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Harris Dickinson was nervous to approach Nicole Kidman . This would not necessarily be notable under normal circumstances, but the English actor had already been cast to star opposite her in the erotic drama “Babygirl,” as the intern who initiates an affair with Kidman's buttoned-up CEO. They’d had a zoom with the writer-director Halina Reijn, who was excited by their playful banter and sure that Dickinson would hold his own. And yet when he found himself at the same event as Kidman, shyness took over. He admitted as much to Margaret Qualley, who took things into her own hands and introduced them. “She helped me break the ice a bit,” Dickinson said in a recent interview with The Associated Press. On set would be an entirely different story. Dickinson might not be nearly as “puckishly audacious” as his character Samuel but in the making of “Babygirl,” he, Kidman and Reijn had no choice but to dive fearlessly into this exploration of sexual power dynamics, going to intimate, awkward, exhilarating and meme-able places. It’s made the film, in theaters Christmas Day, one of the year’s must-sees. “There was an unspoken thing that we adhered to,” Dickinson said. “We weren’t getting to know each other’s personal lives. When we were working and we were the characters, we didn’t veer away from the material. I never tried to attach all of the history of Nicole Kidman. Otherwise it probably would have been a bit of a mess.” His is a performance that reconfirms what many in the film world have suspected since his debut seven years ago as a Brooklyn tough questioning his sexuality in Eliza Hittman’s “Beach Rats” : Dickinson is one of the most exciting young talents around. Dickinson, 28, grew up in Leytonstone, in East London — the same neck of the woods as Alfred Hitchcock. Cinema was in his life, whether it was Christopher Nolan’s “Batman” films at the local multiplex or venturing into town to see the more social realist films of Mike Leigh and Ken Loach. “Working class cinema interested me,” he said. “People around me that represented my world.” Appropriately, his entry into making art started behind the camera, with a comedy web series he made as a kid, which he now describes as “really bad spoofs” of films and shows of the time. But things started to really click when he began acting in the local theater. “I remember feeling invigorated by it and accepted,” he said. “I felt myself for the first time and felt able to express myself in a way where I didn’t feel vulnerable and I felt alive and ignited by something.” At around 17, someone suggested that he should give acting a try professionally. He hadn’t even fully understood that it was a career possibility, but he started auditioning. At 20, he was cast in “Beach Rats” and, he said, just “kept going.” Since then, he’s gotten a wide range of opportunities in films both big, including “The King’s Man,” and small. He’s captivated as a male model in Ruben Östlund’s Cannes-winning “Triangle of Sadness,” an estranged father to a 12-year-old in Charlotte Regan’s “Scrapper,” an actor bringing an ex-boyfriend to life in Joanna Hogg’s “The Souvenir Part II,” the charismatic, tragic wrestler David Von Erich in Sean Durkin’s “The Iron Claw” and a soldier in Steve McQueen’s “Blitz.” But “Babygirl” would present new challenges and opportunities with a character who’s almost impossible to define. “He was confusing in a really interesting way. There wasn’t loads of specificity to it, which I enjoyed because it was a bit of a challenge to sort of pinpoint exactly what it was that drove him and made him tick,” Dickinson said. “There was a directness that unlocked a lot for me, like a fearlessness with the way he spoke, or a social unawareness in a way — like not fully realizing what he’s saying is affecting someone in a certain way. But I didn’t make too many rules for him.” Part of the allure of the film is the ever-shifting power dynamics between the two characters, which could change over the course of a scene. As Reijn said, “It’s a cautionary tale about what happens when you suppress your own desires.” She was especially in awe of Dickinson's ability to make everything feel improvised and the fact that he could look like a 12-year-old boy in one shot and a confident 45-year-old man in the next. Since its premiere at the Venice Film Festival earlier this year, the film has led to some surprisingly direct conversations with audiences spanning generations. But that, Dickinson understood, was what Reijn wanted. “She really wanted to show the ugliness and the awkwardness of these things, of these relationships and sex,” he said. “That sort of fumbly version and the performative version of it is way more interesting, to me at least, than the kind of fantasized, romanticized, sexy thing that we’ve seen a lot.” Dickinson recently stepped behind the camera again, directing his first feature film under the banner of his newly formed production company. Set against the backdrop of homelessness in London, “Dream Space” is about a drifter trying to assimilate and understand his cyclical behavior. The film, which wrapped earlier this year, has given him a heightened appreciation for just how many people are indispensable in the making of a film. He’s also started to understand that “acting is just being able to relax.” “When you’re relaxed, you can do stuff that is truthful,” he said. “That only happens if you’ve got good people around you: The director that creates the good environment. The intimacy coordinator facilitating a safe space. A coworker in Nicole encouraging that kind of bravery and performance with what she’s doing.” Dickinson did eventually get to the point where he managed to ask Kidman questions about working with Stanley Kubrick and Lars Von Trier. But he also kept one shattering possibility between himself and his director. “There is a world in which Samuel doesn’t even exist. He’s just a sort of a device or a figment for her own story. And I like that because it kind of means you can take the character into a very unrealistic realm at times and be almost like a deity in the story,” Dickinson said. “We didn’t talk about it with Nicole.”
Canadian PM Justin Trudeau is not expected to announce a decision on his future over the holidaysHarris Dickinson toys with ambiguity in ‘Babygirl’
CSU faculty, students rally against Board of Trustees policiesJailed PKK Leader open to working with Turkey, DEM Says
Obama Democracy Forum will convene to focus on tools for bipartisan dialogueWASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is allowing a multibillion-dollar class action investors’ lawsuit to proceed against Facebook parent Meta , stemming from the privacy scandal involving the Cambridge Analytica political consulting firm. The justices heard arguments in November in Meta's bid to shut down the lawsuit. On Friday, they decided that they were wrong to take up the case in the first place. The high court dismissed the company’s appeal, leaving in place an appellate ruling allowing the case to go forward. Investors allege that Meta did not fully disclose the risks that Facebook users’ personal information would be misused by Cambridge Analytica, a firm that supported Donald Trump ’s first successful Republican presidential campaign in 2016. Inadequacy of the disclosures led to two significant price drops in the price of the company’s shares in 2018, after the public learned about the extent of the privacy scandal, the investors say. Meta spokesman Andy Stone said the company was disappointed by the court's action. “The plaintiff’s claims are baseless and we will continue to defend ourselves as this case is considered by the District Court,” Stone said in an emailed statement. Meta already has paid a $5.1 billion fine and reached a $725 million privacy settlement with users. Cambridge Analytica had ties to Trump political strategist Steve Bannon . It had paid a Facebook app developer for access to the personal information of about 87 million Facebook users. That data was then used to target U.S. voters during the 2016 campaign. The lawsuit is one of two high court cases involving class-action lawsuits against tech companies. The justices also are wrestling with whether to shut down a class action against Nvidia . Investors say the company misled them about its dependence on selling computer chips for the mining of volatile cryptocurrency.
Players must be assigned female at birth or have transitioned to female before going through male puberty to compete in LPGA tournaments or the eight USGA championships for females under new gender policies published Wednesday. The policies, which begin in 2025, follow more than a year of study involving medicine, science, sport physiology and gender policy law. The updated policies would rule out eligibility for Hailey Davidson, who missed qualifying for the U.S. Women's Open this year by one shot and came up short in LPGA Q-school. Davidson, who turned 32 on Tuesday, began hormone treatments when she was in her early 20s in 2015 and in 2021 underwent gender-affirming surgery, which was required under the LPGA's previous gender policy. She had won this year on a Florida mini-tour called NXXT Golf until the circuit announced in March that players had to be assigned female at birth. “Can't say I didn't see this coming,” Davidson wrote Wednesday on an Instagram story. “Banned from the Epson and the LPGA. All the silence and people wanting to stay ‘neutral’ thanks for absolutely nothing. This happened because of all your silence.” LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan, who is resigning in January, said the new gender policy "is reflective of an extensive, science-based and inclusive approach." By making it to the second stage of Q-school, Davidson would have had very limited status on the Epson Tour, the pathway to the LPGA. The LPGA and USGA say their policies were geared toward being inclusive of gender identities and expression while striving for equity in competition. The LPGA said its working group of experts advised that the effects of male puberty allowed for competitive advantages in golf compared with players who had not gone through puberty. “Our policy is reflective of an extensive, science-based and inclusive approach,” said LPGA Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan, who announced Monday that she is resigning in January. "The policy represents our continued commitment to ensuring that all feel welcome within our organization, while preserving the fairness and competitive equity of our elite competitions.” Mike Whan, the former LPGA commissioner and now CEO of the USGA, said it developed the updated policy independently and later discovered it was similar to those used by swimming, track and field, and other sports. United States Golf Association CEO Mike Whan said the new policy will prevent anyone from having "a competitive advantage based on their gender." “It starts with competitive fairness as the North star,” Whan said in a telephone interview. “We tried not to get into politics, or state by state or any of that stuff. We just simply said, ‘Where would somebody — at least medically today — where do we believe somebody would have a competitive advantage in the field?’ And we needed to draw a line. “We needed to be able to walk into any women's event and say with confidence that nobody here has a competitive advantage based on their gender. And this policy delivers that.” The “Competitive Fairness Gender Policy” for the USGA takes effect for the 2025 championship season that starts with the U.S. Women's Amateur Four-Ball on May 10-14. Qualifying began late this year, though there were no transgender players who took part. “Will that change in the years to come as medicine changes? Probably,” Whan said. “But I think today this stacks up.” The LPGA “Gender Policy for Competition Eligibility” would apply to the LPGA Tour, Epson Tour, Ladies European Tour and qualifying for the tours. Players assigned male at birth must prove they have not experienced any part of puberty beyond the first stage or after age 12, whichever comes first, and then meet limitation standards for testosterone levels. The LPGA begins its 75th season on Jan. 30 with the Tournament of Champions in Orlando, Florida. Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen, foreground right, dives toward the end zone to score past San Francisco 49ers defensive end Robert Beal Jr. (51) and linebacker Dee Winters during the second half of an NFL football game in Orchard Park, N.Y., Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus) South Carolina guard Maddy McDaniel (1) drives to the basket against UCLA forward Janiah Barker (0) and center Lauren Betts (51) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer) Mari Fukada of Japan falls as she competes in the women's Snowboard Big Air qualifying round during the FIS Snowboard & Freeski World Cup 2024 at the Shougang Park in Beijing, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong) LSU punter Peyton Todd (38) kneels in prayer before an NCAA college football game against Oklahoma in Baton Rouge, La., Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. LSU won 37-17. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) South Africa's captain Temba Bavuma misses a catch during the fourth day of the first Test cricket match between South Africa and Sri Lanka, at Kingsmead stadium in Durban, South Africa, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe) Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley, left, is hit by Baltimore Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey, center, as Eagles wide receiver Parris Campbell (80) looks on during a touchdown run by Barkley in the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough) Los Angeles Kings left wing Warren Foegele, left, trips San Jose Sharks center Macklin Celebrini, center, during the third period of an NHL hockey game Monday, Nov. 25, 2024, in San Jose, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez) Olympiacos' Francisco Ortega, right, challenges for the ball with FCSB's David Miculescu during the Europa League league phase soccer match between FCSB and Olympiacos at the National Arena stadium, in Bucharest, Romania, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru) Seattle Kraken fans react after a goal by center Matty Beniers against the San Jose Sharks was disallowed due to goaltender interference during the third period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024, in Seattle. The Sharks won 4-2. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson) New York Islanders left wing Anders Lee (27), center, fight for the puck with Boston Bruins defensemen Parker Wotherspoon (29), left, and Brandon Carlo (25), right during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, in Elmont, N.Y. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson) Mathilde Gremaud of Switzerland competes in the women's Freeski Big Air qualifying round during the FIS Snowboard & Freeski World Cup 2024 at the Shougang Park in Beijing, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong) New York Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin cools off during first period of an NHL hockey game against the Boston Bruins, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, in Elmont, N.Y. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson) Brazil's Amanda Gutierres, second right, is congratulated by teammate Yasmin, right, after scoring her team's first goal during a soccer international between Brazil and Australia in Brisbane, Australia, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Pat Hoelscher) Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers (89) tries to leap over Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Joshua Williams (2) during the first half of an NFL football game in Kansas City, Mo., Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga) Luiz Henrique of Brazil's Botafogo, right. is fouled by goalkeeper Everson of Brazil's Atletico Mineiro inside the penalty area during a Copa Libertadores final soccer match at Monumental stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko) England's Alessia Russo, left, and United States' Naomi Girma challenge for the ball during the International friendly women soccer match between England and United States at Wembley stadium in London, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) Gold medalists Team Netherlands competes in the Team Sprint Women race of the ISU World Cup Speed Skating Beijing 2024 held at the National Speed Skating Oval in Beijing, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) Melanie Meillard, center, of Switzerland, competes during the second run in a women's World Cup slalom skiing race, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024, in Killington, Vt. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) Houston Rockets guard Jalen Green goes up for a dunk during the second half of an Emirates NBA cup basketball game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr) Brazil's Botafogo soccer fans react during the Copa Libertadores title match against Atletico Mineiro in Argentina, during a watch party at Nilton Santos Stadium, in Rio de Janeiro, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado) Jiyai Shin of Korea watches her shot on the 10th hole during the final round of the Australian Open golf championship at the Kingston Heath Golf Club in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake) Lara Gut-Behrami, of Switzerland, competes during a women's World Cup giant slalom skiing race, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024, in Killington, Vt. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) Minnesota Vikings running back Aaron Jones (33) reaches for an incomplete pass ahead of Arizona Cardinals linebacker Mack Wilson Sr. (2) during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr) Sent weekly directly to your inbox!
Stocks End Higher as Tech Fuels Pre-Holiday RallyPregnant Charlotte Dawson breaks her silence on the trolls making false claims about her parenting. Dawson, who is expecting her third child, revealed that some anonymous callers have been accusing her of neglecting her children, Noah, 3, and Jude, 1. "They ring social services all the time, whenever there is anything on my Instagram. It's pathetic," Dawson told The Sun. She added, "I have no idea who it is but they just won't give up. I've not heard anything for a few weeks but I'm sure I will do soon. I don't know who it is and I don't really care any more because it's just pathetic. There are people that actually need social services' help, you know, not me.” Charlotte has been dealing with callers since last year. She previously explained about the call on Instagram, “Basically it was saying that Noah is always injured in my care, I'm always drunk around him, he's always in hospital and all this crap.” “They said me and Matthew aren't capable of looking after Noah and he needs to be taken off of us,” she added.
The striker has taunted the club on social media. Everton striker Neal Maupay has sparked outrage among Toffees fans by taking a swipe at his parent club in a post on social media. Maupay also had a dig at Everton when he departed on loan to Marseille in the summer and his latest taunt has further angered the Premier League club’s supporters. The 28-year-old said on X after Sean Dyche’s side had lost 2-0 to Nottingham Forest at Goodison Park on Sunday: “Whenever I’m having a bad day I just check the Everton score and smile.” Former boxer Tony Bellew was among the Toffees’ supporters who responded to Maupay, with the ex-world cruiserweight champion replying on X with: “P****!” Maupay endured a miserable spell at Everton, scoring just one league goal in 29 appearances after being signed by the Merseysiders for an undisclosed fee in 2022. He departed on a season-long loan to his former club Brentford for the 2023-24 season and left Goodison for a second time in August when Marseille signed him on loan with an obligation to make the deal permanent. After leaving Everton in the summer, Maupay outraged their fans by posting on social media a scene from the film Shawshank Redemption, famous for depicting the main character’s long fight for freedom.Trump chooses loyalist Pam Bondi for attorney general pick after Gaetz withdrawsArsenal make Mikel Arteta proud after smashing Sporting LisbonWEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Saturday he had an “excellent conversation” with Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago club after the president-elect's threat to impose significant tariffs on two of America’s leading trade partners raised alarms in Ottawa and Mexico City . It was unclear, as Trudeau headed back to Canada from Florida, whether the conversation had alleviated Trump’s concerns. A person familiar with the details of the leaders' hastily arranged meeting Friday night said it was a “positive wide-ranging dinner that lasted three hours.” The official, who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said topics included trade, border security, fentanyl, defense, Ukraine, NATO, China, the Mideast and pipelines, as well as the the Group of Seven meeting in Canada next year. The Republican president-elect has threatened to impose tariffs on products from Canada and Mexico if the countries don’t stop what he called the flow of drugs and migrants across their borders. He said he would impose a 25% tax on all products entering the U.S. from Canada and Mexico as one of his first executive orders when he takes office in January. As he was leaving his West Palm Beach hotel, Trudeau stopped briefly to answer a reporter’s question about the dinner meeting, saying it was "an excellent conversation." Trump’s transition team did not respond to questions about what the leaders had discussed. Trump, during his first term as president, once called Trudeau “weak” and “dishonest,” but it was the prime minister who was the first G7 leader to visit Trump since the Nov. 5 election. "Tariffs are a crucial issue for Canada and a bold move was in order. Perhaps it was a risk, but a risk worth taking,” Daniel Béland, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal. Among those at the dinner were Howard Lutnick, Trump's pick for commerce secretary; North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, in line to lead the Interior Department; and Mike Waltz, Trump's choice to be his national security adviser. Accompanying Trudeau were Canada's public safety minister, Dominic LeBlanc, whose responsibilities include border security, and Katie Telford, Trudeau's chief of staff. Trudeau had said earlier Friday that he would resolve the tariffs issue by talking to Trump. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said a day earlier after speaking with Trump that she is confident a tariff war with the United States will be averted. Trudeau said Trump got elected because he promised to bring down the cost of groceries but now he's talking about adding 25% to the cost of all kinds of products including potatoes from Prince Edward Island in Atlantic Canada. “It is important to understand that Donald Trump, when he makes statements like that, he plans on carrying them out. There’s no question about it,” Trudeau said before his leaving for Florida. “Our responsibility is to point out that he would not just be harming Canadians, who work so well with the United States, but he would actually be raising prices for Americans citizens as well and hurting American industry and business,” he added. To Nelson Wiseman, professor emeritus at the University of Toronto, Trump "doesn’t need convincing that new tariffs on Canadian products would not be in U.S. interests. He knows that, but cannot say it because it would detract from what he has said publicly. His goal is to project the image that he gets action when he talks.” Those tariffs could essentially blow up the North American trade pact that Trump’s team negotiated during his first term. Trudeau noted they were able to successfully renegotiate the deal, which he calls a “win win” for both countries. Trump made the tariff threat Monday while citing an influx of migrants entering the country illegally, even though the numbers at the Canadian border pale in comparison to those at the U.S.-Mexico border. Trump also spoke about fentanyl from Mexico and Canada, even though seizures from the Canadian border are few in comparison to the Mexican border. Canadian officials say lumping Canada in with Mexico is unfair but say they are ready to make new investments in border security. When Trump imposed higher tariffs during his first term in office, other countries responded with retaliatory tariffs of their own. Canada, for instance, announced billions of new duties in 2018 against the U.S. in a response to new taxes on Canadian steel and aluminum. Canada is the top export destination for 36 U.S. states. Nearly $3.6 billion Canadian (US $2.7 billion) worth of goods and services cross the border each day. ___ Gillies reported from Toronto.
14 Kookaburra Court, Sorrento sold at auction for $7m. A trophy estate in Sorrento that traded for $7m at auction is the highest residential sale on the Gold Coast this week. Kollosche agents Sam Guo and Julia Kuo handled the auction of 14 Kookaburra Court, a luxury two-level home in a point position on the riverfront. Make a splash in the pool. “We had about 40 to 50 people turned up and three registered bidders,” Mr Guo said. “The potential buyers were from Sydney, Brisbane and the Gold Coast. “The two buyers from Sydney and Brisbane were competing for the property but the local family jumped in at the last minute and ended up buying the property.” The living area. The sale is the highest in the Isle of Sorrento, an exclusive enclave in the suburb of Bundall. “It’s a very well built and well designed home,” Mr Guo said. Records reveal the property last changed hands for $3.4m in 2014. “This he area is very exclusive — only people who live there come in and out. “It’s a family friendly area with extensive wide water and beautiful waterways. “It’s also very central to Surfers Paradise, Broadbeach and Southport.” MORE NEWS: $5m secret that delivered Hunt to Broncos Golf simulator, wine cellar, theatre: Ultimate trophy home sells for mega price Could this luxury home smash the suburb record? Entertain poolside. Described as ideal for family living and entertaining, the residence is on a 986sq m bloc with 33m of river frontage. The four-bedroom house features northeast views over the river towards the Surfers Paradise skyline. There are several different living zones as well as a media room, executive office and study nook. The living and dining areas. Entertain in style with an alfresco area with built-in barbecue overlooking the pool and spa. Other features include a pontoon, boat shed, triple garage and double-sided fireplace. Sorrento is an enclave in Bundall where the median house price is $2.1m, up 10.5 per cent over 12 months. The highest sale ever recorded in Bundall was $11.5m, paid earlier this year for 8 Marseille Court. The kitchen. Mr Guo said buyers were moving quickly on luxury properties on the Gold Coast. “Astute buyers are very educated — if a property offers good value with a good aspect, buyers they will make their decision pretty quickly,” Mr Guo said. “They understand good stock doesn’t come up very often. “With 14 Kookaburra Court, you had to wait 10 years for it to come back on the market.”
2024 in review: A year of milestones for the Indian community in New ZealandNone
From Wonder Woman Perfume to Batman Pajamas, We Found the Best Gifts for DC FansThe striker has taunted the club on social media. Everton striker Neal Maupay has sparked outrage among Toffees fans by taking a swipe at his parent club in a post on social media. Maupay also had a dig at Everton when he departed on loan to Marseille in the summer and his latest taunt has further angered the Premier League club’s supporters. The 28-year-old said on X after Sean Dyche’s side had lost 2-0 to Nottingham Forest at Goodison Park on Sunday: “Whenever I’m having a bad day I just check the Everton score and smile.” Former boxer Tony Bellew was among the Toffees’ supporters who responded to Maupay, with the ex-world cruiserweight champion replying on X with: “P****!” Maupay endured a miserable spell at Everton, scoring just one league goal in 29 appearances after being signed by the Merseysiders for an undisclosed fee in 2022. He departed on a season-long loan to his former club Brentford for the 2023-24 season and left Goodison for a second time in August when Marseille signed him on loan with an obligation to make the deal permanent. After leaving Everton in the summer, Maupay outraged their fans by posting on social media a scene from the film Shawshank Redemption, famous for depicting the main character’s long fight for freedom.
Steph Curry knows the Warriors have to rebound from consecutive losses. Speaking to the media after a frustrating Curry expressed his thoughts on the state of the team. “I think on the whole, you’ve got to look at the bright spots to the start of our season,” Curry told reporters. “These last two games have kind of left a sour taste for sure. We’ve given ourselves a little bit of a cushion with a new kind of mindset with who we’re trying to create [offensively] no matter who’s on the floor. “We’re still playing 12 guys, and you have to be able to adjust no matter what the combinations are offensively. Moving the ball, everybody being involved as a screener, as a passer as a dribbler. I think we can be a little more intentional about what type of shots we want to create with certain lineups. And that’s part of the growth of the team, we all have to be committed to making those adjustments.” While Golden State had a surprisingly good start to the season, the last two games have been frustrating. Poor offensive decisions, sloppy ball handling and were too much to overcome in losses to the San Antonio Spurs and the Nets. Still, at 12-5, the Warriors are in contention for the No. 1 overall seed in the Western Conference one month into the season, a much better position than a year ago. Curry has continued his offensive brilliance, but the rest of the team consistently. Buddy Hield had a hot start to the season, but has cooled off recently, leaving Golden State without a reliable second-scoring option. For the team to contend for a top seed the rest of the season, it will be critical to figure out the offense and clamp down on defense. Golden State now faces the Oklahoma City Thunder (13-4) on Wednesday night at Chase Center in a showdown of the top two teams in the Western Conference.Rosica Communications Releases V2 of Thought Leadership Measurement MatrixTM
Western Michigan beats Eastern Michigan 26-18 to become bowl eligibleITV viewers have spoken out in defence of two celebrities on I'm A Celeb after claims a recent challenge was 'fixed' against them. WAG Coleen Rooney and radio DJ Melvin Odoom were partnered together against two other celebrity couples on I'm A Celebrity. Tulisa and Barry McGuigan teamed up as the blue team, with GK Barry and Oti Mabuse in orange facing Coleen and Melvin on the pink team. Remaining housemates were also divided up amongst the three teams, and watched the Bushtucker Trial from a clearing. During the trial viewers at home noticed something which appeared to be unfair, as Coleen and Melvin had the odds stacked against them. As each pair had to reach up to collect tokens as insects and things were dropped on them, Melvin and Coleen who are shorter struggled to reach. One viewer wrote on X: " #ImACeleb well dodgy, the cage above Colleen and Melvin was covered in guts that didn’t fall through the holes while the others were bare and easy to get coins across ." Another shared: " gutted for Coleen and Melvin. height was not on their side ". " That trial was not fair on Coleen and Melvin! They are much shorter than other teams. So not fair ," said a third. The challenge came after fans thought they had spotted Coleen's true feelings about one celebrity camp mate when the teams were announced. Coleen joined forces with Loose Women star Jane Moore and radio DJ Dean McCullough , with Coleen appearing to be annoyed at being on a team with Dean. Before the challenge, Coleen had already predicted the teams would be divided as she predicted: "I think we might be put into teams, so team Alan, team Danny and team Dean ." Coleen appeared to be less than impressed that she was forced to be alongside Wagatha Christie superfan Dean, and viewers were quick to spot it. One viewer wrote on social media: "Coleen is fuming to be on deans team." Another joked: "Coleen fuming she's on deans team lollll." Others pointed out the pink team wasn’t likely to perform the best as one viewer pointed out: “My heart goes out to poor Coleen what a team to be saddled with, Dean and Jane!" Another thought the same as they shared: "The two most annoying campmates, Jane and Dean on the same team... sorry to Melvin and Coleen... but I'm not rooting for pink team." I'm A Celebrity airs every day at 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
President-elect Donald Trump will return to power next year with a raft of technological tools at his disposal that would help deliver his campaign promise of cracking down on immigration — among them, surveillance and artificial intelligence technology that the Biden administration already uses to help make crucial decisions in tracking, detaining and ultimately deporting immigrants lacking permanent legal status. While immigration officials have used the tech for years, an October letter from the Department of Homeland Security obtained exclusively by The Associated Press details how those tools — some of them powered by AI — help make life-altering decisions for immigrants, including whether they should be detained or surveilled. One algorithm, for example, ranks immigrants with a “Hurricane Score,” ranging from 1-5, to assess whether someone will “abscond” from the agency's supervision. The letter, sent by DHS Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer Eric Hysen to the immigrant rights group Just Futures Law, revealed that the score calculates the potential risk that an immigrant — with a pending case — will fail to check in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. The algorithm relies on several factors, he said, including an immigrant’s number of violations and length of time in the program, and whether the person has a travel document. Hysen wrote that ICE officers consider the score, among other information, when making decisions about an immigrant’s case. “The Hurricane Score does not make decisions on detention, deportation, or surveillance; instead, it is used to inform human decision-making,” Hysen wrote. Also included in the government’s tool kit is a mobile app called SmartLINK that uses facial matching and can track an immigrant’s specific location. Nearly 200,000 people without legal status who are in removal proceedings are enrolled in the Alternatives to Detention program, under which certain immigrants can live in the U.S. while their immigration cases are pending. In exchange, SmartLINK and GPS trackers used by ICE rigorously surveil them and their movements. The phone application draws on facial matching technology and geolocation data, which has been used before to find and arrest those using the app. Just Futures Law wrote to Hysen earlier this year, questioning the fairness of using an algorithm to assess whether someone is a flight risk and raising concerns over how much data SmartLINK collects. Such AI systems, which score or screen people, are used widely but remain largely unregulated even though some have been found to discriminate on race, gender or other protected traits. DHS said in an email that it is committed to ensuring that its use of AI is transparent and safeguards privacy and civil rights while avoiding biases. The agency said it is working to implement the Biden administration’s requirements on using AI , but Hysen said in his letter that security officials may waive those requirements for certain uses. Trump has publicly vowed to repeal Biden's AI policy when he returns to the White House in January. “DHS uses AI to assist our personnel in their work, but DHS does not use the outputs of AI systems as the sole basis for any law enforcement action or denial of benefits,” a spokesperson for DHS told the AP. Trump has not revealed how he plans to carry out his promised deportation of an estimated 11 million people living in the country illegally. Although he has proposed invoking wartime powers, as well as military involvement, the plan would face major logistical challenges — such as where to keep those who have been detained and how to find people spread across the country — that AI-powered surveillance tools could potentially address. Karoline Leavitt, a spokesperson for Trump, did not answer questions about how they plan to use DHS’ tech, but said in a statement that “President Trump will marshal every federal and state power necessary to institute the largest deportation operation” in American history. Over 100 civil society groups sent a letter on Friday urging the Office of Management and Budget to require DHS to comply with the Biden administration’s guidelines. OMB did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Just Futures Law’s executive director, Paromita Shah, said if immigrants are scored as flight risks, they are more likely to remain in detention, "limiting their ability to prepare a defense in their case in immigration court, which is already difficult enough as it is.” SmartLINK, part of the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program, is run by BI Inc., a subsidiary of the private prison company The GEO Group. The GEO Group also contracts with ICE to run detention centers. ICE is tight-lipped about how it uses SmartLINK’s location feature to find and arrest immigrants. Still, public records show that during Trump’s first term in 2018, Manassas, Virginia-based employees of BI Inc. relayed immigrants’ GPS locations to federal authorities, who then arrested over 40 people. In a report last year to address privacy issues and concerns, DHS said that the mobile app includes security features that “prohibit access to information on the participant’s mobile device, with the exception of location data points when the app is open.” But the report notes that there remains a risk that data collected from people "may be misused for unauthorized persistent monitoring.” Such information could also be stored in other ICE and DHS databases and used for other DHS mission purposes, the report said. On investor calls earlier this month, private prison companies were clear-eyed about the opportunities ahead. The GEO Group’s executive chairman George Christopher Zoley said that he expects the incoming Trump administration to “take a much more aggressive approach regarding border security as well as interior enforcement and to request additional funding from Congress to achieve these goals.” “In GEO’s ISAP program, we can scale up from the present 182,500 participants to several hundreds of thousands, or even millions of participants,” Zoley said. That same day, the head of another private prison company told investors he would be watching closely to see how the new administration may change immigrant monitoring programs. “It’s an opportunity for multiple vendors to engage ICE about the program going forward and think about creative and innovative solutions to not only get better outcomes, but also scale up the program as necessary,” Damon Hininger, CEO of the private prison company CoreCivic Inc. said on an earnings call. GEO did not respond to requests for comment. In a statement, CoreCivic said that it has played “a valued but limited role in America’s immigration system” for both Democrats and Republicans for over 40 years.Is WELL Health a Buy?Johnson had five rebounds and three steals for the Falcons (3-5). Derrick Butler scored 15 points while going 4 of 15 from the floor, including 2 for 7 from 3-point range, and 5 for 5 from the line and added five rebounds. Campbell had 12 points and shot 1 of 9 from the field and 10 of 12 from the free-throw line. The Aggies (3-4) were led by Jaden Harris, who posted 18 points and nine rebounds. New Mexico State also got 10 points and seven rebounds from Robert Carpenter. Christian Cook finished with nine points and four assists. Campbell scored a team-high 12 points for Bowling Green in the second half, including their game-winner. NEXT UP Up next for Bowling Green is a Saturday matchup with Morgan State at home, and New Mexico State hosts Abilene Christian on Wednesday. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .