exquisite fishing

exquisite fishing Manchester City's struggles continued as Pep Guardiola's side remarkably blew a three-goal lead to draw 3-3 with Feyenoord in the Champions League on Tuesday, while Bayern Munich beat Paris Saint-Germain to leave the French club in danger of elimination. There were also big wins for Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, Atalanta and Bayer Leverkusen, while Inter Milan went top of the standings after five games and Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski reached a century of Champions League goals. However, the biggest drama came at the Etihad Stadium, where City were cruising early in the second half with a three-goal advantage as they sought to end a run of five successive defeats in all competitions. Erling Haaland opened the scoring from a penalty just before half-time, and Ilkay Gundogan's deflected shot made it 2-0 in the 50th minute. Haaland struck again to make it 3-0, but Feyenoord's comeback began on 75 minutes when Anis Hadj Moussa took advantage of hapless defending to round goalkeeper Ederson and pull one back. Substitute Santiago Gimenez bundled in to make it 3-2 on 82 minutes and the equaliser arrived a minute from the end. Ederson was again caught out with Igor Paixao going around the goalkeeper and crossing for Slovak international David Hancko to head in. "We concede a lot of goals because we are not stable," complained Guardiola. "We lost a lot of games lately. We are fragile and of course we need a victory." It is the first time that a team has gone into the last 20 minutes of a Champions League game trailing by three goals and still avoided defeat, as the point boosts the Dutch side's hopes of progressing. City are two points outside the top eight places which offer direct qualification for the last 16, while Bayern moved above them by beating PSG 1-0 in Munich. South Korean defender Kim Min-jae scored the only goal seven minutes before half-time, heading in after goalkeeper Matvei Safonov failed to clear a corner. PSG had Ousmane Dembele sent off in the second half and the French champions have just four points, and three goals, from five games. They are a lowly 26th in the 36-team league, a point adrift of the positions which offer a place in the play-off round in February. "We need to win our last three matches, otherwise we risk being eliminated," admitted PSG coach Luis Enrique. Lewandowski notched his 100th goal in the competition with an early penalty in Barcelona's 3-0 home win over French side Brest. Dani Olmo netted midway through the second half before Lewandowski sealed Barca's win at the death, his 101st goal in the Champions League -- only Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have scored more. Inter lead the standings with 13 points, a point ahead of Barcelona and Liverpool, after a 1-0 win at home to RB Leipzig which means they are also still yet to concede a goal. Castello Lukeba's own goal made the difference at San Siro, and Leipzig are one of only three teams to have lost five games out of five. Arsenal romped to a 5-1 victory away to Sporting in Lisbon, as the Portuguese side adapt to life without coach Ruben Amorim, who has departed for Manchester United. Gabriel Martinelli, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Magalhaes all scored in the first half for Arsenal, before Goncalo Inacio pulled one back shortly after the restart. Bukayo Saka converted a penalty on 65 minutes after Martin Odegaard had been brought down, and Leandro Trossard headed in to seal Arsenal's win late on. Atalanta romped to a 6-1 win over rock-bottom Young Boys in Switzerland, with Mateo Retegui and Charles De Ketelaere both scoring braces. Sead Kolasinac and Lazar Samardzic also netted for the Italians, with Silvere Ganvoula getting the hosts' reply. Florian Wirtz struck twice, including a penalty, as Leverkusen crushed Red Bull Salzburg 5-0, with Alejandro Grimaldo scoring a superb free-kick and Patrik Schick and Aleix Garcia also netting. Julian Alvarez and substitute Angel Correa each scored twice and Marcos Llorente and Antoine Griezmann once as Atletico romped to a 6-0 win away to Sparta Prague. Christian Pulisic, Rafael Leao and Tammy Abraham were the scorers in AC Milan's 3-2 win at Slovan Bratislava, whose goals came from Tigran Barseghyan and Nino Marcelli. Marko Tolic saw red at the end for Slovan, who are without a point. as/nf

NoneThe European Championships was an obvious career highlight for the goalkeeper when memories were made despite the defeats to Norway, Austria and England in sunny Southampton. There was more to it than that for Burns, though. Two years after her performances at the tournament helped earn a move to the Women’s Super League, Burns is encouraging the new generation of Northern Ireland players to seize their chance to not just enjoy an experience of a lifetime but also grab a potentially life-changing experience too, just like it was for her. Injury may have blighted Burns’ time at Reading but, without that move, she may not be where she is now, chasing promotion back to the WSL with Bristol City Women. While the number of Northern Ireland players playing in England and Scotland has steadily increased of late, a second successive Euro qualification could well come with the added benefit of propelling the likes of Emily Wilson and Keri Halliday into the full-time game. “I think that’s the good thing about where we are. If we make it to the bigger stage, it does set us up to be in the eye of bigger clubs,” said Burns, who was joined at Reading by Lauren Wade in the wake of the 2022 Finals. “I am hoping that could well be the case again this time because we have a squad full of young players who have the potential to go and play at a high level. “Hopefully, if we get to that stage once again, then it will help them in the future.” Standing between Northern Ireland and another Euro Finals is a sizeable barrier in the shape of Norway, the former World, European and Olympic champions who possess a former Ballon d’Or winner and a couple of multiple Champions League winners amongst their ranks. Burns previously faced the might of the Norwegians in both qualifying for the 2022 tournament as well as at the Finals themselves and had to pick the ball out of the net 10 times across those two meetings – she missed the away qualifier, a 6-0 defeat in November 2019, through injury. Despite those previous humblings, however, Burns believes facing a familiar foe puts Northern Ireland in a good position before a crunch two-legged Play-Off with the prize of a place at the 2025 tournament in Switzerland for the winners. “I remember back to the first game of the Euros, and a lot of things happened,” recalled Burns of the 4-1 defeat ahead of facing them again at Inver Park on Friday night. “I think that we can’t really plan for a better opponent because we have played them so many times in the past, and we can take that as a major advantage. “We know what they have done in the past, and we are now very familiar with them. “If we can go out in the first game and have a solid performance and possibly get something from it, then it means that we can plan ahead going into the next game, and maybe it won’t be as tough a job when we go out there for that.” If there is a fear over facing the threat of Ingrid Engen and Caroline Graham Hansen, who have helped Barcelona win the last two Women’s Champions Leagues, as well as 2018 Ballon d’Or Feminin winner Ada Hergerberg, who has six Champions League winners’ medals herself, Burns isn’t showing it. She’s taking it all in her stride. “You can’t take away what they have achieved in terms of the honours that they have won – Ballon d’Ors and Champions Leagues. It’s important to remember that they are footballers at the end of the day, and that’s what we’re all here to do – we’re here to play football,” said Burns. “I can only prepare as best I can for what is to come and, hopefully, what I do is enough.”

One of the key drivers behind this potential shift is the growing realization that simply scaling up model size may not be the most effective path towards AI progress. While larger models have indeed shown impressive performance gains in a range of tasks, they come with their own set of challenges, including massive computational costs, environmental concerns, and diminishing returns in terms of improvements in model accuracy. As a result, there is a growing recognition within the industry that the focus should be on optimizing existing models, improving efficiency, and exploring alternative approaches to AI development.

The S&P 500 pulled 0.5% higher after flipping between gains and losses several times during the day. Banks, smaller companies and other areas of the stock market that tend to do best when the economy is strong helped lead the way, while bitcoin briefly broke above $99,000. Crude oil, meanwhile, continued to rise. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 461 points, or 1.1%, and the Nasdaq composite edged up by less than 0.1%. Nvidia rose just 0.5% after beating analysts' estimates for profit and revenue yet again, but it was still the strongest force pulling the S&P 500 upward. It also gave a forecast for revenue in the current quarter that topped most analysts' expectations due to voracious demand for its chips used in artificial-intelligence technology. Its stock initially sank in afterhours trading Wednesday following the release of the results. Some investors said the market might have been looking for Nvidia's revenue forecast to surpass expectations by even more. But its stock recovered in premarket trading Thursday, and Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said it was another "flawless" profit report provided by Nvidia and CEO Jensen Huang, whom Ives calls "the Godfather of AI." The stock meandered through Thursday as well, dragging the S&P 500 and other indexes back and forth. How Nvidia's stock performs has more impact than any other because it's grown into Wall Street's most valuable company at roughly $3.6 trillion. The frenzy around AI is sweeping up other stocks, and Snowflake jumped 32.7% after reporting stronger results for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The company, whose platform helps customers get a better view of all their silos of data and use AI, also reported stronger revenue growth than expected. BJ'S Wholesale Club rose 8.3% after likewise delivering a bigger profit than expected. That may help calm worries about how resilient U.S. shoppers can remain, given high prices across the economy and still-high interest rates. A day earlier, Target tumbled after reporting sluggish sales in the latest quarter and giving a dour forecast for the holiday shopping season. It followed Walmart, which gave a much more encouraging outlook. Nearly 90% of the stocks in the S&P 500 ended up rising Thursday, and the gains were even bigger among smaller companies. The Russell 2000 index of smaller stocks jumped a market-leading 1.7%. Google's parent company, Alphabet, helped keep indexes in check. It fell 4.7% after U.S. regulators asked a judge to break up the tech giant by forcing it to sell its industry-leading Chrome web browser. In a 23-page document filed late Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Justice called for sweeping punishments that would include restrictions preventing Android from favoring its own search engine. Regulators stopped short of demanding Google sell Android but left the door open to it if the company's oversight committee continues to see evidence of misconduct. All told, the S&P 500 rose 31.60 points to 5,948.71. The Dow jumped 461.88 to 43,870.35, and the Nasdaq composite added 6.28 to 18,972.42. In the crypto market, bitcoin eclipsed $99,000 for the first time before pulling back toward $98,000, according to CoinDesk. It's more than doubled so far this year, and its climb has accelerated since Election Day. President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to make the country "the crypto capital of the planet" and create a "strategic reserve" of bitcoin. Bitcoin got a further boost after Gary Gensler, the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, said Thursday he would step down in January. Gensler has pushed for more protections for crypto investors. Bitcoin and related investment have a notorious history of big price swings in both directions. MicroStrategy, a company that's been raising cash expressly to buy bitcoin, saw an early Thursday gain of 14.6% for its stock quickly disappear. It finished the day with a loss of 16.2%. In the oil market, a barrel of benchmark U.S. crude rose 2% to bring its gain for the week to 4.8%. Brent crude, the international standard, climbed 1.8%. Oil has been rising amid escalations in the Russia-Ukraine war. In stock markets abroad, shares of India's Adani Enterprises plunged 22.6% Thursday after the U.S. charged founder Gautam Adani in a federal indictment with securities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud. The businessman and one of the world's richest people is accused of concealing that his company's huge solar energy project on the subcontinent was being facilitated by an alleged bribery scheme. Stock indexes elsewhere in Asia and Europe were mixed. In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury inched up to 4.43% from 4.41% late Wednesday following some mixed reports on the U.S. economy. One said fewer U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week in the latest signal that the job market remains solid. Another report, though, said manufacturing in the mid-Atlantic region unexpectedly shrank. Sales of previously occupied homes, meanwhile, strengthened last month by more than expected.A Connecticut couple has been charged in Minnesota with being part of a shoplifting ring suspected of stealing around $1 million in goods across the country from the upscale athletic wear retailer Lululemon. Jadion Anthony Richards, 44, and Akwele Nickeisha Lawes-Richards, 45, both of Danbury, Connecticut, were charged this month with one felony count of organized retail theft. Both went free last week after posting bail bonds of $100,000 for him and $30,000 for her, court records show. They're due back in Ramsey County District Court in St. Paul on Dec. 16. According to the criminal complaints, a Lululemon investigator had been tracking the pair even before police first confronted them on Nov. 14 at a store in suburban Roseville. The investigator told police the couple were responsible for hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses across the country, the complaints said. They would steal items and make fraudulent returns, it said. Police found suitcases containing more than $50,000 worth of Lululemon clothing when they searched the couple's hotel room in Bloomington, the complaint said. RELATED STORY | Florida social media influencer arrested for stealing from Target According to the investigator, they were also suspected in thefts from Lululemon stores in Colorado, Utah, New York and Connecticut, the complaint said. Within Minnesota, they were also accused of thefts at stores in Minneapolis and the suburbs of Woodbury, Edina and Minnetonka. The investigator said the two were part of a group that would usually travel to a city and hit Lululemon stores there for two days, return to the East Coast to exchange the items without receipts for new items, take back the new items with the return receipts for credit card refunds, then head back out to commit more thefts, the complaint said. In at least some of the thefts, it said, Richards would enter the store first and buy one or two cheap items. He'd then return to the sales floor where, with help from Lawes-Richards, they would remove a security sensor from another item and put it on one of the items he had just purchased. Lawes-Richards and another woman would then conceal leggings under their clothing. They would then leave together. When the security sensors at the door went off, he would offer staff the bag with the items he had bought, while the women would keep walking out, fooling the staff into thinking it was his sensor that had set off the alarm, the complaint said. Richards' attorney declined to comment. Lawes-Richards' public defender did not immediately return a call seeking comment Monday. "This outcome continues to underscore our ongoing collaboration with law enforcement and our investments in advanced technology, team training and investigative capabilities to combat retail crime and hold offenders accountable," Tristen Shields, Lululemon's vice president of asset protection, said in a statement. "We remain dedicated to continuing these efforts to address and prevent this industrywide issue." The two are being prosecuted under a state law enacted last year that seeks to crack down on organized retail theft. One of its chief authors, Sen. Ron Latz, of St. Louis Park, said 34 states already had organized retail crime laws on their books. "I am glad to see it is working as intended to bring down criminal operations," Latz said in a statement. "This type of theft harms retailers in myriad ways, including lost economic activity, job loss, and threats to worker safety when crime goes unaddressed. It also harms consumers through rising costs and compromised products being resold online." Two Minnesota women were also charged under the new law in August. They were accused of targeting a Lululemon store in Minneapolis.

Tim Royers, the new president of Nebraska’s teachers union, is sharing grim news as he travels Nebraska. “Ten years ago there were 130 unfilled teaching jobs in Nebraska. This spring there were 1,200 unfilled teaching positions. That’s an 800% increase,” said Royers. A former Millard West speech and debate coach who taught history, geography and civics, Royers is beginning a three-year term as president of the Nebraska State Education Association. On Thursday, Royers was in Grand Island before heading to Kearney on Friday. As if the raw numbers don’t underscore the state’s critical teacher shortage, the NSEA asked professional faculty what they think should be done, and the response was jarring. Twenty-eight percent of teachers surveyed said they’re unsure whether they’ll return to the classroom next year. “In my mind, addressing the teacher shortage needs to be our biggest priority. We need to retain teachers and bring more people into the profession,” Royers said, teeing up one of the major proposals the NSEA will pursue when state legislators return to Lincoln in January. “Given the radical increase in unfilled teacher positions, there needs to be a bold commitment to teachers," Royers said. His organization plans to lobby state senators to support the NSEA’s top legislative proposals to recruit and retain teachers for Nebraska classrooms. The NSEA’s plan addresses a chronic sore spot for teachers, who are allowed 10 days of paid family medical leave per year. NSEA wants to boost the leave to six weeks with teachers and school districts sharing the cost. Royers said teachers would pay a "modest payroll fee or tax." Their district would match teachers’ contributions, and that would feed about $40 per month per teacher into a fund to cover expenses of six weeks of family leave. “Given the radical increase in unfilled teacher positions, there needs to be a bold commitment to teachers,” Royers said. He believes that boosting family medical leave could be a game-changer, because the 10-day cap puts teachers in a difficult position. For example, some teachers delay having children because 10 days is not enough time to tend to and adjust to life with newborns. “No one should have to factor their major decisions into family leave,” Royers said. “Everywhere I’ve gone, teachers said this would be life-changing and it would allow us to recruit from neighboring states.” The NSEA is encouraged that voters supported public school teachers’ opposition to Nebraska’s school choice law and defeated it on Nov. 5. Royers said the Legislature will be the next battleground as teachers fight for their family leave proposal. Royers expects it will be difficult persuading lawmakers to support such a bold idea. “Teachers don’t really feel like the state cares about them. Do you think lawmakers care about teachers when they craft policy?” Royers said. Public school districts across the country are facing budget deficits as Covid-relief funds dry up, leading to staff cuts. mike.konz@kearneyhub.com Get our local education coverage delivered directly to your inbox.Gaetz withdraws as Trump's pick for attorney general, averting confirmation battle in the Senate

On the other hand, the 0.1% decrease in housing prices is a noteworthy development, signaling a slight decline in the cost of housing for consumers. This could be a result of government policies aimed at stabilizing the property market and promoting affordability. It may also reflect changing consumer preferences and demand dynamics in the housing sector.No. 2 Georgia is resting its national championship hopes on backup quarterback Gunner Stockton following Carson Beck's season-ending elbow surgery on Monday. Coach Kirby Smart said Monday that Georgia is preparing Stockton to start in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1 in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal against No. 3 Notre Dame. Stockton took over when Beck suffered a right elbow injury in the the first half in the Bulldogs’ 22-19 overtime win over Texas in the Southeastern Conference championship game on Dec. 7 in Atlanta. Georgia announced later Monday that Beck had season-ending surgery to repair his ulnar collateral ligament in the right elbow. The procedure was performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache in Los Angeles on Monday. Beck is expected to begin throwing next spring. Georgia's first-round bye in the playoffs has given Stockton, a sophomore, more time to prepare for his new starting role. Smart said the experience with the first-team is the primary benefit in “several practices” since the SEC championship game. “He got lots of reps prior to these practices, but he’s getting much more now,” Smart said. “I do think ... when you get ready for an opponent like Notre Dame, you need time and we have time.” The Fighting Irish advanced by beating Indiana 27-17 in the first round on Friday night. Smart said Stockton and Georgia can focus on Notre Dame. “But I think the biggest thing is just competition at practice,” Smart said. “You know, the situations we put him in. All those things allow him to get better as a quarterback.” Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said Stockton will require adjustments by his defense. “You evaluate, obviously, what they’ve done all season and you have a separate tape of what Stockton has done,” Freeman said Monday. “I think we have 80-something plays of him. He can run their offense. He does things a little bit differently. He can extend plays with his legs, he’s a good athlete. The thing I probably noticed most about him, he’s an ultra-competitive individual.” Georgia announced on Dec. 9 that Beck and his family were considering treatment options for his elbow. Beck suffered the injury to his throwing arm in the first half of the SEC championship game and made a dramatic return to the field for the handoff on the game-winning play in overtime. Stockton had to leave the field for one play after having his helmet knocked off. Even though he was able to take the snap and hand off to Trevor Etienne for the running back’s decisive 4-yard touchdown run, Beck was unable to raise his right arm. Stockton’s job may get a little easier with Notre Dame defensive tackle Rylie Mills out. Freeman announced Monday that Mills will miss the rest of the season with a right knee injury he suffered against Indiana. Mills had 37 tackles and 7 1/2 sacks this season and anchored the interior line while All-American Howard Cross II missed the final three regular season games with a high ankle sprain. Cross returned against Indiana. It’s yet another blow to a defense that had already lost preseason All-America cornerback Benjamin Morrison and its top two rush ends with season-ending injuries. “You can’t replace Rylie Mills,” Freeman said. “Yes, the production, but the leadership, a captain, very similar to the things I said about Benjamin when he was out. You feel awful for him as a person, a guy that came back to improve his draft stock. You’ve got to replace what he did for our defense in different ways.” Stockton completed 12 of 16 passes for 71 yards with one interception against Texas. Smart downplayed the suggestion Stockton could give the Bulldogs more options as a running quarterback. “I think we are who we are in regards to that,” Smart said. “I mean, we played an entire season, offensively. You know, Gunner’s a good athlete. I think Carson is a good athlete. So it’s one of those deals that I don’t know how much that changes things.” Beck, a fifth-year senior, is 24-3 as a starter. He started all 26 games for the Bulldogs in 2023 and 2024. He passed for 3,941 yards with 24 touchdowns and only six interceptions in 2023 but had more difficulties with turnovers this season. Beck passed for 28 touchdowns with 12 interceptions this season and completed 7 of 13 passes for 56 yards before his injury in the SEC championship game. AP Sports Writer Mike Marot contributed to this report. 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-footballTitle: Trump Threatens NATO Member Countries With Exiting the Organization