UConn coach Dan Hurley told reporters Tuesday that star forward Alex Karaban is out for Wednesday's top-25 matchup against visiting Baylor. Karaban was transported to a hospital in Hawaii last Wednesday after sustaining a head injury during an 85-67 loss to Dayton on the final day of the Maui Invitational. Karaban hit the floor after being fouled on a contested layup with approximately 2 1/2 minutes left in the second half. He was later cleared to fly home with the rest of the team on Thursday. The junior sat out Saturday's 99-45 win over Maryland Eastern Shore, but now he will miss a more important game that pits the No. 25 Huskies (5-3) against the No. 15 Bears (5-2) in the Big 12-Big East Battle. Karaban has been UConn's leading scorer (15.9 ppg), adding 4.1 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game. A starter for each of the Huskies' last two national championship-winning seasons, Karaban owns career averages of 11.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. Jaylin Stewart drew into the starting lineup in Karaban's place against UMES. --Field Level Media
Police hunt for gunman who killed top insurance CEO
YOU BET fans have made complaints as the iconic show fronted by Holly Willoughby and Stephen Mulhern returned. The iconic ITV gameshow saw competitors take on strange challenges as a panel of celebrity guests gambled on their success. Rob Beckett, Alison Hammond, Harry Redknapp and Rosie Ramsey made up the star gamblers as contestants vied for a £10,000 prize. Challenges included one couple identifying different types of cactus just by licking them. Another challenge was identifying different board games by the sounds they make when they are emptied from their boxes. However, some viewers were annoyed that ITV did not bring back all the original features of the 80's TV format. READ MORE ON YOU BET A number of viewers took to X - formerly known as Twitte r - as they noticed that no on-screen countdown was included in the tied challenges. One viewer asked: "Where's the onscreen clock for the challenges?" A second exclaimed: "I miss the clock on screen with these challenges. This is not like the original, can we bring it back?" While a third posted: "Watching YouBet! Where is the on-screen clock during the challenges? As a reboot goes this is NOT it." Most read in News TV But that was not the only factor that ITV1 viewers complained about. Previously the likes of Bruce Forsyth , Matthew Kelly and Darren Day previously fronted the show on their own. However, the new Saturday night show featured both Holly Willoughby and Stephen Mulhern appear together on-screen. Many fans of the original format also noticed that the commercial network used different music in the challenges as the theme tune was also changed. Taking to the social media platform, another viewer stated: "The tunes changed, it should have 1 presenter.. bizarre." A fifth raged: "If it isn’t bad enough then two are presenting, the challenges NEED the old/tense music. One of my fave shows ruined #YouBet" By Joshua Rom When Holly Willoughby finally announced her departure from This Morning in October 2023 it felt almost like a crescendo. After her feud with Phillip Schofield , dealing with the revelation about his workplace relationship, months of speculation, a lacklustre return to the daytime show and a horrendous kidnap plot it seemed like her own departure was almost a relief. She made her return to TV on Dancing On Ice , a show that first shot her to superstardom that she knew inside and out. This was combined with a long-standing colleague from her days in children's TV to serve as her co-host in the form of Stephen Mulhern . It was a safe and steady bet for the star that placed emphasis on the continuity of her career despite unprecedented challenges. She was previously announced as one of the hosts for a new jungle challenge show for Netflix called Bear Hunt. The streamer reportedly spent £1million on a 'ring of steel' security detail made up of ex-special forces and former military guns to protect her against drug gangs and kidnappers. We are still yet to see this show but with contestants such as Mel B , Shirley Ballas and Steph McGovern it is sure to be a must-watch. But You Bet! feels like a proper homecoming for the star as she returns to ITV with her first new format since she left This Morning. Her partnership with Stephen Mulhern will continue and the new show could cement them as the new golden hosting couple of the most popular commercial broadcaster. Huge names like Olly Murs and Harry Redknapp will only bolster their star power and viewers will surely love the on-screen reunion with her former colleague and BFF Alison Hammond . Plus, you cannot go wrong with a beloved TV game show format from the 90s. The BBC can attest to this with the success of Gladiators . On paper, this news has all the qualities for a major success and maybe it will be the show to usher in a new era for Holly Willoughby. "Love you Holly, You are probably the best woman TV presenter we have in this country and are a true legend. It's wonderful to see you on your comeback trail after you death plot But I for one really don't think you should be hosting #YouBet. This is a one person job," suggested a sixth fan. Meanwhile, someone else remarked: Just wish the OG theme tune was kept." READ MORE SUN STORIES As another user added: "Why did you change the theme tune? It’s a classic #YouBet" Visit our Holly Willoughby page for the latest updates You Bet! is available to watch on ITV1 and ITVX .
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‘I told you so’ was the look every crypto bull had as Bitcoin briefly topped $100,000 last week, pushing the value of total Bitcoins mined to nearly $2 trillion! The value of all the gold mined in the around 5,000 years of its recorded history is around $20 trillion. Further it took around two decades and world-changing innovations since founding for companies like Amazon and Alphabet to cross a market-cap of $2 trillion. It took even more for companies like Apple, Amazon and Nvidia. But Bitcoin has achieved this feat in just about 15 years from the time the first Bitcoin was mined in 2009. The problem though, as compared to other wealth creators like gold or the Big Tech corporations, is that Bitcoin is yet to prove any real use case for the masses and remains shrouded in lack of substance. Specifically doing the rounds in social media last week was a comment by Chris Dixon, a General Partner in well-known VC firm Andreesen Horowitz, as far back as in 2014 that Bitcoin could be worth $100,000. Back then Bitcoin was trading at a little above $800. Quite some ‘Paul the Octopus’ level foresight one could say. But what is missed here is that his prediction was based on Bitcoin becoming the primary means of making payments on the internet. Today, Bitcoin is anything but that. Common man or woman is still totally untouched by Bitcoin. With just around 11 million monthly active Bitcoin users (measured by the monthly active crypto addresses), per recent report by Andreessen Horowitz, one could say almost the entire world is not even remotely using Bitcoin to make payments/transact on the internet, maybe except for a small ecosystem that also includes criminals. This is unlike any other true innovation of the past 15-year time horizon. For example, within 15 years of the internet being introduced to the public, there were over 1.5 billion active users. This gives rise to the question: What purpose does Bitcoin actually serve? Is it a currency/store of value, a technological innovation for payments, a speculators’ nirvana or all of these? Looking into the details, its utility and use case as a currency or a store of value is still not proven convincingly given its high volatility and the meagre adoption, but it has witnessed an unprecedented FOMO and speculative frenzy. In less than a year since the first Bitcoin ETF was launched in the US in January this year, the current Bitcoin ETFs (which number to over 25) hold more than 5.5 per cent of total Bitcoins mined, with an AUM of over $110 billion!. Some of them are leveraged ETFs. Leveraged ETFs used debt and derivatives to amplify returns. For example, an ETF that aims to double returns will borrow the equivalent of each unit sold to customer to invest in assets like Bitcoin and double the daily returns. This works other way also when Bitcoin declines, thereby significantly increasing volatility. Further the speculation ecosystem has spread beyond ETFs to Bitcoin proxies like erstwhile software company MicroStrategy (MSTR) which has in recent years positioned itself as a Bitcoin Treasury Company by accumulating the cryptos from capital raised through equity and debt issuances. The Bitcoin FOMO spirit is best reflected in the stock of MSTR trading at 132 per cent premium to its Bitcoin NAV. With YTD returns of nearly 600 per cent, it is the best performing US large-cap stock. And to add to it, there are two levered ETFs (MSTU and MSTX) with AUM of over $2 billion each, purely tracking MSTR! Given these, the speculation involving Bitcoin is undeniable. Steve Eisman, one of the famous Big Short investors in an interview to Bloomberg few months back, termed Bitcoin as just ‘another way to speculate on speculating.’ While the recent Trump win may have given huge boost to Bitcoin and fuelled this speculation, its true worth will be revealed during the time of the next global liquidity event. Unlike gold, which has always shone as store of value during such events, Bitcoin is yet to prove the case. Investors need to be clear that they are speculating and not investing when it comes to Bitcoin. CommentsBomb blast kills farmer returning from farm in Niger
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Defending the run has been one of the Green Bay Packers’ weaknesses over the last several years. Not so much lately, though. Green Bay limited San Francisco to 16 carries for 44 yards in a 38-10 rout of the 49ers on Nov. 24, with two-time All-Pro Christian McCaffrey gaining 31 yards on 11 attempts. Four nights later, the Packers beat Miami 30-17 by holding the Dolphins to 39 yards on 14 carries. It was the first time since 1995 — and only the second time since 1950 — that the Packers had allowed fewer than 45 yards rushing in back-to-back games within the same season. “I think we’re playing harder and harder each week,” first-year defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley said. “And that’s how you play good defense.” That defense needs to be at its best Thursday as the Packers (9-3) close a stretch of three games in 12 days by visiting the NFC North-leading Detroit Lions (12-1), who have the NFL’s highest-scoring offense thanks in part to a rushing attack featuring the speedy Jahmyr Gibbs and the physical David Montgomery. “Gibbs is a great running back,” defensive lineman Kenny Clark said. “I really think the offense really starts with him, honestly. He can do everything — receive, in-and-out runner, can do stretch, duo plays. We’ve got to have all hands on deck with Gibbs. And then Montgomery, he’s a great complement to him. He can do everything, also.” The Lions were the first team since the 1975 Miami Dolphins to rush for at least 100 yards and a touchdown in each of their first 11 games. The streak ended on Thanksgiving when the Lions rushed for 194 yards but didn’t have a touchdown on the ground in a 23-20 victory over the Chicago Bears. Green Bay outrushed Detroit 138-124 in the Packers’ 24-14 loss to the Lions on Nov. 3 at Lambeau Field. Montgomery rushed for 73 yards while Gibbs ran for 65 yards and a touchdown. Gibbs has 973 yards this season, which ranks fourth in the NFL. Montgomery ran for a combined 192 yards and four touchdowns in the Lions’ two games against the Packers last season. Green Bay’s run defense has come a long way since. The Packers have allowed 106.6 yards rushing per game this season, which ranks eighth in the league. The Packers haven’t closed a season in the top 10 in run defense since 2016 and have finished outside the top 20 in four of the last six years, including 26th in 2022 and 28th in 2023. “I think Haf’s doing a good job of mixing up the fronts and some of the coverages, but really it’s ultimately about tackling, swarming, getting many hats to the football,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. “And our guys have really embraced that style of play.” The Packers are yielding 4.2 yards per carry to rank seventh in the league after finishing 22nd or worst in that category each of the last three seasons. They haven’t closed a season ranked in the top 10 in yards allowed per carry since 2017. Hafley says the improvement starts up front. “The interior part of our D-line has done such a good job these last few games,” Hafley said. “They really have. They’re hard to block. They’re staying in their gaps. They’re tearing off of blocks, and it’s the same thing with those defensive ends. They’re setting edges, they’re forcing the ball back inside, they’re getting off blocks and then we’re tackling and we’re running to the ball and there’s multiple people to the ball. “And when you turn on our tape right now and when you freeze it, you see that. You see a lot of guys around the football. And then you’re not afraid, right? Like if I have an open-field tackle and I know eight other guys are coming, I’m going to take my shot because I know if I miss, it’s going to be, ‘Bang, bang, bang,’ we’ve got three or four other guys there, and we’re starting to play faster.” Green Bay's defense has the Lions’ attention. “They’ve been playing well,” Detroit coach Dan Campbell said. “I mean, they have, really, all season, and nothing has changed.” AP Sports Writer Larry Lage contributed to this report. AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
The resurfacing of roads and footways completely closed the street for ten days, leaving shopkeepers and shoppers complaining and council staff and contractors on the front line. The abuse suffered by staff working on the scheduled and vital upgrade was made worse by anger whipped up on social media. Local Lib Dem Councillor Sally Pattle – who owns a bookshop in the town – slammed those who had abused staff, but admitted the roadworks had caused “major disruption” to local businesses. And she called for better consultation and communication over sensitive roadworks. She told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “The major roadworks have encompassed several pieces of work that have been rolled into one major disruption, and which has included 10 days of total road closure, effectively cutting Linlithgow in two.” Councillor Pattle said the total closure had severely impacted people trying to go about their business and those living in surrounding residential streets which they found became rat runs for traffic trying to negotiate a route through the town. She added: “Linlithgow High Street is rightly celebrated for its wealth of independent businesses, which should be enjoying a busy run-up to Christmas. Instead, many are sitting in empty shops and cafes.” She added: “In Linlithgow we’ve got a Town Management Group, a Town Centre Manager, a Business Improvement District, and an active voluntary group of traders. “None of these groups were consulted about the timing of these works, they would happily have sat down with the roads department and worked out a more suitable time for the works to take place. “I have repeatedly asked what framework is used by the council to determine when works of this magnitude should take place. In the written response provided to me today, they state that they inform large businesses so they can plan shift patterns, but apparently no consideration is given to small businesses. “As a trader on the High Street myself, I am acutely aware of the challenges we are facing with the combination of skyrocketing operating costs, the cost-of-living crisis and the result of the recent budget which is adding yet more pressure onto small and medium businesses.” Councillor Pattle castigated those who had targeted the road crews with abuse: “Of course it’s not right for anyone to be cross with the workers, in fact they’ve been incredibly helpful to traders trying to get deliveries etc. “The issue is the lack of consultation with regards to the timing and the failure to acknowledge the negative impact this decision.” This week, as workmen finalised the work and began dismantling barriers a council spokesperson told the LDRS: “ It’s a significant amount of work and, sadly, council staff and the onsite contractors staff have been subject to considerable abusive and aggressive behaviour from members of the public. “We are also aware of abuse directed at our staff by others on social media, alongside misinformation. “This is from a minority of people but it is really disappointing and nobody deserves this whilst working and doing their job. This kind of behaviour is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. “The safety measures that are in place protecting the worksite are there for the protection of the public and road staff carrying out their duties. Cars and pedestrians are therefore not permitted to pass through barriers and into closed roads and footways. “Unauthorised and illegal access to the site is not permitted at any time and may lead to injury and unfortunately Police Scotland have had to be notified to assist the council in the instances that have been recorded. “We understand that there are people who are not satisfied with road works and the impact that they have. However, they are carried out to improve roads and paths and they will be over soon.” Councillor Pattle said she intended to raise the issue with the council in the New Year. Get all the latest news from around the country Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the countrySouth Korea lifts president's martial law decree after lawmakers reject military ruleSantos scores 24, Dayton defeats Lehigh 86-62
"If you do not want to die in the war," the Ukrainian government-backed hotline, "I Want To Live," proclaims in large letters on its homepage, then they are the ones to contact. Established for Russian soldiers to surrender and get themselves out of Moscow's ranks, the hotline is preparing for North Korean soldiers to reach out for the first time. The "I Want To Live" project isn't expecting a "massive" wave of messages or calls from North Korean soldiers, but is anticipating a few fighters drafted into front-line clashes to make contact, Vitalii, a spokesperson for the hotline, told Newsweek . None of the thousands of soldiers sent from North Korea to Russian soil have contacted the project yet, Vitalii said. South Korean, U.S. and Ukrainian intelligence have indicated that upward of 10,000 North Korean soldiers have been sent to the western Russian region of Kursk to support Moscow's war effort. Ukraine launched an offensive into the region in early August, andstill holds hundreds of square miles of Russian territory. Pyongyang's fighters are thought to be kitted out in Russian garb and have been taken into the Kremlin's existing military forces. Russia has not confirmed or denied the presence of North Korean troops in Kursk, but has signed a mutual defense pact with the secretive country's supreme leader, Kim Jong-un. Russian Preside nt Vladimir Putin said it was "entirely our own business" how to implement the defense agreement between Moscow and Pyongyang. North Korea has supplied a significant number of missiles and shipments of munitions to prop up the Kremlin's war effort. A South Korean intelligence official said earlier this week that Russia had provided air-defense equipment and "economic aid in various forms" to North Korea. U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said on Saturday that he expected to see North Korean soldiers "engaged in combat soon." The State Department confirmed in mid-November that North Korean soldiers were "engaging in combat operations with Russian forces" after undergoing training in how to use drones, artillery, and carry out "basic infantry operations." Ukraine's Defense Minister, Rustem Umerov, told South Korean media earlier this month that North Korean soldiers had been involved in "small-scale clashes" so far. The North Korean troops arrived in Russia at a moment when Moscow, like Kyiv, is searching for ways to backfill its military ranks in the face of eye-watering casualty counts. Russia has been steadily advancing in Ukraine's east, but has racked up a high number of casualties in the process, according to numbers coming out of Ukraine. The "I Want To Live" hotline was quick to launch a social media appeal in Korean more than a month ago. "We appeal to the fighters of the Korean People's Army who were sent to help the Putin regime," the hotline said in a post to messaging app Telegram, using the formal name for North Korea's army. "You should not die senselessly on foreign soil," the project wrote. "Do not repeat the fate of hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers who will never return home!" Those who surrender to Ukrainian forces are promised shelter, hot meals and medical care for those who need it. "It does not matter how many soldiers Pyongyang sends to help Russia, it does not matter in which direction—Ukrainian prisoner of war camps are ready to accept soldiers of any nationality, religion and ideological views," the hotline said. Extracting each soldier from the fighting is a unique process, Vitalii said. "There are many factors and variables, so I cannot say exactly how we will do it," he said, "but the main thing is the safety of both the surrendered and our units that are being brought to the territory controlled by Ukraine." Each fighter who reaches out keeps up a constant link with the hotline, Vitalii said. A bespoke evacuation plan is then devised, taking into account the weather conditions, the landscape and which section of the hundreds of miles of front line the soldier is deployed to, he added. It's not yet clear whether North Korean fighters will be found along other sections of the front line. Andriy Kovalenko, an official with Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, said earlier this week that an unspecified number of North Korean soldiers were "transferred to the border areas of the Belgorod region." Belgorod borders Kursk, sitting across from Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region. Newsweek could not independently verify this. The hotline is "monitoring" where North Korean forces end up, Vitalii said. "We have now made a video message to the North Korean military and developed leaflets that will be distributed at the front," he added. The project also has specialists who can communicate in Korean, Vitalii said. There are still big question marks over how well the North Korean soldiers, for whom this will be their first combat experience, will cope with warfare on the front lines in Europe. Officials and experts have pointed to likely problems with communication, slotting into the command structure of Russia's military, and morale. Pyongyang's fighters are "conditioned with unwavering loyalty to their leadership and a unique psychological resilience cultivated by the regime," Ji Hyun Park, a North Korean defector, now a senior fellow for human security at the Center for Asia Pacific Strategy, previously told Newsweek . It is designed to instill a willingness to sacrifice everything for the state, Park said. "However, this psychological preparation may not translate effectively into practical resilience in the type of active combat scenarios currently seen in Ukraine, where they would face modernized and highly capable opposition in unfamiliar territory," Park added. A group of North Korean defectors based in the South Korean capital said earlier this month that they handed over written instructions and audio messages for North Korean fighters on how to defect to Ukrainian officials in Seoul. Jang Se-yul, heading up the group, said Kyiv's military "could secure mass surrender and defection among North Korean soldiers if proactive psychological warfare is mobilized," according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency. Although the North Koreans may be unfamiliar with Russia's territory and weapons stockpiles, they probably will not need extensive training on the guns, rifles, mortars and other explosives Moscow uses against Ukraine, Ramon Pacheco Pardo, a professor of international relations at King's College London, previously told Newsweek . At least some of the thousands of fighters are thought to be "Storm Troops," or members of Pyongyang's special operations forces trained for infiltration and assassination. It is impossible to tell how well equipped they are for active conflict.“I don’t know if Darragh O’Brien took the whole thing of needing to build houses quicker, sooner seriously,” Róisín Garvey says. Traversing the constituency of Clare on the campaign trail, the Green Party deputy leader is her usual outspoken self, pointing to the failures of the outgoing coalition, of which she is a member. Garvey is probably the best prospect of a gain for the party in the more rural constituency of Clare, with a four-year Seanad term increasing her profile nationally and locally. Driving through the Clare countryside out towards Ennistymon, Garvey acknowledges the failures within government — particularly on housing. She says that, while the coalition has overseen increased housebuilding which has been a win, the increased level of homelessness must be seen as a failure of government. Excuses such as population increases and the war in Ukraine can be made, she says, but the State did adapt well to finding homes for Ukrainian refugees. In particular, she questions outgoing Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien and his role in the crisis. When asked if O’Brien failed in his job, Garvey walks it back slightly saying that he didn’t because “he built loads of houses”. “I don’t think he’s failed. I’m not sure his priorities are the same as my priorities.” In particular, she highlights cost-rental as an issue, with it being pushed on a national level, but the development of it in Clare is yet to start. She hits out at council chief executives who “aren’t answerable to anybody”. It’s a cold afternoon in Ennis as Garvey pounds the pavement in Willsgrove, knocking on doors with her team of canvassers. Hailing from Inagh, a village nestled between Ennis and Ennistymon, Garvey comes from a political family, with her father Flan having served as a Fianna Fáil councillor until 2009. She did not make it over the line in 2020, amid a green wave that washed 12 Green TDs into the Dáil. But, after four years in the Seanad and two seats now empty with the departure of both Michael McNamara and Joe Carey, her prospects are certainly not bad. “The only negativity I really get is online and I think two doors out of the whole campaign so far have verbally attacked me and abused me,” Garvey says. “It’s not bad, considering.” On the doors, an issue that continually crops up is housing, with one woman, Angela Connaughton, raising the lack of suitable accommodation for people looking to downsize. Connaughton says her family members would prefer to move to a smaller apartment from their four-bedroom house, but that there simply isn’t accommodation available to them. The canvass comes in the hours after the first RTÉ leaders’ debate, with one voter asking Garvey how she thought it went. “Shouty,” Garvey replies, saying she believed her party leader — Roderic O’Gorman — performed well in the clashes, but that he was “very polite”. Garvey does single out one party leader for criticism however, saying that Independent Ireland’s Michael Collins just “makes stuff up”. “I’d argue with anybody based on facts, but when they just start making up stuff,” Garvey says, adding that the Greens have “put more money in farmers’ pockets than the Independents ever have”. Garvey says she believes Collins is “living in denial” about climate change. “I think his head is in the sand, sure the farmland is saturated,” she adds. Garvey says farmers all over the country are struggling, while accusing Independents of only offering farmers more of the same. What are their solutions, apart from bashing the Greens that are coming up with actual solutions? As the team of canvassers wander up the road further, Garvey turns into a house where John Gannon opens the door, revealing that she is the first caller so far in the campaign. Garvey sounds thrilled, before asking Gannon if he’d give her a number one vote off the back of her visit. “Well you might get something,” he tells her. “Well, I’ll take it,” Garvey responds, before explaining how her father had once opted to climb Croagh Patrick for a vote in a local election. He points to the cost of living as a key issue for him in the election, while later on up the road Siobhan King raises the lack of affordable housing being built in the local area. She points out that there isn’t an equitable split between the amount of social houses being built and the amount of affordable houses being delivered, saying that her two children will face difficulties affording a home. Health is also brought up by King, with the ongoing issues at University Hospital Limerick raised as a major concern. She says that while her daughter is training to be a nurse, she wouldn’t step foot in UHL. It’s one issue shared by Garvey, with the senator describing how she spent four nights on a trolley in the hospital previously, saying that it was “hell”. “UHL is the most famous hospital for nightmares,” Garvey says, as she pressed for further investment in primary care centres in Clare — with just one established in Ennis. As the canvass ends, Garvey is back in her car on route to Ennistymon where she is scheduled to speak to students about the importance of voting. As the afternoon wears on, Garvey pulls in to the Ennistymon Community School, built atop a hill in the town, and hops out to speak to students. Gathering all the students in the main hall of the school, Garvey climbs up on a table to address the students — before quickly stepping back down after a glare from the principal. She urges the students to get out and use their voice come polling day. “When you don’t vote, somebody else gets to decide for you... I don’t care who you vote for, you can hate me for all you want, you don’t have to vote for me. “But if you have a vote, I beg you to go out and use it.”
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