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‘China-Europe freight-train service hits milestone’
Hulu Schedule December 9-15 2024: New TV Shows & Movies Being AddedFrank Annoh Dompreh Confident of Re-election Amidst Election Tensions and Rumours
Real Madrid suffered a 2-1 LaLiga defeat at Athletic Bilbao as Kylian Mbappe missed from the penalty spot again. Alex Berenguer prodded the hosts ahead after 53 minutes before Mbappe – who failed to convert a Champions League penalty against Liverpool last week – sent his kick too close to Bilbao goalkeeper Julen Agirrezabala. Jude Bellingham appeared to have rescued a point for Real after scoring for the fourth successive league game 12 minutes from time. But Federico Valverde’s mistake two minutes later gifted Gorka Guruzeta the winner in front of a delirious San Mames crowd. On a busy night of second-round Copa del Rey action, Villarreal suffered a shock 1-0 defeat at Pontevedra while there were wins for Real Betis, Rayo Vallecano and Valencia. Fiorentina went out of the Coppa Italia to Empoli on penalties on an emotional night at Stadio Artemio Franchi. Viola were back in action after Edoardo Bove’s health scare forced their weekend league fixture with Inter Milan to be abandoned during the first half. Midfielder Bove collapsed on the pitch and required emergency medical treatment. He was taken to hospital but regained consciousness in intensive care. Empoli led at half-time through Emmanuel Ekong’s fourth-minute opener before Moise Kean and Riccardo Sottil put Fiorentina ahead. Sebastiano Esposito struck 15 minutes from time to make it 2-2 and take the last-16 tie into extra time, Empoli eventually winning 4-3 on penalties. Benjamin Sesko opened the scoring and Luis Openda struck twice as RB Leipzig brushed aside Eintracht Frankfurt 3-0 in the German DFB Pokal. Second-half goals from Denis Vavro, Jonas Wind and Yannick Gerhardt saw Wolfsburg beat Hoffenheim 3-0. Cologne knocked out Hertha Berlin 2-1 after extra time with Dejan Ljubicic converting a penalty in the final seconds, while Augsburg prevailed 5-4 on penalties against Karlsruhe after a 2-2 draw.An archbishop's knock formally restores Notre Dame to life as winds howl and heads of state look on
Government gets flak over flood managementWASHINGTON — A top White House official said Wednesday at least eight U.S. telecom firms and dozens of nations were impacted by a Chinese hacking campaign. Deputy national security adviser Anne Neuberger offered new details about the breadth of the sprawling Chinese hacking campaign that gave officials in Beijing access to private texts and phone conversations of an unknown number of Americans. FILE - The American and Chinese flags wave at Genting Snow Park ahead of the 2022 Winter Olympics, in Zhangjiakou, China, on Feb. 2, 2022. A top White House official on Wednesday said at least eight U.S. telecom firms and dozens of nations have been impacted by a Chinese hacking campaign. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, File) Neuberger divulged the scope of the hack a day after the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued guidance intended to help root out the hackers and prevent similar cyberespionage in the future. White House officials cautioned that the number of telecommunication firms and countries impacted could grow. The U.S. believes the hackers were able to gain access to communications of senior U.S. government officials and prominent political figures through the hack, Neuberger said. “We don’t believe any classified communications has been compromised,” Neuberger added during a call with reporters. She added that Biden was briefed on the findings and the White House “made it a priority for the federal government to do everything it can to get to the bottom this.” US officials recommend encrypted messaging apps amid "Salt Typhoon" cyberattack, attributed to China, targeting AT&T, Verizon, and others. The Chinese embassy in Washington rejected the accusations that it was responsible for the hack Tuesday after the U.S. federal authorities issued new guidance. “The U.S. needs to stop its own cyberattacks against other countries and refrain from using cyber security to smear and slander China,” embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu said. The embassy did not immediately respond to messages Wednesday. White House officials believe the hacking was regionally targeted and the focus was on very senior government officials. Federal authorities confirmed in October that hackers linked to China targeted the phones of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, along with people associated with Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris. The number of countries impacted by the hack is currently believed to be in the “low, couple dozen,” according to a senior administration official. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity under rules set by the White House, said they believed the hacks started at least a year or two ago. The suggestions for telecom companies released Tuesday are largely technical in nature, urging encryption, centralization and consistent monitoring to deter cyber intrusions. If implemented, the security precautions could help disrupt the operation, dubbed Salt Typhoon, and make it harder for China or any other nation to mount a similar attack in the future, experts say. Trump's pick to head the Federal Bureau of Investigation Kash Patel was allegedly the target of cyberattack attempt by Iranian-backed hackers. Neuberger pointed to efforts made to beef up cybersecurity in the rail, aviation, energy and other sectors following the May 2021 ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline . “So, to prevent ongoing Salt Typhoon type intrusions by China, we believe we need to apply a similar minimum cybersecurity practice,” Neuberger said. The cyberattack by a gang of criminal hackers on the critical U.S. pipeline, which delivers about 45% of the fuel used along the Eastern Seaboard, sent ripple effects across the economy, highlighting cybersecurity vulnerabilities in the nation’s aging energy infrastructure. Colonial confirmed it paid $4.4 million to the gang of hackers who broke into its computer systems as it scrambled to get the nation's fuel pipeline back online. Picture this: You're on vacation in a city abroad, exploring museums, tasting the local cuisine, and people-watching at cafés. Everything is going perfectly until you get a series of alerts on your phone. Someone is making fraudulent charges using your credit card, sending you into a panic. How could this have happened? Cyberattacks targeting travelers are nothing new. But as travel has increased in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, so has the volume of hackers and cybercriminals preying upon tourists. Financial fraud is the most common form of cybercrime experienced by travelers, but surveillance via public Wi-Fi networks, social media hacking, and phishing scams are also common, according to a survey by ExpressVPN . Spokeo consulted cybersecurity sources and travel guides to determine some of the best ways to protect your phone while traveling, from using a VPN to managing secure passwords. Online attacks are not the only type of crime impacting travelers—physical theft of phones is also a threat. Phones have become such invaluable travel aids, housing our navigation tools, digital wallets, itineraries, and contacts, that having your phone stolen, lost, or compromised while abroad can be devastating. Meanwhile, traveling can make people uniquely vulnerable to both cyber and physical attacks due to common pitfalls like oversharing on social media and letting your guard down when it comes to taking risks online. Luckily, there are numerous precautions travelers can take to safeguard against cyberattacks and phone theft. Hackers can—and do—target public Wi-Fi networks at cafés and hotels to gain access to your personal information or install malware onto your device, particularly on unsecured networks. Travelers are especially vulnerable to these types of cybersecurity breaches because they are often more reliant on public Wi-Fi than they would be in their home countries where they have more robust phone plans. This reliance on public, unsecured networks means travelers are more likely to use those networks to perform sensitive tasks like financial transfers, meaning hackers can easily gain access to banking information or other passwords. One easy way to safeguard yourself against these breaches is to use a virtual private network, or VPN, while traveling. VPNs are apps that encrypt your data and hide your location, preventing hackers from accessing personal information. An added bonus is that VPNs allow you to access websites that may be blocked or unavailable in the country you are visiting. To use a VPN, simply download a VPN app on your phone or computer, create an account, choose a server, and connect. If your phone falls into the wrong hands, there's a good chance you won't be getting it back. Out of those 91,000 phones stolen in London in 2022, only 1,915 (or about 2%) were recovered. The good news is that you can take precautions to make the loss of your phone less devastating by backing up your data before you travel. With backed-up data, you can acquire a new device and still access your photos, contacts, messages, and passwords. Moreover, if you have "Find My Device" or "Find My Phone" enabled, you can remotely wipe your stolen phone's data so the thief cannot access it. It's safest to back up your data to a hard drive and not just the cloud. That way, if you have to wipe your device, you don't accidentally erase the backup, too. In order for the previous tip on this list to work, "Find My Phone" must be turned on in advance, but remotely wiping your device isn't the only thing this feature allows you to do. The "Find My Phone" feature enables you to track your device, as long as it's turned on and not in airplane mode. This is particularly helpful if you misplaced your phone or left it somewhere since it can help you retrace your steps. While this feature won't show you the live location of a phone that has been turned off, it will show the phone's last known location. With "Find My Phone," you can also remotely lock your phone or enable "Lost Mode," which locks down the phone, suspends any in-phone payment methods, and displays contact information for returning the phone to you. If your phone was stolen, experts caution against taking matters into your own hands by chasing down the thief, since this could land you in a potentially dangerous situation and is unlikely to result in getting your phone back. 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When Jon Montgomery’s moustache was just a patch of reddish stubble, it could only dream of becoming an astronaut. Read this article for free: Already have an account? To continue reading, please subscribe: * When Jon Montgomery’s moustache was just a patch of reddish stubble, it could only dream of becoming an astronaut. Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? When Jon Montgomery’s moustache was just a patch of reddish stubble, it could only dream of becoming an astronaut. The Movember movement started in 2003 in Australia, when a group of friends grew moustaches during the month of November to bring attention to men’s health issues, charging $10 to take part in the challenge with the money going to prostate cancer. The Movember movement started in 2003 in Australia, when a group of friends grew moustaches during the month of November to bring attention to men’s health issues, charging $10 to take part in the challenge with the money going to prostate cancer. It has since grown to a worldwide initiative that now encompasses many other ways of fundraising during the month, including walking 60 kilometres to remember the 60 men who die by suicide globally every hour, or hosting a Mo-Ment event. The ruddy muzzy always knew it was destined to go fast, to go far and to live life on the edge. That much was certain when it held on for dear life while its host whipped around the skeleton track in Vancouver to win a record-setting, beer-soaked gold medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics. But in the 14 years since, as the Russell-born Montgomery’s gone on to enjoy a successful post-athletic afterlife as a television host, his whiskers still yearned to go where no Manitoban “lip sweater” had ever gone before. And so, Montgomery partnered with Movember for a manscaped mission, aiming to raise awareness for men’s physical and mental-health causes. ( host, who has raised $10,000 for Movember since 2012, has a personal connection to the cause; his father went through prostate cancer.) On Sept. 22, in a field in Kingston, N.Y., Montgomery’s moustache trimmings were strapped into a space-proofed container, attached to a balloon, and launched to a cruising altitude of 35,472.9 metres above mean sea level for a two-hour-long solo flight at the very edge of the earth’s stratosphere. “It just really changed my perspective,” the moustache told the upon its return. “Made me wonder whether other lifeforms exist, and whether they grow facial hair, too.” SUPPLIED Manitoba Olympian Jon Montgomery sent his ’stache into space in September. Its adventures left the discussing the most memorable Manitoban moustaches, sifting through old boxes of hockey cards, scanning LP sleeves and asking the general public for suggestions. The following star soup-strainers made the barbershop cut. About 150 years before Montgomery’s moustache witnessed the vastness of the universe, a man named Telrean noted the absence of Manitoba’s most important moustache in a diary entry, written on Sept. 23, 1874, in Saint Hyacinthe. ARCHIVES The founding father of Manitoba, Louis Riel, is known for his trademark moustache. “With emotion, I shook the hand of Riel, the young hero of Manitoba,” he wrote after meeting the Métis icon. “He was tall, bronze like the Métis, without showing much trace of his Indian blood. He wore sideburns without a moustache.” As detailed in a 1949 entry in the Manitoba Historical Society’s Transactions series, a publication that preceded Manitoba History, in 1874, the 29-year-old Riel had just visited Washington, where he’d met with sitting American president Ulysses S. Grant. (Grant had by that point tamed his Civil War scruff). Meanwhile, Riel’s father, Louis Sr., who died in 1864, is seen in most photographs with a sideburn-full-beard combo. You might have a hard time envisioning Louis Riel without his ‘stache, which has become an indelible element of our province’s founder’s visual identity, a downward crescent blending revolution and grandiose intelligence in one follicular swoop. Riel’s is without a doubt Manitoba’s most consequential moustache. There are more than 1,200 members of the , a tribute to the hirsute frontman of the Guess Who, the biggest band to ever emerge from Winnipeg. “I AM NOT BURT HIMSELF!” the group’s administrator writes. “This is the official UNOFFICIAL fanclub of Burton Cummings’ moustache — the moustache is what contains all Burt’s superpowers.” SUPPLIED Singer Burton Cummings once shaved his moustache, but the hair returned by 1981. There might be some Samsonian truth in that: on each of his first three solo albums, the St. John’s neighbourhood-raised songwriter made the muzz — and those curly locks — a focal point of the album art. But when he released the singer debuted a naked lip. “Singer Burton Cummings has a new image,” The Canadian Press reported on April 2, 1980, one month before the album’s release. “Cummings, now a short-haired rocker, says he woke up one morning, took a look at himself and realized he was bored with what he saw. Deciding to make a change, he hacked off his hair close to his scalp and shaved off his moustache.” For 1981’s Cummings hired photographer John Rowlands to handle the cover art. With his thumbs meeting in the album’s centre, forming a crude W, Cummings framed the lower third of his face, his lip once again graced by that superpowered moustache. Yes, these Jets featured current head coach Scott Arniel and a 19-year-old star centre named Dale Hawerchuk, but there’s a case to be made that the 1982-1983 Winnipeg club is the greatest moustache team of all time. KEN GIGLIOTTI / FREE PRESS FILES Winnipeg Jets 1.0 defenceman Dave Babych sported a legendary bushy ’stache. Coached by reigning Jack Adams winner Tom Watt — a mustachioed dead ringer for Soviet filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky — and co-captained by bare-lipped American Dave Christian and the gloriously stached right-winger Lucien DeBlois, the Jets limped to a 74-point finish before losing to the eventual Smythe Division champion Edmonton Oilers in the first round of the playoffs. The Oilers later lost the Stanley Cup to the New York Islanders, who won their fourth straight championship behind a roster featuring St. Boniface’s Butch Goring, a Lady Byng-winning gentleman with an incongruently grizzly moustache. Perhaps the Jets blew it by having an all-time lineup of dusters well before it came time to grow playoff beards. The unofficial leader was defenceman Dave Babych, who wore the thickest moustache this side of Lanny McDonald for most of his 19-year career, the first five spent as a Jet. (In a January 1984 column, sports editor Hal Sigurdson noted, “Dave Babych has shaved his moustache, while Dale Hawerchuk is growing one.”) KEN GIGLIOTTI / FREE PRESS FILES Winnipeg Jets 1.0 player Doug Smail was a speedy, and hirsute, forward. On the blueline, Maurice Mantha earned the nickname Moe. Saskatchewan speedster Doug Smail donned a horseshoe moustache above his Moose Jaw. Wearing No. 16 and a respectable ‘stache, former Brandon Wheat King Laurie Boschman scored 74 points in only 61 games, trailing only the baby-faced Hawerchuk (92 points) and the French-born Paul MacLean — a first-ballot moustache Hall of Famer who finished the year with 76 points. While the all-star MacLean is remembered as a prototypical power forward who scored 40 goals for the Jets on three occasions, most modern hockey fans became acquainted with him during his tenure as a cantankerous, award-winning bench boss. During the 2013 season, MacLean, then coaching the Senators, went viral when an Ottawa fan sitting behind him in a suit and tie — and walrus moustache — was dubbed “Paul MacClone” by Sportsnet. The auto parts salesman’s facial hair was covered by local and national press. “Now, some of my customers call me Coach,” Watson told the ben.waldman@winnipegfreepress.com Ben Waldman is a National Newspaper Award-nominated reporter on the Arts & Life desk at the . Born and raised in Winnipeg, Ben completed three internships with the while earning his degree at Ryerson University’s (now Toronto Metropolitan University’s) School of Journalism before joining the newsroom full-time in 2019. . Every piece of reporting Ben produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the ‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about , and . Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. 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BPS students, faculty, and staff can ice skate for free this winterHP reports soft Q1 guidance; shares tumble in afterhours tradingMichigan football fans are cheering after top high school football recruit Bryce Underwood flipped his recruit from LSU to U of M, a move that may have been helped by NIL ( name, image and likeness ) deals and a billionaire. What Happened : After winning the NCAA Football championship last season, the 2024 college football season has been disappointing for Michigan fans. The team currently has a 6-5 overall record, a 4-4 Big Ten conference record, and a lack of consistency at the quarterback position. Michigan may have their answer to the quarterback problems with the top recruit in the nation, who happens to be a quarterback, now set to attend Michigan in the future. Underwood, who attends Belleville High School in Belleville, Michigan, flipped his commitment from LSU to Michigan with reports that an NIL package worth anywhere from $10 million to $20 million factored into the equation. Helping the Michigan NIL collective Champions Circle land Underwood was billionaire Larry Ellison , according to a report from FrontOfficeSports. Ellison, who is the co-founder and chief technology officer of Oracle , is the world's third-richest person, worth $206 billion according to Bloomberg . "We are very excited to keep Bryce home in Michigan as he continues to build his legacy," Champions Circle chairman Nate Forbes previously said. "I want to personally thank Jolin and Larry Ellison who were instrumental in making this happen by providing Champions Circle with invaluable guidance and financial resources." Champions Circle later issued a new statement, which removed the Ellison reference, instead simply saying "Larry and his wife Jolin." Champions Circle co-founder Roger Ehrenberg confirmed to FrontOfficeSports that it was "THE Larry Ellison" who was referenced. "Jolin is a Michigan alumna who is super passionate about the University of Michigan Athletics and was critical support for the recruitment effort," Ehrenberg said. Ellison divorced his fourth wife in 2010 and it was not previously announced that he had married again. The report said Ellison was photographed wearing a Michigan hat and sitting next to a woman wearing a Michigan hat at a 2022 tennis tournament. Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy , who is a U of M alum, previously offered to help fund an offer for Underwood. While Portnoy celebrated in the announcement from Underwood, he also clarified his role in the NIL deal. "I'm getting tons of credit online for flipping Bryce. While I love credit, reality is I played a tiny roll. Rest assured there are Michigan Men + Women out there making things happen behind the scenes. I've never been more confident that Mich is poised to dominate in this new world," Portnoy said . Read Also: Elon Musk And Oracle’s Larry Ellison ‘Begged’ Jensen Huang For Nvidia GPUs At A Dinner: ‘Please Take Our Money’ Why It's Important : Ellison helping the University of Michigan Football team and also potentially getting secretly married could go down as big shocks in the world of sports and finance this week. While helping chip in a couple million dollars won't be a big deal for Ellison given his wealth, it comes as he is also helping son David Ellison and his Skydance Media company merge with Paramount Global PARA PARAA . As previously reported by Benzinga , Larry Ellison will become a controlling shareholder in the new media company after helping to finance the deal. Much of Ellison's wealth is tied to his ownership stake in Oracle, estimated at 42% of the company in 2023, and a stake in electric vehicle company Tesla, where he previously served on the board of directors. Ellison attended the University of Illinois, a Big Ten and Michigan rival, in the 1960s but did not graduate. Ellison also previously "rooted against University of Michigan sports teams" due to a breakup with a woman who went there, a previous report from the Tampa Bay Times said. Read Next: Elon Musk To End Year As Richest Man In The World? Prediction Market Says Yes, Higher Chance Than Larry Ellison Or Jensen Huang Photo: Courtesy of Wikimedia © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
City's Guardiola refuses to criticise players despite latest woeful display - CNA
The Western Australian government will officially launch a new “smart freeway” on Dec. 22, featuring 1,400 new technology pieces. Road sensors, on-ramp signals, CCTV cameras with incident detection sensors, and overhead gantries are among the revamped technologies to be installed along the southbound lanes of the Mitchell Freeway. The freeway is a major highway connecting Perth’s northern suburbs to the city centre and connecting to other major roads. Overhead gantries are set to reduce speed limits and warn about accidents ahead, while traffic signals at on-ramps will manage the flow of traffic during busy times. “Depending on where they’re travelling from, drivers can expect to save up to seven minutes during morning peak hour, which ultimately means a safer journey and less time spent in gridlock,” she said. Her federal counterpart, Transport Minister Catherine King, said the federal government was continuing to invest in infrastructure that makes roads safer and gets Australians home to their families earlier. “Our partnership with the WA Government in delivering these important projects will mean residents of Perth’s northern suburbs will spend less time stuck in traffic and more time with their loved ones.” The Smart Freeway Mitchell Southbound project, along with the Hodges to Hepburn widening and shared path projects, are funded by both the Federal and State governments. Key features of the new upgrade include new traffic signals on 16 on-ramps to filter traffic onto the freeway and assist with smoother merging, 23 overhead gantries with lane-use and variable speed signs, and digital message signs that inform motorists of traffic conditions in real time. One of the major risks of smart highways can be driver confusion due to rapidly changing conditions, if speed limits are changed quickly and lanes are opened or closed frequently. The over-reliance on technology including sensors, cameras, and message signs could also lead to danger if the systems were to fail or malfunction. Smart highways also rely on data systems that could be targeted by hackers, making them potentially vulnerable to cyber-attacks. “A Smart Motorway uses real-time information, communication, and traffic control systems to improve traffic flow (just like the M4 & M8),” the department stated. The NSW government is installing 19 gantries between the Anzac Bridge and Sydney Harbour Bridge, integrating speed lane usage electronic signs, CCTV, and automatic incident detection technology. “We are installing smart motorway technology on the Western Distributor between the Anzac Bridge and the Sydney Harbour Bridge,” the government said. He said the Cook government had continued to demonstrate a “lack of leadership and vision,” only acting after being pushed by the Opposition on key issues including road safety and problems in the construction sector. “It’s clear this out-of-touch government has no intention of taking real action unless forced by the Opposition.” Meanwhile, Western Australian Liberal leader Libby Mettam has been raising concerns about broader safety and crime in the state, including assaults on public transport.Bears general manager Ryan Poles was granted a reprieve complete with a second swing at hiring a head coach in Chicago. Poles will interview candidates and select a replacement for Matt Eberflus, who was fired Friday after the Bears' sixth consecutive loss and fourth of the season decided on a final play. "Ryan Poles is the general manager of the Chicago Bears, and he will remain the general manager of the Chicago Bears," president and CEO Kevin Warren said Monday. "Ryan will serve as the point person of our upcoming search for a head football coach. We will closely, we will work together on a daily basis to make sure we have the right person as our head football coach." Warren said the McCaskey family provided "all the resources" to build a championship environment. He confirmed that Thomas Brown, who a month ago was passing game coordinator before replacing Shane Waldron as offensive coordinator, will serve as interim head coach and shift from the press box to the sideline starting this week. Warren did not say whether Brown would automatically receive an interview for the full-time coaching position, which he said "will be the most coveted head coaching job in the National Football League." Poles said consideration will be given to candidates with the plan to develop rookie No. 1 pick Caleb Williams, but there are no set plans to involve the quarterback in the interview process. He said the Bears showed great progress through two seasons but couldn't sustain growth. "At the end of the day, we just came up short too many times," Poles said of firing Eberflus, his pick to be the Bears' head coach in January 2022. Brown promoted wide receivers coach Chris Beatty to interim offensive coordinator on Monday and announced that defensive coordinator Eric Washington will be the defensive play caller, a role Eberflus previously held. Trailing 23-20 on Thanksgiving Day, the Bears were within field-goal range when quarterback Caleb Williams was sacked. With 32 seconds remaining, Eberflus elected not to use his final timeout as Williams heaved an incompletion down the right sideline as time expired. "When you look at the end-of-the-game situations, detailing to finish in some of those moments. We all know a lot of games come down to those critical moments where we weren't able to get over the hump," Poles said. Eberflus said after the game that everything was handled properly and held a press conference via Zoom on Friday voicing confidence he'd have the team ready to play the 49ers this week. But three hours later, he was fired. Warren admitted the franchise could've handled the timing better, but clarified there was no decision on Eberflus' status at the time of his media session. "The decision was made to terminate the employment of head coach Matt Eberflus," Warren said 72 hours later. "We try to do everything in a professional manner. That decision was made on Friday." "Coach Eberflus had his press conference, we had not made a final decision. I think you know me, you know Ryan you know George McCaskey. One thing we stand for is family, integrity, doing it the right way. In retrospect, could we have done it better? Absolutely." Eberflus, 54, went 14-32 in two-plus seasons. The Bears (4-8) travel to San Francisco (5-7) in Week 1. --Field Level Media
10 Most Intimidating Players in Football History [Ranked]
luza studios Iris Energy ( NASDAQ: IREN ) stock jumped 3.6% in Tuesday after-hours trading after the bitcoin-mining and high-performance computing company said it may be able to start distributions to investors in 2025. The company said it's weeks away from reaching its 31 EH/s
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BECAUSE of the rapidly changing times, traditional values that harp on integrity as a core pillar of personal conduct may be going out of fashion. Still, they hold self-evident truths that society can only trifle with or abandon at its own peril. In particular, the saying that honesty is the best policy illustrates the primacy of plainness in societal dealings, as the story of former Hearts of Oak midfielder Joe Tagoe, popularly known as Bobby Short, brings out most poignantly. Now in retirement, the Ghanaian football great recently admitted to falsifying his age during his football career, relating how his actions cost him so dearly. As Tagoe revealed during a television interview, in a bid to escape the poverty trap, he had reduced his age from 35 to 19 in 2017 to secure a spot with an Egyptian under-19 team. Indeed, in a desperate bid to hide his age, the midfielder dyed his grey hair daily, but as it turned out, he could not withstand the intense pressure of the game, and had to quit. Hear him: “I was home and received a call from Francis Martey (a fellow footballer) about an offer for an under-19 player. Looking at my height, I said okay. At that time, I was about 34 or 35 years old. Poverty can make you do such things, and the system isn’t fair to us. I would have died if I hadn’t taken care of myself. I trained with both the senior team and U-20s, but the running with the U-20s always left me dizzy. Many players like me face similar situations.” Around the world, age cheating in football is almost as old as the sport. That is why for Nigerians in particular, Tagoe’s story sounds eerily familiar. For instance, ahead of the 2009 Under-17 World Cup at which the Golden Eaglets emerged runners-up, the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) almost got on a collision course with the world soccer-governing body, FIFA, over the use of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) to flush out age cheats. The test had already weeded out 15 age cheats from the Nigerian team, but the then NFF president, Sani Lulu, put up a stiff resistance, declaring that the federation would not use the FIFA-sanctioned method in detecting over-aged players. He said: “I will not use the MRI to disqualify my players. When we came on board to serve Nigerian people, we promised to eradicate age cheats in cadet championships. FIFA has not given us information on the MRI but I can only use it as a guide.” It took the intervention of the then Minister of Sports and Chairman of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Sani Ndanusa, to restore sanity. Pooh-poohing the NFF leadership’s decision to invite the parents of the players in camp to validate their ages, Ndanusa said: “We will not deviate from FIFA’s requirement in terms of ascertaining players’ age. The whole world has gone digital and we are following suit. We are no longer in the era of analog, so we are going to adhere to FIFA’s standard in ascertaining the ages of the players we are going to parade. FIFA has indicated the use of MRI, and we are going to just adhere to that, simple.” Actually, the MRI, although not without drawbacks, has been fairly effective in weeding out overage players over the years. In 2007, the Asian Football Confederation discovered that 10 players were above the age of 16 during an Under-15 tournament. Ahead of the 2009 FIFA Under-17 tournament, the Gambia Football Association found that a few players that had just failed the MRI scan had actually participated at the 2009 African Under-17 championship. According to FIFA, over the years, “over-age players had been wrongly entered into various youth competitions, often benefiting from an unfair advantage due to their greater physical maturity compared to players of the proper age.” That was why the body introduced the mandatory use of MRI during the 2009 Under-17 World Cup in order to determine the actual ages of the players presented by the various national teams. Back to Joe Tagoe’s confession. It is quite easy to join the football veteran in laughing at himself, but the issue he engages is an extremely serious one. Until recently, age cheating was a big problem in African football, particularly in cadet competitions, and the number of players who embarrassed themselves in Europe after getting signed by various clubs was considerable. Indeed, the malaise still goes on in the footballing world as many players, their agents and their parents seek to make cool cash through fraud. As Tagoe’s story demonstrates very clearly, age cheats in sports, or indeed any other field of human endeavour, are unfair even to themselves. They put their bodies through undue strain in order to gain advantage over others, and end up making cruel mockery of themselves. Tagoe’s self-deprecating story has taken some courage to tell, and its lessons are clear: age cheating is anathema in sports. Of course, the problem starts from the home front where undisciplined parents teach their children to lie, cheat and rob others at a very young age. And the situation is not helped by the actions of members of the political leadership, many of whom have biographies riddled with questionable claims. There have been instances where political leaders supposedly graduated from schools that did not even exist as of the time they claimed to have graduated from them. Such deception has a way of seeping through the pore of society and contaminating many people, including those down the pecking order. Any society that wants a massive turnaround must enthrone a transparent, honest and patriotic political leadership. Joe Tagoe’s story is instructive. It is hoped that up and coming athletes will learn from the experience of this veteran footballer and not see his story as mere comic relief. That would be quite tragic. Get real-time news updates from Tribune Online! Follow us on WhatsApp for breaking news, exclusive stories and interviews, and much more. Join our WhatsApp Channel nowzuMedia Announces fatSu Website