AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas won the Big 12 title in 2023 on its way out the door to the Southeastern Conference. It was still swinging open when Arizona State waltzed in and won the league title in its debut season. And now the old Big 12 champs meet the new Big 12 champs on the path toward a potential national title. The fifth-seeded Longhorns and fourth-seeded Sun Devils play News Years Day in the Peach Bowl in the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff . Both had their doubters they could get here. Texas (12-2) still had to prove is was “ready” for the SEC. Arizona State (11-2) was picked to finish last in the Big 12. But the Sun Devils quickly started winning and having fun in some new road environments in college towns smaller than some of their stops in the more cosmopolitan old Pac-12. All-American running back Cam Skattebo led the barnstorming tour. “We were not used to getting tortillas thrown at us at Texas Tech. You're not used to some of these environments," Sun Devils coach Kenny Dillingham said Monday. “When you're in the Pac-12, you're playing in Seattle, you're playing in L.A., you're playing in Salt Lake City. We got to face a lot more small college town football with really, really great environments. ... It was definitely fun to join a new league," Dillingham said. And Dillingham laid down some Texas roots. The Sun Devils are recruiting Texas players out of high school, and the current roster has six transfers who started their college careers in burnt orange in Austin. “The guys we’ve gotten from Texas and coach (Steve Sarkisian's) program have been unbelievable,” Dillingham said. “We know what we’re getting when we’re getting a guy from that program, and that’s a guy who has worked really hard, competed and been pushed. Those are the things that we like to bring in.” Safety Xavion Alford was named All-Big 12 . Defensive end Prince Dorbah is another Sun Devils starter. Defensive lineman Zac Swanson, who has two sacks this season, is another former Longhorn who said he relished a chance to beat his former team. Recruited by Texas out of Phoenix, Swanson was a reserve in 2022 and 2023 behind future NFL draft picks T'Vondre Sweat and Byron Murphy. “That's a team who kicked me out and said I'd never I was never going to be good enough to play there,” Swanson said last week. “That's something that has been on my agenda for a while.” Dillingham joked he'd like to get more Texas transfers this week. Sarkisian simply noted that he wished he'd signed Skattebo, a Californian who transferred from Sacramento State after the 2022 season. “I was unaware, so kudos to them. They found him, he's a heckuva player,” said Sarkisian, who also is a California native. Sarkisian said he was impressed by the Sun Devil's first-year success in the Big 12. “We were in that Big 12, what, for 27 years? We won four. This is their first year in and they won a Big 12 Championship. It’s a really hard thing to do,” Sarkisian said. “They’re playing with a ton of confidence right now. The last two months, I think they’re playing as good a football as anybody in the country.” Despite wining that last Big 12 title and a playoff appearance in 2023, Texas still faced skeptics that the Longhorns would take their lumps in the SEC this year. Texas was more than ready for the league and the Longhorns made it to the SEC championship game. Their only two losses have been to Georgia, the No. 2 seed in the playoff. Sarkisian still remembers his 5-7 Texas debut in 2021. The program wasn't ready for the SEC and the playoff back then, but it certainly is now. Texas is the only one of last year's four playoff teams to make the expanded 12-team field this year. “There’s a lot to be proud of, but mostly I’m proud of our veterans, our leaders, our seniors, because those guys went from 5-7 in year one, they went through 8-5 in year two, and they didn’t jump ship. They hung in there with us. They believed in what they were doing,” Sarkisian said. 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
Aybak: About 35 miners were trapped under the rubble of a coal mine in Afghanistan’s Samangan province, local officials said on Sunday, December 15. The provincial health director, Sayed Usman Hamidi, counted 35 miners under the debris, saying rescue teams and health personnel have been dispatched to the area to rescue the trapped miners, Xinhua news agency reported. “Preliminary reports indicate that several miners were busy in a coal mine in the Dara-i-Sufi Payin district of Samangan province yesterday, but part of the mine caved in, and resultantly several miners were trapped under rubble,” a statement from the provincial police office released on Sunday said. The statement further said that police personnel, local officials, and villagers have rushed to the site to rescue trapped miners from under the debris. The operations are being continued to rescue workers trapped under the debris but none have been freed yet, according to local Taliban officials. The incident occurred around 6 p.m. Saturday, according to the Bakhtar News Agency. Earlier this week, two workers died from gas exposure at a coal mine in Bamiyan province’s Khwaja Ganj village. In February 2002, at least 10 miners lost their lives after being trapped underground when a coal mine collapsed in Afghanistan. In 2019, at least 30 people were killed in the collapse of a gold mine in Afghanistan, officials said. The collapse occurred in the Kohistan district of Badakhshan province. Afghanistan houses vast resources of minerals, but many of the mines are old and poorly maintained. Afghanistan’s mining sector has seen frequent fatal accidents, often attributed to inadequate safety measures and a lack of proper equipment.UP Shocker: 2 Men Dragged For 300 Metres By Truck In Agra, Here's What Happened Next
Arkansas WR Andrew Armstrong declares for NFL draft, skipping bowl
NEW YORK (AP) — Free agent pitchers Luis Gabriel Moreno and Alejandro Crisostomo were suspended for 80 games each by Major League Baseball on Friday following positive tests for performance-enhancing substances under the minor league drug program. Moreno tested positive for Nandrolone, and Crisostomo tested positive for Boldenone and Nandrolone, the commissioner’s office said.
Moreno tested positive for Nandrolone, and Crisostomo tested positive for Boldenone and Nandrolone, the commissioner’s office said. A 26-year-old right-hander, Moreno was released by the New York Mets’ Class A Brooklyn Cyclones on Tuesday. He was 5-1 with a 5.33 ERA in 12 relief appearances this season for Brooklyn after spending 2016-23 in the San Francisco Giants organization. Crisostomo, a 24-year-old right-hander, was released by Minnesota on Aug. 24 after going 0-1 with a 7.13 ERA this year with the Florida Complex League Twins. He signed with Boston in 2017, spent 2018 in the Dominican Summer League with the Red Sox, then signed with Minnesota and spent 2023 with the Twins DSL team. Nineteen players have been suspended this year for positive drug tests, including eight under the minor league program and nine under the new program for minor league players assigned outside the United States and Canada. Two players have been suspended this year under the major league drug program. Noelvi Marté , a 22-year-old infielder who is the Cincinnati Reds’ top prospect, missed the first 80 games following a positive test for boldenone. Toronto Blue Jays infielder Orelvis Martínez was suspended for 80 games on June 23 following a positive test for the performance-enhancing drug clomiphene, an announcement made two days after his major league debut . AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
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On pornography platform OnlyFans, prostitutes make most of their earnings by directly engaging with their “fans” through messages and conversations. A global industry has popped up of imposters paid to pretend they are the OnlyFans model to trick lonely and desperate men into opening their wallets. Now, those human “chatters” are increasingly being replaced by AI-powered chatbots. Wired reports that the rise of AI has brought about concerns regarding its potential to replace human workers across various industries. One niche occupation that is already experiencing disruption due to AI is the role of OnlyFans chatters. These gig workers are paid to impersonate top-earning OnlyFans creators in online conversations with their fans, providing a crucial element of relationship simulation that complements the platform’s pornographic content. Traditionally, human chatters from countries with lower wage expectations, such as the Philippines, Pakistan, and India, have been employed to manage the deluge of amorous messages received by popular OnlyFans creators. Desperate men think they are talking to an OnlyFans prostitute when they are actually talking to a person sitting at a keyboard on the other side of the world. However, AI-generated stand-ins are increasingly replacing these human chatters, with several startups now offering access to AI chatbots and other generative AI tools tailored for this purpose. Kunal Anand, the founder of ChatPersona, an AI OnlyFans chatting service, states that his company has built its own model using data from creators’ chats to meet the growing demand for AI chatters. Since its launch last year, ChatPersona has attracted around 6,000 customers, including both individuals and agencies. Anand claims that ChatPersona does not violate OnlyFans’ terms of service, as it requires human intervention to send the AI-generated messages. The field of AI chatbots for OnlyFans is becoming increasingly crowded, with competitors like FlirtFlow, ChatterCharms, and Botly vying for market share. Supercreator, another player in the space, offers a suite of AI tools, including an assistant called Inbox Copilot that algorithmically sorts fans based on their spending habits, prioritizing “spenders” over “freeloaders.” Eden, a former OnlyFans creator who now runs a boutique agency called Heiss Talent, is an enthusiastic adopter of AI technology. She represents five creators who all use Supercreator’s AI tools, resulting in a significant increase in sales. One of the features automatically sends messages to inactive fans when they log in, which has led to substantial tips from conversations initiated by AI. While some AI chatter tools are fully automated, Eden prefers a mixed approach, with creators combining their own words with AI-generated content to maintain authenticity. This raises questions about the transparency of AI use in online interactions and whether companies should disclose when conversations are being handled by chatbots. Read more at Wired here. Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
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NEW YORK (AP) — Free agent pitchers Luis Gabriel Moreno and Alejandro Crisostomo were suspended for 80 games each by Major League Baseball on Friday following positive tests for performance-enhancing substances under the minor league drug program. Moreno tested positive for Nandrolone, and Crisostomo tested positive for Boldenone and Nandrolone, the commissioner’s office said. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.David NabarroThe finance negotiations at COP29: Climate negotiations become harder as the stakes get higher. The focus of COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan was on climate finance. The intention was to increase the target for finance to go to developing countries to help them protect their people and economies against climate disasters and invest into clean energy. This would come in the form of a new goal for global climate finance. Negotiating a finance goal was never going to be straightforward. It is challenging for nations to agree an amount that is fair for everyone and, at the same time, politically feasible for those that are asked to provide the cash. The last hours of COP29 in Baku were difficult and many participants felt dissatisfied when they left. Solid floor on which to build: But the outcome – a new global goal of $1.3 trillion annually by 2035, from public, private and innovative sources, with developed nations committing $300 billion per year - is a real increase on the previous target of $100bn a year. It is a solid floor on which to build. Is the amount big enough? Will it be made available to those who need it soon enough? I cannot say at this stage. Securing a sustainable future for all requires continued goodwill, engagement and collaboration. This is only possible if all concerned ensure the transparent provision, effective delivery and efficient use of promised funds. This will pave the way for greater confidence among donors and further increases in available resources. Growing momentum on the agri-food-nutrition-climate + intersection: I sensed a greater recognition that those who produce food are affected first, and worst, by climate change, and that the numbers of people at risk of food insecurity, hunger and malnutrition are on the rise with the...Arkansas receiver Andrew Armstrong said Tuesday that he is entering the NFL Draft. Later in the day, a school spokesman told reporters that Armstrong will skip the Razorbacks' bowl game. The destination isn't yet known. Armstrong led the Southeastern Conference in both receptions (78) and receiving yards (1,140) but caught just one touchdown in 11 games this season. His catches and yardage were both second-most in Arkansas history behind Cobi Hamilton, who had 90 receptions for 1,335 yards in 2012. "It's been a journey for the books and I wouldn't trade it for anything because it has made me into the man I am today," Armstrong said of his Razorbacks tenure in a social media post. "... I will never forget all the moments that were shared here in Fayetteville." Armstrong played two seasons at Texas A&M-Commerce before transferring to Arkansas ahead of the 2023 season. In two seasons with the Razorbacks, he caught 134 passes for 1,904 yards and six scores. --Field Level Media
NEW YORK (AP) — Free agent pitchers Luis Gabriel Moreno and Alejandro Crisostomo were suspended for 80 games each by Major League Baseball on Friday following positive tests for performance-enhancing substances under the minor league drug program. Moreno tested positive for Nandrolone, and Crisostomo tested positive for Boldenone and Nandrolone, the commissioner’s office said. A 26-year-old right-hander, Moreno was released by the New York Mets’ Class A Brooklyn Cyclones on Tuesday. He was 5-1 with a 5.33 ERA in 12 relief appearances this season for Brooklyn after spending 2016-23 in the San Francisco Giants organization. Crisostomo, a 24-year-old right-hander, was released by Minnesota on Aug. 24 after going 0-1 with a 7.13 ERA this year with the Florida Complex League Twins. He signed with Boston in 2017, spent 2018 in the Dominican Summer League with the Red Sox, then signed with Minnesota and spent 2023 with the Twins DSL team. Nineteen players have been suspended this year for positive drug tests, including eight under the minor league program and nine under the new program for minor league players assigned outside the United States and Canada. Two players have been suspended this year under the major league drug program. Noelvi Marté , a 22-year-old infielder who is the Cincinnati Reds’ top prospect, missed the first 80 games following a positive test for boldenone. Toronto Blue Jays infielder Orelvis Martínez was suspended for 80 games on June 23 following a positive test for the performance-enhancing drug clomiphene, an announcement made two days after his major league debut . AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb