Fresh off their open date, the Baltimore Ravens prepare for their schedule to become busyCHICAGO (AP) — Cairo Santos had a field goal blocked — again. DeAndre Carter muffed a punt in the second half. And those were just the special teams mistakes for the struggling Chicago Bears. Santos' blocked field goal and Carter's turnover were part of another sloppy performance for Chicago in its fifth consecutive loss. The pair of miscues helped set up two of Minnesota's three touchdowns in a 30-27 overtime victory . The Bears (4-7) closed out a miserable three-game homestand after they won their first three games of the season at Soldier Field. They were in position to beat Green Bay last weekend before Santos' 46-yard field goal attempt was blocked on the final play of the Packers' 20-19 win . “It’s tough. ... When things just aren’t going your way, you gotta put your head down and just keep going to work,” tight end Cole Kmet said. “It’s not easy to do but that’s kind of where we’re at.” Chicago and Minnesota were tied at 7 when Caleb Williams threw incomplete on third-and-4 at the Vikings 30 early in the second quarter. Bears coach Matt Eberflus sent Santos out for a 48-yard attempt, but it was knocked down by defensive lineman Jerry Tillery. “I think it was the penetration with the trajectory of the ball,” Santos said. “Had the ball started 3 or 4 inches to the right of both those guys' hands, I think it still goes in through the uprights.” Brian Asamoah returned the blocked kick 22 yards to set the Vikings up with good field position. Sam Darnold then capped a six-play, 53-yard drive with a 5-yard TD pass to Jalen Nailor for a 14-7 lead with 6:29 left in the first half. It was the third blocked field goal for Santos this year, the most for Chicago in a single season since it also had three blocked in 2012. Santos also had a 43-yard try blocked in the fourth quarter of a 35-16 victory over Jacksonville on Oct. 13. The Bears became the first NFL team to allow three blocked field goals in a season since the Browns and Ravens each had three blocked in 2022. “Whenever that happens two games in a row we’ve got to make sure we take a hard look in terms of the protection, the technique and who we have in there,” Eberflus said. “So it's going to be a big thing to look at.” Chicago trailed 17-10 when it forced a Minnesota punt midway through the third quarter. Carter warned his teammates to get out of the way, but it hit the ground and bounced off the inside of his right leg before it was recovered by Bo Richter at the Bears 15. The Vikings turned the mental error into Aaron Jones' 2-yard touchdown run and a 24-10 lead. “Gotta get out of the way of the ball. That’s on me,” Carter said. “I let the team down today. Game shouldn’t have been in the situation it was in. I felt bad for the guys.” Santos and Carter both played a role in a late rally for Chicago. Carter had a 55-yard kickoff return, and Santos got an onside kick to work before making a tying 48-yarder on the final play of regulation. But the Bears stalled on the first possession of overtime, and Darnold drove the Vikings downfield to set up Parker Romo's winning 29-yard field goal. “We're losing in the most unreal situations,” Bears receiver DJ Moore said. “Now it's like the luck's got to go in our favor at some point.” AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFLDupont executive Jon D. Kemp sells $511,942 in company stockAlgorized Named to Fast Company’s Fourth Annual List of the Next Big Things in Tech

Percentages: FG .404, FT .778. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.Mexico cracks down on drugs and migrants. Will it be enough to stop Trump tariffs?FNA DEADLINE NOTICE: ROSEN, TRUSTED INVESTOR COUNSEL, Encourages Paragon 28, Inc. Investors ...

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. “Everyone’s bummed out,” said winger Tom Wilson, who has played with Ovechkin since 2013. “We were sitting there saying: ‘This is weird. Like, it’s unbelievable that he’s actually hurt.’ It’s one of those things where like, he’s going to miss games? I’ve been around a long time, and it’s new to me.” Ovechkin in his first 19 seasons missed 59 games — and just 35 because of injury. Durability even while throwing his body around with his physical style is a big reason he is on track to pass Gretzky’s mark of 894 goals that once looked unapproachable. RELATED COVERAGE Gaudreeau has 2 goals, assist as Wild beat Oilers 5-3 for 5th win in 7 games Connor Zary scores 3rd-period goal to lift Flames to 3-2 win over Rangers Mrazek makes 32 saves as the Blackhawks beat the Panthers 3-1 “He doesn’t go out there and just coast around,” Wilson said. “He’s played 20 years every shift running over guys and skating. He’s a power forward, the best goal-scorer ever maybe, and he’s a power forward that plays the game really hard.” Ovechkin surged to the top of the league with 15 goals in his first 18 games this season. He was on pace to break the record and score No. 895 sometime in February. “You know when goal-scorers start scoring, it’s dangerous,” said defenseman John Carlson, who has been teammates with Ovechkin since 2009-10. “There was a bit of that in the downs that everyone was feeling about it too, of course. We see him coming to the rink every day, we know what’s at stake. You never want anyone to get injured, but there’s a lot to it and certainly he was playing his best hockey in years.” ___ AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl"Delay, Deny, Depose": Florida woman arrested for echoing UHC shooter in claim call

El analizador metabólico de células vivas de PHC (LiCellMo) recibe el premio a la innovación 2024 de The Analytical ScientistNo. 7 Tennessee dispatches UT Martin to remain undefeated

Led by a dynamic one-two punch, the Vernon (VSS) Panthers girls basketball team booked their spot in the annual Tsumura Basketball Invitational (TBI) quarterfinals. The TBI, hosted in Langley, features 64 of the best teams across B.C., split into two 16-team brackets. VSS was drawn against the Brittania Bruins from Vancouver in the opener in the Select 16 bracket. After a back-and-forth battle, the Panthers eked out a 67-58 victory. Leading the way for the Panthers was the Grade 11 duo of Adie Janke and Chloe Collins, who combined for 43 of the team's 67 points. Janke's 23 points came off of three triples and numerous clutch buckets in the late fourth quarter as the Panthers clawed their way back down 56-53 with four minutes to go. Through six games so far this year, the Panthers are without a loss. They will look to continue that streak on Thursday, when they play the South Delta Sun Devils in the quarterfinals after the Sun Devils won, 84-58, over the Centennial Centaurs from Coquitlam. Two other Okanagan teams are playing in the tournament, the Okanagan Mission (OKM) Huskies and the Kelowna Secondary School Owls, competing in the Super 16 bracket. The Huskies were humbled, 60-48, by Surrey's Holy Cross Crusaders, while the Owls won a close one, 57-56, against St. Michaels University School from Victoria. KSS plays the Brookswood Bobcats out of Langley next, at 6:15 p.m. on Thursday.FALLS VILLAGE – Authors Kurt Andersen and William Cohan didn’t hold back when talking about how the country will be negatively affected by the election of President-elect Donald Trump. The two were the guest speakers at Friday’s Salisbury Forum in a presentation titled “Following the Money: What Will Become of America.” The newly renovated auditorium at Housatonic Valley Regional High School was packed. Andersen began by stating the election was not, as many claim, a mandate for Trump, noting a 1.7% vote margin is very low. “The only mandate is that the Democrats did so much worse getting the vote out. The Republicans had no mandate but to please their leader.” The two speculated on why certain excessively wealthy people became such strong supporters of Trump, but concluded they just didn’t understand their motivation. Perhaps it was their stand on Israel, or maybe the desire to rub elbows with Elon Musk. When Andersen said so many of them know nothing about history, politics and culture and are “shockingly dumb” about such topics, Cohan said, “They get rich and think they know about everything. The X landscape allows them to do that.” Both acknowledged Trump’s constant references to “the evil media.” When asked, Cohan said Jeff Bezos’s decision not to endorse a presidential candidate in The Washington Post wasn’t about the practice being old-fashioned and ineffectual, but because he didn’t want to anger someone who could be the next president. “When we were growing up, newspapers took pride in their endorsements,” he said. “I don’t understand why he did that. It’s very disturbing.” Cohan sardonically said he was looking forward to seeing retribution to investigative journalists. “Don’t joke about that,” responded Andersen. With Trump in the middle of picking his cabinet members and other positions to be part of his administration, the two agreed it has become a “clown show.” Cohan said, “I like the ‘Star Wars’ bar metaphor better.” Both repeated that they cannot even begin to figure out Trump’s thinking. Andersen termed Scott Bessent, the secretary of treasury pick, “a buffoon” and Marco Rubio, named to be secretary of state, was labeled by Trump “Little Marco” and he still comes back for more. Andersen said “If you keep going lower and lower on his list of appointments and they get more insane, the ones at the top don’t look so bad.” Touching on Robert Kennedy, Jr. as being named to head the Department of Health and Human Services, Cohan said the stocks of some pharmaceutical companies are tumbling as a result. “He’s committed every felony. Trump likes him because he’s done worse things than Trump. Kennedy’s father and uncle must be rolling over in their graves.” Andersen doesn’t believe that Trump will follow through on his promise of mass deportation. He said of the 11 million undocumented, 8 million are in the workforce, holding jobs in farming, hospitality and landscaping. “He can’t risk losing all those employees,” he said. But Cohan brought up the bipartisan immigration bill that Trump, as a private citizen, was able to quash. As for the tariffs Trump proposes to install, Cohan said they could increase costs to consumers, causing inflation to spike and the economy to tank. Sounding deflated, Cohan said, “I’m tired of speculating on this guy. I don’t know if he’s capable of moderating his views. He may think of ways to repeal the 22nd Amendment, so I’m not sure this is his last rodeo. He’s the luckiest guy on earth. He’s not going to jail. He’s a masterful politician; I’ll give him that.” Contact Ruth Epstein at kcsruthe @ aol.com.

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O.C. football coaches analyze Edison’s chances in CIF-SS final without Julius GillickWASHINGTON, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Texas Attor­ney Gen­er­al Ken Pax­ton said on Thursday his office launched investigations into over a dozen technology platforms over their privacy and safety practices for minors. Those being probed included artificial Intelligence chatbot startup Character.AI and fourteen other platforms like Reddit, Instagram (META.O) , opens new tab and Discord, the Texas attorney general added. Tech platforms have come under increasing scrutiny over their impact on children. Top U.S. social media platforms made an estimated $11 billion in advertising revenue from users younger than 18 in 2022, according to a Harvard study published last year. U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy last year warned that young people using social media risked suffering body image issues, disordered eating, poor sleep quality and low self-esteem, especially among adolescent girls. "Technology companies are on notice that my office is vigorously enforcing Texas' strong data privacy laws," Paxton said. Social media companies have said they will work with officials to protect young users, and say they have introduced new tools designed to protect teens online, including parental control features. The firms had no immediate comment on Thursday. Paxton's statement said the probes would focus on the platforms' compliance with two Texas laws - the Securing Children Online through Parental Empowerment (SCOPE) Act and the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act (TDPSA). The SCOPE Act bans digital service providers from sharing, disclosing, or selling a minor's personal identifying information without permission from the child's parent or legal guardian. The legislation requires firms to provide parents with tools to manage and control the privacy settings on their child's account. The TDPSA imposes notice and consent requirements on companies that collect and use minors' personal data, Paxton's office said. Sign up here. Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington;Editing by Alistair Bell Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. , opens new tab Thomson Reuters Kanishka Singh is a breaking news reporter for Reuters in Washington DC, who primarily covers US politics and national affairs in his current role. His past breaking news coverage has spanned across a range of topics like the Black Lives Matter movement; the US elections; the 2021 Capitol riots and their follow up probes; the Brexit deal; US-China trade tensions; the NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan; the COVID-19 pandemic; and a 2019 Supreme Court verdict on a religious dispute site in his native India.

SAN FRANCISCO -- For three days at the , just about all Buster Posey heard from outsiders was that he had gotten the right guy. just before the start of the annual event, has as good a clubhouse reputation as anyone in the game, and Posey and Giants officials heard over and over again that the whole organization would benefit greatly from the new addition. Some endorsements carry a bit more weight, though, and on Wednesday night, Posey got a pretty good one from a player who teamed up with both the new president of baseball operations and the new shortstop. Adames became close with Matt Duffy when the two were Tampa Bay Rays infielders and Duffy texted Posey on Wednesday to tell him how much he thought of Adames as a teammate. A day later, Duffy reiterated that the Giants got a great presence for the clubhouse. "One of the few true clubhouse game changers I've played with," Duffy said in a text to NBC Sports Bay Area. Duffy, who played last season with the Texas Rangers, said Adames keeps everyone on track even if he's struggling and "understands the highs and lows of the game." He "works hard and has fun playing," he added. "Totally genuine," Duffy said. "Just a happy kid who loves baseball." It probably didn't surprise Posey to find out that Duffy and Adames are close, so much so that the new Giant was one of the few players at Duffy's wedding a few years ago. Duffy had a similar reputation as a clubhouse guy and the trade that sent him to Tampa Bay in 2016 was taken hard in the clubhouse. Some young players on that team felt Duffy, who was in his third year at the time, was the one who connected them to the veterans who had won multiple rings and blamed the trade for much of the second-half collapse. Duffy spent three seasons in Tampa Bay and was one of the team leaders when Adames broke in as a shortstop in 2018. Adames hit two spots behind Duffy in his big league debut and they were teammates for two seasons. "That's my guy," Adames said at the press conference, smiling. "He loved this city. He always talked good about the city and that's my guy. I call him 'flaco' because he's not too jacked, but I love that guy. He always says great things about this city, but I'm probably going to give him a call and tell him that he has to recommend some places here."6 Products Tunde Oyeneyin Recommends to Every Marathoner

NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Mets wanted Juan Soto to know his future with them could be set in stone. When the free agent outfielder traveled to owner Steve Cohen's house in Beverly Hills, California, for a presentation last month, the team unveiled a video that included an image of a future Soto statue outside Citi Field, next to the one erected of franchise great Tom Seaver . “Everything that they showed me, what they have, what they want to do, it was incredible,” Soto said. “But my favorite part was the video.” Soto was introduced at Citi Field on Thursday, a day after his record $765 million, 15-year contract was finalized. Speaking in the Piazza 31 Club, he was flanked by Mets owner Steve Cohen, president of baseball operations David Stearns and agent Scott Boras. Security men in gray suits wearing earpieces were off to the side. The slugger walked in led by Boras, wearing a dark suit, black turtle neck shirt and gold chain with his No. 22. Soto picked the Mets over the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays. His deal includes a luxury suite and four premium tickets for home games , all for free, and personal team security for the four-time All-Star and his family at the team’s expense for all spring training and regular-season home and road games. “My family is really important for me. Without them, I probably wouldn't have been here,” Soto said. “It's one of the biggest things.” Boras had asked for those sweeteners. “We included it at the beginning," Cohen said. “He made a request and we were happy to provide.” The crosstown Yankees, who reached the World Series for the first time since 2009 in part because of Soto, refused to consider the concept. “Some high-end players that make a lot of money for us, if they want suites, they buy them,” general manager Brian Cashman said. Cohen purchased the Mets ahead of the 2021 season and has boosted them to baseball's highest payroll in search of the team's first title since 1986 — when the World Series MVP, like Soto, wore No. 22 — Ray Knight. The owner thanked his son, Josh, for helping create the video and commended his 93-year-old father-in-law Ralph for attending the first get-together with Soto. While other teams met Soto at the Pendry Newport Beach, a hotel just a five-minute drive from Boras Corp.'s office, Cohen asked to host the session at one of his homes. “If we’re going to some restaurant, I didn’t know what the atmosphere would be,” Cohen said. “Food's better at my house.” Cohen and Soto met again Friday at another of the owner's homes in Boca Raton, Florida. Soto wanted to know how many championships Cohen expects over the next decade? “I said I’d like to win two to four,” the owner recalled. The value of Soto's contract eclipsed Shohei Ohtani’s $700 million, 10-year deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers last December. Its length topped Fernando Tatis Jr.’s $340 million, 14-year agreement with San Diego that runs through 2034. The 26-year-old Soto batted .288 with 41 homers, 109 RBIs and 129 walks this year and has a .285 career average with 201 homers, 592 RBIs and 769 walks over seven seasons with Washington, San Diego and the Yankees. Boras wouldn't discuss who finished second in the bidding in Soto's mind. “When you’re at a wedding, you don’t talk about the bridesmaids," he said. Soto made the decision Sunday while at home with his family. Boras referred to the group as the “Soto Supreme Court" defined as “mother, sister, father — he’s got a wide group. I think he may have eight or nine uncles.” “My information requests and such were rather unique,” Boras said, detailing that his team asked for OPS by ballpark. Soto's 1.175 at Citi Field is his highest at any stadium where he's played 15 or more games. Soto cited Cohen's relationship with Mets stars Francisco Lindor and Edwin Díaz as a factor in his mind. “They are kind of like (a tight) family, a family that wants to win but they definitely want to take care of their players and their families,” Soto said. Cohen had his wife Alex and father-in-law attend the initial meeting to emphasize kinship. “My father-in-law is at every game, every home game,” Cohen said. “I wanted him to see how important baseball is to this family. And Alex grew up with one TV in an apartment and that Met game was on every night.” Cohen relishes owning the Mets. He spoke earlier in the day to a town hall at his hedge fund. “Whenever you meet somebody, they want to talk about the Mets before they talk about financial markets,” he said. Soto's success will be determined by World Series titles. The Yankees have 27, the Mets two. “It's such a big city, right? There's plenty of room for both of us,” Cohen said. Soto had a more direct definition. "Championships is going to tell you if it's a Yankees or Mets town at the end of the day," he said. AP MLB: https://apnews.com/mlbPHILADELPHIA -- A South Jersey woman turned to our Investigative Team after she said she was the target of a malicious online attack. She said the perpetrator created sexually explicit images of her by using artificial intelligence , or AI, and then distributed the photos to friends. She shared her story as a warning to others. "I wanted to know, like, who was making them? Like, obviously, what was the source? What was the reason?" said Alyssa Rosa. Rosa said she learned of the pornographic images with her likeness after a woman contacted her on social media. She said the woman told her she found them on her boyfriend's phone, and she tracked down Rosa to make her aware. "That kind of content never existed of me before, and now it does, and it's completely without my consent," said Rosa. "I was mad. I was mad." Rosa said she channeled that anger into action. She learned the images were likely being created by a guy she'd befriended on a social dating app. The same guy she told our Investigative Team also had access to her Facebook photos. "He would comment on my photos, like, say, 'thank you,' 'you're so beautiful.' Comment on photos with my son, like, you know, 'he's so handsome.'" Most worrisome to Rosa is she hasn't seen most of the content that is allegedly out there since the woman only agreed to share a portion of the photo and text messages with her. But Rosa said those sexually explicit images were likely altered from a version of her real photos. "One thing that really stuck with me when in the screenshot she sent me is that he said, 'I made so many clips of what that ***** would do.' Like, it's disgusting. Like, how dare you?" U.S. Representative Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania has introduced the bipartisan No Fakes Act. It would help protect victims of "deepfakes". "AI is moving so fast, sometimes for very good outcomes and sometimes for very tragic. We have to put the guardrails in place," said Dean. "It gives a property right to you and to me, to our voice and likeness." Deepfakes circulating on the web are quickly increasing. Dean said there needs to be laws to punish those who create or distribute them. Two other pieces of bipartisan legislation moving through Congress would also require images to be removed and give law enforcement more teeth when going after the creators. "The Shield Act creates a new criminal offense for someone who knowingly mails or distributes intimate visual depictions," added Dean. The legislative push comes after recent high-profile cases, including one earlier this year, which involved pop star Taylor Swift where AI-generated pornographic pictures were distributed on X and went viral. Rosa said she feels violated. She hopes the person who did this destroys the content, and she hopes laws are put into place to protect victims. "That's just way too much power for someone to have access to my likeness and do whatever they want," she added. A new Pennsylvania law will go into effect later this month that will make it illegal to create this AI-generated sexually explicit material. House Bill 125 just passed and prohibits AI from being used to generate child sexual abuse images. And last week, the United States Senate passed the Take Down Act would force social media companies to remove sexually exploited images including deepfakes of any person within 48 hours of being notified by a victim. That bill still needs to pass in the House of Representatives.

Stock market today: Wall Street hits records despite tariff talkNone