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The South Carolina women's basketball team has been defeated for the first time since March 31, 2023. The No. 1 Gamecocks fell Sunday in Los Angeles as Lauren Betts posted a double-double effort to lead No. 5 UCLA to a 77-62 triumph. The Gamecocks (5-1) suffered their first defeat after 43 consecutive victories, dating back to the loss to Iowa 77-73 in the NCAA Tournament semifinals. South Carolina defeated Iowa last season for the national championship. Betts finished with 11 points, a game-high 14 rebounds, four assists and four blocks to power the Bruins (5-0) to a historic victory. UCLA also got 15 points from Londynn Jones on 5-of-5 shooting from 3-point range, 13 points from Elina Aarnisalo and 11 each from Kiki Rice and Gabriela Jacquez. It's the first time UCLA has beaten South Carolina since 1981. The Bruins lost twice to the Gamecocks in the 2022-23 season, including in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. Te-Hina Paopao had 18 points for South Carolina on 4-of-4 3-point shooting, while Tessa Johnson had 14 points. UCLA won the rebounding battle 41-34, marking the second time this season the Gamecocks have been outrebounded. South Carolina also got outscored in the paint 26-18. It's rare that a Dawn Staley-coached team -- units that typically revolve around dominant centers from A'ja Wilson to Aaliyah Boston to Kamilla Cardoso -- gets beat in the paint and on the glass, but with 6-foot-7 Betts, UCLA had the recipe to outmuscle the Gamecocks in those areas of the game. South Carolina never led after UCLA began the game with an 18-5 run, capped off by back-to-back 3-pointers from Jones. The Gamecocks cut the deficit to nine points in the second quarter, but the Bruins responded with a 17-5 run and entered halftime ahead by 21 points. Aarnisalo scored seven points during that run. From there, the Gamecocks never got within single digits of the lead in the second half. It's the first time in 21 tries that UCLA has beaten an AP-ranked No. 1 team. And it's the first time South Carolina lost a true road game since 2021, a streak of 33 games. The schedule doesn't get any easier for South Carolina. While UCLA faces UT Martin next on Friday, the Gamecocks play No. 8 Iowa State on Thursday. --Field Level Media
When Donald Trump started his first campaign for the presidency, two Trump-branded buildings were going up in India, one in the financial capital of Mumbai and the other nearby in Pune. Before he won in 2016, the Trump Organization expanded its business in India, signing deals in two more big cities. The day after Trump's victory in November, a developer in India told local media about half a dozen new deals. Like the others, Indian companies buy the land, build the high-rises, sell the units and pay a fee to use the Trump name. These deals are putting India even more squarely in the Trump Organization's sights. And with Trump on his way back to the White House, the country is emerging as center stage for potential conflicts of interest. In Trump's first term, it was uncharted territory for a sitting U.S. president to have extensive business interests in foreign countries. During his second term, the Trump Organization aims to issue a more limited ethics plan that is unlikely to significantly curb its growth. The United States remains at the heart of the Trump family's real estate business. Elsewhere, there is one Trump Tower each in the Philippines, Turkey and Uruguay, and the company has struck deals to bring Trump Towers to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. 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India's economy is expected to overtake Japan's and become the world's fourth-largest in 2025. The country's high-end consumer class has been growing richer rapidly, even as a much larger part of the population of 1.4 billion struggles with stagnant incomes. And the president-elect has long had a friendly political alliance with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose full-throated support of Trump has helped bolster the company's brand, Indian real estate experts said. Anuj Puri, founder and chair of Anarock, one of India's biggest property consultants, said many among India's rich, flush with returns from the stock market, had discovered that they "wanted to enjoy their living, instead of just saving it." Kalpesh Mehta, the founder of Tribeca Developers , a Mumbai-based company that works with the Trump Organization, told Indian newspapers in November that there would be Trump Tower buildings in the southern cities of Hyderabad and Bengaluru and more in Mumbai, Pune and the exurbs of New Delhi. Aside from the two fully built Trump Tower buildings in Mumbai and Pune, the others slated to carry the Trump brand are in varying stages of construction. After Trump's first election victory, the Trump Organization vowed to not cut new international deals while he was in office, and Trump handed over operations to his sons Donald Jr. and Eric. Mehta told local media that the Trump sons had discussed coming to India in the first half of 2025 to promote the new projects. In 2018, Donald Trump Jr. drew ethical scrutiny by visiting India and booking a talk on geopolitics. He backed down mid-trip, saying, "I'm here as a businessman." The Trump Organization, based in New York, declined to answer specific questions about its India plans. "Over the past decade, we have been involved in some of the most iconic and successful projects in India," a company spokesperson said in a statement. "We are incredibly proud of the strength of the Trump brand and everything we have achieved in the region, and look forward to many more," she said. A 38-story tower has been rising slowly from former marshland in Kolkata. The building was started by a local developer, Unimark. In the summer of 2016, a licensing deal turned "Unimark Eternia" into Trump Tower Kolkata -- and buyers flocked to purchase units, even at higher prices. In interviews last month, sales agents and apartment owners in Kolkata said the Trump name was a part of the building's appeal. Many also said they were frustrated by construction delays, and worried about Unimark's financing. "We knew it would be a quality product since it says 'Trump,'" said Poonam Dutt, 60, who said she bought an apartment there with her husband, Sukant, in 2018 for about $530,000. The couple paid to fly to New York at the invitation of Trump Tower Kolkata to celebrate the purchase. "It was a big deal that we owned flats in Trump Towers," Sukant Dutt said. In India it is relatively common for a residence to be sold before it is built, on the basis of artists' renderings -- "but only if the brand is there," Puri said. At a temporary sales site for the Trump Tower Kolkata, a coffee-table book features a photo of Donald Trump Jr. A line on the first page advertises: "Your home -- an address so powerful, a letter would reach you from any part of the world. With just the Trump name. And yours." The pitch is working. Sumit Bhalotia, an accountant at a Kolkata law firm, said he had made a down payment toward a $700,000 apartment near the end of the first Trump administration. The due date for Trump Tower Kolkata, postponed during the COVID-19 pandemic, was extended to September 2024. Owners are still waiting, according more than a dozen aggrieved customers who shared their experiences in a group chat on WhatsApp reviewed by The New York Times. Although unhappy about the delay, Bhalotia said he had high expectations: "I will get all the white-glove services. I am a professional; people who come to meet me are from high-class society." Calls to Unimark executives went unanswered, and Tribeca Developers declined to answer questions about any Trump business in India. Bhalotia bought the apartment with his whole family in mind. "It was my mother's strong desire to live in her dream flat," he said, adding that her death in October left "a scar which no one can remove." He's still hopeful, and more so since the election. Nominations for ET MSME Awards are now open. The last day to apply is December 15, 2024. 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No. 5 UCLA snaps No. 1 South Carolina's 43-game win streakThe new, 12-team College Football Playoff brings with it a promise to be bigger, more exciting, more lucrative. Perfect or 100% fair? Well, nobody ever believed that. The first expanded playoff bracket unveiled Sunday left a presumably deserving Alabama team on the sideline in favor of an SMU squad with a better record after playing a schedule that was not as difficult. It ranked undefeated Oregon first but set up a possible rematch against Ohio State, the team that came closest to beating the Ducks this year. It treated underdog Boise State like a favorite and banged-up Georgia like a world beater at No. 2. It gave Ohio State home-field advantage against Tennessee for reasons it would take a supercomputer to figure out. It gave the sport the multiweek tournament it has longed for, but also ensured there will be plenty to grouse about between now and when the trophy is handed out on Jan. 20 after what will easily be the longest college football season in history. All of it, thankfully, will be sorted out on the field starting with first-round games on campuses Dec. 20 and 21, then over three succeeding rounds that will wind their way through traditional bowl sites. Maybe Oregon coach Dan Lanning, whose undefeated Ducks are the favorite to win it all, put it best when he offered: "Winning a national championship is not supposed to be easy.” Neither, it turns out, is figuring out who should play for it. SMU quarterback Kevin Jennings passes the ball in the first half of the ACC championship game against Clemson on Saturday in Charlotte, N.C. The Big Ten will lead the way with four teams in the tournament, followed by the SEC with three and the ACC with two. The lasting memory from the inaugural bracket will involve the decision that handed the ACC that second bid. Alabama of the SEC didn't play Saturday. SMU of the ACC did. The Mustangs fell behind by three touchdowns to Clemson before coming back to tie. But they ultimately lost 34-31 on a 56-yard field goal as time expired. “We were on pins and needles,” SMU coach Rhett Lashley said. “Until we saw the name ‘SMU’ up there, we were hanging on the edge. We're really, really happy and thankful to the committee for rewarding our guys for their total body of work." The Mustangs only had two losses, compared to three for the Crimson Tide. Even though SMU's schedule wasn't nearly as tough, the committee was impressed by the way the Mustangs came back against Clemson. “We just felt, in this particular case, SMU had the nod above Alabama,” said Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel, the chairman of the selection committee. “But it’s no disrespect to Alabama’s strength of schedule. We looked at the entire body of work for both teams.” Oregon offensive lineman Iapani Laloulu celebrates after winning the Big Ten championship game against Penn State on Saturday in Indianapolis. Georgia, the SEC champion, was seeded second; Boise State, the Mountain West champion, earned the third seed; and Big 12 titlist Arizona State got the fourth seed and the fourth and final first-round bye. All will play in quarterfinals at bowl games on Dec. 31-Jan. 1. Clemson stole a bid and the 12th seed with its crazy win over SMU, the result that ultimately cost Alabama a spot in the field. The Tigers moved to No. 16 in the rankings, but got in as the fifth-best conference winner. Automatic byes and bids made the bracket strange The conference commissioners' idea to give conference champions preferable treatment in this first iteration of the 12-team playoff could be up for reconsideration after this season. The committee actually ranked Boise State, the Mountain West Champion, at No. 9 and Big 12 champion Arizona State at No. 12, but both get to skip the first round. Another CFP guideline: There’s no reseeding of teams after each round, which means no break for Oregon. The top-seeded Ducks will face the winner of Tennessee-Ohio State in the Rose Bowl. Oregon beat Ohio State 32-31 earlier this year in one of the season’s best games. Texas linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. hits Georgia quarterback Gunner Stockton during the second half of the SEC championship game on Saturday in Atlanta. No. 12 Clemson at No. 5 Texas, Dec. 21: Clemson is riding high after the SMU upset, while Texas is 0-2 against Georgia and 11-0 vs. everyone else this season. The winner faces ... Arizona State in the Peach Bowl. Huh? No. 11 SMU at No. 6 Penn State, Dec. 21: The biggest knock against the Mustangs was that they didn't play any big boys with that 60th-ranked strength of schedule. Well, now they get to. The winner faces ... Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl. Yes, SMU vs. Boise was the quarterfinal we all expected. No. 10 Indiana at No. 7 Notre Dame, Dec. 20: Hoosiers coach Curt Cignetti thought his team deserved a home game. Well, not quite but close. The winner gets ... Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. The Bulldogs got the No. 2 seed despite a throwing-arm injury to QB Carson Beck. But what else was the committee supposed to do? No. 9 Tennessee at No. 8 Ohio State, Dec. 21: The Buckeyes (losses to Oregon, Michigan) got home field over the Volunteers (losses to Arkansas, Georgia) in a matchup of programs with two of the biggest stadiums in football. The winner faces ... Oregon in the Rose Bowl. Feels like that matchup should come in the semifinals or later. 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) 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) 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) 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) 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) 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) 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) 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) 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) 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) 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) Get local news delivered to your inbox!Kieran Culkin Reveals He Once Got Mark Ruffalo High in Prank on Stage
The Minnesota Vikings aren't going to let quarterback Sam Darnold go anywhere if he keeps tossing long touchdown passes. Early in the second quarter of Sunday's home game against the Green Bay Packers , Darnold threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to third-year wide receiver Jalen Nailor on a 2nd-and-8. Jalen Nailor WIDE OPEN in the end zone! TD @Vikings ! : #GBvsMIN on FOX : https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/IPs7fhOyWx Darnold — who signed a one-year, $10M deal in free agency — has shattered expectations this season. Through his first 15 starts, he has career highs in passing yards (3,776), TD passes (32) and passer rating (105.4). Although the Vikings drafted rookie QB J.J. McCarthy with the 10th overall pick, Darnold's stellar play will likely convince Minnesota to re-sign him. "[The Vikings] spent a first-round pick on J.J. McCarthy last spring, and Darnold is in for a big payday. Despite that, after conversations with a team source, one thing is clear: The Vikings want Darnold back in Minnesota for 2025," wrote The Athletic's Dianna Russini in a piece published Saturday. Keeping the QB seems smart for Minnesota. Darnold, 27, clearly suits head coach Kevin O'Connell's system. Plus, McCarthy suffered a season-ending knee injury in preseason and may need more time to recover.A federal appeals court panel on Friday upheld a law that could lead to a ban on TikTok in a few short months, handing a resounding defeat to the popular social media platform as it fights for its survival in the US. The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that the law, which requires TikTok to break ties with its China-based parent company ByteDance or be banned by mid-January, is constitutional, rebuffing TikTok’s challenge that the statute ran afoul of the First Amendment and unfairly targeted the platform. “The First Amendment exists to protect free speech in the United States,” said the court’s opinion. “Here the Government acted solely to protect that freedom from a foreign adversary nation and to limit that adversary’s ability to gather data on people in the United States.” TikTok and ByteDance—another plaintiff in the lawsuit—are expected to appeal to the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, President-elect Donald Trump, who tried to ban TikTok during his first term and whose Justice Department would have to enforce the law, said during the presidential campaign that he is now against a TikTok ban and would work to “save” the social media platform. The law, signed by President Joe Biden in April, culminated a years-long saga in Washington over the short-form video-sharing app, which the government sees as a national security threat due to its connections to China. The US has said it’s concerned about TikTok collecting vast swaths of user data, including sensitive information on viewing habits, that could fall into the hands of the Chinese government through coercion. Officials have also warned the proprietary algorithm that fuels what users see on the app is vulnerable to manipulation by Chinese authorities, who can use it to shape content on the platform in a way that’s difficult to detect. However, a significant portion of the government’s information in the case has been redacted and hidden from the public as well as the two companies. TikTok, which sued the government over the law in May, has long denied it could be used by Beijing to spy on or manipulate Americans. Its attorneys have accurately pointed out that the US hasn’t provided evidence to show that the company handed over user data to the Chinese government, or manipulated content for Beijing’s benefit in the US. They have also argued the law is predicated on future risks, which the Department of Justice has emphasized pointing in part to unspecified action it claims the two companies have taken in the past due to demands from the Chinese government. Friday’s ruling came after the appeals court panel heard oral arguments in September. Some legal experts said at the time that it was challenging to read the tea leaves on how the judges would rule. In a court hearing that lasted more than two hours, the panel—composed of two Republican and one Democrat appointed judges—appeared to grapple with how TikTok’s foreign ownership affects its rights under the Constitution and how far the government could go to curtail potential influence from abroad on a foreign-owned platform. The judges pressed Daniel Tenny, a Department of Justice attorney, on the implications the case could have on the First Amendment. But they also expressed some skepticism at TikTok’s arguments, challenging the company’s attorney—Andrew Pincus—on whether any First Amendment rights preclude the government from curtailing a powerful company subject to the laws and influence of a foreign adversary. In parts of their questions about TikTok’s ownership, the judges cited wartime precedent that allows the US to restrict foreign ownership of broadcast licenses and asked if the arguments presented by TikTok would apply if the US was engaged in war. To assuage concerns about the company’s owners, TikTok says it has invested more than $2 billion to bolster protections around US user data. The company also argues the government’s broader concerns could have been resolved in a draft agreement it provided the Biden administration more than two years ago during talks between the two sides. It has blamed the government for walking away from further negotiations on the agreement, which the Justice Department argues is insufficient. Attorneys for the two companies have claimed it’s impossible to divest the platform commercially and technologically. They also say any sale of TikTok without the coveted algorithm—the platform’s secret sauce that Chinese authorities would likely block under any divesture plan—would turn the US version of TikTok into an island disconnected from other global content. Still, some investors, including Trump’s former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and billionaire Frank McCourt, have expressed interest in purchasing the platform. Both men said earlier this year that they were launching a consortium to purchase TikTok’s US business. This week, a spokesperson for McCourt’s Project Liberty initiative, which aims to protect online privacy, said unnamed participants in their bid have made informal commitments of more than $20 billion in capital. TikTok’s lawsuit was consolidated with a second legal challenge brought by several content creators—for which the company is covering legal costs—as well as a third one filed on behalf of conservative creators who work with a nonprofit called BASED Politics Inc. If TikTok appeals and the courts continue to uphold the law, it would fall on Trump’s Justice Department to enforce it and punish any potential violations with fines. The penalties would apply to app stores that would be prohibited from offering TikTok, and internet hosting services that would be barred from supporting it.