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Ola Suzanne Stowers Featured in Exclusive Online Interview: From Operations to Orchids
As a student manager for the UA men’s basketball team, Canyon Torres’ love for his favorite sport has evolved over the years. Growing up in Tucson, Torres played the game throughout his youth and in high school. He said he realized at some point that he wouldn’t continue playing basketball competitively after high school, but still was passionate about the game and didn’t want to leave it behind. So, during his freshman year, Torres joined the UA men’s team as an equipment manager. Now, as a sophomore, Torres has bigger goals. After connecting with the players and coaches, learning and gaining knowledge, he hopes to join the men’s coaching staff after he graduates. Canyon Torres participates in drills, helping Arizona basketball player KJ Lewis with defending during practice. Being a student manager has many benefits, he said, but it also has its challenges. “Nobody knows what goes into the program,” he said. “And it feels like a 9-to-5 with a lot of work.” Student managers are expected to be available to staff and coaches, help scout for the team, help the program with team film and support the coaches. As a student manager, preparing for game days means making sure players are ready and there on time, and that their equipment is well organized. It also means helping players arrive on time for film sessions and warm-ups before the game starts. Torres said on game days, the McKale Center’s fan base creates a lot of great energy, and even on-the-road energy is contagious. Torres loves the environment as he is walking out with the players onto the court — especially when they are about to play against a good opponent. After a win? Torres describes it as a great feeling and said celebrating in the locker room with the team is electric. Canyon Torres practices basketball drills, delivering a ball to a player on the UA Men’s team. One of the challenges of working with the team, however, is missing out on college life because you are so busy with basketball. “You get FOMO, and if you don’t love being around the game, you’re wasting your time,” he said. “You don’t have much free time, you never know what days you have off while making time for yourself to be available for the team.” Torres said his time with the team has changed him, both personally and professionally. He used to be silent around players and coaches. His time on the team has helped him communicate better, he said. Now, he speaks up about what he believes in. He’s also learned directly from Arizona’s men’s basketball head coach Tommy Lloyd, as well as Brian Briggs, the program’s equipment manager. With more than 20 years of experience in basketball management, Briggs has spread his skills and knowledge among his student managers and the program. Working together for a common goal and making sure players are taken care of is his philosophy for success. Briggs said Torres is a hard worker who is always on the move, and he appreciates what Torres has brought to the program and team. Few students work with the UA basketball team, and Torres has taken full advantage of the opportunity, making a name for himself with Briggs and the staff. As Torres enters his second year as equipment manger, Briggs said he will continue pushing him to be better at his work and craft. Who: Arizona (6-5) vs. TCU (7-4), Big 12 opener When: 6 p.m. Where: McKale Center Watch: ESPN+ Listen: 1290-AM Arizona Sonoran News is a news service of the University of Arizona School of Journalism. Respond: Write a letter to the editor | Write a guest opinion Subscribe to stay connected to Tucson. A subscription helps you access more of the local stories that keep you connected to the community. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox!Victor Wembanyama went to a park in New York City and played 1-on-1 with fans on Saturday. He even lost a couple of games. Not in basketball, though. Wemby was playing chess. Before the San Antonio Spurs left New York for a flight to Minnesota, Wembanyama put out the call on social media: “Who wants to meet me at the SW corner of Washington Square park to play chess? Im there,” Wembanyama wrote. It was 9:36 a.m. People began showing up almost immediately. Washington Square Park is a known spot for chess in New York — Bobby Fischer among others have famously played there, and it's been a spot used for multiple movie scenes featuring the game. Wembanyama was there for an hour in the rain, from about 10-11 a.m. He played four games, winning two and losing two before departing to catch the Spurs' flight. Wembanyama had been trying to get somewhere to play chess for the bulk of the team's time in New York — the Spurs played the Knicks on Christmas and won at Brooklyn on Friday night. The schedule never aligned, until Saturday morning. And even with bad weather, he bundled up to make it happen. He posed for photos with a couple of dozen people who showed up, braving a morning of cold rain to play chess with one of the NBA's biggest stars. “We need an NBA players only Chess tournament, proceeds go to the charity of choice of the winner,” he wrote on social media after his chess trip was over. Wembanyama is averaging 25.2 points and 10.1 rebounds this season, his second in the NBA after winning rookie of the year last season. ___ AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA Tim Reynolds, The Associated PressIn 2024, curiosity was as intense as a solar eclipse—or even more so. The top Google searches of 2024 reveal a world grappling with major events and everyday mysteries, whether understanding celestial phenomena, untangling political controversies, or keeping up with pop culture. Here are Canadian's most searched "what", "why" and "how" according to Google Trends. In the "What" category, the skies—and the screens—dominated our attention. The most pressing question was, “What time is the solar eclipse?” as people worldwide didn’t want to miss the rare event. Combat sports lovers wanted to know “What time is the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight?” —an unusual clash of generations. Political intrigue was high with “What is Project 2025?” and “What time is the Presidential debate?” showing the upcoming election’s impact. Meanwhile, concerns about health, language, and technology appeared with questions like “What is Mpox?” , “What does demure mean?” , and “What is CrowdStrike?” The "Why" questions suggest a year of global conflicts, pop culture intrigue, and societal shifts. People sought explanations for pivotal events, from solar safety ( “Why can’t you look at a solar eclipse?” ) to political outcomes ( “Why did Trump win?”). Drake’s influence continued with “Why is Drake trending?” while geopolitical crises drove queries like “Why did Israel attack the Iranian embassy?” and “Why did ISIS attack Moscow?” On a lighter note, Canadian sports fans wanted to know “Why is Nylander not playing?” —a question underscoring the nation’s hockey fervour. The "How" list reflected practical concerns and a thirst for knowledge. Civic-minded searches like “How many electoral votes are there?” and “How to register to vote in the US?” led the charge. Sports remained a priority with “How to watch the Olympics in Canada?” and “How many Canadians on the Florida Panthers?” Health-related questions included “How does being barefoot affect your health?” Meanwhile, the eclipse generated queries like “How long will the eclipse last?” and “How to make solar eclipse glasses?” These top searches reflect a world where people want to be informed, prepared, and entertained—whether by an eclipse, a debate, or a celebrity headline.New weapons for F-16 and F-35 Hellenic Air Force fighter jets
William S. Burroughs was a gay drug addict. A knot of contradictions, he was also deeply homophobic, sexist, racist and a gun-loving conservative, a passion that would eventually lead to him to be convicted of manslaughter. Needless to say, his life was as wild as his fiction – just watch Luca Guadagnino’s new film . The film is an adaptation of Burroughs’ semi-autobiographical novella of the same name, which was written in Central America, to where he had fled after drunkenly – and unsuccessfully – attempting to shoot a whisky glass off his wife’s head at a party. The story follows William Lee (an avatar for Burroughs, brilliantly played by Daniel Craig) as he stalks through 1950s Mexico City looking to indulge in gorgeous men and mind-altering substances. If you’ve delved into Guadagnino’s back catalogue you know his filmic world is heady, steamy and deeply sensuous. Think of the bitten peach dripping with nectar in his queer coming-of-age film Call Me By Your Name, the dizzying and dangerous dances of Suspiria, and the hot love triangle in his most recent film, Challengers. His world is one of feverish longing, and Queer continues this legacy. Our reviewer, American literature expert James Miller, found it to be a fairly faithful adaptation of Burroughs’ novel. The first half follows Lee as he becomes obsessed with a tall good-looking young veteran called Eugene Allerton. In the second half, the pair embark on an adventure to South America to find yagé (the hallucinogen ayahuasca). It’s a beautifully shot film that, as Miller writes, “explores the tension between personal freedom, transgression and control – themes that endured throughout Burroughs’ work”. The task of translation Queer could have been a tricky book to adapt – Burroughs’ writing is highly experimental and laden with trippy images, which Guadagnino has somehow managed to evoke. Another impressive feat of translating a book to the screen is Netflix’s , based on the epic Colombian saga by Gabriel García Márquez. The book is a sprawling work of genius, responsible for popularising magical realism as a literary genre and winning García Márquez a Nobel prize. Surprisingly, despite its popularity, it has never been made into a film – the author himself considered it unfilmable. I get where he was coming from. Surely no studio could have the resources to render its wild mix of reality and fantasy the way our own imaginations can. But Netflix has grasped the nettle and gone big in what is one of their most expensive and lavish productions. Split into two parts, the first of which is eight episodes, the studio’s adaptation “does not disappoint in its scope or ambition,” according to Liz Harvey-Kattou, an expert in Latin American studies. A surprisingly faithful and detailed retelling, it will please those who adore the novel and bring new fans who love a beautiful period drama – as well as those who enjoy fantasy. Keeping on the theme of translation, this time from one language to another, Japanese writer Haruki Murakami has just published his latest novel, . The book revolves around two parallel stories, one about a 17-year-old boy, and the other of a 45-year-old man. After reading it in Japanese and English, Japanese studies scholar Gitte Marianne Hansen happened upon an fascinating difference between the way these two stories are set apart in each version. In English, the reader becomes aware that the two narratives are distinct as they get to grips with the different worlds they inhabit. However, in Japanese the difference is immediate because the language has several ways to say “I”. This might not seem like a big deal but, as Hansen’s piece outlines, it changes the story and the way the reader interprets it in several interesting ways. New digital horizons In As You Like It, Shakespeare famously wrote, “all the world’s a stage” and during the pandemic, actors Sam Crane and Mark Oosterveen took this to heart and ran with it. With theatres closed, they took every part of Grand Theft Auto’s online open-world game and made it a stage for a unique production of Hamlet. For future media academic Andy Miah, is the hilarious film documenting the making of this ingenious, boundary-pushing production. As well as showing the possibilities of theatre in digital spaces, it’s just a very funny and heartwarming film that will entertain theatre and games lovers in equal measure. I for one laughed out loud at frequent calls for actors and audience members to “please refrain from killing each other”. Also pushing traditional art forms to new places is the Tate Modern’s new exhibition . Featuring 150 works, it is one the most ambitious exhibitions at the Tate to date, bringing together groundbreaking works by artists who engaged with science, technology and material innovation up to the early 1990s. It’s a fascinating look at our relationship with technology before the commercialisation of the internet. As our reviewer Geoff Cox, an expert in art and computational culture, notes, there’s a sort of utopian hope, something innocent almost and idealistic, which we are missing now. To remove this article -Bishop T.D. Jakes suffers health scare after Sunday sermon
A China-based firm has achieved a groundbreaking feat by successfully igniting the world’s first 30MW-class pure hydrogen gas turbine. Called Jupiter I, the gas turbine is jointly developed by the Mingyang Group and several other companies and scientific research teams. The turbine, which offers a key solution for renewable energy storage, converts hydrogen from storage tanks back into electricity during peak hours. Converting excess electricity into hydrogen for storage The major challenge with renewable energy is the substantial waste that occurs during off-peak hours. Converting excess electricity into hydrogen for storage and then back to electricity at peak times is a viable solution, according to the company. Wang Yongzhi, general manager of Mingyang Hydrogen Gas Turbine Technology, stated that using hydrogen for power generation achieves a carbon-free process known as power-to-hydrogen-back-to-power. However, he noted that slow and inefficient conversion during peak demand periods can also lead to under-utilization, highlighting the need for high-capacity gas turbines. Technical difficulties of hydrogen combustion The development team successfully overcame three major technical challenges associated with hydrogen combustion: “easy backfire, strong oscillation, and high emissions.” They achieved this through iterative aerodynamic and thermal design, coupled with innovative structural design of the micro-premixed combustion chamber. This resulted in a pure hydrogen gas turbine combustion chamber design and control technology with independent intellectual property rights. A 30MW pure hydrogen gas turbine unit can effectively solve the problem of power abandonment in wind and solar energy projects with an installed capacity of 1 million kilowatts, and improve the economy of the “Shagohuang” new energy project and the stability of power transmission in the power grid, according to STdaily . The implementation of this pure hydrogen gas turbine demonstration project has the potential to significantly drive the diversification and clean transformation of China’s energy structure, positioning the country as a leader in hydrogen energy development and application. Jupiter I can resolve the challenge of electricity wastage “The machine can use more than 30,000 cubic meters of hydrogen in an hour, which, when calculated annually, is equivalent to a power generation of 500 million kWh of electricity being stored in hydrogen,” said Wang. Wang also maintained that Jupiter I can resolve the challenge of electricity wastage in the one-million-kW wind and solar energy projects, overcoming the limitations in hydrogen storage and transportation. It’s also being claimed that pure hydrogen gas turbines are crucial for addressing the issue of abandoned electricity from clean energy projects in western China’s deserts, Gobi and wastelands, thus enabling large-scale, long-term energy storage. “The new invention could play a significant role in China’s renewable power system and have broad market prospects globally, especially in regions rich in clean energy resources,” added Wang. It’s also being claimed that the scale of the Jupiter I is staggering. The image provided by Mingyang shows a fuel consumption rate of 443.45t/h (tons per hour) through its ten firing chambers. To put that into perspective, the Hindenburg airship, infamous for being filled with hydrogen before its catastrophic demise, was filled with roughly 18 metric tons of hydrogen. The Jupiter One generator moves enough hydrogen to fill the Hindenburg about 25 times per hour, reported New Atlas .
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Too many people want to be social-media influencersMinimum wage set to increase next week in Aruba and CuracaoThousands of Syrians gathered in Damascus’ main square and a historic mosque for the first Muslim Friday prayers since former President Bashar Assad was overthrown , a major symbolic moment for the country’s dramatic change of power. The rebels are now working to establish security and start a political transition after seizing the capital on Sunday. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made an unannounced visit to Iraq on Friday, pressing ahead with efforts to unify Middle East nations in support of a peaceful political transition in Syria. It’s part of Blinken’s 12th trip to the Mideast since the Israel-Hamas war erupted last year in Gaza but his first after Assad was ousted. The U.S. is also making a renewed push for an ceasefire in Gaza, where the war has plunged more than 2 million Palestinians into a severe humanitarian crisis. Israel’s war against Hamas has killed over 44,800 Palestinians in Gaza, more than half of them women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not say how many were combatants. The Israeli military says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence. The October 2023 attack by Hamas in southern Israel that sparked the war killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and around 250 others were taken hostage. Some 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead. Here's the latest: WASHINGTON — The U.S. military has transported out of Syria an American who disappeared seven months ago into former President Bashar Assad’s notorious prison system and was among the thousands released this week by rebels, a U.S. official said Friday. Travis Timmerman was flown out of Syria on a U.S. military helicopter, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing operation. Timmerman, 29, told The Associated Press he had gone to Syria on a Christian pilgrimage and was not ill-treated while in Palestine Branch, a notorious detention facility operated by Syrian intelligence. He said he was freed by “the liberators who came into the prison and knocked the door down (of his cell) with a hammer.” Timmerman said he was released Monday morning alongside a young Syrian man and 70 female prisoners, some of whom had their children with them. He had been held separately from Syrian and other Arab prisoners and said he didn’t know of any other Americans held in the facility. — By Lolita C. Baldor THE HAGUE, Netherlands — A Dutch court on Friday rejected a bid from human rights groups to block weapons exports to Israel and trading with the occupied territories, after finding there were sufficient checks already in place to comply with international law. The ten organizations told The Hague District Court last month that they thought the Netherlands was in violation of the 1948 Genocide Convention, drawn up following World War II, by continuing to sell weapons to Israel more than a year into the conflict in Gaza. “The government uses my own tax money, that I pay, to kill my own family. I’ve lost 18 members of my own family,” Ahmed Abofoul, a legal adviser for the pro-Palestinian organization Al-Haq, one of the groups involved in the lawsuit, told the court during a hearing in November . The court ruling said that “it is not up to the interim relief judge to order the state to reconsider government policy. That is primarily a political responsibility.” Lawyers for the government argued it wasn’t up to a judge to decide foreign policy for the Netherlands. The activist groups pointed to several emergency orders from another court, the International Court of Justice, as confirming the obligation to stop weapons sales. In January, the top U.N. court said it was plausible Palestinians were being deprived of some rights protected under the Genocide Convention. The coalition said it will review the court’s ruling and is considering an appeal. CAIRO — Israeli attacks in and around a hospital in northern Gaza wounded three medical staff overnight into Friday and caused damage to the isolated medical facility, according to its director. Dr. Hossam Abu Safiya said Israeli quadcopter drones carrying explosives deliberately targeted the emergency and reception area of Kamal Adwan Hospital, where one doctor was wounded for a third time. Abu Safiya said “relentless” drone and artillery strikes throughout the night exploded “alarmingly close” to the hospital, heavily damaging nearby buildings and destroying most of the water tanks on the hospital’s roof and blowing out doors and windows. Kamal Adwan Hospital in the town of Beit Lahiya has been hit multiple times over the past two months since Israel launched a fierce military operation against Hamas in northern Gaza. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the strikes. “We demand international protection for the hospital and its staff,” Abu Safiya said in a statement released via the U.K.-based aid group Medical Aid for Palestinians, “as well as the entry of delegations with surgical expertise, medical supplies, and essential medications to ensure we can adequately serve the people we are treating.” Abu Safiya said there were 72 wounded patients at the hospital, one of the few medical facilities left in northern Gaza. He said he expected Israeli forces would allow a World Health Organization aid convoy to bring supplies to the hospital on Friday or Saturday, as well as a team of doctors from Indonesia. Israel has allowed almost no humanitarian or medical aid to enter the three besieged communities in northern Gaza — Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun and the urban Jabaliya refugee camp — and ordered tens of thousands to flee to nearby Gaza City. Israeli officials have said the three communities are mostly deserted, but the United Nations humanitarian office said Tuesday it believes around 65,000 to 75,000 people are still there, with little access to food, water, electricity or health care. Experts have warned that the north may be experiencing famine . BAGHDAD — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made an unannounced stop in Iraq on Friday on his latest visit to the Middle East aimed at stabilizing the situation in Syria to prevent further regional turmoil. Blinken met in Baghdad with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani as part of the hastily arranged trip, his 12th to the region since the Israel-Hamas war erupted last year but his first since the weekend ouster of Syrian strongman Bashar Assad. Blinken has already been to Jordan and Turkey on his current tour and will return to the Jordanian city of Aqaba for meetings on Saturday with Arab foreign ministers, Turkey’s foreign minister and the United Nations special envoy for Syria, the U.N. said. Blinken will try to unify support for an inclusive post-Assad transition that does not allow the Islamic State group to take advantage of the political vacuum in Syria and secures suspected chemical weapons stocks. In Baghdad, Blinken underscored “U.S. commitment to the U.S.-Iraq strategic partnership and to Iraq’s security, stability, and sovereignty,” the State Department said. “He will also discuss regional security opportunities and challenges, as well as enduring U.S. support for engagement with all communities in Syria to establish an inclusive transition,” it said in a statement. His trip comes as the Biden administration winds down with just over a month left before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. Trump has been highly critical of Biden’s approach to the Middle East and skeptical of the U.S. military presence in both Iraq and Syria. The U.S. and Iraq agreed in September to wrap up U.S.-led military operations against the Islamic State group in Iraq next year, although Assad’s ouster and the potential for the group taking advantage of a political vacuum in Syria could complicate the timing of the withdrawal, according to American officials. DAMASCUS — The kingdom of Bahrain sent a message Friday to Ahmad al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, the leader of the insurgency that toppled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. It said Bahrain is “fully prepared to consult with you continuously and to provide support in regional and international organizations to achieve what is in the interest of the brotherly Syrian people.” It added, “We look forward to Syria regaining its authentic role in the Arab League.” Bahrain is the current head of the Arab summit. Syria was readmitted to the Arab League last year after 12 years of ostracization. It is still unclear how the international community will deal officially with the new interim government in Syria. JERUSALEM - Israel’s defense minister told troops to prepare to remain through the winter months on the peak of Mount Hermon, Syria’s highest point, located in a swath of southern Syria that Israeli troops moved into after the fall of Damascus to insurgents. The comments by Defense Minister Israel Katz signaled that the military will extend its occupation of the zone along the border, which Israel says it seized to create a buffer zone. In a statement Friday, Katz said that holding the peak was of major importance for Israel’s security and that it would be necessary to build facilities there to sustain troops through the winter. The summit of Mount Hermon, the highest peak on the eastern Mediterranean coast at 2,814 meters (9,232 feet), gives a commanding view over the plains of southern Syria. It also positions Israeli troops about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the center of Damascus. The mount is divided between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, Lebanon and Syria. Only the United States recognizes Israel’s control of the Golan Heights. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israeli troops would remain in the zone until another force across the border in Syria could guarantee security. Israeli troops moved into the zone -– set as a demilitarized area inside Syrian territory under truce deals that ended the 1973 Mideast war -- after the regime of Bashar al-Assad fell last weekend. ANKARA, Turkey -- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday there was “broad agreement” between Turkey and the United States on what they would like to see in Syria following the ouster of President Bashar Assad. “There’s broad agreement on what we would like to see going forward, starting with the interim government in Syria, one that is inclusive and non-sectarian and one that protects the rights of minorities and women” and does not “pose any kind of threat to any of Syria’s neighbors,” Blinken said in joint statements with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. The insurgent groups that toppled Assad in Syria have not made clear their policy or stance on Israel, whose military in recent days has bombed sites all over the country, saying it is trying to prevent weapons from falling into extremist hands. Blinken also said it was crucial to keep the Islamic State group under control. “We also discussed the imperative of continuing the efforts to keep ISIS down. Our countries worked very hard and gave a lot over many years to ensure the elimination of the territorial caliphate of ISIS to ensure that that threat doesn’t rear its head again,” Blinken said. The Turkish foreign minister said the two discussed ways of establishing prosperity in Syria and ending terrorism in the country. “Our priority is establishing stability in Syria as soon as possible, preventing terrorism from gaining ground, and ensuring that IS and the PKK aren’t dominant,” Fidan said, in a reference to the banned Kurdistan Workers Party. Blinken said: “We’re very focused on Syria, very focused on the opportunity that now is before us and before the Syrian people to move from out from under the shackles of Bashar al-Assad to a different and better future for the Syrian people, one that the Syrian people decide for themselves.” Blinken and Fidan said they had also discussed a ceasefire for Gaza. “We’ve seen in the last couple of weeks more encouraging signs that (a ceasefire) is possible,” Blinken said. Blinken, who is making his 12th trip to the Mideast since the Israel-Hamas war erupted last year but first since the weekend ouster of Assad, met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan late Thursday. The outgoing Biden administration is particularly concerned that a power vacuum in Syria could exacerbate already heightened tensions in the region, which is already wracked by multiple conflicts, and create conditions for the Islamic State group to regain territory and influence. Later Friday, Blinken is to return to Jordan for meetings on Saturday with Arab foreign ministers and senior officials from the European Union, the Arab League and the United Nations. ANKARA, Turkey -- Turkey has appointed a temporary charge d’affaires to reopen its embassy in Syria, Turkey’s state-run news agency reported. The Turkish Embassy in Damascus had suspended operations in 2012 due to the escalating security problems during the Syrian civil war and embassy staff and their families were recalled to Turkey. The Anadolu Agency said late Thursday that Turkey appointed Burhan Koroglu, its ambassador in Mauritania, to the post. UNITED NATIONS- – Two U.N. aid convoys were violently attacked in Gaza, making it virtually impossible for humanitarian agencies to operate without putting staff and civilians at risk, the U.N. food agency says. On Wednesday, a 70-truck convoy from Kerem Shalom was waiting for personnel to safeguard the food and other aid destined for central Gaza when there were reported attacks by Israeli forces in the nearby humanitarian zone, the U.N. World Food Program said Thursday. More than 50 people are now estimated to have died in the attacks, including civilians and local security personnel who had been expected to ensure the convoy’s safety, WFP said. The Rome-based agency said the convoy was forced to proceed from Kerem Shalom to central Gaza without any security arrangements, using the Philadelphi corridor, an Israeli-controlled route that had been recently approved and successfully utilized twice. On the way, WFP said, conflict and insecurity led to a loss of communication with the convoy for more than 12 hours. ”Eventually, the trucks were found but all food and aid supplies were looted,” the U.N. agency said. In a second incident, Israeli soldiers approached a WFP convoy moving out of the Kissufim crossing into central Gaza, fired warning shots, conducted extensive security checks, and temporarily detained drivers and staff, the agency said. “As the trucks were delayed, four out of the five trucks were lost to violent armed looting,” WFP said. UNITED NATIONS – The United Nations chief has a message for Israel: Stop the attacks on Syria. Secretary-General António Guterres is particularly concerned about several hundred Israeli airstrikes on several Syrian locations and stresses “the urgent need to de-escalate violence on all fronts throughout the country," U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters Thursday. The Israeli military said Tuesday it carried out more than 350 strikes in Syria over the previous 48 hours, hitting “most of the strategic weapons stockpiles” in the country to stop them from falling into the hands of extremists. Israel also acknowledged pushing into a buffer zone inside Syria following last week’s overthrow of President Bashar Assad. The buffer zone was established after Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1973 war. Dujarric said Guterres condemns all actions violating the 1974 ceasefire agreement between the two countries that remain in force. And the U.N. chief calls on the parties to uphold the agreement and end “all unauthorized presence in the area of separation” and refrain from any action undermining the ceasefire and stability in the Golan Heights, the spokesman said.Sans J.T. Miller, Canucks begin 6-game road trip at Senators
EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Vikings waived cornerback Akayleb Evans on Saturday in another setback for their beleaguered 2022 draft class. Evans started 15 games last season, but he had been relegated to a special teams role this year after the Vikings added veteran cornerbacks Stephon Gilmore and Shaquill Griffin. Evans was a fourth-round pick out of Missouri, one of three defensive backs among Minnesota's first five selections in 2022. Lewis Cine (first round) was waived and Andrew Booth (second round) was traded earlier this year. One of their second-round picks, guard Ed Ingram, lost his starting spot last week. Evans was let go to clear a roster spot for tight end Nick Muse, who was activated from injured reserve to play on Sunday at Chicago. The Vikings ruled tight end Josh Oliver out of the game with a sprained ankle. AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFLNEW YORK (AP) — Having waited 63 years for an Ivy League football title, Columbia had to stand by for another 40 minutes. The Lions had beaten Cornell 17-9 but needed a Harvard loss against Yale to secure a share of first place on the season's final day. So Columbia players retreated to their locker room on a hill a few hundred feet from Wien Stadium to watch the game in Boston on TV as a few hundred fans remained and gazed at the gold-and-orange foliage of Inwood Hill Park glowing in Saturday's afternoon sun. When Yale recovered onside kick with seconds left to ensure a 34-29 Harvard defeat, players let out a scream and streamed back onto the field to celebrate, smoke cigars, lift a trophy and sing “Roar, Lion, Roar” with family and friends. Who would have thunk it? “You had the realization of, oh, I’m a champion, which is something that hasn’t been said here in a while,” co-captain CJ Brown said. Harvard dropped into a tie with Columbia and Dartmouth at 5-2, the first time three teams shared the title since 1982 — the conference doesn't use tiebreakers. “It was nerve-wracking, for sure, but definitely exciting because that's something that not a lot of people have experienced, especially here," running back Joey Giorgi said. There have been several top players at Columbia — Sid Luckman, Marty Domres, Marcellus Wiley among them — but the school is perhaps better known for owners such as the New England Patriots' Robert Kraft and former Cleveland Browns head Al Lerner. Columbia's only previous championship in 1961 also was shared with Harvard. That Lions team was coached by Buff Donelli, a former Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Rams coach who scored for the Americans in soccer's 1934 World Cup. Columbia set a then Division I-AA record with 44 consecutive losses from 1983-88, a mark broken by Prairie View’s 80 in a row from 1989-98. Since 1971, the Lions’ only seasons with winning records until now were 1994, 1996, 2017, 2018, 2021 and 2022. Al Bagnoli, who won nine Ivy titles in 23 years at Penn, couldn't manage one at Columbia from 2015-22. He quit six weeks before the 2023 opener, citing health, and was replaced on an interim basis by Mark Fabish, his offensive coordinator. Jon Poppe, now 39, was hired last December after working as a Bagnoli assistant at Columbia from 2015-17 between stints at Harvard from 2011-14 and 2017-22, plus one season as a head coach at Division III Union College. He led the Lions to a 7-3 record overall, their most wins in a coach's first season since George F. Sanford's team went 9-3 in 1899. Poppe had wife Anna and 7-year-old daughter with him in the locker room watching the countdown to the title. “Sixty-three years of whatever into now,” he said. “Just seeing a lot of that history myself, personally. This is a hugely — a feeling of elation, seeing my dad on the field, a lot of emotional things with that.” Before a crowd of 4,224, quarterback Caleb Sanchez's 1-yard touchdown run put Columbia ahead in the second quarter. Giorgi's 1-yard TD run opened a 14-3 lead in the third and Hugo Merry added a 25-yard field goal in the fourth, overcoming three field goals by Alan Zhao. Giorgi rushed for 165 yards and finished his career with 2,112, second in school history. He and Brown missed what would have been their freshman season in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic. Given Columbia's athletic history — the most successful sport is fencing — it is not an obvious football destination. “I saw the dedication, whether it resulted in wins or losses,” Brown said. “I saw their dedication to the product that they put out on the field and also the athletic department, the facilities that we had here, the busses on schedule and stuff, I was like, OK, they care about their athletes. People here want to win and it doesn’t matter what’s happened in the past, it matters what we’re going to do now.” Poppe cited a mindset. “You get 10 opportunities, unlike other sports, it is a grind to play this sport and prepare the way we do just for 10,” he said. As the final whistle sounded in Boston, Brown noted an unusual initial reaction in the locker room. “It was like kind of awe when they recovered the kick,” he said. “It was a lot quieter than you would think it would be, but you could feel the joy and the elation.” They accomplished what more than six decades of their predecessors had failed to. As the players headed out, Poppe had a final word. “Day off tomorrow,” he 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-footballSACP hopes to find common ground with ANC on issues affecting alliance [VIDEO]
PTI playing negotiations drama: Azma Minister says PTI leading figures were encouraging overseas Pakistanis not to send remittances The image released on Dec 24, 2024 shows Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari addressing an event. — Facebook@AzmaBokhariPMLN/ LAHORE: Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari has said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf is playing a drama of negotiations on the one hand while on the other, it is spreading the message of civil disobedience. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1700472799616-0'); }); Talking to media here on Thursday, she said PTI leading figures such as Zulfi Bukhari, Shahbaz Gill, and Shehzad Akbar were actively encouraging overseas Pakistanis on social media not to send remittances. Overseas Pakistanis have rejected the mischief and the anti-country actions of the Fitna party, and have sent the highest-ever remittances in the history of Pakistan this year. The Adiala Jail prisoner, who has been telling the nation for the past one and a half years that he will free them from American slavery, has now been pleading with the American lobby to intervene in Pakistan for over a month. Some petty individuals, influenced by the Jewish lobby, are currently active in saving their pawns. The information minister emphasized that Pakistan was a sovereign country. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has told the US “absolutely not”. Pakistan will not allow anyone to interfere in its internal matters. The Adiala Jail prisoner is ready to beg anyone to secure an ‘NRO’.Pressure is on the Albanese government to make headway on its long list of stalled legislation before the federal election, as the final sitting week of 2024 begins in Canberra today. Housing will be back in the spotlight with the Help to Buy government equity scheme and incentives for build-to-rent to be brought to a final vote in the Senate, after failing to pass without support from the opposition or the Greens. The government knocked back fresh demands from the Greens, which included funding for 25,000 “shovel-ready” homes not given the go-ahead under the first round of the Housing Australia Future Fund. Labor insists the demand is unlawful and would result in the construction of million-dollar homes that are not value for money. With 30 or so bills still before the parliament, the government has been ramping up pressure on the Greens and the coalition to co-operate. A friendless crackdown on misinformation and disinformation has been shelved, and gambling reforms have been pushed into next year. The government is expecting wins on its aged care reforms and its social media age limit, with the former expected to attract opposition support. Labor will also be spruiking its Future Made in Australia plan, with its hydrogen and critical minerals production tax incentives to be introduced to parliament on Monday. The federal election is due to be held by May 17. In the wee hours Sunday at the United Nations climate talks, countries from around the world reached an agreement on how rich countries can cough up the funds to support poor countries in the face of climate change. It’s a far-from-perfect arrangement, with many parties still deeply unsatisfied but some hopeful that the deal will be a step in the right direction. Here’s how they got there: Rich countries have agreed to pool together at least $300 billion a year by 2035. It’s not near the full amount of $1.3 trillion that developing countries were asking for, and that experts said was needed. But delegations more optimistic about the agreement said this deal is headed in the right direction, with hopes that more money flows in the future. The deal decided in Baku replaces a previous agreement from 15 years ago that charged rich nations $100 billion a year to help the developing world with climate finance. The new number has similar aims: it will go toward the developing world’s long laundry list of to-dos to prepare for a warming world and keep it from getting hotter. That includes paying for the transition to clean energy and away from fossil fuels. Countries need funds to build up the infrastructure needed to deploy technologies like wind and solar power on a large scale. Election results around the world that herald a change in climate leadership, a few key players with motive to stall the talks and a disorganized host country all led to a final crunch that left few happy with a flawed compromise. Developing nations also faced some difficulties agreeing in the final hours. Meanwhile, activists ramped up the pressure: many urged negotiators to stay strong and asserted that no deal would be better than a bad deal. But ultimately the desire for a deal won out. Good morning and welcome to the national news blog from and My name is Josefine Ganko, I’ll be with you on the blog for the first half of the day. It’s Monday, November 25. Here’s what’s making headlines this morning.
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