to properly enjoy this evening. MORE: We ranked every NBA All-Star, from Curry to Kobe When is the NBA’s All-Star Saturday Night? Where can I watch it on TV or online? Toronto’s Air Canada Centre is hosting the events on Feb. 13. The broadcast will be on TNT in the U.S., and you can stream it using the WatchTNT app or website....

Just one week ago, the 2022 NBA All-Star Game starters were announced, headlined by team captains LeBron James and Kevin Durant. James and Durant will draft from the pool of eight other starters and 14 reserves selected on live TV, set for next Thursday, Feb. 10 at 6:30 p.m. ET on TNT. MORE: One defining stat for each All-Star starter | How does the 2022 NBA All-Star Draft work?...

Rose shouted a refrain familiar to members of the Black Lives Matter movement: “It would also be a great day to arrest the cops that murdered Breonna Taylor.” His comment came during coverage of the NBA’s Eastern Conference finals between the Heat and Celtics. Taylor was shot to death by three officers in March after they rammed into her apartment without knocking. They carried a drug-related warrant for her ex-boyfriend, but he was not at the residence and there were no drugs found....

In the early TNT tip-off (8:05 p.m. ET), the Hawks are 4-point favorites at the Knicks, with a total of about 197. Later (10:35 p.m. ET), the Clippers lay double digits at home to the Mavericks. Check our odds page for updated NBA betting lines. Grizzlies at Pacers Line: Memphis -3, Total: 187.5 After being blown out at home by the Cavaliers on Wednesday night, Memphis is asked to lay points on the road in the second game of a back-to-back....

Cavaliers (40-25 SU, 32-33 ATS) at Mavericks (41-24 SU, 29-33-3 ATS) Line: Cleveland -5, Total: 200 (check our odds page for current NBA point spreads and totals ) The Cavs had been cashing tickets hand-over-first for a while, covering the spread in 16 of 20 games, but they’ve come back to earth over their last six, getting the cash in just two of them. They just missed covering as 11-point favorites in their last outing, a 89-79 win at home vs....

At 36-6, Golden State is tearing through the league. Klay Thompson, who went off for 37 points in one quarter last Friday, and Steph Curry – a.k.a. the “Splash Brothers” – form one of the league’s most explosive backcourts. The duo is scoring nearly 46 points per game. Golden State is not only first in the league in points scored per game (111.1), but they’re also tops in field-goal percentage (48....