NoneSheltered Venezuelan government opponents decry police and intelligence agents outside embassy
WACO, Texas (AP) — Georgia's Dasha Vidmanova and Columbia's Michael Zheng won NCAA singles tennis titles on Sunday. Vidmanova, a 21-year-old senior from the Czech Republic, beat DJ Bennett of Auburn 6-3, 6-3 for the Bulldogs' first women's singles championship since 2010 and the fourth singles champion in program history. Vidmanova is the only Bulldog in program history to win both the NCAA singles and doubles titles after winning the doubles with Aysegul Mert last season. It was the second consecutive season Georgia had a women’s tennis player reach the title match after Anastasiia Lopata lost to Alexa Noel of Miami last year. Bennett is the first player in Auburn’s program history to reach the finals in the event, besting Fani Chifchieva’s semifinalist finish in 2008 that was the previous best finish for a Tiger. Zheng, a 20-year-old junior from Montville, New Jersey, beat Ozan Baris of Michigan State 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 to become the first Ivy League player to collect an NCAA men's singles crown since 1922. The final between Zheng and Baris was the first men's NCAA tennis singles final between two Americans since 2017. Zheng, the first men’s Ivy Leaguer to win the title since Yale's Lucien Williams over a century ago, is the first player to reach back-to-back finals on the men’s side since Steve Johnson of USC in 2011 and 2012. TCU’s Pedro Vives Marcos and Lui Maxted earned the men’s doubles championship while Virginia’s Elaine Chervinsky and Melodie Collard won the women’s doubles title. Vives Marcos and Maxted beat Gavin Young and Benjamin Kittay of Michigan 6-3, 6-7 (8-6), 1-0 (10-2). The 10-point tiebreaker to determine the national champions featured five service breaks, including four by the Horned Frogs, who scored the final six points to seal their title. Young and Kittay became the first doubles runners-up in Michigan men's tennis history. Chervinsky and Collard beat UCLA's Olivia Center and Kate Fakih — both freshmen — 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-5) in the final to win the first NCAA Doubles title in program history. The Cavaliers' duo won each of their five matches at the championships in a third-set 10-point super tiebreaker. ___ AP tennis:
A Baltimore woman accused of sex-trafficking 11 women through a criminal organization she called the Pussy Kat Klub has pleaded guilty, state law enforcement officials announced Friday.Stingray Acquires Loupe Art to Enhance Connected TV and Digital Signage Offerings
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Report: NFL warns players of burglary rings targeting pro athletesNew Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr sustained a left hand injury and possible concussion in the fourth quarter of Sunday's 14-11 victory over the New York Giants. The Saints feared Carr fractured the hand, per reports, and he was slated to undergo further testing. He reportedly had a cast on the hand when exiting the stadium. Saints interim coach Darren Rizzi said Carr may have to enter the concussion protocol. Carr was injured when he tried to leap for a first down late in the final quarter. He was near the sideline and went airborne, landing hard on the left hand with this face then slamming into the turf as he landed out of bounds with 3:59 left in the game. Jake Haener finished up the game for the Saints. Carr completed 20 of 31 passes for 219 yards, one touchdown and one interception for New Orleans. Overall, Carr has passed for 2,145 yards, 15 touchdowns and five interceptions this season. He missed three games earlier this season due to an oblique injury. --Field Level Media
NoneIllinois St. 84, UAB 83
NoneIfeanyi Ubah: Senate Refutes Reports It Didn’t Participate In Colleagues BurialKorea Startup Forum (KSF, Chairman Sangwoo Han), the official organizer of the global startup festival COMEUP, announced that COMEUP 2024, held on December 11 and 12 at COEX in Seoul, successfully concluded. Now in its 6th year, COMEUP 2024 welcomed participants from 45 countries, including startups, investors, global corporations, large enterprises, aspiring entrepreneurs, and the general public, achieving a successful finale. Under the “Innovation Beyond Borders” theme, this year’s event captured attention with diverse programs focused on global ecosystem keywords such as deep tech, inbound innovation, and sustainable innovation (SIS, Sustainable Innovation by Startup). Breaking Boundaries of Innovation with Participation from 45 Countries and 260 Startups COMEUP 2024 hosted approximately 260 startups from 45 countries, with over half being international companies, reaffirming its status as a global festival. The keynotes over the two days drew significant interest. On December 11, Qamar Aftab, Investment Manager at Wa’ed Ventures (Saudi Aramco’s CVC), and Sunghyun Park, CEO of Rebellions, the first Korean startup to secure funding from Wa’ed Ventures, discussed “Innovation Beyond Borders” On December 12, SooJong Kim, CEO of INNOSPACE, delivered a presentation on the space age, garnering strong interest from attendees. Future Talk conference sessions further provided global insights on startup globalization strategies, overseas investment attraction, and global deep-tech trends, aligning with the key themes of COMEUP 2024. This year’s event also saw an expansion in participation from national pavilions. The UAE, India, Japan, and Sweden showcased their technologies and achievements. At the same time, H.E ALIA AL MAZROUEI, UAE Minister of Entrepreneurship, delivered a speech on opportunities for entering the UAE market, drawing attention. Additionally, the Global Community program, which featured 120 startups from 21 countries, including Germany, Austria, Sweden, Switzerland, and South Africa, facilitated pitching sessions, exhibitions, and networking events over two days, fostering exchange and business expansion. The event also saw notable participation from international organizations such as the International Trade Center(ITC) and the Africa Development Bank(AfDB). The Open Innovation (OI) Ground program facilitated collaboration between startups and leading companies. Global tech giants such as Microsoft, NVIDIA, Dassault Systèmes, Ensys, Siemens, L’Oréal Korea, Hyundai Motor Company, Musinsa Partners, Kyobo Life Insurance, CJ E&M, and LX Ventures shared their success stories of co-innovation with startups. The customized matchmaking track featured sessions including: COMEUP’s business matchmaking platform, On the COMEUP, further connected startups and investors through online and offline activities. The platform achieved approximately 1,900 successful business matches this year, nearly doubling last year’s record. Deep Tech, Inbound Innovation, and Sustainability Shape the Trends of COMEUP 2024 Future Talk sessions offered insights from global ecosystem stakeholders and experts, making them a deep-tech trend report for COMEUP 2024. Diverse sessions featured leading authorities discussing topics such as K-Space, AI semiconductors, generative AI, and autonomous driving—the newly introduced Tech Talk 15 track showcased cutting-edge technologies and products through 15-minute pitches. Participants included Seoul Robotics, Upstage, and Variowell Development, a German sleep-tech company, delivering a showcase of innovative technologies. The public IR pitching program, Startup Valley, concluded with Toonimotion, Foretell My Health, and POSCORE as the winners of the Rookie League on December 12. These three companies earned the opportunity to participate in Viva Technology 2025 in France. Alongside them, finalists, including CUBIG, ZETIC.ai , and Tublet Korea, also garnered attention for their contributions to fields such as information security and on-device AI solutions, highlighting the growth of deep-tech startups. The Runner League also captivated the audience by featuring aspiring entrepreneurial teams and fireside pitches from selected Rocket League companies. The theme of sustainability, a key industry agenda, resonated throughout COMEUP 2024. Programs such as Future Talk and Open Innovation, which focused on sustainable innovation (SIS, Sustainable Innovation by Startup), featured participation from GridWiz, Sopoong Ventures, SK Innovation, and Hyundai E&C, which discussed climate-tech commercialization strategies and investment trends. The Inbound agenda, which aims to support foreign startups’ innovation in Korea, also gained attention. The Startup Korea Pavilion hosted over twenty foreign startups, enabling networking with Korean startups and investors. Among them, AiMA Beyond AI, a Spanish startup developing AI-powered digital human solutions and the first recipient of the Startup Korea Special Visa, showcased its solutions, drawing significant interest. A National Celebration Engaging Aspiring Entrepreneurs, Students, and Professionals COMEUP 2024 expanded its reach beyond startup professionals to aspiring entrepreneurs, students, and corporate employees, offering programs for a diverse audience. The Future Talk sessions featured beginner, expert, and founder tracks tailored to participants’ familiarity with the startup ecosystem, earning positive feedback from attendees. Interactive events and networking opportunities also enhanced the experience. These included docent programs for student groups, a public idea contest via COMEUP’s social media, a mobile-friendly networking platform, and live Q&A sessions with speakers. Such initiatives reinforced COMEUP’s position as a global startup festival with broad public appeal. Sangwoo Han, Chairman of the Korea Startup Forum (COMEUP 2024 Advisory Chair), remarked, “COMEUP 2024 has become a truly global festival where startups and investors from around the world come together to break boundaries of innovation and discuss the future. COMEUP will continue to encourage startups to rise to new challenges and serve as a hub for innovation that drives success on the global stage.” COMEUP 2024 can be revisited through replays available on its official YouTube channel.
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The toritetsu subset of Japanese train otaku which specializes in photography has long been notorious for a string of anti-social behavior unbecoming of their seemingly relaxing hobby. Reports of violence, vandalism, and general poor manners are widespread as these shutterbugs vie for the best shot of the rarest trains around. Railways have also made efforts to channel this passion for trains into something more positive, but problems still persist. Now, Sagami Railway in Kanagawa Prefecture has teamed up with software maker Adobe to find ways to get that perfect shot without punching other photographers, cursing out staff, or cutting down trees. On November 24, at Hoshikawa Station in Yokohama City, a workshop was held to teach toritetsu how to use Adobe Express’s generative AI to remove unwanted people or objects from photos. As a case study, who could forget that time dozens of toritetsu waited in the middle of the night to get the first photos of a new rolling stock on the Enoden line in Kanagawa, only to have a large man on a bicycle riding between them and it with his arm outstretched? Due to the contentious nature of the incident, video of it is often quickly removed from social media and YouTube, so I just got Adobe Photoshop to generate a similar image. ▼ Shortage of logic aside, it’s fairly close to the real incident. After that, I popped it into the Adobe Express app on my phone. Rubbed blue stuff on the guy with my finger and made him go away. ▼ Problem solved. ▼ Actually, those wires are ugly so let’s ditch those too. ▼ And you know what? I’m not all that crazy about trains anyway. How about a sailboat? Bear in mind, I just did super-fast, one-shot edits and it’s possible to get better results with more time and effort, especially if I had gone to that workshop. This may not satisfy the purists among toritetsu, of whom most are, but there was some positive feedback at the workshop, with one attendee liking how it cleanly removed overhead wires and hands with a natural-looking result. Even if it means just a few less people trespassing and destroying property then it’s a job well done. Readers of the news, however, seem to feel the problem is much too large to be cured with some AI editing tools. “Now, we need a way for AI to erase the toritetsu.” “Or just ban photography on station platforms.” “These guys are pretty anti-processing, I think.” “I think the toritetsu’s issues run much deeper than this.” “I don’t get why they’re against editing. The photo itself is already inherently altered from what’s seen by the human eye.” As the last comment pointed out, the news also sparked some debate over how much processing crosses that line of no longer being photography and becoming CGI. If AI editing was considered acceptable among these people, then why not just stay home and generate images of trains all day? Besides that, the ability to remove obstructions from images on Photoshop has been around for a long time and toritetsu never even seemed to embrace that. It required a lot more skill and effort back then, but probably not as much as breaking into a train yard and dismantling signs while evading security. I’m willing to give Adobe credit for putting the idea out there, even if it is in a bit of a self-promotional way. Unfortunately, this probably won’t be the end of the mayhem caused by people who like to take pictures of trains. Source: Asahi Shimbun, Itai News Images: Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Express Read more stories from SoraNews24. -- JR East attempts to unite train-photographing otaku with new social media group -- Japanese mayor suddenly speaks fluent English with AI video that surprises even him -- Tokyo Police apprehend the “Lego Kid” and accomplices“They’re starting to call us punks. It was absurd, these stupid labels. One day I said to a guy, ‘If you call me a punk again, I’m gonna cut ya’”: How Tom Petty took on the record industry and won with Damn The Torpedoes
LAST-MINUTE Christmas shoppers are being urged to rush to Marks and Spencer after the price of a perfect stocking filler has been slashed. The product that was originally £4 and is now down to a staggering £1 would also make the perfect gift for train and chocolate lovers. For just £1 each, shoppers can bag the M&S Hot Chocolate Train Tin. The red and green steam train tin containing hot chocolate powder has already proved to be a popular buy for Christmas . The 100g festive tin features an elf train driver and has a wreath on the front. M&S calls it "a super-cute festive train tin" that is "great for gifting." read more on festive treats The retailer states that the "tin is filled with rich hot chocolate. Just add the hot chocolate to your favourite mug, followed by hot milk, and top with marshmallows and whipped cream. " Shoppers shared the new £1 bargain on the popular Facebook page Extreme Couponing and Bargains UK Group. "Wow would love to find these," one excited shopper wrote. "My daughter loves this wee train," a parent said. Most read in Money "Fabulous! Great buy. Well done," a third wrote. Those who could just not wait for Christmas Day have high praise for the steam train tin. "It’s REALLY yummy the best hot choc I’ve ever had!" one said. But other shoppers are disappointed that they have missed out on a good bargain. "Gutted I brought some a few weeks ago. I thought £2.50 was good when I saw them reduced to that but even more gutted at £1!" one shopper said. "Great bargain tho." Consumer reporter Sam Walker reveals how you can save money on your Christmas shopping. Limit the amount of presents - buying presents for all your family and friends can cost a bomb. Instead, why not organise a Secret Santa between your inner circles so you're not having to buy multiple presents. Plan ahead - if you've got the stamina and budget, it's worth buying your Christmas presents for the following year in the January sales. Make sure you shop around for the best deals by using price comparison sites so you're not forking out more than you should though. Buy in Boxing Day sales - some retailers start their main Christmas sales early so you can actually snap up a bargain before December 25. Delivery may cost you a bit more, but it can be worth it if the savings are decent. Shop via outlet stores - you can save loads of money shopping via outlet stores like Amazon Warehouse or Office Offcuts. They work by selling returned or slightly damaged products at a discounted rate, but usually any wear and tear is minor. "Never let me buy a lot from M&S in advance I could scream," another wrote. "Paid £3 for these the other day bought 3 they are still worth £3 good buy," a third added. Meanwhile, Ocado shoppers could still miss out on the bargain with the hot chocolate tin only being reduced to £3. Those who need a last-minute bottle of fizz are also being urged to rush to M&S and another high street store. READ MORE SUN STORIES The Sun's Laura Hills has tried supermarket Prosecco under £10 and discovered that Lidl and M&S came out on top. Meanwhile, see which is the cheapest supermarket to buy Christmas favourites like Quality Street, Bailey's, and Terry's Chocolate Orange.The Golden State Warriors face the New Orleans Pelicans in a group stage NBA Cup game on Friday, Nov. 22, 2024 (11/22/24) at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, La. How to watch: Fans can watch the game for free via a trial of DirecTV Stream or fuboTV . You can also watch via a subscription to Sling TV , which is offering half off your first month. Here’s what you need to know: What : NBA regular season Who : Warriors vs. Pelicans When : Friday, Nov. 22 (11/22/24) Time : 7:30 p.m. ET Where : Smoothie King Center TV : ESPN Live stream : DirecTV Stream (free trial), fuboTV (free trial) *** Here’s an NBA story via the Associated Press: MILWAUKEE (AP) — Doc Rivers got emotional Wednesday when speaking about Bob Love, the former Chicago Bulls star forward and three-time All-Star who died Monday at the age of 81 after a long battle with cancer. Love, who spent 11 years in the NBA, forged a special bond with Rivers when the Milwaukee Bucks coach was a teenager growing up in Chicago. “He was a big guy in my life,” Rivers said before the Bucks game against the Bulls in Milwaukee on Wednesday night, his voice breaking. “Really an impressive guy. People remember Bob from basketball and I really don’t. He was a great basketball player but I met him when I was young, in high school.” Rivers said he first encountered Love at a park in Chicago and took note of Love’s severe stuttering problem. “I remember him talking to me and really struggling,” Rivers said. “I thought how courageous that was. That an NBA player would speak to a bunch of kids at a park. It was just so impressive to me.” A relationship between Rivers and Love took root. “For whatever reason, Bob took a liking to me,” Rivers said. “He would give me his shoes. Just a powerful guy. A tough guy. I think he epitomized Chicago in a lot of ways with his toughness and how we grew up.” Rivers said other young Chicago basketball players at that time, including Mark Aguirre and Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas, also took a liking to Love. “Bob was our guy and I think we all took that toughness from him,” Rivers said. He noted that Love, who was an All-Star for three straight seasons from 1970-73 and averaged a team-high and career-best 25.8 points during the 1971-72 season, struggled after his basketball career but was able to overcome one of his biggest challenges after he left the game. “He conquered the hardest thing that he could conquer and that was his stuttering problem,” Rivers said. Rivers, getting emotional again, said he wanted Love, whose No. 10 jersey hangs in the rafters at the United Center, to be remembered, and not just for what he accomplished on the court. RECOMMENDED • nj .com What channel is the Golden State Warriors vs. New Orleans Pelicans game tonight (11/22/24)? FREE LIVE STREAM, Nov. 22, 2024, 1:30 p.m. What channel is the Dallas Mavericks vs. Denver Nuggets game tonight (11/22/24)? FREE LIVE STREAM, Time, TV, Nov. 22, 2024, 4:00 p.m. “I think we should take note of guys like that because I thought he meant so much to kids,” Rivers said. “He epitomized not only toughness as a player but just with the stuff he went through in life.” (The Associated Press contributed to this report) Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting us with a subscription.
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