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Westbrook needed only three quarters to log his third consecutive triple-double on Friday, becoming the first player to achieve the feat since LeBron James in 2009. But Oklahoma City relinquished its 11-point lead in the fourth quarter to fall 115-112 to the Trail Blazers. Westbrook finished with 40 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists. MORE: Rose to return this season? | Who leads MVP race? Despite the impressive performance, Westbrook closed the game with a scary injury, taking a knee to the head from teammate Andre Roberson, which left him with what can only be described as a dent in the side of his head....

The Broncos (2-3) came into Thursday night’s matchup against the Colts with the No. 30 scoring offense in the NFL, averaging only 16.5 points per game. Indianapolis was dead last at 14.3 points per game. Denver was on the verge of improving to 3-0 at home with a third consecutive ugly defensive-minded win, but Wilson’s continued sloppy play ensured his team would drop a 12-9 overtime affair it had no business losing....

According to Bleacher Report’s Jason Cole, Wilson is asking for more money than Aaron Rodgers, which would make him the highest-paid player in the NFL. Rodgers is currently on a five-year, $110 million contract, and Cole says the contract demands between Wilson’s agent, Mark Rodgers, and Seattle have exceeded that amount. MORE: NFL’s top 25 highest-paid players | Who’s worth more, Russell Wilson or Andrew Luck? If Wilson can agree on a contract that makes him the highest-paid in the league, his agent doesn’t believe it will last that long....

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told Newsweek at a press conference on Thursday that the very fact Russia-Ukraine talks are taking place “is a sign of progress, it means that there is progress whenever there are negotiations.” Zakharova declined to go into details “as to the essence of the discussions, saying what the progress is and what the progress is not,” citing their closed-door nature. But she emphasized that the existence of talks marked an “achievement....

On Thursday evening, the Kremlin submitted a bill to the State Duma on “special economic measures” for “counterterrorist and other operations” outside of Russia. An explanatory note attached to the bill said that there is, particularly amid Putin’s war against Ukraine, “a short-term increased need for the repair of weapons and military equipment.” The bill proposed, among other measures, “the implementation of material assets from state reserves” and “the temporary activation of mobilization capacities and facilities,” as well as overtime work in “individual organizations....

Shoigu, during a discussion between Putin and Russia’s top military officials, acknowledged that his ministry faced difficulties after the Russian president ordered the mobilization of 300,000 reservists to fight in Ukraine. “With the beginning of partial mobilization, the Russian Defense Ministry encountered certain difficulties,” the minister said in Moscow. According to Shoigu, sudden changes had to be made to the organizational and staffing structures of military command and control bodies, formations and units....

The Kyiv Independent writes that Uralvagonzavod has stopped operations in its Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant in west-central Russia because of the lack of component parts supplied from foreign countries. The claim was initially made by a report of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and confirmed by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense on March 21, according to The Kyiv Independent. Uralvagonzavod had his assets frozen in the U.K. on February 24 and was hit by European Union sanctions on March 15....

Russia fans have been at the centre of the troubles and tournament organisers UEFA imposed a suspended disqualification and a 150,000 euro ($168,300.00) fine on the Russian Football Union (RFU) on Tuesday. The incidents have raised more questions about security at the World Cup in two years’ time, adding to existing concerns about racism at Russian football matches. “The policing and security infrastructure of major events of the scale of the Euro and the FIFA World Cup are very complex in nature,” said FIFA in a statement to Reuters....

Doping allegations have dogged Russia as it prepares to host the World Cup for the first time in mid-June. Russian athletes was forced to take part in the Pyeongchang Winter Games under a neutral Olympic flag because of cheating at the 2014 event in Sochi. Former Russian Football Union (RFU) chief Vitaly Mutko oversaw national preparations for the 2014 Games. He became closely associated with the scandal and stepped away from World Cup preparations in December....

Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a stern warning to the West this week, implying he would use his weapons if persuaded by “nuclear blackmail.” He put the onus of military escalation on NATO’s high-ranking representatives, who in Putin’s eyes have increased the potential of using “weapons of mass destruction—nuclear weapons—against Russia.” It has renewed focus on the RS-28 Sarmat ICBM, code-named “Satan 2” by NATO. Vladimir Degtyar, CEO of the JSC Makeyev Design Bureau, which made the “Satan 2,” told Russian state-owned news agency Tass it “has no equals in the world....

“I think the team will include from 270 to 280 athletes,” he told journlaists on Wednesday, reports Tass. The final decision on the admission of the Russian Olympic team to Rio is yet to be made by a recently formed panel of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) independent commission, chaired by Canadian law professor Richard McLaren, released the now-infamous July 18 report on the results of a probe into the accusations of doping and manipulation of tests by Russian athletes and officials at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games....

Two days after the U.S. military for the first time downed an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) with a missile fired from a warship, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova branded the move “a new confirmation of the dangerous and destabilizing character” of Washington’s anti-ballistic missile strategy “and its obvious anti-Russian orientation.” She took exception at the Pentagon’s use of a Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IIA missile fired by Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS John Finn to take down the ICBM launched from the Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific Ocean....

The soldier—identified by military officials as Private Anton Makarov—killed an officer and two others during an altercation at the Baltimore military airfield near Voronezh on Monday, AFP reported. Russia’s Investigative Committee, which probes serious crimes, released a statement detailing the incident: “In order to get hold of a service weapon Makarov killed an officer with an axe,” the committee said. Once in possession of the weapon, he shot at fellow troops, killing two other soldiers and wounding one before fleeing....

Russian deputy prime minister Victoria Abramchenko has instructed Rosstandart—a government agency which operates as part of the Ministry of Industry and Trade—to look at national standards for labels, business publication RBC reported. Government departments had to report to the government by July 22 about what information is required on the labels, which contain data about where the product was manufactured, its best before and expiry dates. RBC reported the request, which involved consultation with food producers about what is required on labels, was sparked because Western sanctions imposed “after the start of the military special operation in Ukraine” had led to “a shortage of packaging and ink....

Captain Viktor Tregubov, a journalist/activist and a member of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), described the strategy in an interview published Wednesday in the Kyiv Post. “They [Russian forces] push prisoners forward and try to deplete our defense forces so that we run out of ammunition and they can see our firing positions,” Tregubov said. The Wagner Group is a shadowy organization composed of mercenaries, and its leader—Yevgeny Prigozhin—has been described as being a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin....

Alexander Vanyukov, a surgeon at Moscow’s Clinical Hospital No. 52, one of the country’s key health facilities, told The Moscow Times that all 900 spots in the coronavirus ward were filled on September 28. “We’re out of beds,” he said. Two weeks later, it seems that Russia’s coronavirus situation is only getting worse. The day Vanyukov warned that his hospital was struggling to handle the influx of patients, Russia reported 8,135 new daily cases....

The Department of Justice Thursday unsealed the indictment against Russian lawmaker Aleksandr Mikhaylovich Babakov, and two members of his staff. The charges are part of a broader effort by U.S. law enforcement to ensure sanctions against Russia and curb Moscow’s disinformation efforts. The indictment provides a glimpse into Russian propaganda campaigns in the U.S. The indictment alleges that from January 2012 to 2017, Babakov, who serves as deputy chair of the lower house of the Russian legislature, conspired with his staff as well as unnamed U....

The couple, who got engaged last New Year’s Eve, had started circulating wedding invitations this past weekend. But in an abrupt turn, McIlroy issued a rather curt statement today, announcing his decision to end the relationship. The Dublin-based management firm that runs the golfer’s affairs issued this statement on behalf of the Irishman: “There is no right way to end a relationship that has been so important to two people....

NBC announced that NFL player J.J Watt will host SNL on February 1, with musical guest Luke Combs, and RuPaul and Justin Bieber will host and perform, respectively, the following week. RuPaul first appeared on SNL in an episode hosted by Charles Barkley in 1993, but the February 8 show will see RuPaul making his hosting debut. Meanwhile, Bieber has performed on SNL twice—once in 2010 and again in 2013....

One day after inking a four-year extension worth $140 million to become the NFL’s highest-paid player, the Seahawks quarterback reflected on his thought process before the deal went down as he addressed the media alongside general manager John Schneider and coach Pete Carroll. “I wanted to be in Seattle,” Wilson said Wednesday, via the team’s official website . “It’s just because really from the beginning of my professional career, it started here and my goal was to end it here....