Here's some gift ideas for the outdoorsmen -- and women -- on your listWith each team coming off a come-from-behind win, West Virginia and North Carolina Central square off Tuesday night in Morgantown, W.Va. West Virginia (6-2) has won two straight games and is in the midst of a 16-day, four-game homestand that kicked off with a 73-60 win over Georgetown in the Big 12-Big East Battle on Friday night. North Carolina Central (4-7) comes off a 78-77 road win over Gardner-Webb on Saturday night. Javon Small led the Mountaineers with a game-high 26 points against Georgetown as they overcame a second-half deficit with a decisive run. "The way we played in the second half (against Georgetown), I'll take that team everywhere," West Virginia coach Darian DeVries said. "You have to be able to do that every single night, every single possession you don't always get to go on a 16-0 run to pull you out of it. That's where we are still growing as a team." Eduardo Andre was questionable for the Georgetown game after he missed the Mountaineers' 83-76 overtime win against Arizona on Nov. 29. But the fifth-year senior center returned with four points, three rebounds and four blocks. "It was good to have him back in the lineup for a reason," DeVries said. "That presence, especially defensively and the ability to block shots, that's a huge deal for us." Against Gardner-Webb, Po'Boigh King led NCCU with 28 points, well above his 17.4 points per game average, as the Eagles rallied from a 17-point second-half deficit to win on a late 3-pointer from Isaac Parson. On offense, the Eagles take care of the ball. They are seventh in the nation in turnover margin at plus-7.5 per game. They seek extra possessions on defense and are second nationally with 18.9 turnovers forced per game "We're good enough, we just need to fine tune some things," NCCU coach LeVelle Moton said. "We've got to cross some T's, dot some I's and close. We can't be a really good basketball team until we get the mindset that when winning time presents itself in the last five minutes, (the other team) has to earn it." --Field Level MediaMy experience playing Avowed when it launches in February will be very different from yours. Maybe that sounds obvious—it's an Obsidian RPG, after all, with quest and dialogue choices even in the first couple hours that seem likely to echo throughout the journey. That's to be expected. But for the first time in one of its games, Obsidian's applied the same care it puts into wildly branching dialogue trees into its interface options, too. The biggest and most obvious choice will be between the first- and third-person cameras: after trying both I firmly prefer the default first-person option , but I know there are a number of RPG players who are excited to have the alternative. There's so much more to choose from in Avowed's options menus than just the camera. Just take a look: This is a major expansion from the options in Obsidian's last RPG , The Outer Worlds. I want to highlight a few of the options that stick out to me in the Game and UI menus that could add up to quite different experiences if you've ticked enough toggles. Game options Third-person view - The climbing and combat in Avowed feel very different when you're out of that first-person perspective. Auto activate companion abilities - Do you want your sidekicks to use their special attacks in combat autonomously, or do you want to maintain precise control over when those cooldowns are up? Your choice. Hit flash mode - How much visual feedback do you want on hits? You can turn these flashes off, have them appear only when you've staggered an enemy, or have them on all hits. Attacks move towards target - This option and the aim assist ones above all affect how precisely you need to aim both melee and ranged attacks; if you really want precision mouse control (and to miss more often), turn 'em off. The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team. Dodge and blocking align to target - Like the magnetism, these options will subtly nudge your orientation towards the enemy you're fighting, I think primarily to keep first-person combat from feeling disorienting. But again, if you want total control, you can turn them off. Slow time on dodge - A powerful option here, giving you a window of bullet time when you dodge. A welcome accessibility option, but also a fun way to give yourself an edge on one of the higher difficulty levels. UI options Hide failed dialogue checks - A powerful roleplaying choice. Do you want the "gamey" experience of seeing you don't meet the perception or intellect stat threshold for a particular dialogue choice? Or do you want that choice to be hidden, so that you can only wonder what a smarter or more perceptive character could do in that situation? Shrink dialogue checks - Another major roleplaying decision here: Do you even want to know what stats enabled your dialogue choices? Or do you want the more naturalistic experience of playing a character with tons of attribute points in dexterity and guessing which responses are available due to your shredded calves? Interaction icons - A hand icon pops up on plants when you get within 10 feet or so, and Avowed also highlights environmental obstacles like thorns that you can burn and wooden boards you can smash. With this option disabled you'll have to pay more attention to what in the environment looks interactive. Objective markers - Want an arrow pointing towards where you're going or what you're looking for? I find these sorts of markers make me mentally check out and beeline from goal to goal; I'm much more engaged with them off. Damage numbers - What kind of action RPG would Avowed be without damage numbers? One that immediately feels a bit more grounded, especially if you've turned off visual features like the incoming attack warnings. Compass - By default the compass gives you a lot of information: it points to your objective, shows nearby enemies, dropped loot, and environmental pickables. Disabling it altogether, or toggling a few of the things it highlights, will really change how closely you have to eyeball your surroundings. I might change my mind when I'm hours into Avowed, but as I sit here now I'm planning out how I'm going to play. I think I'll keep the compass on just to orient myself towards north, but I'll only leave the icons for corpses—and maybe enemies—enabled. I'm not going to shrink my dialogue checks because I like that sense of satisfaction of seeing my attributes pass a threshold, but I will hide the failed skill checks to leave a bit of ambiguity about other ways a conversation could have gone. And objective markers are absolutely getting turned off to keep me attentive. I'm going to try disabling most of the aim assist and movement assist in combat too, which I think make more sense on a controller than they do on keyboard/mouse. And damage numbers? Yeah, those are going away, at least for long enough to judge whether Avowed's hit feedback feels substantial enough to get a good sense of how effective my attacks are. If you're way more interested in Avowed's story than anything else, it would make sense to leave on objective markers and shimmering loot and the many other options that limit how much time you have to spend poking around alleys and rooftops. But if you do want to play this game more like a lightweight, exploratory immersive sim , which is what I'm hoping for, then turning that stuff off is a welcome option. I'd like to see every RPG of Avowed's scale or bigger offer this much flexibility.
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A Cork man and his team have been making waves internationally — including a nomination for Prince William's prestigious Earthshot Prize — with their marine drone start-up which aims to restore seagrass eco systems. UCD graduate Will O’Brien, who hails from Ballincollig, along with engineer Colm O’Brien from Meath, Akhil Voorakkara and Jamie Wedderburn, form part of Ulysses Ecosystem Engineering, which was founded in 2023. Based in San-Francisco, Ulysses’ goal is to restore ocean seagrass across the world to absorb carbon. Will O’Brien said this could be achieved up to 35 times more effectively than a rainforest on dry land. The initiative uses drones to replant seagrass from healthy donor meadows in areas where it has been lost. Growth can then be monitored in these areas on an ongoing basis. Ocean biodiversity is declining, with the world’s fisheries on track to collapse by 2048. Three billion people rely on the ocean as their primary source of protein and income. Despite humanity’s best efforts and $8bn in annual spending on ocean conservation, the situation continues to decline. While seagrass meadows are instrumental for the survival of certain marine species, much of it is being lost or threatened. Some 10 species now face becoming extinct following a 29% decrease in seagrass since the mid-1700s. This accounts for a distance of 51,000sq m. Ulysses has joined forced with the nature conservancy governments in Florida and Australia as part of a number of intensive ecosystem restoration projects. It is currently working on an initiative in Western Australia, which is expected to be the largest of its kind in the world. Mr O’Brien said while he was grateful the initiative was giving him a chance to see the world, his love for the sea all started in Cork. We spent our summers in Garretstown. We had a mobile home there so I was at the beach every summer. Whether we were jumping off cliffs into the water or wetting our feet in rock pools, I loved the ocean and the coastline. "Nature and the outdoors have always been a passion of mine and I loved animals, having worked as a vet when I was young. My passions were animals and looking after the world.” He explained how it all began. “I was talking to a friend about starting this business and it came up that this idea could be a runner. It was really exciting to think that we could use technology for the good of the climate, for the good of nature and in the marine realm. "I knew I had to give it a go. I was marrying my interests in science and technology with nature and wildlife. Seagrass is this wonder plant that very few people know about. It’s just so critical. It also cleans the ocean. If we can make it really cheap and easy to bring back to these eco systems around the world then that would be a good mission achieved.” Mr O'Brien is excited about the future. “The ocean is truly a wonderous world. I think the most rewarding part is getting to work with really smart people and getting to talk to people on the frontline. It’s a very interesting place to be. I’ve never really worked in a nine to five job before because I’ve always been in start-ups. If I was in a job that was lacking in purpose I think I would find that very difficult.” He outlined their professional ambitions adding: “We wanted to have a network of buoys and drones on coastlines to curb pollution or dumping. Our hope is to create a critical infrastructure for the ocean with the goal of looking after coastlines and understand the health of these ecosystems. The plan is to go beyond what we’ve done so we can make the ocean safer.”Analysis: Week 12 full of sloppy play, especially on special teams
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Josh Hoover threw for 252 yards and a touchdown and JP Richardson had 149 all-purpose yards and a 38-yard touchdown reception to lead TCU over Arizona 49-28 on Saturday. On the first play from scrimmage, Wildcats quarterback Noah Fifita was intercepted by Bud Clark. TCU scored five plays later on Trent Battle’s 4-yard run. The Horned Frogs scored touchdowns on five straight drives, going at least 75 yards on nine or more plays on three of the possessions. TCU (7-4, 5-3 Big 12) drove 75 yards in 12 plays in the final 1:55 of the first half to take a 21-13 lead on Savion Williams’ 20-yard run. Hoover completed five passes on the drive, including gains of 24, 19, and 24 yards to set up Williams’ score with 20 seconds left in the half. The Horned Frogs took the second-half kickoff and drove 76 yards in nine plays to build a 28-13 lead on Battle’s 1-yard run. Richardson’s 33-yard punt return to the Arizona 34 set up a third touchdown in three possessions. He caught a short pass over the middle from Hoover and raced untouched 38 yards for the score and a 35-13 lead. Richardson led TCU with six catches for 107 yards. Four TCU running backs scored a touchdown, including Williams, who rushed for 80 yards and two scores. Battle also rushed for 28 yards and two scores. Fifita was 29 of 44 for 284 yards with two touchdowns and an interception for Arizona (4-7, 2-6). Tetairoa McMillan made nine catches for 115 yards. Scoop and score Arizona defensive lineman Sterling Lane II picked up a fumble from TCU backup quarterback Ken Seals with just over a minute left in the game and ran it 70 yards for a touchdown to cap the scoring. Nipped in the Bud Clark leads the Horned Frogs with three interceptions, including one in each of the past two games. He is tied for fifth-most in the Big 12. The takeaway Arizona: The Wildcats, who started the season in the AP Top 25 poll, will not be bowl eligible this season with a game remaining under first-year coach Brent Brennan. A year ago under coach Jedd Fisch, who is now at Washington, Arizona advanced to the Alamo Bowl for the first time since 2017. TCU: The Horned Frogs, who became bowl eligible two weeks ago, won their third consecutive game at Amon Carter Stadium after losing two in a row to UCF and Houston. TCU has won four of its past five, the only blemish a 37-34 last-second loss at Baylor. Up next TCU: At Cincinnati on Saturday. Arizona: Hosts Arizona State on Saturday. ___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: andUTR Sports Partners with Stack Sports to Launch TeamInn Travel Services for Tennis and Pickleball
So you're gathering with relatives whose politics are different. Here are some tips for the holidaysWhen COP29 President Mukhtar Babayev stepped to the podium at the closing meeting of the Baku climate summit on Sunday morning, hoping to clinch a hard-fought agreement on global climate finance, he carried with him two speeches. One was crafted around a hoped-for deal being struck, while the other for the possibility of a summit-collapsing impasse, according to two sources familiar with the matter who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity. One of the sources — a person in the COP29 presidency — told Reuters that they worked through challenging negotiations until the last minute to ensure what it called the Baku Breakthrough, but still prepared different versions of the final speech for different possible outcomes. In the end, Babayev managed to gavel through the $300 billion finance plan to help developing nations cope with the soaring costs of global warming over the next decade before critics had time to object, allowing him to read the more positive speech. He praised the agreement as a breakthrough and shamed the deal’s doubters as “wrong,” even as many of the climate deal’s intended recipients slammed it as woefully inadequate . Babayev’s preparation for different outcomes at the divisive summit in the Caspian Sea nation of Azerbaijan reflected what many in the audience had already known before it began: the Baku climate talks were never going to go smoothly. Expectations for a deal were depressed by worries of a looming U.S. withdrawal from global climate cooperation, geopolitical turmoil, and a rise of isolationist politics that had shunted climate change off much of the world’s top priorities list. Those obstacles loomed large in Baku and will continue to overshadow global climate efforts in the months ahead as Brazil prepares for next year’s much broader conference in the Amazon rainforest city of Belem — where the world will plot a years-long course for steeper emission cuts and building resilience in the fight against climate change. “Multilateralism as a whole is under threat,” said Eliot Whittington, chief systems change officer at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership. “Indeed, the UNFCCC is probably the bright spot — proving that even in the face of incredibly hostile geopolitics and on fundamentally difficult questions, a deal can be made,” he said, referring to the U.N. body sponsoring the annual climate summit. But the slow pace of progress, with global emissions still rising, has raised tensions and calls for reform. “This is something that needs to be looked at, when just a handful of countries, based on their own economic interests, can almost wreck the entire process,” Sierra Leone Environment Minister Jiwoh Abdulai told Reuters. Trump effect Among the biggest factors clouding the negotiations in Baku was the looming return of climate skeptic Donald Trump as president of the United States, the world’s biggest economy, largest historical emitter of greenhouse gases, and top producer of oil and gas. Trump, who takes office in January, has pledged to withdraw the United States from the global Paris Agreement on climate change, as he did during his first 2017-2021 term in the White House, and has called climate change a hoax. Negotiators at the Baku conference said that while the U.S. delegation had helped in coming up with the climate finance deal, the country was unable to take a high-profile leadership role like it has in past climate summits, and it could not provide assurances the next administration would honor its pledges. “With the United States, well, the voters have voted and that’s the way it is. What they’re going to do, we do not know,” South African Environment Minister Dion George said. U.S. officials at the COP29 conference sought to reassure global partners that market forces, existing federal subsidies, and state mandates would ensure continued renewable energy deployment even if Trump disengages from the global process. The war in Ukraine and rising conflict in the Middle East, meanwhile, have diverted global attention to security and energy availability, and led many governments to tighten their purse strings, experts said. That made getting a bigger climate finance number hard, observers to the talks said. “Even maintaining climate finance at current levels in the current political environment is a huge fight,” said Joe Thwaites, senior advocate on international climate finance at the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group. The agreement to provide $300 billion annually by 2035 would theoretically triple rich countries’ previous commitments to provide $100 billion by 2020. That earlier goal was reached in full only in 2022, and expires in 2025. The unwillingness of wealthy countries to offer more money and the pressure to conclude even a weak deal ahead of more political turbulence became a major source of frustration for the least developed countries and small island states, who told the Baku conference they felt sidelined in the negotiations. At one point in the summit’s final stretch, negotiating blocs representing both groups walked out of talks in protest, delaying a deal by hours. “We came in good faith, with the safety of our communities and the well-being of the world at heart,” Tina Stege, the climate envoy for the Marshall Islands, said at the closing plenary. “Yet, we have seen the very worst of political opportunism here at this COP, playing games with the lives of the world’s most vulnerable people.” India’s envoy, Chandni Raina, used her time to roundly reject the climate finance deal gaveled through by Babayev. “We are disappointed in the outcome which clearly brings out the unwillingness of the developed country parties to fulfil their responsibilities,” she told the summit. Climate advocates said that, while the deal is better than an outright impasse, the rifts exposed by the conference as well as the loss of trust in the process among poorer countries will pose a problem for Brazil as it prepares for COP30. “I think this is a toxic chalice for Belem, and it’s going to be up to Brazil how they’re going to restore the trust,” said Oscar Sorria, director of the Common Initiative, a think tank focused on global financial reform.The trials and tribulations of preparing the white paper
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A Manhattan jury has cleared Daniel Penny of criminal wrongdoing in the chokehold death of Jordan Neely on a crowded subway — a caught-on-video killing that sparked fierce debate over the city’s mental health system and crime underground. The courtroom erupted in applause as the panelists acquitted Penny of criminally negligent homicide — which could have put him behind bars for up to four years — in Neely’s chokehold death aboard a crowded uptown F train in May 2023. “We the jury have come to a unanimous decision on count two,” the foreperson on the jury told the courtroom. Penny immediately broke out a huge smile and turned to hug defense attorney Thomas Kenniff — even as Neely’s father, Andre Zachary, was escorted from the courtroom. “Racist f****** country,” one Black Lives Matter supporter yelled as she left the room. Another Neely supporter, turning to Penney, screamed, “It’s a small world, buddy,” before leaving the room. Manslaughter, the top charge against Penny, was tossed on Friday after jurors twice said they couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict. Jurors sided with Penny’s defense attorneys, who had argued that the Marine veteran was justified in rushing to protect his fellow subway straphangers when he subdued the erratic homeless man. The lawyers had also questioned whether there was sufficient evidence that the chokehold caused Neely’s death. “Who do you want on the next train ride with you?” one of his lawyers, Steven Raiser, in his closing statement in Manhattan Supreme Court. Follow The Post’s live blog for the latest updates on Daniel Penny’s not guilty verdict “The guy with the earbuds minding his own business who you know would be there for you if something happened? Or perhaps you just hope that someone like Jordan Neely does not enter that train when you are all alone, all alone in a crowd of others frozen with fear?” The lawyers had also questioned whether there was sufficient evidence that the chokehold caused Neely’s death. The verdict drew an immediate reaction from across the nation. “Daniel Penny’s actions were heroic & protected the lives of people on that train,” House Speaker Mike Johnson wrote on X. “We used to celebrate bravery like this in America, but the Left continues their crusade to protect criminals and prosecute heroes,” Johnson said. “Good to see this charge dismissed.” In the Big Apple, city Councilman Joe Borelli (R-Staten Island) said the jury’s decision “underscores nothing other than the perverse sense of justice held by [Manhattan DA] Alvin Bragg. “Every New Yorker is fearful on the subway and had no problem understanding the context of Daniel Penny’s actions,” he said. “The district attorney should resign in shame.” The acquittal comes after jurors heard from more than 40 witnesses, including passengers who described Neely’s terrifying outburst on the train before Penny approached him from behind and took him down at the Broadway-Lafayette station. One straphanger testified she was “scared s–tless” hearing Neely ranting about being “willing to die and go to jail.” She later thanked Penny for stepping in to restrain Neely, who also raged that “someone is going to die today.” Another woman on the train told jurors that she feared for her life after hearing Neely’s “satanic” rant. And a mother who was taking her 5-year-old son to a doctor’s appointment testified that she was so scared of a “belligerent and unhinged” Neely that she barricaded her son behind his stroller. No witness testified that Neely put his hands on anyone, or lunged at a specific person, before Penny put him in the chokehold. Evidence during the month-long trial also revealed that Neely was not carrying a weapon at the time — with cops finding only a muffin in his pocket. The polarizing case kicked off fierce conversation about a mentally ill man who was failed by the city’s broken system — a sentiment even Mayor Eric Adams expressed, saying Penny did “what we should have done as a city” by protecting others that day. Prosecutors argued that Penny went “too far” — and that his actions turned criminal when he kept Neely in the hold after nearly all of the frightened passengers had fled the train. “What’s so tragic about this case is that even though the defendant started out trying to do the right thing, as the chokehold progressed, the defendant knew that Jordan Neely was in great distress and dying, and he needlessly continued,” prosecutor Dafna Yoran said in her closing statement. Jurors watched frame-by-frame footage from a bystander’s six-minute video of Penny holding Neely — including for 51 seconds after Neely’s body appears to go limp. Penny kept holding Neely despite witnesses pleading with him to “let him go!,” the video shows. Dr. Cynthia Harris, who ruled that Neely’s death was a homicide caused by Penny’s chokehold, pointed out for jurors the exact moment when Neely passed out on the subway car’s floor — with Penny still wrapping his arm around Neely’s neck. The city medical examiner, who made her ruling before Neely’s toxicology report came back, testified that she was so confident after watching video of the encounter that she’d stand by her decision even if it later turned out that Neely had enough drugs in his body “to put down an elephant.” Jurors asked for a readback of that specific portion of Harris’ testimony during deliberations. Trial evidence revealed that Neely had the synthetic marijuana drug K2 in his system at the time of the confrontation. Jurors also heard that he was diagnosed with schizophrenia, telling doctors in 2021 that he’d heard the “devil’s voice.” Penny’s mother, sister, friends and fellow Marines took the stand to vouch for his character. The defense’s medical expert, forensic pathologist Dr. Satish Chundru, claimed that Neely died not from Penny’s chokehold, but by “the combined effects of sickle cell crisis, the schizophrenia, the struggle and restraint, and the synthetic marijuana.” Penny declined to take the stand. But jurors heard him tell arriving cops on the train platform, “I just put him out,” before making a choking gesture with his arms. Hours later, at Chinatown’s 5th Precinct, a relaxed Penny insisted during an interrogation that he was merely trying to “de-escalate the situation” and that he didn’t mean to hurt Neely. “I’m not trying to kill the guy,” the Marine veteran told two detectives, as prosecutors watched him through a one-sided mirror. “I’m just trying to keep him from hurting anybody else.” In an apparent reference to the mentally ill Neely, Penny added during his questioning that “all these people are pushing people in front of the train and stuff.” Neely’s death, and Penny’s arrest 11 days later, sparked a national political firestorm about whether Penny’s actions were justified. The episode also sparked outrage about how Neely fell through the cracks of the city’s mental health system, failing to get the treatment he needed despite the NYPD treating him as an “emotionally disturbed person” in more than two dozen prior encounters with him. “This case is about a broken system, a broken system that does not help our mentally ill or our unhoused,” Penny’s attorney Raiser said at the end of his closing statement. “In fact, it is that broken system that led us, that is interwoven into the very fabric of this case.” In a statement, the city council’s progressive caucus denounced the verdict, saying it “highlights the deep-seated [ck] societal discomfort with unhoused individuals. “Jordan Neely was failed by the city’s social service system for years,” the statement said. “He was failed by our city when Daniel Penny put him in a chokehold on the subway. And today Jordan was failed once again, this time by the city’s justice system.” Others Big Apple lawmakers, however, celebrated the outcome of the high-profile and divisive trial. “Justice has prevailed,” city Councilwoman Joanne Ariola (R-Queens) said following Monday’s verdict. “Daniel Penny is a hero and I”m happy to see that a good man was not punished for doing the right thing and defending his fellow New Yorkers from a mentally ill criminal who fell between the cracks.” Originally published as Daniel Penny acquitted in subway chokehold death of Jordan Neely, sparking applause, uproar in New York courtroomAustralia dumps plan for fines for social media giants enabling misinformation
PITTSBURGH, Dec. 13, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ConnectOnCall.com, LLC ("ConnectOnCall") recently announced that it suffered from a cybersecurity incident on May 12, 2024, which impacted the personal information of approximately 900,000 people. The information potentially impacted in the data breach includes information shared in communications between patients and their healthcare providers such as names and phone numbers, and may have also included medical record numbers, dates of birth, information related to health conditions, treatments, or prescriptions, and Social Security Numbers. 1 Lynch Carpenter, LLP is investigating claims against ConnectOnCall related to this data breach. If you received a data breach notification from ConnectOnCall, you may be entitled to compensation. If you have received a notification from ConnectOnCAll which states that your information was impacted, please call Patrick Donathen at (412) 322-9243, email him at patrick@lcllp.com , or fill out our contact form at www.lynchcarpenter.com/contact . About Lynch Carpenter Lynch Carpenter is a national class action law firm with offices in Pennsylvania, California, and Illinois. Our firm has represented millions of clients in data privacy matters for more than a decade and has earned national acclaim for complex litigation for plaintiffs across the country. To learn more, please visit www.lynchcarpenter.com . 1 https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241211221827/en/ConnectOnCall.com-LLC-Provides-Notice-of-Data-Security-Incident . CONTACT Patrick Donathen COMPANY Lynch Carpenter LLP PHONE (412) 322-9243 EMAIL patrick@lcllp.com WEB lynchcarpenter.com © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.Alex Ovechkin has a broken left fibula and is expected to be out four to six weeks, an injury that pauses the Washington Capitals superstar captain’s pursuit of Wayne Gretzky’s NHL career goals record. The Capitals updated Ovechkin’s status Thursday after he was evaluated by team doctors upon returning from a three-game trip. The 39-year-old broke the leg in a shin-on-shin collision Monday night with Utah's Jack McBain, and some of his closest teammates knew it was not good news even before Ovechkin was listed as week to week and placed on injured reserve. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings. Get the latest sports news delivered right to your inbox six days a week.The best last-minute New Year's Eve staycations: From cosy cabins to party pads
Germany has pledged to tighten its law to make it easier to prosecute people-smugglers enabling small-boat crossings to Britain, as the two countries signed a new deal aimed at tackling immigration crime. Berlin confirmed plans to reform its legal framework make it a clear criminal offence to “facilitate the smuggling of migrants to the UK” as part of the agreement, the Home Office said. The Home Office said the move would give German prosecutors more tools to tackle the supply and storage of dangerous small boats. Both countries will also commit to exchange information that may help to remove migrant-smuggling content from social media platforms and tackle end-to-end routes of criminal smuggling networks as part of the deal. It comes ahead of the UK and Germany hosting the so-called Calais Group in London, which sees ministers and police from the two countries, alongside France, Belgium and the Netherlands, gather to discuss migration in Europe. Delegates are expected to agree a detailed plan to tackle people-smuggling gangs in 2025 at the meeting on Tuesday. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “For too long organised criminal gangs have been exploiting vulnerable people, undermining border security in the UK and across Europe while putting thousands of lives at risk. “We are clear that this cannot go on. “Germany is already a key partner in our efforts to crack down on migrant smuggling, but there is always more we can do together. “Our new joint action plan with deliver a strengthened partnership with Germany, boosting our respective border security as we work to fix the foundations, and ultimately saving lives.” Nancy Faeser, German federal minister of the interior said: “We are now stepping up our joint action to fight the brutal activities of international smugglers. “This is at the core of our joint action plan that we have agreed in London. “It will help us end the inhumane activities of criminal migrant smuggling organisations. “By cramming people into inflatable boats under threats of violence and sending them across the Channel, these organisations put human lives at risk.” She said that “many of these crimes are planned in Germany” and the deal would help to counter “this unscrupulous business with even more resolve.” “This includes maintaining a high investigative pressure, exchanging information between our security authorities as best as possible, and persistently investigating financial flows to identify the criminals operating behind the scenes,” Ms Faeser said. Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said the announcement “doesn’t go far enough”. “The British public deserves a serious plan to control our borders and stop criminal gangs,” he said. “The National Crime Agency has said a deterrent is necessary to reduce the number of crossings, yet Labour scrapped the only deterrent before it even got started. “Meanwhile the numbers of illegal immigrants coming here continue to climb, with an 18% increase compared to the same period last year, with more than 20,000 people having made the crossing since the election.”