James, Quigley and Hayes combine for 59 points as No. 20 NC State women beat Coastal Carolina 89-684 roulette 。

DEAR DEIDRE: I KNOW I’ll end up sitting alone on Christmas Day with my two cats for company while my boyfriend is up to heaven knows what. We’ve been together for two years and he works away most of the time up North. I live in the South. He’s got a business selling cheap household products and says he has to travel to collect stock. He then moves it on at car-boot sales or sells it to small convenience stores. He visits once a month, I cook him a meal and we have sex, but he never wants to know about me. He never wants to talk to me. In fact the only time I really have his attention is for five minutes when he takes me to bed for a bit of passion. When he’s staying, he has an Xbox at my house so he’s either on that or his phone. I’m 34 and he’s 39. I saw some heart emojis come up on a text from somebody and then I found some condoms in his washbag but we never use them. I know he still talks to his ex-wife. They’ve got two kids together. He tells me he stays in an apartment when he’s up in Scotland or Newcastle but he often declines my calls. He won’t allow me the app, Find My Friends so that I can see where he is. I’ve asked him whether I could be with him for Christmas this year but he said, “No love. I’m a busy man.” Am I being taken for a fool? DEIDRE SAYS: Even if this man isn’t cheating, ask yourself what exactly does he bring to the party. It sounds like you’re looking for commitment, not a monthly booty call. Is this man capable of offering you that? I see someone who’s taking advantage of your kind hospitality and picking you up and dropping you as he wishes. Don’t take this as a rejection of you. It sounds as if he’s a commitment-phobe with his own issues, possibly with another woman who he’s cheating on too. This is a destructive, dead-end, no-strings-sex arrangement which will only leave you feeling used. Tell him that being casual isn’t right for you. You want a full-on relationship. If he has any serious feelings for you he’ll soon be asking for more. If not, move on. My support pack called Your Lover Not Free will help you to realise that you deserve better. Every problem gets a personal reply from one of our trained counsellors. Fill out and submit our easy-to-use and confidential form and the Dear Deidre team will get back to you. You can also send a private message on the DearDeidreOfficial Facebook page or email us at: deardeidre@the-sun.co.uk

Man from Kerala arrested in stock market scam case

LISBON (Reuters) – Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was looking for a statement win from his side on Tuesday and got it as they brushed aside in-form Sporting Lisbon with a superb display in a 5-1 away Champions League victory. Arteta praised his team’s intelligent use of the ball and their tenacity against a Sporting team that beat Manchester City 4-1 in their previous Champions League outing and had won 17 of their previous 18 games in all competitions. “I’m very happy, it is a big result against a big opponent,” Arteta said. “We wanted to make a statement. I felt a really good energy before the match, but you have to put it into practice. “The first half was exceptional and gave us the platform to win the game. We were really clever and efficient in the way we attacked them. It is an important win for us.” Arsenal looked untouchable in the first half as they went into the break 3-0 up, but a goal early in the second period for Sporting changed the mood in the stadium until Bukayo Saka scored a fourth to swing the momentum their way once more. “The atmosphere was changing (when Sporting scored), they had belief, but after that we showed our personality to get on the ball again, to defend deeper if we needed to and the fourth goal changed it again,” Arteta said. “We have to enjoy it, playing in this competition against these sorts of team. I was pleased with how the performance flowed.” Arsenal had been in a mini-slump of three games without a win before a 3-0 win over high-flying Nottingham Forest in the Premier League this past weekend. Backing up a victory with another dominant display is something they will have to do all season long if they are to be successful, according to Arteta. “We need the consistency, if you want to be going for championships then you have to win and win again. Today was a different type of game but we handled it well and let’s move on now,” he said. Arsenal are next in action on Saturday when they travel to West Ham United in the Premier League. (Reporting by Nick Said; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne) Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibilty for its content. var ytflag = 0;var myListener = function() {document.removeEventListener('mousemove', myListener, false);lazyloadmyframes();};document.addEventListener('mousemove', myListener, false);window.addEventListener('scroll', function() {if (ytflag == 0) {lazyloadmyframes();ytflag = 1;}});function lazyloadmyframes() {var ytv = document.getElementsByClassName("klazyiframe");for (var i = 0; i < ytv.length; i++) {ytv[i].src = ytv[i].getAttribute('data-src');}} Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() );Israel said Tuesday it had bombed more than 350 military sites in Syria during the previous 48 hours, targeting “most of the strategic weapons stockpiles” in the country. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the wave of airstrikes in neighboring Syria was necessary to keep the weapons from being used against Israel following the Syrian government’s stunning collapse . Israel also acknowledged its troops were pushing into a border buffer zone inside Syria, which was established after the 1973 Mideast war. However, Israel denied its forces were advancing Tuesday toward the Syrian capital of Damascus. Life in the capital was slowly returning to normal after jihadi-led Syrian insurgents ousted President Bashar Assad over the weekend. People celebrated for a third day in a main square, and shops and banks reopened. The United States said Tuesday it would recognize and support a new Syrian government that renounces terrorism, destroys chemical weapons stocks and protects the rights of minorities and women. Syria's nearly 14-year civil war killed nearly half a million people and displaced half of the country’s prewar population of 23 million, becoming a proxy battlefield for regional and international powers. Here's the Latest: BEIRUT — Insurgents who overthrew the Syrian government now say they have wrested control of the eastern city of Deir el-Zour after intense battles with a Kurdish-led, U.S.-backed force. Syria’s rebel military command announced Tuesday evening that they had completely captured the city of Deir el-Zour. A member of the jihadi group Hayat al-Tahrir, which leads the insurgent alliance, said in a recorded video that the group would soon conduct a thorough sweep of the city’s neighborhoods to secure the area, adding that the strategic nearby town of Boukamal has also fallen to opposition forces. “We will advance toward Raqqa and Hasakah and other areas in eastern Syria,” the HTS fighters said. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces had only held the city for a few days. The SDF said it deployed to Deir el-Zour and west of the Euphrates River on Friday, replacing Syrian government forces. At the time, the SDF said its fighters were not in control of the Boukamal border crossing with Iraq. Earlier Tuesday, the top U.S. military commander for the Middle East was in eastern Syria for meetings with the SDF. It wasn’t clear if he met with SDF leader Mazloum Abdi. BEIRUT — Syria’s transitional government will made up of members from the rebel-led administration that ruled an insurgent stronghold in the country's northwest, the new prime minister said Tuesday, who called the task “a great challenge.” The caretaker Syrian government, which will oversee the country’s affairs until March, held its first meeting Tuesday since overthrowing former President Bashar Assad. It was attended by the departing Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi Jalali and other ministers along with new Prime Minister Mohammed al-Bashir. He had led the so-called “salvation government” in areas controlled by rebel groups — led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS — that have taken control of much of the country. “We were tasked by the general command with managing the affairs of the Syrian government during a transitional period,” Bashir said in a statement following the meeting in Damascus. He added that he hopes ministers in the former Syrian government will assist the new government during this transitional period. “The caretaker government was formed from a number of ministers of the revolutionary government, which is the Syrian Salvation Government, and this government is a temporary caretaker government that will last until March 2025, until the constitutional issues are resolved,” Bashir said. The insurgent alliance is led by a former senior al-Qaida militant , Abu Mohammed al-Golani, who cut ties with the extremist group years ago and has promised representative government and religious tolerance. SAYDNAYA, Syria — Tens of thousands came to Saydnaya Prison from all over Syria after the fall of former President Bashar Assad to search for their loved ones. The place so notorious for its horrors was long known as “the slaughterhouse.” For the past two days, all have been looking for signs of loved ones who disappeared years or even decades ago into the secretive, sprawling prison just outside Damascus. But hope gave way to despair Monday. People opened the heavy iron doors lining the hallways to find cells inside empty. With sledgehammers, shovels and drills, men pounded holes in floors and walls, looking for what they believed were secret dungeons, or chasing sounds they thought they heard from underground. They found nothing. Insurgents freed dozens of people from the Saydnaya military prison on Sunday when Damascus fell. Since then, almost no one has been found. “Where is everyone? Where are everyone’s children? Where are they?” said Ghada Assad, breaking down in tears. An estimated 150,000 people were detained or went missing in Syria since 2011 — and tens of thousands of them are believed to have gone through Saydnaya. WASHINGTON — The top U.S. military commander for the Middle East was on the ground in Syria on Tuesday, meeting with a Kurish-led, U.S.-allied force at several bases in the country's east, U.S. Central Command said. Army Gen. Erik Kurilla visited with U.S. military commanders and troops as well as the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. It wasn’t clear if he met with SDF leader Mazloum Abdi, and U.S. Central Command did not respond to a request for details about his visit or with whom he met. U.S. officials said they did not know what his message to the SDF was. The U.S has about 900 troops in Syria, including forces working with Kurdish allies in the northeast to prevent any resurgence of the Islamic State group. In a press release, Central Command said Kurilla received an “assessment of force protection measures, the rapidly evolving situation, and ongoing efforts to prevent ISIS from exploiting the current situation.” Kurilla then went on to Iraq where he met with leaders in Baghdad. UNITED NATIONS – The United Nations says it still getting reports about the looting of warehouses with humanitarian aid in a number of areas in Syria, including around the capital Damascus. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters Tuesday that U.N. agencies and their partners are working to identify the extent of looting at the warehouses, including those of U.N. agencies and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent. Dujarric said U.N. aid officials report that “the humanitarian situation remains volatile across Syria, with reports of people continuing to be displaced.” Humanitarian officials reported that 25 trucks carrying U.N. aid crossed from Turkey to northwest Syria, which the situation is now relatively calm, the U.N. spokesman said. All 11 receptions opened in Idlib in the northwest to host newly displaced families were empty as of Monday, Dujarric said. In the northeast, he said, authorities report that as of Tuesday 100,000 people have been displaced due to fighting in Tal Rifaat and other parts of Aleppo governorate. Dujarric said the U.N.’s partners report that “reception centers in Tabqa and Raqqa have reached full capacity, and more than 200 sites – including municipal buildings, schools, mosques, and stadiums – are being used to accommodate newly displaced people.” BEIRUT — The Lebanese army said Tuesday that “unidentified gunmen” crossed the border from Syria into eastern Lebanon's Bekaa province and approached a Lebanese border post. In a statement, the army said the gunmen fired into the air and seized equipment from an evacuated Syrian army post in the outskirts of Kfar Fouq, near Rashaya al-Wadi, in the western part of Bekaa province. Lebanese army personnel responded with warning shots, forcing the group to retreat back into Syrian territory. The Lebanese army did not report any injuries or provide further details about the identity of the gunmen. WASHINGTON — Yemen’s Houthi rebels launched multiple drones and a missile at three commercial ships being escorted in the Gulf of Aden by U.S. Navy ships, a U.S. official said Tuesday. There was no damage and no injuries. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations, said U.S. Navy destroyers, and Navy helicopter and a French Air Force aircraft shot down four of the drones and the missile. The three U.S. affiliated flagged ships were sailing east toward Djibouti. The Iran-backed Houthis have targeted shipping through the key waterway for more than a year, attacks they say are meant to force an end to Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. JERUSALEM — Israel’s military said it bombed more than 350 sites in Syria during the previous 48 hours, targeting “most of the strategic weapons stockpiles” in the country. There is concern that, with the sudden collapse of the Syrian government, weapons stockpiles could be seized by jihadi militants. Warplanes hit what Israel said were Syrian air defense systems, military airfields, missile depots, and dozens of weapons production sites in the cities of Damascus, Homs, Tartus, Latakia, and Palmyra, the Israeli army statement said. In naval operations overnight Monday, Israeli missile ships struck two Syrian navy facilities simultaneously — Al-Bayda port and Latakia port — where the army said 15 Syrian naval vessels were docked. Israeli did not specify how many Syrian naval vessels were hit. The private security firm Ambrey said it had seen evidence that at least six Soviet-era Syrian navy missile ships were hit. Israeli officials said earlier that Israel also targeted alleged chemical weapons sites. JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed Tuesday that his country’s military launched a wave of airstrikes across Syria to destroy the toppled government’s leftover “military capabilities,” and said Israel wants relations with the new government emerging Syria. Hours after Israeli warplanes pounded Syria, Netanyahu said Israeli doesn’t want to meddle in Syria’s internal affairs, but would take necessary steps to protect Israel's security and prevent jihadi militants from seizing the Syrian army assets. He warned that if the new Syrian government “allows Iran to re-establish itself in Syria or allows the transfer of Iranian weapons or any other weapons to Hezbollah, or attacks us -- we will respond forcefully and we will exact a heavy price from it.” He spoke in a video statement recorded at the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv, after his first day of testimony in his corruption trial. DAMASCUS, Syria — In Umayyad Square in Damascus, Syrians celebrated the fall of President Bashar Assad for the third day on Tuesday despite Israeli airstrikes across the country. Insurgents who recently took control of the capital city tried to impose a new rule banning the celebratory gunfire. There were a few violators, and much less deafening gunfire. Protesters climbed the square's central monument to wave the Syrian revolutionary flag. On the ground, crowds chanted: “Out with Bashar! Out with Bashar!” Assad fled to Russia over the weekend after a lightning rebel offensive toppled his brutal police state. Demonstrators from different provinces marched in the square in groups, celebrating Assad's fall. Men on motorcycles and horses paraded into the square. One woman from Idlib province shouted that the Israeli strikes ruined the joy of ousting Assad. “Why are you striking us? We just deposed a tyrant,” she said. “Give us peace. Leave us alone,” said Ahmed Jreida, 22, a dentist student, when asked about the Israeli airstrikes. Hamzeh Hamada, 22, said this was the first time he had gone out to a demonstration. “We want the country to get better, to live in dignity and be like other countries that respect citizens’ rights and where there are no bribes,” he said. “We have suffered a lot from bribes. ... We had to bribe people for very minor things; things that should be our right.” Abdul-Jalil Diab was taking a stroll with his brothers in another square in western Damascus. He said he came back from Jordan the day Damascus fell. He was there studying German to prepare to move to Germany and said he is now reconsidering his plans. He was ecstatic, saying words can’t describe how he feels. “We are happy to get rid of the corrupt regime that was based on bribes. The whole country feels better. Everyone is happy and celebrating,” Abdul-Jalil Diab said. QAMISHLI, Syria — Residents of northeast Syria in the area around Qamishli airport said Tuesday they heard explosions overnight after an airstrike hit trucks loaded with rockets and ammunition that were heading to a military base in Tartab. “We don’t know the story. It was only in the morning when we realized they are trucks loaded with ammunition, leftovers of the former army, the regime,” said Ibrahim al-Thalaj, who lives near the base. He said residents assumed that the strikes were Israeli. Israel has carried out a heavy wave of airstrikes across Syria targeting military infrastructure after Syrian insurgents toppled the government of Bashar Assad. However, Turkish security officials said Tuesday that the strike in Qamishli was carried out by Turkey, targeting weapons and ammunition that were abandoned by the Syrian army and seized by Syrian Kurdish militants. The explosions lasted for over 20 minutes after the strike, and many houses in the surrounding area were damaged as a result, residents of the area said. “We just felt a strike hitting. It hit the first one (truck) and we saw the other trucks retreating back, and from there rockets and shells started flying over,” said Hamid al-Asaad, an eyewitness from Qub al-Zeki village in Qamishli. “We were sitting when these explosions started to hit the house,” said Mahmoud Hamza of Tartab. “It was hitting randomly and we didn’t know where it was coming from. ... Once we got out of our house, a rocket hit the house.” There were no details released by the local Kurdish administration regarding the explosions, but members of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces blocked the road to the base. BRUSSELS — The European Union’s top diplomat is concerned that Syria might violently fall apart like neighboring Iraq, or Libya and Afghanistan if its territorial integrity and the rights of minorities are not protected. “The transition will present huge challenges in Syria and in the region,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told European lawmakers on Tuesday during a special hearing. “There are legitimate concerns about the risks of sectarian violence, extremist resurgence and the governance vacuum, all of which must be averted. We must avoid a repeat of the horrific scenarios of Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan,” she said. “The rights of all Syrians, including those of many minority groups, must be protected,” she said. “It is crucial to preserve the territorial integrity of Syria, and to respect its independence, its sovereignty, as well as the state institutions.” Kallas also said the collapse of the government has shown that Assad’s backers in Russia and Iran “could neither afford to do it any longer, nor had any interest of being present in the aftermath.” “They are weakened, distracted and overstretched in other theaters in the broader Middle East, but also in Ukraine,” she said. ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey’s intelligence agency, MIT, has attacked a convoy of trucks that was allegedly carrying missiles, heavy weapons and ammunition that were abandoned by the Syrian government and reportedly seized by Syrian Kurdish militias, Turkish security officials said Tuesday. The officials said 12 trucks, two tanks and two ammunition depots were “destroyed” in aerial strikes in the city of Qamishli, near the border with Turkey in northeast Syria. The officials provided the information on condition of anonymity in line with Turkish regulations. They did not say when the attack occurred. The officials said the intelligence agency detected that weapons left by the Syrian government forces were being moved to warehouses belonging to the Syrian Kurdish People’s Defense Units, or YPG. Turkey views the group as a terrorist organization because of its links to the banned Kurdish militants that have led a decadeslong insurgency in Turkey. According to the officials, he group was allegedly planning to use the equipment and supplies against Turkish security forces. By Suzan Fraser WASHINGTON — The White House is signaling its approval of Israel’s strikes against Syrian military and alleged chemical weapons targets and the seizure of a buffer zone in the Syrian Golan Heights after the fall of the Assad government. “These are exigent operations to eliminate what they believe are imminent threats to their national security,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Tuesday, saying the U.S. would leave it up to the Israelis to discuss details of their operations. “They have as always the right to defend themselves,” Kirby said. He declined to detail and U.S. intelligence cooperation with the Israelis that went into the strikes. Kirby said the White House was reasserting its support of the 1974 Golan Heights disengagement agreement, but didn’t criticize the Israeli seizure of the demilitarized zone. Israel has a long history of seizing territory during wars with its neighbors and occupying it indefinitely , citing security concerns. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed it in a move not recognized internationally, except by the United States. WASHINGTON — The Biden administration says it will recognize and support a new Syrian government that renounces terrorism, destroys chemical weapons stocks and protects the rights of minorities and women. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement Tuesday that the U.S. would work with groups in Syria and regional partners to ensure that the transition from President Bashar Assad’s deposed government runs smoothly. He was not specific about which groups the U.S. would work with. Blinken says Syrians should decide their future and that other countries should “support an inclusive and transparent process” and not interfere. “The United States will recognize and fully support a future Syria government that results from this process,” he said. “We stand prepared to lend all appropriate support to all of Syria’s diverse communities and constituencies.” DAMASCUS, Syria — Jihad Mustafa Shibani was taking his new motorcycle for a spin with a friend around the house of the deposed Syrian president in western Damascus on Tuesday. Shibani was released from prison a week before the capital Damascus fell, after he served two years on charges of buying his motorcycle using foreign currency on accusations he was dealing in dollars. He was tortured for 15 days and and given a quick trial where he was sentenced for two years, he said. He was released the day Aleppo fell to the insurgents. “Everything was banned in Syria. The (Assad loyalists) only could use it,” Shibani said. He said he has never been to this neighborhood, because it was taken over by Assad, his family and supporters. “For 50 years, my family’s house is near here, and we don’t know anything about it. ... The Syrian people had been oppressed, you can’t imagine.” Shibani said he has no fear of the rebel newcomers who have taken control of the country. “We are not afraid. There can be no one more unjust than Bashar. Impossible.” BEIRUT — Lebanon’s prime minister is in contact with security and judicial officials to follow up on reports that senior members of President Bashar Assad’s government have fled to Lebanon. Najib Mikati’s office quoted him as saying that Lebanon abides by international laws regarding people who cross its borders. Rami Abdurrahman of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said that several top security officials have entered Lebanon over the past two days. Abdurrahman added that Syria’s former intelligence chief Ali Mamlouk, who is wanted in Lebanon over two bombings in 2012 in the northern city of Tripoli that killed dozens, was allegedly brought to Lebanon by the Hezbollah militant group and was staying in a southern suburb of Beirut where the group has deep support. Lebanon’s Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi, whose ministry is in charge of border crossings, told reporters Tuesday that no person who is wanted in Lebanon entered the country through legal border crossings. There are dozens of illegal border crossings between Lebanon and Syria where people are usually smuggled in and out of Lebanon, but it was not possible to independently confirm whether Mamlouk had entered Lebanon. GENEVA — The United Nations says humanitarian operations in two major areas in northwestern Syria have resumed, deploying food, medical supplies, fuel and other needed services and supplies. Spokesman Jens Laerke of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that some health facilities were “overwhelmed” – in part due to staff shortages – and many border crossings have been closed, disrupting supply chains. OCHA said humanitarian operations in some parts of northwestern Syria were put on hold in the early days of the recent escalation, and resumed on Monday. “As of yesterday, all humanitarian organizations in Idlib and northern Aleppo have resumed operations,” Laerke told reporters at a U.N. briefing in Geneva. He said the three border crossings from Turkey used by the U.N. to deliver assistance into Syria remain open and “we are providing assistance in the northwest, including to those who have been newly displaced.” Even before the latest escalation, which led President Bashar Assad to flee the country, nearly 17 million people in Syria needed humanitarian assistance. More than 1 million have been displaced across Idlib, Aleppo, Hama and Homs since the escalation. JERUSALEM — Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz said Tuesday that Israel's military destroyed Syria’s fleet overnight and intends to establish a demilitarized zone “in southern Syria” to prevent attacks on Israel. He also issued a warning to Syria’s rebels, saying that “whoever follows Assad’s path will end up like Assad — we will not allow an extremist Islamic terrorist entity to act against Israel across its border while putting its citizens at risk.” Speaking at a naval base in Haifa, Katz said the Israeli navy “operated last night to destroy the Syrian fleet and with great success.” Video showing the smoking wreckage of what appeared to be small Syrian naval ships in the port at Latakia was broadcast by Saudi-owned television station Al-Hadath on Tuesday. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has closely tracked the conflict since the civil war erupted in 2011, said Israel targeted Syrian warships, military warehouses and an air-defense facility on the coast. Katz added that he had instructed the army to establish a “defense zone free of weapons and terrorist threats in southern Syria, without a permanent Israeli presence, in order to prevent terrorism in Syria from taking root and organizing.” It was unclear if the demilitarized zone would reach beyond the buffer zone that Israel has taken over in the border area. Israel has a long history of seizing territory during wars with its neighbors and occupying it indefinitely , citing security concerns. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed it in a move not recognized internationally, except by the United States. DAMASCUS, Syria — Members of the Syrian government under ousted President Bashar Assad will gradually transfer power to a new transitional cabinet headed by Mohammed al-Bashir. The departing government met with al-Bashir for the first time since Assad fled Damascus over the weekend. Al-Bashir had previously led the “salvation government” running the rebel stronghold in northwest Syria. Al-Bashir told reporters after the meeting that the ministers discussed transferring the portfolios to the interim government during the transitional period until the beginning of March. He said that in the coming days the new government will decide on each ministry. DAMASCUS, Syria — Banks and shops are reopening in Damascus after the chaos and confusion of the first two days following the ouster of President Bashar Assad. Sadi Ahmad, manager of Syria Gulf Bank, said life is returning to normal. A customer who came to withdraw money from an ATM was surprised to see it functioning. At the historic Hamadiyeh market, fighters who seized power were still standing guard but shops had reopened — even an ice cream stand. Resident Maysoun Al-Qurabi said she was initially “against what happened,” referring to the insurgency, but changed her mind after seeing footage of rebels releasing inmates from the notorious Saydnaya prison. “People are at ease and secure now,” she said. “Before, people were hungry and scared.” DAMASCUS, Syria — Minority Christians in Syria have been living in a state of uneasy anticipation since insurgents headed by the Islamic militant group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham took control after ousting President Bashar Assad. Mazen Kalash, a resident of Bab Touma, a Christian neighborhood in Damascus, said he wants to know the plans of the new government that will be formed by the rebels. “The important thing is to feel safe, bring order, law and respect to the citizens,” he said. “We need to be able to work whatever we want and do whatever we want without any interference from anyone.” The insurgents have so far attempted to reassure minorities that they will be protected. Large numbers of Syrian Christians, who made up 10% of the population, fled after the civil war erupted in 2011. Many of those who stayed supported Assad out of fear they might be targeted by Islamist insurgents. TEL AVIV, Israel — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lashed out at media during testimony at his corruption trial, which involves media moguls. “There has never been such a biased media in any democracy ... as there is in Israel,” Netanyahu told the court, describing his testy relationship with the press. He is accused of exchanging regulatory favors with media bosses for more positive coverage of himself and his family. He has denied wrongdoing. GENEVA — The U.N. envoy for Syria says armed groups that drove out President Bashar Assad have “been sending good messages” about national unity and inclusiveness but acknowledges that a Security Council resolution still counts the leading one as a terrorist group. With Syria’s future and stability still very much in flux since Assad’s departure over the weekend, Geir Pedersen suggested that the international community needs to help the country get through this turbulent moment. “We are still in what I would call a very fluid period. Things are not settled,” Pedersen told reporters at U.N. offices in Geneva on Tuesday. “There is a real opportunity for change, but this opportunity needs to be grasped by the Syrians themselves and supported by the U.N. and the international community.” Referring to Israeli military strikes in Syria, Pedersen said it was “extremely important that we now don’t see any action from any international country that destroys the possibility for this transformation in Syria to take place.” The insurgents are led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, which grew out of an al-Qaida-affiliate called the Nusra Front that the Security Council listed as a terror group in a 2015 resolution. “This is obviously a complicating factor for all of us,” Pedersen said. “But we also have to be honest, we have to look at the facts and to see what has happened during the last nine years.” “The reality so far is that the HTS and also the other armed groups have been sending good messages to the Syrian people,” he said. “They have been sending messages of unity, of inclusiveness, and frankly speaking, also, we have seen in (the captured cities of) Aleppo and in Hama ... reassuring things on the ground." Ahmad al-Sharaa, previously known by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, the leader of the insurgency and the founder of both groups Nusra and HTS, cut ties with al-Qaida in 2016 and says he is committed to pluralism and religious tolerance. ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey has “strongly” condemned Israel’s advance into Syrian territory, saying it was in violation of a 1974 agreement on a buffer zone inside Syria. “We strongly condemn Israel’s violation of the 1974 Separation of Forces Agreement, its entry into the separation zone between Israel and Syria, and its advance into Syrian territory,” Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The ministry accused Israel of “displaying a mentality of an occupier” at a time when the possibility of peace and stability had emerged in Syria. The statement also reiterated Turkey’s support to Syria’s “sovereignty, political unity, and territorial integrity.” Israeli troops on Sunday entered the buffer zone that had been established after the 1973 Mideast war and the military said it would deploy in “several other places necessary for (Israel’s’) defense.” TEL AVIV, Israel — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he works 17 to 18 hours a day and that he is engulfed in meetings, especially during the past year that Israel has been fighting wars. Netanyahu was testifying in his long-running corruption trial. He has denied charges of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate cases. “If only I could steal away five minutes to enjoy some time with my wife,” he told the court Tuesday. TEL AVIV, Israel — An Israeli military official says troops plan to seize a buffer zone inside Syria as well as “a few more points that have strategic meaning.” The official spoke Tuesday on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. The official dismissed reports of a larger Israeli invasion as “rumors.” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israeli forces were moving to control a roughly 400-square-kilometer (155-square-mile) demilitarized buffer zone in Syrian territory. The buffer zone between Syria and the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights was created by the U.N. after the 1973 Mideast war. Following the overthrow of President Bashar Assad, Israel sent troops into the buffer zone. It said the move was temporary and was aimed at preventing attacks. It said the 1974 agreement establishing the zone had collapsed and that Syrian troops had withdrawn from their positions. Israel has also carried out airstrikes across Syria in recent days targeting what it says are suspected chemical weapons and long-range rockets. Egypt and Saudi Arabia have condemned Israel’s incursion, accusing it of exploiting the disarray in Syria and violating international law. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed it in a move not recognized by the international community, except for the United States. The rest of the world views the strategic plateau as occupied Syrian territory. — By Joseph Krauss DAMASCUS, Syria — Israel’s air force has carried out hundreds of airstrikes in different parts of Syria as its ground forces move north of the Golan Heights along the border with Lebanon, according to an opposition war monitor. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Tuesday that since the fall of President Bashar Assad’s government, Israel’s air force has carried out more than 300 airstrikes against research centers, arms depots and military infrastructure across Syria, as well as a naval base along the Mediterranean coast. Associated Press journalists in Damascus witnessed intense airstrikes on the city and its suburbs overnight into Tuesday morning. Photographs posted online by activists showed destroyed missile launchers, helicopters and warplanes. Meanwhile, Israeli troops marched along the border with Lebanon and now control a long stretch on the Syrian side facing Lebanon’s Rashaya region, according to the war monitor's head, Rami Abdurrahman, and the Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen TV, which has reporters in Syria. Israeli troops are now about 25 kilometers (15 miles) southwest of Damascus, according to the monitor. DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Saudi Arabia has condemned Israel’s incursion into a buffer zone in Syria and a wave of Israeli airstrikes launched after the overthrow of President Bashar Assad. The Saudi Foreign Ministry said in a statement Tuesday that “the assaults carried out by the Israeli occupation government, including the seizure of the buffer zone in the Golan Heights, and the targeting of Syrian territory confirm Israel’s continued violation of the principles of international law and its determination to sabotage Syria’s chances of restoring its security, stability and territorial integrity.” Israel sent troops into a buffer zone inside Syria that had been established after the 1973 Mideast war. It said the move was temporary and was taken to prevent any cross-border attacks after Syrian troops withdrew. Israel has also carried out heavy airstrikes that it says are aimed at preventing suspected chemical weapons and long-range rockets from falling into the hands of extremists. Saudi Arabia has been in talks with the United States in recent years over normalizing relations with Israel in exchange for a U.S. defense pact, American assistance in establishing a civilian nuclear program and a pathway to the establishment of a Palestinian state. But the kingdom has also repeatedly condemned Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip, where it is at war with the Hamas militant group. Last month, Saudi Arabia’s crown prince and day-to-day ruler Mohammed bin Salman accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza , allegations Israel adamantly rejects.

Ford government's supervised consumption site law violates charter, Toronto group claims in lawsuitLINCOLN — Young men, start your engines. Rev ‘em up, too. You’re the 2025 Nebraska football recruiting class — 20 strong — and probably should have been the story of NU’s Signing Day press conference. But you were at least the third story, and maybe fourth, behind the coaches who left, the ex-Huskers who hit the transfer portal and perhaps the players your school might take from the transfer portal. When you started high school, back in 2021, there was still some pageantry around this day, in late December though it may have been. Now, first week of December, you’re practically a doctor’s appointment squeezed into a Wednesday afternoon. You’re rookies in a sea of perpetual free agents. Most of you are enrolling early and that’s a good thing; the quicker you learn the playbook and hit the weight room, the better chance you’ll have to impress coaches. Coach Matt Rhule thinks you’ll succeed in that effort, as well. He likes you guys. For a couple of you, Dawson Merritt and Cortez Mills, he and his staff kept going back to the well again and again to flip you from Alabama and Oklahoma, respectively. How often does Nebraska beat those two schools for any recruit? This could be one of the strongest Husker recruiting classes in years. “We’ve got some guys who can come in and play early,” Rhule said, “because this class is going to have to come in and play early.” Hear that? He means it. Rhule has playing time to offer. For the 2025 team to win big, some of you have to step into major roles. On defense, so many seniors exhausted their eligibility, and so many other guys hit the transfer portal, that the coaches will be choosing between, say, sophomores, redshirt freshmen and, well, you. On offense, your coordinator is Dana Holgorsen, and he surely doesn’t care how old you are. At the skill spots, he’ll play whoever competes the best. Of course, he also said on NU’s in-house Signing Day special that he’s bringing “20 or 30” transfers in for visits and selecting the best from that pool. Maybe Holgo’s exaggerating. Do you want to test him? So you need to impress these guys. In an era of revenue sharing, NIL and unlimited transfers, you might get two spring camps to develop on a roster before you’re asked to be a key contributor. Three, maybe, if you’re a quarterback or a raw offensive tackle. After that, you’re a revenue-sharing dollar figure on a spreadsheet that might be replaced by another rookie — or transfer. Yeah, it is cutthroat. This isn’t 1986. Or even 2006, perhaps the golden age of the prep recruiting era, when the recruiting sites got big, the all-star games got max publicity, ESPN had a big blowout special in early February and drama practically dragged into the start of the next spring camp. It was hard to transfer back then even once, particularly if the coach wanted to block your release or you didn’t have a redshirt season to sit out one year of eligibility. In 2006, if seven guys left in December, before a bowl game, it was a mass exodus — cause for concern at the health of the program. In 2024, seven guys leaving is called “Monday and Tuesday.” And here you are in the midst of the chaos, not knowing for sure what the college football system will look like in 2025, much less 2027. You probably wouldn’t have teed it up this way. But here’s your swing. Over the next nine months, you’d be wise to make an impression. Good thing you can, Dawson Merritt. Nebraska needs a versatile edge rusher who can drop into coverage, and Princewill Umanmielen, athletic as he may be, did not quite develop into that guy before hitting the transfer portal. Ditto, Christian Jones. You looked the part at linebacker for years leading the state’s best defense, and Mikai Gbayor just hit the transfer portal. Can you step into a role quickly? Same for you, Jamarion Parker. At running back, you can turn an eight-yard run into an 80-yarder, and that’s a skill Nebraska sorely needs. Malcolm Simpson and Kade Pietrzak, you’ve seen this program is unafraid to plug a freshman defensive lineman into a game. Your frames seem sturdy enough to play. Cortez Mills and Isaiah Mozee, you’re four-star receivers who flashed electric run-after-the-catch skills in high school. Bring those to campus like Jacory Barney did, and you might play as much as Jacory Barney has. TJ Lateef, you’re a quarterback and may have to wait your turn behind Dylan Raiola, but you’ll likely be doing so as Raiola’s backup, given Rhule’s openness to moving Heinrich Haarberg to different spots. Some of you need time with the nutrition and weight staffs — 18-year-old tackles rarely walk into a program ready to block 23-year-olds — but those guys are the exception at every school. Most of you will play, or transfer, by this rule: When you’re getting compensated more than anyone 10 years ago could have imagined, the standards for keeping that salary rapidly change. You’re a recruiting class full of promise and opportunity. You’ll face a heap of the other thing, too, though. “There’s bunch of these guys we expect to play,” Rhule said. “You don’t want to put that on the guys until they get here, but I want them to have the expectation.” Even if you don’t, the coaches will. Get local news delivered to your inbox!Justin Baldoni has been hit with another lawsuit, this time from his former publicist Stephanie Jones. The actor, as well as his publicist Jennifer Abel , crisis manager Melissa Nathan and Wayfarer Studios, are named as defendants in a suit alleging defamation and breach of contract. The filing arrives less than one week after Blake Lively , who stared alongside Baldoni in This Ends With Us , filed a suit alleging that her co-star and director sexually harassed her and orchestrated a smear campaign against her. The newly-filed lawsuit alleges that Jones was kept in the dark about Abel and Nathan’s “scheming to ‘bury’ and ‘destroy’ co-star Blake Lively to protect Baldoni” using “an aggressive media smear campaign,” according to documents reviewed by Rolling Stone . “At the same time, Abel and Nathan were pursuing a far more selfish purpose: Tearing down Jones’s reputation to take her clients and enrich themselves upon Abel’s planned departure from Jonesworks,” it claims. Abel worked for Jones’ company, Jonesworks, from July 2020 through August 2024. Her employment was terminated after Jones discovered the aforementioned plot, the complaint alleges. It was around the time of her termination that Baldoni allegedly began working with Abel on a plan to course correct after he “began to fear that the media might report on allegations of misogynistic and toxic on-set behavior and that the fallout would be harmful to his reputation and career.” Abel is accused of seeking out Nathan to remedy the situation through the alleged smear campaign, which the suit claims has been unfairly pinned on Jones. Nathan’s client roster has included the likes of Johnny Depp, Drake, and Logan Paul. Jones claims to have had no knowledge or involvement in the campaign against Lively. “To this day, Abel and Nathan continue to point the finger falsely at Jones now that their own misconduct is coming to light, and to defame and attack Jones in the industry,” the suit alleges. “Defendants will not stop attacking Jones, and have refused any efforts to resolve these issues out of court. This lawsuit seeks to finally put a stop to their continued misconduct and to compensate Jones and Jonesworks for the damage Defendants’ conduct and scheme has inflicted.” Editor’s picks The 100 Best TV Episodes of All Time The 250 Greatest Guitarists of All Time The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time The 200 Greatest Singers of All Time The document contains screenshots of text messages between Abel and Nathan that are said to have been obtained through a sweep of the publicist’s company phone following her termination from Jonesworks. “Abel and Nathan’s covert take down and smear campaigns were revealed in black and white,” the suit claims. Lively’s lawsuit also contained text messages from Abel, Nathan, and Baldoni. Abel recently dismissed the “cherry picked messages” in a since-deleted Facebook post. “No negative press was ever facilitated, no social combat plan, although we were prepared for it as it’s our job to be ready for any scenario,” Abel wrote. “But we didn’t have to implement anything because the internet was doing the work for us.” In the exchanges listed in Jones’ suit, Nathan seemingly encouraged Baldoni to depart from Jonesworks, both as an individual client and through his company Wayfarer Studios, to work with Abel at her new company RWA Communications. “We are going to war,” reads one text from Abel to Nathan around the time of her intended departure, prior to Jones terminating her employment. Abel allegedly downloaded “sensitive client and business information” for brands and clients prior to her leaving Jonesworks. “With the encouragement and assistance of Nathan, Baldoni, and Heath, Abel stole Wayfarer and Baldoni as clients, targeted other Jonesworks clients to leave, and launched the long-planned and competing RWA Communications,” the suit claims. “As a result, Wayfarer and Baldoni ceased working with Jonesworks and, despite being under contract with Jonesworks, refused to pay Jonesworks what they contractually owed for its services.” Reps for Baldoni, Abel, Nathan, and Wayfarer Studios did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone ‘s request for comment. Jones is seeking damages to herself and her company in an unspecified amount to be determined at trial.

By Jeffrey Dastin NEW YORK (Reuters) – Policymakers aiming to recommend safeguards for artificial intelligence are facing a formidable challenge: science that is still evolving. AI developers themselves are grappling with how to prevent abuse of novel systems, offering no easy fix for government authorities to embrace, Elizabeth Kelly, director of the U.S. Artificial Intelligence Safety Institute, said on Tuesday. Cybersecurity is an area of concern according to Kelly, speaking at the Reuters NEXT conference in New York. Ways to bypass guard rails that AI labs established for security and other topics, called “jailbreaks,” can be easy, she said. “It is difficult for policymakers to say these are best practices we recommend in terms of safeguards, when we don’t actually know which ones work and which ones don’t,” Kelly said. Technology experts are hashing out how to vet and protect AI across different dimensions. Another area regards synthetic content. Tampering with digital watermarks, which flag to consumers when images are AI-generated, remains too easy for authorities to devise guidance for industry, she said. The U.S. AI Safety Institute, created under the Biden administration, is addressing such concerns via academic, industry and civil society partnerships that inform its tech evaluations, Kelly said. She said AI safety is a “fundamentally bipartisan issue,” when asked what will happen to the body after Donald Trump takes office in January. The institute’s first director, Kelly recently presided over the inaugural gathering of AI safety institutes from around the world, which took place last month in San Francisco. Asked about the outcome of these meetings, Kelly said the 10 country members were working toward interoperable safety tests with the help of more technical, hoodie-wearing experts than in a typical diplomatic meeting. “It was very much getting the nerds in the room,” she said. (Reporting by Jeffrey Dastin, Kenneth Li and Krystal Hu in New York; Editing by Matthew Lewis) Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content. var ytflag = 0;var myListener = function() {document.removeEventListener('mousemove', myListener, false);lazyloadmyframes();};document.addEventListener('mousemove', myListener, false);window.addEventListener('scroll', function() {if (ytflag == 0) {lazyloadmyframes();ytflag = 1;}});function lazyloadmyframes() {var ytv = document.getElementsByClassName("klazyiframe");for (var i = 0; i < ytv.length; i++) {ytv[i].src = ytv[i].getAttribute('data-src');}} Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() );New York woman draws closer to solving 44-year-old mystery of her grandparents' disappearanceDecline in Australian video game industry journalism leaves consumers lacking local information

AI Ease Unveils Free AI Background Generator for Effortless Image Enhancement 12-24-2024 06:34 PM CET | Business, Economy, Finances, Banking & Insurance Press release from: ABNewswire In the digital world, great visuals are a must for standing out, be it for professional photographers, e-commerce sellers, or content creators. However, creating the perfect background for your images can be time-consuming and costly. Thankfully, with the power of AI, you can create stunning backgrounds without the hassle. The article explains how to make an AI background online using the ai background generator online [ https://www.aiease.ai/ai-background/ ]. This tool is 100% free, AI-powered, has no limit on usage and does not require any account creation. Image: https://www.abnewswire.com/uploads/35116d754bd8ae72a951a9835ed1f32d.jpg Step 1: Upload and Remove To begin with the AI background generator, you are to upload the image to edit. Be it a portrait, a product photo, or any other kind of image, just click the "Upload" button on the AI Ease platform. Once uploaded, the tool instantly starts working to remove the existing background from the image in a matter of seconds. This happens automatically and makes the preparation of your image for further steps easy. The AI-powered tool works remarkably well with the most minute detail at AI Ease. It automatically detects the foreground subject and lets you perfect the background without having to mess around with the edges or fine details of your subject. This step will eliminate the need to manually remove the background, saving you time and effort. Step 2: Creating AI-generated Backgrounds After removing the background, it is time to select a new backdrop for your image. AI Ease provides two strong modes to generate AI backgrounds: AI Scenes and Custom. * AI Scenes You can choose any of the background templates available the moment you enter "AI Scenes" mode. Among the most common backdrops for AI scenes, you will find marble, wood, texture, indoor settings, and more. From a simple neutral background for product photography to an artistic scene that would improve your portrait, everything will be at your disposal. With an AI background generator, all background scenes are created professionally in style, well-chosen, and match your subject. Such scenes will suit users when they want to accomplish a certain goal fast without any compromise on image quality that of an e-commerce product photography solution, a personal portrait shoot, or otherwise. * Custom Mode Those who would love a personal tone would like the "Custom" mode in AI Ease. It is a text-to-AI background for those cases when one needs exactly what he or she sees, be it product imagery with unique sceneries or some personalized background for other creative work. All you have to do now is describe the background you intend to use. For example, say, "a vintage wooden desk with soft natural light filtering in," and let AI magically create an image for what you have typed. Then, this custom mode used a large language model full of state-of-the-art text-to-image algorithms. This gives you the capability to create backgrounds that are highly unique to your needs, whatever they may be in nature. Step 3: Download and Share Once you are pleased with the new background, it is now full-time to complete your creation. Just click the "Download" button, and your image is saved. Instant download-you are ready to go with your newly enhanced image for anything you may need: an e-commerce store, social media post, or personal project. Being able to download and share right from the platform makes this whole process seamless and efficient. The AI background generator, courtesy of AI Ease, promises quality that you can assuredly use down to professional or even personal projects with confidence. Save your time and up your game in your content without fuss, as you can directly download and share your images instantly. AI-Powered Technology for Better Results The background generator at AI Ease is driven by advanced AI algorithms to ensure that every background it generates is visually stunning and professionally crafted. It works in the background to ensure smooth processing, accuracy, and quality results. With the added advantage of being completely free, users can generate unlimited high-quality backgrounds with no subscriptions or sign-ups required. Elevate with AI Background Templates Perhaps one of the greatest strengths of the AI background generator by AI Ease is the wide array of background templates it will offer. The variety of marble, wood, and textured backdrops within these AI background templates is designed to answer the most in-demand needs concerning visual content. Whether you shoot products, create artwork, or capture portraits, AI scenes from AI Ease guarantee that the most professional, stable, and visually pleasing backgrounds are literally at your fingertips online. These templates are designed to complement your images, not overwhelm the subject. Each scene is carefully composed to provide a balanced backdrop that will let your subject be the focal point while the background sets the perfect setting. Try for Free One of the best features of the AI background generator by AI Ease is that it's completely free. Whether a professional photographer, a businessman, or just a hobbyist, one can generate high-quality AI backgrounds for his/her images without spending even a single penny. Just pay a visit to the website of AI Ease, upload your image, and get started with generating backgrounds. Because the tool is user-friendly, there are no special skills or prior experiences with photo editing software needed to work with it. Whether for your website, social media, or e-commerce store, AI Ease gives you an easy way of adding oomph to your images in a very fast and efficient manner. Personalize from Text Prompts The full customization option is a whole new dimension introduced by the AI Background Generator. You will be able to create backgrounds that are unique for your images with text prompts. Be it simple, elegant, complex, or artful, the "Custom" mode generates a background that fits your requirements to the dot. The features that make it useful for the enhancement of product photography include providing an effect of background that suits either your brand or your product in question. Thanks to this great functionality provided by AI Ease, backdrops can be easily created to fit with one's vision without too much work and resource input compared to traditional photo shoots or very expensive stock images. Make Products Shine The quality of product images can make or break a sale for any e-commerce business. For e-commerce sellers, AI Ease's free online AI background generator is something that completely revolutionizes their selling game. Using either "AI Scenes" or "Custom" mode, the sellers can add professional-looking backgrounds to the photos of their products and present their merchandise in a visually appealing way. The tool elevates your product images, creating a distinction with competitors for the attention of prospective buyers. Be it fashion clothes, accessories, or other in-home products that one sells, this AI-powered software makes it an easy approach to generating fabulous product images that will surely impress your customers' senses. Image: https://www.abnewswire.com/uploads/59d715f2c41d9cd802f1c3f53454a2f6.jpg Conclusion AI Ease's AI background generator makes creating quality backgrounds for your images a whole lot easier. This is a no-cost, AI-powered utility that can be used with either pre-set scenes or custom-created backgrounds using a text prompt. Be it photography, e-commerce, or content creation, AI Ease makes the job look all that easy and efficient. All one has to do to achieve professional-quality images is go through a few simple steps: upload your image, pick or customize your AI-generated background, and finally download the result. Added to this factor of free, unlimited, and easy to use, AI Easy turns out to be very helpful for anyone who desires to make AI backgrounds online. Media Contact Company Name: Aiease Contact Person: Mike Hasy Email:Send Email [ https://www.abnewswire.com/email_contact_us.php?pr=ai-ease-unveils-free-ai-background-generator-for-effortless-image-enhancement ] State: New York Country: United States Website: https://www.aiease.ai/ This release was published on openPR.

When baseball historian Bill Humber first heard about the golden at-bat idea that Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred floated on a recent podcast, he was a little taken aback. Read this article for free: Already have an account? As we navigate through unprecedented times, our journalists are working harder than ever to bring you the latest local updates to keep you safe and informed. Now, more than ever, we need your support. Starting at $14.99 plus taxes every four weeks you can access your Brandon Sun online and full access to all content as it appears on our website. or call circulation directly at (204) 727-0527. Your pledge helps to ensure we provide the news that matters most to your community! When baseball historian Bill Humber first heard about the golden at-bat idea that Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred floated on a recent podcast, he was a little taken aback. Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? When baseball historian Bill Humber first heard about the golden at-bat idea that Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred floated on a recent podcast, he was a little taken aback. “I kind of laughed, actually,” Humber said Wednesday. “I thought it was one of the stupidest ideas I’d ever heard.” MLB has seen its share of change of late, but the thought of a team using one at-bat each game to send any hitter it wants to the plate — even if it’s not their turn in the batting order — was quite a curveball. “This can’t be real,” former Blue Jays pitcher and seven-time Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens posted on social media. Wild-card playoff tinkering, pitch clocks, shift rules and automatic runners are some of the more significant changes to the game in recent years. All had varying levels of detractors and the golden at-bat discussion is no different. Critics are eyeing it like a meatball thrown across the middle of the plate. “It doesn’t really fit within the logic of the game in my mind,” said Humber, a Canadian Baseball Hall of Famer. “I look upon it quite askance to be honest with you. I don’t see the point of it in a way. “I mean to some extent, the magic of baseball is those unheralded batters who arrive at a situation that one wouldn’t have thought that they would ever have been in, and allowing them to bat in place.” Humber cited a number of grand baseball moments that might not have happened if a golden at-bat rule were in effect. “One can imagine when Bobby Thomson hit his famous home run against the (Brooklyn) Dodgers in 1951, Willie Mays was on deck,” he said of the ‘Shot Heard ‘Round the World’ that gave the New York Giants the National League pennant. “What if they had a golden at-bat and put Mays at bat, maybe he would have struck out or popped up or hit into a double-play or who knows what. There’s lots of situations like that.” What about the two famous World Series-winning walkoffs? Would the skippers have used a golden at-bat to get their best pure hitter to the plate? Bill Mazeroski went deep to give Pittsburgh the Fall Classic in 1960 and Joe Carter’s walkoff blast in 1993 gave the Blue Jays their second straight World Series title. Mazeroski’s power numbers were middling while Carter, who led the Blue Jays in homers and RBIs that year, had a mediocre batting average. “I think the magic of the game are those moments that are unpredictable and yet kind of create some of the joy of the game in our memories,” Humber said. ” I think this kind of runs afoul of that tradition. “I’m not a fan, let me say that. But that’s not to say it won’t happen.” Manfred first mentioned the golden at-bat idea publicly in an interview with John Ourand on Puck’s “The Varsity” podcast. The commissioner said the subject came up at a recent owners’ meeting. Retired sportswriter Dave Perkins, who covered the Blue Jays for years over his long career at the Toronto Star, said use of a golden at-bat would be “a travesty.” “On the surface I say it’s absolutely stupid and ridiculous,” he said. “But a lot of other things I thought were stupid and ridiculous worked their way into the games and they’re even OK with me now.” The subject of potential rule changes like the golden at-bat came up when Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins met with the Toronto chapter of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America earlier this week. “It’s interesting to me because we went through so much change over the last couple of years,” he said. “Getting to that change was a scratch and a claw and a climb. And then once the change happened, everyone — for the most part — thought, ‘OK, that went OK and it seems like there’s a better product on the field.’ “So now the dialogue around change is with a much more open mind whether it be players, staff, the exchanges, the ideas, even if they seem very difficult to wrap your head around. They’re not getting stiff-armed as much as they were the first go-round.” Scott Crawford, operations director of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, said he prefers a traditional setup where any player can be a hero at any time. “I like the team aspect of the game where you get your shot,” he said. “You can be a No. 8 hitter and you can come up with a big hit and win a World Series and (a superstar like Shohei) Ohtani can strike out.” This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 4, 2024. Follow @GregoryStrongCP on X. Advertisement AdvertisementWall Street stocks surged to fresh records Wednesday on hopes about easing US monetary policy, shrugging off political upheaval in South Korea and France. All three major US indices scored records, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average finishing above 45,000 for the first time. "The market at this point is looking for excuses to go up, and there's not really anything that might work against that narrative," said Steve Sosnick of Interactive Brokers. "Over the last couple of days, it's managed to ignore all sorts of inconvenient things and decided that the situation in France doesn't matter for them," Sosnick said of the stock market. "The situation in Korea doesn't matter." South Korea's stock market fell less than feared and the won rebounded from earlier losses after President Yoon Suk Yeol swiftly reversed a decision to impose martial law. In Europe, Paris stocks managed to advance as France's government faced looming no-confidence votes. Late Wednesday in Paris, French lawmakers voted to oust the government of Prime Minister Michel Barnier after just three months in office, pushing the country further into political uncertainty. For the first time in over sixty years, the National Assembly lower house toppled the incumbent government, approving a no-confidence motion that had been proposed by the hard left but which crucially was backed by the far-right headed by Marine Le Pen. "Political turmoil in both France and South Korea provide a uncertain backdrop for global markets, with the likely removal of both Barnier and Yoon bringing the potential for both countries to find a fresh direction," said Joshua Mahony, chief market analyst at Scope Markets. Thomas Mathews, head of Asia-Pacific markets at Capital Economics, said the losses in Seoul could have been "much worse" had the president not aborted his plan. "Rarely does a combined sell-off in a country's stocks, bonds and currency feel like a relief rally," he said. Oil prices turned lower after surging around 2.5 percent Tuesday, mainly after the United States sanctioned 35 companies and ships it accused of involvement with Iran's "shadow fleet" illicitly selling Iranian oil to foreign markets. Major producers at the OPEC+ grouping led by Saudi Arabia and Russia were set to meet Thursday to discuss extending output limits. Back in New York, major indices were led by the Nasdaq, which piled on 1.3 percent to finish at a third straight record. Wednesday's gains came after payroll firm ADP said US private-sector hiring in November came in at a lower-than-expected 146,000 jobs, while a survey from the Institute for Supply Management showed weaker sentiment than expected in the services sector. But the lackluster data boosts expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates later this month. At a New York conference, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell refrained from tipping his hand, but he "didn't say anything that would scare the market," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare. O'Hare noted that Wednesday's gains were led by large tech names such as Nvidia and Microsoft, which are major AI players. The boost followed strong results from Salesforce, which was the biggest gainer in the Dow with an 11 percent jump. New York - Dow: UP 0.7 percent at 45,014.04 (close) New York - S&P 500: UP 0.6 percent at 6,086.49 (close) New York - Nasdaq Composite: UP 1.3 percent at 19,735.12 (close) London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.3 percent at 8,335.81 (close) Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.7 percent at 7,303.28 (close) Frankfurt - DAX: UP 1.1 percent at 20,232.14 (close) Seoul - Kospi Index: DOWN 1.4 percent at 2,464.00 (close) Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.1 percent at 39,276.39 (close) Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: FLAT at 19,742.46 (close) Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.4 percent at 3,364.65 (close) Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0510 from $1.0509 on Tuesday Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2702 from $1.2673 Dollar/yen: UP at 150.56 yen from 149.60 yen Euro/pound: DOWN at 82.71 from 82.92 pence Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 1.8 percent at $72.31 per barrel West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 2.0 percent at $68.54 per barrel burs-jmb/jgc

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A fight broke out at midfield after Michigan stunned No. 2 Ohio State 13-10 on Saturday as Wolverines players attempted to plant their flag and were met by Buckeyes who confronted them. Police had to use pepper spray to break up the players, who threw punches and shoves in the melee that overshadowed the rivalry game. Ohio State police said in a statement “multiple officers representing Ohio and Michigan deployed pepper spray.” Ohio State police will investigate the fight, according to the statement. After the Ohio State players confronted their bitter rivals at midfield, defensive end Jack Sawyer grabbed the top of the Wolverines' flag and ripped it off the pole as the brawl moved toward the Michigan bench. Eventually, police officers rushed into the ugly scene. Ohio State coach Ryan Day said he understood the actions of his players. “There are some prideful guys on our team who weren't going to sit back and let that happen,” Day said. The two Ohio State players made available after the game brushed off questions about it. Michigan running back Kalel Mullings, who rushed for 116 yards and a touchdown, didn't like how the Buckeyes players involved themselves in the Wolverines' postgame celebration. He called it “classless.” “For such a great game, you hate to see stuff like that after the game," he said in an on-field interview with Fox Sports. “It’s just bad for the sport, bad for college football. But at the end of the day, you know some people got to — they got to learn how to lose, man. ... We had 60 minutes, we had four quarters, to do all that fighting.” Michigan coach Sherrone Moore said everybody needs to do better. “So much emotions on both sides," he said. "Rivalry games get heated, especially this one. It’s the biggest one in the country, so we got to handle that better.” Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here . AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football